Going for a walk

Cause sometimes you just need to get out and pick some flowers...

Even the Drewman came along.

One Week

Well, I’m not going to lie. It’s easier with one. But to be completely honest, it’s mostly just a lot more FUN. I don’t feel like I have to be a machine to get the feedings done. I get to hold him and love him and stare at him as long as I want. It doesn’t hurt that he’s an all star baby, though. This little dude went 7 hours last night and even then, I just woke him up because I wasn’t sleeping because I knew any minute he was going to wake up. He adores his older sister and even contently tolerates his older brother’s pokes and prods. Most of you know that I’m not generally a fan of newborns, but even I have to admit this little guy is a keeper. So, for all of you out there who told me I was going to love having ONE newborn... you were right. There, I said it. Happy?

Oh, and by the way, his middle name is Thomas.

Drew's home! Drew's home! Drew's home!

Double the Fun Plus One

On Friday at about 1:00 pm, Lauren and I welcomed Andrew [insert middle name here] Packer into the world. He weighed 8 lbs. 4 oz., much to the shock of his mother, who certainly wasn’t showing 8 lbs of baby, as well as her doctors, who were left scratching their heads. He is a healthy little guy and we look forward to having him home on Monday. Here are a few pictures: Dad isn’t good at this blogging stuff, so we’ll be sure to get some more and better pictures up at Mom’s supervision when she gets home. Thanks everyone for all the kind words and emails!

Are we 3 yet?

I wasn’t quite sure how to handle this whole birthday business this year. Their real birthday is this Saturday, one day after my scheduled C-section. I knew I wouldn’t have the strength (mentally or physically) to do it a week after and I knew I’d put myself into labor if I tried to do it before. So, when some friends invited us over for dinner Saturday night, I thought it would work perfectly if we brought the dessert, put some candles in it and called it a birthday party. They were thrilled.

They kept asking if they’re 3 now and I was not quite sure what to say, because I do want to have some sort of celebration this Saturday when the baby can shower them with presents. So, I say the party was this weekend and their birthday is next weekend. They seem to be okay with that.

For the record, I didn’t feed them quiche as their birthday dessert, although that’s what it looks like. It’s actually Toll House Pie and it was delicious.

I am absolutely in love with my little almost 3-year-olds right now. They are so much fun to be around. Ethan decided to skip the terrible two’s, but he’s fitting into the terrible three’s nicely. But it’s okay, because Kate took the terrible twos by storm and now she’s turning into a sweet and adorable little almost 3-year-old. They get along SO WELL and hang out all day pretty much keeping themselves occupied. They often tell me to leave them alone. It is counter intuitive, though, because the more they get along, the more I want to leave them alone, but really it just means the more time they’re scheming naughty things. A father of twins once told me that “two toddlers together can do more damage than any two toddlers alone could dream of doing.” That has never been more true than it is now. But honestly, they really are quite delightful and people keep asking me if I’m ready to be done being pregnant and I say, “NO!” I don’t want to mess up what great thing we’ve got going.

Some funny things about right now:

• They for some reason think that now that they turned 3, it’s time to get baptized.
• Earlier today Ethan asked me for a Kleenex to get a spider. I followed him to see a giant spider crawling on the carpet. I told him I’d take care of it, but he REALLY wanted to do it. So I gave the spider a life-threatening blow and Ethan cleaned it up. What a man.
• I FINALLY upgraded them to big kid cups and they are doing really well with them. They’ve always had the skills, but the naughtiness in them sometimes gets the better of them. I can’t leave them alone during mealtime anymore.
• They’re still in cribs. For now.
• They still take a nap every day. For now.
• They’re still in high chairs. For a long time.
• Kate is really interested in the time. She’s learned that we do certain things at the same time each day. Right after lunch, she’ll go look at the clock and ask, “is it one o’clock?” knowing that that means nap time.
• Ethan has rediscovered the joy of counting and wants to count everything. Everywhere. All the time.
• They’ve officially entered their brackets into ESPN.com Both have Duke winning. They’ve been taught well.
• Ethan put Kate in time out this morning for not sharing. He told her to put her back up against the wall and when she was finished, she had to say she was sorry. She did all of these things and then they went back to playing with whatever they were playing with. Considering Kate is always the ring leader of this little duo, I was quite proud of my little man.
• When putting them down for naps or bedtime, they have to say a long list of good night saying, like “have a good nap/night,” “good night,” “sweet dreams,” “see you tomorrow,” and about 12 other things. If I stop too early, I can hear them crying in their cribs, “I wanna say I looooove yoooooouuuuuu.”
• Kate really has been such a sweetheart lately and we tell her all the time. I think it’s gone to her head because she often tells me, “I’m really cute, you know.”
• I took them to their 3-year well visit last month and they each got 2 shots. Ethan told me that he’s tough because he got two shots and I only get one shot (my weekly progesterone shots).

While I am absolutely thrilled to bring another child into this family, I’m a little/lot sad that this period of our lives will be over. The twins will be just 2 of our 3 children instead of our whole lives. It’s mostly just a strange thought. My C-Section is set for this Friday. Two days. Our lives are going to change. Again. And I can’t wait. Wish us luck.

Freezer meals?

I’m going to try my hand at freezing some meals before the baby comes. I know this sounds dumb but our family is the WORST at eating leftovers, so the thought of freezing a meal just never appealed to our senses. But maybe if I do it right (and we’re desperate and sick of Chik fil A, we might pull something out of the freezer). I need to know it all. What can you freeze? What can’t you freeze? What are good recipes that work well? I know veggies don’t freeze well, so the less fresh stuff the better, right? The first 2 things that came to mind as something that might freeze well are: 1. Meatloaf (I know that sounds gross, but I promise my grandma’s recipe would knock your socks off). It has egg in it. Can you freeze raw egg? 2. Enchiladas. It calls for heavy whipping cream (my kind of enchiladas). Can you freeze that? And do you just throw the whole casserole dish in the freezer? Or should I buy some of those bake and toss foil casseroles? Actually, I think I’ll do that anyway. Less dishes. Okay, what else?

Third-generation Duke fans

For those who have been living under a rock the past 30 or so years, let me let you in on a little secret: Greg (and his family) is OBSESSED with Duke basketball. The guy reads probably 5 Duke-related stories online about the team each day... in the off-season! During the season, I get a daily report of how practice went, who’s shooting well, who’s hurt, who got a bad grade on a test, what one reporter has speculated about when Kyrie Irving will be returning, etc. I know who all the good freshman in HIGH SCHOOL are because Greg has told me all about them and how they’re considering Duke. I think Greg really thinks that he is part of Duke’s recruiting department. Anyway, he’s no fair-weather fan (although, with Duke it’s hard not to be, they only have fair weather in Duke basketball), this cute little Durham, NC establishment is where Greg spent his first through tenth years.

And this mailbox is the reason for the scar on the top of his head:

Greg was able to return to Durham this week to go to Duke’s last home game against Clemson. His friend is currently getting an MBA there and had a ticket to the game, so Greg flew out for a quick trip. For the 8pm game, they got there around 4pm.

Krzyzewski-ville:

Greg and Brian

Shoot-around (can you tell how giddy he is?)

This is how close Greg was to the court. That’s his shoe at the bottom, and Duke’s bench at the top.

Warm-ups

THE man:

Plumlee actually making a free-throw for once:

After the game:

And the best part of the trip? What he brought home from the bookstore that CANNOT be bought online...

Where’s the blue devil? Oh, right there.