Addendum

Word must've somehow gotten back to Emmy about what I wrote about her in my last post because the very next day she started rolling like crazy. Amazing what a little peer pressure can do, eh?!? She also wanted me to tell you that she is doing really well sitting up all of a sudden too. A little slouchy, but sitting up nonetheless. WE LOVE YOU EMMY! :)

Six Month Update

I feel like life is coming at us at about a million miles an hour these days and there has been no time to post! So...as a meager attempt to keep you all up to speed on our lives, I'll include a little 6 month update I wrote for the twins' baby book. Then at least you'll know what Jake & Emmy have been up to! :) You can safely assume that the rest of us are just chugging along! This afternoon we have Cort's first SEP conference (parent-teacher conference) and both Spencer and I are planning on going. I'm sure that's a bit of overkill to have both parents attend, but hey, Cort's our first child...we don't want to miss a thing! I'm sure my the time the twins are in school we'll be drawing straws to see who HAS to go! :) Here's the update:

This month Jake has really been rolling around like a maniac. He will go and go until he hits a solid surface and then wails to be rescued. Emmy, on the other hand, has decided that rolling is altogether WAY overrated, and we can’t get her to budge off of her back or stomach, depending on how she’s set down on the floor! I’m sure it will come in time when she is duly motivated by watching her brother crawling around the room! Neither baby is sitting up unassisted yet but both are getting close. It will be nice to have them be able to sit up and see us without the assistance of so much gear. And the thought of them crawling? Dreamy! Maybe by Christmas…

Both babies love toys to play with and like to taste everything they touch. Jake can be particularly aggressive in this regard and has, on countless occasions, attempted to prove once again that neither Emmy nor her clothing are edible. When I set them down on the floor in close proximity to each other I often hear, “Mom! Jake’s attacking Emmy!” which is a fairly accurate description of Jake’s attempts to either roll up over the top of his sister or pull some part of her face or body off for a taste test! It is pretty darn cute (if you’re not Emmy, I guess!).

Speaking of food, the babies are well into solid foods now and loving their cereal or fruit and vegetable meals following nursing. Emmy finally got the hang of the spoon and Jake’s been a champ from the get-go. I feed them simultaneously (bite for one, bite for the other), and Jake often grunts with displeasure when he has to wait his turn while I’m giving Emmy a spoonful. What can I say, the boy loves to eat!

The exact DAY that the babies turned six-months old, the woman next to me in church commented about Emmy’s darling teeth. TEETH??? I had no idea. A closer inspection ruled that yes, Emmy indeed is cutting her two bottom teeth simultaneously and Jake has two poking through on the bottom as well. Man! The things you miss when you’re distracted by three other needy kiddos! Thanks to the aforementioned teeth, I slept for 3 hours last night and spent most of my time pacing the upstairs with a poor, suffering Emmy. Ugh. But, I’m sure they will be cute once they break through all the way!

Halloween Highlights

I don't know what the Halloween equivalent of the Christmas "Bah-Humbug!" is, but it probably applies to me. I don't know why I don't really dig Halloween but I guess I'm coming to grips with the fact that I don't. For some reason I don't really get into the "spooky" decorations, although I love "autumn" decor, and getting everyone into and out of their costumes for the family party, the ward party, the school party, and then finally for the actual trick-or-treating wears me out! SIGH. So, that said. We had a really FUN Halloween. Seriously. We did. Sure, I grumbled a bit while I carved a pumpkin franctically all by myself at 5pm on Halloween night and was a little frazzled trying to get everyone to inhale some pizza just moments before throwing costumes on for the umpteenth time and heading out the door. But, once we were on our way, the kids had a BLAST! :) We took the whole crew out with us for a good 2 hours of trick-or-treating fun. Cort, Macy and Caleb were HILARIOUS and had such a great time. Jake and Emmy were so content strapped to Spencer and me in the Baby Bjorns and all bundled up for the walk through our neighborhood. It was a beautiful night to be outside and we had so much fun. I may not be the biggest fan of Halloween in general, but I do have to admit that kids in costume are pretty darn cute. Here's proof:







There isn't a picture of Caleb because he has an issue with being photographed (remember the Lake Mead post?!?!). Anyway, he was a puppy dog and a super cute one, at that!

(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!