Mirena update, triplet weekend!

Thank you so much everyone for your comments yesterday, here and via email and phone. I had Mirena taken out yesterday and my practice was skeptical that it was causing the problems. I started to feel like maybe I am crazy and it wasn't the hormones! I'm so glad I had your feedback to lean on to assure me I am not crazy! Last night I felt a lack of anxiety I have not felt since I went on Mirena and this morning I woke up energetic and refreshed for the first time in over a month. Nate was a bear this morning but I had oodles of patience. It felt good to feel NORMAL again.

Next steps: get a thyroid panel then probably see an endrocinologist. More on that as it develops.

This weekend, Jon and I are going to be the proud parents of almost 3 year old TRIPLETS! We are watching our friends Heather and Bill's son Ben for the weekend. My blog may have multiple updates throughout the weekend as I post about our adventures. I'm sure we will have some good stories!

Elephant in the room

I'm sure Jon would categorize this in the TMI category but I've never been one to let Jon censor my blog. We have been talking about long-term reproductive production options because we do not want any more children, but we're still young enough that we hate to close that door early. I decided to get Mirena (hormonal IUD) about a week before my birthday.

It has been a really bad experience for me. I know a lot of people love Mirena but the hormones are wrong for me. I have been extremely emotional, both depressed and anxious. I have been exhausted every day. I have been short with Jon and the kids, even yelling a lot unexpectedly. I can't seem to control my temper and everything sets me off. I don't seem to take joy out of the things that I really love, particularly the kids. And the nightmares! I can't count the number of nightmares in which Jon or the kids have died.

I feel robbed of the last month because of how terrible I have felt. Fortunately Jon has not had to travel the past month or I'm not sure what I would have done. I can barely make it through bedtime routine with the boys on my own without losing it over stupid stuff, which is so unlike me. It feels like someone else is living in my brain making me into a person I don't like.

I'm getting Mirena out, but I wanted to share this here. I wanted to share this because if Nate and Alex ever remember me yelling at them during this time, I want them to know I couldn't help it and that I was a good mom by recognizing something is wrong and taking action. During this time, I've kept my blog positive because I couldn't face the reality that I've felt like I was completely losing my mind.

I'm glad I tried Mirena because I would always wonder if it worked for me. But for now it's back to my regular pills and eventually, a little snip snip for Jon!

You can all rest easy now, ok?

It finally happened. One of our real-life friends found out they are expecting twins. That means any of you reading this who know us in real life can breathe a big sigh of relief because statistically, you won't be having twins.

Since hearing the news, I have two thoughts running through my head:

* That is SO SO SO exciting!
* I am SO SO SO glad we don't have to go through the newborn phase with twins again!

The news inspired my post on HDYDI today.

And a blogfriend of a blogfriend found out yesterday she is expecting twins also! Please send good thoughts to Sandra! I "met" Sandra when she commented on my blog and I started reading hers. So... I've been meaning to thank everyone who delurked and commented on my 1,000th post. If you linked your blog, I'm reading along even if I haven't commented back. I really enjoy getting to know people who are reading!

Feeling hot hot hot

On Saturday we went to Spring Daze, an arts and crafts festival in town. Jon and I were amazed at how much the boys have grown since last year's Spring Daze.

Last year, the boys played on the toddler playset. This year, the boys were able to climb this 6+ foot ladder on the big kid playset themselves.



Last year, the boys noticed ducks but did not want to stick around for long. This year, the boys asked for money to buy duck food then talked to the ducks while feeding them.

Last year, the boys pointed at the fire truck. This year, Nate "drove" it three times and told me, "Shut the door. I don't want to see you and I want to drive it all by myself."


It was fun but it was so hot and by the end, we were all cranky and tired. We're in the middle of a 90+ degree heatwave. While this weather is not unusual for North Carolina, it is very unusual for April. To help relieve some heat, I bought miniature ice cream drumsticks for us to enjoy. This was a good call as it inspired Nate to stop his cheese face and give us real smiles for the camera.

Birthday sneak peek

A couple of sneak peeks of the 80s slumber party birthday party... yes, turning 35 is glorious, as Jen and I proved last night.

The drinks in our hands.... if there is one grown-up thing you must do this summer, it is make this orange vodka from mames and drink it. We drank it in cosmopolitans and in my much younger days, I think I could have finished the entire bottle.

