Me, You and One after Two

Three Bosses

2013-03-20T22:07:00.003-04:00

This afternoon Kaylee was playing a game with me, (I have no idea what is was called), but it involved sleeping and being quiet and that was fine with me. So when she told me to sleep I settled back on the couch and closed my eyes and pretended to sleep. Granted 2 seconds later I had to open my eyes to check on Lena and make sure she wasn't about to pitch herself head first off the couch and immediately I was told by Kaylee that I was supposed to be sleeping. So I promptly closed my eyes. Back and forth we went. And in the 3 minutes and 42 seconds it took to play the game I realized I live with 3 very demanding bosses. ( I believe I knew this the minute the twins were born, but this is the first time I am admitting it)

My three bosses: (ok, the list below is mostly about Karissa and Kaylee, but Lena is watching closely...)

1. They insist I pay attention to the task at hand no matter what other distractions I may have. (Even if that distraction means certain peril for another member of the family)
2. They expect to get what they want right now, no matter what I am doing.
3. They won't take no for an answer.
4. If no continues to be the answer, they will let me know, and everyone else within a 3 mile radius, just how unhappy they are.
5. They will try to make a bargain with me about just about anything including the number of bites of broccoli they take, how much longer they can stay in the shower and how many books are read at bedtime until they wear me down and I give in out of sheer exhaustion.
6. They are on to the next project before we have finished the first one.
7. They delegate any task they don't want to do....picking up toys, picking up clothes, putting their shoes away to me or Eric without a second thought.

And so it goes. Of course they are the cutest, silliest bosses we have ever had and they really keep us laughing!!

Potty things

2013-03-14T21:09:00.002-04:00

Ever since Karissa and Kaylee were potty trained at about 28 months, I have spent a lot of time in the bathroom. I now know the intricate details of the inside of just about every playground bathroom in the area, not to mention the few restaurants we dare to take out crew as well as many discreet spots where they can pee outside when a bathroom is not handy.

I also spend a lot of time in our own bathroom, holding hands while said business is being completed, wiping (no more details necessary), helping to get clothing on, helping to get clothing off, encouraging the process along and whatever else is needed. Many times I get to sit on the floor while someone is "going" and doesn't want to be alone. Now I know they can go on their own, they just don't often want to. So, just when I decide to give in and I plan to stay in the bathroom to offer moral support I am told they need "privacy," please close the door. (Of course when I need to "go" it seems like all three kids view this as the perfect time to sit on my lap.)

So imagine how happy I was the other day when both Karissa and Kaylee were in the bathroom "going" at the same time (one on the big potty and one on the small potty) apparently not concerned about "privacy," and shouting "The Grand Old Duke of York, he had 10,000 men.....
I had a full 6 minutes before I was needed to do potty helping things!

But, as luck would have it, Lena has now decided that potty time is fun and if Kaylee and Karissa do it, she should too. So now my little 16 month old will walk down the hall toward the bathroom saying "pee." And guess what, more bathrom time for me! Maybe diapers aren't so bad after all!

2013-03-13T21:09:00.001-04:00

Since it has been so long since I have written anything on this blog I will give a quick update and move on to now.
I spent 4 weeks in Malone this fall with the girls while Eric began yet another house project, this time tearing apart the basement to fix a leak and update the early 70's look ie: paneling. When we returned to Charlottesville at the end of November I went back to work part time at a small private outpatient clinic called PT Plus. We have a wonderful babysitter who stays with the girls while Eric and I are both working. I work two mornings and two afternoons a week which works out to about 4 three hour days. Not too bad, but it does add another layer of chaos to our busy lives.....

On February 25th 2013 Kaylee and Karissa turned three effectively negating our 3 children under the age of 3 classification. And with Lena's first birthday happening on 10/28/2012, we no longer have any children under a year!!  It doesn't miraculously change how needy each child it, but it sounds a little less busy!

