It's March 25th-- first day of spring break-- and we woke up to about 3-4 inches of snow. It's amazing how beautiful and exciting the snow was a few weeks ago, but how insulting it is now that it's spring. And spring break, nonetheless. We were supposed to leave for the North Carolina beach yesterday but put it on hold in part because of the weather. I think we may postpone for another day now...
Anyway, it's a good morning to do a few Playseum giveaways. It looks like spring break this year will be spent primarily indoors. The Playseum is an awesome sponsor of this blog. I'll give away three sets of two passes to the Playseum. Leave a comment below and make sure you've liked my Facebook page to enter. I'll do a drawing around noon or one o'clock today so I can send out the passes in the mail this afternoon and the winners can use their passes this week!
Don't know what the Playseum is? Here's their website. My boys and I love the place. It has two locations- in DC by Eastern Market right by the metro stop, and in Bethesda.
Some readers have been having problems entering a comment here. If you're having a problem, just leave a comment on my Facebook page and I'll enter you.
Monday, March 25, 2013
Saturday, March 23, 2013
A Person With No Mouth
Just a quick note about something Cal said today that we don't want to forget.
The boys recently graduated from car seats to booster seats. (Hallelujah chorus) This makes going out in the car about a million times easier. We went all out and bought the seats with cup holders. Ha. I think most of them have cup holders, but the boys think they're the greatest things ever. One booster is purple and the other booster is gray. I guess they both wanted purple at the store, but there was only one purple. This means that the more desirable place to sit is always in the purple seat.
On the way to Cousin Finley's 3rd birthday party today, Clark got the purple seat. Cal was promised the purple seat on the way home. Her birthday party was a tea party and so I pulled out my floppy tea party hat and dressed the boys in ties. I told Brian that since he can't give me any girls, I'm going to dress up these boys as long as they'll let me. A tea party is a perfect excuse for them to be my dolls. Besides, they love being handsome.
So after the adorable tea party we were driving home with Cal happily in the purple booster. But Clark was raining on his parade. He kept smugly telling Cal that the booster Cal was sitting in "actually isn't purple, it's white." This was infuriating Cal, who kept telling him he was lying to him. Suddenly Cal lifted his hands to the ceiling of the car and dramatically yelled,
"God! Send me a person with no mouth! Take my brother's mouth away!" Brian almost lost control of the car, we were laughing so hard at him.
We were thinking of sending them to a science day camp this summer, but I'm thinking maybe Cal should go to a performing arts camp.
Bonus tea party pictures:
The boys recently graduated from car seats to booster seats. (Hallelujah chorus) This makes going out in the car about a million times easier. We went all out and bought the seats with cup holders. Ha. I think most of them have cup holders, but the boys think they're the greatest things ever. One booster is purple and the other booster is gray. I guess they both wanted purple at the store, but there was only one purple. This means that the more desirable place to sit is always in the purple seat.
On the way to Cousin Finley's 3rd birthday party today, Clark got the purple seat. Cal was promised the purple seat on the way home. Her birthday party was a tea party and so I pulled out my floppy tea party hat and dressed the boys in ties. I told Brian that since he can't give me any girls, I'm going to dress up these boys as long as they'll let me. A tea party is a perfect excuse for them to be my dolls. Besides, they love being handsome.
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| All dressed up for the tea party |
So after the adorable tea party we were driving home with Cal happily in the purple booster. But Clark was raining on his parade. He kept smugly telling Cal that the booster Cal was sitting in "actually isn't purple, it's white." This was infuriating Cal, who kept telling him he was lying to him. Suddenly Cal lifted his hands to the ceiling of the car and dramatically yelled,
"God! Send me a person with no mouth! Take my brother's mouth away!" Brian almost lost control of the car, we were laughing so hard at him.
We were thinking of sending them to a science day camp this summer, but I'm thinking maybe Cal should go to a performing arts camp.
Bonus tea party pictures:
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| For some reason Cal ate his cupcake with no hands- just his mouth, nose, forehead, shirt, tie, and vest |
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| Birthday Princess and her cupcakes |
Friday, March 22, 2013
Easy Easter Decoration
I've done this super-easy art project with the boys before-- last time we made planets-- but I hadn't thought of it as an Easter decoration option until my friend Emily wrote about it over at Two-Way Street. Thought I'd share too.
The boys colored coffee filters with markers, used medicine droppers to get them wet and let the colors run together, we let them dry, and I cut them into shapes roughly resembling eggs. Then we put them on the window. So easy. Not very messy. My boys loved it.
Other Easter ideas:
1. Our natural Easter egg dye adventure from last year
2. My paper Easter baskets from last year
The boys colored coffee filters with markers, used medicine droppers to get them wet and let the colors run together, we let them dry, and I cut them into shapes roughly resembling eggs. Then we put them on the window. So easy. Not very messy. My boys loved it.