I never worried about turning 30 or turning 35 because if you're taking life by the horns who cares who old you are? Whenever I think about getting older, I miss my grandma Pat because she was a spitfire into her 70s. She's the one that taught me every age is fabulous - wrinkles, sagginess, and all.

I hope I turn out like her, acting crazy and being myself until the end with lots of amazing people around me. So far, I think I'm doing a pretty good job on that one.

Great moments in white lies to the kids

Remember last week when Nate told us he overflowed the toilet at day care? I'll come back to that story in a minute.

A few weeks ago, I came home from picking up the boys from day care and our garage door would not open. I had a LONG conversation with the boys about why it was broken, as you might imagine when something unexpected happens around two almost 3 year olds. It was fixed the next day.

Over the next few days, Nate incessantly asked Jon about the garage door. Nate wanted to know WHO fixed it and he would not let up. Daddy, who fixed it? What was his name? What was his name? Who fixed it? The name "Steve" popped into Jon's head and he told Nate that Steve fixed the garage door. Problem solved (read = Nate moved on).

The following week, Nate randomly said at dinner, "Do you remember Steve fixed the garage door?" Jon and I busted out laughing. Nate has been talking and talking about Steve ever since.

Cut to Monday. Nate goes to school and refuses to use the little potty because he says he is scared of it. He literally held it from 8:30-5 and then had a massive pee accident at home, which involved him screaming non-stop for 20 minutes afterwards. We had a long talk with him and he said he was scared because the toilet was broken. The next day, we and the teachers tried showing Nate everything was fine with the toilets but he held it again all day, this time having a massive accident at school.

Nate was being completely irrational about it and we tried every tactic we knew to resolve it. Nothing worked, so I busted out the white lie. I told Nate that Steve was going to go to day care and fix the toilet, and in the morning we would check to make sure Steve fixed it.

The next morning at drop off, I held him while we flushed each toilet and showed him Steve fixed it. Nate was happy with the solution and went back to using the potty.

I freaking rule this motherhood thing sometimes.

PS. I spent all day yesterday with straight hair and decided I don't like my hair straight. Check out a picture here. Warning: if you know me in real life, the picture may be shocking!

Earth Day celebration at Case Casa

At our house, we did quite a bit to celebrate Earth Day without doing much at all. I telecommuted for work and ate a mostly vegetarian diet. I washed the boys' clothes in cold water in an energy-efficient washer. The boys wore hand-me-down clothes and also ate a mostly vegetarian diet. Pretty much a repeat of daily life at Case Casa.

We also celebrated in a much bigger way. With a heat wave headed our way, the boys helped me water the garden with water from our rain barrel. The rain barrel catches runoff from our roof and even with the drought last summer, we always had water. This will be a chore (a fun one!) we do together from April through October, hopefully every year.

(Don't worry, there was a bucket catching the water Alex missed! And the plastic cup held wheat plants they grew from seed at day care, so we're trying to reuse the cups.)

An even bigger celebration was the very first harvest of the garden - a single strawberry. Strawberry season is about to hit North Carolina and we'll be taking the boys strawberry picking soon. But for now, they've watched this little strawberry grow from a flower into a green fruit and then ripen. I can't think of a better way to celebrate Earth Day.

Halp!

You know when people say that kids only get more expensive as they get older? I've always been skeptical of that as having two infants in group care is ludicrously expensive. But now I realize it's the small, unexpected expenses that can add up quickly. For example you have one boy, let's call him Alec, who does this:



We now have 5 pairs of jeans in the house like this and I suspect the pile will grow over time. Any suggestions? I wasn't worried when it was one pair, or two pairs, but FIVE PAIRS in two months?! I'm open to any suggestions. Halp!

Twinny twin twinness

Alex and Nate were great with the sitter on Saturday until they went to bed. That's when Alex realized we weren't coming back to say good night and started crying for us. Sitter said she walked upstairs to go comfort Alex, but Nate calmed Alex down by telling him it was okay and they would see mommy and daddy in the morning. Alex stopped crying by the time she got upstairs.

Weekend report card

If I had to give this weekend a grade, I would give it an A+. On Saturday, we went to the Earth Day Festival at the North Carolina Museum of Art. This was the first time we've taken the boys to an Earth Day celebration. Usually I'm scoping out booths and talking to people. This time, we enjoyed the live music (boys danced), arts and crafts (boys crafted), live animals (boys wanted to hold), and activities (boys played, hit multiple people with frisbees).

