Question of the Week: What Item Do You Splurge On?

What Item Do You Splurge On?

There is one thing that I do consider to be a real splurge of mine and that is Aveda Brilliant Damage Control spray. It costs $15 for an 8.5oz bottle. I go through two (maybe three depending on summer heat, frequency of swimming, etc) a year. I love this stuff! It makes my hair feel great and I love the way it smells. I’d use Aveda shampoos but they’re just too darn expensive!

And Uggs. I love my Uggs. I’ve got a few boots and three pairs of slippers. I LOVE THEM and completely recommend them to everyone. The cost is worth the comfort and quality, in my opinion.

There are a few other things that I “splurge” on… I go to a fancy-pants salon to get my eyebrows/lip waxed every month and a half or so. I find it so relaxing and I really trust my lady there to do a good job. Plus they use all natural stuff so I think it helps with my uber-sensitive skin. There’s no way I could do it myself, in addition to not trusting myself to over/under-tweeze. 🙂 I get my hair cut at the same salon, which is also a splurge but I justify it because I only get my hair cut once a year, if that.

When it came to decorating the nurseries, I splurged – a little. I got Pottery Barn Kids bedding for the big girls. I had found it on sale, but it was still a big purchase at the time. (In fact, they DO offer a multiples discount however the gal behind the counter said they didn’t… but they do so don’t be fooled if you’re in the market for some PBK!) I “splurged” on PBK bedding for Snowdrop, too – but I bought it on 75% off clearance. SCORE! And her curtains were PBK from Ebay. DEAL!!! I’m really into PBK, I think they’ve got the cutest stuff for kid’s rooms. I tend to buy accessories and accents at places like Homegoods or Target, etc. But bedding is something I splurge on for the kids. I like our nurseries to be adorable. And they are! 🙂

When I go back home to the Big City, I’ll splurge on stuff like Bakery Food from my old bakery or I’ll go on a little Ikea spree because we don’t have one where we live.

Question of the Week: Are you involved in your local Mother’s (Parent’s) of Multiples Club?

Are you involved in your local Mother’s (Parent’s) of Multiples Club?

I am not involved in our local Mothers of Twins/Multiples Club. They charge a yearly fee, plus require you to attend a certain number of meetings, dinners, etc. It’s not that I don’t want to be involved, I do, but fees and requirements just don’t work for us when it comes to something like a Twins Club. Plus, when I inquired the gal told me that most of the mothers are older. Nothing against older moms (seriously) but at the time I was 25. There is certainly a difference between 25 and 37. Certainly, a 37 year old might be able to offer me some good advice – and even though being MoMs might be something we have in common, I doubted there would be much else we’d be able to share. I was really looking to find MoMs (potential friends!!) my age who were raising multiples – moms that I could go out with for girls nights and moms that I could have over for playdates.

I put an ad on Craigslist once, looking for other moms of multiples. I didn’t get any replies.

I’m 27 now (will be 28 this year). More and more of our friends are having babies (no friends with multiples yet though – my fingers are always crossed that someone else will get to share in the magic of having multiples) so playdates with other kids are more common now than they were two years ago. I still don’t do girls night out but that’s mainly because I’m too tired at the end of the day to go out AND because although I really enjoy the company of my husband’s friends… I still feel like they’re not MY friends (I don’t know. That’s a whole other post right there!). (MY friends are up in the Big City, living out East, out West, and all over the world… not exactly accessible for Girls Nights Out!)

I’d love to start a multiples playgroup (a FREE group) but I really don’t know where to go other than Craigslist and that didn’t work out the first time – maybe I’ll try again this summer. I am absolutely hoping that when the girls start school there will be other multiples in their class that they can play with. Not that I only want them playing with multiples (that would be weird) but I think being a multiple is a special dynamic and to have friends that share that same quality would be nice.

 

 

Question of the Week: Child Leashes, Yay or Nay?

How do you feel about child harnesses?

We don’t use child harnesses but that’s only because every time we go to buy them… I figure I should save the money instead of spending it. I mean, we rarely take the girls out anyways so why would we need leashes? That said… I’m a fan of them and wish we had them because I think it would be nice for when we did take them out. Like, on walks around the neighborhood for example. Before Snowdrop was born, we could each “take” a kid and have a nice walk around our ‘hood’ while keeping on eye on whoever was under our charge for the walk. I think they really enjoyed walking by themselves and being able to pick up leaves, rocks, and flowers.

I don’t think they are an example of laziness – what’s lazy about following your kid on a lease? Wouldn’t it be easier (lazier) to have the kids strapped up in a stroller so you don’t have to “walk” them or worry about what their little hands are touching? Or lazier to not take them out at all?

I’m all for leashes. Maybe I’ll get one for Snowdrop when she gets older.

Question of the Week: How do you save money at the grocery store? What are your best tips and tricks?

