$45 Giveaway

Everyone,

We got our extra set of kitchen chairs from CSN stores this summer.  They are great.

What would you be looking for?  I am still browsing those dining sets and dreaming of the day when we can get a great one.

Want 45 dollars to buy something fun at CSN stores? Here's your chance! Leave me a comment telling me what you would buy with the 45 dollars if you win.

Giveaway runs until 10pm EST on Halloween! Comment as many times as you would like.
Happy Commenting!
Safire

PS- Also posted on my main blog...Waterfalling Up.

It's My Party

Everyone,
Today we went here:

(Baltimore for those who don't know.)

And rode this:

And we saw this:

All because of my birthday!
Presents are a part of a birthday celebration so I thought I'd invite all of you to join the party!  You have a chance to win a $45 gift card from CSN Stores.  They have EVERYTHING.  You can get modern bedding, kitchen chairs (like we did a few weeks ago) or even luggage.  You would have a whole $45 to spend on whatever!
Just leave a comment on here telling me what you would like to get.  (It might also be polite to wish me a happy birthday, seeing as how it IS my birthday today.)
As a bonus entry, you can go vote for my picture at Parenting By Dummies.  I'm a finalist!  Just come back after you vote and comment to let me know how much you love my picture.  Oh, be sure to say that you voted too!
Contest ends one week from today, September 20th.  I will announce the winner on the 21st.  And you can come back and comment (and vote!) once a day until next Monday.
Happy Commenting!
Safire
PS- You might come back tomorrow for ANOTHER present.  And the next day for another.  Because I want to give away 3 presents for each decade.  :)

Breakfast Nooks

Everyone,

We have a weirdly shaped kitchen.  When you walk into the kitchen from our dining room, it's almost like you're walking through a small hallway and then, bam!  The kitchen opens up to the left of you.  On the right, it's filled with things like a refrigerator, a stove and cabinets.  To the front, more cabinets and a sink.  Plus a nice window.  And beyond that, our washer and dryer.  But to your left?  Nothing.  Just a wall.  And a corner.  And a non working phone jack that we hide with the calendars my mom makes us every year.  (LOVE those things.)

Currently in that space is our garbage cans.  But I've often thought of doing something different with that space.  Either putting more cabinets in there or one of these:


Doesn't it look so cute? Now all I need is a really nice sunny window there in my own house (har har har) and it will look stunning. And when I put that in there, I'm going to take apart my dining room and make it into a play room. And while I'm at it, let's put in a new beautiful floor.  One that doesn't have nails sticking up.  And maybe paint the house fun colors.  Sigh...there just seems to be not enough space in this house, or money in my pockets all of a sudden!

Safire

PS- Also posted on my new site: Waterfalling Up.

Dining Room Woes

Everyone,
We bought our current dining room table at a garage sale in Utah. Actually, I think my grandma bought it for us as a wedding present. It was $80 and we had to bargain for the fourth chair. When we were first married, it was a lot of table! We used it partly as a shelf and partly as a dining area.

It did not survive the move across the country well. But Juice had a bunch of free time on his hands. So with a little wood glue and some clamps and screws, it was a good table again. Butterfly joined us at the table when she was around 2 years old and didn't want to sit in her high chair any more. She's painted, colored, craft-ed, on that table. So have I!

People would come to visit us and we would always have to pull out our camp chairs to fit everyone around the table. No big deal since then the visitors would leave and we would put away the chairs.

Now that Flower is here for the summer, our table chair situation has become dire. We have 4 chairs.

And four big people that need to use the chairs. And 2 two year olds that WANT to use the chairs.

 Even without Flower this would be a problem.

So we need new chairs! Juice even agreed we need more chairs! I'd like them to match (close approximation) to the ones we have. Honestly what I'd really love is a new dining room set. I have been saving money for one that I intend to buy at the Amish Market before we leave the area for good (no, we are NOT moving right now). I'd like something like this or like this.

But wait! I just found this one which would be ideal. Why? Because the chairs I have already match this one and then I would have extra chairs!


