Zeus and the kids

We had a wonderful visit from the Zeusman yesterday. The girls loved him and were quite fascinated by all his doings. Sam even cried when Zeus went outside to do his business (she thought he was leaving.) They weren't always as gentle as they should have been, but they were pretty good. Only once did Liz almost have to use "inappropriate" with them. Sammi liked patting him on his side and rump while Riley kept trying to feel his tail.

After a while we all had pizza, and the girls got their usual pizza crust to chew on. This was all too tempting for Zeus - food, at his level, oh the sheer torture, so we had to give him some too. He also did a great job cleaning up the cheerios that the girls had left on the floor. We need to have him here more often.

The side benefit of all this, it was good puppy therapy for me.

My man is finally home

It's been a long time coming, and it is still pretty emotional, but the ashes of my beautiful puppy dog are finally home where they belong. They had been at a friends house who was kind enough to pick them up for us. It feels very right to have him back here with us. Even though we can't see his sweet face, or the happy go lucky wag of his tail, I know he's here. Every so often I can feel him laying at my feet, or following me through the house as in the days of old. I keep thinking about getting another dog, but who could ever compare to him?

You know your a mother when...

or "you know you love your kids when..."

One of them, at 11 months old, sneezes, smiles, and hands you a fistful of snot, and you willingly take it, laughing a little at the sweet innocence of your sweet baby who truly believes she is just "sharing" with mommy.

After this, the other starts blowing raspberries which causes you to spend the next 15 minutes blowing raspberries with them, and getting a very wet face in the process.

Ya gotta luv em.

More walkers on the way.

This week Riley thought she'd give this walking thing a try. It seems to be working for Samantha. However, Riley is crafty enough to rook Mom and Dad into playing the game with her, all with a giant smile on her face.

Samantha on the other hand, has decided to give eating without smearing food all over her head a try. Apparently she's taking some tips from her sister in that area.

And both of them are returning to being voracious nursers - I wonder is someone notified them that weaning may be imminent. Yeah, right. Who am I kidding? They're going to kindergarten nursing at this rate. NOT!!

The Z man

Yes, he made it home safe and sound folks, but not before making a stop here first to officially meet us. He arrived during the girls bath time, and they thought it was quite fun to have some new entertainment. Afterwards Sammi crawled over and gave him a very sweet little pet on the side. Zeus was very tolerant and just stood by mommy Andrea to be safe. Mommy Liz was trying to wrestle Riley into her jammies at the time.

I bet the pups at home were very happy to see the Z man back in their midst. Congratulations little guy.

Got Milk?

I never realized until today that my girls had never really seen a gallon of milk. Today I got a gallon of milk out of the fridge for my cereal, and Samanthas eyes lit up, and I'm sure she was drooling a little. She must have thought she hit the motherload. Riley was just trying to see what I was pouring it on to see if there was anything for her.

Choo, choo...

The latest antics of the twins that keep me amused (and bore most others.)

Today Sammi decided she likes to play choo, choo. She accomplishes this by holding onto the back of her sisters diaper and crawling behind her. Riley completes the choo choo effect by howling (wah, wah) as they cruise around the room. I'm not sure if it's Sammi getting bored, or Riley finally shaking her off that ends the baby express.

Death Clock

Wow. I now know when I'm going to die, or do I? According to the death clock if I am normal (what is normal?) I will die May 26, 2044 (Wow, 39 years to go!) If I'm pessimistic I only have 24 years left, leaving this planet March 19, 2029, and optimistically I will live to be 93 and not exit this existence until July 10, 2058. Of course, now you all know how old I am, but then again that wasn't really a secret. However, now that I have bestowed this info upon you, I expect each of you to clear your calendars so that you can come party at my wake/funeral. http://www.deathclock.com/

Teeth, we have more teeth

Today was a banner day in the Fisher nursery. Sam has cut through a molar, she'll be eating steak soon. Riley is still working on more teeth - there are definite signs that she will have more soon.

The walking has definitely progressed another step (pun intended.) Today Sammi let go of a chair to take a few steps to the gate in the kitchen doorway. That's the first time she's ventured walking on her own. Riley, after watching us have Sammi walk back and forth between us decided that she very clearly wanted to get in on this game. She came over to me, stood up and turned around to face Daddy. Excited that she wanted to try, we held her hands and helped her walk to Dad who then turned her around and helped her walk back. Yep, she'll be running soon.

Lastly, our little climbing monkey, Sammi has finally scaled her first item of furniture. She used their little cushioned couch to climb up on the big armchair in the living room so she could then reach the DVD/TV wires dangling behind it. Apparently more child proofing is due.

Spiders

Do you ever have a gut reaction to something and then feel foolish about it because it was witnessed by others. Well tonight I did. If you know me at all, you know I have a horrible phobia about spiders. Tonight, while typing my last blog a giant spider crawled across the counter towards me causing me to scream and leap from my seat. My coworkers thought something bad had happened to one of the babies. When they realized nothing bad had happened, one of them was kind enough to do away with the evil little thing. The rest have been having a hey day razzing me about it. Will I ever live this down?

