Weekend Roundup: a healthy weekend in the city

The boys are finally healthy (woo hoo!) and we decided to try to lay low in the city and just enjoy family time.

Friday we picked the boys up from daycare and then just stayed mellow at home. 

Saturday James, a friend from parents of multiples, texted to see if I wanted to go running with the twins (he has 3-year old twins) - SMS back, "yes!" I did a quick 3-miler on my own and then made it to Chrissy Field to meet James and fam.  Unfortunately it was just about to rain so he bowed out - instead we watched the Polar Bear swim (where nutso people put on costumes and then swim in the Bay).  Post faux run, the boys and I met up with Matt and Brett (they were climbing on at the climbing gym on Chrissy Field) and the 5 (Brett, Matt, Wilson, Cole, and myself) made our way to Presidio Social Club for brunch.  Awesome place by the way!

Saturday night we had high hopes of making it to the Chinese New Year parade, but after the boys skipped both naps we opted out.  Instead, we met up with Rob, Emily, and Margarette for drinks and snacks at a wine bar on Green St.

Today was a mellow(ish) day.  This morning I procrastinated cleaning (twins + work + everythinginbetween) - our kitchen table did look like a war zone, though, with mail, the boys' tax stuff, prep for making baby food, and more. 

During the boys' first nap, I met up with GGRC for a run and surprised myself with a long one.  The rest of the day was all centered around helping the boys nap and play time in between. 

Feeling rested and great - ready for a terrific week.

Tit for tat

The boys are definitely interacting more and it's amazing to watch.  They're becoming masters at taking each other's toys (which go straight into the mouth) but they don't get upset about it.  They've also started holding hands sometimes (insert "awe").

Here's how it played out today:
One Sofi the Giraffe was much loved ... so we had to get two 

Wilson is teething to the max and used Cole's foot as a teething toy ... Cole wasn't too pleased so he returned the favor:

 

Towards the end of the day, we scored a $1 jumper and the boys loved sharing and playing with everything:

"Buddy"

I work in marketing for an open source software company - I'm not going to lie, software is definitely a man's world and I'm seeing the boys club almost daily (the club I'm kinda part of but not really). It's funny, I work on the boarder of the financial district and SOMA and walking to work I see a definite spectrum of professionals - there are the suits (bankers and traders), then the cool bunch (Gap, Levis, William Sonoma employees), and then the software dudes in khaki pants and blue Brooke's Brothers shirts. My DVF dresses, heals, and riding booths with pencil pants sort of mark the juxtiposition between me and my fellow software geeks (and yes, I do think of myself as a geek, just not the dudely khaki blue top kind).
Insert, running. We all wear shorts, we all have dirty shoes, and we all get in the trance - no boys club there, just trails. Today a few of us from GGRC embarked on an awesome 14.5 mile run. We started at the Warming Hut, wove up to the bridge and went across (we lost a few people at the other side who opted for a shorter run), then, up into the Headlands to the "saddle," (lost another 2), then down towards Rodeo Beach (lost another 2), out to the Headlands Shack, and back up up up, back over the bridge, and down to the Warming Hut.

Leaving the parking lot (winded and sore) the President of the running club said, "see you soon buddy."

I may not wear khakis and blues, I will never be able to pee standing up, I don't get invited to the dudes drinking nights, but some runs I can be "buddy" and that's good enough for me. Better.

Multiples and More QOTW: Dear Pregnant Self...

The Multiples and More blog occasionally throws out questions to muse on ... here's the latest:

If you could go back in time (think: Marty McFly) and have a chat with your pregnant self, what would you say? 
For this week's question of the week, write a letter to yourself- your newly expecting, have-no-clue-what-you-were-in-for self. 


Dear self,


The "holy crap-ness" of having twins doesn't ware off.  That's a great thing.  Don't hate the pregnancy - it flies by faster than you know.  All the people who comment on belly size, and worse yet, the people who won't let you overexert don't get it.  And that's OK.  Twinhood brings you into somewhat of a "secret society" which is exhausting, overwhelming, awesome, and amazing. 
You will go from this:

To this:

But then you'll go right back again, so don't worry!  Well ... right back almost.