What's one thing that these dining room sets all have in common?  They all have benches. Juice's parents have a big table with benches on either side and I love it. You can cram a bunch of people on the benches and not have to worry about getting extra chairs.

But until I have the money for that, I'll make do with 2 new chairs.

Safire

PS- Also posted at my new site: www.waterfalling-up.com

Dreaming

Everyone,

This morning I was sitting on the edge of the bath tub brushing my teeth and my mind wandered over to our bathroom vanity. I had 2 minutes to kill so I started dreaming about actually re-doing the bathroom and getting rid of the crappy vanity.

Our house was built in 1974. How do I know this? Because there is a very old piece of paper from the original inspector shellacked to the inside of that vanity. So if the vanity was new in 1974, you can only imagine what it looks like. It’s dark brown. The cupboard door does not stay shut by itself. It’s held shut by a baby lock. (Double duty! Keeps kids out and stuff in!) The counter top (the tiny amount we have) is creamy tan with flecks of shiny stuff generously sprinkled through out. The sink is starting to rust (slightly) and we’ve already replaced the faucet and hardware because it was squirting straight up.

After I was done with my teeth, I thought I’d search different bathroom vanities and see what I came up with. Just dreaming, since we’re done improving this house. But I can dream at least! Here’s what I found:

I really like this one. I love the old fashion pump look and the raised bowl. Although it would take some getting used to to have the water coming out of the side than the front!

I like this one too. I may have a thing for raised bowls in the bathroom. Juice thinks I’m crazy, but I just love the look! Sadly, I see a few things wrong with this one for us again. It would be too hard to child lock and under those legs would be a trap for toys and hair and whatnot.

This is the one I would buy if we were swimming in money. It would probably fit into the alcove that the sink sits in our bathroom now. It’s all the way to the floor and looks like it has a generous cupboard under the sink. Plus, the sink sticks out a little and I like that! There is even a good amount of counter space which is what Juice wants in the bathroom.

Of course, if I was swimming in money, we’d have a whole new house with a proper yard and a basement and a large playroom and my own horses and barn near the well stocked pond. Good dreams…

What are you dreaming about?

Safire

PS- Reposted from my new site: www.waterfalling-up.com

Moving Day!

Everyone,

I am pleased to announce the Grand (re) Opening of my blog!  You can check out our new permanent home on the we:

Waterfalling Up

Please please please stop on by.  This week will be a week full of giveaways and fun stuff for you.  It's also kind of a learning curve week for me as I fix the bugs that are there and get it running smoothly. 

I will no longer be updating this blog as of today.  So please, change your book marks, change your feeds, and join me on the other side!

Safire

PS- This site will still be up for awhile, but eventually will fade away.  You'll want to join me on the new blog if not for the giveaways, but for Butterfly's 5th birthday tomorrow!

Baby Reunion

Everyone,

I don't talk a lot about our infertility struggles (hardly at all) because I choose not to talk about them here. Needless to say, we've had struggles, and we've had successes. Three of them!

My infertility clinic has a huge party every Saturday before Mother's Day to celebrate these successes. We always love to go see our friends and show off the kids.
Today had all the regular fare (love Marriott ham and muffin sandwiches!) and all the regular fun for the kids. This was the first year that Pirate and Professor participated in the face painting. They got balloons on their arms. Butterfly had 2 butterflies painted...one on her hand which got washed off during a potty trip, and one on her arm.

We left with very tired kids and 3 teddy bears to add to our collection.

We had a great time at this year's reunion!

Safire

Blueberry Bushes, a Stitch, Throw Up, Oh My!

Everyone,

Where to begin? Well, let's start with Lolli's picture meme. No, let's start with an announcement! My new blog is almost almost finished. Sunday is the day I will unveil it in a grand (re) opening. And what is a grand (re) opening without prizes?! I have a whole week's worth lined up for you guys. Be excited. I have some AWESOME things to win too.



Now, on to Lolli's picture meme:



See what we bought today? I am SO excited to try and grow blueberries. We've got the pots and now we have the plants. Hopefully we'll have blueberries through the summer. I'm a little nervous because I haven't had a great track record growing things. Hopefully these will thrive and we'll be enjoying a few freshly grown berries from our own back yard.

