7 Quick Takes: Volume 12: Eight Weeks

Hey everyone! Happy Friday! Hope you all had a great week. As always, thanks to Jen for hosting! By now, I figure you know what this is all about, so let's get to it, shall we?

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Ok, I have to start with the weather. It has been HOT this week! I know we don't really have anything to complain about, since the rest of the country has been baking since April, but the difference is that we aren't prepared for it here. A/C doesn't come standard in homes, and our bodies just aren't used to the heat. I own a pretty limited summer wardrobe, unless you count running clothes, so that's mostly what I have been wearing :) Mostly, I worry about the girls getting too hot. Our apartment is on the top floor, facing southwest. Nice and toasty in the winter (we moved in January 10th) but a little (ok, a lot) stuffy in the summer! It's been close to 100 for the majority of the last week, and before that we'd had only one or two days above 90 since May. We have a portable A/C unit in our living room, and we spend most of our time in front of it during the day, nursing, cuddling, and napping. Our friends gave us some fans this week, which really improved the A/C's performance, so at least one part of our apartment has been cool! It's supposed to cool down on Sunday, and we are all looking forward to that.

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Emily and Erin are almost 2 months old now (as of Sunday) and they are really starting to develop personalities! Erin is my early bird. She wakes up around 5 every morning, so that's when we get up. She eats a little, and then naps while I clean up, make coffee, and get some writing done. Emily wakes up later, between 6:30 and 7, and she is not a morning person. In fact, she's a very cranky baby in the morning. I go to pick her up and change her diaper, and I cuddle her and say good morning. She screws up her face and howls. I mean, I'm sure I'm a sight at the hour of the morning, but really? that's how you greet your mama? We'll have to work on that. Erin, on the other hand, usually is pretty calm once I pick her up. She gets really warm when she sleeps, so most days she is awake because she's too hot rather than being hungry. They are doing pretty well sleeping, mostly because we aren't putting them to bed as early as we used to. We feed them around 10 pm and then they go to bed for the night. They nap before then, but when we had them in their cribs instead of in the living room with us, they always ended up out with us anyway. I know we need a better routine, but for now, especially with no A/C in their room, this is the best we can do. There's so much more to tell about them, but they'll have their own post soon!

Emily, grinning for the camera (she is afraid of the flash)

Erin, enjoying her bath (no flash needed!)

 

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I started off the "Sally Saves!" series this week, and Stacy from Catholic and Crunchy! did a fantastic guest post on living off 50 percent of your income to prepare for being at home with kids. I wish I'd read her advice a couple of years ago - it would have come in handy this past year! If you missed it, be sure to check out the first post in the series here.

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Two lovely blogger friends of mine, Kendra and Emily, just launched a fabulous new blog! They're writing about beauty, faith, and tying it all together over at Fine Linen and Purple. Check it out!

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Speaking of beauty and faith, another blogger friend directed me to Hallie's post, "Get thee a daily uniform, woman!" over at Moxie Wife. It was exactly what I needed to read. As I shared last week, I just finished cleaning our closet to prepare for our move at the end of the month. The interesting thing about cleaning out your closet 7 weeks after having twins is . . . you aren't very well acquainted with its contents. Since I own more fall/winter/spring wear than summer clothes, I'm even less inclined to keep my clothes, since I can't imagine it ever being cool enough to wear a sweater again. Enter Hallie's words of wisdom. By a "daily uniform," she doesn't mean you have to wear the same thing every day. She is just pointing out that there are certain outfits we feel great in, and the "uniform" is just a way of making sure that you are wearing some version of that outfit every day. It doesn't mean you can't ever be creative or try new things, but on those days where you just wish you didn't ever have to get dressed, you know you have something to wear. Best of all, she says, is that you know you'll feel great when you put it on. She shares her own uniform - eeriely similar to what mine probably will be - jeans or a black skirt, a fitted tee, a cardigan, and Danskos - and her favorite brands. I was inspired to dig through my dresser and find some things that really don't make me feel good when I wear them, and don't really fit into my new image of mommy. I have a neat stack of Hollister graphic tees to sell this weekend, and perhaps I'll add some other things to the pile. Then I can get a few more pieces to add to my "uniform basics." I'm super excited to try her idea! Have you tried it? Leave me a comment and let me know what you think!

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We got our bill from the hospital this week. I'd had an idea of what to expect, but I hadn't anticipated as many complications as there ended up being, and the final bill was very high. We are so blessed to have such wonderful medical insurance. I really feel very lucky. Our total was much, much higher than I'd anticipated, but the share we owe was significantly lower than I expected. Thanks be to God!

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Finally, I started using our new menu board this week. This was my second Pinterest project, and while I tweaked the design some to fit my budget and the materials I had, I stayed pretty true to the original design. So far, the only disadvantage I see to this system is that I do have to prepare everything on the menu. I love that the first thing Dan does when he walks in the door is go see what's for dinner- he doesn't even have to ask! And he has loved everything I've made so far. I love not having to think about it, other than shopping for needed ingredients. Right now, to ease the strain of moving the kitchen, I'm intentionally picking meals for which we already have the ingredients, so really all we need to buy is milk, coffee, coffee creamer, and bread each week. Hopefully, in two weeks our cupboards and freezer will be a bit more manageable to pack. I may or may not have overdone it with the freezer dinners I made while nesting . . .

Our menu board, nothing picked out for the week yet

This week's meals

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