If these babies could talk....

They'd say..."Don't elect Sarah Palin as VP! "

If you still aren't sure why she's so bad, read this article written by a leading feminist...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eve-ensler/drill-drill-drill_b_124829.html

Babywise is my Bible

I can't believe I haven't posted anything about this yet since this literally is our go-to guide for anything schedule/sleep/food related. I was pretty much a schedule nazi for the first 4 months and have only recently relaxed a bit and moved from a 3 hour feeding schedule to a 4 hour schedule. The Babywise book warned not to do this until the babies were sleeping through the night. However, with returning to work, the 4 hour schedule seemed so much more convienient, so I decided to try it. For the past 3 weeks I've been trying to figure out why in the *&*&(*^ Fiona is waking up 2-4 times a night. It just dawned on me that she is not getting enough calories during the day. Duh! Needless to say we are back to the 3 hour schedule and she is sleeping better. They claim that most Babywise babies are sleeping through the night by 3 months. I think Isla would have been but Fiona just needs lots of food.

Anyway, On Becoming Babywise is certainly controversial. Just do a Google search and you will find lots of anti-Babywise moms. However, I love it! It hasn't been perfect. I think with one baby it would be close, but "Letting them cry" is so much harder when they wake each other up. The book's basic principal is following an eat, wake time, sleep schedule that teached the baby to fall asleep on their own. I figuered there was no way I could rock two babies to sleep so the earlier they could get themselves to sleep the better. The book does leave a lot of questions unanswered, so thank God there is a fantastic blog out there that answers every possible question. http://www.chroniclesofababywisemom.blogspot.com/ is awesome!

Having the babies on a schedule makes it possible for us to plan our day. We know when they will be napping, eating and going to bed each night. Of course, it doesn't always work perfectly but we have two happy babies and I'm convinced that this is a major reason.

New Slideshow

I updated the slideshow above. Click on a picture to see it enlarged. It will take you to Picasa and then choose "slideshow" to watch.

Hey Look, I have a sister!

They are starting to notice one another. Check it out.

Wedding Pictures

If you want to see some pictures from Douglas's wedding, click on the link and then select Karen and Dougie's wedding. There are a lot, but they are really pretty.
http://sheilascottphotography.com/

24 weeks old today!

The girls are 24 weeks. However, that doesn't translate to 6 months, it's actually 5 and 1/2. They are so big. At our last appointment, Isla weighed 15 pounds and Fiona weighed 12! They are starting to really notice each other. They smile at each other and when they are nursing they play with each others hands and faces. Yes, it is making it difficult to nurse! Fiona is starting to take the bottle better thanks to the Adiri nurser (aka the boob bottle). Nighttime is still pretty much a mess- Fiona wakes up way too much. She is rolling onto her stomach and then freaking out! We also finally broke down and bought another crib. Thank God for Craigslist! The guy even delivered and put it together for me! We got a babysitter for tonight (our 75 year old neighbor). They will hopefully just sleep the whole time. I'm just hoping Fiona doesn't wake up before 10. I guess we have to stay close enough to rush back home if she does. We are going to go to dinner at a great high end Mexican restaurant, Centro. Here are some recent pictures and a video.

Look Who's Walking and Talking!

Emmerson and Quincy came to visit us yesterday and wow Emme is so cute! She walks and talks like crazy! She can basically repeat anything you say plus she strings words together all on her own. The doctor says she is talking like a 3 year old already and she is only 16 months(?)! Obviously we have a genius on our hands. See how cute she is for yourself.

Christmas in August

Yesterday I pulled the excersaucer and jumpy chair (hand-me-downs from Emmerson) out of the garage to see if the girls would fit into them yet. They love them! It is a whole new world of standing up and playing. I can't believe how much older they seem. They really focus on each of the toys and entertain themselves. They will be 24 weeks old on Friday. However, even though that seems like it means they are 6 months old, they are really only 5 months and two weeks. Wierd, I know. Anyway, check out the pics and the video.

PS we just got a fabulous new laptop, so I will definitely be updating my blog more often.

Sweet Potatoes with Abby

Abby, my neice, is visiting us this week and is a huge help with the babies! We all love having her!

Could tofu be bad for you?

Scary stuff folks. Just when I thought I was going to be really healthy and go vegan, I read this shocking information about soy. I don't know if I'm convinced to give it up for good, but I won't be giving any to the girls. The question now is, "what am I going to feed them?" If you want to read for yourself follow these links.

http://www.sfgate.%20com/cgi-bin/%20article.cgi?

http://www.mothering.com/articles/growing_child/food/soy_story.html

A Practical Vegan

After reading Skinny Bitch I'm finding it difficult to justify eating any animal products. Therefore, starting tomorrow, I am going to give veganism a shot. I bought my rice milk and soy cheese, so I think I'm as ready as I'm going to get. However, I've decided I'm not going to be hard core. I'm going to do it as much as possible at home, and avoid dairy whenever possible at restaurants but if I'm at a friends house, I'm not going to miss a meal because it has cheese in it. You should read the book. Even my mom is going to give it a try!

