I could clothe a village...

... a village of fat people. Aie!

Yesterday I sent the babies out for a walk with my MH as I tried to tackle the disaster that is my clothing. There was so much in my closet and drawers that there wasn't any room to put away clean clothing. I had boxes on the floor of stuff I'd put away because I wouldn't be able to wear it during the pregnancy and stuff I was putting away because the pregnancy was over.

I started sorting pants first, by size. They ranged from 15 - 22 (ack ack ack, but I just had twins dudes) and I made piles. And the piles grew. And grew. And then I started getting curious, how many pairs of pants did I have? I stopped counting because it was getting too ridiculous when I got to 50. FIFTY!

My friend asked if I was going to purge, and the answer is no because right now, I'm in the top sizes. And so it is time to work my way back down through the sizes and giveaway the humongo pants as I go along. I no longer have pregnancy or even the thought of subsequent pregnancies as excuses - I am done being fat (again) so it's time to get some of this poundage off.

At 11 weeks I'm starting to see the light (the one at the end of the tunnel instead of the one I was willing myself to go towards when I was so tired I wanted to die ;) and I think I can handle starting to meal plan and cook a bit more. I don't expect anything to happen too quickly, but I'm ready to start trying again. Hold me to it internets.

11 weeks old

The babies are 11 weeks old today and things are good. Although I still get frustrated I am now spending the majority of my days on my own with the babies and doing just fine. It's almost hard to remember that 5 or 8 weeks ago the idea of being left alone with both babies for the time it took to drive Kiernan to daycare (20 minutes) made me want to cry.

Now we're at a point where they don't want to eat every minute of every day, and I've come up with strategies (like not even considering trying to nurse the babies when we're out) that make my life a lot easier. And I go out, a lot, because I find they are good when we're out and sleep long periods of time, which makes me happy.

Our biggest hurdle now is the whole reflux situation. They started a new medication called Nexium on Friday because they were both still fussing a lot at the breast and not sleeping well and spitting up a lot (particularly Juliette). They're doing better with most of those symptoms since they started the Nexium, but I swear, they are whinier and have a lot more sleepless spells. I have never been able to stop myself from trying to figure out what causes every little change in their behaviour, when really, they've never been all that predicatable to begin with. I'm sure every baby has a bad day where they won't nap all day and I have been lucky enough to get some glorious sleep in the last week... So, we'll continue the medication for awhile longer, but if this whiny behaviour persists I may see what going back to the zantac would do (and should probably check with the doctor before willy nilly flipping meds around ;)

I don't have an 11 week picture yet so instead here's a cute 10 week one.

What did I say? Was that funny Mommy?

You know all those little things you say... when you're frustrated, surprised, confused, sneezing....? Can you tell me what they are? I don't think I could have, until....

Kiernan reading a book on the floor suddenly exclaims "what the heck? what the heck!"

Kiernan working on a puzzle "oh come. on!"

Kiernan sneezes "bless me mommy. BLESS ME!"

Or how about what you sound like talking to a baby? Because hearing a three year old boy talking in "mothereze"(that's a real term in case you're wondering) saying "awww, that's a nice smile. you're a happy baby! are you going to tell me a story?" is not only funny, but amazingly sweet.

Glorious sleep

Anyone who has had a baby who doesn't sleep much can probably relate to this statement a friend of mine once made to me "you understand now why they use sleep deprivation as a method of torture, don't you?" And it's true - not sleeping, or being woken every time you just doze off can make you start to feel crazy. Weepy. Insane.

I'm lucky that I can do with relatively little sleep. I learned that with Kiernan and it's certainly been put the test again this time with two babies who sleep better individually than K did, but dude, there are two of them!!! I've spent the last 11 weeks re-strategizing regularly to come up with something else that might work a bit better. I've spent weeks sleeping in a chair in the babies' room with babies in my lap because it was easier than trying to stay awake and put babies back into their cribs (especially when they might wake up if I put them down), and then weeks with the babies sleeping in their individual swings in the living room while I slept half on the mat on the floor, half on the couch because I just couldn't stay awake. Thankfully the babies were starting to sleep a bit more as I was getting more and more worn down, but as of last week, I was officially toasted and was pretty sure I was going to start dropping babies in the night.

Eric (and the fact that the babies are drinking formula from bottles pretty well now) rescued me and let me sleep this weekend. I got 6.5 hours in a row on Friday night and 5 on Saturday! Sweet sweet, glorious sleep!! And then! Last night? We put the babies down in their room and Eric and I both slept in our own bed for the entire night with only a one hour break at 4 am.