It is amazing how much our lives have changed in a year:

March 2012: Lena was still waking up to eat 3-5 times a night and I was pretty exhauster
March 2013: Lena pretty much sleeps through the night with only an occasional need to be soothed
March 2012: Kaylee and Karissa slept in pack and plays, Lena in her crib
March 2013: Lena in a crib, Kaylee and Karissa in toddler beds
March 2012:  Three kids in diapers
March 2013: Lena in diapers, Karissa totally potty trained, even at night, Kaylee only needs a pull up at night!! Lena interested in the potty and has used it several times......oh boy.
March 2012: Bedtime for Kaylee and Karissa 7:00 pm, Lena who knoew
March 2013: Bedtime for all three 8:00 pm, Lena can't get out of bed, Kaylee and Karissa can, it is now 8:52 and Kaylee has just gotten out of bed for the 6th time.......
March 2012: Lena was rolling, Kaylee and Karissa were learning to jump on 2 feet
March 2013: Lena walking, trying to run Kaylee and Karissa getting faster and learning to jump on one foot, jump off the wall into the pool, jump off furniture, jump off us, jump off walls
Mrach 2012:  Lena had no recognizable words, Kaylee and Karissa talking in sentences
March 2013: Lena has over 60 words and starting to put 2 words together, Kaylee and Karissa talking in paragraphs....talking and talking and talking......and talking!
March 2012: I believed that in a year I would have it all figured out
March 2013: I think in a year I will have it all figured out

We are a busy, crazy sometime chaotic family, but it it amazing to see how much changes in a year, or even a few months. We are so blessed by our little ones and I am so thankful we have each other. More blogs to come!

Just too Busy!

2012-10-21T22:10:00.000-04:00

I can't believe it has been 4 months since my last post. Wow! I really meant to keep this blog going on a regular basis. It looks like I have some catching up to do. On May 5th all three girls and I traveled with my parents back to Malone for and extended stay while Eric did some renovations on the house. We ended up staying in Malone for a five weeks. We had a great time, although we all missed Daddy! Upon our return, the house was a bit of a mess and the renovations were not done, of course, but at least the kitchen was mostly completed and very functional. (We had to warm up our dinner in the microwave which was sitting on the deck, but by the next day Eric had the new microwave, stove and dishwasher installed!)

Eric on the other hand did not have such a good time while we were gone, and who would? He had to work full time and try to complete as much of the kitchen and porch renovation as possible in a very limited amount of time while trying to cover for 2 people who were out on leave at his job. Talk about bad timing! But gradually the project is getting done, although it looks like we will be headed back to Malone for awhile this fall so things can be finished.

Lena got her first tooth in May at about 6 1/2 months and her second about a month later. She is now crawling on her belly at 9 1/2 months. She love to follow her sisters around as much as she can and finds them very funny!

Kaylee and Karissa are potty trained!! This happened about a week after we returned from Malone and took only a few weeks. Phew, I was pretty worried about that milestone, but they were ready. I now get to visit many public bathrooms.

We have had a lot of fun going to pools and spray parks this summer. It has been pretty hot here in Virginia.

We had a great time on vacation with in Malone in the beginning of August and got to see many friends. It was Eric's first time back home since we left last year!!

"I yike butter"

2012-04-26T20:57:00.001-04:00

Toddler talk is very entertaining most of the time! (Toddler whining on the other hand...not so much) So as Kaylee and Karissa continue to add words and phrases to their speach I want to take the chance to write down some of my favorites.

Recently while on a walk we picked buttercups (the flowers!). I held the flower under each of their chins and apon seeing a yellow reflection told them that they like butter. Fast forward to a couple of weeks later, the girls were in the stroller when they saw some buttercups. So Kaylee started to yell "I yike butter, I yike butter" and continued to do so until we picked her some of the flowers. I am not sure if she remembered the phrase, of if she really thought the name of the flower was I yike butter!

As you may be able to tell, right now all L sounds come out as Y sounds. For example: Yellow = yeyyoe, Loud = Youd, Little = Yittle, you get the picture.

Karissa calls her tricycle her bidabycle!
When Kaylee doesn't want the window rolled down in the car she says "no windy"
Karissa will sometime say that's Mise (for mine) We think she got that from hearing that's yours, and translated it to mise.

When they want help they ask use to "help you"

right now they love to sing twinkle twinkle little star, abc's etc. They have made up a song to the tune of twinkle twinkle little star where all the words are baby Lena over and over again.

