Anniversaries, Poop, and Some Other Stuff

This week (April 7th to be exact) marked four years since Hubby and I have been together! I started writing a post about “us” but… decided it was better left for a ‘page’ so I’ll get that (“Our Story”) up when I find the time to finish it! 🙂

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Magnolia. Miss Magnolia. *sigh* Magnolia has (three times in the last two weeks) taken poop out of her diaper and smeared on things. I know this is something she’ll outgrow (she better outgrow this &%$#) but it’s pretty frustrating. She first did it in her room after waking up in the morning – Hubby cleaned it up and let me sleep through it (what a doll!). Then it happened again at Grandma’s house on Wednesday. She allegedly smeared it ALL OVER the pack n’ play – like, ALL OVER the netting on all sides. Poor Grandma had to clean it up. We told her to take it outside and use the power washer. ICK. And then yesterday HRH Magnolia QP (Her Royal Highness, Magnolia, the Queen of Poop) striked again. This time it was a handful of poop smeared onto the baby swing and the baby playmat. Needless to say we got very upset and she got a very long time out on “the step”.

It hasn’t happened since that last time (knock on wood… hell, I’ll knock twice for that!) and she’s since said a few times “I put poop all over place”. And then we go through the “Poop only belongs in your diaper” speech.

She’s been very good with the baby – she loves the baby, she really does. But part of me thinks this might be stemming from feeling left out or that we don’t have time for her anymore… it makes sense. So I took Mags with me to the market this past weekend. She seemed to really enjoy the only-her time with Mommy. We had slacked off on taking them out recently because they had gotten that cold and then RSV. Now that the weather is getting nicer and they’re not sick anymore we can start taking them out again. Hopefully this one-on-one time will remedy the poop situation.

UPDATE: This post has been a draft now for a couple days. After I wrote about Starbucks (see below), I saved this draft intending to finish it later.  In the meantime, HRH Magnolia QP struck again!!!!!!!!! ARGHHHHH! This time it wasn’t a ton of poop all over, just a little smeared on the baby’s jumperoo thingy. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger – but Lord! Please no more POOP ON OUR HOUSE!!!!! To make matters slightly worse, she has now said “I love poop!” more than twice. WTF. My kids are so weird.

Anyone have experience with this? How did you curb the love of poop?

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I’m drinking my first Starbucks since… December 2009. Early December. It’s delicious. I swear there’s something about Starbucks that makes me feel so… normal and like myself again. I’d say that it’s the caffeine except that today I got 2/3 decaf 1/3 not decaf. I drink an Iced Triple Tall Carmel Machiatto in the warm weather (sometimes in the winter, too) – and I have them put it in a grande cup to prevent from triple shot spillage. I must be a pain in the ass, especially since today I ordered 2 decaf shots and one regular shot. I’m still nursing so… I didn’t want to overload the baby with caffeine.

Anyways, my drink was delicious and if I could get a free minute, I’m sure I could whip through all this cleaning and preparation for this weekend. Snowdrop is getting Baptized this weekend (YAY! She’ll finally be free of Original Sin!!! Whoohoo!!! Devil be GONE! Haha!) ANYWAYS… so we’re having a lunch/brunch/food here after the ceremony on Sunday afternoon. We decided to go the easy route and order food. So we’ve got Mostaccioli, Toasted Ravioli’s on order. I’m going to pick up some bread/rolls this week as well as fruit to make a fruit salad. And some fine cheeses to throw together a cheese board. I love cheese boards and styling them. It’s the little things in life, you know? 🙂 My parents are bringing down a cake from the bakery I used to work at. I’m very excited about that. I’m a bakery snob and there’s nothing like my “own” bakery back home. Nothing like it anywhere! So since we’re having people over to our house (like official company!), we need to clean up. Big time. Well not big time… well, sort of. We’ve got a lot of “stuff” to put away and clutter to… de-clutter. 🙂

