Okay, so I’m really beat tonight.  I know, nothing terribly surprising there, what with being 32 weeks pregnant and chasing 20-month old twins all day.

But since we are definitely down to one nap now, I’m finding myself really, really worn out.  

Really they nap well (2.5 hours or so).  And we’ve done a lot of playing this week.  But this new schedule means that I’m “on” for the entire morning (or most of it), which is a much longer stretch of time than I’m used to.

I know I can run errands or go to the library or zoo with them.  But if you have any ideas about particular games or activities that your kids enjoyed doing at this age (particularly if they can be done with Mommy sitting down), I’d love to hear them.  I need to find some way to better balance helping them stay occupied in good things without killing myself in the process.  So I’m open to suggestions!

And in a less whiny turn…updates on my kids!

Alex is not sleeping well at night these days.  I have no idea why (though it’s not helping my weariness, for sure).  Last night, he was got really noisy between 12:50 and 1:30 in the morning.  Really noisy.  And when I finally went in, he was sitting up, wide awake, talking to and playing with the stuffed animals he sleeps with.  He was ready to go!  Poor Erin just looked at me like “Is it really time to get up already?”  I don’t know what I’m going to do with him…

But he’s super fun, in spite of the no-sleep thing.  He loves to run and test his balance and strength.  He will just throw himself down a slide if you let him – feet first, head first, hanging halfway off the slide.  Whatever!  His favorite game right now is to “race” you around our kitchen island, and he’s particularly amused if you scare him as he comes around a corner.  Talk about belly laughs…

Erin is getting quite possessive of toys and things.  We hear a lot of “MINE” these days.  We’re working on the concept of sharing.   But she’s finally started to let me put bows in her hair, and she’ll actually leave them in!  Her newest vocabulary addition is “tih-toh” (the sound a clock makes), which she happily says while she bobs her head back and forth on each syllable.  It’s really cute.  She loves to swing and slide, too.  But she spends the most time in their cozy coupe.  She loves that car, especially when she’s hidden her juice cup and beads in the trunk.

Both kids are learning the concept of moving a chair or stool so they can use it to reach something that has, so far, been off limits.  Good skill for them…not so much for me.  They are forever falling down, tripping over their own shoes, running into each other, and generally banging and bruising their way through the world.  But they also love to give hugs and kisses.  They love to sit right up close beside me to watch TV or read a book.  And they love to brush their teeth.  At bedtime, they point to their mouths and say, “Teefies” before running towards the bathroom.  Too funny…

Oh, and not to be left out…NLS!  She seems to be doing just fine.  Lots of movement.  She’s kind of like a cat who can’t quite find that one perfect spot on her favorite cushion, so she stretches and curls up and rearranges herself and flops down and rolls around and on and on and on.  Unfortunately, the cushion is me, right now, so I’ll be very glad when she can wiggle herself outside of my belly!  Oh, and I think we might have settled on a name.  I think we’re going to keep it between us just a little longer, just to make sure it’s really the one we like, but I’ll give you a hint…her (probable) name has a direct connection to my favorite candy!

And I think that’s pretty much it for tonight.  Happy Tuesday (or Wednesday if you read this tomorrow)!

The twins were up early today.  Early enough to see Eric before he left for work.  Good for him…um, less so for me!  We shall see how the day progresses and what meltdowns await us (mine and theirs!).

Last night, Alex woke up about 9:30 just screaming.  I think he had a nightmare.  But, in his distress, he was calling for his Daddy.  As sad as he sounded, it was still pretty cute.  And while it took a few minutes (and his toy puppy) to calm him back down, he really did want Eric.  And he thought getting to snuggle with Daddy in our bed for a bit was pretty great, too.  I’m really lucky to have such a great dad for my kids!

