1. "Mom, there is poopy on my foot" is never a sentence you want to hear. Ever.
2. Since I haven't taken any belly pictures of myself (weekly or monthly) this time, I could be tempted to think that I'm not really growing. Haha. Today I put my old bathing suit on when we went to play in our baby pool. When my sister was here in February, the bottom and top met in the middle (even though I looked "fat"). Now, there is a good 6 to 8 inch divide between the two pieces. Oh my :) 23 weeks...
3. Playing in the pool with the kids was pretty great today. And I got fed lots of food by them while I sat in the chair with my feet in the pool. Yup, the cooked me some salad, some broccoli stuffed with chalk, some meatballs, and some cake - strawberry and vanilla. Turns out that pots and pans, measuring cups, a pitcher, and a few spoons make the baby pool much more fun. For today at least...
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Thoughts on Twins
I have gone back and forth over the last three years between saying that twins are double the work of one child and that twins are not that much work. I think it is safe to say, now looking back with all my accumulated three years of wisdom (wink), that it really is a LOT of work to have twins. Definitely more work than just one baby. And I complain about this sometimes - especially when I think about potty training.
However, I have to remind myself of moments like last night. We had just bought our third blowup pool in the last two years. (We don't have good luck with these things. We seem to lose them or lose integral parts like air plugs.) We had a pizza picnic while we waited for it to blow up and fill up with water. It was finally close enough to being done that the kids could get in. They just played in their swim diapers. (Side note: cute toddler tookuses and darling little tan lines were evident throughout this whole event.) They had such a good time with each other. Curt and I were able to sit and watch and smile (he even managed to squeeze in a quick game on his phone). They were telling each other jokes that only the two of them could "get" - and laughing hysterically at each one. They took turns on the slide and giddily splashed and chased each other. It was wonderful to watch.
I am so thankful that my kids have always had a playmate. Even if we had had another baby "close" in age to our first - the little one still probably would only be a year or so old and not able of the kind of playing together that my two kids have always had. Micah is an extrovert (a very shy extrovert if that makes any sense) and greatly desires someone to play with him all the time (and to play his way). She doesn't really need this interaction, but hates seeing her brother sad, so she will frequently go along with her brother's play schemes. They really are great friends. They frequently play with each other on the playground, to the exclusion of any poor stranger child that is looking for a playmate for the day. (They do also play very well with some of their more regular playmates.) I have seen both of them come to the defense of the other when there seems to be a threatening situation on the playground. They love talking and laughing with each other when they are supposed to be sleeping. And I have a feeling that if we ever do have a third bedroom....the two of them will not be nearly as happy about it as I will be.
P.S. I was tempted to not really waste a swim diaper on last night's playtime. However, I was reminded of this picture from last night and decided it was worth it....
However, I have to remind myself of moments like last night. We had just bought our third blowup pool in the last two years. (We don't have good luck with these things. We seem to lose them or lose integral parts like air plugs.) We had a pizza picnic while we waited for it to blow up and fill up with water. It was finally close enough to being done that the kids could get in. They just played in their swim diapers. (Side note: cute toddler tookuses and darling little tan lines were evident throughout this whole event.) They had such a good time with each other. Curt and I were able to sit and watch and smile (he even managed to squeeze in a quick game on his phone). They were telling each other jokes that only the two of them could "get" - and laughing hysterically at each one. They took turns on the slide and giddily splashed and chased each other. It was wonderful to watch.
I am so thankful that my kids have always had a playmate. Even if we had had another baby "close" in age to our first - the little one still probably would only be a year or so old and not able of the kind of playing together that my two kids have always had. Micah is an extrovert (a very shy extrovert if that makes any sense) and greatly desires someone to play with him all the time (and to play his way). She doesn't really need this interaction, but hates seeing her brother sad, so she will frequently go along with her brother's play schemes. They really are great friends. They frequently play with each other on the playground, to the exclusion of any poor stranger child that is looking for a playmate for the day. (They do also play very well with some of their more regular playmates.) I have seen both of them come to the defense of the other when there seems to be a threatening situation on the playground. They love talking and laughing with each other when they are supposed to be sleeping. And I have a feeling that if we ever do have a third bedroom....the two of them will not be nearly as happy about it as I will be.
P.S. I was tempted to not really waste a swim diaper on last night's playtime. However, I was reminded of this picture from last night and decided it was worth it....
