5 Possible Facts About Today

5 possible facts about today:

I may or may not have cut 3 inches of my hair instead of working through a rats nest knot

I may or may not have eaten half a gallon of coconut milk ice cream after all three boys were in bed #whole30daynegative1

I may or may not have ran the shower but actually read a chapter in my book this morning while Jason gave the boys their breakfast

I may or may not have chosen to go hang out at the sprinklers instead of getting some whole30 compliant ingredients to fill my near empty fridge.

I may or may not be writing this from the couch in the twins nursery, since me holding court (is that even a saying?) in here is the only way to get them to sleep nowadays , even though they've been asleep for at least 5 minutes out of fear that they will wake, start begging to play and make mommy's brain explode...

Warning: May not he grammatically correct. Also definitely not in chronological order.  Not gonna worry about it. Note: warning should be at top of post... Meh

One Baby and a Momma in Seattle

Marlowe and I waiting to board the Seattle Ferry. We so fancy. (Is that from a song? Everyone says it..)

This year Jason gifted me with the most amazing Mother's Day gift. A trip back home with Marlowe! He still needed to be introduced to many very important family members, so he absolutely had to tag along. Luckily I'm used solo transporting three boys, which meant that ONE boy, one very small boy that cannot yet walk or crawl felt pretty damn similar to traveling alone. Well, not really. But it was easier. I think you catch my drift. The day we flew he cried all of five minutes. It was as we descended into Seattle, so most likely due to painful ears. We started with a two hour subway ride to JKF, where we caught our six hour flight to Seattle. Which means EIGHT hours, with only five minutes of crying. I was so proud! Until I realized it was probably because my poor youngest child was STOKED to have so much undivided attention from momma. The last time he had eight hours free from temperamental toddlers was during our four day hospital stay after he was born (four days of BLISS. Best vacation ever. Not kidding). To be fair, the twins have never really experienced this luxury either.... That's a whole different parental guilt trip blog post though. But Marlowe entered a world that was already quite divided. The boys require so much attention and are what I like to refer to as "spirited" (Old School Folks would call them "challenging" or maybe even "rebellious".  I like rebellious better, maybe even more than I like spirited.)  Marlowe, on the other hand, is apparently a pretty easy going baby... As long as I'm at a touchable distance. I never had time to stop and appreciate or even realize this until I went on my trip back to Washington. I kept waiting for him to break down, and he just wouldn't. Apart from two hours that I spent at the movies with my sister, he was a perfect smiling little angel. THIS IS WHY PEOPLE HAVE MORE BABIES! I swear to goodness, my little pumpkin pie almost tricked me into thinking I wanted more! Babies that get a lot of attention generally are pretty happy... This I've concluded based on my scientific research involving just one baby. My theory is that it's all a biological diabolical hoax to get you knocked up again.  And, I'm sorry to all those waiting on another pregnancy announcement from me, but it just isn't going to happen. I don't need to try for a girl, I'm content with my three little men. And I don't think we can squeeze any more cheeks (however small and however cute) into this NYC apartment.

This trip also made me realize how invaluable having family to help really is. Even if it's just to play with him for a few minutes. Anyone asking "Can I hold him?" Was returned with an enthusiastic "SURE! HERE YA GO!" and a wiggly baby thrown into their general direction. I wish I had my entire family living with me here in the city. Having family close is such a precious thing. Day to day, week to week, month to month, season to season, etc... I go without that help. Jason and I made the choice to live across the country so that's that. It's just one of those things you don't realize you miss until you see what you could have had.

Blowing bubbles in JKF

On my resume "nursing while babywearing and pushing a double stroller" will be the first skill I list. Obviously a boss at multi-tasking. 

