Retro Rielee

Rielee in Macee's old cheerleader costume.

Easy babies

Another easy day with the twins, or are we are just getting used to having them around? They eat, sleep, smile, stare at us and look around a lot. The only crying we hear is when I change their clothes for their bathes. Harper especially gets so upset, her little face gets beet red she screams so hard. But, as soon as she's dressed, she's fine and happy again.

I took their picture in the onesies that Des' Aunt embroidered with their names, and in the picture of Rielee, she is wearing the "spider" hat she made in pre-school, and, no, it didn't scare me!

We took the girls back down to Camas and met Kelly at Union, she came out dressed as "Kate" with 8 baby dolls pinned all over the front of her and her hair spiked up in the back, she looked just like her, it was funny. Lexi was going to her first middle-school dance today.

I think the kids are overly ready for Halloween, I got a prank call from a heavy breather that sounded suspiciously like Parker or James. Parker came over a few minutes later and confessed. Then Rielee called and asked if I could make her a cheerleader skirt like I made Macee for Halloween years ago, they were going through their old costumes. She said she is wearing Macee's old skirt to the football game tonight, her Mom is going to pin it so it will fit her. She really enjoys dressing up for the games.

An easy day

I went down to Camas to watch Ava and Harper today. It was a very easy day, they ate about a half an hour apart, and had only a couple of moments where they were fussy at the same time. Even then, they were easy to calm down, and just so full of smiles. I got to see Luke and Lexi for a few minutes in the morning, gave them some Halloween candy and the babies got formula for their Halloween "treat".
Got a laugh when I got home, not from a child but from my husband. He said he kept hearing a beep off and on all day and figured it must be one of the smoke detectors, even though he changed the batteries only a month or so ago. So he dragged out the foot stool and changed them again. Then we hear the beep--it was his cell phone, he had a text message. This after I left him a message on the answering machine this morning, as did Cathy and he couldn't figure out how to listen to those either...is he technologically challenged or what?

Parker and Auna

Parker and Auna have really been getting along well lately. Maybe since they are going on 10 yrs. old and settling down a bit. I spoke to their teacher at one of the volleyball matches and she said they like to work together in school. They have had almost a sibling relationship, having been together nearly every day of their lives, and have their moments when they don't like each other, but it seems that this year they are more like friends. Unless,when James is around, and they argue over who will get his attention, or Rielee is playing with Auna and Parker wants to join in! Whenever there are 3 kids playing, someone is always out of the loop.
But they are the greatest kids, funny, mischevious, and full of energy. And they both have that nice, thick dark brown hair. So many kids in this family, it is so nice that so many of them are close to their cousins.

Bead soup

Wednesday is Rielee's day off from pre-school, so we had her and the twins. Papa had an early morning dental appt., so it was just us girls for a couple of hours. She wanted to play Mom and sisters in the playroom, her being the Mom of the twins and me. I asked her who her husband was, she said, well, it's Papa, but don't tell him. I asked her what her job was and she said she was a teacher, and that she taught bigger kids to be nice to little kids. At one point, she wanted me to put Harper in the Play and Pak, so I did. Then she noticed a little drooling going on, so she got a kleenex and was starting to crawl in there with Harper. I stopped her and told her if she fell accidentally on the baby, she might hurt her, and that it was my job to always protect the babies. She said, "you mean like from lions attacking them and tigers, too?" - and then proceeded to show me some karate moves and said she would help me protect them. It is always interesting to hear how her little mind works...

Then she decided she wanted to make a bead bracelet, so we got out all the beads. She asked for a bowl to put them in, and then forgot about the bead stringing and spent the rest of the day pretending it was "Bead Soup" and pretending to feed the babies and us her special soup. Well, this worked quite well until the afternoon when first she knocked over the bowl, spilling half of the beads. Then, not 5 minutes later, she dropped the entire bowl, spilling her beads everywhere. Papa was, not surprisingly, very understanding of both spills, and helped her sweep and pick them all up.

In comparison to Rielee, Ava and Harper were really easy babies today. They eat now about every 3 or so hours and take usually 3 ounces of formula, although at one feeding today Harper ate 4 ounces. They took a good nap and even slept together for a little while on the floor, I think the wood stove might have had something to do with it.

Halloween cookies

Rielee likes to make cookies, especially sugar cookies since she gets to cut out different shapes.
Today we made Halloween cookies. This video shows her eating the dough, something I've done my entire life without getting sick, and all the kids do, but it drives Papa absolutely crazy. Every time he sees the kids or me eating cookie dough, he has a fit, and tells us we are going to get sick from the raw eggs. Some things require taking a chance, and yummy cookie dough is one of them. Sorry Papa...we won't eat store bought cookie dough though.

