The Family Band

Thirty Days of Thankfulness - the complete list

2011-11-30T15:33:00.001-05:00

1. I am thankful for semi-spontaneous outings with the family on a weeknight. And the fact that we can actually pull them off.

2. I am thankful for the sound of shared sibling giggles from another room.

3. I am thankful for Mom, Dad, Avery, Sarah and Charles. My loving "first family."

4. I am thankful for chocolate chip cookies. Homemade.

5. I am thankful for loving where we live and knowing we are here for the long haul.

6. I am thankful that Matthew is a morning person. Or at least more of one than I am.

7. I am thankful for diet Coke.

8. I am thankful for girlfriends. Old, new, and all of those in between.

9. I am thankful for healthy children.

10. I am thankful for a dedicated playroom, with a door that closes.

11a. I am thankful for all that have sacrificed, served and continue to serve our country.

11b. I am thankful for Tar Heel basketball.

12. I am thankful for really, really great neighbors.

13. I am thankful for the partnership of my husband. His patience, love, understanding, and support continues to amaze me on a daily basis.

14. I am thankful for Fall in North Carolina.

15. I am thankful for our wonderful preschool and the teachers that nurture and teach there.

16. I am thankful for late afternoon playdates and pizza with friends.

17. I am thankful for the kind lady who forced her umbrella upon me and the nice gentleman who held his over C & G in the HT parking lot today. They reminded me that people really are good. I need to pay it forward more often.

18. I am thankful for Fridays, and the fact that - even as a stay-at-home mom - it's still my favorite day of the week.

19. I am thankful for moments of quiet.

20. I am thankful for twins and for having three children so close in age. I can't imagine our family any other way.

21. I am thankful for my minivan. Yes, I am.

22. I am thankful for Mucinex. That stuff really works!
23. I am thankful for wonderful in-laws - for the family that I married into and for my brothers-in-law that married my sisters.
24. I am thankful that my Mom is home from the hospital and that I am spending this day with my family.

25. I am thankful for Matthew. He's worth mentioning twice.

26. I am thankful for a warm and cozy home.

27a. I am thankful for Cooper.

27b. I am thankful for Graham.

27c. I am thankful for Caroline.

28. I am thankful for for the opportunity and ability to take a risk in Matthew's career. We are more than fortunate in that regard.

29. I am thankful that even at the end of a trying day, there is no place I'd rather be in life than where I am now.

30. I am thankful for this past month of reflection. Life is pretty damn good.

A quick milestone post

2011-11-21T17:21:00.001-05:00

Today after Caroline and Graham's nap, I gave them some cheese as part of their snack. When they were finished, Graham looked at me and said, "More cheese." Caroline overheard and repeated the same phrase.*

This is notable for two reasons: First, I haven't mentioned this on my blog, but they don't talk much yet. Their vocabulary is still pretty limited, but they actually do have words that they've made up on their own (twin speak). I'm pretty sure they're a little behind the average 23 month old, and I'm hoping to have their speech development evaluated after their 2 year well-check. So this is the first time I've heard them put two words together, and I swelled with pride. And secondly, of course their first two-word phrase would be about food.

*This happens so often. One of them will say a word or learn something new for the first time, and the other one repeats it almost immediately (for the first time). It's as if they wait on each other to achieve milestones. Twins... fascinating.

Pigtails

2011-11-15T14:28:00.001-05:00

If we're friends on Facebook, you may have seen that Caroline wore pigtails for the first time ever last week. Since then, I haven't been able to get enough.

Something about them takes some of the "baby" out of her face.

I think she likes them too.

An interview with Cooper

2011-11-03T15:44:00.000-04:00

Inspired by an idea I saw on Pinterest and by my friend Laura, I thought it would be fun to interview Cooper, age 4, and post it on the blog. It's just a few questions, but it's a fun glimpse into what he's up to and what he likes at this age. Some of the answers even surprised me...

I love that sweet boy!

Thirty Days of Thankfulness

2011-11-02T11:07:00.001-04:00

You thought I threw in the towel, didn't you? I mean, yes, it's been over two months since my last blog post. But September was just a weird month for me, and then I blinked and October was over. (I get the impression that this happens to everyone.)

I have lots of things to post about, but I thought I'd start with an idea I am totally stealing from another blog I read. Everyday in November, I'm going to be posting something that I am thankful for in my sidebar over there ------>

There is so, so much for which I am grateful, I think this should be super-easy. Happy November!

p.s. what in the world happened with Blogger while I was "away?" I don't even recognize it.

Big Kid Things

2011-08-18T23:53:00.000-04:00

This summer, Cooper has learned to really ride his two-wheel balance bike.

He's also taken swim lessons and learned to swim underwater.

Not too shabby for a kid who wouldn't put his face under at the beginning of the summer. :)

In a few weeks he will start going to school five mornings a week...

and that same week will have his first soccer practice as part of a team. We are all very excited about this new foray into organized sports. I can't believe he's going to be four in two months!

Caroline and Graham are also doing some big kid things. More and more I've been trying to let them do some of the things they'd be doing if they were just singleton toddlers. Because it is easier for me, they are often regulated to sitting in the stroller when we are out and about. But it's time for them to have a little more freedom and test their own boundaries, and it's time for me to "let go" a little bit. Lately we've been going to the playground while Cooper is in school. They actually play on the equipment (and don't just wander aimlessly), they go down the slides sitting up like big boys and girls, and will (often) listen to me when I try to steer them in a specific direction or say it's time to leave. It is a far cry from our attempts at playground trips and picnics at the beginning of the summer. And when we pick Cooper up, I let them walk from the car to the school playground and back again. No stroller for them, thank you very much.

Teachers and other parents have commented on how big they have gotten in the past year, and sometimes I even feel surprised that we have gotten "here" - with three kids turning 4 and 2 in just a few months. It is baffling and bittersweet at the same time. The baby days for our family have quickly come to an end it seems, and it's just "big kid things" from here on out.

Staunton Visit & a "Staycation"

2011-07-19T14:54:00.001-04:00

A few weeks before my birthday last month, Matthew asked me what I wanted as a gift. I originally said that I wanted a "day off," thinking that a day at the spa was exactly what I needed. However, as the conversation progressed I asked him if he'd ever consider taking the kids solo to see his parents for a weekend. The idea didn't phase him one bit, and thus, this weekend I had my first real "vacation" in over two years.

My weekend was the perfect combination of productive and relaxing. I cleaned the house, ran a few errands, did grocery shopping and meal planning, did laundry, and slapped a few paint samples on our dining room walls. I also went to the pool by myself, started reading a really good book, got a pedicure, browsed a few not-so-kid-friendly stores, had dinner with some girlfriends, and actually managed to sleep in until 8:30 one morning.

Meanwhile, Matthew and the kids were having a great time with Grammie and Grumpa. Here are a few pictures from their weekend:

And one from mine:

It's good for moms (and dads, too of course) to have their "me time," to recharge, and to have a break now and then. I missed my family while they were gone, but 48 hours of peace, quiet and "freedom" was exactly what I needed last weekend. And by the time they returned on Sunday afternoon, I was definitely ready for everyone to be home and excitedly met them at the door when they pulled in the driveway.

Matthew and I suspect it will be another year and a half before he and I can take a kid-free vacation together. (We feel like it is a lot to ask of anyone right now.) So in that case, I already know what I'm requesting for my birthday again next year. Matthew, consider yourself warned. :)

Beach (July 2011)

2011-07-15T22:28:00.001-04:00

We took (what has become) our annual July 4th/Henny's birthday beach trip last week. It was really great because it was our first week-long family vacation in a while, as Matthew is MBA school-free this summer. I've spent the past few days trying to write a recap of the trip, but I haven't been able to come up with the right words. So instead here are my highlights, or "things that made me happy" list:

1. Cousin time with Anna Beth & Jack

2. Beach and pool time with my crew

3. Knowing that all three of my sweet babies were sleeping peacefully in the same room for a few nights

4. The most pathetic (but delicious!) birthday cake that Avery & I made for our mom on her birthday

5. Watching fireworks all along the shoreline from my parents’ back porch

6. Date night with Matthew in Beaufort (yum)

7. Watching Caroline & Graham run (stroller-free) from tank-to-tank at the aquarium making fish noises.

8. Blonder babies with sun-kissed skin

9. Cooper becoming more confident at the pool (more on this later)

10. And finally, our attempts at our annual beach trip family photo:

I was kind of hopeful that with someone else to take the picture and get their attention, we'd have some luck. Eh...?

As usual, it was a great trip. And every time we go down there, I feel so, so fortunate that we have this place, on the coast, where my kids can spend summers and that we can all enjoy for years to come. (Thank you, Mom & Dad!)

Weekend in (iPhone) review: the Summer edition

2011-06-20T14:53:00.000-04:00

FOFP. Holding Hands. Farmer's Market. Playground. Croquet Anyone? Family Walk. Popsicles. Skinny Girl. Pool Time.

Story Time. Movie Night. Pancake Chef. Playset Play. More Walks. Backyard Pool. Homemade Ice Cream. Pizza. Pizza. Dinner with Neighbors. Wii with Neighbors. Pooped.

The Mothership has landed

2011-06-14T16:14:00.004-04:00

Christmas literally came early last week. As a gift, we had a playset installed in the backyard on Thursday, and we are loving it. It is so nice to be able to let the kids climb and swing and slide without having to worry about being outnumbered at a busy playground. That - right now - makes it worth its weight in gold to me, and ~~I'm~~ the kids are just so excited about it.

Here are a few pictures from install-day and the finished product.

Two of my favorite moments since we've had it:

1) As the guy who built/installed the set was cleaning up, Cooper went outside to check on things. I'm assuming the guy told Cooper it was finished, because I watched him tear across the backyard as fast as he could and almost run up the ladder. It was so cute.

