Showing posts with label random. Show all posts
Showing posts with label random. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
It IS Called a Jumper...
Sam and Anna love the Jumper trampoline they got for a Christmas present. The only thing is that they rarely use it to actually jump on. It has been used to pile things on, as a cave, as a zoo cage, as Santa's sleigh, for a table for lunch, for a bed, as a Handy Manny building project, and more. As long as they don't carry it around, try to jump both at the same time, or hurt each other with it, I don't mind and I let their imagination run wild. I think it is pretty entertaining when their imaginations do!
Sunday, September 25, 2011
A Perfect Fall Day
Yesterday was an almost perfect fall day. The only thing that could have made it more complete would have been a walk in the crisp fall air, but with a light rain in the afternoon, that was not to be. It was such a joy to spend the day stress-free, enjoying my loves and putting the work week behind me.
My day started by actually successfully sleeping in for once (usually our best intentions fall short due to energetic toddlers who can't help but squeal and shout moments after waking up), and then waking up to a happy (and not overtired) husband who enjoyed his one-on-one father daughter cuddle time before Sam woke up. After coffee and a delicious breakfast, we headed for the farmers' market and had so much fun taking in the sights, sounds, smells and tastes with Sam and Anna. After loading our goodies in the car, we walked over the Children's Museum (within walking distance from the farmers' market in the town square) and played to our heart's content until lunch time. What made it perfect was that Sam and Anna were near-angels and loved every minute of it too.
After an also delicious lunch, Sam and Anna took a great nap and both adults got things accomplished on the to-do list, but not begrudgingly. I got into the fall mood and put up all our fall decorations and lit some harvest-smelling candles. The rest of the day was low key, just enjoying Sam and Anna; baking cookies, an also delicious dinner, and a drama-free bedtime. (have I mentioned that Anna's taken to trying to fart in the tub because she thinks it's funny and fun to see the bubbles, which tends to lead to a code brown during bath time almost every time? No?)
A day like that was just what I needed. Almost perfect, indeed.
My day started by actually successfully sleeping in for once (usually our best intentions fall short due to energetic toddlers who can't help but squeal and shout moments after waking up), and then waking up to a happy (and not overtired) husband who enjoyed his one-on-one father daughter cuddle time before Sam woke up. After coffee and a delicious breakfast, we headed for the farmers' market and had so much fun taking in the sights, sounds, smells and tastes with Sam and Anna. After loading our goodies in the car, we walked over the Children's Museum (within walking distance from the farmers' market in the town square) and played to our heart's content until lunch time. What made it perfect was that Sam and Anna were near-angels and loved every minute of it too.
After an also delicious lunch, Sam and Anna took a great nap and both adults got things accomplished on the to-do list, but not begrudgingly. I got into the fall mood and put up all our fall decorations and lit some harvest-smelling candles. The rest of the day was low key, just enjoying Sam and Anna; baking cookies, an also delicious dinner, and a drama-free bedtime. (have I mentioned that Anna's taken to trying to fart in the tub because she thinks it's funny and fun to see the bubbles, which tends to lead to a code brown during bath time almost every time? No?)
A day like that was just what I needed. Almost perfect, indeed.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Photo-less
I've been forgetting lately to pull the camera out, and I'm kicking myself for it. We had so many firsts and good times this weekend, and I took not-a-one photo. There's something to be said for living in the here and now and not playing mom-a-razzi- I can truly say I was 100% present for every aspect of our weekend, not just seeing it from behind a camera. But, I'm sad that I only have the memories in my head to remember the first ice cream tastings, first time in the wagon, first time playing in the sand table, our river park trip, and waving to the ducks and boats while there. I know those memories will fade, and so I am going to try to work harder to remember to bring the camera and that juggling it along with two toddlers will be worth it. Maybe including that here will hold me more accountable!
We are very lucky to live within walking distance of two ice cream shops. Long walks to get ice cream has been one of our summertime traditions for years. This weekend we decided that it was time to include Sam and Anna in our ice cream tradition. We loaded them in our new Cadillac of wagons (I really wanted one with a canopy. It also has padded seat covers and a storage bag in the back.) and headed off. Anna did not like facing backwards, but it was still an improvement over the stroller discontentment we've had from her lately. Recently, it seems like every time we try to take a walk, she will scream and will only be happy if I load her up in a carrier, like our Ergo, instead. Sam thought riding in the wagon was great, including how easily he was able to shimmy out of the leg straps.