Flu Fun

Marlowe sick with his first flu and fever :(

So January is almost over. How the hell did that happen? This month has flown by and not because we were enjoying ourselves. Unfortunately, we suffered with the flu for the first two weeks. It was horrible, disgusting and I can't believe we made it through. It all started after a vigorous hot yoga workout that left me feeling amazing. I was so happy "YES, I killed that class!"  Soon after I started feeling sore shaky.. But who doesn't love a good post workout ache? However, feeling chilly was pretty weird, especially since my apartment is usually kept at a toasty 80 degrees (building management controls our heat). Jason suggested that I take my temperature. I NEVER get fevers... I may get sick, but fevers are not common for me. So when the reading came back as 102 degrees I was quick to find a plausible reason that did not include illness. I was embarking on the Whole30 eating regimen and had begun PIYO workouts. That's A LOT for a body to take on (hello New Years Resolutions!). With all of these changes I was certain that my body was just in shock. That 102 fever must be because I overdid it, right? Especially after a hot yoga class? Pretty sure that can happen.... right??? Well three days later and not feeling any better I finally took myself to Urgent Care. The doctor looked at me and was ready to pronounce me sick with a "bad cold', but my intuition told me it was worse than that. I asked for the Flu test. The doctor said "Sure, but you are too well to be sick with the flu". Should have seen the look on her face when she came back five minutes later and told me it came up positive. Yup, well... Moms aren't allowed to act or look sick, didn't she know that? It was too late for me to take Tamiflu so I had to power through the fever with rest (ha. HA HA HA.) and lots of fluids. That night Marlowe came down with a fever and three days later Charlie, and two days after that Marek. So far, Jason remains healthy (which he loves to point out and tease that it means he has a stronger "constitution") and I'm praying it stays that way. Because men can't handle sickness as well as we women folk.
Getting the flu is terrifying when you have little children. Marlowe is too young for the flu shot and is at higher risk just because of his age.  Charlie I worry about because he is teeny and seems to have a harder time bouncing back from illness... Marek does pretty well, thank goodness. The flu only lasted three days for him.  However, this year there are SO MANY horror stories of the flu. This strain is horrible and crippling for some (I think my family lucked out. It could have been SO MUCH WORSE). Of course I was reading all the scary articles while we all were suffering, which is not the best idea.... but I was so relieved when the fevers dissipated and they started eating again. Yay! We made it through the flu without a single hospitalization! Which I consider a victory with this nasty strain.
Now we are getting back into our regular routine, which is a bitter battle after a sickness like the flu. Fact is the boys get very spoiled while ill, and if mama is suffering as well then they also get away with murder. Which they did. They totally murdered my apartment, but this lucky mama has a friend that treated her to a housecleaner once the sickness was gone. That is a RARE treat and it was much appreciated!
Who else is dealing with the flu? What are you taking to get you through it? Tamiflu saved us and I think the elderberry I was shoving down our throats made it less severe. Stay well everyone!

Well That Was Unexpected

I'm gobsmacked.  The article I wrote for xoJane made it's rounds in the infertility world, showing up in my feed from FB pages I follow, without my prompting. It may never happen again, so excuse me while I gloat just a tiny bit.  I'm so happy it was shared (4.8k times!) and brought hope to others dealing with infertility. Infertility sucks. I want all deserving potential moms and dads to get their "free baby"! It makes me sad knowing that my story is not the way it normally turns out. BUT, you really never know.

Thanks to my friends and family that read it and to those that shared it :) The more page hits, the more likely they will allow me to write for them again!

See my article here:
Infertile for 7 Years and Now I have 3 Kids Under 3

Getting Some Time to Myself After Baby

Cant.stop.baby-wearing. On our way to the doctor yesterday

Tonight I am forcing myself to get out.  Any mother of a newborn knows how hard the first time away is, if even only for an hour or two. Actually, BEING away won’t be so hard, its the tearing myself apart from the cute, wriggly newborn that spends most of his days attached to me like an additional appendage.  My excuse for near constant babywearing is that I fear the twins will trample, feed, pick up, or basically unintentionally kill my littlest. However, the truth is I love it. Chances are this is my last child, and I plan on snuggling 24/7 until he is actually strong enough to wrestle himself away from me. I hope he is prepared to put up a good fight, because I won’t be letting go easily.

The downside to this constant togetherness is that I feel like he NEEDS me ALL THE TIME.  When in fact, my husband can take care of him almost just as well as I do. He doesn’t have the preferred boobie milk delivery system, but Marlowe will settle for a bottle (if he must). After being excited about his two month doctor appointment yesterday because it meant I was going to have “me time”, I determined I was in dire need of true, actual time alone. If I’m considering time out with just ONE baby as “me time” then the situation must be extremely serious.

Here’s the problem with mama “me time”: Unless you have money to hire a babysitter during the day for a few hours, it has to happen after the kids go to bed. I don’t know about other moms, but once bedtime rolls around (7:30) I’m completely knackered. All I can really be bothered to do is watch some crap reality TV or MAYBE read. And if I’m reading it has to be something like Kinsella, Giffin, or if I’m feeling slightly more awake than usual maybe Gabaldon.  Once the sun goes down my brain is too fried for the greats like Wharton, James or Kundera. I miss feeling smart… so forcing myself to go to yoga tonight at 7:30 feels like an exercise in endurance. It’s not really “down” time; I will never consider exercise down time. BUT hopefully it will keep my brain awake enough to have some thoughts to myself, rather than just turning it off like I usually do. Hmmm. Is it weird to go to yoga so you can daydream? Probably, would be my guess. Either way, I’m super pumped and excited to hopefully make this a regular thing.  Just the idea of listening to music on my headphones the entire way there and back is enough to put a huge smile on my face. Hopefully Marlowe rewards my efforts by sleeping through the night. Oh, there ya go. That’s what I’ll most likely daydream about. Sleeping all the way through the night until morning…. bliss.

