Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Bloody cute, mate!

Here are some more cute England pics. Enjoy.


"Maybe mom and dad will get us high chairs when we get back. Feeding us in the bouncey seats is lame."


"Mom always color coordinates us. Joy."


"We can't wait til we can play with cars like Lewis."


There's nothing cuter than a little english bloke in a long scarf.


Girly time with Nana.


Mason passed out after a long day of being passed around by Liebermans.


"U talkin' to me? That's what I thought."


Peanut butter butt and Jelly belly.


"Yes...did you want something?"


"Baba doo whaaa Baba doo whaaa."


Don't worry Mason. This is what Jacob will look like in 60 years time. Not you.


"Can't we stay here with Auntie Melinda and Uncle Chris? They have way better crisps in England."


The old-school sky cots. Mason on her way back to the good ole U S of A.

Englandtown

Again, it's been a long time since I've posted. Luckily, my sexy husband has made a couple posts keeping you all up to date on the status of the cutest twins in Hoboken. Again, I've been meaning to post. But for some reason I just haven't gotten around to it as of late. But, well, here I am. Yeah!

I had to wait 21 years before I went to England. Little Mason and Jacob only had to wait 5 months. Lucky little shits. Actually, they are gonna be the coolest kids ever. Yes, they will have duel citizenship because they were born here and Harvey is still English. So they'll get two passports. Which will kind of look impressive when they're older. I think. I mean, if I had met a guy that had two passports when I was in college I totally would have gone home with him. Thus I digress...

Our trip. (please excuse me if I repeat what Harvey has already told you-- but I'm just writing off the cuff here. I'll try and be brief, although I know I never am.)

All in all it was a successful journey. Considering the 5 hour time change, the traveling with two infants and all the crap the comes with them -- including car seats, strollers, bottles, organic vegetables ect. It was so good to see everyone. And it was especially fun to spend time with my in-laws, my sister-in law Melinda and my cute nephew, Lewis. (Honestly, I really do like my in-laws. They're great. They are crazy, like my parents so I feel right at home. And no, I'm not just writing that because I know they are reading this. :) ) The flight over was awesome. Sure, we had to get up at the ass crack of dawn, but the kids didn't care. They were actually in really good moods the whole way over. And the flight was totally empty so we had a ton of space. I think Harvey even managed to watch half of Rock and Rolla. The winds were with us so I think the whole trip only took 5 1/2 hours which was faaaantastic.

The stay over was fun. It was great to see the whole family and spend time with everyone since we barely get to see each other. It was especially great to hang out with my little nephew Lewis. He's now 2 1/2 and so cute. Like really cute. Like really really really cute. He loved his little cousins and seemed to be fascinated with Mason. I caught him one morning bending over and looking at her on the play mat (that used to be his) and he said, "Hello darling." Now imagine it again in an English accent. I swear, little kids with English accents are so damn cute. Kind of makes me a little sad that Mason and Jacob won't have one. But maybe they'll pick up a word or two. And Nana and Papa were great with the kids too. Singing to them. Dancing for them. Even participating in naked time. Videos to come later. (and don't worry - Ian and Sandra didn't get naked, it was all Mase and Jake.)We had visitors nearly every day. I mean, the cutest twins in the world were there, what did you expect? A big thanks to Melinda and Sandra for getting so many toys and car seats and all the gear that you need to entertain two 5 1/2 month olds. We totally appreciated everything you did to make our stay as pleasant as possible. And I have to give another shout out to Sandra for the delicious home made dinners she cooked for us every night. Although we love to cook, Harv and I barely do it anymore. No time. And if there is time I'm always dreading doing the dishes after. So we've been sticking to the frozen meals and take out menus I'm afraid.

The sleeping was a bit hairy. Jacob refused to sleep in his Pack N Play. Mason didn't mind so much. Although both of their body clocks were all messed up from the time change. Jacob ended up sleeping in his car seat the whole time. Which was fine. Except for the fact that we kind of undid all the good we did with getting him into the crib before we left.

The major faupaux that we made was not bringing enough formula. And being that England is another country they don't have any Similac their. Or Enfamil. Or any brand I was familiar with. So...we ended up buying a completely new formula for Mason and putting Jacob on half of his normal Alimentum formula and half Mason's Similac Advanced. (which in a way was fine since we wanted to try and start to maybe wean him off his formula anyway) This was big though. And semi-stressful. Of everything we packed, how could we forget to bring enough formula? Well, at least we had plenty of outfits.

The kids actually had their best night of sleep the night before we were leaving. They finally had adjusted! And then we had to get on another plane and come back.