The boys will go from this:

 

To this:

 

And Matty will go from this:

 

To never ending smiles.  P.s. you lucked out with the best husband and father EVER!


Mega reminder - don't stress!  A good rule of thumb for life but pregnancy especially.  

Looking back, remember to do the following as much as possible:

• Go to the movies alone or with Matt
• Go to the gym at 5pm
• Stay up past 10pm
• Sleep in!!!
• Walk stairs
• Love the beautiful belly

Love every moment the first days, weeks, months.  The days spent on the couch barely moving are some of the best.  Don't cut the maternity leave short - time with the boys is unrivaled.  

Dear self, enjoy!  It's a one time shot so love every minute.


Love, 
Me

Inspired: Olympian Moms

There are days when I would argue raising twins is an Olympic sport - my own little duathalon (although smiles and wiggles aren't quite the same as skiing and shooting or biking and running...) And after working two back-to-back weeks with 12-hour work days, I'm amazed at how these moms fit in Olympic training (my training is on short lunch breaks or at 5am when the boys are still sleeping).

I am in awe of, and inspired by the moms competing in the Olympics. Jenny Potter, Noelle Pikus Pace, Sarah Schleper, and Natalie Nicholson you amaze me!

You can read more about these amazing moms on Working Mother or She Knows.

To do: enjoy family!

This weekend my dad came over to help out with the boys (which was awesome). We had such a good time talking, hanging with the little men, and walking around the city - pure joy.

Money Saver Monday: Enjoy Surroundings

Living in San Francisco we're never at a loss for things to do - from the museums to the zoo to shopping and dining, we've got it all. I see many baby clubs popping up where for the low low price of $20/visit, your baby can crawl or wiggle around with other locals. We're also blessed with many FREE things to do - people watch, sea lion viewing, and just plain 'ol looking up!

This weekend we spent a lot of time just enjoying our surroundings - no cover charge required. We also enjoyed the things we already have - hand-me-down toys and instruments make for hours of entertainment.

Date night!

After 7 short months the "ohmyGodwe'rereallyparents" shock is starting to wear off (starting!) We love our foursome and I can't imagine life any differently. That said, "we" needed a "we" night (wait, that's too much weewee in one sentence, this is supposed to be a "grown up" entry) - an "us" night. When the boys first arrived Matt and I vowed to do date nights bi-weekly. That didn't quite work out what with colds, work schedules, and available help. I think date nights are hugely important, though so last night Paloma (the raddest nanny in the world) came over to watch the boys while Matt and I went out on the town. It was really funny, actually. We stepped out the front door and both froze - what did we want to do/where did we want to go?! We opted for a restaurant in North Beach and were not disappointed. Even though this date night was for us, we couldn't help but eavesdrop and laugh at the characters around us.

Here are some of the highlights:

• On the corner of Green and Columbus (not a quiet corner) a man in a suit was giving a local street musician a lecture on the need to "keep it down" ... um...
• After we finally picked a restaurant, we settled in at the counter (no tables open) and were immediately caught up in the stress-storm the owner brought. He was flying around behind the counter telling people how to wash dishes, cook things, where the bowls should go, etc. After he finished each lecture the recipient of that lecture seemed to smirk as the head honcho walked away
• A couple came and sat next to us at the counter about half way through the meal. The man brought his own bottle of wine (not too weird but I still don't really get this as corkage fees + the cost of the bottle brought in are often more than the cost of buying a bottle from the wine menu). The waitress proceeded to open the wine and pour some into the woman's glass to which the man (who we wound up calling deeb for the rest of the night) stopped her abruptly and brought a black velvet case out of his pocket. I was so excited - I thought we were going to see a proposal! The man opened the case with care and slowly pulled out ... a personal wine decanter. Really?! Deeb.
• We went to another restaurant for dessert and asked the waitress what a good spicy red wine was - her reply? "Let me ask my manager, she drinks a lot." Hah!

