Is that fireworks in your diaper or are you just happy to see me?

The time...6:30 AM.
The place...the glider, Mason & Jacob's nursery.

Whilst feeding the little prince, all of a sudden "Bam!" "Boom!" "Snap, Crackle Pop!"
There was some sort of explosion from down below. It was quite impressive. It literally sounded like a 4th of July fireworks display. All I was missing was Keith Lockhart and the William Tell Overture.

It sounded worse than it actually was. Only a 2 wipe job. And that's nothing.

On a side note...the night went eh...again. Harvey and I did manage to sleep for a solid 2 hr stretch from 1 - 3. And from 4:30-5:15ish. Which I think is good. Been up and down since then. Gonna go try and get some rest now. Until the next cries ring out. Who needs an alarm clock when you have twins. Who are WAY cuter and loving and cuter than a stupid old alarm clock anyway.

Anything He Can Do She Can Do Better

Ok. So it's not just Jacob who has the lungs in the family. And is capable of partying to the breaka breaka dawn. Oh no. Ms. Mason is also capable of a good long scream as well. No joke.

This is the first time all day I've had to blog about last night. And it's already tonight. Go figure. Last night was eh. Pretty stressful I guess and as crazy as it was last weekend. Jacob did his usual screaming and carrying on from about 8-12. That's his witching hour. Or at least that's what we plan on telling the pediatrician on Tuesday when we try and find out what the #$%& we are supposed to do when he freaks out like that. Should we change his formula to soy? Is he colicky? Is there some sort of magic potion we can give him? A little bit of Jamesons on the finger tips? What? What? What?

You see, the problem with last night was that the kids got off "the schedule". Instead of feeding at the same time they were feeding an hour apart. Which means Harvey and I were pretty much up the entire night. And then little miss thang aka Mason, decided she didn't want her brother getting all the attention and was up crying from about 4:00-8:00. Nice.

On top of all of this, my in-laws are still here from London and clearly want to spend time with the babies. And my parents also came in yesterday to hang with the grandkids as well. (and to see the Liebermans) It's actually a lot of fun having everyone around. Every time they go out someone comes back with more gifts. It's a total giftfest over here on Clinton Street.

Tonight Harvey and I might actually try and sleep in our room (instead of the babies room) and use our monitor and see how that goes. Well, at least there was talk of it. Who knows if it will actually happen. At the moment, little Jacob, bless his heart, is still stirring. And we don't know what to do. Except play the Dustbuster. Which only lasts so long. Ahhh...the joys of motherhood.

On a side note I haven't even had a second to prepare for my fantasty football draft that's on Monday night. Which doesn't bode well for Cracky. Oh no.

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

That's me and Harv crying.
Not Jacob. Or Mason. Me. And Harv.

It's Friday night and Ann Marie has once again left us.

And Jacob is once again screaming his little head off. If it's any consolation, he was actually very fussy this whole week. Even for Ann Marie. He's been crying now for a good 1 1/2 hours straight. Harvey has been trying to get him down. I've been typing on my blog. I go into the room every 15 minutes or so to see if he wants my help, but he refuses and tells me to get some rest. What a guy. But I still feel bad. Send us some love Ann Marie. Send us some love.

For the love of Broccoli

Apparently today Mason made the biggest, greenest, stinkiest poop to date. And Ann Marie and Harvey are blaming it on my love for broccoli.

"You can't eat any more broccoli," Harvey said. I guess it's a very gassy vegetable. Well, that's what it says online anyway. And it's getting into my breast milk and making the kids gassy. And their poop green. Which is not a good combination.

I admit, I was a bit annoyed and sad when I was told I couldn't eat my favorite veggie. But again, this baby thing seems to be all about sacrifice. Which is cool. Cause it's not like an old testament sacrifice where you're killing a goat and burning it or anything. It's just broccoli.

"Mazel Tov Honey!"

is what my mom said to me this afternoon when I told her I fit into my old, regular, pre-pregnancy jeans yesterday.

