HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY, to our lovely lovely babies! One year ago you came into our lives in a whirlwind and it has been go, go, go ever since.
We had a great birthday party today with friends and family. We took lots of pictures that I will try to post very soon. It was tons of fun, the kids got some great presents, and the weather was gorgeous for a BBQ on the deck. Thanks to all who came to help us celebrate and thanks to all the gift givers for their amazing generosity. The kids have already started having fun with some of the loot!
It has been a long day, so I will stop here. I just wanted to get a post in on May 10th to say Happy 1st Birthday to our gorgeous babies. Thank you for bringing such joy into our lives, the likes of which we never knew before!!
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
An anniversary
Dear dad,
It has been ten years today since that awful day when you died. Ten years? That seems so totally unfathomable to me. So much has happened to our family in ten years that if you popped in today, I fear you would hardly recognize us. I am so sad that you will never meet Taylor and Jordan. They are amazing little creatures, even when Jordan is shrieking and Taylor is awake so much at night. You would have loved them and you would have been such a great "Grampy." I truly feel my kids are missing out by not having you in their lives.
Thank you for being such a great parent to me and for teaching me how to be a parent. If I can manage to be half the parent you were to me, Jordan and Taylor will be lucky little devils.
I miss you every day and I still cry when I think of you and all the things you have not and will not get to be a part of in this world. Some days I am mad at you for never quitting smoking. You were so healthy in other areas of your life. How could you keep smoking and killing yourself slowly, so that you left us when you were only 49 years old? I forgive you and I know you were addicted to the smoking, but it just sucks so much. And it hurts that you are gone.
We have a cardinal that visits us daily and I started calling him "Bill." Is it you or maybe your spirit? The bird seems so intent on getting our attention by flying into the windows and sitting right outside on the branches. The bird is always around and seems to be watching over us. Oh, and the bird is a cardinal and you were a red head. Dad, is it you? I really want it to be you, watching over us.
It has been a long ten years in some ways. I can't believe I have not seen you in ten years. I miss your funny sayings (Ba-ding, Ba-dang, That's not even a little bit funny, Six of one, Half dozen of another) and I miss your jokes and I miss talking about Seinfeld with you.
I love you, dad. And I miss you like we just lost you yesterday. Peek in on us on Saturday, if you are not too busy. It's the twins' birthday party that day and I would love for you to be there.
Love always,
Chris
It has been ten years today since that awful day when you died. Ten years? That seems so totally unfathomable to me. So much has happened to our family in ten years that if you popped in today, I fear you would hardly recognize us. I am so sad that you will never meet Taylor and Jordan. They are amazing little creatures, even when Jordan is shrieking and Taylor is awake so much at night. You would have loved them and you would have been such a great "Grampy." I truly feel my kids are missing out by not having you in their lives.
Thank you for being such a great parent to me and for teaching me how to be a parent. If I can manage to be half the parent you were to me, Jordan and Taylor will be lucky little devils.
I miss you every day and I still cry when I think of you and all the things you have not and will not get to be a part of in this world. Some days I am mad at you for never quitting smoking. You were so healthy in other areas of your life. How could you keep smoking and killing yourself slowly, so that you left us when you were only 49 years old? I forgive you and I know you were addicted to the smoking, but it just sucks so much. And it hurts that you are gone.
We have a cardinal that visits us daily and I started calling him "Bill." Is it you or maybe your spirit? The bird seems so intent on getting our attention by flying into the windows and sitting right outside on the branches. The bird is always around and seems to be watching over us. Oh, and the bird is a cardinal and you were a red head. Dad, is it you? I really want it to be you, watching over us.
It has been a long ten years in some ways. I can't believe I have not seen you in ten years. I miss your funny sayings (Ba-ding, Ba-dang, That's not even a little bit funny, Six of one, Half dozen of another) and I miss your jokes and I miss talking about Seinfeld with you.
I love you, dad. And I miss you like we just lost you yesterday. Peek in on us on Saturday, if you are not too busy. It's the twins' birthday party that day and I would love for you to be there.
Love always,
Chris
Monday, May 5, 2008
News in the world of baby bottles
Here is an FYI for any parents reading this blog:
Babies R Us is issuing store credit for all baby bottles containing Bisphenol-A (BPA) - that includes Dr. Brown's, Avent, Playtex, Soothie, Breastflow, you name it - so that parents can buy new BPA-free bottles.
Many thanks to Jude for giving me a heads up on this hot button issue. I called our local Babies R Us and the first woman I spoke to said they were only taking the bottles back with receipts. Well, after a year of use, we hardly still have the receipts. I said I know other stores are taking the bottles back without receipts. So, the first woman gave me to another woman, to whom I had to ask the same questions. Woman #2 said they will take all the bottles back, for full store credit, without a receipt, as long as you have the nipples, rings, lids, etc.
Awesome news!! I am BRU bound on Friday when I am in Burlington for a training. We have a lot of bottles, so this is very good news for us!
Babies R Us is issuing store credit for all baby bottles containing Bisphenol-A (BPA) - that includes Dr. Brown's, Avent, Playtex, Soothie, Breastflow, you name it - so that parents can buy new BPA-free bottles.
Many thanks to Jude for giving me a heads up on this hot button issue. I called our local Babies R Us and the first woman I spoke to said they were only taking the bottles back with receipts. Well, after a year of use, we hardly still have the receipts. I said I know other stores are taking the bottles back without receipts. So, the first woman gave me to another woman, to whom I had to ask the same questions. Woman #2 said they will take all the bottles back, for full store credit, without a receipt, as long as you have the nipples, rings, lids, etc.
Awesome news!! I am BRU bound on Friday when I am in Burlington for a training. We have a lot of bottles, so this is very good news for us!
Too long since my last post!
Crap, where has the time gone? It has been several weeks since my last post.....sounds like I am going to confession. "Forgive me father, for I have sinned. It has been three weeks since my last confession. Here are my sins!" Thank you, Catholic school!
So, we have been busy and sick. Story of our lives.
We all came down with some pukey ickiness. Jordan had it the worst. Following that worst night ever with Taylor screaming all night long, we had Jordan's worst night ever a few weeks later, with much puking whenever he laid down. We went through an uncountable amount of crib sheets, pajamas, and changing table covers. Our poor boy. We ended up taking turns sleeping with him on the couch, so we were all propped up. The next day he was mostly fine, although Penny stayed home with him as he could clearly not yet go to daycare. That was a Sunday/Monday.
By Wednesday night, we thought the rest of us had escaped it. Wednesday night, Taylor started puking, although she did not have it as bad as Jordan did by any means. I was sick on Thursday and was home with both kids. Miserable, miserable day. There should be some rule that if the mom is sick, she should be relieved of all duties. And perhaps a Nanny 911 type should be whisked in to help! Penny also felt likle crap on Thursday. By Friday we were all on the mend, more or less. For now, the puking is over and we are grateful. Did I mention how much it sucked to live in a house with a washer, but no dryer, when your kids are puking their guts out? Um, yeah...it does!
Over the weekend, Penny and I went to a scrapbooking event called "Scrap for the Cure," which was a fundraiser for Relay for Life. The kids stayed home with a babysitter from their daycare center. We had tons of fun and we are so glad we were able to get out. However, having to pay for both an event/outing and a babysitter makes for a very expensive day out. It was worth it, and I hope we can get out more in the future. Although maybe long whole days out are a bit much for the budget.
We are having Jordan and Taylor's first birthday party on Saturday and we are very excited. Some friends and family will be attending and it promises to be a blast. I hope the weather is good, so we can BBQ outside on the deck. I can hardly believe it has been a year since the little monsters were born. This time a year ago, I was 36 weeks pregnant and waiting around to see what was going to happen next. Those following along at home may remember that we ended up having a c-section scheduled because Ms. Taylor (AKA Baby A) was transverse and would not flip around!! Mr. Jordan (aka Baby B) was breech, but may have flipped around if Taylor would have cooperated. She did not cooperate, so a c-section it was.