2) Yesterday morning I had Caroline and Graham outside while Cooper was at school (and as an aside, let me just say YAY for year-round preschool). The set was a little wet from the previous night's rainstorm, and while I dried off the swings, I didn't think about the slide. Both Caroline and Graham climbed the ladder, backed up to go down the slide on their bellies, and - one right after the other - shot down the slick slide so fast that they actually caught some air and landed flat on their tummies on the ground. Graham let out half of a whine, and I think Caroline actually said "Oof." But they got up immediately and climbed the ladder again. Meanwhile I was cracking up, and I so wish I had had our video camera at that moment.

(Just in case anyone is curious, we got the set through Woodplay, and we're very pleased with the set itself and their level of service. Highly recommend.)

Chairs

2011-06-02T16:00:00.000-04:00

This is not a pre-vacuum/sweep/mop shot. Nor is this a new trend in decorating or dining. This is basically our current table & chair set up when no one is at the table and Caroline and Graham are awake. Their favorite thing to do right now is to climb on chairs to get onto tables. And they will do it all. day. long. if given the opportunity. After pulling them off of the table over and over again I finally realized there was a way I could stop them, and there you have it. So for now our kitchen might look a little crazy, but at least I have outsmarted my 17 month olds. (It's the little things, people.)

Speaking of chairs, I think we decided to retire our beloved ikea high chairs this weekend. It's boosters from here on out. And that's the big news around here these days.

Hope everyone is having a good week!

Beach (May 2011)

2011-05-28T15:54:00.000-04:00

It's been a little quiet on the blog lately. That's nothing new, of course, but I actually did write a blog post on Monday. For some reason Blogger was acting all weird and wouldn't let me save or publish it. And that was annoying. The good news is that that particular blog post was SUPER-whiny. It was about how hard things are with two toddlers and a 3.5 year old right now, and how Matthew was in Germany for 8 days, and even though I got take the kids to the beach for the whole week and spend time with my parents, my life is still hard. Poor, poor me. So in a way, Blogger saved us all from that nonsense*.

The whole point, though, of that post and this post was to say that Matthew was in Germany for 8 days, and the kids and I went to the beach. We were lucky to have beautiful weather while we were there and took advantage by spending time on the beach in front of my parents' house where Cooper waded in the water and dug for buried treasure. We played in the yard and on their back deck. And we visited a (huge!) playground that we've never been to before last week. We also visited the NC Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores. Despite the daily chaos, it was a fun trip, and we're looking forward to getting back there later this summer.

The rest of the pictures can be found here, if you're interested.

*That reminds me of this blog. (But I'm not going to lie: parenting three kids under 4? It's hard. For real.)

Mother's Day, 2011

2011-05-08T21:16:00.001-04:00

Happy Mother's Day! Especially to my mom, my mother-in-law, my sisters, and all of our friends that are moms. This song goes out to you*:

This Mother's Day was pretty great for me. I slept in a little, I didn't have to wipe anyone's bottom, and we had a fun and relaxing day just hanging out as a family. It was pretty stellar, and I hope everyone else had a wonderful day as well.

*Special thanks to Cooper's teachers, Phoebe and Deborah, for teaching him the song. You might be wondering: did she bribe Cooper with a cookie to sing on camera?? Why yes, yes I did.

Something you don't see everyday...

2011-04-25T17:39:00.000-04:00

Wondering how to entertain your kids on the Monday after Easter? I have the answer: Goats.

One of our neighbors down the street sent out an email that they were having some yard maintenance done today by The Goat Patrol. So this morning I loaded everyone up in the wagon, and we walked over there to check out the scene.

I must say, I think this is one of the coolest things I've seen in a while. It's non-toxic and quiet... just nature keeping nature in check. Love it. The kids loved it too. Cooper wanted to hang out at the neighbors' and watch the goats all day. And Graham and Caroline seemed fascinated as well. Although they kept pointing and saying "Dah-dah!" (doggy). Not exactly. :)

Easter Weekend, 2011

2011-04-25T15:56:00.000-04:00

Despite being away from our families this weekend, we had a really nice weekend here in CH, just the five of us. On Friday, it was rainy and chilly. Matthew had to work and I spent most of the day hanging out with the littles at home and cleaning the house for the weekend. After the afternoon nap, we went over to the Harshbargers' house. The big kids dyed Easter Eggs, the little kids played, the moms and dads enjoyed a few cocktails, and we all had pizza for dinner. I am loving the Friday afternoon/evening family playdates that we have every once in awhile.

On Saturday, we got together with the Owens and checked out the Fullsteam Brewery in Durham. It's 100% family friendly and has some great beer on tap, so a good time was had by all. After the brewery visit, they came over to our house for an Easter Egg hunt and some dinner.

On Sunday morning, we woke up and the Easter Bunny had come to visit!

We had a great breakfast of chocolate croissants (divine, because I gave up all sweets for Lent), fruit and coffee. We cleaned up and went on a hike with the Owens. The kids and dads enjoyed skipping and throwing rocks into the creek.

Afterward, there was lunch (and mimosas!). And then we spent most of the day hanging around the house. I baked a carrot cake and made a nice Easter dinner. We tried to get pictures of the crew decked out in their Easter finest.

There are definitely some cute ones, but I still don't think we're going to have much success with group pictures until they all understand the concept of bribery.

Hope everyone had a Happy Easter!!

More Walking

2011-04-22T13:38:00.001-04:00

Just when I was beginning to think that Caroline would never take more than five steps at a time, she stood up on Wednesday and walked across Cooper's room. Slow and steady, she takes her time and is finally getting the hang of it.

Graham has been practicing walking sideways and backwards. He thinks it's hilarious if we make beeping noises when he backs up. So pardon the annoying beeping and my voice, in general.

Gorilla Boobs

2011-04-21T15:25:00.002-04:00

I've been back and forth about posting this, but it's a story I don't want to forget and it's pretty funny. It's about boobs. My apologies.

A while ago, Cooper started to take a new interest in certain body parts that are usually covered up. One day he pointed to my chest and said "What are those?" I paused for a moment, wondering what I should call them, but finally just said "Those are boobs," since that's what I say. Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago, when Cooper was looking at an animal picture book. Out of the blue, he said "Mom! Look! The gorilla has boobs... You have a boobs just like a gorilla!"

Awesome.

Three Amigos

2011-04-21T15:25:00.001-04:00

That's good stuff, right there.

P.S. This is the best $35 I've spent recently.

Partners in Crime

2011-04-04T22:32:00.001-04:00

Caroline and Graham are into EVERYTHING right now. It's what you expect from toddlers, but - maybe because he was super laid-back and didn't really walk until he was 16 months - I don't remember Cooper being quite this active at this age. Like moths to a flame, they're drawn to anything that can make a mess or potentially get themselves hurt: toilets (to splash in), cabinets and drawers (to climb in), bookshelves (to pull things off of), stairs (to climb up and down and give me heart attacks). Graham likes to climb on things, and Caroline still hasn't completely grown out of the put-everything-in-my-mouth phase. It is exhausting, and at the end of the day, my house looked like a tornado whipped through it. Here's some of the latest:

Not pictured: Graham's first busted lip, from climbing up some friends' deck stairs. And the intact sticker I found in Caroline's diaper. At first I figured she put it in there herself, but truth be told she was wearing zip-up, one-piece pajamas that day, so there's really only one way it could have gotten in (or out, rather).

Thankfully, they are very cute:

Pictures!

2011-04-04T22:31:00.001-04:00

To make up for my severe case of writer's block and the fact that I haven't posted anything in 3 weeks, I just thought I'd post several pictures of things that have been going on around here lately:

Baby Yoga

Hanging out in the nice weather

Music appreciation

A trip to the zoo with Avery, Anna Beth & Jack and Sarah & Henry

Entertaining friends (when their dad was out of town)

Coop's first dentist appointment (He did AWESOME!)

New Tricks

2011-03-11T13:39:00.000-05:00

Graham took his first steps about a month ago. Since then he's been doing lots and lots of practicing, and I'd say that in the past week, he's officially become a "walker." Caroline, in the past week or two, has finally learned how to stand on her own. She's been watching her brother and will be walking in no time, I'm sure. Of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't post any videos. These are pre-nap, hanging out in our (empty) dining room:

In this second one, Graham shows off his soccer skills. His little kick at the end kills me.

Cooper Art

2011-03-09T15:04:00.000-05:00

Some of my friends and I have recently talked about our three-year olds' "artwork" and how it's becoming more intentional - they're attempting to actually draw faces rather than just scribbling on a sheet of paper. It's a neat development and yet another sign that these bigger little ones are learning and changing everyday. Cooper sat down and drew several faces a few nights ago, and I saved some of my favorites. His style is very rudimentary: a big circle, 2 dots (for eyes), a smaller circle placed anywhere in the big circle (nose) and a line (mouth). On a few he adds stick arms and legs, and sometimes there's hair.

While those two are just faces to Cooper, when I look at them I see a duck and a pirate. This next one is, specifically, "Daddy and A Lot of Snakes."

Clearly.

Things we learned yesterday

2011-02-20T11:00:00.000-05:00

1) Caroline has an apparent amoxicillin allergy. After almost 10 days on an antibiotic, she woke up yesterday completely covered in spots. Happy as a clam, but looking like a leper.

2) Giving Caroline Benadryl before bedtime has the same effect as giving her an espresso chased by Red Bull. The spots are starting to fade, but everyone in this family will be taking an afternoon nap today.

Introducing Bubbles...

2011-02-13T16:02:00.000-05:00

the Betta Fish.

How much trouble could he be?

