Sometimes I feel the odd desire to tell strangers this. Maybe it's because I am often meeting people with no makeup on, in exercise clothes because I keep thinking I might get to exercise at some point, and hair that hasn't been washed in three days (when you are pregnant and have dark hair, you can at least get away with this). Maybe it is because I gained 11 lb in 5 freakin' weeks. Maybe it is because I work from home and usually rush to get on the computer when my babysitter shows up rather than take a few minutes to say, brush my teeth. Maybe it is because I seriously need a makeup overhaul. Maybe it is because post-babies my hair went from straight and fine to almost CURLY and I have no idea what to do w/ it and don't get to straighten often enough. Maybe it is because I have all of two seconds to spend time getting myself ready most days.
I know, I know, I'm such a freakin' whiner. Sometimes I think videoconferencing would be a great addition to my current work environment--or at least a good forcing mechanism. But mostly, and I can't believe I'm saying this, I think I miss my vanity a little bit (maybe I just frontloaded it too much into the early years).
C and D understand that milk comes from cows and chickens lay eggs. When they spill milk they apologize to the cows and when we drive by cows they yell "Thank you for the milk cows!" or "I'm sorry I spilled my milk cows!" or "I didn't spill my milk cows thank you!"
So one day C spilled water and she looks at me and asks "Who makes the water?" Giving an answer that illustrates my need to go back to sixth grade science I said "Well, water comes from the clouds and then it becomes oceans and lakes on earth." So she looks at the water and says "I'm sorry Nerf." Which tipped off the latest "Who makes the....?" or "What does a ..... make?" frenzy. Sadly, I don't always know how to answer and must add remedial science book to my reading list.
As a result, C exhibits a certain haughtiness for 'non-producers." Now when she sees horses she says "Hi horses" and then with an air of disdain, "Horses don't make anything."
Here are some pics that we had taken of C/D in dresses that Grandmommy Helen made (yes, their 93 year old great grandmother). And just in case you missed it, I did catch up on about 9 previous posts. D and C C C and D D D C and D
Didn't think so. Have 9 posts in "save as draft" and my computer exploded on Thursday am and I just got it back, with NOTHING on it. C now says "When I bite Dylan she cries. When I touch Mommy's computer, she cries." Yes, I cried when it exploded, mostly out of fear of losing all my pics/videos/work (I hadn't backed up in about 2 months) but also because Andrew was headed out of town and I knew I'd have no computer access. Sad how helpless we feel sans computer.
Anyway, apparently it wasn't C's fault. They said there was no way a little girl could have done this in the 20 sec she was hitting buttons. So I'm spending my day catching up on work and trying to re-set up my computer. And I've taught the girls that "Mommy wants an Apple computer for Christmas."
It's been a tough two weeks in general. Feels like Andrew has been gone a lot (off to NY AGAIN today....who the hell has to fly to NY twice in a week?????) and C/D have been really tough at bedtime (OCD to the max), and well, I'm starting to feel pregnant. As in serious upper back pains that are probably the result of the small bowling ball in my belly and picking up two 25-28lbs kids all the time, at the same time, (because yes, they always want to be carried and yes, i indulge because i know someday I won't be able to as often). Yes, I'm throwing myself a pity party.
So will try to catch up on all my old posts and then add some new ones.
C/D are OBSESSED WITH PUZZLES. Morning, afternoon and night..."Can I do a puzzle?" "Will you do a puzzle with me?" I have become a hunter of 24ish piece puzzles. From cars to Thomas to goodnight moon and a Little Mermaid one I couldn't fight any longer (they've never seen it but they still know she's a mermaid!---ugh, Target) we do a LOT of puzzles around here. They even do a puzzle together and most of the time manage to do so w/o fighting (they will each put together their own 'part' and then join them). And for the first time EVER I have found an activity that sometimes allows me to shower without them sitting their watching me (usually with a snack in hand and always insisting I keep the door open--I take the longest showers on earth when i'm not with them because most of my showers are open door sprints). Thank you puzzles!! (And if you know where I can get 24-30 piece non-floor puzzles---let me know. I think I've cleaned out our usual haunts!)
