Nine Months and Counting

Monday marked the girls' nine month birthdays and that meant one thing: a checkup!

On Tuesday afternoon, we ventured in to see Dr. Trexler. We started out by actually seeing the doctor before we saw the nurse, but that was fine with us. We talked a little bit about the girls' development as well as their eating and sleeping habits. I told Cheryl that both Faith and Grace seem to really prefer jar food to having a bottle and she assured me that this is fine. As long as they will take a bottle a couple of times during the day, they are just fine to have as much baby food and even soft table food as they like.

I casually mentioned that both girls seemed to have caught the cold that Devin had been diagnosed with about ten days ago. His strep test had come back negative so I didn't think much of it when the girls got a little congested and cranky.

To be on the safe side, though, we went ahead and did a rapid strep test.

Well whadda-ya know? Both girls have strep. No wonder they've been so difficult!

At the end of the appointment, while we waited for Cheryl to write out the prescriptions, we weighed and measured the girls. Grace is 15 lbs, 5 oz and 26.5" while Faith is 14 lbs, 8 oz at 26". Because of the whole unexpected strep thing, I failed to ask about their percentages, but I found a growth chart calculator that says that Faith is at less than the 3rd percentile for weight and at the 5th percentile for height. According to the same calculator, Grace is in the 3rd percentile for weight and the 12th percentile for height.

Okay, so they are a little small. But they are doing all sorts of great things like pulling up to their knees and babbling. Dr. T didn't seem worried, so why should I?

Back here at the homestead, the girls immediately started feeling better, making our lives a whole lot easier.

In fact, it seems that their third round of strep in two months has only increased their adorable-ness. Check out this story.

Last night, as we were feeding the girls, Todd stepped out of the room with Faith while I held Grace. Upon seeing her Daddy leave, she pulled the bottle from her mouth and said, "Dada..." I really didn't think much of it.

This morning, though, as we were watching some TV with Devin, Grace turned to the television, waved her hand toward the dark-haired, mid-thirties man on the screen and said, "Dada..." Okay...this time I think she was really talking about her father.

Unfortunately, Todd was not here to experience this. I wish he were. It was awesome.

Later on, I swear Grace said, "Hi Kitty," (or something remotely close to it). I've been teaching them to wave by waving to the cat and saying, "Hi Kitty!" whenever the fuzzy black feline draws near. I think Gracie caught on!

But now, for the cutest of the cutests...

I have a habit of kissing my girls on their foreheads. I tend to gently brush the palm of my hand over their foreheads first and then lay a soft kiss just above their eyes. I've noticed that I do this a lot.

Well, today, Grace was lying on the floor and Faith crawled over to her. I kid you not on this next part... Faith raised her hand (I thought Baby Smackdown 2007 was about to happen) and gently put it on Grace's forehead. Faith then removed her hand and lowered her head toward Grace's, where she softly placed her lips above Grace's eyes. She held her mouth there for a moment, then got up and moved onto chasing the cat.

Am I imagining things? Are they too young to do this kind of stuff? I guess it doesn't matter. It was so sweet and so perfect that I just don't care if Faith meant to do it or not. It brought tears to my eyes.

Here are some pictures of the kiddos for you...

Baby Body Slam! (And that's Faith, the small one on top of Grace)


Todd is teaching Devin to breakdance, which is what he is doing here. Fantastic. And yes, that's a Mickey Mouse blanket in my formal living room. If you can't be a kid once in awhile, what's the point in being a grownup? You should see my tribute to the Haunted Mansion at the end of my staircase. :)

Going Down?

This weekend, I walked into the girls' room just in time to see Faith up on her knees, holding onto her crib aquarium. It scared me enough to have Todd lower her mattress from the highest notch to the middle. Grace's crib has high enough rails that if she were to pull herself onto her knees, her nose would barely be above the top, so I'm not so worried about her (yet -- it'll come).

But to me this was such a bittersweet step. My girls are really growing up. I know I had a hard time with Devin getting bigger, but I don't remember it being this hard. Maybe it's because they are so little, but to me, they are still infants, not mobile little people who recognize and crawl toward me. They are just so tiny. I keep commenting that having them crawling around the house is pretty much just like having another couple of cats around. I mean seriously -- I've had felines bigger than these girls.

*Sigh*

I guess this is just a part of mommyhood, but if we can put a man on the moon, can't we find a way to make watching your kids grow up a little easier? I mean really...

In Response To Your Comment, Karen Blake, on February 14

I don't know if everyone else reads the comments that others leave (you're welcome to -- my life's an open book), but on my last post, dated February 14, 2007, good friend Karen Blake left a comment pointing out that I don't need a video camera because it's not like I would ever post the video anyway. Well here is my rebuttal.

Karen is a good friend of mine. She's been one of my best friends (was in my wedding, in fact) since the 10th grade. She's from up North and has a pretty thick skin (unless she's talking about her new-found love, Eck-Tor, then she turns to jelly. I knew she wasn't as tough as she made herself out to be). She'll tell you what's on her mind and won't sugar coat anything. Her candor and ability to say anything to anyone are the things I love most about her.

And because she has such a sharp tongue, it's often hard to "get her." You know what I mean -- not understand her, but rather get her.

But everyone once in awhile she slips up and someone gets the opportunity to point out a flaw or a fault in her argument.

Here is mine.

Butchy -- you've been a devoted follower of my blog for over a year now, posting comments and always contacting me to discuss things of true importance. You're an excellent friend. You always have been.

But I'm a little disappointed in your lack of recall of my blog. I'd like to point out a prior post to you. Please click here and read carefully, especially the paragraph just prior to the photos at the bottom.

Ahem...

You see, I have a video camera that I use often. But because I work on a Mac (Todd's an artist), our Sony DVD Cam does not upload properly to or through the computer, rendering it impossible to post video through any number of posting sites like VideoEgg or YouTube.

So there.

Ahhhh...it doesn't happen often, but when I can beat Karen at her own game, it certainly feels good. That means the score, which has been kept since we were 15 years old, now stands at the following:

Karen
2,621,257

Erin
1


Have a great weekend...

Life in the Fast Lane

We've been having a rip-roarin' good time here at the Pruetz house. This weekend took us to Houston to see my parents and step-sisters (two of the four live in Kingwood near my parents). We arrived on Thursday and enjoyed spending time with Nana and Pa-Pa. That night, my step-sister Heidi, her husband Ross and their little boy, Luke, came over. Devin had an awesome time playing with Luke and they devised a new game with Pa-Pa in which they threw items into the swimming pool while Pa-Pa fished them out. I'm not sure Pa-Pa found it to be as fun as Luke and Devin did, but he was a good sport nonetheless.

Friday we took Devin down to the town of Kemah (KEE-muh) on Galveston bay. Kemah is not much to speak of as a town, but in the past few years, a traditional Coney-Island-style boardwalk has been built. There are lots of restaurants, shops and rides to play on.

Devin isn't much of a daredevil (contrary to his parents who love a good thrill) and we thought he wouldn't get on any of the rides. But lo and behold, he hopped right on. He rode the Ferris Wheel, the airplanes, the tower and the train. He played on the playground and even reached right in to pet a Stingray in the Stingray Reef. We ate lunch at the Aquarium, a restaurant built around huge fish tanks with sharks, rays, and all types of fish in them. We all had so much fun!

Later, just before we headed back to Kingwood, we stopped for ice cream. As Dad, Devin and I enjoyed our frosty treats, Todd decided to see if the girls would like a bite of frozen concoction.

Faith was unimpressed (as she usually is!), but when he laid a tiny bit on Gracie's tongue, the screetching started. Over and over again, Grace would take a bite of ice cream, swallow it and then proceed with flapping her arms and making lots of noise in request for another bite. It was hysterical. I wish I'd had my video camera. It was priceless.

That night was dinner again at Nana and Pa-Pa's house with Heidi, Ross and Luke and another step-sister, Amy.

