Laundry Watch 2010 | Current Status: Red Alert

We're officially upgrading our status from Yellow to Red since our landlords are painting and such in the suite downstairs so that means we are officially without functioning laundry facilities until tomorrow morning when the lonely Maytag Man (AKA Ol' Lonely) is supposed to be making an appearance. I did manage to get a load of diapers washed last night in our coffee-grinder wash machine and am desperately trying to line dry this afternoon despite the thundershower warning. I'm really missing those rockin' machines downstairs in the meantime. I had forgotten what a full size set is capable of and honestly am considering some kind of medal for myself for persevering with cloth diapering twins using our little 24" machines for as long as I have.

Or a trip to the asylum.

Let's just say I'm glad I didn't know any better when I started out on this venture and I'm going to do my best to forget what I've learned in the past couple of days.

On the upside, it looks like we'll have new neighbors soon. I wonder if they have any idea that they're moving in beneath a family with twins or if they'll just be finding out the hard way – like at 7 AM on a Saturday morning, perhaps.

- L.

Laundry Watch 2010 | Current Status: Yellow Alert

So we've run into a bit of a rough patch with our machines (yes, both of them) in the past week. At first the washer started making a terrible noise during each cycle. It sounds a lot like our coffee grinder, so you know that can't be good. We ran a service check on the machine and as far as we could tell it seems to be the drain pump making the noise although it's still draining and otherwise working OK. We hadn't yet alerted our landlords to the problem when yesterday the dryer acted up in a major way too – and it's 100% not usable at this point until it's been serviced since the barrel smelled like smoke when I opened it and so did all it's contents.

And since the contents just happened to be the new cloth diapers I'm prepping for Nate and Seth I was extra unhappy because if you know me at all then you know I love my cloth. Actually, I love doing laundry in general (just ask M.) so the very thought of having the dryer not working for even a small period of time gave me anxiety in a bad way – and I'm not entirely kidding (I get this from my mother).

We got in touch with our landlords and they actually replied the same day which must be some kind of record, but we are still waiting to find out when the machines can be fixed. I guess Maytag was having some kind of a problem with their customer service line yesterday which didn't help any.

On the upside (and this is the only reason we are not at Red Alert today), our neighbors downstairs moved out last week so their apartment is vacant – and so are the washer and dryer that come with the place AND we just happen to have a key. I mean, if this had to happen it at least happened at a most fortuitous time since I know I can't wash diapers at our local laundromats – which honestly was what I was the most worried about. I remember how glad I was when the boys finally fit into their cloth diapers and we were able to put the disposables away for good. I don't want to have to go back to buying them. I am fierce about my cloth!

I asked our landlords if it would be OK if we used the machines downstairs in the meantime and since they didn't address my query one way or the other when they wrote back, I'm taking it as a YES.

Those machines downstairs ROCK by the way. I had forgotten how fast a dryer is supposed to work when you're using one that's full size, and I know there's a lot of hype regarding front-loaders (which we have), but I'd trade mine any day for a good old top loader like the one our neighbors have. If I was buying my own machines that's exactly what I would want. Oh, I could go on and on, but at the risk of sounding like a complete lunatic when it comes to laundry, I'll stop.

Hopefully by the time new tenants move in, our machines will be fixed and life will return to normal. In the meantime, all is fair in love and laundry – and although we miss our neighbors ya'll couldn't have picked a better time to leave. : )

I took some pics of Nate and Seth yesterday covered in an avalanche of clean dipes. This was the last load our dryer managed to do before it broke, so our bums are covered for today at least. The babies were having a great time playing in their crib while I was in the middle of things, and since that's usually where I stack the diapers before I put them away I thought, why not? – and dumped all that fresh fluffy goodness on the lot of them. They loved it!







- L.

The Oddest Prime: Now With Video

Well, I'm trying out video for the first time at The Oddest Prime since Nate and Seth were both in a chatty mood tonight. Please ignore the food stains and general dishevelment and enjoy.





- L.

Guess Who?