Earlier in the day, I decided to cut up some avocado. While I was cutting, with my new awesome knives, Professor came running into the kitchen and slammed into my legs. Which made me loose my grip on the avocado. So instead of cutting the avocado, I cut my finger. Deeply.

Juice was on his way home (I love early Fridays) and my neighbor Lala came over to watch the kids while they napped. Juice drove me (bleeding) to the urgent clinic. The doctor was very nice, cleaned me up, and looked at the finger. Because of the pressure I had been putting on it, the wound was very neat looking. He cleaned it up, wrapped it up, and sent us on our way.

We bought the bushes, went to the store, and got some more gauze for my finger. In the course of these errands, my finger bled off and on. So much so that I soaked through the gauze (hence the new gauze at the store).

Once we pulled off the soaked gauze, the wound looked terrible. It had opened and was all jagged. It also moved funny when I moved my finger. Rats. I went back to the doctor. He took one look at it, poked it more, and declared it needed a stitch. Cleaned, numbed (by a cream), and sewn together once. He then put some wound closure tape on it and told me to come back if it bleeds a lot.

That adventure over, I came home and helped put the kids to bed. About half an hour later, we hear, "Mommy Daddy! Pirate threw up!"

Uh-oh. Wow I didn't know how much stuff his stomach could hold. One clean bed, one clean boy and one long snuggle later, and one sleeping boy. Poor kid.

I am beat. My finger hurts. And hopefully those blueberry bushes will be still green tomorrow!

Safire

Gift Giving From Twins

Everyone,

The boys were invited to a birthday party.  It's their first birthday party for a "friend" (they are newly 2, how friendly can they be?)  We ran to the store to get presents and suddenly I was confronted with a huge dilemma.  One gift or two?!  So I left the store without getting anything and asked the lovely people of twitter what they thought I should do.  I had 6 people respond...3 for one present from both boys and 3 for 2 presents from each boy. 

So what's the right thing to do?

There are a few things you should consider when giving gifts from twins:

1. The age of birthday child.
2. Your budget.
3. The nature of the invitation.

Now both boys and Butterfly were invited to this party.  It's a joint birthday for a friend of Butterfly's and the friend's baby brother.  Who happens to be a week younger than my boys.  We are going to a bounce house play place and they are giving us dinner.

In the end, I decided to get the birthday boy 2 presents, one from each of my boys.  What brought me to this decision?  Really it came down to this:

• If I want people to view my twins as two separate people (and I do), I also need to treat them as two separate people.  

I thought about it from a singleton mom's point of view inviting twins to a party.  If I needed to have a head count of the party goers, I would count the twins as 2 separate people.  Not one.  I would have a gift bag and treats for 2 people, not just one.  The only thing I would probably do for them singularly would be to send the invitation. 

So we'll be headed off to the party this afternoon with 2 gifts for the birthday boy.

What would you do?

Safire

Thankfulness

Everyone,

At the park yesterday there was a pair of toddlers wearing matching shirts. I went hunting down their mom because here was another twin mommy! I first approached her friend (who was watching a toddler of her own on the slide) who pointed me in the direction of their mom. Their mom was sitting on the side with her iphone out. The friend informed me that the twins and her boy were 21 months old. Twin Mommy had brought their nanny along to the park. When I saw Twin Mommy again (kids pulled me away), she was on the playground talking. After saying hello and pointing out my boys, I made some kind of light hearted joke about how fun it was to be at the park with twins. (Being slightly sarcastic, of course. Being at the park with twins is tough work.)

She looked at me over her sunglasses and made this noise in her throat. Then she said, "Well I have help." She walked away from me pulling out her phone. My mouth hanging open.

I'm not sure why I was shocked. I mean, I had seen them there with their nanny. She probably had a job and was taking time out of working to spend time at the park with her sons. I just don't know why she didn't spend that time WITH her sons and let the nanny do all the work.

Yes having twins is hard work. Yes going to the park with them at this age gives me a huge headache. Yes I've watched them climb up ladders and get stuck. I've had to climb into small slides to rescue them. I'm frequently running across the park to save someone from certain death. I think I end up being more tired than they are after a park trip.

