New Year's Eve plans

Jon and I both hate New Year's Eve... it's one of those weird coincidences that helps us like each other so much. We both think it's one of those holidays where you are supposed to do something awesome and fabulous or you feel totally lame. Bah humbug. Last year we used my morning sickness as an excuse to do nothing and this year we're using the boys as an excuse to do nothing. Yay!

NYE 2005 we decided to stay in and party by ourselves - giving our night a theme made us look cool! We had a hawaiian night with leis, hawaiian food, a surfboard contest, a hula hoop contest and one very special item. Since we knew we would start trying to have a baby, I bought two tiki "fertility cups" for our pina coladas to give us luck in the baby department. We are never, ever, EVER drinking from those cups again. However, if anyone out there would like to borrow them, I can attest they work well.... perhaps TWO well.

Our theme for this year's "party" is:

IT'S BEEN ONE HELL OF A YEAR

I think that about sums up 2006 for the Cases. Happy New Year!

Photos galore, part three, the end

Here is another problem with two babies. At Christmas, Nate had an ear infection, Alex had two, and they both had colds. On Christmas Day, they really needed extra sleep to mend themselves and they took two hour naps...but not at the same time. Jon and I decided instead of waiting for both boys to be awake, we would open presents with Nate then open presents with Alex.

The problem is that we took family pictures with Nate but forgot to take them with Alex. We took pictures with all four of us but we feel really guilty that we have the following beautiful photos with Nate and nothing similar with Alex.

Me and Jon pretending we have one baby. Jon said he felt kind of dirty seeing this photo without Alex in it. It feels kind of lopsided to me.

I can already hear Alex asking for money for therapy upon seeing this photo. Man does Nate LUUUVVVV being the center of attention. We may have to digitally place Alex in this photo.

Jon screwed this one up. This was the one time both kids had their hands out of their mouths and were looking at the same camera. If Jon were looking in that direction, someone would have had the perfect Case family Christmas photo!

Back to regularly scheduled blogging tomorrow.

Pictures galore, part two

More Christmas pictures! I told you we went overboard with the photos.

Nate opening presents. He was such a showboat in his preppy little shirt. He was definitely more interested in the paper than the toys.

Alex, not so interested in the paper but definitely interested in the toys. He was also proud of himself looking so stylish.

The Radio Flyer wagon from Grandpa Dave. Jon and I put it together without fighting at all!

Alex thought it was tasty.

We took a LOT of photos in this pose and this was the best of the bunch. It really tells you how much work usually goes into our photos. And Alex's stocking is missing from the mantle. And how is it that Alex looks like the hyper one in this photo?

Pictures galore, part one

This week's theme is pictures. With it being babies' first Christmas for the first and only time for us, we went a little overboard. They are just so stinking cute it's hard to pick my favorites!

First up are pictures from our present to the boys. Jon and I bought one present for the kids - little chairs with their names on them. I had to really talk Jon into buying these and he agreed it was the best idea ever.

Here they are modeling the chairs and their stockings.

Life is pretty sweet when you're this adorable.

Nate was such a ham this Christmas. He really loved meeting all the new people. His look is saying, "If I were the center of attention every day, I wouldn't have to yell to get your attention all the time!"

The one downside of the chairs is that Alex likes to do a faceplant off the front repeatedly.

This is the day after Christmas, watching Baby Mozart. I'm starting to understand why they call those videos Baby Crack because the boys can't take their eyes off the screen. It's saved my butt multiple times from meltdowns when Jon travels for work.

The helmet casting

As if things weren't hectic enough around here, we took Alex to his helmet casting yesterday. Since the helmet is custom-fitted, they make a cast of his head and make the helmet from that. The orthotists said their experience has been that the "good" twin usually gets the helmet. I can't imagine Nate going through the casting process without a lot of screaming and crying. Alex was amazing - didn't cry once. We picked out a fish pattern for the helmet and will get it fitted on January 9.

First they put a little cape and hood on him. I'm bummed we didn't go with ghost costumes for Halloween because Alex looked adorable!

