Grunt 'n' Squeak

It takes a village

Last week we went on a wonderful trip back home to Salt Lake to introduce the boys to their long-distance village.  We had such a great trip, with quality time seeing everybody, and it was a huge sigh of relief to have enough hands around to take care of the babies with the kind of attention and devotion that each one deserves for once.

You'd think that two parents would be enough for raising twins.  Really I think you need four, at least in the beginning.  Think about it...if one couple has one baby that leaves two pairs of hands for taking care of that baby.   One pair of hands can be consumed by the baby, while the other pair is free to do things around the house, like pick up the mess, and make dinner, and do otherwise useful non-baby things.  With twins, both of you are occupied with baby, and no one is left with free hands to do those other things.  I pointed this out to Amy and noted that we really need four of us.  She was wondering why three people wouldn't do, and I have decided that really, it takes four.  The ratio is just better.

This parenting thing has been so much harder that I ever imagined it to be.  And I'm sad to say that it really is just because there are two babies, and only one of me.  Poor Amy spends so much time working, so we can survive, and the long hours are exhausting for her I am sure.  That means that I spend all of my day and most of the night taking care of the babies with little down time.  I'm torn about not being able to take care of all their needs at the same time, and having to let them cry more than one little baby should have to.  Our trip home was such a wonderful break, having more people around for support.  My mother is a wonderful grandmother and baby sitter, and my sister is also a wonderful mother and aunt.  If I could only get them to move here...or if I could only get the housing market her to make a drastic turn-around so we could sell out at a gigantic profit and move back to where our family lives. 

As hard as it is, these two little guys are just so worth it!

Ben was such a great traveler, we even got a few smiles out of him on the way.

Grayson was adorable as well.

And here are a bunch more from our time there:

My sister Jen, and her daughter Mary above

Baby fest 2007, Us with Amy's cousins and their children

Halloween

So we had good plans to dress the boys up in their costumes and take them to the neighbors' houses for Halloween.  It never happened.  Amy had some stuff come up at work, and she ended up not making it home until after 8 pm.  I had juggled two crying boys and the doorbell all night, and by the time she made it home, I didn't have it in me to wrestle the boys into their costumes and take them out.  So their first Halloween was more or less a bust. They are too little to care, but I was kinda bummed.  Therefore, we look forward to next Halloween, where their costumes are planned, and yesterday I found the perfect component at the yarn store for it.  So I bought two kits to make adorable boots for future lawn gnomes.  Ha!  They are going to be so incredibly cute next year.

In better news, we are happily looking forward to a trip to Salt Lake to see all our family, and most importantly, take advantage of the plentiful baby sitters.  This week has been incredibly long, doing the SAHM thing, and after a seriou melt-down on all our parts last night waiting for Amy to come home and rescue us, this vacation couldn't start soon enough.   We are excited to see Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Vergil again, and the rest of the family.  But I know Grandma Kathy is particularly looking forward to seeing them.  She is going to be amazed how big they've gotten.  Wish us luck driving there...we are hoping for a drive less than 10 hours logn.