Water, water everywhere

Today we went to Kidspace Children's Museum in Pasadena. Zach and I have been there several times, but this was the first time Jeff has been able to join us. I was so happy we all went for several reasons. First, the whole "quality family day" is always nice. Secondly, I was able to get pictures for the first time at Kidspace! I just can't do it if I go alone...I have to worry about the camera, worry about Zach...he's too fast and crazy. So, needless to say, you've never seen pics of our adventures if it's just been Zach and me.
We only go to Kidspace when the weather is warm because there are water features that are Zach's favorites, so it's pointless to go if we can't play in the water. Since today is about 80 degrees, (Yay!) it was perfect!
We started off in the toddler room, which is a padded romper room with toys and blocks and puzzles and balls. Too fun!
Drawing with bingo daubers (attention span: 22 seconds)

Going down the slide! Zach loves slides!

We spent quite some time in there, but we headed to the next building which has fun staircases made out of "raindrops", bee exhibits, bugs, an archaelogical dig area, painting and tons of other exhibits that either are too old for Zach or didn't interest him.
Learning about water, land and erosion...trust me, he understood. He's brillant.

Zach and his dimples waiting for the water

Going up the jungle gym

Zach going up the raindrop staircase...way up, it's three stories high!

Jeff following Zach up after I said, "yes, you should go up, too!" Please, I've been there, done this. Jeff can have a turn. Prego is sitting this one out.

Going on a safari in the safari truck!


Outside really fast to try the tricycles. Attention span: the time it took to take this picture

Back inside to paint

He loves this push pin thing. I took a much smaller version of this on our trip to Michigan for the plane ride and it kept him occupied. He still plays with it in the car.

This is a recreation of the Arroyo Seco, which is a river somewhere in Pasadena. I'm sure there's a lot more history to it than that, but that's all I know. What I DO know is my kid loves climbing up and down it, and making his prego Mommy go up and down, too!





Wow, Heather. I apparently have what you had...fat pregnancy nose. WTH?! Is it an epidemic?

This is exactly what Zach usually looks like. Notice the typical running away from the authority figure, while giving me the devilish/adorable grin, like he knows he can get away with murder. How do they figure that out so early??

This is Zach's absolute favorite part! Cost of musuem: $9 a person, including Zach. Watching him play in these water fountains until he's shivering and take it anymore--priceless.

Ramblings at 3 am

I'm awake at this unGodly hour because I'm sick. This is not a fun cold. I have to be up for work at 6 am so I'm thinking that the day ahead of me is going to be majorly un-fun.
So, as I was laying awake for awhile before I got up to peruse the internet, I started having a mini panic attack thinking about how my life (our lives) will change in about 5 months or so. I'm sure I can do this having-two-babies-at-once thing, but I'll do things in my day now and think, "well, THAT won't be happening when I have three kids under three."
Some things that scare the hell out of me:
1. How am I going to breastfeed two babies? I loved nursing Zach and look so forward to doing it again with the twinkies. But, there were days when I felt that all I did was sit on the couch with my boob out...how can I do that with a 2.4 year old running amok?
2. I get stir crazy if I don't get out with Z every day. How will I do that with three kiddos? It'll take me 2 hours just to load the car! It'll look like I'm going on a two week trip to the grand canyon when in reality, I just need to buy milk.
3. Babysitting is going to cost us a small fortune now. And, who wants to watch 3 kids? We have awesome friends and a great list of babysitters, but the cost alone may be prohibitive. Do I need to assume I won't be going on a date with Jeff for the next 13 years?
4. Speaking of babysitting...what about vacation? We don't do much now, but not because I wouldn't like to. Even our camping trips are going to take on a life of their own. And again, cost-wise...yikes. Are we destined to vacation at Costco? And will that probably FEEL like a vacation?
5. My patience can wear thin with Z, and I'll need to step outside to take a breather or whatnot...where can I load up on patience? Anyone know? Is there a store that I can check out? Maybe order some online?
6. With Z, I was able to take the advice, "sleep when baby sleeps." What happens now? Will there ever be a time when all three sleep at once, for longer than 15 minutes?
7. How am I going to use my Baby Bjorn with two? I LOVED that thing with Z. Do they make a double Bjorn?
8. Will I ever do my hair again?
9. And make-up?
10. Am I going to look like that mom with the crazy hair, dark circles under the eyes, big old muffin top hanging over every pair of pants I own, boobs hanging down to my knees....I'll stop because I'm starting to hyperventilate again.
11. Will I ever watch Oprah again?
12. How am I ever going to find quality time with just Z and I? Will he feel neglected? Will I feel guilty? (I assume I'll feel guilty, I think that's part of being a parent.)
13. Will I be able to return to work? If not, can we make it work financially on one salary? I know we can, but does that mean I'll have to start cutting my own hair at home? Eating Top Ramen and casseroles that last 13 days?

