Welcoming 2010

I had hoped to take the boys out to a kids' ball drop today, but we woke up to about an inch of ice. And although they plowed our road, by the time they did it was too late to get into town in time. So we improvised with our own.

Pierce overlooks the targeted area. 

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1....

Looking down to survey the damage

The aftermath.  I confess, we had to do ball drop again.  It was just too fun.

Well, to those of you who have exciting lives and such (you know, like actually having plans for New Year's Eve),

 Bottoms Up!

Oops, wrong bottom.

Happy New Year's!

Solo Run

I got to go for a run ALL BY MYSELF! My mom watched the boys for me. And I wasn't on the treadmill! And I wasn't pushing a stroller! 28 degrees never felt so refreshing.
I decided to run my favorite 6 mile loop, which passes lots of neat historic homes and is moderately hilly. I don't think I've run it since I was a few weeks pregnant.
And wouldn't you know it, a mile and a half in I ran into this:

I'm thinking this sign should be changed to say "NO BRIDGE"

I revised my route and still managed to enjoy the run. I hope that this bridge is repaired by the spring. I miss running Grandin!

Brotherly Love

Reid. He has such a big snuggly belly.

It's the type of belly you just want to bury your face in and blow raspberries.

The type of belly that is a bowl full of laughter.

Awww, snuggles.

But not for long. Reid knew Cort wouldn't be able to snuggle for more than about 30 seconds. Cort just always has to start some trouble.

Don't mess with me, Cort, I'm a lot bigger than you. And I was born first.

Pregnant with Twins, the Second Trimester

It's always such a nice thing to turn the corner into a new trimester when you're pregnant. The second trimester marked being 1/3rd of the way through to me, and of course, meant that the twins were likely to stick around. I got excellent results back from the nuchal fold scan and blood work, and the general preggonoia that accompanies pregnancy was somewhat in remission, other than some nervousness over having twins in general. I had to focus my preggonoia somewhere, so I started worrying about the c-section rates. From what I found online, 50% of twin pregnancies were c-sections. So I started looking for a doula. It was the only thing I could think of that would help me prevent a c-section (other than just generally trying to stay healthy). It turns out that many doulas will work with a mother having twins for free, just to get the experience. Apparently, there aren't very many moms-to-be of twins who are aiming for a natural birth. And so I found Crystal. She was sitting for an exam to receive her midwife certification right around my due date, and was eager for the experience of a twin birth. She was young, vivacious, glowing and such a positive presence that I knew she would be perfect.
Meanwhile, I had my 16 week appointment. My doctor gave ultrasounds every single visit. He said that he didn't feel the doppler was reliable with twins, so he wanted to actually see the hearts beating each time. I had no objections to that! And so it was that at my 16 week appointment I asked if he could tell the sexes yet. I confess that I'd been hoping for a girl in there somewhere. Dr. Harding announced that Baby A was a boy, and I could see it for myself on the ultrasound. I held out hope that Baby B would be a girl, but I could see for myself that it was not to be. I did feel a moment's disappointment, but that quickly changed over to enthusiasm as I thought of how close the three brothers would be.
16 weeks (click on picture to see full view):

With my waist band expanding so quickly, I did have a lot of pelvic aches and pains. But I continued to run until 20 weeks, with my doctor's blessing. At 20 weeks, he said, "You're really starting to worry me." This is because there is such a high risk of premature labor with twins. And when running, I would have lots of Braxton Hicks contractions (they actually started around 15 weeks, when I first started feeling movement). And so, I stopped running at the halfway point, in hopes of keeping myself and the twins healthy.
24 weeks:

By the end of the 2nd trimester, things were starting to get uncomfortable. I was sleeping (when I did sleep) with about 6 pillows. Paul called my pillows The Great Wall of China. But I must say, it wasn't nearly as bad as I'd expected. Truly, when I found out I was pregnant with twins I expected the worst, but so far, it hadn't been nearly as bad as my pregnancy with Pierce. The end of the 2nd trimester also marked the beginnings of a new worry. Baby B was breech. I began to pin all my hopes on him turning his little butt around before delivery day.
Click HERE to read about the third trimester.
Click HERE to read about the first trimester.

Oh, Brother!

Hey, Cort, I'm itchy!

Here, I'll help you.

Is it right here, Reid?

Thanks, Cort, can you do my back now?

A special thanks to Pam and George, for the cute matching fleeces. :-)

Namaste

Yeah yeah yeah, I know, VHS is sooo not cool. We do have a DVD player. I found this VHS at a thrift store last summer. It is such a fun kids' yoga (and we have several, but this is our favorite)
One thing I like about it is that it is so focused on making yoga fun rather than serious. They change all the names of the poses to be animals. And they make animal sounds to accompany the poses. So cobra becomes snake and they hiss like a snake. Pierce loves it.
It also talks about using yoga to let your anger out, which is something every toddler needs. And sometimes they run around and shake things up, so it is good for getting some energy out.

Namaste

Peter Pan Reid and The Shearing

Look at me!!

I CAN FLY!!

There are 3 things you need to give a toddler a haircut.
1.) Containment device. The high chair works well (if, like me, you don't have a straightjacket lying about).
2.) Yogurt covered raisins or cranberries as a bribe while you are chopping away.
3.) A complete ambivalence about the outcome.