As for the rest of the weekend…

Sunday was a pretty low-key day.  Actually, it was almost boring at times.  Eric tried to make spaghetti sauce by baking the tomatoes, but our fresh ones didn’t really work well.  I wrote a bit and read a bit.  And we made a quick trip to Meijer.  I am now the proud owner of a food mill…now I can make smooth applesauce if I want to.  And we watched our recorded episode of Eureka before bed.  

Saturday, Eric’s brother came over and hung out for a bit.  When the twins went down for a nap, they went out to do “boy things” (like eat wings at Roosters).  So I got to work a bit on some of my own stuff.  My parents came up in the afternoon and spent the rest of the day with us.  It was kind of nice to have them just hang out for a bit.  The twins were highly entertaining.  And we had supper.  It was a pretty relaxing time, actually.  And I got most of my tubs of baby clothes sorted into boy/girl bins instead of by size.  So, I felt productive, too!

One thing is for sure, though.  NLS is starting to be uncomfortable to carry around all the time. It seems like either she is kicking me (hard) or the belly is cramping, pretty much all the time.  And I can tell we’ve reached a new stage.  But I was expecting that at about 32 weeks, and it appears I was right.  Still 8 more weeks of this sounds like a really long time just now.  

I have my next appointment on Thursday.  I think I’m going to have to take the twins with me for once.  I usually try to avoid that like the plague, but with schools starting back up soon, my babysitters are starting meetings or on end-of-summer vacations.  I still need to ask Eric, but he may not want to take much more time off before NLS arrives.   Thankfully, taking them isn’t usually a problem.  The visits are short, and the twins are really good.  But our double stroller just barely fits through doorways, so it’s the logistics of taking them that are really the issue.  Oh well…we shall see…

Okay, there is now a battle for some toy going on, so I may have to go break it up.  Happy Monday!

It occurred to me recently (as in lying in bed not sleeping last night or the night before) that there have actually been some interesting differences with this pregnancy compared to the twins.  And as I have not been as good about recording the minor twitches of this pregnancy as I was with the twins (gee, I wonder why…), I decided that, at 32 weeks, it was high time to write down some things so I don’t forget them.

So, here we go…

Differences between my twin pregnancy and my singleton pregnancy:

1. I do not remember feeling hiccups with the twins.  So when, one day this last week, NLS started this weird, rhythmic twitching, it was really strange and (I’ll admit) sort of annoying.  I sat there trying to figure out “what in heaven’s name” she was doing in there…and then it occurred to me.  She had the hiccups.  And I chuckled to myself.  My baby girl had the hiccups…and I could feel them.  It was a brand-new sensation for me…and it was kind of fun!

2. This one is kicking the crap out of my insides.  I’m sure it’s just that the twins just didn’t have to room to move all that much.  But their movements were definitely more in the stretching, pushing category.  You know, slow and intense.  Not this one.  She’s rocking all.the.time.  Partying down.  And is it better at night?  Oh no…the last two nights, she’s been doing the samba at 3:30 in the morning.  Thanks, sweetie, for sharing your talents, but, well, Mommy would like to sleep.  So let’s save the dance rehearsals until your 6 and taking ballet, okay?

3. I am only now, at 32 weeks, starting to have serious heartburn.  And really, serious isn’t the right word.  Maybe noticeable is the right word.  Or even, slightly uncomfortable.  But anyway, it’s just now starting to get my attention.  By this time, with the twins, I had been downing Tums for weeks.  I’m not sorry for the delay.

4. And speaking of physical discomfort…despite the return of the diabetes, I am still NOWHERE near as uncomfortable as I was with the twins.  My hips and lower back are starting to be pretty cranky most of the time.  But that is to be expected with 20-month old twins to chase while hauling around their sister stuck to my abdomen, I guess.  Mostly, I’m just really grateful not to be itching ALL THE TIME.  Without the PUPPPs to make me want to scratch the top layer of my skin off, the occasional itch from dry skin is really not so blog-worthy.  