Perfect?

2011-02-09T15:25:00.000-05:00

I just took about 57 pictures of the kids.

I have all three of them dressed in their Carolina T-shirts, in honor of the game tonight (and the greatest rivalry in all of sports). I wanted the perfect picture of them smiling sweetly at the camera, conveying their (have-no-other-choice) love for Carolina and their love for each other. And in my mind, it was beautiful. Yet once again I'm left scratching my head, wondering why all of the pictures of my cherubic, couldn't-be-more-beautiful children end up looking like a bunch of monkeys at the zoo.

I guess it's a lot to ask of a three year old and two thirteen month olds - to sit still and smile pretty. These children are crazy. And busy. And oh-so exhausting right now. But at the end of the day, I wouldn't have them any other way. They are perfect to me.

(Go Heels!!)

Accountability post (February)

2011-02-01T13:59:00.000-05:00

Remember that day way back in May, when I quit pumping and mentioned that I was back down to my pre-pregnancy weight? Yeah... that's not the case anymore. Actually it probably hasn't been the case since the day after I quit. And the whole thing about eating like a teenage boy? Well, apparently you shouldn't do that unless you're a) breastfeeding, 2) exercising intensely on a regular basis, or d) a teenage boy.* All jokes aside, I'm the heaviest I've ever been (non-pregnant), I feel terribly out of shape, and I'm just not happy about it.

This ends today. I've been saying it long enough, but here on February 1st, I'm making it happen. And I'm sharing this on my blog, because I need the accountability. I have some long term ideas of things I'd like to achieve overall. But for the time being, I'm setting some small goals for the month to get the ball rolling. So for February, I'd like to:

1) Exercise everyday. This seems lofty, but by "exercise" I mean "do something active," even if it means a quick walk around our block. My hope, though, is to do something more intense than that at least 4-5 days a week.

2) Eat more consciously. Basically I want to make better choices. And to really think about *why* I'm reaching for the Oreos. Again. Today I've starting tracking my food and calorie intake on a Nutrition app on my iPhone. I'll probably do the tracking for a few weeks just to get an idea of what a "normal" day should look like and then decide if it's something I want to continue.

3) Drink more water. I'm thinking at least 48 oz/day, which would be a vast improvement from my norm.

Seems simple enough, right? I'm hoping that these small changes will help me form new habits to replace the ones I've taken on over the past 1.5 years. Wish me luck (and feel free to join me)!

*I don't know if she's reading, but I totally "a, 2, d'ed" that, just for SB.

Ham

2011-01-24T14:53:00.001-05:00

When I dropped Cooper off at school on Friday, his teachers and the preschool director said I needed to pop in the classroom to see "Cooper's pictures." I wasn't sure what they were talking about, but they pointed to the two photo collages that were on one of the walls. The first is a bunch of pictures of all of the kids in the class. The second is this one, and it's the only one of its kind:

I have no idea where Cooper gets it from.

(Okay. I do. His name is Matthew.)

Bored Caroline

2011-01-17T17:54:00.000-05:00

Outward Bound (in the Neighborhood)

2011-01-16T20:47:00.001-05:00

When we were under contract on our house, we had heard that there were some pretty hiking trails around the creek that runs through our neighborhood. Matthew and I were intrigued but didn't do any exploring until after we had moved in. On New Year's Day, in between rain showers and unpacking sessions, we went on a quick family walk. And when we reached the creek, just down the street and hill from our house, our jaws literally dropped.

On Saturday, with temperatures in the the low 50s (practically bathing suit weather compared to what we've been experiencing lately), we went on a longer hike and I was able to snap a few pictures.

The boys

And the girls... a self-portrait

One of those days...

2011-01-12T15:13:00.000-05:00

Snow Day 3.

I guess Monday doesn't really count because Cooper did have school that morning, but Matthew came home from work early, and we spent the rest of the day inside waiting on the weather. Yesterday we were iced in. Matthew worked from home, and we didn't leave the house yet again. And then this morning, preschool was actually canceled because the roads were still a little icey/dicey.

This morning the guys that have been doing some fix-it stuff around the new house showed up, and they've been in and out of the house all day. Sammy has been barking at them from either a) behind our bedroom door or b) the backyard ever since they got here at 7:55 this morning. The guys have been working on things in various rooms around the house, so I've felt conspicuous, in the way and awkward all day. They're currently working on something upstairs in the twins' room, so I decided to put the twins down for their nap in their pack-n-plays in the guest room. And now Caroline and Graham are apparently too busy cracking each other up to nap. It's cute to listen to, but I think we'll be paying for it later. Cooper is skipping quiet time all together and is going on hour, um ... 37? of TV today. The neighbors' dog got closed in our backyard (again) and chased Skeeter up a holly tree. And I really need to take a shower and change out of the 17 year old sweatshirt I've been wearing for three days. But I feel a little strange doing that with workmen in the house. So I'm just going to sit here and hope they take off early.

Yep. That's been my day so far. It's 2:50, and I've only left the confines of the house to rescue the cat and check the mail. It wasn't here yet, so I'm really looking forward to going outside again in a few minutes to check again. Seriously.

I'm so ready for Spring.

It's no wonder...

2011-01-06T21:16:00.001-05:00

we go through groceries so quickly now.

Happy Birthday Matthew!

2011-01-06T21:16:00.000-05:00

About thirteen and a half years ago, Matthew and I went on our first date. Of course, at the time (at 20 and 21 years old), we had no idea if we'd even be together by the end of the week, let alone the rest of our lives. Thirteen years, seven and a half years of marriage, and three kids later, I can't imagine going through this journey with any one else. He is the best partner I could have ever asked for, and today is his birthday.

I don't know if any celebration could measure up to the man/father/husband that we were toasting on this Thursday evening. But we certainly tried our darndest...

Happy Birthday Matthew! 35 looks mighty fine on you.

Oy. Worst week ever?

2011-01-02T21:36:00.003-05:00

I thought that today I'd be reflecting on the twins' first birthday, a fun Christmas spent with my family, the last few days in our old house and the first few in our new one. Instead, I'm (we're) still recovering from and reflecting on an RSV diagnosis, two trips to the ER, and a three-day stay at the Pediatric ward of UNC Children's Hospital.

What was supposed to be a fun-filled and celebratory (although busy) week turned into a pretty awful one on Monday afternoon. A couple of days after our quick trip to Greenville for Christmas, I could tell that I needed to take Graham to the doctor. He had started to feel and act out of sorts on his birthday, but had progressed to a point where I could tell that what he had wasn't your everyday cold. So on Monday afternoon, after a positive RSV test at the pediatricians' office, two nebulizer treatments, and several minutes on a oxygen saturation monitor, the doctor we saw sent us to the ER. The concern was that virus has blocked his airways enough to where he was working so hard on breathing that his little body was getting worn out. Her hope was that the docs in the ER would give him some oxygen to help him breathe a little easier. Well... the ER doctors, being a little less alarmist, weren't so quick to get him on oxygen, so they gave him yet another nebulizer treatment and monitored him for a few hours. (As a side note, I have so, SO many things I could say about the hospital system and health care in general, but that's not really what this blog is about...). And after a few hours, Graham honestly seemed a little better and his oxygen levels were up, so they sent us home. I was a nervous wreck that night and got about 3 hours of sleep, but when we woke up on Tuesday, Graham seemed better. As the morning progressed however, I once again could tell that he wasn't, so we went to the doctor again for a follow-up appointment. His doctors were still not pleased with his breathing, and we could all tell that Graham was not doing well, so rather than send us to the ER again, they got him directly admitted to the Pediatric ward of the hospital. (I should add here, that in order for this to happen, they had to take us to the hospital in an ambulance, and we had to wait in the ER for another 4 hours for a room to open up.) So that's where Graham and I spent Tuesday - Friday of this week. In a word, it was awful.

The care itself at the hospital was great, and I felt so much better knowing that he was in good hands and was being constantly monitored. But seeing your child in that situation, where he is sick and in pain and discomfort and hooked up to monitors and tubes... it's just the absolute worst feeling in the entire world. And while I keep reminding myself that what he had was just a virus and that there are so many more children that have much bigger troubles, it doesn't take away from the absolute heartbreak you feel when your child is really sick.

Meanwhile, Matthew was taking care of Cooper and Caroline, packing up the rest of the house, and handling everything that had to do with our closing and move, on his own. And being Matthew, he handled it all like a total champ. On top of the worry we felt for Graham, I think we both felt a little helpless in that we had to "divide and conquer"... that we couldn't really be together to support each other with everything that was going on. We're fortunate to have some amazing friends that helped us out with childcare and child entertaining, brought us dinners and groceries, and helped Matthew unpack a little on those first couple of days.

So now... we are all home in the new house and getting settled. And, most importantly Graham is feeling much, much better. He's being silly and smiley and funny and eating a ton, as if the past week didn't - quite literally - knock the wind out of him. He's lucky. Me? I don't know if I'm going to recover quite so quickly.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NINJAS!

2010-12-24T00:01:00.007-05:00

Happy Birthday Graham and Caroline! We can't believe it's been a whole year since you came into our lives and made our family complete. We love you both so much; you'll always be the best Christmas present we ever received.

Love,
Mommy, Daddy and Cooper (and Sammy and Skeeter, too)

Look Ma...

2010-12-22T16:05:00.002-05:00

NO HANDS!

(Someone is standing on his own and oh-so close to taking his first steps.)

Random Friday Tidbits

2010-12-10T15:16:00.002-05:00

In no particular order...

*We started packing our house this week, and it's surprisingly not as bad as I expected so far. I'm sure it will become more intense as our move date approaches, but we still have over two weeks to chip away, so I think we're in good shape.

