Flying Solo Tonight

I gave Greg a free pass to go out tonight because I'm awesome like that his friend Stuart is in town for a few days before flying back to England after his "business conference". I say "business conference" because Stuart always implies entirely too much boozing for any real business to take place. Whatev.

The important thing is that this is Greg's first night out on the town since the boys were born. That's over 3 and a half months of relative celibacy from Lady Liquor. THIS IS A BIG DEAL for Greg. Yes, over the years married life has slowly driven into dormancy that desire to go out and get stinking-heaving-stumbling-drunk, but it's still very much alive.

My only question is how bad is this going to be? I made him promise that he won't be completely useless to me tomorrow, but who am I kidding. When has he ever not been useless after a night out on the town? Or how about not even useless. I'll take simply NOT disruptive. But I'm not holding my breath on that one either.

No matter how many times I'd tell him before he went out DO NOT WAKE ME UP WHEN YOU GET HOME! He always, always, always did. He can't help it really. Greg is a very lovey drunk. Get him a little tanked up and suddenly he loves everybody. And everything. And he wants to be your friend. And he wants to give you a hug and tell you how fabulous you are. This is one of the many reasons I love him. (I firmly believe that a person's REAL personality comes out of hiding after they've had a few too many. If you're a morose drunk, I know you're an inherently negative person no matter how much sunshine you try to blow up my skirt when you're sober. If you're a mean drunk, chances are good that you have a nasty streak in your everyday life too. If you're a lovey drunk, well, then we can be friends. Anyway...)

So every time he would come home after a boys' night out, he'd crawl into bed, get right in my face with his beer breath, proceed to poke and prod me until I cracked open my eyes in a confused daze, and then I'd get slobbery kisses and adamant, earnest declarations of love and devotion. And he tried to not wake me up, but he just had to tell me how much he truly, truly, TRULY loves me. Are you listening, Larisa? Don't look at me like that. I just LOOOOVE YOU! I love you sooo much! I just need to squeeze you to show you how much I love you. ::squeeze, squeeze, slobbery kiss, kiss::

Who can be mad after a demonstration like that? Not me.

Maybe that's why I am still awake at 1 a.m. I've already written this night off as one of little to no sleep so might as well catch up on my blog posts.

Ohmygawd! 1 a.m.! I really do need to get to sleep. I will be sure to report back in the morning or afternoon or whenever I'm awoken by screaming babies. Oy.

This is going to be pretty for no one tomorrow.

Night Owls and Early Birds

We have one of each. Ugh.

Luke, refusing his 7:30 p.m. bedtime only to pass out over an hour later

Joseph, up at 3 a.m. and all WHUZZZZ UPPPPPP, PARTY PEOPLE!

It hurts. It hurts so bad.


The boys are 3 months and 2 weeks old.

The C Word. Again.

A little over a month ago Debra, my dad's wife, found out she had breast cancer. Potentially inflammatory breast cancer, a particularly evil & nasty form of the disease. Two weeks later she was undergoing chemo. After three rounds, she'll have a double mastectomy and then three more rounds of chemo and possibly radiation. And if that's all she has to contend with, we'll consider her lucky. It's hard to imagine praying please, let it only be breast cancer.

The doctors are treating this aggressively. They told her she will be losing all her hair. So in a show of solidarity, everyone got a shave.

Debra & my dad

My little bro & dad

She is dealing with her new reality with such a can-do, cancer-kicking positivity that if it weren't for the bald head, you would never know the battle going on inside her.

We wish you the very best, Debra. I am in awe of your spirit.

Handsome

My boyz.
My boyz.
My beautiful baby boyz.


Check 'em out!

(sung to Black Eyed Peas' My Humps - frequently heard around our house)


The boyz are 3 months & 11 days old.

Love Us Some Dr. Seuss

This is how we read every day. All 3 of us on the floor, looking up at all the bright colors and rhyme-y words...





...until our attention spans demand we scream & kick & flail & scream some more. Good times.


The boys are 3 months & 9 days old. And they love short, colorful books. And screaming.

Pacifier FAIL

The boys aren't too keen on their pacifiers. They'll take them. But only on the 3rd Tuesday of every month and only if there is an auspicious breeze heading in the north-westerly direction and only if the stars are aligned juuuuust right. And then only for a few minutes before spitting them out.

Our friend Katie (hi, Katie!) gifted us these fun, textured, raspberry-like paci's at my baby shower. And since the boys are starting to suck on their fingers and hands, I thought I'd give them a shot.

Joseph is unconvinced.

Luke is willing to give them a shot.

But rejection...