Saturday morning, the Pruetzes and Pa-Pa headed to Beaumont. Beaumont is the town where my mom grew up and where my grandparents lived their entire lives. It's not a beautiful town and, in fact, was named the "Cancer Capital of the World" a few years back. But it holds a lot of good memories for me. My mom's parents were very special to me -- they were the ultimate grandparents, taking me places and always showering me with attention. I miss them very, very much, but it warms my heart to know that they are reunited with my mom in Heaven.

It had been nearly 11 years since I last went to visit Nana and Poppa's graves, so we made the trek to the cemetary to pay our respects. We also drove by their house -- the dream house they built when my mom was 17 -- and sat out front remembering countless good times. It was bittersweet and I am so glad I went.

When we returned to Kingwood that night, Todd and I got a special treat -- Dad and Jean babysat the kids while we went on a date! We went to the movies to see, "Hannibal Rising," (save your money...it was horrible) and then to one of my very favorite restaurants, Pappa's Seafood. We sat at the bar first and had martinis and then dined on some of the best, freshest seafood in Houston. It was awesome and we felt like adults!

Sunday morning, Jean fixed a delicious brunch for all of us and we headed back to San Antonio. Thanks for the hospitality, Dad and Jean! We hope that you have recovered from the onslaught of loud children!

Here are home, things are going great. Faith is continuing to make strides in her crawling (pun not indended!). She's now figured out she can actually get to destinations and has even mastered crawling on the wood floors and the tile, despite having on jammies or some sort of leg coverings. We have to watch her like a hawk, too, because she can very easily go from a sitting position to a crawling position and be off like a shot!

Faith also pulled up yesterday. She only got herself up to her knees, but soon she'll figure out that from her knees she can get to her feet. Then it's only a matter of time before she starts to cruise and then walk. Oh boy...

Grace isn't quite as mobile as Faith yet, but she's working on it. Yesterday she managed to coordinate both arms and both legs and took her first real crawling steps. She hasn't learned to go from sitting to crawling yet, though, so she stays put when you set her down. But she watches Faith intently and I can see the wheels turning in her head. She'll be crawling around all too soon, I can tell.

So I am spending my days chasing after munchkins and making sure that Hot Wheels and other choking hazards are out of the way. Just one more thing to think about, I guess!

Today is Valentine's Day, which also means that it's Heather "ODUS" Russo's 31st birthday. I hope it sucks, ODUS. You stink.

(You've got to know Heather and my relationship to appreciate this humor. While we've been the best of friends since college and I was even maid-of-honor in her wedding, we communicate with hatred instead of love. It's all in good fun, even though Heather is easily the ugliest person I've ever met. :)

Happy Valentine's Day to all of the Pruetz family friends and family. Enjoy the love and spread it around...

Us

Crawlin', Crawlin', Crawlin'...

Well...it's happened. My babies aren't just scootching around on their tummies. They are movin' and groovin'.

Okay, the truth be told, only Faith is movin'. Grace is still doing a commando-type crawl and going backwards, but on Monday, Faith popped up on all fours, rocked back and forth as has been her recent custom and then suddenly starting moving forward with all four limbs in synchronization. Todd and Devin were working on something in the garage and I ran and got them for the spectacle.

Yes, I cried.

Grace is a little frustrated that her sister has become so adept at getting from one place to another, but she too is making her own advances. She now waves hello and goodbye (especially to the Monster, our cat) and this afternoon, as I was laying her down for a nap, she started to babble. Not just coo with her usual, "Oohs," and, "Ahhhs," but rather actually make word-like noises like, "Da-pa, do, gee, wah-tee." I could have sat and listened to it forever. It's like being this close (my thumb and pointer finger are really close together here) to having a conversation with her.

And now, without further ado, here are some photos of my favorite short people. Enjoy!

Here is Devin, all decked out to root for his favorite football team. Too bad they lost. Sorry Aunt Jill.


The girls, playing nicely. Enjoy it now, Erin...it won't be like this for long


A personal favorite of mine (and future blackmail material for Gracie). This is the hazard that comes with a mobile child -- they tend to wiggle away from you before you are done with the task at hand (in this case, changing a diaper).

General Pruetz Goofiness

I will admit, up front, that nothing special is happening around here. But I've gotten a few good photos of the girls in the past couple of days, so I thought I'd just go ahead and put them up and write about the not-so-exciting things going on in our lives.

Today is the first of the months, which marks the girls' monthly Synagis shots to help ward off RSV. So I piled Faith and Grace into the family van and headed to the Medical Center. While in the elevator, going up to the third floor, a woman stepped on with her newborn baby boy. She looked at my girls and said, "They're so cute! They are about the same size as my boy. Are they about two months, too?" I just laughed. It was funny to see her expression and the expressions of everyone else in the elevator when I said, "No, they're eight-and-a-half months."

I forget just how small they are for their ages.

At the doctor's office, we did get a weight check and Faith is weighing in at just over 14 lbs and Grace at just over 15 lbs. If I'm reading the chart correctly, that puts Faith still below the chart and Grace right around 5% (meaning that 95% of all babies her age weigh more than she does). So they're still little nuts.

But they are developing just fine! They're both pretty adept at sitting up, although if we put them in the living room rug, we often support them with the Boppies because under the rug is hardwood floor which hurts a LOT if toppling occurs.

The girls can also move! They both get up on all fours and rock back and forth, but now they're really starting to get around. Faith does in the inchworm method, where she moves both hands out in front of her at the same time and then drags her legs behind her. Grace hasn't quite gotten that yet, although she does go backwards very well. It's pretty funny, although it frustrates the heck out of her.

Devin has been living with the sniffles this week and we've kept him inside, wondering if it's allergies or an infection. So far, no fever (the thermometer read 99.5 today, but I think it may have been a fluke) and we're all getting pretty tired of having to entertain him all day without letting him go outside. I think he's ready to be paroled. I know I am ready for him to be paroled.

And finally, tomorrow, February 2, marks the one-year anniversary of our finding out that the girls were monoamniotic/monochorionic. In so many ways, this has been the longest year of my life and yet, in others, it's all gone so fast. I just remember the despair and devastation I felt as I called friends and family after my three hour ultrasound. It was horrible to have to report the news over and over again. Thiat was right around the time this blog became so important -- I hated rehashing and rehashing each detail over and over again, so I just doled out my blog address to everyone who asked.

I look at my angels now and think, "Holy cow -- look what you all have been through, and you're not only a year old." It's a daily lesson in faith and community to me and I hope to never forget everyone who helped bring my daughters into the world.

If I haven't said it in awhile...Thank you.

Here are some photos to make you smile. I know they have that effect on me.

Here is Faith "riding" Devin's battery-powered motorcycle, held up by Todd's mom, Dorothy. We love this photo because, no matter what she is doing, that's her expression. It's hysterical!


We gave Devin our old digital camera to play around with. We've gotten some fabulous shots of the camera strap, the floor, his thumb, and the ceiling. Notice the stains on his shirt -- he is all boy.


The girls playing with their newest toy (courtesy of Devin's old toy box). It's backwards this time, though, with Grace on the left and Faith on the right


I snapped this just because I thought Faith looked adorable, just sitting there, playing in her crib. She had just come from the tub and had that "fresh-picked baby smell."

Disney World Photos

As promised, here are some of the photos from our Disney World excursion. You're in luck -- I'm only posting a few of the 183 photos we took over five days. This is a good time to say a prayer of thanksgiving.

I had shirts made for ZZ and me. After being postponed a second time, here is what the fronts of them looked like.


ZZ was really excited to make it to the Magic Kingdom


Me on Space Mountain -- 20 years in the making


Me kissing the sign at the Haunted Mansion. Hands down the best ride Disney has ever conceived. Oh, and the backs of our shirts said, "7 kids, ages 8 months to 8 years -- Too much to count. Co-pays for doctor's appointments -- $15 per child. Gasoline to and from soccer games -- $2.25 per gallon. Two sisters on vacation in Disney World without their husbands or kids -- Priceless."


