lame bloggess

to anyone out there still reading, i have to apologize for the lack of posts. i'm so lame. but things around here have been crazy busy and i'm not lying! the latest and greatest is that we have a NEW KITCHEN! i promise i'll take some pictures and post them this weekend. there is still painting to be done, but other than that, it's finito. yours truly installed the river rock backsplash over the past few days and i've learned that i'm born to grout. it's very zen!

oh, and i'm starting a freelance job on monday which will turn into a full-fledged part-time job come april. with the boys in school and loving it, it's back to the grind for mommy! it's with my former employer (the Texas Historical Commission) essentially picking up where i left off two years ago. i'm very excited, especially since some of my favorite people in the world work there!

but who cares about the kitchen and me when there are two crazy toddlers wrecking havoc around here! we woke up this morning to a loud thud followed by even louder crying. j and i (and mati!) ran into the boys room to find ozzy standing in the middle of it. after getting lots of kisses on his boo-boo'd head, he proceeded to recount with pride how he launched himself up and over the crib. all i can say is, "CRAP!" things were looking so good and i truly thought we'd be one of the lucky families that didn't need to deal with crib climbing. but now we do. i'm not going to rush into anything, though. we'll play it by ear and see if it turns into a trend or not. and if it does, i'm going to take my fellow twin mom's advice and invest in some crib tents. we're just not ready for free-bedding it right now.

over the past month, the boys have expertly demonstrated that they are officially two years old. they have been kicking our butts in every way imaginable - testing all limits imaginable, being particularly destructive, throwing tantrums, hitting and pushing each other left and right, and showing off their new-found physical prowess and boldness (head stands, forward rolls, balance beam-aka-curb walking and jumping, trying to jump out of shopping carts, and now crib launching, etc.) that's seriously keeping us on our toes. we're muddling our way through it sometimes, but most of the time we're seriously enjoying the brilliance of abie and oz. sentences are flowing out of their mouths, grace out of their limbs (must post video of their ballet "attitudes!"), and love from every cell of their bodies. they embrace life to the fullest and it's amazing and inspirational to witness.

so i'll leave you with that. and the pledge that i'll finish and post the ten or so drafts i've started and get some pics of the boys and the kitchen up!

on the mend

thank you all for your prayers, energy and well wishes. mati is doing much better! after a night at the ER clinic, she is very stable, back at the vet, eating a little food and drinking water, and for now keeping it down. i was able to drop the boys off at school and spend about an hour with her. we really needed that time together, and mati was able to snooze a little w/ her head in my lap. she must be exhausted. as long as there is no more vomiting or bloody diarrhea, and her labs come back good, we'll be able to bring her home tonight.

mati has suffered from a mysterious thing called Hemorrhagic Gastroenteritis (HGE). we have no idea how she got it. but the warning signs are acute blowout bloody diarrhea and vomiting. if your dog ever has any of these symptoms, it is imperative to get him/her to the vet immediately. things can go south very quickly, but if it's caught early and treated aggressively, most dogs will recover.

we so appreciate you continuing to keep our mati in your thoughts!

please pray

i don't normally do this, but i know you all have incredible energy to send. our dear mati is in the emergency overnight clinic. she is stable, but sick. jordan took her to the vet after she had blood in her stool this afternoon, and she was severely dehydrated. he's been with her all evening and is now driving her to the ER. i can't even wrap my mind around what is wrong with her or even how to pronounce it, but the doctor says that 9 out of 10 dogs recover.

please, please, please pray that mati is one of these nine. we love her so much and just want her home - safe, sound and healthy - with us.

not the end of this

add matilda having a puke-fest today to our week's list of crazies. oh, and i found another pea-sized lump on her that we need the vet to check out.

when it rains, it pours

i don't know if this week can get any crazier. oz had a rough night on sunday and greeted monday with a fever. he stayed home with me while abel braved school all by himself for the first time (which he did amazing!). the workers arrived monday at noon and gutted our kitchen. scraping popcorn ceiling and floating sheet rock began yesterday, which stunk our house to holy hell. i met with my old boss this morning about going back to work (part-time, thank god), and it looks very promising. picked nana up from the airport at noon. got call from school that they woke up abel from his 3 hour nap and he has a 103 fever. raced to pick him up and found him sleeping in the middle of the floor while all the kids ate their snacks (heart breaking). he perked up at nana's, where we've been spending our early evenings and eating dinners, and proceeded to eat half a jar of apple sauce. i should have known better. we got home for bedtime and moments after walking in the door he puked all over me. poor, poor little man. at least he's sleeping soundly now and the fever seems at bay for the time being. tomorrow they're supposed to start installing our cabinets. oh gosh, i hope they do. it will be amazing to have a new kitchen in a matter of five days. and, at the moment, the luxury of having a counter to work on is making me swoon.

it's hard to believe that we've had two sick kids, at separate times no less, a kitchen remodel project that's half way complete, and a part-time job offer - and wednesday is not even over. i can't wait to see what we can cram into thursday and friday!

crush

today i witnessed the cutest thing today at school drop-off. ozzy has his first crush! her name is maddie (whom he calls "mannie"). she's a doe-eyed, brown haired, 19-month old neophyte. oz was desperate to say hello, but shy at first. after a little cajoling, he walked over to her and pulled out one of his most passionate, yet gentle hugs. once the first one was over, i witnessed hug after hug after hug. i started to worry about maddie, but she just smiled, giggled and hugged back. i think i counted 12 hugs total.

now that's what i call a good morning.

abel's hair update

i can safely say that abel is DEATHLY afraid of getting his hair cut. we managed to clean it up, but it wasn't a pretty process. we practically had to hold him down nurse rachett style. and then it was nearly 10 minutes of some hard core comforting to get him calm again. poor little man!

maybe we should take this as a sign and keep abel's hair long, and oz's hair short, thus making it easier for the world to tell them apart?

two birthdays and many pictures later

the boys had a wonderful birthday last week. lee-lee came to visit. nana was here, of course. the boys were very aware that it was their birthdays and it was a special time! unfortunately, they were also battling some cold virus, but they remained in really high spirits despite a few days of fever, coughs and lots of snot. we played it really low key and just had a celebration at home with the family. lots of presents, lots of ice cream (abel's new favorite word), lots of rice krispy treats and lots of singing, hugs, kisses and laughing. on friday, the boys played hookie from school and the grandmas took us to san antonio. we at at mi tierra (awesome!) and the boys got a full-on happy birthday serenade that they were less than thrilled about. all in all, a pretty awesome two for two.

abel blows out the candle on his sticker cake

my mom calls abel an impchnick for good reason

even the animals are obsessed with elmo!!!

the boys LOVED their brooms from nana and lee-lee

oz has the open-mouthed look of surprise when opening a present down pat!

oz plays with rocky and emily, their new trains from mommy and daddy

abie's conversation with his new shark friend, whom he adores!

getting ready for bed and another failed attempt at a family picture

at first they were okay with the mariachis...

...until they got too close. sorry guys!

locks of love

like most things in our life, we made the spontaneous decision to give oz a buzz cut last night after dinner. i have to say, j did a fabulous job styling what i described as a "skater" cut. we didn't touch the top, and buzzed the back and sides with the longest attachment. oz actually didn't mind having it done, either. and i was relieved to not be wielding sharp scissors around his fast moving noggin, which coincidentally house his eye balls.

abel meets his hair fate today, and i can assuredly say, he's not looking forward to it.