Long Time No Blog

Well, this attempt at blogging has been as successful as previous attempts it seems. I seem to be too busy living life to document it.


The most exciting news is that we became Aunt, Uncle and cousins to twin boys, Wade Burnett and Graham Littleton on 8/22. They are precious and it is so nice to get to enjoy their infancy without all the worry that you have when they are totally your responsibility. My sister-in-law and brother-in-law are already proving to be wonderful parents. This part (the newborn period) is so hard for any parent, especially first-time parents and then throw in the twin aspect and WOW. They are amazing though!


Now for mine... Since I last posted Noah has started crawling and he is now all over the place too. Sarah starts 1st grade in 3 days and will be getting on the big yellow bus for the first time. She's excited and we are a wreck, but trying to keep it to ourselves for her sake. Benjamin continues to be a climber and is just a complete imp. He is so mischievous, but precious. I can't believe that summer is coming to an end already. Like other parents I am craving the routine that school provides and am hopeful that we will be able to juggle it all. We met 2 of Sarah's classmates at the park this morning and I think that will make her so much more comfortable on the first day. 


I have taken on an active role in the RAMOM (Richmond Area Mom's of Multiples) Group. I am really excited about that. It is a time commitment and time is a commodity that I don't have much of, but I think that it's important for me to give back and will give something important to me too. I have made some really fabulous friends through this group and look forward to an exciting future with these women and their families. 


I don't know why I can't seem to do this more. I have typed this whole thing while Sarah takes her bath. It really doesn't take that long. I have been really into reading lately so if I am not actively parenting or cleaning up, etc then I am reading. I guess I'll have to read a chapter less and make sure that I do this more often. Thanks for reading.

Gleeful!

It's so silly, but I don't know when in our 15+ years together and I have had a better time together than in our recent Glee Marathon.  We watched all 22 episodes of season 1 in about 2 weeks or less and now trying to take advantage of a free trial of Hulu plus we are on episode 15 of season 2 in 1 week.  For those of you feeling a little math challenged that is 37 hour-long episodes of Glee in about 21 days. I think that considering the life we are living that is pretty darn amazing!  We actually sat next to each other on the sofa once.  Granted, we aren't solving the worlds problems... heck, not even the problems in our own house, but we are bonding and enjoying ourselves immensely.  I realize that the issues of these teenagers and even their "old" teachers who are mostly younger than us aren't really relevant to us, but the music... oh the music.  We just can't wait for the kids to go to bed so that we can score our Glee! I am beginning to feel a little sad in realizing that we have only 6 more episodes left of season 2. Very little about the kids in this post other than how we can get rid of them so we can have us time in front of the tube. It must appear that all we do is watch tv when my FB was all about Sarah's tv options and then tonight I'm going on about Glee... not true, but hey a girl's entitled to a little escape occasionally, right?

Typicalish Days

So yesterday and today were really hectic, but honestly it's pretty much the norm. Yesterday we had our 11yo mother's helper. She's great hanging out with Sarah and some help with the boys, but honestly overall it just adds to the madness.  My mom was here from helping with Noah and Sarah during the endoscopy. 

Noah had PT in the morning. My mom stayed upstairs with Noah and the girls played in Sarah's room. Noah's so close to crawling, but I continue to struggle with my frustration that chronologically he isn't crawling at 1. I realize that he is just over 9 months adjusted, but it's still hard to see. He has reached the stage of really wanting it and being frustrated. I know that is just the first/next step to getting there, but it's hard to watch. Bo is all over the place- crawling, pulling up, cruising, and climbing. Hard comparison.

After fixing lunch for everyone I left the napping boys and quietly playing girls with mom and met a RAMOM friend for lunch. I came home and it was on again... mom left and dad came over for an hour and a half.  The greatest moment of chaos was when 11yo's mom picked her up, dad was leaving, I was feeding the boys who were crying, the phone rang, and then Sarah lost her mind.  SERIOUSLY!?!?!?!?!

Then I went to meet RAMOM friends for a monthly meeting while Andrew put them all to bed.

WOW! I was going to talk about today, but honestly more of the same.  We are still pretty much living Groundhogs Day with a few notable exceptions. We did have a playdate that lasted all day, but it was fun.

