Two Babies is No Joke!

My brain has turned to mush, my arms are always full of babies, and my body is no longer my own.

When people call I can't answer because there are babbling little men that might let out a discontented cry at any moment. I can rarely text because it feels dangerous to juggle babies and a phone (plus i usually can't think straight long enough to type a sentence on those little buttons), forget emails, and at this point I can only "like" things on Facebook because it only requires the click of a button. It's a great achievement when I can just copy and paste something.

So now I am choosing to nap with babies during the day in hopes that I can put the babies to bed at night and get a solid hour of quiet uninterrupted alone time. The bedroom, which is usually the sunniest room in our house now stays dark all day long awaiting those precious naps that can occur anytime between the hours of 10am and 4pm.

The babies are always changing and I have yet to adapt to chameleon status. As soon as I become accustom to their new patterns they grow and become more human while I remain befuddled and delve deeper into motherhood.

A few days ago my mother stayed in the car with the babies while I ran into the grocery store to pick up a butternut squash. I felt light as a feather as I joyously floated through the isles, trying to think of more things to buy so I could stay in the store a little longer. As I cruised through the dairy isle looking at all the things I can't have, my eyes caught two pairs of little purple pants in a double stroller. (Since I found out I was having twins they seem to follow me whenever I leave the house.) High on my moment of babyless freedom, I stopped to commiserate; it is an unwritten law that any mother of twins who sees another mother of twins must stop and share words of encouragement. Her twins were 14 months old and seemed to be having a good day. I must have looked tired and buzzed on adrenaline as I told her about my babies because she just kind of smirked and reassuringly said "It will get loads easier at the 6 month and 9 month mark, you'll see, it will be amazing I promise.".  It was the best thing anyone had said to me in weeks.

For the past month or so I have slowly become overwhelmed mentally and physically. I wear and hold a baby all day long... all day long. Usually the biggest break I get is to just have one baby to take care of on and off in the evenings when Matthew comes home. It got to the point where I wasn't taking care of myself, not because I didn't care, but because I felt like I didn't have the luxury of doing anything for myself for more than 5 minutes. Luckily I have supportive good people in my life that I was able to talk to and trust to help me with the babies. Now I feel a lot better about things and I'm more vocal about asking for help. When I get some productive time to myself I am able to welcome with open arms the glorious full spectrum of parenthood. It's getting better every day but it's not perfect. I may be more vocal about asking for alone time but that doesn't mean I can always get it and I still feel guilty asking for it even though I know it makes a world of difference.

Putting the babies to bed tonight we had a moment between their goodnight feedings. I've never been looked at so contently before or felt so openly loved and adored. In that moment I knew for sure that the universe gave me two at once for a reason. It might be just for them or it might be for everyone, but I know this challenge that life has given me is the greatest thing I'll ever do. It makes me want to get it right, and that's a lot of pressure. What's "right" anyway?

Two babies is no freakin joke!

Welcome Autumn!

Last month Phish put on a benefit concert for the flood victims of Vermont at the Champlain Valley Expo Center in Essex, VT. The last time Phish played in Vermont was their farewell concert in Coventry back in 2004. Matthew and I went to a family wedding in western New York and missed that sad muddy weekend. But thankfully they cleaned up their act and got back together! We were pretty stoked to hear that Phish was playing in VT again.

Now that we have babies there is a little more thought into the planning of such adventures. Our friend Aurora suggested silicone earplugs for the babies because they are still too young to wear the noise canceling headphones for kids. I also packed Matthew's sweet hiking hip pack that holds 2 water bottles to carry diaper supplies and extra onsies.

The babies and I had a good feeding session before getting in the van and they slept the whole way up. It was amazing and relaxing. The day was beautiful out and we could see the Adirondacks and Green Mountains on either side of us and we drove up 22A to northern Vermont. I even got some knitting out of the way.

The whole day was terrific. There was no stopped traffic getting in and once we got there we found our friends fairly quickly. We wore the babies in our slings and got ready to go.

The family & Joe heading into the Phish show. The bottle I'm holding
is raspberry ginger ale.

Alby & Aurora, they came all the way from Boston & NYC to see the show.

I think everyone was a little over joyous that not only were they going to see Phish in VT but they were supporting a good cause as well.












There were lots of people siked to see the babies there. We kept getting head nods, thumbs up, and whispers "babies first Phish show, right on!"

Ezekiel waiting in line 

We tried to sit in the grandstands at first but then realized the roof trapped all the smoke from the concert goers and held in all the sound too. We were worried the babies were going to have a hard time so we quickly moved on to the back side of the crowd where we found all the other families. There was plenty of room to dance and breathe. Eventually we got the rest of the group to migrate over to us. I remember a few years ago wanting to be as close to the stage as possible, but I've learned that it's so much nicer to be with friends where there's room to shake it and it's not so loud we loose our voices talking to each other.

