Eleven Months Old

On a shocking day in June 2008, we were informed by our doctor that we were having twins. He gave us quite the doom story, "Twins are difficult and twin pregnancies are tough. This is going to be a long road." He's a professor in his spare time and prone to such monologues from time to time, so we didn't pay him much mind. He was right, but he did discount the joy. Having twins these last 11 months has been life changing. My career is completely in disarray, but I am much more fulfilled today. It is just a different life and one that I frankly had not contemplated. We are thrilled that our little ones are doing well, all three of them. J and I are still shocked that our house is so full! For an only child and one with one sibling, this is a lot of kiddos!

In the pictures, Caroline is standing by herself and she is close to walking. Brookie is loving on dad. Jackson is enjoying the construction zone at the Magic House and this is a common sight at 10 p.m. on most nights at our house. Life is short, but it is wide. (Rebecca Wells)

What Am I? Crazy?

It's exactly a week before our big client interview and I am swinging between thinking that we have this in the bag and "Am I crazy? This company has 22,000 employees and some of the best known brands in the world. Geez." Well, let's hope I land on confidence next Tuesday. Barb and I are flying up and back, which will assist in the child care situation for all involved. We've coordinated our outfits enough so that we don't arrive looking like twins or clashing too badly. At the end of the day, isn't it about the shoes? :)
We seem to have weathered this round of the flu. Last Friday, Jack went to the doctor for a sinus infection. Antibiotics again. Tomorrow the twins get checked to make sure their ear infections from two weeks ago cleared up. We might as well have a standing appointment at the doctor's office. At the present time, everyone seems to be healthy.
In the pictures, the 3 munchkins in the playroom, Jack and Grandma at the pumpkin patch and the twins play with their stand up music table.

Chicago, Potty Training and Emergency Rooms

The delay in blog updates occured because I went to Chicago without my camera charger, then couldn't locate my battery once I came home, etc. So, it took awhile to get back to my basic photography. J and I took Jack to Chicago on a business trip. While J conferred with his client, Jack and I went to the Shedd Aquarium. We enjoyed the carribean reef, the catfish, penguins and beluga whales. We also saw some dolphins. We did not enjoy, sadly, the world renown Dolphin Show, simply because it was lunch time and Jack waits for no one. The lunch opportunities were slow and meager at the aquarium, so we went outside. We had nachos while we waited for a water taxi. The water taxi was quite the harrowing ride as the winds were up that day and it was more than a little rocky. Just thankful we made it the short way to Navy Pier. We then had a real lunch and did a little shopping before we went to the Chicago Children's Museum. The Children's Museum was the hit of the day. We built forts and skyscrapers and painted. Good fun was had by all. The drive home took seven hours. Really, no additional information needed there. Jack was a trooper, J and I were wrecks. Jack, however, had a personal DVD player and his new Dora videos, so we thank goodness for technology. All in all, a successful trip.

Our potty training continues to go well, though we seem to have quite a few accidents, or perhaps it is just experimentation with pee. Our hallway shower curtain had odd wet spots that turned yellow, following inspection, seems that Jack is testing his range. Boys will be boys.

For Halloween, Jack is going to be Mizzou's Truman the Tiger, Brooke and Caroline are going to be MU cheerleaders. Too cute. In pic, Brookie is trying on her outfit.

Yesterday, Brookie and I spent the afternoon in the emergency room due to her 104 temperature while on antibiotics for her ear infection. I will say, though, that again, Cardinal Glennon did a great job and they get rave reviews from me. She has the flu, though not likely H1N1. She is on Tamiflu, which worked wonders and she slept through the night.

Beginning of an Era

I have not been posting a great deal with the overload of parties, subsequent clean up and then a kidney infection, this is the first morning everyone is somewhat occupied and I have checked fb, email, etc. Brookie is crawling, which is darling, though she can still be trusted to stay in the general vicinity of where you leave her, which is nice. I cannot say the same for Caroline. Jack is doing great at preschool, he is in love with a little classmate named Madison. She's a little blondie. He also loves Ms. Karen and Ms. Angie. We are relieved.

We've had some behavior problems with Jack recently, basically refusing to come to me and telling me he doesn't like me, etc. It's hurtful, though it appears to be lifting a bit.

Our public affairs firm has a big interview in Chicago for a huge client at the end of October. I am trying not to panic. I do view this as a huge opportunity, it could launch our lobbying firm into existence. We're doing LOTS of work to prepare.

