You can see the height differential here.

Do you watch "Hoarding: Buried Alive"? This is where Lani keeps her stuff...in the twins' playpen.

I found 3 empty juice boxes in the playpen today. Should we be concerned?

I love this picture. I don't have many with the two of them together, smiling.

Video clips:

Life is Unfair

I'm trying to get back to my pre-baby weight. I've been working out hard at least 4 times a week for the last few months, yet my weight has barely budged. I have noticed that my appetite revs up after exercise, which is weird because Chris seems to lose his appetite when he works out.

And now I find out why a la this study...

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/18/magazine/18exercise-t.html?src=me&ref=homepage

"In practical terms, the results are scientific proof that life is unfair. Female bodies, inspired almost certainly “by a biological need to maintain energy stores for reproduction,” Braun says, fight hard to hold on to every ounce of fat. Exercise for many women (and for some men) increases the desire to eat."

OK, this sucks. Ladies, we have been screwed here. I don't know if I should simply stop exercising and cut my calories drastically until I lose the weight I want to lose. I enjoy exercising most of the time and know it's still a healthy thing. But is it keeping me from losing weight?

Hallucinatory rant, Easter Catch-Up and So Forth

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am tired. I think I am too old to have 3 babies and an elderly dog. I certainly am too old and tired to update this blog. What was the universe thinking? And then what's next, perimenopause? I'm reading this disturbing article about it and I realize thinking back to Grammy Jean's experience, unless I luck out, the 5 of us Murphys are in for it. Fingers crossed.

Ok, let's move on. Lani seems to moving out of the really awful period of being a 3 year old, going on 13, smarty mouth and emotional wreck. A combination of gentle coaxing, star charts, extra alone time with mom, timeouts and (mom's) angry outbursts seems to have worked magic. She is such an adorable charmer now, so good with her sisters and a good conversationalist. Ah sweet reward, please let this phase last at least 6 months. Chris and I deserve it.

Cari is my sweet angel right now. Loving, funny, a character, utterly observant, obsessed with shoes and all things girly. She understands and is patient about the household routines. Like Lani, she is a fabulous listener, esp at the tender age of 17 months. If I had 3 Cari's, I'd probably try for 3 more. Well, not really, but she is a ridiculously easy child (for now).

Arden is my toughest child at the moment. She almost never listens and is easily upset. Arden doesn't seem to understand (or at least doesn't particularly like) our household routines and complains about them a lot. Clingy and fussing/crying about 50% of the time. I think she is teething. She is making me think about wearing ear plugs around the house to drown out the sound. Please, please let this phase end SOON!

Yeah, yeah, this too shall pass ;-)

Love,

Jen

* * *

Easter was very nice. The weather was warm, sunny, and cooperative. We stayed with Gramma Rose in NJ and spent a lot of time in her huge yard. Got to see some family, including Eugene and Judy and that whole side. They had a lovely party on Sunday which we had to leave partway thru to get home.

The girls hunting for eggs in Gramma's backyard. They had no idea what was going on. They each ended up with one egg, thanks to some grown-up intervention. Lani, on the other hand, proved that she is ready to go head to head with the big kids!

It was a shorter than normal visit thanks to Chris' work schedule. We had to squeeze the egg coloring in after Alana's bath. I think it was probably close to 9pm in these pics. As you can see, she really got into it.

Yes, this is my arm. Let it not be said that I never let myself be photographed.

Gramma Rose wanted a "nice picture" of her three granddaughters in their Easter dresses (which are all Lani's old dresses). Umm, yeah, well. You can see how they willingly sat for the pic. At least I didn't have to pay a professional for this. (They don't do much better than me!)

Yikes! Backing away...slowly ;-)

Shoe fetishes come in all different sizes...