Ultrasound: We had the "big" ultrasound two weeks ago. Bedo is tracking right around its due date (first time for us...yeah!!) Everything looks good except it has an enlarged ureter which means that it could have an enlarged kidney/kidney issues down the line. The 'worst case scenario' is an operation at a year old. Most likely though it will correct itself. We go back at 34 weeks to look again--if it is still enlarged we'll check again at 1 month old and 6 months old. The doctor goes through the issue and then says "But I really don't want you to worry about this at all." With 'worst case' being an operation at one and not 'your baby won't survive' which is what we heard a lot last time around, we both looked at each other, turned back to the doctor and said at the same time "Don't worry, we won't." And we won't.
Oh, and since my little "I'm still so small" post the pregnancy gods have bitten back. I feel HUGE all of a sudden (and apparently I'm "a lot bigger" according to A--how sweet :)).
Due Date: I think we may have the WORST DUE DATE EVER. I can say this, because Bedo is coming within DAYS of my birthday so I know what it is like. Let's face it--any birthday between Dec 20 and Jan 10 blows. No way around it. Holiday rush and holiday hangover. Doesn't get much worse. Andrew thinks I'm crazy, but what does he know....he's an AUGUST baby.
Sadly, I (well, we) did this to the kid. I can't claim innocence. Not gonna say I didn't want it a different time, but not gonna pretend I didn't know the potential consequences. So now the Christmas baby who spent a good while bitching about it, is having a Christmas baby and two January babies. Payback is a bitch. (My mother is thrilled).
Other than a lifelong apology, my current plan for all three kids is to do what my mom did--give me gifts on my 'half birthday.' I'm going to ask family members, if they feel like it, to hold off on birthday gifts and give them something instead during a "Xmas in July" celebration or something along those lines. As you get older there are some positives of a Xmas birthday, but as a kid getting all your gifts at one time is by far the WORST part about being a Xmas baby. When you are little you grow out of clothes in 6 months, and you like new toys in 6 months. So since I essentially did it to all 3 of them, I'm going to keep their parties (where they hopefully won't get gifts anyway) at their birthday times but ask family members to give gifts during the summer. We'll see if it works.
As for delivery date, the worst days appear to be 12/24, 12/25, 12/26 and 1/1, but none of the others are very sweet. Right now I'm shooting for a 12/29, 12/30, or 12/31 scheduled section. Any opinions??
Movement: Bedo is either lazy, really low key, or you feel things a lot less with one. Or I am remembering how much I felt wrong. With C/D it felt like once I started feeling movement they never stopped. C was ALWAYS moving (they'd tell me that every ultrasound too). D was typical D--she'd be really quiet for awhile, and then something would happen to set her off and she'd go crazy (read: LOTS of kicks to the bladder). Anyway, all in it felt like a lot more movement than with this one. It's been a rough few weeks and I'm not going to say that it doesn't worry me sometimes because I will go a long time without feeling anything.
Round Two: The resolutions have begun. Things I will do differently this time around:
--I will NOT get diapers with characters of any kind on them again for oh so many reasons. Hello Seventh Generation. Or maybe even G diapers.
--I will NOT think I am being a GOOD mother by microwave steam cleaning the bottles after each use. I cringe to think of it (though Andrew did tell me about an article that says the bpa/XX. I may even get glass bottles this time around.
--I will NOT let the kid chew on anything plastic, especially those damn rubber bath toys.
--I will keep the kid away from Target as long as possible. I know I've bitched about Target before, and I've learned to like it a LOT more. But my new issue with it is that EVERYTHING is commercialized there. I realize this may have to be done to keep costs down but as a parent trying to keep my children from falling into the corporatization of childhood abyss it makes going there a total pain in the ass. You can't buy a toothbrush without a trademarked character on it. Every toy and even piece of clothing seems to have some character on it, and princess crap abounds. It is too bad too because there are so many great things to find at Target for kids, but I'm resigning to try to go on my own as often as possible from now on. (Sometimes I worry too because things are so cheap there that it is easy to say "sure you can get that," even when you want to teach them moderation, etc. At the absurdly expensive toy stores around me it is a LOT easier to say "no").
