Kate (for Wendy)

This one is for my "soul-sista", fellow twin mommy Wendy. (Twinsfest '09 baby!!) :)

I am so NOT a fashonista at all. AT ALL. Now Tim on the other hand . . . don't get me started!! :P I am cheap (call it buyers/Catholic guilt), I have zero taste in clothing and can't apply make-up or style my hair for anything, but my love for everything that is Kate Spade is real & true. I love her classic, simple yet sometimes funky style. If I were a millionaire I'd buy everything from her site -- shoes, bags, baby crap, home junk -- and I'd change it with the seasons. But alas, all I can bring myself to do is purchase items from her outlet store (at least they are real, right?). I am very proud to say that I (or others, if purchased as a gift) have never spent more than $100 on a Kate bag -- and often it is much, much less.

When we lived in Chicago we had an "upscale" outlet mall less than 5 minutes from our house. I cannot express to you the sheer joy I felt when I saw the little green "Kate Spade" sign go up in one of the empty stores. WOO-HOO! So for Xmas that year, Tim gave me this beauty (and I know it was under $100 because that was our spending limit on each other that year for Xmas and he gave me this and other small items as well. I trust that he told the truth. :)):

I was SO sad to leave Chicago for many, many reasons, but one was that I would no longer be able to stop in once a week to check out the sick deals in my Kate store. When I found out about the B&K special I had a dream of carrying a Kate diaper bag, but who has $400+ to drop on something that is going to carry formula and soiled clothes, right? Imagine my sheer joy AGAIN two Thanksgivings ago when my mother-in-law, her sister and my mom were shopping at the outlet mall an hour from my OH house in our annual "Black Friday" shopping spree . . . Aunt Nanci spotted a sign that said the new Kate Spade store was open. WHAT?!?!? I'm surprised I didn't go into labor then! I was nice and let the others shop around in other stores before we made our way to Kate's. Oh it was a glorious day. They had THE PERFECT DIAPER BAG -- it was chocolate brown, HUGE, and when the cashier rang it up with all of the Black Friday & new store discounts it came up to be less than $90!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's like $300 off the original price!! Again, I'm surprised I didn't go into labor. So I bought it and from that point on anyone who came to my house (esp. during my bedrest days) was forced to oogle over my new Kate bag. I kept it out right next to the couch so I could drool over it every day. Sadly I no longer carry it as my "main" diaper bag as it was getting too heavy to hang on the stroller (it broke 4 different "bag hooks" on the darn thing), so it is now my work bag. Still love it to death.

Last Xmas we went to the outlet again and I was on the hunt for a new wristlet. Now that I carry a ginormous diaper bag and work bag, I'm really not that into carrying a purse too. This bag is PERFECT . . . it holds my mini wallet, 2 blackberry phones and some lipstick. I don't remember how much I paid for this exactly, but I think it was less than $50.

Lastly, here is the baby I purchased last weekend. Very summery, super cute. I will disclose it was slightly damaged (the little pull on the zipper is broken, but I'm hoping to get crafty and fix it myself). Total cost was $16.85 (25% off the "final sale" price and then another 30% off of that!).

If you know me "in real life" you know I am so not driven by such materialistic things. But gosh darn it, I do love my Kate bags! And Wendy, if you are ever in C-bus we'll go to the store to score you a sweet deal of a bag, too!! :)

You know you love it -- Multiples!

Do you have twins or more? Just curious about what life with multiples is like? Click on the button above and go check out this site -- it is AWESOME!! :)

Shopping/Therapy

Gosh, I feel like there is so much to update.

B & K & I drove down to the outlet mall yesterday to meet my dear college friend Alicia. We shopped til we dropped (or as much as two ladies can shop with a set of twins who didn't nap all morning and aren't fans of being strapped into a stroller). Alica had the pleasure of being exposed to the fun freak show that is going out in public with a double stroller filled with adorable multiples (oh and speaking of stroller -- I brought the combi -- can I just say I feel REALLY sorry for people who live in a wheelchair? I mean come on -- the stroller is technically the same width as a wheelchair and I can't tell you how many things I bumped into or just plain didn't fit through with that dang thing!). Alicia & I both scored new goodies at my favorite store in the world -- Kate Spade. I purchased a new wristlet for $16.85 (yep, you read that right). Yippee!!

