Question of the Week

Everyone,

Playing along with the Multiples and More site and their Question of the week. This week, the question is:

Describe your childrens' personalities, in birth order. Do you think your kids personalities are related to their birth order?

Pirate is my Baby A. He's the tall, dark, quiet brooding type. He wasn't a big crier as a baby, preferring to take things in stride. This is the kid who broke his leg when he was 10 months old and barely whimpered. Now he is my senstive soul. He loves to hug things and is always holding things up for me to kiss. He is always trying to calm down the other 2 if they are upset. He also is a very neat baby, always wanting things in their correct places. He doesn't say much but what he does say, it's very clear.

Professor is my Baby B. He is my sunshine boy. He's bright, cheerful, full of life and also very needy. He needs me to be with him. Always. He prefers to have me help him do things. He is full of babbling, words, and gestures. He has a sweet little happy skip he does when he's really pleased with life. He is also is loud loud loud. He's always been loud but it's part of his charm.

• Is your baby A any bolder or more dominant than B, C, D?

Bolder than each other? Each baby has his differences and things that they are great at.

• Does your last-born reach milestones last as well?

No. Professor walked first, talked first, and did all the gross motor skills first. Pirate is better at the fine motor skills.

• Are there any characteristics that you feel are somehow related to birth order?

Pirate is bigger. But I think that's because he eats more. I don't think that is related to birth order.

• Do you find that a lot of people like to "classify" your kids? How do you feel about it?

The other day I took the boys with me to change the oil in my car. In the waiting room, there were 2 other older women. They kept saying "That one is the devilish one!" or "That one is more ambitious, I can tell." It irritated me to no end. People don't compare siblings like they compare twins. Each person is unique. Each person has their own strengths and weaknesses. Twins just happen to be people born on the same day. This does not make one good or bad! They just are. And we should love them as they are for who they are.

Safire

Snow! Adventure!

Everyone,

Today it snowed. A lot. Well, for Maryland. 9 inches and counting. I think that God knew that I needed a pick me up. So we got some really pretty snow. All sparkly and soft and white. Sugar snow I like to call it.

And what goes better with snow?
Isn't he adorable!? If you like something bigger, how about one of these?

Juice and I were talking about what to do today and he asked if there was something I wanted to do to help me feel better. I don't know what came over me but all I wanted to do was go to Tai Shan's farewell party at the Smithsonian Zoo. Tai Shan is the big guy you see above. Where is he going? He was born at our zoo the same year Butterfly was born. He's been the crown prince of the area since then.

So where is he going then? Well, the king and queen are on loan to us from China. And the little prince's (not so little at 170 lbs!) loan from China is up. Now that he's 4, he's ready to enter the dating scene. The dating scene is a little sparse here in the States so off to China he goes.

They had a big party with a bunch of experts out talking to people. We got to write a good bye card that will go on the plane with Tai Shan. We got a picture of him, some panda snacks (which we each had 3 of, they were good!) and we ALMOST got a free stuffed panda. They were giving out them to the first 50 kids and we were #58. Sad. Instead we bought plastic animals on sticks at the gift shop.

We got really lucky and were able to see Tai Shan out in the snow. Plus the red pandas (the above picture) were out and I've never seen them before! They were really cute!

By now, the kids were cold. They were crying. They were covered in snow. Butterfly didn't want to wear her boots so her feet were wet. I honestly didn't think this outing through enough. We spent some time in the panda house to warm up and decided to go see the monkeys. Pirate is big into monkeys lately and it's one of 3 words he says regularly.

We had a great time sliding down the hill to the ape house. We saw a lot of the apes playing in their habitats. Pirate actually cried when we left and not because he was cold. That kid sure does love monkeys.

We then got word that the zoo was closing early because of the snow and we hiked it back to the metro station. (With some hot chocolate to warm us up!)

What a fun day! Just what I needed. Snow, one of the best stuff + animals, another favorite of mine = one awesome day. Thanks Juice for indulging me.

Safire

Better...

Everyone,

Today was a better day. Not a great day, just better than the past ones have been. Juice came home early as he often does on Fridays. He was able to cheer us up before naps. The boys were pretty miserable off and on today. Mostly it's been Pirate who has been screaming today so that's been a change. I think they both have a miserable cold.

Nuts. I hate it when the kids are sick.

While the boys napped and Butterfly played on the Wii, I just chilled out. Juice was in charge of the kids and I did nothing but poke around on the Internet and wonder why it takes me two tries every time to log into twitter.

Once the boys were up I got out my amazing steam cleaner and cleaned my kitchen. I steamed out my microwave...awesome. I steamed my counters, my sink faucets, the screen above the stove, and the floors. In half an hour. Seriously in love with the Oreck.

Juice picked up all the toys (and there were MANY) and vacuumed the house. I feel so much better with the house picked up and everything tidy.

Everyone went to bed early and Juice and I had a nice date on the couch watching a movie about John Keats. Okay, I had a nice time. I think he tolerated the movie for my sake. He's so nice.

We're off on an adventure tomorrow. We decided this after both the boys were hugging their coats and hanging on the door crying. Poor little Professor kept saying, "Ouuu? Ouuu? Ouuu?" Hopefully we won't freeze to death while being 'ouuu'.

Safire

Maybe More Sleep?

Everyone,

Last night I was up way too late and had to deal with the screaming yet AGAIN this morning. Plus Butterfly got up at around 3am to go potty (yay for waking up!) but fell asleep on the toilet. I woke up when she got in there, and wondered what in the world she was doing in there! Go in to find her all slumped over and asleep. At least she made it to the toilet on time. No picture because I had had about an hour and a half of sleep by that point. Tired.

I got too little sleep to handle screaming well.

Juice (who also stayed up playing his weekly online game fix) wasn't handling it very well either. We started talking about taking Professor to the doctor and I didn't want to go. But Juice said to just go and get milk at the store next to the doctor's office. Fine.

Guess what? Nothing is wrong. Yeah. Oh, and I also got yelled at by the doctor for giving him a goldfish before she came in the door. This was after the nurses came in to see why he was screaming and urged me to give him a gold fish. I'm not liking them right now. (But I do love my new insurance...no copay!)

