Indoctrination begins early...

The University of Texas' future Class of 2029!

It's Pitty Party Time...Woo Hoo

Before babies (taken late April 2006). Umm, this photo is more "suggestive" than intended. Mark took it because I wanted to show one of my girlfriends that I finally found a place that waxed my brows to my liking. Anyway, notice how I have a jawline? Make-up on? Clean straight hair? Some evidence of playfulness and life?

Current (taken in Houston last week with Kate). Glasses, much fatter face, wild looking brows, out-of-control hair...looking and feeling like I had just been hit my a truck. Well, at least I had on some lip gloss.

I have been feeling a lot better this week thanks in part to Nanny Mary and being able to sleep between nighttime feedings (the twins are holding strong at 3 hours between chow times). But I still feel pretty yuck. I don't think I have ever felt or looked so horrible in my entire life. I've noticed that I am now wearing the official "mom attire" all the time now....yoga pants (they are comfy and fit), over-sized t-shirt (to hide my post-pregnant-with-twins-flabby-gut) with formula stains on the left shoulder thanks to spit up, no make-up (and I look really shitty with no make-up), air-dried hair pulled back in a bun (i.e., frizzy, style-less, but grateful I at least got to shower), flip-flops (but no pedicure), and glasses (instead of my contacts).

Before I had the babies, I remember seeing women wearing the mom attire in the grocery store and thinking to myself, 'Wow, she needs a day off.' Of course, at that time I was probably standing in the express lane with a 12-pack of Diet Coke in one arm, talking to a client on my cell phone, and trying to get to a sales meeting ASAP...all polished, clean, well-rested, and put together....and stupidly thinking I needed the day off!

My how things can change in a year. Despite all of my bitching, it's been a good change though. I can't imagine my life without the twins now. On those rare days I actually get to leave the house to run errands, I miss the babies the whole time. They are growing fast now. They are starting to sleep longer and be more expressive. I am trying to find a way to incorporate a few small elements of my former life before babies into my new life with the babies. Not sure how or what just yet...but getting my fat ass to the gym a few times a week and getting a hair-cut are pretty high on my list right now.

Lee Harvey Oswald

This is how twisted my mind works sometimes. I have been referring to the above photo of Kate as her "Lee Harvey Oswald impression"...now you can see why.

Goodbye Sleep

Okay, ya'll, I'm freaking out just a tad tonight. Tonight is my LAST alone. Tomorrow night we do the rooming-in thing with the twins at the hospital, and then they are home with us after that. I have been running around preparing the house as if I was expecting house guests that I am trying to impress. (Hmm, do you think the twins will notice how nicely the guest bathroom hand towels are folded?)

I have been fighting and pushing like hell to get the twins out of NICU, and now that it's happening...umm, I have no idea what I am doing!

I know this must sound incredibly crazy, but I feel like I will officially become a mom on Thursday morning. Nevermind the fact that they were cut out of my body over a month ago or that I have been visiting them twice a day since that time. Thursday is when it happens.

Everyone has been telling me to go to bed early tonight because it's the last time I was sleep again. However, it 1:00 AM Wednesday morning and I can't sleep!

By the way, does anyone know how long I need to boil the bottles (sterilizing)? It's the last item of my list to do in the morning. Sheesh...you see what I mean? I don't know what I am doing. I don't even know how to sterilize the bottles. Oh, and what about the nipples and whatnot? Do I toss them in too?

The Twins Finally Meet...

...and it was a nightmare!

Carson immediately LOVED it, and Kate immediately HATED it. She was kicking, hitting, and pulling on Carson's feeding tube. Carson, in return, sucked on her fingers and shoulders, and just stared at her. All in all, it was funny! You can really tell their size difference in some of the photos I have. (She gained 3 oz overnight!...now 3 lbs, 3 oz) I still don't have a photo of the two of them together worthy enough to go in a birth annoucement, and since Kate was being such a diva today I'm not sure the nurses will be up for another try at a photo session. Oh, and in case you can't tell...Kate's on the left, Carson's on the right. (Notice their crossed legs in the first photo? haha)

Carson's Impression of a Traffic Cone

One of the nice volunteers at the NICU found out that we are UT fans. So she knitted two burnt orange and white knit hats for the twins. Side Effect: He looks like a traffic cone!

Oh, and sorry for all of the up-shots. His little nose really isn't that big, but they have his bed angled in such a way that I always photograph right up his nose!

Texas Monthly's 2007 Bum Steer Awards

To my great delight and amusement, Texas Monthly magazine’s 2007 Bum Steer Awards edition finally arrived in the mail a few days ago. Here’s a small sampling of some of my favorites.

You know it’s going to be a good year for Bum Steers when 61% of the people vote against the governor’s reelection and he wins anyway. When Kinky Friedman asks, “How hard could it be?” – and finds out. When Tom DeLay steps down as U.S. House majority leader, resigns from Congress, and hands his district to a Democrat he had redistricted into oblivion in 2004. When DeLay’s temporary replacement, Shelley Sekula-Gibs, runs off his holdover staff with a temper tantrum and runs her chance to win the seat in 2008 into the ground. When George W. Bush contributes “thumpin’” to the political lexicon. When the Longhorns beat Southern Cal for the national championship but can’t beat Kansas State or Texas A&M. When the Spurs can’t beat the Mavs, the Mavs can’t beat the Heat, and the Rockets can’t beat anybody. When Bobby Knight is shown on national television slapping a player – image that – and Drew Bledsoe, who began the season as the Dallas Cowboys’ starting quarterback, plays like he could use a good slap. But non of these antiheroes measure up to the man we’re here to honor. A politician and a sportsman. A man who’s a real blast to go hunting with, who this year gave the country (and his friend Harry Whittington) a shot in the arm, among other places. He may be number two in the White House, but to us he’ll always be number one with a bullet. Or a pellet. Come out from that undisclosed locations, Dick Cheney. You’re our Bum Steer of the Year.

What’s Black and White and Red-Faced All Over?
A referee called a technical foul on Tom Penders when the University of Houston basketball coach collapsed to the floor after his team was called for a foul, because he thought Penders was showing him up. Even though Penders, who wears a pacemaker, was carried off on a stretcher and treated by EMT’s for dizziness, the referee refused to rescind the technical foul.

We’ll Drink to That
In an annual survey by the Princeton Review, the University of Texas at Austin was ranked the nation’s number one party school.

We’ll Take “Irony is not dead” for $200, Alex
President Bush’s education secretary, Margaret Spellings, was beaten on Celebrity Jeopardy! by the actor who played Lenny on Laverne and Shirley.

If we can’t be first, we’d rather be sixth, that way, we’d have a fifth in front of us
Austin ranked fifth on a list of “America’s Drunkest Cities” compiled by Forbes.com.

If Jesus is really your co-pilot, why are you flying commercial?
Pastor Joel Osteen, of Lakewood Church in Houston, as his wife, Victoria, were kicked off a Continental Airlines flight after a dispute with a flight attendant caused Mrs. Osteen to allegedly push an airline staffer and attempt to get into the cockpit.