Cooing

Ava started off the morning by throwing up her first bottle, which made her feel better because then she smiled and actually cooed at me. Charb said she was up most of the night and very fussy, so she must have had a tummy ache. Nothing made her happy except walking around, so we did a lot of that today. Harper also cooed for me, and they both are making lots of eye contact now which is fun.

Cathy brought Jillian up to see the babies, and she was happy to play with Rielee. Jillian was very interested in the baby's carseats (the buckles) and their bouncer, which is her old one, and actually let Rielee buckle her in to it. I was going to take a picture of them, but couldn't find my camera at the time. Got this picture of them putting the baby dolls in the bouncer though. Tried to get Jillian back in the bouncer for a picture, but she wouldn't cooperate.

I don't why that very serious wide-eyed picture of Ava and Harper came up sideways...

All in the family

Yesterday we went down to Cathlamet to watch Parker & Brock's youth football team play Jame's team. How funny to be there watching my grandson, and see Alan watching his grandson, and Cathy watching one of her grandsons! The CR team won, but James played a great game, even going head-to-head against Parker for a play or two (they were both playing center) but he was kind and didn't rough Parker up very much. Rielee entertained herself by taking some pictures, one of her blanket, and I got a picture of her with James at half-time.

The forgotten diaper bag

In our baby transfering rush this morning, (which has been likened to some kind of clandestine drug deal in the dark parking lot) we managed to leave the diaper bag in Charb's truck. I blame it on the carseat bases. We found one carseat base on Craigslist, and are borrowing another from Rick and Heather, which will make the transfer much easier, it's the bases which are a hassle, taking them out of Charb's truck and hooking them up in our car. They have hooks on them which you have to tether to hooks under the car seat, then tighten the strap, it is not an easy process. But you would think with 3 adults, one of us would remember. Fortunately, not having the diaper bag isn't a huge deal since we have the bottles we bought a couple of days ago and formula and diapers. They just get to wear their nightgowns all day. Kelly was cool about it, she said she wished she could wear her jammies all day, too.
David was off today, so he and Laury came over to get a twin-baby fix. They fed them, a new experience for Laury, bottle-feeding a baby.

Two at a time...

Today I went down to Charb and Kelly's to watch the babies. It is so hard by myself...wow, did I miss Steve. Next time I go down there I am going to call Mary, David's Mom. She just lives about a mile away, and Laury said she would love to come and visit. There was an hour, from noon until 1 or so, when all I did was pick up one, then the other, over and over, and my arms are actually sore now from it. I don't know how Kelly ever gets anything done. I was going to fold some laundry for her and it took me the longest time to get it done.

Harper was a real smiley girl today, and the first time she was grinning at me, I thought, wow, she loves her Grandma. Then, a little later I caught her giving the clock the same big smile...

Oh well, I'm sure that my smile meant more to her.

Here is a little video of them from this morning, they were a little tired and squirmy.

Parker and Rielee are staying with me tonight while Gabe and Des and Steve went to the v'ball match in Ilwaco, and Auna came over to play. They were being silly taking pictures for a Halloween card.

Rielee's boyfriend

A few days ago, Rielee came home from school and told Parker and Auna and I that a boy and girl in her class are now "boyfriend and girlfriend", big news at any age. Parker told her that perhaps she should think about getting a boyfriend in her class, and she was so put out, she told him "I have a boyfriend, KYLE!". He told her maybe it's time to get a boyfriend that is her own age, that Kyle would be an old man by the time she graduates. She said she didn't care, Kyle was her boyfriend and that was that, end of the conversation. So today she was working on some Halloween picture frames, and she said one was for Kyle, then we took a picture of her in her Halloween costume to put in it, and I'm thinking, wow, I can't imagine Kyle putting that up in his dorm room...but she is insistent that she wants to give it to him. "He'll probably pick me up and hug me when he gets it" she said.
Awhile back she came home from school with a picture she had colored for Kyle. She told Papa that she was going to give it to Kyle and then he would never break up with her...ahhh.

No bottles!?

When we picked up the babies this morning, Charb said they had last eaten at 3:30, so they would be getting hungry soon. Sure enough, halfway home they started to get upset, luckily they had binkies in the diaper bag and they latched on to those. As soon as we got home, I went to fix their bottles and found that we had everything else in the diaper bag but no bottles! Fortunately, it was just before 7, and Cascade would be open, so Papa went on a mad dash to buy them. By the time he got home, we had two very hungry girls, and they were a little frustrated with the bottles Papa bought, because the nipples were smaller, but they were hungry enough to adjust quickly to the change. Needless to say, Mom and Dad were very embarassed that they could overlook the bottles.

