random

 As I was packing up my bedroom, I came across these. Is it weird that I still have my pregnancy tests? And that I know whose is whose? The lighter one is from the twins. I was only three weeks pregnant when I took it. I hadn't even missed a cycle yet.  And Wyatt's is the darker one. I was five weeks with him.  My sister tells me I am sentimental, almost to a fault. And after going through, piece by piece, every single thing I own (literally) I have to agree. Some of the things I have held on to all these years are ridiculous. Maybe these pregnancy tests are case in point, but to tell you the truth, I kept them. They're tucked safely away in a box in the storage unit...

Today at lunch Logan climbed up and was buckling himself into his booster seat and kept saying, "I'm re-buckling myself. Hi, re-buckle!" Then he would giggle cause it sounds like his cousin Rebecca's name. He's so silly.

Two of the boys favorite things to drive by are on our way to pre-school. One is the "Mater" (tow truck) that lives near the gas station and the other is the "flappy guy" that sits outside our local Aaron's store.  Today we were discussing that the flappy doesn't actually talk, but he does say silly things.  Logan told me he says, "Hey come look at my store!" in an accent, and Jack told me the flappy guy says, also in an accent, "I'm going on the toilet!"

And speaking of the toilet, there truly is never a dull moment around here.  About a week ago, Logan accidentally peed a little in his underwear. So he went to pick clean ones and got all excited because they love picking underwear now that I bought new ones.  So what does Jack do? Pees his pants on purpose so he, too, can pick new underwear. I almost died. I was so mad!  But I also saw the smart hilarity of it... In the end I didn't let him pick new ones, he had to choose from the old boring ones, that clever little stinker!

Then today, I was in the shower and the twins were fighting, so I made Jack come in the bathroom to serve a time-out with Wyatt (in the bouncer) and I (in the shower).  While in the bathroom he decided he needed to go potty, and as he opened the lid he dropped his Lightening McQueen car into.the.toilet. Ugh.

I have since retrieved Lightening from the depths of our nasty waters, but now I don't know what to do with him. Can I soak him in bleach? Or should I cut my losses and let him go? What to do? What to do?

Wyatt (4 mo.) Simon & Sidney (8 wks.) Milo (4 wks.)

Yesterday afternoon I convinced my mom to come run errands with us. We went to Ikea & Costco.  At Costco we got the boys frozen yogurt. Oh my goodness they had a good time feeding my mom and I bites and giving us brain freeze! They were giggling so hard- it was adorable.

And we went to Ikea in search of another octopus hang dry thing.  We never found the octopus, but we did meet two other sets of identical twins (girls, about 16 and boys, about one year). There we let the boys run wild. Ikea has these rooms connected by small, child-size holes in the walls, and after last night I have decided this is all I need for my Alaska house. Those boys ran through hole after hole for probably a half hour while I chatted it up with another twin-mom. It was like an amazing baby-sitter!

Proud Mama's Ang & Kris with twins Sidney & Simon

 After chatting with this fellow twin momma, I have to say I wouldn't go back in time for anything!  Remembering how panicked I would get when the boys would each run in a different direction and remembering the sleep deprivation and the two of everything (burp rags, bibs, diaper changes, feedings...) It made me tired just thinking of it. Besides running into this twin mom, I was also lucky enough to meet (finally!) my cousins newborn twins. They are eight weeks old (boy/girl) and just precious beyond belief. And while I do miss some things about the newborn stage with twins, mostly it's a blur of tears & frustration, so I truly don't envy them their situation.  Especially now that I have experienced a singleton, I see just how much more work twins are.  I am able to care for Wyatt with a sense of relaxation about me, whereas with the twins, I was referred to (by many people) as "the schedule nazi." I'd have missed my own wedding to keep them on their schedule.

Me & Wyatt, Ang & Sidney, Kris & Simon, Roxanne & Milo

This morning, after 2 two-hour sleep sessions last night, I was talking to Josh about the sleeplessness that accompanies having children.  It is ridiculous. I told him at this point, I don't even really feel tired anymore, I am just retarded. I can't follow conversations, I can't find words I'm looking for, I walk into a room, or start a conversation only seconds later to find I have no idea where I'm going... It's embarrassing. If we only knew before we started having children. I wonder, though, if we would have children if we knew. If we really knew. Oh, man. When you bring that first baby home from the hospital, and there you are, in your living room, with the weight of the world (this baby's entire existence) on your shoulders. Nothing can take your breath away like the weight of being responsible for another person's being.

Baby fever!!!  Simon, Sidney, Wyatt & Milo

Which brings me to another thing I've been pondering, should we have another child? If so, when? What if it's twins? When I was pregnant (in the beginning) I was so miserable, I was DONE! Then as the pregnancy progressed and my symptoms lessened, I opened my mind to the thought of more, and once he came, and I got to see how easy one baby is, I was fully on board with another baby.  But now I am feeling like I could picture our family finished with just the three boys... How do people know if they are done? Is it like love? You just do? I guess for us, time will tell.  I imagine when Wyatt is two, we will re-visit the topic and see what we think would be best for our family.  Until then, it's fun to think about.

