So many things I'm Thankful for

This weekend marked the boys' first Thanksgiving and it was fabulous and exhausting all at the same time. Matt and I have been putting some serious hours in at work - 7-5 + a few hours after the boys go down, so we were thankful for the long weekend. In years passed, this long weekend marked some great lazy downtime. This year that definitely wasn't the case, but we did get some good family time.









Thursday (Thanksgiving) my mom called and she was sick. We wound up driving up to San Anselmo to pick up the turkey (my mom makes it every year) then over to Walnut Creek to chow down with the fam. Aunt Elsa was a Saint and moved Thanksgiving to be a lunch vs. dinner (the boys aren't so great at dinner times). Family was ... family filled with advice and commentary. Don't get me wrong - I ADORE my family really truly and look forward to the times we're all together. This year we had Grandma saying the boys were fat, one aunt saying they needed to be with us more (at the table) and trying desperately to get them to learn to count, an uncle in law saying they're spoiled, another aunt saying they should be put in a quiet room, grandpa walking around after the boys sticking his tongue out when he thought no one was looking to see if they'd stick theirs back, back to grandma saying they needed a dark room with a shut door and then switching gears to try to get them to pick a painting... I'm winded just writing this. All of the feedback and advice aside, I'm still one tired confused mom and that's OK with me. The thing that really prevailed throughout our feast was how much love there was for the boys and for our family, for that I'm most thankful.

Friday Matt and I were pretty beat up and tired from the boys. In the morning Matt went climbing with our friend and I walked around Chrissy Field. After that, to be honest, I have no idea what we did!

Saturday marked a house cleaner coming which was AWESOME - while she scrubbed, we ran errands stopping in between to feed and play with the boys in the grass. Today Matt and I each took time for our "things" - I got out with GGRC for a nice 5mi run over the bridge, and Matt went rock climbing when I got home. We're working on getting a better eat/play/nap schedule for the boys ... but that's a work in progress.

Belly time in the park

I'll wrap this tome with this - this weekend I realized I don't like turkey/stuffing/potatoes and I don't really like being frantic for the holidays (who does), but I do love my family (aunts, grandparents, extended fam, and most of all my boys (all 3 of them)) and I am so very lucky to be surrounded by love, health, and happiness.

Here's to making it through the holiday season in one piece.

p.s. here's what I get to look at as I write this

Weekend Roundup

Gone are the days of sleeping in and being lazy... those were gone months ago.

We're trying to be more social now that the haze of the first few months of twindom.

Friday I hosted a jewelry/purse party where Jamie sold some cool stuff from Stella and Dot, and Karen sold purses that she designs. It was fun having people over - the party went 6-8pm (short!) but fit with the boys' bedtime perfectly.

Saturday I made my way up to Marin for an interview with Luna Chix. I drove the boys to San Anselmo to "hang" with grandma, then headed back to Mill Valley for the interview. After talking about what being a Luna Chix entails (and BTW, it entails everything I'm passionate about), we went for a quick 7.5 mi run. I wrapped my Marin trip by going to pick up my dad at the hospital - he just got a new knee (bionic grandpa!) After a whirlwind twin feed, I made it back to the city for nap time. Matt's old co-worker Amy and her husband came over for a great Thai dinner, and then we all (our 4some) crashed. The boys enjoyed a great 10hour sleep and we enjoyed a nice 5.

Today (Sunday) I met up with some parents from Parents of Multiples in Dolores Park. I almost didn't go because it was so misty this morning, but I'm glad I did. We don't know many parents in the city, let alone parents with twins, so it's nice catching up with others "in the same boat" - also, learning about others' sleep times, feeding schedules, etc. is super helpful. After the meetup, we made it to Whole Foods for a blitz grocery shopping spree (good pre-prepared food :) ), then, Rob, Emily, and Margarette came over. Emily cooked an AMAZING taco dinner topped off with a great tart.

I'm ready for another weekend now ... but no, I have Jury Duty tomorrow.

p.s. the boys are little giants now - it's unbelievable!