I also got a chance to take a picture of my three boys with an outdoor art installation. I saw this on the half marathon route and knew I had to come back at some point.


Saturday afternoon we had planned to go to a wine festival, but after Earth Day we were all perilously close to getting sunburned. We decided to play in the backyard instead and Jon and I enjoyed the first radlers of the season while Nate and Alex threw whirlygigs off the deck. Saturday night Jon and I went out to dinner and a movie. Fun day!

Sunday the sky was overcast so we thought we might do a bunch of chores. Instead Irene called to see if we wanted to meet up at the North Carolina Zoo, so we hopped in the car to meet them. Throughout the trip, it sprinkled occasionally so I kept the camera tucked away. I did get a few shots right at the beginning.

We ate dinner out and I have to call it a success as we managed to eat with two almost 3 year olds and an 18 month old without any tantrums, thrown food, screaming, or crying. After putting the boys straight to bed, Jon and I researched options for a beach trip in June. This was one of the most fun weekends we've had!

Why I love being a boy mom, part 9834

Nate pees just fine in public restrooms. But does he use toilets? NO! He is scared of the big potties and self-flushing toilets are particularly upsetting. He pees in urinals.

Guess what you do NOT find in a women's restroom? Urinals.

Is it wrong to hope that Alex likes to use urinals also?

I'm picturing myself quietly sipping a glass of wine while Jon deals with urinals (times two people, times two!).


PS. This week is Child Care Week on HDYDI. The posts have been so interesting! Today I wrote about having kids in group care.

Why I love day care, part two

Nate said to me last night:

Mommy when I was at school, I put too much toilet paper in the toilet. Then all the water came out of the toilet onto the floor. It was a big mess. But that's okay. Next time, I only use a little bit of toilet paper.

Throwing down the gauntlet

I've been thinking a lot lately about photography. Or rather, editing photographs. I know this is the next step I need to take. Editing can move okay photos into great photos.

I just can't seem to get motivated to sit in front of a computer even more than I already do. I am in front of a computer 40+ hours a week for my job. Outside of work time, there are so many things competing for my time that literally the last place I want to be is with a computer.

Instead of letting these thoughts spin around and around in my brain, I've decided to come public with it. I'm publicly stating that by end of summer, I will have spent time learning to edit photos. I'll start with this one. I'm starting here not because I love this photo. I'm starting here because it was taken in fantastic lighting and I think editing could make Nate's eyes pop. It will also help me get over my whole straight-out-of-camera is good enough idea.

I'm not quite sure how I'm going to fit this in with everything else. Can I wish for more hours in a day?

Glimpses of 3

Shortly before the boys turned 1, Alex started walking. We quickly learned how crazy life was going to be with two toddlers in the house who could get into EVERYTHING.

Shortly before the boys turned 2, Nate started with the indecision and defiance. We quickly learned how testing life was going to be with two older toddlers in the house who could be TERRIBLE.

Now, as the boys approach 3, we've started to see glimpses of 3. We've had multiple vignettes play out that shock us in intensity and hilarity.

***
Alex has started to whine incessantly. This streak puts his 18 month whining to shame. Tired of the whining Jon said, "Would you like some cheese with that whine?" Alex and Nate immediately piped up, "I like cheese. I want some cheese. Can I have cheese daddy? Cheese please!"

***
Nate demanded to watch tv. I said no. He kicked a chair and threw himself on the ground screaming "I WANT TO WATCH TV!" When I told him to go to timeout, he said, "But.... but... BUT... I want to watch tv!"

***
The boys were happily playing in the playroom while I made dinner. A fight ensued with both boys screaming and crying. Nate ran into the kitchen, "Look at Alex! He took it!" Alex yelled, "Nate did it!" Nate, "But but... BUT LOOK AT ALEX!" Alex, "NATE DID IT!"

***
The pretend play has ramped up in the last couple of weeks to a crazy point. They will happily pretend to play something together for extended periods of time. (Can I tell you this is one of my favorite developments EVER!!) Their favorites are rocket ship and putting people to bed. Last night I played "dinner" with them. I had to get up from their little table at one point to get something out of the real oven.

When I got back to the table Nate said to me, "Mommy you were not eating so I took your plate away. You were just playing. You do not play with your food. Do you want to eat more? You can't eat if you are going to play."

This one cracked me up because, despite much evidence to the contrary, THEY HAVE BEEN LISTENING ALL THIS TIME!

