random weekend update

so the boys had a really fun birthday (pics to follow). on their actual birthday, we just hang out & went to the park bc the weather was GORGEOUS. conrad finally got to try the swings (he loved them) & daddy took them running in the bob (totally wore N out-- he said it was like running with a sail). saturday we had our little party, & the dudes got completely spoiled. but new toys really were desperately needed-- they were in need of some "big kid" toys, which we now have in droves. :)
we also totally rearranged all our furniture. friday night, we were both up all night bc val had a bad night & didn't sleep, & apparently we both spent the time dwelling on how to rearrange our house, bc saturday morning we both had big plans for how to move everything around. after trying N's way, my arrangement won out & now we actually have seating in our family room & the birds have been moved into one cage (YAY!) we're going to see how they do, & hopefully we can control things enough that they aren't inspired to make passionate birdy love like last time.
& all this week we have doctor's appointments & more doctor's appointments. sigh...
back to the allergist tomorrow for conrad's results. i'm actually kind of anxious about this. allergies are so hard to get under control... we're been trying a new routine of daily soaks (not baths-- no soap) for 15 mins a day & then a quick head to toe covering of eucerin, which does seem to make him more confortable, but has done nothing for the flare-ups. this morning there was the start of another bad attack, & the poor kid has been sneezing all day. so i'm hopeful that there's SOMETHING we can do for him, but i guess we still won't know for a while yet. so much of allergy treatment is trial & error until you (hopefully) find something that works. & avoidance only goes so far. it's not like we can hide him from dust & grass, you know? i want him to be able to be a normal kid.
then wednesday, both kids have their 12 mo. check up. val is doing pretty well, no asthma troubles recently, but con again is having issues with his reflux. he's still puking at least every other day (better than multiple times a day, but still.... it seems like too much puking for a 12 mo. old baby). & i want to ask about their language & crawling, etc-- the usual mommmy concerns. plus they're getting shots. woo-hoo! i think daddy will be coming with us tho, so that will make shots easier, since there will be one parent per kid to give cuddles afterwards.
& friday i go see my OB for a check on #3. i've felt pretty awful lately-- crampy & lots of back pain, so i want him to check things out & make sure all is still as it should be, since we're planning on going to DC still next week. i think it's just bc i've been overdoing things a bit. we've been busy & N seems to think that as long as i am not actively throwing up, i should be able to do everything i can do when i'm not big & preggo. & bc i'm me, i can't say no, especially when my kids want mama. so basically i've been in pain for a while, & am pretty miserable. i do feel better with rest, but rest is hard to come by. so i just want to make sure there's no damage done.

& this has probably been the most boring post ever. sorry.... i'll post fun pics of the dudes at their birthday festivities later to make up for it. :)

lots of gratuitous baby pics

bc they're so cute, i jsut can't help myself-- here are way too many pics of the dudes hanging at the park by gram's (& our place...we live super close.)

val with daddy, going down the big kid slide. N loved this, val was intrigued, but very serious about it all.

conrad swinging with daddy. (he couldn't go on the little kids swing bc of his re-circ, but he still enjoyed it.) val got to swing on the baby swing by himself & thought he was extremely cool, altho i forgot to upload a pic of it.

vally, crawling around the swing set.

con exploring screws. he loves buttons, & anytign that may be a button, hence the fascination with screws. i think he spent like 5 mintues non-stop investigating this before we could move on.

right after we got to the park. note the looks of suspicion.

conrad, just pleased with life, generally, & very happy about finding mama in the "fort".

val, hiding in the baby fort, being cute.
i love love love love love this nice weather. it's so great to be able to take the dudes out to play finally. i'm not sure how i'll manage it this summer with a newborn, but we're going to make it happen! the fresh air is way too wonderful to pass up!! of course bc it's MI, it's supposed to snow next week, but i'm pretending like spring has sprung until then :)

first birthdays

it occurred to me that most people seem to make a pretty big fuss (or at least around here they do) & i decided that since this birthday party is mostly for mom anyways (let's be honest. they won't really remember balloons, or clowns, or how many people came, or what they got. not that it's bad to do all that stuff, just be honest-- admit it's really for you!) so we decided to have a just a small party, with way too much food. (bc every family gethering involves way too much food. it's just how we roll.)
ok, i did get some birthday plates, etc, but N is baking cupcakes & we're making simple food. it's just me & N, my folks, & the guys' aunt & her folks. (my best bud & her parents are pretty much family in our world. & N's parents aren't coming down.) so we'll be at home, & i think it will be pretty chill.
i am pretty sure the dudes will get way too much stuff. i used their birthday as an excuse to update their toys, (they really need some more challenging stuff), & i'm sure my folks also went a bit overboard, bc it's what grandparents do. but we didn't invite extended family, or everyone we know with small children, bc at 1, the guys don't care, & i think a small party would be not only easier but more pleasant for us & the dudes. there will be years ahead where we can go "big" but this year, we wanted something small & chill, where the dudes can make a huge mess & get cranky if they want to with no pressure to be a "good" baby. afterall, it IS their birthday-- they can cry if they want to! :)

so what did you do for your kids' first birthday?