5.  On the other hand, there are some similarities.  I am reaching the point where the downward sloping floor of our church is starting to make it difficult to both stand AND sing on Sunday morning, especially for 20 minutes at a time (especially as I can’t really prop up the belly on the pew in front of my like I did with the twins).  And since I carry my babies entirely out in front of me (the reality of being short and petite, I guess), the belly is starting to sag a bit now.  And that makes this baby feel heavy.  Not as heavy as two babies felt, but definitely hard to balance well.  

6. I love that I have not out-grown my clothes at this point.  While some of my shirts shrank the first time around and, thus, may not be totally effective for the entire span of this pregnancy, I am still wearing my normal size, and I still have a good bit of room to grow in most of my shirts.  It’s SO nice not to have rotate between the 4-5 shirts that still fit at this point, as I did with the twins.  SO nice.

7. And it’s also strange to not have a c-section scheduled by now, as we did with the twins.  Our intention is a VBAC, assuming all things allow for the attempt.  But not being able to just plan the day and time, or who will watch the twins, or how long the ‘birth’ itself will take…well, that’s all new and kind of disconcerting for a planner like me.  I mean, how did women do this for all those centuries?  Just waiting until one day they realized the baby was coming that day.  Yikes!  I guess I’ll just have to keep practicing being flexible and not stressing (good luck to me on that one!).  Should be interesting anyway…

And that’s about all I have right now.  If other interesting (to me) comparisons pop up, I may write them down.  Or I may not.  Either way, at least I have these ones recorded.

Happy Weekend!

Yesterday felt “off” somehow.  Not really sure I can explain it.  But even though I did get some things done, I never had a sense that I was actually running my day.  It was like I couldn’t seem to stay ahead, even though I wasn’t “behind” either.  Weird.

Anyway, I hope today is less like that.

I’m sure part of the issue is that the twins’ napping is suddenly OFF.  The last couple of days they have barely slept.  And having them constantly needing my attention during times of the day when I’ve been used to doing my “stuff” throws me off.  Hopefully, we’ll figure out the new sleep pattern soon…

Anyway, yesterday, I cleaned up my bedroom.  It was so nice to walk into it during the day and see the floor!  I did a lot of computer work, too.  I have a couple of projects going that are keeping my brain working, which is nice.  And after supper, Eric and I canned the last of the peaches.  Oh, and of course, we played with the twins, too!

And that pretty much is all I have to say today…happy Thursday!

That we’re going to the zoo this morning for a bit.  We haven’t been in a while.

That my children are pretty much moving themselves to a one-nap schedule (since putting them down twice doesn’t work anymore!).

That I need to finish the book I started and haven’t picked up since last week.  Eek!

That canning is not too difficult to do while pregnant, as long as I sit down for an equal amount of time as I stood cutting peaches.

That my children are suddenly getting big.

That I need a better arrangement of toys and books for the loft.  This might involve rearranging some small furniture pieces…

That it would be great if I’d made dinner at all over the weekend so that I’d have leftovers to feed my family this week.  But I didn’t.  (Seemed like a great thing at the time, though!)

That Erin would absolutely live outside if I would let her do it.  

That Alex would absolutely never play with another toy if he had his very own iPod. 

That blue crayon on my wallpaper never starts to look more attractive just because it’s been there for 2 days and I still haven’t taken a moment to clean it off. 

That having our church schedule a special Sunday event on the day I was supposed to work nursery, thus freeing me from nursery duty, is a great thing!

That I need to clean out my refrigerator.  

That this is about all I have to chat about this morning.  Happy Tuesday!

It was actually a pretty good weekend.  And for a number of reasons, I felt on Sunday night that I had actually gotten a small break from the constant-ness of mommyhood.  It was a nice feeling.

On Friday, Eric went to see a demo of the laser system he’s thinking of getting.  A couple of guys from work went along instead of me (this was my preference).  He seemed to be very much impressed by it.  So who knows…a laser engraving system may be in our near future.  Anyone need personalized gifts for Christmas? 

