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Happy 6th Birthday, Apple Pie nee Baby Bean

22 Dec

Baby Bean is now 6.  As such, she really deserves a Pie name.  I feel like I gave her one once, but I forgot it.  I’m really tempted to name her “Black-Bottomed Pie”  but….it seems risque…so  I think Apple Pie is a better choice.  She is as sweet and wholesome as apple pie, and just as delightfully round.

Favorite color is blue

Favorite animal is a bunnyimg_6252

favorite song is “All is Found” from Frozen 2

her favorite candy is Almond Joy candy bars

She wants to be an artist and maybe a writer when she grows up

her favorite flower is Forget-me-Nots

She is good at drawing and picking presents. S

he likes soft fuzzy socks and hugging mom.

She dominates at playing Bean-Boozled and Sushi-Go.

For her birthday dinner, she requested nachos and a bunny cake.  For presents, she got Calico Critters (the Hopscotch Rabbit family) and a squishy chicken– which she wanted “forever” (ever since she saw it at Dollar Tree last week.)

 

What do I need if I’m Pregnant with Twins?

12 May

Four years ago, my doctor informed me that my baby number 8 was actually baby number 8 AND baby number 9.  I was a pretty experienced mommy, but I knew twins would be different.  I scoured the internet for information on what I would need.  Most mommy bloggers of twins had different life situations than I had.  Their twins were usually their first and second babies, or they had a toddler and twins.  I don’t think I found a single blog by mothers who already had 7 babies and then had twins.  (These women are much too busy to blog.)  These mommy bloggers all also seemed to be able to afford the deluxe, premium versions of everything from strollers to diaper bags.  That was definitely not me.

I do want to remember what I learned and what turned out to be useful for me.  So if you just found out that you are going to be a Mother of Multiples and you have a real life budget, here are the things that were the best things I bought.  I got my money’s worth out of all of them.  (P.S. None of these links are affiliate links because Missouri and Amazon do not get along–these are just sincerely the things that saved my sanity.)

