Things people say *Edited*

Before we brought the twins home (two months ago yesterday!) I did a lot of worrying about what people would say when they saw our mixed race family. I come from the South and so was a bit worried about random comments from random strangers...how would I respond?...how would I explain these comments to our kids?...how would I put these stupid strangers in their place while not loosing face in front of our kids?

For some reason I never anticipated the comments would be positive! Or for that matter, just plain weird. Below is little sample of things people have said to me while I was out and about with the twins....

Homeless man pushing his grocery cart full of recycling past us as we take our morning stroll, "You are just like OctoMom" (ok, I used to be compared to Angelina Jolie...what happened?!?!)

Cute little blond girl-maybe 4 or 5 yrs old- in Beverly Hills, "Look mommy, Brown Babies!" Her mortified mother, "Oh no honey, those aren't brown babies, they are African Babies."

Not 5 minutes later from a cashier at a restaurant...

"They are how old? Wow, you really lost your pregnancy weight quickly!" So in a span of just 5 minutes someone said I had African babies and someone else thought I gave birth.

"Hey, look at these cute dolls Trader Joe's is selling...OMG they are real!" I'm not making this up. A lady actually thought the twins were a display of some sort.

"Been there." From an older lady dressed in all white (white blouse, crisply pressed white trousers, white silk man's vest, white straw panama hat and a huge white cameo ring). She then proceeded to tell me how she had only been expecting one baby "the other one hid" and therefore got the surprise of her life when they "pulled another one out." Her boys are now in their late 40's but apparently used to throw their poo at each other. All this was related while we were in line for coffee.

"They look JUST like you! Your husband must be bummed there's no trace of him in them huh?"

"Adoption?" This from a biker dude we walked past on Larchmont. When we said yes, he stood up and gave us a one man standing ovation.

"Two boys?" This from pretty much everyone we meet even though Baby Girl is, well, a GIRL and I tend to dress her in uber frilly dresses. Not to mention she is petite and has the features of a little pixie while her brother is 4 pounds bigger and already has a comb over! Which brings us to...

"He's bigger than her huh?" Did I mention he's almost 5 pounds heavier then her? And it shows in every way so I find this question kind of odd...obviously yes, he IS bigger. I always want to reply "not really, he's just retaining water weight" or "not normally but he's gaining weight for a role." But of course, I just nod and say yes, he is bigger.

"A boy and a girl...well I guess you're done. Shop closed!"

"Are you the babysitter?" This from two African American women I passed on the street.

"Are you breastfeeding?" Yes, I actually had a complete stranger, on the sidewalk, ask me if I was breastfeeding. Crazy.

But mostly I get comments like "These are the cutest babies I have ever seen" and "You are SO lucky!"

And you know what... they are right :-)
xoxo-Kat

ps...speaking of cute twins... head over here to wish this family double congratulations!

EDIT -- not 2 hours after posting this I was walking into Target with the twins and as I passed a lady with a baby and a toddler she looked at me with pity and said, "Twins. I'll pray for you."

Happy 6 Months! Happy 6 weeks home!

I can't believe I've become one of those bloggers...the kind who comes back from Ethiopia with her unbelievably cute kids and stops writing. Twins...that's my only excuse. If only I could dictate my blog...cause let me tell you, I write some good ones in my head in the shower.

We've been busy since I last posted... The Esquire has gone back to work, making me officially a SAHM (that's 'Stay At Home Mom' for those of you not in the loop). Luckily for me (and the twins) we have found a lovely woman who is going to help out part time. It's amazing how guilty you can feel for only having two hands and one lap!

So since it's pretty clear I can't write much at the moment...here is a pictorial glimpse into our first 6 weeks home as a family...

Here are the twins at Costco... they loved the outside hotdog stand part where people treated them like minor celebrities but they weren't too fond of the actual shopping part. I think this might be our last family trip to Costco.


Needless to say, the twins have spent a lot of time in their sedan of a stroller, which we like to call The Cart in honor of our friend Aynie (another Aynie-ism we've adopted is to say "he's spilling" instead of "he's spitting up"...so much more pleasant don't you think?)

We spend a lot of time strolling the cart around our neighborhood...

Here we are at the La Brea Tar Pits...

And then at the local corner mercado where you can buy injera, lottery tickets, and whiskey...

Here they are kind of enjoying our neighborhood's annual Little Ethiopia Street Fair and Parade.

The fair and parade are an annual elebration of Ethiopia's New Year (Sept 11th), which this year rang in the year 2002 (their calender has 13 months, so they are 7 years behind us). The parade is held about 3 blocks from our house and I was very excited for the twins to take part... even dressed them up in their little Ethiopian outfits. Unfortunately, I forgot how LOUD parades were...we left after the elephant.


That same week the twins received their Green Cards, which means they can legally work in the States now! Sadly, a month later and they are STILL just sitting around playing with their toes. To celebrate their new status we had a Green Card New Year's Party.

We spend most afternoons outside on our back porch watching the hummingbirds

Or on the front sidewalk watching for Dada to come home


Baby Girl has spent a lot of time and energy on her hair, as you can tell from her one curl. I call it her Spike Lee Cindy Loo Who Do

And of course we do A LOT of this...

The twins turned 6 months old earlier this month... they are eating well, sleeping well (at night at least...naps, not so much), rolling like tumbleweeds, sitting up on their own for a few seconds at a time (when not distracted by our cheering) and even starting to steal toys from each other. Our pediatrician has declared them brilliant in every way. Hey, it's not bragging if it comes from a professional.

So that's our last 6 weeks in a nutshell...it's been crazy busy and yet I'm not really sure what we've done other than tummy time and changing diapers. It hasn't all been easy (did I mention the lack of nap schedule?) but it's been fun and for the most part really good.

So here's hoping I actually write something before another 6 weeks passes! But just in case...Happy Halloween, Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas!

xoxo-kat