Wow! I actually completed a QOTW on the day it came out! Go me!! Let’s hope I can keep up from now on. 🙂

How do you save money at the grocery store? What are your best tips and tricks?

I have always been a thrifty grocery shopper. I hate buying things that aren’t on sale and I stock up on the canned goods or frozen stuff if it is on sale. Olives, artichokes, fruit cocktail… I can usually get olives and artichokes 4 for $5 – I think that’s a good deal and I don’t hesitate to get the store brand, and so I stock up. Fruit Cocktails (Del Monte brand only), I prefer to buy in the largest can I can get (30oz) and on a good sale, which would be like $2 per can.  

I always have my phone with me and thus a very handy dandy calculator. If something is on sale and a smaller can/box/whatever of it is not – I’ll do a little math and figure out which is the best deal. Just recently, it was cheaper per egg to buy two seperate dozens instead of one 24-pack. Make sense?

Since becoming a MoM, I’ve become especially diligent about using coupons. I have a coupon file that it labeled in categories like: breakfast & bread, baking & condiments, fresh, dairy, drinks, frozen, snacks, health & cleaning (soap, shampoo, lysol, etc)… oh a few more categories but I can’t think of them at the moment and I’m not going to go dig out my coupon file from my purse. It makes me happy to know that I’m saving money – even when it’s just a few dollars total. I feel that as a SAHM I have some sort of responsibility to save my family money when & where I can. I hardly ever take advantage of double coupons (the policy is somewhat confusing to me AND I rarely have coupons for under 40 cents).

 

We feed our daughters a lot of organic food. We’re not 100% organic but it’s been pretty important to us to make sure that they get organic milk, meat, and processed foods (like “goldfish” or “penguin bars” <- I can’t think of the brand but we get them at Whole Foods and they have a penguin on them.) Organic fruits and veggies, we only buy if it’s a good deal. We haven’t had a lot of coupons for organic stuff so if it’s on sale, I stock up. Also, I don’t know if other grocery stores offer this but Whole Foods offers a 10% discount if you buy a case. So… when buying Macaroni & Cheese, Applesauce, or Raviolis (things that I KNOW we will use up by the expiration date) I buy it in a case. The three I mentioned come 12 to a case – so it’s not like I have a crate full of boxed/canned food. I always wait until it’s on sale and then I’m saving even more money. What a deal!!

 

Finally, Sam’s Club/Costco whatever the warehouse store around you is… get a membership. It’s worth the upfront $35 membership. Diapers, Paper Towel, Toilet Paper – I mean, those three items alone – these are things you will continually need. It drives me crazy when I see people buying like a 12 pack of toilet paper. I mean… hello? I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say that you’re probably going to use all that up and then need more. Why not buy a huge bulk thing of toilet paper and find somewhere to store it in your house. It can’t take up THAT much room. And unless you die, you’re gonna use it – I promise. Garbage bags, Ziplock bags, too. It’s worth buying these things in bulk because you will definitely be using them and they won’t go to waste. Like most other parents of multiples, we have spent a lot of time pricing out the different stores as far as diapers. Sam’s (although I’m sure Costco is similar, we just happen to belong to Sam’s – for now at least. I’ve heard Cosco has a lot of Organic stuff – is this true, people? I need answers!! haha)  Sam’s has the best price per diaper than other stores (Target, Babies-R-Us, Walmart, etc). I think that’s even using coupons. This is for Huggies, the only brand we use for diapers and wipes. With three in diapers, there is no question that we save money by purchasing our diapers from there.

 

So My Best Tips?

– Stock up if something is on sale. If you know you’re gonna eat this stuff and need more in a few weeks, purchase it now and save yourself a few cents.

– Coupons. The 21-year-old I used to be would never have been caught dead using a COUPON. Now, I live for my weekly coupon mailer. What was I thinking? I could have saved so much money back in the day.

– Find out your store policy on buying in bulk – do they offer a discount like Whole Foods does on case purchases? If so, take advantage of it.

– Sam’s Club, Costco, etc. Take advantage of the savings and buy the necessities (garbage bags, toilet paper, paper towels, etc) in bulk. If you can’t store all the rolls – see if a friend wants to split the cost with you. I’m sure they use toilet paper, too!

 

Good luck! Save money!! You’ll thank yourself when the kids are on their own and you can use your hard-saved money for something fun, like a real vacation which you’ll need after raising all those multiples! 🙂

 

 

 

Question of the Week: What are Your Go-To Meals?

*I’m still playing catch-up with the QOTW from Multiples…and More!, this question was asked last week!*

What are Your Go-To Meals?

