I actually am. 50/50 people. Irish/Italian, baby.
Momma Be Thy Name noted, “There is No Such Thing as Half-Italian.” And she certainly has a point. Growing up, I always associated far more with my Italian heritage. Mostly because I am first generation American on that side. (You’ve seen some of the comments posted by GrampaStavo – that’s seriously how he sounds folks.)
Hello everyone, and welcome aboard the Jungle Cruise. My name is Mom, and I’ll be your skipper, guide, social director and educational instructor for the next three months and 18 years.
Knock, knock… Who’s there? Safari… Safari Who? Safari, so good. Let’s get this cruise started. (Yes, folks, I did grow up in So. Cal. And I spent numerous minutes traversing the treacherous (humor) on the wild waters Jungle Cruise loop at Disneyland.) Continue reading
I am rapidly approaching the end of the second trimester. Best part about this? Means the boys are still bouncing about on the inside!
Today’s doctor appointment revealed that the twins are moving and shaking exactly as they should be. I went to the appointment and returned back home on the SAME DAY!!! (And yes, the exclamation points were very necessary.)
Such good news, combined with the gorgeous weather that’s rolled in for the weekend, inspired us to document the pregnancy at 25 weeks. As of last week, the boys weigh 1lb. 6oz. each. Continue reading
As full-fledged members of the Silicon Valley, Jon and I have numerous cameras. Our iPhones take quick clicks and we each have a decent point and shoot. But neither cell phones nor point and shoots do fabulous things for more focused or specific targets. Given how active the twins are currently – I am betting they’re not going to be the type to sit still for photo ops. (They already hate the ultrasound sessions.)
So we took the plunge. Jon ordered a Nikon D3000 SLR camera. Neither of us has any experience with operating such “fancy” cameras. But, since the world has ordered the boys to remain baking for several more months, we will thankfully take that extra time to figure it out.
The first step in this practice process requires obtaining said camera. In addition to the camera, we ordered an extra zoom lens and a memory card capable of processing multiple pictures quicker with a faster shutter speed. (Don’t I sound like I know what I’m talking about?) Problem – we got a note saying the zoom lens was backordered and they’d ship everything together.
Jon undertook the task of trying to contact customer support. Please enjoy the transcript below. (Names have been changed to protect the customer service culprit until they really annoy me.)
**********
Please wait while we find an agent to assist you…
All agents are currently busy. Please stand by.
An agent will be with you in a moment. Thank you for your patience.
The next available Agent will be with you in a moment.
All agents are currently busy. Please stand by.
An agent will be with you in a moment. Thank you for your patience.
The next available Agent will be with you in a moment.
All agents are currently busy. Please stand by.
An agent will be with you in a moment. Thank you for your patience.
The next available Agent will be with you in a moment.
All agents are currently busy. Please stand by.
An agent will be with you in a moment. Thank you for your patience.
The next available Agent will be with you in a moment.
All agents are currently busy. Please stand by.
An agent will be with you in a moment. Thank you for your patience.
The next available Agent will be with you in a moment.
All agents are currently busy. Please stand by.
You have been connected to [CUSTOMERSERVICE1].
[CUSTOMERSERVICE2] has entered the session.
[CUSTOMERSERVICE1 has left the session.
CS2: Hello Jon. Welcome to [CAMERASTORE]. I will be glad to assist you.
Jon: Hello?
CS2: May I have the order number?
Jon: Yes, 1234567
CS2: Thank you for providing the order number.
Jon: When i ordered i did not know it was going to be backordered
CS2: Please stay online while I check the order.
Jon: i’m wondering how long the backorder is?
CS2: Thank you for staying online.
CS2: The Nikon 55-200mm lens is currently on backorder.
CS2: The Nikon D3000 and 18-55mm lens are in stock.
CS2: We are expecting the lens to be back in stock at the earliest.
Jon: Yes i saw that, but i also saw that you won’t ship one without the other
Jon: When?
CS2: I can make necessary changes to the order so that the in-stock items are shipped at the earliest and the backordered lens will be shipped once it is back in stock.
Jon: excellent that’d be great
CS2: Shall I go ahead and make the necessary changes to ship the in-stock item first?
Jon: yes please do, when do you expect the lens to be in stock?
CS2: We expect the lens to be back in stock in the next week.