I informed my husband that chocolate ice cream wouldn't be the best choice, and stayed outside with our dog and our twins while he went inside the crowded shop to buy it. He came back out with ice cream for him and me in cones, and chocolate ice cream for Sam and Anna in a cup, with one spoon, and only two measly napkins around the outside of the cones. Needless to say, he's not the planner in the family. We wouldn't have been able to take pictures anyway, with juggling our ice cream, their ice cream, the two of them, AND our dog who wanted what she thought was her fair share of ice cream, too. I sent him back in for more napkins, we only spilled minimal ice cream considering the situation, and I was able to get all the chocolate ice cream stains out of the brand new outfits Sam and Anna were wearing for the first time that day- including the chocolate ice cream puddle she sat in, when my husband set her down on the picnic table bench. It was certainly memorable- and I bet very entertaining for passersby to watch us!
Both Sam and Anna liked the ice cream, but Sam really loved it. He'd start bouncing up and down saying "Ooo Ooo Ooo!" if I was too slow with the spoon. I'd give him licks of my cone to tide him over if my husband was using the spoon (remember, we only had one spoon) and he figured out pretty quickly how to slurp in the drippy mess. He tried to grab the ice cream with his hands, unless I held them down. I think we'll consider that our trial run ice cream event, and next time, I'll know to say more explicitly NO CHOCOLATE, wait to get ice cream for us until Sam and Anna are done, and get as many napkins as you can carry. Maybe next time, we'll take some pictures, too.
I filled our new sand/water table up with water this weekend too, and Sam and Anna enjoyed playing in that as well. We got it last weekend off of craigslist for a mere $10- I was so thrilled at my find, especially because I had been looking for one for a while. Our water table has a cover and a sun umbrella, so I think I got a great deal! Both of them tried to drink the water more than they played, but hopefully as they get older, they will grow out of that a little. We have the same issue during bath time now, too. They were soaked from all the hearty splashing by the time we went inside.
Then today, we headed out to the river park for a change of scenery. Sam and Anna really enjoyed walking around the bike path. I tried to imprint their unsteady early walker gait in my head, because I know it won't be long until they are running instead of toddling around. We found a family of ducks that really interested Sam and Anna. They kept following the ducks around until the ducks got fed up and flew into the water. I think Sam and Anna would have followed them into the river, if we would have let them! Sam loved waving to all the boats and people going past on the trail. I also took them down the slide with me on the playground, since they were all big-kid slides. They had fun going around the twisty parts and in the tunnel sections, though!
We may not have any photos to document our weekend, but this post can help me remember how cute Sam looked bouncing in excitement over ice cream, or how adorable Anna looked gripping onto her Daddy's finger to get protection from the ducks she was so curious about. But next time, I'll remember to bring our camera!
We are very lucky to live within walking distance of two ice cream shops. Long walks to get ice cream has been one of our summertime traditions for years. This weekend we decided that it was time to include Sam and Anna in our ice cream tradition. We loaded them in our new Cadillac of wagons (I really wanted one with a canopy. It also has padded seat covers and a storage bag in the back.) and headed off. Anna did not like facing backwards, but it was still an improvement over the stroller discontentment we've had from her lately. Recently, it seems like every time we try to take a walk, she will scream and will only be happy if I load her up in a carrier, like our Ergo, instead. Sam thought riding in the wagon was great, including how easily he was able to shimmy out of the leg straps.
I informed my husband that chocolate ice cream wouldn't be the best choice, and stayed outside with our dog and our twins while he went inside the crowded shop to buy it. He came back out with ice cream for him and me in cones, and chocolate ice cream for Sam and Anna in a cup, with one spoon, and only two measly napkins around the outside of the cones. Needless to say, he's not the planner in the family. We wouldn't have been able to take pictures anyway, with juggling our ice cream, their ice cream, the two of them, AND our dog who wanted what she thought was her fair share of ice cream, too. I sent him back in for more napkins, we only spilled minimal ice cream considering the situation, and I was able to get all the chocolate ice cream stains out of the brand new outfits Sam and Anna were wearing for the first time that day- including the chocolate ice cream puddle she sat in, when my husband set her down on the picnic table bench. It was certainly memorable- and I bet very entertaining for passersby to watch us!