I had my 30-week appointment on Friday, too.  My lovely sister watched the twins for me.  She’s just great!  And my appointment was fine.  I’d actually lost a little weight because of the GD stuff (which is pretty normal).  But that seems to be going fine, so they weren’t concerned about the one HUGE reading last week.  And I’m measuring at exactly the right week, and we heard a happy little heartbeat.  So all seems to be going just fine.  Yay for good reports!

On Saturday, we were very busy in the morning.  We all took a walk (Eric included), then he mowed while I manned children and started laundry.  We’ve been switching slowly to doing one-nap days more often, but the result is a little more crankiness than usual.  And Erin was really bad on Saturday morning.  I was pretty happy to put them down for naps, to be honest.  Then I ironed, and Eric made and canned applesauce for me.  He’s pretty great, I must say.

His mom arrived mid-afternoon so we could go to a wedding.  Then we went out to dinner and a movie (Sorcerer’s Apprentice).  It was almost like our first real date (same area/theater), except, as he said, that time I “wasn’t knocked up.”  Nice, sweetie. 

Sunday, after church, we headed to C-ville to visit with my parents.  And my grandpa and his wife were in town, so we took the babies down so they could see them.  Except that the twins didn’t get much of a nap, we had a good time.  Then it was home, supper, twins’ bedtime and vegging in front of the TV for us.  

So, overall, a good weekend.  I have a few things on my to-do list today.  We’ll see which ones I get done.  

And you are now caught up on my life.  Happy Monday!

This post is all about my fantastic husband. 

Yesterday, my mom, sister, SIL and two older nieces and I went to a matinee at the La Comedia dinner theatre in Dayton.  We saw Cinderella (the Rogers and Hammerstein version).  It was a lot of fun, and the girls absolutely LOVED it.  It was so much fun to watch their faces as they took in the spectacle.  Too cute!

And while I took a girls’ day out, my husband took a vacation day to hang with the twins.  It was so much fun for the three of them, and a lot of help for me.

They spent the day playing, taking a walk, and napping (at least the twins did!).  They had a blast!

And Eric actually worked around the house for me.  He canned peaches (10 jars worth), so that project is finished for now.  He cleaned my kitchen, including the floors.  He cleaned up and vacuumed the downstairs living areas.  And he figured out how to clean pencil marks off the wall (Alex has taken to writing on non-paper when we aren’t in the room with him and has, thus, lost his pencil privileges ) and then cleaned it off.  He may have even done a couple of other things that I’m forgetting right now.  But he got more work than I normally do in a day, and he put me ahead of chores for a day or two.  

It was SO nice to come home to a clean house and such obvious helpfulness.  He is just the best ever!

Happy Friday…enjoy your weekend!

I started a post about 3 hours ago which was erased when our electricity suddenly went out.  

While I wasn’t happy about losing my post (and spending about 2 hours without AC), this will be a much better post than the first one was going to be anyway.

The morning was pretty rough for a variety of reasons I won’t share.  But things are looking much better now.  Talking to my mom and sister helped a ton.  Falling on my face before Jesus was also key.  And having the electricity turn back on before we died in the heat/humidity was icing on the cake. 

So here’s where things stand:

• The twins pulled open my file drawer when I was in the other room and started pulling out my files.  They’ve never done that before.  They had thrown an entire pile of my papers in a mess on the floor.  They were thrilled…me…not so much. 
• A nearby neighbor had twins recently (7 weeks ago), so I emailed her.  The email conversation prompted me to go back and re-read my blogs from the first couple of months after the twins were born.  It’s crazy how much I’d forgotten about.  I’m SO glad I bother to type all this stuff out.  Sometimes it doesn’t seem worth it.  But then, on mornings like today…it’s incredible to read what I’d recorded about our lives back then.  
• Eric and I froze corn and canned peaches last night.  It was fun to do that with him.  We have about 2 canners worth of peaches to go.  Hope my back and hips are up to the task.
• There was a HUGE thunderstorm here last night.  Bigger than I remember in a long, long time.  Thankfully, the twins slept through the entire thing.  Unfortunately, we did not. 
• At least twice in this post, I’ve had to delete all or part of the phrase “the babies” to put in “the twins” instead.  I mean, they are totally toddlers now.  But it’s a hard habit to break, apparently!
• Today, I really need to go to the grocery store at some point.  And I need to iron a bit.  And I could can some peaches or do some laundry or hang some pictures or exercise or shower or do a couple of other projects around the house.  
• At the rate I’m going, absolutely none of those will get done.  Oh well!