I have been hearing some bad press about soy lately though. Does anyone have any more info on this?

Meet Little Quincy (and Auntie Sarah)

My buddy Sarah visited us this week from Rhode Island. It was her first time meeting the girls, and it was great having her here. She and I took the girls to the doctor on Friday and Isla is now 3 pounds heavier than her sister! She weighs 15 lb 9 oz and Fiona weighs 12 lb 10 oz. They also got their shots. It was probably more painful for Sarah and me. The worst though was Saturday morning when both girls had temperatures of 102! We drove to Piedmont today to see her brother and sister-in-law (Liz Arney for any Aspire people) and their new baby girl, Quincy. She is so cute and has a full head of hair. I think Isla was jealous because she promptly grabbed a handful of it and pulled! That made me glad that the twins don't have any hair. Anyway, thank you for visiting us Sarah! We miss you already!

Home Sweet Home

We're back! We had a great time in Scotland. The wedding was beautiful, and it was fantastic to see everyone. It was pretty relaxing for me as Euan's mom, Aileen, basically took care of all of us while we were there (meals, laundry, babies etc.) My parents did make it and I think they had fun exploring. I was pretty impressed with my dad's driving on the "wrong" side of the road. However, we barely survived the return journey. We didn't get the four seats in a row that we were expecting and had to hold the babies much of the time. They were very good but 10 hours is just a long time! Anyway, we have been busy trying to get back on schedule and we pretty much are. I started school on Tuesday with Euan watching the babies at home. Tuesday and Wednesday I got calls telling me to come home after 2 hours because the babies weren't taking the bottles. Luckily my friend Sarah came to visit and was here Thursday and Friday so was able to help Euan out with feeding time. Leaving to go to work that first day was rough and all I could think of was what I was going to miss (I didn't realize I would only be gone for 2 hours!). Next week will really be 5 hours a day which will be hard. I love my job so far though. It is perfect, and I'm so happy that it will all work out with Euan's schedule.

Scotland Bonnie Scotland

Well we made it! The journey over took nearly 24 hours door to door but we made it. We actually got very lucky with our seating arrangement on the plane- four seats to ourselves and two bassinets that came out of the wall. The babies were amazing. The only trouble was that the airline stewards want you to pick the babies up everytime the captain puts the seatbelt sign on! Of course, we didn't but they came around and told us to every time, so we didn't get any sleep.
We also missed our connecting flight from London to Edinburgh so were stuck at Heathrow for an extra 4 hours. We managed to beg our way into the Business Class Lounge. There we were with all the men in suits nursing the babies and trying to keep them from crying so we wouldn't get kicked out. Miraculously, we didn't. When we finally arrived in Edinburgh, we were too tired to dress Fiona in her "I love Nana" shirt but Isla had her "I love Gramps" one on and we just held the other one up. Of course, Gramps had never met the girls so the scene at the arrival gate was pretty sweet.
It rained on and off for the first two weeks of our visit, but we still managed to get out and see lots of sights, and go on quite a few walks. The girls have had lots of firsts this month. First flight, first swim (in an indoor heated pool), first real laughs, first solid food... They are really funny these days. Fiona babbles nonstop and Isla smiles a lot and giggles. Their first solid food experience was great. They eat like champs except that Fiona learned how to blow raspberries so much of her food ends up on the feeder. Isla got a rash from the rice cereal so we switched her to banana. It seems like I've read everywhere how it is a myth that solid foods will help them sleep through the night. Lies, all lies. Isla slept for 9 hours last night and Fiona only woke up once! We are loving the solid food. Besides that, we are trying to get them to take a bottle because they are going to need to when we get home. So far, it is going better than expected, but we aren't quite there yet.
My mom and dad should have arrived at the airport an hour ago. They are making their way to the train station in Edinburgh to catch the 11:36 train to Euan's parent's village, Newtonmore. Of course, I just read that the train workers are set to strike at 12:00! What a mess. My fingers are crossed that that won't happen as they are going to be exhausted as it is. I'm super excited for them to see Scotland. I think they will love it.
We are at Euan's brother, Douglas's house now and we went to see where he and Karen are getting married yesterday. Oh my gosh! It is Sir Walter Scott's house and absolutely gorgeous! It basically looks like a castle inside and out. It is going to be an amazing wedding.
Sorry I can't post any pictures because I left the camera cord at Euan's parent's house. Will try to post some soon.

Books to Recommend

Just thought I'd write a post about some new books that I'm excited about. A friend, whose whole family is vegan, (except her husband who is vegetarian) loaned me Skinny Bitch by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin. She says it has turned her parents into vegans too! Do you think it will work for my dad? hmmmmmm I'm gonna say ....no, but it might be worth a try for my mom, Kristi and Quincy. Anyway, I'm going to read it on the plane- that is if I get any hands free time to read. I'll let you all know how it is but I can already tell I'm going to like it.

The second book is more for you moms out there that are interested in making your own baby food. It is called SuperBabyFood by Ruth Yaron. It gives lots of great information for quickly and easily making your own baby food rather then relying on store bought food. It seems like all of the new moms I know are doing this, so I know it can be done.