Show Me the Mommy!

Taken this morning right before WE SIGNED ALL THE PAPERS.
Dream house = our house now!




Now if you'll excuse me, I have a *little* bit of stuff to do.

Obsessed with guns much?

Alex chewed a cracker into the shape of a gun at dinner and pretended to shoot trees out the window.



But the gun made out of toothpaste and a toothbrush this morning was certainly taking it to the next level.

My vegan day

Yesterday was my friend Monika's birthday. Monika is a vegan (no animals or animal products) but she is not a preachy vegan. She is happy to talk about her choices but her motto is to live and let live. At my birthday and the holidays, I often tell people I would rather have a donation to a charity or something non-stuff but it rarely seems to work out that way.

For Monika's birthday, I thought long and hard about a gift and decided that I would eat vegan for a day and blog about the experience. I always say I could not be vegan because I love cheese too much but I figured I carried 12lbs 4oz of baby in my belly so I can do anything for a day.

My goal was to EASILY be a vegan. With Jon out of town (single mom), most of our house packed up, and a busy work schedule, I didn't have time to simmer soups all day and make my own bread.

For breakfast, I had an apple, almond milk in my coffee, and Count Chocula cereal. The marshmallows in the cereal contain gelatin, an animal product, so I gave mine to Nate. (all crappy iphone pics)




I have been meaning to try almond milk forever. I was not wild about the vanilla AND hazelnut flavor in my coffee, so next time I would go for Silk Creamer instead. The boys both had it for breakfast and liked it. Nate loved it so much he asked for it at dinner and again at breakfast today.

For a mid-morning snack, I had some pistachios and a banana.

Lunchtime... well, this is a tough one. I decided to do take out even though I know Monika advocates not getting plastic containers. But since I planned to write about this publicly, I wanted to demonstrate that you can easily eat vegan in restaurants.

I went to my favorite sushi place and got a veggie roll, cucumber roll, edamame, and a salad. Delicious and cured my sushi craving! It was so filling I didn't finish the edamame.




Before dinner, I had a snack of carrots with Trader Joe's mediterranean hummus (second fave to tomato basil). For dinner, I had Trader Joe's vegetarian chili and some crackers.




After the boys went to bed, I did some research and learned the flocculants used in red wine are often animal based so I popped open a beer instead.

Looking at my day, I didn't eat nearly enough vegetables, which is ironic for a vegan day. And I'm not sure I got enough calcium, perhaps adding both vegetables and calcium to dinner would have helped.

What I learned from the day is that with proper planning, I can have a vegan day even on my busiest days. And we will certainly be adding almond milk to our weekly purchases. Overall I feel like this was a much healthier food day because I couldn't rely on most processed foods since they often contain dairy.

Pop on over to Monika's blog to wish her happy birthday and to check out her list of things she's planning to accomplish in the next year!

Do I add to or help debunk the twin mythology?

Anyone who has twins can tell you there are many preconceived notions about twins:

• Best friends forever
• Good twin, bad twin
• Always have a playmate
• Inseparable
• Same personalities

Yesterday a picture of Nate and Alex was featured on Rookie Moms! And that picture... it plays right into the good twin, bad twin mythology. I know the full story of that picture. I wanted a picture of "best friends forever" but every time we put Nate close to Alex, Nate would scream and cry. Nate was a Spirited baby (aka cranky from reflux and opinionated) and Alex was a Textbook easy baby.... good twin, bad twin.

And then let's talk about the best friends forever mythology, or rather, how I feed into that:




Do you know why I often post pictures of my boys kissing? It gives the impression they spontaneously kiss one another when I have a camera when they CERTAINLY do not. Telling them to give each other smoochies is the only way I know to get two four year old boys to stand still long enough to take a picture.

Always have a playmate... oh that is laughable for many reasons! They didn't truly start playing together any earlier than normal kids... around 3 years old. They didn't even *notice* each other until they were 4-5 months old.


Don't get me started on how there were THREE fights in the ten minutes I was upstairs changing this morning. Play together? HA HA HA.

I think to truly debunk (or prove) twin mythology takes time as you need to get know each individual pair. At times, they are best friends. At times, one is bad and one is good. At times, they love playing together. At times, they are inseparable. Their personalities are like night and day. This can be said about any siblings, not just twins.

Hopefully as you read here and get to know my boys, you will learn about twin myths and how my boys prove them or disprove them. And one only has to look through my flickr stream to see the trend. Two amazing boys, frequently together. I can't imagine one without the other. And yes, my hands are happily wonderfully full.

