Beyond Thankful

This past Thanksgiving was arguably the best ever. Why? Well, the obvious, of course. Four boys whom I love more than life. Food on the table with family, who are healthy (besides my dad's knee that he had replaced a couple of weeks ago, but more on that later). A roof over my head and a warm bed at night. A good RE who helped create two little monkeys. My first born who was created when I had no idea that there was another way to create life. And so many more reasons, too many to count.

Life is good. It's really good. And this is the first Thanksgiving in years that I have been able to throw myself into the thankfulness of it all, without restraint. For as I sit here today, my life and my family are complete. The missing pieces to the puzzle have been placed. My heart is full and so is my house.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Zoo Animals

I have so many blog posts swimming around in my little brain that it is a bit overwhelming. I haven't posted in awhile because I have so much going on and so much to say that it has put me right in to shut down mode. Where do you begin when there is so much to say? Today is my first step and coming out of a pile of good things to share, but don't know where to start.

Here are a couple of Halloween pics to get me started:


Logan playing a Halloween game at my sisters house


Me holding Colton the Tiger


Me holding Caden the Giraffe




DH and I (the unofficial zoo keepers) and our zoo animals in front of my sisters house


Logan the Gorilla

In the almost month since Halloween we have had a lot going on. A lot of good things, really good things and some things that are not so good right now, but will be good soon. More to come...I have a list of topics to talk about and my writers block is gone!

Green Anaconda

I don't know what it is about this song, but whenever my boys get fussy all we have to do is turn this on our App.le TV and voila! they are captivated and HAPPY. It is so funny! No matter what they are doing at the time whether it be playing with toys, fussing about something or in another room they stop whatever they are doing and look at the TV when this song starts playing.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F000UK_kUq4


All of my boys are doing really good, other than a little fussiness here and there. Logan is loving kindergarten and comes home from school and immediately starts his homework (yes, he has math homework almost every day!). He loves school and his friends, but his teacher...not so much. In my opinion, she is a nice enough gal, but she is a bit like a drill sergeant with the kids. I have talked to her a couple of times and it has been hinted to me that she has a difficult class. While it is hard to know that Logan isn't particularly fond of his kindergarten teacher, I understand the balance she needs to maintain trying to keep order in her classroom. I am thankful that there is an assistant in his classroom that Logan LOVES and he seems to enjoy going to school overall. I think his biggest problem with his teacher is that she has a lot of rules and that the whole class gets held back from doing things because she is trying to wrangle in the kids who aren't so "orderly" (for lack of a better word). I am just thankful that Logan is well-behaved at school and that he hasn't gotten into any trouble. Although I am sure that day will come as he gets older :)

Caden is as sweet as ever. He is so calm and content and just has such a sweet little personality. He will sit and stare at me with a slight smile on his face and it is so cute. He loves to follow me around with his eyes and keep tabs on me. I have caught him many times just sitting somewhere laughing at pretty much nothing. This weekend we visited some friends and he was sitting in their bathroom by himself (I was in the adjoining bedroom and he had crawled into the bathroom) laughing hysterically. He didn't have any toys or wasn't looking at anything in particular, unless you call the bathroom cabinet something interesting), but yet he was belly laughing. He is crawling around, but is most content just hanging out and being his laid back self. Caden is also so flexible, as in he can do all out splits and can sit with his legs outspread and put his nose to the ground. It is quite the sight to see!

Colton is still a bit more vocal and likes to tell us when he is upset, as well as when he is happy. He has a smile that lights up the world and loves to laugh, especially at Caden and Logan. He loves his brothers faces! He also loves to crawl over to Caden, push him over and take his toys. In all sincerity I don't really believe that he is aggressive, I believe that he is just playful and doesn't know how to be more gentle. Thankfully Caden thinks this is funny and laughs hysterically and pretty soon they are both laughing together. Colton is crawling all over the place and we had to put up gates to keep him a little more contained. He is also trying to pull himself up and can take a few steps with assistance. This is the little boy I will be chasing after next summer.

