The middle name thing

Got tagged by Arizona...so here is my middle name thing. I'm using "anne" because I definitely do NOT want to use my maiden name...who would if their maiden name was as long as Kirschenheiter...

Here are the rules:

You must post the rules before you give your answers. You must list one fact about yourself for each letter of your middle name. Each fact must begin with that letter. If you don't have a middle name, just use your maiden name. After you've been tagged, you need to up-date your blog with your middle name and answers. At the end of your post, you need to tag one person for each letter of your middle name. (Be sure to leave them a comment telling them they've been tagged and need to read your blog for details).

A- Arc welding is something most people can safely say they have never done. Not me! I did arc welding in my machine shop class at Maritime. Along with metal work using a lathe, oxyacetaline cutting, case hardening etc. etc.

N- Naval architecture was my first college major and I spent two years at SUNY Maritime College in the Bronx studying it. I still love everything about ships and their inner workings, but I left the field to pursue writing. Silly me.

N- Nature lover here! I attended Department of Environmental Conservation education camps when I was younger and I still love hiking and climbing in our state parks. We have a bunch of them. I loved camping and hope to take the girls on camping trips when they are older.

E- Eric, my husband, and I met at our Tae Kwon Do school. We both attended the school together for MANY years before we even noticed each other. Actually he noticed me and asked a bunch of times if I would go to eat with him. I kept saying NO until our school owner's wife pushed and pushed and I said yes. The rest is history, as they say!

That's all. I have to figure out who I can tag. Most likely everyone blogger I know has already BEEN tagged...so I might not be able to tag anyone!! :-)

Trying out a Wordless Wednesday!

The pediatrician

Today was our February RSV shot appointment and I had forgotten how HEAVY it is to carry two babies in their carriers, along with a diaper bag that kept falling off my shoulder until I put it over my head -- where it proceeded to strangle me instead. Then the pediatrician's office can't have one entrance door, NO it has to have one door then a SECOND door to the right, so I have to bang into walls getting through the two of them and there is no chance the girls would remain asleep after I do that!

I get there 15 minutes early -- and end up waiting over half an hour because the previous baby has asthma and the doctor had to describe how to use the nebulizer thingy, and call the pharmacy, and so on and so forth. So I had my girls sitting on blankets on the bench because they were NOT about to sit in their carriers quietly for half an hour! I didn't let them touch anything but their blanket. When it was our turn, I lugged them into the office and learned I was now lugging 44 pounds of baby around, as they each weigh 22 pounds!

THe RSV dose they need now is large, so they get it in two shots. One in each arm. And when I'm trying to hold two babies, one who is getting shots, it isn't that easy. I gave Lily to the receptionist, Anna, to hold while we finished up with Eve. And now we have to go BACK next week bcause the snow prevented the lab from picking up blood samples so the girls didn't get their 9-month blood draw. UGH.

I got some samples of formula, the Enfamil concentrated liquid, and then had to figure out how to add THAT to my load when I was leaving. Thankfully a pharmaceutical rep was there and offered to carry it and open the doors for me. That was VERY nice! I wish more people were nice like that! I drow home in the HUGE snowflake flurries, which got heavier as we went. Now it is really snowing and I'm glad I don't have anywhere else to go. The babies aren't that grouchy, considering they got RSV shots. YAY I might give them a nice warm bath later and sit down and read or something. But right now, food...must make me some food. A pic...for you loyal readers.

Lily wouldn't fall asleep so I gave her a toy mirror to play with. I went back in a few minutes later and found her like this. I guess maybe she felt like she was sleeping with Eve?? :-)

Contemplation and Coolness

Pics speak for themselves...

Contemplation. She sure looks like she's thinking hard about something to me...(it's Lily...)




And Miss Coolness. (Eve at the nursing home visiting her great-grandmother)

Bounce away!

Hah, Lily likes the Johnny Jump Up thing! She took a few tries before she got the hang of the jumping but she seems to enjoy it now. Eve still hangs there, or rather spins in circles, and will eventually start to cry. It might just take a few more tries, or she might not like it at all. Here is Lily enjoying her new toy:



And some cute pics for your enjoyment, since I finally got around to uploading them from the camera! First is Eve, eating a toy as usual.


Second is just a cute Lily!