After a negative swab for strep, RSV, and the flu, we headed out to the store for milk. And then I got myself some fast food breakfast because I love that stuff and I never am out in time to get it.

The boys napped well after a big lunch and Butterfly fell asleep too. I attempted to get things picked up around the house and failed miserably. I fell asleep on my bed with Butterfly but only slept for a few minutes when the boys woke up. And Professor screamed until Juice got home.

Luckily, Professor was happy to eat dinner (pasta with goat cheese sauce, all the kids loved it) and is now tucked away into his bed.

I intend to go to my bed as soon as I'm done with this. Maybe that will fix the horrible funk we all seem to be in lately.

Safire

Feeling Disheartened

Everyone,

Today has been another crappy day with screaming and snot and spilled milk on the couch. Professor is just so fragile with his feelings lately. He throws a down-on-the-ground-limp-and-forgotten tantrum if I set foot in a bathroom. Probably because I go into the bathroom to escape the constant pulling on me to be picked up. Seriously, my arms can only handle so much. Plus, I kind of need at least one hand to do something. But nothing is getting done because no one will leave me alone. Looks like I need to break out my wrap and strap someone on me.

Yes, I know the house will be clean one day and that there will always be laundry and they are only little once, blah, blah, blah. I feel over worked, over tired, and overwhelmed. It's on these kinds of days that I wish I was close to my Mom's house just to go over there for a change of scenery.

I'll be better after awhile I'm sure but for now, I want to lock the kids in their room and spend the day cleaning/resting/reading.

I was hoping to get somethings done earlier today that now I have to do while the kids are napping. Which also equals no down time for me.

Safire

PS- No I won't take Professor to the doctor despite all the screaming. There is snot but no fever, no pulling at his ears, no other sign of sickness. And the snot is probably from all the crying. I think he's just being clingy and needs attention I can't give him right now. So he cries. We are also out of milk which upsets him too. When there is no milk in the fridge and he sees that, he says, "Uh-oh!" in increasingly worried tones and breaks down crying very quickly. It's just how our days are going. Gah.

PPS- He JUST NOW started screaming in his nap. He's been down for half an hour. I can hear him screaming around his binkie. Please please please let him go back to sleep!

Tired Ears

Everyone,

This morning Professor woke up crying and cried straight for almost 2 hours. I was determined to take him to the doctor after we passed the hour two mark. But first I had to get everyone dressed and Butterfly needed breakfast.

Pirate was desperate to eat the left over mac and cheese (his favorite) while Butterfly was eating so I figured why not. I scooped him up a bowl and that made Professor scream louder. So I got him one too and carefully fed him 2 whole bowls of it. Standing up holding him. For almost an hour. My shoulders got very tired.

But once he got down, he was as happy as could be. Huh.

Maybe the kid is hungry? They are still nursing (and will be until they hit two) but he has totally dropped out all but his morning nursing session. Once a day is not enough to fill his little belly. He also is not the greatest eater, preferring to hand his food off to Pirate half way through the meal. Stinker.

He was good the rest of the day and had a big lunch too. Kids! Always keeping you on your toes!

Safire

Crying Day

Everyone,

Yesterday I was sitting on the couch with Professor on my lap. I asked him, "Do you want to go play?" because he was gestering and gabbering at Pirate and Butterfly playing across the room. He looked at me, pouted out his lip a little. Then it started to tremble. Then his eyes got really sad and he took a shuddering breath. He squeezed out a tear just in the corner of his eye. His hands flew to his mouth and he took in another huge shuddering breath. That breath turned into "the cry with no sound" that kids do before they let loose. And then he did let loose. Ho.ly.cow. Not that hard of a question kid! Juice and I just stared at each other stunned. This kid could be an actor!

Today has gone much the same, with the slow progression into a huge sobbing mass by lunch time. Vinny (Butterfly's BFF) and his mom came over to spend the morning playing and they had a great time together. The boys followed me around the house wailing. I finally broke down and gave Professor his binkie because I just could not handle the crying anymore! He never gets his binkie out of his bed. I did consider leaving him in his bed for awhile but he cried so hard I just carried him around with me. I also fed him lunch standing up holding him because he would sit down. I couldn't sit down either.

Once everyone was down for their naps and Vinny and Lala were sent safely home, I sat down and did a few deep breaths. About 10 minutes later, Professor wakes up screaming. And it just kept going and going and going. Finally I got him up, gave him some happy juice (pain killers) and dealt with the aftermath of NO! MORE! MEDICINE! screaming. I finally took him to Butterfly (who was watching a movie in my room) and watched some of the movie with her and him limp on my chest. He fell asleep. However, Butterfly can not sit still for a moment and all that jostling woke him up. Screaming followed and continued until Juice got home. My ears hurt.

I took Butterfly to dance class tonight and that was a real treat to talk to my friend for a whole 50 minutes without any of my offspring around. Awesome. But Butterfly fell on her tailbone the minute she came home and screamed the rest of the evening.

Juice said he had no problems with the boys and they were great and happy and fun. Why me?!

Safire

Naming Twins

Everyone,

The question of the week over at the Multiples and More blog is all about names! 

How did you choose your multiples' names?

 

This was a hot topic in our house before we even had kids.  I think one night Juice and I sat down and wrote out 3 girl names and 3 boy names that we really liked and wrote them on little sheets of paper.  We put them in the filing cabinet and would laugh at them every time we pulled them out.  Sometimes we would like others and would be moved to the top of the list.  But it was always the same names.  

 

When we got pregnant with Butterfly, our current favorite name was one I wasn't willing to use.  It was Virginia and I was going to call her Ginny.  However, I didn't want her name and the state she was born in to be the same.  So we pulled out the old list and looked over our girl names.  Juice didn't like my top pick (Cassandra) because it sounded like cassarole to him.  We were down to our last girls name that we both liked and it seemed to fit.  Her middle name is her aunt's middle name and I think it goes well together.  Her internet name I picked because that's what her name means.  If she was going to be a boy she was going to be Pirate's name.