I am loving how all three of my boys are interacting more and more. Logan is such a good big brother and he loves his little brothers. He is gentle with them and loves to hug and kiss them. He often, out of the blue, says, "Mom, I love my brothers". I tell him that Caden and Colton love him too and that when they get older and can talk that they will be able to tell him how much they love him. It is so cute to see the softer side of my little Logan. He is such a neat kid and as he grows I am continuing to learn more about him and how to see the world through his almost six year old eyes.

Now, a list of other things to come:

---We are planning a possible vacation to Mex.ico this winter with some dear friends. We will be bringing the kids with us so it should be quite the adventure and tons of fun. We are hoping to go somewhere in the Pla.ya del Car.men/Riv.iera Ma.ya area and stay at an all-inclusive resort. If you have any suggestions on where to stay, let me know!

----The zoo will be visiting us this Halloween! I will have my own gorilla, giraffe and tiger and DH and will be the Zookeepers. Logan has a Halloween party and parade at school, we have trick-or-treating in my neighborhood on Saturday and my sister's Halloween party and Sunday we will be heading to my sisters neighborhood to do some more trick-or-treating. Should be a fun, candy-filled weekend.

---- I am planning Logan's 6th birthday party to be at a nearby pizza place. He and his friends will be making their own pizzas and we will be having cupcakes and games while we wait for our pizzas to bake. This is the first friend party he will have and he can't wait!

----I am starting to prepare my Christmas lists and get an idea of what to buy everyone for Christmas. I have some ideas for Logan, but am having a hard time finding things for the Little Monkeys. Does anyone have any suggestions for two almost one year olds?

----DH and I are starting to plan a two day getaway in January. My parents will be coming to take care of the kids while we get out of town and enjoy some couple time. We have never been away from Logan (or Caden and Colton) for more than one night so this is a big deal for us. We are looking forward to some time away and are thankful that we can get away for a couple of days to relax, reconnect and rejuvenate.

That's about it for now! I hope you all are doing well and I am continuing to read all of your blogs. I check them everyday, but usually have someone on my lap so commenting is not always an option.

Tips for Moms

Having a baby(ies) for the first time or the third time is a huge adjustment. There are lots of things to research and do before having baby and so much more to do after they are born. To make it a little easier I have thought of a few things that were recommended to DH and I or things that we have done to make the adjustment a little bit easier and now I am sharing them with you. You might find some of these things helpful or not, but either way you will find what works best, or not, for your family.

Buy in Bulk- Before all of my babies were born I stocked up on everything. From toilet paper, to toothpaste to diapers and detergent to already cooked meals (either ones I had made and froze or from Let'.s Di.sh). One thing that is hard to do when you are so tired from those sleepless nights and possibly recovering from a c-section is to go to the store. If you have room to store stuff, then buying in bulk is so worth it. We have a membership at Sa.m's Clu.b and I buy all of our paper products there as well as many food items from there so that I always have it on hand to cook with. I buy hamburger and put it into 1 pound increments and freeze it in a ziploc. I also divide up steak, chicken and pork chops and freeze them too. I buy a 5 pound bag of corn and throw a little bit at a time on the stove top as a quick side dish. I buy snacks like applesauce, animal crackers and cheese and crackers and throw them in the "snack bowl" in the pantry for Logan to get on his own at snack time. And on the bottom of my pantry I have toilet paper, kleenex and paper towels at my disposal. It does cost a lot to buy in bulk because you are getting more product, but in the end when you do a cost analysis of the items you purchased in bulk vs. buying at the grocery store or tar.get it is usually cheaper in the long run.

Bring Baby With You-Getting out and about with your new baby(ies) can be quite the task. From making sure you have everything in the diaper bag to getting dressed and ready to get out of the house. In my experience, the sooner you leave your house after your baby is born, the better and the more you get out, the easier it is. When Logan was three months old we hopped on a plane and went to Florida in the middle of our cold Minnesota winter. We decided to go on a Saturday afternoon and on Sunday morning at 7:00am we were boarding our plane. When Caden and Colton were eight weeks old we again hopped on a plane with all three of our children to Florida. Granted it was A LOT easier to do it with just Logan the first time around, I am so glad that we did it with Caden and Colton too. It helped me know that I can get out of my house and into the world. And packing up each day to go to Dis.ney Wor.ld and other attractions helped me get into a good "groove" of getting out of the house. At these ages it was so easy to travel too because the babies slept so much still that the flights were very calm and even going to Dis.ney Wor.ld was fairly easy because they slept through most of the day. When we went with Logan to Florida we did not go to Dis.ney, but we did hang out a whole lot by the pool, have a couple of drinks and just relaxed while our new bundle slept peacefully between our legs on the lounge chair poolside. BEST TRIP EVER!

