This Friday we are moving. Same city, different house. A smaller, more manageable house. I am worried about the transition for the twins. They are creatures of habit, and they love climbing the stairs (new house is one-story, yay!). This is a big downsize for us. We are going from about 3,200 square feet to 1,850 square feet. A lot is going into storage — including our formal dining room, 2 large bookcases, the entire guest room, and most of the gameroom. The idea of scaling back is growing on me, and I am super excited to be done with $650/month electric bills!
So I am up to my eyeballs in boxes right now. I hate packing and moving, but I’ve always enjoyed unpacking and setting up a new house. I’m just ready to get it over with.
The new neighborhood is great. It’s beautiful, has a lot of parks, and a swimming pool (complete with a toddler section).
Saturday night I took a break from packing for an evening of steak, drinks, and stand-up comedy. It was fantastic. I have always loved live comedy. If you haven’t been before, you should. It’s not the same as seeing it on Comedy Central or HBO. We saw Matt Bearden, and I laughed until my sides and cheeks hurt. Laughter truly is a cure-all.
I’m being told that our local provider will not be able to set up the cable/phone/Internet at the new house until July 11-12. So that’s almost 2 weeks without communication with the outside world! And no Playhouse Disney or Noggin for the twins! So that will explain my blogging break.
Oh, and it looks like the twins will be switching to their big beds in the new house. More than anything, it’s a space issue. I hope it’s not too much change for them. I will just have to play it by ear.
- For the past few days now, Kate has been trying to tickle me when I am snapping her into her car seat. She uses her fingers to “tickle” my neck, arm and chest, and says “Dickle, Dickle!”
- I don’t think I’ve mentioned on here before, but Carson is obsessed with the baby monitor cord. He likes to have it with him in the car. He even took with him into Target last week. I don’t get it.
- I am no longer Mama or Mommy. I am Mom…according to Kate. I am still Mama to Carson. It sounds so weird to me. She will say, “Thank you, Mom.” I will reply, “You’re welcome, Daughter.”
- I have Swimmers’ Ear AGAIN in my right ear. Ugh.
- They both have a sweet tooth, and it’s getting out of hand. They have been chanting cookie a lot lately.
- Kate has been eating like a horse this past month.
- It hasn’t been all sunshine and roses around here, they have been throwing some wicked tantrums, and it’s usually over the silliest things. Carson seems to be easier to set off, but Kate’s are more intense and last longer.
ONE YEAR AGO: Menu Monday
My mom had the twins this weekend in Houston, we met at the halfway point between Austin and Houston to do the “twin swap” this afternoon. Kate had her first ice cream cone, and Carson ran around like a wildman. Everyone had a good weekend.
One of my favorite little memories from my early childhood was dancing in the living room of our Houston apartment with my mom to this song. At the time, my mom was about my age now and I was around 3 years old. She had the record player set up and we were dancing and laughing. It’s one of the reasons I try to be funny and silly dancing and singing with the twins. I want them to have memories like that too.
I was a true child of the 80s. The very first album I ever purchased with my own money was Thriller (the second album I ever bought was Val Halen’s 1984, in case you were wanting to know…and I know you were!). I remember being around 7 years old and watching the MTV premiere of the Thriller video. To this day, that scary talk-over voice freaks me out. At slumber parties we would memorize the steps to Thriller and Beat It. I bet if I closely watched those videos again twice (okay, maybe three times) I could still do them. I have memories of all the little boys on my block dressing like him for Halloween — complete with red leather jackets and sequined gloves.
I still love all of the Jackson 5 songs. Off the Wall is my favorite solo album. I never liked anything after Thriller.
For whatever reason, I’m not as “devastated” by the news of his death as everyone else seems to be. I feel horrible for his children though. From what I understand, he kept them extremely close and isolated, so I can’t even imagine the kind of blow and loss this will be for them. Since they are motherless, I wonder who will get custody of them. All so very sad.
I was upset to hear about Farrah Fawcett’s death this morning. She was a Texan, a Longhorn (Microbiology & Art), and put up one helluva fight against cancer.
Tomorrow, I am meeting my mom half way between Austin and Houston to do a twin swap for the weekend. The tots had a strangely rough night. Both were full of unprovoked tantrums. I took them grocery shopping, and I was amazed at how many words Kate knows now. She would literally yelled (loudly!) out the names of almost every thing we walked by — eggs, diapers, wipes, milk, cookies, veggies, etc. Carson was way more interested in the contents of my purse. Haha.
- Do not wear a wrap-top. The damn thing keep coming slightly loose, and one of the (intoxicated) male guests ended up complimenting the color of my bra.
- Eat something beforehand! I was so busy and jazzed up leading up to going out to shoot the wedding that I did not eat dinner. By 9:15 PM (when I was leaving), I felt light headed and shaky (damn diabetes).
