Our return

We are back in MA, and while I will most definitely chronicle our adventures in MI, I have to start with the trip home. Because it was a doozy...(Note: there will be no pictures as I believe my descriptions will suffice)

I have to confess that successfully making the trip from MA to MI not once, not twice, but three times has made me feel a little bit like a pro. Not only that, but this time Lucas and I streamlined our routine to cut an entire hour from the trip - doing it in 14 hours both ways! So, as we stopped in NY roughly 7 hours into our trip home, I was feeling a bit smug about how well we were doing (at the time we were on target to cut even MORE time out of the return trip). I ran in to use the restroom while Lucas filled up, and then we were going to all go in and have lunch together.

I returned to the car and was greeted by an odd, sour milk smell. I immediately started looking for the culprit (dirty bottles? No. Pumping supplies? No.) when I heard Ryan cough. "Are you ok, sweet man?" I asked as I turned toward him, and then I screamed. You know in the movie Ghostbusters when they get slimed by the ghost (I believe he is appropriately named Slimer)? Ryan looked like that. He was covered chin to toe in vomit. Not only that, but he got the seat he was facing, his car seat, the sides of the seat he was on, and a few toys. I've never seen anything like it.

I get him inside, change his clothes (Thank God for Aunt Phyllis packing pajamas in the diaper bag so we didn't have to completely unload the van to get fresh clothing!), change his diaper (poor guy had it coming from both ends...), check his temperature (no fever!), give him tylenol (because he's acting like he feels crummy and that's all I've got), and head out to have lunch (chunks of toasted bagel & sips of water for him).

We get back on the road and I am a woman with a mission to get my sick baby home as quickly as possible. We stop again (I hoped the last), and took off. Pretty soon I hear a familiar cough. I turn to check Ry-guy, but he is fine - happily playing with his feet. Then I hear the cough again...from Allie. I turn just in time to see the entire contents of her stomach (forcefully) make a return to the outside world. I now know how Ryan's made such a mess as I now have a visual. I start screaming for Lucas to pull over (thankfully, he knew I meant at the next rest area and not by the side of the road!). I take her in to change her (without a changing table as this particular Wendy's is apparently not child-friendly), and notice she is shivering. I check her temperature and, sure enough, she has a fever. Out comes the tylenol. We quickly reload our babies, pray for no more vomit, and head back on the road. At this point the lingering odor in the van is enough to make us hurry.

We are now 15 minutes from home, and Lucas stops to refuel (we figured that having sick kids and an empty gas tank could spell disaster). I turn to check on babies just in time to see Ryan's encore of Intestinal Pyrotechnics. Because it would take some unloading and reloading to get clean clothes, and we were so close to home, we decide to make a run for it and change him at home. It was a good call because he spewed another time before we got to our driveway...and again after I got him changed at home (4 total outfits for the day).

We put the babies to bed and I made myself a nest on the floor of their room (afraid I wouldn't hear if they threw up during the night), and we all settled in. Allie woke up during the night with the return of her fever, and Lucas and I ended up taking turns rocking her the rest of the night. Ryan (thankfully) slept the whole night!

This morning we have already had a few more messes to clean up (sadly from both ends), and both babies have a fever. I am armed with pedialite to help hydrate (although Allie keeps refusing the stuff...I may have to go with good old water for her, and Ryan has thrown all of his up...). It is obvious that a bug has hit our household, and we would appreciate your prayers that it goes through quickly!

We're Off!

If this post dates correctly, we will be on the road as you are reading this. We're on our way to Michigan (again, you say?), but this time it is not for a family celebration (although if everything works out I have a feeling our families will celebrate...). We are on our way for Lucas to candidate at a church! And not just any church!

The church that is considering Lucas for their full-time lead pastor just happens to be our old church. The church we attended before moving to MA. The church where Lucas was the youth pastor when we first started dating. The church where I first witnessed (and fell in love with) Lucas' passion for ministry. The church where I heard Lucas preach for the first time and thought, "Yeah, I could listen to him for the rest of my life." The church where, in the sanctuary one evening, Lucas asked the life changing question, "Will you marry me?" and I responded "Are you serious?" (and then YES!). The church that threw us a surprise wedding shower, whose pastor (our professor and Lucas' mentor) flew to NE to marry us, and from which several members traveled to attend our wedding. The church we first attended as a married couple. The church where we began our partnership in ministry with the youth. The church that we were broken-hearted to leave behind (ask Lucas, we're not sure that we have ever cried more than we did the night we said goodbye to the youth). This church was our HOME.

We would appreciate your prayers for us and the church as we test if this is God's will. We are so excited about the possibility to be able to return to a home for the newest phase of Lucas' ministry.

That being said, my heart is a little heavy as we embark on this trip. If everything works out this will be the last time we return HOME to MA. That makes me sad. Because as much as we want to move back to the midwest to be closer to family, so much of our lives has been here (actually, more of our life together has been here than in MI).

