...where to begin..

Today has been just the worst day ya'll. 

First off let me start off by rewinding to yesterday afternoon. Margot and I were tickling Ada, who was standing next to us, when she (Ada) bent over double with giggles and knocked her head on the leg of a chair nearby. I heard the bump and said "Ouch! That must have hurt baby girl!" I reached to help her up and when she turned to face me there was blood gushing from her head. She was screaming, I grabbed her up and ran for a paper towel. Called Stephen and let him know he needed to get home right away. Was about to Google directions to Wake Med when I thought I better check with the pediatrician to see if they could possibly stitch up the 1/4 inch gash on her forehead (right between her eyes btw). Turns out they could! We all headed for the doctor at 6:30pm and Stephen took Margot to the store to get some milk and other necessaries. Ada and I stayed to get stitched up. The doc on duty decided to use Dermabond instead (sorta like super glue) so as to reduce the appearance of the scar. I had to hold her down with another nurse while they irrigated the wound - gut wrenching. Then it took 4 of us to keep her still while they actually did the .. gluing. Heart breaking. I was a tattered mess when we walked out into the waiting room to find Stephen and very concerned Margot waiting for us. The girls smiled and called/reached out to each other when they caught sight of each other. So sweet. We all headed home chuckling at how un-shocking it was that Ada got the first stitches. 

This morning I was awakened by some pitiful cries. I thought Ada's little cut must have been aching. I went in to give a little comfort and instead found that it was Margot with a nice ripe temp of 102. Oooooo-Kkkkkkk. Call Katie and tell her we can't keep Josie today (unless she is ok with her being exposed to whatever we have). She is a super hero and finds a sub sitter. Done. Margot is acting super sick and uncomfortable - feeling at the end of my rope I called for back-up. Mom to the rescue!!!! Mom took a day off from school and came to rescue us with some good Nana lovin'. I hadn't planned to take Margot to the doctor, but I quickly changed my mind when I noticed her shrieking every time I came near her left ear (plus her temp spiked to 104.5 after I gave her Motrin so..) It was so awesome to have Mom here to play with and snuggle Ada since Margot was listless, not really eating, and did not want to be set down. Mom stayed with Ada while I took Margot to the doctor. Here's where it just goes downhill fast. Dr. Bo confirmed she had an ear infection in her left ear. Wanted to take some blood to make sure she didn't also have a virus thing going on. When he came back into the room I knew something was wrong. He said he was concerned about her white cell count. It was 25.5K. Healthy folks have a count of 6-7K and sick folks have one of 14-16K so you can see why he was concerned. Gotta do some things to rule out other issues. First, does she have flu. They stuck a swab up her nose - that was negative. Next, need to test for a UTI. I had to hold my baby down while they inserted a catheter to get a urine specimen. Horrific. No UTI. Next stop, the hospital to have blood drawn for a blood culture. Sigh. Went to school to pick up Stephen. We both held her hands and legs while they drew blood from her tiny vein. They were wonderful and our tired little bunny was such a champion. After it was over, she snuggled into Stephen's shoulder and we headed back to the doctor to get a high dosage injection of antibiotics to treat whatever is going on until we have the blood culture results. She cried so hard as we held her down.. again..while she got her shot at the office. She was finished. Finally. She collapsed into her father's embrace and fell asleep on his shoulder. Safe at last. 

It has been a long day. We are still on edge. We won't know anything from the culture until at least 48 hrs (or so we have been told). She goes back tomorrow for another shot and Stephen is staying home with us tomorrow. Thank you, Mom for coming to help us today. Thank you, everyone, for your prayers. Please pray that this is just some crazy virus. We have been told that whatever "has ahold of her" is no joke and is super contagious. Please pray we can keep Ada from catching it. That we can stay healthy as well. I hope I can sleep tonight. I am trying really hard not to let my mind go nuts. 

In the kitchen

We spend the evening in the kitchen. Our sweet Ada has a wretchedly horrible diaper rash as a result of 10 days of antibiotics. She could hardly stand to be held or sit in her car seat this morning. We slathered on the diaper cream at nap time but to no avail. Thus we found ourselves spending some naked time gated in the kitchen. Margot got to keep her diaper but forfeited her outfit in case of accidents. 