ZZ and I are greeted by two of Cinderella's mice at Cinderella's Royal Table restaurant.


Me in the restaurant we ate in in the Italy portion of Epcot's World Showcase. This was one of the best meals I have ever had!


ZZ posing with the best roller coaster ever made, Expedition Everest, in the background. Later on, I told her, "You look like a fool in that get-up." Ahhh...sisterly love.


An almost-overlooked find - A Hidden Mickey in the carpeting in the hallway of the Polynesian Hotel. Don't know what a Hidden Mickey is? Check out this site for a complete explanation and guide.


I told ZZ I would ride the Tower of Terror at Disney-MGM Studios with her. But I was not going to do it with a smile on my face.


The guys from the Muppet Show balconey, in the flesh (sort of)


We spent 20 minutes stuck on the Aerosmith Rockin' Rollercoaster at Disney-MGM Studios. Here is what we did to pass the time.


A fond and somewhat tearful goodbye. "M-I-C ... See you real soon! K-E-Y ... Why? Because we like you! M-O-U-S-E..."

Back from Disney and Feelin' (Sort Of) Fine...

We're back. We actually made it to Disney, after two postponements (is that a word?) and believing that we'd never truly find ourselves on Main Street again.

But we did and boy, what a trip it was.

At the all-too-early hour of 4:40 a.m. (yes, that's A.M.), my good friend and New-Year's-Eve-spanking compadre, Susan, picked ZZ and I up and took us to the airport. I greeted her with two-liter bottle of Dr. Pepper and a cup decorated with, "I love Susan," because, wow...what a good friend to get her rear end out of bed so early just to take us to the airport. I hope the caffeine helped.

We made our way to Atlanta and finally to Orlando where we made use of Disney's "Magic Express" service. We completely bypassed baggage claim and hopped straight onto the bus headed toward Disney World. About 40 minutes later, we were in the lobby of the Polynesian Hotel (gorgeous!), gretting by a woman with leis (yes, the "We got leid," jokes were abundant) for each of us.

We quickly checked in and were delighted to know that our room was already waiting for us. We found our way to the Fiji longhouse (apparently, a longhouse is some sort of Polynesian abode) and to room 1307.

It was awesome! It was really big, with separate closets for both of us, a spacious bathroom, a fridge and coffee maker and beds to die for. They were so comfy! Had be been traveling with little ones, there was also a futon. Polynesian decor abounded, including a thatched headboard above each bed, tiki lamps in the bathroom and cool sea grass decor in the doors of the closets. Tres chic!

We had a "Garden View" room which, in any other resort means, "A view of a brick wall," but in Disney means, "An awesome view of a lush garden." They did not disappoint, either. The view was of a garden, the beach and the Disney Wedding Pavillion. It was gorgeous!

After settling in (our bags had not arrived yet, but we set down our carryons), we headed for the Magic Kingdom. Once we got in the gate, ZZ kissed the ground. No kidding.

We headed in and perused Main Street. We smelled the smells, enjoyed the lights and just plain soaked it all in. We were wearing our "Happy Birthday!" buttons, supplied to us by the Polynesian Resort, so every Cast Member (this is what Disney calls its employees -- they're not just workers, they are a part of a show that is put on every day) called out to us, "Happy Birthday!" It was awesome.

We headed through Cinderella Castle toward Space Moutain. I needed to ride it. Here's the story.

In 1987, my family visited Disney World. We rode all the rides, saw all the shows and did it all -- including Space Mountain. As we were waiting in line, though, my 11-year-old fears got the best of me and I chickened out. My mom led me out of the structure while my dad and sister rode the ride. I regretted my decision almost immediately.

So, in 2000, when my dad took the whole family (including Todd, who was not yet even my fiancee!) to Disney World, I was ready to ride. But the ride was down for refurbishment. I was devastated.

So we knew that upon arrival, I needed to ride Space Mountain.

We stood in the queue. We got in the "space ship," and we took off. We quickly jetted through twists, turns and hills and ended up safely back on Earth.

I did it. I rode Space Moutain. 20 years in the making. I even shouted, "20 years!" when I got off the ride. What a feeling!

We made our way over to our very favorite and most sentimental ride, the Haunted Mansion. Ever since we were little kids, this ride has been a family favorite. Even mom and dad would find themselves quoting the ride's most memorable lines such as, "No windows and no doors!"

As expected, the mansion was fantastic and everything was exactly as we left it seven years ago. It's nice when things don't change. I resist change.

By this time, we were starving and we sat down at Pinnochio's Restaurant for a bite to eat while we watched the loading dock at, "it's a small world." During this time, we discussed how sad we were that we had lost out on having dinner at Cinderella Castle and decided we should walk to the Castle to see if there was any way they could squeeze us in.

Well leave it to Disney magic...

The gentleman at the desk said that they did indeed have a spot for two open, but that it was now or never. So, only moments after having lunch, we headed up the stairs to dine with Cinderella, her Fairy Godmother and two of her mice. Despite that fact that we were not at all hungry, it was fantastic! I've always wanted to dine in the Castle and this was the chance of a lifetime! We felt like royalty and were even given special treatment because it was our birthdays. It's a time I'll never forget.

We spent the rest of the day enjoying the Magic Kingdom and its offerings, including a few more rounds on the Haunted Mansion.

We finally made it back to our hotel after the nightly fireworks and crashed. We'd been up since 4:00 a.m. and we were exhausted.

The next day brought us to Epcot where we experienced Soarin', Ellen's Energy Adventure and meandered around the world in the World Showcase and spent too much money in the big, all-things-Mickey shop, Mouse Gear. That afternoon, we returned to the Magic Kingdom for more Haunted Mansion and the nightly fireworks show.

Our third day was spent in the Animal Kingdom, where we rode the best rollercoaster I have ever been on -- Expedition Everest. We also took the Kililmanjaro Safari and enjoyed the sights. Back to the Magic Kingdom that afternoon for more of the same.

Our final full day brought us to the Disney-MGM theme park for a tour of the Hollywood Tower of Terror (which I actually enjoyed this time, since I normally hate rides that drop you), the backlot tour, Muppetvision 3-D and lots of other favorites. Bet you can't guess what we did that afternoon...

Our last day was spent just in the Magic Kingdom, saying goodbye to all of our favorites, finding the talking trashcan (named Push) who sang Happy Birthday to us and finally, tearfully, turning our backs toward Main Street to board the monorail back to our hotel where we caught the bus to the airport.

Once again, Disney's Magic Express came in handy, in that we got our boarding passes and checked our bags at the hotel's front desk, never once having to drag anything through an airport. We didn't actually handle our bags until we got to San Antonio's airport around 10:30 that night.

The trip was a roaring success. I can't wait to take my kids next time and despite the fact that I need a vacation from my vacation and that my toes have blisters the size of quarters on them, I am as happy as I can be with our trip. It was fantastic.

ZZ was the historian on this trip and she seems to be keeping our pictures ransom. As soon as I get them from her, though, I'll post the highlights here. And yes, I know I still owe Christmas photos too.

E

A Trip, a Tooth and a (S)Torm

If you could only here the flack I take when I don't blog enough. I hear it from everyone -- even my own family.

But that's okay, because sometimes I need a little "nudge" to get my rear in gear. I hope that this is the one and only time I'll let nearly a month go by without posting.

Where to start...where to start...

New Year's. Oh boy...

We had a party for our neighbors and close friends on New Year's Eve. Everyone brought some food and some beverages and the fun started around 8:00. We even set up our garage with food and drinks for the kiddos, in the hopes that they'd leave us alone. No such luck, but it was still fun. The kids in our neighborhood are every bit a part of our parties, so it actually would have seemed weird without them.