I get to work tomorrow and Friday for 10 hours each day. Please note that the "get to work" was no accident. It's like a vacation.  I still identify as a stay-at-home mom, but honestly the two days a week is also my sanity. I love both of my jobs.

I hope that my description of our days doesn't sound like I am complaining.  I love my husband and my 3 kids. I feel like the luckiest mom on earth.  Honestly, sometimes I am not as good as I would like to be at being in the moment, but I am so happy.  I will never manage to sound like pollyanna, but I am honestly so grateful for my life. The day-to-day is challenging, but so worth it.

Endoscopy

Benjamin had his endoscopy on Monday. We are still giving him a night/early morning bottle if he wants it since he is struggling with weight gain. Well, it's as if he knew he couldn't have one because he woke up at 2:30 am and refused to go back to sleep without a bottle. So, he didn't go back to sleep. We had to be at VCU at 7am... yeah, the registration person didn't even get there until 7:20 and they didn't take us back until 8:30. We had one ticked off munchkin. He did really well though. Fortunately we were able to be with him and I got to hold him while they put him to sleep so he wouldn't be more scared than necessary. We were in the waiting room for 45 minutes when the doctor said 20-30 minutes. That was nerve-wracking to say the least. Then after in recovery he fought us and cried nonstop for about 30 minutes... so pitiful! He was so ticked when he was only offered water/juice at first. He flat out refused to take any of it. Finally we were able to give him formula and he took about 3 oz and then fell asleep. He slept through having iv removed and the walk to the car. He woke up on the way home, but was fine. The doctor said that he has mild to moderate scarring from reflux (duh) and we will know on Thursday about the EE.  He didn't see any obvious evidence though so we are encouraged that just therapy will solve this.


When we got home it was so cute... the boys had to catch up. They sat in their highchairs and "chatted" for a while... it was like the twin youtube video. He napped and got back into the routine aside from being extra tired.  Tomorrow's another day.

Unscheduled Weekend

We had a fantastic weekend with NOTHING on the calendar.  Don't get me wrong, we had plenty to do, but no actual commitments. Andrew and I have continued our Gleefest. We got housework done.  We played with the kids. Andrew got a run yesterday and I got a sad little walk/run today (sad because of how out of shape I am). The boys were cranky from Friday's shots, but otherwise it has been really good. We got a little housework caught up and feel like we are going into the week in decent shape. I actually cleaned out the pantry and cooked dinner for the gang. The cooking was unusual rather than just throwing something together in 5 minutes.  Lovely!

Our Calendar

Before the boys my mother-in-law teased me because I wouldn't/didn't use a calendar.  Now I can't tell you how much has to be moved around and juggled just to get in all of our appointments, etc.  Our calendar is a complicated thing.


A Typical 2 weeks of Calendar:


Wed 7/6: Sarah to Lurray Caverns w/ Grandparents & Birthday Party Boys (4:30)
Thur 7/7: E works 7-5:30, kids at Grandparents
Fri 7/8: boys annual checkup at Pediatrician 8:30-9:30am, E works 9:30-5:30
Sat 7/9: E works 3 hours make-up, Andrew has kids
Sun 7/10: Sarah church with grandparents
Mon 7/11: OT Noah @ 11:00, Speech both @ 1:30-2:30pm- serv coordinator coming to appt
Tues 7/12: PT both @ 11:00 am, Sarah has C over for the day
Wed 7/13: E works 7-5:30, kids at Grandparents
Thur 7/14: Playdate w/ W twins
Fri 7/15: E works 7-5:30, kids w/ Andrew, Sarah has C over for the day, E haircut @ 1pm
Sat 7/16: G girls' birthday party (family)
Sun 7/17: BB arrives
Mon 7/18: Endoscopy Benjamin, BB Here, E- RAMOM VP meeting 7pm
Tue 7/19: PT both @ 11:00 am, Sarah has C over for the day, E- RAMOM meeting 7pm


Included, but not on the calendar are all of the other things that have to get done on a daily/weekly/monthly basis... cleaning, baths, cooking meals, grocery shopping, ordering supplies, etc.  Even if I had several days in a row with nothing on the calendar those things would all have to fill in.  I am not pretending for an instant that we are that much busier than most people, but it just blows my mind that I can't seem to figure out how to have a SINGLE quiet and unplanned day.  It happens occasionally, just often enough for us to keep our sanity.  Some people like to stay busy and on the go.  We aren't like that.  We both like our down time and that is what we are lacking.  I'm not sure which day is typical, but next post I'll give you my ideal day and then maybe we'll pick next Monday and I'll do an actual day.