Best Easter ever with a side of picture overload

At bathtime Jon said to the boys, "We had a really good Easter today." Alex's response was perfectly almost 3 years old, "Let's do it again daddy!"

Early morning Easter baskets were a huge hit.



Easter egg hunt, also a huge hit.



I tried and tried and tried to get a good action shot. And let me tell you, every shot looks like this because the boys were running through the house looking for eggs.


Could they look any happier about egg hunting?



Oh yeah they could. They were over the moon when they realized they were going to eat chocolate bunnies for breakfast.

Nate is notorious for being uncooperative with photos. Apparently I'm not bribing him with enough chocolate because this is the biggest he's ever smiled for any photo.


We didn't really let the boys eat an entire bunny. We stopped them at the ears. Alex managed to eat the face off his while my back was turned. I can't stop hearing Billy Idol's "Eyes Without a Face" in my head.


After naptime we went to a really fun Easter party with another egg hunt and a pinata. When we got home, I made deviled eggs... my dad's recipe with vinegar and mayo. Alex... the PICKY one... said he wanted to eat one. He ate the whole thing.

Just when you think he's a mini-Jon, he proves he's a Verhoff.

I'm with Alex. I'm ready to do this day all over again.

Good Friday

Jon really hates the smell and taste of vinegar. It's one of those weird things about him. If there is even one drop of vinegar in something, he will not eat it. One memorable CSA we joined in Chicago sent us 30 cucumbers over three weeks. I decided to jar pickles and Jon was forced from the house for hours until the vinegar smell cleared out.

So I thought I was good wifey by finding an egg painting set at Michael's that required no vinegar. Jon and I have decided this was the worst egg coloring idea ever. Alex only wanted the darkest colors. When he held up the egg to show us, it was so slippery it fell on the floor, cracked horrendously, and had to be trashed.



Nate wanted to paint layer after layer on his egg. Every color in the paint tray ended up the same as Nate dipped his brushes and sponges into each little hole. The next night, we were planning to put stickers on the eggs since the boys love stickers right now. The paint still wasn't dry, 24 hours later.



There was a 12-way tie for ugliest egg. But even if the egg paint was a bad idea and the eggs will never win any Beautiful Egg awards, it was still a wonderful experience to share with our boys. And I think the vinegar kits are going to be a staple in our home from now on.


Still on my to-do list: have a talk with the Easter bunny about not hiding these eggs on Sunday. I'm not sure the paint will be dry by then!

How do you top 1,000 posts? I just might do it.

Three nights ago, I had a dream that Jon died in a car accident. It wasn't one of those impossible dreams where you're in a different place and nothing looks like your life. This was a realistic dream. It was a dream where I was in my own house trying to pick up the pieces of my life while mothering Nate and Alex. I wanted to wake up and end the horror, but I kept falling back asleep and continuing the dream. I shouldn't use the word "dream." It was a nightmare.

Two nights ago, I had a dream I couldn't find a sitter for our David Sedaris tickets (real tickets!) on Saturday night and we had to give the tickets away. I guess you could say a lot of my dreams are anxiety dreams. (We did find a sitter, don't worry!)

Jon and I have both had crazy work weeks, compounded by Nate getting pink eye (again! had it last week, cleared up, went back to day care and caught it again!) and having to stay home. We were beat so Jon ran out to Chipotle for burrito bols. When he left, I went upstairs to get the supplies for painting Easter eggs. I heard Jon's cell phone ring in our home office and silently cursed him. He always leaves his cell phone at home and I'm always nagging him to bring it in case of an emergency.

Our town is pretty small. A trip to Chipotle should take about 20-30 minutes, even with traffic and a long hungry line. After Jon had been gone 45 minutes, I started to panic but I had no way of contacting him since I knew his cell phone was at home. I laid down on the play room couch to watch for his car out the front windows. I could not think of anything else except where my husband might be.

Each passing minute was a blur of worry and fear. Once it had been an hour, I started thinking about when I should call the police. Jon is not the type to run extra errands without letting me know ahead of time. And when he left, he was HUNGRY. Nothing gets in the way of food and Jon's stomach when he is HUNGRY. Fortunately the boys were occupied playing rocket ship, loading up their rocket ship (our couch) with every toy in the house so I could focus on my thoughts and a plan.

I finally decided I was going to call the police when Jon's car pulled into the driveway. He walked inside and the first words out of his mouth were, "I was in a car accident." It was a crazy moment because I had been so scared but obviously everything was okay. It was a minor fender bender... he was stopped at a light and someone rear-ended him.