But I don't get it when people aren't mentally checked in to their kids. Is it too hard to put the phone away for an hour and be with them? She missed her boys waving at my boys and a super cute twin moment. I hope she doesn't miss other things.

I am grateful to her, however. This reminded me to be more checked in with my own kids. I watched Pirate sit quietly and watch the older boys playing with their back hoe toys and nicely ask to play. I watched them welcome him in and his face light up. I watched Professor climb all the way to the top of the play structure and look back at me and say, "Hi Mommy! Look me!" I watched Butterfly learning to make new friends by telling them, "Hi, I'm 4! I'm Butterfly! Want to play?" and how much fun she had ordering these kids around (the little empress). I listened as she proudly said that she had 2 brothers the exact same age and the happy glow she got when the kids were suitably awed. I watched Professor wave good bye to everything...tree, slide, tunnel, flowers, grass, port-a-potty, etc. I watched Pirate's little legs pumping as fast as they would let him go to try and catch up to the big kids.

They sure are amazing. I am so lucky.

Safire

Today Was an Outside Day

Everyone,

This morning was horrible. The kids were NOT listening, not being good, and trying to break things again. The boys had 4 or 5 time outs before 9am. I wanted to put them back into their beds and just call it a day after they put all their cereal in the dog water and then smeared it all over the walls.

There was no mommy time this morning. Meaning I didn't get my exercise in for the day. I barely got into the shower when I heard screaming from the other side of the door. I actually like the screaming because then I know where they are. They are standing right outside the door, unhappy, but not getting into mischief.

Trouble makers.

When I had a moment to look at my email, I saw my friends from church were meeting at a park to play. I wrestled all three kids into clothes (Butterfly didn't want to go. She was having "too much fun at hooommme!") and shoved them in the car with water and snacks.

We stayed at the park for almost 3 hours. Butterfly cried when we got in the car to leave. She really wanted to go back to that park and play with her new friends. We had chicken nuggets for lunch with a friend. Butterfly spent most of the boys' nap time outside running in the front yard with Soot. Then dinner. After, we spent another hour outside.

They stopped ruining the house. They stopped driving me crazy. They picked me wild flowers and discovered ants. Butterfly tried to climb trees and ran back and forth with Soot. It's so much less stressful outside.

It would be good to remember sunscreen for me though. My nose is burned.

Safire

Screaming and an Ouch

Everyone,

This morning we had to take the boys to the blood draw lab. I set up appointments for them online (love that I can do that at 10pm on a Saturday night) around the time I thought we could make it and Juice could still make his 10am meeting this morning. Because there is no way I'm taking all 3 kids to the lab by myself.

It was raining. The kids slept in because it was dark. I ended up having to WAKE them up and throw them in the car to make it on time. Luckily, because they were sleeping, I was able to make up our super healthy "chocolate" shake (with no chocolate in it) for them to drink in the car.

We had the whole waiting room to ourselves when we got there. Pirate needed 2 tests, and Professor needed 6. They told me they may not be able to draw all the blood they need because he's so tiny. So we decided to start with him. I brought in a few cars for him to play with. He was very happy to drive them over the arm rest bar while the tech prepped for his test. He was great with the arm band restriction. And then she stuck him. He started screaming. The tech had to almost lay on his arm while I held him down so she could get 3 tubes from him. Hopefully that will be enough blood. I heard Pirate in the waiting room saying "Uh oh! Uh oh!" while Professor was screaming. He stop screaming the moment she offered him a sticker. He was very happy to leave the room and go sit in the waiting room with Daddy and sister, cradling his "owchie!"

Pirate also drove his cars across the arm rest and helped the tech poke his arm to find a vein in his arm. She stuck him and all he said was, "ow." No screaming, no trying to pull away. Just "ow." He was also pleased with his sticker.

Juice said that Butterfly told the waiting room that she wanted to have her blood drawn too and it was not fair that the boys got their arms poked and she didn't.

