An update. Of sorts ...

First and foremost - here's the yarn I purchased last week. The basket is full to the brink. I started my first blankie last Tuesday, and although I *said* that I would post a picture of a 1/3 completed blankie tonight ... alas ... I am posting a picture of a 9/10 completed blankie. All I have left to do is "cast-off" ... weave in the ends ... and crochet the border. Voila! My first blankie is about 2.5 feet x 2.5 feet and super wicked soft (that's for all you New Englanders).

But really people. Not a single razz. If I can't count on you - who can I count on?? As you can see, the kids have not been a huge help in this effort. The fascination with a skein of yarn can last for hours. No kidding.

To keep up the momentum, I have organized a "Stitch & Bitch" group. I have promised anyone that wants to learn to knit ... how to knit ... provided that they make one blanket for a baby in Africa. So far, I've talked a handful of neighborhood women in to joining me, along with several of my fellow triplet (and quadruplet) Mom's. The current plan is that we will get together every other week, for a few hours to stitch, bitch, eat chocolate and drink margaritas. Doesn't that sound like a good time?! Doesn't everybody wish they lived close so they could join us?!

And now, to answer some of the burning questions that have either appeared as comments on my blog ... or arrived in the form of e-mails from people who are either to shy to post a comment, or can't figure it out. Here you go:

Q1: How in the world did you get three babies to sit still for pictures?

A1: We didn't. They scrambled all over the place. I've started carrying around a huge roll of duct tape that works like a charm to not only keep them still, but to also hold up errant clothing including toddler skirts that are too big, or drawstring pants on a playground (I'm only partly serious. Can you guess which part?) In reality, we got extremely lucky with a good photographer who completely knocked herself out jumping up and down - running around the room - and dangling feather dusters in our babies' faces. The pictures will be ready on 7/5.

Q2: How in the world do you get a baby to sleep in until 9:00 AM?

A2: Take them to the zoo and only let them have a 30-minute nap the day before.

Q3: Are you seriously considering leaving Charlie at home, alone, and going on a business trip for a week?!

A3: Despite my horrific fear of flying - and the sadness I will experience being away from the babies for 5 days - I just recently received a link to the hotel where our meeting will be, in Santa Fe. It's a crappy little 5-star resort/spa and I know it will be absolutely dreadful. Charlie will not be flying solo the whole time. Rather, my mom and her beau (God bless them) will be coming out from South Carolina to lend a hand and I'm sure they will have a grand time in my absence.

As an added tidbit of information, I really and truly intend to have my will (or trust, or whatever we go with) finished BEFORE I depart. For some strange reason, the thought that things are "in place" makes me feel a lot better about leaving. And by the way ... statistics DO NOT HELP my situation, in any way, shape or form. I know the statistics for how *safe* flying is. Just tell that to John Denver, Buddy Holly, Ricky LaBamba, Lynard Skynard, Payne Stewart, John Kennedy Jr. & his lovely wife & sister-in-law ... and a host of other unfortunate souls that met their early demise aboard these "safe vessels of the air."

Q4: How is back-up Bunnie Squeakles coming along?

A4: Not so good. He's been washed with every single load of laundry since arriving in our house, and he has yet to pass the "Elizabeth test." I'm a little apprehensive to let the dogs loose on him, or back our van over him ... because these Bunnie Squeakles are a rarity, a precious commodity in the Baby Boyds world. I'm optimistic ... we'll get there, eventually. He'll probably be "broken-in" just about the time Elizabeth outgrows a lovey.

Q5: How is the nap situation coming along?

A5: Funny you should ask. Depending upon what we have going on, they will take 1 or 2 naps. They will typically go down around 10:30 or 11, following a little snack. They usually sleep until about 1:30'ish. They eat lunch ... and depending what we have going on that day, I might opt to put them down for another nap at around 4:00. They don't always sleep at this time. They'll usually either quietly flip through books in their crib, or try to catapult themself over the side of the crib. Lately, it's been more of the latter.

Q6: How were the brownies?

A6: Not very good, they were overcooked. And probably overmixed. If that's possible. We bought a KitchenAid mixer to make the Babies 1st birthday cake (I'll post about that some other time) and I try to use it whenever I can, to justify the mortgage I paid for this thing. Yesterday, between getting the kids diapers changed, serving them lunch, and cleaning the house - I threw all the ingredients in to the KitchenAid. The ingredients probably mixed for at least 45 minutes before I had time to scoop them out in a pan and stick it in the oven. Speaking of the oven. Have I mentioned that William figured out how to turn it on and off, AND increase the temperature? When you think of it, turning the oven on and off isn't that much harder than turning the computer on and off. My challenge will now be to figure out how to make dinner without burning everything to a crisp ... or ... losing track of how much time something has been in the oven because one of the kids has reset the timer. What's nice is that now I can blame my horrendous cooking on the children.

Q7: Have you attempted going to the gym, by yourself ... again?

A7: Why, yes I have!! OK - I'm cheating ... nobody asked me that question, but I was feeling extremely proud of my accomplishment and had to share. I took the babies to the gym again, by myself, last week. It went a lot better than the first time, considering I worked out for a solid hour and I remembered to close all the doors on the car. However. I stayed on the ellipse machine right by the entrance the entire time, so if anyone tried to snatch a baby, I'd be on them before they got out the front door. I'm no where close to taking a shower there, yet. At least not with the kids in tow. Did I mention Charlie bought me a new razor? He's such a good guy and the wounds on his face are healing up quite nicely.