(Some of) The Richards in Disneyland!

This week has been a memorable one for us! Wednesday through Saturday, Spencer, Cort and Macy were in Anaheim, California for the kids' very first trip to Disneyland! Although the timing for Disneyland wasn't the best for our family this year (again, remember that three of our kids are under 2 years old...yikes) Spencer's family had planned a reunion, of sorts, and how could we miss the chance for our oldest two kids to have that kind of an experience with cousins?! So...early Wednesday morning, Spencer, Cort and Macy sped away in the always sleek, speedy and reliable red Honda Civic (Spencer would add: "chick magnet" to this list of descriptors, presumably becauses he drives this pathetic piece of metal and is trying to feel better about it)to make the drive while Caleb and twins and I "took one for the team" and stayed here at home to tend to the home and hearth.

As a side note, I definitely drew the short straw on this one folks, and I plan to hold this over Spencer's head for years and years to come. He owes me BIG TIME! haha Of course I'm kidding. But anyway, as much fun as it was to care for three babies for four days with no help or back up during the day or night (sarcasm, sarcasm), I don't think it held a candle to the magic of watching your kids experience Disneyland for the very first time. I was just plain super bummed not to be able to be there. Maybe next time...

Special thanks to Spencer's parents for planning and making possible such an incredible memory for our kids and their cousins! They will be talking about this for YEARS to come. We love you Grandpa and Grandma Richards!



A direct quote from Cort captures his sentiments about the trip--after reading the Disneyland slogan "Where Dreams Come True" he turned to Spencer and said, "Dad, my dreams really DID come true! I never knew it could be this great!" So, so cute. Here are a few pictures of their trip...Cort's all time favorite thing was getting chosen at the Jedi Training Academy to fight the "real" Darth Vader. You can see from his face how seriously he took this! Apparently, no smiling is allowed when you are fighting Darth.

He keeps telling me, "Mom, a Jedi uses the force for knowledge and defense, never for attack." which is a direct quote from the bottom of the Jedi certificate they gave him at the end of his training. Hilarious.

Macy of course loved the princesses but has talked most about Splash Mountain. "Mom, we got SOAKED!"

And, yes, Caleb the twins and I survived our four days alone together and Spencer treated me to a delicious hour and half nap this afternoon so all is well and forgiven. :) Now...we are looking forward to Halloween!

All I want for Christmas is...

Since this post is about mothers, I had to include a somewhat recent photo of my own Mom. Honestly, isn't she one hot mama?? Okay, on with the blog...

This week I enjoyed a way-too-rare girls night out with my mom, sister Jocee, cousin Katie and aunt Peg. We met at the Dodo (where else, for a GNO??) in Gateway and laughed and laughed and laughed over smoked turkey sandwiches and warm barbeque dipping sauce. It was pure heaven. The conversation was so entertaining and it felt so good to smile after a really rough day at home with the crew. It was extremely therapeutic and I'm already scheming as to how I can get this group together again next month for another night on the town.

Among several of the things we talked and laughed about was how each of us so desparately needs and wants a "Mom!" Now, of course we have one but the ones we have are no longer willing or able to do what we want and/or really need! Now, as full grown adults and mothers ourselves, we desparately need and want and, dare I say ACHE for, the mother of our infancy and childhood. You know the mother of whom I speak. She's the one who races around preparing meals to our liking and worrying that we've had enough to be completely happy and satisfied. The one who pulls the blinds, fluffs the pillow, and searches out the softest, warmest blanket before tucking us in and then being on guard for the duration of our nap to ensure that no one makes a peep to disturb our rest. The one mother who cleans up after us when we're done with whatever it was that was entertaining us, does our hair over and over until it's perfect, racks her brain thinking of what she could do for us that would be fun for a particular holiday or upcoming event. In short, the mother who is consumed with US, with OUR needs. Come on, this would be the LIFE! Each one of us at dinner that night is a mom, albeit in different stages of the adventure. But with all of our varying life experiences and challenges we could all agree...what we each want for Christmas is definitely a MOTHER! :)

Google amazes me again!

My great friend Amy just introduced me to something called Google Reader, which monitors the websites or blogs you "subscribe" to and lets you know when there have been updates to those sites. Maybe I'm the last person on the planet to hear about this feature, but I love being able to see at a glance if anyone has posted to their blog. If you haven't seen it before, check it out at http://www.reader.google.com/.

My brother-in-law John works for Google and probably knows about a lot more cool things Google Reader can do. Any tips to share John?? :)

Here's a quick parting shot of Jake and Emmy enjoying the swing in our backyard. Hilarious.

Couldn't have said it better myself...

What follows is an excerpt from the book “Twinspiration” by Cheryl Lage, that I read and loved when I was expecting Jake & Emmy. I love her thoughts here and can't help but wonder if Spencer and I are involved in the "extreme sports," "cross-country marathon" or "decathlon" of parenting. Read on and you'll understand. Either way, aren't most of those activities for people who are slightly NUTS?!? NUTS. Yes, finally a fitting description of us. Enjoy...

