Embracing Life

I just can't get over how cute he is. This is the little boy doctors *think* might have cerebral palsy. By the way, doesn't that giant superyard look FANTABULOUS in the middle of my living room? We've got two more in the family room too. You can't see the sheer curtains in the front window. They are tied up so that the twinkies can't pull them down. I always said I'd never get one of those gates. I also always said I'd never have twins. So there.

The Witching Hour used to refer to one of my favorite Anne Rice books. It made me fall in love with New Orleans from a distance. Now it refers to that time between 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. For some reason, my three children, the ones who have been quite happy most of the day for MIL and my mom, develop some sort of split personality approximately 4 minutes after I walk in the door. And try as I may to run upstairs and change my clothes (so that my pants don't get something spilled on them and do not need to be washed - because if I have to wash them, then I have to iron them, and who has the time???), I cannot because I am bombarded with screaming, crying, children wanting to be picked up, children needing a diaper change, children who think dinner is overrated and would prefer to storm up to their room rather than sit at the table, a husband who is telling me that dinner is ready and why aren't the twins in their high chairs and why isn't the table cleaned off, and there I am ...

Last weekend, Keith went to work on his parents' townhouse (they had been renting it for years now, but just want to sell it and it's in horrible condition. Keith is like my dad - a jack of all trades - and it's cheaper to hire him than hire professionals to do that same quality of work.) Anyway, MIL felt bad knowing I'd be home alone w/ all three kids, so she offered to watch Connor. Which left me home alone with two 1 year old. Who still take two naps. And eat what you put in front of them. And don't talk. It was wonderful! I'd like to say I felt guilty when later that day I told Keith I really liked only having twins for the day. ;) Not that I would ever trade in Connor for anything, but let's see. He is down to one nap a day - sometimes. Other times, he is in his room making noise and waking up the babies. He is such a picky eater and if it's not french toast sticks or yogurt, he refuses to eat it for lunch. And yes I had been waiting for quite some ...

Over at the Multiples and More website, their question of the week is "What would you do with TEN million dollars?" I thought about this driving into work this morning. And came up with just a few things: Buy a new house. One that had a master bathroom and large closets. A full-sized basement. 4 bedrooms. A large backyard. A screened in back porch. And a front porch. Pay off my sister's mortgage or buy her a new house. And pay off my aunt's townhouse. Quit my job because I hate having to come to work and be bored and unchallenged for 8 hours a day/5 days a week. Write my novel - because now I have some free time since I don't work. ;) Hire a nanny to come to my house for one hour a day so that I can work out in our exercise room. (Since I'm guessing even with 10 million dollars, Keith will still be against me getting a tummy tuck.) After she is done with the kids, she can fold all the laundry and put it away. Store enough away for college and weddings. Tak...

Well actually, it was our first big family trip ever as a family of five. To be honest, most of our "trips" involve going to babies-r-us or my grandma's house on a holiday. To be fair, I did have colicky babies who spent the first 11 months of their lives screaming their displeasure at things. It was kind of hard to get out of the house when it wasn't nap, feeding, or crabby time. But last weekend, I thought now is the perfect time to go to the zoo. Plus it's the perfect time to break in our new stroller, the Maclaren Twin Triumph. Best $250 I've ever spent. (But don't tell my mom - she got me a graco duo glider for $5 at a garage sale. It's ok - but without the 5-point harness, my little daredevils prefer to spend most of their time hanging off the side of the stroller and mommy doesn't really get to enjoy herself. Plus this one folds up easily and I can actually life it off the ground.) Keith's sister did come with us, since she was buying us...

Crabassy. Let me use it in a sentence: Keira was so crabassy at physical therapy on Monday, that she cried the entire time. A whole hour of her crying w/ the PT trying to get her to do things. I am secretly pleased Keith had the day off and he took her, since I had to through this before with her at therapy. Let me use it in another sentence: Connor was very crabassy this morning when he realized the fruit on his oatmeal (the fruit he picked out) was not something he liked. Therefore the crabassy boy cried that he was done with breakfast, after taking ONE spoonful. He then walked around crying because I would not allow him to eat cheez-its for breakfast. He also threw the box at me. Again, I am secretly pleased I had to leave and go to work. Here it is used again: Keith forgot to turn on the coffeemaker this morning (although in his defense he was busy changing two poopy diapers), but Sarah was not crabassy about it. Rather she was secretly pleased and treated herself to a yummy...