There are others, but these are definitely the first ones that come to mind.
Here's a pic of monkey #3. I know it is 3D and that creeps some people, including me, out a little. But at the last ultrasound I realized that after my last pregnancy I equate the normal ultrasound pics with fear, worry, and anxiety so we're going with the 'creep out' factor instead.
And perhaps even creepier to some of you, here's a VIDEO. Look at that beautiful 4 chamber heart go!!
The Olympics--ok, Michael Phelps--has taken away too much of my sleep in the past week. But how much fun was he to watch???!!! I get chills watching the replays of everything still. We made C/D watch many of his races---they liked it, but they still prefer to watch their cousin Ainsley's swimming video. (And at first they thought they were going to see their cousin Michael in the pool). It got me so excited to show them more Olympics in the future.
Occasionally I have a potty mouth. It comes in waves, usually when tired or very frustrated. In recent years I've cleaned it up considerably. But on rare occasions the facade crumbles. The other day in Tahoe Chris said "shit" and the girls repeated it. I had to explain the "adult words" concept to them. Then this morning (it's been a long, tiring week already and it is only Wednesday) I said it in a moment of despair. I heard "shhhh" start to come out of their mouths and quickly reminded them that there were 'adult words' that even adults really shouldn't say, but kids should never say. They quickly agreed.
"That's an adult word. Girls can't say that word. But girls can say "Oh man!" If only.
P.S. This conversation has come up again. And no, I wasn't swearing. I was actually looking for a parking space, couldn't find one, and said "Oh man!" C says from the back, "Girls can say 'oh man.'" And D, in her little nasal voice says "Yes but you can't say 'shit.'"
Most nights when C and D go to bed they have what Andrew calls a "Pajamarama Party." Once we finally extricate ourselves from the room--and God knows that has become more and more difficult as their newest trick is "Mommy I have one more question for you." (usually "Are you going to sleep in your footy pajamas?" "Is Daddy going to put your pajamas on?" "Are you wearing a diaper?")--the party begins. We didn't realize this was a little unusual (or at least, more twin-centric) until we went to Sonoma and everyone was fascinated by the conversations and songs and general mayhem coming over their monitors for what seemed like HOURS the nights we were there.
I really need to capture some of their conversations on video, but here's a clip of C serenading her already sleeping sister to sleep. As you can hear, she thinks she's pretty good. (and no, there is nothing to see, just hear)
The Valim (Carpenter/Dodson/Vimont) family trekked it up to Tahoe for the weekend to see my brother Mikie and hang out. Andrew flew in from Rhode Island to Reno (yeah, 12+ hour trip when all is said and done...awesome!) and made it for half the time. We had a great time and I realized how much I miss both my brother Mikie and Tahoe. I miss Mikie because he is one of the funniest, sweetest guys I know and he's a great uncle (well, when he calls you back : )). I miss Tahoe because I love the smell, the mountain air, the weather. I miss summertime (no, we don't get one in this city--I mean what can you expect from such a cheap place to live!)
C and D LOVE spending time with their cousins. They are obsessed with Barrett and Michael, who are incredibly sweet to them (Michael kept coming up just to "pat their heads.") My favorite time up there was the first 10 minutes we got into the house---Michael explored the house we were renting and C/D followed. Michael led the charge as two little girls in nothing but boys briefs ran around after him, laughing at everything he did. (I'm so excited for C/D to have a little boy cousin nearby soon!)
We had a great time at the pool playing and going down slides, and the girls even got to try their hands at golf (thanks Uncle Daniel for the lesson...Uncle Mikie we will be hitting you up soon to teach C/D!!) While the coustins were here we also got to ride Thomas the Train (with the Dholakias too). While there the girls wanted nothing to do with us, which left my Mom and Chris w/ 4 (of their soon to be NINE grandkids) and Andrew wondering if there was a "Thomas bar" on on the premises. (Believe me, if they could have made money off of a bar, they would have done it...what a RACKET). Finally, we got to play outside on the waterslide at my mom's house.
Here are some pics of our trip and the activities we did while they were in town (a golf video to come but I haven't gotten everything back on my computer yet...ugh)