It’s been a crazy week so far, yesterday Hubby had Baseball Opening Day to attend (we’re season ticket holders and big baseball fans) and then he had a Softball game to play in (he plays during the summer with his buddies). SO yesterday we got like nothing done. And today, Hubby went grocery shopping (we had no milk for TWO DAYS, wtf!) and grabbed some things like fruit and crackers that we’ll need for Sunday. Then he was off to golf league. Oh yes, Tuesdays are golf league. Monday Softball. Tuesday Golf League. By Wednesday, Mommy has lost her mind so it’s a good thing the big girls go to Grandma’s house for the day. Wednesday night this week, Hubby wants us to have date night and go to the baseball game. I’d love to do this but really – we have so much to do and if Grandma is willing to take all three kids for five hours so we can have “date night”, I’d really rather spend this week’s date night cleaning my house. I know, so lame, right? But seriously – I can’t get anything done when all three are home. So we’re kind of stuck with Thursday to do stuff. *sigh*…. It’s going to be a long week. Or maybe it will be short because we’re going to be so busy. I just don’t know.

On Thursday the bug guy is coming to spray for ants. We get them every summer. I really hate ants.

The End.

Dun Dun Dun Dun…

Well. On Thursday morning we awoke to the noise of footsteps coming down the hall towards our room. As we frantically moved about in bed and Hubby climbed over me to grab the golf club that he keeps next to our bed (in case he needs to protect us from an intruder…), two beaming little gingers swung open our door with books in their hands screaming “Read book Daddy! Read book!”

YEP. The inevitable has finally happened. They climbed out of their cribs. I suppose I am thankful that we got this far without them doing it… what, like 29 months of sleeping in cribs with no real attempts at escaping? Pretty good! I also find there is no coincidence that they both did it on the same day. This was of course a joint operation, one of many to come I’m sure. 🙂 When we asked them if they climbed out of their cribs, Magnolia goes “Yesh” (Yes, she says “sh” for “s”) and Juniper completely denied it. Haha. Oh Junie!!

We are turning their cribs into “Big Girl Beds” tonight after their nap. I’m excited, sad, nervous… I  can’t believe we’re already at this point in their lives! They’re growing up so fast!

There are several things we need to do in addition to putting the toddler rails up on the beds. We also need to attach this one “bureau” to the wall (I’m nervous they’ll pull it down) and purchase & install outlet covers. I’m not talking about those plastic pieces that you just stick in the outlet. We need plates that completely cover the outlet. Like a switchplate that doesn’t have holes. They take out the plastic ones and we have TWICE caught Mags trying to stick things (um like, metal twist ties!!!) into the outlet. To avoid unnecessary worry and to avoid frying my daughter, I think switchplate covers are the way to go! 🙂 I’m also planning on moving the big arm chair out of the corner and moving Mags bed back a bit so it’s parallel with Junie’s. I don’t know what this has to do with anything but I’m going for it.

It’s Valentine’s Day today! Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone and a big Happy 2nd Birthday to the JungleTwins! Hubby is sleeping in today. A small token of my love & affection… and also because I was up at 7 to feed Snowdrop and still awake at 8 when the girls came tumbling into our room. (I’m definitely getting some video footage of them climbing out of their beds before we take them apart. I just have to see the monkeys in action!)

Hubby surprised me with a GUITAR for Valentine’s Day!!! I’m so excited! It’s an acoustic electric and looks like this. I have the green one. Except the color is actually not olive-y. It’s more like a teal-green. I’m very happy to have it even though it’s totally not what I would have picked. My fingertips hurt like hell from playing the last two days… and unfortunately, one of the fret-lines (I don’t know what they’re actually called) has a chip in it, so the metal is rough and sharp. So I just emailed the guy at Amazon where Hubby got the guitar from. I just want to exchange it for one that isn’t chipped. Easy enough, right? We’ll see. I hope this return/exchange goes smoothly. I’m really excited about having a guitar again and even though we are supposed to be saving money, I’m glad Hubby bought it for me. 🙂 He’s so sweet.

We’re saving money because…. well, because we need to! AND because Dave Matthews is playing at Bonnaroo this year and WE HAVE TO GO. Haha. We weren’t planning on going at all this year but since Tennessee is much closer to us than the Gorge (we can drive there in less than a day, as opposed to paying airfare and having a layover…) it makes sense for us to try and go to TN instead! Steve Martin is also playing with his band (yes, Steve Martin of SNL and Father of the Bride fame… that “wild & crazy guy” that I love so much!), Trombone Shorty (from New Orleans, you MUST MUST MUST check him out – he is STELLAR), and many other musicians we’d like to see. So… Bonnaroo is our goal. We can afford it, we just need to make some cutbacks – like Hubby drinking water instead of Gatorade. And me not drinking Starbucks (which I haven’t even craved for months, and I’m breastfeeding so triple tall bone dry cappucinos with carmel drizzle are out anyways)… and not going out to dinner/getting take-out. We’re cuttin’ back and it feels good.

