Critters fending for themselves!

I wasn't going to blog tonight. After all, pretty much all I've done my waking hours has been to watch bad daytime tv and sleeping... A LOT. But how could I not share this adorable moment. Chris has been watching the kids tonight since he is feeling better and I am feeling worse. I walk into the kitchen to see how things were going while he was putting the dinner away. I think the children wanted dessert! I love how Rachel has her own ice cream carton, Harmon has his own ice cream carton, and Cally is the one just staring cutely like "I'm the good one"!

B/c I was couch bound all day (which hasn't happend since my surgery) and too out of it to even use a computer most of the time, I got to just sit and chat w/my nanny. I don't think I ever give her credit how awesome she is. She is college educated and so loving towards the critters! We have always gotten along great and I'm so glad she has stuck around with us. Talking with her reminded me that I no longer take the time to do things I used to love like sketching or scrapbooking. I need to rearrange my life to do more things like that for me. My sick day lesson... now off to bed, hopefully to wake up feeling better!

Craziness and Contemplation...

This is my couch, I have not sat on it to relax until now... 10:07. I'm exhausted!

Last week I kept thinking it would be a horrid week. I had a million little landmines that spelled DISASTER (like my nanny needing a day off and the early intervention review for Callum) but nothing ended up being a disaster... it was a very pleasent week filled with many sweet surprises. Even our trip went better than expected!

This week has been crazy already. When we drove back from Pheonix early yesterday morning and we haven't stopped yet. When we dropped Harm off at pre-k yesterday I got a call from the teacher saying he was sick to his tummy.... than Chris got it this morning... late this afternoon I started feeling quesy. Today things I never saw coming came up. The hardest one being a recomendation for Rachel to be re-evaluated yet again. So now in addition to the ECEP and the Carrie Tingley we will have another evaluation, this time by a local specialist.

There was a lively debate in a chat room that brought back memories of some of the hard times Chris and I have had as a family, as well as some of the struggles I've had on my own. It made me think that right now despite the challenges we are really lucky and really blessed. It also made me think that new challenges will arise, but that is life. What has gotten me through challenges in the past has been the support of others and keeping a strong faith. Today what inspires me is seeing friends and family I care for struggle (w/special needs children, lost jobs, lost love ones, etc.) yet keep a sunny disposition. I guess my lesson for me is that instead of worrying about a future I can't change; I need to strive to just stay positive, do what is right, and help others along my way (rather than being judgmental which is a trap I see myself fall into often).

But for now, nothing really bad is going on... it was just a bad day... hopefully tomorrow will be better! I can't forger the good things like Harmon having a great day in pre-k! But it is 10: 27 (since I started this post I've had Harmon need me) right now and I'm not feeling well so I need to get to bed (not email, check message boards, etc.)... before a little person comes a waking me.

Oh my heck that was hard!!!

Okay so I survived... DH survived... the kids all survived... so I guess our first "family" vacation was a complete success! Seriously though you see those shows like "Raising Sextuplets" or "J&K+8" and they are traipsing all across the country having these great family moments... that is not reality! We only have twins and a tot but they kicked our butt. Just logistics when you eat in the restaurant is a nightmare. The hotel setting up port-a-cribs as far as the eye can see and trying to nap time is a nightmare. The car and all the driving is a nightmare and by the time we were facing full on mutiny. So I guess in a way the trip was a bit of well... a nightmare but nevertheless I feel oddly accomplished. We were so scared to do this but WE DID IT! And honestly we did have a lot of fun... in the middle of the drama.

This whole trip started b/c Chris was invited to go see the Raiders/Cardinals game with my brothers (they are huge Oakland fans and Chris is a big Cards fan). But than Chris' Grandma has never met the twins and that was past due (how many people have a great Gma after all?) so that turned the trip into a family thing. Of course what fun would it be to be stuck in Phoenix w/3 tots by yourself so I did what any girl would do, have her sister in from Las Vegas so we could have a girls day.

So that was the plan. We left at the crack of dawn on Saturday and got to Pheonix by 10 am. The day was great and the kids loved their GG. Chris even let me sneak off to the big fancy mall on my own to do some shopping (yeah first time since the twins came so it was long overdue) while everyone napped... or Chris attempted to nap them. My sister came later that night and we ended up having a good time doing things around town. The guys all had a wonderful time at the game, until the Raiders lost... than Chris was scared for his life. We have great memories, and we will try doing a smaller trip again sometime soon, but man alive it was SOOOO HARD and we are SOOOOO TIRED!