Both Sam and Anna liked the ice cream, but Sam really loved it. He'd start bouncing up and down saying "Ooo Ooo Ooo!" if I was too slow with the spoon. I'd give him licks of my cone to tide him over if my husband was using the spoon (remember, we only had one spoon) and he figured out pretty quickly how to slurp in the drippy mess. He tried to grab the ice cream with his hands, unless I held them down. I think we'll consider that our trial run ice cream event, and next time, I'll know to say more explicitly NO CHOCOLATE, wait to get ice cream for us until Sam and Anna are done, and get as many napkins as you can carry. Maybe next time, we'll take some pictures, too.
I filled our new sand/water table up with water this weekend too, and Sam and Anna enjoyed playing in that as well. We got it last weekend off of craigslist for a mere $10- I was so thrilled at my find, especially because I had been looking for one for a while. Our water table has a cover and a sun umbrella, so I think I got a great deal! Both of them tried to drink the water more than they played, but hopefully as they get older, they will grow out of that a little. We have the same issue during bath time now, too. They were soaked from all the hearty splashing by the time we went inside.
Then today, we headed out to the river park for a change of scenery. Sam and Anna really enjoyed walking around the bike path. I tried to imprint their unsteady early walker gait in my head, because I know it won't be long until they are running instead of toddling around. We found a family of ducks that really interested Sam and Anna. They kept following the ducks around until the ducks got fed up and flew into the water. I think Sam and Anna would have followed them into the river, if we would have let them! Sam loved waving to all the boats and people going past on the trail. I also took them down the slide with me on the playground, since they were all big-kid slides. They had fun going around the twisty parts and in the tunnel sections, though!
We may not have any photos to document our weekend, but this post can help me remember how cute Sam looked bouncing in excitement over ice cream, or how adorable Anna looked gripping onto her Daddy's finger to get protection from the ducks she was so curious about. But next time, I'll remember to bring our camera!
Friday, May 27, 2011
The Evolution
The Evolution of my coffee drinking ways:
Pre-TTC: An occasional cup of coffee. A once-in-a-while stop at Starbucks for a special treat.
TTC: Limited caffeine intake including pop.
IVF and Pregnancy: Practically ZERO caffeine. Not a drop of coffee or pop.
Twin Baby Momma: Daily cuppa joe in the morning... or two.
Twin Working Full Time Outside the Home Momma: Big mug of coffee before 7 am. Caffeinated pop at 8 am to help get me through the tired days. Stops at Starbucks at least once a week before work (not good for the bank account, but better for my productivity!). Developing a relationship with the Starbucks drive thru dude. Caffeine withdrawals if the above conditions are not met.
~I may need a 12 step program this summer once school is out!!!
Pre-TTC: An occasional cup of coffee. A once-in-a-while stop at Starbucks for a special treat.
TTC: Limited caffeine intake including pop.
IVF and Pregnancy: Practically ZERO caffeine. Not a drop of coffee or pop.
Twin Baby Momma: Daily cuppa joe in the morning... or two.
Twin Working Full Time Outside the Home Momma: Big mug of coffee before 7 am. Caffeinated pop at 8 am to help get me through the tired days. Stops at Starbucks at least once a week before work (not good for the bank account, but better for my productivity!). Developing a relationship with the Starbucks drive thru dude. Caffeine withdrawals if the above conditions are not met.
~I may need a 12 step program this summer once school is out!!!
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Miracle Babies
Last weekend was our Fertility Clinic's Miracle Baby Celebration picnic that I mentioned being super excited about. I did not realize until we were there that NICU graduates of the hospital were also invited, so the crowd was a lot bigger than I had imagined. It was fun to be a part of this year's picture. I hope the 2010 picnic picture inspires hope in someone waiting and trying for their own miracle when they see it on the wall like the pictures from past years gave me hope during our IVF.
(With our RE)
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
I'm So Excited!
I've literally been waiting for this for a year. When we underwent our IVF, I was drawn to several pictures that lined the walls- pictures of lots of people and babies from our IVF clinic's annual Miracles Picnic. Every day I hoisted my legs into those stirrups or endured needle poke after needle poke, I always glanced at those photos on my way out the door. I soooo wanted to be invited to the Miracles Picnic the following year, because I knew it would mean we got our miracles. I fantasized about how wonderful it would be to celebrate with so many people in person who really got it. People who truly understood what we experienced from beginning to wonderful conclusion.
