Monday, November 30, 2009

Groundhog Day...

Recently I asked a close friend how her job was going and she exclaimed it was like "Groundhog Day" the movie. Today it dawned on me, my life is Groundhog day.

I wake up, pump, eat breakfast, greet the nanny, dress and feed the kids, do some work, pump some more, feed the kids again, play with Harmon before he goes down for a nap, do some more work or just fiddle on the computer, play with the twins, feed the twins, pump, play with Harmon, and than Dad gets home. I do this every single week day. Very little changes. I feel like Bill Murry.


My cute co-stars

What a holiday!

Thanksgiving went really well all in all but I am tired. We got to see Aunt Eliza, go to Peter Piper, and the Longhorns beat A&M. Perhaps the most memorable moment of the holiday was having my brother's dog pee on Rachel...


The ladies meeting the twins!

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Beyond Thankful this Thanksgiving...

For those of you who don't know I often visit a website known as the Bump and talk with other moms. Many of these ladies have been a wonderful support to me. Anyway, today I was on and another mom told us how she lost her toddler to freak illness yesterday. My heart broke for her even though I have never met her. My instinct was to hug my children tighter and never let go. So tonight is Thanksgiving eve and all I can think about is how grateful I am for my family. It is crazy what we take for granted.



My blessings!

Monday, November 23, 2009

Mommy Mobile Time :(

When I think of myself I see a young women, I don't really see myself as a mom. I am a mom and I love being a mom but in my mind Moms are someone else. Like my mom. So now I have 3 kids and suddenly my adorable little crossover is too small for our family. So Chris' family is offering us a possible trade: their suburban for our Kia.

It is nice vehicle but I feel so um.... well... mom like! I dunno for sure if the deal will go through or not (Mom Hakes has similar trepidation about moving to smaller vehicle) but the day of reckoning is upon us... if not this than soon we will need a mini-van or similar large vehicle. It is silly but suddenly, tonight, I feel older. I guess that is life.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Prematurity Awareness day!

Almost 3 months ago my babies came into the the world like this.


Callum above, Rachel is below


And now they look like this!


The fact is that with out great medical care my babies would never have made it. Today is Premature Baby Awareness day. In Las Cruces where I live there are no facilities to help moms with premies. You have to drive hours away to Albuquerque or go to El Paso which is also an hour away (which is where we were). There is lots to be done in order to help parents of premature infants. Please donate to the March of Dimes to help improve facilities and education nation wide! Every little bit helps, especially for these little guys.




Sunday, November 15, 2009

Romantic getaway...


When you have 3 under 2 getting away for a little romance is quite a challenge. This weekend though Mom Hakes was kind enough to take the twins and we got a sitter for Harmon for like 4 hours so that we could take a quick drive up to the mountains. What a beautiful drive it was. By the time we got there we only had an hour or so to enjoy Cloudcroft so we ate lunch by a warm fire, walked some shops, looked at some cabins, and bought some sweet treats before we had to drive back to reality. What a fun day it was... if only we could have had a little more time.

Our little spaz boy...


Harmon has always been a character. When he was less than a month he learned to roll over... right off the couch. I think that is when I learned I would have to be a mom who was 100% on guard at all times. Besides being a little hyperactive I didn't notice anything was wrong until he was about a year. By that point I realized he was no where close to talking and hated eating regular foods. He was was in the 98th percentile for height and in the 30% for weight. He didn't do much babbling and paid no attention to us when we would try to address him.

So we did testing at 15 mos and he started speech therapy. Recently though a counselor came to our house and put together everything: lack of speech, lack of focus on us, hating food, easily bored, very spastic, etc. and had Harmon tested for Sensory Integration. This means he is sensory sensitive and takes in sights and sounds and feeling and tasting different than "normal" kids. It does not mean he has autism, hearing problems, or anything else bad. It just is a different way of experiencing the world.

Now our little one will be starting Occupational Therapy in addition to his speech therapy. They want to help him connect the dots. Learn to sit still a little more, experience new foods (besides pizza, french fries, and macaroni), help him focus, etc. We are really excited. Harmon is such a smart little bright kid. This will hopefully get him on the right track so by the time he starts school he will be caught up to his peers.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Our little superstars...

