Mother's Day - [A post that was never posted]

Written on Mother's Day weekend 2013, but accidentally saved as a draft post and never published on the blog

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 Husband isn't feeling well, so the girls and I went out shopping this morning, met grandma for lunch, and more shopping this afternoon.

At one point, Megan started to cry that she really wanted to go to Dillon's -- because she wanted to buy me flowers for Mother's day there -- but it was a surprise. Could they do it themselves and would I not look?

It was quite entertaining to people watching us as I let them pick out a bouquet of flowers while "not looking" (even though i had to help them get it out of the holder -- "Dont look, mommy!").

And then had to help them put it back and get a different one "Close your eyes, mommy!"

They finally they settled on some light pink roses (which happen to be my favorite, but they didn't know that -- just that pink was my favorite color).

More grins and giggles by the people in line with me and the cashier as they would squeal, "DONT LOOK, MOMMY!" while we paid for them.
 

The sheer joy on their faces when we were at home and they finally "let me see them" was priceless.
Love them!

Kayla's Story

Ever wonder what it sounds like when both girls get to talking at the same time? Happens all the time around here...and if you don't stop it, they jabber over each other.

This has no real video to speak of -- it's just for the sound.
The girls were in the tub.

Kayla asked me to tell her a story at bed time.  With a little bit of prompting, she told me the story of Goldilocks and the three bears.  While being poked and interrupted by Megan.

April 2012 Flashback

The girls love dresses. They went through a phase where they only wanted to wear dresses!  Most of the time we indulged them.  They would often go through several dresses in a day, just because they felt like changing.  As I write this, it's December 2012, and they still love dresses -- but the passion has faded a bit.  They still like to change clothes though -- Kayla more than Megan.
They come up with some wild outfits.  Megan has sweat pants on under her dress.  Not so bad...

Megan

Kayla has pants on, and socks and shoes.  She hasn't quite got that matching clothes skill mastered yet....Those are Mickey Mouse socks with her Hello Kitty dress.

Kayla

Kayla

This is how I found Kayla in bed.  She was sound asleep, half on, half off of her bed. How she slept that way I'll never know!

Kayla

The girls got their first big girl bikes!  The first helmets we got were too big.  The girls had fun with them though!

Kayla

Megan, Kayla - Unicorns doing headstands? Or were they that top-heavy?

 We did get them some properly sized helmets, and are saving the unicorn ones for when they're a little bigger.

My mother does not like this picture.  It shows how they learned to make funny faces! But I had to put the disclaimer in, as I know my mother will see this and ask me why on earth I would post that picture when there are so many other pictures with cute smiling faces.  Hi, Mom : )

 Megan, Kayla

They ride their bikes at Grandma's house, which is right behind ours.  Her driveway is flatter and more spacious -- and there aren't as many other kids around to interfere with them.  Our court has a lot of little kids and the cul de sac becomes a playground.  We don't let the girls play in the street unless one of us is in the street with them, letting them ride their bikes.  They know to stop at the end of the driveway.

Making Muppins

The girls love making muffins.  Or as Megan calls it, "making muppins".

They both get on a step stool.  Mommy measures, and let's them pour, stir, put out papers and spoon in the batter.  They make a mess.  Oh, my do they make a mess.  But they're learning, having fun, and messes clean up!

 Kayla, Megan

  Kayla, Megan

Kayla, Megan

So they aren't the prettiest muffins ever -- but give them time.  The chefs are only 2  1/2 years old, you know!

Oops...Bad Mom Strikes Again!

Not too long ago, I was looking after the girls while Mike wasn't home.
Well, I thought I was looking after the girls...

We have them pretty well fenced into the living room. Loki, our dog, has learned to go over the end of the couch at the end table to get in and out of the fenced in area. His food dish and water bowl are in the kitchen, safely outside the gated area of the living room.

Unless, of course, you THINK the gate is latched, and it isn't.

I heard Loki eating his breakfast. I didnt worry at first, until some internal alarm went off, and I realized Kayla wasn't playing behind my chair, like I thought.