This was the hard part - putting the cast on. He had to sit very still until it was dry, which is really hard for a 7 month old. Jon entertained him with a toy. Doesn't the paste look like a little tear running down his cheek?

All done and a little stunned!


Kisses for the big boy! I still think that cape was so cute. Alex thought it was pretty tasty.

Best Christmas ever

Jon and I decided yesterday was definitely the best Christmas we've had as adults. More pictures later when I have more time....

I am one lucky lady this year to have three handsome men in my life. I definitely think the tall one is the cutest.

Happy holidays!

This will be my last post before Christmas so I wanted to wish everyone happy holidays! Family starts arriving tonight and I still have a ton on my to-do list.

Here's what I'm asking Santa for this year:

1. Peace on earth (end the war in Iraq & get our soldiers home)

2. Good health for my family, friends, and loved ones (especially my blogging buddy Amber)

3. As much happiness in 2007 as 2006 brought. That's a stretch but it never hurts to ask.

Here's the photo we chose for our Christmas card. More pictures after Christmas!

More about the helmet and HUGE HUGE HUGE news

I got a LOT of emails from people yesterday... thank you! I'm over my pity party and put together a variety of resources. I joined the Babycenter.com (BBC) plagiocephaly board. I found four twin moms in my area who have been through this to answer my questions and provide support. I put together a list of questions to ask next week. I'm already thinking of ideas for cute pictures for my blog. I'm staying positive! All the moms have said it's worse for the parents than the baby.

HUGE NEWS

There is a chance that me, Jon, Nate, and Alex will be on ABC NATIONAL news over the holidays!!!! After Roxane and Liz's experience on Oprah, I'm not holding my breath it will work out, but the last time I talked to the producers they were looking into the logistics of getting a film crew here in Raleigh. It would be a piece on giving during the holidays. If it works out, I won't even have to write about the details because you could watch it yourself!!!! If it does work out, expect phone calls, emails, updates here, and posts on BBC.

I'm torn on whether I think it will really work out. Part of me says no because a lot of stuff never makes it to TV. But then part of me thinks it's perfect that our absolutely crazy amazing year would end in a crazy amazing way. Either way, it gave me a huge boost yesterday to talk to the producers and convince Jon we should go for it. And talk about an AWESOME entry for Nate and Alex's baby book!

The dreaded helmet appointment

I took Alex to a pediatric plastic surgeon at UNC yesterday for his helmet evaluation. It took all of five minutes to get the prescription. I try to keep my blog positive but sometimes I do a big disservice to my feelings by only talking about the good things or putting a good spin on bad things. Here's what I really think about Alex wearing a helmet.

It really sucks. It makes me cry whenever I think about it. Why does my sweet little angel baby have to wear a stupid ugly helmet. Why can't his head and face just be normal like everyone else's. All of his hair is going to fall out and that sucks. I hope it doesn't hurt him because it will break my heart.

I know it's the right thing to do. He won't remember any of it and his face and head will be normal the rest of his life. I was with him for 2 hours at the hospital yesterday and he was so good.... smiling at people, playing with his toys, talking to me, touching my face and smiling... he is just so happy that I'm scared to death to do anything that will possibly change his extremely sunny disposition.

I had a good cry last night then started looking for information. As my grandma Pat would have said, "Stop having a pity party for yourself."

If you don't have kids, don't read this post - my worst new mom mistake

I had been thinking about what I would say would be my worst new mom mistake. I've made my fair share of them but nothing stood out as really really bad. Until last night! Nate came home from day care because of stomach flu (thanks Jon) and his stomach was not doing well. I had just changed his diaper and laid him down in my lap to play.

He was getting fussy so I decided to flip him upside down because he loves that and it always calms him down. In my defense, Jon was sitting right there and didn't say a word to stop me. BIG mistake. When he turned upside down, poop ran out of his diaper all the way up his back, soaking his onesie, and leaking through to drip on ME. EEEEEEEK! There was a whirlwind of activity to get new clothes for me, get Nate out of his clothes, change Nate's diaper, give him a bath, and clean up the changing table.