Too tired to think of a real title... ok, fine, Gumbo

* I haven't raved recently about how much I love age 4. Age 4 is when I finally solved the morning scramble problem. I tell the boys what time they have to be ready for school and if they are ready by that time, they get to watch one tv show. Works Every Time (with constant reminders of time left). I use the 20 minutes of their show to pick up the house and shower. Best part? No crying or whining. Lots of rushing.

* PLEASE CALL ME A GENIUS FOR THAT ONE.

* Not a genius yet? How about this one? I tivoed every Halloween themed show on Nick Jr yesterday. I do this for every holiday.

* NOW CALL ME A GENIUS.

* Oh Alex and his physical bravery. I have finally stopped hovering over him at playgrounds and have decided to let him get hurt when he does things he should not do. Last weekend he fell while hanging from some monkey bars 7 feet off the ground onto a platform and seriously bruised his butt. Yesterday I almost lost my resolve because he fell backwards from a height of 5 feet right onto his side. Both times he has really sobbed but he is learning.

* COME ON, the kid even swings crazy.




* On the allowance front, Nate is all about spending money to buy things. Alex is all about hoarding money. At Target Sunday, Nate bought a book AND a ball AND some stickers. The stickers were pricey because they stick to your body. His entire belly is covered with stickers right now and he couldn't be any happier.




* Jon is gone 5 days this week (left yesterday morning). Tonight is the new house walk through. We close Friday morning. Friday afternoon is the school party. Friday night/Saturday morning I have a work production release. I might be eating cupcakes RIGHT NOW to help fuel me through this week. If I'm not calling you, it's not that I don't love you, it's that I am crazily busy. You can always call me.

* Finally, in other awesome news, I had a skin checkup Friday and NOTHING abnormal.

Weekend bonus post: Trader Joe's Super Fan

I am a Trader Joe's Super Fan. I have been one for a long time, after having spent 8 years living in California. At the Chicago store opening, I spent $300 in under an hour. In between software jobs, I worked at Trader Joe's. Since becoming a mom, I am an even bigger TJ's fan. Why?

EVERY PRODUCT they sell has:

• No artificial flavors, colors, or preservatives (no red dye, no HFCS, etc)
• No genetically modified ingredients
• No MSG
• No added trans fats

This means when I shop at Trader Joe's, I don't need to read labels!

ON TOP OF THIS (!) they treat their employees exceptionally well for a grocery chain. The health care coverage I had while working there was the best coverage I have ever had... and I have a professional technology career. Full-time employees make very good money, and get 15% of their salary automatically added to a retirement account.

AND it is, in most cases, the same price or cheaper than a regular grocery store. They save money by not advertising and working directly with vendors.

So... healthy food, treat their employees well, and inexpensive. Why are you NOT shopping there?!

This is going to be the first in a series of (non-sponsored) posts about my favorite items at TJ's. Since they are private label, their products change frequently which I love. It means there is always something new and great to try.

Let's start with the basics:




We get most of our staples at TJ's, and they offer many products in organic versions. The tomato basil hummus is an exciting new development for me. They have been selling it in California for at least a decade and it JUST came to the east coast. I generally make my own regular hummus but I DIE for the tomato basil flavor. The rest of my pictures are a lot of processed foods because we're in crunch mode with moving, so I wanted to make it clear they are a grocery store, not a processed food store!

Next up, my favorite secret single dinner.




When Jon is gone, I almost always eat some brown rice, edamame and something else from the freezer. Right now I have the pork potstickers but they are available in veggie and chicken. And the pork buns... new item that I love love love.

And then there's our Friday night fattening meal in:




These chicken mini tacos are the shizz. If I were to talk you into buying 3 items at TJ's, this should be one of the three. The panang curry sticks are a new favorite.

But Laura, what about the kids?



Fish sticks with real fish in them. Oreos with no HFCS, no artificial dyes, and no preservatives. And I'm super excited about the new turkey meatloaf "muffins" with mashed potatoes on it.

I already mentioned one item you MUST buy. Here are the other two I would say should be on your must buy list:




Villa Cerrina Montepulciano... the best $5.99 wine you will ever buy. I've lost count of the numbers of bottles Jon and I have consumed over our decade together! And the peanut butter goodies! They are like Tagalongs except crunchy.

And the very best part of TJ's? If you try something and don't like it... for whatever reason... bring your receipt and empty container back to TJ's and they will refund your money.