Yes, I will be bringing a Froggy Potty to Bonnaroo this year as I REFUSE to ever use the porta-potties there EVER again, after last year’s experiences. Yes, seriously. I will be using a Froggy Potty. We have two of them.

Okie dokie. Hubby is awake and trying to hand Snowdrop to me. She is hungry again. I feel like a cow sometimes. Moo. 🙂

Gardenia is having a name change…

Okay…. so Miss Gardenia is already having a name change!!

I love it when it snows. In the Big City, we got lots of snow in the wintertime (sometimes even in the fall and springtime!). I LOVE SNOW. I LOVE IT! The crisp whiteness of freshly fallen snow, the smell after it snows, the crunch of it beneath my feet, the sight of it falling soft or hard from the sky… snow is beautiful however it comes. In the Little City, it doesn’t snow enough for my liking. Our winters are mild & the very chance of snow sends the city into a tizzy with schools being canceled and people rushing to the grocery stores to stock up on canned goods. When I was in school in the Big City, school got canceled TWICE. TWICE. We went to school in a blizzard. Sure, sometimes we got sent home early but for the most part we dealt with the weather.

ANYWAYS… I love the snow. While both Hubby & I thought it would be fun for our next baby to be born in September (we were going to try next January for another September baby but God got to us first!), I’m excited for the idea that our third child is due in December – I just might have a snow baby! 🙂 We joke that I’ll probably have to drive myself to the hospital (with Hubby in the passenger seat) because I’ll go into labor during a big snowstorm and since I’m obviously a better snow driver than he is … I’d be the one to drive – haha. It’s true though, I’m a better snow driver.

I got to thinking how beautiful it would be to incorporate some “winter” theme into her name. At first, we thought Noelle for a middle name if she was born around Christmas. Friends of ours just named their new baby girl Noelle so… that’s out, more or less! 🙂 No worries there because I’ve found the perfect solution. Instead of her being Gardenia, to match her sisters Juniper & Magnolia, she is going to be called Snowdrop. It’s a simple but beautiful white flower with marvelous green tints on the inside. And the perfect name for my third daughter, in fact.

So, Miss Gardenia is no longer… as she has become Miss Snowdrop. I like it much better and it certainly seems to fit, regardless of whether she’s born on a snowy day. Once I said it out loud I KNEW it was the perfect “botanical” name for her. Perfect!

Juniper, Magnolia, & Snowdrop. My precious daughters. 🙂

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In other news, tomorrow I will be 26 weeks pregnant with 14 weeks left to go!!! I’m so excited!!! I can’t believe how fast this has gone! I’m feeling pretty well… for the most part. Been having some real contractions here and there – never too many in an hour but it IS something I’ve been keeping watch over. I don’t think I’ll carry Snowdrop full-term but you never know. I’m still guessing Thanksgiving weekend for her birthday. I’m HUGE, getting bigger every day, it seems! I know they told me there is only one baby in there, but isn’t it possible that there was a second one hiding? Possible the ultrasound tech with twenty-four years of experience missed a second baby? Possible that they were just laying in such a way that it made it look like one, big baby? In light of my life and all the wacky things that have happened to me, I’d say it IS possible… not likely, but there’s probably some sort of chance.

Or maybe I’m just having a big baby? Not likely, but probably as good of a chance as a second baby hiding out! 🙂

Hubby & I spent some time last night (like two hours) clearing out & cleaning up our third floor, where Snowdrop’s room will be. We’ve managed to pitch a lot of trash (YAY!) and get a ton of “stuff” stored away in the closets. It’s amazing how big & nice the room has become just from what we did last night. I’m going on Wednesday to pick out carpet samples for our stairs/hallway/third floor & hopefully (HOPEFULLY) Hubby will be able to paint the baby’s room in the next two weeks so we can get the carpet installed, the furniture set up, and get the decorating done so we can just relax for the last few months of this pregnancy! 🙂 We’re working on the room more tonight so I’m super excited things are coming along! 🙂

Juniper & Magnolia are really surprising me every day with their speech improvements. It seems like they’re saying new words/phrases every day & really starting to excel and feel comfortable with trying to talk. They’ve also been singing quite a bit! Sometimes they even get the tune right! SO CUTE!! I really have to catch it on video some time soon.