The rest of the night I couldn't shake the feeling of dodging a bullet. We've had a string of bad luck lately (dying appliances, computer viruses, double pink eye) and each thing seems to add to our never-ending to-do list. But my thought last night was - Jon is fine and that's all that matters to me.

Unfortunately, I'm the type of person who finds humor in situations so I also did quite a lot of giggling last night. Jon told me he had broken into the bag of chips and was just about to put a chip in his mouth when he got hit. His sunglasses flew onto the dash, his hat flew into the backseat, and his chip fell on the floor. I could not stop imagining that action in slow-motion with Jon saying NOOOOO! as his chip fell on the floor.

And for those that don't know, I work at a software company that makes software to process everything through the life cycle of a car wreck claim (collision is the PC term). Jon kept mentioning stuff about the process we need to go through and I was like THIS IS WHAT I DO ALL DAY. I talk about car wrecks all day and now I have to talk about more car wrecks?

1000 posts! Finally... my (very long) birth story

This is my 1,000th post. I wanted to do something special for this occasion so I decided to finally post Alex and Nate's birth story. I wrote it a couple of years ago but never found the right time to share it. It's long, as are most birth stories. Most people won't read the whole thing but I wanted to write it for me to have forever.


(Please oh please de-lurk and wish me happy 1,000 posts! And who has read all 1,000?)


Most birth stories go like this - contractions started or water broke at XX o'clock. Things got rough XX hours later. Then I had an epidural, was in labor for XX more hours, pushed for XX minutes/hours, and the baby was born. My birth story is a little more complicated, as is the case with most multiple births. Let's start at the end. The boys were born at 36 weeks, 3 days by emergency c-section.

At 17 weeks, I found out I was having TWO boys instead of one. At 21 weeks, I busted my butt at a pre-natal water aerobics class and started having contractions shortly after. That was the start of my limited activity, no standing for more than 10 minutes at a time. At 27 weeks, I got a UTI which prompted another round of pre-term labor.

At 32 weeks, I thought I was having contractions every 15 minutes. We went to the hospital and I was actually having them every 2-3 minutes. I was given terbutaline shots to slow the contractions and after an overnight stay, I got sent home on oral terbutaline. Terbo lessened the contractions but did not stop them. They steadily increased every day for the next 4 weeks.

At 36 weeks exactly, I thought one of my waters broke. I was testing my discharge at home regularly since I was leaking so much fluid (12 lbs of baby = LOTS of pressure) and one of my tests indicated amniotic fluid. We had another overnight stay at the hospital where their tests came back inconclusive. At this point, my contractions were every 5 minutes.

36 weeks 1 day, 2 days and 3 days were the 3 grumpiest days of my ENTIRE LIFE. Imagine having contractions every 5 minutes but not being allowed to have the babies. Imagine wanting to stay pregnant one more day for the health of the kids but feeling so uncomfortable and tired and huge.

At 36 weeks, 3 days I had my last ultrasound. It turns out Alex's sac had ruptured 3 days earlier so I got sent to the hospital for an emergency c-section. Right then.

We checked into the hospital at noon. They asked what time I had eaten as they couldn't do the c-section until 8 hours after that. In my head I thought I should lie so I could have the babies RIGHT THEN! but I was so scared lying would mean something could happen to me or the boys, so I told them honestly I had eaten a big bowl of mac & cheese covered in bacon at 11AM. Breakfast of champions. The c-section would be at 7PM.

I got hooked up to fetal monitors for the very last time as soon as we got in the room. I can't describe how uncomfortable it was to be so big and have two fetal monitors and a contraction monitor squeezing my stomach. My contractions were every 2-3 minutes. We called all of our friends and family to tell them the boys were going to be born around 7PM.

Yep, twin bellies are pretty ridiculously huge.

It was a steady flow of nurses, doctors, and hospital staff for hours. My contractions steadily increased in strength and frequency. I grew increasingly uncomfortable and it started to become very painful.

At 6:45, a nurse came in to let us know that a woman came in hemorraging and my c-section might get bumped. They needed to check my monitors to see who had higher priority. I have no idea whether I said it out loud, but all I could think was, "There is no f-ing way that woman is going first. I have been here all f-ing day. I have twins AND one of their sacs has been ruptured for 3 days. I am going to hurt someone if I am not next." A quick check showed my contractions were less a minute apart and rating very high on the pain scale. Very high.