MA was the place where we began our "adventure" - living in a new place, away from family, starting out together. MA was the place where I got my first job out of college. Where we made our first "couple" friends. Where we celebrated various accomplishments - my Activity Director Certification, Lucas getting his Masters, Lucas' first job as a pastor out of seminary. Where we overcame challenges - the struggles at our church, the my stressful wrok environment, infertility. This is where our babies were born. We brought them home to this house. I held them, fed them, rocked them, and watched them sleep in their little nursery. They learned to crawl here (and very likely may learn to walk here). MA is embedded in our heart.

When we left MI we always knew we would come back to visit that home - probably often - because we had family there. But I don't know how often we might visit, or what or whom might bring us back to MA. While I know it is time, and I am excited about the possibilities the future holds, I know I will be sad when we cross the border and see the "Welcome to Massachussets" sign because I know it might very well be the last time that sign means "Welcome Home."

Double Digits

The twins are 10 months...while it hardly seems like they could already be so old, they are most certainly transitioning from being little babies to active toddlers. Here is some of what they're up to these days.

The Good:

They're off! The big news these days is mobility. Both babies have crawling down (as Ryan proved to us in church on Sunday while crawling laps in the giant cry room), and are now moving to other forms of mobility. For instance, Allie, who has also mastered pulling herself up, is beginning to cruise. She loves going from one piece of furniture to another, and has begun experimenting with letting go! She also, for the first time, took steps while holding onto my hands! Could it be that walking is in our near future? Ryan is mastering standing up. However, unlike his sister (who practiced by pulling on on easy to hold onto items like the crib), he uses things like half-filled laundry baskets or our humidifier (which is half his size and rounded on top) to try to stand. He refuses to do anything the easy way. Finally, Allie, my little escape artist, learned how to open doors. See, very few doors in our apartment actually latch shut - which wasn't a problem because a "closed" door was enough to stop them in their tracks. But Allie worked with the door until she figured out how to pull it open...and quickly escaped into the hallway. There's no rest from here on out!

The Bad:

Allie has taken to stealing toys from her brother. Whatever he has, she wants. I can already tell it's going to be a struggle teaching her not to take toys. And, now that they have teeth, we had our first problem with biting. Granted, I don't think it was malicious. Ryan just seemed to see her hand close by and think it was worth checking out...Allie was not thrilled. Neither was mommy.

The Funny:

The babies were playing in the play yard while I was packing (right next to the play yard...less than 3 feet from the babies). It gets silent and I look over to see Ryan on his hands & knees and Allie with one knee up on her brother's back trying to get her other knee up. Has my little escape artist recruited an accomplice?

At the very end of bath time the other night I was testing the temperature of the rinse water, Lucas was keeping an eye on the babies, and the babies were splashing and playing. Suddenly, I felt an odd, consistent splash of warm water on my face. I turned and discovered it wasn't bathwater...it was a well-aimed stream from Ry-guy's little firehose! I screamed, Lucas laughed, and the babies kept splashing!

The Aww-dorable:

With Lucas home for recent holidays, and the steady stream of familiy that visited, I hadn't fed the twins by myself for a while. Sunday morning I had them both in my lap drinking their bottles for the first time in about 2 weeks. They were holding hands (it is adorable, but I think it is more a defensive manuever to keep the other from wacking them in the faces or knocking the bottle out of their mouth than a genuine desire for closeness...). Suddenly Ryan starts arching his back...he tilts his head all the way back to look at me (keep in mind he could have just turned sideways and I would have been right there). When he sees it's me holding him he flashes me a BIG smile, lets out a happy grunt, and then snuggles under my chin for the rest of his bottle. Awwwww.

Lucas had to read the scripture in church yesterday. I'm holding Allie, a friend is holding Ryan, and both babies are contentedly playing with toys. Lucas starts talking and Allie looks up and yells, "Dada!" Lucas didn't hear, but everyone near us did a collective "Awwwwwww."

Jordans

On Thursday Nic, Matt, and I loaded up Allie & Ryan and took them to Jordan's Furniture Store. If you have been to visit us, you have most likely seen Jordan's (as it is one of our favorite places to take people). If you have not seen Jordan's (either because you never visited us - shame on you - or because we failed to take you - shame on us), it is truly the most amazing furniture store you have ever been to or will ever visit. It appeals to all ages. For example - it became on of my residents' favorite places to go in the winter for a trip, we often see college/career aged couples on dates, and families with children can always be found in abundance.

What do they have that is so appealing? First, an incredible theme that never fails to delight - especially children. Beantown. But not baked beans - jelly beans. They have giant flowers made out of jelly beans, a "Make Way for Ducklings" sculpture made out of jelly beans, jelly bean floors, jelly bean table tops, a jelly bean state house, and the big whopper - a giant "Big Dig" Sundae (that houses the Richardson's Ice Cream stand...yes, ice cream in the furniture store). Words cannot describe. It must be seen (seriously, go here, and take the virtual tour of the Reading store. It's almost like being there!). They also have a trapeze school where you can pay for lessons, or enjoy watching someone else's lesson (for free). They have an Imax theatre and a Fuddruckers restaurant. They also have Liquid Fireworks - a.k.a. lighted fountains choreographed with music. And , of course, they have furniture!