 

While we were trying to have the boys, we had a few name discussions about girl names.  If we ended up with a boy, we had a name set in stone.  No questions asked, that was going to be our boy's name.  So when we found out we were having twins and would have to come up with 2 names, I was very excited.  I love hearing people's name choices and seeing what the top 100 names are in the nation every year.  We had one boy name picked out.  I wanted to pick out 2 girl names and one other boy name.  On the car ride home from the ultrasound, we started talking names.  We talked for maybe 20 minutes and ended up both sulking on either side of our car.  He hated all the names I liked.  I thought his rules for names were stupid.  He didn't like the sound of some and I hated the one girl name that he liked.  It seems we were at an impasse. 

 

Over the next several weeks, ever time we talked about it, we fought.  We could not come to a common ground over it.  We finally had to put a ban on talking about names until we knew if they were boys or girls.  

 

Turns out the twins were boys!  Yay we already had a boy name picked out.  Now we just needed another.  Butterfly's name and Pirate's name were alphabetical.  So we were joking around with another name that started with the next letter.  I think we were watching a movie with his name in it.  I turned to Juice and said, "What about Professor?"  He said, "I like it."  Done.  Pirate's middle name is my dad's name, and Professor's middle name is Juice's grandpa's name and one of my favorite names.  Juice says that there was a reason we could never pick girl names...they were not girls!  Some girl names we did consider (but are no longer considering) were Sabrina, Sierra, Cassandra (still with the cassarole comment), Willow, and Aurora (the one name Juice liked).  We never had any back up boy names.  

 

Their internet names came from the movies they were named after.  We are a little geeky.

 

Here's the rest of the questions: 

• Did you stick with family names?  
• Only for middle names.  I like family middle names.
  
• How do you feel about "matchy" names? 
• "Matchy"names are great for some, but not for us.
  
• Did you worry about their names "coordinating?" 
• Yes I did, but only alphabetically.  I wanted everyone in our family to have their own initials.
  
• Did you name your babies before you met them, or wait until you saw them to assign names?
• We named our babies before we met them on the basis of their birth order.  Again, with the alphabetical thing.  We figured Baby A would come out first so his name would be Pirate.  Which left Baby B to be Professor.  But we didn't assign them names until they did actually come out.
  
• What were your second choices? 
• See above.
  
• Did you consider the popularity of a name as a deciding factor?
• Not really.  We liked the names we liked and were going to use them.  Granted, they are not very popular names (at all) so I guess this was never an issue.

Check out the Multiples and More blog for more name discussions!


Safire

Fridge Cleaning

Everyone,

Today after I had been attack by several bottles of half used bug spray that were fly off the top of my fridge, I figured I should clean it. Right then and there. There was obviously too much stuff! It took about a minute to dump it all off the top of the fridge. It took almost 2 hours to put it back on.

An added bonus of cleaning this off...we could look in that cupboard that is above the fridge. Hadn't seen that for awhile. Found a stash of baby bottles and some extra glasses and all my goblets. Huh...forgot those were there! Hopefully it won't be 2 years before I see them again.

I forgot to wipe it off once it was clear. Oops. There honestly isn't a whole lot left up there so I could probably do that another time. So what exactly was up there?

Dog stuff: nail clippers, flea/tick stuff, etc. That is all in it's own basket and needed very little cleaning.

Recipes: holy cow do I have a lot of recipes I've never used. I spent the majority of my time going through them and throwing out ones I will NEVER use and know it.

Candy: Halloween candy, candy from a parade in September, candy from Christmas. The kids had candy all afternoon and barely ate their dinner. But we have a lot less candy! Yay!

Address labels: if I live here the rest of my life and die when I'm 100, I will NEVER have to buy address labels again. I think I may go through them and keep the ones I like and throw out the rest but I didn't have time to do that today.

Movie Coupons: you know those movie things you can cut out from a cereal box and get free movies? I had 4 of them and enough coupons for 4 free movies. So I finally filled out the forms, addressed the envelopes and got them ready to mail. I may get my free movies sometime in the next 2 years. But hey, free movies!

Toys: toys that were broken and weren't getting fixed, toys that were in time out, toys we didn't want the kids to have. 6 beach balls, 4 things of bubbles, a kite, and various other stuff. We blew bubbles for awhile and after we stopped, Pirate cried around the house for an hour. "Bubbles! Buuubbles! Oh Bubbles!" I think he liked them.

I also found about 6 things of hand sanitizer, and 3 or 4 things of sun screen and of course, bug spray. Hopefully, now that I know where they are, I won't buy any in the spring and use up what we have!

Safire

Questions for the Day

Everyone,

Blog hopping today with Lolli to My Little Life. 5 questions to answer for this lovely Friday evening.



1. What is better, growing old with out money or dying young and wealthy?

What good would your money do if you die before you can use it all? I'd rather be old!

2. Who takes out the garbage at your house?

Depends on the day. Our garbage comes 2 times a week on Mondays and Thursdays. On Mondays, while I lay in the nice warm bed, Juice gathers up the house garbage, the diapers, and the recycling to be put on the curb. On Thursdays, Juice is up late the night before so I either run it out to the curb (in my robe and coat and pjs) while the garbage people are coming or he does. Sometimes it doesn't go out on Thursdays and then we try not to open our garbage can if at all possible. Stinky!

3. Have you ever had the same dream many times?

Yes actually I have. It's my current plot outline for my book, should I ever get around to writing it. Let's just say it involves tigers, the moon, and that all I'm going to say.

4. Can you play a musical instrument?

Yep. Started playing the violin when I was around 5. I guess my brother had been taking lessons for awhile and I asked my mom, "Where's my violin?" I took lessons until I was 12 and we moved to another state. I started the high school orchestra and met some awesome people and played in Disneyland. I also played in the college orchestra, and got to be 2nd chair 2nd violin my second year there. (That's kind of a big deal.) I think I played one semester of my 3rd year and nothing in my 4th year. I don't practice as I should but I can play a few things on demand. I also play the piano very casually. Like, once a year when I'm at my Mom's house. (She taught me the piano! A women of many talents!)