Their names for each other are Kaydee and Kwissa!
When they don't like their food they tell us "No yike it" and often take it out of their mouths with their fingers and hand it to us! Yum...

Lena

2012-04-07T09:50:00.001-04:00

Lena is now 5 months old. She is a happy, happy baby! She gave us her first smile at 6 weeks and she first laughed out loud at about 3 months while being entertained by her sisters. She rolled from her tummy to her back around 3 1/2 months, but didn't do it consistently until 4 months. She also rolled from her back to her tummy at 4 months, about 2 hours after I told her doctor she hadn't done it yet.

She continues to wake up twice every night to eat, and needs to be settled back to sleep without eating a couple of time during the night as well. (Making for a set of tired parents!)

We recently got a johnny jump up for her and she loves it! It is a great place for her to play safely when Kaylee and Karissa are running around.

We recently discovered she has a milk protein allergy, so that may explain why she was occasionally extra fussy, but as long as I don't eat milk products, she is fine. (I will be looking forward to a nice piece of pizza in about 4-5 months!)

We started solid foods, rice cereal and prunes at about 5 months. Lena isn't really thrilled about any of it yet, but we will keep trying. Oatmeal cereal was next and today we tried peas....she is not too sure about any of that either!!

Lena loves attention and often laughs at her sisters' antics. Kalee and Karissa love to hug and kiss her and love to make her laugh, especially when I am changing her diaper.

Life is still a bit nuts with two toddlers and an infant, but so far, so good! Everyone is healthy and happy (most of the time!) and we hope to all be sleeping a little bit better soon!

It will be ok!

2012-03-07T20:55:00.002-05:00

Last weekend I once again found myself fretting about how long and how frequent Lena's naps were. Lines from books I had read about sleep continuously marched through my head "Sleep is important for brain development" " Don't keep a baby up any longer than 2 hours because she can't handle it" " you will need to sleep train her if she is waking up more than 3 times a night at this age", and on and on it went. Needless to say I was not having a very fun weekend! Then... an Abba song started playing on the Pandora station we were listening to and my stressful sleep thoughts were replaced with happy childhood memories of dancing to Abba records in my parents living room. (Mom is a big Abba fan!) I realized that I turned out ok even if mom never worried that I had been awake for more than 2 hours. (did you mom?) Later that day I thought, what if I had never read a book about babies and sleep? Would my maternal instincts kick in and would I figure it out on my own? Would I know that I should let her sleep when she is tired? Would I be happy that she took a nap at all and not worry about where, when and how long? Would this parenting thing become just a little less stressful? Maybe my Type A self would be able to relax a little more and stop looking at the clock, and instead be able to fully enjoy the dance party in our living room!

This post is to remind myself that I need to keep things in perspective.

Happy Birthday Kaylee and Karissa

2012-02-25T14:26:00.000-05:00

You are 2 today! Happy Birthday. We love all the little things you do from your smiles to your tantrums! Kaylee, you love to sing Twinkle Twinkle little star all the time! Karissa, you love to cuddle and build towers. You both are starting to love your little sister Lena, and finally understand a little bit how to be gentle around her! You are learning to ride the tricycles we got you for your birthday, although you haven't learned how to move the pedals around in circles yet! It will come, maybe by the time you are 2 1/2. You are starting to remember the songs from music class, and enjoy art class. You love to go to play grounds, and last week you sat through a 1/2 hour story time at the library! Kaylee, your hair is finally starting to get longer, and Karissa you finally had your first haircut a few weeks ago. (Kaylee you thought you had one, but it was just pretend so you wouldn't get jealous!). We can't wait to see what changes this year will bring! We love you both, Mom and Dad.

2012...here we go!

2012-01-15T13:44:00.000-05:00

Organized chaos continues to rule in our household as we make our way further into 2012. A week ago I had to take Karissa to the ER for 3 stitches in her finger after getting it pinched in a door as Kaylee closed it. She almost lost the tip of her ring finger on her left hand. We are really hoping her nail will grow back and she won't have to have 9 finger manicures for the rest of her life. She has been a brave little girl and as long as she has her pacifier, blanket and teddy bear when we change her bandage it goes pretty well! Hopefully we have fulfilled our ER quota for the year.