No one has used the potty this week. Sad, but true. They’ll get back on the horse, so to speak, soon enough. We’re not pushing the potty training, we’re just letting them pace the process. Soon enough, soon enough. 🙂

The girls have also started pulling out our dining room table when it’s time for lunch!!! It’s so funny – I also can’t believe they’re so strong!! I’ll ask if they’re hungry and they’ll say “yes” and pull the table out and sit in their big girl chairs. We’re foregoing buying booster seats for the chairs as they seem to be able to sit, eat & not move for the most part. We’re also leaving the highchairs up here for now as some days they are not as well-behaved as others. When they don’t eat a good lunch (i.e. food on the floor, all over the table, etc) then they have to eat dinner in their highchairs. It’s a good system and seems to be working.

Speaking of… it’s time for Sesame Street & Lunch. I’ve begun keeping the TV off during the mornings and waiting until Sesame (followed by Caillou) comes on. They seem more interested in watching (which is great for keeping them in their seats and continually eating during lunch) & it’s obviously much better for them to NOT watch TV every hour that they’re awake. I’m also enjoying not listening to their TV shows, haha! 🙂

One Year Later…

On October 13, 2007….. my babies were already a month old! Haha…they were DUE Oct 13th, but were born Sept 13th. So I will always think of Oct 13th as a special day for them, regardless of when they were actually born.

I’m not sure when they started walking. I didn’t write it down; eleven months? At the end of ten months? I remember the first steps ~ both were to me…. and it was so exciting. 🙂 Juniper walked before Magnolia, but Mags caught on much quicker than Junie did ~ Mags wasn’t as nervous to go ahead and “take that leap”! We’ve got nine teeth between them; Mags got an upper-side tooth before she got one of her middle uppers. They really, really, really have a thing for cherry tomatos (sliced, of course) and cheese – either together or separate. Both will pretty much eat ANYTHING we put in front of them and neither is allergic to peanut butter/peanuts ~ this will make life and lunchtimes so much easier. I eat about a jar of peanut butter myself (hubby likes crunchy, I prefer creamy but will eat either, so anyways He and I have our own PB in the house) every 2-3 months. I love it. And if my kids had nut allergies, I’m not sure even I could handle the constant worry about it.

We’re learning signs. Mags has it down better than Junie but Junie did the signs first ~ go figure! Milk and Cat are the most used signs… Cat isn’t generally that informative to us but sometimes we’ll get the sign for diaper although usually we can smell the problem first. We started thinking it would be helpful but a lot of the time we just feel stupid trying to sign to the babies. It’s a learning process for all…

I really enjoy reading this one wordpress blog – ‘andbabymakesfive’ – it’s about this couple and their quest via surrogacy for twins. The wife was born without a uterus (rare!) and they truly have this amazing story. I’m always tempted to Facebook her and tell her how much I love her blog ~ I wish she would be my friend cause I think she’s super cool. Anyways, the blog always makes me laugh and often makes me cry. I wish they lived closer to me so I could help out or at least be another twin mom to hang out with and lament about our husbands’ love for Phish (eh, they’re okay, remind me of an ex of mine so I can only tolerate so many bootlegs before I neeeeeeeeeed some Zeppelin). The mom is always so matter-of-fact and seems to have such a happy, love-filled life. Uterus or not, I wish I could be her.

I don’t know any women in the Little City with twins. Other than the much older woman that we get a lot of our stuff from. And I’d never hang out with her. She’s the kind of mother that picks the baby  runs to the baby immediately and coddles it when it falls from a sitting position. (Was coddles the right word?) Now, I’m not about to let my kids fling themselves down a staircase but a bruise or bump now and then isn’t going to hurt them.

What else… yeah, this IS only my third post and this blog has definitely not been written “on” in a while. Turns out I don’t have as much time as I thought I really did. Maybe I’ll start writing more next week. You know, when all the chores are done and all the errands are run and both the girls are fast asleep all through the night.

LOL ~ Like THAT’S ever going to happen.