The thing is, it did calm him down. He was babbling up a storm through all the activity, went right to sleep after the bath, and slept for almost 11 hours. I hate to admit this but we threw away his onesie and my shirt. The onesie was really stained from baby food and the amount of work to clean it was going to be more than the $2 it cost at Old Navy. And the shirt was an XL maternity shirt that was stained from all the food I spilled on it when I was too big to reach the table. I needed to stop wearing that shirt 7 months ago anyway.

Hugest powermom day ever

Jon was sick on Saturday after our Gymboree class. Real sick. So sick that he spent most of the afternoon sleeping and the evening laying on the couch looking like he was going to puke. I was in charge of the boys all day! No backup! Couldn't call for backup because of the puking!

Nate and Alex knew I needed help because they were perfect angels all day. They had bottles at the same time, ate solids at the same time, took naps at the same time and were in great moods. I even got them in pjs, fed, and in bed without ANY crying. This has never happened.... someone always ends up crying. I told Jon this was the best day ever for him to be sick. Well, best day for me, not necessarily for him.

It is soooooooooo much easier to take care of the boys now that they are older. They can entertain themselves, they eat their bottles quickly, they take long naps, and they cry a lot less. Rather than say that things are getting easier, this is the first time I can say things were EASY. Of course, this too shall pass. They'll be mobile soon and two mobile babies = hard work again.

7 month photos

All I can say about their 7 month photos is that it was much easier to take their pictures when they were one month old. Alex weighs a little over 18 pounds and we think Nate weighs around 20 pounds. Big big boys!

Alex was full of smiles. Nate was looking out the window most of the time and we managed to get his attention. No smile though.


I believe this is a frightening glimpse into the years ahead. I can already hear myself yelling, "Leave your brother alone!!"


Nate really did not want to have his photo taken.


No smiles but no tears either. Alex is really starting to look like me in these photos.

Nate and Alex solve our disputes

If I had to state the number one problem in my marriage it is that Jon and I are both engineers. We both believe there is a right way to do something and it is our way. Jon is very detail-oriented while I focus on efficiency. Of course Jon's way is wrong but when I tell him that it gets ugly. As a result, we have agreed that we do not work on home improvement projects together and other various tasks that always end in a fight.

This is why we own a fake Christmas tree. Every year, Jon and I would pick out a beautiful tree and bring it home to decorate, only to yell at each other while bringing it in the house and putting it in the stand. I finally told him the stress wasn't worth it and I was never getting a real tree with him EVER AGAIN. Last year as we decorated the tree, Jon asked if we could get a real tree for the baby and I said I would think about. Well... we have a real tree in our living room this year and we agreed not to fight while setting it up. Interesting how wanting to do something nice for Nate and Alex made us act like adults. I have to assume we're adults because we own a house in the burbs and have two kids. Oh and we're in our 30s.

No pictures of the tree as our living room looks like a Babies R Us right now. Instead behold King Tutankhamun (aka Nate).

We tried hard, very hard to get pictures of both King Tut and King Ramses (aka Alex) but Ramses was more interested in practicing crawling on the bed and biting Tut. Tut then decided he would like to taste his headdress.

Tags?

It is amazing to me how little I know about babies. I've read a lot of baby books and talked to a lot of moms but there are little details left out of books and not mentioned by moms that you learn about babies when you have them. Then you think - my baby is so unique! He loves to do this awesome thing that is so interesting! Then you find out that all babies like that and you feel kind of stupid.

Jon and I spent quite a bit of time removing tags from toys, you know the ones that give you care instructions? Then we got lazy and stopped doing it, figuring the boys wouldn't care if we left the tags on. Turns out babies love to play with tags - WHO KNEW? Both boys sit in their exersaucers playing with the tags on the toys... not the toys themselves. They stuff the tags on their bibs in their mouths and chew on them.

Then I got an email from someone in my mom's group who makes tag blankets. People know about this tag fascination?!?! And what is a tag blanket?!?! Turns out it is a small blanket with tags all over every edge. I picked up two yesterday from her and the boys love them. Nate chews and chews on one tag while Alex chews on a tag then gets distracted by another tag so he chews on that then gets distracted.. you get the point.