Before the party, Todd and I stood in the kitchen talking and I said, "I really can't afford to get drunk this year. I've got three kids who need me and it would be unfair for me to be hung over tomorrow."

Later, I ate my words. And then threw them up.

It seemed that my intentions were good, but my methods were bad. In my haste to get the party started and get everything out of the oven on time, I failed to eat dinner. So when I started on that first glass of Shiraz, my body was not equipped to deal with the onslaught of alcohol. A glass and a half later and I was feeling no pain. Add in one of neighbor Susan's Malibu Rum punches and I was three sheets to the wind. At some point, I actually just slipped upstairs and fell into bed. I think it was around 11:00. Happy New Year!

But it was not meant to be. The aforementioned neighbor, Susan, decided that it was not acceptable that I go to bed so early, so she, in her very drunken state, climbed the stairs to my room, barged in and got in bed with me, all the while smacking me on the bottom and yelling at me to "Wake up! Wake up!" Todd got it on film. I will not be sharing.

Needless to say, the next day wasn't pretty for me, despite my intentions to feel fine on January 1. Oh well ... next time I'll need to eat. Shouldn't be a problem for me. Never is. :)

Since then, we've just being getting back into the swing of things. We take trips to the mall to break up any monotony and play outside when it's nice.

The girls are providing us with a lot of entertainment these days, too, as they both sit up independently and love to be with one another. They just sit and laugh and coo at each other. I think their "twin talk" has already started. They seem to communicate while the rest of us can't understand a word they're saying.

But I think they're also saying English words, too. I'm pretty sure they're both saying, "Hi!" Yesterday, I picked Gracie up from her crib and I said, "Hi!" to her when I picked her up. She responded with the like. It was hysterical.

They also proclaim their two word greeting whenever a cat walks into the room. It's as clear as day, "Hi!" Adorable.

Last night we discovered that Grace has a tooth. It's just this little white nub on her bottom gum and while it's too small to even feel it's certainly visible. She hasn't done much complaining, either, so it was a big surprise. What fun!

And crawling -- we're almost there. On the 4th, Faith popped herself up on all fours and started rocking back and forth. She's still doing it now, but is figuring out that if she moves her hands forward, her whole body moves too. As soon as she coordinates her legs in there, she'll be off like a shot. And I'll be drinking heavily.

Grace doesn't seem to have as much interest in crawling. Instead, she just wants to skip it all and go straight to standing. She cannot handle being seated in my lap -- she must be standing. And if you hold her hands while she's sitting on the floor in front of you, she'll pull herself up. Luckily, she hasn't figured out pulling up on furniture yet, but I'm sure that's not far behind. Again, break out the alcohol. I'm gonna need it.

This week has been particularly exciting in that San Antonio got the biggest ice storm its seen in 20 years. The storm rolled in on Monday afternoon and by Monday night, it was sleeting hard. Tuesday morning brought a sheet of ice on everything and the neighborhood kids had a great time using their boogie boards to slide down the hill in our front yard. It sleeted all day long and covered everything in sight with at least 1/2" to 3/4" of ice. We stayed inside and kept a fire burning all day long.

Wednesday was more of the same -- sleet and rain and lots and lots of ice. It started to not be fun anymore. The kids were out of school for the third straight day (Monday was the MLK Holiday) and all of the parents around here were pulling their hair out, ready to send their kids packing back to school.

By Wendesday afternoon, though, the storm had let up and I was able to make it over to ZZ's house for some much-needed interaction for the kids. It was the first time I had left the house since Monday morning. I needed OUT!

Unfortunately, though, the storm did more than just dump a bunch of ice on us. It also screwed up our much-anticipated DisneyWorld trip...again.

Two years ago, ZZ and I decided we would take a trip -- just the two of us -- to DisneyWorld for our 30th and 35th birthdays. We booked it in June of 2005 and were set to go in January of 2006.

But November hit and there I was, unexpectedly pregnant with twins. We were devastated, but we rebooked the trip for January 17-21, 2007 and began planning.

We've been so excited as the week has approached, but our excitement turned to horror as we watched all flights out of San Antonio become cancelled. Sure enough, ours was one of them.

Fortunately, because we know our luck, we purchased travel insurance and it payed off -- AGAIN -- when we called Disney, pleaded our case and rebooked the trip to leave tomorrow, January 19 (Happy Birthday, Bridget!) and return on Tuesday, January 23. Essentially, the whole trip just got pushed back 48 hours.

But it was not without incident. We lost our reservation at Cinderella's Royal Table. Dinner at the Castle books very quickly and while we made our reservation months ago, it was for tonight when we, obviously, won't be there. When we tried to rebook, it was completely full the entire time we will be there.

I guess that just means that we'll have to go back. :)

So that's about it for me. I have lots of pictures, but someone is crying from the other room and I need to go see why naptime was only 40 minutes long. I'll post some soon, but probably not until after my return.

Thanks for bearing with me.

Me

Christmas Fun

It seems that this may be the way it goes...instead of a post every day or two, it'll be a post every two weeks or so. Of course, this is not the way I would like it to be, but the truth is that just not that much is happening around our house. I could bore you with the mundane details of our days: wake up, eat breakfast, feed girls, put girls down, shower, feed Devin lunch, battle with Devin over nap time, but girls down for another nap, get Devin up, play outside, eat dinner, give baths to the brood, drink heavily, go to bed. Repeat.

Despite the repitious life that we've settled into, we did have a wonderful Christmas. Just like every year, it started with the children's Mass at 4:00 on Christmas Eve. That was a nightmare. Addison (8) was in the choir, so it was me, Todd, ZZ, Brian and my dad, along with Devin (3), Faith (7 mo.), Grace (7 mo.), Presley (4), Brendan (2) and Kaelin (2). Doesn't that sound like a lot of fun? Todd and I held the girls, ZZ and Brian wrangled Brendan and Kaelin and my dad battled Devin and Presley. I can honestly say that if I didn't already know the Christmas Eve readings by heart, I would have no clue what was said that night.

Faith did fall asleep on me during Mass, though, and Grace on Todd. Devin was not a snuggly baby and I can only remember one or two times (seriously) that he fell asleep on me. So Faith and Grace doing so during church was a real treat for both Todd and me.

After finally getting out of church, we headed over to ZZ's house for our traditional BBQ dinner. Since moving to San Antonio, we've also added Tamales to the list. Yum!

The adults tried to have a civilized dinner, but seeing how we open all of our gifts from our family on Christmas Eve, the seven kids were bouncing off the wall with excitement. Soon, the roar became so loud that we gave up on dinner and moved into the family room to open gifts.

Sheer mayhem.

There was paper and tissue and ribbon flying everywhere. Every few seconds a screetch would be yelled by one of the kids, in sheer delight of whatever they just opened.

At one point, Devin just dove under the Christmas tree and started tearing into presents -- anyone's. Todd had to take him out of the room, give him some water and get him calmed down before returning. He was in a total frenzy and was actually panting from the whole ordeal.

Once the dust settled, we piled all of the Pruetz family gifts into the van and headed home. But there was one last present to be received. We couldn't get it to ZZ's house, so it had to stay at ours. It was sitting in the garage, waiting for its new owner.

Devin got a four-wheeler. Pa-pa (my dad) supplied him with a Polaris, battery powered four-wheeler that was presented when we opened the garage door as we returned on Christmas Eve. The look on Devin's face was priceless.

We set out some cookies and milk for Santa and put the bowl of Reindeer feed (prepared earlier in the day from a very special recipe) on the front porch.

We shuttled the kids into bed and spent some time "getting ready for Santa." Then it was off to sleep.

Sometime in the night, Devin crawled in bed with us, so at 7:30 on Christmas morning, he was rolling around in bed, trying to wake Todd and me up. We instructed him to stay put so that we could make sure Santa was all done downstairs.

We got the girls up (apparently, one had awoken my dad and he had her in bed with him. They were "talking" up a storm together) and got them downstairs. We started a fire and waited for the big unveiling.

