Claire and Leah swinging on the deck.

I hope you have a great weekend chilling and grilling!

I’ll be back next week with a great salsa recipe and pictures from our first couple weeks homeschooling.

Love,

Jess

The Big Blur just hit me and it hit hard. Twin Parenting literature claims up to the first 2 years with multiples can be labeled The Big Blur. I am feeling teary-eyed over every hurdle in my day. It’s like I went to sleep in 2009 and just woke up to today. I don’t remember when the babies learned to walk or what they first had to eat.

I know we had fun, I was present in the everyday. I know I had tons of love for them on every level. But, yet I freaked out when I can’t place certain seasons of their life, or my life for that matter. I can’t even look at the photos from the NICU in the hospital without choking up to the point of serious swelling of the throat. I just flip over the photo for fear of an ‘ugly’ cry consuming my entire afternoon. You know the kind that causes headaches and feverish mascara streaks?  Yep. Feverish.

In a campaign to help me stitch together the last year or so, I will be going serious photo hunting and posting about things that happened. Just a few things that may help me heal.

Remember, what a powerful word.

Love,

Jess

The Store

It’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s…It’s a mom burning rubber in her minivan to get her child to a bathroom!

Park the van. Whip up the double stroller. Buckle in both babies. Grab two hands. Check to see if I have my van keys. Okay, Operation Commode underway.

Riiing! Just as we reach the door, of the nearest department store, my cell phone blares from the underbellies of my purse. I could have let the phone ring. But, no, I answered it, like a loyal dog.

Thankfully it was my dh, Neat Pete. Even now, as I type, I can’t even remember why he was calling. I muttered something about having a potty emergency. Molly pushed as many automatic door buttons as she could find during my 15 second conversation.

Through the open doors we flew. Passed fundraiser stuffed animals, summer sun dresses and brightly colored patio collections, we flew.

Until, I saw, an end cap with jewelry sets. Oh look, something shiny, I brought us all to a stop.

“Mo-om! Don’t doddle!” urged Ryan. (Where have I heard this before? At least I know something I say makes it into his memory banks!)

Leisure shopping is not in my vocabulary.  Plus, the bathroom beckoned us from the back of the store. The jewelry sets left my attention, as quickly as they had gathered it, and off we went, in search of the bathroom.

I accepted help, to open the bathroom door, from a customer service clerk. So, humbling, I promise you.

The girls and I waited for Ryan, who is now happily situated in a stall. Each and every woman, that passes in and out of the door,  strikes up a conversation or tosses out fleeting inquiries about my family.

“Are those all yours?” they cry. “You must be so busy!” they claim. “I could never do that!” they admit. “Are they identical?” they prod. “I knew twins in my graduating class!” they add.

“It’s a lot of fun!” I respond. I feel like telling them I also have a 5 year old boy, but he’s is pooping in the stall next to you, but I don’t. Cause, I’m sane.

“How old is big sister?” they beg of Molly. They of course are met with a blank stare, filled with wonder. I can see her wheels cranking, Why do all these strange women want to know my age?

To which, I say, “she’ll be 3 in June”.

That’s all it took. Molly began whining and scrambling for the door. I knew my patience was getting thin. I sent a how are you doing pal? over the stall door. He was almost done.

Almost done, isn’t done, when your a 2 2/3 years old middle sister, waiting in a bathroom for too long!

She melted into a whimpering puddle next to my leg. At the same moment, I remembered, I had store credit that would expire unless I used it by, of course, that very day.

Back to the jewelry department!

Part 4 – coming soon

Love,
Jess

35 weeks gestation

Yes, I was huge. My, my, it doesn’t even look possible to carry that much! But, I did it!

The girls were born on October 13th (36 weeks) around 1:30 in the morning, via C-Section (after spontaneous labor). Claire was born at 5 lbs. and 12 oz. Leah was born at 5 lbs. and 5 oz. I can’t remember how long they were…3rd and 4th kids I guess!?

They stayed in the NICU for 8 days at the Hospital to gain weight and regulate their temperatures. The days surrounding my recovery in the Hospital are a big blur. I pumped milk a lot and tried my best to walk down to the NICU often to visit Claire and Leah in their room. The nurses lovingly took care of them both while we had to return home without our new babies! (So, hard)

Leah in Isolette

Claire in Isolette

We brought Claire and Leah home on Ryan’s 5th birthday, October 21st. Coming home was a huge relief! I was thrilled by the joy and ease of finally being close to my new babies.

Let the games begin! The realities of raising 4 kids, 5 years old and under, in a 1,000 sq. ft. home, are setting in! The sheer noise alone is unbelievable.  But, I wouldn’t trade them for the world.

See, aren’t they precious?

Leah at home

Claire at home

Proud Big Brother Ryan

Proud Big Sister Molly

I’ll be blogging about my home and family again soon. I don’t want to miss a moment of my crazy new life as the manager of a 6 person family!

Love,

Jess

]]> http://justablink.com/2009/11/the-babies-are-here/feed/ 1 http://justablink.com/2009/06/the-twins-are-girls/ http://justablink.com/2009/06/the-twins-are-girls/#comments Mon, 22 Jun 2009 01:33:40 +0000 Jessica http://justablink.com/?p=2476 19 week Ultrasound

It’s offical, I will have two more daughters come this fall!

Ryan, 4, is ready to be the only brother and he has already been planning to buy more kitchen toys and baby dolls to accommodate the “girl land”, as he puts it, that will ensue.