Twin Tuesday: A Tale of Two Breakfasts

 

 

 

Even though these two shared a tight living space for nearly nine months, that's where most of the similarity ends. From the beginning, they have had their own quirks and habits that make them special.

 

For example, Girl Twin has always been the boss--and that hasn't changed. She could tell her brother what to do (and he'd do it), even before she could talk! Boy Twin has always been the more expressive one--fussing, crying or needing attention--where she reeks of quiet mischief. Remember, she's the one who has always been a hoarder of food and hider of things in the house. To this day, if something is missing, we all ask sister where she put it.

 

There is something else about them that made me chuckle the other day--their breakfast habits! I know, such an odd thing to notice. Girl Twin likes her breakfast. When the kids wake up, I usually go through the list of breakfast options for them: cereal, waffles, toast, fruit or Pop Tarts. Girl Twin likes her breakfast so much that she can't choose just one! She will often ask for cereal AND toast, or cereal AND a waffle. This may be one reason why I can't keep her in clothes that fit!

 

Boy Twin, on the other hand, can take it or leave it when it comes to breakfast. Where the girls want to eat as soon as they wake up, he will often wait until the last minute before school. On the weekends, he sometimes won't eat breakfast at all. You know, those days when you wake up late and it's past breakfast time but not yet lunch time....those are the hardest for Boy Twin. This happened one recent Saturday, where he didn't want breakfast when he got up. However, when it was time for me to make lunch, he freaked out. "But I didn't have breakfast yet," he cried. I told him that it was OK to skip breakfast and just go straight to lunch food. NO! He wasn't having any of that! So, at 11:30am, he had to eat a bowl of cereal before he would eat the lunch I made. Isn't that quirky?  Truth be told, he gets that from his daddy. :)

 

 

Do you know anyone with breakfast quirks, or is it just a Bramell thing? You should know that as I write this, Lee is eating a bowl of cereal at 11:05am. See? I told you he gets it from his dad.

 

 

 

Twin Tuesday: Feel The Love

These two. I swear, sometimes I want to strangle them. Other times I want to put them in my pocket and keep them there forever. Just like any siblings, they fight and bicker a lot. They also love as fiercely as they fight; I suppose that's a good thing. One day they will realize just how lucky they are.

The other night, Boy Twin must have been doing some deep thinking during bath time. He came out into the living room and this happened:

Him: Mom, can twins be married?

Me: (confused) Do you mean to each other?

Him: Yes. Can me and Girl Twin get married?

Me:  No, baby. You cannot marry each other; you will grow up and find different people to marry.

Him:  (Deflated) Awwww, man!


I love his innocence. I love his heart. And I love that I have to repeatedly tell him that he can't marry his sister.

Conversation With My Kids

 

 

These two. I swear, it's a laugh a minute with them. It's even funnier that most of the time they don't even know they are being funny. It's funnier than that when they don't know we're listening to them.

 

The following conversation was overheard in the kitchen, when they looked out the window and saw our neighbors' dogs outside one night after dinner.

 

 

Her: Hey Brother! Come outside! Heidi and Zodie are outside and they're sniffing butts!

 

Him: That's just how they say hello.

 

 

 

* photo from a day trip to Eureka Springs 6/15. They were in awe of the "giant Jesus."



Gone Fishin'

 

At the end of the twins' Grammy Camp, Big Sis and I headed east to pick them up. We had a nice, long-weekend visit and got to relax a bit, too.

 

The twins were super excited for me to go swimming with them once I arrived. Grammy had taken them swimming every day of their week at Grammy Camp, and they have both become quite the little fishes. We headed to the pool so they could show off without floaties on! Boy Twin is best at swimming under the water and Girl Twin is best at swimming on top of the water and floating. I couldn't believe their progress in just a week's time! I'm thinking by next summer, the floaties will be gone for good.

 

We got to spend some time at Pop's, too. The kids played with Allee and Kai, and we got to see the newest baby in the family.  But the highlight of the trip, without a doubt, was Boy Twin catching his first fish!

