VomitLand

Today I was faced with possibly the grossest event of parenthood I have experienced to date. Little Natalie got sick. Now this was not a little puke, it was full blown vomit, all over herself in her carseat, all over both of us in ballet and again all over both of us after I had just cleaned us up at ballet. The smell was horrific and I can usually tolerate such things, but this was almost to gross. So now the girls are safely home and they have had toast for lunch, a nice warm bath and I am in the process of cleaning the clothes and carseats that were victims of the morning's events...ahhh well. I am hoping she is better tomorrow for Thanksgiving, but what can you do? Just love your children really! So Happy Thanksgiving to all and sorry to be so gross :-)

We're Still Here

Yes, we are still here, just way to busy. The girls have been sick for what seems like forever, I think in reality it has been two weeks. Maddie has another ear infection, we will probably be headed to see an ENT at some point this winter. She also has bronchitis, which has been making it a little difficult for her to breath at night, so the sleeping has been touch and go. Natalie has what appears to be a general col, at least that is what the doctor said, but she has also had it for two weeks.
Other than that we have taken a week off from all of our activities in order to keep the germ exposure to a minimum which has also lead to a little cabin fever on the girl's part, but we are surviving as usual...I mean we know what it is like to be on "house" arrest medically speaking, so we will be doing lots of coloring and other crafts...at least the girls love doing that.
I have been busy trying to get back into shape, no easy task and the holidays are not helping and getting things ready for the upcoming holiday season.
Tomorrow Tom turns 29, not sure how he feels about that :-) But he can take comfort in the fact that I am only a few months behind.
So that is what is going on here, nothing really new to report or exciting, but yes we are still here.

Happy Birthday Babies

To my little angels,
Today you turned two and I cannot believe how fast the last two years have gone by. It seems like yesterday you were born and oh how tiny you were and so sweet and innocent and unknowing. Now you can talk and boy do you ever. There seems to be a constant conversation or song going on in our house now and it is the cutest thing in the world. You can say each other's names and you are almost always loving and polite with each other. Natalie you call Maddie by her name and Maddie calls you Nat. A lot of us do, but it is the cutest Nat ever. You already love to help mommy cook and you like being my little helper, getting your shoes or your jacket and helping each other out. Natalie, you always like to wear your jacket. It is the first thing you ask for when you wake up and you never want to take it off, even for your naps. Luckily for your birthday you got a lot of new sweatshirts that we can let you wear as jackets! Maddie, your one true love is still your blue monkey. He does everything with us, including ballet. Today we got Monkey a shirt and you were so proud of that shirt, you couldn't wait to get home and show Daddy. You kissed him and hugged that little monkey and it is too sweet. I never would have imagined all of the fun you would be at this age or your capabilities. You two are so amazing and you bring so much joy to our lives. I cannot imagine life without you and I am so glad we have you to hug and kiss us. You are the sweetest little girls ever. Happy Birthday Babies, I Love You, Mama

Still Here

So I realize it has been like a month since I last posted. I'm still here, crazy busy, but here none the less. A few weeks ago, I had a migraine for about three days, then Maddie got sick and of course had an ear infection. We then headed to Wisconsin for my grandma's 80th Birthday. Where of course Natalie got an ear infection...yes minute clinic time it was! Then back here and a week of trying to get the girls back on schedule, when my mom and grandparents came to visit, then the girl's second birthday party...can you believe they will be two on Thursday? Then this week we have been trying to get back into the saddle and back into our routine. I have also realized that I blog a lot more during the winter when the weather is not good and I am looking for more ways of entertainment. So maybe the blogging will increase, who knows though. Those little girls of mine are keeping me VERY busy and it is more fun that I ever could have imagined. They are talking up a storm, I never could have imagined they would be talking as much as they are, but they mimic everything and are putting together sentences and all sorts of crazy things. So that is what is going on here, busy, busy, busy. More later gators.

Same day and everything?