While we were shopping, Tim was looking at new cars. Fun times. He also took our first baby to the vet for his yearly check-up. Looks like "cleaning our floors" while B & K eat has taken a toll on Mr. Tabasco. He has gone from 95lbs this time last year to a whopping 108!!!!! Quite large for a Golden Retriever and the largest he's been since we've been his parents! We always kept him away from "people food", but I guess the smorgasbord of puffs, Cheerios, pancakes and fruit that fall below B&K have led to some additional poundage. That combined with the fact that we're lazy parents (read: we don't take him for walks in the winter) have led to his little weight gain. But I'm sure now that the weather is breaking & we're getting out more will help bring his weight back down. :)

What else is new. . . Bennett had his PT assessment on Friday. I won't go into great detail, but the good news is nothing is seriously wrong. He is just living up to his lazy white dude label. We have some exercises to work on with him while we sit on the "wait list" to get him enrolled in weekly PT sessions. His basic diagnosis is low muscle tone, so Tim's going to start him on a round of 'roids to get him bulked up (totally joking. I think.). Let me just say once again for the record that having one baby is SO DANG EASY!!! (and I know my triplet & more friends out there think I have it easy with two!). Oh my gosh . . . Tim & I took B alone while K got some 1:1 time with Lauren. . . glorious, but I digress . . .

Kendyll, on the other hand, is all about changes these days. Miss thang is working on cutting FIVE (5!!!) teeth at one time. She is no longer snaggletooth. She can also walk behind her little push toy all the way across the play room. Back & forth; back & forth. She is also living up to the "ornery girl" title my friend April has given her. She LOVES to throw tantrums these days and her favorite is to throw her hands above her head and bend backwards when you pick her up (like she's going to do a backbend). She held a handstand the other day for several seconds (while we held her feet up). Maybe she'll be more coordinated than me after all and be a gymnast. Who knows.

Oh and one more thing. I had to make a special trip to hell, I mean babies r us, yesterday to purchase this.



Yeah, when I went to get Kendyll out of her crib yesterday morning I noticed she had black crap all around her mouth. Turns out she has taken to eating her crib for breakfast (and snacks). Not good. There I go winning mother of the year again. :)

And because we can't go without a picture of Bennett, too . . .

Have your people call my people

I walked down to the market by our house this evening while Tim was making dinner. We were out of milk for the babies, so I thought I'd bring them with me. We LOVE having this market so close by -- it has a very "down home" feel (shoot the owner Tim was there tonight talking to the neighbors who shop there and everyone knows "the twins" by now) and bonus -- it is also a state liquor store (but that has nothing to do with us loving it so much. I swear.). Anyhoo, both B & K had meltdowns for various reasons while we were in the store. I'm talking red faced, big tears, lose their breath they were crying so hard meltdowns - and we were in the store for less than 5 minutes, mind you! The only thing that would quiet them down?





Yep. That is my personal and work blackberry phones. I guess it does pay off to carry two dang phones every once & a while. Sigh.

Looking for a good cause?

Every year, half a million babies in the U.S. are born prematurely. In 2004, one of those babies was was my dear friend Dana's daughter, Regan. She was born at 28 weeks weighing 2 lbs 1.7 oz. Regan spent the first 96 days of her life in the NICU in Nasvhille putting her parents through a roller coaster of emotions. During our journey at the NICU, Dana (and Will) were so wonderful providing us support. Actually, Dana helped me stay sane during my bedrest; she too spend 7 LONG weeks on strict bedrest while pregnant with her second child -- little big guy Caden (and she didn't have cable or a laptop while on bedrest . . . seriously, I don't know how she survived!!!). Dana would share her experiences with Regan and the preventative measures her doctor took during her pregnancy with Caden and it helped me navigate through my doctor dilemmas and appointments. And when B & K ended up in the NICU, hearing about Regan's brave journey helped us be inspired to get through it as well.

Regan is now in preschool, taking swim class, about to have her 5th birthday party and for the 3rd year she is leading the Regan team for the March of Dimes thanks to the research of this great organization. And thanks to the advances in research, "little" Caden ended up being full term and today is a healthy, huge 30lb 16 month old!! Premature birth is the leading cause of newborn death and many life long disabilities. The funds they raise in the March for Babies support research that saves babies` lives. It has saved all of our children.

