September 28

Lots of pictures today!! This is the boys playing with the new toy from the weekend.


This is Nicholas chewing on Husky Puppy and offering a toy to Momma Kate.


And last, but not least, is Tyler pulling a book off the big chair for me to read.

September 27

The boys are feeling MUCH better today! Twelve hours of sleep will do that to you.

Here's a picture of Nicholas sucking on his stuffed animal. He does this all the time! He even crawls around with it in his mouth. There are about four animals he uses like this and I'm always washing one because it's just so rank.

Tyler is also feeling much better. You always know he's feeling good when he pages through his books. He takes after his mommies, that one.

September 26

Carolyn has requested daily pictures for the next few days. Of course, I took the camera up to Columbus this weekend and completely forgot to get it out of the car. So you missed all the good shots; sorry about that.

The boys were sick today -- a little snotty nose problem they picked up somewhere. The only good news is that they took three naps. They got to stay up later than usual because of all the napping. That's good because they felt better, but bad because the mommies were really tired by the time they got into bed. {sigh} such is motherhood.

September 19

Out to lunch with the moms before Momma C's shift. Look at us eating like big boys!

September 18

Mommy found her first geocache!!!! My, look at all these choking hazards...

September 17

I took the babies up to Dayton today, as a test run for the Columbus trip next weekend. I learned two very important thing:

• Don't trust that the diaper bags are stocked, even if you are the one responsible for this task. Check them before you go.
• Once Tyler is asleep in the car it will not stop for any reason -- not if you're thirsty, hungry, or in possession of a full bladder. He'll wake up and he won't go back to sleep. So take care of your business beforehand.

I was also reminded that it's a bad idea to visit an area when there is a marathon. I had to change my plans from visiting the National Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson AFB to going to the Dayton Aviation Heritage Historical National Park. We had a great time learning about parachutes (big open space for crawling) and Paul Dunbar -- I actually got a collection of his poems. We did go back to the museum after the park and had an enjoyable time rolling around.

Here are two baby pictures. The first is when I just got them out of their strollers (notice the design of the benches) and the other is crawling on an ejection seat.

September 16

It's a little known fact that when one baby is naked the other must be as well. Here comes Tyler!

September 15

Nicholas has a teeny little bit of diaper rash so we'll air him out.

September 13

Today is my 30th birthday. My present to myself was decorating my own cake -- I'm Wonder Woman!


You can see here that Nicholas is taking after his mommy in the rhythym area. He's playing my set of eggz from high school.


And here's Tyler about to learn a nasty lesson about trying to pet Bailey when she's in a basket (her "safe space"). Sooner or later he'll learn to leave a cat alone if the ears are back -- but not quite yet.

September 12 -- again

Attention! Attention! Nicholas is a climber.

September 7

This is what happens when we give the babies bacon. They love it!

September 6

I made this apple pie all by my very self -- crust and everything. Thanks to Auntie Rose for showing me how. We even picked the apples from her orchard.

September 5

Here is the prime way in which babyproofing differs from twinproofing -- twins collaborate. Nicholas is pulling out all the stuffed animals (a favorite activity) while Tyler sorts.

September 4

And some people wonder why we refer to Nicholas as the "electric baby".

September 3

Hey -- it's the third of September. That's Aunt Beki's birthday! I sure wish I had called to wish her a happy quarter century.

Nicholas is fascinated by this colander. He sits and runs his finger along the holes in the bottom.

Tyler, on the other hand, is learning how doors open and shut. Preferably on your brother's head. {sigh}

September 2

The boys' new favorite game is to take one of the caps from our travel coffee mugs and use it as a skid on the kitchen floor. We've conveniently left one drawer available for this activity. Here's a picture of Tyler crawling around, and another of Nicholas carefully choosing his toy.

September 1

So, we got this Kong for the babies. They like to carry it around the kitchen and occassionally chew on it. Hey, it's cute.

Evidently, Bailey likes it too.

There but for the grace of God...

As I watch the scenes of devastation along the Gulf Coast I can't help but remember that Charity Hospital in New Orleans was second on Carolyn's match list. Now read these sobering quotes:

• The evacuation of patients from Charity Hospital was halted after the facility came under sniper fire.
  
• "There is no food in Charity Hospital. They're eating fruit bowl punch and that's all they've got to eat. There's minimal water," McSwain (chief of trauma surgery) said.
  
• Charity Hospital has no electricity and no water, and the only food available is a couple of cans of vegetables and graham crackers. Evacuations by boat were halted after armed looters threatened medics and overturned one of their boats.
  
• Rescue workers continued to push bodies aside Wednesday as they used boats and helicopters to search for survivors.
  
• At Charity Hospital, the city's major trauma center, two intensive care patients died Wednesday morning as a result of the lack of electricity and water, doctors said.
  
• Doctors canoed supplies in from three nearby hospitals.
  
• Boats had to take other patients 8 miles (13 kilometers) to a highway intersection, where 80 ambulances waited to ferry them for triage at the LSU Assembly Center in Baton Rouge.

There but for the grace of God go I.

I can't even imagine how worried I would be right now -- me and Kate with the babies far away, and knowing Carolyn was in danger. I can't even begin to imagine.

GIVE. Give until it hurts.