We will have a picture post of the birthday party early next week sometime! And probably some comparison photos, too. A little "THEN" and "NOW" perhaps.
So, we have been busy and sick. Story of our lives.
We all came down with some pukey ickiness. Jordan had it the worst. Following that worst night ever with Taylor screaming all night long, we had Jordan's worst night ever a few weeks later, with much puking whenever he laid down. We went through an uncountable amount of crib sheets, pajamas, and changing table covers. Our poor boy. We ended up taking turns sleeping with him on the couch, so we were all propped up. The next day he was mostly fine, although Penny stayed home with him as he could clearly not yet go to daycare. That was a Sunday/Monday.
By Wednesday night, we thought the rest of us had escaped it. Wednesday night, Taylor started puking, although she did not have it as bad as Jordan did by any means. I was sick on Thursday and was home with both kids. Miserable, miserable day. There should be some rule that if the mom is sick, she should be relieved of all duties. And perhaps a Nanny 911 type should be whisked in to help! Penny also felt likle crap on Thursday. By Friday we were all on the mend, more or less. For now, the puking is over and we are grateful. Did I mention how much it sucked to live in a house with a washer, but no dryer, when your kids are puking their guts out? Um, yeah...it does!
Over the weekend, Penny and I went to a scrapbooking event called "Scrap for the Cure," which was a fundraiser for Relay for Life. The kids stayed home with a babysitter from their daycare center. We had tons of fun and we are so glad we were able to get out. However, having to pay for both an event/outing and a babysitter makes for a very expensive day out. It was worth it, and I hope we can get out more in the future. Although maybe long whole days out are a bit much for the budget.
We are having Jordan and Taylor's first birthday party on Saturday and we are very excited. Some friends and family will be attending and it promises to be a blast. I hope the weather is good, so we can BBQ outside on the deck. I can hardly believe it has been a year since the little monsters were born. This time a year ago, I was 36 weeks pregnant and waiting around to see what was going to happen next. Those following along at home may remember that we ended up having a c-section scheduled because Ms. Taylor (AKA Baby A) was transverse and would not flip around!! Mr. Jordan (aka Baby B) was breech, but may have flipped around if Taylor would have cooperated. She did not cooperate, so a c-section it was.
We will have a picture post of the birthday party early next week sometime! And probably some comparison photos, too. A little "THEN" and "NOW" perhaps.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
The worst of times and the best of times...
On Tuesday night, we had the worst night we have had since the babies were born. Taylor screamed bloody murder for LITERALLY the entire night. She screamed more when we tried to lay her down in her crib. Penny and I were going out of our minds, taking turns with her and switching every hour or so, while the other one tried to sleep. Taylor's screaming did not change whether we held her, rocked her, swaddled her, let her lay next to us, let her lay on us. She slept a few times during the night for about ten minutes. We tried feeding her. We tried changing her diaper. We took her pajamas off. We tried Tylenol. NOTHING worked. She has never been inconsolable like that for so long, so we knew something was wrong. Penny took her to the doctor yesterday. Diagnosis? DOUBLE EAR INFECTION! The doctor said the reason for the screaming was that her ear drums were swelling. OMG! Our poor baby! Now she is on antibiotics and is doing great. They seemed to start making a difference right away. Ah, the miracles of modern medicine!
Today being Thursday, I was home with the kids as I am every Thursday. The day started off well with the kids sleeping much better last night than the previous night from hell. And then the hits kept on coming by the kids taking a GLORIOUS THREE HOUR NAP! They both slept from 10:20 am to almost 1:30 pm! I got a ton of stuff done and had a really relazing time. Thank you, thank you, thank you! When the kids woke up, I fed them and they ate like they had been sleeping for 100 years. They both immensely enjoyed some plain bread. This was the first time they had plain bread. They also ate pears, chicken, goldfish, cheerios, and formula. Big lunch for 11 month olds, right?
It was a gorgeous day, so I loaded the kids into the mom mobile (yes, we drive a minivan now!) and took them into town. We took a lovely walk (oh how I love our double stroller! It makes taking the kids out alone SO EASY!), then went to the library where the kids played and crawled around. Mama Penny met us there, which was a nice afternoon surprise. Then we went to Ben and Jerry's for a little ice cream treat. We even let the kids have tiny tastes of the yummy creamy treat on such a hot day. Then Mama Penny had to head back to work for a bit, so the kids and I headed home.
This was the nicest Thursday I have spent with the kids thus far and I was so psyched to get out of the house and partake of a few activities. I look forward to more outings with them in the nice weather.
In other news of things that I am psyched about....I am headed out of town for the weekend tomorrow to have a girls weekend with my Smithies. I am so excited to see them and it promises to be a lovely weekend. Many thanks to Penny and Auntie Cindy for doing the kid thing together this weekend, so that I can get a little R&R.
Today being Thursday, I was home with the kids as I am every Thursday. The day started off well with the kids sleeping much better last night than the previous night from hell. And then the hits kept on coming by the kids taking a GLORIOUS THREE HOUR NAP! They both slept from 10:20 am to almost 1:30 pm! I got a ton of stuff done and had a really relazing time. Thank you, thank you, thank you! When the kids woke up, I fed them and they ate like they had been sleeping for 100 years. They both immensely enjoyed some plain bread. This was the first time they had plain bread. They also ate pears, chicken, goldfish, cheerios, and formula. Big lunch for 11 month olds, right?
It was a gorgeous day, so I loaded the kids into the mom mobile (yes, we drive a minivan now!) and took them into town. We took a lovely walk (oh how I love our double stroller! It makes taking the kids out alone SO EASY!), then went to the library where the kids played and crawled around. Mama Penny met us there, which was a nice afternoon surprise. Then we went to Ben and Jerry's for a little ice cream treat. We even let the kids have tiny tastes of the yummy creamy treat on such a hot day. Then Mama Penny had to head back to work for a bit, so the kids and I headed home.
This was the nicest Thursday I have spent with the kids thus far and I was so psyched to get out of the house and partake of a few activities. I look forward to more outings with them in the nice weather.
In other news of things that I am psyched about....I am headed out of town for the weekend tomorrow to have a girls weekend with my Smithies. I am so excited to see them and it promises to be a lovely weekend. Many thanks to Penny and Auntie Cindy for doing the kid thing together this weekend, so that I can get a little R&R.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Happy 11 Months, Jordan and Taylor!
Our babies are 11 months old today! Wow! In a month, it will be their 1st birthday. My babies have left the building and in their place are these amazing and crazy almost toddlers! Day care is talking about transitioning them from the infant room to the toddler room. Wah! The kids are on the verge of walking, teeth are popping up all over the place, and we are making the move from bottles to sippy cups. My god! Where has the time gone?
Thank you for changing our lives for the better, our lovely babies. We are so lucky that you found your way to us, after such a long journey. We are getting excited for your birthday party next month. Auntie Cindy is going to make you some fancy cakes!
A year ago today, I was 33 weeks pregnant and could not wait to meet you guys. We thought we knew what was in store for us. Of course, there was so much we were not ready for. But, we are all alive and thriving and, while exhausted, we are loving having you guys around and we are so glad you picked us to be your parents!
Love,
your moms
(Over the weekend, I will try to post pics of Jordan drinking from a big boy sippy cup and Taylor in her fancy Smith College t-shirt. I also want to write a post about the day care transition plan, and post pics/talk about our great family visit with my brother and his family and my mom last weekend.)
Thank you for changing our lives for the better, our lovely babies. We are so lucky that you found your way to us, after such a long journey. We are getting excited for your birthday party next month. Auntie Cindy is going to make you some fancy cakes!