Would you like to help with this worthy cause? Please contribute to Regan's walk by clicking on the link below. Your support is greatly appreciated!

http://www.marchforbabies.org/hzw6x6

Bennett & Kendyll say thank you for supporting their friends Regan & Caden!! :-)

yep, that's a friggen BOW in Kendyll's hair. Until it grows a little longer I am going to give the bows a shot . . . I'm tired of people asking me how old my twin boys are (even when she is dressed in head-to-toe pink . . . what do they think I'm creating a transvestite here??). :)

End of an era

Yesterday was a monumental day. You may recall my entry from last year where I documented the great process that was feeding B&K. Over time we were able to drop bottles overnight (hallelujah!!) and then drop even more once they got the hang of eating "real" food. We always warmed up the bottles -- since we got in the habit early on of mixing up a day's worth of bottles in the morning (thanks to mixing the "liquid gold" Neosure to 24 cal - ugh, I DO NOT miss that) we relied on Advent bottle warmers to heat up the formula to room temp (or sometimes a little warmer). So my PSA to new parents -- DO NOT WARM UP BOTTLES!! It quickly became a royal pain in the ass whenever we went out in public or traveled or recently as we've tried to transition to regular milk. The kiddos (esp. B-man) were a bit spoiled and preferred beverages room temp. I think if we had just given it to them cold(er) all along our latest transition would have been a bit easier. But I digress . . .

We officially retired the bottle warmers yesterday. Woo-hoo!! One MOMENTOUS step closer to getting baby crap/bottles off of my kitchen counter!! B & K have totally transitioned to Vitamin D / Whole milk, they will drink it out of a sippy cup straight out of the fridge. They get sippy cups with milk 4 times a day (as well as some juice with their snack -- which they guzzle down like momma chugs vodka!). Sometimes they like to take their time drinking the milk and will sip it as they play; others they down the whole thing in their high chairs. It is a beautiful, beautiful thing. We have also dropped a bottle right before bedtime -- we had kept this for a while to ensure they get a good dose of milk, but I think they are doing well enough during the day that they don't need this feeding anymore. I have bagged up all of our bottles and they are already in my "twins sale" bin. I now have a couple new shelves open in my cabinet, too. Woo-hoo!!

So I'll ask for a moment of silence for our bottle warmers -- you've been good to us this past year!!



(note: I know it seems pretty wasteful to throw these away, but trust me -- THEY ARE NASTY!! I wouldn't dare sell them anywhere and I don't really know if/where I could recycle them. Sorry earth/green peeps!)

Brackets, Cars & Gangsters

I feel like I say that every week (and weekend) has been a busy weekend. Where is the update there? :)

We've been watching a lot of basketball (bracket is still looking decent). We loved having Grandma & Grandpa Z in town this weekend (we went to Savli's today for brunch. MMMMMMMM!! If you live in C-bus and you haven't been there, you gotta go for brunch! I personally don't like buffet anything, but I LOVE this place! They make this stuff called Pasta Salvi -- basically fettuccine alfreido, put into square blocks, breaded and then fried. YUMMY!). We attended our Ganster St. Patrick's Day party -- the only thing ganster was the music and the only people in green were me & Jodi (although Tim did wear a green hat). It was fun none-the-less. While B&K played with the grandparents Saturday afternoon, Tim & I went to the North Market for lunch with friends and then to the Auto Show to check out some rides (Tim is in the market for a new one this summer). Good times.

What's new with B&K you might ask? Let's see . . . they will pretty much eat anything (K a little more than B). They are doing super great with their sippy cups (watch for a post on this soon). Kendyll has turned into an acrobat as her favorite things these days are backbends & somersaults (she is quite good at both . . . no idea where she gets this skill from). Bennett has all of a sudden fallen in LOVE with bathtime, which is super fun for mommy because 90% of the time I am more soaked than he is (sometimes B&K bathe together -- like when Tim travels -- and other times they get to play all alone).

I'd like to send some love & prayers out . . . first to my friend and fellow twin mommy Jenn (from the Murray Twins). She & I met through the twins club and we have attended several playdates together (and she's also part of our "MoMs Night Out" crowd). Her step father was diagnosed with cancer last week, rather unexpectedly, and the prognosis isn't the best. We are keeping her whole family in our thoughts. I'd also like to send good vibes to my cousin, "Aunt" Julia. She's had nasty back issues for a few years now and is going in for some surgery tomorrow. We're thinking of you too, Jules!!

And now some B & K pics (because I know that is really why you come here):

Cheesy Smiling Bennett

Kendyll & her "seriously mooooommmmm" face

B & K Playing

Eating time (K sporting her silly face that makes us all laugh)

Green Beer Day, Part Deux

Well we didn't exactly make it out for Green beer today (although I did technically have one at home). We have a St. Patrick's Day "Ganster" party to go to this weekend (yeah, you read that right), so I guess we'll do our celebrating then. I couldn't get a great pic of B&K in their festive gear (go figure), but here are a few.

