Christmas Highlights

1. Spending time with all 3 of my siblings. Spread across 4 states and 2 time zones, we can't get all together very often, so this was a special year!

2. Snacking on Christmastime goodies. I'm eating the last of mom's caramel cashew corn and drinking the second to last Vernor's and eggnog as I write.

3. Four Christmas parties in 24 hours! That must be some kind of record I think!, especially since Santa visited two of them. M LOVED it and was right up there chatting him up, N was watching from a safe distance (no WAY was he getting a photo taken with that guy!) and C was unphased.

4. Ordering a bridesmaid dress and suit for Hubs' siblings spring weddings! We are so excited and happy for Aunt L, Uncle D, and their fiancé(s)! What a fantastically wonderful year 2013 is going to be!

5. Worshipping two Sundays at our home church, Christian Celebration Center. We receive a warm welcome from old friends and the boys LOVE Power Plant, the kids' church.

6. Watching the cousins play together. My kids are numbers 5,6, and 8 of 8 grandchildren for my parents. They love hanging out with the "big kids" (there are 3 5 year olds!) and following them around. We all spent half a day at a nearby water park last Thursday. My boys were like little fish in a big pond there, but they loved every second of sliding, splashing, and squirting!

7. Going on a hot date with Hubs while the kids stayed with Grandma. Free babysitting at its finest!

8. Reflecting on our many blessings in 2012 and looking forward to an exciting 2013 as we celebrate New Year's Eve with our families tonight. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Here are a few random pics from my phone...the 3 and 5 year olds demolishing Hubs on Christmas Eve, me and Steve trying on wedding clothes, and my Mother in Law's mantle this year-Aunt L and I had to make 4 new stockings for my C, the fiancé(s) and A, J's son! Wowzers, what a lot of stockings!

The Long Drive

Merry Merry! We made it to MI with 3 munchies in just 13.5 hours, which must be some kind of record, especially since the fellas did NOT sleep all night like I expected.

I talked Hubs into letting me drive the first leg, and when he said yes, I jumped at the chance. After keeping the boys up all afternoon in hopes of them falling asleep early, as well as packing up the suitcases and the van, I was ready for him to have a turn with the fellas.

While gassing up and filling the tires, M had a bit of a freak out when he understood we were about to drive. "I wanna fly in the plaaaaaaane!" He cried.

We stopped two hours in for Culver's, but N refused to finish his butter burger. A mom with 4 teen age sons saw our crew, smiled and told me, "you got off easy having three," I laughed, because I saw their family nearby and wondered how many burgers I'll have to buy in ten years. Two hours later, when we thought the boys were sleeping, we heard much crinkling of wrappers. N was eating his ice cold burger.

After paying $13 in tolls going through Chicago (why?!) we had the home stretch back into Michigan.

All in all, not bad, could've been worse, just glad we're here. Tomorrow morning begins the festivities!

Twins Again?!

Disclaimer: Baby V is an absolute gem and I would be pleased as punch if my matchmaking efforts pay off in 25 years. while i wait for my kids to appreciate this arrangement, we have this funny story to tell.

C has a girlfriend. She's a teeny little peanut born just 28 hours before he was, but you wouldn't know it looking at them. C looks like he ate her lunch!

V needed a place to crash this afternoon, so we hosted her- but no sleeping in the same room, you two! She got the ol' pack and play in my room, and good thing, too, because WHOO-whee! Does that tiny girl have a set of lungs on her!

C passed out after lunch like the guy he is and we didn't hear from him all afternoon. V needed a *wee bit* more attention than she thought I was giving her...no one told her she was going to the nap nazi's house today, poor thing.

Whew, it took me straight back three years to the days of whack-a-mole nap times. If you get one down, the other pops right back up, repeat ad nauseum.

Sweet baby girl V finally gave up and napped for whopping 45 minutes so I could reheat leftover chili, fold a laundry load and get the mail (see, I told ya!) and when I had put my dish in the washer, contemplating a humorous blog post about the adventure, wouldn't you know it? Nap was over and it was time to feed them both!

So V got her baba lying next to me as I sat on the floor nursing C. By the time they were changed, fed, and sitting together on the blanket and I was about to take a pic for this blog, V's mama rescued her.

People tell me that one day I'll want to go back....I'm having doubts about going back to twin 7 month old teething infants, though.