After we move, I will do some more posts that feature less of the processed foods. Those who shop at TJ's, what are your favorite products?

Show Me the Mommy!

Again, I encourage you to post pictures of yourself and leave a comment here!

The boys are SUPER DUPER OBSESSED with anything Star Wars right now. Jon and I are strongly encouraging this because we both love Star Wars. For Halloween, Alex is going to be Anakin and Nate is going to be Obi-Wan. We thought it would be fun if everyone in our family dressed up to trick-or-treat so Jon is going to be Darth and I am going to be New Hope Leia.

Michele lent me a Leia costume but it did not have Leia buns. I went to the costume store and they did not sell the wigs either but the lady recommended I buy a regular wig and give it buns. There was literally one wig that was brown and long-haired. EVERY OTHER WIG was red, blond, or black.

Says quite a bit about our culture huh?

How do I look with long hair???




I've always known I had a big forehead but seeing this picture? WOW. You could downhill ski on that thing!

While I think it's fun to play a different persona, Jon pointed out I look almost exactly like my mom in the wig!!!




This Halloween might be the Best Ever!
(And yes we're trick or treating in the new house, close next Friday!)

The one where all the Stride Rite money pays off

Since the boys could walk, we have been buying them Stride Rite (SR) shoes. After the first year or so, I tried putting the boys in Target shoes and learned Alex is super TOUGH on shoes. The Target shoes lasted about a month before they were destroyed He has never destroyed a pair of SR shoes before he outgrew them so we've continued buying SR (with a Target pair as backup).

Last week, the tongue ripped out of Nate's nearly new SR shoes. Jon took Nate back to the store to exchange them, ready to raise hell. Instead he explained the problem, they looked it up in the computer and gave Nate new shoes for free with huge apologies. And to sweeten the deal, they gave Nate (and Alex) some promotional marketing material:



There are going to be some epic light saber battles in the new house in the third floor bonus room.

A fall day off!

Our day yesterday started at the pediatric dentist. Since every one of Alex's dentist's appointments have consisted of screaming and crying, we again spent a lot of time discussing what would happen and what to do if he got scared. Nate was a model patient, chatting with everyone and happily getting x-rays done. Alex... he again screamed and cried.

Then we went to the state fair! We traveled light, no big camera with us. Obligatory Hipstamatic iphone picture:




This year's fair trip was our most successful to date, which says a lot because we've had some great fair trips. We decided to go on Senior Citizen Day. This was sheer genius on our parts because Kiddie Land was completely empty. There were no lines and it was relatively uncrowded at the kid-popular places like the PBS tent and the baby chick tent. The weather was perfect, sunny and low 80s.

Last year we learned the boys love fried Oreos (who doesn't love an oreo inside a doughnut?!) so we grabbed some for breakfast. I've said it before but one of the best parts of having four people in our family now is getting to split food four ways, sampling tons of fair foods.




The one thing that was different this year about the fair was that Nate and Alex had very different interests in rides. Nate will ride anything and wants to ride the fast, big, loud, crazy rides (aka mini Laura). Alex is pickier, choosing each ride depending on what looks good to him (aka mini Jon).

Nate talked Alex into one roller coaster before Alex decided he was done with them for the day. We spent a good deal of the day split up, me with Nate and Jon with Alex, riding rides that suited us. I have a strong suspicion this will be the case for years to come.

Jon and Alex are afraid of heights so Nate and I rode the ferris wheel by ourselves. And now I know where Nate will cooperate for photos - on rides.




We let them play a carnival game, we watched the pig races, and then we bought them one toy and came home. It was just enough of a trip for everyone to have fun. The boys were so good the entire day. October is a strong contender for favorite month of the year in North Carolina.

Often there will be a behind-the-blog story that doesn't make it into this sanitized version of events. From the boys, there was no story like that. The only blip in the entire day is that I had planned on chowing down like a crazy fool on fair foods but after breakfast of fried oreos and funnel cake, I didn't feel like eating anything else unhealthy all day. I'm either getting old or eating too healthy the rest of the time.

I can't possibly be getting old so I will blame it on good health!

A boy milestone

Belching has started.

Not burping. Belching.

Fortunately attending a college that was 75% men has prepared me for the boy milestones to come.

