Monday Medley: A Blurry Summer

Our pediatrician is a mother of twins, and she warned us that the first year after they are born goes by in a blur.  I have a feeling it will be the same way with us.  Days and nights are fading into each other as we try to make the most of our time together as a family, before my maternity leave ends.

Goofball’s Birthday

My oldest, Goofball, recently celebrated his seventh birthday.  We try to maintain a happy medium with our kids and spending – somewhere between spoiling them and being too cheap.  It’s not their fault we have so much debt to pay back, but we also don’t want them to become slaves to consumerism either.  Fortunately, Goofball was happy with a simple birthday celebration.  I surprised him with donuts in the morning.  We played outside for much of the day.  Daddy took him shopping for two used video games.  We ate pizza for dinner because that is Goofball’s favorite food (we buy pizzas from Aldi’s and add extra toppings).  Finally, he requested homemade ice cream sundaes, complete with sprinkles and maraschino cherries, instead of a cake.

My New Phone: A Rare Splurge

It’s already been a couple years since we switched from one of the more well-known cell phone companies to Republic Wireless. We’ve been satisfied with the service. There are some issues here and there, like having to manually switch over to cell service from WiFi for better quality phone calls. However, we can deal with some minor annoyances in exchange for saving approximately $100 per month.

Mr. Smith is not nice to phones. We both picked up used Republic Wireless phones off of eBay when we made the switch. Since then, he dropped his in a fish tank and carried it on the back of his truck before it fell into a snow bank. Miraculously, someone found and returned his phone, several days later, but it was never quite the same. We finally decided it was time to replace it.

I found another used phone on eBay for just over $100. It was supposed to be for Mr. Smith, but he noticed the phone-lust in my eyes once it arrived.  I’ve become a lot better about being satisfied with what we have instead of wanting new things, but it’s hard to not get excited about a bigger, better phone when it is in your hands.  Sweet guy that he is, Mr. Smith insisted that I keep the new phone for myself and give him my old one.

The new phone is great.  I’ve been taking tons more pictures because it has so much more storage.  It’s really nice to just take pictures of random, everyday life.  And, I finally started an Instagram account. Make sure to follow me if you want to see all of my fun pictures 🙂

Garden

Mr. Smith has worked so hard preparing our garden this year and we’re finally starting to enjoy the “fruits” of his labor.  About one week ago, we noticed the first red tomato.  In the past couple of days, he’s starting harvesting yellow beans, cucumbers, zucchini, lettuce, and broccoli.  We’re entering that awesome part of summer when we have fresh vegetables to eat every day – without spending any money at the store!

The Twins

We all just adore our two new additions.  They are really sweet – and very different from each other!  Caring for twins definitely comes with a unique set of challenges.  Many tasks take longer, like changing two diapers instead of one.  They are pretty close to being on the same schedule, which helps.  Breastfeeding two at once seems more efficient than just feeding one child, but it’s tricky.  There are definitely issues when both are crying and you can only calm down one at a time.  Mr. Smith and I became pretty good at carrying two at once, but it’s getting harder as they get bigger.

They are still feeding every couple hours.  The longest stretch they will sleep is somewhere between three and four hours at night.  They are both making really good eye contact and have started communicating with little goo’s.  The best thing is the smiles, which are becoming more frequent.

I am feeling more and more like myself every day.  The pregnancy certainly took it’s toll, but I’m happy to be able to do simple things like ride a bike again.  As time goes by, however, my return to work creeps closer and closer.  I’m definitely not looking forward to the end of maternity leave.  It’s going to be really tough to give up my afternoon nap, let alone go all day without seeing Mr. Smith or my babies 🙁

We’re busy and there are stressful moments when we’re tested to do our best on limited sleep, but there is plenty of joy to see us through the rough patches.  I hope everyone is having a great summer!