Eating and sleeping

Our girls have taken NO interest in holding their bottles. Today they took to baby food like it was the last food on earth finally. Usually they spit it all out. So it looks like they are ready. They are almost 7 months adjusted age, so it's about time, right? They just snacked on 1/2 a jar of rice cereal and applesauce. Eve would launch herself forward to get to the spoon. Lily just sat and waited, but kept pulling my HAND forward when I wasn't fast enough. They are not too messy anymore either so that's a good sign. I gave them 8 ounces this morning at 11 a.m when they decided to wake up finally. Then at 2:30 they got their half jar each and now they are playing. I'll offer them a 6 ounce bottle at 3:30 or so and see what they take. Our prob is the girls NEVER refuse a bottle or only drink part they drink they wholllllllle thing. And we already know for preemies they are big. Not obese big, but already caught up in size and in a higher percentile even for their actual age. So we worry they eat tooo much if you let them just go at it. I'll try giving them some peas for dinner. They tolerate squash, sweet potatoes, rice cereal, applesauce and carrots so far.

I've been surprised by their sleeping habits. Eve will go to bed at 10:30 and sleep until 11 the next morning without whining. Lily, on the other hand, wants to stay up til 1 a.m. and then will sleep until 11. I like the sleeping later sometimes but I think they are sleep a LOT at night. But even if I wake them up earlier, they don't go to sleep any better. Maybe they're just going through a phase or something. I'm clueless when it comes to sleeping and eating norms. And my ped isn't the best with advice. He's the "get-em-in-and-out" kind of appointments and I don't like it. As soon as we finish up the RSV season we are swtiching peds.

On the standing up, our girls love to stand up when you hold their hands (or their shirts). If you pull on their arms, they don't go into a sitting position they stand up. They both like sitting on the floor between pillows. They dont need the pillows much, but they scream if they hit the floor when the fall over, so this avoids them. They take toys away from each other now, but they don't really really play with each other. They do make noises at each other from across the room in bouncys sometimes which is cute. They each have two teeth. We haven't thought about anything SOLID yet, like finger stuff. I don't think they are ready for that! Some people I talk to on message boards are trying bananas and stuff already.

No signs of crawling yet. Sometimes I think they might go, but nope. Eve rolls all over. Lily just kind hangs out. I'd like them to crawl but at the same time, maybe not. It'd be nice so they can reach the toys they toss away but then I have to get the gate up and make sure they can't get anywhere dangerous.

Wake UP!

Since both girls seem to be REALLY awake at their bedtime, I am going to try to get them up earlier in the morning. Apparently they are sort of up around 9:30, but don't CRY until 10:30 sometimes 11 now. They fall back asleep! And i think that might be making them stay up later and later, which is becoming a problem. So I went in and got them this morning at 9:30 and they are eating now at 10. Instead of up at 10:30, eating at 11. The hour might help, who knows. They seem happy about it. Tonight will probably tire them out anyway because Eric and I are going out somewhere for Valentines Day and dropping them off at their grandparents' house. So it is going to be a long night for them (and us...) We aren't sure where we are going yet but we'll find something.

Right now I have to get the place semi-cleaned up for when (or if at this point) the hazard insurance claims adjuster comes to check out our water damage. We had a mini-Niagara Falls in the house. This one wall, which is partially redone, has a cascade of water running through it. If we hadn't had a piece of sheetrock off still, we would only have see the water seeping through the joints and not the extent of how MUCH water is really running through the wall. It was literally a constant drip that filled about 6 full sized bath towels during the day yesterday before it slowed down. And this is drenching 100+ year old wood framing! So I called the insurance company, because it is OBVIOUSLY a roof leak. They said to get a contractor in here and fix the leak (patch, whatever) asap. Of course the company I've contacted has YET to call me back. If they don't respond by noon or 1ish, I am going to have to call someone else. ERic's father is a contractor, but we're afraid having the same last name as the contractor we hire might jeopardize the claim or something. I'M worried that not getting the leak fixed NOW is going to jeopardize it. We probably have like 48 hours from the leak's discovery or some crazy, impossible-to-obey rule like that. It be so LIKE the insurance industry.

Anyway, the girls are playing on the floor between a bunch of pillows. It's the best way to keep them from toppling. They CAN sit up for a long time, but if they get overzealous they fall over and bang their head and get upset and I might as well build them a pillow-fort! If I locate the camera cable, I COULD post pictures. But I can't seem to find it right now.