Oh boy, Here we go!

In a few hours we are embarking on a sucide mission! We are driving at 5 am to Pheonix AZ for the Arizona Cardinals game on Sunday. The car is packed, we are meeting up with my sister and my brothers late tomorrow. It should be a lot of fun! I'm excited but I am also VERY worried about having 3 kids in my car all under the age of 3. I have a huge bag of toys and I'm trying to schedule naps, food, sippies, milk, snacks, etc. Wish us luck!!!!!!!!!

Say what?!?!

So I need to watch how I put things. In a profesional enviorment I am a very eloquent person but when it comes to my kids I perhaps need a lesson or two. Little examples are:

• Leaving a message for the pedi: "Let me know as soon as the vaccines are in so I can set up an appt to go and get them shot".
• When I get the kids down for a nap and I proudly explain "I killed my kids!"
• Or when I was doing Harmon's IEP for the schools and I was trying to explain that Harmon is very very smart "in fact he is a diabolical mastermind". That is now in his IEP! (But Harm's teacher does agree he is one of her smartest students ever).
• My favorite that I am sure will one day bite me in the rear is when the Harmon is having a sensory meltdown in a store and people start staring. I smile and say, "we beat him". (I hate the gawkers... it isn't like you never saw a kid cry in the cereal aisle before!)

I get this from my Mom. She is delightfully dry witted women, but I'm slowly learning that not everyone has the same sense of humor I do! Nevertheless parenting twins and toddler, I think to keep sane some humor will always be a necessary component!

On a side note: moms should not wear white pants! Today was a busy day and so I wanted to look nice. Of course by the time I got out the door I realized I had a strawberry hand print on my hip, chocolate cheerios stains on my knee, and had somehow managed to sit on yogurt. Needless to say I had to detour back to the house for a quick change all while wondering how I didn't notice.

Sometimes it just isn't worth the energy...

These are two very stubborn individuals! Of course Heaven know thier parents are pretty darn stubborn as well. Chris this week has been helping me w/the transition to whole milk. Neither is taking it well. Rachel is stubborn and Cally just hates change. We have been spending hours trying to entice them to drink this stuff and nothing is working. Now w/Harmon he was underweight so instead of milk I went to NextStep formula and the transition wasn't until 18 mos. and by than he was ready.

I think as parents we become so determined that we have to do things a certain way (i.e. potty training by 2 1/2 yrs, no pacis after 6 mos, etc.) but sometimes our kids have other plans. There are some things I don't bend on like the no soda thing but there are some things not worth fighting for. So tonight we have decided life is to darn hard to be crying of non-draken milk. Tomorrow I will go to Target, load up on the generic version of NextStep and call it a day for a few more weeks. We will complete the bottle to sippy transition and in a couple of months try the milk thing again.

That's Scary part 2!

Today we went to Target and went to the Halloween section. It went well for like 2 mins and than Harmon passed by the motion activated life size spooky witch on display and the poor toddler started running shouting "go home" over and over. Chris followed with Cally but there Rachel was just smiling at the witch! That is my girl!!!!

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Miracle of Miracles!!!!

Harmon peed in the potty!!!

Seriously as a Special Need's mom w/a son who has very limited communication for him to say pee pee potty and than to actually sit there and pee is a miracle better than walking on water in my eyes!!!!! Heck I've been struggling for 3 mos now for him to even sit on the potty (he was scared of it) or say when he needed to pee so I can't even tell you how happy I am right now. Thank you Ms. Sandy from pre-k... whatever you are doing at school is AMAZING!!!!

I know we still have a long way but every step is worth a celebration! I'm just so grateful for how well pre-k is going. He is doing so well and now this! I just feel we are making real progress!

Harmon's First Day!

Today was Harm's first day in pre-k and the only big problem we had was that I came to pick him up. In fact to be blunt, I was kind of hurt, b/c he was not happy to see me when I got there and had a meltdown b/c it was time to go. Honestly though, this is a great thing that he loves it so much.