The plane ride home was not as smooth. It was later in the day so the kids were naturally a bit crankier. Also they were much stricter at Heathrow then they were at Newark as far as us bringing baby stuff. We had to taste all of our liquids - well, Harvey did. Prune juice and all. We actually ended up having to throw away a bunch of the premixed formula we had brought for Mason since once you open it, it's no good unless it's refridgerated. I was kind of annoyed but didn't make a fuss about it since we had some back up powder. Them Brits are strict though. The sky cots on the way home were different too. They were the old school ones - which were essentially boxes that you place the babies in. Which were good cause there was more room in them. And bad because you had to remove them during any turbulance. Also, as you well know, Sir Galahad does not like laying on his back. Oh no. Lets just say they cried a lot, making the flight not as enjoyable as the first. Oh yeah, and this one was 8 hours as opposed to the 5 1/2 from before.

So now we are home. It's been 3 days since we've been back and the kids are definitely less jet lagged and we are slowly getting them back into the swing of things. Which is what we are all hoping for. Jake has even been sleeping in his crib. Kind of. Sort of. We'll see what the week brings. Oh wait. It's almost Thursday. The week has already been brought. Cute pics from the trip to come. Stay tuned.

Monday, January 26, 2009

Meet the Liebermans

The day after we got to England Mason and Jacob were ready to meet the rest of the family. They spent the morning with nana and papa (who they have not seen since they were 3 weeks old; can you remember how cute they looked back then?), aunt Melinda, uncle Chris and big cousin Lewis. I say big cousin 'cos he's 2 1/2 so he seems very big to Jacob and Mason. They look up to their cousin and want to be just like him in 2 years time.
In the afternoon they got to meet great aunt Leora and great uncle Gerald, once removed as well as their cousins Michael, Tracy, Julia, Paul and Eleanor plus great grandma (GG) Doris. A family tree would help but we can't be bothered to draw one here - just imagine a roomfull of Liebermans (Liebermen?) of various shapes and colors. So many relatives would seem daunting for most babies at 5 1/2 months but not Mason and Jacob. Not only did they have a great time playing with new toys and being passed around from aunt to cousin to GG but they could also name every family member once they'd left. Those Liebermans obviously leave an impression.


Whatever joke daddy just said it must have been really funny.


Jacob trying to comprehend that GG is his daddy's daddy's mommy.


Julia and Paul with the twins. Those in the know, know that such a photo is a rarity.


Mase and Jake a little tired after the excesses of the day relaxing with nana,,,


... and daddy and papa were quite tired too!

Monday, January 19, 2009

Jakes on a Plane

For those who don't know, Ann and I are currently in England. We've come over with the twins to show them off to the British side of the family. Naturally we were dreading the flight. Our epic adventure started off at 3:30 am on Saturday morning when we awoke not to Jacob or Mason crying but to the alarm clock. That's right. 3:30 am. In the morning. We woke the twins up, gave them a feed, got them in their car seats and raced out to the airport.
When we arrived they were still asleep. Good. Only another 10 hours to go. Maybe they'd stay asleep the whole trip? Maybe all our fears were ungrounded? We checked in without a fuss and got through security with lots of liquids and strange powders - no questions asked. I wonder if smugglers know that two cute babies are the ultimate distraction? Ha ha! The kids were awake by the time we got to the plane but seemed in good spirits. We were hopeful for a good trip but still a little concerned that Jacob screaming at 3000 ft might shatter a window or two.
What did we discover? The twins love flying. Take off and landing were easy (thanks to ear drops and pacifiers). Feeding? Feeding at 3000 ft? No problem. Jacob spent most of the flight flirting with the staff and Mason just looked lovely. What a dream flight. Here are some pics of happy kids on a plane.

Live, from Newark International Airport. See - we weren't faking.

Our friend Oge. He took care of the twins whilst we disassembled the stroller.

Jacob taking a snooze in his skycot. Thanks Virgin - these things are great!

Look mommy. I'm still happy even though you dressed me like Ralphie from A Christmas Story.

How did we know they'd like the plane ride? We played airplane before we went. Or is it simply a homage to Drity Dancing?

Now we spend the week in England and let the family "ooh and ahh" over them. How can you not? They are quite cute.

Hopefully our return journey will be just as pleasant. We shall see. We shall see.

Friday, January 16, 2009

Naked Time!

Live, in the flesh...Mason & Jacob.

Stay-At-Home-TV

The past few days I've been thinking about all these weird shows that I watch now that I'm a mom. OK, I'm admitting it. Here it goes.