Oh date night, so much good people watching!

This is going to suck

I hope the title doesn't make you think this entry is going to suck ... well, it might, but keep that to yourself :)

Over the course of the past 2 weeks I've found myself thinking and saying "this is going to suck" on a handful of occasions. The boys started solids recently, they're teething, and they're both still really sick. Here are some "this is going to suck" lowlights:

• Cole had to get an xray last week (insert a picture of a really freaked out and stressed out mommy - me) - Matt and Paloma went and Matt said it was heartbreaking; the doctor stripped Cole down and strapped his arms up and his legs down - Cole was screaming and looking way too scared - I can't begin to imagine
• Wilson has a bottom tooth starting to pop through - he also just got over an earache - his mouth hurts and ears hurt and trying to give him meds seems like torture
• The doctor said to give Cole and Wilson both cough medicine through an inhaler - try giving an inhaler to twins who have stuffy noses, teeth popping through, coughs, headaches, and who knows what else (the build up to that was a definite "mommy daddy" mutual "this is going to suck" moment

As adults we know that things are going to suck so we get past them quickly, when we can. Bandaides - ouch, we know to pull them off quickly. Hill repeats, oof, we know to just truck through and get them done. Colds, ugh, we know to blow noses, take Tylenol, sleep, and get through it (babies do not have this luxery - it's new and it hurts).

I must say, despite all of the "this is going to suck" moments, it's been a pretty awesome week. Cole and Wilson are both smiling more than ever. Cole has turned into a jumping bean and he thinks that being held up means jumping time (not fun when putting on pants, but I'm OK with that). Wilson is an uber cuddle bug who has taken to nuzzling his face in my neck (awesome when it's just nuzzling, not so much when the coughing fit turns into milk pukes).

To do: read!

We love reading to the boys, and the boys love (eating) books. Our new fav? This is London An awesome gift from Wilson's godmother Ryan. Love this book - great pictures, history woven in, and a fun story.

Love is all around us

I'm not a big Valentine's Day person. In elementary school it was fun putting big paper bags on the backs of our desks with cutout hearts for Snoopy cards and chalky candy. In high school it was nerve wracking wondering if someone was going to send a candygram to class or not. In college I was with Matt all 4-years, so it was always a "what do we do that's new and amazing this year?" Up until now, my favorite Valentine's Day was one of those college years when I sent Matt a singing telegram - I had a man dressed up as St. Valentine deliver flowers and balloons to Matt in front of the campus market during lunch. Classic.

I have to say, today's Valentine's Day was the best. I had not 1 but 3 Valentines and it was awesome. This past week has been pretty tough for us - the boys were super sick (Wilson with an ear infection and Cole with a virus that caused a temperature to spike up to 104.4 - I've never been so scared in my life). It was also a very busy week with work, trying to figure out taxes, blah blah blah. We couldn't bring the boys to daycare this week for obvious reasons and lucked out because my mom took a day off work to come help.

BUT, this weekend things turned - Cole's cold is on its way out, and we (begrudgingly) started Wilson on antibiotics - both of them are very much on the mend. Yesterday Matt and I met up with a friend, James, and his twins on top of Russian Hill. Later we bought some gates from another SF Parents of Multiples-er and talked twins and tips which always feels good. Today we decided just to "hang" near the house. During the boys' first nap this morning I stole 45min for a short run. Post boys' brunch and jumparoo time, we made our way down to Washington Square for a terrific brunch - it was funny, the boys just stared at us as we talked life/dreams/goals over pancakes and eggs. The rest of the day was pretty mellow doing laundry (there's always laundry to do) and taxes.

I have to say, my heart has never been so full. I have the three best Valentines.