Over the last two years we have gotten a lot of, "Are they twins?" Which at times we answer calmly, "yes." Well, we always answer calmly, but then we go off into little tiraids when we are alone. I mean seriously, how many children look exactly alike, are the same height and weight, etc? Well, this week and last week have been no exception, only Wednesday was a cake topper. The girls and I are taking a "mommy and me" ballet class in Southport. It is really cute and Maddie at least loves it. Well, last week the teacher asked if they were sisters. I answered yes. Then this week when she came in, she checked us off and said, "they are sister's right?" Yes, I answered. Then she asked, "are they twins?" Once again I respond yes. She then looks at them and was like, "oh yeah I guess if I had looked hard enough I would have noticed they are the same size." Yup, I wanted to say, but I just smiled. Later we were at Kohls and this guy walked by and says, "are they twins?" Yes, I answer. He then, get ready for this one...asks, "Same day and everything?" Seriously? I just said yup and kept walking. I mean, yes I realize that they could have been born on different days, but seriously, the odds of that happening are extremely slim and I just could not believe that...Same day and everything? Come on, what is this world coming to? I hope to instill in my children some common sense and the ability to mind their own business when they grow up and first and foremost, to think before they ask questions!

Ignorance Is Not Bliss

Today I found out that for about a year we have been using our car seats incorrectly. How can that be one might say? Well, who would have thought that two college educated individuals would not fully read they manual and realize that if you use your LATCH system you have to use all THREE tethers and latches. I had always known there was another tether on the back of the car seat, but I did not realize that the LATCH is supposed to form a triangle and that the three are actually supposed to be used together. Yes, that elusive third tether is supposed to be latched to a third latch that can either be located on the ceiling, floor, or in my case the back of the seat that the girl's car seat is on. Soooo, if you are a parent and your child's seat uses the LATCH system, make sure you are using all three tethers!

I CAN'T Wait

Okay, seriously, I cannot wait until real tv comes back. I just saw a promo for "Grey's Anatomy" and I am soooo excited. I am hoping that this season will be better than last season, but the promos sure made it look exciting. I am also eager for Private Practice, Eli Stone, Desperate Housewives...not sure really about this one anymore. The Big Bang Theory and I hate to admit it, but so far I have enjoyed the new 90210. Oh, and I must not forget Ellen!
Just a few more weeks, I CANNOT Wait!

The benefits

I have decided that while exercising in a group or with other people can be possibly one of the most embarrassing and humbling experiences ever it is the best thing for me. I have discovered that when I am held more accountable and I have encouragement from others I push myself harder, I am more apt to actually begin the workout process and I actually have fun. I was introduced to the Stroller conditioning class, which should be named Stroller boot camp, by Jeanelle. The first time I participated I was pretty sure I would not be going back, it was ridiculously hard and I felt so out of shape. But I have been going back and now I LOVE it. It is great to be able to work out with the girls and other moms who are in the same place that I am. Most of the mothers have children right around the girls age and it is just a great bonding thing. The instructor is fabulous. She is hilarious and is such a motivation. Now this class is not just walk and push your stroller and chat. Oh no, it is sprinting and lunges, squats, push-up, tricep dips and much more. It truly is a boot camp, but with a free babysitter because the instructor entertains the kids while have our booties whipped into shape. Jeanelle and I have also been attending a Pilate's class, which I love as well. The instructor has to be in her 60's and she is in the best shape. The class is 60 minutes, which is in itself a challenge sometimes and my legs feel like jelly when I am done, but I know that I am getting toned and more flexible. I like this class because there is no jarring on my body parts and while it is a strenuous workout for me, it is also at the same time relaxing as well. I like these two classes because I have people to talk too. I am making friends, but most of all I feel like I really need to work and not slack because there are other people there who will encourage me and keep me going. So if you are lacking motivation go and start a group class somewhere and you will find that the benefits far out way the temporary embarrassment that you may feel in the beginning.

What's that puddle?

This afternoon has been a little rough. Maddie feel off the couch and bite her lip, it of course started bleeding and getting plump so I gave both the girls some ice to suck on. Well, a while later I went into the kitchen to start dinner and there was a puddle on the floor by the fridge. Natalie was standing there and I asked Tom how the floor had gotten all wet, while Natalie proceeded to slip and fall. Tom told me it was probably from the ice. Once Natalie was back on her feet she kept looking down and saying "oh no." At this point I realized it was not water, but that her swim diaper was leaking and it was dripping all of the floor, Natalie and now me. Ugh I said and started to take it off of her, at which point a huge puddle of pee came flying out, all over my hand and the rest of the floor. At least she didn't run, but it was pretty gross to know that she had gone slipping and sliding in a puddle of urine and not plain old ice water....gross, I am ready for the potty training to take effect.