*I forgot Cooper's snack/lunch box when I took him to school this morning and didn't realize it until after snack time had come and gone. His teachers said it was fine, and he had the standard backup snack (popcorn) and then shared with everyone else in the class. I feel like I've become such a flake... I'd lose my head if it wasn't attached to my body.

*Speaking of school, today during pick-up I happened to be there when one mother loudly and publicly confronted another about her child and his behavior. It was awful and mortifying to witness, and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. Parenting is hard. Period. And I would imagine that the confronted parent has enough of her own troubles about discipline and conduct without someone else making a scene over it. Ugh... poor form, lady. You're getting the side-eye from me from now on.

*Would anyone like to take care of my dog over Christmas? The usual place we board him was booked up before Thanksgiving, and it's causing me some angst.

*Our cleaning people came today, so we had an hour to kill after I picked Cooper up. I ended up taking us all out to lunch and was worried that it was going to be pure chaos. It wasn't. Cooper, Graham and Caroline ate and smiled and cooperated... it was great. Sometimes I avoid certain situations because I imagine how they will play out, and I think "No, thank you." Most of the time, though, we all manage just fine. I need to give myself (and my sidekicks) more credit.

*Tonight is date night. A friend of mine and I - for the second month in a row - are swapping childcare. She's coming over tonight, and I'm going to her house next Friday. It's a brilliant plan, and I don't know why we didn't start doing this much, much earlier.

Happy Friday to you all!

Meeting Santa

2010-12-10T00:39:00.003-05:00

On Tuesday night, we went to a party at Ele, Will and Finn's house. And a very special guest showed up...

As you could probably imagine, all of the kids -- well, the ones who were old enough to understand -- were VERY excited. Cooper jumped up and down for almost a full minute after he walked in the door. After greeting everyone with hugs and high fives, Santa took a seat and announced that he wanted to talk with each child one-on-one. There was a moment of hesitation... no one wanted to be first. But Cooper, our brave boy, stepped up and was the first to talk to the jolly old man. He quietly told him his name was Cooper and introduced him to Baby Elephant. (Have *you* met Baby Elephant? She's a very special friend.). Once he warmed up a little, he told Santa that he wanted a "choo-choo train" and "toys."

After a few photos, the other children had their special time with Santa. And while they didn't have much to say this year, even Caroline & Graham got in on the action...

They weren't sure what to think.

Before he left, Santa gave each child a gift from his bag...

and a special coin. He said that if the children kept their rooms clean and listened to their parents (yes!), then their mom and dad would leave the coin for Santa on Christmas Eve (along with some milk & cookies, of course). When Santa saw the coin, he would know that the boys and girls had indeed been VERY good. And with that... he was gone.

It was an awesome Tuesday night, and many times during the party I found myself grinning from ear-to-ear. Experiencing Christmas as a parent is like being a kid all over again, and thankfully for us, this is really just the beginning.

Music lessons

2010-12-06T15:52:00.000-05:00

These pictures make me smile...

Well, hello December...

2010-12-06T15:28:00.000-05:00

Has it really been almost a month since my last blog post?? Bad, bad mommy...

First things first, we sold our house! And we bought another! So we're moving across town at the end of the month/year. As of right now, our closing date is tentatively scheduled for December 29th. It seems a little crazy to do all of this around the holidays, but we just thought we'd try to squeeze one last life-change into 2010. That's how we roll.

We spent Thanksgiving in VA with Grammie, Grumpa, Suzanne and Collin. We had a great visit despite the fact that Caroline and Graham were crappy sleepers away from home. As always, we made sure to bring the camera and had every intention of taking lots of pictures. We didn't. But here are a few cute ones:

They love the dishwasher. I can't wait until they can help unload it.

Even though we're keeping our own decorations very light for Christmas this year, we're all geared up for the holidays around here. For the first year, Cooper has a decent (although superficial) understanding of Christmas and is super-excited! And it is SO fun! We've been reading lots of Christmas books, watching Christmas specials on TV, changing our nativity Advent calendar everyday, admiring all of the decorations, and (as parents) invoking the Santa card when behavior starts becoming too "naughty" for our liking. It is shameful... but it totally works.

And finally, Caroline and Graham will be turning ONE in 18 days. My little babies... I can't believe it. This year has flown by and if I didn't keep up with this blog (no matter how sporadically), we probably wouldn't remember much of their first 6 months. We've all come a long way in the past 12 months, and I didn't expect to be feeling quite as emotional as I have been about their approaching birthday. Add this to the emotions and excitement surrounding the holidays and our upcoming move, and I think I will be a blubbering fool by the time Christmas Eve/their birthday actually rolls around. My apologies, in advance, to Matthew. :)

Zoo trip

2010-11-10T17:02:00.000-05:00

This past weekend was pretty stellar over at our house. There was a Friday night date night for Matthew and me, a Saturday morning haircut for me, a house showing (have I mentioned that we put our house on the market?), yummy homemade seafood gumbo AND chocolate chip pumpkin bread made by yours truly, a UNC football victory over FSU, and some deliciously cozy fall weather. It was awesome. The true highlight of the weekend, however, was our Sunday trip to the NC Zoo in Asheboro.

A couple of Springs ago I took Cooper to the zoo with Avery, Jack and Anna Beth when he was about 7 months old. Obviously he had no recollection of that trip, so we were long overdue for a family zoo outing. It was relatively chilly and a Sunday morning, so when we arrived there was hardly anyone else there. We parked in the North America section of the zoo and took an empty tram to Africa. I had read that mornings are usually better for seeing certain animals, so we wanted to start in the more "exotic" location and work our way back. We were not disappointed:

Elephant, meet Elephant

A lot of the animals were sleeping, so it was kind of cool to see the Polar Bear actually wake up from a snooze. Cooper says that we "saw the Polar Bear getting busy," which can be translated several ways, elicits some amused expressions, and needs further explanation when he says that to other adults - like his preschool teachers, for example.

In addition to the animals, there are some other fun things for kids to do there. Cooper's favorite part may have been riding the carousel twice. Or taking a ride with some animal friends.

Caroline and Graham were rock stars, as usual, but may have been a little bored by the end.

Whatever the case, it was a super-fun day. :)

Big (10 months)

2010-11-08T15:00:00.000-05:00

Some people around here think that they're big.

What with all of the crawling, standing, riding in big-kid car seats, feeding themselves things like grilled cheese, meat and eggs (which technically they're not supposed to have for another two months, but oops. No allergies here though, so yay for easy breaskfasts.), I think they're trying to remind us that at 10 (and a half) months old, toddlerhood is right around the corner. And that makes me happy/sad. Happy, because when they came home from the hospital, these two weren't considered full-term and didn't even weigh 5 lbs. It was scary, stressful, and exhausting. And now they're healthy and happy and thriving and big (relatively speaking). And - yes! - at 10 months, it is getting easier and easier everyday. Sad, well, because they're my babies! And Matthew and I are 99.9% sure that we won't be going through the baby phase ever again. So like I said, it's happy/sad.

And, speaking of big...

Halloween Pictures

2010-11-03T22:02:00.000-04:00

This Halloween, Cooper dressed up as a Fireman ...

and Caroline and Graham were Dalmations.

We went Trick-or-Treating with The Owens on Halloween night, and the following day had a costume party/play date with friends. A good time all around.

Birthday Bonanza

2010-10-26T08:55:00.000-04:00

I know I've previously mentioned that most of Cooper's long-time buddies also have October birthdays. So for the last two years, our October weekends have been full of birthday celebrations for all of the little ones. This year, a few of us decided that we'd join forces and throw a big birthday party together. We teamed up with Wesley's family and Katie's family and had Cooper, Katie, and Wesley's Three Year Birthday Bonanza on Sunday. It was SUCH a good idea! One-third of the work = triple the fun, and the big group of guests made for quite a festive party. We had about 25 one-to-six-year-olds, several babies under one, and their parents there to celebrate with us. All of those special friends and family members plus gorgeous weather, a playground for built-in entertainment, hamburgers, hot dogs, and cupcakes (and good beer for the adults) made for a really great day.

GROUP HUG!

The Birthday Boy

2010-10-21T21:41:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday to our dear, sweet Cooper!

We can't believe you're THREE today. We love you and wish you the best year ever.

xoxo,
Mommy, Daddy, Graham & Caroline (and Sammy and Skeeter)

Cousins

2010-10-19T21:54:00.000-04:00

Cooper doesn't like his older cousins.

Nope. Not one bit. ;)

Mountain Trip

2010-10-19T21:47:00.001-04:00

This past weekend we went to the mountains with Avery and Sarah and their families. It was a much-needed relaxing weekend after a busy early-fall. While we were there, we...

went on bug hunts...

and played in the leaves.

We crawled off into the sunset...

and played games.

We attempted several "cousin" photo shoots...

and admired the view.

We had happy hour...

and just enjoyed being together.
It was a great weekend, overall.

School Pictures

2010-10-14T22:09:00.000-04:00

Cooper had picture day at school last week. And since we're now in the "digital age," (did I really just write that?) we don't have to wait very long for the proofs.

Here's the first, which is hilarious to me, and the one we'll probably order:

Not sure what's going on here:

And, he's done:

The group pictures of his class are pretty classic, too. But that may be a little weird for me to post pictures of other people's children on the internet, so I'll refrain. Just imagine a group of ten 2-3 year olds sitting on a picnic table together...
Exactly.

Adventures in Cloth Diapering: Waving the White Flag

2010-10-12T22:21:00.001-04:00

For now, let's ignore the fact that I haven't posted anything in almost three weeks, and the fact that I started a post last Tuesday that I still haven't finished.

