Tuesday, May 22, 2012

To all the moms at Toddler Tuesday Mall of America-

As you sit and stare, I lift my two, thirty pound toddlers out of the stroller, moments before they start objecting to being in it. Nope, they won't just sit in their stroller to watch the Pirate show. They have never liked strollers and go to leaps and bounds to escape them... literally. They are curious and love to explore beyond their boundaries.

As you sit and stare, I help them put on their "leashes" and wonder how many of you are objecting.

As you sit and stare, I let them run around and I try not to pull them like dogs, when they run in opposite directions. It's inevitable, that at some point, I will have to give a slight tug and one will probably fall. She will be okay. They are twins. They are tough.

As you sit and stare, my toddlers get bored fast. They are independent, inquisitive, and never stop exploring... in different directions. Can I blame them for not wanting to sit on their own cute little mat and watch the lame one-man pirate show? He didn't even have a costume!

As you sit and stare, I wonder WHY your toddlers are not doing the same. Yes, it does cross my mind that I am doing something wrong, when I see your toddlers sitting patiently beside you. Trust me, I have wondered this their whole life. Until I blink again and remember that my kids ROCK.
Never. A. Dull. Moment.

As you sit and stare, I try and remain calm in order to keep my twins from "getting to that point".

I fail miserably.

As you sit and stare, I struggle to cope with two 2 year olds, as they throw themselves onto the floor and replicate human pretzels while they scream. Again, how can I blame them? For one single second they were running full speed towards Nickelodeon Universe. Hmmmm... one man pirate show or the world's largest indoor amusement park!

I know I will not win this battle, as the two of them combined are much stronger than I.

As you sit and stare, you begin to talk, point, and give nasty expressions. If you didn't notice, your children are angelically sitting next to you, absorbing everything you do... or should I say 'don't' do.

I should have never left my stroller over there by all the "good" toddlers. Lord forbid one of you get it for me.


As you sit and stare, you wonder, have her children never left the house?

I wonder, have YOURS?

As you sit and stare, twenty-five minutes pass by and I am still struggling to get my toddlers off the ground and in control of their emotions. No thank you, I won't spank them or threaten them for expressing the qualities that make them who they are... and the qualities I love about them.


I will, however, stay with them while they "tantrum" and let them know that I am always there for them, especially when those scary emotions overtake their little minds and bodies. They will not be shamed for something they can't yet control.

As you sit and stare, I will, for lack of a better option, sit down on the dirty floor with them as they scream, in my new sun dress, in the middle of the Mall of America, for as long as it takes.

As you still sit and stare, my girls have naturally overcome their massive emotions. They hug me and place their hands on my face, rubbing my forehead as if to console me... and I know that we've strengthened our connection even more.

With 30 pounds on each hip, we go get our stroller.

You, my fellow mothers, have just missed your one-man show.

For my fellow mothers of highly spirited multiples or children:
  
"Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, "I will try again tomorrow." - Mary Anne Radmacher






Wednesday, March 14, 2012

My Love/Hate Relationship... With Selling My House

As if my life is not crazy enough... we put our house on the market. I really don't think that getting a house ready to "show" could get anymore difficult. Those of you with young children can surely relate. That is probably why I am recently getting called "Super Momma" on my FB page.

Nope. Not even close. I am quite the disaster lately, if I have to say so myself. It doesn't help that lil G's reflux has prevented me from consuming more than a quarter cup of coffee a day... well MAYBE that could qualify me as a super mom. Anyway, having our house on the market is not fun. I could go on and on about my little twinnies following me around as I pick up and how they DUMP new baskets of toys at my feet. Or, how they walk around on the floor I just mopped, spitting the juice from their sippy cups.

Yesterday, I managed to hide 8 loads of dirty laundry around my house, so it only appeared that there was one perfect little load in the wash, ready to go. I avoided the oven, due to the last incident when we sold our condo... just take a guess.

I don't know if my girls are "normal", but I do know they are unbelievably destructive. They don't play with toys, they dump them and bang them on every surface of the house. They don't eat their snacks, they (currently as I type) dump it on the coffee table and crush it with hard objects. They are very much into climbing anything and everything they can, using other objects for boosters. It's actually very entertaining.

Needless to say, my house is a wreck and it is near impossible to clean it, without trapping them in their cribs. Which, for the record, I do not do.

All the while, I am carrying sweet baby reflux in a wrap. I don't care how good your carrier/wrap is... it's rough on the back after 6+ hours a day. That's my choice of parenting style, so can't complain there. Love that sweet cuddle bug:)


I love this house. I am going to miss it. I LOVE these sweet babies I have. They are more than a handful, but so fun:) This has to be the cutest age. I say that at every age. I can't wait for Summer and a new kid proof yard!

Oh, and have they considered using whining twin toddlers that can't talk, as a form of torture? They should.

They truly are teaching me patience everyday.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

My new favorite for this stage in the game... the stroller game that is.

You know you have too many strollers, when you are debating building a storage space to keep all of them...
I am not complaining. They are all awesome. Some are so awesome, that I don't want to take them out and use them, due to the staring factor. If you have seen some of my brother's stroller reviews, you know what I am talking about! 

I have been very lucky to have a choice in stroller throughout the twins many stages of picky stroller behavior. There have been countless occasions, usually occurring at the Mall of America, where we have had MAJOR stroller tantrums. I am talking, full-out back arching and successful attempts to exit their harnesses and flip out of the stroller. I debated on writing this, but they also attach each other often in the stroller. Hair pulling, biting, and smacking each other in the face is not uncommon. 

