Twin Love Edition:

To see the cutest pictures of Shenzie Bear (and a scowling Heaten) you can go here.

Tomorrow I will be flying high in the air on my way to Hood River, Oregon! Packed next to my snowboard gear I have my swim suit. What is better than swimming indoors in a heated pool while it is snowing outside. Ahhhh. Hopefully I’ll come home in one piece. It’s been a few years since I was on a snowboard and I anticipate many bruises. Stay tuned for many, many photos of beautiful Hood River!!!

On a totally unrelated side note. Last night I ate a piece of corn! On the cob! You’re probably sitting there thinking, and? So what? What’s the big deal, etc. And then I say I haven’t eaten corn ON the cob since I was a little girl (like 11 years old) so it IS a big deal (to me anyway). When I had braces I couldn’t eat corn and from that point on I always just cut it off of the cob. I am a very picky eater. If something doesn’t look good I won’t taste it. If I don’t like the way it smells I won’t eat it. I haven’t had steak in I don’t know how long because I don’t like the texture of how it looks. Some would say I’m missing out on a lot of great foods and I probably am. The thing is, if I don’t know how it tastes to begin with how would I miss it? I will now go on record and say I was totally missing out on eating corn off of the cob. There is something very satisfying about biting it and having it pop into your mouth with your teeth busting the kernels. Yum!! Now I’m off to floss my teeth which is why I didn’t eat it off the cob to begin with. =)

*Added this morning after reading this disturbing article regarding High Fructose Corn Syrup.

I admit I am a little crazy when it comes to the babies eating HFCS, Red Dye #40, Yellow Dye #5, and other crap. It’s good to know I’m not crazy.

*Warning - This post contains graphic gross material, not suitable for those who don’t like to read about poop*

Long gone are the days I could leave the babies in a room alone. These days if I don’t hear fighting or some sort of noise I know to investigate in a hurry because chances are they are into something they shouldn’t be. Our entire house is baby proofed so it isn’t a danger that they are in the playroom if I run downstairs a quick minute to grab laundry or what not. Apparently I need to re-do my baby proofing to now include climbing on things to get to other things….like say, vaseline. Do you have any idea how gross vaseline is when smeared all over toys, carpet, hands, face, and hair. Pretty gross. So messy and icky I didn’t even think to grab the camera to snap a few shots of vaseline babies. Upon cleaning up the vaseline fiasco the babies both needed a bath to get the inch thick grease from their hair.

One pair of undies and a diaper is just not enough!

Normally bath times are either fun or not fun. They either play together nicely and splash around having fun or they scream, yell, cry, and fight the entire time. This was one of the fun baths where they were playing together nicely while I sat in the corner reading my book. Heaten, our little perfectionist likes things just so, and if they are out of place or if something is not the same as usual he says “ut oh, ut oh, ut oh” until you fix it. Mid bath he starts with the “ut oh ut oh” so I glance up and see nothing wrong and go back to reading. He starts to “ut oh” louder so I get up to investigate only to find MANY MANY tiny pieces of poop floating and roaming around the tub while he is trying frantically to get away from it. Apparently Shenzie couldn’t hold it and decided the tub was an appropriate place to do her business. Did I mention I had already drained the tub at the beginning of the bath because Heaten peed in it? Once again I drain the tub while the babies stand next to me watching with fascination the cleaning of the ickies. They are dripping water all over the floor and at this point my socks are soaked and my pants are getting there fast.

GET THESE OFF OF ME NOW! WAHHHHH!!

Whew, this is a long story. I need a break to rest my hands.

Ok, I’m back. So where was I? Two draining of tubs, poop floating in water, and me grossed out beyond belief. So after cleaning out the tub I look over to see Heaten peeing on the floor, the rug to be exact. I just start to laugh, because really, are you serious?!?! I set him on the potty and explain that we use the big potty to pee, not the floor. As he sits on the potty I get ready to put Shenzie back in the tub only to see her peeing all over the other rug. OMG, you have got to be kidding me right? I am near hysterics at this time because this is just too funny. I then explain to her the same thing and FINALLY get them back in the tub to wash the vaseline out of their hair.

Elmo Booty

Can you guess what happens next? Heaten once again pees in the tub. I almost fall over from laughing so hard as the water and pee swirls down the drain - AGAIN. What do you think, are they ready to start potty training? Haha.