One, TWO...

I always knew the day would come, I mean it is a milestone...Right? Counting that is, or mock counting. Our discipline method is 1,2,3 magic and it works great. I love it and wouldn't change it and would do it over again, but now that the girls are learning to count, Natalie especially mocks me. If I say One, she automatically says, TWO and smiles. It really is hard to not laugh or say good girl when I am trying to get her to stop doing some "bad" behavior, because I mean seriously it is pretty cute. So for now I am trying not to laugh at her in the middle of the discipline process, but I am pretty proud of the little one, I mean soon we will be able to ask her how old she is and she will be able to say, Two!

Fall is a comin

Over the last few days I have started to notice suttle changes in the leaves around our house and our walking path. Each day the colors seem to be changing and there have already been some leaves on the ground. I can't say that I mind too much, I love fall. The ability to wear jeans and a sweatshirt, (I HATE shorts and hot weather). Sipping warm drinks and not over heating and eating Carmel apples. The girls have already discovered that they enjoy crunching leaves under their feet. They will step, step, step and then stop and listen and say, ohhhhhh. Pretty cute. I just hope this year we have a fall and we don't dive into winter, the cold doesn't bother me, but the messy snow. Pretty snow is okay,but the messy kind is not cool. So I hope the leaves take their time changing and we can enjoy lots of beautiful colors and some cool nights and days. I am just thankful that I can sit in my nice house and actually see the trees this year and will be able to see all the prettiness around me as mother nature paints her next picture.

Speak out: The r-word

Well, I had this big long blog all set complaining about how annoyed I was at our eye doctor and our hour and 45 minute wait today, but something more important has arisen, so I will share that instead!
As some of you know, I used to work at Special Olympics Indiana. It was a great organization and the athletes are amazing. This evening I received an e-mail from one of my friends who still works there telling me about the new Ben Stiller/Jack Black movie and how it uses the "r-word." Here is some of her e-mail:

Lots of you may have heard about the controversy surrounding the new Ben Stiller/Jack Black movie Tropic Thunder, and its depiction of people with intellectual disabilities.

Without going into too many details, the gist is that the movie completely makes fun of and demeans people with intellectual disabilities. The “r-word”, retard (it makes me cringe to even type that word!) is used over 20 times in the film. I find it shocking and appalling that this is considered funny. I love a good joke as much as the next person, but to make fun of the most vulnerable population in the most callous way, in a format that will reach hundreds of thousands of people, is simply mean. And in no way funny.

Special Olympics, Best Buddies, Down’s Syndrome Association and many other disability advocacy group are strongly protesting this film. One of the ways in which Special Olympics is doing that is through the petition “Change the Conversation…Stop using the r-word.” You can visit http://www.r-word.org/ and sign an online petition to not use that word and to help erase it from the popular vernacular.

I agree with her and many, many others and cannot believe that this word is still being used. So if you get a chance visit the the above site and Speak out against the use of the "r-word."

Oh the Noise

I am not sure why, but for some reason our neighborhood is unusually LOUD this morning. It has not been like this all summer and today it is nuts. Cement trucks and the community people mowing the community grass and big dump trucks driving around and around. Of course today would be the day that I decided to go cold turkey on the coffee and to try to start potty training the girls. What was I thinking? I am so sick of changing diapers that I may be a little crazy in thinking they are ready, but when they go they tell me, after the fact, so I know they know what they are doing. We will see though I hope to last through the week, not many plans or outings so it should go okay. I mean really, is it a big deal if they have an accident in the sand box or on the grass?! As for the coffee thing, I was hoping to have kicked that habit while we were on vacation, but I think it only became worse so here I am trying to go cold turkey, which I have an immense feeling will be horrible and won't work. So here I sit, wishing for one of those nice quiet days were we can hear the birds chirping and the occasional airplane fly over instead of the cement trucking be cleaned across the street. Oh well, it could be worse, and at least it is sunny and the temp. is awesome!