Stephen put on "The Iron Giant", grabbed our favorite Wheely Bugs and some plastic (easily sterilized) toys and we settled in. Margot is seen here watching Uncle Ricky on Conan. 

I took a 5 minute video of the adorable diaper-less moments, as well as lots of naked baby shots. However since the internet abounds with nasty perverts, these are for family and friends' eyes only. This one seemed ok though. Here is our patient busy  with her Wheely Bee.  

Here's another PG snapshot. I think she really enjoyed being so unencumbered. 

We had one peepee incident and yes.. she did slip in it.. yikes and ewwwwwww all at once. She also did a little poopy but we saw it ... er... emerge and were able to catch it before it landed so.. all in all it went much better that I had expected. It was interesting to see that she does not just peepee a little here and there but went all at once just like a big girl would do. Not sure what this means but I am taking it to mean that her little bladder has grown substantially and I have already started turning my brain towards the potty training days. I like to get a head start. 

We called the pediatrician and got some special cream for her little bottom so hopefully it will be better very soon :( Nothing makes me feel more like a horrible mother than seeing my little girl suffer with diaper rash. Antibiotics.....grrrrrrr. 

Evening

Stephen went to a concert with a friend tonight. Right after he left I started getting a migraine. I took the girls upstairs to play with our milk container blocks until bed time.



Much to my delight, Margot has become extremely attached to her "soft". She won't be a baby much longer.. my heart melts when I see her snuggle her blanket and that pacy bobbing up and down.






Ada was having trouble building the wall she was attempting to construct.. Margot kept putting the blocks back into the block basket.



Someone needs a Mommy snuggle.



Happy to oblige, sweetness.



Another one? Absolutely.



Pretty colors.



Margot bumped her head on ..something... again...






Daddy recently taught us how to "give five"... Ada giving me a high five..



Margot gave more than one..



When you ask the girls "Where is your tummy?" this is their response.



Hatching a block.



Ada changes her point of view.


We were having so much fun I almost forgot what time it was. PJs were donned and each girl grabbed their respective pacys and "softs" and we headed to the rocking chair for a book or two.. or .. eleven.. yes.. we read eleven books tonight. The reading list included the stack of books next to the chair and everything within arms length.

Reading List:

"The Carrot Seed"
"I am a Bunny"
"The Boy With a Drum"
"Corduroy"
"The Snowy Day"
"Big Bagel, Little Bagel"
"Good Night, Gorilla"
"The Cat In The Hat"
"Blue View"
"The Very Happy Hen"
"Mommies Say Shhh!"

It hasn't been that long ago that I couldn't get through one book with these wiggle worms and now.. eleven? I would have loved to have kept going but alas I just couldn't reach anymore without getting up and upsetting our cozy cuddle.

My migraine seemed to hold off with it's full intensity until I finished reading. Now it is steadily getting worse so I'm gonna sign off.. just wanted to share my peaceful evening.

Tough as nails

Today was one of my triplet days. I was cleaning up from lunch when I heard giggling and by the time I peaked around the counter - this is what I saw. Josie and Ada did this all on their own. Margot was cheering them on. Priceless.

Dear Blog

Dear Blog, 

How are you? I am fine. Wow, has it really been over a month since we last spoke. Seems like only yesterday. Well, a lot has happened since we last spoke. Here is a brief list of said happenings (in random order):

- I turned 31 years old

- My older brother turned 42

- My little brother turned 29

- My cousin turned 30  

( amazing how we all have September birthdays huh ... even more amazing.. our combined ages make up a pretty impressive number )

- My sweet uncle was declared cancer free (PTL)

- I found out several of my close friends are expecting

- We took the babies to their first football game of the season

- I started keeping our buddy Josie twice a week (having triplets twice a week is fun!!!)

- I got a new video camera with my birthday cash

- Mom and I had a spa day (courtesy of Dad) complete with full body massage and spa manicure/pedicure... wow.... what a good morning that was..

- The babies are as cute as ever.. they are both walking.. Ada a bit more than Margot at the moment but still.. 

