Twin Mom

We had a fun day just the three of us!

Life with Two

I am the mother of two kids this week. It is surprisingly different without Wyatt in the house! The little boys seem to talk and chatter more than normal. Maybe they always talk that much and I don't ever hear them over Wyatt's voice...I don't know! There is also a LOT LESS FIGHTING this week! I have to break up about 5 arguments a day now and normally I have to break up about 100 arguments a day. It is really nice! The little boys still look for Wyatt and Daddy every morning when they wake up. It is kind of sad how disappointed they get when they realize that John and Wyatt are not here! Today I took the boys grocery shopping and a couple of people told me that I had really had my hands full with twins! I thought "you don't know the half of it!", but I just nodded and smiled!

Hitting the Road

John and Wyatt left tonight for a few days in Grand Haven. This is the first time that Wyatt and John have gone on a trip overnight by themselves. Wyatt was really excited to go. I hope that he does well listening to Grandma and Grandpa! I am looking forward to hearing all about his trip!

My Favorite Smile

I love it when Wyatt smiles like this with his mouth closed!

2 Week Post Op

Here is a close up view of Sammy's stitches 2 weeks later. It's healing pretty nicely!

The ABC's

Make sure that you turn the volume way up....Wyatt is talking very softly!

That's History

Wyatt had his three year evaluation for speech today (even though he will not be three until October) to see if he qualified for speech after he turned three. He has been seeing a speech therapist since he was 17 months old! When he was 17 months old he didn't make many sounds...not much babbling, cooing, and didn't imitate sounds. We were a little concerned. When he was evaluated at 17 months the evaluators determined that his language comprehension was at a 34 month level, while his verbal language was at an 8 month level. There was a HUGE gap in what he understood and what he could communicate. Today at 2 years 10 months, he has a vocabulary of a 2 year 10 month old and the articulation of a 3 year 4 month old! We have come a long way baby Wyatt! I am sad to see his speech therapy coming to an end because Wyatt LOVES his speech therapist Margo, but I am happy that he will be "graduating" before he will ever remember that he needed speech therapy. What a milestone!

Elmo Undies

I bought Wyatt a pack of 7 Elmo undies today! I am not sure if I am ready to tackle potty training yet, but he is probably ready. Today as the boys were going upstairs for their nap Wyatt told Jonah and Sammy (who were crawling up the stairs directly behind Wyatt) "stop, Wyatt is pooping". So we all stopped and waited on the stairs for him to do his business. He seems ready even if I am not!

Visiting the Old Homestead

We spent the day Saturday with our old next door neighbors and best friends. It was so much fun to see Mark and Kelly and their boys Nathan, Shane, and Kyle. We are going to adopt Kyle now since he and Wyatt played together soooooooo well! I barely saw Wyatt all day Saturday! Kyle had him on all kinds of tours and missions and he was as happy as could be! If Kyle wasn't so tall, I would have stuffed him right into my duffel bag and secretly taken him home with us. Nathan and Shane were great with the boys too! Nathan set up a huge train set and showed the boys how to work everything and fixed it when they messed up the track. He was really patient with Sammy and Jonah. John and I enjoyed hanging out and talking with Mark and Kelly. The conversation is always so easy and fun...just like we never left. Of course, Kelly and I also got in a little shopping trip! John and I left this morning homesick and missing our great friends, but looking forward to another visit sometime soon...maybe even adults only next time!

Jonah Belle

Tomorrow we are driving to Ohio to visit our old neighbors. We miss Mark and Kelly and their kids so much and can't wait to see the boys and catch up. There will be 6 boys and 4 adults under 1 roof for 24 hours! It may get a little crazy, but we are super excited to see them all!

Fang

Fang struck again! This time he got Wyatt! I am at a loss with Sammy. I have tried biting him back, time outs, and mean mean voices "no biting"!!! Nothing seems to work with this kid! I am glad that so far he has only bit his family members, but seriously what am I going to do if he bites a stranger? A muzzle?