A year ago today, I was 33 weeks pregnant and could not wait to meet you guys. We thought we knew what was in store for us. Of course, there was so much we were not ready for. But, we are all alive and thriving and, while exhausted, we are loving having you guys around and we are so glad you picked us to be your parents!
Love,
your moms
(Over the weekend, I will try to post pics of Jordan drinking from a big boy sippy cup and Taylor in her fancy Smith College t-shirt. I also want to write a post about the day care transition plan, and post pics/talk about our great family visit with my brother and his family and my mom last weekend.)
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Time to get your Picture Pages
New friends, Beth and Tracy from Burlington, came to visit us one lovely afternoon. We had such a nice visit and look forward to many more with them! They also volunteered to babysit! We love them even MORE now! :P
Here's us with the babies. Another rare picture of all 4 of us together. For a change, Jordan is smiling, but Taylor has the glassy look. Most pics, as you might notice, have Jordan with the glassy eyed look. Taylor is usually such a ham for the camera!
Taylor loves playing with this toy, which we lovingly call "Dino Balls." Thanks to the Thompson family for passing it along to us!
Jordan and Taylor in a rare moment of playing together peacefully. Although, if you notice, Jordan's hand is on Taylors...perhaps to rip it off of Mr. Dino in a fit of anger. Jordan already shows a dislike of sharing. Wonderful!
Jordan and Taylor love their new activity table that the Easter Bunny brought them. The moms love that there are 4 sides to stand on and this hopefully means less squabbling!
Taylor loves her some spaghetti...but only if she can eat it with her hands herself. She refused to eat it from a spoon. This was not a designated bath night, but that obviously changed early on during dinner time.
Jordan also enjoyed the spaghetti, but in a much more civilized manner!
We had a lovely visit with the "two moms" bloggy family a few weeks ago. It was so great for the kids (and us!) to meet Jordan and Taylor's 1/2 brother, Mr. E. Thanks for a great weekend, ladies, and for being such gracious hostesses.
We met up with Jude, Jen, and Gus for some yummy sushi that weekend. Gus is getting so big and cute. Her moms have their hands full, just like us!
A lovely group shot pre-sushi gnoshing.
Jordan tried some rice for the first time. He loved eating right from the chopstick!
Taylor also liked the rice from the chopsticks.
Mimi bought these funny pajamas for the babies. Check out the matching hats! Very funny. The babies seem to hate the hats, but Taylor didn't seem to mind in this pic.
Jordan models his matching PJ and hat set, while hanging over his crib railing. Note receiving blankets that have been secured to the crib rail with medical tape, as Jordan was actually gnawing through the teething guard that came with the crib. We would find him with bits of the wood finish dotting his slobbery cheek after his gnaw sessions. 
In closing, I leave you with pics of my craftiness. I took part in a felt food swap with some gals from an online group of moms I met when I was trying to get pregnant. I made donuts for the swap and was very pleased with the results. What do you think?
I think they look good enough to eat, personally! Mmmmmm, donuts!
Updates and news
Well, over the past few weeks, we did some sleep training with the babies, which involved up to 20 minutes of crying at a time per baby. We did our evening routine (playing in the play room after dinner, a bath every other night, changing into PJs, rocking and book reading, and then bed. We would leave the room for 20 minutes to try to get the kids to settle down by themselves. The first night, Jordan wailed for 40 minutes (2 20 minute stretches), despite us going in after 20 minutes to soothe and pat and shush. We vowed not to pick the babies up to rock them back to sleep, unless they were hysterical and clearly not going to settle down. After three nights, Jordan settled with NO crying and slept through the night from about 730 pm to 6 am! Holy crap! A miracle had taken place! Taylor still has trouble settling on her own, and sometimes needs to be swaddled on her upper body, due to flailing arms that prevent settling. But, once swaddled, Taylor also found success in sleep and the moms were so, so happy....And then both kids got sick again and now all bets are off! We are back to copious amounts of rocking, which goes along with copious amounts of snot and coughing. God, this winter sucks donkey balls! Both kids have also had goopy eyes, which thankfully has not turned into pink eye. We are using a home remedy to treat the eye goop, which our pedi nurse practitioner thought was brilliant. We made some weak black tea, and we rub down the eyes with tea soaked cotton balls. Apparently the tanins (sp?) in the tea are good for healing the eyes. The kids hate it, but it worked to clear up Jordan's eyes and it is doing a good job on Taylor's eyes, too!
Jordan now has three teeth on the bottom and he is getting ready to walk. He does this funny crawl where he has one knee on the ground and then the other leg is bent so that his foot is on the ground. It is kind of a walking crawl. He can stand on his own for a few seconds and he loves to walk behind this little push cart we have. He does not need us to help at all and he just walks right along with it. It is so cute! Jordan is also talking up a storm and he seems to be trying to say words. He makes sounds and then points to things and looks at us, as if asking what the word is. Very fascinating to watch! Jordan loves waving, bananas, and dancing.
Taylor has a third tooth trying to cut through on the bottom. She loves to wave bye-bye and laugh and hold her arms up when she wants us to pick her up. She loves bananas, playing with her dino balls toy, and cruising along the furniture. It won't be long before she walks, too, I think. Taylor is a super fast crawler, which is good, because Jordan likes to try to take things away from her. Taylor needs to be able to escape fast!
We are planning a very exciting trip to Florida/Disney World in September. We are going with my brother, Bill, and his family (wife Michelle, daughter Kelly, and son, Will), as well as Penny's sister Cindy and her husband Brian, and Cindy's daughter Heather and her boyfriend, PJ. My mom and other brother, Tim, also live in Florida, so we will get to see them, too! We will be down there for a week and we are all very excited, both for the time together and the Disney experience. Penny and I have been doing lots of planning about how we will make the trip doable for the kids. This includes shorter park days, as well as going back to the condo for naps and swimming in the middle of the day. We are staying at a condo about a mile away from Disney, that we were able to get for next to nothing, through our timeshare organization.
That's about it for now, I guess. We are excited about a visit from my mom and Bill's family next weekend. It will be nice to all get together. While my mom is excited to see all of us, she is most excited to spend a long weekend with all four of her grandchildren in the same place! We have lots of new pics to post, but I will have to try to get to that later today!
Jordan now has three teeth on the bottom and he is getting ready to walk. He does this funny crawl where he has one knee on the ground and then the other leg is bent so that his foot is on the ground. It is kind of a walking crawl. He can stand on his own for a few seconds and he loves to walk behind this little push cart we have. He does not need us to help at all and he just walks right along with it. It is so cute! Jordan is also talking up a storm and he seems to be trying to say words. He makes sounds and then points to things and looks at us, as if asking what the word is. Very fascinating to watch! Jordan loves waving, bananas, and dancing.
Taylor has a third tooth trying to cut through on the bottom. She loves to wave bye-bye and laugh and hold her arms up when she wants us to pick her up. She loves bananas, playing with her dino balls toy, and cruising along the furniture. It won't be long before she walks, too, I think. Taylor is a super fast crawler, which is good, because Jordan likes to try to take things away from her. Taylor needs to be able to escape fast!
We are planning a very exciting trip to Florida/Disney World in September. We are going with my brother, Bill, and his family (wife Michelle, daughter Kelly, and son, Will), as well as Penny's sister Cindy and her husband Brian, and Cindy's daughter Heather and her boyfriend, PJ. My mom and other brother, Tim, also live in Florida, so we will get to see them, too! We will be down there for a week and we are all very excited, both for the time together and the Disney experience. Penny and I have been doing lots of planning about how we will make the trip doable for the kids. This includes shorter park days, as well as going back to the condo for naps and swimming in the middle of the day. We are staying at a condo about a mile away from Disney, that we were able to get for next to nothing, through our timeshare organization.