Part of me thinks - why isn't this written down somewhere? The other part of me thinks - this is what makes being a parent so fun. Every day brings a new surprise.

Making idiots of ourselves

As I was lying in bed tossing and turning at 4AM with a horrible cold (from my boys, poor little sweet peas!), it struck me that we have family coming in 10 days. We are going to want to show them how the boys smile and laugh, which requires making complete idiots of ourselves in front of our family. It's one thing for Jon and I to make idiots of ourselves in front of each other - no one has to know about that. But the things we do daily to make the kids smile and laugh are really embarrassing.

For example, if we sing the Chicken Dance song an octave higher and do the Chicken Dance, both boys will grin from ear to ear. They don't even have to look at us anymore, they hear the song and start smiling. Last night, I discovered if I pull Nate's onesie above his head, leave it on his head, dance, and sing my made-up song "King Tut" he will giggle over and over like it is the funniest thing he's even seen (you see, he looked like King Tut with the shirt on his head... oh never mind).

The thing that comforted me and allowed me to go back to sleep (besides the medicine) was that everyone coming is either a parent or becoming a parent very shortly. They've all been there or in Liz and Andy's case, will be there next year. I like to think instead of it being embarrassing, it will be so endearing for Jon and I to do our crazy dances and songs to make the kids laugh. I still won't be singing any lullabies around anyone else - only Jon and the kids are going to be subjected to my terrible voice. No reason to ruin Christmas!

Day off! So tired! Can't sleep!

Jon and I took the day off work yesterday. It was not exactly like our anniversary day off, this was a work day. Instead of sleeping in, we bought a tree, decorated the house, wrapped presents, assembled gifts, cleaned up the black hole office... wow it was a busy day. We were so busy we made our breakfast run to Waffle House a working breakfast by making a prioritized list of stuff to complete. Somehow seeing the massive list felt easier going down when chased with some pecan waffles.

Side note for Waffle House fans: I usually get my hash browns covered and capped, but I opted for a big breakfast with eggs sunny side up so I got my hash browns plain to leave room for my waffle. Haven't had plain hash browns since high school! Forgot how good they are!

I was starting to feel beat when a package of fudge and caramels arrived in the mail from my grandparents in Florida. Perfect timing! Day care called as Alex was still acting fussy and going on day 3 of his hunger strike, so I went down to check on him and didn't like what I saw. I took him to the doctor and he has an ear infection. My poor little sweet pea. He weighs 18 lbs 4 oz and does not like getting his ears cleaned out.

After a tiring day, I crashed big time. Alex woke up at 3:45 crying in pain so we gave him some Tylenol and I fed him. He fell back asleep quickly but through some cruel irony, after a week of full nights of sleep, I couldn't go back to sleep myself. I gave up at 4:30, made some coffee and have started working on the rest of our to-do list. Let's hope we get all the Christmas stuff done by Christmas!

Jon is a good dad

Talking to other moms, it amazes me how lucky I am to have Jon and how lucky the kids are to have him as a dad. It shouldn't surprise me because I always said I would never have kids unless I found a guy like Jon but I'm constantly surprised I found Jon.

He's a very involved father - it's not just about playing and having fun. He was up every night with the boys (they sleep through the night now!!!!), he changes diapers, feed the boys, wash bottles, does laundry, on and on. As a result, the boys are IN LOVE with him. If he walks into a room, they stare until he looks at them and then they smile and kick their feet they are so excited to see him.

Here's Alex and Jon playing. Jon was making crazy sounds and Alex was so fascinated he kept hitting Jon in the mouth.

After eating, Nate was so tired he fell asleep on Jon. Somebody loves their dad!

World's worst Santa

We took the boys to see Santa and it was a blazing success! Neither boy cried as they were intent on checking out Santa and his beard. The highlight was both boys looking up at Santa while people in line oohed and aahed out loud. The photographer didn't get that picture but what an amazing memory of their first trip to Santa. We always underestimate the fascination with twins.