Bedtime Fun

Our latest challenge has been Wyatt at bedtime. He can get out of his crib and is constantly escaping from his room. Last week I got to the point where I would sit outside of his room for 1 1/2 hours putting him back in bed over and over and over again! On Monday we started gating him in his bedroom. At first we put up 1 gate, but then we had to put another gate on top so that he wouldn't climb over. It works beautifully! He still stands at the gate and tries to engage us in conversation and convince us to let him come out, but getting him to bed is much less of a nightmare. Tonight he was whispering (loudly) "Mommy? Mommy? MOMMY?" and when I said "what?" he would either say "I love you" or "night night"! My plan is for the gating to be temporary and used later as a threat as in "If you keep leaving your room, then we will have to gate you in", but we will see how things go!

A Visit to ER

Sammy fell and hit his head on the front door hinge this morning and needed two stitches. John took him to Children's Hospital and I stayed home with the other two kids. He said that everyone kept saying how great Sammy was doing and how pleasant he was. John told them that if his twin had fallen, then his mother would have brought him. My poor little guy! They gave him Lidocane gel instead of a shot to numb up his head and gave him 2 dissolving stitches. John said that Sammy cried mostly about being held down, but that he didn't mind the stitches. The thing that I feel the worst about is how happy and carefree he usually is...now look at him isn't he pathetic?










No, but seriously, isn't it great how they gave him a band aid that blended in with his skin color so well. I hardly notice it...especially when the other two boys chase him around trying to pull it off! I guarantee that the band aid won't make it through the night!

Guess that Mark

Check out this mark on Jonah's arm. He came running over to me crying hysterically when all three boys were playing cars on the deck. I didn't see what happened, but it didn't take me long to figure it out!

Recovery Day 2- Zoo Day

Part of my vacation recovery plan for this week is to pack each day full of activities for the kids so that they forget that we aren't on vacation any more. Today we headed to the zoo with my friend Bethany and her little girl Madison. The kids had fun and we sufficiently tired them out! When we got home they all took naps 3 hour naps! Mission accomplished!

Recovery Day 1

We started the slow process of vacation recovery today. The kids have to get used to a little less attention, sleeping in their own beds, and getting up a little later in the mornings. Mom has to get used to being on my own during the day again and not having a backup holder for Jonah. Needless to say it was a tough day, but we managed to have some fun too!

9 Hour Tour

We are finally home! We left Grand Haven at 8:45 am and got home at 6 pm. We stopped in Farmington and visit Aunt Al, Cameron, Jackie, Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Candy, and Uncle Mike for a couple of hours. It was a pretty painful trip back though. Our visit in Grand Haven was GREAT! We are going to miss Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Mari, Triston, and Great Grandma Rodgers a lot this week. Grandma got a good dose of Jonah this week and will probably be sleeping for a week to recover. She actually went and got a massage today! Coincidence? I think not! These boys can wear a person out! I have some great stories from our week, but I am going to bed early to get a good night of sleep in my own bed!
I can't post my picture...I will try again tomorrow!

Blue Boy

How to eat waffles with fresh blueberries....

Water Baby

Aunt Mari has a pool and the kids go swimming every day now. I have seen some amazing transformations in my kids and their comfort level in the pool since we got here. The twins will blow bubbles under water and will wear wings on their arms and float, and Wyatt will swim the length of the pool, jump in and go under water, and decided today that the diving board is super fun!