5. If you owned your own store, what would you sell?

Honestly I've never wanted to own my own store. If I HAD to pick, I'd sell horse stuff because I love the smell of tack stores. Mmm...leather.

Safire

Trip Toy Review

Everyone,

Since nothing super blog worthy happened today (although I just heard Butterfly over the baby monitor singing, "I like to move it move it!") I thought I'd do an update on our last trip and the trip toys we brought along.

Best toys to bring hands down: crayons, note books, coloring books, color wonder markers, paper. I shoved all of these in Butterfly's backpack. She happily colored her new marker books (I had 5 markers and a box of 12 crayons so I knew how many dropped) and colored for the first 2 hours of the first flight. Then the boys helped her color some and ate the free magazines. On the second flight, I had an inspiration and made a bag puppet out of the air sickness bag. Yes, we drew on them and then stuck our hands in them. By the time Butterfly was done coloring (which took almost 4, yes 4!, hours) she had 4 puppets. They were her girls. And it's a good thing that Juice listened to my mom reading "Betsy Tacy" to her because that's what she wanted to play. Now I know what books to get her for her birthday. They also entertained the boys and we got gales of laughter out of them and these puppets.

Worst toys: I took Butterfly to the dollar store and had her pick out a few things to bring. She really wanted a bag of hard plastic rubber duckies and I figured why not. They were hard (think hitting) and kept rolling around when they were dropped. NO FUN. Also, Nana-Great sent us a few soft kittens that meow when you push a button. Professor found the button and pushed it for over an hour. We had people in the front of the plane looking around to see where that stupid cat was. I tuned it out. (These turned out not the best toys to bring to the funeral either...oops.)

Plans for the next trip (which looks like it'll be the end of May! Everyone write it down because I want to see some people...I'm talking to you Splats.): get crayons and notebooks for each of the kids themselves. Yes, we can probably share crayons but everyone needs their own coloring book. I can do that. Drastically cut back on the number of toys we brought. So much stuff they were not interested in playing with at all and it was just dead weight in our already over stuffed bags. Buy smaller magnadoodles because those were good but too bulky.

Now for the review on the Fisher Price Kid Tough DVD player. Out of 5 stars, I give it a 2. Oh it works great. It has a little handle on the top, can be dropped (and was) and is easy for Butterfly to use. It has little feet on the back to pull out and prop up which was enormously helpful. There are speakers so you don't HAVE to have headphones for it but it does well with headphones in.

Deal breakers for it: The battery didn't even last 2 hours. It barely lasted an hour and then kept turning itself on and off for another 45 minutes. Butterfly got frustrated with it. The buttons were too easy to push and we had several swipes by brothers who couldn't wait to get their hands on it. I wish they had a button lock switch I could turn. Also, where you put the dvd player in is right in front and super easy to open. That needs to be able to lock as well.

I didn't buy it at full price. The toy store had them on clearance so I picked her up one and I'm glad I didn't spend full price. I imagine that since Fisher Price is no longer selling these on their official website that they are either pulling them or revamping them. It needs it!

I have an external battery pack that if I can figure out how it works could possible elongate the life of the batter to the full two hours. But it's just one more thing to carry and I'm not sure if I want to.

Honestly my ipod and my computer would have worked just as well for movies and maybe even been a little easier.

My friend who loves me gave me chocolate at the funeral to bribe the children with. I used a little there, but most of it on the plane. Thanks again friend! It was a life saver.

Next carry on bag, crayons and markers and coloring books, check. Movie player, maybe. Ipod and computer, check! Magnadoodles, 1 favorite toy/snuggle toy each, and extra patience. Check!

I think I'm crazy for going in May again but I miss my family. Although this may be the last plane trip we do for a LONG time. It's seriously stressful.

Safire

Learning about TV

Everyone,

So this afternoon Butterfly was complaining that one of her movies was not working.

"You need to fix this movie because it is very sticky." I pulled it out of the player and there were fingerprints ALL over the disk. No wonder it was sticking. I told her we shouldn't touch the shiny side.

"Why?"

"Well, because that's where the movie is." She looked at the disk and looked up at me like I was crazy.

"The movie is on the TV. This (pointing to the disk) only tells it what to play," she told me matter of factly.

"Nooo, the disk IS the movie. Look, there's a little light on the inside of the dvd player that looks at the shiny side of the disk and gets the pictures. Then the light shines on the screen and the pictures come out."

"Oh, so you learned not to touch the shiny side when you were little huh? And now you're telling me!"

"When I was little we didn't have these kinds of movies. We had tapes. They were about as big as a book and we played them in a VCR."

She looks a little stunned at that. I continued, "And when Nana was little, she didn't have movies in her house. She had to go to a theater if she wanted to see one."

"No she didn't."

"Yes, I'm sure she did honey."

"Nope."

"You want to call her and ask?!"

"Yes!" So we called up my mom who told Butterfly what I said was true. Then my mom took it a step further and said that when Nana-Great (her mom) was little she didn't even have a tv at all!

Butterfly took the phone away from her ear and told me that Nana-Great had no tv when she was a little girl! She put the phone back to her ear and said, "That's HORRIBLE!" I think she was secretly interested though because she has kept asking me what Nana-Great did when she was little if she couldn't watch tv. I told her Nana-Great does what Butterfly does when she's not allowed to watch tv...she played!

Not so horrible, I think.

Safire

One Liners

Everyone,

Butterfly's chant today: "I will do what I'm told because Princesses always obey orders." I have NO idea where that came from but I'm totally going to milk it for all it's worth!

Read on a coupon: "Coupon must be presented before odering." Hehe...

"Big beautiful butterfly bouncing a bumpy blue ball to a big brown bear in bloomers." It's B week at our house! We had school here today with AJ and I made the kids balloon animals. I also made the boys balloon swords and they had the best time in school today. We also thought up that phrase and named 101 things that start with B.