Friday, May 27, 2011
Forgotten Placemats
I meant to grab the cheapie paper placemats from the dinner restaurant tonight and bring them home with us. There were some treasures drawn on the back. I, of course, forgot.
Mackenna found an "M" "A" and "C" on the front of the placemat and was able to circle each of them (she found the G first when she was looking for the C). On the back, I wrote her name in yellow and she very successfully (for her FIRST attempt at this) traced it in purple. She also wrote an "e" totally unprompted. It looked great - upside down, but great. She announced proudly what it was. She then wrote a really really good M also unprompted. When I was spelling her name, she really wants there to be an "O" in it, so we made a few extra of those at the bottom. Of all the spellings I have seen for Mackenna, they rarely....eh-hem, never....include an O. Sorry dear.
Curt tried the same tracing event with Micah's name - let's just say it was a little less successful. This may be one boy/girl stereotype that is actually going to stay true.
Mackenna found an "M" "A" and "C" on the front of the placemat and was able to circle each of them (she found the G first when she was looking for the C). On the back, I wrote her name in yellow and she very successfully (for her FIRST attempt at this) traced it in purple. She also wrote an "e" totally unprompted. It looked great - upside down, but great. She announced proudly what it was. She then wrote a really really good M also unprompted. When I was spelling her name, she really wants there to be an "O" in it, so we made a few extra of those at the bottom. Of all the spellings I have seen for Mackenna, they rarely....eh-hem, never....include an O. Sorry dear.
Curt tried the same tracing event with Micah's name - let's just say it was a little less successful. This may be one boy/girl stereotype that is actually going to stay true.
A few funnies...
Mommy: "Micah, do you stink?"
Micah: "Yup, I suuuuure do."
Me: "Why did you poop in your pants?"
Micah: "Because I like to. I like to poop my pants."
Mommy: "What should we name the baby?"
Mackenna: "Mackenna's sister"
Micah: "Yup, I suuuuure do."
Me: "Why did you poop in your pants?"
Micah: "Because I like to. I like to poop my pants."
Mommy: "What should we name the baby?"
Mackenna: "Mackenna's sister"
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Quick Vent
I am officially quitting my part-time job at the end of this school year. By part-time, I mean that I have worked ONE day a week for the past three years that I have been a mom. My kids have been cared for lovingly (in their own home) by our Florida grandmother whom God generously blessed us with. At the beginning of each school year, my loving husband and I have evaluated our families' needs and my desires and have chosen each time for me to continue working ONE day a week, until this year.
Am I excited about this change? Two answers: First answer, Yes, I am excited about having my mind completely free of anything "school" related. My mind gets a little cluttered sometimes and having extra free space to think about raising toddlers and feeding infants and serving my husband and creating a happy home does make me excited. Second answer, No, I have no stirred emotions - good or bad - about the amount of time this means I will now be spending at home. Because, in reality, I am spending only 1/7th more time in my home next year than I did this year. That is it. And that is where the rub comes in.
I have been highly annoyed by people's reactions to me quitting this little part-time job of mine. Their immediate reaction is, "good for you. Staying home with your children is such an important thing. You will never regret this time spent with your children." Was I not staying home with them before? Did they think that me working one day a week was causing my children to suffer? One day? Really??
I obviously know that being with your children is a big, big deal. Coming from someone whose only influence from her biological mother came before the age of seven, I do believe that your early years and the influences you receive during those years matter, even if it doesn't always make sense to me how. I have made sacrifices in the last three years to stay home with them. Believe it or not, my boss doesn't pay me the same amount to work one day as he did to work five days a week. This pay cut has contributed to us not having any hope of moving out of our two-bedroom house with our three multi-gender children. Lower income has meant making do with one car for much of the time, driving to Indiana for vacation instead of flying, and other little sacrifices. Mostly, it has meant not seeing any real way to come up with the extra 60,000 dollars we would need to give the bank if we would try to sell our home right now. But that is okay. Curt and I are the ones that are the primary influences on our children. I get to read to them, and play with them, and make their lunch, and kiss them before naptime. I am very thankful for this.
To say that I am just now becoming a "full-time" mom makes me want to scream a little bit. If I am just now becoming this, than maybe I should have been doing things a little differently the past three years. Maybe for the four days a week that I wasn't working I should have been going to the mall by myself, eating relaxing lunches with friends, and taking personal trips to the beach. I don't think that my life with toddler twins for the past three years has looked anything like those things.