2008 St. Patrick's Day (it is like Carter's "Baby's First St. Patrick's Day" puked all over them. . . check out my post below to the link to more pics from last year):

2009 St. Patrick's Day:

B's shirt says "I've got your pot of gold right here"

K's shirt says "Kiss me, I'm cute"

Green Beer Day!!!

Woo-hoo! Happy St. Patty's Day!!!! I didn't get a chance to snap a picture of B&K in their St. Patrick's Day shirts this morning (super cute, by the way!), but that is first on my agenda when I get home tonight. In the meantime, you can re-visit my entry from St. Patrick's Day last year here.

Uh, new hobby (or addiction)?

I think I have an illness. I collect double strollers (or means of transportation for my twins) like some ladies collect shoes. At first we had this one -- handy for snapping in the little car seats. But I hated that stroller with a red-hot passion. It was big, bulky and once they out-grew the car seats they would find great joy (and pain) in kicking the snot out of one another. I happily sold the seats, 2 bases & stroller to a twin mommy-to-be at the end of the year. The Graco Duo-Glider:

Many twin mommies invest in this stroller -- the double snap-n-go. In all honestly, I wish we would have just gone with this one from the beginning (sorry Nana & Papa W -- who bought us the other stroller -- I wish I knew then what I know now). :) I purchased one like this 2nd hand right before our vacation last summer and that became the stroller for Lauren to use to tool around town. I sold this one at the twins sale 2 weeks ago (but it has been out of commission since B&K transitioned from the little car seats).

We've had this one since B&K were born -- thanks to my cousins Leslie & Rachel. It has been a GREAT stroller. Stylish, good for walks and this is our main stroller for shopping, etc. Combi Twins Sport

This is one I found 2nd hand through my twins club. Not the sexiest stroller, but it is now "Lauren's stroller" for taking B&K around town. It is a Graco, too.

This was their b-day gift from Nana & Papa. We've used it around the neighborhood to the park already and we can't wait to take it to the zoo (esp. with our friends Anna, Ava & Alexis, who rec'd the same wagon at their first b-day, too).

But what I've REALLY wanted for quite some time is a double jogging stroller. Do I run -- um, no. Does that really matter?? :) While the Combi is great, it really isn't the smoothest ride for B&K on our streets, etc. I always thought a jogging stroller would be much more comfortable. And maybe, just maybe, I'd take up running (I'm totally open to advice for beginners). So after jonesing for several months for one of these things -- I've been looking on Craigslist and my twins sale -- I had not found anything I really liked (or could justify spending $$ on 2nd hand when I could buy a brand new one for not much more). My friend Debbie has this stroller and Tim & I went to check it out in person this afternoon. We are now the proud owners of the Baby Trend Expedition jogging stroller. Pretty nice for the money -- not the top of the line by any means, but it will serve its purpose (and I'm also proud to announce I survived my first run/walk outside this afternoon!).

So I may have a little fetish for double strollers, but so what! :)

Play Time!

As promised, pictures of our living room / play room (former family room) project. I don't really have any "before" pictures (long story), but I do have a ton of after pictures.

The new "living" room:

B&K's Playroom:

Pre-St. Patty's Day

As you may recall from last year, we LOOOOOVVVVEEEEE St. Patrick's Day in our household. So much so that Tim almost ditched his flight home last night to stay in Chicago (he was in St. Louis this week and had a connection through our former hometown . . . yeah, I probably would have NEVER spoken to him again if he had done that, but I digress). B & K are in the spirit already this morning with some green cheer. We're still trying to figure out where we're going to go for our green beer Tuesday night, but I'm sure we'll find somewhere cool to hang out as a family (much better than being trapped in our house on St. Patty's Day -- and major sleep deprived -- last year!).

Oh and I want to give a HUGE and sincere thank you to all of my friends for your support on my post about the NICU follow-up. I know B-man will catch up (and Kendy will get to where she should be, too) . . . honestly, I'm really not that worried about it. I could give 2 craps about what those stupid "developmental milestone" BS websites say. It just sucks to feel the pressure from others to get them caught up. Sometimes I get really sick of the "competition" amongst other mommies -- "Bobby was walking a tight wire yesterday" and "Susie balanced a plate on her nose" -- blech! You know, my children came home from the hospital breathing on their own and not needing any assistance to eat and they've maintained that for the first year of their lives and for that I'm pretty flippen happy. :) And I know they'll catch up to where they should be soon enough . . . you just won't see me bragging about it or making a big AW, because that's not my style. OK, I'm off my soapbox . . . I just wanted to say thanks for the comments and e-mails!

Happy 13 Month Birthday!!