Safire

Even Princesses Have to Sleep

Everyone,

Today my goal was to get through the laundry. ALL OF IT. I'm great at washing. The washing part is fun! I even do well switching the clothes to the dryer. It's the folding and putting away that I suck at. I had spent Saturday washing about 7 loads so today the goal was to fold and put away. Plus wash all of our Sunday stuff.

Since we decluttered our room on Saturday, the kids have been running back and forth through it. It's probably the longest room in the house. Basically, our master bedroom is a regular sized room with a sitting room attached and a master bath. I love how big our room is. But because it's so big, it accumulates a lot of junk. Now that the junk is out of the way, the room is back to being big(ish).

Pirate turned on my music for me while I was trying to do some exersizes and I just left it on. All three kids were running back and forth through the room, jumping and dancing. It's just so so cute! I wish my video camera was charged or you would have gotten pictures. Find out what were they dancing to.

With the peppy music, I was able to fold all kinds of laundry today. Yay!

In other news, Butterfly is OBSESSED with being a princess. I don't know what happened but now all she wants to do is wear dresses and dance and go on adventures. Oh, wait. I do know what happened. We bought her a Disney Princess Wii game. Yeah. Great game for her, not so much for the aftermath.

I also got a round of "I don't want to be a part of this family anymore!" That's a fun one. She moaned for a good hour before I sent her to her room ("If you don't want to be a part of this family, then stop making it so miserable and be lonely upstairs!") I think the boys are getting to her. They so want to do what she is doing. I can't wait until she goes to school and has a little bit of time away from everyone.

She also got up to use the potty late last night and forgot to open the lid before she sat down and peed. Icky.

Do you think I could use this with my Sunday school class this year? We're learning about the Old Testament.

Safire

Sunday Question of the Week

Everyone,

This week's question on the Multiples and More blog was a fun one!  The question is:


"Tell us your 5 FAVORITE blogs- and they don't have to be multiple mom blogs either!"



Now I read a lot of blogs.  Frankly, I read a lot more blogs than I ever comment on.  I believe this is called "lurking".  I don't mind being a lurker.  I only comment on the blogs I really like or if I have something to say.  I also read my blogs in a reader which I think kills the commenting too.  I have all my blogs seperated out into catagories.  I'll list my catagories and one of my favorite blogs in it. 

IRL Blogs (or In Real Life, basically people I've met in real life)
Clio-  I met Karen online when we were both trying to have babies and journaling on the iParenting website.  Before the big blog craze hit and everyone had one.  We had to apply to write there and everything.  But then blogs hit and the site died and we moved onto our own blogs.  We've stayed in touch through our blogs and last year we got to meet in person.  We both love books, reading, and dogs.  She was nice enough to dog sit Soot while we drove across the country for an hour or so while we went sight seeing.  I love seeing her posts about her cute Evie and reading her thoughts on adoption.

Maryland Bloggers (or people who live in Maryland who blog, like me)
Chicken Nuggets of Wisdom- DiPaola Momma is seriously funny.  I love her Fit Pitchin' Fridays and how she calls all of her followers "Nuggetiers".  She's also super sweet in person and throws an awesome party.

Shopping Blogs (or blogs that have anything to do with money)
TattooAstronomy- For those who use Swagbucks, you should recognize this sight.  For those who don't, WHY AREN'T YOU?  Seriously, free money for doing a few searches a day!  Who wouldn't want that?  I always jump when I see there's a post from this blog because that means I've either missed a swag code (another way to earn swagbucks) or there's some important information about Swagbucks.  Seriously you guys, join up!  It's how I paid for a lot of Christmas this year and how I'm probably going to save up and get a Flip camera...for free!

Twin Blogs (or blogs that have anything to do with multiples of any kind)
The Isoms-  My friend from my church recommended I read her blog when I was pregnant with the boys.  The were friends or roommates...I can't remember which.  In any case, Jen has twins plus a singleton and is wicked funny.  Just looking at her blog header makes me giggle...The Whitest People in Miami.  I want to meet her one day and let our children run wild together.  Because I get the feeling they would.

Ward Members (or people at my church who have blogs)
Better in Bulk- Lolli is one of my bestest pals.  She manages to blog every day and I never feel like it's the slow dribble that I put up on my page.  Plus, she often posts cute pictures of my kids or family!  She is also my local photographer.  We talk a few times a week on the phone, as well as do a little preschool together, and read each other's blogs every day.  I always check to see if she's written anything very first thing.

Not Catagorized (or things that I just haven't put into catagories...there has to be at least 30 blogs in that list but most only post sporatically)
MommyKnows- I don't remember where I started reading her but I love reading!  She has a 4 year old that I'm sure would be best buds with my 4 year old.  She lives in Canada and I am in awe of her amazing pictures this winter.  She does a bunch of simple crafts that I always think I could pull off but then remember that I have zero free time on my hands sometimes.  We have a big thing in common...we both love SNOW!  I am jealous of all the snow business that goes on with her family and maybe one day we'll live in a place that snows more than 3 times a year.

Whew, this was harder than I thought.  And it took longer because I got sucked into other blogs I enjoy reading but didn't post.  Now you know what I do during nap time!

Safire 

 

 

 

Snippits

Everyone,

I've been working hard on the kids' year videos. You know, pictures and movies set to music. I just finished Butterfly's 3 year old video yesterday (yay!) and I realized that I have NO movies of her in it. Time to save up for a flip camera.

Juice went on a cleaning spree today. He vacuumed upstairs and down and decluttered our bedroom. I helped him with that one. It took us over 2 hours, 4 trips to the attic, and one really big bag of garbage but the floor is now decluttered. Next job, all the flat surfaces in there!

We finally pulled out all of our Little People that we put away to get ready for Christmas. I think the Christmas toys have been incorporated enough that we have the room for the rest of it. The kids are acting like it's Christmas all over again. Love it!

My parents got the boys some little door frames for Christmas and Juice has built them a little house area. It's so cute to see them ask each other to come in and cook and clean in there. Not so cute, the shoving out of the house. This is why we have two. Thanks Mom and Dad!

We all spent some much needed time at the park above our house this afternoon. It was 50 degrees today and none of us had coats on. We did have to drag Pirate into the house kicking and screaming though. That kid sure does love being outside!