I went up to our room to get Devin and told him that yes, indeed, Santa had come, and that it was time to go downstairs.

I picked him up and we descended into the living room. There, under the tree, was a Christmas wonderland the likes of which you've never seen.

A fully-stocked tool kit, a Hot Wheels toy that spanned the length of the room, a 12" Buzz Lightyear toy, four or five characters from the movie, "Cars," flashcards, a "Cars" suitcase and various toys and candies in his stocking.

The twins, too, made out like bandits with new outfits, baby Uggs, a new play gym, "The Little Mermaid" movie, and mirrors for their cribs.

We spent the morning playing and soon the whole family arrived (ZZ and her family as well as Todd's parents). We sat around, played with the new toys and enjoyed the day. We ate around 1:00 and stuffed ourselved silly. Brian and I sat next to one another and had a rousing game of, "Who can fill the other's wine glass faster?" We were pretty tanked by the time dessert was served (well, I was tanked. I can't speak for him, I guess).

Afterwards, everyone went home and my wonderful in-laws allowed me time to nap while they played with the kids. Bliss. I took a two hour nap. It was perfect.

That night we went to our neighbors', the Berkeses, house for a little Christmas get together. The whole street was there and we enjoyed some wine, food and fun while the kids all played. It was the perfect ending to a perfect Christmas. You just can't ask for more than this.

And now it's back to the same old stuff, but that's okay with me. I have my family with me and a lot to be thankful for.

The girls are doing so well. Faith is sitting up unassisted (although we still have toppling issues at times) and Grace can sit up too, but seems to prefer lying down. She's her mommy's daughter.

Faith is also getting close to crawling. She's just about up on all fours. Lord, give me strength.

They're doing great, too, on their solid foods. They have rice cereal in the mornings and some sort of veggie in the afternoon. Luckily, we haven't met a veggies we don't like yet. We've been through peas, green beans and carrots. We'll see what happens in the near future.

I'm off to shower while I can. The girls are sleeping and Addison is here today, so she is keeping Devin busy. Nice.

Dad took a bunch of Christmas photos so Todd and I could concentrate on the kids. I've requested that he send them to me and as soon as he does, I'll post them for all to see.

Today's the third day of Christmas. Hope you're all enjoying your three french hens.

Me

From Spit Up to Sit Up

I'm really batting a thousand here, aren't I? Once again, I've let quite a few days go between posts. What can I say? It's a bad time of year. Is that a good enough excuse? Let's go with that.

We've been having quite a bit of fun around the Pruetz house. While we're all still battling the stomach bug that has plagued us for nearly three weeks now, we have decided to not it get us down. We're on the move, Christmas shopping (Todd is doing so right now, tracking down paraphrenalia from the movie, "Cars," for Devin) and generally getting into the holiday spirit. This weekend marks our annual "Cookie Factory," a time-honored tradition for ZZ and myself during which we bake ourselves silly for two days straight and then hand out our somewhat mediocre goods to family and friends. The first year we did it, my white kitchen floor ended up black. No, I'm not exaggerating, either. Whenever I say to Todd, "This floor is filthy," he always asks, "But is it Cookie Factory filthy?" Nope -- it never is.

Faith and Grace are moving along in their milestones. Both are learning to sit up. They still topple over and need to be watched, but they can sit upright for about 15 seconds now and even balance themselves when they start to fall sideways. It won't be long before they're sitting up unsupported.

Also, this morning, Gracie held her bottle for the first time. I had to help her out a little but tilting it up, but for the most part, she did it herself. You have no idea how big of a deal this is when you have twins. It's the simple things in life...

Devin, too, is busy making life interesting. Now that the Christmas tree is seeing more and more presents make their way underneath it, I have to convince him every morning that it is not Christmas and that no, he cannot open even one of his gifts. It's like he's foaming at the mouth. The anticipation is just killing him. I love it -- it's like reliving every Christmas season of my childhood (okay, adulthood too). I can amost taste the excitement he's exuding.

And he's up to his usual antics, too. On Sunday, I took him to the grocery store with me. The usual items were purchased, including about a half-dozen apples. He had one on Sunday night along with me, leaving four in the fruit bowl.

Side note: Mornings have become a little easier these days now that Devin is a little more self-sufficient. We put a cup of milk in the fridge for him and tune the TV to the Disney Channel so that all he has to do is hit the "On," button when he gets up. It eliminates Todd and my having to get up at 6:30. We're usually up by 7:00, but those extra 30 minutes are very worthwhile.

So Monday morning, I woke up and went down to greet Devin. A hug and a kiss and, "What's for breakfast, Mommy?" I asked him what he wanted and his reply was, "Waffles." Okay -- I can do waffles.

So I started getting out the stuff for waffles and I said, "While you're waiting, why don't you have something fresh? Maybe an apple?"

"We don't have any apples."

"Yes we do, honey. We bought some yesterday."

"No -- I ate them all."

"No -- we only ate two last night."

"No, they're all gone."

It dawned on me at this point to actually check the fruit bowl to see what he was talking about.

Sure enough, no apples.

"Where are the apples?"

"I ate them all."

"All of them???"

"Yes -- I threw them away when I was done."

I looked in the trashcan. True to his word, there were four apples, somewhat eaten. It seems that Devin had taken a few bites of one and thrown it away. Minutes later, he was in the mood for more apple, so he started in on another and tossed it when he was done. Repeat. Repeat again.

Here is the evidence.



I couldn't do anything more than just laugh hysterically. I guess this is what mommyhood is all about.

Speaking of mom...

Mine won't leave me alone. For those of you who don't know or may have forgotten, my mom passed away shortly after Devin was born. It was sad, but after her very long and painful battle with Alzheimer's disease, it was a relief for all of us. We miss her dearly, though.

And, it seems she misses us, too. Or, if it's not her, then someone misses us.

Back on Halloween, I heard footsteps upstairs and found no culprit (Devin was fast asleep, as were the girls, and Todd was gone). Thinking it to be an isolated incident, I just wrote it off.

But then it started happening more frequently. Devin's door will open and close at night, but when we go to investigate what he's doing out of bed, we find him sound alseep. Last week, Todd walked past Devin's room to check on the girls. Devin's door was open because Todd distinctly remembers seeing him sleeping in a certain position. He made a mental note to close the door after he was done in the girls' room, but when he went do to so, the door was latched shut.

Yesterday afternoon, one of the girls' play gym toys started to play music after no one had been in the room with it for two or so hours.

My dad was in town this weekend and I mentioned this all to him. He said, "That's funny...when you all were in Fredericksburg, both nights I heard Devin open and shut his bedroom door. When I went up to tell him to get back in bed, he was sound asleep. It happened twice and I thought I was going nuts."

We continuously hear footsteps upstairs (we have very creaky floorboards and can tell where in the house they are coming from) and lights turn themselves on and off throughout the house. Things go missing and reappear, days later, in different places. We hear music and voices and even laughter.

All in all, I'm pretty sure it's my mom. This was her favorite time of the year and I think she just wants to be near us. I'm happy to have her, of course. She's still a part of our lives and she always will be. The closer she is, the better.

So, I leave you to ponder these things and draw your own conclusions: Haunted house or crazy Erin?

Here are the photos I promised a few weeks ago.

Merry Christmas!

E

My MOM'S Club had our annual Christmas party on Monday, December 11. Guess who played Santa Claus?




My three-year-old with a saw. I have so much to be proud of...
This was taken at the Christmas Tree Farm, if you haven't figured it out.


Oh yeah...this looks like a great idea.


This is new at the Christmas tree farm. We'll do pictures every year. Cute, huh?


Faith...always serious.


Grace...never serious


Once again...serious Faith and goofy Grace. Their personalities are so different...

The Pizza Hut Story

Okay, I promised, in my 12/2/06 post, that I would share this story and here it is. I have to admit, it's one my favorite Pruetz family tales...