Dear Allison

Dear Allison,
You are now among the angels, but will never be forgotten here on earth. I was fortunate enough to be a part of your life in the blogging world and I wish that I had had the opportunity to meet you in person. Your strength, courage, love for life and for you husband, family and friends was truly amazing. I have learned so much from you over the last few years and you will be missed. You are a woman who walked through this life with grace, style and a beauty that is unbelievably hard to find. I am so blessed to have stumbled across your blog and you and Tom have taught me more about being loved and loving another. The love you two shared was a special love, a rare love. So as the sun sets on this chapter I want to thank you for all that you have done to teach people about loving, being loved and about fighting cancer and know that your lessons will continue and that you have touched more people, more strangers, than anyone I have ever known. Allison, for now I say good bye and thank you, thank you for being strong and inspirational, thank you for sharing your story with so many and for letting us into your life. And as they say, you may be gone but you will never be forgotten.

Bite, Bite, Bite

It seems like not only have we entered the terrible two's, times two, but Maddie has entered a biting phase. Let me tell you, I will take the terrible two's over this biting thing, because it is painful. Yesterday, we were out for our usual walk and all of a sudden Natalie was screaming. I looked at her arm and she had a very fresh and deep bite mark laid into her arm. I couldn't believe it. They had not been fighting or anything, actually there hadn't been any noise at all until she started screaming. I was none to pleased. Then last night I was laying on my bed and Maddie was trying to climb up and I guess I wasn't helping her fast enough because she bite my leg. Into time out she went, laughing the whole way there! Once her time out was over I was having her say she was sorry and she bite me AGAIN. AHHHHHH, back into time out she goes, once again laughing. Thankfully it stopped there, but I could not believe this. She has bitten me a few times before, but it has gotten serious now. I guess I will have to enforce that it is not allowed at all and hope that this phase passes quickly, because it is a pretty painful phase and I am sure even more painful for the little sister!

Life Can Be Sad

Last night I experienced a sad moment. There wasn't anything that directly affected me that was sad, but none the less it impacted me none the less. See my grandma was on the phone and you could tell it was one of those conversations that wasn't going well. Later we were all outside and someone asked if she was crying. Indeed she was and none of us really knew what to do, including my aunt, her daughter. We all sat there for a while and let her compose herself and then finally I journed up to the porch to see what was wrong. Both she and my grandfather were sitting there very sullen. It turns out that one of their long time friends had suddenly passed away of either a stroke or a heart attack. She said the news was very shocking because out of most of their friends the one that passed seemed to have been the healthiest. To me it was one of those moments where you are just kind of like, okay what do I do now. This is one of the rocks in my life and her she is down and needing me, but how do you comfort one of those people you are so used to looking up to and going to in your own times of need. It was some what distressing, but at the same time it was an eye opening event, because once we were all together on the porch my grandma started talking about life and she was like, "see you never know what is going to happen in an hour or tomorrow so that is why I am living this moment to its fullest, here with my family." It was just another one of those times, where you have to remember how precious life is and how quickly it can be taken and to always be grateful for what you have and the people who are in your life, no matter how long or short they are with you, because you do really never know when it might end. So to all of you, I am grateful that you are in my life and I hope we have years of memories ahead of us!

I still can't believe it

As many of you know I have a huge addiction to Starbuck's frappacinos. You also know that I am trying to lose weight and usually these two do not go hand and hand. Well, wouldn't you know it, but I actually found a diet plan that INCLUDES Starbucks. That is right. It is the snack all day diet. Similar to the eat all day diet, the theory is that you eat about 200 calories every two hours from 8 to 8, totally around 1400 for the day. Well one of the snack sections is actually a frappacino. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that it would be possible to really lose weight and feed my addiction, but now I can!

