I do appreciate all the compliments on the photos of the kids. I really love taking pictures in general, and of them especially. But it takes time, patience, and tools (a post which is forthcoming, I swear!), and even still, I may not get the exact shot I want(ed).

So here, I take you through a not-atypical series of events when shooting a “staged” picture of the kiddos.

First of all, I get everything set up: maybe a light if the lighting is poor in the house, a baby for focusing/distance testing with the camera/tripod…

Then we set up babies for more distance/zoom testing…

And try to get them to look at the camera. Ish…

Before they fall over…

Or start crying…

Then I adjust the lighting in the room, color balance and aperture setting on the camera…

Just before someone falls over again…

So now it’s time to readjust babies…

Or try a different position altogether, let’s see if this one works…

Until someone starts holding someone’s head down…

Or someone falls over again…

And then I think I get a decent picture, until I notice the snot running out of Carpet’s nose…

Or I take one I really like, until I had moved the camera and inadvertently cut off some craniums…

And after I don’t even know how many pictures get taken, and with now fussy babies (this shoot was after school and dangerously close to bed time), we just color adjust an awkwardly positioned, but relatively unblurry and smiling picture of the RJBs in their Baptism outfits, three days post-Baptism, and antique it a bit.

Or use another one that wasn’t too bad, and make it black and white…

But in the end, even without the Perfect Picture, we have a whole series of photos to offer us up some giggles during those after-we-put-the-babies-to-sleep-hours, but still-can’t-get-enough-of-’em-so-we-look-at-pictures-on-iPhoto. We like them a little bit.

We’re all something less than 75% right now. I wrote about it a bit here. Until we can get the house cleaned, stop with the runs, stop puking, start eating, do laundry, and other such things, I leave you with a super cute photo of the two bittiest cutest LSU tiger cubs. Ever. They got to wear these “6 month” size clothing exactly one time. We might squeeze them into them again, though, for the LSU versus Florida game on Saturday night. If we EVER GET CABLE BACK IN THE HOUSE (and phone, and internet), post-Ike.

Last night, after we put the kids to bed, I went to Memorial Park for a walk/run.

And maybe it’s because I hadn’t exercised in almost a year. Or because I am getting used to a new normal of tired. Or because I was sleepy. Or because I hadn’t eaten dinner. Maybe because I had stopped taking my Lexapro inadvertently when we evacuated. Or that I had fabulous music playing on my iPod. Or because it felt liberating to move my body. Maybe it was the evening breeze. Or the damn mosquitos. Or because I prayed.

Or that I was finally alone for the first time since I can remember, sweet solitude, the well from which my energy is restored. Or because I was at peace knowing the babies were in The Beloved’s hands - the ones I trust most next to mine own. Maybe it was seeing how out of shape I am. Or to witness a whole microworld of activity during a time I’m typically tucked away at home. Or because my favorite tree in the park was toppled and destroyed by Hurricane Ike. Maybe it was because it gave me the chance to count my many blessing - and be inundated by them all. Or because time seems to be passing more quickly than I can embrace each moment.

Or maybe it was a little bit of all those things.

But as I ran, I cried.

Several weeks ago, we took a day trip to see the newest additions of the family. As with any item that has buttons, lights, and generally should not be touched by toddlers, my camera immediately sparked the curiosity of my now 19 month old niece, E!.

So what did I do? I showed her which button to push to take pictures. Here’s a sampling of her work.

A turtle.

Tickle Me Elmo.

Turtle and Elmo. We’re still working on “framing”.

A photo of Grandma G hand sewing birth stats onto the RJBs’ quilts.

Although we’ve had electricity at our home since last Wednesday, we still don’t have cable, phone, or internet access at home. Which is fine, really, because Comcast’s rates are so absurd as it is that it’ll be a nice break from a full-month’s bill from them. Speaking of which, do you know if you call to change your service in any way, they CHARGE you for the phone call? Don’t even get me started.

Work is really busy. One of the hats I wear is as risk manager, and needless to say, with properties affected by both Gustav and Ike, I’m swamped. Oh, and did I mention I am also on the Garage Sale Committee for our area’s Mother’s Of Multiples sale October 17? I decided one of my contributions would be to create an online volunteer scheduling system using subscription based software in order to reduce the amount of time swallowed up by any one individual having to do this manually via phone calls and excel spreadsheets. And to prevent any accusations of favoritism for the more popular shifts. I had no idea parenthood was a lot like junior high.

So this is the best my September posting is going to get, until I can find some time.

We arrived to San Antonio late in the evening on September 11, ahead of Hurricane Ike’s anticipated path through urban Houston, where we reside. We took enough clothing for three days, not expecting we’d end up there for a total of ten.