In November of 2002, we found out we were expecting our first little one, Devin. It didn't take long for the morning sickness to set in and by the time Christmas rolled around, vomitting and dry-heaving were in full swing.

Along with morning sickness, though, also came cravings. If you've ever been pregnant, you may know what I'm talking about -- the ridiculous desire for some very specific delicacy, coupled with an overwhelming need to puke...all at the same time. It's a trip.

The worst of my cravings happened on the day we choose to go pick out our Christmas tree. It was a Saturday, around 10:30 in the morning when we left the house. The drive to Pipe Creek, Texas takes about an hour and we wanted to make sure we got a good tree. It would be just like us to end up with a Christmas branch or something.

As we pulled out of our community and onto the freeway, something in my stomach started to ache.

"Uh oh..." I thought, "Here comes the puking."

Only this time, puking didn't happen. The feeling wasn't nausea. The feeling was a need. A strong need. A need for pizza. And not just any pizza -- it had to be Pizza Hut pizza.

As we turned off the freeway to take the two-lane highway north to Pipe Creek (we'd been in the car for about 20 minutes), my craving was in full swing. I mean I have never been gripped by anything so strong in my entire life. I had to have Pizza Hut pizza and it had to be NOW.

I was terrified that we would never find a Pizza Hut on the way to the booming metropolis of Pipe Creek. I mean, I doubted that investors were banging down the door to put major chains in the middle of nowhere.

But the pregnancy Gods were smiling on us that day, as we had to pass through a small suburb of San Antonio called Helotes (that's pronounced Hell-OH-tess for all you Yankees) as we headed to the tree farm.

Helotes may not have a lot, but I am here to confirm that they do have a Pizza Hut.

I yelled -- loudly -- at Todd to pull in. Our Explorer was barely in "Park" before I was out of the car. I ran to the door of the restaurant and grabbed the handle.

LOCKED!?

I looked at Todd (who was still getting out of the car) with a look of hysteria in my eyes. Calmly he said, "It's only 10:49. They won't open for another ten minutes."

WHAT???

This couldn't be happening. I needed pizza. I needed it now. I couldn't wait ten minutes!

I paced the parking lot (people, I am not kidding here) until an employee unlocked the front door. The poor teenager barely got her keys out of the lock before I barged in.

I ran (seriously) up to the counter and said, "I need a pepperoni pizza as fast as you can make it. How long will it take?"

This poor little girl looked at me like I was holding the place up. In retrospect, I think I was pretty scary. Crazed look in my eye, drool spilling from my lower lip.

I was told it would be seven or eight minutes until my pie was done, but that I could have a trip to the salad bar if I needed something to tide me over. Salad would have to do for now, I guess, so I bolted to the bar as I left Todd to pay.

We settled down at a cozy booth at the back of the store, where I situated myself with the ability to see the kitchen. We were the only ones in the restaurant, so I knew any work going on back there had to be on our behalf.

"Where is it?" I asked Todd.

"It's coming."

"It needs to be faster."

"They're going as fast as they can."

"Find out what's taking so long."

Yes...at this point I actually made Todd go up to the counter to ask where our pizza was. I know now, four years later, that he told the girl behind the counter, "My wife is pregnant and having a major craving. She wants me to ask where our pizza is. I know you all are going as fast as you can, but I have to keep her happy and make it look like I'm being proactive."

He returned the table and minutes later our pizza arrived. The pie barely hit the table before I dug in.

And dug in.

And dug in some more.

Pizza pies traditionally have eight slices to them. I believe I ate six. I'm not sure what Todd ate. I think he may have just sat back, for fear of losing a finger.

By the time we left the Helotes Pizza Hut (only like 22 minutes since we pulled in), I could barely walk. I had eaten so much that I truly thought we might need to turn around and try this whole Christmas tree thing again. I felt sick and weak and disgusting. But I had my pizza, so I was happy.

As Todd helped me into the Explorer, I complained that I needed to lie down. He helped me recline the front seat as I moaned and groaned as a result of my gluttony. I settled down and we pulled out of the parking lot.

Over and over again, I told Todd that I thought I was going to die from being so full and that I couldn't possibly ever eat again. I was sick, I was going to puke, I was...

"Oooooh! Dairy Queen!"

That's right folks...after all of that, I saw a sign for an ice cream shop and wanted more.

"No!" Todd barked at me and headed the car toward Pipe Creek.

So there you have it. Not my shiniest moment, I admit, but good for a laugh, I hope.

Bad Blogger...BAD!

Yes, it's been brought to my attention that I haven't blogged in quite awhile. In fact, on more than one occassion, I have been told, "I check your blog daily...why haven't you written anything in so long?" So Karen, Bridget, Meg, Christi and Polina...this one's for you.

I'm back.

The truth of the matter is that writing this next entry has been on my mind a lot because there's been so much going on and I knew it would bring a cramp to my fingers to type it all in. But as each day passes and more and more happens, I'm just going to get more bogged down, so I may as well do it now.

The girls had their six month check up last week and all went well. Faith is gaining weight finally and while neither girl is on the chart yet, both are steadily getting bigger. They are so small for their age. You should see them in comparison to other six-month-olds!

More recently, though, is the weigh-in they got yesterday when they got their monthly Synagis shots (RSV vaccinations). Faith weighed 12 lbs, 8 oz and Grace weighed 13 lbs, 4 oz. Wow!

After their appointment last week came Thanksgiving. My dad flew in from Houston (and boy were his arms tired! Ba-da-dum...thanks folks! I'll be here all week! Be sure to tip your waitress!) on Wednesday night and we dined on lasagna at my house that night. Thursday we all convened at ZZ's house and the drinking began promptly at 9:00, when the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade started. What can I say...we're Irish. :)

The day was a hit, but missing something as ZZ's husband, Brian, was in North Carolina with his ailing mom. Evelyn was a cancer survivor back in the early 90s, but it returned about four years ago and she began to lose the battle the week before Thanksgiving. The holiday was wonderful, but it wasn't the same without Brian. There was no one to spend 45 minutes making the gravy.

Sadly, although mercifully, Evelyn passed away the next day. We were all headed to Houston to see the Buller side of the family when ZZ got the call from Brian. We stayed the day at step-sister Heidi's beautiful new home on Lake Houston, letting the kids run around like little hellions. Saturday afternoon, after visiting our mom's grave (nothing like being surrounded by death to get you into the Christmas spirit!), ZZ and her kids left to meet Brian back in San Antonio. They will return to North Carolina next week for Evelyn's memorial service.

Todd, Devin, the twins and I all stayed in Houston and enjoyed some good family time. It was nice to spend time with my step-sisters and my parents although traveling with a toddler and two infants isn't exactly easy. I'd do it again, though. It was worth it.

We returned home just in time for Todd and I to get the flu -- or something of the like. Whatever it was, it hit us like a ton of bricks. On Wednesday night, we tag-teamed with the kids while we both visited the minor emergency clinic down the road (after I had made it home from running an errand just in time to puke in my front yard. Be sure to pick up my new book, "How to Impress Your Neighbors"). Shots of steroids and anti-inflammatories, an antibiotic, a nasal steroid and some anti-viral medication for Todd and a wish-we-could-help-you-out-but-you're-breastfeeding pat on the back for me and we were on our way to healing. Or so we thought.

Turns out, that was just the beginning. The darned illness made its way thoughout my body and kept me in bed for 14 hours on Thursday (I miss college...). I thought I was feeling better on Friday, but our trip to the Christmas tree farm proved that I needed to be in bed.

I woke up feeling much better today, but now Todd is battling the brunt of it. I took the kiddos to ZZ's house this afternoon to celebrate her twins' second birthday and gave Todd about two-and-a-half hours to sleep. I know it wasn't enough, but I hope it helped a little.