– *giggle*
– *giggle*
– I wonder if they'll be able to guess who is who Nate.
– Oh, I don't know... maybe they'll spot a little clue!



– Did you all guess right?
– 'Course they did Seth. My chubby wrist gave it away, silly.
– I'm sure that was it. *sigh*

– Hey Nate – I have a question for you.
– OK, shoot!



– If I'm the little brother, how come I'm so much better at sitting up than you?
– Oh, I dunno. Maybe I can answer your question with a question...



– Who's sittin' up now, Seth?
– Oh, dat good question. Touché Nate. Touché.

And just for fun, more random cuteness from today:





I couldn't resist these little coordinating onesies after they were marked down to $3.99. I'm a little surprised though how well they're fitting into the 6-9 month sizes already, even though I shouldn't be because baby clothing sizes often don't jive with the actual age of the baby. It's not like this is the first time this has happened. But still...

If my little peanuts are fitting into clothing this far ahead of schedule, what are the babies in the 50th and upward percentiles wearing?

- L.

Rewind: Our Great Auntie E.

– Dis nice lady Seth. She bought us these cute onesies.
– Yup. She spoiled us silly. Very nice lady.



– So why are we crying our heads off again?
– Oh, dis so she won't be too sad to leave us.

Auntie E. was supposed to join us for a few days when my mom arrived, but had to postpone her trip at the last minute since she woke up sick with the plague the morning they had planned to leave Vancouver. Still, everything worked out nicely (other than said plague) since she was able to fly out towards the end of my mom's stay and meet her grand-nephews after all.

We all had a nice visit and Auntie E. brought Nate and Seth lots of presents (like the onesies they're wearing in these pics!) and these little piggy banks with their names engraved:



– and filled with their very first $1 of course! Very sweet.

Thanks so much for everything Auntie E!

- L.

Rewind: The Baseball Edition*

– Oh, I just love baseball Seth.
– Me too. Gamma sure scored a home run with these outfits. Mine says "Slugger".
– Mine too. See?



– Dat's pretty cool Nate.
– Yup. Pretty cool.



– Guess what I'm doing now Nate?
– Hmmm... practicing your slide?



– Yup. 3... 2... 1..
– Look out home plate. Here we come!



– It's a touchdown!
– *sigh* I think dat's football Seth.
– Doesn't matter. It was fun. I feel like we're forgetting something though.
– Only the best part!
– Oh, right. Maybe dis nice Gamma will help us demonstrate...



– It's our BASEBALL BUMS!!!
– I don't even know what that means Nate. Mommy and Gamma says we's adorable though. Is we?
– Oh, we is Seth. We is.

*Mommy Note: I'm still trying to get caught up on posting from our visit with Grandma Rita so there will be a few "Rewind" entries sprinkled in among the newer posts for the next little while.

- L.

The Terrible Tooths

– Dis is no fun, no fun AT ALL! Pardon me while I scream my head off in your general direction.
– I was just gonna complain about my dirty shirt, but I guess life could be worse. Hang in there brother.

Well, we all knew this was coming. It looks like the arrival of the babies' first teeth are imminent after all (and maybe explains some of Nate's sad faces around here lately).

I actually thought we were back to smiling again when I got the camera out, but I guess the Infant Tylenol hadn't quite done it's job yet. Poor little guy. We are all feeling so sorry for him and Seth is doing a very good job of looking concerned too.

I haven't seen actual teeth breaking through the gums yet, but for the past 4 days Nate has needed a dose or two of Tylenol to get him through the late morning and afternoon which seem worse for him for some reason. Thankfully nighttime seems to be OK for now. So far all is quiet for Seth, but I expect that will change soon. Last week they were both chewing furiously on whatever they could get their hands on – which was often their own hands as it turned out. Other popular favorites included my hands and the terry cloths we use for taking care of spit-ups (bonus points for used ones because they have a flavor, of course).

In the meantime I'm keeping an eye out for the first glimpse of white in otherwise red, swollen gums – and hoping the painful part passes quickly.

- L.