Decisions...Decisions....

From the moment I got pregnant with the girls I find myself with too many options to choose from. Did you know there's about 50 different preganancy tests out there? Then there's finding the right sleeping pillow so you can, get this, SLEEP while you're pregnant. I went through about 4 only to realize that there's no such thing as sleeping while pregnant with twins. And the baby stuff was just insane what stroller to get, baby seats, play pens, cribs, etc. etc. Once again as my girls move into a different phase in their life I'm faced with too many options.

Sippy Cups?? Who knew there are about 1,000 different options out there. So there's this...

And this..



And of course this..



And remember it needs to be BPA Free...you moms know what the heck this means. But then we have free flowing, low suctions, sippy with a straw, all the bells & whistles you can think of. Here I thought I was going in to buy a simple cup so the girls start drinking water/juice on their own. It should have been a 15 minute trip to the baby store...turned out to be like an hour! Who knew?

And now that the girls are starting to use their feet to move around...the stylish unparctical shoes are no longer suitable for their tiny tootsies mainly because they fall off their feet or can easily be taken off by someone..hmmm. And there is no shortage of options here either. This of course makes a lot more sense to me. There can never be too many shoes. Let's see, there's Robeez, and PediPeds, and of course the ones we all know & love, Stride Rite.

When it comes to shoes, well who can argue with having a good assortment of shoes to choose from, right? I won't mention how many shoes the girls now own, as this information can be used against me by my husband :)

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Countdown to 10 months...

This has probably been the most exciting month so far in this first year of peanuts' life. We went from some hum drum moments to all out fireworks at our house.

Val's very first tooth is about to make it's appearance! YAY lil peanut. I felt the tip of it this weekend but not enough to take a pic but it's there.

Then the peanuts went from sitting up on their own & quietly (most of the time) observing the world....to hey I want to be an active part of this world and now they're crawling without a second thought, pulling themselves up to standing position, maybe I can walk, & definitely getting INTO things :the horror:


Don't tell Jorge his video games were rearranged :)

As my girls find their new found freedom I can't help but feel mine slipping away. Let's be real who really has "time to kill" when you have twins. But on occassion I could sneak in a few minutes here & there to make my family a decent meal, pay some bills online, send out a couple of emails & maybe sit & blog for a minute or two. All that has changed. It's like I can't let them out of my sight. No bathroom breaks, snack breaks, email breaks, or I just need to sit for second breaks. Oh no there will be none of that. That's all a thing of the past.

While I'm ecstactic to see the girls progress my world as I know it has turned into one giant ball of fear...will they fall? will they crack their head open? will they swallow some foreign object they found under the couch? (I swear I clean as much as I can) will they find the stairs? and climb them?! will one hurt the other one so bad I'll wind up in the ER? will my house ever be the safe again???

And yet there's some pretty cool moments to having them so active & mobile these days. Like for instance...we've formed an all girl band. The GO-GOs got nothing on us! ha ha



And shopping is alot more fun when there's 3 of us....



And we can do things like swimming....



One minute my heart stops in utter fear & the next might heart skips a beat because they are what I love most in this world...





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What A Difference A Day Makes

For two reasons...the first is the amazing spring fever we got this past weekend. God only knows how much I loathe the winter season. I walked out at 7am to walk my pooches & I think even they were surprised to feel the warmth in the air. We didn't do anything too special except enjoy the outdoors. I didn't even care that the girls might get their light colored clothing dirty SHOCK! It's okay, I figured they're going to outgrow it anyways so it won't be worn again. But it was fun to watch them hanging out in the yard exploring the ground beneath them.





C3 was also doing some exploring of his own.



And in case anyone was wondering...where are the parents??




We were out there enjoying the sun too!!

Just like the weather can change literally overnight, so can children. It's pretty amazing (to me anyways) to watch a child do one thing one day and something completely different the next. It's like the light bulb goes on & they suddenly just get it.

Cati was army crawling strictly on her arms & we figured since she pretty much mastered that kind of crawling, she probably wouldn't want to figure out another way or the right way for that matter. And I think I posted what Valentina was doing...ummm...nothing. She would just lay there on her belly spin around & cry from frustration. Suddenly it all changed. On Saturday not much had changed & by Sunday night they were on all fours moving forward! Double take...what??!!

And now they're all over the place moving from place to the next..behind the TV...the bottom of the stairs...



