Favorite Posts Friday ... on Saturday! {7.14.12}.

I'm so insanely behind on blogging.  Whatever.  I'm busy enjoying my family and having tons of fun doing it!  But I've managed to save up a few of my favorite posts from the last few weeks to share with all 12 of my readers :)  Enjoy friends!

Brittany Herself - Anastasia Steele was Clearly Not A Mother Of Three  -- Um, there is no way to explain this other than that I looked like a freakshow sitting in the corner of Panera giggling to myself while reading it.  Seriously.  Read it now.  Except if you're easily offended/grossed out.  Then you might want to avoid it.

Blue-Eyed Bride - My Fuel --  My therapist recently had me think of a list of things that I need.  Not in a physical sense, but in an emotional one.  Often times, I'm too busy taking care of the physical and emotional needs of my family throughout the day, that I let my needs fall by the wayside.  So after much thought, I came up with 5 things that would make me a better person and in turn make me a better wife and mom.  I'm working on a post about it, but I thought it was interesting when reading this post that 4 of Erin's 5 "things" in her post today were the same as mine.  I think they're relatively simple things that moms tend to neglect in order to put their families first.  Good read.  Definitely makes you think. 

Expoits of a Military Mama - Irresponsible Advocacy -- Yes.  It's no secret that I'm both a huge breastfeeding advocate AND a formula feeding mom.  Yes, you can be both.  I love the way Sally describes responsible advocacy in this post.  It's well written and she makes an excellent point. 

The Bloggess - The man deserves a damn medal -- So funny.  The Beyonce post is one of my all time favorite blog posts, and this is a great follow up.  I wish I could come up with funny stuff like this to do for Brian.  Maybe someday when I'm not covered in baby vomit and snot at the end of the day I'll have the energy to do it.  Maybe.

Baby Rabies - A letter to my 51 year old self -- Beautiful.  Just beautiful.  I think most of us with small children have had these thoughts run through our heads at some point or another, and it's just plain true.  If you're a Mom of kids of any age, you'll enjoy this post.  I promise. 

** No one asked me to feature their blog. I'm just passing along my favorites with hopes that you might find something you like too. And if you find a blog you like, I hope that you'll do like I did and follow their blog, whether by RSS, Friend Connect, or email. And do the same for mine if you like!

Twin Weight Tuesday {7.10.12}.

Well, I decided not to weigh in for a few weeks.  We're in Michigan and I don't want to weigh myself on a scale that's not mine and end up falsely disappointed or excited.  So I'll just wait and see what I weigh when I get home in a few weeks.

Eating well is going to be TOUGH these next next few weeks.  I come from a family of big eaters.  Our family gatherings always include big, elaborate meals and my uncle is an incredible cook.  Recording my calories is helping, but it certainly isn't going to be easy.  I just have to keep focusing on the end results and reminding myself that being thinner will be far better in the long run than this one cookie!

Running is going pretty well.  I've completed week 4 of couch to 5K training, but my ankle is REALLY hurting lately, so I'm trying to space out my running to every other day.  I have a bit of a bad feeling about it, but I'm just going to take it slow and then make a trip to the doctor when I get home.  If I have a stress fracture or something and have to take 6 weeks off, I'm going to be in trouble.  But I'd rather have to take time off now than in October or something.  Either way it'll be detrimental to my half marathon training, but it's more managable to rest sooner rather than later. 

I enjoyed a nice 9 mile bike ride with my hubby over the weekend.  He wanted to go out for a run and I needed to get some exercise without stressing my ankle, so I biked while he ran and it was magnificent.  Great workout and nice quality time. 

10 months old!

Double digits!

My babies are creeping up on the one year mark.  How is that even remotely possible?  This time last year, Brennan and I were enjoying Mommy and Me swimming lessons and I already thought that I was as big as a house.  Ha!  I was blissfully unaware that in 2 more months I'd end up being induced and push out a collective weight of 13 pounds 3 ounces of baby. 

I must say, life is finally getting easier.  Don't get me wrong, it's still complete chaos around here and I'm always busy, but we're settled into a nice routine.  The boys all entertain each other fairly well during so I'm better able to get household chores completed.  Naptime routines are fairly easy now as both twins will fall asleep on their own in their beds after a nice cuddle and bottle.  And big brother Brennan is very well behaved while I put his little brothers down for their naps.  More than anything, it's really fun to see the 3 of them play together during the day.  It makes me excited to see them grow up together.