Striders Run

We decided to head in to meet the group for a run this morning. Paul wanted to back out at the last minute but he persevered. So we trekked down all the ice on our driveway yet again. The twins got all snuggled up in their Tigger and Pooh suits for the run, because it was cold out this morning. In fact, I was to see two people wipe out on black ice during the run. Here is a picture of the five of us, weathershields over the strollers to keep out the wind.
This is Steve, Katie, and Paul. Steve is a track junkie. If it weren't for him, I would've never cut 15 minutes off my last marathon. He met me at the track during blistering 25* cold winds and brutally hot 95* temps. Week after week he talked me through mile repeats. He was the one doing all the talking...I was always just trying to gasp for air. But those track workouts really paid off. I can't believe I sort of miss it. Hopefully I'll get out there again this spring. And Katie just finished her first marathon in Charlotte. She broke 4 hours! So impressive for a first marathon!
Here are Ed and Joan, with their daughter Jamie (in town from Atlanta). I was hoping Joan would be running, but she and Jamie were headed out to visit family.
And this is Frank.
I think he's having one of those pre-run Zen moments.
As usual lately, I fell pitifully behind. And Reid cried forever. He hates wearing the tigger suit - but it really does keep him warm. Falling behind gave me a good chance to get a shot of some of the group headed back as they passed me.
I need to do some speedwork so I can start keeping up! I miss the banter of running with the others. Hopefully by spring.

The Parentals and Uncle-Aunt-alentals

Normally we would've headed to my parents' house on Christmas itself, but due to freezing rain we had to delay it one day. So we headed there today. Leaving the house is no small feat right now. The twins have to be dressed, fed, diapered. Pierce has to be dressed (with tantrum). Carseats. Diapers. Etc. To complicate matters, our long, windy, hilly driveway is still covered in snow and ice. Our vehicles can't make it up the driveway (not even the four wheel drive). So we have to lug ourselves, whatever junk we are toting, and the three kids down the driveway. Fun times. We made it out though.

I'm pretty sure my family is sitting around right now saying, "Do you think she's going to put us on the blog? I hope she doesn't put us on the blog."
Yup, folks, you're on the blog.

These are my parents, aka Cat Cat and Pop Pop. And Cort, keeping them busy. Cort likes to keep people busy. Because he must.be.entertained.at.all.times.
And here is my aunt and uncle, George and Pam. Pam is my father's sister. Note the hand, resting gently on Jackie (my parents' dog). Jackie knows a warm heart when she sees one. She knows exactly where to go. You see, Pam has this really beautiful laugh, and I think it's like music to doggie ears. It says, "Come here, and you will be loved and safe and petted. I know exactly where to scratch your ears".
My brother, Taylor, was with his wife and her family this Christmas. We definitely missed him, but are looking forward to meeting his new son in the very near future. But my young-er-est brother, John, was around. This is John.
Note the guitar. John and his guitar are attached. You could try to take it away from him. You could try really hard. But you would lose. And really, you wouldn't want to take it away, because he's pretty good.
Turns out that Cort, who likes to be entertained at all times (and by all means, you'd better not stop the entertaining for one second) loved watching John play the guitar. He tried to join in by playing with his socks, but it didn't work out too well. Cort would like John to come play the guitar for him in the middle of the night so that I can sleep. This is Cort's deepest lifelong dream.
A very good time was had by all (and oh my goodness was the food good), but here is the person who had the best time of all:
Look at him, just giddy over all the attention he got and ALL THE TOYS. He couldn't have had a better time if we'd taken him to Disneyland...and there wouldn't be nearly as much love there :-)

Merry Christmas!

We are weirdos that open our presents on Christmas Eve. Well, at least those of you that have more self-discipline and wait until Christmas think us weirdos. I got some really fun running stuff from Paul. Two new running movies Running the Sahara and A Race for the Soul (a documentary on Western States). I also got some Moeben running sleeves. You can put these on with a t-shirt in marginal weather, and then remove them so easily if you get too warm. And finally, a handmade Hawaiian running amulet. These are supposed to bring good running luck. All of these items came from zombierunner.com, which has the coolest stuff AND they always send you some free goodie with your shipment (this time some energizing ginger chews).
Cort spent Christmas Eve harassing Reid by grabbing on to his foot. He sure does like to pick on his brother. Cort and Reid didn't get much, as they spent their Christmas money on diapers, being the practical babies that they are. But they did have fun in the aftermath.
Pierce and I made chocolate spritz cookies for Santa. Here he is carefully carrying them to the tree, hoping not to dump them on the floor.
After Pierce went to bed, Santa came and got out all his trains. He set up this spread with materials that Pierce already had, plus a few new additions. And then the whole thing was taken over by dinosaurs. They even got into the crumbs that Santa left behind.

When Pierce found it this morning, he said, "Daddy built a train track!" Paul said, "No, Santa built it" and Pierce said in Valley Girl voice, "Nooooooooo, Daddy built it". Oh well. Maybe next year he will believe in Santa...
Merry Christmas :-)

Finding My Snow Legs

I got a very nice early Christmas present. Paul drove the tractor down the old road to pack down the snow enough so I could run. The 'old road' is actually an old dirt logging road from the 70s that runs through the woods of our property. It's wonderful for running, but the snow was too deep until Paul packed it down for me.
Scooter was delighted to accompany me. Can you find me in this picture? Even trickier...where's Scooter (hint...he's much faster than me!)?
The uneven surfaces of the tractor tires gave me quite a workout - both in my legs and my lungs. It was very slow going, but envigorating.

I love the crunch crunch sound of my trail shoes (Montrails) in snow.
We have continued working our way through The House at Pooh Corner. In celebration, Reid put on his tigger costume. I think Pierce was a little jealous that he didn't have one. He did fall asleep in the rocking chair, though, little stuffed Pooh in hand. Seems that no matter how big he actually gets, he'll always be my baby.

Merry Christmas Eve :-)