I watch *Kathie Lee & Hoda Kotbe (the last hour of The Today Show in NY). I have to admit I kind of like it. Even though they are really dumb, it's pretty entertaining. I especially like the very beginning of the show when they go through all the NY Papers and tell me all the gossip.

I watch *The View. Yes, I'll admit it. And I like the beginning of their show too when they do "Hot Topics". And Whoopie is surprisingly funny. Barbara Walters and Elizabeth Hasselbeck I could do without -- but it is a funny mix of women.

I watch *"Who Wants to Be A Millionaire" hosted by Meredith Viera. It makes for good TV that you can keep the sound down when you are feeding babies.

I watch *Oprah. Not all the time. But a few days out of the week for sure. I mostly like it when she has celebrities on. The losing weight and self help I could do without. I mean, not like I don't need to lose weight, but to me, those shows don't make for good TV.

I watch *Jon and Kate Plus 8. It makes me feel better about my situation.

Now I still watch all the shows I would normally watch - Sportscenter, Mike & Mike and The Today Show in the morning. I still watch the Food Network all the time. And I keep up with The Office, Top Chef, 30 Rock, South Park and Trueblood on the DVR. But these are my day time shows that I never really ever thought I would watch. But I do. They have some how grabbed a hold of me.

One other really embarrassing thing I just thought of, is that I hear that "Daisy Sour Cream" commercial all day long and sometimes I catch myself singing that catchy jingle, "Do a dollop...Do Do a dollop with Daisy! Do a dollop...Do Do a dollop!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWCKo8Dleh0

* When I say watch, I really mean that I just have it on in the room. Obviously, having two kids I cannot really watch anything.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Diaper Escape

This morning I found a dirty diaper on my coffee table. Along with an empty bowl full of left over Chinese, three laptops and various other random crap. The thing is, I'm pretty sure I put the diaper there. I got Jacob ready for his bath on the couch and I think I forgot to dispose of it in it's proper receptacle -- in the Diaper Genie II of course!

So - it's snowing today, which is cool. But I think it's going to be a "dirty-diaper-on-your-coffee-table" kind of day.

Oh yeah, it was just a pee diaper. No poop. so don't worry.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Oh what a day

So far today has been crazy.

So crazy that for lunch I had one Spa Classics Lean Cuisine, Lemongrass chicken - one whole packet of healthy vision frozen veggies and FOUR, yes count em, 1,2,3, 4 humungo chocolate chip cookies that I baked in the oven. I baked them thinking I would have one, give one to Harv when he came home from work, and have one each after dinner. But they're all gone I'm afraid. Yes, the dough was already made - from my friend Mya. But anyway...

The kids had a rough night last night so I was tired from the get go. Then I cut Mason's thumb when I was trying to cut her nails this morning. I HATE when that happens. I got her pretty good and it wouldn't stop bleeding which was kind of sad. For me. She didn't really care. In fact she didn't even cry when it happened.

Speaking of Mason, the poor girl seems to be on a hunger strike lately. I'm not sure if it's because Jennie Nacarlo came over here last week and told her she needed to wear a bra. Ha ha.

Seriously though, she hasn't been really eating her bottle that much lately. She just doesn't seem to be interested. Now we're not sure if it's because the poor girl is teething like crazy and is in pain, is constipated from the oatmeal we've been giving her, or she's just holding out for the solids. Probably a combination of the 3, but it's still disconcerting to Harvey and I when she only wants to drink an ounce.

And yeah, both Mase and Jake are totally CONSTIPATED. I blame it on the oatmeal. So starting last night we've gone back to the rice cereal. They have these hard little poops that almost look like adult poops. And they get stuck in their butts and when I wipe them off, I see these big red baboon asses. It looks really painful.

Also, neither child really wanted to take a nap this morning, so I haven't had time to do anything and the house looks like a bomb went off in it.

Lastly, Mason fell asleep while eating her peas. Literally, she had a spoonful in her mouth and fell right asleep. Again, probably because she is overtired. (She's just like her daddy.)

So at the moment, Jacob is up. Mason is still sleeping and hopefully when she wakes up things will be better.

Here are some REALLY REALLY cute pics I've been meaning to post. They are from last week and the weekend. Signing off...


Cute bibs, courtesy of Aunt Jennie.


Naked time!


The wonder twins in their sleep sacks.


Up to no good.


Cutie patooties.


Mason is on to me. She watches my every move.

Cow Giraffe Hat

On Sunday, Harvey and I heard Mason get up from her nap. She was cooing and talking and making really cute noises, as she does. We peered over the side of her crib and this is what we saw:


Silly girl was wearing her cow giraffe blankie as a hat! It actually makes a really nice hat, don't you think? We do.