We normally make separate dinner for the girls since they eat mainly organic. A go-to dinner for them might be macaroni & cheese, with apple slices or fruit cocktai OR peanut butter sandwiches with banana on the side. Or really any mixture of one main thing and two or three side dishes: chicken nuggets or fishies (fish nuggets shaped like fishies) or hot dogs for a main dish. And for the sides: apple slices, avocado, tomatos, cheese, carrots, green beans (they LOVE gb’s), applesauce, olivies, artichokes, potatos, salad if mommy is having one (daddy doesn’t eat rabbit food)…. sometimes if I make a meatless pasta dish we’ll share it with the girls and eat the same thing.

 

We generally try to get a main item (meat or fish or pasta or peanut butter sandwiches) with something healthy on the side (fruit or veggie). We get a lot of fresh things from the local farmer’s market but I also buy bags of frozen veggies for when we’re in a pinch. When all else fails peanut butter is quick and a crowd favorite!

 

We’re lucky that we exposed the girls to all sorts of food as babies so they’re pretty open to whatever we give them. They even LOVE roasted garlic. Not many babies like garlic, so I hear at least.

 

We all really love potatoes and they are part of most meals for Hubby and myself. I always find, like tonight, that no matter how well the girls ate their dinner they’re always creeping around the table asking for bites of potatos. They love ’em! 🙂

 

Sidenote: I’d just like to say that I’d trust anything that the Pioneer Woman told me to make. Seriously. She’s the best and I go-to her website A LOT for recipes.

Jello has been a big hit lately so I use that as a prize offering. As in “clean up your toys and we can make some Jello!!!!!!!!!!!!” or “Now take a good nap and we can eat some Jello when you wake up!!!!!!!” It’s inexpensive (not organic but I never said we were 100% organic) and I also use it to teach colors to the girls. And Jello is so cheap.

 

Question of the Week: Best & Worst Advice on Raising Multiples?

*I’m still playing catch-up with the QOTW from Multiples…and More!, this question was asked a few weeks ago*

What is the best and worst advice you have ever received on raising your multiples?

How do I handle unsolicited advice? I usually smile and nod while saying something like “Oh really? WOW! I had no idea!!” or “No kidding! I should try that some time!” or “Hmm very interesting!” I like getting advice from other moms some of the time. I’m not big on unsolicited advice but I’m pretty clear when I’m asking for it.

 

A lot of the time I swing it myself if I have a parenting question. I learn on the job, so to speak. Sometimes I’ll look for the answer on various blogs that I read. Sometimes I check out babycenter – even though most of the women there tend to just ‘fight’ all the time. If I’m daring, I’ll call my mom but that’s only when we’re getting along. Or I’ll call and ask a friend. Especially about breastfeeding because my friends are experienced with that.

 

Gosh, I can’t think of the most helpful thing I’ve learned from another blog. I’m stumped right now. I learn all sorts of stuff from the gals at Multiples…and More! Recently, I learned about Ziplock Big Bags from Sarah over at The Great Umbrella Heist (my favorite blog EVER). I think it’s safe to say that Ziplock Big Bags have saved my life and I’ll be using them forever.

 

Worst Piece of Advice? Hmmmm. I’m not sure it was advice, but I remember a lot of people being like “You’re really in for it!” when we told them we were having twins. That always rubbed me the wrong way. Yes having twins has been really hard at times – but never too hard. Also, people would tell me horror stories about twin pregnancies and births. That sucked. I’m super paranoid as it is, I don’t need to know about your friend of a friend of a cousin of a grocer that your great aunt knows who had twins and one of them died and the other came out looking like a monster. I just don’t need to know those things. Most especially during my first pregnancy… with twins.

Best piece of advice I could offer? If I had to stick with just one piece of advice, it would be this: When your multiples are young enough to not crawl out of their cribs and you’re having a really crummy day and you just NEED A BREAK. Go ahead and put your kids in their cribs with some age appropriate books. Hop into the shower (leave the door open so you can hear if someone has escaped) and enjoy your five or ten minutes of bliss. The kids won’t get hurt being in their cribs and you will get some much needed time to yourself. A hot shower can do wonders for a stressed soul – even a short shower! A happy mom is a good mom and happy mom makes for happy babies.

 

And because I’m incapable of saying just ONE thing… it’s also to expose your kids to all sorts of different foods. Even foods you might not like yourself. It will help them in the long run and make your job of feeding them much easier if you have a broad range of choices to choose from.

Gates. Buy gates. Buy the super yard.

 

Question of the Week: Do you believe in Mother’s/Father’s Intuition?

*I’m still playing catch-up with the QOTW from Multiples…and More!, this question was asked a few weeks ago*

Do you believe in Mother’s/Father’s Intuition?

Oh gosh, I absolutely believe in it. For example, several times every week I will say something to the girls like “Get down from there now or you will fall and hurt yourself! GET DOWN NOW.” And then they don’t get down and within a minute they’ve fallen and hurt themselves. Sometimes I can tell by the quiet in the room just exactly what they’re getting into behind my back – is that  really intuition though? Or just the eyes in the back of my head?