Keep Your Diaper Bag Packed- Plan ahead and make sure you have everything in the diaper bag. When I stock my diaper bag I put everything and more into it. I have 10-15 diapers, a whole pack of wipes, four bibs, four burp cloths, des.it.in, toys, diaper changing pad, extra outfit in case of a blow out, wallet, and cell phone. I use a back pack right now because I need to have both hands free for both babies so all of this stuff fits nicely and it is easy to carry. I do keep a sample size thing of formula in the diaper bag so that I don't have to refill it that often, which leads me to my next topic...

Formula By The Pitcher- In addition, I make a pitcher of formula at a time and fill a days worth of bottles each day. When I go someplace I put the premade bottles in a cooler with an ice pack and when it is time to eat all I have to do is pull the bottle out of cooler. This may not work for everyone though. I have always given all three of my boys their bottles straight out of the fridge cold so they are not used to getting a warm bottle. Obviously if your newborn is having a hard time maintaining their body temp, I would not serve them a cold bottle out of the fridge. Even though my boys did not have a hard time maintaining their body temp, I did wrap them in a blanket when I fed them. For us, convenience of having pre-made bottles has been a life saver, especially when both babies were screaming to be fed at the same time. When they were really little we would fill a cooler of eight bottles and bring it up to our bedroom at night for those middle of the night feedings so that all we had to do was pull two bottles out of the cooler.

Date Night- It is important to get out of the house or to spend time together inside of the house. When Logan was three weeks old I felt like I needed a little break. We brought him to my parents house and then DH and I went to a movie at the theater down the street from their house. It was a nice, short little break and allowed DH and I to get out of the house for a bit. We did go out occasionally without Logan, especially when we were invited to functions without children. However, now that we have three children we find that it is more important to go out together. It is hard right now to have that quality time with DH at home after the kids go to bed because we have so much more going on during the day that it is hard to keep up with other things so we end up doing them after the kids go to bed. We thankfully have our nanny who is able to come and babysit the kids so that we can get out of the house for a couple of hours. We usually go out about one time/month, but if we are invited to other functions we do go out more often.

Make Friends- If you are deciding to be a SAHM after having your baby(ies) then try to make friends that are also home during the day. I had a really hard time adjusting to being a SAHM after Logan was born, not because I didn't want to be home, but because it was a huge change for me. Thankfully I had a few other friends who were also SAHM that I would get together for play dates with. Now that Caden and Colton are here, most of my friends have older children. I joined an early childhood education class with other moms whose children are Caden and Colton's age and I am also a member of my local moms of multiples club. It is fun to meet new people to share similar experiences with and to ask for advice from.

Do Laundry At Night- When all of my babies were still getting up in the middle of the night I would do laundry. Before I went to bed I would throw a load in the washer. When we got up to feed a couple of hours later I would put it in the dryer and throw a new load into the washer. When I got up a couple of hours later I would pull it out of the dryer and hang it and throw the load from the washer into the dryer. Repeat, repeat, repeat. There is so much laundry to do with newborns as well as laundry from the rest of the members of the family, that I found this to be a time-saving way to do laundry.

These are just a couple of things I thought of that have made my life easier. I hope you found something useful out of these suggestions and if not, that's fine too. :) You will find what works best for you and your family. :)

What tips do you have to make our lives as moms just a little bit easier?

IVF Weekend in Review

I had such a great weekend this past weekend!

A couple of years ago I met a gal named J on IVFC. She lives in another state and when she found out that I lived in MN she told me that she has relatives who live in MN too. I told her that if she was ever in MN to let me know. Through the last couple of years we have stayed in contact and even became friends on FB. She had twin girls in July 2009 and we had our boys in January 2010. When she was pregnant with her girls she posted some belly pics on her FB page and I showed my DH the pics and his response was, "are you going to be that big?" My response was, "I hope so!" (I think that big pg bellies are the best! Big, healthy babies abound!)