Tapestry

Ok, first off I have to apologize to my friend Liz because A: I had no idea who Carol King was (I know - shoot me), and B: because I was actually dreading going to this show. As it turns out, apparently I am a fan of Carol because I knew most of the songs and I like most of the songs. However, that's where the love affair ended this week. I have to say that the performance was a sad cross between American Idol and an amateur performance at Great America.

One of the female performers thought she was all that and more, obviously felt she had rhythm and didn't, was in general completing annoying. She also had the perma-barbiedoll-smile plastered on her face - she looked like a Stepford Dancer. Another of the female performers should have shot the costumer for putting sequins on her costume right where her belly button would be, and then apparently the stage was so hot that she was sweating so bad that the sequins only emphasized the sweating. The last of the three female performers actually had potential, but it was apparent (at least to me) that she was holding back. She had a sound that seemed like it could be so much stronger.

Now for the 3 male performers. One wasn't even worth reviewing. The second had the most ridiculous hip gyrations and pelvic thrusts that were neither necessary or entertaining. He just looked like an epilectic orangutan. The last was the most entertaining of the three, and the most talented of the six. He actually was pretty cool. He had a great voice that could reach numerous octaves (rather than just trying to), he had rhythm, He seemed to actually enjoy what he was doing, and he made me want to sing along with him. He saved the evening for me.

The long and short is if you love the music and feel like you could sit through the bad performances, this is the show for you. If not, then go buy the album. I've heard it's one the best selling albums ever.

Boycott enforced

So, my little imps have decided to boycott. Sammi, who started walking last week refuses to take even one step this week. She looks at my impishly, drops to her knees, and crawls to me. You can tell by the look on her face she knows exactly what I want and she is refusing to do it. Riley has decided to join in on the boycott, by refusing to stand up. She bends like a noodle until she is sitting down when you release your hold on her, or if you are still holding her she bounces better than Tigger.

I believe both of them are getting more teeth as Sammi is not eating as well as usual (and that's not saying a lot) and Riley has taken to sucking on her hand and thumb (the last time she reverted to this habit is when she got teeth). Both have ridges that look like teeth trying to break through, so we'll keep you posted.

Other impish news: Riley observed that when Sammi fell and cried that she got attention, so Riley smacked the tray table that had fallen with/on Sammi, then crawled over to me crying. It was really quite cute, but is not behaviour that should be encouraged, so I'm sure she was quite confused when Mommy wouldn't pick her up. Sammi has taken to looking right at me while pulling her sisters hair as if to say, "If I distract Mommy with my cute look, she won't notice that sister is screaming cuz I'm pulling her hair." Needless to say, the tactic doesn't work.

As usual, the girls keep me amused and entertained all week long, and I hate coming to work on the weekends and missing out on the great times with them. To make it even more difficult they have taken to crying when I leave. That sucks!! Many people have told me it must feel good to be loved, but ironically it doesn't cuz it means that my girls are hurting. I just want to scoop them up and take them with me.

No New News.

Babies are fun!!

What a slacker!

Yes, that would be me as I'm reminded by everyone who has checked my blog for the last few weeks with no updates. This is due mostly to my lack of computer access, but lets see if I can catch up anyway.

Over the last few weeks we've had good news and not so good news. My sister has been diagnosed with DCIS (breast cancer) with multifocal points of invasive cancer. The long and short is that she is going to have a mastectomy and we are currently working our way through the Kaiser medical system to get everything lined up for this to happen the last week of this month.

As if that weren't enough, my MIL had a mammogram which has shown some changes the doctor is not happy with. She just had a biopsy yesterday (Friday). Keep your fingers crossed that it's all good.

Now on to happier news. The twins are doing great. Their personalities become stronger and more pronouced with each day that passes. They laugh, grin, and have a definite "look" when they are up to no good. They are do entertaining, I don't know what I did to amuse myself before they came along. Oh yeah, I played hockey. ;)

Riley has started standing on her own, and now has one more position in which she can clap her hands and smile in response to "Yeah Riley." It really is quite cute to observe.

Sammi has taken her first step (one day after her 11 month birthday.) I had someone here comment that she was a late walker - am I missing the boat on this one? I was thinking this was still slightly early. From everything I've read in the past 12 - 14 months is "normal". Oh well. I am thrilled with it either way. I don't have to have the "perfect" child cuz she's perfect to me regardless. (How's that for a biased mommy opinion.)

Both of them have mastered the sippy cup though they really prefer to just crawl around with it in thier mouths. I don't see the fascination, but then again, I'm not 11 months old. Their favorite treat is currently Cheerios. They light up and come "running" when they see that sunny yellow box. Of course it doesn't stay in whatever container we put it in cuz everyone knows Cheerios taste much better off the floor.

Soon they will be 1 and toddling around and I will have to say goodbye to my babies and hello to toddlerhood. While I eagerly embrace their growth and development, I also mourn the loss of their infancy. I still miss my co-sleeper and the nightly snuggle dance they would do.

Ok, enough of the blogging diarrhea for now.