 

Uncle T and TP took Boy Twin down to Pop's pond, where they quickly caught a boat-load of fish....see what I did there? This is one happy and proud dude--and Boy Twin was pretty happy, too.

 

We were just sad that Lee wasn't with us, but he got to hear all about it at home. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

Cousin P didn't want to be left out of the fishy fun! She cracked us up when she grabbed hold of the fish and took off. There may have been some tears when her daddy took it away from her.

Twin Tuesday: Not Babies Anymore

It's another Twin Tuesday, and I'm feeling particularly anxious this week. Maybe it's because we bought their first round of school supplies and my babies are going to kindergarten open house tomorrow night.  Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not sad about them starting school--no way! Sometimes people expect me to be sad because my babies are not babies anymore. Heck, no! We've done our baby duty and are ready to move on. I'm ready for a regular schedule and ready for all three kids to be at the same place together all day long. And, above all, I'm ready to stop paying for daycare/babysitting/preschool! Yay for FREE public school!

  

I'm just feeling a little off kilter. Sometimes I look at the twins and literally cannot remember how they got to be five years old. The time between their birth and age 5 seems like a blur of feedings, diaper changes, crying, tantrums, butt wiping, messes and baths. And now, it's so different. They are riding bikes, writing their names, roller skating, hitting baseballs, playing video games and excelling at NEVER BEING QUIET. Mercy, the talking!

 

We have decided to split the twins up for kindergarten, which wasn't really a hard choice for us. My primary argument is that these kids have spent 24 hours a day together for nearly their whole lives. Don't we owe them each a little "me time?" I'm hopeful that spending the day apart will make their time at home together more peaceful and happy. In addition, because one of the twins is excessively dominant (not naming names), this will give Boy Twin (oops!) a chance to let his own light shine and speak for himself on occasion. Poor kid, it must stink having two mamas sometimes. 

 

I am a teeny bit worried about how they will handle the separation, but a level headed kindergarten teacher advised me this week not to sweat it--if the first few days are a disaster, we can always put them together. At our school, the kindergartners aren't assigned a teacher until the 5th day. They spend the first week just shifting kids around in different combinations, with different teachers, getting to know everyone. I didn't like this process for Big Sis, but I think it will be great for the twins to get used to being apart.

 

Here's to new beginnings, growing up and having a SUPER school year x TWO!

 

 

 

 

Birthday Happiness!

Today is the day--these kids are FIVE!

I love these kids with all my heart. They challenge me, frustrate me and make me yell. They run, giggle, fight and make the biggest messes.

They love each other and they love me. Our house would be lonely without them.

Conversation With My Kids

This morning, on the way to the babysitter....

 

Girl Twin:  Mama, when we're five, can we do whatever we want?

 

Me:  NO!

 

 

Actually, what I should have said is, "You mean like you do now?"  I finally convinced her that they have to wait until they're 30 to do whatever they want. #winning

 

 

 

If it was up to them, they would eat cupcakes and Cheetos for every meal! This is from their Easter party at school last week.

Twin Tuesday, Birthday Edition

Happy 4th Birthday to two of the silliest, lovable kiddos that I know! What an adventure it is every day with these two.

 

We celebrated with lunch out at Chili's and opening gifts from mom & dad. We are going to play a lot of catch and Hungry Hungry Hippos this summer at our house!

 

 

Twin Tuesday

This.  Moments like this make all the difficult days worth it. These kids can melt my heart in an instant. 

Twin Tuesday

I found a cute little picture of the kids from our dentist trip a few weeks ago.  These two just have so much fun together! I hope they always love each other this much.

 

Boy Twin Funny:  He has started to refer to himself in the third person.  This is totally hilarious to me, as neither of the other children have done this before.  I probably enjoy having a conversation with him more than I should, especially when he's requesting a drink or volunteering information about his day at school. 

Twin Tuesday

Cheers to Twin Tuesday!

New Year's toast

Twin Tuesday (on Wednesday, of course!)

I tried to snap a quick pic of the kiddos this morning, but they weren't having it.  So this post will just not have any photos. However, I do want to share a couple of funnies from last week.