Last night Matthew pointed out that it had been a while since I posted anything about our adventures in cloth diapering, and he was right. I meant to post something a few months ago, not long after the ninjas started solid food. As experienced parents know, introducing solids changes... things. And even though our enthusiasm for the cloth diapers started to wane a little, I wanted to post about how - not ones to ever give up too quickly - we pressed on. We bought a diaper sprayer so that we could easily clean off any solid-food poop before we began our usual wash routine, and I even started to think it would be easier if we bought some of the "fancier diapers" out there. But right when we started to get more into solid foods, life just seemed to get busier and busier. And Graham and Caroline started to become more mobile, which made folding a prefold diaper on a baby that wouldn't lay still for one second more than a little aggravating. And frankly. diaper sprayer or not, the poop-cleaning just wasn't enjoyable. So we found ourselves reaching for the disposables more frequently at home.

Before a diaper change, I would look at the pile of clean cloth diapers at our downstairs diaper changing area, and then run upstairs to grab a disposable. I'd feel guilty and sheepish when Matthew would come home from work, and C & G would be in disposables, not having worn a cloth diaper all day. Every few days I'd recommit, but it never lasted long. Last week, Matthew finally said something like, "So I guess we're just on disposables now," and I wanted to hug him and cry, "YES! I'm so glad you said something! We're free!!!" (I'm being a little dramatic, but you get the point.) On top of the three meals a day for three kids + four bottles a day for two + getting everyone clean and dressed + diaper changes for 2 + potty reminders and runs for 1 + staying on top of the laundry and other chores around the house + trying not to completely ignore our pets, something had to give. All of this is my long-winded way of saying...we quit. :)

Truthfully I'd still recommend cloth diapering to anyone, and I think if we had cloth diapered Cooper, we would have been more dedicated to cloth diapering all of our children. But in the end, we surrendered to convenience. I'm glad we gave it a shot.

3/4

2010-09-24T13:57:00.003-04:00

Graham and Caroline are 9 months old today. Three-fourths of a year and three short months from their first birthday.

You know those times when you're driving in your car, and all of a sudden you've reached your destination, but you're not sure how you got there? That's kind of how I feel today.

(And I realize I haven't posted much lately, but as usual, I'll try to be better. We've been busy lately. Not in an "OMG things are SO crazy!" kind of way. Just in the normal, busy family of five way. Life is good.)

Updated, to include their 9 month stats:
Graham - 17 lbs, 27.5" tall, 45.2 cm head circumference
Caroline - 15 lbs, 9 oz, 27.5" tall, 43.3 cm head circumference

Daily Laugh

2010-09-22T15:10:00.001-04:00

Another video that made me chuckle. And it reminded me of this one that I posted a couple of years ago.

Party at Graham's Crib

2010-09-22T15:09:00.000-04:00

I love that they seem to enjoy one another's company so much.

First Day of School, 2010

2010-09-08T21:57:00.000-04:00

Today was Cooper's first official day of Preschool. Last year he started going to a Parent's Morning Out program, which we called "school," but this is the real deal. Having already had those two PMO mornings/week apart for a while, he and I were both used to the school drop-off scenario. So while I don't think either one of us was particularly anxious this morning, it did feel a little different when I was driving him there this morning. He'll be attending three mornings/week now instead of two, and this is the school where he'll be going for the next three years. (And considering Caroline and Graham are already on their list to start in 2012, we'll be a part of this preschool community for the next 5 years.) It feels a little strange to think of him as a "preschooler," and just looking back at pictures of him from this time last year, I can see how much growth and change happens from age 2 to 3. So... okay, yes. I am getting a little sentimental now that I think about it. *sniffle*

Annual First Day of School pictures :)

Anyway, drop off today went great. We walked into his classroom and met his teachers, Miss Phoebe and Miss Debra. There were a couple of kids that were pretty upset, but Cooper zeroed in on the toy car and truck ramp and made a beeline. I put his stuff in his new cubby and when I went to say goodbye, he barely acknowledged me. Sheesh.

In the 2 hours and 45 minutes he was there today - it's normally a 4 hour day - I was able to make a quick trip to the grocery store, give Graham and Caroline their breakfast and put them down for a nap, enjoy some quiet coffee time, clean up the kitchen, take a shower, and get back to pick him up (a little early actually).

First time sitting up in the grocery cart. Obviously, I had to put them both in the front - which is normally for one child - but it totally worked.

His teachers said he had a great day, and I had a hard time pulling him away from his classroom. On the drive home I asked him how it was. He said, "It was fun today. I miss you all day." He is such a sweetheart, and I'm glad to know those feelings aren't mutually exclusive. Because that about sums up my morning too.

And then we were five...

2010-08-25T07:00:00.000-04:00

One year ago today, we found out we were expecting twins. I was 17 weeks and 5 days pregnant (to be perfectly exact), and Matthew and I were excited and anxious to get to the ultrasound and have our first glimpse of "the baby." In many ways, I felt like something about this pregnancy was different than my first, so I was hopeful for some reassurance that everything was fine. And I was really excited about finding out if "the baby" was a boy or girl.

When we got started and the ultrasound tech started moving her little wand around, I looked eagerly at the screen for that first image. She stopped the transducer and I saw something that didn't really look like anything familiar. "Oh! Do you see what I see there?!" she said. And immediately I thought to myself, "Oh God. Please don't say what I think you're about to say..."
"Two?" I asked
"You're having twins!"

At that point, time stopped for a moment. I lay there, staring at the screen, not wanting to make eye contact with anyone. lest they see the look of sheer panic on my face. I know that I probably said a few things like "No way! Are you serious?" but a million thoughts were rushing through my head, and I don't remember much. I finally turned to look at Matthew - who wouldn't look at me - and saw him wipe something out of the corner of his eye. "Are you okay?" I asked him. I needed to hear his voice; something reassuring. But I also think I needed to hear from him that he wasn't about to run away.

The next two hours passed, and most of it was a blur. We found out they were a boy and a girl, which meant they were fraternal and therefore a lot less risky/complicated. But there was a lot of silence, a lot of questions, and - knowing us - probably an awful lot of awkward and lame attempts at jokes about the surprise. When we were walking out of the hospital, the waterworks started, and they continued for about two days. I was scared, anxious, worried about Cooper, money, preparations, their health, my health, how much weight I was going to gain (yes I am that vain), how we were going to function with three children under the age of two and a half. To be perfectly honest, I was... not thrilled. And above all, I felt so guilty for feeling that way. (All of those feelings, I have since learned, are perfectly normal.)

To this day when I think about that moment, I still get chills. And today, I can't imagine my life any other way. Actually I can imagine what it would be like to just have one 8 month old, but I don't want to. That thought makes my heart hurt. Despite all of the day-to-day challenges of the past year, these two little babies have brought so much joy to our family and to our household that every day I feel like the luckiest person on the planet. My heart is filled with so much love that some days it's enough to bring me to my knees. I am so, so grateful.

"Happy anniversary" today to my sweet family of five. We were meant to be.

Visiting Grammie and Grumpa

2010-08-17T23:02:00.002-04:00

Last weekend, we drove up to Staunton, VA to visit Matthew's parents (Grammie & Grumpa). We think it's been a full year since our last trip up there, and they haven't been here since February, so it was a long overdue visit. We had a great time spending time with them, and we enjoyed on a couple of fun outings to Sherando Lake and Gypsy Hill Park while we were there. Cooper especially enjoyed riding his "race car" that lives up there and walking through the "spooky forest" (their backyard). Some pictures from the weekend:

Tub time x 3

2010-08-17T22:05:00.001-04:00

I've been looking forward to doing this for a long time, but I didn't think we'd actually be able to pull it off for a while. But now that C & G are sitting up well, thanks to these, we gave all three kids a bath (kind of) at the same time a couple of nights ago. It was pretty cute, if I do say so myself.

7 months

2010-08-12T22:32:00.002-04:00

Caroline and Graham are actually closer to 8 months now, but I didn't want this month to pass by without making note of some developments. Namely...

Sitting up, which they have (mostly) mastered:

Solid foods, which they are eating two times a day now:

And (just for fun) swinging, which they did for the first time this weekend:

They were a little unsure. But my goodness, they are so lucky to have each other to lean on. :)

Bulls Game

2010-08-11T15:18:00.001-04:00

Last night we took the whole family to another Durham Bulls baseball game. It was a perfect night for a game, and Cooper was so excited I thought he was going to explode. He was super-excited to see Wool E Bull again and gave him a couple of high-fives, but when it came to standing right next to him for a picture, Cooper got a little nervous.

Both Caroline and Graham were perfectly content to be at the game as well, so it was a fun night for the whole family. When it was time for us to leave, we stopped by the stadium gift shop and bought Cooper a baseball/bat set and his very first baseball cap.

Once we were home, he went to bed wearing his new hat and clutching his bat and ball. (I was dying from the cuteness of the whole thing.) I think it's safe to say that he had a great time. :)

Incognito

2010-08-05T17:37:00.001-04:00

The Sweetness

2010-08-05T09:20:00.004-04:00

We've already had quite a morning here. For the past two days, I've been trying to wake up earlier than the rest of the crowd, so that I can enjoy a few minutes of time to myself before the day begins. And for the second morning in a row, I've had a poor night's sleep and someone is already raring-to-go at 6:30 when my alarm has gone off. Either I unintentionally started a trend, or they are all plotting against me. Le sigh.

So Cooper is parked in front of a DVRed episode of Dora, Caroline and Graham are napping, and I'm enjoying my rarely-consumed-but-very-necessary-today second cup of coffee of the day. I thought I'd take this moment to post a couple of little things that I've been meaning to record - mainly for me - so I don't forget them. (And perhaps so I can come back and read them again on another challenging day.)