That's right people, I put them on. And they fit. Honestly, I think they were a little bit big on me. Now, not getting into numbers I think I was a little bit heavy right before I got preggers. It was December...after the holidays...football season. There's only so many pitchers of beer and boneless buffalo wings a girl can resist.

But I just wanted to brag. And let everyone know I fit into my regular jeans 4 weeks after giving birth. To twins. The 42 lbs I gained....gone. Of course a big part of this I owe to my post-partum complications (which I won't go into, cause you don't really need to know) and only taking in clear liquids for a week. That will drop some poundage. For sure. And probably breast feeding. Helps contract the uterus. And other things I think.

My shirts are another story. Still wearing maternity tops. Still got the belly. Cause I had a C-section, I'm not allowed to work out yet...not for another 2 weeks. And I don't see it going away anytime soon. But all that means is no bikinis. Or tankinis. Or one-pieces, leotards or unitards. But I never really wear unitards anyway. Only in camp once. And that was a long time ago. Shhhh...Holly. Don't say a word.

Morning Chat Show

I think the twins have inherited our love of staying up late as last night they didn't go down until midnight. Once down, however, they slept very well and woke up eager to see the World today. After a tasty breakfast of formula, Mason had a little poop, Jacob had a large pee and the two of them settled down in their crib to discuss Joe Biden's speech and the Red Sox win from last night.

Babies Are In Fashion

This morning we also tried out our brand spankin' new Ergo Baby Carrier. We originally registered for a sporty Baby Bjorn but my sister-in-law, Lena, who was a nanny for many years, actually preferred the Ergo. She said that it was the most comfortable and it was supposed to be better on your back. So Harvey and I did some research. And yes, found out that they were way better because according to the Ergo Baby Carrier Website:

"Your baby rides facing you in the Front position in. In this way, your baby is supported in a natural, seated position which does not put strain on the crotch or spine."

Enough said. No baby of mine is going to have strain on their crotch.

We decided to practice at home before venturing out onto the mean streets of Hoboken. So the video below is Harvey making breakfast while carrying baby Jacob (who is sound asleep) in the Ergo. Nice one Harv.

London Calling

Yesterday, Jacob and Mason met their English relatives, Nana Sandra, Papa Ian, Aunt Melinda and cousin Lewis. And they came baring gifts...lots and lots of gifts. Lewis helped to open up all of the gifts which was a big help since Mason and Jacob have such little hands. And *thumbs.

*I can't tell yet if either of them were lucky enough to inherit my attractive thumbs that look like big toes. But stay tuned.

Mason and Jacob loved meeting big cousin Lewis and cant wait to go over and visit him at his house, in England, at the beginning of next year. Lewis promised they could all draw pictures together and that he would take both of them to a pub and show them proper football game. A real football game. Where the ball is kicked through goalposts. Not uprights. Plus, he said it would be really easy to get into the pub because they don't even need their IDs.

The Baby Whisperer is Back!

And thank God for that!
I'm telling you, she is amazing. And if anyone in the NY-NJ area ever needs help with small humans I'll send her your way.

So yesterday was basically a recovery day. As soon as Ann Marie arrived, a calm was exuded throughout the apartment. Harvey and I felt better, and strangely enough, I think so did Mason and Jacob. Ha ha ha.

We basically spent the day doing nothing. And trying to study Ann Marie's every move. We chatted with her a bit about Jacob's antics. And she basically told us there was nothing wrong with him. He was just being a newborn. And testing out his mommy and daddy. So we'll see. But yeah...we both took a long ass nap in the afternoon. Then sat on the couch most of the day drifting in and out of sleep. I even managed to talk on the phone a few times AND do a video conference call with my good friend Richard. Which was a top priority since we needed to sort out the rules and pick a draft order for my fantasy football league.

Ahh...fantasty football - another topic in itself. How will I fare this year with 2 babies? Will I do better or worse? Will I care more or less? That is for another entry another time.