In retrospect, I should have freaked that I got higher priority than a hemorraging woman. But I was ready, so very ready.

They wheeled me to the OR. Jon had to stay outside the OR for my epidural, a fact which really really sucks for women getting c-sections. Instead of leaning on Jon, I got to press my face and body up against an extremely sweaty and smelly nurse who held me against her breasts.

Afterwards I laid on the table, staring at the ceiling, thinking about whether I was ready for this while the doctor and nurses prepared my body. I told myself to be strong because this was the end. When the boys were ready to be born, I told Jon he had to hold my hand because I was really starting to panic.

THEN THE PRESSURE. They pressed on Nate while they pulled Alex out. OH MY GOD. I didn't say anything out loud but I hope to never feel that again. The pressure was so intense. Then the tiniest little scream I've ever heard and Alex was okay! My little baby whose sac had been ruptured for three days was alive and okay! The neonatal team whisked him away then WHOOSH Nate came out quickly within a minute of Alex. No pressure this time. And then a MUCH louder scream and Nate was okay! My little baby was okay! Another neonatal team whisked him away.

Jon went to watch the boys get wiped off, weighed, and checked out. He kept checking back with me to tell me about them and I kept telling him to take pictures, a lot of pictures. They brought both boys back to me all swaddled and let me know they had to take them to the NICU because they needed to monitor their breathing. I kissed each of their foreheads and then they were taken away.

After my surgery, I got sent to recovery. Jon went to the NICU to take pictures and a nurse sat talking to me so I wouldn't be alone. This was the harder part of the whole day. I didn't expect to have moments where I would be completely alone on the first day I was the mom in a family of four. I vaguely remember calling my sister, trying really hard not to cry.

Jon came back to the room and showed me the pictures of the boys, looking so tiny and beautiful. Jon kept shuttling information from the NICU back to me. I've never felt so helpless, stuck in my room unable to go to my babies.

Later that night, they wheeled Alex to us. We were allowed to have him for 10 minutes. The nurses forgot and left him for 15 minutes. 5 extra minutes of pure heaven. Nate had to be on oxygen so he was not allowed to leave NICU. They then told us to rest as there was nothing we could do overnight for the boys.

In the morning, I woke up with one thought and one thought only - I must see Nate. I think I asked a million times when I could get a wheelchair and see Nate. They let me out of the bed early to see him. Jon wheeled me down to the NICU and I got to take my time seeing both boys, wondering at their little fingers and toes.


My babies were born. Alien and Skeletor were finally here. Nothing would ever be the same in my life again.

May 16, 2006
Skeletor - Alexander Joseph, 6 lbs, 1 oz, 18.5 inches, 7:23PM
Alien - Nathan Robert, 6 lbs, 3 oz, 19 inches, 7:24PM

That was so fun I wish I could do it again

Nate can write all his letters, spell a few words, and write a few words. He will often say all the letters of a word out and ask what it means. This weekend we had to bust out the sunscreen [Side question: Which do I hate more? Bundling up twins in winter or putting sunscreen on twins?] and Nate spelled out K-I-D-S from the sunscreen bottle. I told him it spelled "kids" because it was sunscreen for kids. Jon was upstairs when all of this happened.

In the afternoon, Jon grabbed the sunscreen to put some on Nate. Nate said, "K-I-D-S, KIDS!" Jon's jaw dropped, completely incredulous. I saw a similar look on his face when we found out there were two boys in my belly.

I let it sit there for a little bit in Jon's brain. Full of anticipation, I let it swirl around in his head and watched his excitement rise.

Right when Jon was about to yell, "NATE CAN READ!!!" I told him the truth. I have a feeling I'm going to get paid back for that one.

Train!

Last weekend, we told the boys to celebrate mommy's birthday and daddy's birthday we were going to ride the museum train. They were super duper excited because every time we go they beg to ride the train. When we got to the museum, the trains were sold out, and we had to tell Nate and Alex they were not going to ride the train.

Sometimes we really rule this parenting thing.

I really hated disappointing them so I put together a plan to get tickets. The train tickets are not available online, only first-come first-serve. On Sunday, the museum opens at noon and the boys nap from 12:30-2:30. The last train is at 4. Jon and I realized we would never, ever get train tickets on a normal trip. We consulted our calendar and realized weekends are mostly booked until the end of May, so yesterday was our last best chance to get tickets before it gets blazing hot here.

