Oh boy

When I was working (before I got pregnant), I was very unhappy with my job. I was working 45+ hours a week, had a 40 minute commute, and very little paid time off. I was actively applying and interviewing for jobs. I interviewed with a local college for an executive assistant to the CFO. I wanted the job sooooo bad. The pay was really good, the benefits were free, the commute was only 15 minutes, the hours were 35 a week, and the paid time off was unheard of. I would have gotten the week of July 4th & Christmas off on top of 10 holidays and 3 weeks vacation. Well, sad to say I didn't get the job. He really wanted to give it to me but I had no experience working in a college and he had no time to train me because he was so busy. It sucked. Well a couple of months later I got pregnant and realized that after paying for 2 infants in daycare I would only bring home about $50/week. So I quit my job and decided to stay home for a while.

Financially it is hard, but we are somehow making it. However, I miss being able to splurge on myself once in a while. We had planned that when the boys turned 2 I would start looking for a job. I knew it might take a while because I was going to be very picky on the position I took. I want to be happy in my career. Well the other day I got curious and looked at the colleges website. They have an opening that would be perfect for me. I'm going to apply...but I'm so nervous. What if I get offered the job? Am I ready to put the boys in daycare? Will I regret my decision? Ahhh Decisions! So I put in my resume and coverletter today. They might not even call me, who knows. It just makes me wonder, will I ever be ready to leave my boys?

Meltdown Free!

On Wednesday we took the boys to the Central Park Zoo. It is about a 2 1/2 hour drive to NYC for us so we left after breakfast in hopes that they would take their nap on the way. Mission accomplished minus the fact that they finally fell asleep when we arrived in the city and only slept for about 30-45 minutes. So I'm thinking...not good. A full day in the city with such a small amount of sleep = meltdown central! Oh, and just a side note - it was only $10/person for the zoo & the boys were free! I was really proud that I planned a fun outing for such a small amount of money. Stupid me....nothing in NYC is cheap. Parking was $42!

The zoo has a whole section just for kids so that is where we spent most of our time. The boys loved getting out of their stroller for a close up of the animals. They really wanted to pet the sheep but I wouldn't allow it. Overprotective? No. My boys don't 'pet'. They grab, pull and yank. If our cat is stupid enough to let them get close enough he ends up loosing a couple of chunks of hair. But yet, he never learns.

On the way home, the boys took another short nap and it was nice to have some piece and quiet. All-in-all the day was great. I finally feel like we are starting to get back to an active lifestyle. Most people we know have no idea how restricting having twins can be. At certain points B was taking 3 naps a day but K was only taking 2...not to mention the 6 times a day they were eating or taking bottles. So their schedules were completely off and I was doing feedings all day which made it impossible to do anything. I'm looking forward to the future and all the fun activities we will do!

Running on E

Last Tuesday I started coming down with a cold. You know, feels like you got hit by a bus type of cold. Whatever, no biggie I'm a big girl and can handle the world! Then a wicked cough started setting in - again no biggie, I can handle the world with no sleep from being up all night coughing! Well by Saturday I was running on E. My throat was extremely tight and then the nausea started. You would think 5 days later the cold would be getting better not worse. So I threw the towel in and went to an urgicare. By this point I was doing all I could to not puke in the waiting room. Saw a doctor told him all my symptoms. They did a chest x-ray to rule out pneumonia and stuck the long q-tip down my throat until I really almost puked on the nurse. I was given an antibiotic for possible strep (couldn't get the results that day) and was told I was probably nauseous from a post-nasal drip. Ummm...I'm no doctor but I don't think its from a post-nasal drip. So I'm sent home with some Robitussin with Codeine and an antibiotic. We didn't even pull out of the parking lot before I puked. I got home, puked some more and layed in bed all day feeling like I was dying. I am not kidding when I say giving birth to twins, naturally no less, was easier than the feeling I had on this day. Finally at around 8:00 pm (after puking all day and not being able to eat or drink) I went to the ER. They gave me 2 iv bags of saline for severe dehydration and some anti-nausea medication. This worked similar to an epidural...I felt like a new person after it.
Well, of course since I was out of commission the entire day, D had to watch the boys. Now I remind you they are over 18 months now. He has never in their entire lives watched them a full day. The day proved how men are clueless with schedules, routines, and chores. I didn't pay much attention to what he was doing all day (again, I thought I was dying) but I do remember he was giving them a snack at quarter to five (should have been at 3:00 pm) and even tried laying them down for a nap afterwords because he 'needed a rest'. Haha! Sorry dude, but they are down to one nap a day...too bad for you! He loaded the dishwasher with dirty dishes and assumes he has completed all the chores for the day (meanwhile the laundry basked is overflowing on the floor).
When he gets home from work everyday at 5:00 pm and I tell him to watch the boys because I need a break his reaction is 'from what, it's not that hard'. So after he reflects from an entire day with the boys, he decides I need more help. So he says from now on he will feed the boys dinner so I can eat one meal in peace. Ummm....almost 2 weeks later, still hasn't happened. Surprised - NO!