Safire

Give Me Your Best Shot--Butterfly

Everyone,

This is a shot of Butterfly playing with my Nana's old fans.  She absolutely loved them at the funeral and almost cried when we had to leave them behind.  Luckily all my aunts and uncles were enamored with her and these fans that they sent one home with us.

This girl and her eyes, though!  The long, thick, dark lashes!  The exact match to Juice's color that changes from a light brown to golden brown to olive green and every color in between.  They are frequently dark with frustration, or alight with delight.  Between these beautiful eyes and her one deep dimple, I think we're going to have a run for our money when she's older!


Playing along with my good friend Lolli at Better in Bulk.

   Safire

Learning from Others

Everyone,

Last week while we were in Utah, my nephew Cappy spent a lot of time with us. Cappy is only a few weeks older than my boys.

He was a ham with his faces he does on command and his little voice pipping around the house. He also gave me a few heart attacks by sliding down the stairs. His hands would slam on each step as he came down. It sounded like someone was falling down the stairs every time. My boys have long since given up sliding down the stairs backwards so it's not a sound I'm used to hearing.

One thing that I noticed while we were there was a sudden blossoming of Pirate and his words. It seemed like he only needed to be around Cappy for about 2 days and then he suddenly started chatting away. He's my boy that doesn't really talk much. At all. But now he says a ton of things!

Mommy (this was something they both learned from Cappy and it's so cute!)
dog
apple
Nana
Grandpa
Daddy

This list may be small, but it's big for him. Also, he now has a constant stream of babble while he does stuff. It's very cute.

So thanks Cappy! Peer pressure is awesome!

Safire

Facebook Last Month

Everyone,

Because I can't think of something better to say today, here are my facebook updates for the month of December.

Just finishing buying up the last of her Christmas presents and didn't spend any money! How did I do that? By getting free amazon gift cards from Swagbucks! Are you swagging yet? Join in and get free money too. Check my home page for a link!

Who wants a Christmas card? Speak now or miss seeing my kids this year.

SNOW!! Big wet flakes. The first snow of the season!

My hands smell like chocolate!

People say there is a big storm coming. Is it, really?

Thinks ward Christmas parties with twin toddlers is overrated. :P

Thinks Christmas card envelopes should taste better.

Need a babysitter on Friday night!

Snow? Really, maybe?

Awesome awesome snow storm! Just got back from a date and the roads are killer (since no one knows what to do) but we have at least 2 inches of the cruchy stuff. Love it!

19 inches and still going!

Snow pictures on my blog. Go to my profile for the link!

Had a great time sledding this morning and now off to see the Christmas Lights!

Delaying writing in my blog and I don't know why.

Lost a stocking stuffer! Ack! Found it about an hour later.

Off to an MNO! Can't wait!

Back from Mt. Vernon and I am tired!

I think I use exclamation points too much. Huh...

Looks like a pretty good month to me. Lots of snow, Christmas, free stuff, times out with friends...just what a December should be.

Safire

PS- See my puppy on Lolli's blog!

Rough Day

Everyone,

I think I found a good reason to drive across the country from now on. Yes, it took many days. Yes, there was a lot more screaming. But everyone seemed to gradually move back into the right time zone.

Yesterday they all went to sleep right away because, well, it was almost 11pm when we got them to bed.

It's 10pm now and they are still up. GO TO SLEEP CHILDREN! They've been in their beds since 7pm. They have bounced, rocked, cried, laughed, chucked their blankets, sneezed, slimed, sighed, talked, any almost everything they can do without going to sleep.

Hopefully they will sleep soon because I am so tired it's not even funny. I think yesterday took more out of me than I thought. We did nothing today but it feels like we did everything. Both Juice and I are cross and cranky. No one slept enough!

Also, the kids all have runny noses and a nasty cough. Yay for the first sickness of 2010! I just hope that they didn't get ear infections from the plane rides.

Safire

Home Sweet Home

Everyone,

First there was a car (and Juice shoved in the back with the luggage).

Then there was an escelator and a lot of walking.

Next came a plane.  A very full plane.  A plane they sprayed with de-icing stuff before we took off.

Then came some more walking.

Followed by yet another plane.  This one not so full.  Everyone got to have their own seat! 

This plane took forever.  It got dark.  The sun set while we were in the air.  Professor slept a lot.  The others, not so much.

Then came a lot of walking. 

Two more escalators and some moving walk ways.

Then a train.

Then a different train.  Which was going REALLY slow. 

Then some walking and waiting outside in 20 degree weather. 

Then a bus.

Finally, the last 2 blocks and our house! 

Bliss.

Safire

Sunday Pictures, take 15

Everyone,

Pictures from the funeral.

In my religion, we do not view death as a horribly sad thing. I think that life continues after we pass away. It's just in a different place than here. We got together to celebrate her life. And we enjoy getting together as a family. It was pretty amazing to have all my cousins together in one place.
See, here are all my cousins in birth order. My brother in the back, and the youngest in the front. Can you see me?

I'm glad I have the family I do. Each person brings such a unique strength to each other. I hope this isn't the last time my cousins are all together.

Safire

In Memory

Everyone,

This was written by my dad in memory of his mother.  I've taken out the names, of course.

Our Father in Heaven has called home “a voice of fire” to sing in his heavenly choir. My Nana passed away peacefully Utah on New Year's Eve. Her passing leaves a void in our lives. Nana was born today in 1929 in England. Early in her life, music called and defined her for most of her life. She grew up in a harsh environment in pre-World War II England. Her father left the family when she was just a young girl, but her mother remained constant in her life. When Nana was 11 she joined the LDS Church.  Nana met Grandpa, from Utah, while he was serving a mission in England. After she immigrated to the US, he courted her and they were married in the Salt Lake Temple. They had 5 children and lived most of their married life in Utah. After she married, music still wove itself through her life. She sang in many productions, choirs and groups over the years, but the peak of her musical experience was singing with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. When she auditioned for the Choir, the director at the time commented that she had a “voice of fire,” which aptly described the power and emotion she could bring to any music. She did not have much formal training, so it all came from her heart and her God-given talent. During her time with the Choir, she sang on the Grammy-award winning recording of the Battle Hymn of the Republic. In addition to the music, she made a career in the medical profession, working as a medical or dental assistant for several physicians and dentists. She is survived by her 4 sons, 18 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband, parents, 2 sisters and infant daughter.