Rielee had to hold Harper when she got home and was sitting there quietly with her head down on Harper's, so Papa grabbed the camera and went to capture the moment, and boom, Rielee's head shot up and she posed, he took 4 pictures and she looked exactly the same in each one, she has perfected her little grin.

Went to the Volleyball match against LaCenter tonight, they won in 3. Macee and Tierney played really well, as did they rest of the team, of course.

Whatever it takes...

This is our new routine-we meet Charb at the Oak Tree parking lot at 6:15 a.m. and bring the babies to our house, then we meet Kelly back there at 4:15 p.m. and send them home. Not the ideal situation, as childcare goes, but we will do whatever it takes to help take care of them.

Parker holding Ava

If you want to have a day pass quickly, borrow a set of twins! Your day will fly by, and before you know it, it's 1:00 in the afternoon and you haven't showered, let alone put on make-up or read the paper. Thank goodness there are two of us. Papa is such a big help keeping these girls happy, and can work magic in getting them into a deep sleep (as well as himself). We bought a swing from Des' sister, that was a life saver. Rielee was happy to see the twins today, and held them both for a few minutes before getting busy with her stuff. We did a Halloween craft and Papa took her to the library, oh, and she took one of her leisurely mid-day baths with her Barbies, always good entertainment for her.

Rielee holding Harper

As soon as Parker and Auna got home, they both wanted to hold the babies, too.
I noticed more today how Harper seems a little more sensitive to noises, and she really likes to be wrapped up in a blanket, too. She also likes to be held up where she can look around, and is very strong and wiry. I told Steve today that I thought she might crawl and walk first. Ava is a little calmer overall, maybe because she is bigger and more filled out. It is going to be so much fun to see how these two develop.

Busy Saturday

Today we went up to watch Emmy's Wildcats play at St. Martins U. in Lacey. They won easily in 3 sets. Afterwards, Laury and Auna were riding home with us, while David, Emmy, and Will went up to Seattle to watch a CWU football game. We were just about to Rochester when my cell rang-we had to go back to St. Martins because Laury had the car keys! Laury felt so bad about it, and it was quite a site when we got there, and they are all sprawled out on the car in the parking lot...

We got home just in time to go over to Des and Gabe's and see Macee dressed up for the Homecoming Dance. She was such a pretty Princess! Charb and Kelly were up also with the twins, so we got some quality baby-holding time. Then we headed up to Toutle to watch Parker play football. He had a great game, and they beat Athlete's Corner.

Parker, Rielee and Auna came over later while Des and Gabe went to take the kids from dinner to the dance.

Day two with the twins

Okay, this was the first day of watching the twins by myself. Got there about 10, they slept until about 11:00 and then-wo0-both woke up screamin' hungry! So, got the bottles made and put Ava in the bouncer and propped up her bottle, and sat on the floor holding Harper. That worked great, for about a minute, then I noticed Ava's bottle fell over, and when I reached to pick it up I noticed she was damp-the lid was loose and formula had spilled all down the front of her. So now I have a mad and wet baby, and don't have any idea how much she drank and how much she is wearing...had to lay Harper down to deal with Ava, so she was mad, she wanted her bottle back. Ava finished what she had left and started crying so I made her a couple more ounces, she drank a little but was still unhappy so I stripped her down thinking she probably felt cold, but when I picked her up she spit up on me and Harper's blanket. Then I had to run up stairs to get her a change of clothes, twice, since the first time I grabbed a too-small outfit. Then Harper wanted some attention--See Grandma run,

run, Grandma, run...

But we all survived and I managed to get them settled down finally, then I did a load of their laundry.

Their next feeding went much smoother. Had the bottles ready to go and started Harper before she was super hungry, got her burped and settled down in the swing and then fed Ava.

This twin business isn't for sissies, but one little smile from one of them makes it all worthwhile.

My Life As Grandma

Today was our first day watching the twins. I say "our" because I took Steve with me for the first day so I good have some "break-in" time and get used to Charb and Kelly's house and where everything was and the babie's routines, etc.

You can see what a help he was to me...

Simply put, they are great babies, there are just two of them, which is going to make watching them a challenge, but one I am so happily ready for...

They woke up about 7:30, ready to eat, both gobbled down their bottles, then back to sleep until 10. From then on, I lost track of the times of feeding, changing, holding. One would be sleeping peacefully, the other awake, then vice versa. I only had one time when Steve was napping in the other room and both were crying at the same time, so I would pick one up and settle her down and then put her back down and pick up the other one, back and forth. It was funny. But all in all, they were very considerate of us, and took turns needing attention. They are starting to look around a lot, in fact, if you try to lay Harper on her tummy on your chest to get her to sleep, she will squirm around until she can see your face.