Lessons in Domesticity

I have been pleasantly surprised to find that my brothers have been some of the most helpful guests we've ever had! For the record, we've never had guests (especially since the babies arrived) who haven't been helpful and willing to chip in wherever needed. The thing is, the boys are so fabulously teachable! I must confess I'm a little OCD when it comes to certain things (for example...I always do the dishes in a certain order...always...and I separate certain dishes from other dishes - like some are less dirty than others?). None of these things are crucial to chores being done well, and they are by no means the only right way for them to be done, but I really love being able to show the guys my way and having them do it!

Ryan...still jumping!

The babies crawling through their tunnel to see Uncle Nic

Note: This was Ryan's first time through the tunnel! He actually crawled in, and then kept turning around and peeking through...it wasn't until his sister crawled in after him and forced him to pick a direction that he finally crawled out!

Matt helping with bath time. Yes, we are wearing bathrobes. It's the only way to stay semi-dry...

They've been good about pitching in - doing dishes, helping with dinner, picking up toys. The big help has been the way they help with the babies. Not only do they play with them (pretty constantly when the babies are awake), but they've helped feed, give baths, do bedtime, and even change diapers! Yes, Uncle Matt changed his first diaper today. He did exceptionally well - especially considering that most people get to start with a tiny newborns who are fairly limited as far as mobility while he started with a 20 lb. (VERY) wiggly 9 mo. old! Although, Ryan did seem to be less wiggly with a new face above the changing table. If that continues to be the case, we'll have the uncles change all the diapers!



All clean!

Uncle Nic came with some experience on his resume (including experience changing the diapers of twins!), so we gave him the tough stuff. That's right, he got the stinky ones! He of course did a wonderful job, and both babies are enjoying squeaky clean bottoms (not that they aren't normally, but with all the extra hands to diaper nothing gets missed for a moment!).

Another diaper successfully changed!

And while we didn't make it to church on Sunday (neither I, nor the babies, got sufficient sleep on Saturday night, so instead of waking them up from morning nap to get ready to go, I let them sleep...Last night - Sunday - they slept like a dream though!), the extra hands made it possible to make a trip to the library today! The babies have a tendency to cry when we walk into the library (too quiet in there?), so I only go when I have help to distract them. We scored a couple of great Rockabye Baby cd's to listen to, and I picked up some books on tape for our upcoming trip. A truly productive day!