I couldn't have survived that day without our nanny and my wonderful friend Donna, who brought dinner that night!

We have been taking the girls to a local indoor pool that has a children's area with slides, a lazy river (a section with a current that goes in an oval) and sprinklers. This facility has a family changing area, so that means all 5 of us (Lena stays in her car seat since she is only 2 1/2 months old and that may be just a little young to try the pool slide) cram into one big bathroom to get changed to go swimming. Since the twins are not yet potty trained, they have to wear swim diapers. Today, after changing the girls into their swim shirts and diapers, Kaylee looked at me and said "Mommy's swim diaper" referring to the bottoms of my tankini. Lets hope I don't need one of those for many more years. I don't think they come in my size!!

For now, We will hold them

2011-12-26T13:05:00.001-05:00

Last week, Kaylee had her first temper tantrum. I am not sure what set her off, but it ended with her screaming and crying for about 20 minutes in her crib when she was supposed to be taking her nap. I tried to console her, but it just seemed to make things worse, so I left her alone. Finally she quieted down and fell asleep.  About 30 minutes later she began to cry. But her cry was different, it was no longer angry and frustrated, it was just sad. So, I picked her up from her crib, sat down and rocked her. She never fell back to sleep while I held her, but she was relaxed and content and so was I.  After a while I told her it was time to return to her bed and sleep. She did so without protest. Luckily, for that whole time I rocked her, no one else needed me and I could devote all that time to Kaylee,which is probably exactly what she needed.

As I was rocking her I was reminded of something a patient once told me.  "Children need to be held for such a short period of time before they are ready to move on. We need to be thankful for every moment we can hold them."

With three very young children, Eric and I do a lot of holding and since they out number us, many times one of us is holding two children. I no longer lift weights, I lift babies. The endurance of my left bicep is pretty amazing! Some days it seems like all we do is rotate which child we are holding. Sometimes when we take them for a walk all they want to do is get out of the stroller and be carried. And sometimes they just need to be rocked.

I am looking forward to the days when they are all older and we can get out of the house for longer periods of time without having to return for lunch or nap time. When everyone can put on their own shoes and coats and it doesn't take 15 minutes just to get to the car, and another 5 to get everyone buckled into a car seat. When we can go to amusement parks and on waterslides, take them to the movies, let them try a fun run, or take them camping.  We are just not ready yet. So, for now, we will hold them, whenever they need us, until they are ready for the world.

Five Guys Burgers and Lies

2011-12-23T15:40:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago we decided to treat ourselves to take out from Five Guys Burgers and Fries. For those of you who have never enjoyed their food, it is kind of like fair food, greasy! But it is really good and I had a craving. So Eric and Kaylee were sent to pick up dinner.

They returned with a paper bag filled with cheeseburgers and french fries for everyone to share. (Before you send the nutrition police, Karissa and I steamed some broccoli to have as a side. Burgers, fries and broccoli...hmm, what would you eat?) Anyway, after we had everyone safely strapped into their chairs, we gave each kid, excluding Lena of course, a few french fries, part of a cheeseburger and lots of broccoli!

The paper bag the food came in stayed on the table because it was still filled with french fries. We didn't want Kaylee and Karissa to know this, because if they did, they would (like most of us) eat french fries until their little bellies were ready to burst. So, once they had finished their fries and predictably asked for more, we calmly said, " fries are all gone." They seemed to accept this, until I reached for the now greased soaked paper bag to remove it from sight. As I picked it up the remainder of the fries fell out onto the table, exposing us for the liers we were!

Everyone ate their fill of fries that night, broccoli...not so much!

Life with 3 under 2

2011-12-17T19:12:00.000-05:00

We are 7 weeks into life with three children under the age of 2. Somehow, at this moment, all three of them are sleeping, so I better hurry with this post becuase I have no idea how long this will last. I should be getting the laundry from the dryer, mopping the floor, picking up the numerous items that are not where they belong and trying to get a nap in myself, but that can wait! Maybe if I procrastinate long enough it will get itself done.