1) On the 4th of July, we let Cooper stay up late. From the back porch of my parents' house, we watched fireworks with Cooper cuddled up on my lap in a rocking chair He leaned against my chest and would occasionally look up at me to give "eskimo kisses." And at one point I reached up to stroke his cheek, but when I put my hand back down, he held onto it and said "touch my face again?" I think I barely paid attention to the fireworks, as I was too busy drinking in every second of that snuggly moment with my almost-three year old.

2) A couple of Thursdays ago, after dinner and before baths and bedtime, I took the kids out for a walk. I had Caroline and Graham in the big stroller with Cooper walking beside me. After walking for only a few minutes, Cooper asked, "You hold my hand, Mama?" I responded with an enthusiastic, "Of course!" and he says...

"Thank you. You're my best friend." And then I melted into a giant puddle, right there on the sidewalk.

My first-born: he has the sweetness.

I scream, you scream...

2010-07-24T21:55:00.001-04:00

Recently we've taken a couple of trips to the very nearby TCBY for an evening treat. I thought these pics were pretty cute.

Coop Scoop

2010-07-22T09:05:00.002-04:00

Some things about Cooper...

*He is ob.sessed with the Durham Bulls right now, specifically Wool E. Bull. Cooper talks about "going to the baseball" and "giving Wool E. Bull a high-five" so often that you'd think we had season tickets and took him to every single game. I've had friends and his teachers at school ask me if we had been to a game the day before because he talked about it so much. Um, no. We went to a game in May. I think it may be time to go to another.

*The pretend-play has really picked up around here, and I often hear him quietly narrating conversations between himself and his stuffed animals, cars and trucks, etc. More often than not, during these play-periods I notice that he likes to send someone to time-out. I don't know what the offending toy did, nor do I care. But I do wonder if he's finding it to be a more effective form of punishment than I do.

*One day, out of the blue, he gave us all new nicknames. We are:

"Daddy-Croissants"
"Mama-Chips"
"Cooper-Blueberry" or "Cooper-waffle"
"Caroline-Mashed-Potatoes," and
"Grahamonade"

I have no idea how he comes up with this stuff.

*And finally, he is one PROUD big brother. Baby twins attract a lot of attention, and so we have a lot of random strangers talk to us when we're out and about. (And I definitely plan on writing about that someday.) When someone comes over to gush, he has started posting himself beside their stroller, and will proudly say "They're my babies. This is Caroline and this is Graham." He is one sweet little dude.

6 months

2010-07-14T21:37:00.001-04:00

I'm so behind on blog posts! I've been feeling particularly lazy/uninspired with posting lately, which is pretty sad given the amount of good (and cute!) blog material that I have. I'll start with the Ninjas 6 month update:

They turned 6 months old on June 24th, which already seems like ages ago. At their 6-month doctor's visit they measured:

Caroline

weight: 12 lbs, 8.5 oz (3rd %)
height: 25 3/4" (50th %)
head circ: 42 cm (25-50th %)

Graham

weight: 13 lbs, 13 oz (also 3rd %)
height: 25 3/4" (25th %)
head circ: 43 1/2 cm (50%)

Peanuts! They're still peanuts, and even if you plotted them on the growth charts as 5 month olds (since they were 5 weeks early), they'd still only be in the 10th percentile for weight.

In other developments, Graham has two teeth. Caroline doesn't have any yet and is showing no signs of them coming in yet. They've both started on solid foods, but we're taking our time with it. We haven't moved on from rice cereal or oatmeal yet, as they're still getting used to it and I feel like they're in "practice mode." I feel no real rush, but when they are ready I am looking forward to breaking out the baby food cooker that my parents got us so I can start making baby food again.

They are also working on sitting up on their own. Graham has it down a little better than Caroline at this point, but neither one can do it for very long before they topple over. I will welcome this milestone with open arms... from what I remember with Cooper, life changes A LOT (in a good way) when they can sit up. I have a feeling they get pretty bored just laying around anyway. They roll all over the place now, and I even watched Graham kind of "inchworm" his way towards his pacifer on the floor yesterday. (Yikes.)

Finally, we are thankful that they are both pretty good sleepers at this point. And I even say this after a not-so-restful night last night. They will generally take two decent naps during the day and one catnap in the late afternoon. At night they both can go 11 - 12 hours without waking, but occasionally someone does. Thankfully, they rarely wake each other up with their crying. Yes, it's really true -- one could be sleeping soundly while the other is screaming bloody murder -- and I hardly believe it even when I see it.

All in all, at 6 months they are perfect, healthy, happy ninja peanuts. And I am so glad that they are ours.

Say Whaaat?!?!

2010-07-14T14:54:00.000-04:00

Keeping it real (or, Things that keep me humble, part 67)

2010-07-14T14:17:00.002-04:00

It's only 2:00, and the house...

was clean...

this morning.

What a difference a year makes...

2010-07-07T10:43:00.000-04:00

July 3, 2009

July 4, 2010 (same general location)

I don't think I need to mention how much I love this picture. Lucky, lucky, lucky.

Also, I can't believe how much older Cooper looks! And yes, he needs a haircut, stat.

My how we've grown

2010-06-27T20:16:00.002-04:00

What started out as this:

soon became this:

Eventually that became this:

which led to this:

And now, today (technically yesterday) there is this:

Yesterday we - all 29 of us - got together (daddies included) to say goodbye to two families that are moving away this week. And despite the sadness of saying goodbye, this picture makes me happy. I feel so lucky to be a part of this group.

A message from Cooper, Graham and Caroline

2010-06-20T00:01:00.001-04:00

We love our...

Happy Father's Day to the best Dad ever! We are SO lucky!! Xoxoxo...

Love,
Molly, Cooper, Graham & Caroline (and Sammy & Skeeter too)

P.S It's a good thing we have three children, otherwise this picture just wouldn't have worked. Ha! ;)

Airport fun

2010-06-12T22:03:00.000-04:00

If there's one thing I've learned in the past 2.5 years, it's that the days go by much faster when we have some fun things to do on our agenda. This is certainly true on Mondays and Thursdays (Matthew's school days). One of our favorite activities of late is going to the Airport Observation Park at RDU Airport. There you can you watch planes take-off and land and have a little fun. We've been twice in the past three weeks and will probably go again this coming week if it's not too hot. Pictures from our first visit a few weeks ago:

Things we've been doing

2010-06-12T21:48:00.000-04:00

Aside from the week when we (as an entire family) were sidelined with a stomach virus, we've been pretty busy. Here's a glimpse of some of the things we've been up to lately:

Durham Bulls gaming

Friday on the Front Porching

Farmers Marketing

Pool Partying

Exersaucering

Yep. Things are pretty fun around here. :)

Just the 10 of us

2010-06-12T21:21:00.000-04:00

From about 1999 to 2008, Matthew was in a band. While there were several personnel changes over the years, Matthew and our friend Brian -- the saxophone player -- were the only original members that stayed throughout the course of their career and throughout several life changes. In 2002 Brian and his wife got married, and in 2003 Matthew and I got married. In 2006 Brian and Kaci had their first child, and in 2007 Matthew and I had Cooper. The band wrapped it up in 2008, but Matthew and Brian would periodically get together just to play music. In early 2009, Brian came over one night to "jam" and told us that he and Kaci were expecting again, and hey guess what... they were having twins (a boy and a girl). He still seemed surprised by the news himself, and while we were totally happy for them, we cracked several jokes about the situation. I think you all know where this is going...

Last Saturday we got together with Brian, Kaci and their three children for the first time. Four adults and six children, age three and under. It was not for sissies (but was still tons of fun).

Picture-taking was a little challenging.

Oh and P.S., don't drink the Saunter water. You've been warned.

Meet Henry

2010-06-02T09:54:00.000-04:00

Perhaps the next best thing to becoming a parent yourself is becoming an aunt or uncle. My nephew, Henry, was born on May 28th at 1:59 am.

I can't wait to get my hands on him. That is one cute baby.

5 months...

2010-05-24T23:05:00.002-04:00

today. (With Sophie the Giraffe)

Looking a bit like a scene from Home Alone

2010-05-24T23:04:00.002-04:00

Cars at the top of the stairs:

Thanks for the Mammaries

2010-05-21T15:02:00.007-04:00

(Heh.)

For the past five months -- minus the first 6 weeks, when I gave actual breastfeeding the old college try -- I've been a pumper. Meaning, for the majority of Caroline and Graham's feedings I pumped breastmilk and bottlefed in lieu of actually breastfeeding or giving formula. There are lots of us "pumpers" out there, and it's actually very common among of the moms of multiples (MoMs) crowd.

My Medela pump and I had a love/hate relationship from the very beginning:

I loved that I could feed Caroline and Graham breastmilk for those 5 months, giving them the good start that they needed in their early days. I was determined, at least, to make it through cold and flu season, so that my immunity and antibodies were passed on to them.
I hated being hooked up to "the machine" somewhere close to 1.5 hours a day for four months (6 x a day at @15 minutes... yikes).
I loved (LOVED) the fact that -- thanks to the pumping and the extra calorie burn -- I was back down to my pre-pregnancy weight in three months, all while I continued to eat like a teenage boy*.
I hated that that 1.5 hours of pumping time didn't include the time spent actually feeding the twins.
I loved that breastmilk is free.
I hated the added lack of freedom that I felt.

So after my plugged duct and now that Caroline and Graham are older and more awake during the day, the time has come for my pump and I to part ways. Over the past month I've slowly weaned, and I officially "hung up the horns" this weekend. And despite the fantasies of taking a bat to the machine to celebrate (a la Office Space), I'm actually passing it on to my younger sister. Who, by the way, will be bringing my new nephew into the world sometime this week! Perfect timing, I'd say.