Today the twins has their 2 mos Pediatric appt.  They are doing just beautifully.  Rachel is completely where she should be milestone wise for a regular 2 mos old baby not a premature baby and Callum is not far behind.  Callum on the other hand is doing great weight wise coming in on 8 lbs and finally getting on the growth charts.  Rachel is not far behind at 7 lbs!  This is such a miracle and we are really very lucky.  

Monday, November 9, 2009

Scrounging for dinner...

Quick funny story. Tonight Chris wanted me to have some time to myself so I told him this evening I was locking the bathroom door and taking a nice long bubble bath and than doing some pampering. Well I come out an hour and a half later. Harmon has taken his baby bag down from the counter and is eating a mad array of fruit snacks, goldfish, and Ritz Crackers. Chris is desperately trying to feed two very hungry and angry twins. I ask him "sweetie, do you know what Harmon is doing?" and the response is "yeah, I forgot to make him dinner so he probably hungry." So it is official: at age 21 mos Harmon can fend for himself :p

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Today they were blessed


Today the little babies were blessed in the church. Since we don't do baptisms until children are age 8, the fathers give their babies special blessings instead. Chris was soooo nervous to give not one but two of these blessings but he did a great job. It was lovely. Afterward, we had a reception at our home where many friends and family gathered together to celebrate the new babies. It was a a beautiful day!



Saturday, November 7, 2009

Our first family outing!


Today we went to the Renaissance Festival for just a short while. This was our first family outing. It was funny b/c we are technically on "lockdown" until the end of April so that meant Harmon had to stay in his stroller and I was more than ready to deck anyone who came too close to the little ones. I think it all went well though. We avoided germs, fed ducks, ate Bratwursts, watched jousting, and had a ye ole merry time. I was sad this was our first Renaissance Faire where I didn't dress up, but next year promises to be way cute with two merry men and a fair princess!

Baby Shower!

Today my friends Sarah and Laurie threw me the most wonderful shower for the cupcakes! So many good friends and new friends came to celebrate and many others came in spirit. The food was wonderful and the gifts were beyond generous. I feel so blessed that so many people care for our little ones and us so much.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Sooooo tired....

Oh man can I just say I am soooo tired these days. I love my kids but they don't understand one bit how tired I am. Chris is tired too. Is it Friday yet?

Monday, November 30, 2009

Groundhog Day...

Recently I asked a close friend how her job was going and she exclaimed it was like "Groundhog Day" the movie. Today it dawned on me, my life is Groundhog day.

I wake up, pump, eat breakfast, greet the nanny, dress and feed the kids, do some work, pump some more, feed the kids again, play with Harmon before he goes down for a nap, do some more work or just fiddle on the computer, play with the twins, feed the twins, pump, play with Harmon, and than Dad gets home. I do this every single week day. Very little changes. I feel like Bill Murry.


My cute co-stars

What a holiday!

Thanksgiving went really well all in all but I am tired. We got to see Aunt Eliza, go to Peter Piper, and the Longhorns beat A&M. Perhaps the most memorable moment of the holiday was having my brother's dog pee on Rachel...


The ladies meeting the twins!

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Beyond Thankful this Thanksgiving...

For those of you who don't know I often visit a website known as the Bump and talk with other moms. Many of these ladies have been a wonderful support to me. Anyway, today I was on and another mom told us how she lost her toddler to freak illness yesterday. My heart broke for her even though I have never met her. My instinct was to hug my children tighter and never let go. So tonight is Thanksgiving eve and all I can think about is how grateful I am for my family. It is crazy what we take for granted.



My blessings!

Monday, November 23, 2009

Mommy Mobile Time :(

When I think of myself I see a young women, I don't really see myself as a mom. I am a mom and I love being a mom but in my mind Moms are someone else. Like my mom. So now I have 3 kids and suddenly my adorable little crossover is too small for our family. So Chris' family is offering us a possible trade: their suburban for our Kia.

It is nice vehicle but I feel so um.... well... mom like! I dunno for sure if the deal will go through or not (Mom Hakes has similar trepidation about moving to smaller vehicle) but the day of reckoning is upon us... if not this than soon we will need a mini-van or similar large vehicle. It is silly but suddenly, tonight, I feel older. I guess that is life.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Prematurity Awareness day!

Almost 3 months ago my babies came into the the world like this.


Callum above, Rachel is below


And now they look like this!