Fashion Show

We are going to England to see Harvey's family in less than a week. Yikes. So we've been preparing for the trip (although I don't think we'll ever really be prepared for what happens) We've been getting things together blah blah blah. The kiddos have been growing like crazy. Seriously, I just bought them a few cute long sleeved onesies, sized 3-6 months and they've practically already grown out of them. Being that I don't want to pack anything for England that doesn't really fit, I decided to try on some clothes on the kids. Oh yeah, they have a closet jam packed full of clothes they received after they were born. Some stuff they've already grown out of, some stuff they're wearing now and some they'll be growing into. So - I thought Mason and I would have the best time ever, trying on different outfits. Well -- this is how it went.

Outfit #1

Things seemed to be going swimmingly. As you can see, she really enjoyed her pink piggy t-shirt dress.

Outfit #2

Again. things still going well. She got a little bit pissed at me when I put the beret on. But it's SO cute. How could I not.

Outfit #3

This is where things took a turn for the worst. Don't know what put her over the edge. It might have been the ruffles on her bottom. But I can't be sure.

Auf Wiedersehen.

Eww. What is that????

Friday afternoon I was cleaning up Mason and Jacob's room when I looked in Jacob's crib and noticed this mysterious yellow stain in his crib. Ew. Gross. What the hell was that? This is what I saw:



I looked a little bit closer. And closer. And closer til my nose was practically touching it.



Did he puke? Was it hardened baby urine? Sweet potato?
No, no and no.

Upon staring at it for a good 5 minutes I deduced that it was ear wax. Yup, you heard me right. Ear wax. Jakey gets a lot of it - so i figure a big ball of it must had fallen out and then he must have smeared it all over -- you know cause he was sleeping in his crib and all!

Anyway, not sure why I really shared this with you or felt compelled to take photographs of it, I just did. So now you can go on with your day. :)

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Bolded Happenings

I feel like I haven't been updating the blog as much as I used to. Not sure what this is due to...oh yeah, it's because I have two kids. "But you've always had two kids, dummy." I know. I know. But I guess they just seem to be taking up more time the older they get. Which is a good thing. I think. In the beginning most of my day was dedicated to making sure the little fuckers wouldn't cry. But now they definitely don't cry as much which is awesome. I mean, they still cry of course, just not the whole day. Except for the other day when Mason cried for like an hour straight. Poor girl is teething, can't say I blame her. But now most of my day is spent playing with them -- they are SO interactive now it's crazy. We are not playing catch or eating toast together - but they seem to really enjoy my singing. Which is really funny. And they try and talk to me. Which is even funnier. I haven't posted a video in a while - so I'll try and catch something good tomorrow.

So here are some bolded points on the latest. (you know it is important if it is bolded)

Mason is rolling over like crazy. Every now and then I'll catch her in the rain forest whimpering because she's rolled over on her stomach and doesn't like what she is facing (like the bottle of tequila we have on the bottom shelf of our bar) and can't roll back over to look at the lights and butterflies.

Mase has also been sleeping through the night. Past 4 nights in a row. She RULES.
Jacob has been sleeping in his crib. Past 5 nights in a row. This may not sound amazing to you, but to Harvey and I, this is totally exciting. And a huge relief at the same time. Kind of cross between the excitement you feel when a package arrives with your name on it but you weren't expecting anything combined with the relief you feel when you take a big crap. He's crying a lot through the night but is learning to settle himself down. Lets just hope the little guy keeps it up.

They both have tried sweet potatoes and sweet peas. Jake enjoys the sweet potatoes while Mase prefers peas. Tomorrow we are onto carrots. I'm telling you, crazy things are happening over here.

Jacob loves the Jumparoo. Which is this crazy contraption you put them in with all these insane distractions all over it and their feet are dangling. He gets really excited about being in it. And I get excited about putting him in it.

We've added "naked time" into our repertoire of daily activities. It is exactly as it sounds. I strip them down to their diapers and they roll around together on soft blankets. They absolutely LOVE it. I guess I would secretly love it too. But Harvey and I are just too tired to roll around on soft blankets. We would just fall asleep.

Jacob has been straining really hard to poo. I think he's a little bit constipated from the cereal, but you can totally tell when he's doing it. He looks all serious and just grunts like he's trying to poo. He's such a dude. All he is missing is a magazine.

Mason has been blowing raspberries at me. Even with her peas in her mouth.
They are probably getting into a new bath tub soon. Sadly they are getting too big for their little Froggy bath. We actually put them in a bigger tub tonight. (together which was especially cute) But the tub was a little too big as we had to hold them up.

That's all I got for now. More tomorrow or on the weekend.