One Sick Mama

I have been too sick to blog. For 3 days, I have had a cold that is challenging my will to live. Yesterday I was ready to use a drill to relieve the pressure in my head. I couldn't wear my contacts because my eyes hurt so bad from all of the pressure in my sinuses. Today I am feeling marginally better. I can type, but I still haven't taken any pictures since Friday, so this will be a photo-less entry. I drove all three kids BY MYSELF for 7 hours to visit John's parents for the week. We stopped once on the way here for about 30 minutes! I was torturous to say the least, but I was rendered completely useless upon arrival after this cold took over my body. The kids still haven't adjusted to sleeping like human beings since we got here. Wyatt has taken to sleeping on the floor next to my bed all night and Sam and Jonah are apparently taking turns doing wake-up duty on the 230-330 shift. Sammy was up from 130-330 am the first night that we were here and Jonah was up from 230-330 last night. Wyatt gets up around 330 until 6 am and then wakes up Grandma and Grandpa for the day. Good times! We are happy to be her though and looking forward to a fun and exciting week in Coast Guard City, USA!

Horns

The boys have a new favorite bath time ritual. We make a horn in each boys hair after their bath while their hair is still wet. It is hilarious. They come walking out of the laundry room sporting a horn with the biggest smile on their face and the other two boys come running over to admire the size of the horn on their head. Wyatt likes it when I say "don't mess up your horn". He usually rubs his head on the floor while I shout "stop you are messing up your horn...oh no!". The little boys rub their hand lightly on their horn and laugh hysterically. I have to get the whole thing on video this week. Too funny!

Slowly but Surely

We are gradually getting everything back in place since the painting project. In the meantime everything is sitting in the den (away from small curious hands) staring at me asking where it belongs. I have a few things that I don't know where they should end up. I think that I want to be really sure that I will like something before I have John poke holes in his new paint job and mess it up. He filled a lot of the holes before painting so that we had all of our options open to us. It may be a while....
I got some cute pictures of Sammy and Wyatt today sharing Sammy's snack this afternoon. Wyatt told me that he didn't want a snack, but that Sammy was really hungry! He kept saying Sammy needs more crackers Mom!

Painted Perfect

We got home yesterday and checked out the new paint job...it is awesome!!! I can't believe how nice it looks! John also re-arranged the furniture in the family room and it makes the room look nice and open. I may start leaving for the weekend more often!

Internet Problems

I had some issues with the internet yesterday...so no post.

Blueberry Pickers

We took the boys blueberry picking today. Everyone picked more than they ate, which is better than last year. We even ate blueberry waffles for dinner.

I'm Melting

I took the boys to a town festival this morning. We saw a craft fair, sidewalk sales, and gave the boys their first taste of ELEPHANT EARS!!! Yummy! It could not have been any hotter though and the heat almost got the best of us all...except that we've got popsicles!

Project #457

John is starting a new project this weekend. I took the kids to Michigan for the weekend and he is going to cover our walls in Bagel (#6114 Sherwin Williams). I can't wait to see it when we get back!

The Great Slide

I took to boys to a friend's house today to play on their new big water slide. I was so fun! The kids had a blast and Wyatt could not get enough of it! (Picture was taken on my cell phone so it's not the best quality!)

Worst Mom Award

Today I got all three boys undressed to swim in their baby pool. I took them out onto the deck while I filled the pool and Wyatt and Sammy went and sat in the pool while it was being filled. Jonah stood on the deck and cried. I assumed that it was because he wanted me to pick him up , because he had been really clingy all day and I carried him around most of the day. After the pool was filled and the other two boys were happily playing and splashing around and Jonah was still crying, I brought him back into the house and looked him over. I checked his mouth to see if maybe he bit his tongue, but he didn't . I looked him all over because he was really upset and finally looked at the bottom of his feet. He had a blister on each foot from standing on the deck because it was so hot it the sun. I put my baby on the deck and he burned the bottoms of both of his feet!!!! Could I feel any worse???? I immediately put his feet in ice water (not fun for either of us) and cooled them off, but now he has a blister on the bottom of each foot. He wouldn't walk without crying for the rest of the night! Poor baby. We gave him Motrin before bed to see if it will help with the swelling, but tomorrow may be rough for him!

Backseat Drivers

Wyatt LOVES to push the boys around on their cars. Sometimes Jonah and Sammy love it and other times they HATE it. Today was a good day!
Picture is not uploading properly, I will try again tomorrow!