And getting into things they clearly shouldn't be into...uuggh. Wish me luck!
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Cati's 1st Tooth

Since the girls turned 3 months old I've heard countless of "oh they must be teething." Yet there was never a sign of a tooth in sight. After ooodles of drool, rivers of cranky tears, diaper rashes, etc. etc. A tooth has finally arrived! I felt the tip coming through a couple of weeks ago but until you can visible see it I was reluctant to celebrate the arrival of Catalina's first tooth. Now, she can revel in the joy of her much awaited tooth!





We all were anxious to see this happen since it is a little on the late side. I know there are tons of children who don't see a tooth for months but still we were pretty excited about it and quite impatient. I for one wanted to finally be able to say..."why YES, yes she is teething. You see she's got a couple of teeth already!" It just seems that whenever a child has a little spit, is a little cranky, is enjoying chewing on something, or anything for that matter, the comments are usually the same 'ol "it MUST be she's teething" And yet there was never a remote sign that any tooth was on it's way. So big ups to my pediatrician Dr. M who very confidently predicted they would have teeth by our next appointment! :)

My other little peanut unfortunately is still very happily showing her gums!



Or maybe not so happy...maybe her new toy will help her wait patiently for her 1st tooth.



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Our Inauguration Day Story...

Since election day I told J that I wanted to be there no matter what. For us and for everyone around the world (whether Obama supporter or not) it was a day of spectacular history. The USA had its first African-American president. And whether you voted for him or not you had to acknowledge the unprecedented way in which this man ran his campaign and eventually one the hearts of millions of people in this country and gave them something to believe.

OK I'll jump off my soap box now, and just fill in the details. At first I was determined to take the peanuts. The year they were born, 2008 this will probably be the most notable event. But after much counseling by my practical husband we decided to leave the girls behind :( with Grandma and the nanny. This day was also the very first time I would go a whole day without seeing my little peanuts. Mommy seperation anxiety I called it..anyhow we move on. The girls wore their Obama shirts to commemorate the day from home warm & cozy unlike us.

We took the Greyhound bus from NYC Port Authority around midnight. There were lines & groups, everyone with the same destination in mind....DC or BUST! As J likes to say "Greyhound got it right!" They had a decent priced ticket & just lined up buses to move people out as they arrived. So off we went on a packed bus with Obama paraphanalia on every person & arrived safely in DC at around 4:30AM...say what!!???? What would we do for 3 hours until we could stake out a spot on the mall?? Ha ha ha we would soooon find out.

Everyone, after a quick potty break, made their way to the mall. I thought well maybe there's some place to get some coffee & a snack. And when they open up the mall at 7am we'll just walk in. UUUH yeah ok, NOT! Come to find out everyone was making their way to the point of attraction because you were better off making sure you got to the entrance before they decided to close it without you. We got in touch with some friends who were also making their way to the mall & were trying to just get in line to get in. Does that make sense?? It didn't to me. But anyhow we skipped the coffee AND the snack & I followed my sensible half lead the way. He's also better with maps & directions & the whole north east south thing. After trying to reach our friends and not connecting we decided there was too many people & we'd meet up inside some how. So we move on...

All these decisions, which way to go? What entrance should get near?? Should keep walking up?? Walking down?? Oh gosh I honestly felt like a contestant on the Amazing Race! Constant second guessing ourselves, was nerve racking. I mean we came a long way to not see it or be close to the events. And J's only mission was to not get stuck behind the monument. He hates obstructed views. So we finally decide on THE door that will get us in at 7am...the funny thing is that there are people on the other side of the gate! What the?? How'd they get in there...oh darn another wrong decision RATZ! Ok we're here so we wait. As the time gets closer to 7am we see there aren't any officials, police, horsemen, rangers, NADA. Someone yells out from the crowd..."they aren't going to open the gate!" OH F*%$# are you friggin kidding me?!

We decide it's time to move out move out move out move out!!! Easier said then done. Pushing & squeezing our way out of a crowd that's about 40 people deep was no easy task. Then, out into the street & run (I do mean RUNNING) down the next entrance which we figure is about 10 or so blocks down. Suddenly as we're gasping for frigid cold air we see some people crowding this tiny gate near the Smithsonian. What's that?? A possible entrance into the mall?? Check it out...quick!! There were about 20 people trying to squeeze into this door before some body with a uniform or red volunteer hat realized that it shouldn't be open (I mean really there was no security checking or anything). In my mind I figured go for it...push man puuuuuusshhhhh! Get in! So we finally make it in but of course I'm still running (I've never been to the Washington Mall) cause I don't know what the heck I'm looking for.

Finally Jorge yells out to me "Ok ok we made it we made it." SO I stop & look around at people scurrying everywhere & the view to the capital building & the giant jumbo tron & it was like time stood still for a hot second. After taking it all in we were off to find the best spot possible. Goal was reached, we were in front of the capital building & NOT behind the monument. We found a nice dusty dirt spot in front of a jumbo tron and the capital building in the distance. And now we had nothing left to do but wait........