So, a few months ago J told me that she was coming to MN this past weekend for a wedding. I penciled it in on my calendar and then just a couple of weeks ago we finalized our plans. I ended up picking her up at her hotel and we headed to the M.all of Amer.ica to grab some dinner and do some window shopping. We had so much fun! Talking about our kids, our IF journeys and just talking about girl stuff. And the mango margarita was awesome!

While we were at the Mall, we also hooked up with my friend S. S lives about three hours from me, but when I was talking to her last Thursday on the phone she told me that her and her DH were coming in to town on Friday for the weekend (he was running in a 10K on Saturday). I found out that they were also going to be at the Mall on Friday night for dinner. What are the chances?? I hardly ever to to the Mall (it is 45 minutes from my house) and for me to be there on the same night as them when they live three hours from the Mall. The last time I saw S and her DH was when they came to stay at our house in July for a weekend. I only get to see her a couple of times each year so it is always a treat when I get to spend time with them.

On Saturday we went to our local fire departments open house. They had all of the fire vehicles and a state trooper helicopter on display as well as fire truck rides, a fire truck jumper, activities and balloons for the kids.


Logan in the state trooper helicopter

On Sunday we were invited to the M.all of Amer.ica again to go to a birthday party that our RE throws every year for the babies he helped conceive. We met up with four of our IVF friends to go through the receiving line together to see our RE and his staff. The receptionist greeted us when we entered Under.water Wor.ld and she came up and gave me a hug. The next person that greeted us was the embryologist who was Caden and Colton's first babysitter :) I told her thank you for creating Caden and Colton's little lives. She said something along the lines of "we don't create just lives, we create families". It was so cute! I loved it because even though this event was for Dr. S. to see the Little Monkeys we brought Logan with us because he is our family too. It just really resonated with me how she said it because I felt like she was including Logan too.

We then saw two of our favorite nurses and then our RE, Dr. S. We even got a really funny, haphazard picture of Dr. S. with our family. I wish we had gotten a better picture, but it was so busy that we were happy to just get the picture we got. Dr. S. remembered who we were, which is impressive since we have not been to our RE clinic since June 2009, and he remembered which cycle # we had conceived Caden and Colton on and he also remembered that we had consulted with Dr. School.craft at CC.RM. What a memory! And there were probably hundreds of people there! Maybe he just remembered us since we did five transfers with him and was receiving treatment at his clinic for almost 1.5 years. ;)



After we saw Dr. S. we all headed out to dinner together. Fun, fun, fun!

I'll leave you with a family picture of us taken in August:

Me, Five Years Ago

Yesterday I went to a fellow mom of multiples house for a play date. There were six sets of twins there who were all nine months and younger. This is the fourth time I have gotten together with my moms of multiples group and each time a couple new faces show up. I love this group because we all have the joy and challenges of having multiples. It is fun to compare stories and receive information from others all the while having the bond of multiples.

But I also felt a bit disconnected.

On the 45 minute ride home the Little Monkeys fell asleep in the car and I had time to think. At the play date a couple of the moms were talking about how hard it is to have two babies. They are first time moms and having two at once can be quite the challenge. They then asked me how I was doing with having two babies. I explained that everything was going really well and that having twins this time is easier for me than having a singleton the first time around. They all looked at me in shock. I went on to further explain that if I had twins the first time I know that I would have struggled a lot. I had a hard time adjusting to being a new mom when Logan was born, trying to find my new role in life while quitting my job and taking on a whole new definition for myself, my new family and a whole new world/life. I also explained that while most days go off without a hitch for us, we do have our challenging days on occasion. They all looked at me with relief.

As much as I love this group, it is also an adjustment for me. I have to go back and put myself in their shoes, exactly where I was five years ago when Logan was born. It seems so long ago that I was adjusting to my new role as a mom and I have come a long way in the last five years and have been through so much trying to have Caden and Colton that I don't feel overwhelmed like I did back then. I am much more relaxed, calm and confident as a mom this time around.