Sammy's Smile

This kid always stops whatever he's doing to give us a smile!

You Did What?

Tonight we feed the kids, gave them all baths, and then put them to bed. Then two hours later we woke them all up, loaded them into the truck, and took them to their first firework display ever. We got a great parking spot right near where they were setting the fireworks off and sat in the back of the truck under the cover. It started raining 15 minutes before the fireworks started and we were not sure if they would be canceled, but they managed to put on quite a show. Everyone enjoyed the fireworks. After we got home Wyatt told us that he wants to go see more fireworks tomorrow too!

We're Alive

I had some trouble posting last night, so here it is finally!

Happy Birthday Grandpa Rodgers!

Grandpa will be coming home from Alaska tomorrow to celebrate his birthday! We can't wait to hear all about the trip. Grandma and Grandpa sent the boys a postcard from Fairfax, Alaska with a train on the front and Wyatt carries it around and tells us that he wants to go ride on the train with Grandma and Grandpa. Maybe next year buddy! Here are the last of the pictures that I will post from Up North!

Mom's Model

Today Wyatt asked me to take a picture of him with the big camera. He was really excited to have been the one to make the request and sat down and waited for me to get ready. When I asked him to smile, this is what he came up with!!!

Things I Could Live Without

One of the boys favorite new "tricks" is spitting on the windows and watching the spit drip down the glass. All three boys laugh hysterically when they are practicing this feat! They never spit on the windows when they are by themselves, but when they are together, the mob mentality takes over and there is no stopping them! Who would have ever thought that I would say "no spitting on the windows!" 500 times a day?!?!? Here are a couple of left-over pictures from Up North.

18 Months Old

Jonah and Samuel turned 18 months old on July 1st! It is bittersweet because I love this age, but I miss the little babies that they were such a short time ago!

The Last Day

We are heading home tomorrow. The storms have moved in tonight so we packed up the truck! It will be a 9 hour trip without stops, so it will take a while. We took some fantastic 18 month pictures of Jonah and Samuel today that I will post when we get home!

Drummond's Best

We have had the most BEAUTIFUL weather over the past 2 days and we are all loving it! Sadly, the kids are a little young for the lake and still prefer their baby pool, but they are still having fun in the water! We enjoyed some hometown favorites this weekend and took everyone to the parade and 4th of July fair. Today we took the kids to the local craft show too which is always fun. Depending on the weather, we may head back home tomorrow. If it rains we will start driving. I am not looking forward to the trip home or the laundry that will follow, but John has to go back to work sometime!

Happy July 4th

We had a great 4th of July! I have some really good pictures from today...and some with all of us together too! Unfortunately I am having trouble posting pictures tonight, so I will try again tomorrow! How would I ever live with dial-up again?

Fireworks

We were lucky to enjoy some fireworks tonight right next door. That family always puts on quite a firework display...so far the kids have not woke up! Tomorrow we will take the kids to the local parade...which is quite a hometown event! It should be fun!

Maggie Heaven

Although Maggie is almost 7 years old, you would swear that she is a puppy when we are on Drummond Island! She sleeps under John's bed (which would never happen at home) and first thing in the morning when she wakes up, she runs down to the lake for a quick swim. She rarely has time to dry off during the day before she cools off again. She gets to chase deer almost every day and her ball is usually in her mouth or somewhere right nearby. John takes her fishing in the boat almost every day and gives her rides in the golf cart whenever she is in the mood. I think that Maggie has lost about 10 pounds since we got here already! Today she brought a bone, complete with a spinal cord, out from the woods to chew on...she was so proud! If I didn't know better, I would swear that she goes to bed each night with a big smile on her face!

Vacation Signs

Here are the top five signs that everyone is having a good time on vacation:

1. Bed time is getting earlier and earlier every day (even for the adults)
2. Wake up is getting later and later every day (especially for the adults)
3. Nobody can remember what day of the week it is
4. Everyone is famished by dinner time
5. We are all sunburned and covered in bug bites