service

I really look forward to weekends because Lonnie is home, and I am no longer outnumbered by the babies. Thankfully the kiddos are pretty low key given their age, but there certainly are times during the long week that I wish for a second set of hands and more often when I wish for adult conversation and a break from being the only one responsible for the social, intellectual, physical, and spiritual welfare of my children.

The past several weekends, Lonnie has been away from home helping with post Hurricane Ike cleanup. Our area was not as seriously affected by the hurricane as other areas not too far away, where there is a lot of work that needs to be done. Lonnie has gone to Galveston and Bridge City to help muck out houses and remove debris caused by the hurricane and the rising flood waters. Due to the fact that Lonnie is also the Elder's Quorum President at church, he has also spent many weeknights on the phone organizing volunteers for the weekend work.

It has been hard having him busy and gone, and I have found myself complaining about the time that he could be spending with the family even though I know that the service he offers in important and necessary. I have always considered myself a service-oriented person, but now when faced with having to share my husband, I have am having a hard time being able to give.

I have realized what is most upsetting is that I can't go and help along side Lonnie. I can't dig through debris and nurse my babies at the same time. I can't be a mother and be on the front lines in a disaster. The service that I offer now is the same service that I offer day in and day out, I care for my children. While I do not in anyway discount this service and its value, it is yet a significant adjustment for the activities I was previously involved in.

I had always assumed that I would be able to put my baby in a sling and take my children along on my service-oriented adventures, but I didn't expect motherhood to be so all consuming. I didn't expect that I would be so tired all the time. And I didn't expect to have two babies at once.

Maybe, as my children get a little older and I get a little more skilled at mothering, I will be able to again venture out into the world and find ways to be involved and allow the kids to also be involved in service, but in the meantime I need to do some adjusting. I need to more willingly and happily allow my husband to leave me on the weekends and offer the service that I can not offer myself.

So how do you combine service and motherhood? Has this adjustment been a surprise to anyone else? Please share with me your wisdom.

Guatemala women's group: pre-marriage, pre-motherhood.

conference weekend

Max only stayed this way for a few seconds but it sure looks cute.

We had a nice and relaxing conference Sunday. Lonnie spent Saturday helping with Ike cleanup so we were all looking forward to having a quiet day at home together. The kids were getting a little bit fussy during conference and I was tired, so Lonnie strapped both babies into the carriers and danced around the room to keep them entertained. It was pretty impressive. Too bad it took both of us to get the kids in and out of the carriers or I would have a new work out method.

i'm a winner

I have to admit that I am am behind in the blogging world. I didn't even know that you could win things on other people's blogs. Thanks to Melissa and Marci for keeping me in the know...
I am also late in getting this post up, but I wanted to thank Jenna at Sweet Baby Creations for these great diaper clutches that I won on SuperMom Central. Jenna was even sweet enough to not only send me just one but two, one for each baby. They each hold a couple of diapers and wipes and even a small cloth changing pad. The best thing about having two diaper clutches is that when I send one of the kids with Lonnie I can just toss him one of these and he is set to go.

Thanks Jenna and Supermom Central!

i love mommy/daddy

I think I've found my new favorite outfits. Thanks Cathy!
The babies are starting to sit up with support. They can't stay up for long, even on the couch, but they are starting to really enjoy being able to see what is going on around them.

house of babies

Today we got together with women from church who have babies around the same age as Maya and Max. Thirteen babies (and a couple of older kids) were at our house today. There were even at least 3-5 other babies missing.

Just the little ones. (Click on the photo to see better resolution)

Max seems a little unsure of all the craziness.

This was the best one I got of the entire group...

top from left to right: Max and Maya, (both 4 1/2 months), Megan (3 months), Ian (4 months), Elinor (8 months), George 4 months), Anna (5 months)
bottom: Zane (11 months) Brooklynn and Katelynn (also twins- 8 months), Brooke (11 months), Olivia 8( months)

Max and Maya checking out the other kids.

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.