Bathtime Aftermath

Word Resolution

I don't really put much stock in New Year's resolutions. I've attended exercise classes for too many years to know how quickly the enthusiasm fizzles.

I have; however, thought a lot about words lately. I want to amend my words--how I speak, what I speak. It's not a New Year's resolution necessarily, the fact that we've rolled over to a new year is not perpetuating my desire to change. I have different "motivators".

Hadley loves our dogs, I mean--LOVES them. She asks to see her "da" all the time, she waves to them, she tells them goodnight before bed, she dangles food from her tiny hand during mealtimes to get their attention, and some days they get more kisses than I do.

I often get frustrated with Hadley's beloved "da". They get underfoot while I'm rushing about the kitchen, back and forth getting meals ready. My patience with them dwindles, and I speak sharply and unkindly at them. The jabbering coming from the high chairs abruptly stops, and the girls stare at me in wonderment; their mama who just uttered harsh words at their puppies. My daughters' soul-searching eyes cut me to the quick.

I said a few weeks ago  that I wanted my words to be gentle, kind and full of grace.  Only speak words that make souls stronger. I want to be able to show my daughters what this looks like when speaking to all kinds of creatures.

In my kitchen, I have a quote taped to my cabinets, so that I see it when the dogs are tripping me up and impeding my progress towards dinner.

Before you speak ask yourself: Is it kind, is it necessary, is it true, does it improve on the silence? ~Shirdi Sai Baba, an Indian Saint 

 Enough said.

Epiphany Thanks

279. Brynne figuring out how zippers work.

280. Little girls in a rocking chair.

281. Fires in the fireplace.

282. Brad witnessing Hadley standing on her own for the first time.

283. Brynne going tunnelling.

284. The girls seeking out the doorstops every single day.

285. Reading time with both my girls.

286. Chatting with Melissa on the phone.

287. My geranium blooming in January.

288. Avoiding an accident when the girls were in the car with me.

289. Seeing Brynne's joy in getting to splash water everywhere in the big bathtub.

290. Peeking at the puppy dogs.

The Rocking Chair

I love walking into my daughters' room and seeing it sitting there.

Over 30 years ago my mama crafted it to sit in my nursery. Seeing it sitting there conjures beautiful thoughts of a young woman with a small round belly, hair tied back in a scarf, running a paintbrush full of yellow paint over the rocker blades. She sits on the floor, brow furrowed in concentration as she weaves the seat where her unborn child will sit one day. A smile flickers on her lips as the mural of a blue bird perched on some prairie grasses comes to life to adorn the place where that child's back will rest.

Those images are pregnant with emotion for me. As that woman's child, I feel loved. Cherished. Treasured. 

When I brought the chair out of storage it was, I thought, hopelessly dirty and dusty. I set to work cleaning it. The warm September sun gently dried the fibers of the freshly shampooed seat. My dust rag lingered over the mural that was lovingly painted so many years ago. It gave me great joy getting that rocker ready for the nursery. Now my babies sit where I once sat. My heart is full.

(I promise I didn't pose Hadley this way--her legs are in the same position mine were)

   

Tidbits

When I first started blogging, I did it for two reasons:

1. I love to write, I always have loved to write, and since I was sitting around nursing my babies all day long, I thought I would use that opportunity to do something productive, and enjoyable with that time. 
2. I long for connection. This outlet allows me to communicate with friends and family, yes, but blogging has done much more than that. It has given me a way to connect with people with whom I share a similar experience, most of whom I've never met. They have encouraged me, offered helpful advice and blessed my life--you know who you are.

This blog has slowly morphed into a way for friends and family to keep up with our growing daughters. While I often mention Brynne and Hadley here, as they are a huge part of my life, this blog is not meant to be about them, it's really about me. It's my journey, my thoughts, my outlet, my life as a mama--the things I celebrate, the struggles I have. I hope that in sharing my experiences here, I can help others. Parenting twins is hard. If I can encourage you through that journey, I would love to do so!

I was checking my blog stats recently, which tell me, among other things, where my readers are from. I learned that I have readers from the Isle of Man (I had to look it up to make sure I knew where it was). I realized that they (those people over on the Isle of Man--hello!) and many of you don't really "know" me. I recently read a blog post titled, Things you should know about me if we are going to be BFF. I thought it was a fun idea. So, below are a few things about me, so that all of you, especially you people over on the Isle of Man, will know me just a little bit better.

My mom is an identical twin.

I enjoy the smell of Skunk.

I was on life support for three weeks when I was 27 with a bad case of mono (I don't recommend it).