That's about it for now, I guess. We are excited about a visit from my mom and Bill's family next weekend. It will be nice to all get together. While my mom is excited to see all of us, she is most excited to spend a long weekend with all four of her grandchildren in the same place! We have lots of new pics to post, but I will have to try to get to that later today!
Friday, March 14, 2008
Jude wants to know....
What I was like in high school...
Well, for me, high school was actually quite enjoyable. I had a lot of friends from sports teams and I guess you could say I was popular, although that seems weird to write. I had a terrible time in junior high because I switched schools in 7th grade (after skipping 6th grade). No one knew I had skipped 6th grade, but they were a bunch of kids who had all been together since Grade K and they were not too welcoming. Plus, I wore braces and head gear. (I had to wear the heada gear 22 hours per day. My orthodontist told my parents I had the worst jaw that he had ever seen. Our choices were to break my jaw and have it wired shut for some period of time, or to have braces and head gear. I wore braces from 4th grade to 9th grade! Looking back, I wonder whether we should have just gone for breaking my jaw!) While I cried everyday after I came home from 7th grade (things got somewhat better in 8th grade), I have a lot of fond memories from high school of bus rides to and from games and friends spending the night at my house.
I went to a small coed Catholic high school in NH. I played field hockey, basketball, and softball. I was the class Vice President and I was in the National Honor Society. I loved working on the yearbook my senior year. My date to the Junior Prom backed out on me at the last minute (even though I was on the prom committee and this crushed me not to be able to attend), but I had an awesome time at my Senior Prom with a pretty cute guy!
I dated a few guys in high school, but always ended up breaking up with them either when it got too serious (physically or emotionally), or when I got bored with their high school boy antics. I always wondered why my friends all had more long-term boyfriends and I didn't. Gee, I wonder why it never worked out! I did not know anyone gay at my school, although looking back, there are a number of sports teammates that I wonder about. Maybe someday I get to find out if some of them are lesbians now.
That's all I can think of to write about regarding who I was in high school. Oh yeah, I had big hair and big bangs they took a long time to get just right. My parents and I had our challenges over the years and I remember fighting over wanting a phone in my room. I also remember fighting with them, storming up the stairs to my room, slamming my door, playing music really loudly and having said phone taken away. Sometimes my mom now says, "You are lucky we let you live through high school!" Good times. I, for one, can't wait to see what Taylor is like in high school. In some ways, g*d help us if she is anything like I was. In other ways, I hope that she is like I was, since I have so many fond high school memories!
Thanks for the question/comment, Jude!
Well, for me, high school was actually quite enjoyable. I had a lot of friends from sports teams and I guess you could say I was popular, although that seems weird to write. I had a terrible time in junior high because I switched schools in 7th grade (after skipping 6th grade). No one knew I had skipped 6th grade, but they were a bunch of kids who had all been together since Grade K and they were not too welcoming. Plus, I wore braces and head gear. (I had to wear the heada gear 22 hours per day. My orthodontist told my parents I had the worst jaw that he had ever seen. Our choices were to break my jaw and have it wired shut for some period of time, or to have braces and head gear. I wore braces from 4th grade to 9th grade! Looking back, I wonder whether we should have just gone for breaking my jaw!) While I cried everyday after I came home from 7th grade (things got somewhat better in 8th grade), I have a lot of fond memories from high school of bus rides to and from games and friends spending the night at my house.
I went to a small coed Catholic high school in NH. I played field hockey, basketball, and softball. I was the class Vice President and I was in the National Honor Society. I loved working on the yearbook my senior year. My date to the Junior Prom backed out on me at the last minute (even though I was on the prom committee and this crushed me not to be able to attend), but I had an awesome time at my Senior Prom with a pretty cute guy!
I dated a few guys in high school, but always ended up breaking up with them either when it got too serious (physically or emotionally), or when I got bored with their high school boy antics. I always wondered why my friends all had more long-term boyfriends and I didn't. Gee, I wonder why it never worked out! I did not know anyone gay at my school, although looking back, there are a number of sports teammates that I wonder about. Maybe someday I get to find out if some of them are lesbians now.
That's all I can think of to write about regarding who I was in high school. Oh yeah, I had big hair and big bangs they took a long time to get just right. My parents and I had our challenges over the years and I remember fighting over wanting a phone in my room. I also remember fighting with them, storming up the stairs to my room, slamming my door, playing music really loudly and having said phone taken away. Sometimes my mom now says, "You are lucky we let you live through high school!" Good times. I, for one, can't wait to see what Taylor is like in high school. In some ways, g*d help us if she is anything like I was. In other ways, I hope that she is like I was, since I have so many fond high school memories!
Thanks for the question/comment, Jude!
Inquiring minds want to know...
Babyblueprint and Familiewillim both had questions about our two year journey to parenthood, including how we coped and how we decided it would be me to carry a baby..or two, as it turned out!
So, I have always wanted to be a mom and had long dreamed of being pregnant and giving birth. I knew that if I was with another woman who also wanted to birth a child that we would have to take turns. While Penny always hoped to be a mom, being pregnant and birthing a child was not something that she felt a strong need to do. Also, Penny is 10 years older than I am, so that kind of made the decision for us. Our IVF doc did talk to us about using Penny's eggs for the IVF, but we decided that was not important enough to us to warrant both the cost and the level of invasiveness.
Over our two year journey to parenthood, we tried lots of different things. We tried fresh sperm (from a donor who was a friend of ours) and frozen sperm (from a local sperm bank). We tried just about all the different kinds of meds there are: clomid, femara, a few different injectibles, progesterone, metformin, and trigger shots. I had lots of testing and all my hormone levels came back fine. We tried different types of inseminations: IUI's, ICI's/IVI's, at home, with a midwife, just us, with a friend assisting (Thanks, Jean!) at the doc's office, etc, etc, etc.
So, I had unexplained infertility. I am not sure whether this made it harder or easier to keep going. In a way, if everything was fine, it made me feel more positive about going forward and believing that it would work at some point. On the other hand, it becam more and more frustating over time that it was not working, given that even my reproductive endocrinologist was saying she did not understand why I was not becoming pregnant! Her and me both! One recommendation was to lose weight, which I tried to do and was somewhat successful with, but it was hard for me to rely on that as my sole hope of becoming pregnant because my periods were regular, I appeared to be ovulating, and I just did not believe that being fat was my sole problem. Maybe that was naivete, or maybe it was a survival mechanism!
We took some breaks during the two years, so we really "only" had 14 months of active trying over the 27 months. When I counted my cycles, I was amazed that we had actually taken about as many breaks as we had active cycles. This was fascinating to me, as it seemed like we were always trying or waiting. I also tried acupuncture and made some diet changes. We tried to take good care of ourselves during the 2 years, by having date nights, taking some weekend and extended vacations, and checking in with each other as the process dragged on and on.
In the end, we decided to try IVF one time. I had great infertility coverage through work (IVF only cost us $3000), so we had not spent much up to that point. Meds only ever cost me a $5 copay and the office visits were free. Frozen sperm was our greatest expense, but for a year we used fresh and that was just $1 per donation! We talked about moving back to the east coast, but felt like we were putting our "real lives" on hold, until we had a baby. As time went by, we realized that might never happen. So, to put an end to the wait ifs and the maybes, we decided to try IVF one time. If it worked, we would wait till the "baby" was born, and then we would move to New England. If it did not work, then we would move right away.
So, we tried it, it worked...times two, we stayed in CA until the babies were born (and collected all the amazing CA maternity leave benefits, including paid FMLA for both of us, and an additional 8 weeks paid disabilty for me. I was off a total of about 4 months, totally paid!) and then we moved to VT when they were three months old. After a long journey and much struggle and heartache, we were so happy and amazed that it worked! And now, when we are sick and sleep deprived and struggling with the winter that just will not end, I try to be reminded of how lucky we are to have sleep deprivation because of the two most amazing little babies in the world, who, by the way are not so little anymore! The babies are ten months old now and I just can't believe it!!