I won't presume to believe I'm going to get this regularly, but if we're heading in this direction, I am so grateful because seriously... I'm concerned for my long term ability to form sentences and think like a normal human being if I keep being this sleep deprived - it must be killing brain cells.

I survived

Almost three year olds have a lot of energy and a lot of will. Holy crap!

Kiernan goes back to daycare tomorrow after a 3 week vacation for his daycare provider. During those three weeks he was with me full time for 2 and was in a morning day camp the first week. The second week I was at the cottage with my inlaws (and Kiernan's cousins to keep him entertained a lot of the time) and this week it was just me, the three kids, and thankfully, my mother's helper.

It pushed me to really start adapting to this new three kids lifestyle and we ended up having a lot of fun and almost no breakdowns, almost ;) I love him to pieces but I do look forward to his return to daycare tomorrow and me trying to finally find my groove with the babies mostly on my own. I've never actually had a full day on my own with the babies (because I am super duper lucky/spoiled) and so this week will mark the start of that. That being said, I will still get my helper to come over a few days and help me get some stuff done around the house. It's her last available week before she's gone for three weeks so I may as well take advantage. And I also think I'll be setting up lots of "playdates" for me with my mommy friends - it's easier when I'm out.

A few highlights of our weeks together:

Not so glidy anymore

When I named this blog Gliding through Motherhood I felt pretty confident the name could stick for a long time. Kiernan was up all night so often, my glider became frequented almost as much as my bed and I couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel. Eventually though, we did manage to sleep train him and then he turned into the amazing sleeping child. He goes to bed on his own (in fact he refuses to ever sleep WITH anyone) and generally sleeps for 12 hours+ and needs to be woken up in the morning. And then he goes down for a 2+ hour nap in the afternoon!! The child who almost never slept in that first year sleeps like a charm now.

Regardless, I figured the blog name would apply to any future children who doubtlessly would also require hours of rocking/nursing in the chair - who knew that instead we would be blessed with twins. Twins who require far more than my itty bitty glider can provide. I wonder if in a few months we'll get to a place where the babies sleep enough that I could just rock them back to sleep in the glider instead of camping out in my living room with 2 babies, each in their own swings (by the way, that post caused my original swing to self destruct - never ever say you can't live without something) and the blog name won't seem so wrong ;)

Not me Monday #1

I heard about Not Me Monday last week and was super excited to participate. This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I did NOT accidentally lactate on a nursing bra I was trying on at the store and not buy it because it was $90. I did not wait for it to air dry and then neatly fold it and stick it back into the box and hightail it out of the change room at top speed.

I did not let the babies sleep in the swings for 5+ hours (each) a day this week (and it most certainly didn't get closer to 10 hours one day).

I did not give in and let me almost 3 year old play Sesame street games daily, sometimes multiple times, just so he'd shut up about it already.

Nope, not me.

My can't live without it products for twins

I'm in a blog carnival kind of mood this weekend! Here is a post from the multiples and more site where they ask what you couldn't live without.

My twins turn two months old tomorrow so I am still learning what does and doesn't work to manage with the chaos of twins but so far, two of the things that I couldn't possibly live without are :

1. My double snap and go. When I first test drove this around the store (with empty car seats) I worried it felt flimsy. At a meeting of new members for the local multiples association we met a couple of sets of parents of 6 month old twins who RAVED about the snap and go. We ended up buying ours used from one of those sets of parents and I'm so glad we did! Having picked up one of those huge stroller systems since, the weight difference is insane. The snap and go flings in and out of the van in seconds and is light enough for me to pick up and lift up curbs or around corners when I get into a tight corner - something that definitely happens more often with a long stroller like this than it did with my single.

2. My fisher price swings. I recently borrowed a second one because they are my life line. I absolutely recommend getting a deluxe swing if it seems like your baby/ies like them. Mine do (particularly the side to side motion which most non-deluxe swings don't do) and the babies spends hours and hours and hours a day in them - both swinging and not swinging. When I'm at my wits end at 4am, I can plop them each in a swing and go to sleep on the floor for a bit. They love to watch the mobiles, and even when they aren't moving they are comfortable in that propped up position because they are both reflux babies. If I had to give up all but one baby accessory, I would SO keep the swings!! (Mine are slightly older versions of the two models seen below :)

Simple Saturday

I love kissing baby chins.