Anyway, life with two 22 month olds and a 7 week old is...busy. Fortunately, Doris, our wonderful nanny comes 4 mornings a week. She is here to help me, or watch Karissa and Kaylee while I take Lena to appointments, do errands etc. She is a lifesaver. She helps with laundry, dishes, mopping the floor and picking up toys. By the looks of our house it is not hard to tell which days she is not here!!

Basically the goals for this period (and I have no idea how long "this period" will last) are to meet everyone's needs: eating, sleeping, diaper changes, clothing, cuddling, holding (mommy up, up please) and getting out of the house occasionally.

To complicate things, Eric started a new job when Lena was 1 1/2 weeks old.   He is still doing home care Physical Therapy, but for a different agency. The job is going well, but it requires some paperwork time in the evenings and learning a new territory. (ie: getting lost on winding back roads with signs that say "open ford" ahead. He assumed the road was open for Ford vehicles because he drives a Ford Focus so he proceded, but soon realized he needed a 4 wheel drive Ford and had to turn aroud! Twenty years ago he may have tried crossing, but he is now older and wiser.) Hopefully this new job become easier and faster for him soon and he will have his evenings free to help with picking up toys, relaxation and planning our kitchen renovation...yes, another new project coming soon...more on that in the months to come. Now, he has to finish the shed he started building last weekend!

For now, we are basically ready for Christmas. We managed to get our Christmas cards mailed and the shopping done. Thankfully, Amazon.com exists, otherwise everyone may have received a box of diapers for Christmas. Clean ones if they were lucky!   We are even going to try to put up a Christmas tree tomorrow and cross our fingers that no one pulls it down on top of her sister.

I am writing this post to remind myself when I look back years from now and I believe I am just too busy with shuffleboard, bridge and volunteering at the library, that sometime in my past I was just a bit busier!

Happy Holidays! Love, Laura, Eric, Kaylee, Karissa and Lena

She is here!

2011-11-04T21:24:00.000-04:00

Lena Denise Holmes arrived at 12:43 pm on October 28th, 2011, 8 pounds, 15 ounces of healthy baby! We came home on Monday October 31st in time to take Kaylee and Karissa trick or treating in their candy corn costumes! Lena has already regained her birth weight and is doing great. I am even getting more sleep than I expected. I guess having one baby at a time really is easier than two. Kaylee and Karissa are adjusting, but are not quite sure they like a new little one stealing attention from them, but we expected that. My parents left this morning, so Eric and I are solo with all 3 girls until Sunday afternoon when Eric's mom arrives for 2 weeks! Yay for family.

Baby Tomorrow!

2011-10-27T20:10:00.000-04:00

So after months of hoping I would be able to avoid a second c-section, I will have a c-section tomorrow morning at 10:45. So, here comes #3! Now it is time to focus on this little one's life, instead of just the birth. Let the fun begin. Also, let me sleep well tonight, for probably the last time in a while!

Common Baby!

2011-10-24T20:43:00.002-04:00

Due date has come and gone, #3 has not made an appearance. Apparently this little one has taken my requests to not arrive early a little too seriously. But now we are ready! Eric is off until November 7th, mom is here to help take care of Karissa and Kaylee, the baby's room is ready, our bags are packed, baby names are picked out, grass in the back yard is planted and starting to come up, basement is clean and organized, trees in the front yard are trimmed. It is time!

What I should be doing is enjoying these last few days I have to relax a little before the baby comes. But it feels a little bit like I am fully prepared for a marathon only to have it postponed day after day! Anyway, I guess I will just go put my feet up, read a magazine, watch a little tv and try to get a full nights sleep because it will all change very soon! We will keep you posted!

Watch what you say!

2011-10-15T21:34:00.000-04:00

Kaylee and Karissa are at the age when they will say pretty much anything they hear, which is very fun, but requires a little caution. So one day when Karissa burped, I said to her oh, you burped. So Kaylee had a wonderful time for the next 5 minutes saying "Burp" followed by hysterical laughter from both of them. I wonder if they even knew what they were saying and why it was funny, but it kept them occupied in the car for awhile. Now if they hear Eric burp they love to say "Daddy burp" (I of course never burp, so "mommy burp" doesn't apply here!)