 

Two weeks ago (just before Easter), the girls contracted RSV. I wasn’t sure about it until Snowdrop caught it. Then I was positive it was RSV. I called our old pediatrician’s office to say I think my baby has RSV and can she been seen today? And the receptionist told me to give her some Benedryl and get a humidifier going in the room. NO WAY was I doing that. We waited it out a day to see if it would get worse (it did) and then called a new pediatrician on Friday. They were able to test in their office for RSV and sure enough (just as I knew it would be) the test was positive. RSV. My poor baby has RSV and I knew it and the batty receptionist told me to Benedryl her. JDHSFKDSHFKLDSHKLFHDSLFKJHDSFLKSDHF!!!!!!!!

 

Mother’s Intuition or experience with RSV, either way – I just knew it.

 

A few times in my life as a mother, I’ve done the re-check or gone to check on them “just in case” and sure enough, an arm is out of the strap on the car seat or someone is eating food from the floor next to the garbage can, or someone is perched perilously on the window seat or they’ve pulled the blanket over their heads (I realize at 2 years old, it’s unlikely they’d suffocate but I still rip that blanket off their head so fast I can’t help myself!).

 

Sometimes a mother just knows something is up. Like my mother said when I was growing up and like I say now “I smell a rat.”

 

Question of the Week: How did you choose your multiples’ names?

*I’m still playing catch-up with the QOTW from Multiples…and More!, this question was asked several weeks ago. And it’s a long one. For me.*

 

How did you choose your multiples’ names?

Did you stick with family names?
How do you feel about “matchy” names?
Did you worry about their names “coordinating?”
Did you name your babies before you met them, or wait until you saw them to assign names?
What were your second choices?
Did you consider the popularity of a name as a deciding factor?

The first thing I always think of when it comes to my children’s names is that they aren’t named the real names we wanted them to be named. This is particularly true for the Juniper & Magnolia, and partially true for Snowdrop. See, Hubby and I found out we were having twins and in the spirit of being the hippies (well, trust-fund-country-club hippies, except neither of us has a trust fund but you get the idea) that we are, we wanted to name our daughters something botanical and with meaning to us. We got engaged (well, our engagement night dinner) at a restaurant we loved (it’s no longer open) that had the word Juniper in it. So, Juniper was a name for our first girl. Magnolia is a flower we both love. So… Juniper & Magnolia. We love these names. We announced this to our families and were promptly shot down in abundance, even though we planned to call them Maggie & June. My mother even called me one morning to ask me not to name her granddaughters Juniper & Magnolia. While I have the stubborness of a mule when it comes to my family, Hubby does not. So… after much discussion, we settled on “normal” names. (I won’t divulge them here because as you know if you’re a reader of my blog, I use psuedonyms in bulk.) I love their names but of course, I will always wish that we had gone ahead and named them Juniper & Magnolia. We still call them Juniper & Magnolia as nicknames.
The names they ended up with, I did not think were particularly popular. We didn’t have Internet at the time and had I been able to research Junie’s real name – she would have ended up with something else because her name is actually sort of popular (in the top 40 of her birth year). Mag’s real name hasn’t been in the top 1000 since 1965 so I’m much more pleased with our choice her name. We intended to call them by nicknames (nn for the real name) but I usually call them by their full name since I began to hear their nicknames EVERYWHERE whenever I went out. I don’t want them to be one of many with the same name in their class. I was one of those kids and I hated it.

I wanted to do family surnames as middle names. In hindsight, I should have made more of a case for it. I really like the ‘trend’ of doing that. We did use family names in the sense that Junie shares my middle name, Mags has my first sister’s name as her middle name, and Snowdrop has my second sister’s name as her middle name. If we have a boy, his middle name will be Hubby’s first name as in keeping with his side of the family’s tradition. My family didn’t have traditions. I’m trying to start them. (So hopefully Junie’s first daughter will share her – and my – middle name, etc.)
 