Safire

Busy Day

Everyone,

Today was a busy day. I spent the morning at the grocery store with my mom. It's fun to talk and push carts around and talk about the up coming week or the past week with her. I bought some socks for Butterfly and some more wipes. Yes, I forgot to bring any more socks for Butterfly than the ones she had on. Oops.

After the store and some lunch, I went to the big outdoor store with my dad. We looked around at a few things and I bought myself some new pants. I was down to one pair of pants so I really needed some more. Although now I'm not happy about having to take them back with me!

We were able to get everyone ready for the viewing tonight and we made it there on time. Everyone was talking about how bad traffic is and to make sure we left on time. Uh, I hate to break it to you guys, but this traffic is nothing! Nothing! It was rush hour when we were driving through Salt Lake. It seemed like mid-day traffic in DC. Juice and I talked about how much DC has changed us now. We've been there long enough.

The viewing was nice. My Nana was looking good in her casket. Her nails were done in a pretty pink nail polish. The flowers were very beautiful. They had several tables set up with a few of her things and a bunch of pictures of her and my family. Butterfly discovered her fans on the tables and carried them around all evening. The boys were pretty good. Juice was awesome and kept tabs on them so I could talk to my family. Then my cousin Bee came with her parents and helped Juice out. So helpful!

Butterfly was very excited to see everyone. She almost bowled over a few of my cousins that she's seen maybe twice in her life. But she was happy to see them! She also told everyone why we were here. "We're here to see Great Nana's body. She died. Her spirit is gone." She's asked a lot of questions about death the past few days and it's been interesting to figure out what to tell her.

She was also very interested in looking at Nana's body. She asked me why she wasn't breathing and if she would ever sit up again. She asked Juice why she was holding flowers. She pointed out Nana's nail polish. She really wants to stay through the whole funeral tomorrow and hear "all the scriptures and all the prayers." Okay then.

I really had a nice time seeing all my cousins and aunts and uncles. My aunt has twin boys too and she and I had a great talk about the fun of having boy twins. I was also able to see my great aunt and uncle who lived in Maryland when her kids were small. My other grandparents came as well as several members from my mom's side of the family. I did not think we were going to be able to come to Utah this year so this is a nice treat for me.

As far as a funeral goes, I guess.

Anyway, we left the viewing and the boys fell asleep in the car almost instantly. Professor even fell asleep with out his binkie which was huge. Butterfly pointed out all 5 temples we saw on our drive and played "I Spy" with us on the way home. She is really congested and sounds very gravelly when she talks. It's very cute to hear her little voice crack when she gets excited.

I played photographer for my dad tonight so I have no pictures to share with you. (Plus, my lapple is getting an upgrade!) Hopefully I'll be able to share something with you tomorrow. Until then.

Safire

Time with Family

Everyone,

I spent this morning with my parents.  We tried to go out to breakfast at the cool outdoor store but they don't open until 10am.  My kids can't wait that long for food!  So we ended up at a burger place and enjoyed ourselves. 

My BFF Mink and her two girls, Spider and Fair, came over and we had a fun afternoon playing with them.  My nephew Cappy came to spend the afternoon too.  So we had Butterfly, Spider, Cappy, Pirate, Professor, and Fair all running around.  Fun!  We had lunch together and then the boys went to down for their naps.  Mink and her kids and Butterfly and my Mom all went to the furniture store and wandered around.  We got the girls ice cream cones.  I got Butterfly a night light for here since she says it's too dark to go potty at night.

Speaking of night, Professor woke me up 3 times crying.  He just wanted to be reassured where he was.  The Butterfly woke me up snoring.  She has a cold and I'm sad I couldn't see my sister in law tonight!

We did see Juice's family tonight and that was awesome.  The kids had a great time playing with their cousins.  I talked to Flower and I miss having her at my house.  She'll have to come again soon!

I feel like I've been running hard all day long so I'm off to bed.  More running tomorrow and hopefully some pictures!

Safire

I Just Flew In from Maryland

Everyone,

Boy are my arms tired!  Seriously...I have one bouncy 20 month old boy named Pirate.  And he bounced for a good hour on the plane today.  Lucky me.  I'm exhausted from being up at 3am and not napping at all so this will be short. 

The Goods:
Absolutely no line at security.  We were able to preboard both our flights and got tons of overhead room.  On our flight to Arizona, the plane was empty where we were.  We had 2 rows all to ourselves.  The kids were able to lay down and nap.  The kids were great with the toys we brought and Butterfly didn't even complain about her movie player and it's randomness (more on that later).  Most everyone was understanding of us and ALL of our stuff and kids.  We made it on time, spent a nice evening with my parents.  We had pork roast which is my favorite meal my dad cooks.  Nice to know I am loved.  :)  I bought new jeans and chapstick. 


The Bads:
It took us FOREVER to get through security.  Good thing there was no one behind us.  It is hard to get 3 little people out of their coats and shoes, all 3 of our bags plus 5 backpacks onto the x-ray belt and then back on on the other side.  On the way to Arizona, I had just gotten Professor to sleep on me and I was dozing off.  I heard a tiny voice next to me, "Mommy, wake up!  I need to go potty!"  Ugh...That woke me and Professor up for the rest of the trip and it made me beyond exhausted.  The flight was full to Salt Lake.  I had Pirate this time and he just jumped and jumped and jumped.  Also, hauling 3 kids, 3 bags, 5 back packs and trying to juggle tickets is awful.  I am not doing this again.  I could have only brought half the stuff I brought and survived.

Still, I survived anyway.  The kids ate early and went to bed early.  Hopefully that means they won't be up at 3 or 4 in the morning.  I'm enjoying being at my parents' house and having them there to see all the cute things about my kids in person!  It's one thing to write about them all the time, it's another to actually enjoy the kiddos in real time.