C and V in their matching owl hats last month:

Edited 12/20: Baby V got antibiotics today, so she wasn't hating on me as much as I thought. But she wasn't running a fever either poor girl-it's so hard to tell then! Get well soon little sister!

Buh Bye, Babycenter

Like many pregnant American women, I subscribed to a weekly pregnancy email update from babycenter.com.  It told me that my baby was the size of a blueberry, a grape, a plum, an apple, a cantaloupe, a butternut squash, and at the end, a pumpkin.  It was right every week - except for the part about my baby being approximately 7 lbs at birth - only about 3 lbs off!

But today, I unsubscribed.  Babycenter has been sending me an email every week since C was born (on his due date, so naturally the week I receive is incorrect, with going a week overdue). Today it was full of helpful advice for moms of 7 month old (and 2 weeks) babies like this:

• avoid caffeine - really?  How does a girl with three three and unders wake up in the morning when she's been up at least once every night?  Keurig and I are BFF's now.
• avoid alchohol.  Mmmk, people....
• get lots of rest, including naps. WHAT?  'scuse me, I spend every afternoon trying to get my 3 littles to nap themselves just so I can go to the bathroom ('cause heaven knows that coffee goes right through me!), clean up breakfast and lunch, prep dinner, fold laundry and maybe go get the mail out of the box.  If, and this is a big IF, I can do all that, I might spend my "down time" aka 15 minutes before thing 1, thing 2 or thing 3 wake up, pecking out a blog or calling a fellow soldier in the trenches to see if her little munchies napped today.  Nap myself, you've got to be kidding.  I haven't seen those days since...first trimester, I think, when my eyeballs could not physically stay open.
• exersice - this is getting ridiculous.  If you don't think running up and down the stairs 1,000 times a day, lifting my chunky monkey in and out of his crib and up and down off the changing table, carrying said laundry baskets up those same stairs, hefting the preschoolers onto the counter to kiss boo boos or stir cookie dough, and leaning into the back row of the van to buckle said children into a carseat isn't workout enough, YOU'RE crazy.  Not me.
• relax - take a bath.  Mmmm, k.  So the exactly 1.21 jigawhat hours I have to myself from 9:00-10:15 pm should be spent cleaning out my tub?  Not that it doesn't need cleaning, mind you.  But a shower and a glass of wine is a whole lot quicker.  Oh, wait,  I meant herbal tea. 
• make time for yourself. Okay, I quit.  You people at Babycenter are smoking something.

I'm big now! 

90's are back

Freeland Falcons Football Fans!

This is the one where I reveal my amazing new hairdo.  Last week I got my hair cut and highlighted, but I surprised Hubs with a new do...he's always begging me to get something different done (besides different shades of blond or varying lengths of long, I never do) so I surprised him.

Last Sunday I was watching "Four Christmases," which is the funniest, best Christmas movie in the world I think.  And I thought, I should do my hair like Reese's!

What I looked like at the salon

So I did!  I loved it, my hairdresser told me I was a genius, Hubs loved it, and it's been really fun.

Then yesterday I woke up after showering the night before and it looked like this.

What it looks like at home

For real?

I actually texted K to ask what to do!  By the time she replied, I'd taken a 1.5" iron to it so it improved, but was still kind of 90's looking all day.

This new hairdo thing is going to take some time...

But the 90's really are back because the boys busted out their Freeland Falcons Football sweatshirts yesterday.  Hubs was the 1999 quaterback for Michigan's Class C Football state championship runners-up.  He's famous.  The boys received these hoodies for their first birthday, and they fit today!

So cute, and I think it's the first photo in which all 3 of my sons are smiling in the direction of the camera!

Everything old is new again...I love the 90's!

Silent Night?

I have a confession to make. I took myself out on a date last night.

Hubs convinced me to hire a sitter while he's gone on this long trip for no other reason than to have a night off of nose and butt wiping. So I hired the sitter but neglected to make plans, and of course, my last minute attempts to meet friends failed.

So I used a 7 month old gift card and took myself and my Christmas cards to Applebee's. I was seated near a table of 4, but only listened to 1. Through the powers of observation, I discovered he was a local German professor. He spent most of 2 hours speaking in his awesome German accent...basically about life in Germany as a student, about German small businesses, about iPads in education...all good and entertaining. He reminded me of a certain Chinese professor I had who just loved to hear the sound of his own voice! I guess you need the gift of gab to be a language professor!