But what was fair was the trip to Krispy Kreme right after. Both boys would not straighten their arms and only wanted to scrape the chocolate glaze off their doughnuts. But I thought it was a great treat after being poked.

Once we got home, I asked them to show their owies to the camera and this is what we got:
I don't think Professor has a very high pain tolerance. Poor guy. But aren't their pjs so cute?!

Safire

Question of the Week: Splurge!

Everyone,

This week's question of the week at Moms of Multiples site is about splurging.





What item do you splurge on?  Why this item?

I've been sitting on the couch pondering this question while the kids spin each other on the computer chair.  So what exactly is "splurge?"  The dictionary says that it means to "to indulge oneself in some luxury or pleasure, esp. a costly one" or "to spend (money) lavishly or ostentatiously."  Honestly, I rarely indulge in something for myself.  I will buy expensive stuff when it comes to my kids.

And the one place that I really spend money on?  Travel.  We travel 2000 miles every year to see our family that lives in Utah.  That's a lot of miles to go with very small kids!  So I make sure that I have all the right equipment to make the travel go as smooth as possible.  Head rests for the kids in the car?  Yep.  A special cool travel tray for Butterfly to be able to draw in the car?  Yep.  Toys and books and games to keep them occupied?  Oh yeah.

Right now the thing I've been thinking of splurging on are these ride on suitcases.  There are 2 things stopping me from splurging.  1- My kids will fight over them for sure and I don't think I want to buy 3 of them, let alone handling 3 through the airport!  2- Butterfly is very tall and I don't think she would be able to use it.  Then she would cry.  But it's an interesting idea.  I'll have to think about it some more.

After distance traveling, we love to do day trips.  Washington DC is an amazing place for day trips.  There is so much to see and do here!  And I try to make sure that we are able to do all those amazing things.  We joined the aquarium so we can go whenever we want.  That was a big splurge for us.  Most things in DC are free.  And in order to make those awesome day trips, I splurged on our amazing stroller.  This is the best stroller I could have ever imagined for our family.  It's so easy to push, so easy to pile things on, and so easy for Butterfly and friends to hop on and off the front.  A great splurge for us!

I like splurging on this kind of stuff because it allows me to travel comfortably.  And I love to travel!

Safire

Busy HOT Day

Everyone,

I don't know what happened to the weather but it got HOT all of a sudden. The morning was beautiful, but the rest of the day kept getting hotter and hotter. By tonight, we're all roasting and enjoying our first taste of mugginess. Which makes Juice rather cranky. Okay, everyone is rather cranky.

Butterfly has had one busy day. First off, she went to the Home Depot with Daddy and built a planter box. (They do free clinics the first Saturday of every month.) She was beyond thrilled that I actually had seeds and potting soil to put into her new platter. I even had enough for the boys to make their own little pots of growing stuff (although no cool planter). They were happy.

Then, Butterfly and I went off to a birthday party. This is one of many this month, as Butterfly has many many friends born in May! We went to a paint your own pottery place which was lots of fun. Butterfly and her friends made some pretty cute stuff. She painted a turtle brown and green and black.

We had to stop by a grocery store on the way home, and then had dinner. Everyone went to bed (the boys yelling "Buzz!" "Woody!" for their new cute pjs from Nana). Now I'm ready to spend my first night at home in about a week! Yay for movies!

Safire

Calphalon Review

Everyone,

A few weeks ago, I got a big package in the mail. I wasn't really expecting anything (I was actually not ordering stuff from the Internet if I could help it!) so I opened the box in anticipation. Surprise packages are always the best.

This box was an amazing gift too! I had signed up to review some pans from Calphalon but I hadn't heard back from them about when to expect them. So I was super excited about my brand new 10 inch omelet pan. (I had a picture but for some reason it's not loading. I'll try again later.) Here's the review I posted on their site:

"This pan is heavier than it looks! I was surprised at the heft. But it wasn't too heavy, it was a pleasant weight in my hand. After seasoning it (very easily washed and wiped with a little bit of oil) I promptly broke two eggs into. Perfect. The pan was the exact size I needed it to be, and the eggs came out great. Then I cooked two more eggs back to back to see what would happen. My old pan would have bits of eggs left over in the bottom, which would then burn. And then the second round of eggs would have bits of burned eggs through them. This did not happen AT ALL. I was so pleased that ALL of the eggs came out the first time and no residual was left to ruin the second batch.