So farewell, Medela. It's been real, but I can't say I'll miss you.

*Does this mean I actually have to start exercising again?

Some Beach Pics

2010-05-20T14:22:00.005-04:00

Just another gorgeous, low-key weekend in Morehead City.

The nail in the coffin

2010-05-18T10:58:00.002-04:00

Minivan, meet Car-top Carrier.

(Pics from our weekend at the beach coming soon.)

Surprise Sneak Attack Guest Post

2010-05-09T07:32:00.004-04:00

Happy Mother's Day!

Love,
Matthew
Cooper
Graham
Caroline
Skeeter
Sammy (PS - I left you a bomb in the kitchen to clean up this morning)

"Singing Farmer in the Dell in perfect harmony..."

2010-05-06T14:18:00.007-04:00

Matthew and I still haven't fully embraced our status as minivan people. But right around the time we bought our Odyssey, the Toyota Sienna commercials featuring that self-absorbed, overly image-conscious couple started popping up on TV. They're pretty funny, and (in some ways) they hit a little close to home. Today Avery sent this video to me, which I've watched more than once:

Date night:

2010-05-03T09:47:00.005-04:00

You know it's been a while when you leave the house and get in the car together, turn to each other and say, "Hi. How are you??"

It's been 4.5 months to be exact, and thanks to an offer by an awesome friend, Matthew and I got to get out of the house for a kid-free evening. In short, free babysitting + my best friend + sushi + a good bottle of white + a diaper run to Target (to keep it real, y'all) = perfect.

Blame Game

2010-05-02T16:58:00.001-04:00

4 month stats

2010-05-02T12:50:00.007-04:00

I took the ninjas in for their 4 month check up on Friday. Here are their current stats:

Graham:
weight -11 lbs, 13 oz
length - 23.5 "
head circ - 41 cm

Caroline:
weight - 10 lbs, 8.5 oz
length - 24"
head circ - 39.5 cm

They're not quite as big as I expected, but they're thriving and sticking to the growth curve they were on at their 2 month check up, so that's what matters. And overall the appointment went well. I think there are some things that the doc and I forgot to discuss, but there's a lot to cover when you bring in two kids at once so something is bound to be forgotten.

In some ways I found the appointment to be one part Caroline and Graham check up, one part mini therapy session for me. I feel a little like a broken record saying this, but the past couple of weeks have been particularly grueling. While their first three months seemed to fly by, this past month... not so much. C & G's sleeping and eating patterns have changed some, and I've struggled with the unpredictability and inconsistencies. And for about a week, someone - I won't name names, but he knows who he is ;) - kept waking up fussing several times a night. From 2:30 to 5:30 am every night, I went through the same cycle: get up, fumble to nursery, insert pacifier, get back in bed, repeat, repeat, repeat...

Along with the exhaustion, there's also been the guilt that I'm not doing as much for Caroline and Graham as I did for Cooper (play times, activities, attention in general, etc.), the "Oh my God, what is Caroline screeching about now?," and just an overall sense of stress. So by the time Friday morning rolled around, I really thought I was probably going to cry at the doctor's office. Thankfully I didn't, and our favorite pediatrician told me three things that made me love him even more than I do already:

1) "Remember at this point, it's still about survival. You need to do the things that will help you maintain your sanity." (Or something like that.)

2) "Tummy time? Don't worry about tummy time. We just made that up."

3) "Millions of babies are formula fed, and they are perfect too." (More on this in a separate post. But it's funny that I had to hear it from him in order to feel okay about weaning from the pump soon. And I was a formula fed baby.)

So I came away from the appointment feeling a little more in control, validated, and relaxed. Plus the babies have been sleeping better and crying less this weekend, so I feel like things have been a teeny bit easier. Thank goodness.

Two-and-a-half

2010-04-24T15:04:00.009-04:00

is running,
jumping,
throwing rocks,
independence,
green crocs,
shaggy hair,
baby teeth,
big boy bed,
belly laughs,
strong will,
independence,
silliness,
imagination,
Old MacDonald,
Wagon Wheel,
firetrucks,
airplanes,
cars, cars, cars,
Yo Gabba Gabba,
dinosaurs,
scraped knees,
swings at the park,
bugs,
balls,
a big brother x 2,
"Baby Puppy,"
drama,
comedy,
and a new adventure everyday.

2010-04-23T11:58:00.003-04:00

Yesterday was Thursday, and we know what that means: Matthew has work and class, and I'm home with the gang for about 13-14 hours. Without rehashing the day - and I really don't want to - I'll say we laughed, we cried, and we survived to make it another day. And at the height of the insanity, there was this:

Naked baking. Don't try it at home.

Clearly, this was my fault ;)

2010-04-20T17:00:00.004-04:00

I was looking for an old email this afternoon and found this email exchange (dated June 23rd, so I was about 8 or 9 weeks pregnant) between myself and a friend:

L: Had my ultrasound this morning and everything looks good. And, just one baby! THANK GOODNESS! I was TOTALLY overwhelmed at the thought of twins. I am measuring right at 7.5 weeks and the baby's heart rate was 144

Me: Well... I'm glad for you that it's just one! Twins totally seem overwhelming, but as crazy as it seems I still think I wouldn't mind having them. I'm guessing I'm just having one as well. ;)

Ha?

Adventures in Cloth Diapering: An update

2010-04-18T14:44:00.003-04:00

I'm hooked.

Three weeks into using cloth diapers on Caroline and Graham, and I can say without question that I am SO glad we decided to do it. Aside from an extra load of laundry here and there -- which we're already doing a ton of anyway -- it's really no more difficult, time consuming, or inconvenient than using cloth (in my opinion). And in 21 days, we've likely used at least 200 fewer disposable diapers than we would have otherwise. 200! That's crazy to me! I'll totally admit that our primary motivation for starting with cloth had more to do with economics than about being eco-friendly. The environmental impact was just a bonus. But when I think about the numbers like that, it's really eye-opening. And it motivates me to think of other ways we as a family can reduce waste and be even more "green." I know that there are some people out there that say that using cloth isn't as environmentally friendly as it may seem because you're using way more water due to of all the laundry. And I can see that point of view. But there have been plenty of days in the past three weeks that I haven't had time to shower, so I'm calling it even. :)

As I mentioned in my first post about it, we are using prefold diapers with diaper covers. This is the most basic and economical way, but there are many different varieties of cloth diapers now, all with increasing convenience (and therefore price). During our first week, I spent a lot of time looking at the different types of diapers, and I assumed that once we got used to cloth, we'd eventually spend a little more money and "upgrade" to a more sophisticated diaper type. I think I was feeling tempted by the cuteness factor. Surprisingly now that the initial novelty has worn off, at the moment I'm actually really happy with the simplicity of the prefold/cover system and don't feel the need for all of the bells and whistles of anything more advanced. The one exception is that I think I am ready to start using cloth overnight, and some of the "fancier" diapers are better for that.

All in all I have nothing bad to say about using cloth, which comes as a little bit of a surprise. It's easy, eco-friendly, economical, and I really wish we had considered it when Cooper was a baby. The next phase in this adventure will be working on potty-training him, which will be real treat I'm sure.

Uncle

2010-04-14T16:42:00.005-04:00

Would you like to hear about my day?

Should I start with the part when I spilled my coffee all over myself and my favorite jeans this morning? Or the part where Cooper DREW ON OUR SOFA WITH A PERMANENT SHARPIE? Maybe you'd like to hear about the playdate where Cooper pushed his friends (although I really don't think he was being a bully...), ran halfway down the street (away from me) as we were trying to leave, and then threw a temper tantrum in the car on the way home. Or possibly the super-massive blow-out that Graham had in his diaper which required wardrobe changes for him and me.

During "naptime" I set off the smoke alarm while I was trying to cook a chicken for tonight's dinner. And then when I was assembling chicken salad, I managed to convince myself that yes, the chicken was definitely undercooked and we'd all get salmonella. So I did what any rational person would do... I threw the whole thing in the trash.

All the while, I've had a clogged milk duct for three days (sorry if TMI) and no amount of massaging or warm compresses seem to be helping. The other suggestions for relief make me laugh: "nursing" (pumping for me) at least every two hours and... rest. HA!

So in summary, it's 5:45 pm and I have:

a two-and-a-half year old (obviously),
a sofa that's probably ruined,
a house that smells like smoke and looks like a war zone,
a frozen pizza that's about to go in the oven,
lots of laundry to do,
and a sore boob.

Okay Wednesday, you win.

Big boy bed

2010-04-12T10:58:00.006-04:00

I get the feeling Matthew thinks I'm a little nuts, but yesterday I almost cried because of this:

It's a picture of Cooper's inaugural nap in his big boy bed. And last night he slept in it all night for the first time. I know that it's a significant milestone and that it's exciting that he's growing up and becoming more independent and all that jazz. But the transition from the crib to the bed is just the beginning! Before we know it, he'll be going to sleepovers with friends, summer camps, trips abroad in high school, leaving for college, moving out permanently, and at that point I'll be lucky if he remembers to call me on my birthday. Waaaaahhh!

In addition, since we moved his crib into Caroline and Graham's room, last night they slept in separate cribs for the first time. Talk about bittersweet. *sigh*

The good news is now that all the furniture rearranging is done and everything is in the correct room, I can work on sprucing up their spaces a little and making the nursery a little more "cute" and less "random-crap-in-a-room." You know, with all that free time that I have.

Hello Cuteness

2010-04-06T17:24:00.002-04:00

"Going to work"

2010-04-02T14:14:00.004-04:00

Every weekday morning, Cooper and I watch Matthew gather his things and leave for work. And everyday it's almost always the same things: briefcase, sunglasses, travel mug, car keys. He kisses us goodbye, and Cooper and I say "Have a good day!!" It's just what we do in the morning.