The next day, we went to the hospital where my mom works. We told her we’d take the kids so her co-workers could see in person two of the five little creatures she speaks of incessantly between bringing people back to life and taking out their intubation tubes. After a brief visit, you know, because they’re kinda busy making sure people stay alive post-surgery, we left and went to my dad’s house.

This was the first time my dad had seen the babies since the week after their birth. And Tato especially was mesmerized. I don’t know if it was the tone of his voice, the resemblence of his bald head to his own, or the captivating ponytail that had him hooked.

Later that evening, we went to Alamo Cafe on IH-10 and pretty much took up the whole center of one side of the restaurant. I commend the staff for not flinching when we asked for a table for twelve: 4 infants, 1 toddler, and 7 adults.

Much of that night, we watched the drama unfolding on the Weather Channel regarding the projected path and coundown to landfall of Hurricane Ike. But some time around 11:00, I decided enough was enough, said my prayers for those affected, and went to bed.

The next morning, I started mapping out plans to return to Houston to assess any damage. But mostly to clean out the refrigerators and freezers. I knew we probably didn’t have power, which was confirmed via text message from our neighbors who rode out the storm at home. Neither Jennifer nor my mother wanted me to return, but I just remembered the refrigerator stories from friends who went through Hurricane Katrina, and I just didn’t want to have to deal with rotting food and otherwise perfectly good refrigerators that had to be thrown out. Granted, we had friends who had keys to our home, but they had enough going on with water and wind damage to their OWN home. Plus, you always want to check things out for yourself. As a compromise to my mother’s paranoid concerns regarding safety, my dad went with me. I didn’t take any pictures, but I did take some video which you can see here and here. But fair warning, you should take a dose of dramamine before watching these, or a shot of tequilla, or whatever it is you do for motion sickness.

My sister-in-law, who is still on maternity leave, mentioned that she was going to Stroller Strides the morning of September 15. And since we were all ready to get out of the house, we decided to crash the stroller striding party, or as Jennifer calls it, the Diaper Derby. Not only did we attend this in a different city, but we came with twins, and we were two-mommies at that. Everyone was welcoming (and in already great shape). The class totally kicked my ass. Enough to think about the fact that I still need to lose weight and exercise. But not apparently enough to take further action.

As working mom’s, and because Jennifer works on Saturday’s, there is little occasion to start something new and do it together. So we took advantage of being stay-at-home parents and tried rice cereal with the kids a couple weeks before we originally anticipated. Which is fine, really, because it’s not like we were giving them the keys to the car or anything. They both took the Eat-First-Ask-Questions-Later approach and seemed to like it enough. Towards the end, Tato really just wanted the damn bottle. His words, not mine.

Jennifer had set the cup down on Carpet’s tray table and she immediately picked it up. I’d insert something snippy here about her raging independence, but that would be self-incriminating.

On Saturday, September 20 (yes, we were STILL THERE!), we took a drive out to the Shops at La Cantera, a wonderful outdoor shopping center not too far from my mom or sister’s homes. And I qualify “not too far” with the fact that we live in Houston, and if you can get to your destination within 30 minutes of your house, it’s considered “close by”. Whereas for locals, our “close by” would be considered the other side of town.

Later, we went to Rudy’s BBQ, a delicious picnic table joint just north of town. This was the RJBs’ first trip to Rudy’s but since I didn’t have my camera with me, I took it with my poor-quality-camera-function on my Blackberry. Still, how cute are they with that BBQ sauce!?

The next day, Carpet was especially chipper at the inception of meltdown time, that section of time between 6pm and bathtime that can send their heads spinning. So I just snapped a shot of her on the bebe chair just before bath time.

And here’s a photo of Tato, with eyes that draw you in. Or at least they do me.

We returned to Houston early morning of Monday, September 22. We dropped the kids off at the montessori school around 8:30, then Jennifer dropped me off at work around 9:00. My dad had driven in the day prior to set up the generator my boss let me borrow now that he had power. He also set up a small window a/c unit that one of the neighborhood kids’ group families had let us borrow, since they, too, had power. Jen went home to finish helping and to get everything ready for baths and bedtime so that when we got home with the kids, it would be a seamless transition for them.

Thankfully, we had only two evenings of sleeping without power in house. The generator kept the nursery cool and the guest room that we stayed in sufficiently cool with a fan. After putting the kids down to bed, we’d go upstairs to wash bottles and eat dinner. It was 90 degrees in the house. And if you moved VERY VERY SLOWLY, it actually wasn’t that bad. It did, however, have a way of making you feel like you were trying to take a breath of air with a mid-sized vehicle sitting on your chest.