BTW- is this a twin thing???

Have you ever had to try and manage two screaming, rolling, fighting, and kicking toddlers all by yourself in a public place? I try my hardest not to cry and scream myself... oh and try not to pull their arm out of socket in the attempt to stop them from running opposite directions. It's so embarrassing and physically demanding on my end. 
 
I have also realized, in the past few months, that my girls HATE strollers.   

The point in all of this venting is that strollers are IMPORTANT and we have tried many of them. I am sure everybody has their issues with strollers and certain qualities they look for when purchasing one. The most important thing we have found is the seats. Many double strollers, in order to fold and be small and compact, they have seats that are reclined. It's nice if you have a child that wants to sleep in the stroller, but the twins don't sleep in the stroller... or anywhere for that matter:) So, they are constantly fighting the recline lately. They want to sit up and be able to look around and take in all the exciting things going on in their environment. The twins LOVE these seats!! I cannot express this enough. 

I think the Kinderwagon http://kinderwagon.com/ is amazing for these reasons:

- Folds easily and is VERY compact (longer and narrow compared to wide and box shaped- like many other doubles) 
- Lightweight 
- Stadium seating so kids can see everything around them
- "Normal" seats, not reclined
- Front to back seating- means less fighting nuggets!


I was expecting a double umbrella like stroller when I saw this. It is simple, compact, and light weight like the umbrella, but I was very wrong. This is NOT one to be compared to an umbrella stroller- at least not one that I have seen. 

You can buy it on   Diapers.com or check their website for your local retailer.  



-

Friday, January 6, 2012

3 Under 2: Week 2

Does Grayson need a sleep sack or a swaddle blanket? Should I give him a pacifier? Did the twins use pacifiers? Do I change his diaper at every feeding, or just when it's dirty? Exactly HOW do you breast feed one baby? Will he let me know when he is hungry or do I wake him to feed?

These are very common questions for a first time mom... and strangely I am asking the same questions lately. Explain to me how I had TWO infants, not much over a year ago, and am struggling to remember these little details.

BTW- newborns wear Newborn size diapers. Not size 1. Just saying.

Well, I can easily explain this. Twins = memory failure. I mean, all of the MOMS I know, told me that I would not remember the first year or so with twins, but I never really believed them. Don't get me wrong, I remember the important stuff... their sweet faces/ cute noises they made when they nursed, first laughs and smiles... the greatest sleep deprivation in the world could not remove those memories. Thank God. Yet, somehow I can't remember when the belly button falls off and ask my husband about my reaction to the "black poo" Grayson had the first days of life. Nope. Don't remember that stuff with the twins!!!

Well, aside from my occasional crazies, the transition from 2 to 3 is going quite smoothly. The twins are loving baby and it's constant kisses and hugs around here. I guess the forced baby doll obsession has paid off:) They are super gentle and Everlynn actually got a burp out of him yesterday. Now, if we can just teach her that the patting is only for his back and not his face.

Grayson is co-sleeping with us using the Snuggle Nest http://babydelight.com/index.html and I can't say enough about this item. Well, except I wish the LED attachment wasn't broken when I opened it, but still the best $50 I have spent in a while.
I have always been nervous about having a baby in bed with us, as I sleep like a rock, when I get the chance. This offers so much security for the baby, yet I can still put my arm around him and practically lay face to face, so he can smell me.

The nights are so peaceful and EASY... relatively of course. I know he is still in his sleepy phase, but I am getting more rest than I have had in months. You know how the end of pregnancy is... sleepless. It's  nice to focus on one baby at night and the nursing is a breeze with him being in bed with us.

I have to say, it never felt natural leaving the twins in their cribs/nursery when they were tiny. Often, I would sleep  in their nursery on a twin mattress, just to be in the same room. We tried co-sleeping with them, but they would not have it. I still don't know why. We used to joke about there being a ghost in our bedroom, as they would scream anytime we tried to bring them in there to sleep. Maybe they were just used to their own space, as that's what they had the first few weeks of life in the NICU. I find myself feeling very guilty about all of this lately. I can say they had plenty of bonding time during the day. It was rare myself and/or Kyle/Jamie ever took them out of a baby carrier the first few months. I guess they have turned out just fine anyway... I am often reassured by others that they are extremely affectionate little ladies:)

The twins are in another phase of sleep issues. They are refusing bedtime again and waking throughout the night. Kyle has taken over in this area. I get anxiety thinking about the moment I have to deal with 3 very young children and sleep issues. I get anxiety a lot lately, thinking about anything like this, as I know these phases will be coming and going for the next few years. I really don't know how I will ever leave the house with all 3, for the next few months, but I know I will try... and try... and try again.
For now, I am focusing on one moment, one day, and one "night night" at a time... deep breaths and the constant reminder to self, that they won't always need me the way they do right now.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

My VBAC

My birth story, told through my brother. I hope to get some time to journal it myself, but until then...

 http://savvyauntie.com/ExpertiseDetails.aspx?GroupId=18&Id=2713&Name=An+Uncle%27s+Labor+of+Love%2C+Christmas+Eve
 The last "breaks" between the back contractions and only dilated to 2...


 Reality of back labor. No more relief between contractions.
17+ hours of labor (not counting the weeks of prodromal labor) and 25 minutes of pushing...  2:32 on Christmas Day Grayson was finally here!






 Vivian
 Vivian
 Everlynn & Grayson
 Everlynn










 Awaiting Grayson's arrival...





 Constant kisses...






Christmas was still waiting...