Hitting the trails

Another weekend, another race. This time I opted for a trail race - my favorite kind - and ran/climbed the hills of Mill Valley doing the Muir Beach 17k. I wound up placing 10th overall, 3rd female - the race was hard, but felt so good.There's something about trail running that gets you thinking - this race my mind wondered to work. I have to say, I work for an awesome company, and am lucky to have a boss that truly wants everyone on our team to succeed. That said, in the tech world (my world) there are very very few women leaders. I want to make it to "the top" (but not at the risk of being a bad mom/bad wife - no, I want it all). That said, in the interim, while finding glass ceilings and learning how to break through them, I have a new motto ... when you hit the glass ceiling, find a trail. Here's the deal - I work hard so that I can live well. I do enjoy what I do, but I do not live to work. Instead, I put good hours in, deliver the best I can, and enjoy what I can at work - but the real fun comes when I get to log off and "hang with the boys" and when I need my alone time, or when I need to feel like a "winner" I'll hit the trails - that's mine and I'm glad I have found a thing I'm passionate about that I can do for me. Wow, selfish :).

OK, enough deep thoughts for one evening - time to log off and play with the boys. Belly time anyone?

To do: pilates

Here's a little Christmas ditty for you...

The weather outside is frightful
And to run is not delightful
Too cold - can't feel my hands or my toes
Time to stretch, time to stretch, time to stretch!

I usually love winter runs - the air seems to standstill and the chill helps with long runs. That said, I usually love typical San Francisco winter runs (aka, 50s, not 40s and below). The chill factor we're having right now is driving me to my new favorite cross training workout for running - pilates. Over the past few weeks I've been trying to work in mat and machine pilates stretching out muscles I've allowed to shorten and tighten on my hill bursts, and focusing a lot on the core. I'm digging it.

World's best nanny

Raising twins is hard ... really hard, I won't deny it. Juggling work with mommy time and trying to fit in runs and workouts here and there is logistics logistics logistics. To top it off, my company has re-branded and launched 3 new products since I've returned from leave, leaving me to work from 5am - 10pm almost daily (and ultimately leaving me feeling only soso - not a great feeling).Introducing, super nanny! Our nanny is amazing - the boys love her, and she gives Matt and I a bit of sanity. When the boys are awake our nanny is reading to them, teaching them English AND Spanish, helping them with belly time - you name it. When they sleep she turns into a magic woman cleaning the house and organizing - things we never seem to have time to do.

Travel with twins

Last weekend we went on our first overnight trip with twins - we went to Healdsburg and stayed at Gipson B&B. We've done brunches and dinners out, the occasional trip to Grandma's, but nothing overnight. As with anything twin related, our weekend involved a lot of logistics.

We had to plan:

• How many diapers to bring (we brought a case - overkill)
• Where they'd sleep (we brought the Pack 'n Play)
• Outfits
• Burp cloths (we brought 6 and went through all in a day)
• Feeding times and how it fit with drive time and the race time - we're trying to get into a better schedule for the boys for eat > play > sleep
  

What we didn't plan for was the fact that there would be SO much traffic on the way up (we had timed the drive so we could feed before we left and when we got there, but with the traffic from the Bay Bridge being down we had to feed on the road which means change on the road - tough!) What we also didn't plan for was the boys loving their Halloween costumes so much they turned into little social butterflies ... or should I say bees and spiders.

All in all the weekend was a blast, but definitely exhausting. The boys' nap schedule got thrown off and they seemed to hit a mega growth spurt going from drinking 4oz per feed to 5oz. They also decided nap time was for 3 month olds and they are "so past that" so they fought every nap.

Here's what I learned:

• You can only plan so much - inevitably, the twins will have their own plans
• Gotta go with the flow
• Outdoor dining is awesome
• Bring extra outfits for mom and dad AND the twins (we came back with a suitcase full of milk puke)
• You don't need EVERYTHING (we brought boppys, bjorns, strollers, a pack 'n play, etc. - definitely didn't need it all)
• Travel with good friends - we lucked out with Emily and Rob helping and hanging
  

Weekend Roundup: Healdsburg Half!

This weekend was the Healdsburg half marathon and it was a BLAST! I ran the half with my run club and we all dressed as bees - the boys dressed up, too.

I wound up running my PR by three and a half minutes coming in at 1:34:02 and placing 4th in my age group, 13th female (out of 941), and 57th overall (out of 1438) ... and it felt GREAT!!!

Traveling with twins was ... trying - much more exhausting than the race itself. More on that later - all I have to say is thank God for Rob and Emily who came, cheered at the race, helped with the boys, and "hung" - we were celebrating my and Emily's 30th.

The boys in their costumes (p.s. we did not make Wilson wear the spider hat - it was enormous!):