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama . You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week. I most certainly did not accidentally hit an extra "1" when making an outgoing call at work today. (We dial 9+1+area code+number.) I did however quickly disconnect the call. I then did not call the school cadets to say I accidentally dialed 9-1-1. They did not alert the cadet in my building, and he did not come running down the hall to make sure I was ok, thus not alerting all my co-workers that I am an idiot who cannot work a phone. He did not ask for my identification and then he did not fill out a report on me which will of course not go into my permanent work file. (BTW - the call never went through to 9-1-1. So I could have saved myself the embarrassment of calling and reporting myself to the cadets.)

Back in Oct/Nov 2007, God must have thought I wasn’t busy enough, so he BLESSED me with twins. Thanks to Him and St. Therese, the little flower, my babies were carried almost to term and I didn’t have to have a c-section. He must have thought I needed to be reminded on how strong I really was, because Colin was admitted to the NICU a few hours after being born and spent 2 weeks learning to eat. It was during this time that a head ultrasound was performed and they found a Grade 1 IVH (brain bleed). Luckily however, by ultrasound #2 on his one week birthday, the bleed was gone and I was told it was most likely a shadow on the image. Three months later, God must have thought I was getting bored with life, so he threw in torticollis and physical therapy for little Colin. By January, we had an appointment to get his head measured for a helmet due to plagiocephaly. Lots of prayers to St. Therese later, Colin was ONE millimeter shy of a helmet. Woo hoo! At the twins’ nine month well bab...

I am now a mom to a three year old. I don't think I'm ready for this. Three years ago today, at 7:01 a.m., Connor came into this world crying. This morning, at 7:01 a.m., he must have remembered that moment and decided to repeat it. He was crying about his pacifier, which he hasn't had in quite sometime. I don't know what happened - we know he did something naughty from the loud boom and the crying little brother, but he wouldn't tell us what it was. He decided it would be better to burst into tears himself and cry for his boo-boo. So apparently the "trying threes" actually start on Day One. Hmph. Connor and his daddy did make it to story time at the library, where he painted a beautiful picture: Then the two of them surprised me at work with lunch from Panda Express. My sweet, although very picky, boy does eat orange chicken, lo mein noodles, and crab rangoon. But give him a piece of ham and he acts as though it burns like acid. **************************...

Yesterday my parents and my uncle took Connor and my niece, Lexi, to the Field Museum in Chicago and then to see Al Capone's grave. (Obviously my uncle initiated the trip.) The kids had a good time. Connor loved the fact that his voice echoed in the museum and spent most of the day singing... loudly. I am kind of glad I was not there. ;) Anyway, when my sister came to pick up Lexi later in the day, Lexi asked for a kiss from Connor. He now enjoys kissing people on the lips (although I did catch him kissing the door the other day, but whatever). He kissed Lexi on the lips, and she said him, "Connor, I didn't want a FAIRYTALE kiss. I wanted a regular one."

Welcome to "Not Me" Monday. This blog carnival was created by MckMama over at http://www.mycharmingkids.net/ . Hop on over to see what she and everyone else has not been doing this week! I thought I would give this a try this week. I did not suggest to my husband last night that the next time we feed the twins spaghettios, we borrow my parents' dog because I know Lucy could lick the floor, the high chairs, and the twins clean in about 5 minutes (It took me 45 mins to get everything cleaned up). He did not tell me that it's a good idea. I did not pick Keira up off the floor at Connor's birthday party, and she did not grab the pitcher of iced tea off the counter and throw it to the ground, thus soaking the floor, the rug and all the children that were surrounding me. I did not hide in the living room last night eating a large piece of leftover birthday cake with extra frosting, while Connor sat at the kitchen table eating his small piece with minimal frosting. I di...

I've been waiting to see how the twins will talk to each other as they get older. Currently most of their interactions revolve around taking the other one's toy - even if they have the exact same toy in front of them. Then screaming ensues, the toy is given a time-out, and repeat. But two nights ago, we had two very tired babies who did not want to sleep. Colin was making the most noise, so I picked him up and sat with him in the rocker. Keira, seeing that my attention was focused on her brother, sat up and sucked her thumb for about 30 seconds. After deciding that she was not happy being ignored (I was trying not to make eye contact in hopes she would lay back down), she burst into tears and loud wailing. Keith came up and got her out of bed. She wanted her mommy, so we switched babies, and went back to rocking. Suddenly, Colin made a little noise, like a "hmpfh". A moment later, Keira made the same noise. Then Colin, then Keira, and repeat. It was the swee...