Hopefully, we'll all be on the mend soon. The kids seem to be fairing well, although the girls are a little cranky these days. Not much we can do for them, though. Poor things. We've been doing a lot of extra holding time for them. Devin is not happy. You just can't win.

Our annual trip to the Pipe Creek Christmas Tree Farm was a success, despite my overwhelming need to sit down every few feet.

We discovered this place during our first Christmas in San Antonio in 2002. I loved the idea of actually sawing down our own Christmas tree, as we did the same when I was a little girl during the short time we lived in Northern California.

Since then, we've returned every year. Our first year, we were pregnant with Devin and I had horrible morning sickness. It was on this trip that the famous Pizza Hut incident happened (don't know the story? I'll be sure to post about it later).

The next two years we had Devin with us, who became increasingly more interested in helping his Daddy out with the sawing and handling of the tree.

The fourth year found us again pregnant (although not aware that there were TWO!) and me with morning sickness.

And finally, this year, with all three kids in tow, I was nauseus and dehydrated. How is it that three out of the five times we've been to this place, I've been sick? Should I take this as some sort of hint?

Anyhoo...we found a great tree (I fed the girls while Devin and Todd hunted) and got it home safely. Devin helped us trim it last night by putting every ornament he could find on a single limb near the floor. We did a little "rearranging" after he went to bed last night.

I have photos from the trip, which I will post under this date/title, but not tonight. The camera is downstairs and I am upstairs. You do the math. :)

I have lots more to tell, but no more energy with which to do it. That pretty much gets us up-to-date on the goings on in our house, though. The rest of the stuff is fluff -- the Pizza Hut pregnancy story and a ton of updates on the rather creepy, everyone-in-our-family-including-my-ridiculously-pragmatic-father-is-a-believer ghostly encounters in our home.

Merry Christmas.

E

Very Exciting News from the Pruetz House!

Okay -- I lied. There is no exciting news. I just wanted to hook you and get you reading. I've got updates and news that is exciting to us, but nothing that any of you will jump up and down and do a cheer over. Unless you're psychotic. And if you are, please refrain from telling me about it. I just don't want to know. I've got enough to worry about.

Things are movin' and groovin' around here. The girls are making daily strides in their quest to go from potato-like creatures to human beings.

First and foremost, these girls want to move. Grace especially wants nothing to do with lying on her back, batting at the play gym. Instead, she immediately rolls to her tummy and starts inching her way toward something...anything. She's even managed to get her feet up under her and push up, so that she's like a little triangle with her bottom in the air. It scares the heck out of me -- only a glimpse of things to come!

Faith is also not content to stay in one place and she has figured out that rolling can be a mode of transportation. She spots something across the room and goes for it -- back to tummy, tummy to back, back to tummy, tummy to back. Again...it strikes fear in my heart.

The twins are also very interested in sitting up and thankfully, a new product on the market called a Bumbo Seat helps babies to strengthen the muscles they need to sit up. We only have one and may need to invest in a second one very soon!

The girls also started on cereal yesterday. Normally, babies start rice or whole grain cereal at about four months, but because of prematurity issues, we were instructed to wait until five-and-a-half or six months. They will be six months this coming Sunday, so we decided we were close enough.

Naturally, the first few sessions have been more for practice than they are for actually filling their tummies. But surprisingly, both girls have done very well. It didn't shock us that Grace attacked the spoon as though this were the last bit of rice cereal left in the world. She's already a pro.

Faith, our sensitive little girl, is a little more resistant to change (hmmmm...wonder where THAT comes from). She will take a bite or two, but then resort to pushing most of the cereal out of her mouth with her tongue. Often, feeding time ends in tears, too. It's what we expected, though, and knowing that Devin was the same way makes us feel confident that she, too, will learn to eat just fine. Devin's never met a food he didn't like. Except Burgoo. Sorry Aunt Shirley and Uncle John.

Along the same lines of filling our kids' tummies with yummy food that sticks with them, comes the most important part of enjoying parenthood: When your kids sleep through the night.

The girls have slept through the night once before, on September 8-9. Apparently, though, it was just a fluke, as they have been waking up around 3:00 a.m. ever since.

Now I never let Devin play me when he was a baby and he slept through the night at four months. I wasn't going to be a sucker.

But with the girls, I'm a total sucker. Maybe it's because they almost weren't or because they struggled so much in their first few weeks, but I just can't say no to them. I'm just now learning to let them "cry it out" at nap time and that has resulted in them just recently starting to nap in their cribs. Seriously. I'm a sucker, I'm telling you.

So, while I know they should have been sleeping through the night two or three months ago, I've just let it go on and on until now. Now that they have some real, solid food in their bellies, I feel better about letting them cry at night. I know it will only go on for a couple of nights before they get out of the habit of waking up, so starting last night, we resolved to make them sleep through the night. We braced for a few hours of early morning wailing.

What a total non-event it was, which only lends credence to my theory: They were ready a loooong time ago. They've only been waking up out of habit and not out of necessity.

Sure enough, at 3:00 this morning, a cry was heard from down the hall. Todd got out of bed, shuffled to their room, popped a pacifier in Grace's mouth and came back to bed. The next thing we knew, it was 7:30 a.m.

Here's to hoping this trend continues.

And Finally...

The holidays are upon us and that means only one thing: The Dawn Arrow Celebration of Lights. It all started last year when our next door neighbors, Billy and Lisa, decided to have the eves of their house lined with lights by a professional. Suddenly, there was neighbor envy and the rest of us (the other four families, including us) decided to do the same with their eves. This was only the beginning. Runway lights down the driveway, trees as tall as our homes wrapped from trunk to tip, spotlights, wreaths, etc. Driving down our street was like driving down the Vegas strip.

We've started early this year in an effort to be able to turn on our lights as soon as the last piece of turkey hits the colon. Todd has already lit our soffeting (we've decided to forgo the professionals this year in an effort to save a few bucks) and three trees in the front yard. Even our back deck is lit.

Soon I'll do my garland and lights around the front door and Lord only knows what new and ridiculously innovative products we'll be suckered into before December 26th. I'll be sure to post photos as soon as the decorating is complete on all of our homes.

There's a strong possibility that our street will be able to be seen from space, too. I'll see what I can do about a satellite photo.

A Brush with Yard Work

This story has nothing to do with our kids. In fact, it has nothing to do with me, either. I just thought this was the funniest thing I've ever seen (maybe with a few exceptions) and wanted to share it. Welcome to my world.

In San Antonio, we have brush and large item pick up twice a year. It's those two days that the trash guys will pick up old mattresses and big pieces like that, along with large tree-trimming and yard paraphernalia. The other 363 days of the year, it's your responsibility to get the stuff to the dump.

Our day was this past Monday, so Sunday afternoon Todd said to me, "I think I'll get some trimming done before the brush pick up. I'm just going to do this bed up by the house." Said bed is in the backyard.

Well, two-and-a-half hours later, Todd has all but anhilated the bed by the house. He's taken all of the underbrush and ground cover and pulled it up. The only things left were a couple of loquat trees and a crepe myrtle. It was all dragged out to the street for pick up the next day.

On Monday, after a line of thunderstorms moved through the city, Todd said, "Before the brush guys get here, I'm going to do some of the front yard."

We only have one bed in the front yard and it's of moderate size, so this did not take long. But it certainly added to the pile at the sidewalk. Neighbors were starting to talk. There were a number of, "Mine is bigger than yours," jokes made.

When the brush guys didn't arrive by early afternoon, Todd set out to tackle the back bed in our backyard. This is by far the largest bed we have, spanning from one end of the yard to the other, and as deep as ten feet in places.

Sure enough, tree branches, ground cover and surpuflous plants started flying. And out it all went to the street. By now, we have a mountain in our front yard.

True to form, the pick up did not happen on Monday and the pile sat at the curb overnight.

Tuesday morning arrived and Todd said, "I have a few more pieces to get." Back to the three beds he went, finding more and more to add to the enormous mound of rotting foliage in our front yard.