Happy Wednesday!

• Alex is playing on the floor this morning.  Erin is still asleep.  Mommy is on the computer.
• Last night, Alex hit his head 3 times, one of those times by falling off our bed head-first onto the floor.  I hate when they do that.  
• Alex was up at 12:00 midnight last night, crying.  Eric had to finally come help me console him.  The baby belly is starting to be very intrusive for jobs such as that.  I did give him some medication, in case he had a headache.  We went back to bed.  At exactly 1:00 am (according to my clock), Erin started to cry.  A little snuggle solved that one, but Alex was still awake, too.  So the 4 of us were apparently up for an hour or more last night. No idea why.
• My children can now saw the word “clock” and correctly identify the object which goes by that name.  Unfortunately, it sounds a little bit like “cock” when they say it.  Which makes me laugh almost every time.  At least they are pointing high on the wall when they say it…
• I got up yesterday and decided that I could NOT stay home.  I just needed out of the house.  So we drove to C-ville and Springfield to visit my parents’ offices during the day.  It was pretty much just what I needed. And my parents (and the twins) didn’t mind either!
• I had a weird blood sugar anomaly yesterday.  It went sky-high after lunch.  I still have no idea why.  And it was actually a bit low after dinner.  It kinda freaked me out, to be honest.  It was that high.  Anyway, today is starting out normally again, so hopefully we can avoid another such result.  Crazy…
• We spent the weekend at the farm.  The weather was actually really nice for most of it – warm, but low humidity.  So that was lovely.  And the babies just adore playing outside there.  And Eric got to drive tractor and be a farmer for a bit.  So it was, over all, quite nice.
• So that is our not-so-crazy life as of this morning.  I guess we’ll see what adventures come our way today…happy Tuesday!

Yesterday, I worked on laundry and cleaned bathrooms.  Both of those jobs are a bit harder on the back and hips these days, so I decided to give myself the morning off.

So we went to Kohl’s.  I found some things for Eric.  I found some things for me.  Some of them I’m very excited about!

Unfortunately, I was in the fitting room, trying on just as many shirts that didn’t fit as that did, wondering why nice-fitting maternity clothes are just so dang hard to find. 

I mean, really, why?

Do men design these things?

If women design them, have these women ever carried a baby?

I mean seriously, why would you tell someone to “buy your pre-pregnancy size” but then not make that size actually fit someone of that size?  I don’t get it.  Why would I (normally about a 2/4 pant) wear a size 6 or 8 in maternity pants?  Why would the size small shirt, not actually fit someone who is size small?

Of course, a twin pregnancy means I’ll always be a bit bigger than ‘normal’ even with only one.  But the problem isn’t my belly.  It’s my shoulders.  See, my pre-pregnancy size is PETITE.  Small PETITE.  So the smalls, the few of those that there are, must all actually be tried on because my chest and arms and shoulders are too small.  And even with my slightly-larger pregnancy rack, the necklines (which are almost always v-neck, which never works as well on me as it does on my lovely sister) sag down, showing off my nursing bra to the world.  Great. 

So, I rant to the universe….WHY????

Okay, I’m done.  I’m sure some of you understand.  And for those of you who can magically fit into every maternity shirt or pant you try on…I am seriously jealous!  

Have a great weekend!