It was a great day, it was a horrible day

Sunday was the Kaiser Half. I ran this race last year at 3mo pregnant and vowed never to run it again - the combo of running in my orthodics for the first time (GIANT mistake) and the 4mile out and back (horrible race design) made this race less than fun. That said, a group of friends signed up and being one to always cave to pressure, I did too... well, I signed up very late so I wound up buying a number off someone from my run club (I could have run it bandit, I saw quite a few people do that, but I just can't bring myself to sneak into a race - it's like stealing and the guilt would kill me. That and I would probably wind up telling everyone and then donating more money than the price of the bib # to the cause behind the race).

So, here's the race report Clif Notes:

• Linz, Brett and I taxi'd over
• I had milk puke on my shirt from the boys' breakfast - Cole had a case of the barfs
• At the start Mr. BO of the century stood in front of me - when I stepped right, he did too, when I stepped left, he did too - the stench nearly made me drop to the back. Nearly.
• I went out WAY too fast - 5:38 (!! I still can't believe this, but Garmin says it's true)
• By mile 4 I was miserable, mile 7 gave me a nice second wind
• The out and back was horrible - just as I remembered - luckily I was in the front/middle pack so I only saw people coming "back" for ~3/4 - 1mi
• I finished in 3:33:34 - a new PR by over a minute - happy happy happy! Of course it's a PR under someone else's name ... but whatever

Matt picked me up at the finish and we waited for Brett and Linz. Cole was eating kind of funny, but eating nonetheless. After getting home, the boys and I prepped for lunch and Matt went off to climb. About 2 bites into lunch I knew something as wrong - Cole is normally my eater, but he was pushing all the food away. I felt him and he felt hot hot hot. A quick temp check and I saw that he was 102! I started crying - it's really hard when you see your child is sick - then realized I couldn't be weapy, I had to be mommy, so I called the after hours clinic at the doc. They said to get him in ASAP so I called Matt's climbing gym (one side effect of having 1 car is the need to juggle who is doing what). He came blazing home and we packed the boys up to go to the doc.

Cole's temp spiked up to 103.4 and he just looked miserable. The after hours clinic was ... odd. The front desk guy complained that he thought it was busy because parents were trying to get their kids in before Super Bowl. Really?! Speechless. The doctor was younger than me (I'm starting to have those realizations I am "grown up" - I'm too old to audition for Real World (have been for years), too old for American Idol, and now I'm older than my kids docs - how did that happen?!) The doc was wearing heals and tons of makeup which I found totally odd. When I told the nanny this morning at first she thought the doc was a dude - only in SF would one think that. Funny. All the doc did as say "watch them" and gave them baby Tylenol.

Last night brought more sicks for both Cole and Wilson - Wilson started hacking around midnight and wouldn't go back to sleep. Cole woke up minutes after crying and weazing. We wound up getting up every 30min to sooth the boys but nothing as really working. It's heartbreaking seeing your babies sick - especially because when they're babies they don't know how to make themselves feel better (e.g. blow their noses). Matt wound up putting Wilson in the swing because he only was comfortable sitting up and I brought Cole into bed.

Poor boys.

Some morals:

• When running, standing behind stinky people makes you go out faster - to get away!
• Sick babies break your heart - holding them close to your heart makes them and you feel better
• One sick twin equals two sick twins in a matter of hours

Running around the world

When I was in highschool, my track coach took me on a trip that changed my life (opened my eyes to the world you could say). Every other year he (Mr. Taylor - no, I did not pick my husband based on my life changing track coaches last name) chose 8 runners to study and prep for a trip across Europe. For a year we read the Bible, studied Nietzsche, read philosophy spanning Socrates and Plato to Epicurus, and more.

Mr. Taylor is writing a book now and occasionally sends thoughts and pictures from past trips. I love reading these and being reminded. It's a reminder of where I've been (and run!) and where I'm going to go - I can't wait to show the boys the world.

Our trip took us to:

• The Dome on the Rock in Israel to study religion
• Egypt to run with the Bedouins see the Dead Sea scrolls
• Greece (Athens, Mycenae, Nemea, Sparta, Pelos, Olympia, and Ithaca) to run and dig on one of the first olympic tracks (literally dig - Mr. Taylor is friends with an archaologist there)
• Rome and Florence where we read about Brutus while sitting in the cave where he was burried
• The Swiss Alps where we read Thus Spake Zaratheustra while visitng Nietzche's old house
• Verdun where we had our hearts broken by war and tragedy
• Finally, to Paris where we studied Freud

The trip culminated with dancing on the Themes and reading from our journals. I felt oh so important then.

