July 28, 2009 - Bonkers at Borders (68 Weeks)

Well, my summer school coaching assignment is officially over and vacation is now officially here! Yahoo!!!! Daniel agreed to give me a Mommy Needs A Break Day on Friday. After making sure the boys were dressed and packed for their day in Riverside, I put them into their car seats. I kissed them goodbye and said hello to my day.
My agenda was simple: Learn to make homemade salsas compliments of my friend Norma, get a manicure and pedicure, balance my checkbook over a caramel macchiato at Starbucks, sit at the park and soak in the sounds and sun for an hour, and go to happy hour with my friend Martha. This may not seem like much, but these are the simple pleasures I frequently enjoyed B.C. (before children). I got to do almost everything :)
On Sunday I took the boys to Borders. The excursion was not what I envisioned. In my mental scenario, the boys would sit nicely on the couch or floor as I read to them classics and whatever they brought over to me. We’d even play with the sock puppets. As soon as we got in the kids’ section the boys were hollering and running – IN DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS!!!! I spent my time running after Anthony who was sprinting to the travel section and running after Daniel who was by the LSAT and GRE books. I apologized to those who sheepishly and empathetically smiled and glared back at those glaring with the silent thought, “Oh, and you were all saints as children.” Needless to say, our trip was cut short. This twin mama made a beeline to the register and quickly paid for the book Chicken Soup for the Soul Twins and More.
* Mama's mind-blowing moments: The boys waking up from naps and quietly walking over to wherever I am in the house, getting used to hearing Anthony say “mama” more, Daniel walking with eyes shut deliriously exhausted but fighting bedtime, watching them find feeding Lucky graham crackers amusing, and calling out to them because they are out of sight and hearing each of them giggle or shout back.

July 21, 2009 - King of Kaiser - (67 Weeks)

Baby Daniel has been teething. Aiyaiyai!!! As my faithful blog followers know, his normal modus operandi is to run a fever of over 102 until the tooth breaks through the gum. Well, the TEETH (one on each side of his upper gums)broke through but his fever continued. It was the scary kind of fever that has hands, feet, and chest feeling like they are on fuego. No amount of Fever All or tepid baths would bring it down, so it was off to Kaiser Permanente Sunday afternoon. Big Daniel was showing property and so not to worry him, Martha joined me to provide an extra pair of hands. Thankfully it was just a viral infection, which is supposedly quite common at the toddler stage. I was also at Kaiser on Friday morning for an HSG (a follow up to my procedure in April). Let's just say that was a far cry from a pleasant experience.
Twin Update: Both boys have 2 new upper teeth. They are quite capable of sliding off our bed like GI Joe to the floor. Daniel no longer has "sea legs." He can keep up with Anthony in his walking all over the house. They have fun opening their drawers and pulling out the clothes mommy has neatly folded. They have discovered that beneath the toilet cover there is water. Speaking of water, they find that Lucky's water bowl is fun to splash when mommy isn't looking. Poor Lucky now can only drink water when the boys are in their high chairs since the bowl is no longer on the floor. This is not promoting love for them. Maybe this is balanced by the fact that they toss food down to her from their high chairs.

July 14, 2009 - (66 Weeks)

They are into everything! They have gravitated from the pantry to the closets and tupperware cabinet. It is not uncommon to see tupperware in every room of this house.

July 7, 2009 - Happy 4th of July! (65 Weeks)

It has been quite some time since I’ve dared to venture out and deal with the insanity associated with a 4th of July outing. I guess I’m content grilling at home with a few friends over. This year, though, we rose to the challenge since the boys are so captivated by lights. Daniel’s brother and sister-in-law invited us to join her family at Huntington Beach for a BBQ. They have this outing down to a science from staking their claim to a prime pit location by 5 a.m. to the nightcap of campfire smores after a day of eating grilled goodies. The all day affair sounded great to me since I can’t remember the last time I was at a beach. Despite leaving by 7:15 a.m., we did not make it to the parking lot in time. A parade and a run caused several streets to be blocked off, and we were rerouted. This detouring caused us to lose precious time. As we were in the turn lane into the parking lot, the arm was closed to further traffic. At that moment, I believe I slowly and painfully shrieked inside my chest, “NO!!!!!!” The boys were itching to get out of their car seats and were now hungry. We found street parking quite some distance away. We fed the boys and bravely hiked our way to the beach carrying them, diaper bags, a backpack, and rolling cart with food. After returning from the second hike back to the car for the rest of our stuff, we got to kick back and relax. I have to laugh because here I wanted the boys to enjoy their first 4th of July fireworks show, and, of course, they were fast asleep before the show even started. At least they got to wear their patriotic shirts and play with their beach buckets given to them for their birthday.
Holiday Mishap: It got windy and the tent started swaying. An ice chest that was used to help anchor it down tilted onto my backpack and wet its contents. My pink phone has gone to cell phone heaven. Oh, and my pink camera had a lens malfunction. So, I do not have 4th of July pictures. Daniel’s niece has pictures that will hopefully be forwarded.