Lately I have been a mean monster mother. We’ll call it MMM for short. The yelling, frustrated, pulling my hair out, crying, angry mother that I really, REALLY don’t want to be. I LOVE staying at home with the babies and I wouldn’t trade this for anything in the world. BUT, I need a little more balance and I need a little more “me” time. Being a Mom takes up 24 hours a day 7 days a week of me. It is hard to find balance and time to be a good Mom, wife, and still have time for myself. I am sure every single Mom, stay at home or working has trouble finding a good balance. I am hopeful that I am finally on my way there. At two years three and a half months I am finally going to get a break and be able to have a little “memememe” time. Whooopee!! Yippee!! Skippee!! And here you’re probably thinking….Ummmm, aren’t you the same girl who gets FOUR DAYS of me time this weekend?!?!? And to that I answer yes indeed I am going on vacation for four, wonderful, glorious days this weekend. While my vacation is going to be wonderful, fun, relaxing, and a much needed break reality will hit the minute I get back and once again I will fall by the wayside to the demands of the crazies.

What?!?! You’re leaving us????

After much anxiety we have finally hired a mother’s helper/babysitter. Jeff and I were very hesitant to hire just anyone and we both felt uncomfortable leaving the babies with a stranger. We were also hesitant over leaving the babies with a teenager. Enter “A”. She is a very close friend of our family and I am SO excited to have her help. To start she will be here one to two mornings a week for a couple of hours. Oh my, what ever will I do with free time?!?! The options are endless. Stroll around a bookstore without speed reading titles all the while trying to keep the babies from pulling books from the shelves. Head to the coffee store or library with my laptop and work or catch up on all of your blogs. Finally go to the doctor (the one I haven’t been to since the babies were born). Grab my camera and Macro lens and go explore the little world. My oh my. I’m getting giddy just thinking about it.

Wahhhhhh, don’t leave us!!

And to make the situation even better she will babysit for Jeff and I to have monthly date night. WHOOOHOOO! Date nights are far and few between around here so this will be a much welcome treat.

I do feel anxiety over leaving the babies and how they will react, but like everything else they will probably surprise me with how well they do and once again I will have worried over nothing.

Sometimes it is hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. When we are having a good phase *I try* to just sit back and enjoy it for what it is, because it is bound to end at some point. When we are in a bad phase I sit back and cry (not really, more like scream) and hope that it ends soon. When the bad phases pass I sit back and think that really, they weren’t so bad. When I’m in the middle of them it is hard to see the light at the end. I’m sure it has something to do with me being a first time Mom and not knowing what to expect. Add to that the fact that there are two little devils running around which really keeps things in permanent crazy mode.

The dynamic is MUCH different with two toddlers. When one runs off you can’t just chase after them and grab them because chances are the other is running off in the opposite direction. When they have meltdowns you can’t soothe them both at the same time (well, I can’t anyway) because they want ALL of your attention and they DO NOT want to share me, my lap, or my hugs. They feed off one another so when one is misbehaving the other is not far behind.

The other day while shopping at Tar*get I saw the light! It was shining brightly upon me. Hand holding is nothing new around here. Anytime the babies are not contained they are holding my hands. Don’t ask me how I got so lucky, but they never run away *knock on wood*, they always listen and hold my hand tightly. Sometimes I will tell them it is ok to let go and explore and they still hold my hand. So we were at Tar*get with Daddy and the babies wanted out of the cart. We let them out and low and behold even in the toy aisle they held our hands and listened to us. We walked around the entire store without one incident of pulling toys or goods from the shelves, no running off, no fuss no muss.

The light has continued so shine upon me. Each day I notice little things that used to be SO hard getting easier. Loading and unloading two babies into and out of the car each and every day. Oh my, I remember the days of carrying one baby to the car, strapping them in and running back into the house to grab the other baby and do the same. Now they follow me out to the car and back into the house. Really, such a small thing, but big at the same time.

They understand cause and effect. They understand if they do something bad they get time out. They understand if they listen to Mommy they get praise and sometimes even treats. They understand that they can’t run off the side of the couch, slide, or other play structure. Oh my, I remember the days of carrying both babies into the park, holding my breath hoping they wouldn’t run in opposite directions, up different play structures, or out of the park completely. These days they walk next to me holding my hands and understand the danger of open spaces on the play structures. So little, yet so big.