I do not like matchy names. For example, I would never name my boy-girl twins Larry & Mary, nor would I name my girl-girl twins Millie & Lillie. But I DID worry about their names coordinating. I’m big on the coordination when it comes to their clothes, too. I didn’t want them sounding like they didn’t belong to the same family. Both girls, I will say, have old lady names and I love them. They don’t rhyme but they sound lovely together and have a nice flow. This is something that was also important to me when we were expecting our third child. I didn’t want to anyone to stick out like a sore thumb or grow up thinking that they were different from the rest of the family. (Maybe this is a remnant of being from an adopted family, I don’t know.) Their names don’t go quite as well with Snowdrop’s real name as in Snowdrop’s real name the vowels are stronger/louder in pronunication than Junie & Mags. Nonetheless, I suppose the names flow well together. Snowdrop’s real name is NOT the perfect name I had chosen for her but I felt bad denying Hubby’s requests for the name and I was really tired when we were in the hospital so I succumbed to the pressure. It is agreed upon though that should we have another girl, we will name her the name I wanted to name Snowdrop.
That brings me to this. We had the big girls’ names picked out well before they arrived. I even knew who was who inside of me. Snowdrop however didn’t have a name until hours after she was born, poor thing.
Popularity of a name was of utmost importance with Snowdrop – and would have had more of an impression on me with the first two, had we had Internet back then. I didn’t want a name that has been in the top 1000 for at least 20 years, preferably longer than that – never in the top 1000 would be perfect. 🙂 After the big girls were born, I would be grocery shopping or mall shopping and hear mothers calling after their children who shared the same name as Junie or the nickname we first called Mags. Now I’ve settled to having a popularly named first daughter, and as far as Mags goes – we call her by her full name now and I’m pretty positive (knock on wood) it will be a long time before we hear of another girl by her name. Snowdrop’s name itself has never been in the top 1000, ever. However, the name her name originates from was last in the top 1000 in, like, 1979. And it was near the end, too.
 
I also wanted to note that we thought heavily about naming the big girls after music. Like… Scarlet Begonia (the Dead), Lilly (Widespread Panic), Cecilia (Simon & Garfunkel), Lucy (the Beatles), Melissa (Allman Brothers), Jane (Dave Matthews Band), and I wanted Lady (after Led Zeppelin – and partially after the movie Almost Famous)… oh gosh, there were lots more than this. But we weren’t cool enough to do it. So there.

This post would make a lot more sense if I could just share my childrens’ names… but since I blog on the rule of psuedonyms, I can’t share such classified information. My most sincere apologies for any and all confusion. 🙂

Question of the Week: Do you think birth order has any effect on personality in multiples?

*I’m still playing catch-up with the QOTW from Multiples…and More!, this question was asked several weeks ago*

Do you think birth order has any effect on personality in multiples?

I’m sure birth order affects multiples in some ways. I’m just not sure how it affects my multiples. I’ll be honest, I don’t really know a lot about birth order and what it all means!! So I searched online for a chart or something that would enlighten me. I found this:
 
(courtesy of: http://www.childdevelopmentinfo.com/development/birth_order.shtml)
First Child:
*is only child for period of time; used to being center of attention
*believes must gain and hold superiority over other children
*being right, controlling often important
*may respond to birth of second child by feeling unloved and neglected
*strives to keep or regain parents attention through conformity. If this failed, chooses to misbehave
*may develop competent, responsible behavoir or become very discouraged
*sometimes strives to protect and help others
*strives to please
 
Second Child:
*never has parents’ undivided attention
*always has sibling ahead who’s more advanced
*acts as if in race, trying to catch up or overtake first child
*if first child is “good”, second may become “bad”. develops abilities first child doesn’t exhibit. If first child is successful, may feel uncertain of self and abilities.
*may be rebel
*often doesn’t like position
*feels “squeezed” if third child is born
*may push down other siblings
 
Now after reading this, I think our girls are a little young to analyze. I also think that because they are multiples and therefore not really “first” or “second” children that they exhibit qualities from both lists. Neither baby has ever had our “undivided attention”, save from the few times we’ve taken them out separately to get some alone time. And they haven’t really exhibited any of the qualities listed for First Child, other than that they misbehave get attention. But really, what kid doesn’t do that?
 
I think they both share some of the qualities from the Second Child list. They switch back and forth between being the “more advanced” child. Sometimes one does something before the other… the other soon catching up to the new trick. Neither has become a “bad” child just because her sister is “good”; gosh, they’re only two years old after all. If rebeling can be applied to things like not taking naps and making messes in their room… then yes, they sure are rebels!! And I can take the last quality “may push down siblings” quite literally as there is a lot of knocking sisters down around here, pushing, and wrestling each other to the ground. (I thought only boys did that?!  -Nope.)
 
But I don’t think they feel squeezed out by their newest sibling, Snowdrop. We talked a lot about Snowdrop before she arrived and I think we did a good job at preparing them for the changes. Sure, there are days when they act out but like I’ve mentioned, they are only two years old – not exactly the age of reason. And they’ve done nothing but LOVE their baby sister. Really, I can’t think of any time that they acted out against the baby. Juniper tried to pick her up yesterday from her newborn lounger and Snowdrop ended up rolling down the side of the lounger and onto the ground. She wasn’t hurt and of course, I didn’t scold Junie because she was just trying to console her baby sister. Pretty cute!! (In my defense, I was changing Mag’s diaper not lounging with a cocktail on the porch. AND I did, however, tell her that while I know she was trying to help she is not allowed to pick Baby Snowdrop up yet. Let’s hope she doesn’t try that again!)
 