Interview with an almost three year old

As Kiernan and I were eating dinner tonight we were talking about camp and what he had done today when he said "do you want to tell me more questions mommy?" and I thought this would be the perfect time to conduct the interview with him that I've been thinking of doing after seeing them on other people's blogs :)

Q: How old are you?
A: Almost three

Q: What's your favourite colour?
A: Blue

Q: What's your favourite food?
A: berries (there were berries in our supper - this started a trend with some answers being things within eyesight:)

Q: What does mommy like to do?
A: Mommy likes to make me a game (which I believe really meant "let's me play games on her computer)

Q: Where do you like to go?
A: To the mall

Q: What does mommy do when you're not there
A: colours (that'd be a lot more fun than what I usually do ;)

Q: What does daddy do when you're not there?
A: plays with his computer and with his games

Q: What do you like to do?
A: play

Q: What is your favourite shape:
A: triangle

Q: Why does daddy go to work:
A: For the house

Q: Who do you like to talk to on the phone?
A: Shona (Shona, apparently you should be phoning Kiernan more often ;)

Q: Where does mommy like to go?
A: To the cottage (I do!)

Q: Where does daddy like to go?
A: To work (not so much ;)

Q: What's your favourite animal?
A: Sheep and bears

Q: Do you have any brothers and sisters?
A: Yes. There's a brother and daddy is holding the sister.

Answers started getting sketchy after this, but I thought his first answers were a lot of fun :)

Moo

If you've ever exclusively nursed a baby, you know how much work it is. Now, imagine doing that times 2, except for a few occasional bottles. Would YOU want to smack the nurses/lactation consultants in the head who ask you, in a slightly belittling tone, if you're sure you can't find the time to pump for those extra bottles?
ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I'm giving them 2-3 oz of formula a day tops (and to be honest, it's just Juliette because Quinn nurses very efficiently and hates bottles and Juliette prefers bottles so fusses for one and often wins for a small top up or two a day) and you're going to give me a hard time? Makes me want to kick them. :P (and then I guiltily try to pump more. sigh)

That one will be all yours sweetie

Having a 3 year old and newborn twins I get a LOT of "wow. so now you must be done!" and whether or not I am done (probably, maybe, most likely) and whether or not I appreciate getting asked this constantly within weeks of having these babies (or wait, while being pregnant with them!) it's brought up the topic of more permanent methods of birth control and people's thoughts on them. And. I'm shocked.

There are WAY more people out there than I thought who still think it's the woman's responsibility. "Will you be getting your tubes tied?" Um, aside from the fact that I don't want to discuss the finality of my fertility with you, NO, I am NOT going to be getting my tubes tied!

I am not getting my tubes tied because :
A) That's surgery, and unless I knew well ahead of a planned c-section that I was absolutely done, then I'm not going in to surgery.
B) WHO is the one who carried and birthed the children? Me? That's right. I'm done with the discomfort in our procreational activities. You get it done, or you can chance me deciding I'd really like another baaaaby in 5 years from now ;)
C) Any man who still thinks a vasectomy unmans them in this day and age needs a swift smack upside the head. And also, I don't care (see B)

What do you think?

Addendum. Eric never suggested I get my tubes tied and this post has nothing to do with us but instead my feelings towards what other people have said. Just in case you thought he was the one who needed the smack - cuz he's not ;)

Our donair poster child

Our local shawarma/donair joint is called Greek Plus and every time we've gone in with Kiernan, since he was eating solids he's offered kiernan a big hunk of donair to chew on while we wait for our food. Kiernan LOVED it and now he's charmed the owner so much I think he eats most of his dinner before we even leave the restaurant with the food. The owner keeps asking for a photo of Kiernan eating donair so he can put him up in the restaurant with his other donair poster children and we finally got around to taking some last night.

Which one do you think we should print and bring in to him? :)

It's raining on me!

I made promises of a walk to the park this afternoon without realizing that the weather was not cooperating. Sunny one minute, downpour the next, by the time Kiernan was ready to go on our walk the skies had opened. With memories of the fun of a summer downpour I offered an alternative - take off all your clothing and we'll go out and play in the rain!

Apparently it wasn't all it was cracked up to be. "It's RAINING ON ME!"



May have only last 3 minutes but it still made for some fun pictures. :)
Also, I wanted him to go naked but Eric insisted, knowing photos were half the point of doing this, that the diaper stayed on ;)