Power was restored at our house on Wednesday, September 24th. Being that we’re only home a few hours a day, it took us a couple more days to get almost back to normal. Just in time to go pick up my mom and sister from the airport so they could attend the twins’ Baptism. Jennifer’s mother and grandmother also came in from Louisiana. And we were joined by several other family members, both of origin and chosen. And while at least the Baptism will be a separate post that I hope to write before they are one-year olds, I conclude with this lovely photo of us and my second neck, framed by their godparents, Karin (l) and Alli (r). It was a blessed event and lunch at our home afterwards, more of which I’ll share soon.

“Hi, this is Operator #25 from your security system’s monitoring service. I’m calling to report to you a burglary breach at south bedroom window of your home.”

“Oh, that’s great news!”

[Crickets chirping] “Ummm, your HOME ALARM is going OFF. There is a breach.”

“True. But it also means we have POWER.”

“Okay. We called police dispatch to send a unit to your house, but they would not go because you do not have a current alarm permit for your county.”

“Oh, I’m so glad they didn’t go. That would have been a $50 charge without the permit.”

Thanks to my sister for sending me the link to this video and putting that song in my head five hours ago. And it’s still effin’ there. Do you know how hard it is to discuss all-risk property insurance in a meeting with a straight face with ‘it’s getting, it’s getting, it’s getting kinda hectic’ running through your head?

This is one of the reasons we don’t have power at our house: a fallen tree > 50 ft hammocking itself on the power lines that lead to a block of 10 or so homes, ours included.

And another shot via morning light from the master bedroom window.

I was reading a piece about the BlogHer conference, maybe it was this one, and at some point came across a blog written by a cancer survivor/mom/amputee/community gardner. In scrolling through her blog, I came across her Pieces Of Me mosaic and wondered what my picture would look like.

Credits to the picture takers: 1. DSC09513 - Rachel’s eye, 2. Flickr Loves Sushi. Mmm., 3. Street Performers - Alain Clark, 4. Sunset Wine3　　ice cream float:), 5. Diane Lane, 6. Sunset, 7. Nocturnal hike into the bamboo forest, 8. Bread Pudding, 9. 23.366 I have an eye for photography, 10. I shall not live in vain, 11. making of Japanese sandal - Waraji, 12. The Best News Ever, (in Sensuous Spice)

Here’s the meme:
If you want to play too, type your answer to each of the questions below into a Flickr search. Using only the first page, choose your favorite image, then copy and paste each of the URL’s into the mosaic maker (3 columns, 4 rows) - I regularly use this one. If you decide to play, leave a comment so I can have a peek.

The questions:

1. What is your first name? (Rachel)
2. What is your favorite food? (sushi)
3. What high school did you attend? (Clark)
4. What is your favorite color? (orange)
5. Who is your celebrity crush? (Diane Lane; which was in a three-way tie with this one and this “one” )
6. Favorite drink? (water)
7. Dream vacation? (hike)
8. Favorite dessert? (bread pudding)
9. What do you want to be when you grow up? (photographer)
10. What do you love most in life? (living)
11. One word to describe you. (diligent)
12. Your Flickr name. (RaJenCreation)

We thought we’d have to wait for Christmas before we got all the progeny of my brother, sister, and myself all together. But Ike had other plans.

S! at 11 o’clock (sister’s), Tato at 1 o’clock (ours), X at 4 o’clock (brother’s), E! at 6 o’clock (sister’s), Carpet at 7 o’clock (ours).

One of the mixed blessings of evacuating to San Antonio ahead of Hurricane Ike (AND WE’RE STILL HERE BECAUSE WE STILL DON’T HAVE POWER AND THE CURRENT NEWS FROM THE ENERGY COMPANY SAYS OUR ZIP CODE “has sustained extensive damage, and will therefore have a restoration timeline that extends beyond Monday.”) is getting to spend quality time with the family.

I had ordered some bows and clips for Carpet & S! and I couldn’t be more pleased with how they turned out! I found the maker on Etsy and her store is called ALIBUGBOWTIQUE. Since I am naturally difficult, I asked her for a custom order of several No Slip Itty Bitty Clippies and No Slip Hair Bows on Itty Bitty Clippies. Her prices are totally comparable if not better than a local retail store with that added benefit of getting to chose your own colors/ribbons. She’ll work with you to get you exactly what you need to go with your little ones’ wardrobe. Both Carpet and S! have very little hair and it is amazing how well these stay in all day. I’ve since ordered MORE MORE MORE in various ribbon colors and I can’t wait until they arrive. And hopefully we’ll have power at our house by then.

Though I swore to myself up and down that I wouldn’t put bows in my child’s hair…HOW CUTE ARE THEY, RIGHT?!

S! in a lavender itty bitty clippie.

Carpet in an orange dot and white itty bitty bow.

If you want bows for your kiddo and you decide to get them from Alibugbowtique (which you totally should!), let her know I sent you. I’m not getting anything out of it, but I told her I liked the bows so much I’d put them on my blog and I just want her to know I meant it.