By the grace of God, around 2:00 Tuesday afternoon, the trash truck arrived They pulled down our not-so-long street and picked up the brush at our neighbors' homes.

They approach our home.

They slow down.

They speed back up.

They leave.

WHAT???

We were horrified. Were they seriously going to leave that huge pile of stuff at our curb? There were no restrictions put on this deal! We were told we could put out large items and brush for pick up. No one said there was a limit!

We stood in awe, staring out the front window, wondering which neighbor or family member would allow us to use their pickup truck to haul this stuff off.

Just as we were making plans, though, another truck rumbled down the street. Followed by another. And they both had boom-style cranes with claws on the end. Oh my.

And to work they went. Claw-ful after claw-ful was dumped into the backs of the trucks, as Devin stood on the front porch, mouth agape at the opportunity to be so close to such large and noisy machinery.

Todd was so proud of this feat, that he actually got out the DVD cam. That's right, folks, we got it all on film. Thank God. Heaven forbid we don't save this for posterity's sake.

The still camera also made an appearance. Here are some before, during and after photos.

Before
Not only is this pile like ten feet high, it's also about 12 feet deep.
To give you a little perspective, the pile appears to be the size of our four-door Honda Accord. But the Accord is a good 20 feet closer to the camera than the pile is.


During
One truck had already left as we neared the bottom of the heap.


After
What my yard looks like, sans mountain.

Like I said...Welcome to my world.

The Spoooooookiest Night of the Year

Halloween was a roaring success in the Pruetz household. Thanks to our extraordinairly fun neighbors and some bizarre encounters here on the homefront, it was one for the record books.

The day started out like any other -- a trip to the grocery store and a batch of homemade chocolate cupcakes with orange icing for the neighbors and their kiddos. And when I say "homemade," I really mean, "Betty Crocker." I'm no idiot.

We made sure that Devin, who has all but given up napping, laid down for awhile in the afternoon to prepare for the sure-to-be late night. He chose to sleep in our room and I wasn't about to complain about that...as long as he naps, I don't care where he does it. We set him up with lots of pillow and blankets and quietly shut the door. He was out light a light.

The girls laid down, too, and Todd went to the store. Ahh...a moment of peace for Erin. I laid down on the couch and drifted in and out, enjoying a rarely found moment of silence.

Not suprisingly, it didn't last long and soon I was wide awake again. About 45 minutes into his nap, Devin was awake. I heard him walk down the hall, into his room and start noodling around in there. He as a particularly noisy floorboard right by his bed and he stepped on it a number of times. Then he walked out of his room and into the guest room next door. More noodling and heavy footsteps. What was he doing to make so much racket?

After ten or so minutes of this, I came to my senses. How had Devin gotten out of my room -- the door to which is at the immediate top of the staircase -- without my hearing him open the door? I glanced up the stairs from the living room and sure enough, the door was closed. Not only had he opened the door, but closed it, too. Hmmmm...

I went upstairs to investigate. I peeked in the guest room. No Devin. I peeked in his room. No Devin. I peeked in at the girls. Asleep -- and no Devin.

Now I was more than perplexed.

I walked back toward the stairs and stopped at the closed door of my bedroom. Slowly I opened it, in order to catch what was surely a toddler running around like a maniac. As I peered in, though, I was astonished at what I saw.

There was Devin, curled up asleep in my bed, in the same position in which I left him an hour before.

At this point, Todd walked in the door from the store and I shared with him my story. He, too, investigated, and found nothing. There was zero cause for the footsteps I heard.

Later that day, I talked to ZZ and told her the story. What she told me freaked me out more than the phantom noises I heard.

Last Halloween, she was alone in her house. All of the kids were at school and Brian was at work. She was waiting for her oldest, Addison, to get home from school. She laid down on the couch for a quick rest and heard her cat, Tigger, upstairs. She heard her jump off the bed in the master suite, pad down the hall into the laundry room and jump up on the dryer. Tigger must have knocked something over, as there was a loud crash that prompted ZZ to get up off the couch and investigate.

As she did, though, she glanced out the window to see Tigger outside. She ventured up the stairs, only to find nothing out of place that would have caused a crash and nothing that could have made the footsteps she heard.

Amazing that virtually the same thing happened to us, exactly one year apart on Halloween, huh? I blame my mom. She loved Halloween and enjoyed a good practical joke. I think she's making sure that ZZ and I have truly spooky Halloweens. I love it. Bring it on, Mama. :)

About an hour later, Devin woke up and we started to get ready for the big night. BLT sandiwiches are traditional Halloween fare in our house and I made dinner while Todd and Devin got ready. Down they came and we all sat down to enjoy our food.

Devin wouldn't eat, though. He kept saying that his tummy hurt, which is usually code for, "I need attention." We told him that he needed to eat for trick-or-treating energy, but he only complained more. Finally, he said, "I need to throw up." I looked at him and I could tell this was no false alarm. I picked him up out of his booster seat, but it was too late.

URP

All over the kitchen floor. And again on the rug in the hall. And again in the hall. And twice more in the toilet. How could so much stuff come out of such a little kid?

He cried for awhile and said, "I don't want to trick-or-treat," but as he started to feel better, he decided to go. I couldn't possibly tell him no -- Halloween comes only once a year! But we agreed that if he didn't feel good while we were out in the neighborhood, he could say he wanted to return home.

Then it was time for costumes. Buzz Lightyear for Devin and then Todd and me. We went as one another. I won't explain. I'll let the photo say it all.

We met our neighors outside. There are five families on our street who are very close. Lisa, Billy, Zach and Dillon next door. Gina, Guy, McKenna, Jordyn (identical twins, too!) and Alyssa on the other side. Duke, Susan, Dale, Reid and Macy across the street and Kurt, Elena, Jasmine, Emily and Nate next to them. We all have a spectacular time together and our kids have a blast hanging out together. Zach is the oldest at 13 while our twins are the youngest at 5.5 months.

We all gathered and made our plan. The ladies would take the kids around the block and return home to take over the candy-giving-out duties while the men took on the responsibility of trick-or-treating.

We made our way up the street and it was quickly obvious that it was going to be hard to stick together. The older kids zoomed from one house to the other while the little ones like Devin and Reid were much slower. So Susan and I stayed behind and let the others go at their own pace. It wasn't long, though, before Devin turned to me and said, "I want to go home." I wasn't about to argue. The poor kid really wasn't feeling well!

So we returned home. Kurt and Elena turned their garage door into a large movie screen and were showing, "The Corpse Bride." Devin relaxed in their front yard and enjoyed the movie.

The rest of the night went off without a hitch. We had the perfect amount of candy and everyone who showed up was well-behaved and deserving of free treats. :)

Hope your Halloween was as spooky as ours!

In Other News...

Today marked the girls' first day to receive their Synagis shots. Synagis is a medication given to preemie babies during cold and flu season. Preemies are particularly at-risk for RSV, an upper-respiratory infection that causes only mild symptoms in most kids and adults, but that can be life-threatening in babies born earlier than 37 weeks. The girls were 31 weeks.

They have to get the shots once a month throughout the fall and winter seasons. I hate having to see them get poked and pricked like that, but it's so much better than the alternative.

The only fun thing about the visit was getting the girls weighed. Faith is now 11 lbs, 5 oz and Grace is 12 lbs, 3 oz.

We will go back on December 1 and the first of every month through April. Poor kiddos.

This has been quite the long post, so I will leave you with some Halloween photos that are sure to make you laugh!

Peace,
E

Just a few of the neighborhood kids -- McKenna is the werewolf, Emily is a pirate girl, Jordyn is a Southern Belle, Alyssa is a kitty cat, and Nate is a train conductor.


Devin as Buzz Lightyear, in front of our house


Devin as Buzz Lightyear, in our house


Erin and Todd as Todd and Erin.