Jon: ok great, as long as there won’t be an extra shipping charge, i’d like to get the camera ASAP and then ship the lens when it becomes available
CS2: The 8GB memory card has already been shipped on 5/05/10.
Jon: ok
CS2: The other items will be shipped shortly.
Jon: Meaning the camera will likely go out tomorrow and the lens sometime next week?
CS2: Would you like to purchase one of our Expanded Service Policy (ESP)?
CS2: We offer 1-year ESP and 2-year ESP plans.
Jon: no thank you
CS2: Yes, the in-stock items will be shipped tomorrow.
CS2: I can offer 50% discount on the Expanded Service Policy (ESP).
CS2: The ESP will provide your camera with coverage from almost every possible occurrence (except fire and theft) while you are using it.
Jon: no i’m good without it, but thank you.
CS2: You are welcome.
CS2: Would you like to purchase a camera bag or lens filter for the Nikon D3000 camera?
Jon: No, no more purchases I just wanted to get the shipping issue resolved
CS2: Is there anything else that I may assist you with?
Jon: No, you’ve been very helpful, thank you
CS2: You are welcome.
Jon: Good bye
CS2: Thank you for visiting [CAMERASTORE]. Please feel free to contact us for further assistance.
**********
Anyone else curious if we’ll get the camera before the boys start little league?
Apparently the Double Trouble blog is suffering from a lack of photos. Unlike the April Fool’s tabloid madlib (which was great fun), we actually did have a personal paparazza on our shopping excursion. As mentioned previously, Grandma Nancy (or Meemaw Nancy if preferred) joined us on our baby stuff getting adventure – camera firmly in hand.
A sampling of the madness:
Entering Lullaby Lane and taking in all the merchandise options.
Inspecting and checking out the gliders.
Jon also enjoyed testing the rocking chairs.
Debating crib selection and double (and triple) checking pricing and safety stats.
It was a very long day. I believe Jon is multi-tasking here: looking for food, playing a game, researching the new Nerf shooter capacity and plotting how to best use said capabilities on the dogs.
Two of everything, remember?
Car seats are ready to roll. (Granted not currently properly installed.)
More photos are promised as more photo-worthy things happen.
We had another one of our regularly scheduled ultrasounds. Standard, typical, move along folks – nothing to see here. Until the tech’s mild mannered inquiry . . .
“Are you guys keeping the gender a secret?”
“Nope.” I replied, barely letting her finish her sentence. “If you know something, we would very much so like to know that same something.” (I think Jon rolled his eyes at me here.)
“Ok. This one looks like a boy.” (Note: during the ultrasounds, they examine each baby individually for size and other interesting medical tidbits. The majority of the time is generally spent trying to get Baby B to sit still.) Jon and I agreed it very much looked like a boy. When pressed though, the tech told us she wasn’t allowed to make a definitive statement. I wasn’t concerned, there didn’t appear to be much room for error.
We moved on to Baby B. After several failed still photo attempts, we watched a slo-mo version of the tracking video as the technician commented, “This one appears to be a boy as well.”
Two boys!
The doctor came in shortly thereafter to chat with us and review the images/movies. She shared that our technician has never been wrong about the gender because she won’t guess if she’s not certain. Suddenly she gave a very hearty laugh from behind her computer investigation. (Any unexpected reactions from medical personnel unnerve me.)
“They are most definitely boys! No question about that.”
Two boys! I grinned. Jon looked at me and said, “Put up the tent. It’s gonna be a circus.”
I called my Dad at work. It doesn’t take a genius to know he was going to be excited. He picked up the phone sounding slightly concerned about why I was calling him at work (when I should also be at work).
“Hi Dad.” I said calmly. I’m at work, so I obviously can’t talk long, but I thought you’d be interested to know that you’re going to have two grandsons in August.” I actually had to pull the phone away from my ear as he started screaming.
“Due boys! Due boys!” he shrieked repeatedly. He was so excited he couldn’t even keep his languages straight . . .
Others had more muted reactions – but everyone appears excited about the little rascals.
March 17, 2010 - Four Months Pregnant
Jon grinned and gave me a huge smile. “It’s so cute!” he said staring at my tummy. I smiled back at him.
“You’re HUGE!” I stopped smiling.
In my (potentially overly hormone induced) opinion, I do not think I am huge. I think I look like I am four months pregnant with twins.