I never knew when they held the Miracles Picnic, and I was too chicken to ask for fear of jinxing ourselves. I reasoned that it must be held in the summer as most picnics are. As the summer months have flown by, I was starting to feel disappointed that maybe we wouldn't be invited or maybe they didn't hold it anymore. However, today's mail held a special surprise- an invitation for this year's Miracles Picnic held on September 18th! Opening it made me smile- you better believe we'll be attending- and I bet Sam and Anna will fit into their "I'm a work of A.R.T." onesies by then, too. I can't wait!
I never knew when they held the Miracles Picnic, and I was too chicken to ask for fear of jinxing ourselves. I reasoned that it must be held in the summer as most picnics are. As the summer months have flown by, I was starting to feel disappointed that maybe we wouldn't be invited or maybe they didn't hold it anymore. However, today's mail held a special surprise- an invitation for this year's Miracles Picnic held on September 18th! Opening it made me smile- you better believe we'll be attending- and I bet Sam and Anna will fit into their "I'm a work of A.R.T." onesies by then, too. I can't wait!
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
My PSA
Following on the heels of Kerri's great PSA about tanning (BTW: thanks, Kerri- I was actually thinking about going because I'm going to be the palest woman alive at the end of the summer, since my two babes can't be in the sun- and your PSA reminder about tanning couldn't have come at a better time. I changed my mind.), I'd like to give you a PSA to always check to make sure the things your babies use and play with are not recalled. Like Kerri mentioned- I'm not the preachy kind. I pretty much operate on the "if it doesn't hurt anyone and doesn't affect me, you can do whatever you want and it won't bother me at all" philosophy. However, safety of children doesn't fit into that philosophy. When it comes to children and their well-being, I'll be as vocal as I need to be to help make sure that children are safe.
I want to share a little story about a toy I bought for Sam and Anna at a garage sale. It was a cute wind chime and I got it because the price was right, and it was a different sound than all of my babies' other toys, which, frankly, I've gotten a little tired of. Something actually drove me to check the company's website after I got home- maybe I wanted to see how good of a deal I got, maybe it was mother's intuition at work, who knows- but what I discovered was that the cute little wind chime has a big fat recall. Excerpt from the website's information, "...The complaints state that the wind chime was pulled apart exposing sharp metal rods."
Yikes!
The offending wind chime:
I want to share a little story about a toy I bought for Sam and Anna at a garage sale. It was a cute wind chime and I got it because the price was right, and it was a different sound than all of my babies' other toys, which, frankly, I've gotten a little tired of. Something actually drove me to check the company's website after I got home- maybe I wanted to see how good of a deal I got, maybe it was mother's intuition at work, who knows- but what I discovered was that the cute little wind chime has a big fat recall. Excerpt from the website's information, "...The complaints state that the wind chime was pulled apart exposing sharp metal rods."
Yikes!
The offending wind chime:
However, the company was gracious to replace the voluntarily recalled toys, as well as supply a $2 shipping reimbursement. Sam and Anna got two brand new toys (each worth $8) for the price of one $1 garage-sale-bargain-gone-bad:
I love a happy ending! And two toys... perfect for my two babies, to boot! Sam adores the giraffe... and he hasn't gotten attached to any particular toy yet. This might just be his new favorite toy!
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Call Me Superwoman
I worked for 10+ hours today (at 32 weeks and 3 days pregnant with twins as a kindergarten teacher) while wearing these shoes:
11 hours after putting them on, my feet thanked me for taking them off.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Randomness
My last progesterone shot was over 2 months ago. The lumps have completely disappeared from my left hip- but I still have two lumps on my right. Experienced IVFers- when did yours go away? When will mine? Is it normal that I still have those lumps? Is it something I should bring up with my doctor? Thanks in advance for any info!
Time is getting away from me- I can hardly keep up with blogs and commenting- let alone post my own blog posts. I want to do a post about registering, about our bedding, about reading twin books, and my faith story... Argh! And I have yet to really plan anything in advance for my substitute teacher once I go on maternity leave... I need a 48 hour day!
The physical therapy really seems to be helping with my back pain. The physical therapist jokingly said today that what she thinks I need to make it all better is really just a weekly massage. I told her that it was too bad my health insurance probably wouldn't agree. Since the pain is almost gone, we agreed that I don't need to go every week and we'll see how I do from now on with the exercises she gave me to do. Hopefully that will do the trick!