Loki was indeed eating his breakfast. I found it entertaining, and took a quick picture. Kayla was taking handfuls of dogfood, dropping it on the floor, and Loki was cleaning it up.


Then she looked up.

That's the picture I don't have -- because her little cheeks were stuffed full of dogfood, just like her little fists! I took 5 or 6 pieces of dogfood out of her mouth, amidst her vocal objections. I wish I'd clicked the picture first.

I guess I'm not such a bad mom after all, eh?

A Mother Always Knows -- Except When She Doesn't.

Let's revisit Mike's last post.
He posted a "twin challenge" picture. A picture in which the girls looked remarkable similar and difficult to distinguish.

I looked at the picture and thought how similar they look -- but still, I knew which was which. I even identified the girls in a conversation with my mom-in-law.

Today, I looked at that picture again -- this time, I clicked on it to make it bigger. And what, to my horror, did I discover? I, their own mother, had mixed them up. And I'm horribly embarrassed. So embarrassed I'm posting it for the world to see!

Anyone who listened to even part of my hysterical ramblings when I was pregnant with the girls knows that one of my top fears was that I'd mix them up, not be able to tell them apart. Over and over, people have asked me, has it happened? And I can always say not really -- sure, the occasional momentary slips -- I'm notorious for saying good morning to the wrong one when Mike brings one in to wake me up if I'm sleeping in...but can you blame me when I haven't been awake but a matter of seconds, and have a cheerful baby pouncing on me?

So tonight I scanned the photo files to see if Mike had taken any other shots of the girls at that same time, that would make it more obvious. There were only two pictures that I found.

The original:



One other:

And now I'm even more positive about which one is which.

Unless of course, Mike swapped them between photos....

So Mommy's A Prude...

Sometimes I do things for seemingly no reason, except that it’s fun. Dressing the girls in ducky and bunny costumes around Easter, for example.
But it’s not just me. Remember Mike saying how my friends put the girls’ hair in pig tails? Here’s a different view, that shows it a little better.

Mike was mowing lawns and I was alone with the girls. We’d already eaten and it was time for baths. Normally, we use the baby bath in the kitchen sink, one at a time. Well, mommy wanted to be different, so we got out the ducky tub!

The girls seemed to have an okay time. It wasn’t really roomy enough, but that helped them stay upright more easily. At first they were a bit put off by the environment, since they’d never been in the ducky tub before. They’re not used to sitting in water, either. But then when they realized it was a bath, they were okay with it.

But, mommy is a prude, and won’t put naked pictures of them on the internet! So I covered them with washcloths.

Megan decided one wash cloth was a toy at first.

Then she decided it was a snack.

By that time, Kayla was done with pictures (and the giant duck head) so we called it a night.
All in all, it was fun! They’re first bath in a sorta-real tub!

4 months and another Valentine's Day Dress!

I’m obsessed with pink. Yeah, yeah, everyone who knows me knows that. But I just wanted to throw it out there, in case it slipped by anyone. That being said, I love dressing the girls in pink. LOVE it. And Valentine’s Day has offered even more opportunities for obtaining cute PINK clothing. So yes, the girls have more than one Valentine’s Day dress. And while this one doesn't have perfectly arranged dresses, Kayla (left) has the start of a smile, so I'm using it.


This afternoon was their four month appointment at the pediatrician, so I took the day off. I made it a busy day, and the girls and I were out all morning together. We even stopped by Daddy’s office.

The appointment went great, the girls are doing fine.
Kayla is 13 lbs 10 oz and 23.5 inches long.
Megan is 12 lbs 13oz and 24.0 inches long.
They did get vaccinations, and of course cried. So did I.

And this afternoon I held fussy babies. There’s nothing in this world that compares to the absolute adoration I feel that overwhelms me when one of my fussy little baby snuggles in against my neck and falls asleep.

Sleeping Miracles

(I’ll let you guess who’s who in the pictures – answer below!)

There’s nothing quite like a sleeping baby.