Long gone are the days of toting bottles, food, diaper bag, stroller, and everything else babies need. These days we can head to the mall with our sippies and wallet and grab a very unhealthy lunch at good old Micky D’s.

Picture taken with phone, ignore the bad quality.

This light and me, we are now BFF’s 4 Ever. More please!!

Pandemonium Video Edition:

*Warning, turn down your speakers and I’m sorry for your eardrums. =)

Crazy Babies from lesley barr on Vimeo.

Daddy was out playing with the boys one night last week so he missed bedtime. We made him this video right before I put them to bed. This is a nightly occurrence at the Barr house. Babies running around screaming like lunatics two minutes before lights out. Don’t ask me how they go from that crazy to bed in a matter of minutes, but somehow they manage.

*Just ignore the cluttered playroom.

I seriously don’t know how I got so lucky, but I am afraid that my luck has run out. I don’t have climbers. Let me rephrase that. I didn’t have climbers. Until now. The babies never climbed on the coffee table, after a few tries they never climbed on their snack table, never climbed on my bed, and I don’t even think they know that climbing out of their cribs is an option. Either they didn’t know they could climb on things or they just never were into it.

In the past week they now climb on my bed, on the coffee table, on the snack table, and recently they learned they can drag their stools around to climb onto things or reach things they aren’t supposed to have. Heaven help me, my babies are turning into climbers. PLEASE oh PLEASE do not let them learn that they can climb out of their cribs. PLEASE!!!!

This past week sucked monkey balls! I don’t know what happened, all I know is somebody dosed my kids up with extra crazy. I know I just posted about how crazy they were and how the fighting is non stop, but really, THEY ARE CRAZY AND THE FIGHTING IS NON STOP. I know this is just another crazy phase, but phew….it is a doozy. Some days I seriously wonder how other Moms do this day in day out. I feel like everyday is just as nuts as the one before. I think we had one really good day last week and the rest I felt like I had been pushed down, kicked repeatedly, spit on, and then run over by a Mac truck. Let me tell you, Mac trucks don’t feel good at all!!!! Jeff thinks I am joking when I tell him I need to be on crazy medication. Joking, but only kinda.

Hysterical things the babies did today (Friday):

Broke all of their crayons in half
Dumped an entire cup of juice all over the floor
Scratched, hit, pushed, and yelled at each other
Threw food all of the floor
Refused to eat the food before it ended up on the floor
Cried/whined/screamed pretty much all day
Trashed the play room after I had just finished cleaning it
Did I mention cried/whined/screamed/hit/scratched/yelled ALL WEEK LONG??

My sister’s comment “Welcome to the terrible two’s”. I am in for a world of trouble if this is the new norm.

On a completely different subject since all this talk of crazy is enough to drive me even crazier, how cute are the babies new backpacks.

Cousin Marlee has a backpack so of course Shenzie and Heaten needed one too. They put all sorts of things in there including their drink, snack trap, books, bows, random paper, and I’m sure as they get older the random weird stuff will be even worse. My “babies” with their big kid backpacks.

We cheered.
We danced.
We clapped.
We sang.
We laughed.

We are hopeful. We are inspired. We are overwhelmed with happiness.

History was made and we are so happy to be a part of it.

We welcome President Obama and all he has to offer!!

New Website Edition:

I am giddy with excitement!! I’m bouncing up and down in my chair while clapping my hands like a little kid.

A little back story. Once upon a time I decided I wanted to get serious about photography. My wonderfully talented husband made my website and off I went. A couple of months later I started my photography blog. I was in love. I love my job. I loved my website. I loved my blog. I love it all. And then the love got tainted. My website wasn’t getting updated with new images, my blog has some ongoing issues that annoy me and I was ready for a change. Fast forward a couple of months and TA DA!!!! The change is finally here.

I present the new and improved Lesley Barr Photography!!!!

There are still minor cosmetic changes to be made, but all in all I am very happy with what Jeff and I came up with. Next up for redesign is my blog, but that is another story for another day.

So please, go visit the new site and let me know what you think. Las Vegas locals…if you click on the link to the blog you will notice a similar post to this one. What this post doesn’t have is the FREE GIVEAWAY! All you have to do to win a free photo session including 10 Full Resolution Images on a disk is leave me a comment over there. So go, hurry, leave me a comment so you can win win win!!

And now for the mushy part. I want to thank my husband Jeff for all his support, hard work, and love. My journey into photo land would never have happened without you. I love you.