 

GIRL TWIN--

 

This happened as we were driving home from daycare one day last week.  We drove over the interstate and Girl Twin had a much better view than I did, as I was looking in front of me.  She excitedly yelled out, "Look! The popcorn truck!"  I clearly did not see a popcorn truck.  But, as I looked down at the cars passing below us, I did spot a semi truck with the Target bullseye on it!  Way to go, Tar-jay.  The kids know you and love you for your delicious bribery popcorn. 

 

BOY TWIN--

 

The kids are old enough now that they really pay attention to our surroundings when we are driving (see example above).  I've started giving them little "tests" to see if they know how to get from Point A to Point B.  Usually, it's "Which way do we turn now?" type of things.  So, as we were heading home from daycare again, we stopped at the stoplight near our house.  I asked the kids, "Which way is our house?"

 

Boy Twin knows the answer!  "Turn that way to go to our house," he said proudly, pointing in the correct direction.  Then, "Turn the other way to go to NOT our house."  HAHA.

 

These guys. At least they make me laugh sometimes.  It helps to balance out the crying (mine, not theirs).

Twin Tuesday

Here's the scene from last Saturday's soccer game.  They are not playing soccer, they are sliding down the hill.  I had so much hope for these two! Of course, Girl Twin was hurt for the beginning practices, so she had to watch. But brother jumped right out there and did so great at practices.  It took him getting knocked down one time during the first game, and he was done.  Finito.  When Girl Twin was healed and ready to play, she excitedly took the field.  Finally, what I was waiting for!  Oh, but no.  She decided, "I don't want the blue kids."  Translation: she didn't want another team out there.  I guess we forgot to explain how a soccer game works.

Oh well.  Lesson learned. They just aren't ready yet.  And we'll be saving that $60 bucks next spring.  As I always say, it's a good thing they are so darn cute.

Twin Tuesday, the Wednesday Edition

This post didn't make it on Tuesday because I was out doing something fun with my twinners.  Dad took Big Sis on a mini road trip, so I was home with the littles for the night.  We spent our evening outside at the Botanical Garden of the Ozarks, enjoying a free family concert by the Arkansas Winds Community Band.

 

I am totally embarrassed to admit this, but here goes...last night was my very first trip out the the botanical garden.  I know! Why???  What a beautiful facility and grounds; a perfect setting to throw a blanket down and relax to some music.

 

After work, I headed home to make a picnic dinner for the kids and myself.  The whole time I'm thinking maybe taking them out by myself isn't a great idea. But you know what? They did great! And they LOVED the show and walking around the gardens.  They feasted on peanut butter sammies, apple slices and popcorn. They giggled, danced and twirled all through the show, determined to entertain everyone sitting around us.  Then, during intermission, we got to walk around the gardens and enjoy the flowers, ponds, statues and lily pads. 

 

 

 

We decided that we can't wait to go back and take Dad and Big Sis to check it out.  I decided that I need to make an effort to spend more time with the kids doing fun activities and not worry so much about being out on a "work night," or the crap needing to be done at home.  I loved spending time with them alone; watching them explore the grounds was so special. 

 

 

Twin Tuesday

This week Twin Tuesday is dedicated to wishing the twins a very happy third birthday!  Sometimes it seems like yesterday that they were newborns, and sometimes it feels more like 10 years ago.  

We enjoyed a birthday dinner at Marketplace Grill, where I'm pretty sure we got the best of them.  It's kids eat free month, plus each kid got a free dessert.  Score!

This rarely happens. So glad I had the camera handy!

A Window Into My Life

And now, because I know you have all been waiting patiently, here is my essay that I read in the Listen to Your Mother show in Northwest Arkansas on May 30.  The You Tube video will be posted later this summer....hopefully the edited version, which will NOT show me tripping off the stage.

My Hands Are Full, But So Is My Heart

 

Once upon a time there was a happy couple with one sweet daughter.  One day, the wife lost her mind and suggested that they have another baby.  Let this story be a lesson to be very careful what you wish for.  And be very specific.  You see, this story is about me; I’m that wife.  And we didn’t get one more baby, we got two. Yes, twins—a boy and a girl.  
 

