What is Cute in Portland

Check out these two cuties. I am hoping we can work out something for Christmas so we can get all the kids together. Hard to believe LJ is 4 and June is 6 months.

Four

Hard to believe but the chickens have been around for 4 months. I went through my photos but as of late I haven't taken any that wow me.
Instead you are getting one of Kat's awesome hair, a close up of Liz on the floor, and the most awesome shot (taken by Rick's phone) of the girls in an ankle lock that we believe they learned from watching wrestling with the boys.

I have lots of things to say to keep you all entertained; I just need to find time.

Volcano Eggs

Big surprise but I found this egg technique on Pinterest and I knew it was meant for the boys. I have to admit it doesn't seem like much but it was fun, very messy, extended beyond egg dying, and resulted in some nice eggs. The basic concept is that you create you own egg paint using baking soda and food coloring. After you are done painting, you pour vinegar on the egg and you not only get a cool looking egg but you also get a fun "volcano" of dye. You can keep painting and pouring vinegar on your egg until you are happy with the look. We've all agreed that we are trying again next year with a few alterations to the instructions.

Happy Easter!

Rangers

Well the long awaited day arrived, MLB baseball has started back up again. Odd as it sounds, after having to suffer through some truly poor television programming (really there is little else you can do during those first 6 weeks with twins) I am glad to have the TV running non-stop baseball games. I think one night I felt we had sunk to a new all time low when Rick and I were watching some show about a bar in the middle of nowhere North Dakota.

With the start of MLB comes the new tradition of the Rangers visiting the Express for an exhibition game. And of course we weren't going to miss it. With our trusty baseball cohorts (the Largents) we braved the masses for a home run hitting fest. We took the girls so I have to admit I didn't get to watch much of the game and I learned it is hard to find a spot to nurse but we had a good time and we look forward to some more games.

Here are a few shots. We made in time for batting practice or dodging home runs while getting to your seat. We also got to see Yu Darvish (that is him telling some pitching story) who was the big preseason addition. And we saw Derek Holland pitch.

Cameron Park Zoo

I forgot to post the photos from our fun day at the Cameron Park Zoo in Waco. I have been hearing about it for some time but we have never ventured up there. Funny, we drive through Waco all the time and have never stopped. There are actually quite a few things that I'd like to do there including another zoo visit.

Now Batting #99

Zach had his first game on Monday night. His team this year are the Aggies, which as you can imagine is painful for most UT parents and therefore you don't hear too many yells for "Go Aggies" but more individual name calling.

The game was great fun and I have no doubt that at some point during the season we will be asked to provide Zach's birth certificate. You can see from the photo of him at 3rd that he looks like Andre the Giant out there amongst the other players. One inning he played pitcher and it was 3 up, 3 down as all three batters just hit right back at Zach and his teammate Wes made all three catches at first. It seemed a bit unfair but it is Spring Ball in Texas and t-ball or not people take this stuff seriously.

A few other comments about the photos I included below. First, check out his size as mentioned above. This kid is huge and most likely why most people think I have two sets of twins. Second, check out Zach warming up to hit. This is t-ball but obviously he has been to one too many Voodoo games and is working on his timing. And then there are his action shots from short stop including one with his buddy Griffin at second base. Since we basically have the same team from the fall including the same great coaches, it is great to see the kids building on all that they worked on that season and doing fabulous things like getting outs at 2nd base and getting the relay from the outfield.

This is no doubt going to be a fun season with the Aggies.

sleep obsessed

I am sleep obsessed. I remember being poop obsessed with JT: was he pooping enough, too much, is green an ok color, is the consistency too thick, too thin. With Zach I was food obsessed: is he eating enough, why is he always nursing, why won't he eat baby food. Now it is sleep, all facets of sleeping. How to get the chickens to nap, how to get them to nap at the same time, get them to bed earlier, how many hours did they sleep during the night, why do they love sleeping in their car seats so dang much, and my true sleep obsession, how the chickens move in their crib at night.

I want to take photos but I am worried that it will wake them but basically here it is (and it isn't as exciting when I write it as it is to witness it or so I think but please bear in mind I am up alone anywhere between the hours of 1 am to 5 am so it takes little to fascinate me). It all starts with putting them to sleep in the same direction to start the night. Inevitably they both go through this odd kicking, churning routine that involves getting comfortable and locating their fists (they seem to be trying to work out with hand and fingers to suck and right now just use the entire fist). Then at some point in the night (at least 8 times out of 10) Lizard will wake first and when I go in to get her she is in a completely different location; upside down, sideways, at an angle, etc. Kit Kat will either be moved or in her starting position. Once Lizzie is finished I put her back down and she goes through her same routine. I usually then let Kat sleep until she wants to nurse (as opposed to waking her immediately like I did for the first 6 weeks or so). Now here is where it gets fun. When Kat does wake, I swear to the almighty powers that she will be in the same position that Lizzie was when she woke. I keep telling Rick in hopes that it will spur him to want to witness but so far I am the only one who has seen this crazy twin phenomenon.

Other than sleeping well. The girls are good. They hit 10 weeks this week and we celebrated with a trip to the Waco Zoo. The trip was really for the boys who are on spring break this week. The chickens two week check-up went well. They both are doing fine although the pediatrician didn't seem too thrilled about their weight, which along with a discussion on some of the spit-up and weird eating/spitting up episodes we are having led him to think they have acid reflux. One friend told me her pediatrician said 90% of "colic" cases are really acid reflux. Anywho, we opted to try rice cereal in formula and breast milk first and not get on the medicine but earlier this week after a frustrating day with Lizzie, I had Rick request a prescription. We've been on it for 3 days now and I can't say I notice a huge difference (except where their diapers are concerned) but most people say it takes about 3 or more days for the medicine to make a difference.

I leave you with a chicken photo. The boys both have their first games coming up, JT has a tourney this weekend and Zach has his first game on Monday night. I promise some photos.

And for the record, the boys are sleeping well. I am sleeping well but not walking well as I broke a toe during a late night feeding. I swear the couch jumped in front of me.