Spilled Coffee

Literally. Do you ever get that bad feeling when your husband is leaving for work and tells your kids 'you be good for mommy today'? Translation: 'try not to be so horrible today'. During breakfast this morning I put the boys in their boosters at the table and went to grab their pancakes...seconds later B has grabbed my coffee cup (full nonetheless) and it spilled everywhere. Thank God it wasn't hot...actually I don't remember the last time I actually had a hot cup of coffee. We have a round nook table & it seems like if I have anything on the table they can reach it. The other day I had B at the table eating lunch & I ran upstairs to grab K from his nap and when I returned he had grabbed his sandwich & food was everywhere. Moral of the story...keep your beverages out of the reach of your kids.

Boys vs Girls

I often hear parents say that raising boys vs girls is different. I won't lie, I was a skeptic. Doesn't it really depend on the environment you raise them in? Final answer is, NO. Have you ever noticed that boys at a playground are usually throwing dirt, climbing up the slide instead of going down, and chasing each other with sword sticks? Then you look over at the girls and they are building sandcastles, holding their baby dolls down the slide and playing hopscotch. I now realize my life will be complete chaos raising boys.

I come from a very traditional family...the whole respect your elders yada yada yada. I have an older sister who is my best friend. She has two girls ages 6 and 4. I absolutely adore them. The other day we are on the phone and of course I can hardly hear her with the boys screaming and carrying on like normal. I hear nothing in the background on her end. So I ask her 'where are the girls'? She says they are in their room playing barbies. I tell her 'I can't wait until my boys are that age so I can be sitting on the deck with a nice glass of wine while they play quietly in their rooms'. She starts laughing hysterically and says 'that is never gonna happen'! I now realize I am screwed.

Day off

Waking up this morning I felt like I got hit by a truck. My entire body aches, I have a monster headache, I cannot stop coughing, and I feel like I have 2 collapsed lungs. I do not get sick very often, but when I do it's no joke. It all started yesterday and by last night it was pretty unbearable. So I told D if it is this bad you might have to take the day off. Well it was actually worse this morning than last night. D gets out of bed at 8:30 am (which means he is going in late so he is going to be staying late at work) and just starts getting ready for work. Hello...I'm dying over here?!?! Needless to say I know he doesn't want to waste a day off on watching the kids. I suppose I don't even get a day off when I feel like crap. I drag my butt out of bed and go get the kids and bring them to the living-room. Whatever, I can handle this I'll just take some cold medicine and not worry about any chores today. So I'm downstairs getting the kids their morning snack with milk and he is just standing there. Um...can I help you? Yes, I'm waiting for you to make my coffee. WTF!

Overachiever cleaner?

After starting this blog, I realized I really wanted to share any valuable information I had for parents. The problem with that was...did I have any? Cooking in my house is hard to come by, scattered toys are weapons, and I feel like cleaning is a foreign term. My boys are now 18 months & surely I will start being able to 'run a tight ship'. So I went on a mission. First, I wanted to start with dinner. Dinner at our house is 6pm. Usually at about 5:30 I am running around the house like a chicken with my head cut off trying to figure out what I can fix. Needless to say it is complete chaos. So I found a site called simplifysupper.com. I must say it is great. You can plan out an entire month of menus...or you can take baby steps like me and just plan for the week. After you set up your menu you can print out your grocery list along with the recipes. How much easier can that get? I started that last week and so far so good. My only gripe is that the menu options are not that large and only include dinner recipes (it turns out my kids also eat breakfast & lunch). I must say this lifts a huge boulder off my shoulders and I enjoy eating a variety of food opposed to pasta every night.

This is going so good that I decide if I actually have time to cook maybe I can clean! So I found a website that actually tells you exactly what to clean everyday to keep a tidy house. Wow...a manual on cleaning. So I printed that out last week. The website is called www.flylady.net. She gives a list of little chores to do every day and a couple of larger ones. The way I look at it is if I cleaned things more often, it wouldn't take me so long to clean. Makes sense right? Wrong. I realized after the first step that this is not the program for me! The first step is getting up in the morning and showering, getting dressed and putting on make-up. I almost peed myself when I read that! I have 2 toddlers at home under the age of two. I consider it a good day if I can brush my teeth by noon.

In all seriousness if you are a neat freak this is the website for you. If I had more time I would definitely follow her routine. Before kids my house was spotless. Now at the end of the day if the sink is empty and the laundry is put away it's good enough.

What is wrong with men!

I am not your typical 'man hatter' but sometimes I really wonder where their heads are at! Maybe it's just my husband but, hello they are your kids too! We just got home from an exhausting weekend with the boys and I am almost passed out on the floor with 2 toddlers jumping all over me and I get a whiff. Someone has pooped. I'm pretty good at knowing who it was just by the smell. I change diapers all day every day. So, I figure it's not too much to ask that my husband change one at least every other day. He tries to find anyway out of it. He actually takes longer scheming on how to get out of a diaper change than the time it would have taken to just change it.