- As a wedding photographer, I also have other responsibilities — like keeping the bride and groom calm, reassuring them that little mishaps are totally to be expected, and informing the groom which side he is suppose to stand on.
- Expect curious kids who will follow me everywhere, ask how much my gear cost, and sometimes get in the way of my shot.
- Go with the flow, but always keep an eye on the light.
I had a great time! It was such a casual, unique, fun wedding. You can go see the sneak peek on my photography blog. I’m exhausted and will undoubtedly sleep well tonight.
I’ve been a bad blogger. Sorry. To be honest, it seems like I haven’t seen much of the tots lately. They’ve been going to day care an extra day for the past week so I can put in a full force push to get this photography business flying right.
Kate had a horrible tantrum this morning because she wanted to continue playing in her tent when it was time to go to Miss Jennifer’s. That tent has a blessing and a curse at the same time. I think if the twins had their way, they would live in it.
I need to plan some kind of summer family vacation. We need something fun to look forward to. Perhaps Galveston later in the summer. As much as the tots love the water and dirt, I bet they would like it more than last year.
Tomorrow I shoot my first wedding! (Yes, on a Tuesday night.) I’m looking forward to it!
I guess since I had a somewhat distant relationship with my own dad, I’ve always seen Father’s Day as a day to celebrate all of the men how have made an imprint on my life — specifically my uncles and my grandfather.
When I was going through albums trying to find some photos of me and my dad together for this post, I was saddened by the lack of photos. I spent a fair amount of time with him when I was a kid — usually all summer and some holidays (or every other one) — but I still don’t have many photos.
I was born in Alabama (because my dad had a baseball team in Montgomery), and we finally moved back home to Texas in December 1977 when I was about 9 months old. When my parents crossed the state line with their U-Haul, they stopped for a photo.
This one was taken at my paternal grandparents’ house in San Antonio. I am guessing I’m around 6-7 years old.
My all-time favorite photo of my parents is this one when they were leaving their wedding ceremony (1972). The style and coloring remind me a lot of the final scene in the movie The Graduate.
This cheapy IKEA toddler tent provided a full afternoon of fun and laughter for the twins. I can’t believe the tent still looks brand new after the beating the twins put on it. I think my kids should be product testers!
I have a fun game that I play with Kate. She sits in my lap and we look at online photos — either from this blog or my Flickr gallery — and she yells out who is in the photo. She is amazingly good at this game, even with naming people she doesn’t see often (like cousins). Well, the other night, I had out an old photo album and we started playing “Who is that?” It confused her at first because these were photos from my childhood and other old family photos. Some of the photos of me she would yell out Kate-Kate! Others she thought I looked like Car-Car!
Everyone thinks that Carson is my little clone, but Kate looks a lot like me as a toddler too. These are two of the photos we played with and Kate’s verdict on who I looked like in them.
Is it any wonder that this little girl grew up to become a diabetic? (Okay, really the diabetes was a hangover from the twin pregnancy, but still…) This was me on my 3rd birthday (1980). Kate’s Verdict: Kate-Kate!
The back of this photo says Christmas 1979 — so I was almost 3 years old. I guess I know where Kate gets her obsession with rocking chairs from. Kate’s Verdict: Car-Car!
Ugh. Sorry I’ve been such a bad blogger this week. My plate has gotten very full lately.
My photography business has just taken off faster than I can keep up with. Of course, this is all wonderful, fantastic, great, but also a bit stressful. The two main sources of the stress are (a) I need to make some time to get my office better organized, and (b) I can get nothing done with the twins at home with me. Yeah, I know that sounds horrible, but it’s also honest. I literally can’t even do laundry or the dishes with them under foot let alone respond to business calls, re-draft a client contract, etc. And before you ask, I need to work. My days as a stay-at-home housewife/mom are over.
Today was a D- day. For whatever reason, the twins were at each other right from the beginning. It’s been a long while since they have spent an entire day fighting and yelling at each other, but unfortunately today was the day they had to get it all out of their systems. The fights usually start over stealing. That results in toddler babble yelling accompanied by sticking index fingers in each other’s face. Then someone slap the other upside the head, and the other pushes back. Then they both melt down in hysterical tantrums for 10 minutes. Folks, I’m living on the Jerry Springer set right now, and I’m playing the part of that bald bouncer guy who breaks up the fights. Yeah, that’s me. I hope today was just a fluke. It didn’t help that neither tot napped today.
So I’m going to start looking into a toddler summer day camp for the twins to go to twice a week. I think it would be a win-win for everyone. I would be able to work, and the twins would have something new and fun to go to. They would continue going to Miss Jennifer’s during the days they would not be at summer camp — so hopefully that will maintain some stability in their routine. Anyway, it’s something I’m seriously considering.
by Shannon
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