Family Photos

Before we left Utah, we had four different photo sessions with Cat Palmer.  Two of them were gifts from my best friend (maternity and newborn shoots).  The last two were with family (one with my family, one with Tyler's).  I thought I would share some of our favorites.

Maternity 

(I got much bigger than this!)

Newborn

Family

Four generations of women, on both sides!

my mom and my grandma

Tyler's mom and his grandma

me and Evan, my brother 8.5 years younger 

Lincoln's cousins

Tyler and his siblings

Tyler's oldest sister and her husband

Long post, I know!  A big thank you to our families, Liz, and Cat Palmer for helping capture all of us together before we moved.

27

Yesterday was my husband's birthday. We celebrated a little bit the Saturday prior, by taking the twins out shopping and for a late lunch. Our wonderful neighbors watched Lincoln for us so that we could actually have some adult conversation and maybe hold hands. We each strapped a baby to our chest, and walked around without even a stroller. Sexy! I liked the mobility until we sat down to eat, at which point it would have been nice to set the babies elsewhere while we shoveled food into our mouths. We just had to laugh at ourselves while we carefully lifted our sandwiches up and over the bobbing baldies, trying not to drop bbq sauce on their sweet little heads. They ended up wearing napkin hats.

His actual birthday was Monday, so he had a normal school schedule. The day began like every other: Lincoln's rapid footsteps in the hallway followed by our bedroom door slamming open. He announced something cute and funny like, "I'm Thomas. Hi Percy! Hi babies!" Then his daily request, "You want to get up and go downstairs and get me vitamins and tea, Daddy?" At 5:45 a.m. it's hard to say how much Daddy wants to get up and go downstairs and get vitamins and tea... but of course he does it just the same. He never complains about lack of sleep, event though I usually wake him up in the middle of the night to help me burp the babies and change diapers.  In fact, Tyler doesn't complain about anything. I actually have to pry it out of him if I think there's something wrong. He has always come home from a long day of work (now school) with nothing on the agenda but family time. You know how sometimes when you walk in the door, you just need a minute? A small pause to transition into home-mode? Tyler doesn't-- he just jumps right into it. Sometimes he doesn't even get to change out of his slacks and tie before he's rushed off to the playground or pulled to the floor to vroom around with some hot wheels.

While I was on bed rest, Tyler was Mr. Mom through-and-through. Lincoln is an energetic kid, and he quickly lost interest in me once I couldn't get up to play. So Tyler handled the majority of the parenting ontop of the overwhelming business of arranging our move. He bought a trailer, moved our things into it, transferred money every-which-where, and handled my incessant requests with patience. (Usually.) If I've been stepping up my game lately in the house-wifely department, it's because I have a partner who inspires me. I'm proud of my husband for managing to move our family here to Massachusetts. I'm confident that he'll do well in school and make the most of opportunities to network. And I'm excited for our future together.

Happy Birthday, handsome!

Hey supermoms... I'm on to you!

My children and I are obnoxiously conspicuous everwhere we go. People stop and stare, then tell me I have my hands full ("no kidding," I say) Thanks for cluing me in! Admittedly, we are a sight: a toddler in the "car" at the front of the shopping cart, a baby-filled car seat inside the shopping cart, and an equally baby-filled car seat perched ontop of the shopping cart. "Where do you fit the groceries?" one old man asked. I nook and cranny it.  A few times women have come up to me, cooing, asking to see the baby (singular). I oblige, then after a few seconds of, "Oh! How darling!" I point and say, "there's another one in there." The shock is priceless.

Three kids is not such a big deal. When the twins are older I don't think we'll make such a scene. It's just something about two babies and a toddler that looks crazy. And it is. It's a big deal to go from one to two. It's a big deal to add any number onto your first: your cherished, beloved, doted on first. A neighbor of mine who has a 4 year old, and is currently pregnant with her second boy, asks me often how I'm doing. She looks skeptical every time I say we're doing great. The babies (knock on wood) sleep surprisingly well, and Lincoln handles their presence with the most love, curiosity and tolerance that you could expect from a toddler. I feel like she wants me to say it's hard, terrible... nigh unto impossible. She says she's nervous about taking care of a newborn and a demanding preschooler. I admit that I was nervous too, but it's amazing what you can adjust to once it hits. "Well... it will get harder once they are crawling around. It's not like you really have three yet," she said to me once. Ouch...

It's true that life will be even more of a juggling act once all my baby Metcalfs are mobile, but let me tackle one thing at a time. Raising young children requires you to be in the moment. Whereas some phases in life evoke questions such as, "What will I be when I grow up? What's my plan for the next 10 years? What purpose do I serve? Have I made a difference?" I find myself focusing more on, "Should I let him have that snack so close to dinner?  Can we fit in a trip to the library before the next feeding?  Do I have time to wash and dry the sheets before bedtime?" The fact is, the difference between success and disaster right now are the tiny choices I make in any given moment, everyday. It's a sensitive balance that I'm striving for-- making sure everyone eats, sleeps, plays, gets washed, read to, exposed to the sun and cheerful voices, at the right times and in the right doses.  Always the goal, rarely a reality.  Sometimes I load everyone up with clean diapers and clothes, snacks and toys, only to return home 20 minutes later because: a tantrum, a blowout, tag-team crying, an over-turned stroller (don't ask)... the list goes on.