B & K celebrated their 13 month birthday on Friday the 13th. How friggen awesome is that? Um yeah, these "monthly b-day" pictures are becoming a royal pain in the ass now, so not sure how much longer they will continue. But without further adieu:

And of course, the outtakes:

B-Diddy says "uh oh, Kendy's getting away"

Kendylicious makes a break for it

And B-man is left all alone (again)

What's so great about crawling anyway?

Half way through a busy week – whew!

B & K had their 12 mo NICU assessment yesterday (even though they aren’t quite 12 mo corrected). As expected Kendyll continued to score within the range for her corrected & actual age. Bennett has continued to drop lower, but we were prepared for that (and of course he is scheduled to start some fun therapy later this month). I’m a little torn on his progress . . . even Kathy – the therapist who has worked with us since they were in the NICU – made note of B-man’s laid back attitude. How can you teach / motivate a kid who doesn’t have any desire to use his legs and start to crawl? He is perfectly content to just sit and play away with whatever toys are around him. I have to hope that the light bulb will just click with him sooner than later (as it did when we thought he would never learn to eat from a bottle and would spend the rest of his life as a resident of the NICU). Plus I’m a little skeptical of the assessment overall – it is really hard to judge a child’s behavior and what they are up to when you only spend an hour observing them and they are in a foreign environment (oh and during naptime because it is impossible to get into this place at a decent time). But I digress . . .

In other news Kendy is getting closer & closer to walking. Miss Thing is super fast at crawling, super strong at pulling up on anything, is trying to get to a standing position by holding on to nothing (it is really funny to see her stick her butt up in the air, get her legs straight below her and then not be able to figure out how to get her hands up) and she is barely holding on to things when she is standing (i.e. only holding on with one hand or a few fingers). She is also cruising all over the place. She has also become the champion sippy cup drinker. Any kind – handles / no handles, etc. She is totally fine with the milk or juice and at any temp. Woo-hoo!

Bennett has been an eating champ lately. For the past three nights he’s finished his bedtime milk (usually 6oz) and then proceeded to drink up his sister’s left-overs. He also downed 1 ½ apple cinnamon waffles for dinner last night (his FAVORITE meal) and had pudding and puffs on top of that. Over the weekend we ate Korean BBQ (as Tim put it his parents used to think that they were exposing him to “exotic” meals by taking him to Taco Bell – quite a difference, huh?). Both B&K enjoyed some rice, bulgogi and a variety of other items that come on the side. On Sunday at the Triple A b-day party they had penne mac & cheese and some chicken marsala. “mmmmmm” as Bennett would say.

I took a few pics of the living room / play room conversion and I’ll try get those up tomorrow.

Sunny & Warm

The weather was glorious this weekend. The temperature reached a record 77 here yesterday. Wonderful! Quite a departure from this time last year (evident here). We did a little running around and shopping on Saturday and then we took the kiddos out for a stroll in their new choo-choo wagon.

And in this one Bennett is giving a shout out to all the lovely ladies - "how you doin'?".

Today we went to the birthday party for Anna, Ava & Alexis. Of course I didn't bring my camera, but I'm sure Marie will put out a ton of pics on her blog soon. :) The girls looked adorable, the food was awesome and the cakes were amazing!!! She made the smash cakes herself and I just can't get over how awesome they turned out. B&K were so excited about that party that they didn't really nap in the morning, but thankfully we managed to get through the whole fun event without any major meltdowns. Here is one (not so great) pic I snapped of them before we headed out:

We have a super busy week coming up. I have a crazy-ton of stuff going on at work this week and Tim is leaving for St. Louis early tomorrow morning and won't be back until late Friday night. B & K go for their 12 mo NICU follow-up on Tuesday, so I'll be sure to post an update on that.

They're baaaack!

I drove up to meet my mom & brother half way last night to do the B&K exchange. They had a wonderful time with the Z family as well as Nana & Papa W. Now I'm still trying to catch up and get all of their crap put away.

A few new pictures of B&K playing -

A HUGE thank you to Will & Sam for lending us their borrowed jumperoo. I've read that these contraptions will help strengthen the little man's legs and so far he LOVES playing in this thing (K does too!).

One of the toys I picked up at the twins sale last weekend.

B & K's new favorite past time . . . banging on the glass doors to the playroom (former family room . . . I promise pictures of the new playland soon).

Other random playing

Lastly, we'd like to send a huge hug out to Aunt Sandy in California. She has bravely been battling breast cancer for a long time and hasn't been feeling so great lately. You are in our thoughts and prayers Aunt Sandy (and Farmer Lou!!). We love you guys!