So here is his new line "You should change it, you do it so much better". Seriously???

Traveling Update

Ok, so we got home early yesterday afternoon from a weekend visit for my MIL surprise 50th birthday party. As expected, the trip was beyond stressful. If K & B would just take a normal nap and go to sleep on time it would be easy peasy! However, they prefer to scream at the top of their lungs and take at least an hour or more to finally fall asleep. Ugh! Last night when we put them down in their own beds...nada, not a peep.

To add to the stress my husband thought this was his weekend off...now that's a knee slapper!

I'm a teeny bop

Ok this is hard for me to admit. I am an avid reader. No, that is not what I'm admitting. Lately I am addicted to the most childish books imaginable. Here is what I am admitting. I am 29 years old and I loved the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer. There I said it.

Although I love to read, I will also admit I do not normally read scholar-worthy type books. I've been known to dabble in some Stephen King, Dean Koontz, John Grisham, and Greg Iles (looove him). After reading Twilight I got into some Jodi Picoult books...she's okay. I even read the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris. I figured her vampire books are better suited for my age...not as embarrassing. I just cannot seem to find my Twilight fix.

Looking around in Target last week, I saw some flashy vampire series. It is The House of Night Series by P.C. Cast. So I bought the first book. Again, it is a teeny-bopper book. But...I love it! What is wrong with me?! I think a 8 year old could read it. In only a little over a week I'm on my 3rd book.

I am accepting any suggestions for good, page-turner ADULT friendly books.

Poop there it is!

A nurse in the NICU once told me that changing diapers would eventually get harder. Stupid me I didn't believe her. How can it get harder than trying to put on a diaper that is too large on a screaming wiggling baby that pees on me all time? It does. Now the baby can scream louder, wiggle better and pee in larger quantities. But that isn't even the hard part. Now I have to hold down a screaming wiggling peeing toddler that is trying to put his hands in his (excuse me...) poopy penis while his brother is picking up the soiled diaper and running around the room.

p.s. Do not let your toddler walk around in just a diaper. They do know how to get out of it, you just won't know it until you find them peeing in the corner.

Traveling - Ugh!

So this weekend we are traveling with the boys to our hometown about 2 hours away...and I am dreading it worse than if I had to go to the dentist for 10 cavities. We are throwing a surprise 50th birthday party for my mother-in-law. We will be there Friday - Sunday. We always stay at my parents house (they live in the same town) and have all the necessities (pack-n-plays, etc) there. Well my parents are away for the weekend so we will be staying in their house alone - with no help. It is only Tuesday and already I am having trouble sleeping & completely stressing over this trip. Am I the only parent with twins that dreads traveling???
The worst part for me is putting the boys down for a nap or bed. We have two pack-n-plays set up in one room (at home they are in separate rooms) and we also sleep in that room. I don't know if it is because it is an unfamiliar room or what, but when we leave the room they scream. To make matters worse, they keep each other up crying. It breaks my heart to listen to it. At home, we put them in their cribs and they go to sleep, no crying.

We had the same issue when we went on vacation in April. We all had to share a room and they would scream when we left. They were both miserable the whole vacation because they were so overtired.

I am not looking forward to this, to say the least. I love going home to see all of our family (his grandma, my grandparents, my sister & nieces, our parents), but we hardly ever go because it is so stressful on me. I cannot wait until they are old enough to be excited about going to sleep over at Grandma & Grandpa's.

It's also hard for me because I feel like I am completely overwhelmed away from home with them. Nowhere we go is baby proofed like at home so I have to chase them around everywhere. Feeding them is a whole-nether story.

Well this will be the first time we put them in separate rooms at my parents. We will see how that goes. Someone please tell me traveling with twins gets easier???? Any advice on the sleeping situation??

Belly Pics

Everyone wants to see the belly pictures of someone pregnant with twins. I still cannot believe I got that big!

New Cooking Idea

With two kids under the age of 2 I find it extremely difficult to plan & execute meals. I have run out of ideas and cook the same things over and over again. I realize most of my problem starts with the grocery shopping. I always make sure I buy the meats (pork, chicken, beef) but I never know what to do with them. I usually resort to pork chops, cheeseburgers and chicken and rice. I never have enough ingrediants to cook anything from any of my cookbooks.

So I went on the internet searching for some idea's. I hit the jackpot with a website I found. It is called simplifysupper.com. The have menu's set up for the entire month. Most importantly you can search through all of their recipes and customize your own menu. Another great part of this site is that when you are done setting up your menu (or using theirs) you can print out the grocery list & recipes for the week. I love this idea! This way I know what I'm cooking every day, I have all the necessary ingrediants, and the best part is that I don't waste food because everything I bought is being used!

I am attempting to start this tomorrow & I will post an update at the end of the week on how I did.