Chris and I dropped him off and even his Gma H came to wish him luck. He was nervous but he started playing, we snuck out, and my cell phone never once ringed. My nanny kept asking me to check my phone b/c we thought he would be sad, or crying, or biting someone, but NOPE he loved it. Harm's teacher Mrs. Sandy said he is a model student :) I'm excited for him! This is a great opportunity for him!

Little escapes!

Vintage me hanging out on the strip before I ever got married even!

When I went to college I learned to appreciate the amazing freedom of being an adult. You could just sit in a book store and read while sipping on Starbucks Hot Chocolate and not have a care in the world. I loved just laying back by myself and just chilling out. I loved hanging out w/friends and family but I also found great joy in being alone (yes I even owned a cat).

Honestly I miss it so much. I either have kids who need attention or work that needs attention. There never really is a good hour where I am by myself and can just waste time, and I miss it. I offered on Labor Day for Chris to take the kids and hang w/his family so I could go see a movie on my own and he thought I was a lunatic (people don't go to movies on thier own according to him). I think he hates asking me to run to the store late at night for Tylenol or something b/c even though we live 5 mins from a Walgreens I saunter up and down the aisles and take the scenic route home... it is nice just to veg a little.

That is life though and I know when the kids are grown up I will have more freedom and will really miss these days. You always want what you can't have. So for now the trick is enjoying, as my mom calls it, "them critters" and remember that some solitude is coming back one day.

:( Update on Rachel and :) 1yr Stats

First off at the last minute we choose not to start Harmon in Pre-K today. We just had too much on the plate getting Rachel looked at further and having the twins 1yr appts. This way when he starts tomorrow he will be the superstar and we won't be distracted.

So for those waiting for an update on Rachel here it is... everyone is worried. We are upping the physical therapy and she is now in addition to the ECEP Evaluation (I had the wrong accronym) being reffered to the Carrie Tingley Hospital in Albquerque. So now we wait till the 15 mos appt and see if things are better or worse.

On other news Rachel is still a peanut. I thought she was over 16 lbs but nope she is still under at 15.15 lbs. and a great height of 28 inches.

Callum is doing well. He still is about 4 mos behind on everything but he catches up well so I don't worry about him at all. If you adjust his age that makes him only 2 mos behind! When you consider he is a boy than heck I say he is right on track! Seriously he looked great at his appt in my opinion. The pediatrician is a little concerned b/c he has trouble eating regular food still (so that means we will stick with purees) but other than that he is doing fabulous!

At 20.2 lbs and 29.12 inches he is a good healthy big boy :)

Our Quick Sunday Funnies...

I've never had any sort of "gender phobias". I know my oldest is all boy and so it is nice that he can be in touch w/his softer side too! This weekend at his cousin's birthday he proved real men wear high heels and push a pink doll stroller ;)

Today on a message board I read about how people who always dress their kids alike is a sign of insanity. Well, I guess we are certifiable (at least from the first of September till the bowl season is over). If you haven't guessed already I am an addicted Longhorn fan and so every game day we don our unifoms. So don't be surprised if you see these outfits this fall on the blog A LOT... maybe I should pick out a few new ones... Yes, I am a little crazy but yes I think all true Longhorn fans are insane (I'm 2nd generation). GO HORNS GO!!!!

I don't think people understand the bond of twins until they see it. Today at church in Sunday school Rachel was playing in the corner w/Callum under a window curtain. They kept playing peek-a-boo w/each other. They were having their big conversation in their own language and than laughing at one another. Slowly but surely the entire group of adults all started giggling and than loudly laughing at Rachel and Callum (while the poor teacher was at a loss why we were all laughing at one of those serious Old Testament lessons). Goes to show life is funner in twos!

That's scary!

As I have talked about earlier I love Halloween! It is my very favorite :) When I was Harm's age instead of Little Mermaid I was watching Tales From the Crypt with my older siblings. Being the youngest I was raised on the scary stuff. Later on, living with my sister in Las Vegas we would hang out with the spooky Magicians (she is now executive assistant to one of the best) and so I was always around these entertainers trying to scare me. So needless to say nothing scares me!!!


Harmon on the other hand is very gentle soul and he is not so jaded! That is why I feel so bad right now. Chris and I took him to Spirit the Halloween shop and they had these spooky Halloween scenes that scared the crumb out of him!