#1–I ordered this brace when I was 30 weeks along. I should have ordered it at 25 weeks. It really helped reduce how much back pain I had while standing to cook dinner. (by 27 weeks, I only stood up to cook dinner. The rest of the time I sat on the couch watching Dora with Baby Bean.) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GO2Q8ZS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_uXjKBbDMJKPS7
#2–I bought this pillow for nursing two babies at once. It was great for just holding them too. My twins turned out to be terrible at eating, so I only used it for about 3 1/2 months before I faced reality and switched to full formula and bottles. There are lots of twin mommy blogs out there of super women who exclusively breast fed or exclusively pumped and bottle fed their twins for a whole year, so I’m not saying it is impossible. But don’t judge yourself if your unique situation doesn’t work out that way. ❤ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PC3KVYA/ref=sspa_dk_detail_0?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B00PC3KVYA&pd_rd_w=8Juyu&pf_rd_p=8a8f3917-7900-4ce8-ad90-adf0d53c0985&pd_rd_wg=u7f2F&pf_rd_r=MEGBRY09717XZEJ270CD&pd_rd_r=3602a5a3-752a-11e9-ad11-c3d8451968d7
#3–If it turns out that you partially or fully bottle feed your babies, you will be super glad to have these “hands-free” bottles. The part that goes in the baby’s mouth is like a pacifier that hooks to the bottle on a long tube. This way, no one has to hold the weight of the bottle. It’s awesome. Also, the babies swallow less air with these, so if your babies have colic or gastric re-flux, they help with that too. I can’t tell you how many nights at 1 in the morning I was attempting to nurse a baby with one arm, hold the breast pump on the other side, and had the other baby in a bouncy chair and was propping a bottle for him with my foot. These fix that. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001V9KPBI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_KcjKBb38QRQHE
#4–Speaking of bouncy chairs….when I had only one baby, these seemed like useless space hogs. But My twins were in their bouncy chairs so much. Bouncy chairs or swings…either is fine, but you need two! They can double as high chairs for a long time as well.
#5–I got a backpack diaper bag because I knew both hands would be busy with the babies. That was a good call. You don’t want a shoulder bag that is going to slip down your arm onto a baby or make you lopsided. You’ll be juggling too much anyway. This is the one I got, and I loved it, but there are many many options out there. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FCJB5NQ/ref=twister_B00MQNDH5E?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
A lot of twin moms recommend the JuJuBe diaper bags. They look amazing and expensive.
#6–This stroller is light weight, sturdy, and works with most car seats, so you don’t have to buy two new car seats (if you don’t want to) This thing was my work horse for many months–as long as you bring the babies into church in their car seats, you’ll be glad you have it. Baby Trend Universal Double Snap-N-Go Stroller Frame https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008U4MKU6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_o5iKBbZ9D8K2W
#7–Start making a list now of things that people can do for you. Lots of people will ask if they can help, and you’re going to be so tired and overwhelmed that you’ll go blank, and you won’t know what you can tell them to do. So make a list now of things you’re willing to let people help you with– like running a load of laundry through your washer, or sweeping your floor, or washing baby bottles, or feeding your goats etc. The thing that someone did for me that helped me the most was to come once or twice a week and take away my preschoolers for the afternoon (Banana Cream Pie was 3 and Baby Bean was 18 months old.) For those few hours I could take care of the twins or take a nap and not have to worry about what crazy messy thing Baby Bean might be getting into.
#8–I made lots of casseroles and freezer meals so that dinner would be easier after the babies were born. By 25 weeks I had 30 meals in the freezer.  I didn’t make more because after that, I was in too much pain to stand for long enough to put extra meals together.  (see #1)  After the babies were born, we also ate a lot of dinosaur chicken nuggets, freezer pizza, taquitos, and popcorn–everyone survived just fine 😉
You can do this, Mamma! Heavenly Father will grant you the strength and wisdom you need when you need it ❤ He is sending these beautiful babies to you because you are the perfect mommy for them. They will love you as you are.
Don’t let yourself think that you have to do things a certain way.
Every time you get frustrated, ask yourself–What is driving me crazy?
How can I make that process simpler or make it go more smoothly?
What expectations do I have that aren’t really true and I need to let go of them?
(example: “good moms do X so I have to do X also.” or If my kids are unhappy, I’m failing.”)
❤ Glowworm

Green Eggs and Hams

23 Apr

The Scooter Pie’s favorite book right now is “Green eggs and hams.”

April Fools

21 Apr


For the most nasty and creative April Fools prank ever, Pumpkin Pie and Peach Pie made “orange juice” from water and the cheese powder from a box of Mac-n-cheese.  They totally tricked the Resident Captain into drinking a big glass when he got home from work.  

Additionally, they made fake cat feces with some wet cardboard and told me that the cat had made a mess in the laundry room.  They then transferred the mess to Blueberry Pie’s room and got him as well.  

You might ask, if you know us well, how on earth we came to have a cat?

George is a stray cat that adopted us. He is an OUTSIDE cat, but Apple Pie sneaks him into the house pretty often.


He puts up with a lot of silliness–I’m often surprised that he stays around.


Some days I wonder if I’m only fooling myself when I call him an outside pet.

The Scooter Pies Discover Mud.

20 Apr
Skeeter

Spring has arrived, and on one balmy afternoon I let the twins outside, knowing they would find the mud puddles–even though they’d never played in puddles before.  It didn’t take long for them to find the puddles.

Baby Bean and Key Lime Pie (not pictured) joined in the dirty fun. I just sat on the porch and enjoyed watching their excitement and curiosity.

Skeeter likes to dip his head in the water

The downside is that they know about mud now, so they beeline it to the mud puddle every time they get outside.  (Which is pretty often because Skooter learned how to open doors. Curses.)

Zeek

It was still worth it.

Tasting the muddy driveway gravel.  They had to taste the mud several times. Seriously these boys have refused to taste so many delicious foods, like flan 🍮(!!), but the mud went right into their mouths–more than once!