I think other people tend to classify our kids into different personalities but I try to always tell them that both girls act the same way at different times and that they’re not all that different. I WILL say that while Junie tends to get upset much easier, Mags is the type to let things just roll off her back. In that way, they are different.
 
Editor’s Note: I wrote the above passage a few weeks ago. Since then (well, the last two weeks) Mags has been “exhibiting” signs of feeling squeezed out and loss of attention. While she loves her Baby Snowdrop very much and is an excellent big sister, she has been pushing her limits lately and I think it’s because of the new baby. So I took her to the market with me yesterday and Hubby & I have plans to up the one-on-one time for the big girls.
 
I will also note that I’m not sure I completed this question to it’s fullest extent, my apologies.
 

 

Motherhood Has Made Me Forgetful…

So I thought I had finished catching up with all the QOTW from the last few weeks… but I haven’t. I don’t know what reminded me today that I still had to answer the QOTW about my multiples’ names and also about birth order. I’ll TRY to get those up tomorrow when they go to Grandma’s house but I can’t promise anything because tomorrow is SAINT PATRICK’S DAY!!! (And I’m making Irish Soda bread because the ones at the store were glazed with something and I don’t think glaze is traditional on Soda Bread. So I’m making my own, from scratch.)

Being the redheaded, Irish-Catholic girl that I am (I even have a shamrock tattoo… on my butt, ala Xavier Roberts and the Cabbage Patch Kids) – I LOVE LOVE LOVE St. Patrick’s Day. Corned Beef & Cabbage – ooh, I could eat that once a week all year round! Rye Bread!! Green River, when I was a kid. I wear a Proud to be Irish shirt year round. Summer, Fall, Winter, and Spring. I’ve had it since my 12th birthday and yes, it STILL fits. It’s got a few small holes in it, as of a year ago…and is becoming slightly more see-through as the years go by. I’ve begun washing it in a gentle cycle just to preserve it’s life. I’ve got a good story about my Irish Pride but it will have to wait until another day because it’s getting late.

Of course, in the past as a single gal, I’d celebrate by drinking with my girl friends and smoking the leprechaun’s lucky herb with my guy friends. Why, oh why, is Saint Patrick’s Day the big “get drunk” holiday? No I know, Irish people drink blah blah blah. Now that I’m older these things are less important to me. More important are things like corned beef, and cabbage, and surprising my children with leprechaun visits. THIS year will be a different Saint Patrick’s Day.

THIS year, the leprechauns came to our house. Well, they’re coming. Well, they came already but as far as the girls know, they’re coming in the night while we’re all asleep. I bought some lucky green coins from the dollar store and some green Peeps (not organic, but hey it’s a special day and they’re only getting two each) and new hats (dollar section of Target) and new dresses (no Irish theme to these dresses, just cute dresses that I hope fit because they’re size 24 months). Why would leprechauns bring my daughters new dresses? I have no idea considering new clothes is the last thing on their need list. Haha! But it’s fun to have a treasure hunt! I made a path of coins from their room to all the treasures downstairs in our family room. I even made a note from the leprechauns. There is nothing super creative about this, in fact my note was REALLY stupid. It went something like this:

Dear Redheads,

You have been very good girls this year. Hope you enjoy your treasure hunt. Follow the lucky coins!

Love, The Leprechauns

But I don’t think they’ll overthink the stupidity of my note. They’re two years old, so I think they’ll be excited about the leprechauns. We talked about leprechauns all week. I know they think leprechauns dress in all green (which they do) and that most leprechauns have red hair like them. Tomorrow they will wear these kelly green pants from TCP and shirts (also from TCP) that say “Big Sisters Are The Coolest”. I don’t know why they don’t have Irish wear. (Well, they have these Irish dresses my grandma made, I’ll have to post a picture of the dresses, maybe tomorrow?) Perhaps I’ll take Snowdrop to Target and scoop up some Irish wear on sale? For next year.

We’ll be eating Corned Beef, Cabbage, Potatoes, etc, at my In-Laws house tomorrow for dinner, along with my Irish Soda Bread. I hope my MIL got rye bread. I don’t think I celebrate without some good rye.

What are YOUR Saint Patrick’s Day traditions? Do leprechauns visit your house? Do you wear a “Kiss Me I’m Irish” button all day? Dress in green? 🙂

 

Question of the Week: Daylight Savings Time Tips/Tricks

SO. I am FINALLY caught up with all the Questions of the Week!! Whoohoo!!! This week’s question is ACTUALLY FROM THIS WEEK. YAY ME! See, I had taken a leave of absence when Snowdrop was born – I just couldn’t get it all done. But I’ve spent some of my free time going back and answering all the questions. I was finally able to post all my answers this morning (so yes, there are like 8 or 9 new posts from me today if you check out my homepage…). This last question is this week’s QOTW from the Multiples…and More! blog.