Since that first day and the fabulous eggs, this pan has surprised me with its durability. It makes great grilled cheese, chicken, eggs, pork chops, etc. I have even warmed up pizza in it. (Works great!)

I don't find that the pan has any "hot spots" in it where some food heats unevenly. This sides are a good height for keeping food and liquid in but not too high that it's hard to pour out of.

The only thing this is missing is a lid. Thanks for making such a great product Calphalon!"

Also included in the package was something totally unexpected. An 8 inch chef's knife and a vegetable knife set. The vegetable knife set included a 3.5 inch paring knife and a 6 inch utility knife. And since they asked me to put a review on their site, I thought I'd just put it on here for you guys to read as well.

"These knives are so easy to use. They fit right into the palm of my hand and have a very nice grip. I have long fingers and I don't seem to be over shooting anything and they don't feel too small in my hands. They cut beautifully. It's almost amazing how well I now cut because of these knives. You can't go wrong with the quality. I love that you can see that the blade and the handle are all one piece. No more handles breaking off for us!

We have used it on everything. Strawberries, apples, pears, oranges, even raw and cooked meats. The clean up is easy, just toss in the dishwasher and you're done, until next time!"

We had been without a chef's knife for awhile (because Juice keeps breaking them) so I was excited to finally have one again. Here's that review:

"I was so excited when I got this knife in the mail. See, we had broken the last of our old cheep knives. Once we got to this last one (number 4 to be snapped off at the handle), I said we were going with quality this time! And this one IS quality.

So why do we keep breaking the knives? Well, my husband likes to cut up ice cream in the container to make it easy to serve. So you can imagine the stress that puts on a knife! The last 2 knives that we had, we had only had for about 6 weeks before they cracked. This one we've had for about a month and it still looks brand new.

Beyond ice cream, we've done a lot of chopping vegetables, potatoes, meats, and fruit. The handle is very nice in my hand, having a very good grip and weight. I like that you can see that the blade and the handle are one piece. This knife is quality!"

I've really enjoyed trying out these products from Calphalon. My pans are starting to show their wear and tear. My old omelet pan spins in a circle when you put it on my glass top stove and all the heat is concentrated on that one spot. So I'm happy to have a new, working pan to use! But I'm not throwing the old one out just yet. Calphalon has a recycling program. They ask you to put your old pans into the box they send you new pans in and they will happily recycle them for you. Now I know what I'm going to be saving my money up for, and my old pans!

Safire

Here's the legal disclaimer that says I was sent these products for free to review on the Calphalon site. This blog post is just extra because I thought you guys would like to hear about them!

Swim Lessons

Everyone,

Today at Butterfly's swim lessons, I sat in the lobby right next to the glass door and watched her swim. There is only one other boy in her swim class. I LOVE that ratio for swimming. We are taking them through the county. We lucked out on this class size though.

Because she has such a great class ratio, I've been watching her improve in every single lesson in huge leaps and bounds. This time I watched her propel herself across the pool (with the aid of a float held in front of her) and float on her back all by herself. She also was diving underneath the water to pick up rings on the pool floor.

She is LOVING swimming every week. I never have to force her to get ready like I used to with dance class. She walks to the pool happily (we live about half a mile from the pool) and walks home skipping and jumping. She did tell me today that dance class was fun at the end. And she always LOOKED like she was having a good time in class.

No matter. I'm liking the half hour or so to sit and read. I'm also liking the walk to and from the pool. We get to talk and she gets some serious one on one time with me. Of course, we have all of nap time without the boys too but that's my time to "work" and so she watches a movie.

She's changed her favorite color from orange back to purple. Random. That's what she woke me up at 6:15am to tell me this morning. I was NOT a happy camper. Because when she wakes up, so do the boys.

This color change is the reason I was dragging today and was not very productive at all. We at least survived the day and now, off to bed.