But you know something?  My job seems almost easier now.  I keep the house cleaner than I did before.  When you only have 20 minutes of free time in each 3 hour segment, you have to prioritize.  I fold laundry, do the dishes, sweep the floors and cook meals like a mad woman.  I like catering to everyone, doling out love like I'm made of it.  I'm holding onto each child in the fragility of now, fearing my empty nester days will come all too soon.

My 60-year-old self envies this:

Here goes! From Mass.

It has finally dawned on me that if I wait for a decent chunk of time in which I have two hands free and my wits about me, I may never write on this blog again. At least not for several years. If I'm not clutching a babe to each breast, changing diapers, securing a binky, cleaning a binky, or looking for a binky-- then I'm probably playing Lightning McQueen with Lincoln. Scratch that. I'm doing all those at once! I'm learning that if there's something I want or need to do, I better do it right here right now, or it'll remain in the ever-growing "undone" category, gnawing and festering in the back of my brain. So if we're ever out to lunch and I jump up to put the laundry in the dryer, just understand it's a symptom of having 3 kids... under 3.

Yes, the twins are here! I'll briefly summarize what has happened in the last few months.  Tyler was laid off from his job right around the time I was  put on bedrest.  We had savings but didn't want to waste it all on rent so we moved into my family's house for the last two months of our time in Utah.  Tyler collected unemployment and was able to play with and care for Lincoln.  So really, it worked out perfectly.  At 37 weeks and 3 days, I was pushing the boundaries of my tolerance. My skin was so stretched it was shiny, like a red, marbled bowling ball. Only bigger. Much, much bigger. I was aching from the sheer weight and pressure of two full-term infants residing inside my body. My doctor thankfully agreed to induce me a little earlier than planned, because I was also at my mental limit.  My family was wonderful and catered to our every need, while I laid around and tried to survive.

Hazel Eyre Metcalf was born on July 9, 2011at 6 lb, 11 oz.

and Ezra Oakes Metcalf arrived 12 minutes later, weighing 7 lb, 3 oz.

I love them.  It's hard with two, though.  I can't fully relax and dote on one for too long, because there's always the other one who's not being held.  This is so different than it was when Lincoln was born, because they are only 7 weeks and already I feel like they're growing up too quickly-- "Slow down!" I keep thinking. And it will probably continue this way.  Tyler and I will try to catch up as everything happens all too fast.

Our home is awesome.  I considered it almost blasphemous when Tyler declared he liked this place better than our apartment in Salt Lake City.  I adored that home.  It was our first as a family and it was beautiful.  But now, I'm beginning to see what he means.  This is the same size as the old place, but it's a 2 story townhouse.  The bedrooms are bigger, the kitchen/living area layout is better, and there's a playground right outside the back door.  I've been slow to decorate the walls.  Winter will be here too soon and I'll have PLENTY of time to dawdle around indoors.  Right now I try to make sure we all get outside as much as possible.  So if Lincoln asks to go to the playground (which he does as often as any two year old would, with the enticement just feet away and nearly visible from the living room), I try to oblige.  I've also found that my spirits inevitably plunge if I don't step outside at least once a day.  And the fix is almost instantaneous!  My heart drops whatever emotional load it was carrying, and breathes a gentle sigh of relief as soon as my feet touch the grass.

I'm so glad our families helped us to get here.  I can't thank everyone enough.  We make a decision, and our parents do everything in their power to help us follow through.  Lucky ducks, indeed.

Now I'm just going to post a bunch of pictures, which is really what you want to see!

Ezra bathing in the sink.

Hazel in the sink bath (6 weeks).

Hazel happy to be clean.

Tyler and Linc in the pool.   We have a small fitness room too!

Hazel, poolside.

Smiling at Daddy.

Making cookies in the new kitchen.

Ezra and his father.

Twin bibs!  From our friends Tiffini, Hal and Iris.  THANK YOU!

Ezra, wearing his older brother's 3-6 mo. clothes already.  I love how he's chunked out!

I have had my best friend pluck my eyebrows for months now.  I have to manage it on my own now!  Getting better at it.  :-)

My sweet girl, sleeping through Hurricane Irene.

My happy toddler.

Adjusting the sand bags.  Thankfully, this is as close as we got to flooding.  Hurricane Irene ended up effecting us very little.

Burp cloth buddy.

In a state of undress.

Oh, the living we do in this room.  :-)

This is my friend Jessica.  We met in fifth grade and haven't seen each other in 13 years.  Now we just happen to live 10 minutes apart, so of course had to meet up!

Posts will be haphazard, but I know it would be nice to see updates more often, now that we live so far away from family and Utah friends.  We miss everyone!  And as Lincoln says, "I loves you!"