Luke says patooey! and Joseph whines Mo-oooooommm!

Better luck next time, sucka!


The boys are 3 months and 8 days old.

Hello, 85. We've Missed You!

Sub-triple-digit temperatures
+ Break in the rain
+ 2 Grouchy babies
Hour and a half walk through the hood

The peace was so worth it, but now I'm tired & sure to be sore tomorrow. I feel miles & miles away from my marathon training days...

One day I'll be back there though.


The boys are 3 months & 1 week old.

So Cute It Hurts

It's all about these little moments.



Sometimes I just look at them and tears well up in my eyes and I think my whole being might crumble from this overwhelming love.

I never knew I could be this happy.



Luke is 3 months & 6 days old.
Joseph (taken a few days ago) was 3 months & 2 days.

By The Way...

...do you know how difficult it is to catch two handsome smiles at once?

Outtakes for your (and my) pleasure :)

Just before the meltdown...

3 Months Old!!

My sweet, little cutie pies are three whole months old. I can't believe how much they seem to change every single day. It's so fun to see it all unfold.

So what's new?

They're starting to notice their toys more. They're not grabbing for them, but when I hold them up on display, the boys just stare and stare. Yesterday I laid down between them to read some Dr. Seuss and was happily surprised when I looked to my left and right to see them staring intently at the colorful pages. I made it through one whole book before they got too fidgety & we needed to switch it up. They're loving the jumperoo, even though they're not exactly jumping in it. I think they just like that they can "stand" on their two feet. Still not as sure about the Bumbo seats, which seems strange to me - you'd think sitting would be more comfy than standing. But apparently not.

They love noise and action and new faces. When they get especially cranky and screamy, I pack them up in their carseats and just get out. It doesn't matter where - Target, Cosco, the mall, the grocery store, whatever. Wait, I take that back. They don't really like the library. I've tried going there a few times, and each time we go one or the other or BOTH will start screaming. I think it's too quiet for them & they're just bored. Too bad. I like just skimming through the books. I've also taken them to the movies a few times. The first time was to see Harry Potter. They slept through the full THREE HOURS of the movie. Can you say "awesome"? The second time, the same thing during the The Hangover (I know, horrible movie selection for little ones, but they're too young to get any bad ideas). They were okay during Julie & Julia (cute movie, by the way) but we did have to contend with a double meltdown at one point. Again, I think it was too quiet for them. Also, my friend Beth wasn't there to keep one of the boys occupied. (Thanks, Beth!) We're also going to mommy get-togethers at least once a week. They're always fun - the boys get to stare at new faces & toys and I get grown-up conversation. Yay!

They're eating like champs. They get a 5-oz bottle every 4 hours with a bit of breast milk in between. Joseph is still a master at spitting up, although Luke will very occasionally throw in a doozy projectile to keep me on my toes. Luke is thankfully grunting less and doesn't seem to be in as much pain while "doing his business". He also seems to get hungry more frequently & desperately than Joseph. He almost never cries, except when he's hungry. If that boy wants food, you'll hear about it!

Speaking of screaming... Joseph has always been the more high-maintenance baby. He demands to be held. But not only that, you have to be standing. But not only that, you have to be walking around. And not just in circles in the same room. You need to walk all over the house. So he can thoroughly survey his surroundings. If you do not comply, he screams. And screams. And SCREAMS. He still is the more high-maintenance baby, but he's chilled a bit on the rules. Most days. Some days I just hear a lot from him. A lot. Not much I can do about that. If you ask my parents, they'd say that's called karma...

They're getting better at sleeping too. Several times Luke has gone 10 hours without waking or 12 hours with just a small wakeful period where I'll breast feed him & put him back to sleep. Not bad! Although he's still sleeping all night long in the swing. I have no idea how we're going to break that habit. I shudder to think about it. Joseph is another story. He usually wakes up at least once & is bound and determined not to go down without a fight. He's also an early riser - where he got that from, we have NO idea. He'll often wake up around 5 a.m. and be completely ready to start the day, only to pass out a few hours later. But by that time, Luke is up so no sleep for mommy! It is paaaaaainful... But last night they both went to bed around 8:30 p.m. and didn't wake until 6:30 a.m. We actually got 7 hours of sleep! We both woke at 5 a.m. and just looked at each other, shocked and amazed, and quickly laid back down to maximize the peace & rest. It was awesome! Thanks, guys.

But what I really, really love are all these gorgeous, huge smiles! They wake up smiling. They smile while I sing them weird, made-up songs. They smile up at me through finishing their bottles. They smile as I'm changing their diapers. I love, love, love it.

And you love it too! Don't deny it!