vampire babies

My kids have become finger, thumb and sometimes double fist suckers. Lonnie says it is due to the fact that they are now breastfeeding they have developed a taste for flesh.

I think it might have something to do with the fact that Maya has such a great, long tongue.

tag team twins

Sometimes I think having twins is just wonderful. I've wanted to be a mother for a long time and suddenly I am a mother to not one but two babies, what a blessing. In someways mothering twins is really nice. They seem to like to play near each other and there is almost always a baby available for snuggling when I am in the mood. For the most part we are even able to keep them on the same schedule, so that I am able to get things done around the house and get a little bit of rest myself. But there are also some difficulties, the hardest of which I like to call "tag team twins". It usually happens when I am home alone and they can sense my vulnerability.

Different versions of tag team twins:

• I will think the kids are doing fine and are happily and quietly getting ready for a nap when one of them starts to scream. Then the other one joins in. Soon it is a happy chours of screaming babies.
• The babies are in their car seats in the front and back double-snap-and-go stroller. Max falls asleep and naps as we enter the grocery store. Finally as we are about the leave the grocery store Maya finally falls asleep. Within seconds, as if on a magic cue, Max wakes up and is ready to play.
• It is evening time and the babies are getting fussy. I am holding Maya while Max is happily playing. Max starts screaming. Maya calms down so I put her down and pick up Max, who settles down just as soon as Maya starts screaming.
• Best of all is when after we have put the babies down for nap and one of them is fussing. We decided to give them ten minutes to fuss before we try to sooth them again. After ten minutes the baby is still crying so I head up stairs only to find out that the baby who had been fussy is sound asleep and the baby we though was sleeping is the one fussing. We have no idea when the exchange because the transition was seamless.
  

Kids, you are amazing. We applaud your ability to collaborate...now go to sleep, mom is tired.

photos from ike

This photo is of the closet that we camped out in. Thankfully it was big enough for all four of us when Lonnie wasn't rolling me off the side of the bed. We had everything we needed just in case we needed to stay put for a little while. I thought about putting up wallpaper to make it look a little more homey but I decided it was overkill. :)

The back ard at our friend's house. What you can't see is the pool that is under the tree limbs.

The great group of youth who came over to help clean out the Weber's pool. Maya and Max were the supervisors.

Getting the pool cleaned up. They did a great job!

jeans and t's

Thanks to Ann Hinckley Stucki for these cute t-shirts she sent the babies.  They had their first day of wearing jeans and t-shirts.  I think they look pretty cute.  Yes, these kiddos were worth the wait.

We went to our 4 month check-up on Friday.  Maya weighs 12 lbs 13 oz and Max weighs 12 lbs 10 oz.  Most impressive is that they went through a serious growth spurt while exclusively breastfeeding.  It has been a long road, but we have finally made it.  

power

Our power came back on sometime yesterday afternoon. We were at the Hatfields until late the evening. When we came home someone had already cleaned up our lawn and piled up the limbs and leaves near the drive way. This morning we were told that someone from our church had cleaned not only our year but also the yards of several of our neighbors. Our neighbor Kelly, who had been in the city bringing food and ice to an older couple who had a tree in the middle of her house, said she was prectically in tears when she saw that her yard had been cleaned while she was out taking care of someone else. We still aren't sure who it was that was so kind to come over and help out. Thank you so much for your kindness.

Lonnie now out cleaning up the yard. The Weber's pool and yard still need a lot of work, but we thankfully the hard things have been done. We just need to get a lot of leaves out of the bottom of the pool and clean up their yard.

Also the blessing of an unusually cool weather front has come through the area, which is such a blessing to those still with out power.

still no power

We are still without power, but staying with our friends the Hatfields who thankfully have welcomed us into their home. Church was canceled today due to lack of power at the building. Several people got together at our friends the Weber's home to cut apart a large thee that had fallen into their pool. People have pulled together to meet every one's needs.

Due to the lack of power there are a lot of people siting on front porches, lounging on lawn chairs in drive ways and gathering neighbors together at the houses that do have power. Yesterday we spent time getting to better know neighbors that we are always meaning to spend time with but always putting off for another day. We didn't worry about getting anything done other than just spending time together and enjoying their cool air-conditioned house.

Houston is a city built on air conditioning. It is hot and humid and most houses are built to keep the cool air trapped inside. I love fresh air and open doors but here in the gulf coast I keep my windows and doors tightly shut to avoid even more costly utility bills. Maybe we should have power-down days more often, where we keep or doors open and visit with or neighbors and offer support, comfort, friendship and a glass of lemon aid.

But I still really miss my air-conditioned house.

after ike

We made it through our first Texas hurricane.  It was a pretty long and crazy night with lots of wind and rain.  We are have been with out power since about 3am this morning.  Some of our neighbors thankfully have power and have invited us to hang out part of today.  

The house did not have any damage.  We lost a fence that also knocked out the water for several house.  Lots of trees in the area and down, but we only lost a few small branches.  

We are still hearing stories about other parts of Houston, many that sustained much more serious damage.  

We are grateful to be safe.

another ike update

We still amazingly have power and internet. We went to sleep at about 9:30pm. I'm not sure what time the winds and rain started but it winds are blowing pretty strongly. It looks like the big part of the storm will be coming past soon. All is well and the babies are still asleep, safe and sound in the closet. The electricity just flashed off and on again.

We are currently under Hurricane Warning, River Flood warming, Flood Watch and a Tornado Watch.

ike update

Most of our neighbors have lost power, but our lights are still holding out. The winds are getting stronger, but still no rain. The sunset was beautiful and red.

there's a hurricane blowing our way

We woke up this morning to blue skies that are slowly turning turning gray and Ike is on his way. We are under a hurricane warming and a flood watch. It is just starting to get a little bit breezy right now, but the storm shouldn't really hit until 1am.

We aren't in the mandatory of voluntary evacuation areas so we are staying put at our house. Most of our friends and neighbors are also staying put.

Thankfully we have just about everything we need to hunker down for a couple of days in case the power goes out or there is flooding. We have also set up a temporary shelter for us and the kids in a large upstairs closet. We took down the hammock in the backyard moved anything that might get caught up in the wind.

Thankfully we didn't need to go to the grocery store of fill up with gas at the last minute. We were told that lots of gas stations ran out of gas and lines at the grocery store were pretty long.

If you want to track the weather for our neighborhood you can check on http://weather.com. Our zip code is 77450. It Another good resource for tracking the storm is http://www.wunderground.com/tropical/tracking/at200809.html