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| Coloring filters |
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| Clark was very intense. This took him probably 30 minutes. |
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| Medicine dropper with water- super cool |
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| My egg shapes |
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| Eggs on the window |
Other Easter ideas:
1. Our natural Easter egg dye adventure from last year
2. My paper Easter baskets from last year
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Hearts and Seizures and Kidneys and Eyes
We have some medical updates and news as of late.
Heart: Awhile ago we learned that there is an elevated risk of cardiac problems for babies whose moms are on seizure medicine and who have seizures. So the doctors do a detailed heart scan at 22 weeks where they look at all the parts of the heart and the blood flow and use a lot of words whose meanings I don't know.
Last week they did the scan of the baby's heart and everything checked out normal. It took the technician 30 minutes to complete the scan because Peapod wouldn't hold still. That kid is constantly moving. He must be taking notes from his brothers or something because he was flipping around in there like a gymnast and driving the technician crazy. She suggested we name him Speedy, which will definitely be worth considering, based on the boys other name suggestions. Which have been, among others:
Zamboni
Lasagna
Slapshot
Gorilla
Kevin Bacon
Fred
Balcony
Alcohol
So all is good on the pregnancy front, aside from the fact that I'm ready to hold this child in my arms, as I so eloquently wrote about here.
Seizures: I haven't had any since my last one about a month ago that scared us. I wrote about it here. A huge blessing has been that my wonderful mother-in-law has been coming over four mornings a week to just be here for two hours before she goes to work. I hadn't thought of her as a possibility because she works full time, but she works across the street from us and can come over and be here for roughly the first two hours I'm awake. This is huge! The boys love having her here and she has been able to get all kinds of cross-stitching done on her grandchildren stocking projects.
When the baby comes we will try to have something else in place for the other one day a week when she can't make it, but what a huge relief it is to have her come over! It gives us, especially Brian, peace of mind to know that if his pregnant wife has a seizure, she isn't alone in the house with 3 year-olds.
Kidney: On another medical issue that came up a couple weeks ago is that we found Clark has an abnormality with one of his ureters (tubes in between kidneys and bladder) which seems to be causing him occasional pain. The urologist doesn't think his back pain (which he complains about when he needs to go to the bathroom, but not every time) is related to the abnormality so he sent us back to the pediatrician to check out everything else again. Nothing else seems wrong so we are now documenting every time he complains of pain. Apparently the abnormality with the ureter doesn't normally cause any pain unless there is a much more serious problem, which results in all sorts of horrible symptoms such as projectile vomiting. Anyway, we will most likely be taking Clark in for some pretty invasive tests (think catheters) soon to find out if there's something else wrong.
Eye: As far as Cal's eye, everything seems to be fine since his alignment surgery in the fall. He still patched four hours every day. He will actually see his eye doctor for a vision test this Friday and we think he may need a new prescription-- which is hopefully because his vision is still getting stronger!
So, there's the medical news of the household in case any of you were wondering...
Heart: Awhile ago we learned that there is an elevated risk of cardiac problems for babies whose moms are on seizure medicine and who have seizures. So the doctors do a detailed heart scan at 22 weeks where they look at all the parts of the heart and the blood flow and use a lot of words whose meanings I don't know.
Last week they did the scan of the baby's heart and everything checked out normal. It took the technician 30 minutes to complete the scan because Peapod wouldn't hold still. That kid is constantly moving. He must be taking notes from his brothers or something because he was flipping around in there like a gymnast and driving the technician crazy. She suggested we name him Speedy, which will definitely be worth considering, based on the boys other name suggestions. Which have been, among others:
Zamboni
Lasagna
Slapshot
Gorilla
Kevin Bacon
Fred
Balcony
Alcohol
So all is good on the pregnancy front, aside from the fact that I'm ready to hold this child in my arms, as I so eloquently wrote about here.
Seizures: I haven't had any since my last one about a month ago that scared us. I wrote about it here. A huge blessing has been that my wonderful mother-in-law has been coming over four mornings a week to just be here for two hours before she goes to work. I hadn't thought of her as a possibility because she works full time, but she works across the street from us and can come over and be here for roughly the first two hours I'm awake. This is huge! The boys love having her here and she has been able to get all kinds of cross-stitching done on her grandchildren stocking projects.
When the baby comes we will try to have something else in place for the other one day a week when she can't make it, but what a huge relief it is to have her come over! It gives us, especially Brian, peace of mind to know that if his pregnant wife has a seizure, she isn't alone in the house with 3 year-olds.
Kidney: On another medical issue that came up a couple weeks ago is that we found Clark has an abnormality with one of his ureters (tubes in between kidneys and bladder) which seems to be causing him occasional pain. The urologist doesn't think his back pain (which he complains about when he needs to go to the bathroom, but not every time) is related to the abnormality so he sent us back to the pediatrician to check out everything else again. Nothing else seems wrong so we are now documenting every time he complains of pain. Apparently the abnormality with the ureter doesn't normally cause any pain unless there is a much more serious problem, which results in all sorts of horrible symptoms such as projectile vomiting. Anyway, we will most likely be taking Clark in for some pretty invasive tests (think catheters) soon to find out if there's something else wrong.