My husband has been out of town for a week now, and will be for 3 more days. This has given me a glimpse of what could happen (on a much smaller scale) in January when he has a work trip... and I don't like it. I miss having him here (ok, I always do- I'm not one of those wives who secretly like the time alone). I miss having someone take care of me, because I know I don't always do the best job by myself. He usually cooks, takes care of the dishes, brings out the garbage, feeds and kennels the dogs while we are at work, and doing those things while 20 weeks pregnant with twins is a lot harder than it was pre-pregnancy. I don't want him to go in January. What if I can't bend down to put on my shoes when I'm 30 weeks? What if something happens while he's gone and he's not there in time for our babies to be born? I know it is a long way off, but this is something has been in the back of my mind for a while now. I know if I'm on bed rest, he can get out of going- but I think that might be the only way. I guess I'll have to just wait until January to see what happens- no sense letting myself stress about it now when there's nothing I can do about it, right?
Oooh! And I think I saw and felt them move for the first time from the outside yesterday! I've been trying to catch it again since then, with no luck. It is hard to take time to do that during the day- people tend to look at you funny if you are just staring at your stomach!
Time is getting away from me- I can hardly keep up with blogs and commenting- let alone post my own blog posts. I want to do a post about registering, about our bedding, about reading twin books, and my faith story... Argh! And I have yet to really plan anything in advance for my substitute teacher once I go on maternity leave... I need a 48 hour day!
The physical therapy really seems to be helping with my back pain. The physical therapist jokingly said today that what she thinks I need to make it all better is really just a weekly massage. I told her that it was too bad my health insurance probably wouldn't agree. Since the pain is almost gone, we agreed that I don't need to go every week and we'll see how I do from now on with the exercises she gave me to do. Hopefully that will do the trick!
My husband has been out of town for a week now, and will be for 3 more days. This has given me a glimpse of what could happen (on a much smaller scale) in January when he has a work trip... and I don't like it. I miss having him here (ok, I always do- I'm not one of those wives who secretly like the time alone). I miss having someone take care of me, because I know I don't always do the best job by myself. He usually cooks, takes care of the dishes, brings out the garbage, feeds and kennels the dogs while we are at work, and doing those things while 20 weeks pregnant with twins is a lot harder than it was pre-pregnancy. I don't want him to go in January. What if I can't bend down to put on my shoes when I'm 30 weeks? What if something happens while he's gone and he's not there in time for our babies to be born? I know it is a long way off, but this is something has been in the back of my mind for a while now. I know if I'm on bed rest, he can get out of going- but I think that might be the only way. I guess I'll have to just wait until January to see what happens- no sense letting myself stress about it now when there's nothing I can do about it, right?
Oooh! And I think I saw and felt them move for the first time from the outside yesterday! I've been trying to catch it again since then, with no luck. It is hard to take time to do that during the day- people tend to look at you funny if you are just staring at your stomach!
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Lots of useless info- but still fun!
I love to know things. My husband like to manipulate this sometimes to say that I'm nosey- but I just really like to know about all kinds of stuff. I love figuring things out, and I love sharing what I learn with others. (Hence the occupation) Well let me share: yesterday I discovered Google Ana.lytics- an information junkie's dream!
Let me just say: It is frompin' fantastic. In just two days- I know that my blog has had 44 visits and 63 views. I know a general location where the visitors came from. Today I saw that two visitors were from the United Kingdom and Taiwan, and not just scattered cities around the US. (How cool is that?) It says how you got to my blog (from a link or direct). It even tells me an average of how long most people are on my blog. It tells who is a returning visitor and who stopped by for the first time.
With the crap that is IF, you have to look for a little happy in every day to help lift you up. And since I gave up all sources of caffeine and alcohol in preparation for our IVF- I needed to look for new ways to find my daily serving of happy. Some days finding the little bit of happy is harder than others. Today, Google Ana.lytics is my little bit of happy, and I thought I'd share. :)
Let me just say: It is frompin' fantastic. In just two days- I know that my blog has had 44 visits and 63 views. I know a general location where the visitors came from. Today I saw that two visitors were from the United Kingdom and Taiwan, and not just scattered cities around the US. (How cool is that?) It says how you got to my blog (from a link or direct). It even tells me an average of how long most people are on my blog. It tells who is a returning visitor and who stopped by for the first time.
With the crap that is IF, you have to look for a little happy in every day to help lift you up. And since I gave up all sources of caffeine and alcohol in preparation for our IVF- I needed to look for new ways to find my daily serving of happy. Some days finding the little bit of happy is harder than others. Today, Google Ana.lytics is my little bit of happy, and I thought I'd share. :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)