He just stood there white as a ghost saying "scary" over and over again. We felt so bad. Later this month we are meeting up with my sister in Phoenix... I think we will have to be careful when we go costume shopping!

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Location:County Highway 76,Las Cruces,United States

Random musings of a crazy week!

• Yesterday was our last pool day b/c school is starting and for 6 months now we have been trying to teach Harmon to say his name at pool and at gym. HE NEVER HAS! Yesterday they ask him, "what's your name" and he answered happily: Miriam... I was thrilled b/c at least he finally said something and my nanny was honored but than when I said "no silly Harmon what is your name?" He did it, he yelled "Harmon"!
• Harmon had his final IEP today for entry into the schools. I am just thrilled b/c he is getting all the services we were hoping he would get (but worried he wouldn't b/c the schools here are short on money and chintzy on services). I love his new teacher, she is really neat and we mix well!
• I hate saying goodbye. This week has been a lot of goodbyes to Harmon's Early Intervention team. While this is a good thing in a lot of ways, we will miss all the people we have grown to love so much.
• Harmon struggles w/basic speech very badly but HE LOVES music... today we were listening to Brandon Flower's Crossfire on the radio (and since he is my favorite we listen to that song a lot) well, the boy who can't say his name or put together 2 word phrases was humming to the chorus and I can swear he kept trying to say "lay your body down, lay your body down, lay your body down". Chris thinks I need to listen to more Etsy Bitsy Spider and less Killers and Gaga after this.

• We still don't know the latest with Rachel, we have an evaluation tomorrow. I hate this b/c I see her as my amazing girl, not someone who has something wrong. But today someone mentioned that a lot of the great athletes have hypertonia... so maybe this is actually a good thing when she is captain of the Texas Longhorn Cheerleading Squad!
• She is driving me crazy these days... she loves putting things in her mouth. So far we have found her trying to eat: kitty litter, a roach, rocks, dog food, and her latest favorite sidewalk chalk. When she gets older and we ask her date where he is taking her to dinner we will have to tell him her food preferences ;)
• My little girl is so smart. All my kids are smart of course but there is something so unique about her... she is gung ho about life.

• I think Cally is ready for the bath tub. He loves the water! Perhaps too much... he splashes water ALL OVER the kitchen floor. I had to change clothes yesterday morning b/c I was covered in water.
• Callum is catching up beautifully on his delays. Everyone keeps telling me what amazing progress he is making!!!! And he is :)
• His latest development has been his war cry... he screeches anytime one of the other kids tries to steal a toy and flaps his arms up and down in the air like a bird. It makes you laugh. Cally is so laid back but against those two crazies he calls brother and sister he is learning to hold his own.

• One day when we are retired I want to live on a boat. Hearing about building houses all day and all night is making me truly hate houses. Work, should stay in an office but w/my husband work has become our 4th child. I wonder if we could write it off as a dependent?
• I've been slowly getting in a lot of pain. I hope it is only a slipped disk again causing nerve problems b/c sometimes I don't think Heavenly Father gets the memo: Mom's don't get sick leave.
• It was funny b/c today I was talking to our nanny who has truly become a dear friend and we were talking how in life the challenges never cease, drama llama's invade, problem's arise, etc. but you just have to look at the positive. For me the positive is TGIF b/c Saturday I'm sleeping in... but seriously for every bad there is tons of good!

Harmon going to school? Next Monday!

A year and a half ago it was just Harmon and I. He came with me to my budget meetings and accompanied me as I set up the model offices or worked w/the web design team. I scarcely ever left him behind. Now in a year and a half he has become such a big boy. He is now a proud big brother who does great at swimming and gymnastics. He no longer needs me at all times, he loves his nanny and our early intervention team (but I'm still his favorite). He is learning to talk FINALLY, and is learning how to handle his sensory issues. Now on Monday he will be starting school :(

I think he will be fine, but Mom... well... I'm not sure that I am ready for this. It really is the end of an era. It is only M-Th and for 3 hours. It will be so great for him b/c he is such a smart boy and they will be challenging him, while helping him w/his special needs. I know he will love playing with the other kids and I will love the progress I'm sure he will make. Still, I'm sad that my little boy is growing older... first pre-k, than kinder, than high school, and than one day off to UT Austin... It goes too fast!