“Women who have two children closely born will regularly tell

you, “…I know how you feel.” While that comment is notoriously annoying for many twin moms, try not to take offense at the assertion. No, I don’t believe anyone other than a twin mom can actually “know how it feels.” Raising multiples is the extreme sports of parenting.

Our fellow parents with children born within a narrow, yet non-twin, span of time may have only half the difficulty during any single newborn developmental challenge, but their healing refractory window is almost entirely absent. The duration of each stage goes on twice as long. Stair-step families are the cross-country marathoners of parenting.

What of those families who have a singleton and then twins? Or twins, then a singleton? (MOLLY'S COMMENTARY: Or, heaven forbid, 3 stair-step children and THEN twins?!?!) You are the decathletes of parenting! Lend your empathy to all new parents you can. Your perspective should be universally respected.”

Anyway, I don't think our perspective should be universally respected by any means, but her analogy is cute. Recommend this book to anyone you know who is expecting twins. They won't be disappointed. Have a great day!

San Diego Spectacle

We're back from a week long get-away to sunny San Diego, California and we had such a great time! Now, I should clarify upfront that this was NOT a vacation (at least not for Spencer and me)...this was definitely a trip. Those who are confused about the difference between those two things obviously don't have children! :) ha ha But either way, it was so fun being together and the kids had the time of their young lives on the beach, boardwalk, pier and back every day. As much fun as it was to leave town and have Spencer with us from sun up to sun down for seven glorious days in a row, it is amazing to me how wonderful it always is to come home. We are happy to be back in our own beds and are ready to launch back into the regular routine first thing tomorrow morning. But first, a few photos of the trip:

The title of this blog includes the word "spectacle" because that is the only word I can think of to describe us as we were out and about this trip. I swear, we were turning heads everywhere we went. My mom complained that we could never really get anywhere on our nightly walks on the boardwalk because we got stopped every 3 feet by someone googling over the babies (Spencer is still half convinced it was actually him there were googling over) and then gasping as they realized that all of the little people trailing us belonged to our family. It was hilarious. Here's a shot of us on one of those BEAUTIFUL boardwalk strolls....

And the BEACH!! Here are just a few shots of the fun the kiddos had playing in the sand and water...I swear, little kids are born for this kind of thing! They jumped over waves, chased and fed the birds endlessly, buried Cort in the sand, built all kinds of sand castles, and Cort and Caleb even boogie boarded on Spencer's back. How any of them dared get in the water without wetsuits is still a mystery to me. Brrrr!! What a great week!

What's on my mind...

Things I love...
1. The way Jake and Emmy hold hands while they are nursing. Sure, it's just because babies grab onto anything and everything when they are small and they just happen to be in very close proximity to each other while dining. But still, it is absolutely adorable and they've done it since the day they were born. Ohhhh...I just LOVE it.

2. That Caleb (who just turned 2 in July) is doing AWESOME on his potty training. Okay, better said, he is potty trained! On just the second day of training he did his "little pushes" (#1, for those of you who are unfamiliar with our potty training lingo!) every time all day and his "big pushes" (a.k.a. #2) once on the potty. No accidents. Since then he has had a handful of accidents but hasn't been in diapers at all (except for at night) and has even told me he needed to go and used the potty while we were out running errands. Way to go Caleb! Yahoo! Now...down to just TWO in diapers. Beats THREE!

Things I don't like...
1. When Spencer is moonlighting and doesn't get home until late (2-3 nights a week), I obviously run around like a crazy person trying to put the kiddos to bed alone. Once I get everyone bathed and brushed and in jammies, I usually send Macy to wait for me in her bed while I tuck Cort and Caleb in in the basement. Inevitably, no matter how quickly I try to go, she falls asleep before I can get there. It breaks my heart every time and I wish I could kiss her and say prayers together and tell her how much I love her and what a wonderful daugther and friend and helper she is to me. I miss those chances to sit on the edge of her bed and talk, just the two of us, for a moment. Sometimes I am spread too thin and miss important things. It makes me sad just writing about it....

2. The way I often have to expect/demand Cort, my oldest who's five, to act twice his age just because having one more person demanding my constant attention would put me under. Sorry Cort. Thanks for so being patient with me and such a mature little guy. You're an amazing big brother to all the little people who follow you in our family. We and they are lucky to have you and I definitely am NOT trying to make you grow up any faster. I'll always want you to be my little guy.

August photo moments...

Macy took this picture of me while she was photographing everything in our home with the digital camera. I wasn't exactly thrilled about having my picture taken, sitting on the floor, mid-day, spit up on each shoulder, wrestling babies and trying to keep Caleb happy. But hey, it's the first picture of me AND my babies in a while and maybe I'll be glad someday to have captured this "real life" moment with the twins.



Macy, Caleb and the twins watching "Wonder Pets" on Saturday morning. The best thing about twins is you never have to share the baby!



Me and Cort outside our home on his first day of kindergarten. What a handsome little man!



This is a shot of Jake rolling for the first time earlier this month. Emmy couldn't be shown up by her big brother and also rolled over for the first time later that same day. One of their first "firsts" and they did it together! So cute!




I don't know who is happier about Cort riding the bus to AND from school this year...me or him? Tough call.