Ok, that's enough for now. It's almost 4 o'clock. I need to try to get some sleep.
I'm sure there'll be more later.

Jeff's 40th Surprise Birthday Party

Whew!! I am glad THAT is over! I mean, it was really, really fun but the work and the lies and the planning...I'm tired again just thinking about it.

I started thinking about throwing a party for him months ago, before Xmas. He threw me a fantastic 30th, so I knew I had to do it. The real planning didn't start until probably 2 months ago. I sent out the invites, and due to budget constraints, decided the party would be held at our house. Not a great time (financially) to throw a big ol' party, but you turn 40 only once, so what the hell.

I invited about 70 people, and about 50 came. Some friends took JP golfing that day, and of course they were in on the ruse. At 12:00 my neighbors, Ed and Mary, our friend Pat, and my parents descended on the house and went to work. Another friend, Susie came over at 2:30 to also help. The rental place dropped off tables, chairs, heaters and the bar at 1:30 and the food was delivered at 4:45. I needed a lot of help in the backyard, which was where I figured the majority of the party would take place. Toys needed to be removed, patio furniture needed to be moved, patio needed to be blown off...it's turned into one big sandbox, it seems. I also hired two girls from Chili's to bartend and serve and clean up. That was the best decision I made! I was actually pretty relaxed considering all these people were coming over SOON. Maybe it's having Zach or maybe it's being prego, but my attitude was, "hey, I've done the best I can. If I missed dusting somewhere...oh well." Really, all people care about is good food and cocktails, right?

My friend, Amy came over around 4:00 and took Zach back to her house to stay with a babysitter for the night. That worked out well. The pool fence was taken down so the yard was not kid safe, at all.

The boys came home at 5:30 and yelled surprise! I think he was honestly surprised. Later, he told me he thought I would do something at some point, but he did not expect it to be THAT night. We even busted out the kareoke machine and you couldn't pry that mike out of SOME people's hands! No mentioning any names....Dad, Mary, Pat, Susie....ok, me too. I didn't even have the "I'm drunk" excuse. Sober kareoke...who AM I?

Ok, now for the pics.
Kelley and Julie

Jim, Donald and me (they were part of the golfing crew)

Surprise!!

Waiting for Jeff to come in (out of order...oh well, you get the idea)

Linda and Raul (Chili's people)

Dave and Robin (high school friends)

Daniel and Leah (Chili's)

Mom and Dad

Kareoke! I apologize for any ears I may have caused to bleed.

Me and Jeff

Pat, let go of the mike!

Jeff and JJ (he didn't need to go the babysitters)

Jeff's parents and new grandbaby, Aspen


All in all, it was a great time. Food was awesome (thank you, Stonefire), drinks were great, so I hear...I did cupcakes instead of a cake...I figured it would be less hassle and those were wonderful, I can attest to that.
Happy (now belated, but repeated) birthday, Jeff! Hope you had fun!

15 week belly

Ok, so I'm almost 15 weeks. We started taking belly pics when I was prego with Zach at 6 weeks and we did it weekly. Here it is into the second trimester and it's our FIRST belly pic with the twins. Is that bad?



