Yes! It's true! We've been home for 2 weeks and it has been glorious. It feels like we've been home all along.
Some people have asked us how it feels to be parents day in and day out. It's a hard question to answer. What I keep telling people is that it feels normal. I feel like Wes and I are the same as we've always been. Life is the same. We just have two little babies added into the mix. No, I'm not saying it's all easy and breezy (although, I AM breezy....I know some of you will get that reference), but it hasn't changed who Wes and I are. Oh, there have been days where I wanted to crawl out of my skin when Eliana was doing her ear-piercing, I'm hungry and tired, scream. I've wanted to pull my hair out at times when Alex has started his obnoxious, I'm hungry and tired, cry (which involves his nah-nah sound mixed in with an angry growl/lawn mower sound). But, as I've alluded to, that mainly only happens when they are tired and hungry, which in all honesty, if I stay on top of things, doesn't have to happen too often.
For the most part, our little Alex & Eliana are pretty amazing babies. They laugh a lot. Eliana is still hilarious. Oh my goodness. She keeps Wes and I laughing daily. Alex's little personality is really starting to shine. We've taught him to do a mean face, and now he's kind of addicted to it. So all in all, we just laugh a lot with these two. They are so funny!
Getting back to life in America has not been a huge adjustment for us. It's funny, but once we were home, I think we were just so happy to be here, that everything else paled in comparison. We fell right back into life here, but we fell into it with a ginormous amount of appreciation for the life we have here. Oh how we've appreciated strollers, and car seats, and booster seats, and microwaves, and drinkable tap water, and grocery stores, etc. etc.
Speaking of grocery stores, I was telling my brother (who is waiting to bring home his two 6 month olds from Ethiopia!) about my first real grocery run with the twins, and he said I should blog about it.
So here goes....It has been raining cats and dogs here all month, and today was no different. Once I managed to get them out of their car seats and into the stroller, the three of us raced through the rain and got into Kroger. Since I didn't think I wanted to try and conquouer pushing the shopping cart while pushing the stroller at the same time on this first trip (although I have seen many-a-mother doing this dance), I decided to carry a basket. Well, once I filled up the first basket, I dropped it at the customer service counter, and they agreed to hold it there for me until I checked out. Then I filled my second basket, and then I started filling the basket underneath the stroller. And throughout all the basket filling, Alex & Eliana are starting to reach their hunger limit, and I forgot to bring in their bottles, and the crying is beginning to commence. Luckily, I happened to have a few cookies left in the stroller (compliments of my buddy, Aimee!), so I just fed them a steady stream of cookies while I shopped. Alex devours his, because he has 8 teeth. Eliana combines her gums and two teeth (although as of yesterday, tooth number 3 up top is breaking through! Yeah baby!), and kind of creates a kind of cookie paste, which she kindly spreads all over her clothes, neck, face and hands. Oh, and let's factor in the constant, "Oh they are so cute! Are they twins? Are they boy and girl twins? How old are they? They are so beautiful." All nice things said by nice people. Unfortunately, it tacks on a lot of time to my shopping adventure. People literally walk right in front of the stroller so I can't move forward, just so they can talk to me and ooh and aah over the twins. I guess I need to get used to it, eh? :) I finally got most of what we needed, and headed over to check out. And wonderful Kroger actually had someone take my groceries out to the car, and put them in the car for me, while I got drenched as I put the twins back in their car seats. Good times. Good times.
Yes, I'm sure that story was a bit anticlimactic, but it's the everyday stuff that has changed for me.
So, there you have it. Two weeks back in the States, and I'm going grocery shopping with the twins. Life is truly exciting!
Some people have asked us how it feels to be parents day in and day out. It's a hard question to answer. What I keep telling people is that it feels normal. I feel like Wes and I are the same as we've always been. Life is the same. We just have two little babies added into the mix. No, I'm not saying it's all easy and breezy (although, I AM breezy....I know some of you will get that reference), but it hasn't changed who Wes and I are. Oh, there have been days where I wanted to crawl out of my skin when Eliana was doing her ear-piercing, I'm hungry and tired, scream. I've wanted to pull my hair out at times when Alex has started his obnoxious, I'm hungry and tired, cry (which involves his nah-nah sound mixed in with an angry growl/lawn mower sound). But, as I've alluded to, that mainly only happens when they are tired and hungry, which in all honesty, if I stay on top of things, doesn't have to happen too often.