Santa was interesting... he used Rudolph as a foot rest while reading another baby a book. I'm not joking. Now we know what Rudolph does in the off-season. As we were picking the boys up off Santa's lap, Jon said, "Nate, did you ask Santa for two front teeth?" and I said, "Alex, did you ask Santa for lots of sleep for mommy and daddy?" and no response from Santa. You would think a guy with a real Santa beard would be a tad more enthusiastic.

After Santa, we walked around the mall. Both boys fell asleep and Nate fell asleep grabbing onto Alex's toy. Jon walked around with the sleeping boys while I shopped (I love my husband!!) and he said it was ridiculous how many people were smiling, staring and saying, "Oh look they're holding hands!" Two sleeping babies holding hands? I'd probably smile and stare myself.

One more photo that is not our Christmas photo... Alex is the one looking at Santa. This is the first picture where you can truly tell how chunky Nate is getting. My lovely little chunk. Right before this picture was taken, Alex had a big handful of Santa's beard and Santa moved Alex's hand to play with the jacket instead. Santa must have twins because he did that one while holding Nate - an advanced twin move!

Alex solves a mystery

As a first time parent, I often wonder how I would know when the boys hate a new food. So far, they eat everything we give them. This morning, Alex tried bananas for the first time. The first couple of bites went well and then he started crying hysterically every time I would try to feed him more. I'm talking big fat crocodile tears and screaming. Sorry Alex, you don't have to be so dramatic about it! Alex want carrots! Alex hate bananas!

Baby hair, baby eyes, baby talk

The boys have started to get hair again! Alex's is growing in light brown and Nate's is growing in blond. They both still have some brown baby hair left so it will be interesting to see what color they will eventually have. I had blond hair as a child and Jon had light brown. They both still have blue eyes, just different shades of blue. Alex's are grey-blue like mine and Nate's are blue blue like my sister Jamie who is officially old today as she turns 31. Happy birthday old lady!

They've also started babbling up a storm. Nate says the same thing over and over, "Buh buh buh buh buh." He probably wants a bottle and we're ignoring him. Alex puts together a very long string of noises. Yesterday he said multiple times, "Eee ooh baaa daa daa ooh baa eeeeeeee" which of course Jon and I interpreted as DADDY! But then I realized I didn't want Alex's first "word" to be dad, so I tried telling Jon it was just a random string of sounds. Jon said, "Too bad. It's official. I'm writing it down in the baby book." Of course that would assume we had even cracked open the baby book or that he knows where it is. I'll give you a hint Jon, it's somewhere in the black hole of crap that we call the office. Good luck finding it daa daa.

What I miss about being pregnant

I spend time on Babycenter.com getting baby advice as I really have no idea what I am doing here. This question was posed this week - what do you miss about being pregnant?

I miss lying on the couch being the world's best couch potato. I even ate meals there because my belly (and my butt) didn't fit on our kitchen chairs!

I miss all-you-can-eat Maggie Moo's chocolate milkshakes.

That's pretty much it. Doesn't make a very good case for ever being pregnant again.

Edit:
I was talking to a friend last night and after our phone call, I realized I had to edit this entry. There is one case in which I would be pregnant again. If one of my friends had problems getting pregnant and they felt like they absolutely had to have a baby with their genes, I would seriously consider being a surrogate mother for them. That may sound weird but knowing the joys of being a parent, I would love to help any of my friends realize that dream in any way I could. With my family far away, over the years my friends have been my other family and without them I would be a lost soul.

I never tell Jon what I'm going to write. It was late when I got off the phone and he was already sleeping, so he will probably freak when he reads this entry. Don't worry Jon! I'm not planning anything crazy!!!

On our fridge

Our new fridge arrives today! As usual, everything in our lives revolves around babies so there's a baby lesson here. I have this ongoing theory that once something happens in your pregnancy, it is a permanent change in your life. This is part of how pregnancy prepares you for parenthood.

