When I was pregnant, many people warned me that I’d have no time to blog once the twins arrived. “Ha!” I’d think to myself. “I’ll show them! I’ll be that multitasking Supermom who will take care of my babies, freelance regularly, make home-cooked meals every night, keep up with the laundry, AND blog four times a week!”

Um … yeah. It turns out, all those people were right. Here I am, nearly seven months since my last post, and I have finally found a moment to update Double Duty Twins.

In my defense, it has been a crazy seven months. On July 4—two weeks after Matt and Nate were born—Keith deployed to Afghanistan. I spent the next month and a half in a new-mommy craze, trying to figure out how to care for these two tiny, demanding beings with the help of a steady stream of visiting relatives. (Thanks, Mom and Dad, Aunt Terry, Kim, and Pato!) I finally established a routine … and then I left Colorado.

On August 23, the babies and I boarded a plane to New York with Aunt Terry, a double stroller, two car seats, about 27 diapers, and mounds of luggage in tow. We planned to live with my parents in Brooklyn until Keith returned home about nine months later. I set to work unpacking, getting us settled in, and establishing a new routine for the boys. And things were finally getting easier. Matt and Nate started sleeping through the night shortly after we got to New York. Keith finally got Skype in his room in Afghanistan, so the boys and I began to “see” him regularly. And the babies settled into a pretty decent schedule.

Then, on October 8, my cell phone rang. It was Keith. “Don’t freak out,” he said. (Cue freak-out.) “I got shot.”

Keith got shot in his left calf. The bullet tore up his calf and hamstring and traveled all the way up to his butt, where it remains lodged. (Ouch.) Keith spent a week in the hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, then nearly a month at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, MD. He was sent back home to Colorado on November 9 to rehab. The babies and I returned home to be with him, and here we are still. Keith is continuing to recover, but he still has quite a bit of nerve damage and a lot of pain, and there’s a part of his wound that still hasn’t closed. He will find out soon whether he’ll be cleared to return to Afghanistan with his unit for the remainder of the deployment.

What a scare we had. I am so incredibly thankful  that Keith is still here with us. I know how lucky we are, and I will never, ever take that for granted.

The babies are amazing. At seven months old, they have such unique personalities and make us laugh harder than we ever have. They seem to learn something new each day.

Matthew is our little spitfire. He may be tiny (still wearing 3-6-month clothing), but watch out—he is quite the strong little fella. Matthew will roll over and over and do an Army-style low crawl to get to a toy he wants (which is usually whichever toy Nate is playing with). He likes to bang whatever he is holding on the ground or the table so as to make the loudest noise possible. He loves to explore, touching and grabbing anything in sight. He can already stand while holding something without any assistance. And when he’s angry, he’ll let you know. Trust me, he will.

Nathaniel is our big, lovable baby who will cuddle with you all day if you let him. Already wearing 12-month clothing, he is round and dimply in all the right places. Nate is not as physical as Matt, but he is way more verbal. He loves to
“talk” — “Dadadadadada,” and “Boobooboobooboo,” and “Oooohhhhhhhh!” He laughs and squeals a lot, even at things that are decidedly not funny. He loves to splash Daddy while taking a bath and to stare at ceiling fans.

Some other things about the boys:

- We take them to Gymboree class once a week, where they love to hear songs, work on movement, and interact with other babies.

- They love to go on walks, which we try to do almost daily.

- They are in full-on teething mode, drooling like crazy and chomping on anything they can get their hands on. Matt already has his two bottom center teeth. Nate should cut his first tooth very soon!

- The boys are great eaters and enjoy all sorts of baby food—chicken, turkey, lots of fruits and vegetables, and oatmeal.

- They are still great sleepers—10 to 11 hours a night!

And as for me, I am finally starting to get back to all of those things I wrote about in the first paragraph. I’ve started freelancing again, and even had a story based on this blog published in the December/January 2012 issue of Fit Pregnancy. I do cook most nights (although they aren’t usually gourmet meals), and I’d like to think I take pretty good care of my boys (all three of them). I can’t say I’m totally on top of the laundry—but hey, we all wear clean clothes! And, as for this blog—I’m back, baby! I plan to update it at least twice a week from here on out. Please hold me to that!

The four of us on January 12, Keith's birthday!