They didn't, but they gained over 100grams each, which is great. They're doing well. We have to take them to the family doctor today, oh joy, and perhaps we'll order pizza instead of making pancakes, because the appointment is at four forty, which means not home till six at the earliest.

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, and I should celebrate Shrove Tuesday by cleaning the fridge out while Nat is at preschool, and Thomas and Miriam and Elizabeth are all asleep, which is wonderful.

Thank you, Sylvia, Kevin and Jocelyn, and Tristan, for dinner last night. We had sweet potato gratin (Tristan, and it was so good the adults sort of fought over it), ratatouille (Kevin and Jocelyn, and wonderful), and brownies (Sylvia. They had chocolate chips. I ate three). It was a great dinner.

First bad-ish night with the girls (not crying, just nursing all the time, which is good but difficult to coordinate with two) and glory, hallelujah, Marjorie came in yesterday so we have three adults versus the four children, as we prepare for Ash Wednesday and Lent. My big goal for Lent is to make it to Confession, and learn to cope with the necessary extra self-emptying that our two newest ones are demanding.

We're taking the girls into the hospital for a weigh-in. I hope they gained a pound overnight.

Thank you, Jocelyn and Kevin, for the food containing vegetables. I'm going to eat it for lunch. Possibly all of it, because of the insane nursing-twins appetite. I've started eating Nutella with a spoon, for the calories.

The girls continue to be very good, and sleep about twenty-two hours a day. The boys continue to be insane, and Nat is still alive by the skin of his teeth. Geoff is going to take him to the Science Centre this afternoon, to give him some running-around-being-insane time, which I think he needs. Actually, the kids have been very good, considering that they've stayed inside for most of the last month. Normally by this point everyone would be dead from tempers flaring, and parental ability to throw children out windows.

We're not trying to go to Mass or out much, because we're scared of small children plague-vector effect. I'm sure that in another few weeks I'll be ready to try taking all of them somewhere. Hoe, I haven't actually figured out yet, because I can't carry both babies at the same time. Maybe we'll do divided-family trips?

I actually cooked yesterday, and made something I've decided is Mexican goulash, modeled on the chili that Alicia and Richard brought. I cubed up an eye of round and stewed it with chili powder, chipotle peppers, cumin, carrots, beans, tomatoes, potatoes, and some spinach. It wasn't very much like chili, but it did contain lots of vegetables and there's lots left over and in the freezer. It tasted

What I really want is to eat an entire cake or lemon meringue pie. I could make gingerbread or an almond cake today, if my energy holds out. Or I could sleep.

Three posts, one day. Oh, well.

First, we are not eating any vegetables and this is a problem. Anyone want to bring over tasty food that includes vegetables? (Isabelle? Tristan?)

Second, I need to eat so much that I am getting tired of eating. I don't think this has ever happened before. I give up before I'm full because it's become boring. I may have to start eating lard with a spoon for the calories, seriously- three days, lost five pounds. Kind of scary.

I wouldn't mind being down to my pre-pregnancy weight in another two weeks, but I'm worried about suddenly becoming skeletal.

Off upstairs to help Geoff put kids to bed.

Aside from a higher number of diaper changes, the girls are somewhat less trouble than Nat was at this age, and certainly quieter and let me get more sleep. On the down side, I haven't sprouted any extra arms, and I'm not sure how to manage a crying baby, a nursing baby, a four-year-old who needs me to fix his lego, and a toddler who wants to see if the babies' fingers are firmly attached, all at once.

I'm sure there's a logical way to do this. It's like the problem of the goat, tiger, and bale of hay, right?

Also, Geoff has finally come around to my way of thinking, after putting away five loads of laundry yesterday- we'll become nudists. There may be some slight problems with nudism in Canada in February, with preemies, but I'm sure we can work them out.

Nat loves his new sisters. He also wants to know what would happen if their eyeballs fall out.

I don't know, Nat- we've never had a baby's eyeballs fall out before. Let's not encourage it, shall we?

Home

Note the way Miriam's hat is eating her head. It's about five sizes too big.

Geoff's gone to collect the boys and introduce them to their new sisters. Heaven help us.

I'm home for dinner and bedtime, and back to the hospital in a few minutes. I hope the girls have passed their 'carseat test' (being strapped in a carseat for an hour without breathing difficulties). If they have, and everything is good, then they're coming home tomorrow. The nurses said morning, but I have no faith in hospital time.

So, tomorrow. Both of them home. Thank You, God, for our small, beautiful, squashy, little girls.