Safire

2 Year Old Check Up

Everyone,

Today was the boys 2 year old check up. They were so cute in the exam room waiting for the doctor. They were having hoping races across the room. This is a favorite game of theirs that they figured out on their own together. It's cute.

Pirate's stats: 27.7 lbs (50th %), 36 3/4th inches tall (110%), and 19 1/2 inch head. He shot up big time from last visit. They measured him twice because he is just so big. Long and skinny that one! He's meeting all of his milestones great, except for his speech. What he says:
Mommy
Daddy
puppy
bubbles
mine
no
sisser (sister)
uh-oh
a-ha
Hi
cheese

He doesn't say any words together. He's not mimicking any noises that we make. He does a lot of pointing and grunting and a lot of sign language. So. They are sending me back to the county speech place to get re-evaluated. He is also borderline anemic so they need to test his blood at the lab and see if he needs some kind of medication. The doctor said that he probably just needs a daily vitamin with iron in it and he should be fine. His scar from his surgery is healing nicely, and he's one happy healthy little guy. He did not see the inside of that office from his 18 month check to his 2 year check. Awesome!

Professor's stats: 22.2 lbs (off the bottom of the charts), 34 3/4 inches (50%) tall, 19 1/2 inches head. (This is the last time they measure their heads!) Obviously his weight is an issue. He is tiny. It's hard because I give him and Pirate the same foods but Professor will. not. eat. And it's not like I can shove it down his throat (although I've wanted to several times). The doctor said it looks like he is not getting enough calories. So. That means I have to start giving him whole fat everything. Milk, cream, butter, oil, etc. I'm supposed to add MORE of everything whole fat to his regular diet. I mentally shook my head a little when she told me that because I can put food down in front of him. It doesn't mean that he will actually put any in his mouth. And then, it's a guess as to whether or not he will actually swallow. What a pain he is about food. Still, I guess I've got some research ahead of me to figure out some high calorie things for him to eat. And then there's the problem of keeping it away from the others!

He is anemic so we are off to the lab for some serious blood work. I think I have 5 tests they are going to run on him; thyroid, liver function, hemoglobin, and a few more I can't remember. They want to make sure that it really is just a caloric issue and not a body issue. Either way, it's stressing me out ever so slightly.

Everything else is spot on for him. He is our little parrot and says pretty much anything we say now. His cutest phrases are "Where Mommy go?" and "Mommy go away!" I wish I heard them more. He also yells "MINE!" with a vengeance and can be attached to my leg 80% of the day. Still, he's such a sunshine boy that I don't mind (a lot).

So other than the tests, more food, and more Early Intervention, the boys are good! We go back to see them in 6 months (a new change for us...I thought we were free for a year) and they should be great.

They are such cute boys and we all love them so!

Safire

Bad Things Happen In Threes

Everyone,

Isn't it true that bad (and good) things generally happen in threes? I'll look for a bad day tomorrow because today totally sucked. Again. Let's start with the oldest and go from there.

Butterfly: she had 3 accidents today. And one that was not just pee. What's going on with this girl and her bladder?! The past 2 weeks or so she's had major bathroom issues. It's a bummer. We had to leave the park because she had an accident. That one was partly my fault because I saw the signs and didn't march her to the bathroom then. I was waiting for her to tell me she had to go. Obviously she was having too much fun to stop. Boy she is going to be interesting in school. I hope she gets an understanding kindergarten teacher.

She also lost her movie for the day (a HUGE upset) and she got put to bed when the boys went to bed. It was not a good day for her.

Pirate: he is growing so fast! He is tall enough to reach things on the counters. Things I've been putting up there to keep him away from. Things like bowls or hot pans. No he didn't get a hot pan but he did get a bowl. Butterfly was peeling hard boiled eggs to put in the bowl. He offered it to her. She huffed and turned away from him. (Girls!) Then he got angry and threw the bowl. The floor won. Now I am a bowl short and cross.

Professor: this is a pretty funny story and really, not something that was his fault. But still, it involves him so it goes under his label.