Boys Then and Now

Benjamin weighed 3lbs 4oz at birth and now weighs around 19 lbs (can update tomorrow after the pediatrician).  Noah weighed in at a whopping 2lbs even and now weighs around 23 lbs (can update tomorrow after the pediatrician).  Confused by the weight change?!?!? Me too! 


Benjamin is developmentally pretty close to what we would expect for his chronological age (age based on his birthday).  He is incredibly active and is crawling like a mad man, walking on his hind legs and hands, and climbing everything he can.  He also has feeding/vomiting issues.  In other words, he burns alot of calories and doesn't eat or keep in enough.  He actually lost weight last month.  We are pretty concerned and he receives speech/feeding therapy and he is undergoing various tests with a gastroenterologist to make sure that he doesn't end up with major feeding issues.


Noah however does not have any feeding issues.  He has never had a problem that a bottle or a snack wouldn't solve.  Again on the flip side of his brother- Noah is not yet mobile.  He is finally rolling pretty well, but he can't yet crawl and isn't really using the rolling to get around.  He is pivoting on his tummy and reaching further.  He does this precious little bounce on his bottom to get where he wants to go.  It takes a while, but he mostly gets there.  He occasionally tips over, which he doesn't love (we call him a little teapot).  He receives PT and OT. 


The boys are really in different sized clothes.  Alot of the 18 month clothes are borderline too small for Noah and the pants fall off of Benjamin (literally).  It's going to be interesting to see how and if that changes as they get older.


I feel like we spend alot of time in therapy.  I keep trying to reduce services, but somehow something always seems to happen to just change our focus, but not our hours.  I am just exhausted with therapy and would like to just have more "normal" days at home or doing just fun activities.  Our calendar gets a little overwhelming.  Next post I'll do a typical week or two on the calendar- knowing that things continually change and have to be juggled and then copy a page out of a friend's blog and do a typical day.

Boys First Birthday- Looong Journey

My boys are 1 today.  I can't believe it.  For those who don't know... Benjamin Andrew and Noah Thomas were born 11 weeks early after my being in the hospital on bedrest for a month.  They are doing really well under the circumstances.  Actually that doesn't cut it... they are doing AMAZING under the circumstances. 


I was having a really hard time getting excited about the birthday.  A friend of mine with twins who are only a few days younger is super excited and having not one, but TWO parties for her girls.  It was all that I could do to invite the family over for bbq that we bought and bakery made cupcakes (I just procrastinated and couldn't bring myself to make them.)  Finally, when the house was semi-cleaned and we felt like we were going to pull off the small gathering the next day, Andrew and I sat down and talked and realized that FINALLY it clicked for us and we were feeling relieved and excited for ourselves and the boys.  We really hadn't felt like we'd made it until right then.  My overwhelming feeling has been gratitude to God, family, and friends for helping us through this.

I have noticed when I have said that they will be 1 in however many days, people have responded "that was fast".  It's amazing because in some ways it was definitely not fast and in other ways it went by like a speeding bullet.  There were times in the past year that I couldn't imagine how we'd survive and other times when I couldn't imagine where the days went.  I guess life is like that.  Either way, long or short, fast or slow... we all made it and are here.

I guess I should continue to play catch up and talk about where we came from and how we got here... another time and another post.

Catch-up

I have been wanting to blog again since I was pregnant with the boys.  Actually I know why I stopped in the first place with Sarah. I'd like to say too busy living life to take the time to document. Sure, that's it. I used the excuse that I don't have time, but then in the past week two of the busiest moms I know began their blogging journey. Certainly if these super women can do it I can. As I begin this let me just say that while I mostly know how to use appropriate punctuation/spelling/grammar (ok, not entirely true)... I tend to blog like I was talking to you.  For those of you who have talked to me you may be worried about how that's going to go since I frequently switch topics mid-conversation. We'll see... enjoy the ride or feel free to skip it if it's not your speed.


Well, I'll just start from here and try to play catchup over the next few days on the kids and life. I could go on forever, but since there is a limit to how much anyone wants to know at one time... I'll try to do it a little at a time.  And off we go...