- Both of our sweet girls have been sick with colds/croup/ear/sinus infections for the past 3 weeks.. poor babies..

Well I am sure that more has happened dearest blog, but for now I will leave you with these glimpses into the daily lives of our little ladies. Hope to see you again soon!

XOXO

S. 

The big 1-7

Man, yesterday was a big day. It was the first day back to school for Stephen. It was the day that Uncle John and Aunt Mariel flew out for their big European trip. It was the day my uncle had a very serious surgery (which I won't elaborate on since my cousin hasn't elaborated on her own blog - I am trying to respect their privacy but suffice it to say that prayers are still much needed and appreciated in this situation). There were lots of prayers swirling around in our house yesterday. Looking forward to hearing how J&M are enjoying their trip. Looking forward to a clean bill of health for my uncle. Looking forward to next summer when school is out again - just kidding.. sort of.

I have been getting lost in the blog worm holes lately - this is what I call it when you click on one blog and then from there to another and then another and so on... soon you aren't sure how you got there or how to get back to where you originated. I normally don't do this because I find it frustrating. However, this most recent bit of exploration yielded an exciting find. I found a huge network of multiple mamas with blogs. I don't just mean twin mamas either! I mean twins, triplets, quads.. and even families with multiple sets of multiples. Reading their entries gave me ideas that I not thought of (like this ingenious way to grocery shop with twins!) but also re-ignited a fire that I have apparently been stifling. A great day of these mamas are the dress your twins alike sort of twin mamas - which have been adamantly against since the girls were born. Even going so far as to apologize to folks when I have dressed them alike (twice in their lives). Well suddenly, looking at all these adorable pictures of twin girls dressed alike I felt ..well.. a little jealous to be honest. I have been so focused on making sure we treated the girls like two individuals I think I have been missing out a little bit on what has always been the most exciting aspect of my girls.. THEY ARE IDENTICAL TWINS!!!!! I remember being SO excited when I found out I was having twins - just ecstatic. I kept it under wraps a bit because I didn't want to hear any nay-sayers telling me how hard it was going to be. I am STILL ecstatic that I have twins. I am not saying that I suddenly want to dress them alike every day but I am saying that I might start dressing them alike when I feel like it - and no apologies. I mean, I can tell them apart and that is all that really matters right? After all I have TWINS! I have wanted to have twins ever since Christa and I used to dress alike and pretend to be twins when we were little (a la The Parent Trap of course). Their twinness melts my heart every day. I see them chasing eachother around the coffee table, playing peekaboo with each other, "talking" to each other from accross the room on their "phones" - and I melt. I think about their little hearts being knit together for life. How they cry when the other is in distress (diaper rash :( ), how they offer eachother their pacies to soothe these moments. How there are times when I feel completely on the outside of whatever is going on between them and how safe that makes me feel. How I know they will always have eachother. I still feel very strongly that need I felt to encourage them in their individuality. But I think you might start seeing some changes on this blog soon. Just sayin'.

Guess who....

... took her first steps today?!??!???! That's right.. Ms. Ada Grey!!!!!!

Here's how it went down:

I had just changed her diaper, in preparation for the morning nap, and I put her down on the floor - standing up. She stood there watching Margot chew her teether across the room and then she just took off.. 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - plop! She took 6 steps before she plopped down on her diaper butt to crawl the rest of the way :) She is a natural! 

I think it's funny the moments that make your heart soar as a parent. For me it has been discovering their first little teeth poking through, seeing them army crawl,  Margot learning to clap, finding them standing in their cribs and now seeing Ada take off across the carpet :) I am sure Margot isn't far behind. 

Feet

Anyone who has ever watched the girls eat their meals has commented on their footsie play. 

It never gets old. 

So close they like to touch while they munch their breakfast. Speaking of breakfast, now that we have reached the ripe old age of one, we are able to eat egg whites! So I have been getting over my aversion to scrambled eggs and have been preparing this for the girls breakfast for the past 4 mornings. So excited for them to get this little protein boost in the A.M. They, big surprise, love their eggy weggs. 

We are climbing everything in sight these days. Ada and Margot both can climbing the stairs, their red chair, onto the coffee table, into their stroller.. and many more. Think Ada wants to take a walk? Too bad it's raining out. 