I was sitting with the boys on my lap, one on each leg. I was by the big window in our front room. Both the boys were facing the window looking out. Professor was in front, and Pirate was behind him, with his belly pressed up against Professor's back. Professor was grunting and complaining that Pirate kept leaning on him and pushing him out of the way to get a better look at the truck out the window. I finally got them apart and noticed that there was a big green streak on Pirate's arm. I was on the phone with my dad at the time and had to hang up quickly ("Ew! Green sludge!"). I then dump Professor on the floor and gingerly carry Pirate over to the changing pad to detoxify him.

I got his clothes off and open his diaper to...nothing. There was no poop anywhere on his body except his belly. That's when I gasped and left poor Pirate buck nekkid on the pad. Professor was playing quietly on the other side of the room. When I got closer to him, I noticed that the back of his hair was kind of dark.

I gingerly pick up Professor and shoo Pirate off the changing pad to detoxify Professor. I should have been wearing some kind of hazmet suit because this was bad. Up the back, up the front, bright green and slimy. Oddly enough, there was a spot on his diaper that didn't have anything on it. It was right where he was sitting on my leg so maybe it squeezed out either side?

Note to self: beans for dinner and a strawberry/spinach smoothie do not mix.

Safire

Pirate Good Idea, Bad Idea

Everyone,

Good idea: Pump out hand soap onto hands. Make bubbles.

Bad idea: Put hand soap into toilet. Flush. Make more bubbles. Think portable night light would like a bubble bath. Add to toilet. Flush again.

Good idea: Eat lunch.

Bad idea: Throw all food on floor. Play the limp noodle. Scream, cry, pitch a royal fit. Make mommy exasperated and upset.

Good idea: Play with Daddy.

Bad idea: try to throw Daddy's glasses across the room. Ignore Mommy. Make a general nuisance, all while being cute and laughing with mouth wide open.

Arg! It's been a most frustrating day with Pirate. It's put me in a funky crabby mood. So before I say anything that I might regret, I'm stopping now.

Safire

Question of the Week: MoM Groups

Everyone,

This week's question over at Multiples and More is about Moms of Multiples groups.




Are you involved in your local Mother's (Parent's) of Multiples club?

Yes!  Our multiples club is enormous.  I think they have close to 600 members.  And if everyone only had twins, there would be 1200 kids between all of us!  But there are several who have more than their multiples (like me) and several who have triplets.  I couldn't remember if someone had quads or more.
The ages of the kids range from not born yet to born in the 80s.  It's such a diverse group of people from all walks of life.  And this diversity it what makes the group great.  The more experienced moms can help the young moms with advice.  The recent questions in our very active forum range from preschool questions, renting beach houses, recommending nannies or home improvement people, and a list of Buddhist Temples in the area.  We also have a classifieds board where people can post things for sale and want to buy.  It's like our own private Craig's list.

The club also has numerous activities through out the year.  There's always a play date going on.  They have expectant parent teas for all the new parents to pair them up with families that have been where they are going.  They have a big annual picnic (which we've yet to go to...it's always on a Sunday and we do not do things like that on Sundays due to religious reasons) and always have a team for the March of Dimes. 

The big kahuna of our club (I think anyway) is our semi-annual twin sale.  See here for the latest ones I've been to.  They sell close to $30,000 of stuff and it is enormous.  This is where I buy most of the boys clothes.  Before I had twins, I went to this sale and bought all of Butterfly's clothes.  She is now mostly too big for the sizes they offer but sometimes I find a few cute things for her.  This is where most of our toys come from too.  Seriously, it's amazing.

Our club also participates in the Mid Atlantic Parents of Multiples Convention.  My friend, who has 14 year old twin boys, tries to convince me to come every year.  I imagine it's a lot of classes and fun celebrating the joys of having multiples.  Could be fun!

They also put out a preschool booklet that describes all the preschools in the areas, their numbers, their philosophies, etc.  They are a great resource for not only the multiple community, but the non-multiple community as well.

I love belonging to this group.  I get so many great ideas from their message boards, so many good quality clothes from their consignment sales, and so many fun things to do as a group if I wanted to.  I know that if there is a huge problem, I'll have this community to lean on.

Safire