Being the mother of twins has been such a crazy experience.  The crazy actually started on the day we found out I was carrying twins, at 19 ½ weeks!  Now, I’m no genius, but this wasn’t my first pregnancy either.  Shouldn’t we have known this much, much sooner in the process?  Talk about a shock!  Even my doctor was shocked and speechless.  My reaction?  First, I cried.  Then, I laughed.  Hysterically.  My husband turned pale and never said a word.  Several nurses came into the exam room to check on us during that visit.  By “check on us,” I mean to make sure we weren’t about to jump off the roof or something. 
 

By the time I came to terms with what was going on inside my body, I realized that I wasn’t entirely prepared to deal with other people.  I don’t know if it was due to a double dose of hormones or what, but people just started to annoy me.  Don’t tell anyone, but I once yelled at a Walmart checker for being too slow.  I felt really badly about it for a little while. 
 

The biggest problem I had was with random, nosey strangers who asked stupid, and often, very personal questions.  By far, the most often asked question was, “What are you going to do?” after I told someone I was expecting twins.  My answer came with a smile and a shrug, “Oh, we’ll manage.”  By the 234^th time I was asked that, I’d come up with a better answer, such as:  “I’m thinking of ditching them at the hospital.”   
 

Another popular question was, “Oh my, how are you going to afford two babies?”  This is not a good question to ask someone who is suddenly and unexpectedly faced with the challenge of needing a bigger house, a bigger vehicle and feeding and diapering two babies. That one could have easily gotten a few people punched. 
 

Unfortunately, the dumb questions didn’t stop after the twins were born.  Early on, I got asked a lot if they are identical….usually while they were with me, dressed in blue and pink, respectively.  I’d just take a deep breath and politely point out that one is a boy and the other is a girl.  Deep down, just one time, I really wanted to say, “No, my daughter doesn’t have a penis!”  Seriously, I cannot be the only person who understands anatomy.  They are almost three years old now, and thankfully, we rarely get asked that question anymore. 
 

Besides biting my tongue, this crazy experience has taught me so much about myself and what it means to be a mom.  For example, I learned that I’m stronger than I thought, both mentally and physically.  Have you ever tried to walk while holding two infant carriers at once?  Not easy.  And I’m not that graceful to begin with. 
 

I’ve also learned some other valuable life skills, such as making a peanut butter sandwich with one hand, bottle feeding two wobbly-headed infants at the same time and driving across the state alone, with three kids under age five.  I really don’t recommend trying that last one.  Oh! And I can also fall asleep on demand, anytime and anywhere.  That one is really a blessing and a curse. 

 

But perhaps most importantly, I’ve figured out what that saying “my cup runneth over” means.  There’s nothing better than coming home from work and being met at the door by my three sweeties.  As difficult as it can be sometimes, I know that I was born to be their mommy…to love them, teach them and watch them grow.  I love watching them play together and figure out things together.  They are at such a special age now, full of questions and mischief.  But I know it will all go by too quickly.
 

 

Yes, I’ve been blessed so much that my cup does indeed runneth over.  But, sadly, the dishes in my sink and the laundry in the hamper also runneth over. 

It's Twin Tuesday!

Look at these kids!!  They are almost three. years. old.  WHAT? 

 

Saturday night, after our big birthday party, we took the little ones to our first Naturals game of the year.  Big Sis was off playing with Aunt Nanette and the other big girls.  Tracy, Jonathan, Lee and I headed to the ballpark with the twins.

 

We ate junk food and enjoyed our front row seats and the cooler temps.  I know we'll be going back for more games.

 



Twin Tuesday

 

 Here's a picture of me and my little monkeys snuggling on Mother's Day.  The big monkey didn't roll out of bed until 9:00am.  Lucky her, getting to sleep in on Mother's Day.

 

Apparently, we are also raising a nudist toddler. Girl Twin is naked about 75% of the time we are at home.  I guess I can't really blame her.

 

We did get to head out later for the "We're Going on a Bear Hunt" live show at the Walton Arts Center. It was really fun and we loved it! Then an early dinner out on Dickson Street with my crew--great day!