I'd rather have a glass of red wine than eat dessert.

I love gardening! (zinnias from my garden)

I love playing board games--my favorite is Scrabble. 

I never cut my hair until I was a senior in college. I donated almost three feet of hair to Wigs for Kids. (this is the only picture I could find--everyone on our basketball team in high school braided their hair in dreads--I'm on the far left).

I sucked my thumb until I was nine years old (I don't recommend that either).

I'm tall, 5'10"--I wish I was an even 6'.

In 4th grade I memorized all the Presidents of United States--I can still recite them today.

I have this one rogue arm hair that is over two inches long.

I have three sisters.

My favorite food is fresh pineapple.

I started wearing contacts in 4th grade.

We have two dogs, Winnie and Fiona.

My favorite color is green. 

I wore my hair in pigtails when I had the twins. 

My favorite animals to see at the St. Louis Zoo are the Malaysian Sun Bears, followed closely by the penguins and puffins.

 

I can't stand the feel of lotion on my hands; I have to wash it off immediately.

I double majored in Biology and Psychology in college.

When people use improper English while speaking to me, I'm often distracted by correcting them in my head.

New Year and Follow-up Thankfulness

I've written a couple posts recently about changes the girls were going to be experiencing. I thought I'd follow up on those--I know I was praying. Some of you must have been too, because things really did turn out much better than I could have hoped.

 

Holiday travel. I had written about how my anxious heart feared and dreaded holiday travel this year. Mostly, I feared that disrupting the girls' schedule would poke a hole in the raft of routine that we'd worked so hard to inflate.

 

As some of you predicted, the girls adjusted to the changes with minimal difficulty, and had no trouble transitioning back once we got home. This mama is beyond thankful! Here are a few things we did to maintain some consistence away from home:

• We departed as the girls were supposed to be going to sleep. Two of the trips were around two hours long, so we left when the girls were supposed to going down for a nap. The other trip was four hours, which we made at night as the girls were supposed to go to bed. They did a pretty good job of transitioning from the car to their crib.
• We made their sleeping environment as close to home as possible. We brought along a box fan for white noise as well as their sleep sacks, blankets and binks. Their room at home is dark, really dark. We covered windows with blankets in attempts make wherever they were sleeping as dark as possible.
• We stuck to their schedule. If it was naptime, it didn't matter if we were in the middle of opening presents, we made sure that we kept to their schedule.
• We kept bedtime and naptime routine the same. We also made a point to have family say goodnight early, so that we could give the girls some time to wind down from the extra stimulation.
• We remained flexible. One of their naps just wasn't working, so we got in the car and went for a drive. We wanted them to be well rested, so that they could have a good visit with family.

Transitioning to separate cribs. We made the change this past Friday since it was a long weekend, and Brad would be around in case things didn't go well. Between their two naps we set up the second crib in their room. We put the cribs in an "L" shape, so that they can still interact if they want to. We divided up the binks, and assigned a crib to each of them.

The girls' first sleep apart from one another was their afternoon nap. It did not go well. I think I cried as much as they did. They struggled so much; it broke my heart. That night went, only slightly better. As predicted, Hadley had a harder time being apart from her sister. Again--just a lot of struggling to figure out how to sleep apart from one another.

The next day went better. Much better, Infinitely better. No crying at all. Now, when I put them down for naps, Brynne lays down. In the same motion of me laying Hadley down, she is sitting up and pulling herself up to standing. I let her do it. The first time it happened, I watched her for a few moments before leaving the room, I saw that she is peeking at her sister. After I left, I heard her through the monitor chatting to Brynne for a few minutes, and then it was quiet, and that was it.

What a blessing to have such resilient and adaptable daughters. Brynne and Hadley pretty much rock. I am also enormously thankful for my awesome, supportive husband, who has really big shoulders for me to cry on as my babies grow up.

 

267. The girls' excitement at getting to drink out of cups.

 

 

268. Brynne banging on the register.

269. Two babies warm with sleep.

270. Almost 11 months of babies sleeping in the same crib.

271. Fairly easy transition to separate cribs.

272. Lots of meals in the freezer.

273. An awesome husband who prepared all those meals.

274. Fascination with the frog night light.

 

 

275. Going to aerobics with Laila.

 

276. Getting home without the muffler falling off.

 

277. Listening to Hadley chattering away in her crib first thing in the morning.

 

278. Ringing in the new year sound asleep. 

 

2010 in Pictures

So, our year was pretty boring and uneventful, just minor details.

Unless you consider our family going from this:

to this:

a big deal.

Enjoy our year in review!