We Did It!

The girls and I had a really fun week without Andrew here. It was a struggle in some respects, and I was definitely tired when he came home (more because it's harder to take care of myself when I am constantly taking care of the girls), but we bonded and enjoyed each other. What really helped was that they decided that they wanted to start eating a LOT of food. This alleviates pretty much all of the stress I experience during my days. They slept well (for them) too...only 2 wakings a night. The worst day was actually Friday, because once Andrew got back and spent time with the girls they got all riled up and wouldn't eat and didn't sleep very well.

We didn't do many outings (just 2 for the 4 days he was gone - the playground where they chased around other children and stalked a little fairly immobile 15 month old boy, and Trader Joe's, where they went crazy for the balloons and we got their new favorite, potstickers). We did spend a lot of time hanging out in bed. They got up at 6:30 or earlier every day, even though they were going to bed much later than usual, but I could usually keep them in bed with me, just snuggling, playing, etc. for about another hour. They liked hanging out in bed after other feedings too, so I got a few pictures.

I got to dress them matching, since Andrew is the main barrier - he gets them confused if they match. :) The only way to get Kara to pose instead of lunging for the camera was to tell her that if she let me take the picture, I'd tell her when I was done and let her see as soon as I took it. This mostly worked, after a few tries. (And Kara's not a foot taller than Anna, Anna's reclining).

My sleepy stoics...I love when they check each other out. They actually got so used to spending time with me and with each other that the first night Andrew rocked them to sleep one by one (in the other room) the one who stayed with me got separation anxiety and freaked out. Then once he got the first one to sleep and laid her down, she woke up when she realized sister wasn't there and acted the same way. I thought it was really cute.

Silly Nan with the baby Jesus from their Little People Nativity, their new favorite toy (thanks Nana and Pop!)...in this second picture, if you click it, you can see she chipped her top L tooth a little at the mall when she fell on some steps. Oops!

My sweetie Kara, who wanted to snuggle all the time Andrew was gone, and lately just in general. She had the Mary from the nativity - she and Anna traded.

That's a (not so little) taste of our week, for Andrew's benefit more than anyone's...I have lots more pictures of our fun indoor activities, but will save those for another time.