For the most part, our little Alex & Eliana are pretty amazing babies. They laugh a lot. Eliana is still hilarious. Oh my goodness. She keeps Wes and I laughing daily. Alex's little personality is really starting to shine. We've taught him to do a mean face, and now he's kind of addicted to it. So all in all, we just laugh a lot with these two. They are so funny!
Getting back to life in America has not been a huge adjustment for us. It's funny, but once we were home, I think we were just so happy to be here, that everything else paled in comparison. We fell right back into life here, but we fell into it with a ginormous amount of appreciation for the life we have here. Oh how we've appreciated strollers, and car seats, and booster seats, and microwaves, and drinkable tap water, and grocery stores, etc. etc.
Speaking of grocery stores, I was telling my brother (who is waiting to bring home his two 6 month olds from Ethiopia!) about my first real grocery run with the twins, and he said I should blog about it.
So here goes....It has been raining cats and dogs here all month, and today was no different. Once I managed to get them out of their car seats and into the stroller, the three of us raced through the rain and got into Kroger. Since I didn't think I wanted to try and conquouer pushing the shopping cart while pushing the stroller at the same time on this first trip (although I have seen many-a-mother doing this dance), I decided to carry a basket. Well, once I filled up the first basket, I dropped it at the customer service counter, and they agreed to hold it there for me until I checked out. Then I filled my second basket, and then I started filling the basket underneath the stroller. And throughout all the basket filling, Alex & Eliana are starting to reach their hunger limit, and I forgot to bring in their bottles, and the crying is beginning to commence. Luckily, I happened to have a few cookies left in the stroller (compliments of my buddy, Aimee!), so I just fed them a steady stream of cookies while I shopped. Alex devours his, because he has 8 teeth. Eliana combines her gums and two teeth (although as of yesterday, tooth number 3 up top is breaking through! Yeah baby!), and kind of creates a kind of cookie paste, which she kindly spreads all over her clothes, neck, face and hands. Oh, and let's factor in the constant, "Oh they are so cute! Are they twins? Are they boy and girl twins? How old are they? They are so beautiful." All nice things said by nice people. Unfortunately, it tacks on a lot of time to my shopping adventure. People literally walk right in front of the stroller so I can't move forward, just so they can talk to me and ooh and aah over the twins. I guess I need to get used to it, eh? :) I finally got most of what we needed, and headed over to check out. And wonderful Kroger actually had someone take my groceries out to the car, and put them in the car for me, while I got drenched as I put the twins back in their car seats. Good times. Good times.
Yes, I'm sure that story was a bit anticlimactic, but it's the everyday stuff that has changed for me.
So, there you have it. Two weeks back in the States, and I'm going grocery shopping with the twins. Life is truly exciting!
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| Mean Face. Love it. |
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| Cookie Paste Girl. |
Love the flower in ELiana's hair!! I remember the days of trying to shop with 3 under 5 years old. Not quite the same as 2 the same age though. Thanks for the update. I check every day for a new Chasing After Love update!!! It has rained a lot in Iowa too but not like you guys have had it.
ReplyDeleteI'm a mom of 4 including a set of twins so I totally get your grocery shopping thing. My suggestion, one that worked great for us, is to use 2 carts. They can each sit in one basket...then you push one and pull the other ;) When ours were itty bitty and still in the carriers I'd just load two seats into one carriage and pull the one with the groceries along. The hassle of a stroller never seemed worth it.
ReplyDeleteI love this story and the pics. Those 2 are so adorable! God bless
ReplyDeleteMama, you did awesome! Next time put your lightest friend in a carrier (ergo, bjorn...) and your heavier buddy in the seat of the cart. You'll have your hands free to shop and won't have to push/pull two things or try to carry an overflowing basket. Trust me, I've done all those things. I actually broke the basket of our double stroller trying to stuff too much food in it at w@lmart! You're doing such a great job. Doesn't hurt that you have such cute babies!
ReplyDelete:) Hope grocery shopping went well. I just had a fiasco. A year ago, we brought home twins from ET and they are 17 months now. It always makes me smile when I stumble across another gorgeous set of ET twins. I am glad you made it home!
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Amy G.
www.jonandamyg.blogspot.com