The big draw for us were the cool cars they have for children to ride in. Lucas and I have been dozens of times and I always looked at the taxis and fire trucks and thought it would be such a blast to be a kid in one of those. I knew this time that Allie & Ryan were probably old enough to ride in them and enjoy them, and I was right! We put them in the fire engine and the second we started moving Allie (who loves ANYTHING with a steering wheel) broke into grins, which turned into giggles, which turned into peals of laughter that caused everyone we passed to turn and watch (and smile). Ryan played it a little more cool, but you could still tell that he was thrilled. They could not get enough of the steering wheels!

We walked all around the store. We started with the youth rooms (they are all themed and SO much fun!). They have giant stuffed dogs in some of the rooms, and Ryan thought those were pretty cool. Nic, Matt, and I all found the bedroom furniture we would have loved as kids (had we known that such cool furniture even existed). We then roamed and let the babies enjoy "driving." Allie kept trying to pull on Ryan's seat. I think she wanted to pass and was frustrated that she couldn't! We ended the trip in front of the liquid fireworks. The twins had a yummy snack of mum mums and water while the boys and I had ice cream :) Then we watched the liquid fireworks (which the twins liked...but they really enjoyed watching the two little girls playing in front of the fountains the most), and headed home. It was a really fun adventure, and I'm so excited the boys were here to give me the motivation to try taking the twins there!

And the pictures...as I mentioned before, our camera battery is dead and our charger was en route from Michigan. But I couldn't make a trip to Jordan's, and have the twins ride in their first non-stroller vehicle, and not document it in some way! So, I dug out our old digital camera, and used it. It gave me some fits (every now and then it would decide not to turn on), and the quality is not as good as our other, but it did the trick. It also takes video, and I got a few short clips of the twins driving. The only problem is that I turned the camera sideways (totally NOT thinking), and no matter what I tried (even using my photo shop video editing program) I could not rotate the view. However, I thought the videos were really cute (you get to see the beginning of Allie's extreme giggle fit over driving, and Ryan trying to play it cool while he's really excited). So....tilt your head and enjoy!

Way Back When-esday

Cheryl, at Twinfatuation, always hosts Way back When-esday - where you share a picture (and correlating story if you'd like) of days gone by. I normally don't participate (because I wasn't sure if there really is a "way back when" if it's been less than a year!), but due to a dead camera battery and a charger mixup (our charger is in Michigan and Lucas' parents have a similar dead camera battery and a charger that is here...), I cannot take any new pictures or get any of the existing pictures out of my camera. BUT I do have pictures of Uncle Nic's last visit to see the twins (which I thought would be fitting since we've been featuring adventures from his and Matt's current visit). So I figured I would jump in and participate this week :)

A lot has changed, don't you think?...

Uncle Nic with Allie

Uncle Nic, Allie, Lucas, Ryan

note: Since Allie was Baby A, she was scheduled to be the first to eat at the NICU, which meant that visitors got to hold Allie while we fed Ryan. It was a rare & brief occassion when visitors got to hold him (and if both Lucas and I were there, visitors often only got to watch because our time with them was so precious).

That being said...Uncle Nic gets a rare photo of himself with both babies (I was the only other person to have a photo with both while they were in the NICU). But he did use his last college spring break to come and visit them, so I guess he earned this privilege!

And if you want to see some more adorable duos, check out Way Back When-esday at Twinfatuation!

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!

Uncles

My brothers are here! Not only am I really excited to see them, but Matt has never seen the babies, and Nic...well the last time Nic saw the babies (the week after they were born while they were still in the NICU) they looked a little different!

Allie explains to Uncle Matt why he can't have the keys to her car.

Ryan is so excited for someone new to climb on!

They got here late this afternoon, just in time to enjoy a meal with the babies and then have some play time before bed. The babies definitely enjoyed some fresh faces...and Ryan enjoyed fresh arms for some jumping (or a lot of jumping).

Allie loves spending time with her Uncle Matt


Ryan doing his favorite thing - jumping...

We have them here for a whole week, so stay tuned to see some of our adventures (which should include Uncle Matt changing his first diaper!!!)

Ryan & Allie watch a short movie with their uncles to wind down before bed.

Post Note: As I am putting in the pictures before publishing this post I am huddling over my laptop in a dark living room. Why? Because our house is too small. Because the movie DID NOT help the babies wind down and they won't sleep even though they are exhausted. Because all of the rocking in the world doesn't help because even if we get them to sleep tonight is NOT a night where any transfer is successful. Because they are 3 minutes of fussing away from sleep, but those 3 minutes wake up a newly sleeping sibling. Because my brothers are in our room (where the usual spare pack n play is setup for nights like these), so I had to set up an ADDITIONAL pack n play in the office where the Ry guy is currently sleeping (although VERY lightly). Because Lucas is in the babies' room trying to soothe Allie while the boys are huddled in their room trying not to make noise because the only rooms we can put sleeping babies are connected to...every other room we could possibly occupy! Every night is most definitely NOT like this (most are prefectly quiet and we all get as much sleep as we want), but tonight is not one of those nights! Hopefully, Lucas and I will be able to tip-toe into the office and collapse in the spare bed for a few hours of sleep!