So at one year, the girls weigh 19.1 lbs (Ada) and 19.4 lbs (Margot) which is the largest weight difference since their birth. They are 28 3/4" (Ada) and 28 1/2" (Margot) in length. I am not putting their percentiles up b/c I really don't pay attention to that stuff. Let's say they are on the low end of average for weight and the middle for height = normal healthy baby girls. 

They have been crawling on their knees for 2 months or so now. They are cruising around the furniture/walls and, as before stated, climbing onto/over everything. They love to "finger walk" and can do that with one hand. They can push their walking toys all around the house on their own. 

They are still eating very well but have recently started dropping food onto the floor and spitting things out. Their first food boycott was green beans, followed closely by peas. We have ignored these refusals and find that after a few minutes they will change their minds and start eating them anyway. They know how to use their bowls and spoons, however messy this process becomes.. we are thrilled that they understand the concept - dipping spoons into food and then putting it into their mouths. Can drink out of sippy cups (been doing that forever it seems) and from sippies that have straws. Can drink out of a glass if one of us is holding it. 

They both clap and wave..

They both use random objects as "phones" and will "talk" to each other from across the room. 

Language development is coming along as well. They have been saying Mama and Dada for awhile now but now they definitely relate these words to us. Other verbalizations include 

"dodo (with hand waving)" - All done

"gogo (Ada)" - Margot

"Ka" - Book

"Sss" - Shhh

"a-duh (Margot)" - Ada

"cuh-cai (Ada)" - Cupcake (this happened several times one day while Daddy was reading "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" to her and hasn't been repeated but I think it still counts)

Ada can point out the ball on a page of their Richard Scarry word book. Margot can point out the butterflies in "I am a Bunny" (We love Richard Scarry in this house). 

I really wish I could read to them more. I try so hard. I try giving them their blankies and sitting in the rocker with them - it lasts about 2 minutes before they are too wiggly to listen. I try just sitting on the floor and reading to them while they play.. not sure any of that is getting through. Am I the only one who has a hard time getting her twins to sit still to listen to a book? I drive myself crazy thinking that I am doing something wrong and hindering their speech development. They just seem to enjoy being physically active right now.... 

So they are probably doing more things that have slipped my mind at the moment but.. that is at least a rough run down on our skill set at one year :)

Happy birthday .. take 3

Sunday we went to Mom and Dad's for a final birthday celebration for the baby girls. Our camera ran out of space on the memory stick (bad Mommy and Daddy need to go do some photo printing pronto) so we have a couple of little videos from the day instead. 

Margot and Ada discover the piano, Margot plays piano with Uncle Page, and the babies have their first chocolate birthday cake with homemade ice cream.. Margot gobbles it up and Ada is once again not a fanatic for the sweet stuff. 

Keeping Quiet

The babies are still sleeping. I am on the computer checking "the news" - Facebook, Yahoo, my blog links.... real world news stuff gets me down in the morning. I just read MKD's most recent post. It got me thinking. We recently had a very heated meeting with someone who told us they had been essentially putting up with all our talk about Brooklyn and our former life in New York. They let us know they "didn't care that (we) lived in Brooklyn", reminding us that to them we were just from High Point and Tallahassee. Even as I write this, my chest feels tight. I hate High Point. The only thing worth visiting in that town is my family and a few close friends. For me it is filled with bitter memories and people lurking within their daily lives that I would be happy to never see again. Living in Brooklyn was like the ultimate fresh start. It was nice to feel so at home in a place and to be excited when you ran into someone you knew. It was tough moving to Raleigh. I spent my college years nearby and I have less than thrilling memories from that experience as well. What that person said was extremely hurtful. Their words plunged me back into my social dungeon. Suddenly my face burned when I made reference to a restaurant or museum or experience that took place in ... Brooklyn ... or ... New York City ... I had felt comfortable to speak openly about our life there and now I felt a pang of regret every time the words left my mouth. I found myself apologizing for mentioning things that happened there. Started saying "In our last place..." or "Where we used to live...". It felt like the wind had been taken right out of my sails. I was humiliated, wondering if I had really behaved in a "I'm better/cooler than you" manner. If I had it was completely unintentional. Had people been rolling their eyes behind my back? I had been so homesick for Brooklyn and it felt so nice to be able to speak openly about life there. I turned inward and had to force myself to be social. I thought a great deal about these things while we were in Florida, relieved to know I wouldn't need to watch my words. When we returned to Raleigh, it was with a renewed sense of self. I was actually excited to be within the city limits. As unpleasant as it was, maybe this person's comments helped me learn to embrace the here and now and be more intentional about leaving the past in the past. I will always talk about my life prior to becoming a mother. Those experiences shaped the person I am. Still, Raleigh feels more like home every day. 