What are Your Daylight Savings Time Tips and Tricks?

This is actually a pretty simple answer for me (GASP! I know! I won’t write a novella for this answer, I promise.)

My best tip is to act as normal. For example, today my daughters at lunch at noon like usual. (Without Springing Forward, it was really eleven. But they don’t know the difference.) If they still took naps, I’d still attempt a nap today at the regular time, perhaps just half hour later than normal.

Whether I lose or gain an hour, I just keep things as normal. Hubby is napping on the couch now because he “lost” an hour of sleep. I don’t understand his logic because I really feel it’s just a matter of turning the clocks forward or back. But that’s just me. 🙂

Play along on your blog and answer this week’s Question of the Week at Multiples And More! 

 

(see. i told you i wouldn’t write a very long answer.)

Question of the Week: Are Parents of Multiples Really More Likely to Divorce?

Are parents of multiples really more likely to divorce?

I didn’t think about this until Kate Gosselin infamously said it.

I think that life for parents of multiples (most notably the first year) is absolutely, 100%, no question about it, harder than for parents of just one child. After giving birth to a singleton and experiencing what life “could have been” with just one – I do feel that I’m entitled to make such an observation and opinion. Life with one child is a breeze. Sure, you have the late nights, the same worries, the financial concerns – but with two (or more) it is literally twice (or more) as much. I think having those extra stresses can swing you both ways. Sometimes it makes your bond stronger, and sometimes it can pull you apart.

When our daughters were born, my husband and I were also dealing with becoming newlyweds, me moving to the Little City, us buying a house, him starting to support a family, etc. There was a LOT more going on for us than just “having babies”. We had a lot of support from family and most of our friends – and this was essential to our survival.

I think that if you had a strong bond before, you are more likely to come out ahead and far away from divorce. I’m not sure if I think that parents of multiples are more likely to get divorced. I can see how that phrase might be true (given the stresses of being a parent of multiples) but for the most part, I don’t really think it is true. I think that as  parent of multiples, you really become a TEAM and that the craziness of doing it together brings you closer. This is, at least, my experience. We don’t have a picture perfect marriage (believe me) but we’re able to work things out. We WANT to be married for the rest of our lives. We KNOW that we will fight and disagree. We ACCEPT that. We REMEMBER that we were by each others’ side during what seemed to be the worst of times, and that we survived.

So… I guess my answer is no. I don’t think we’re more likely. In fact, I think we’re less likely. I think that the more you survive as a couple, the more likely you’re going to stick together.

Question of the Week: Dear Pregnant Self…

This Question of the Week is a little different than other QOTW. This QOTW explores your (my, yours, etc) pregnant self… your pregnant-with-multiples self. The QOTW is:

If you could go back in time (ala Marty McFly) and have a chat with your pregnant self, what would you say?

There’s a lot I’d tell myself. A lot.

1. Read up on giving birth… perhaps I wouldn’t have needed a c-section if they had given Baby A a “flush/bath of water” in utero to calm her down. (They did this for Snowdrop at the same turning point when Juniper freaked out… and Snowdrop ended up coming out regularly.)

2. Ask for a seasoned nurse  – she might be able to help you have those babies naturally/without a c-section.

3. Take a breastfeeding class.

4. Don’t be afraid to take clothes back to the store and exchange them for store credit or an outfit you like better. You won’t hurt anyone’s feelings.

5. You’ll lose friends. It’s not your fault. Don’t feel badly when it happens. It’s difficult to learn who can and will be there for you… and who doesn’t really care to accept your new role in life.

6. Schedule the Baptism for when the babies are four months old. If you MUST get them Baptized immediately, have a priest do it in the hospital and save the celebration and a “re-Baptism” with family present until the babies are a little older. (I had the girls Baptized just before they were two months old… and that was a big mistake. We were still sleeping on a mattress on the first floor… and I had just started being able to go up stairs… talk about a nightmare in having a party at our house.)

7. Put your foot down about this whole wedding. (I’m not getting into this today. It has to do with having a wedding, not marrying Hubby whom I love very much.)

7 1/2. Since Mother is insisting on a big wedding, don’t saddle up with just SIX bridesmaids… include everyone you should have and go for 15 bridesmaids. Hey, you only get married once and who cares if you have the largest wedding party ever – you’re also pregnant with twins! This is a wedding to remember!! 🙂

7 3/4. Use more Instrumental Led Zeppelin in the ceremony. You’ll thank yourself for having more than one LZ song played in church. 🙂

7 5/8. Hey, if Mother wants to have HUGE flower displays, go for it! Spend their money like crazy!!! Why are you holding back? Get a $5000 dress while you’re at it. 🙂 (Honestly though, for $500, I got the dress of my dreams. I don’t regret my dress at all.)