Here's a shot that we certainly didn't have last time

And no, Zach is not flipping off my belly...he points at things with his middle finger! I didn't realize he did it in the picture until I posted it!
My sister in law, Tracy had her baby girl a little more than a week ago. The baby weighed over 9 lbs. and they named her Aspen. I've never in my life seen so much hair on a baby! They brought her over when she was 4 days old. Zach was actually quite enamored with her...until the camera came out. His lovey dovey ways were over the exact moment the shutter clicked.

Weekend fun!

Why do the weekends go by so fast, while the week days can just D-R-A-G.
Jeff has been super busy with work lately. He had today off (Sunday) and I truly can't remember his last day off before that. He had a new store opening and has been there a lot, as well as having to take care of his other stores. The weather was really nice here this weekend, so we made good use of it and went to the zoo. We bought an annual family membership last time we were there and it's such a nice thing to have. As soon as we got out of the car, Zach started saying "mah-key" and wouldn't stop until we actually saw monkeys. He must take after his Momma with his love of monkeys. Too cute. He loves animals and is really enjoying watching them and making the sounds they make. Jeff has taught him how to say these animal sounds: snake, cow, dog, cat, monster, lion, tiger, bird, and duck.
Yesterday, Zach and I met Julie and her kids, Riley and Luke at the park for some playtime. It was a beautiful morning and it's been raining so much here lately that it was really nice to run around in the sunshine. In the afternoon, the three of us went to Joe and Julie's new house to get a tour! It's a beautiful house with an even better yard...I'm extremely jealous to say the least. Jeff kept saying he was so glad we don't have a two-story...it took Zach about 2 seconds to stick his head through the banister.

In the evening, we had our monthly poker night. Luckily for us, it was just two houses up the street, so I could drink all I wanted and not worry about driving. I have to be careful...O'douls can put some people over the edge. Not me, though. I can handle my pee-water beer. I didn't do so hot last night, the cards were not my friends, but still had a blast. My friends Donald and Amy gave me a martini glass with poker accents all over it...they call me "poker hooker". They're just jealous because I'm usually in longer than they are.

As for me and the twin beans, we are all doing well. I'm definitely turning a corner in the barf-o-rama portion of the pregnancy. I still throw up in the morning, but I've eaten chicken three days in a row! Huge step! I haven't had any palate for meat and I had a complete aversion to chicken my last pregnancy. Hopefully that won't happen again. I've been feeling the babies move for several weeks now and I can't wait until I can feel them on the outside.

Our friends are all really excited for us, but some of the things people say! My girlfriend said to me last night, "I can't wait to see how HUGE you're going to be!". I told her that was the only time in her life she could say that without me slapping her.
Oh, and if one more person compares me to the Octo-Mom, I'm going to scream. I saw my internist on Friday for a regular check up, and he asked how many embryos I had transferred. When I told him four, he thought it necessary to tell me the legislation that they're going to pass about transfer numbers. If you're 40 and under, the most they'll transfer is two, over forty is three, tops. I, of course, had to explain to him that if the insurance companies got on the ball and COVERED any IVF procedures, it would be a non-issue. However, if I'm spending X amount of dollars PER IVF, and you were to tell me you're transferring one or two, max...I'd have a serious problem. Whatever...everyone is now an expert in IVF because of crazy lady with 123 kids. So irritating. Please, someone walk a mile in my shoes, and then we'll chat.

So, that's my diatribe on that issue.

Anyway, that was our weekend. Zach is talking so much and repeating even more. Yes, he has said his first curse word, courtesy of me. Apparently I say sh*t when cars break suddenly in front of me...who knew? Last night I was washing dishes and I realized it was really quiet in the other room. I figured I'd finish washing the last two dishes before I checked on the monkey man. When I went to check things out, I found that he had colored purple marker all over the travertine entryway! AND the throw rug. Luckily they are washable and it wiped right up. When I went out there and gasped he pointed at his work of art and said, "OH NO!" I could barely be angry....but I acted like I was!

Haha's

Did you hear Denny's is jumping on the Octo-Mom bandwagon and offering a new breakfast with her in mind?
You get 14 eggs, NO sausage, and the guy next to you foots the bill.