Harvey's family also arrived late last night. They were all messed up with the time so went to bed early. Which was good. Cause Harv and I also went to bed fairly early. And slept in today! Until 8:45. When I asked Ann Marie how the kids did last night, she told me they did excellent. They actually slept for almost 4 hour stretches in between feedings.

Really? Was she messing with me? How is this possible? I wonder if she's giving them a little taste of whiskey before bed. She's bound to have a flask somewhere in her handbag, no?

The Lieberman's came over bright and early this morning and gave us so many gifts I don't even know where to put everything. I swear, these kids are going to be so spoiled. But that's OK. I think.

Right now Harvey and family have gone out in Hoboken. Eating a little lunch. Taking Lewis to the park and I am enjoying watching my monitor of the little ones sleeeeeeeeping. They are so cute I could watch them all day. And they are mine. (and Harvey's) Which is insane. Ann Marie has just stepped out to take a break and do some errands. Which is cool. Except I think I hear Jacob is stirring. I'm going to check on him. Maybe it's time for the bouncey seat. Who knows. Definitely not me.

It's My Baby I Can Cry If I Want To

OK, well I didn't really cry. Well maybe for like 5 minutes. But it wasn't really for that long. And there were no tears.

The day part of yesterday went pretty splendidly. Mason and Jacob fed about every 3 hours (according to the schedule) pooped, burped and slept. We even did a little tummy time with each. Mason did quite well. Jacob, ironically, fell right asleep. They went in their swing, their bouncey seat and hung out in their Boppy pillows. Harv and I even managed to both take showers and watched a bit of "John Tucker Must Die" on HBO. It was pretty good, mindless movie, but we missed the end.

We even gave both the kids baths yesterday. Which went surprisingly well. Mason always likes her bath. I kind of think she enjoys being naked. Jacob on the other hand, usually screams murder. Because of that, we almost didn't bathe him, thinking we'll do it tomorrow, when Ann Marie is here. But, sticking by my parenting philosophy of wanting to treat both the kids equally we braved it and bathed Sir Galahad. Which he actually really enjoyed. Which was weird. Well, he got a little upset and screamed when the water first touched his body. But after about a minute, he quieted right down. I think I even caught a smile at one point. And he remained quiet even when we were changing him into his PJs.



Then night fell. We heated up some Malaysian take-out from the night before and as I sat on my couch eating dinner I knew it was the calm before the storm. I also felt like it was midnight and it was only 7:00 PM. If I was working, I would probably still be there. I was sort of nervous of what the night would bring. I kind of felt like Will Smith in "I Am Legend". You know the scene in the beginning where night is coming and he locks the place up and is sitting in the bathtub with his shotgun waiting for all hell to break loose. That was how I felt inside. Just a little bit.

And I guess last night was probably equally as stressful as the night before. The only thing better was that we didn't have company over to entertain so I didn't feel bad about dealing with the kids all evening. I mean, it wasn't horrible or anything, but once again, we couldn't get Jacob to stop screaming uncontrollably for a couple hours straight. And like the night before, we tried everything. Walking around with him, putting him in the car seat, the swing, the bouncey seat. Trying to burp him. Harvey had even downloaded some "white noise" vacuum cleaner and hair dryer sounds that we put on the IPod which feeds into the ICrib. (that worked a little bit, but Jacob wasn't having any of it.) I resorted to putting him on the boob but he was SO awake and agitated he wouldn't even take that. And that's when you know things are bad. And that's why I shed a tear or two. I was just worried that something was wrong. And again, felt so bad for the little guy. He looked so stressed out. Why was he crying so much? Why wouldn't it stop? Does he hate us or something?

We resorted to giving him some Mylicon. I'm not sure if it really worked or not, but it seemed to calm him for a bit. So yeah. The night went on. And he slept a little bit. Again, they fed every 3 hours, which I guess is pretty damn good for only being 3 weeks and 2 days old. But again, Harv and I were very tired. Still are very tired.