I love Fall! And THE GREAT PUMPKIN DESSERT!

I will deviate from my usual blogging about my kids to post the very yummy best fall treat ever that every year I get TONS of requests for!!!! THE GREAT PUMPKIN DESERT It is cross between pumpkin pie and cake w/a touch of pecan goodness. I got it from a family on my mission and it is my biggest fall tradition.

Great Pumpkin Dessert

INGREDIENTS:

1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree 1 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated milk 3 eggs 1 cup white sugar

4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice 1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix 3/4 cup butter, melted 1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.
2.	In a large bowl, combine pumpkin, milk, eggs, sugar and spice. Mix well, and pour into a 9x13 inch pan.
3.	Sprinkle dry cake mix over the top, then drizzle with melted butter. Top with walnuts.
4.	Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 1 hour or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.

Now if anyone has a recipe for Pumpkin Pecan Cheesecake you will be my next best friend.

We love everything fall! After all we got married in the fall and even had a touch of Halloween during the reception ;)

And I just can't wait to have us all dress up! I stil don't know what to dress the kids up this year but I'm looking :)

Even the dog dresses up but the cat won't let us near him!

Next year when we are in our new home (and the kids are a little bigger) we are going to start having a huge Halloween party every year and just celebrate w/spooky foods and of course, fun games, and of course "The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" (which we watch every year as a family together even before I had kids).

Halloween aside we do corn mazes, the State Fair, and the Ren Fair. We love Thanksgiving and we love the food. AND OF COURSE THERE IS LONGHORN FOOTBALL!!!! So yes, I'm excited! HAPPY FALL EVERYONE!!!!

You go in for one thing and out w/something new!

So today we had a big adventure: we went to visit the specialist and see if Callum's plagiocephaly (flat head) would require a helmet. The good news is that Cally's head is doing well and so we will not be sporting a funky helmet 23 hrs a day!!!!

On the other hand we were all casually talking about Rachel's difficulty to walk and the physical therapist tellling us Rachel might need an AFO from an orthotic. He started telling us how silly that was and how kids her age rarely need it. So to prove it to us he started working with her feet and immedeatly became concerned. He than said, that the physical therapist is right and that we need to address this issue aggresively or her condition will require surgery later.

So yes, I'm very worried right now. It has been quite a stressful week already (we got in the twins test results for thier year end development and Rachel especially had some odd results so she is being reffered for further evaluation in Albuquerque... I'll explain it someday when I know more) and now we have this to worry about. We are going to see more specialist soon I'm sure. So we lose one problem and now we have a new one that perhaps was more serious than the first.

In a happy note: The doctor we saw was across the street from Las Palmas Hospital where I lived for 2 mos and the twins lived for another 6 wks in the NICU. We visited our favorite NICU nurse and than popped in to say hi to the anti-partum nurses who took care of me. Even with the bad news today it was nice to celebrate just how far we have come.

Thank you for not judging!

When I was growing up I wanted to do well in school, work, and have tons of adventures criss-crossing the country and eventually the globe. I never ruled out marriage and children but it was never part of the plan. I think for that reason I was pretty judgemental back in my single days. If I saw a kid screaming his guts out at Target I would think, "gee put a muzzle on that kid or something". I didn't understand why my co-workers who were moms sometimes seemed so frazzled and tired. Now 2 1/2 yrs into this I'm the frazzled and tired one w/the kid who needs a muzzle. I think any mom w/a 2 yr old feels like getting through anything is a challenge somedays but when you add in the fact that Harmon is on the spectrum it just makes things harder b/c his senses get so overloaded that he can no longer come to terms w/reality.

In time and w/help this will get better but it is hard. Yesterday at the store he was having one of his total meltdowns. He was was punching and biting and screaming and pinching etc. I just couldn't get him to look at me and focus so he could calm down. That is when not one but 2 nice strangers came and rather than judge, offered to help me. With their help I was able to get him to calm down. Today he had another meltdown during swim class and again no one judged. The other parents offered me support as did the teachers.

It humbles me to see this. I think of all the times I've judged others and never considered helping instead and I know I need to be better in the future.