One Long Weekend

This weekend was exceptionally long. I know, usually one is excited for the weekend and they always go by to fast, but this weekend was a long one. Around 11:00 am on Friday Natalie came down with a fever of 103.8. I started medicating her and called the dr. They said to just treat the fever, so I did. At 4:00 it still was really high so I called again, this was after Natalie literally laid on the couch all afternoon. Wouldn't eat, drink and her eyes kept rolling back in her head because she was so tired. They once again said to alternate Tylenol and Motrin. Saturday morning the fever was still high so we were off to the dr. to find out that she had an ear infection. Who knew?! She hasn't had a cold, runny nose and wasn't pulling her ears. That afternoon when she woke up from her nap her fever had risen to 105. Off to the ER we went. Let me tell you, there are some very interesting/weird people at the ER on a Saturday afternoon. After a little over an hour of waiting, we were called back and what I saw was truly shocking. It was like a movie with beds and people laying in the hallway. Very different if you ask me. So there we sat on one of those beds in the hall. The dr. finally came over and said she was fine and to just keep treating the fever. UGH!
Well, yesterday she was doing better, still on the tylenol and motrin but getting better. Then yesterday around 11 or so, Maddie starts the same fever. How can this be possible? Ear infections are not supposed to be contagious. So again today I was back at the dr. to find out that Maddie does indeed have an ear infection as well. We maybe going to see an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist because this is the 5th ear infection they have had in less that a year so if they get one more they may have to have tubes. Once again though it was ironic to me that they managed to get ear infections at the same time without sharing a cold. But needless to say all the trips to the dr. and the ER made for an interesting weekend.

The Great Debate

For the last several months Tom and I, but mostly me, have been going back and forth and back and forth on whether we want to have another child. Tom has said several times he doesn't care either way, but that he might like to have a boy. I thought this was funny, because after the girls were born he said he was fine with all girls. I on the other hand don't know, at all. It feels like there is so much that has to go into the decision. I sit and wonder, literally for hours, whether we are being selfish in having another child. For financial reasons, for economic reasons, world temperament, but mostly will it be fair to all the kids. The girls already have to share time with us, what will it be like if there is a third? We have a great family dynamic at the moment, and it is hard to picture that family if there was another child added to it. Also, the girls get along so well, what would it do to them to add another? I wish there was some button you could push that could give you the answers and that there weren't so many uncertainities. I fear that we could have twins again and I don't think we could do it, well we would, but I don't know if I could carry them and wow 4 kids would be a lot for us. I don't want that surgery again, but it would be a for sure thing we if decide to have another. I know that a lot of these questions all parents ask themselves when they decide to expand their families, but I feel like it is a huge weight that is sitting on my shoulders ready to drop at any moment. It may even be years until we truly decide, but then again there in lies more problems, because if we do have another we don't a huge age gap, so once again we are forced to think carefully about what we are doing. I guess I don't want to look down the road in years and say I wish we had had another child and we didn't, but I am sure in the end the decision we make will be right for our family, all of us, because that is what is most important our nice little family and making sure the girls are happy, safe and secure. Ahhhh well, so here is to my great debate...if you have anything to say I would love to hear it, it really is a hard decision, one that we know can only be answered by us and hopefully will some day.

Even when its hard

I have decided that even on days like today when it is hard being a mom, I wouldn't change a thing and I am the luckiest person alive that I get to stay home with my girls. Today would have been a day where Maddie got a time out for throwing things down the stairs. Natalie got one for throwing her good shoes into the pool. I had to give Maddie one in the grocery store for screaming and throwing items out of the cart. Okay, how do you give a child a time out at the store, well, let me share that with you. I had to take her out of the cart, put her in a corner, near the trash can at the end of an aisle and turn my back to her while she had her time out. Crazy I know, but the behavior was not acceptable. So one would think that time outs would have been the last of it to make it a bad day, but oh it gets gross, so hold on. Maddie made a mess in her diaper while we were outside playing after dinner, so I thought why waste a diaper and just let her run around with her body suit on, thinking nothing more could come out. I was wrong. By the time we got up to take a bath she had managed to go again and it had been ground into the body suit and pieces fell out all over the floor. So while I was trying not to rub it into her anymore, there was little Nat, walking around and almost stepping on the pieces....GROSS!
But we managed and laughed about it and while I am tired today, I am so thankful that tomorrow I get to wake up and their smiling little faces will greet me in the morning. That they will tell me they love me and give me hugs and kisses and to think, that is my job. My job is to love them and hug them, and play with them. Can I ask for more in life? I think not, I think that even though it can be hard there is no other place on earth I would rather be.