And at approximately 8:30 AM I heard the sweet sound on someone knocking on our door. It was Ann Marie. (Cue in angelic, Godlike music as if the heavens are opeining..."Ahhhhh") "How was the weekend?" she said smiling. And then told us she could hear Jacob crying from down the hall. Oh man, am I glad to have her back. And I speak for Harvey as well. We couldn't be happier. We told her what went on with Jacob this weekend and she sort of seemed like she couldn't believe it. She probably thinks we messed them up somehow. But then again, that is probably just me being paranoid. So I took a nap from 9:00-10:00. And since I've been up, writing this I haven't heard a cry once. How DOES she do it? That, my friends, is my mission for the next week - to find out her secret baby power source.

Harvey's family comes in tonight for a week. His mom, dad, sister and my cute little 2 year old nephew, Lewis. It's their first time seeing the twins. Should be fun. Maybe the twins will pick up their accents. That would be cool. Little kids with English accents are so damn cute. Not that Mason and Jacob could get any cuter...

Oh What A Night

I'd like to start this post by saying, at some point in the night, well, actually probably the very early morning, I found myself with poo on my nightgown, along with big wet spots of breast milk. Yes, I had been lactating. And yes, I'm wearing a nightgown. It's part of the new maternal Ann.

Anyway...

The night was kinda rough. I'll admit it. Harvey will admit it. But hey, it was our first night on our own, ya know. The kids were up and down. Crying. Screaming. Wailing. Sniffling. Harv and I slept in their room on the futon we have so were kind of up with them most of the night. They definitely had some long stretches of sleep. I think Mason slept for 4 hours at one point - and Jacob, 3. But Jacob really got quite crazy at one point in the night. I think it was probably around midnight. He was crying and crying and screaming. We tried everything, but nothing would work. He wasn't hungry, his diaper was clean. He didn't want to be rocked. Or swaddled or even held close. He wouldn't take his pacifier (or for all you English folk, dummy). He was just screaming for dear life. His cute little Harvey face was all red.

And I didn't really get angry or frustrated because I was tired. And neither did Harv. This was going on for at least an hour, but we really, truly just felt bad for the little guy. What was wrong? Why couldn't we make it better? Was it too late, or early to have some scotch?

Harvey quickly got on the world wide web and looked up "babies that won't stop crying." And he comes back with our little dust buster vacuum cleaner. He turns it on and wouldn't you know it. Jacob falls right to sleep. For a bit. Until the dust buster ran out of battery. We eventually got him down. And then Mason got up. Screaming. We eventually got her down. And we both got a little bit of sleep. Which was nice. It wasn't much, but it was something.

Started up the day with their 7:00 feedings...which brings us up until about now - 12:45 in the afternoon. And we've JUST had our coffee and breakfast. Nice one.

Some quick notes about last night:
-Both kids apparently HATE to have their diapers changed. And we thought it was just Jacob. But maybe it was just last night.
-Ann Marie must be magical.
-The bottles take a really long time to wash. Yet, another thing we took for granted that Ann Marie was doing. I didn't actually realize how many parts they have. Crazytown.
-Ann Marie is truly "the baby whisperer".

A special thanks to those who have been reading the blog (Stacey and Holly) and called up this morning to see how my night was. I'd like to think it was in support. Although part of me thinks you guys just wanted to make sure I wasn't having it easy - as you didn't with your kids. Ha ha ha ha. And thanks to my mom for emailing me about what you used to do when I was a baby and letting me know to make sure I mop my guest bathroom floor before Harvey's family arrive on Monday.

Until later...

The First 17 Hours...

Ann Marie left this morning at 7:00AM. Which meant that Harv and I got up around 6:30AM. Which is quite early considering we've been taking full advantage of our baby nurse, Ann Marie, and have been sleeping in til about 9:15-9:30 every day. And no, I don't really feel guilty...I need to get my strength back. C'mon peoples. I just delivered twins for christ sake. And Harvey had to deal with me and my hormones for the whole nine months and then some. So we both need our rest.

