Take Cover

Nothing like a tornado warning and some hail to get your blood flowing on a Tuesday night.

We heard the sirens go off around 8:00, which is right in the middle of feeding time for the bambinos. As we are trying to cram bottles down throats, I keep hearing the path of the storm...and it seems to be headed our direction. Luckily, the technology we have today gives us on ETA on the storm time. We had 28 minutes to finish feeding and take cover. Typically, Tyler can chug an 8 oz bottle in about 9 minutes. Chugging is a great skill of his, like father like son. Addison on the other hand takes her sweet time and usually can get an 8 ounce bottle down in about 45 minutes. Much to Dad's liking, a sipper not a chugger. Knowing that the storm is going to hit about mid-feed, we devise a shelter plan in our head. Bathtub is to close to a window, plus trying to feed two babies, shelter two dogs, and house the lucky parent who gets to seek shelter with them seems like it could get a little over crowded. So we chose the hallway....The initial shelter consisted of strapping both babies in the Nap Nannies, grabbing the dogs, shutting the doors, and trying to limit the screaming by continuing the feeding.

As the storm intensified and I kept hearing louder clanging of hail, I decided we needed more protection...So I grabbed a mattress and protected everyone, and left myself on the outside to go down with the ship...

A sneak peek deep inside our storm shelter...The dogs appear to be more protected than the babies...

Luckily, all we got was some hail, strong wind, and a blog post.

How Not to Handle Baby Mama's 1st Mothers Day

The gift for Mother's Day #1 should be special, something to remember, something that should be cherished, and definitely not something that is forgotten.

Bring in public enemy number one...yours truly...this guy.

I'll take you back to two weeks ago we were shopping and Caroline saw a lady wearing these fancy Nike tops, and commented on how she really liked them. So, as any good husband would do, I filed that in the "next gift for Caroline" brain folder. A couple of days later, Mother's Day gifts got brought up and I mentioned that I was good on a gift, and I swear to you, she looks directly at me and speaks these words to me, "You're not getting me those stupid running tops I commented on last week are you?" Me, "Uh, I was going to." Her, "I knew as soon as I said that, they would be my next gift, those are not appropriate for Mother's Day" CRAP!

Now we have moved on to the Thursday before Mother's Day. Caroline hinted at wanting these for Mother's Day. Which I still contest is just as ridiculous as the Nike tops, but whatever. I stared at my computer for about 3 hours that day and could not bring myself to mouse click "complete purchase" on the $200 pair of black shoes. A pair of black shoes that are very similar to black shoes that can be bought at Target for $20, a very similar pair of black shoes that I have seen the dogs use as a chew toy in previous shoe gifts...I just couldn't spend $200 on some black shoes. Sue me.

That brings us to Friday, which means we are leaving town, and I still have no gift. At this point I have written this off to the "This is not going to go over well on Sunday, hopefully she will not expect a gift" category. WRONG.

Sunday comes and goes without a gift...or a card. Monday comes and goes...no gift...no card...but a mention from Caroline about not getting a card or a gift, and a text from one of her friends who I consulted with about said gift saying, "What did you end up getting Caroline for Mother's Day?" Needless to say, I didn't respond. Tuesday morning comes and I wake up and think, "Wow, I am an ass." Anxiety about the gift sets in, probably a few days too late, but at least it set in, and I am in pure panic/scramble mode.

I've always been told nothing says I'm sorry and I love you quite like this. So to anyone reading this, I beg of you...please...The next time you see my wife, please comment on her lovely necklace with the T & A charms on it...even if she isn't wearing it, pretend she is. And to all you dudes about to become Dads out there...don't forget, don't ever forget Mother's Day # 1.

My only excuse about the gift is, Tyler and Addison thought I was taking care of the gift, I thought they were taking care of the gift, basically it was just a lack of communication on our part.

Flying, Mother's Day Weekend, and Mexican Traditions

Yes, yes, yes, I know, I've been in a bit of a blog rut. A so called slump, but put two 11 week old babies on an airplane to Nana and Papa's near the Mexican border, and you've instantly got some blog material. I'm going to combine our whole trip into on blog, so it may be lengthy....here goes

Flying: Every trip begins with packing, but packing for infants is tough. Not only do you have to pack for your stay, but you have to pack for the flight. Things like formula, pacifiers, extra outfits for parents and babies in case of explosions...all kinds of stuff I never thought of. First off, you've got to figure how your going to get a stroller, two car seats, two babies, yourselves, and your luggage all through security without pissing off the entire line of patrons around you. Plus, it wouldn't be a true test unless one of your children has a blowout in the middle of the line(Addison 1, Mom and Dad 0). Good news, the nice security lady at the airport let us bypass the "regular people" line and go straight through security, not sure if this is customary with children, but it was nice. Bad news, as we skip the line, we realize how many people are glaring, and the cartoon bubbles above their head appear to be saying, "I hope to hell they are not on my flight." As we approach the scanners and metal detectors, the security lady starts giving us some instructions...and she could tell we were horribly flustered. So she took care of us....next thing I see are her arms in the air, and she shouts, "Everyone stop, I'm getting this group through and you'll just have to wait" Oh man...people hate us, I start sweating, Caroline just ducks her head. "You" pointing at Caroline, "Grab both babies, and get them through the metal detectors. Dad will get everything else" ...Uh...everything else like the stroller, the car seats, the luggage, the two pacifiers I am now carrying in my mouth(Yes, i was out of hands and that felt like the appropriate place for them). I mean we literally shut down the security gate at terminal C for 5-7 minutes.

Luckily, the poo bomb in Addison's diaper didn't set off the alarms. Our flight had empty seats, so we were allowed to take the car seat carriers on the plane and keep the babies in them, except for the feeding at take off which we were told is a must to help the babies clear their ears.

Mother's Day Weekend
It was a great weekend in McAllen with Caroline's parents. It also nice that they don't get to see the babies that much, and they want to spend as much time with them as possible...including middle of the night feedings and exploding diaper changes. Caroline and I slept through the night for two straight nights and even went out to dinner. It was pretty awesome.

Mexican Traditions
Background:
For those of you who don't know, McAllen is a border town, meaning it is basically Mexico, and Mexican traditions are in full affect. I have recently become a germ freak with the babies and want anyone that is handling them to wash their hands prior to "petting" them.

We all went to brunch Sunday for Mother's Day, and as we are waiting for our table this older Mexican lady comes by, admires the twins, says something in Spanish about them and then walks over to Tyler, looks at him and then gives him a full on two handed face massage with her recently un-washed, un-sanitized hands. I'm fighting the urge to slap her hand away, Caroline is looking at me and knows how uncomfortable it makes me. She finally quit rubbing her grimy hands all over him, and my heart rate subsided. I thought she was done, but one look at Addison and she gives her the same 30 second double face massage treatment. At this point there is nothing I can do....After she quit I felt like I should have given her a tip for her masseuse duties.

Anyway, I guess the Mexican tradition is to touch the face of babies is good luck...Thank God, a lot of people weren't looking to get lucky that day. Maybe they should add washing hands to that tradition.