So two days ago Kaylee picked up the book "Water for Elephants" from my nightstand. She brought it to Eric and said "read book." Since it's a novel, it is a pretty boring book for a 19 month old, but Eric gave it a shot. Luckily it includes pictures of different circus scenes at the beginning of each chapter, so it kept Kaylee's interest for a little while. All was good as they looked at pictures of tents, trains and elephants, until they came to the picture before chapter 11...a topless woman. So Eric's surprised response...Oh! Boobies! Kaylee's next new word? Boobies. (pretty easy one to say for a toddler) Our reaction? Hysterical laughter, Karissa's reaction? "Boobies!"

39 weeks tomorrow!

2011-10-13T12:19:00.002-04:00

Predictions anyone? I am 39 weeks, baby is head down and my due date is October 22nd. Is it a boy or girl? When will he or she arrive and how much will the baby weigh? Doctor is predicting a 7 and 1/2 pound baby. Let us know!!

Odds and ends

2011-10-11T21:25:00.005-04:00

I took a tour of the ob department at Martha Jefferson Hospital in Charlottesville today. Lets just say check me in! First of all the hospital opened their new building about 2 months ago, so everything is up to date and beautiful. Huge labor and delivery suites, huge maternity rooms, quiet floors. You pretty much feel like you are walking into a hotel. Of course at most hotels you don't expect to go into labor! (The hotel staff probably would prefer it that way.) So I feel lucky to be delivering at this hospital, whenever that may be. Predictions anyone?

As for Karissa and Kaylee, we may have hit a small milestone, for 3 days they have let me brush their teeth without screaming. (they were the screamers, not me!!) Of course, this requires me to pin them on their backs on the bed and practically sit on them, but now they seem to think it is kind of funny rather than pure torture. They have also found it fun to "paint" the walls with their toothbrushes which requires me to have to wash the wall after said painting episodes. After watching this for a day or two, Karissa will now walk to the kitchen, get the hand towel that is hanging on the oven door, come back to the bedroom and wipe the wall. I think I will have her observe me scrubbing the tile floor in the shower just to see what happens!! Maybe I will have a little housekeeper in no time.

Anyway, we are trying to squeeze in a few more outings before the baby comes, hopefully a pumpkin patch and a halloween party!

38 weeks!

2011-10-07T20:01:00.000-04:00

38 weeks today. Full term! Doctor says it is likely I will carry this child right to my due date. That is a very good thing because we aren't quite ready!! My due date is October 22nd. Eric stops work on the 19th, and Mom will get here on the 20th. My parents are out of the country until the 13th of October, so if the baby did come early, it would be tough to reach them. Also, Eric is working as hard as he can to get the yard in order so we can plant grass and maybe have a yard we can all enjoy this fall. Hopefully only about 8-10 more hours of pulling up weeds, cutting down stumps and raking and it will be ready.

Otherwise, the baby's room is ready, van has been vacuumed out, basement is cleaned up and we have hopefully found a wonderful babysitter/helper for after the baby arrives!! All is falling into place.
Oh, and I had a dream last night that we are having a girl....we will see! Anyone care to guess arrival date or gender?
Now we have to remember to install the carseat!!

The Twin Bond

2011-10-02T19:54:00.000-04:00

As any parent of twins knows, raising two children who are the same age is often challenging. Raising any child is challenging, but two cranky, fussy, messy, overtired 19 month olds can be very tough. Trying to hold said children at the same time on top of a 9 month pregnant belly is a bit ridiculous and quite comical if you try to picture it! (I try not too!) But hopefully these are the moments we will forget as time moves on. What I hope we will always remember is the bond they share. Recently we have seen more evidence of this and it is so much fun to watch.