Anyway, the day went pretty well. Nothing too crazy. We changed them, fed them, put a few cute outfits on them throughout the day. And they ate and napped pretty much according to "the schedule". We even had quite a few visitors to our little apartment. First, Uncle Mat came over bright and early. We had taken out a ham steak for him to prepare (since my mother left one in the freezer and Aunt Lena (who visited yesterday) told us that it was Mat's goal to eat as much pork as humanly possible in the near future) but wouldn't you know it, the little guy brought over breakfast. And not just some stale toast or soggy cereal, but bagels and lox and turkey bacon! This guy puts on quite the spread.



The we were visited by one of Harvey's bestest friends from London, Audrey and her boyfriend Heiko. They had just come from a trip to Peru and were stopping in Jersey for a couple days. They brought Mason and Jacob cute little Alpaca sweaters and matching hats. Thanks Auds! Then our happy little family was visited by Margaux...where she tried to convince us that the twins were way too cute to be Red Sox fans and that they were born in New York so they were destined to be Yankees fans. As soon as the word Yankees was uttered, Margaux was escorted out of the apartment.

The twins were up and down throughout the day...and it was 5:00 before Harv and I had realized we hadn't even eaten lunch yet. So, we stuffed our faces with some sandwiches and then took the twins and ourselves, out for some fresh air. Went to the park down the street and were stopped by lots of peeps wanting to know how old they were and letting us know how cute they were. Yeah, we know. We've been staring at them for like 3 weeks straight.

So all was well in Lieberland until nightfall. We came back from our walk and woke the kids round 7:00 for their feeding. They fed. Sort of. Well, Mason chugged her bottle in 20 minutes and Jacob struggled to finish his for at least an hour. Audrey and Heiko came back to hang with Harv and I for the evening since our lives of leisure had now changed and we couldn't just go out bar hopping in Hoboken. I essentially saw them for all of 5 minutes. I spent from 7:45-9:45 trying to get the kids to fall asleep. They were upset. And nothing was working. Harvey came in their room a few times to try and help. I think the best part of those stressful hours was when Harvey asked, "Well, do they do this to Ann Marie every night? I mean, what does she do?" Ha ha ha. Silly Harv. I had about as much as a clue as he did. I guess we just take it for granted that Ann Marie goes into the twin's room at night and it's quiet...and the kids sleep...like they are supposed to, right? What kind of magic was Ann Marie working while we've been sitting in the living room watching crap tv, facebooking and preparing for both of our fantasy football teams the past 2 weeks?

Anyway, I came out to grab some dinner and next thing I know Harv has both the kids propped up on Boppy pillows and is feeding them simultaneously. Nice one! I took over. He took Audrey and Heiko back to their hotel...and well...it basically took us another hour and change to get them down. They've been sort of sleeping since 11:45. It's now 12:15. Harv is in with them. I'm blogging dammit. I can hear Mason stirring though. I'm gonna post a few pics from the day and then go in and try and save him. But hopefully the kids will still be sleeping. Or not. Will let you know how the night went tomorrow morning...but until then, all I can do is try and channel Ann Marie. She's just in Brooklyn and luckily that's not too far.

A 6-Wipe Job!

So...now we are finally up to date.
And I would like everyone to know that Sir Jacob Galahad made his daddy very proud today, as he pooed like he's never pooed before and the poo actually required 6 Wipes!

I was feeding Mason at the time, but sort of witnessed the scene and listened to Harvey's colorful commentary while changing the diaper. He apparently had an enormous poo already inside. Then as he was being changed, he pooed again. Then after he had the clean diaper on, pooed, yet once again. "That's my boy!" daddy Harv exclaimed.

Until next time...signing off from the poo files.

Jacob Galahad 8-18-08

Mason Ruby 8-18-08