Thanks for the questions/comments!
So, I have always wanted to be a mom and had long dreamed of being pregnant and giving birth. I knew that if I was with another woman who also wanted to birth a child that we would have to take turns. While Penny always hoped to be a mom, being pregnant and birthing a child was not something that she felt a strong need to do. Also, Penny is 10 years older than I am, so that kind of made the decision for us. Our IVF doc did talk to us about using Penny's eggs for the IVF, but we decided that was not important enough to us to warrant both the cost and the level of invasiveness.
Over our two year journey to parenthood, we tried lots of different things. We tried fresh sperm (from a donor who was a friend of ours) and frozen sperm (from a local sperm bank). We tried just about all the different kinds of meds there are: clomid, femara, a few different injectibles, progesterone, metformin, and trigger shots. I had lots of testing and all my hormone levels came back fine. We tried different types of inseminations: IUI's, ICI's/IVI's, at home, with a midwife, just us, with a friend assisting (Thanks, Jean!) at the doc's office, etc, etc, etc.
So, I had unexplained infertility. I am not sure whether this made it harder or easier to keep going. In a way, if everything was fine, it made me feel more positive about going forward and believing that it would work at some point. On the other hand, it becam more and more frustating over time that it was not working, given that even my reproductive endocrinologist was saying she did not understand why I was not becoming pregnant! Her and me both! One recommendation was to lose weight, which I tried to do and was somewhat successful with, but it was hard for me to rely on that as my sole hope of becoming pregnant because my periods were regular, I appeared to be ovulating, and I just did not believe that being fat was my sole problem. Maybe that was naivete, or maybe it was a survival mechanism!
We took some breaks during the two years, so we really "only" had 14 months of active trying over the 27 months. When I counted my cycles, I was amazed that we had actually taken about as many breaks as we had active cycles. This was fascinating to me, as it seemed like we were always trying or waiting. I also tried acupuncture and made some diet changes. We tried to take good care of ourselves during the 2 years, by having date nights, taking some weekend and extended vacations, and checking in with each other as the process dragged on and on.
In the end, we decided to try IVF one time. I had great infertility coverage through work (IVF only cost us $3000), so we had not spent much up to that point. Meds only ever cost me a $5 copay and the office visits were free. Frozen sperm was our greatest expense, but for a year we used fresh and that was just $1 per donation! We talked about moving back to the east coast, but felt like we were putting our "real lives" on hold, until we had a baby. As time went by, we realized that might never happen. So, to put an end to the wait ifs and the maybes, we decided to try IVF one time. If it worked, we would wait till the "baby" was born, and then we would move to New England. If it did not work, then we would move right away.
So, we tried it, it worked...times two, we stayed in CA until the babies were born (and collected all the amazing CA maternity leave benefits, including paid FMLA for both of us, and an additional 8 weeks paid disabilty for me. I was off a total of about 4 months, totally paid!) and then we moved to VT when they were three months old. After a long journey and much struggle and heartache, we were so happy and amazed that it worked! And now, when we are sick and sleep deprived and struggling with the winter that just will not end, I try to be reminded of how lucky we are to have sleep deprivation because of the two most amazing little babies in the world, who, by the way are not so little anymore! The babies are ten months old now and I just can't believe it!!
Thanks for the questions/comments!
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Meme Alert
Stolen from Judecorp and Life of Joan...
Everyone has things they blog about. Everyone has things they don't blog about. Challenge me out of my comfort zone by telling me something I don't blog about, but you'd like to hear about, and I'll write a post about it.
Ask for anything: latest movie watched, last book read, political leanings, thoughts on lima beans, favorite type of underwear, graphic techniques, etc.
Repost in your own journal so that we can all learn more about each other.
Responses/posts will be screened and posted separately.
Everyone has things they blog about. Everyone has things they don't blog about. Challenge me out of my comfort zone by telling me something I don't blog about, but you'd like to hear about, and I'll write a post about it.
Ask for anything: latest movie watched, last book read, political leanings, thoughts on lima beans, favorite type of underwear, graphic techniques, etc.
Repost in your own journal so that we can all learn more about each other.
Responses/posts will be screened and posted separately.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Piling up
We are having struggles in the world of sleep. And maybe if you look at each kid individually, it is not that bad. But consider the two together, and it seems like our sleep is really really shitty right now. The kids are 9.5 months old. Could it be a growth spurt? We went through some really good weeks of sleep and we rejoiced that we had survived the worst of sleep stuff. And then the gods laughed at us, and the bad sleep started again. WHY WHY WHY? One of the worst things we are experiencing right now is that Jordan can be exhausted and his eyes are barely open to slits. But when you try to hold him and rock him and soothe him, he pushes against you with amazing force, trying to get away. And if you the put him in the crib, he wails and wails. The pushing away is annoying because it can be painful, it can be tough to hold on to him and not drop him (he is almost 21 lbs now!), and, in a way, it feels like a rejection from him. This may seem weird to say, but it really does feel personally insulting. Like, hey dude, I am trying to rock you and this mommy and me time should be so nice and all you want to do is get the hell away from me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Every Thursday I am home with the kids because I now work 4 ten hour days to make up my full time work schedule. In theory, it is nice to have an extra day with the kids and it saves on day care costs. My current struggle is that Thursdays tend to be pretty difficult. I want to cherish these days with the kids, but I find myself more enduring them and wishing them away than anything else. I am constantly looking at the clock and counting the hours until Penny gets home. I hope that, as the kids get older and as the weather gets better, I will be able to get out with them more and enjoy them. Being home for a whole day with the kids alone is tough because it is a neverending litany of feeding, changing, holding, playing, trying to get down for naps (them, not me!), and shuttling them up and down the stairs. Exhausted does not even begin to cover it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Both kids have colds and are terribly snotty. Any guesses as to how much they each like to have their noses suctioned out with the nasal aspirator? Also, Taylor has another ear infection, so she is now on antibiotics. Taylor had a rough weekend last week due to fevers of up to 103 degrees, which resulted in a doc's appointment on Sunday...no fever at time of appointment and no ear infection, then being sent home from daycare on Tuesday with a fever os 102.6, another doctor's appointment on Tuesday, and a subsequent diagnosis of an ear infection and the beginning of antibiotics. Good times.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yesterday we had another big snowstorm. They predicted 16 inches and I thought about slitting my wrists. In the end, we only got about 8 inches, so that was much nicer. But, Jee-zus! Is this winter over yet? Everyone tells us, "Ya picked a hell of a winter to come back to New England!" Thanks. Very helpful!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The house we are living in has been sold. This is the 3rd rental house that has been sold out from under us while we were living in it. We may stay here until the end of our lease in August, or we may move early if we can find a suitable arrangement. The sellers have been clear that we are welcome to stay until the end of out lease, which has been nice. But, the buyers are quite vested is us leaving early. We may actually switch houses with them, as they are renting a nice house nearby. We are going to look at it on Sunday. We are asking the buyers to pay for a packer/mover for us, if they really want us to move out early, due to our time constraints with two babies and the fact that we just went through a cross country move 6 months ago. We have proposed the idea to them and they are going to let us know.