A muddy bath to extend the fun. And there were little muddy bite marks in the soap when they got out of the tub.  Seriously, I don’t know why I bother cooking.


Muddy paw prints are clues that fun was had today.

In this time of extraordinary pressure, educational and social, perhaps a mother’s first duty to her children is to secure for them a quiet and growing time, a full six years of passive receptive life, the waking part of it for the most part spent out in the fresh air.

Charlotte Mason

Baby Bean is Officially 2

11 Jan

  
She is still a baby.

  
She is still the terror of the house.

  
She is still bent on destroying every thing we own.  (That’s nail polish on her face.) 

  
She is also just delightful.  I love to play “This Little Piggy” with her toes while she giggles.

  
When she is going to get what she wants, she runs towards it with a “Ya-hoo!!”

  
She loves to play outside.  She loves to pretend that she is a kitty.  

She is very efficient with her language. Before the Scooter Pies were born, she mostly just pointed and yelled when she wanted something.  This was effective, so she did not try anything else.  After the Scooter Pies’ birth, Baby Bean  discovered that she had to talk a little because she had to rely on someone besides Mom to get her what she wanted.  She bumped up her language just enough to be understood by more of the family and halted there.  

She calls both of the Scooter pies “Ant”. When we try to differentiate, she ignores us.  All the big sisters are one name, “Na Na.”  

She has several words that are actually whole sentences:

“Wa-doin?” Means “What are you doing?”  If you answer this query, she will say “Oh.”  In a very matter of fact way as if all is clear to her now.  Then she will repeat her question. “Wa-do-in?”  You can give the same answer.  She will say, “Oh.”  Again. And so it repeats. 

She also says “Ont-ilk”

When you give her milk. She will say “Kankyouwelcome”

Crazy kid.

 

30 Days of real life day 6

6 Oct

  
This happened today.  Nothing else matters.
#30 DRL
Today the Scooter Pies are 2 months old!
They have each grown a pound since last week, which is incredible to me.

Zeke is now 11 pounds 3 ounces.

Skeeter is now 12 pounds 5 ounces.  

Today they got their first immunizations.  I was pretty worried about having to calm 2 upset babies.  But they calmed down very quickly.  Next appointment I might bring a friend for backup though. 

Also today Baby/Toddler/Hurricane Beana did a thing that made me wonder:

How would it be to have a post about getting poo off of a couch cushion?  

Perhaps other mothers don’t know that secret?  

Hmm.

Anyway, here is some more sweetness to reward you for reading this far

   
 

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30 Days Real Life Day 5

5 Oct

 How are your typing skills?

Do you have the keyboard memorized?

This is the keyboard of our laptop.

Since the twins were born, Baby Bean has discovered how fun it is to pry the keys off. Some of them have been broken beyond my skill to replace. #30DRL

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Thirty Days of Real Life

2 Oct

My cousin started doing “real life” posts in Facebook. As in not just the pretty ideal moments of life but the unpretty ones too.  Today it suddenly seemed like a fun idea.  

I just want to point out though that lots of times people talk about being “honest” and “real” and they mean they are going to tell you all the bad stuff.  But telling all the bad and leaving out all the good is not honest either.  Life is a beautiful mess of good and bad.  

So here’s my real life today:

Here Banana Cream Pie and Hurricane Beana are eating apples for breakfast which they got for themselves while I fed and burped 2 babies (8 weeks old today!) 

 
Hurricane Beana also helped herself to the Cheerios and milk that the school kids left out this morning. Yes there are Cheerios floating in the milk jug. She woke up after I had fallen back asleep with the twins.  Someone left the baby gate open, so she had access to the kitchen.

Those of you who know how I feel about healthy vs. processed food will know that just the fact that there are Cheerios in the house means I’ve let a lot go for the present.

But, you know what?  It’s okay.  The kids have food to eat.  The floor really needed to be mopped anyway.

#30DRL

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Baby Bean reads to her kitty

30 Sep

My favorite pictures of Baby Bean all include George, the stray cat who adopted us. He was awesome. I tried to keep him outside, but Baby Bean did what she wanted.

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