Anyway...that is just my vent. Yes, maybe now I am a "fuller-time" mom, but I certainly don't think that I wasn't one before this time either.
(Side note before I finish my vent: I say we have made sacrifices for me to stay at home, and we have. The house thing is kind of a big deal. However, I also know that our sacrifices are actually really really small. We have a fine life. We are able to do fun things. We eat out more than we should. We are really very, very blessed. And as far as the house thing goes, as much as I don't love the size of my house, I do love that I have a home to take care of my family in. I sometimes have one of those "woah" moments when I think that I am really an adult, wife, and mother, and this is really the home that my kids will picture when they picture their (hopefully) happy childhood. That makes my home blessed. Also, the "Florida grandmother" that God graciously placed three streets down from us makes up for so many faults of my little house. It is a good reminder that even though financially we wish we hadn't bought this house before the market crashed, God clearly has faithfully provided for us during this time in a way that is way greater than cash.)
(Side note again. Take a look at the 2nd paragraph again. Notice that I said feeding "infants" in the plural state. I simply cannot train my brain to think about the fact that I am only having one baby this time. I continually think in plurals. Haha)
Am I excited about this change? Two answers: First answer, Yes, I am excited about having my mind completely free of anything "school" related. My mind gets a little cluttered sometimes and having extra free space to think about raising toddlers and feeding infants and serving my husband and creating a happy home does make me excited. Second answer, No, I have no stirred emotions - good or bad - about the amount of time this means I will now be spending at home. Because, in reality, I am spending only 1/7th more time in my home next year than I did this year. That is it. And that is where the rub comes in.
I have been highly annoyed by people's reactions to me quitting this little part-time job of mine. Their immediate reaction is, "good for you. Staying home with your children is such an important thing. You will never regret this time spent with your children." Was I not staying home with them before? Did they think that me working one day a week was causing my children to suffer? One day? Really??
I obviously know that being with your children is a big, big deal. Coming from someone whose only influence from her biological mother came before the age of seven, I do believe that your early years and the influences you receive during those years matter, even if it doesn't always make sense to me how. I have made sacrifices in the last three years to stay home with them. Believe it or not, my boss doesn't pay me the same amount to work one day as he did to work five days a week. This pay cut has contributed to us not having any hope of moving out of our two-bedroom house with our three multi-gender children. Lower income has meant making do with one car for much of the time, driving to Indiana for vacation instead of flying, and other little sacrifices. Mostly, it has meant not seeing any real way to come up with the extra 60,000 dollars we would need to give the bank if we would try to sell our home right now. But that is okay. Curt and I are the ones that are the primary influences on our children. I get to read to them, and play with them, and make their lunch, and kiss them before naptime. I am very thankful for this.
To say that I am just now becoming a "full-time" mom makes me want to scream a little bit. If I am just now becoming this, than maybe I should have been doing things a little differently the past three years. Maybe for the four days a week that I wasn't working I should have been going to the mall by myself, eating relaxing lunches with friends, and taking personal trips to the beach. I don't think that my life with toddler twins for the past three years has looked anything like those things.
Anyway...that is just my vent. Yes, maybe now I am a "fuller-time" mom, but I certainly don't think that I wasn't one before this time either.
(Side note before I finish my vent: I say we have made sacrifices for me to stay at home, and we have. The house thing is kind of a big deal. However, I also know that our sacrifices are actually really really small. We have a fine life. We are able to do fun things. We eat out more than we should. We are really very, very blessed. And as far as the house thing goes, as much as I don't love the size of my house, I do love that I have a home to take care of my family in. I sometimes have one of those "woah" moments when I think that I am really an adult, wife, and mother, and this is really the home that my kids will picture when they picture their (hopefully) happy childhood. That makes my home blessed. Also, the "Florida grandmother" that God graciously placed three streets down from us makes up for so many faults of my little house. It is a good reminder that even though financially we wish we hadn't bought this house before the market crashed, God clearly has faithfully provided for us during this time in a way that is way greater than cash.)
(Side note again. Take a look at the 2nd paragraph again. Notice that I said feeding "infants" in the plural state. I simply cannot train my brain to think about the fact that I am only having one baby this time. I continually think in plurals. Haha)
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