Lately Cooper has been pretending that he's "going to work" too. Note the trick-or-treat "briefcase," sunglasses and car keys. One of his sippy cups is in the jack o'lantern.

It was casual Friday.

Duke Gardens Picnic

2010-04-02T13:52:00.004-04:00

On Wednesday we met up with our usual crew and had a picnic at Duke Gardens. It pains me to say anything nice about Duke University, but I love the gardens. It's just so lovely there, and it's become one of my favorite warm weather destinations in the area. After what feels like a particularly long and brutal winter, we were all happy to get out and enjoy some warm weather with friends. I'm loving that the end of our family's "fourth trimester" (i.e., the twins' first three months) coincided with the beginning of Spring. And I have a feeling there will be many more fun times ahead this Spring and Summer.

Almost everybody

Ashes

We all fall down!

Cooper checking out the "flamingo" (ha!)

Graham and Caroline doing their thing

Ch-ch-ch-changes

2010-03-29T22:35:00.002-04:00

Yes, I changed the blog. Again. And I think this is exactly what I've wanted it to be for a while -- clean and simple with a new name -- so I'm done with the tweaking. Read on.

A public apology. Kind of.

2010-03-29T16:34:00.003-04:00

On Friday I was going to issue a public apology to Caroline for stating that she was the fussier, more demanding twin. Because for a couple of days she was absolute joy to be around, and I felt guilty for saying it. But then both twins decided to wear their cranky-pants all weekend, and I changed my mind.

So instead of an apology, I thought I'd post a picture of her being super-cute:

Here she is saying, "Fussy? Me?? Why... I'm delightful!"

And honestly, she's right.

Adventures in Cloth Diapering: It begins

2010-03-27T15:08:00.009-04:00

In anticipation of the sheer volume of waste (literally) that was going to be leaving this house, the associated guilt as a result of that waste, and the known expense of disposable diapers, for a while I had been toying with the idea of cloth-diapering the twins. Over the past 3 months alone, I estimate that we've gone through close to 2000 diapers (for all three children), and spent around $400. I had done a lot of internet research and talked with some other cloth-diapering parents, but I wasn't sure if it was for us. And then last month our next-door neighbor gifted us five dozen prefold diapers, some diaper pins and detergent, just in case we wanted them. With that little nudge, we decided "What the heck... let's give it a shot." So we're doing it. Cloth-diapering twins may sound like pure insanity to some, but there's really no way to know if it will work for us as a family unless we try.

Our initial investment has been small. Because the diapers that our neighbor gave us are a little big for the twins right now, I ordered a few dozen smaller size prefolds, four diaper covers, two Snappis, and a pail liner. That's not a lot, but I think it's enough to help us determine how dedicated we are to the idea. The plan for now is to just use cloth at home; not when we're out and about and not when we're traveling. Once we figure out if cloth will work for us, we'll add to our "stash" if necessary. I will keep you readers (Hi Mom) posted on how things are going, and I promise to admit if this turns out to be a big, fat FAIL on our parts. But I'm excited about trying something new, and I feel good about the positive effects that it could have on our wallets and the environment. Here goes nothing...

3 months

2010-03-25T15:45:00.007-04:00

Guess who's three months old ~~today~~ yesterday?

In many ways it feels like the past three months have flown. At the same time, when I think back to the beginning of January, and those early weeks having them home, well… it feels like that was decades ago. That’s one of those weird mysteries of parenting to me – how the days themselves can seem so long and then you blink, and a month has passed you by.

The G & C are slowly and surely becoming little people. Because they were 5 weeks early, I often have to remind myself that they’re probably more like 2 month olds. They’re smiling and cooing and showing more and more personality each day.

Individually, Graham is proving to be a lot like his older brother (as a baby). He’s an easy-going, laidback little guy. He smiles a ton, and things don’t seem to bother him too much. Graham and Cooper even look alike, although Graham’s hair has thinned out and lightened up much faster than Cooper’s did. He’s becoming a chunky little thing too. I’ m not totally sure, but I’m going to guess that he’s almost 11 lbs right now.

Caroline, on the other hand – and no offense, sweet girl, I do love you – is not quite as easy as her brothers. In no way do I think she’s a difficult baby -- Matthew and I have been SO lucky to have three relatively easy ones -- she’s just a little more demanding and can have a little bit of a ‘tude. Maybe she’s preparing me for her teenage years? The ups and downs make me think that she’s got a pretty feisty personality, and I’m already envisioning a little girl that climbs trees, plays in creeks, all while wearing her great-grandmother’s passed-down apron and figuring out a way to manipulate her brothers into a tea party later. Caroline looks like herself and no one else. Sometimes I see my sister Avery, sometimes I see my mom, sometimes I see Matthew. She’s an interesting combo and a very dainty little lady. She’s got a sweet little face and delicate little hands, and at a doctor’s appointment last week (for a goopy eye), she weighed 8 lbs, 15.5 oz. When I think about the fact that she weighs 9-ish lbs at three months, I can’t help but laugh at the fact that are plenty of just-born babies that already weigh more than she does.

Three months in, Matthew and I still have moments when we think, “We have TWINS?? How in the world did that happen??” We are constantly busy, it’s really hard work, and at the end of the day we both collapse into bed, exhausted. But I think we’re slowly getting to a point where it all feels normal. And if this our new normal, well I wouldn’t have it any other way.

A Catch-22

2010-03-22T13:51:00.004-04:00

This is the situation in the minivan right now:

Do I a) leave him in there or b) wake him up to bring him inside, but not have any more quiet time until he goes to bed at 8:00 tonight?

If we had a garage, this would be a no-brainer.

Flashback

2010-03-19T15:41:00.004-04:00

I was looking back through some older pictures on our computer and found this, which I took exactly 2 years ago today.

Cooper was just a few days shy of 5 months, and I hadn't started this blog yet. I can't believe he's almost two and a half, and we've had two more children since then. It really is amazing how quickly time passes and all the things that can happen in just two years.

Pillow Talk

2010-03-11T11:11:00.001-05:00

Saturday night:

I don't get it either. :)

The gang's all here!

2010-03-10T15:46:00.007-05:00

Remember this picture?

Well, as of Sunday all of the expected babies have arrived! Mack O. was born on December 16th, Graham and Caroline D. were born on December 24th, Jack W. was born on February 26th, and in an interesting twist, both Grace R. and Ben M. share a birthday of March 7th.

Baby Ben surprised everyone by arriving about 6 weeks early. However, he is one strong little dude. After scaring us all and putting his mom on bedrest for a week at Duke Hospital, he totally bypassed the NICU after his delivery, is breathing on his own, and is now just spending some time feeding and growing in a special care nursery before he goes home. We've been praying and sending positive thoughts to him and his family, and we all look forward to meeting him soon. (You can read more about him at my friend Laura's blog, here.)

I can't believe the "second generation" of pregnancies among this original group has come and gone already. Our shared experiences, playdates, words of encouragement and commiseration, swapped childcare, and monthly mommy dinners out (hopefully starting back up soon!) are so valuable to me, and I look forward to sharing this next adventure with this fabulous group of women. I can't wait for the first BIG playdate when everyone -- including some new friends, too -- can be there. If you can think of a space that can accommodate 7 mommies and 15(!!) children, let me know. :)

Playground trip

2010-03-09T16:05:00.004-05:00

As I mentioned the weather is getting warmer, and yesterday was a really nice day. After we picked up our online grocery order from Harris Teeter*, we stopped by a nearby playground. It was the first time I've really ventured to a public space with all three children by myself. We've been to friends' houses, we've been to Cooper's school to pick him up and drop him off, and we've been through the Chick-fil-a drive thru. But that's basically it. Going places like the library, the grocery store, or Target aren't logistically possible unless I were to let Cooper walk rather than ride in a stroller or cart. And that, my friends, ain't going to happen. So the playground seems like the perfect place to take all three, but up until this point the weather hasn't really allowed it. My one concern about the playground trip was the possibility that Cooper would object when it was time to leave, and I'd have to wrangle an uncooperative, crying two-year old and a massive double stroller while other parents and their children look on in horror. But hooray!... that didn't happen. The playground wasn't very crowded at all, Cooper had a great time playing with another little girl, and when it was time to leave, he agreed to walk to the car with only a teeny bit of bribery. (Don't judge.) All in all, it was a success.

*Do you people know about this?? You can order groceries ONLINE. And they bring them out to your car for you. And they don't let you tip them. Online grocery shopping has changed. my. life.

Road Trip!

2010-03-09T15:08:00.006-05:00

Last Thursday was a rough day. Thursdays, in general, are difficult because it's one of the nights that Matthew has class after work, and therefore I'm home alone with the kids for about 13 hours. But this past Thursday? Particularly brutal. I never once felt on top of things, the babies were fussy, Cooper was really testing me all day, our typical routines were completely out of whack, and overall I just felt helpless. It was probably the most challenging day I've had as a mom so far, and when Matthew finally got home at 10 pm, he gave me a hug and I dissolved into a sobbing mess. It was not pretty.

BUT, if there was any day to have it bad, that Thursday was it. Because the very next day Matthew took the day off work, we loaded up the whole family, and we took Caroline and Graham on their very first road trip to the beach. In many ways, the timing couldn't have been better. I was in desperate need of a change of scenery (actually we all were, I think), the weather has finally started to turn the corner into Spring (thank goodness!), and I feel like it's a little more appropriate to be taking the babies more places (when logistically possible, that is). It was the perfect quick getaway, and once again, I think we were all sad to come back home.

Sad to say we didn't really take that many pictures. But if there was one that really captured the essence of the trip, I think this would be it.

Love.