Eye: As far as Cal's eye, everything seems to be fine since his alignment surgery in the fall. He still patched four hours every day. He will actually see his eye doctor for a vision test this Friday and we think he may need a new prescription-- which is hopefully because his vision is still getting stronger!
So, there's the medical news of the household in case any of you were wondering...
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| Just for fun- Cal and the green wig |
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Pictures Update
We've been...
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| playing in the snow |
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| dressing up |
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| looking at DC from Kierra's office roof |
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| making volcanoes |
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| playing horseshoes on the balcony |
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| dressing in astronaut gear |
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| hanging out at Air and Space |
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| driving a Cessna "to Idaho" |
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| making colorful music |
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| visiting the firehouse |
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| trying out the ladder truck |
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| and the outfit |
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| and the ambulance |
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| polishing off the hot cocoa |
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| building racecars |
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| using bell peppers... |
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| to make St. Patty's day art |
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| cracking each other up/picking our noses |
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| eating plenty of sandwiches |
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| learning about vowels while eating bananas |
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| using snow clothes as hockey pads |
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Chasing the Maternal Glow
This probably sounds bad, but I’m so done with being
pregnant. I feel like I’m supposed to
love this time—that I should be bathing everyone I’m around in my maternal glow—
laughing in slow motion while my fingertips caress the gentle slope of my belly
and my luxurious copper locks of hair fly gently on the perfectly-calibrated
wind. I feel like I’m supposed to be this walking symbol of life and motherhood
and all that is virtuous and right and fertile in the world. Like everything
around me should be smooth and soft and set in sepia tones. Don’t get me
wrong, I’d love to be that way. But if you think you see my maternal glow, I
assure you that it is in fact the three rosy patches of acne that I’ve had since
week four. If you think my hair is glossier, you might be right— the boys have
been sick, so it’s not unlikely that their boogers have added to my sheen. And
there’s nothing gentle or sloping about
my belly—this thing is large and in charge.
I know this time in my life will be over soon enough and I
won’t give these limitations another thought, but I’m so ready to run and play with the boys without hurting, and to
throw a ball as hard as I can without it twisting my ab muscles in knots. To
walk without my back hurting. To lift the boys up. To be able to walk up three
flights of stairs at a normal pace instead of at the pace of a small, distracted, crippled snail. To not have to pee every couple minutes or feel like I’ll pass out if I
don’t eat every hour. All of those things will fade to grey. But for now they are bolded and in all CAPS and right in my face. A lot like the current state of my maternal bossoms.
I feel like such a fussy baby when I read what I’ve written,
but it also feels good to say it. I know that when I see little Peapod’s face
and hold his tiny body it will all be worth it, but right now it just feels
like it’s taking forever and I miss my other body. Also, did I mention that I
think I’m just about as heavy at 22 weeks as I was with the boys at this time? My
body seriously needs to chill out. It’s not a competition, and there is only one human in there this time. Get over
yourself. Everyone knows you can carry twins. You don’t have to try to do it
again. I do not want to give birth to a 13 pounder—which is about what the boys
weighed combined.
Okay, I’m done whining. Besides, I have to go pee.
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| This is me and my maternal glow holding up the toaster. This is, however, from when I was 30 weeks pregnant with the boys. I noticed that I don't have pictures of myself from this time... |
Monday, March 4, 2013
The Helmets Have Arrived
My mother in law knows of their obsession and their love of
tackling each other and playing football. It’s all they do at her house. She
bought some little football helmets and matching jerseys for the boys for their
birthday (in April). After the obliteration of their Halloween costume paper
mache helmets, things were getting pretty desperate around here, since they “have
a football game” every day. I know that their sports interests tend to follow
whatever sport is in season, and since football season is now over and baseball
starting up, and Gammy had mentioned being eager to give them the helmets, I
suggested giving them the helmets early while they’re still really into
football.
So one night last week she came over and presented the boys
with the helmets and jerseys. They were immediately smitten, of course, and
wanted to sleep in them that night, after wearing them for the last hour before
bed and talking incessantly about them. They settled for setting the helmets
out with the jerseys for their big game the next morning.
The next day we took the helmets for their outside
debut. They were a huge hit. Photo story below.
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| That's right. I'm this cool. |
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| I like your helmet... |
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| Gammy is the greatest! |
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| As if they weren't tackling hard enough before... now in helmets they really go at it. |
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| Clark took this picture himself after they set out their uniforms for the morning. |
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| Cal just had to check to see if plastic wrap would make the new helmet into an acceptable hockey helmet as well. Yes. |
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| The jerseys are big enough to wear over their winter coats! They are actually muscles and pads, not coats, they told me. Also, we couldn't find the football to play football with... |
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| Going to the park! Getting a lot of smiles from other walkers and drivers... |
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| Off to the races... |
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| ROARRR! |
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| Now let's give our helmets swing rides! |
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| And push each other.... |
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| ...while our helmets safely rest in the mulch. |
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