After the hype died down for a bit I realized it was a LONG time till 11:30AM. There was a refershment stand & porto potties nearby (maybe like 30 feet or so). I figure Jorge would be up for a refreshment. The man was taking NO RISKS he got us there & he was not budging. Are you serious??...thank God I bought some snacks and drinks but it was freaking COLD! I could use a cup o' joe man! No dice. If I wanted to go I was on my own & if I got lost...I was what we like to say @$$'d out. He played to my fearful side. I stayed on my blanket & tried to take a nap on the cold ground. After a couple of hours of leaning on some people next to us I woke up & needed something to warm up. I ventured out & we were packed in tight by now. So I was really taking a chance. Quick story... I was walking out to the side where the refreshment stand it & I see this guy with about 8 cups of coffee,chips, some kind of bread. He's barely keeping the coffee cups upright only now he can't find his group. I ask him, "Hey Mr. how long did it take you to get that coffee??" and he says "like 3 hours!...YVETTE!!! GRACE!!! YVETTE!!!! GRACE!!! HEEEEYYY!!" Yeah, he was lost alright.

Anyhow I tried to make my way to the refreshments & everyone's story was the same 2-3hours still on line. EEERRR bad idea. Next potty break...how long is the wait??? oh about 20 people deep. EERRR bad idea. I walked back to try & find J (we never did find our friends). So I weaved my way through people and I swore I found him like 4x only to find out it was someone else holding up the same glove wearing the same black jacket. UUUGGHHH I did finally make it back. And the look on his face of course was that of "I told you so."

So we waited and the moment arrived we realized it was SO worth the long & adventurous trip out to Washington DC to watch live & in person with millions of strangers the swearing in of our 44th President of the United States.

And THAT my dear friends, is history!

50% + 50% = 100% American

So our peanuts turned 9 months this week!! Yippy!!!





In our family there's always reason for celebration! And this weekend was no different as it turns out my cousin's son also celebrated another milestone in HIS life. He turned 16 years old. So we had a fun time with the fam. And grandma reminded everyone that the babies had cause for celebration also.




Personalized t-shirts were courtesy of Grandma (my mom) who is quite proud of our girls' ethnicity. Jorge's parent's are from the Dominican Republic and that makes me their other 50% :) Peru. Although we are quite proud of the multi-nationalism the girls will have, we also are very proud Americans. So despite the rich cultures the girls will have they are 100% USA!



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Valentines Day = Food

Why is it that Vday always involves food...at least for ME it does anyways. Maybe I'm the only one with this issue. Who knows?? So for me no Valentine's Day would be complete without having something edible. And this year was no different. This year was EXTRA special because I got to throw all of my culinary fear out the window for the sake of making this a very special Valentine's for my girls. And an extra extra special day it was since it was Valentina's Saint day (my mom had to remind me of that one..huh?) oh well all the more to celebrate.

As you may or may not know I'm no Betty Crocker but I have been known to experiment in the kitchen. I am a foodie so I have been known to pull off a few Food Network dishes pretty well. So I thought I would use Paula Deen's sugar cookie recipe and make some cookies with the girls for Jorge. Ok so honestly the girls watched & I made..ha ha. But I could use the practice so whatever.




I thought they turned out pretty good...if I do say so myself.



Although the recipe said it would yield something like 3 dozen cookies. :scratching head: I'm not really sure how Paula pulls this off but it only made me about 2 dozen.



And for my peanuts...I made them some Lovin Pancakes :) Yes they LOVED it, especially the powdered sugar! I thought this was an appropriate way to introduced this sugar overload holiday. And if anyone is going to give my kids processed sugar it might as well be me HOMEMADE.







Anyhow it wasn't ALLL about food. The big guy & I got to take the girls to their weekly music class. They really do have music in their blood. These girls can rock & bounce with the rest of the kids....the whole parachute thing was a little questionable to them though.









And of course no Valentine's Day would be complete without an evening out...or in our case a late afternoon. This gave us a chance to dress up & get our party look on. I was dying to put these dresses on (a very special gift from a good friend) and this was the perfect occasion. They also wore them on New Year's Eve....ACK! Wearing an outfit 2x perish the thought!







All in all I had a pretty incredible day with the girls. I am incredibly in love with my daughters and I have to say this day was better then any Vday I've ever had (sorry J :( but it's true). I never thought I could love 2 people more...."they are the reason I was born" Susan Sarandon in Anywhere But Here

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