The difference between boys and girls, age 4ish edition

When Jon and I were kidless in Chicago, my friend Kaylyn came to visit with her twin four year old girls. They were unbelievably sweet the entire trip, playing dress up and barbies and sharing everything. We got a good taste of life with twin four year old girls after SEVEN DAYS living with them. After that experience, Jon and I thought it would be so much fun to have twins, particularly four year old twins.

Our experience with four year old twin boys has been VASTLY different than that week. So very different. I'm an insanely opinionated feminist but there is a difference between boys and girls at this age. 4 year old boys are WILD and CRAZY with boundless energy!!!

When I put out my call for help with my photography, my friend Michele volunteered her identical twin girls. They *just* turned 5 so they're fairly close in age to Nate and Alex. In extremely sharp contrast to my boys, it was SO FREAKING EASY to photograph them (prepare to die of cuteness):



You want us to hug? Okay we'll do it cutely:




Close ups? You got it!




Family shot? Ba bam.




Then there are my boys. A picture is worth a thousand words, yes?




Also in sharp contrast was the energy. The girls walked along with us through the park as we looked for place to take photos. My family went on a nature hike at Hemlock Bluffs Sunday afternoon to see if the leaves had started to change (not much). Rather than a leisurely hike, my boys RAN TWO MILES through the forest. This was after they had played from 7AM to 3:30PM with no nap. There was no walking, only running and super fast walking. And lots of yelling, effectively scaring any and all wildlife.

Photographing Michele's family was great in reminding me that it's not my photography, it's my subjects that sometimes make things difficult.

Fortunately I still have the good old "walk away from the camera" trick up my sleeve. I'm totally screwed when they stop wanting to play Simon Says. Simon says hold hands, Simon says take 10 steps:



And something tells me they will never get tired of the tackle daddy trick:




I've got so many more thoughts on this I will share over the next few weeks. We're hitting the tipping point where my babies are BOY BOY BOYS. Here's a sneak preview - Alex spit on A TREE (?!) for no apparent reason while walking to the car after a trip to a park. BOY!

Show Me the Mommy!

As always, I encourage you to share a link where you post pictures of yourself. By yourself. Or with your kids. Something!

Today I am going to share a picture of myself I really do not like from DC. My hair looks crazy. It is apparent I need to start wearing makeup so I don't look so tired. I have a cold sore. Nate has a fakey smile on his face.

But it's a start, getting in front of the camera and being in pictures with my kids. Something tells me in 20 years I will look at this picture and wish I still looked this young.




Jon doesn't have this problem. Something tells me he is going to age gracefully.




Maybe I just shouldn't be in pictures with such cuties who are super photogenic.




And while they say the camera doesn't make the photographer, this photo just blows me away with its sharpness, color, and clarity.




All of these photos were taken spontaneously in DC when I found a place that had great natural light. Sometimes I get caught up on trying to get outside and find amazing places to set up photos. All these pictures were taken at the Air and Space Museum... in the McDonald's. A good photography lesson for me!

A timeline of events

Wednesday before my Vegas trip. On the car ride home from school.
"Guess what mommy? Kid A threw up in a bucket today!"

Saturday of my Vegas trip.
Nate complained all day his stomach hurt. Laying on the couch, he puked into a bucket.

Wednesday morning before field trip, 10 days later.
"Nate, why are you limping?" "My hip hurts."
Laura thought he slept funny and would shake it off.

Thursday morning after field trip.
Doctor's trip for Nate's still hurting hip reveals it is most likely a lingering (non-contagious) infection as a result of his puke virus. Treatment plan is ibuprofen and heat packs. Because my kid is walking like a 80 year old man.

I don't think I understand the human body or science anymore.

Obligatory first field trip picture (she is tall and my boys are short, but yes, they are all 4):

A mommy milestone

Today is Nate and Alex's first field trip (parental attendance required).

It is also one of the first days I have showered before taking the kids to school.

I love telecommuting.

I know, I know, more blogfriends?!

Sometime when the boys were newborns, I realized I was going to need to read some twin blogs for help and advice. By clicking through blogrolls on random twin blogs, I found Lesley from Barr Babies about four years ago. I loved the pictures Lesley took of her crazies and quickly learned she is also a book fanatic, loves junk tv, and has a sweet tooth. Sound familiar??

For the last four years, I have gotten to know this fantastic woman and she was in Vegas when I was in Vegas so we met up. The SUPER IRONIC part of the meetup is we met in a dark bar so we had to use the built-in camera flash and the pictures look crappy.