Monday, January 5, 2009

Random Wish List (of the moment)


I wish I could fall asleep as easy as Mason and Jacob. Maybe one day Harvey will put a pacifier in my mouth, and a blanket over my face and I'll instantly start snoring.

I wish I would stop putting on my underwear inside out. Not sure if that's because I have baby brain or what...but I've done it twice in the past week. Odd.

I wish I had a personal chef so I could eat the "Eat Clean" diet they were talking about today on The Today Show. Shit dawg, I would eat healthy if I had someone preparing meals for me 24/7. But somehow it just seems easier to go cuckoo for cocoa puffs or grab a handful of cheetos.

I wish they made infant swings for adults. They just look awesome. And I can imagine would be pretty comfortable.

I wish they had my Far Side desk calendar in Barnes and Noble the other day so I didn't have to get the Paula Deen one. Ha ha. I'm actually secretly looking forward to a year with Paula. But just wanted to throw that out there in case any of you catch me with it.

Just some random thoughts. And a good excuse to post the picture above. Happy Monday all.

Sweet Potato Babies!

Saturday we started giving Mason and Jacob veggies for lunch. First on the menu...sweet potatoes. The first day, Jacob and Mase weren't too keen on them. Mason, pulled an icky face with every bite. Yesterday Jacob ate his whole portion. Mason, not so much. So we'll see what happens today - maybe it just takes a little while for the little lady to get used to them.

Next on the menu...sweet peas. Mmm...mushy peas.


"I pity the fool who tries to feed me sweet potatoes again."


"I think the ladies might like a man with an orange mustache."

Lieberman Holiday Extravaganza 08

As promised, here are a smathering of pics from the Lieberman Holiday Extravaganza 08. Harvey had a week and then some off from work. We spent the time in Hoboken and Boston which was fun for all.

Enjoy the pics.


He's not really scared. He always kind of looks like that.


Little Mason, as happy as can be.


Mood lighting...isn't she gorgeous!


Jacob and mommy...I took Jacob out in the freezing MA cold to try and calm him down from a small fit. Fit could be due to teething. Thought it was a good photo op, anyway.


Hand sandwich for a mid afternoon snack.


Mason, studying Jacob and his hand sandwich technique.


This is how Harvey and I celebrated new years! We hung with Aunt Jennie and Uncle Andy. You know you're living the high life when you have shrimp cocktail like that. Aww yeah.


We know we're cute. No need to tell us. We know. And we know you know.


Opening Hanukkah presents with Grandma and Grandpa. We share our toys...for now.

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Happy Poo Year!!

So I know it's a little late to be wishing you a happy new year but I wanted to say it anyway. Since we rang in the new year, things on Clinton Street have been good. Real good. Kids are getting bigger -- as you will see when I get around to downloading all the pics I have on my camera. Can you even believe they are 5 months old? I know, it's crazy. The new year has brought us more poo and pooey smells than ever before. We started feeding them veggies a couple days ago and started on sweet potatoes. The first day neither of them really took to it. Today (day 2) Jacob ate his all up - the whole thing. Mason, still pulls this face like, "ew, what are you trying to shove in my mouth mommy." It's pretty funny. We'll try again tomorrow. Maybe the little lady just doesn't like sweet potatoes. But we'll see.

Another funny thing that happened yesterday...

It was late in the day. Both kids were chilling in their swings. And all of a sudden I smelled a stinky stonk of all stinkies. So I ran over and smelled Mason's butt. Ew. She had made a sweet potato dump...or so I thought. I scooped her up, brought her to the changing table and removed her diaper only to find no poop. Not a drop. In fact it didn't even really smell any more. Uh-oh. I think I got the wrong pooper. I walked back out to the living room to find a giggling, stinky Jacob. Picked him up, brought him to the changing table and found where the stank was emanating from...Jacob's ass. I really think those two set me up -- it was all an evil plot for Mason to get naked. She loves taking her diaper off. I figure that the plan must have been for Jacob to fart and let it waft over to Mason so I would think she pooped. Then he would poop while I wasn't looking and was being distracted by Mason.

Nice work kids. Nice work.

Sleeping Beauty

I'm proud to announce, right here, right now, that little Miss Mason Ruby slept through the night!!! Two nights in a row. Yes she did. No late night (or early morning) feed. Not even any water. Sure, I went in a few times to put her pacifier in but the little lady made it. Two nights in a row now! Hopefully I won't jinx anything by posting this, but Harvs and I are so proud of her. She is a role model for little Jacob. Now if he would only care.

Hopefully today I'll get around to posting some holiday/ New Years pics.

Happy Sunday.