For instance, Karissa always makes sure that when I am getting her sippy cup ready, I am also getting one ready for Kaylee. When we take walks if Karissa gets ahead of Kaylee she will stop and turn around and say "Kaykee" and wait until Kaylee catches up. This past summer I had taken them to a park and they lost sight of each other for a few minutes. When they met up agan, they ran towards each other, gave each other hugs and both fell over. This morning Kaylee woke up before Karissa, so we got her out of bed and brought her in to snuggle with us in our room. Kaylee immediately ran back to her bedroom get Karissa. Today, when the girls were in the jogger and Karissa was crying, Kaylee put her hand on Karissa's knee to comfort her. Tonight at dinner, they had a great time entertaining each other by sticking grapes out of their mouths and trying to eat the same piece of spaghetti.

Of course they are not perfect and we must also live through the moments when they are stealing toys away, pulling hair and trying to push each other off my lap, but we know that in another moment or two if we are lucky we might get another glimpse of that twin bond.

Toddler utensils

2011-09-26T21:20:00.000-04:00

Feeding toddlers seems to be a common theme for this blog, but we do it 4 or 5 times a day, so it is a huge part of our lives! Recently the girls have decided that toddler bowls, spoons and forks are not good enough for them. It doesn't matter that they have to exact same food as we do in a bowl on their trays, they still want whatever is on mommy or daddy's plates. They cannot be convinced that we haven't conspired to save the good food for ourselves and the yucky food for them. So what do we do, of course, we get into the habit of feeding them from our plates.

This worked for awhile. Then they no longer wanted to be fed from our plates, they wanted to drink from our cups (fortunately Eric and I pretty much stick to milk, juice or water), use our utensils, and sit in our chairs. So to try to get a peaceful meal on a regular basis (who are we kidding?), we let them eat from our plates, drink from our cups and use our utensils. We realized this routine had gone a bit too far when we recently found ourselves eating from their toddler bowls and using their toddler spoons and forks, while the girls happily sat in their chairs with our plates and forks and spoons on their trays, eating away. I don't think either of us used their sippy cups, but I can't be sure.

So for now I have started to let them eat out of "big girl" bowls aka cereal bowls, and they seem to be ok with that. We also bring extra "big people" utensils with us to the table in case we have to give up one of ours, steak knives excluded of course.

At least the food flinging stage seems to be less. We went to a restaurant last week and I only have to pick up one lemon wedge from the floor instead of 50 pieces of whatever like we have had to do in the past. We will see if this trend continues!

Making Dinner with 2 Toddlers

2011-09-20T12:49:00.000-04:00

Some nights making dinner is nearly impossible. For some reason, Kaylee and Karissa love to be held between 5:00 and 6:00 pm, just when it is time to make dinner. I used to have the luxury of making dinner with two hands, now I am lucky if I have any hands at all! Making dinner while carrying one baby is challenging enough, but holding 2 babies is downright absurd. Some nights it is tempting to just let them cry while I chop vegetables or work at the stove, but they tend to wiggle in front of me and push me away from the counter so I can't reach anyway. Toddlers have this amazing ability to get noticed! So how is this problem solved? I have considered all of the following options:

1. Don't eat ( good for the waistline, but tends to increase crankiness)
2. Eat only take out food
3. Eat only sandwiches 7 nights a week
4. Hire a chef (my personal favorite)
5. Grow another set of arms (still trying)
6. Lock the girls in their bedroom (tempting a times!)
7. Try to figure out the reason they need to be held so much during dinner making time (what fun is that?)

Since the only viable option was #7, I spent a few nights pondering the situation and guess what, it didn't take too long to figure out that they just wanted to know what was going on up there on the counter. They're toddlers, it is their job to want to know everything. So for about $120, I found the "kitchen helper." No, not an elf that comes to your kitchen and cuts up vegetables. (I wish) It is a stand the both girls can climb into, be at counter height and watch everything. If they get bored just watching they can "help", ie: play with bubbles in the sink. (makes more of a mess to clean up after dinner, but at least I have 2 hands!)

After about a week of using the stand, the girls love it and I love it! Let's hope this continues otherwise we may have to resort to option 1!

New Deck and Penguins

2011-09-16T20:08:00.001-04:00

We almost have a new deck! It isn't finished, but we can go out there, play, eat, and no one will fall off or get splinters or nails stuck in their feet! All that needs to be done now are the stairs treads, staining and trim. Fortunately Eric built a gate for across the stair opening! Hopefully we have a few months before the girls learn to climb over it!