Beckett

Mr. Beckett had another big month.  He's become a pro at crawling and can finally give Kiernan a run for his money in the speed department.  It's so much fun to have them both moving like madmen, even though it's a bit chaotic at times.  On June 18, after physical therapy, Beckett pulled himself to a stand on his little activity table.  He didn't do it much over the next week, but after physical therapy on the 25th, he started doing it more regularly.  I'm so used to seeing a baby standing up and assuming it's Kiernan that when I look closely and notice it's Beckett it still catches me off guard.  Physical therapy with Ms. Leslie has worked miracles and he's pretty much caught up with where he should be.  Our insurance company has denied any further visits, so when we return from Michigan, we'll have an appointment with Ms. Leslie to determine whether or not he needs further treatment.  My gut feeling is that he won't need any, or he'll only need a visit every other week, which won't be too bad.  I'm so proud of him for working so hard. 

Beckett is getting more and more vocal too.  It's been easy for Brian and I to tell the twins' voices apart from a few rooms away since they were just a couple months old, but it continues to get easier.  Beckett has a deeper voice than Kiernan and deep belly laughs and cackles.  On the morning of June 14, Brian went to get the twins out of bed while I made their morning bottles.  When I came into the family room, Brian said, "I know you won't believe me, but Beckett is saying Da-Da".  I laughed at him and said of course I believed him.  And Beckett confirmed it for me later that day.  It's very cute to see Brian's face light up when he says Da-Da.  That mouth isn't only good for babbling though.  It's also very good for eating.  Mr. Beckett will eat pretty much anything if you put it into his mouth.  Other than squash, he hasn't met a food he didn't like.  I'm feeding the boys a lot of table food now, and while Beckett is quite good at the pincer grip, he's also pretty slow and laid back about eating table food.  But he gobbles down purees when I spoon-feed them to him.  He also enjoys spitting the purees back at me with a big smile on his face.  I don't enjoy that as much as he does.   

Brian sometimes describes Beckett as "lazy", but I prefer to call him "laid back".  He continues to be a very easy, mellow, go-with-the-flow baby.  But his wild moments come out when he's in the bath tub.  This month we started to bathe all 3 boys in the tub at the same time.  I can only describe it as extreme insanity, but it's definitely fun.  And Beckett greatly contributes to that fun.  He splashes like a wild child and laughs louder than ever.  I can't wait to take him into my parents' pool when we're in Michigan!

Kiernan

Oh, Kiernan.  We call him our "angry bird" and it fits him perfectly.  He is just completely crazy in every way.  He never stop moving.  EVER.  He's constantly trying to climb - furniture, people, dogs, the baby gate, out of the bathtub…  If you're on the floor, Kiernan will try to climb you.  Even if, no, especially if you're attempting to change Beckett's diaper.  He very much likes to be the center of attention. If nothing else, Kiernan is a constant source of entertainment.  And as always, he feels every emotion very fiercely and can change in the blink of an eye. 

Teething has been very rough on him.  He's a drooling machine and has been very fussy.  His top left front tooth finally cut through on June 24 and I think the right one isn't far behind.  He's constantly chewing on something, partly because of teething and partly because he's always hungry.  Kiernan loves to eat.  He prefers to feed himself and is very proficient at stuffing fistfuls of food into his mouth.  He can't be bothered to learn the pincer grip.  Personally, I think he thinks it's just not an efficient method of getting food into his mouth quickly.  Kiernan's tray is always clear before Beckett's and he usually eats twice as much table food.  He gets about half as much pureed food as Beckett, mostly because I double up Beckett's spoonfuls since he doesn't eat as much as Beckett.

Kiernan continues to impress Ms. Leslie when she comes to see Beckett by cruising all around the furniture.  He's also standing on his own for up to a minute and has stood up and sat down a few times without holding on to anything.  I can't believe how far he has come!   He is still terrorizing his brothers, but has been known to get attacked by Beckett now and then too.  And now that both Kiernan and Beckett are a little more hearty and aggressive with Brennan, he isn't afraid to rough house with them a bit.  I found Brennan dragging Kiernan around by his left leg just the other day.  Luckily, Kiernan thought it was funny, which is why I didn't know about it til I saw it. Otherwise, there would have been insanely loud shrieks of terror and rage coming from the angry bird. 

On the same day as Beckett started to stay Da-Da, Kiernan began saying Ma-Ma.  I love to hear them chat back and forth with each other, although Kiernan almost always controls the conversation.  He babbles all day long, especially in his crib when he should be going to sleep.  Lately I've begun to notice him developing the same language pattern as Brennan had - saying Ma-Ma when he's sad, tired, hungry, or wants something and saying Da-Da when he's happy.  They learn young, don't they?