K, falling asleep.  Night!

Safire   

Reminders for Me

Everyone,

A list (I am good at making those!) to me about our little trip.

-Go to bed early!  When you have to be up by 3:30am, it's nice to go to bed around 9pm. 
-Do not stress that your only pair of winter church shoes ripped open on Sunday.  You can actually go to the store and buy things at a physical store.  The internet is not your friend when you have a close deadline.  Also, if you do not find something, realize that your mother has this week off and might love to go shoe shopping with you.  Possibly your Nana too.
-Do not stress that the only pair of jeans you own ALSO ripped.  (Juice got clothes for Christmas...maybe I should have asked for some too?)  Knees don't really feel cold, right?  Edited to add: Yes they do!  New jeans in my future.  See above for information about shopping.
-Do try to remember everything you need to remember.  It will be early when you leave.  Get everything ready tonight.
-Do not try to clean the entire house before you go.  You can leave the house messy.  You can clean when you get home.  Stop using your new steam cleaner for a few days.  The thing needs a break!  And you don't have to sanitize the house right now.
-Do try and finish the laundry today, however.  There is nothing good about mildew smelling clothes in your washer when you come home.
-Find time to give Juice a back rub.  He is using his vacation to shelp you and the kids across the country so you can spend time with your family and hasn't complained about it yet.  Nice guy.  Gold star for him.

Safire 

Not Me!

Everyone,

I thought I'd try something different this week and join in on MckMama's blog carnival called "Not Me Monday". Confessions of the things I didn't do today. Nope. Didn't do them.



I did not sleep in until after 8am today. Neither did Juice. He was not late in the slightest. And was not bothered by it since he's only working 2 days this week.

I did not make the kids play this morning instead of getting ready. Nope. I was on top of everything and was able to calmly walk out the door to run my 80 errands. I even made it home in time to give the kids a nice home cooked meal instead of eating fast food in the car. Again.

I did not decide to skip half of my errands in favor of nap time. And during that nap time, I was totally able to get phone calls made, deliveries stopped, and the house picked up. I did not spend most of my time reading my book and playing Zuma on the computer.

I did not bribe Butterfly into going to her dance lesson tonight. I also did not threaten to stop all kinds of lessons (swimming included) if she would just get off the floor and put her dance clothes on! I also was able to run a few errands during Butterfly's dance class. I did not just sit and talk to my friend the whole time.

I did not burn dinner and make it inedible. I did not spend my dinner time getting little boys ready for bed and into bed instead of eating. I did not keep remembering my to do list and stewing over how much I had to do before I left. I did not make myself sick to my stomach over it and decide that eating is over rated anyway.

I left my 4 year old at home so she could get a good night's sleep. I did not keep her out until 9 o'clock at night running errands with me because she wanted to pick out something special for the trip. I did not spend the rest of my cash savings on frivolous trip toys that will be lost and forgotten once we get off the plane.

I did not try and stuff everything we need for 6 days and 5 people into 3 carry ons. I did not give myself a head ache while packing. I kept on task and was able to focus on one person at a time and make sure that all the essentials are included. I did not curse under my breath when I realized that we had lost Butterfly's headphones. Nor did I tear my clean house apart looking for those headphones. Nor am I going to go to the store tomorrow and BUY new ones because I just can't look for them anymore! Because Butterfly is totally going to wear the ones that hook over your ears. They are so comfortable!

I did not stay up way too late trying to pack and not finish. I have not re-counted my to do list 4 times and add two more things to it, bringing the total to 9. I did not just count my packing list. I have tons of room and surely I can fit 35 more things into a small bag. And it's not going to be a pain to haul this, plus children with no stroller, through the airport.

I am so ready to go.

Safire

Question of the Week

Everyone,

I figured you would not be interested in my obsessive list making for our trip (3 so far, 2 in their second draft) that I would ask and answer a question.

This week's question to be answered is from the Multiples and More blog. It asks, "What are some of your favorite winter activities?"



We are very outdoorsy people here. We LOVE the outdoors in the winter. Most of all, we love sledding, snowman making, and general snow frolicking. I think if we had enough snow to warrant proper snow gear, we would be outside all day long on snow days.

When we've had enough of snow or we don't have any, we love doing the following:

-books...you can't go wrong with books! We have a ton.
-car racing
-indoor parades...Butterfly is our drum major and we march around the house
-extra long baths...sometimes it's just fun to have super long baths and splash all over
-movies...we are big movie people here but the kids are only allowed to watch one a day
-games...board games, wii games, silly games, computer games, you name, we play it
-library trips
-museum trips...one awesome thing about living in the DC area is all the cool museums!
-free play

Honestly I think my kids do more free play than anything. I often get them started on something and let them have at it. Then I break up the inevitable fights.

So here's my question to ask:

Has anyone used the Kid Tough DVD player? I bought one for Butterfly for this trip and I'm wondering if I should get 2 more for the boys. They are pretty expensive so I'm wondering if it would be worth it for the boys.

Safire

Changes

Everyone,

This is a picture of my dad and my boys. They are all playing the Wii and loving it.

This was in October when my parents were here for their annual visit to us. This was the visit that the kids ended up totally sick and we hardly did anything but play on the Wii and hold sick babies. It's a good thing my parents come often and have seen a ton out here!

Anyway, since this picture has been taken, there has been a change. To my Dad. He is now an orphan. My grandpa died in 2004. And on New Year's Eve, my grandma passed away. She had a stroke. So now my Dad is parent-less.

We are off to the funeral in a few days. I'll be taking my computer along to (hopefully) be able to blog while we are there. Until then, I am stressing (slightly) about flying with these boys. Anyone have any tips to deal with 20 month old twins on a 5+ hour flight?

Safire

Friday Photos

Everyone,

Here's a picture from our trip to Mt. Vernon. They had the whole mansion done up in gingerbread.

My favorite part is the bald eagle in the tree.

So cute!

Safire

PS- This is my 777th post!