Twin Tuesday

So, it's been a long time since I went on a blog rant here.  Dear friends, I've found just the thing to set me off.  Get comfy because this may take awhile.

As I was scanning my Facebook feed last night, I found this jewel: My Wife is Expecting Twins and I Am Not Happy About It from a recent edition of The Huffington Post.  Stop what you are doing and read it so you will understand the rest of my post.

OK, first off, I am very open-minded and I believe that everyone has the right to an opinion and to share that opinion.  Taking that into consideration, I am totally appalled by what this dude has written.  I can say that because I CARRIED TWO KIDS IN MY BELLY FOR 36 WEEKS.  As a rebuttal, here is what I want to say--

1.  This is NOT about YOU, mister.  She is doing the hard part and don't you ever forget it.  There is no way for me to explain what it's like to tote around two growing babies inside you.  It's scary, uncomfortable and sometimes painful.  It's exhausting; and it's the hardest thing I've ever done.  I'd think it may be comparable to carrying around a 20-pound bowling ball for about four months without ever putting it down, not even to sleep.  There's no going back now; she needs your support now more than ever--not you grumbling about how you wish she wasn't having twins.

2.  Nobody, I mean nobody, could have been more shocked than I was on finding out we were expecting twins.  For God's sake, I was 19.5 weeks along--this is something most people find out much sooner.  We were scared, too.  That's OK.  We were scared we couldn't afford all the formula and diapers...daycare...a bigger house.   It will pass, but something new will always pop up to scare you more.  

3.  Since you already have a kid, you knew what you were getting into.  I'm sorry your child was difficult and doesn't sleep well.  That comes with the territory of parenting.  You will eventually get sleep, it just won't come right away.  You deal with it, just like we do, going to work drop dead tired every single day.  We're still alive.

4.  It takes two very committed parents to take care of twins (plus one), I promise you this.  I can tell this guy isn't going to be much help.  THANK GOD for my superdad husband.  You know what? He changed the twins' first dirty diapers because I was still out cold from anesthesia.  You know what else?  He didn't complain about it.  Just like he never complains about getting only five hours of sleep at night, or not getting to watch SportsCenter or go drinking with the boys.

5.  Sure, having twins is overwhelming at times.  Being outnumbered by your children is difficult, period.  There will be times when you don't have enough hands to accommodate everyone; when one baby is vomiting all  over you while the other is  blowing out diapers.  Believe me, I know.  You'll have to figure out a system to feed both babies at the same time, before they can hold their heads up.  You know what? You will.  There will be times that you are so tired that you can't remember what day it is, or you find your car keys in the refrigerator.

Then the day will come when those same crying, demanding babies beg you to push them on the backyard swing.  They will cry for you to play catch with them, even though they can't catch yet.  And that, my friend, is freaking fantastic.  Those are the moments when all the sleep deprivation, the vomit and poop don't matter anymore.  When your little 2-year-old looks at you and says, "You're my best friend," nothing else matters.  Just wait for it.

6. Is it really fair to say you wish she wasn't having twins? I guess if you are all about being honest with your feelings, good for you.

Look at this:

How can you look at that and say you wished one had a "genetic anomaly?"  Really? That's selfish.  How can you say that you're regretful of getting pregnant?  

Those babies need me.  They need me to love them, take care of them, protect them and teach them how to be good people.  Just like your twins need you, buddy.  Quit whining about it and do your job.

These sweet babies are about to turn three.  I had a perfectly healthy pregnancy, and they never had any problems.  I consider myself lucky to have them and wouldn't change a thing.  Yes, sometimes the fighting, biting and bickering are enough to make me run away...but I never get past the driveway.  They are mine and I love them with all my heart.  I cannot imagine my life without these two little mischievous, ornery, stubborn and precious kiddos.  

And I'm not too chicken to use my real name.

Twin Tuesday

It's Twin Tuesday...or is it Freaky Friday?  The kids insisted on trading pj's last night.  Boy Twin looks smashing in the Dora jammies with the ruffled sleeves, no?  Silly, silly kids.