7 9/10. Do your own hair. Just do it.

8. Fix things with your old roommate. You want her by your side when you get married and have your kids. Not hundreds of miles away. You were both wrong. (We are now friends again. But it’s still just so different.)

9. Get Internet as soon as you move into your new house and start a blog. Start your own, start reading others…. learn about multiples.

10. Don’t tell ANYONE the names you’ve chosen for your babies. ANYONE. Um, don’t tell until they’re born. 🙂

11. You won’t lose the weight until they’re over a year old. And when you do end up losing the weight… you’ll find you’re pregnant again with only ten pounds left to lose. (Yep, people, this is how it went for me! Haha)

12. Buy a swing that plugs into the wall. Buy two swings, for that matter.

13. Don’t be afraid to speak up about your wants when you’re in the hospital. You can be damanding and still be a nice person.

14. Buy a camera before the babies are born. You’ll want to videotape the c-section and have pictures on your own camera… instead of borrowing your in-laws.

15. Life will change and you’ll have no idea how you ended up at this place. Accept it, and love it.

16. Buy convertible carseats. You won’t be taking the babies anywhere (except for doctor visits) until they’re bigger anyways… so their small stature in the convertible seat won’t matter so much. They outgrow the pumpkin seats so fast anyways – it’s much more economical to buy convertible. And hey, when you’re suprised by a pregnancy when your multiples are 1 1/2 years old you’ll really wish you had invested in slim-fit car seats like the Radian seats (that I now own upon the birth of my third child) so you don’t need a new car. 🙂

17. Don’t feel like a failure when you end up not being able to breastfeed your twins. Some things aren’t meant to be. This is one of them.

18. Be sure to have regular date nights with your significant other once the kids are born. Even if it’s a quick bite to eat, just getting out and being adults is so important and will mean so much.

19. Buy a breastpump BEFORE you give birth. Going to Babies-R-Us the night you come home, breasts engorged, incision still fresh from the c-section, and exhauted from everything that just happened… is no way to meet friends of your husband’s from high school. Seriously. Talk about unpleasant. “Hi, nice to meet you. I’m on percoset right now and have literal bowling balls for breasts.” Awesome.

20. You are going to take so many pictures you won’t know what to do with yourself. Buy a nice computer, with a CD/DVD burner, so you can copy pictures and videos to CD/DVDs every time you unload your camera. This way, you won’t end up having a HUGE PROJECT to do two years down the road. And you won’t be so paranoid about the safety of your external hard drive. 🙂

Okay. Seriously, this list doesn’t even begin to say everything I want it to… but it was a good start. And I have two more QOTWs to finish before I’m caught up to date with them. Phew! 🙂

Question of the Week: What Are Your Greatest Accomplishments from 2009 and What Do You Hope to Accomplish in 2010?

What are Your Greatest Accomplishments from 2009 and What do You Hope to Accomplish in 2010?

Greatest Accomplishment from 2009? Snowdrop, of course! And having that VBAC (whoohoo!)! Finishing off our third floor! Keeping up with my blog! Reconnected with old friends!

Hope to Accomplish in 2010? Finish our basement. Paint every wall in our house that isn’t yet painted. Save money. Be a little greener and cleaner. Go on a vacation with Hubby. Cook more often, try new recipes. Write more for my blog. Successful Breastfeeding – I might even do it longer than I thought I would! Lose some weight. Not get pregnant until at least 2011. 🙂

Question of the Week: What are Your Favorite Winter Activities?

What Are Some of Your Favorite Winter Activities?

I love Winter! I love SNOW. I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LoooooooooooooVE SNOW! Snow it my favorite part about Winter. If it’s cold, I think there should be that special white beauty all over the ground.

As a kid, I loved to go sledding. I haven’t gone in years but I can’t wait to take the kids next Winter. I still thought they were a little young this year to go to the “Big Hill” but Hubby pulled them around the yard and they loved that. My dad used to take us to the tobaggan chutes. We had our own tobaggan and it was great fun. The chutes were really high and really long. It was pretty awesome. I’m hoping to be able to take my kids sometime if we visit the Big City during Wintertime next year.

Ice Skating. I didn’t get to go this year because I was pregnant but I suppose I could still go in the summertime to a rink. I took skating lessons as a kid and I loved it. I wish I could take lessons now, haha!

Watching snow fall from the sky. Seriously, I could sit for hours at a window and watch it fall. Did I mention I love snow? In the Big City, we used to get some serious snowfall. Enough to build igloos and tunnels through the snow that the plows built up at the back of our driveway. Those were the days…

Wearing Uggs. I love my Uggs.

Building fires outside and wrapping myself in a blanket to keep warm. There’s something fun about freezing your ass off while you try and warm up by a fire.

Winter is fun! 🙂