The fact is that with out great medical care my babies would never have made it. Today is Premature Baby Awareness day. In Las Cruces where I live there are no facilities to help moms with premies. You have to drive hours away to Albuquerque or go to El Paso which is also an hour away (which is where we were). There is lots to be done in order to help parents of premature infants. Please donate to the March of Dimes to help improve facilities and education nation wide! Every little bit helps, especially for these little guys.




Sunday, November 15, 2009

Romantic getaway...


When you have 3 under 2 getting away for a little romance is quite a challenge. This weekend though Mom Hakes was kind enough to take the twins and we got a sitter for Harmon for like 4 hours so that we could take a quick drive up to the mountains. What a beautiful drive it was. By the time we got there we only had an hour or so to enjoy Cloudcroft so we ate lunch by a warm fire, walked some shops, looked at some cabins, and bought some sweet treats before we had to drive back to reality. What a fun day it was... if only we could have had a little more time.

Our little spaz boy...


Harmon has always been a character. When he was less than a month he learned to roll over... right off the couch. I think that is when I learned I would have to be a mom who was 100% on guard at all times. Besides being a little hyperactive I didn't notice anything was wrong until he was about a year. By that point I realized he was no where close to talking and hated eating regular foods. He was was in the 98th percentile for height and in the 30% for weight. He didn't do much babbling and paid no attention to us when we would try to address him.

So we did testing at 15 mos and he started speech therapy. Recently though a counselor came to our house and put together everything: lack of speech, lack of focus on us, hating food, easily bored, very spastic, etc. and had Harmon tested for Sensory Integration. This means he is sensory sensitive and takes in sights and sounds and feeling and tasting different than "normal" kids. It does not mean he has autism, hearing problems, or anything else bad. It just is a different way of experiencing the world.

Now our little one will be starting Occupational Therapy in addition to his speech therapy. They want to help him connect the dots. Learn to sit still a little more, experience new foods (besides pizza, french fries, and macaroni), help him focus, etc. We are really excited. Harmon is such a smart little bright kid. This will hopefully get him on the right track so by the time he starts school he will be caught up to his peers.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Our little superstars...

Today the twins has their 2 mos Pediatric appt.  They are doing just beautifully.  Rachel is completely where she should be milestone wise for a regular 2 mos old baby not a premature baby and Callum is not far behind.  Callum on the other hand is doing great weight wise coming in on 8 lbs and finally getting on the growth charts.  Rachel is not far behind at 7 lbs!  This is such a miracle and we are really very lucky.  

Monday, November 9, 2009

Scrounging for dinner...

Quick funny story. Tonight Chris wanted me to have some time to myself so I told him this evening I was locking the bathroom door and taking a nice long bubble bath and than doing some pampering. Well I come out an hour and a half later. Harmon has taken his baby bag down from the counter and is eating a mad array of fruit snacks, goldfish, and Ritz Crackers. Chris is desperately trying to feed two very hungry and angry twins. I ask him "sweetie, do you know what Harmon is doing?" and the response is "yeah, I forgot to make him dinner so he probably hungry." So it is official: at age 21 mos Harmon can fend for himself :p

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Today they were blessed


Today the little babies were blessed in the church. Since we don't do baptisms until children are age 8, the fathers give their babies special blessings instead. Chris was soooo nervous to give not one but two of these blessings but he did a great job. It was lovely. Afterward, we had a reception at our home where many friends and family gathered together to celebrate the new babies. It was a a beautiful day!



Saturday, November 7, 2009

Our first family outing!


Today we went to the Renaissance Festival for just a short while. This was our first family outing. It was funny b/c we are technically on "lockdown" until the end of April so that meant Harmon had to stay in his stroller and I was more than ready to deck anyone who came too close to the little ones. I think it all went well though. We avoided germs, fed ducks, ate Bratwursts, watched jousting, and had a ye ole merry time. I was sad this was our first Renaissance Faire where I didn't dress up, but next year promises to be way cute with two merry men and a fair princess!

Baby Shower!

Today my friends Sarah and Laurie threw me the most wonderful shower for the cupcakes! So many good friends and new friends came to celebrate and many others came in spirit. The food was wonderful and the gifts were beyond generous. I feel so blessed that so many people care for our little ones and us so much.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Sooooo tired....

Oh man can I just say I am soooo tired these days. I love my kids but they don't understand one bit how tired I am. Chris is tired too. Is it Friday yet?