So far the neighbors haven't called to have Eric committed to the psych ward for periodically stopping his work on the deck to wave his arms in the air and sway back and forth. To me it makes perfect sense that he is signing the word "penguin" back to the girls through the window, to the neighbors....it probably looks like he has lost his mind.

Penguins have been Kaylee and Karissa's new favorite word/sign in the past few weeks. So the other day when I was putting the them in the stroller, a girl walked by who happened to be wearing black shoes, black shorts and a black t-shirt. Yup, as soon as Kaylee saw her she shouted out "Penguin"! I am not sure how the girl felt about being called a penguin by an 18 month old, but I thought it was pretty funny! It may be time to go to the zoo and see the real thing. Lets hope their next favorite animal isn't a pig!

What did that book say again?

2011-09-13T12:52:00.000-04:00

While I was pregnant for the twins, I worked full time until 32 weeks, then stopped work to be home to "rest." All of a sudden I was faced with hours of free time without being able to tolerate being on my feet for very long. (Couldn't even see my feet let alone stand on them) TV during the day was very boring. So I started to read; about pregnancy, delivery, breast feeding, the benefits of co-sleeping, the hazards of co-sleeping, infant care, scheduling, what to expect in the first 6 weeks, what to expect in the first 6 months, what to expect in the first year, how to start solid foods, when to start solid foods... I was a bit of a maniac.

This continued after the girls were born, only in a much more frantic and sleep deprived state. I think I read just about every book I could get my hands on that dealt with infants and sleep. Eric would come home from work at night and I would say, ok I think we need to start feeding them every hour for the 4 hours before bed and then maybe they will sleep longer....didn't work, so a few nights later I would say, I read that if we let them cry for intervals of 5 minutes at a time before going to them they will learn to go back to sleep on their own, didn't work. And so it went. I believe we finally had them sleeping through the night at around a year and we did have to let them "cry it out" a bit, but by that time they were ready and it didn't last long.

What I should have learned after the first 10 books is that whatever one book says, another will contradict it (such is life). Finally, I had to just choose a book that suited our family and go with it.

The best book I read about sleep was " Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Twins" by Dr. Marc Weissbluth. It finally gave the advice I needed and could follow. (He also wrote a book for parents of singletons called Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child.) Hopefully, I will be more prepared when #3 comes and we won't have to survive a year before consistent sleep is had again by all. And I won't have to read a whole library before I am comfortable trusting my instincts!

So I will cross my fingers that we have a good sleeper on the way. In the meantime, my quest for the perfect parenting guide continues, as I am currently reading 2 new books on raising toddlers! I will let you know how it turns out. But be sure that if I don't think it is working, I will find another book!

House projects- we are getting there!

2011-09-10T14:47:00.000-04:00

No one said moving was easy. We have now been here almost 3 months and I would say it hasn't been easy. So no one was right, but anyhow, since we got here I am a bit amazed at how much we have been able to accomplish despite Eric getting used to a new job, Kaylee and Karissa getting used to their new surroundings and me growing ever so much more pregnant. (It is getting a little harder to push the girls up hills!)

Besides the whole unpacking process, we (mostly Eric) have installed a new light/ceiling fan in our bedroom, a new chandelier in the dining room, fixed light switches and outlets that weren't safe, added a closet to the master bedroom, have started on the yard project (see "Taming the Jungle), took apart an old deck, almost completed a new deck, had a leak fixed in the kitchen by a plumber (I made that phone call!), had a carpet runner installed on the stairs (I set that one up too), put together a new dresser for the girls' room (me again, with a little help from Eric), added shelves in the kitchen, changed the kitchen light which had stopped working and managed to take the girls to a few pools and parks in the process. We even celebrated Eric's 40th birthday last weekend!

So all we need to do before this baby is supposed to arrive in 6 weeks is finish the deck, finish painting and putting up trim in the nursery, get all the baby things ready and get my mom down here in time for the birth! Baby number 3, please don't plan on getting here early, it will be a little chaotic!

We are getting there, and may even have a little time to spare. At least we decided to put the kitchen project off for a little while!