In the pictures, the family at J's cousin's wedding, twinnies post bath and the beginning of an era. All three littles playing together in their playroom. A beautiful sight to see.

Caroline and Brooke's Christening

Caroline and Brooke were baptised this Sunday. We go to a local Methodist church when we can get ourselves organized and it is the church where J's grandparents went their whole lives and were married and buried there. It's a nice tradition. Yesterday our twins were baptised and we joined the church officially. It will be nice to have a church family again and this particular church is very involved in the community, runs a food pantry and homeless transition shelter and ministers to a diverse congregation. We're excited about it. We struggle with our faith a bit in our family, as we are intellectual liberals and spend a lot of time as lawyers and lobbyists looking at all sides of questions, but in the end and at the least, we like the church as a concept and as a philosophy for our children. We're working on the rest.
Auntie Harriet and Torre (who had a kidney stone and couldn't make the ceremony) sponsored Brooke and Auntie Carrole and Mike sponsored Caroline, which really meant a lot to us. It was nice to have the family there as well. Jack had a fit, announcing to the congregation, "But I don't want to leave," at least the pastor had a sense of humor and said that "he's probably the only one [who doesn't want to]." Brookie went first and was an angel and so was Caroline. They went to the pastor and were blessed and everything without crying. I was sure that the water on Caroline would do her in! It was nap time, after all. They are really good babies. Anyway, they are officially blessed!

Jack's 3rd Birthday

On Friday, we celebrated Jack's birthday. And as usual for one of our parties, we started out with a small barbeque and ended up with a neighborhood bash. I don't know why I don't learn to just expect the bash. It's not that I mind it so much, I just find it a little stressful as an introvert. Justin prefers a bash and would have one every weekend if I could stomach it. It was a great party. We didn't tell Jack that he was getting a bouncer with a slide for his birthday. When he walked outside, he said, "Oh....my....gosh...." (To our credit, we've cleaned up our language.) Then he turned to J and said, "Thank you, Daddy." Too cute. He truly had a wonderful time and is still recovering. He jumped and jumped and jumped. Then we all sang him happy birthday and he squealed with delight at the end. It was truly the sweetest thing. We were blessed to have Auntie Emmy, Grandma and Auntie Harriet in for the weekend, which was the best present of all.

We've had the most challenging year by far as parents, thus far, anyway. But Jack is really coming into his own. He's off to preschool and things are going swimmingly well. He's really growing up and J and I cannot believe that he is 3 tomorrow morning at 4:09 a.m. (After 16 hours of labor, mind you.) Jackson Wyatt is the best thing that ever happened to us.

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

These pictures are actually from last weekend. We had a great time on Sunday, first at the park and then at the Cardinals game. We headed to the park with Brooke and Caroline. They took their first swing. I feel they are a little too small for the baby swings, but they did really enjoy it. These pictures were pre-injury, as Jack took quite a fall from a ladder onto his face! He's fine, but has a scratch on his face that I spray with Neosporin when I think he's not looking and I can reach to cover his eye. Ninja moves.
Nana came to sit with the babies while they took their nap and J and I took Jack to the baseball game. We had a nice time. I have spent a lot of time at Busch Stadium, as a lobbyist. There aren't a lot of entertainment opportunities in these parts, thank goodness for a major league team. In my previous life I would entertain in whatever company's suite box for any number of reasons, political fundraiser, caucus entertainment, you name it, we did it. It was fun. Free beer, free food, good connections. Weirdly social/business situations. What a weird career I chose. I digress. I spent a lot of time sitting in my suite perch watching the families enjoying the game and seeing the kids climb in the family pavilion area and wondering if I'd ever get to be a part of that type of fun. And now that I am, I really wouldn't choose to go back to the 'suite' life. J might, but I am very, very happy to be able to walk around with my little guy, outside of the suites as it were.
Jack had a great time. We ate pretzels, which I think was his favorite part. He also liked the unabashed yelling at the field. Of course. No shusshing.
We are in Day 5 or 6 of our first preschool cold. Eck. Caroline also broke through her front bottom teeth and is miserable. We are fully stocked on baby motrin and teething tablets. Brookie is starting to crawl and also really drooling, so will have her teeth as well soon. No one is sleeping through the night. In the evolution of the species, why, why is sleep deprevation part of the deal? Why is that necessary?
Career panic continues. Ah, well. What to do. As my great mentor always said, "You can have it all, just not all at once." And so she was right. Come on Contract!