Mom in the City

I'm a city girl through and through. I don't know if it was all the SATC we watched in college, the study abroad trips to London, Thailand (various big cities), and Sydney, or just all the great memories in cities like Boston and New York. San Francisco is very much my city - right down to the countless isms that happen here almost daily (isms being things like men hula dancing in Washington Square while wearing traditional Chinese dragon outfits, Sushi restaurants in North Beach staffed by all Mexicans, or people speed walking in suits rocking out on their iPods with flip flops and North Face backpacks as they sprint to work in the financial district).

You can read more about my city love affair on Shabby Apple's blog. This was from the days when I traveled more for work and got to spend a week in NYC and is about one of my favorite city memories hands down. It's also about another love of mine ... great clothes.

p.s. the photo is a definite San Franciscism, not a New Yorkism.

TIART: Unconventional Races

San Francisco is full of unconventional … “things.” Races are one of the best. Yearly there’s Bay to Breakers – one of the most unconventional races. I started running Bay to Breakers in highschool – one year I was lucky enough to run in the seeded race and then get to “recover” (aka celebrate) in the seeded post-race tents. Awesome! Over the years since highschool, I’ve run an additional 6-times. Bay to Breakers is known for people dressing up, or not dressing at all (read, naked). Bay to Breakers is the epitome of San Francisco.

Here are some of the highlights:

• 1999: Running with my mom, we found ourselves next to a boy a few years older than me … who was running naked
• 2001: I convinced Matt to do a race with me and my dad – this was our first race together, and one of the first times Matt met my dad … being the ADD runner I am, I took off leaving Matt and my dad to get acquainted
• 2003: Linzy and I dressed as “ladies in our 80s in the ‘80s” with pink cutoff PJ bottoms, pink off the shoulder sweatshirts, and hair in curlers with rain bonnets – this was the first time the trolley driver on Hyde screamed … profanities to be polite (like the icky yucky nasty kind that makes you wonder why some peoples’ minds are so messed up)
• 2004: Linzy and I were going to go as the “Mighty Mullets” but due to a hair cutting incident (OK, wig cutting) we wound up throwing all the junk together in our apartment for junk costumes; Matt and Zach went as Rocky IV – what Zach didn’t know was wearing a Rocky sweatsuit would really make him sweat!
• 2005: Linzy and I went as “Thing 1 and Thing 2” from the Cat in the Hat – every child on the street stopped to waive
• 2009: I was going to wear a “I’m not naked, but they are” shirt, and Linzy (whose bday it was) was going to wear a “It’s my birthday … the suit’s under here” but we were all so wiped, we nixed the race and costumes
• 2010: what will this year bring?!
  

Life as a working mom of twins

Juggling work and life is tough (duh) - add in twins and it's tough and messy ... and so much fun. I have never been so exhausted/stressed/dizzied by everything and at the same time I've never been so happy.

Here are some recent examples of being a "working mom:"

• I walk to work and wear my running shoes (but pack my work shoes) - this morning, upon arriving at the office, I realized I packed one short brown boot, one knee high
• Yesterday I was running late for a morning meeting and had to drop the boys off at daycare, just as we got to the front door, Cole threw up a good part of his milk ... down my work shirt
• Last week I was in a meeting with a vendor - I went to grab something out of my laptop bag (which I also use as a diaper bag ... no dirty diapers go in there, don't worry) and grabbed a squeaky toy instead - hah!

I have to say, the boys help kill the stress, though. Today, after a brutal webinar in the morning, I got home to giggles and hands grabbing at my face with huge baby smiles. Loved it. The whole day got better.

Plus, the boys remind me that it cannot be all work no play - life is still one big playground.