Anyone who knows even part of our story knows what miracles we have in our two little ladies. So is it any surprise that there are times I can look at one of them, and merely thinking about their existence brings tears to my eyes?

Last night was a big night for the babies. It was the first time they BOTH slept through the night. Both of them have done it on their own before, but never with their sister. I’m convinced they’ve plotted against us to keep us from sleeping through the night. We think they’re just cooing and chattering, but really, they’re deciding which one will get us up that night and which one will sleep through!

Our bedtime routine is bath, bottle, swaddle in crib -- lullaby CD plays, humidifier runs, and they go to sleep. We can put them down drowsy but awake, and they’ll drift off to sleep. If they’re too awake they’ll squawk for a pacifier, but if they don’t “ask” for it, we just keep one nearby. (We’re not encouraging them and hoping to break them of the paci habit soon). Last night I turned out the dresser lamp while they were sleeping. I wonder if that had something to do with it?

I think we’re pretty lucky that both of them cooperate so well in going to bed. I hope it lasts, but I doubt it will. I only watched my nephew Nathan a couple times at night several years ago, but I remember him peeking around the corner for the umpteenth time, and taking him back to bed. I have visions of two little heads peeking around corners in the future, just like cousin Nathan did.

They usually break out of the swaddle, and sometimes I’ll rewrap them back into a baby-burrito while they’re asleep. Usually I can do it without really waking them up, and they sleep better that way. I wonder if I would sleep better if Mike would swaddle me! Megan is still wrapped up in purple in the first picture. Kayla has broken free, wrapped in pink in the second picture.

I like to go in and look at them while they’re sleeping. Not to check if they’re still breathing, (okay, sometimes I do check.) but just to look at them. It can literally bring a tear to my eye. How am I going to going to explain that one to my little miracles down the road:
“Mommy? Why do you cry when you look at us?”
“Because I love you.”

And Your Momma Dresses You Funny...

I've been accused (thanks mom) of playing dress up with the girls, like dolls. Now she's not serious and she knows I don't have the patience to change from outfit to outfit with them just for the purpose of seeing them look cuter than cute. (I admit, I'm biased) However, I AM guilty of putting them in complete outfits and staging them for pictures once in a while when I change their clothes. I definitely don't have a future in the fashion industry.

Unfortunately, the downside of them being small at this point, is that most of their clothes are way too big. They're in "Newborn" size still, but even some of those are still too big on them.

And sometimes, a 3/6 month piece of clothing finds its way into the drawer and Mommy doesn't realize it until it's half way on Kayla.

Then Mommy decides to put it on anyway, just to see how big it is! Kayla isn't having any of it, though!

Maybe if her foot reached further than the knee of the outfit, it wouldn't be so bad...



Then there's the cute little sleeper that I thought would look cute on Kayla.
Uh, Mommy? I think they're on backwards....

Pants can be particularly challenging.

Mike declared these pink pants their "MC Hammer Pants", complete with dancing Megan through the air Hammer-Style, to emphasize the image. If only I had a video!


Loki just looks like he's begging me not to make his twins look funny -- or at least not to make him the next to wear the big puffy pants!

Hmm, I wonder if I can find some dog-clothes that would coordinate with the girls' clothes...

Moments of Regret

There are never moments of regret.

There are moments where I don’t know how I’m going to do this with two babies and no sleep, even with the most supportive and involved husband in the world.

There are moments where I have to laugh to avoid crying when both babies need attention and I only have two hands.

There are moments when I look at one of them and my eyes tear up with joy at their very existence, and tears fall when I marvel that they’re our daughters.

There are moments when Megan is only happy in mommy’s arms, often in the middle of the night.

There are moments when Kayla makes me laugh out loud with her constant chattering, reminding me of myself.

There are moments when we wake Mike with screaming in the early hours of the morning because I can’t make either one happy long enough to tend to the other.

There are moments when I wonder what the future holds for us with twins.

There are moments when I think of the journey that got us here and think how it was all worth it.

There are absolutely never moments of regret. Not one.