Yes, we have our daily routine and sometimes we fall off of the routine and our days end up a little...scary, I'll say, but then the end of the day comes and I look at my boys sleeping peacefully in their cribs and my big boy, Logan, sprawled across his bed and it is hard not to find the joy in a day that has been challenging or difficult or trying. Those are the times that I tear up and know just how thankful I am to have all of my boys. I know that a new day will come tomorrow and it is a fresh start. I am determined to make each day great and not take for granted or get caught up on or dwell on the craziness of the day before.

After all, having a challenging day with all of my boys is so much easier than having a challenging day of going through IF. I would rather have the challenge of having two babies crying about something (which rarely happens since usually if one is crying the other is laughing at him crying), having two babies to lug in and out of the grocery store or any other errands, having two babies screaming for their bottles at the same time, having two babies to carry up and down the stairs of our two-story house six times/day than to have the challenge of IF again.

Sad to say, when Logan was a baby, I didn't always take these things in stride so well. Most of the time I did, but there were times that I did feel overwhelmed and would need to get out when my DH came home from work. I felt exactly how my fellow moms of multiples felt, only five years ago. With the realization that I was them five years ago, I have found the connection with these women.

These women who I am able to see the new, fresh outlook of being a mom. Whom I am able to remember the joy of "firsts" with Logan and whom I can draw on for the freshness with being a mom to Caden and Colton. Even though I feel comfortable in my role as a mom, I love to view the world through others eyes. And through these women I am able to see the "firsts" of Caden and Colton like it is a new day, a new beginning of life and to celebrate Logan again and all of the "firsts" and joy he brings to my life.

The Routine of It All

Now that Logan is at school all day, every day (the only option in our school district) the babies and I are getting situated into our new routine. Each morning I bundle the Little Monkeys up and put them in their stroller so that we can walk Logan to his bus stop at the end of our driveway. His bus arrives at 8:22am and he doesn't get dropped off until 4:09pm. That is a long day for my kindergartner! He is loving school and looks forward to going each day. Every morning when he hops up in the bus he looks out the window at me and waves and I wave back and blow him kisses until I can't see his smiling little face anymore. Oh, the joys at that age make me smile. He has made a couple of friends so far and has someone that he sits by on the bus. My little boy is adjusting quite well to this big change.

After he gets on the bus the Little Monkeys and I go for walk. It is peaceful in the morning and a good way to start our day with some fresh air and to help this Momma lose that extra 10 pounds from my pregnancy. When we get home, the Little Monkeys head up to their cribs for their first nap from 8:45-10:15. Once they get up, they eat and we either head out on some errands or hang around the house and they help me get some chores done. OK, so they don't really help with the chores, but they are fun to talk to while I work and I take lots of breaks to play with them.

They eat lunch at 12:30 and then go down for their afternoon nap at 1:15-3:30. While they nap I work in my home office and get some misc things done around the house. After their nap they have a little bit of time to wake up, play and then I change their diapers and load them in the stroller or lay a blanket out in the front yard and place them on it so that we can greet Logan when he gets off of the bus. After Logan gets home, I feed the babies and then he gets to play with them while I prep dinner. DH is home at 5:00 and we eat dinner at 5:30. We start baths or showers (yes, all four of my boys shower. DH hops in the shower with two shower heads with Logan and I hand him one baby at a time to wash. Logan loves showering and playing in the water and Caden and Colton love trying to "catch" the water from the shower) at 6:30, feed the babies at 7:00 and then they go to bed. Logan gets some time with mom and dad before DH reads him some books at 8:00 and then he goes to bed.

Our days are pretty routine, and I like it that way. I like the predictability of the "schedule" our house runs on. But I also like to shake things up a bit too. Next week, Caden, Colton and I will be starting an early childhood class one day/week and I have play dates with my mom's of multiples groups and other friends who are home with their kids during the day as well. I also have a ton of work and some fun non-work projects to do this fall.

My biggest project, however, is to cherish each moment with the Little Monkeys and Logan. Before I know it, Caden and Colton will be hopping on that bus alongside their big brother and Logan will be wanting to spend more and more time with his friends. Where does time go?