Happy Birthday ...take two

We had a birthday party for the girls today. We invited their little friends from the area to come and hang out and eat pink frosted cupcakes that daddy made. 

For awhile it was just our buddy Zach ( who made the awesome "Happy Birthday" sign in the above picture) and Aunt Ellen and baby Evan. That was just fine with Ada and Margot, who were excited to sport their birthday party outfits, complete with monograms. 

We hung streamers and set out snacks, and soon our other friends began to arrive. Our buddies the Jacksons came over with their twin cuties. We missed Seth and Ben so much (they were home sick) but we will see them again soon. There was only one little friend in attendance who could move around and play with the girls..

.. this is our friend Josie. 

Josie says "Please stop taking our picture so I can show Margot how to ride this here Moose."

Margot wonders "Can we both ride at once?"

Josie says "Maybe if I ride on his nose?"

Enter Ada. "What is going on here? I know a game we can all play together!"

"We call it 'dada Glad Ware telephone' and we can you show you how! See I talk into this bowl and Margot puts her ear to another one and she can hear me! Dadadadada... wanna play? Grab a bowl!"

Who needs cupcakes :)

Swing

Between dinner and cake, we went for our evening constitutional and the girls got to enjoy some time in the swings. We had the park to ourselves. 

Ada looking so grown up. 

Margot with her own grown up visage. 

Goofy looking Daddy = Uncontrollably giggly Ada Grey

We had a wonderful time with our little family yesterday, enjoying  the thoughtful moments of their first birthday. We have come so far in such a short amount of time. 

We are having lots of little friends over for a little birthday fun on Saturday and then off to Nana and Papa's on Sunday for a celebration with family so.. more birthday goodness to look forward too!!!

Birthday Cake

Stephen is the birthday cake chef in our home. He has made me a different birthday cake for each birthday we have been together. For the girl's first he made this beautiful and DELICIOUS Strawberry layer cake with petal pink cream cheese frosting. 

Margot was a huge fan.

She tried to put the whole thing in her mouth at once. 

Ada was  a bit more timid but did seem to enjoy her first taste of cake. 

It was soon clear that Ada was not into the whole cake thing. Notice that Margot's cake is gone (I took half away myself - didn't want her to get a stomach ache) and that Ada still has all her cake on her tray. She was not really into the whole sweets thing. 

So I held Ms. Sticky-Fussy Pants instead. 

We cheered Margot on and she smeared icing on her face and tummy. 

Then she decided to share some her first birthday cake with her Ollie. 

This was loads of fun for all involved. Puppy kisses tickled her fingers. 

All in all it seems that Margot likes sweet stuff and Ada was definitely more into the burger she had for dinner. 

One Year

Today our babies are one year old. So hard to believe. Here they are enjoying Daddy's special birthday blueberry waffles with banana. I think they ate 4 "wafs" altogether (shout out to Silas).

Then it was time for presents. I must apologize for the photo quality - hope to have better ones to add later today. Margot went straight for the musical instruments. 

Ada enjoying their new rocking moose. 

Ride 'em cowgirl. 

Here Margot is taking the special blocks that Daddy made for their birthday out of the sack. 

More photos to come. 

So hard to believe that one year ago today I was laying in a hospital bed with monitors on my tummy, listening to two steady little heartbeats and trying to steady my own. They were moving all around and seemed so cramped and uncomfortable. I could hardly breathe with anticipation. In a matter of hours, life as we knew it was going to change forever.