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For some reason, my left eye will not stop twitching and watering. Stress and sleep deprivation anyone? In good news, however, is that day care was closed yesterday due to snow and Penny stayed home with the kids becuase I had to go to a staff retreat. The kids were able to go to daycare today instead, and I do not work on Thursdays, so guess who is home all alone, with an entire day all to herself to lay around and eat grapes and bon bons? You guessed it...yours truly. There are SO many things I want to do with my time, so I better run! Penny and I are meeting for lunch later today.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Every Thursday I am home with the kids because I now work 4 ten hour days to make up my full time work schedule. In theory, it is nice to have an extra day with the kids and it saves on day care costs. My current struggle is that Thursdays tend to be pretty difficult. I want to cherish these days with the kids, but I find myself more enduring them and wishing them away than anything else. I am constantly looking at the clock and counting the hours until Penny gets home. I hope that, as the kids get older and as the weather gets better, I will be able to get out with them more and enjoy them. Being home for a whole day with the kids alone is tough because it is a neverending litany of feeding, changing, holding, playing, trying to get down for naps (them, not me!), and shuttling them up and down the stairs. Exhausted does not even begin to cover it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Both kids have colds and are terribly snotty. Any guesses as to how much they each like to have their noses suctioned out with the nasal aspirator? Also, Taylor has another ear infection, so she is now on antibiotics. Taylor had a rough weekend last week due to fevers of up to 103 degrees, which resulted in a doc's appointment on Sunday...no fever at time of appointment and no ear infection, then being sent home from daycare on Tuesday with a fever os 102.6, another doctor's appointment on Tuesday, and a subsequent diagnosis of an ear infection and the beginning of antibiotics. Good times.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yesterday we had another big snowstorm. They predicted 16 inches and I thought about slitting my wrists. In the end, we only got about 8 inches, so that was much nicer. But, Jee-zus! Is this winter over yet? Everyone tells us, "Ya picked a hell of a winter to come back to New England!" Thanks. Very helpful!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The house we are living in has been sold. This is the 3rd rental house that has been sold out from under us while we were living in it. We may stay here until the end of our lease in August, or we may move early if we can find a suitable arrangement. The sellers have been clear that we are welcome to stay until the end of out lease, which has been nice. But, the buyers are quite vested is us leaving early. We may actually switch houses with them, as they are renting a nice house nearby. We are going to look at it on Sunday. We are asking the buyers to pay for a packer/mover for us, if they really want us to move out early, due to our time constraints with two babies and the fact that we just went through a cross country move 6 months ago. We have proposed the idea to them and they are going to let us know.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For some reason, my left eye will not stop twitching and watering. Stress and sleep deprivation anyone? In good news, however, is that day care was closed yesterday due to snow and Penny stayed home with the kids becuase I had to go to a staff retreat. The kids were able to go to daycare today instead, and I do not work on Thursdays, so guess who is home all alone, with an entire day all to herself to lay around and eat grapes and bon bons? You guessed it...yours truly. There are SO many things I want to do with my time, so I better run! Penny and I are meeting for lunch later today.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Pics, pics, pics
Cousins Heather and Jessie with J & T recently. Jessie was home from Utah for a visit (along with fiancee Matt and son Chase) and we had a lot of good family time. It was great to meet Matt and to hang out with Chase. He is such a big boy now!
Ms. Taylor is on the move! Check out that drool!
Here's Chase with one of his favorite birthay gifts, courtesy of MeMa (Cindy). Check out that tongue!
Cousins Alex and Trent love to hold J & T. Lookin' good everybody!
Jessie looks ready to be a mom of twins herself, doesn't she? Rockin' the twins, Jess! LOVE the face on Taylor!
Jordan is enjoying finger foods, especially 'nanners! He is a very messy boy. Gotta roll up the sleeves!
Taylor loves her some 'nanners, too! She is such a ham when the camera comes out!
My name is Jordan and I love to eat plastic!
Check out the teeth!
Oh, that eating was such hard, hard work! She fell asleep right in her highchair, so we left her there for a little snooze!
Jordan LOVES to stuff his mouth. Lots of gagging. Good times. And we gotta watch him for choking like you would not believe! This boy gives us a run for our money in the eating department. He also apparently has an endless appetite!
Um, I think I'll take "cute as can be" for 100, Alex.
Penny, Taylor, and Chase. Thanks for letting T wear your hat, Chase!
At Penny's grandmother's surprise 90th birthday party, they took a picture of all the grandkids and great grandkids...and there is even a great great grandkid (Chase)! Penny especially likes this pic, since the babies have so many cousins and I have only one. And this is only ONE side of her family!
Penny and her siblings have not been all together for a long time, but here they were at Gram's 90th. What a motley crew, ey? Standing from oldest to youngest, from right to left: Gordie, Bobby, Cindy, Penny, and Raymond
Friday, February 15, 2008
Rockin' and Rollin' and What-not
The kids had their nine month check-up yesterday. They both got a clean bill of health. Yay! Both kids still have colds, but we can stop Jordan's nebulizer treatments for now, as his lungs are clear and the treatments are not needed. Yay again! Jordan is now more than 2 pounds bigger than Taylor. In fact, he is almost 3 pounds bigger than she is. Here are the stats:
Jordan: 20 lbs, 7 oz (50th percentile), 29 inches long (75th percentile), 19 inch head circumference (97th percentile!)
Taylor: 17 lbs, 12 oz (25th percentile), 26.5 inches long (10th percentile), 17.5 inch head circumference (50th percentile).
Bottom line: Jordan has a gigantic head and loves to eat. Taylor is more petite, but she is growing well and is in proportion, so there is no cause for alarm. (Taylor also loves to eat, but just is not growing by as many leaps and bounds as Jordan is!)
After the doc appointment, we dropped the kids off at daycare and the moms went out for a nice Valentine's Day lunch...alone. It was lovely and relaxing. We also cooked a nice dinner at home, which included steak, crusty bread with goat cheese, sweet potatoes, wine, and chocolate chip cookies. Yeah baby! Oh yeah, and candles. Go us! It was a lovely day!
Hope you all had nice V Days also!
Jordan: 20 lbs, 7 oz (50th percentile), 29 inches long (75th percentile), 19 inch head circumference (97th percentile!)
Taylor: 17 lbs, 12 oz (25th percentile), 26.5 inches long (10th percentile), 17.5 inch head circumference (50th percentile).
Bottom line: Jordan has a gigantic head and loves to eat. Taylor is more petite, but she is growing well and is in proportion, so there is no cause for alarm. (Taylor also loves to eat, but just is not growing by as many leaps and bounds as Jordan is!)
After the doc appointment, we dropped the kids off at daycare and the moms went out for a nice Valentine's Day lunch...alone. It was lovely and relaxing. We also cooked a nice dinner at home, which included steak, crusty bread with goat cheese, sweet potatoes, wine, and chocolate chip cookies. Yeah baby! Oh yeah, and candles. Go us! It was a lovely day!
Hope you all had nice V Days also!
Monday, February 11, 2008
9 Months Old!
Well, we all survived my weekend away! I had a great time in LA and Mandy's wedding was gorgeous. She was a beautiful bride and the wedding was such a neat reflection of Mandy and Dustin as a couple. I got to spend a lot of time with my mom and with my dad's side of the family. It was really lovely. I enjoyed my book on CD (A Wedding in December by Anita Shr.eve), reading leisurely in the morning when I woke up and before I fell asleep (19 minutes by Jodi Picou.lt), eating out with the family, and sleeping in a lovely big bed all to myself. (Thanks to Aunt Nancy who insisted that I have a reservation for a room with a kind sized bed, so that I could spread out and enjoy my two nights away to their fullest!) But, I missed the babies and Penny tremendously and I still felt exhausted when I got home. I was happy to get back home and back to the routine that I was surprised to realize I actually enjoy and relish on a daily basis. Sometimes it is hard to see the forest for the trees! (Oh, and many, many thanks for the amazing Penny who was such a rock star in her ability to care for the babies on her own for most of the weekend. And whose selflessness allowed me to attend the wedding of my ONLY cousin! Thanks, Pen! You continue to amaze me both as a parent, a wife, and a person. We are all so lucky to have you in our lives!)
The babies are 9 months old now. Seriously, they are 3/4 of a year old? How is that even possible? It will be their birthday in the blink of an eye.