Wordless Wednesday {7.4.12}.

Kiernan, Brian, Brennan, & Beckett.  7.1.12.

Does life get any better?  I submit that it does not!

Spit happens.

I walked into the family room to see Brennan chewing on something.  He still sticks things in his mouth to chew on occasionally, usually paper of some sort.  When I asked him what he was chewing on, he just stared at me.

"Brennan, I said what are you chewing on?  What's in your mouth?"

"Nothing Mom."

"What do you mean, 'nothing'.  I can see you chewing on something.  Come here and spit it out."


I hold out my hand as he hesitantly wanders over to me.  I hold out my hand and tell him once again to spit it out.  A little line of drool drips from his mouth to my hand.

"Brennan.  That's gross.  Don't spit in my hand.  Spit out whatever you were chewing on."

More drool.  And then more drool.

"Seriously Brennan?  Stop it.  We only spit in the sink, not in our hands.  Open your mouth."


He opens wide and I peer inside.  Nothing.

"OK, what happened to whatever you were chewing on?  Did you swallow it?"


"No, I not swallow it."

"Then what happened to it?"


"It's still in there!"

"Well then spit it in my hand!!"


More drool.

::clenches jaw and tries to stay calm::

"Brennan, why aren't you spitting it out?"


"Because I can't spit it out!"

"Well what is it?  What are you chewing on??  Tell me so I can help you get it out!!"


"No Mommy, I don't want you to take my tongue out!"

::sigh::  "Brennan, we do not chew on our tongues."  




Ah, motherhood.  Isn't it grand?

Woo Hoo!! {Twin Weight Tuesday}.

I was nervous to step on the scale this morning.  

I've been watching what I eat, recording every tiny morsel of food that goes into my mouth.  I've been diligently getting on the treadmill, training for my 5K.  And if the numbers on the scale didn't move, I knew I'd be SUPER frustrated and it'd be tough to get myself back on track.  

But guess what.  They moved!  

 

I lost 4 pounds!  Hell freaking yeah.  

I've almost completed week 3 of Couch to 5K training and it's going well.  It's getting easier and harder at the same time, which seems a bit weird.  The workouts are getting tougher, but I think my body is adjusting well to running, so it's starting to feel strangely good to get in a tough workout.  This is the good stuff, people.  This is the way I remember feeling when I used to run years ago.  

Of course, not every workout is good.  I attempted my last day of week 3 last night and just stopped halfway through and walked the rest.  My legs ached, my lungs hurt, and I just felt weak.  I'm blaming a crappy diet yesterday.

On the diet front, My Fitness Pal is going swimmingly.  I literally record every morsel of everything that goes into my mouth.  And recording small things is a big giant pain in the arse, so this is a nice deterrent from snacking on things as I prepare food for the boys.  

Trying to stay on track on the diet front will prove to be a bit challenging when we head to Michigan, but I'm determined to stay on course.  On the other hand, running will be easier as I'll have a wealth of babysitters around so that I can go for a run whenever I want.  Hopefully these will offset each other a bit!  

June 2012.

June was as relaxing as we had hoped, but it has flown by at light speed! 

The beginning of the month definitely wasn't relaxing.  We flew to Michigan for what can only be described as a whirlwind trip for our friends Larry and Caitlyn's wedding.  When we got to Monroe on Thursday, we left the boys with my parents and headed to Ann Arbor.  Brian had bachelor party festivities to attend to and I spent time with the bride.  After a late night out, we got up early Friday morning to head to Brian's parents' house.  We spent the day with them, Grandma Gase, and Cory before heading out for the wedding rehearsal and dinner that evening while Grandma and Grandpa were on baby duty.  Saturday morning, Brian left his parents' house early for a pre-wedding golf outing while I packed up the boys and headed back to my parents' house.  I left the boys and headed up to the hotel.  After helping the groomsmen with their pocket squares and boutonnieres, I dashed off to get myself ready.  The wedding was beautiful and we had a ton of fun with our friends at the wedding.  We got to sleep in a bit the next morning, stopped in at a brunch in honor of the newlyweds, and headed back to Monroe.  Brian's parents stopped by to drop off some laundry he left at their house and after they left we rushed through a birthday celebration for my sister and I.  Then we headed back to the airport and off to Florida.  We both agreed that it was odd to have barely spent any time with our parents, but at least they got to spend plenty of time with the boys.