My precious bundle

Lately I have been treating myself to some of my favorite movies after bedtime.  I have watched The Guardian, Love Actually & Sex and the City. I love how a good movie can transport you from your lonely, nearly empty living room to another place & time.

And speaking of my empty living room, this weekend we got everything moved into storage. Now I have to figure out what I need to take to Carol's when we go & what I need to ship to Marshall.  The district should be out again this week to try & approve the housing. If it's done, Josh will get keys shortly after that. If not, it'll be at least another week before they come back to check again. Josh is getting anxious to be in the new housing. He recently caught his eighth mouse (after running into one on the stairs going up as he was going down) and with their weather advisory yesterday & today, he said he can feel the walls literally shaking as the wind blows.  Plus they have run out of oil (which they use to heat) on a few occasions and that is a COLD situation to wake up to!

The weather in Marshall has been crazy. The other morning it was three degrees below zero, and that's not even taking into account the windchill.  They have heavy snow, and snow drifts that in some places are a few feet deep already!  This morning Josh said it was 37 degrees and he felt "warm" when he stepped outside.  I guess it's a good thing that I got the boys serious winter gear for this adventure!

 The boys are loving pre-school.  During lunch they always tell me their favorite part of the day, which is usually going outside to play.  They love all their school friends and always ask who is going to be there which days. It has been such a blessing for me to have three days a week where I know I am going to have a three hour break in which to relax or get things done sans two three-year-olds.  We started at two days a week, but when Josh called to tell me the housing wasn't complete and we wouldn't be joining him until after Christmas break, the first phone call I made was to Maria, the director, to see if there were more openings.  I'm telling you, it's been a life saver.  Worth every penny. And it's not just me who is benefiting, I can see big changes in the boys. They can put on their own coats and shoes; they actually clean up when I tell them to; and they are sharing & listening to each other in a way I've never seen before.

Knowing how well they're doing in this structured setting, I wish I'd done swim lessons this fall.  We used to swim once a week before I had Wyatt & Josh left.  They miss it so much, and so do I.  In the bathtub they put their whole faces in the water & blow bubbles and at my mom's house (she has a super deep tub) they "dive", sliding down the angled end into the water, splashing as much as they can. It's adorable. Maybe this summer while we're home we can get them signed up for lessons. I just know they would love it and really flourish.

The other day Jack spent the afternoon with Grandma Carol and I came out of my room to find Logan washing Wyatt's feet with wipes. He had taken off Wyatt's socks (as he always does) and was rubbing his feet. They were all fuzzy with black lint, which Logan found it necessary to remove.

So I can't remember (and am too lazy to look back) if I ever gave you our new timeline for the big move.  The plan is for me to move in with Josh's parents on the 19th of this month (the day after my 29th birthday!) and then work my butt off to sell, store & ship everything I need to before I have to turn in my keys on the 30th.

Then I will spend a few weeks taking care of the boys & any final paperwork stuff. And finally on December 23rd Josh will fly in to Portland to celebrate Christmas and the New Year with us. And our family of five will depart PDX on January 7th.

Samuel, Laura, Josh, Andrea, Christine & Julie

With my move imminent, I will likely be blogging more about Josh's family, since we'll be together a ton during the holidays and up until we depart. So I thought I would post the Cunningham family tree for you all.

Carl & Wyatt

Carol & Josh

Carol & Carl are Josh's parents

And the following are his siblings:

Lisa (& Thomas)
-Mariah, 16
-Rebecca, 13

Julie (& Conrad)
-Alvin, 14
-Ethan, 13
-Isaac, 8

Christine

Andrea (& Taylor)
-Gustav, 3
-Gisele, 8 months


Joshua (& me, Shelly)
-Logan, 3
-Jack, 3
-Wyatt, 4 months

Laura


Samuel

Laura & Samuel

Between Josh & Laura there was a baby, a sister, Margaret, who tragically died of SIDS at two months old.  So in total there are eight kids in his family. 

And for those who wish to know The Raatz Family:

Barry & Marilynn are my parents

Dalton (& Isaiah, 12)

Shelly & Josh (+ Logan, Jack & Wyatt)

Roxanne & Blake (+ Ferris & Milo)

Dallas, Josh, Shelly, Marilynn, Barry, Blake, Isaiah, Roxanne & Dalton

I am thinking, after looking at these family pictures, that we need (on both sides) to do family pictures this holiday season. The pictures I have are either old, or missing somebody! For sure when Josh gets home I want to get family pictures for the five of us, but pictures with everyone would be cool, too. Maybe we could outside shots again when we are home this summer. I think photographing that many people inside would prove challenging!