Jordan enjoys pulling himself up to a standing position whenever humanly possible. Then he cries because he gets tired and does not know how to lower himself back down to sitting. Jordan also loves crawling like a little wild man, eating as much as he can by shoving food into his pie hole (oh, how he would love some pie!), and sticking his cute tongue out when he is doing just about everything. Jordan also loves to be naked, to turn over on the changing table when you are trying to change him, and attempt to throw himself off of anything that he can. If he is naked when attempting such acrobatics...even better! Jordan also enjoys stealing whatever toy Taylor is playing with and knocking Taylor down when he is crawling around. Clearly, Jordan needs to be taught a few manners!
Taylor is getting so good at holding her own bottle. She makes the cutest faces when she is trying new foods. Taylor is getting much better at eating, and no longer pushes all her food out by thrusting her tongue when trying to eat. Taylor loves to cuddle when she is tired and is able to let her very active body rest. She is learning to pull herself up, she loves to crawl, and she loves to pull hair and blow raspberries at everyone. Taylor loves, loves, loves to splash in the bath. She also loves to touch/pet the dog and cats. Taylor is learning to hold her own against her bully little (Younger by 1 minute...yes, but little? Not so much!) brother. Go girlfriend!
We love you so much Jordan and Taylor. We can't believe that you have been in our lives for 9 months already. You have now been with us on the outside (36 weeks) just about as long as you were growing in Mama Chris' belly (37 weeks). You have taught us so much about ourselves as people, as parents, and as a couple. Thank you for all your love and for teaching us patience on a daily basis. You have made our lives so very, very rich and we look forward to many more milestones to come. We waited a long time for you to come into our lives, but the wait was so, so worth it. And, just as the acupuncturist told us when we were trying to get pregnant with you, everything works out just the way it is supposed to, at just the right time, in just the right way. I think I finally believe her!
Love,
Your mamas
The babies are 9 months old now. Seriously, they are 3/4 of a year old? How is that even possible? It will be their birthday in the blink of an eye.
Jordan enjoys pulling himself up to a standing position whenever humanly possible. Then he cries because he gets tired and does not know how to lower himself back down to sitting. Jordan also loves crawling like a little wild man, eating as much as he can by shoving food into his pie hole (oh, how he would love some pie!), and sticking his cute tongue out when he is doing just about everything. Jordan also loves to be naked, to turn over on the changing table when you are trying to change him, and attempt to throw himself off of anything that he can. If he is naked when attempting such acrobatics...even better! Jordan also enjoys stealing whatever toy Taylor is playing with and knocking Taylor down when he is crawling around. Clearly, Jordan needs to be taught a few manners!
Taylor is getting so good at holding her own bottle. She makes the cutest faces when she is trying new foods. Taylor is getting much better at eating, and no longer pushes all her food out by thrusting her tongue when trying to eat. Taylor loves to cuddle when she is tired and is able to let her very active body rest. She is learning to pull herself up, she loves to crawl, and she loves to pull hair and blow raspberries at everyone. Taylor loves, loves, loves to splash in the bath. She also loves to touch/pet the dog and cats. Taylor is learning to hold her own against her bully little (Younger by 1 minute...yes, but little? Not so much!) brother. Go girlfriend!
We love you so much Jordan and Taylor. We can't believe that you have been in our lives for 9 months already. You have now been with us on the outside (36 weeks) just about as long as you were growing in Mama Chris' belly (37 weeks). You have taught us so much about ourselves as people, as parents, and as a couple. Thank you for all your love and for teaching us patience on a daily basis. You have made our lives so very, very rich and we look forward to many more milestones to come. We waited a long time for you to come into our lives, but the wait was so, so worth it. And, just as the acupuncturist told us when we were trying to get pregnant with you, everything works out just the way it is supposed to, at just the right time, in just the right way. I think I finally believe her!
Love,
Your mamas
Thursday, January 31, 2008
News and updates
I am off to Louisiana for my cousin's wedding this weekend. (I should note, because Penny always gets such a kick out of it, that Amanda is my only first cousin. Penny has about, oh, a bajillion first cousins, so she thinks it's funny that I have one!) I am very excited to go. However, Penny is staying home with the kiddos and the plans for someone to come and stay with her to help for the weekend just recently fell through. Therefore, I am feeling pretty guilty about going. But, the plans are made and there is not much I can do. So, I wish Penny good luck. And she knows I will be bringing home the mother of all goodies for her. Not sure what it will be yet, but I gotta find something good!
All that said...I am looking forward to two nights in a hotel by myself, as well as a rental car in which I will do several hours of driving (from TX to LA), all the while listening to a luxurious book on tape. The time alone seems so appealing now, but I am sure that I will miss Penny and the kids more than currently anticipated. I'll be back home Sunday night by midnight...and no doubt hating life on Monday morning when it is time to get up for work!
In baby news, we had to lower Jordan's crib mattress because he was pulling up onto his knees and well on his way to pulling himself into a standing position. Very exciting developmentally, but very sad for the mommas that their babies are on their way to walking! Jordan has also started clapping while he laughs, which is unbeliavably cute.
Taylor is really a mover and shaker. She is all over the place now, although forward crawling is still elusive to her. She can get around just fine, though, which led us to a recent purchase of a gated enclosure where we can put both kids and they can play freely, without us constantly on top of them. Bring on the childproofing! Ugh!
Both kids are doing really well with eating and sleeping. They are branching out into all different kinds of foods and finding lots of things that they like. It is really fun to give them new things and see them experience different tastes and textures. Both kids are loving some mixed fruit that we made up recently. The moms are enjoying making homemade baby food!
Both kids are finally back to sleeping in their cribs and sleeping mostly through the night. They are both doing a great job on figuring out how to soothe themselves and fall back to sleep after a bit of babbling or crying in the middle of the night. Moms are happy to be getting some good sleep.
That's about it. It is Thursday, which means I am home with the kids, so I have to run. They are calling me...
All that said...I am looking forward to two nights in a hotel by myself, as well as a rental car in which I will do several hours of driving (from TX to LA), all the while listening to a luxurious book on tape. The time alone seems so appealing now, but I am sure that I will miss Penny and the kids more than currently anticipated. I'll be back home Sunday night by midnight...and no doubt hating life on Monday morning when it is time to get up for work!
In baby news, we had to lower Jordan's crib mattress because he was pulling up onto his knees and well on his way to pulling himself into a standing position. Very exciting developmentally, but very sad for the mommas that their babies are on their way to walking! Jordan has also started clapping while he laughs, which is unbeliavably cute.
Taylor is really a mover and shaker. She is all over the place now, although forward crawling is still elusive to her. She can get around just fine, though, which led us to a recent purchase of a gated enclosure where we can put both kids and they can play freely, without us constantly on top of them. Bring on the childproofing! Ugh!
Both kids are doing really well with eating and sleeping. They are branching out into all different kinds of foods and finding lots of things that they like. It is really fun to give them new things and see them experience different tastes and textures. Both kids are loving some mixed fruit that we made up recently. The moms are enjoying making homemade baby food!
Both kids are finally back to sleeping in their cribs and sleeping mostly through the night. They are both doing a great job on figuring out how to soothe themselves and fall back to sleep after a bit of babbling or crying in the middle of the night. Moms are happy to be getting some good sleep.
That's about it. It is Thursday, which means I am home with the kids, so I have to run. They are calling me...
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Picture Post
Happy babies on Christmas morning.
This was our sad, sad Char.lie Brown Christmas tree. After going to three places to look for a tree and finding them all sold out, our friend Michael went out onto our land on snowshoes in search of a tree. This was the best of the very few options. Behold the great Christmas tree of 2007! Thanks Michael. Hey, it was free and it was all ours!