What My Crazy Pregnant Self Did Today

I was starting to feel like a loser for not getting the "nesting" instinct. Surely by 32 weeks (tomorrow), it should have started, right?  So in a fit of frustration I forced myself to organize my twins' closet, retrieve things the newbie could use and I went crazy in the kitchen... Managed to make Kale Chips, Chard Chips, Parsnip fries, hamburger buns, three swiss chard/garlic scape quiches (to be frozen for post baby days), rhubarb tea and granola bars.  My feet were about ready to fall off after I finally washed the final dish.  I've been immobile on my butt since, but at least I can say I had a productive day! Here are recipes/instructions for what I made:

Kale Chips:  Simply "de-bone" (is that what you call it?) the kale by tearing the green stuff from the stem stuff.  Do this with a bunch of the kale. Place it on a cookie pan. Drizzle some (NOT TOO MUCH) olive oil, sprinkle with mineral salt and mix it up. Bake in a preheated 275 degree oven for about 20 minutes.... I never time it, and it never seems to burn. Just gets nice and crisy :) Same rules apply to the Chard Chips.

Parsnip Fries:  Still perfecting this one, but today I washed and peeled four parsnips with a peeler thingy, then I cut each one into three sections, after that I cut each section into wedges about 1/8 inch thick.. put them on a cookie sheet, sprinkled them with olive oil, garlic and some rosemary. Baked at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes.  After about 10 minutes of baking stir the parsnips around a bit.


Swiss Chard/Garlic Scape Quiche: (NOTE: I have not yet taste tested these. MAKE AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!!)
Quiche Crust

Quiche Filling:
-1.5 cups of grated cheese of choice (my favorite is Gruyere)
-4 teaspoons of flour
-1/3 bunch of garlic scapes, washed and prepped (cut off bulbs and cut into 1 inch pieces)
-A few swiss chard leaves, washed and chopped very small.
-handful of sundried tomatoes. Chopped small 
-3 eggs
-2 good squirts of Dijon mustard
-1 cup of milk (or half n half if you're feeling too damn skinny!)
-1/4 teaspoon of salt
-Freshly grated parmesan for the top

1) Make the crust. Its easy, just do it. Recipe link above quiche filling instructions.

2) Fill the quiche crust with the grated cheese, add the flour and kind of mix it up with your hands. You could also mix the cheese and the flour separately in a bowl, but then your just adding a dish to wash later. I try to minimize unnecessary crap.

3) Top evenly with the scapes, chard and sundried tomatoes.

4) Whisk eggs, mustard, milk and salt in a separate bowl.

5) Pour over quiche filling as evenly as possible.

6) Grate some fresh parmesan cheese on top, as much or as little as you want.

7) Bake in 400 degree preheated oven for about 50-60 minutes. Or cover it and put it in the freezer for future nights when you just don't wanna.

Rhubarb Hibiscus Tea

Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

Hamburger Buns


Nesting instinct or no, I think I can be happy with the amount of "nesting" done today.  Even if forced!

Buh Bye Winter!

 

 

I feel like we are finally coming out of hibernation. This winter has been awful! Between morning sickness (YUP, unexpectedly pregnant with boy number 3! Due August 31!), the seemingly apocalyptic winter weather (i.e. unstoppable snow) and sickness after sickness after sickness the boys and I are ready for spring sun! 

I'm excited to wear something other than sweat pants and extra large hoodies. Time to break out the sandals, tank tops and sip iced coffees (I'm allowed 1-2 cups of coffee a day according to my doctor. I'm a mother to twin toddlers.... don't fight me on this one.). No more "snowy/rainy day" activity madness... My boys just eat art supplies anyways.  The one time we went to a scribble art class they spent the entire time screaming and stomping on all the well behaved toddlers' artwork. They may look serene and angelic in the photo above, but they are straight up BOYS.  All snails and puppy dog tails, these two! *Love them.

My boys are outdoorsmen. They like to explore and chase birds for now.  They can be artistic when they are older and more coordinated. For now they just want to know how the world works and why they can't eat that little bit of a balloon on the ground. Why not, mommy???! Pneumonia, and gross. THAT's why.

Winter at a glace:

 <scribble art class (before the destruction)



               just some no nap kisses>

 <Fav winter activity: Cuddling and reading.





                       And more reading>

<Indian Road Playground






          Fort Tryon, just a bit icy...>



 

FIRST AWESOME WEATHER!!!! The day they opened The Great Lawn in Central Park. We got there before it become annoyingly crowded. Look at us! We own NYC :) Also, look at their faces. Seriously.



Just so you know... This is my "normal". They NEVER go in the same direction. They coordinate this, I know they do.