I don't know if I am a lame parent or an awesome parent for admitting this, but yesterday I drove to the museum by myself to get there right when they opened to buy tickets for the 4 PM train. When the boys woke up from their nap, we told them we had tickets for the train. They were so excited and I believe it is the fastest we have ever gotten out the door as a family.

The boys had a spectacular time and it was totally worth it to spend a precious weekend non-working hour to make sure we could ride the train.

I'm in love with the Cut n Seal

I think everyone knows I'm a kid product junkie. I'm not a junkie in that I buy a lot of useless gadgets. I'm a junkie in that I'm always game for gadgets that make my life easier, and when I find something I rave about it to everyone. The latest gadget I love love love is the Cut-N-Seal from Pampered Chef:

You make a sandwich, press down with the Cut-N-Seal, and it makes an uncrustable pocket sandwich for you. Can I tell you how many PB&J sandwiches the boys have eaten since we got this? It is perfect for meals on their picnic table and taking sandwiches to the park.

Many thanks to Heather for pointing out this product and assuring me it was a necessity in the Case household.

No longer toddlers

For the first year, you call your child a baby. The second year, you call your child a toddler. But when do you stop calling your child a toddler?

When you look out your kitchen window and see them alone in the treehouse, they are no longer toddlers. Jon is 6'4" so you can tell how high up the treehouse is!

When you see them doing the stuff in this video, they are no longer toddlers.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

We're just six weeks away from their third birthday so I think it's safe to start calling them BOYS.

PS. Beth, your Blogger profile is set to private so I can't respond to your sleep questions because I can't access your blog or your email address. Email me.

Nate potty training update #1

When looking back at my blog, I realize I often leave out the details along the way that might have been helpful to other people. How did we deal with Nate's fussiness and reflux? What did we learn in Alex's physical therapy appointments? How did we travel with twin infants, twin toddlers, and solo with twin pre-schoolers? So I thought I'd give an update on how Nate's potty training situation.

He is now 100% pee-trained throughout the day. He wears underwear all day, including naps, but we put him in an overnight pull-up for nighttime. He hasn't had an accident in two weeks and he is very independent with potty use.

Even day care is completely baffled by how quickly this happened. On a Friday, he had never peed at day care and only peed once at home in 10 months of potty awareness/potty sitting. On a Monday, he showed up in underwear all day.

I'd love to say we had some magical method we used. We didn't. The weather was crappy and we asked if he wanted to wear underwear. He said yes and never looked back! My mom said this was how I trained as well.

The only piece of success I can claim is that I bought the ClickStart computer specifically for potty training. We told the boys every time one of them used the potty, they could each play a game. Nate is IN LOVE with computers, and apparently this was enough motivation for him.

We also used sticker charts, which I have read don't really work with 2 year olds because they don't understand delayed gratification. Yet again the experts are wrong because Nate constantly talks about how many more times he needs to pee until he gets his next present. And he proudly shows off the toy he got because he peed 10 times. He also snatches stickers when our backs are turned to inflate his pee count.

We put him in pull-ups if we'll be out of the house for a long time but he won't pee in his pull-ups. Score! So far, this potty training experience has been relatively easy. KNOCK ON WOOD because we still have another boy to train and two major hurdles (#2 and overnight) ahead of us until we can say he is fully trained. And I'll be very interested to see how different it is to train Alex.

For now, my last thought on this topic is that it feels SO EASY to change one kid's diaper after almost three years of having two in diapers!

March showers bring April flowers

Remember these tiny buds from a couple of weeks ago?



This is the magical surprise hidden inside each of them - a delicate dogwood blossom.


Dogwoods are my favorite flowers of North Carolina spring. Just after dawn and just after dusk, the flowers glow with the fading light. As much as photography can capture, there are some things that must be witnessed in person. Delicate glowing dogwoods, along with children, fall into that category.


While technically our last frost date is April 15, the forecast looked so promising that I put in my garden last week. Six kinds of tomatoes, peppers, leeks, strawberries, spinach, 10 different herbs... this is another practice year to see what does well. While the majority of the garden is netted off to protect it from rabbits, squirrels, and other wildlife, I left plenty of garden open for the boys to help me as we learn to garden together. This is one of "their" tomato plants.


Nate helped me water yesterday (from our very full rain barrel) and I learned the netting will be equally important this summer to keep out much larger animals. Every day it shocks me how much the little things such as watering a garden can be so much better when shared with these little guys.