I Do Believe in Fairies

It turns out that raising three little girls takes up more time and energy than a mission around the moon and what I'm left with at the end of the day is about enough to eat a bowl of ice cream and watch a favorite tv show without falling asleep 50% of the time. Writing a journaling blog of the cute things those girls are doing just hasn't made the cut of things to get done in the day. Then so much time passes that it's just embarrassing to write something and try to cover all that you've missed. So, I'll work on mostly current, and try to keep up.

Early in October Disney released Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue. This movie entered our home and immediately captured Hope's heart, which in turn captured Andrew's heart as well. On their next walk to the lake

near our home, they found branches and leaves and flowers and made a Fairy house. Soon our home was overrun with Fairy houses as well. Not long after that, Grandma Dori bought three fairy dresses and Andrew wanted to surprise Hope with hers down at the Lake (by their Fairy House) and then in turn have her find dresses for Joy and Grace in our own yard. Here's the note that Tinker Bell wrote:

I had a clever Halloween costume for all the girls, but Hope had become so enraptured with Tinker Bell that she started telling her preschool teacher that she was going to be Tinker Bell for Halloween and the rest is history. So, for Halloween, Hope was Tinker Bell, and Joy and Grace were also Fairies - I think Hope called them Rosetta and Silvermist. We had a Halloween party with the local twin mom group and I think half the party was made up of Fairies. Our cousin, Giselle, even ended up in a fairy costume when we went trick or treating on Piedmont Avenue in Oakland. I don't know how long the magic of fairies will last, but it's delightful to see Hope enjoying something with her sisters.

"Multiples" of fairies
(terrible background editing, but a cute shot with all the girls)

Ready for the some trick or treating

After Piedmont Avenue activities, enjoying our loot

Speaking of Hope and her sisters - they mimic her so much. Today she was clever enough to stand on a basket and plop herself into a chair. Immediately, both Joy and Grace had to try the trick as well. Just yesterday, Grace mastered clearly saying, "Hope." They are all three growing so fast. It's hard to keep up.

Lake Temescal Summer Fun

We adventured to the beach swimming at Lake Temescal this week. It was Grace and Joy's first sandy beach/lake experience and they loved it. We've been hitting the pool and getting comfortable in the water and they were great. Hope had lots of fun getting completely sandy. Instead of the seagulls eating our food at the ocean, we had ducks that came by our blanket to see what scraps they could get. I liked it better than the ocean, because the water was warm and the girls could go in easily, there wasn't an undertoe that we had to worry about with the kids, and the weather was perfect!

Summer Is On Its Way

Mandy has this great practice of playing on her patio in swimsuits on hot days. Hope has been over to her house recently on a couple of our hot spring days, and she thinks she must change into her suit too. Here are all the girls enjoying playing in their swimsuits. Thanks, Grandma Linda, for the water table - it's so much fun! We are looking forward to enjoying it all summer long.

Dr. Seuss Birthday Theme - Thing One and Thing Two

I had so much fun with this "Thing One and Thing Two" theme for the twins' birthday party. In case you can't recall, Thing One and Thing Two are from Dr. Seuss' "Cat in the Hat" book, but we rounded the party out with all kinds of Seuss. Because we mostly had adults (they're the ones I owe big thanks to for help during the first year) I made tags with names of Dr. Seuss books to put on people's backs for them to ask 'yes or no' questions to guess what book was on their back. Many of us realized just how many Dr. Seuss books are that we forgot about. I also had pictures of the twins during their first year hanging from paper lanterns and the other game we had was to put the pictures in chronological order. My niece, Jackie, got six out of ten right and she won a goldfish (remember the fish in the bowl from "Cat in the Hat" - he was at the party too). I put together favors with a blank Dr. Seuss mini-book, bookmark, and mechanical pencil. I found a fun idea for centerpieces online that had Gerber Daisies and a brightly colored boa - very Seuss-like. Thanks to Tracy for making a fun Cat in the Hat cake - I can't believe I managed to miss taking a picture, I really meant to. She took the idea and ran with it and I loved her finished product. She also made individual "Thing One" and "Thing Two" cakes for each twin. The cake was Red Velvet Cake and went with the bright colors we had for the party. Joy and especially Grace very much enjoyed the cake - they started a little timid but we're very thrilled by the end, Grace even managed to get it in her hair. I also had Grandma Dori make special shirts for the girls out of Thing One and Thing Two fabric, very sweet. (Mom and Dad both had Cat in the Hat shirts too!) Oh, and I couldn't forget to thank Stephanie for her photography - it was such a beautiful day that everything looked so vibrant and beautiful. Her candid shots were excellent!

Happy 1st Birthday, Joy and Grace

One year ago today, our precious Joy and Grace arrived and changed our world. It was definitely challenging in the beginning, but I had so much support that I can't help but feel incredibly blessed. Grandma Dori has been so helpful with cooking among so many other things; Grandma Linda stayed with us for the first month (or so) after they were born - and would even sleep with a baby and help with night feedings. This year really has flown by and there have been many delightful points. Many people at my church were supportive with holding babies and giving me a break. The Thorsen Family have become especially dear to my heart for all the love and cuddles they've given to Joy and Grace (and all the breaks they've given me). I'm sure this first year would have been much more difficult without them.

Sleep in Heavenly Peace

And isn't it just heavenly, when your little angels are sleeping? I admit, there is a tiny pang of guilt at just how much joy I feel when my girls are sleeping. We recently decided to toss out the vacant crib and toddler bed, and just go for one big bed for all the girls. I think it's working out well so far. I go in and out of the bed during the night to nurse the twins, who seem more interested in nursing in the night than during the day. They are seeming to nurse less and less during the day. I know it'd probably be good to work on night weaning - if anybody knows of a way to do this without causing a lot of turmoil - I'm open to suggestions.

ANGELA WINS GOLD IN HOPE/BABY RELAY

Tonight for the first time Angela won a gold medal in the Hope/Baby relay. Let me recap the action.

Its 9:21 at night, the opening bell is sounded, Hope gets out of bed upstairs and makes a faint sound. Angela has sharp ears from competing in this event many times, she knows immediately what’s at stake. She springs to her feet determined to get to Hope before she fully wakes up, cries, and wakes the Twins, creating a trifecta of awake children at 9:21.

Angela turns and performs the dangerous Baby Chuck by tossing Grace 3 feet laterally into my arms. Too risky you say? What mother throws her sleeping baby 3 feet into the arms of her clumsy and sleepy husband? One who is trying for the Gold Metal. A woman who knows what’s at stake. God gave us twins for a reason, so we’d have a spare, we can take these kinds of risks.

Then without hesitating this fearless competitor spins, slides across our hardwood floor, nimbly dodging a pink shopping cart, a pink dollhouse and 2 pink purses, she reaches the stairs in record time.

Now Angela vaults over the ottoman blocking the stairway from crawling babies, and she is now at the most difficult part of the track. The silent stair run. Many a past competitor has run up the stairs, only to wake the baby sleeping in the pink crib next to the stairs. Many competitors have also walked quietly up the stairs, only to reach Hope too late, after she has awoken fully and started crying.

Angela performs the silent run, maintaining a full run up the stairs without making any loud sounds. With the agility of a shoulin monk, she reaches the top of the stairs before Hope, and without waking any children. She scoops Hope into her arms and soothes her back to sleep.

The time is now 9:21:17:05

Gold Medal.

--Andrew