Super fun amazing friends 

They played all my favorite old songs. I felt like I was driving around town on a Saturday night with friends back in 1998. Here's the set list if you're into that sort of thing:

Phish @ Champlain Valley Exposition, Essex Junction, VT 9/14/11

Set 1: Chalk Dust Torture, The Moma Dance > NICU, Funky Bitch, Sample in a Jar, Cavern, Bathtub Gin, Alaska > Possum, Wolfman’s Brother > Julius
Set 2: Carini[1] > Down with Disease[1] > Slave to the Traffic Light > Rock and Roll > Twist > Backwards Down the Number Line, Theme From the Bottom > Suzy Greenberg > Character Zero
Encore: Loving Cup

It was so much fun :-)

Lake Sunappee in July

So now that August is almost over I thought I'd add some pictures that were taken in July. I was holding out because I wanted to add some detail but haven't felt inspired or found the time. Twins are exhausting! So here are some pictures with captions:

This is Briar, our noble steed with Michelle & Matthew in the kitchen

back porch, lake Sunapee, NH

Joanna getting ready for the bbq

Ayla and her brother Jacob 

Mia feeding her cousin

Matthew & Xander

Michelle showing Mia how to hold Zeke

Liz with her lovely babies

Play time. The hula hoops were a big hit.

Blueberry picking up the road!

So many blueberries!!!

We found a fairy house on the way home!

Mom's 55th birthday cake! Gluten free peach upside-down cake. Delicious!!!

Bacon & Babies in the morning

The "Estate"

The Corinne-Aurora Clan

Mom & her friend Nancy

Long time no post.

A lot of fun & summer has gone by since my last entry. A few days after the drive-in we went down to Bethel Woods (where Woodstock was held) and saw the Dead. I wanted the babies first show to be special and I couldn't think of a more perfect way to introduce them to the scene. Before the show we went into the woodstock museum, which takes about 4 hours to really soak in, according to the museum volunteers. We definitely plan on going back just for the museum. Matthew put it most appropriately as he passed the threshold: "Corinne, this is our Graceland". It was one of those moments when you realize your partner understands you more that you know.

It was a beautiful day, the crowd was chill, and the venue was pristine. We found a great spot up on the hill where the music wasn't too loud and there were other families dancing around with their kids under the shade of the perfectly landscaped trees. It was a great show and an amazing day. The babies even slept most of the way there and back, which is pretty outstanding for a 3 hour trip.

Hanging out in the shade of our sweet minivan, waiting for the show to begin.

This is the land that surrounds the amphitheater. There were no fences to keep us out, we were free to roam as we pleased. Well, not exactly. There were peace police driving around keeping concert goers corralled but we got the go-ahead because I was breastfeeding. It was pretty great getting that kind of special treatment. 

Stationery card

The birth announcements are finished!

Crisp White Noir Birth Announcement

Find hundreds of cute baby birth announcements at Shutterfly.com.

View the entire collection of cards.

Harry Potter the finale...

The night felt epic. The weather was perfect, the full moon illuminated the clear night sky, and we were going to the drive-in!

It was crowded and even though we were early, we had the nosebleed seats. It was the first time I had been to a drive-in in almost a decade. I remember the screen being bigger...

The movie was final and monumental. I left feeling sad and mildly fulfilled. Matthew made popcorn with black pepper and salt. It was really good. We sat in the front seat of the minivan each with a nursing pillow and a baby. They seemed to really enjoy hanging out with us in the car when they weren't passed out.

Because the movie was at midnight we didn't get home until 3a.m.. The babies random feeding cues had me in and out of sleep until 11a.m.. It was totally worth it and I intend on seeing it at the theater in 2D and 3D now if I can swing it.

The drive-in was amazing but the closure I was anticipating didn't really happen. Over the past few days I have considered rereading all the books and have already seen the Sorcerer's Stone, Chamber of secrets, and about to watch The Prisoner of Azkaban. I'll let you know how it goes. Honestly I don't think I'm ready to say good-bye to this addictive series.

The Perfect Place

Oh my goodness! Yesterday was over 90 degrees and super muggy. A good friend of ours called up and invited us to his property for a swim. There are two ponds on his land and I never considered swimming in either of them. Usually when I think of swimming in a pond the first thing that comes to mind is slime and lots of plants on the bottom that tickle my feet and make me paranoid that some weird creature is going to take a bite out of my foot. But it felt like the air was on fire and there was no way I was leaving the house unless water was involved so I took a chance.

IT WAS AMAZING!

The water was perfect. Not too cold but refreshing so that you just didn't want to get out. I wore my chocos so the little bit of mush at the bottom didn't even bother me. The pond is man made so there were specifically dug out areas where it was either waist deep or straight down 10 feet, perfect for diving. I love swimming and I love the water. Except murky water, I have an unnatural fear of weird vicious animals lurking in murky water. This pond was exceptionally see-through.

It was so hot outside we decided to take a chance with the babies and see if they liked the pond too. I don't know if they loved it but they seemed to find it refreshing.

I'm so glad we went to the pond! It turned a sweltering day into a wonderful one.

Grandma's here!

I made it through the night with the babies all by myself! 

It wasn't as hard as I thought it might be. I even figured out how to comfortably wear both babies using two sleepy wraps at once. Yesterday while waiting for my mom to come visit from New Hampshire I took the babies and Briar out for a walk using the double wrap method:

Once my mom came a wave of relief washed over me. We packed up our things and headed to the lake.

Lake George
 Bixby Road beach

Bixby Road in Bolton Landing, NY is one of my favorite little swimming spots. The water felt amazing but still too chilly for the babies. We tried to dunk their little feet in but they weren't too pleased about it. Here are some pictures from Bixby Road:

Tigerlillies

Buff & Beautiful grandma with Xander waiting to be changed.