Sunday Pics & Milestones

con man at the park

valinator in the front yard

check out my sidebar-- no more adjusted age! i was waiting til their 12 mo. check up for the doc to officially tell me they're all caught up, but i'm sick of looking at it & i think they're caught up enough for me!

some milestones accomplished for Val:

• he crawls on all 4s



• he can sit up by himself



• he can pull to standing & balance there



• he can take a couple steps (he's only done this twice so far, but that counts!)



• he can point, clap & wave



• he can swtich toys from one hand to the other & bang them together



• he can feed himself with his fingers



• drinks from a sippy (but only at meals), & from an open cup (with help)



• kind of says "kitty" (ok, it's really "dee-dee" in their goober-language, but they mean "kitty"!)
  

some milestones accomplished for Conrad:

• he does a killer army-crawl



• he gets up on all 4s & rocks



• can pull himself to a stand



• can sit up by himself



• he can point, clap & high-five



• he can feed himself with his fingers



• switches toys fm hand to hand, & knocks them together (& againts anything he can find!)



• he can turn the pages of a book



• gives himself a bottle (he hates sippys) & can drink from a cup (with help)



• kind of says "kitty" (yeah, he says "dee-dee" too... i still think it counts as a word!)

they also both cruise the furniture, & know what "no" means, altho they don't say it. no one says "mama" or "dada" yet, but they do long chains of "mamamamama" or "dadadadada." val does it a bit more than con man, but he's working on it. they also both say "ga" for "hi". i have no idea where they got "ga", but they use it consistently & in perfect context for "hi", so maybe that counts as half a word? either way, altho they haven't hit every single milestone 12 mo. olds are supposed to have hit, i think milestones are fairly arbitrary anyways & that there is a range of "normal". so in my non-expert opinion, they are both perfectly normal 12 mo olds & the ticker had to GO!

more preggo belly pics (yup, Twins v. Singleton belly, Part VII

ok, THIS is the belly i've been trying to show! i usually wear baggier things at home, so the clothes kind of mask the enormousness of the belly. i wore something a bit more clingy yesterday & scared the crap out of N. he must not have been looking at me much recently, bc when i asked him to take this picture, he gasped & yelled-- "WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?" cracked me up. (& val is in this pic bc we were going out to dinner & he was insiting on being held.)

me with #3 at 28ish weeks:

me with the dudes at 28 weeks:

these socks were made for walking...

my goober took his first steps!!!! :)

con man isn't there yet (still working on his crawl) but last night val took his first 3 steps (at a RUN, no less) toward his gram (my mom) as she was leaving after dinner. i have to admit, i'm a bit jealous he didn't run to mama first, but i am so thrilled for my little monkey!! he loves to be in motion, & i know he's pry going to be taking everything at a run as soon as he figures it out.

the big SNIP SNIP

i finally worked up the courage to talk to N about his anticipated vasectomy. other than my initial knee-jerk reaction when i found out we were expecting #3 just 6 mos after the dudes were born, i've felt pretty solidly anti-vas.ectomy, but have been afraid to say anything. (& i know exactly how awful i am for feeling that way after being lucky enough to wind up with a surprise pg so many women would kill for. it was rotten of me, & i feel like an awful mother for even admitting it, but it's how i felt. i wasn't ready & was pretty much just shocked. needless to say, i'm happily anticipating 3's arrival NOW, but it took me a few months to get there. i'm sorry for acting like a jerk about it, it's just how i felt.)

i don't know WHY exactly i was afraid to bring it up, but i just had this dread of talking about it to N. i think in part, bc i have a hard time justifying my feelings. we had always talked about 3 kids, but i also always wanted a big family & 3 just doesn't feel "big" to me. i didn't want to re-nig on our pre-marriage kids discussion, but i also wanted to be honest with my husband, & honest with myself. i don't want regrets 10 yrs down the road, & i don't want to resent him for preventing us from having kids or him to resent me for pushing a 4th child. & while i'm not sure i WANT #4, i'm even less sure that i DON'T. i just don't want to make that kind of decision while i'm a super-emotional preggo, he's freaked out about work, & we're both facing 3 kids under 2.

so here's my list of reasons why a vas.ectomy is not a good idea right now (obviously entirely from my point of view):

1. it creeps me out. i have a paranoid (but very real) fear that something will go wrong with the surgery. even tho it's low-risk, outpatient stuff, i still really hate the idea of any one tampering with my husband's p.enis. it's a huge turn-off for me, & i can't quite place my finger on why.
2. i *think* i might want another kid. (& this is the biggest part of why i don't want to do anything permanent.)
3. i don't want to make a permanent decision as a response to a surprise pregnancy. i mentioned above my reaction to finding out about 3, & i don't want N to rush out & get snipped in response to an "oops". life changing decisions shouldn't be made based on emotions, & i think we're both (him especially) pretty stressed at the idea of adding a newborn to the mix right now with the dudes just barely heading into toddler-hood.

so that's what i finally shared with N. i didn't ask him NOT to get cut. in the end, it's his body & a spouse's feelings go only so far. instead, i asked him to postpone things, & reconsider a year after #3 gets here. i told him we'd look into a more certain form of bc (he's understandably gun-shy of pills) & he agreed to postpone the decision. which i feel is a good step.

so while nothing is finally resolved, i feel loads better with my feelings out in the open, & N took it really well. he agreed right away, & didn't argue at all, & i absolutely love that he was so understanding about my anti-vasec.tomy woes. (big sigh of relief here!)