Taylor loves to pose whenever the camera comes out. Rarely is there a picture where she is not smiling.
Is this a dacyare center or our house? The twinners love their exersaucers! (Oh, and it's our house!)
Jordan and Mama Chris playing after work one day. Jordan was loving taking his socks off and putting them in his mouth. It looks like we don't feed him enough, doesn't it? Perhaps socks taste better than our homemade babyfood?
Jordan loves to throw himself upside down at any opportunity. He is so funny! 
Perhaps Taylor would agree that socks taste better than our homemade babyfood?
And perhaps duckies taste better than what is served at our house? 
Taylor gives the bath time ducky restaurant 4 stars! 
The family who bathes together, stays together! 
We love to splash! 
Mama Penny and Taylor after bath time. Look at those smiles!
I'm ready for my close up, Mr. Hef*ner! 
Mama Penny and her two sweet babies. My three favorite people in the whole world!
Sweet dreams, little one! (Possible suffocation devices removed after this photo was taken!)
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Questions, questions, questions
Here's a meme stolen from judecorp...
Because we never really know each other as well as we think, in response to this post I'd like you to ask a question. Anything about which you are curious, anything you feel you ought to know about me. Silly, serious, personal, fannish. Ask away. Then copy this to your own journal/blog, and see what people don't know/want to know about you.
Because we never really know each other as well as we think, in response to this post I'd like you to ask a question. Anything about which you are curious, anything you feel you ought to know about me. Silly, serious, personal, fannish. Ask away. Then copy this to your own journal/blog, and see what people don't know/want to know about you.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Congrats to all the new moms!!
E and A from "Two Moms are Better than One" had their baby, and it's a boy! This precious boy is the 1/2 brother of Taylor and Jordan, as we used the same sperm donor. We have seen pics and they emailed us his name, but neither is posted on their blog yet, so I will refrain from sharing. He is super cute, definitely has the same chin as T and J, that we suspected was from the donor, and he has a great name! Congrats to E&A! We are so happy for you! And we are really looking forward to forging ahead with you guys into the land of defining our new extended 21st century family!!
Also, Jenny and E from "Probably Boring Ramblings" had their baby girl (Elsie Jane) early this morning. All are doing well and basking in the glory of their long awaited little one. At long last, your dreams have come true and I am so happy for you!!
Congrats to all the new moms on their new additions. You're in for a wild ride!!
Also, Jenny and E from "Probably Boring Ramblings" had their baby girl (Elsie Jane) early this morning. All are doing well and basking in the glory of their long awaited little one. At long last, your dreams have come true and I am so happy for you!!
Congrats to all the new moms on their new additions. You're in for a wild ride!!
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Happy New Year!
Well, 2008 has arrived and we are already being blessed with two sleeping babies, taking nice long naps this morning! Yay! So, there is time for a New Year's blog post.
Penny and I stayed in last night. 7.5 month old twins...not much choice in the celebrating matter! We were happy to stay in, although isn't it funny that when the choice is made for you, you feel like you wish you had options. But when we had no babies and could do whatever we wanted for New Year's Eve, wouldn't ya know it...we mostly also stayed home. But, we usually also had friends over for games and some sort of yummy dinner. Oh how we miss the CA friends!
While the evening started out quite bland (I went to the laundry mat to dry our laundry. The house we are renting only has a washer. Go figure!), it ended quite nicely, even though neither one of us saw midnight. After the kids went to bed, Penny and I did cook ourselves a lovely dinner. We had mussels steamed in white wine and garlic, along with linguine with clam sauce, breadsticks, wine, and chocolate mousse for dessert. We were quite thrilled with ourselves, actually. It was so yummy! And, it's great to start the new year with all clean laundry!
2007 was quite a year for us, as you can imagine. We finally became moms, after a long two year struggle with infertility and journey to conception. In 2007, we found out we were having boy/girl twins and felt like the luckiest women alive. We took two lovely weekend babymoons for relaxing and enjoying each other before our world would be turned upside down. We experienced unbelievable love, support, and generosity from our friends, family, and coworkers with a multitude of baby showers and subsequent yummy meals delivered to our door after the babies arrived. (Seriously, we might have made it without the meal delivery, but we certainly would not have been so well nourished by your food and your love!) Of course, we also welcomed Taylor and Jordan into our lives, when they made us a family on May 10th. Other massive changes were leaving our jobs (and our friends and everything that had been our lives for 7 years), moving cross-country from CA to VT with our three month old twinners, and settling into a new life as born-again New Englanders. We are thankful to live so close to Penny's family, as well as to be on the same coast as all of my family. (Hey, it's a big improvement from CA, NY, and FL!)
In 2008, our babies will turn 1. (Seriously, how is that possible?) And we will see big changes in them: crawling, walking, more teeth, more food experiences, personalities further emerging, and a multitude of other things that cannot be predicted. Penny and I hope to get in better shape, lose some weight (ah, the old weight loss New Year's resolution), support and encourage each other as parents, and find ways to continue to connect with each other. We hope to use our craft room more, save more money, take one day at a time, and appreciate the daily grind that is so easy to try to get through, rather than enjoy.
Thanks to the readers out there. We love reading your comments, so say hi if you stop by to let us know you were around. And here's to a great 2008 for you all. We wish you health, happiness, fulfillment, and fertility to those struggling with that. We hope all your dreams come true!
Penny and I stayed in last night. 7.5 month old twins...not much choice in the celebrating matter! We were happy to stay in, although isn't it funny that when the choice is made for you, you feel like you wish you had options. But when we had no babies and could do whatever we wanted for New Year's Eve, wouldn't ya know it...we mostly also stayed home. But, we usually also had friends over for games and some sort of yummy dinner. Oh how we miss the CA friends!
While the evening started out quite bland (I went to the laundry mat to dry our laundry. The house we are renting only has a washer. Go figure!), it ended quite nicely, even though neither one of us saw midnight. After the kids went to bed, Penny and I did cook ourselves a lovely dinner. We had mussels steamed in white wine and garlic, along with linguine with clam sauce, breadsticks, wine, and chocolate mousse for dessert. We were quite thrilled with ourselves, actually. It was so yummy! And, it's great to start the new year with all clean laundry!
2007 was quite a year for us, as you can imagine. We finally became moms, after a long two year struggle with infertility and journey to conception. In 2007, we found out we were having boy/girl twins and felt like the luckiest women alive. We took two lovely weekend babymoons for relaxing and enjoying each other before our world would be turned upside down. We experienced unbelievable love, support, and generosity from our friends, family, and coworkers with a multitude of baby showers and subsequent yummy meals delivered to our door after the babies arrived. (Seriously, we might have made it without the meal delivery, but we certainly would not have been so well nourished by your food and your love!) Of course, we also welcomed Taylor and Jordan into our lives, when they made us a family on May 10th. Other massive changes were leaving our jobs (and our friends and everything that had been our lives for 7 years), moving cross-country from CA to VT with our three month old twinners, and settling into a new life as born-again New Englanders. We are thankful to live so close to Penny's family, as well as to be on the same coast as all of my family. (Hey, it's a big improvement from CA, NY, and FL!)
In 2008, our babies will turn 1. (Seriously, how is that possible?) And we will see big changes in them: crawling, walking, more teeth, more food experiences, personalities further emerging, and a multitude of other things that cannot be predicted. Penny and I hope to get in better shape, lose some weight (ah, the old weight loss New Year's resolution), support and encourage each other as parents, and find ways to continue to connect with each other. We hope to use our craft room more, save more money, take one day at a time, and appreciate the daily grind that is so easy to try to get through, rather than enjoy.
Thanks to the readers out there. We love reading your comments, so say hi if you stop by to let us know you were around. And here's to a great 2008 for you all. We wish you health, happiness, fulfillment, and fertility to those struggling with that. We hope all your dreams come true!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