So my silent night wasn't completely silent! But I managed to get the cards (mostly) done, and ate my hot meal in peace. Bummer I let my server talk me in to what I figured out was a weight watchers dish! Ah well, I figured that earned me a dessert- my very own that I didn't share with anyone!

Then, like my dates with Hubs usually end, I made a Target run for diapers and almond milk. I stood in the toys aisle debating what to get the boys until I realized it was after 9 and had to hustle back. What are your thoughts on Imaginext? Last night I realized we HAVE to do Christmas with the kids this weekend because we will be traveling back to MI next! Aagh!

Pizza and Toots

Awhile back I started telling you about the baby dedication and tried to show you a pic.

We took M and N out of kiddie church to be a part if their brother's dedication. They were wiggly and squirmy, up and down from our arms. Looking at themselves on the screen, and basically being distracting. I'm sure they'd been having fun, eating snacks and would have rather been with the kids! M decided to sit down at his Daddy's feet, lean a little to the left, and let her rip! I smiled because farts are funny when you have 2 3 year olds- I knew he was likely pleased with himself. Then a few seconds later, I saw our pastor's wife in the front row laughing hysterically-as the odor wafted up toward us. I couldn't help it and tried with all my might to suppress a laugh, but I was not successful. I know Pastor sensed something was up- he'd had his back to us and was teaching the congregation about child dedication- as he smiled,albeit quizzically, at us. But he continued on, all of breathing M's odiferous gas as we oh do solemnly prayed over C. Funny stuff- I'm still laughing about it.

And last night "the three of us," as M put it, made individual pizzas. I had a hankering for kalamata olives (and a big mess on our freshly mopped floor). N put some on his, but picked them off in the end. At least he thought about trying!

Born to be Slaves?

My in laws love to tell a story about Hubs, who was assigned to lawn mowing as a tween-ager. Incensed at the idea of yard work, he retorted, "you just had kids so they could be your slaves!"

I thought of that this morning, after the third cup of juice splashed across the hardwood floor, when I decided the boys were going to help me mop it.

We swept, I filled the sprayer with vinegar and water, we sprayed, and wiped. I thought I was a genius because they were having so much fun!

For ten minutes. They lost interest when the actual black fuzz on juice spots had been wiped. I told M to get a tissue for his nose and he could be excused to the play room.

He wiped it with the dirty vinegar water floor rag and scampered off.

I finished the floor on my hands and knees myself. So much for my slave labor.

The Scoop

Ok, here's the scoop. I haven't blogged for several reasons.
1. My twins rarely nap, leaving me exactly 1.21 hours of "free time" after they fall asleep at night. I'm like a wet noodle, and often use it for showering, watching TV, or pointlessly reading Facebook, Pinterest, or other equally educational activities. Or nursing C.
2. I prefer using Dino desktop because it has a keyboard, rather than pecking out each individual letter on my iPhone. But it's dying...a very slow and painful death.
3. Now blogger says I've used up all my storage. But I didn't know I HAD storage. So when I went to see the stats on said storage it said I'm using 30%. If my calculations are correct that means I still have 70%, no? No! No uploading pics for you!
4. I'm busy. Did I mention that I stay at home with 2 3 year olds and a 7 month old, none if whom nap simultaneously anymore? Three years ago I was queen of all nap nazis. I've fallen from grace and now I'm like sleep? What's that? Oh yeah and the twins aren't in preschool but that's gonna change next month. Still working out the kinks so stay tuned on that one.
4. Last night I baked an awesome batch of biscotti and snapped a pic on my iPhone. Then I put it on Facebook. Then this morning I remembered the blogger app and tested to see if it allows phone pics. so it does. Don't know why, guessing it has something to do with the size if the photo.
5. So I'm blogging again with the phone. The pics won't be awesome, but I'm back. This not so little fella didn't get enough dinner so I'm off to feed him some more!The grammar will probably stink like a Diaper Champ, too, because of trusty ol autocorrect. 

Testing....

Trying to upload pics using blogger for iPhone. In no particular order: C in the big tub, M and N as elves, my first batch of biscotti, which are delicious!