BUT I always say - don't wait for the perfect photo. Take the snapshots that matter to you also. Even though this picture is not what the two of us would like it to be, it's still awesome that we got to document our first meeting (and there WILL be more):




I have talked to Lesley on the phone before and seen a bazillion pictures so I would say this was the easiest blogfriend meetup I've ever had. We just picked up where the email/phone conversations left off. I do have to give credit to Lesley for being my biggest photography cheerleader (other than Jon). She is a professional photographer and she has always encouraged my love of photography, given me advice and tips, and always believed I could take it to the next level. She is a big reason my photography has grown so much and I can't thank her enough without sounding like an insane person.

She's the one who taught me to go with the flow with kiddos and let them drive the process, so you get great shots even if it's not the ones you planned:




She's the one who encouraged me to upgrade my equipment and learn to shoot wide open (this was shot at 1.2, notice how the mulch in the foreground and the entire background is purposefully out of focus?):




She's the one who taught me to act like a loon to get the shot and that shot is often found in the moments in between the cheesy smiles and the lack of cooperation:




I am so proud to call Lesley my friend as she inspires me every day to be a better mom, to eat more chocolate, and to keep on searching for that elusive perfect shot.

Add Warrior Dash to the list of things making 2010 the Best Year Ever

When Jon and I first talked about heading up to the Mid-Atlantic Warrior Dash, we planned to visit DC along the way. One of the reasons we moved to this area was to have easy access to family road trips. Beth graciously allowed us to stay at her place south of DC on Thursday night then Friday we headed straight for the downtown Air and Space Museum.

I would love to show you pictures of what an awesome time the boys had but I failed to take photos. GASP. Even I am shocked. Believe me when I say the boys loved it.

After the museum, the weather was so gorgeous we decided to walk around the National Mall. We were very surprised by how excited the boys were to see everything. Something tells me this picture of my boys in front of the Capitol would make my grandpa Joe very happy!




We walked and walked and walked, stopping for restroom breaks and hot dogs. I took a series of jumping photos and I wish I could say it was the photographer in me but it was sheer luck that I got this perfectly timed so the Washington Monument is coming right out of Alex's head.




We walked all the way up to the monument before the boys were done. We checked it out then drove up to Pennsylvania.




We met up with Joanna (and Andy and Michael) and Maria (and Will and Maya and Lily and Allie) on Friday night. All the kids got along perfectly, which was awesome for having 6 kids with so much energy! Although maybe letting them burn some off by jumping on hotel beds may have helped. The boys still won't stop talking about Michael.




I have already raved about Joanna and how much I like her. Maria was also freaking awesome. I must have a way of picking blogfriends because she was smart, warm, and such a good mom. And look at her cuties!




Saturday was the main event, Warrior Dash. I got kind of freaked out in the parking lot because the majority of the participants were very ripped men oozing testosterone. And then there was us:



I felt better after we walked around a little bit and saw a variety of people. Of all the costumes and craziness we saw, I still think this is my favorite costume. I told him he was committed to the cause to shave his head for this.



We took the kids over to check out the end of the race: the mud pit followed by the fire jump. I don't know what I was expecting but the fire was a stack of Duraflame logs. A LOT of Duraflame logs.



I had grand plans to take my waterproof camera on the run but I forgot it. SO SAD! The course was a blast - tunnels, hay mountains, rope climbs. My least and most favorite was climbing over barrels in a lake. A lake completely coated in green algae and FREEZING COLD. It was literally the coldest water I have ever been in. The bottom was so slimy we kept slipping and Joanna fell completely in. There was a race photographer in the middle of the lake so I'm hoping to see our group shot of us completely soaked.

I had a blast running with Maria and Joanna and just chatting. It's so amazing to me to continue meeting blogfriends and feel like they are old friends. Normally I completely suck at meeting new people. And I'm pretty proud to call these two women my friends, women who would do this in their mid-30s:




This was a pretty triumphant day.




Oh yes, a super triumphant day. A day to truly feel alive.




I am pretty proud my boys get to see me doing stuff like this. Not just the warrior part of it, but being active and making exercise fun. They both really wanted to be in warrior dash and asked when they could participate. And Alex was very psyched about my hat, even if he did end up tasting (?!) it.




Saturday we let the kids swim then headed out for a meal. This was the only time we could wrangle all six of them together for a shot:




A special shout out has to go to our husbands, Jon and Andy and Will. Thank you for kid wrangling, thank you for supporting us, and thank you for helping us make our online friendships a reality.