When I first got pregnant, I put a calendar on our fridge so I could count down the number of days until 14 weeks - the time when morning sickness usually goes away (USUALLY! not in my case). How many times did I stare at it, wondering when I would feel better?

Shortly after the nausea countdown, we put our doctor's phone number and a list of pre-term labor signs on the fridge. How many times did I stare at it, timing my contractions and wondering if I should call the doctor?

After that list came down, up went the calendar with the dates we were having visitors to help. How many times did I stare at it, being thankful for the help and wondering how each day could seem so long?

Now on the fridge is a list of baby foods -foods Alex and Nate can eat and things they can not eat. Nate can't have carrots because of his reflux but Alex can have carrots and Nate hasn't tried prunes but Alex does eat prunes and Nate gets bad gas with peas and Nate and Alex can both eat pears, oatmeal, and squash but neither of them can have rice cereal - it makes my head spin. How many times do I stare at that list, wondering why it is so insanely complicated to feed two babies?

Also on the fridge is the picture of them in the swing together. How many times do I stare at that picture, so happy that life is so good?

Logistics, take two

I wrote here earlier about the logistics of taking care of two babies on my own. Now that the boys are becoming mobile, things have gotten much more complicated. We used to be able to lay them down on the bed and walk away. If we did that now, it would just be a matter of time until child services showed up on our doorstep.

When Jon was in Chicago, I put the boys on our bedroom floor while I grabbed some stuff I forgot. I came back to find them in completely different positions, chewing on the chair legs and grabbing an extension cord. Not my best mommy moment. I took the bassinett out of the pack and play in our bedroom and we now use that as a corral. I guess my parents' generation would call it a playpen.

I used to see these kinds of twin pictures and think, "Twins! They must be so close!" Now I know Alex fell over because he's not as stable when sitting as Nate is and...

a minute after the "perfect twin photo" one baby is distracted by a toy while the other chews on his brother's head. I think my favorite part of this picture is Nate grabbing onto Alex's shirt for extra leverage. Or maybe my favorite part is what a freaking laid-back baby Alex is! I'd be pissed if someone was chewing on my head and covering my hair in drool.

Having a baby changes everything

I hate cold weather. HATE it. Give me lots of sunshine and warmth and let me wear sandals every day. It got chilly here over the weekend and suddenly I have two reasons to enjoy cold weather. TWO CUTE!


PS Did anyone see last week's episode of House? Where he said it would never be lupus?!? I called it HERE.

Update on my day

Jon's plane is in the air as I write this and he's on his way home. Looks like I get to wait on that mommy milestone for now.

Good news and bad news at Alex's physical therapy. Bad news first. We are getting him evaluated for a helmet to correct his plagiocephaly caused by his torticollis. The good news is that all the positioning, activities and tummy time have paid off as his torticollis has not hampered any development so far. We only have to do two PT exercises and go back in a month to check progress.

I spent $300 at Babies R Us without buying any of the 3 gates we need for the house.

I saw the teeny, tiny newborns... they were under 4lbs each at birth and they were soooo little. Were my boys really that little?! For one completely insane millisecond, I thought to myself I'd love to have another baby so tiny and new. I've learned so much! I would do everything better the second time! Then I took one look at the father who was almost delirious from lack of sleep and remembered I am happy with my very wonderful family.

I'm screwed

Jon had to go to Chicago for work this week. He's supposed to fly out at 4PM, however they're expecting 8-16 inches of snow this morning. O'Hare already cancelled all flights until noon today. If anyone has ever travelled through O'Hare, you know that it is statistically unlikely he will be home today. Boo hoo.

This may mark a big mommy milestone for me - taking care of the kids on my own on a weekend. I was hoping to put off this milestone as long as possible, actually until the kids were 4, could get their own cereal and milk, turn on the TV and let mommy sleep until noon.

More updates later... I'm taking Alex to his first physical therapy appointment, hitting Babies R Us for babyproofing gear then dropping off dinner to a new twin mom in my neighborhood. I'm hoping to get a peek of her fraternal girls to remind me how far we've come in the last 6 months!