Aubrey & Quinn had a busy holiday weekend - Walter's birthday party on Friday, a visit with their Great Grandma on Saturday night and then Easter Sunday. As Carrie posted below Quinn has his first tooth :) which explains his fussiness this past week - we took him to the doctor and they changed his reflux medication but I bet it was the tooth causing the problem. They are doing great and had a great Easter although they really missed their Aunt Carrie and Lucy! Aubrey is rolling all around and Quinn is babbling away, they both have discovered their feet and love to chew on their toes - along with their hands, my arm and anything else they can put in their mouths! They are also eating cereal and fruit really well these days - they will try sweet potatoes next. We have been using our video camera a lot so I dont have many pictures to post. Here are 2 from Easter and I will download ours tomorrow!

Shoo Flu part II

I have some time. Matt and I are both home, sick..Lucy is doing a little better. The fever is down to a small one with no medication and her breathing is ok so far. I heard that Quinn sprouted a tooth yesterday, but I didn't get to see it. I gazed at the twins through the car window, trying to catch a glimpse of the Easter outfits I missed yesterday..I only saw the hats..and no tooth. I often speak of parenting as guilt management.. like, my decisions are often influenced by how guilty I will feel if I don't do something. Booster seats are a good example of this. I came from the era of no seat belts and certainly no boosters. I remember lying across the floor boards, trying to balance my hips bones across the bump that divided the backseat floor, it was rather hot and stinky. So, I can definitely relate to the argument that the chances of something happening are pretty slim. Nevertheless what forces me to grab the booster 98% of the time, boils down to guilt. How bad would I feel if something did happen and my kids were not properly restrained? I can't even imagine. I'm bringing this up to prove I'm fairly used to parent guilt. I never knew I would have to balance parent guilt and aunt guilt. It is really pretty bad. So, now I feel bad I exposed the babies to the flu. I missed their first Easter and Quinn's tooth. I think I suck as an aunt. I promise I'll listen more closely to the parent voice and not send my kids over sick. I promise I'll be at the next major family event. I promise I will not miss Aubrey's tooth.

Shoo Flu

This story begins on Monday when Lucy and Walter both woke up with a little cough. Since Lucy's cough often turns into wheezing and labored breathing and also because I'm more than a little paranoid about sending her to school with any hint of an asthma attack brewing, I gave her a breathing treatment and sent her off to school. When I picked her up she seemed totally fine.The voice in my head was screaming ("you are seriously over reacting and you just gave a 4 year old steroids for no reason."). The week went on, aside from the small morning cough all seemed ok. Until yesterday. Lucy woke up with more than a little cough and 2 bright spots on her cheeks. Not good. But, because I was trying hard not to be paranoid and because I REALLY thought it was just a cold, I sent her to Christie's in the ,morning while I went to work. She and Walter hung out in the bat cave with the babies. Last night she woke up at 3 am with 102..we went to the Dr. today, she got a strep test and a flu test, the flu test was positive. I feel awful about exposing the babies. I forgot to ask Chrisite if the got the vaccine. Do they give those regularly to babies? UGH, so I guess I'm playing a waiting game to see if they will get it or not. We'll keep you posted. (no pun intended.)

Here are the photos

That is what Blogs, I mean sisters, are for?

So, Christie feels free to tear down my blog entries, but I'm fine with that.. That is what sisters are for right? And blogs are meant to engage people in meaningful dialogue, right? Yeah, yeah, that's right...so, bring it on, I can take criticism. Oh, and we all did in fact make it home safe and sound. Here are some photos to document the weekend. I'm including a not so good one of Christie on purpose. ha. Blogger is not letting me add photos right now, so I will have to try again later, sorry!

In comparison to that very DEEP MEANINGFUL post from Carrie - here are my thoughts - it is definitely snowing......they are predicting 12inches. Marc is driving home now so that Kait can head home before it gets too bad. We had lots of plans this weekend which will probably be cancelled so we'll spend the weekend at home. That is not all bad because one of the plans was class on Saturday. I'm thinking if we do get all this snow we should bundle Quinn & Aubrey up and take some pictures which I will post here on Monday!

White out in Cincinnati

It seems natural phenomena always make things both painfully complicated and crystal clear. Every winter there are a few storms that basically shut down the city. No school, no mail, roads closed, etc. Somewhere in the distant past there was a time that I would contemplate being really stuck at work (I remember sleeping in a booth while waiting tables during a snow storm, but I don't think I was STUCK, but there was no one out.) It seemed sort of exciting..Now, with kids to worry about picking up and getting home safely, this has all gone out the window and I run out of the door at work at the slightest hint of bad weather so that we can all be stuck at home...together...this part is crystal clear, my priority. The past few weeks have been pretty busy with this (see my last post if you have forgotten)...and there is another snow storm starting as I type..so, plans are being cancelled..phone calls made, to make sure we all arrive with children in tow at home in time to be safe..this is the complicated part, right? When to leave..who will leave work first? Can the babysitter drive home? Is there a supply of milk and diapers and formula? Salt for the driveway?..But once that is all over, we will all be at home, it will be eerily quiet outside, and really beautiful with all the fresh white snow, and suddenly there will be loads of unplanned free time..I'm sure there will be some baby Einstein and jumperoo at Christie's and at my house some Dora and connect four..there will be no where to go, there will be nothing that has to be done, no one will be running to the store..So, I'm trying to look forward to that part, and trying to forget the mountains of work I'll be leaving behind here. I'm secretly hoping for some baby time during this storm. I was joking with Christie about seeing her again when the twins are 5..it is hard to get together with us both working and both with kids now...
well, I could keep writing but I need to go deal with the complicated stuff of making plans for the snow day....so I can get to the clear part, being with my family safe and sound, while the snow falls all around.

Aubrey & Quinn had a good weekend. Saturday night was Grandpa's 60th birthday and they had lots of fun at his party. Sunday night they had cereal for the first time - Quinn did a great job, opening wide for each bite. Aubrey was a little more hesitant (& messy!)but that could have been feeder error - Betty was visiting and did a much better job feeding Quinn. It seems like they are growing so fast - I know everyone says that but I can't believe they are sitting up in their high chairs eating cereal already. They also love their jumparoo - Quinn jumps like crazy and screams the whole time. Aubrey is more low key but she likes it too! Its fun to watch their different personalities as they grow - Quinn is so loud and outgoing while Aubrey is much more quiet and reserved - at least for now :) Here are a few new pics...