Busy Bunnies and Bribes

“Bribe” is probably a strong word.  But it’s no exaggeration that my little bunnies were some kind of busy on Saturday.

Saturday we had not one, but TWO Easter egg hunts!  The girls didn’t attend any official hunts until they were in preschool…but they’ve made up for that with frequency over the past couple of years.

Saturday morning we went to the egg hunt my company hosts.  It’s incredibly sweet for me…so many years before I had kiddos, I remember seeing the advertisements for the company egg hunts, thinking how sweet it would one day be to bring my kiddos there.  It took a few years…but here we are!!!

I knew there would be an Easter bunny at the party.  And to date, I have zero pictures of my girlies with The Bunny.  I’ve asked them a few times if they would be up for a picture with the mall bunny, and they’ve vehemently declined.

On Saturday morning I told them, “Mommy doesn’t have any pictures of you with the Easter bunny, and I would really like one.  Would you be willing to have your picture made?”  I reinforced that it was their decision.  At first they said no (although not quite as vehemently as in years past).  I told them I would stand beside them, and they didn’t have to touch the bunny.  I reiterated that it was their decision.  They looked at each other, and finally acquiesced.  (Cue internal squeal from Mommy!  And I didn’t even resort to a bribe!)

The girls held true to their word and took a picture with the bunny as soon as we got to the party.  They even smiled!!! 

The girls made two rounds through the obstacle course, played a couple of games, and then it was time for the magic show.  This year they again asked me to sit with them.  (They don’t seem to be big fans of clowns, either!)  I sat for a few minutes, and then told them I’d like to stand behind them.  They were OK with that (although they kept turning around to make sure I was still in sight).

Finally it was time to HUNT!  The girls were in the Big Kid group this year (ages 7-12).  Baby A scored 11 eggs, and B found 7.  They were satisfied with their treasures, and we went home soon thereafter.  (It was COLD!!!)

After a light lunch and a short rest time, we loaded up for our Mothers of Multiples Easter party.  There were two adorable crafts (although there was a little disappointment because B didn’t like how she placed her bunny ears, and A didn’t like how her handprint turned out…both were easily remedied the next day in Mommy’s craft room).  

Due to the COLD weather and threat of rain, we held our “hunt” indoors.  The girls scored far more treasures, and it was so cute to listen to them ooh and ahh over each egg they opened.

It was a full day for my little bunnies, for sure!  But fun memories – and a few heirloom pictures – were made!  I call it a great day!!!

Fab 5 Friday...and ME!!!

It was a pretty fabulous week! Family time, warm weather (at least some of the time), and healthy, fun-loving girls...what more could a mama want???

1) Despite the DREAD that always consumes me before every time change, the girls have done really well adjusting to the new clock. Sunday was a long day, but we filled it with all sorts of excitement – including lunch at our favorite Mexican dive – and time spent playing outside. Whew!

2) The girls attended their first pancake breakfast this past weekend, with our Mothers of Multiples group. No doubt fueled by the Curious George story we read every week, they were so excited when I told them our plans on Saturday morning. They ran around, chanting, “I’m excited for my breakfast!” They had a great time, played with all their twin friends, and napped like logs afterwards.

3) Daddy was out of school for election day on Tuesday. We took a trip to the Louisville Zoo, and the girls were so excited to see the baby polar bear and get a close-up look at the elephants. They thoroughly enjoyed our lunch at Macaroni Grill (even getting into dipping their bread in olive oil!), and napped on the way home. It was a fantastic family day!

4) Daddy’s best friend came down from Chicago for a short visit this week. The girls hadn’t seen Uncle Steve since they were about six months old…but they wasted no time in warming up to him, and then climbing all over him and showing all their “tricks”. It was awesome to see Hubby, Steve, and A and B wrestling around in the den, and later curled up on the couch reading books.

5) I have pulled out several of the books I had when I was growing up to read to the girls recently, including “The Three Little Pigs”. I edit a bit here and there as a read, but the girls burst into giggles when I squeal about my “chinny-chin-chin”. After a meal this week, Baby A reminded me, “Don’t forget to wipe my chinny-chin-chin!”

And what did I do for ME this week???

Thursday night I met Aunt Shanda for the first peppermint mocha of the season…and then we indulged in a little shopping. Good latte…good time…great friend…definitely good for the soul.

What made your week FABULOUS? And what did you do for YOU?

Such a Simple Gesture

We had a busy, fun-filled morning...

The girls had an absolute blast at their first Pancake Breakfast. We joined our Mothers of Multiples group for pancakes, muffins, bacon, eggs, and fresh fruit. They really enjoyed their breakfast, they had fun playing with crayons and paper, and they loved experimenting with a super-duper cool parachute. And it was so much fun to see them running around with their little friends.

On the way home, we realized the Veteran's Day Parade was happening downtown, so we stopped to see the first part of it...complete with horses and clowns and Corvettes and lots and lots of motorcycles.

When we got home, we went for a walk in the neighborhood. It was just too beautiful of a morning to go inside...crisp, cool air, vibrant blue skies, and the most gorgeous leaves in every direction.

When we finally went inside, the girls were so sweet, snuggling with their baby dolls whom they'd no doubt missed, having been away from them all morning.

After lunch, the girls went straight back to their babies, while I cleaned the kitchen. I went to join them in the den, and found them tucked in the corner beside their kitchen, next to their toy shelf. They each had their baby with a little basket, a stuffed dog, and a small toy car.

"We're somewhere!" they exclaimed when I approached them.

Where are you?

"We're at the hotel!"

"There's not much room, but you can come in, Mommy," they said, as they started squishing themselves tighter into the corner, making room for me to join them on their little "adventure".

Mommy would love to come in, Babies! Thank you!

It was such a small gesture, but it brought tears to my eyes.

While the going and doing of the morning was so much fun, this is what it's all about...seeing my babies playing together, and having them invite me to join them.

And I could not ask for more.

Fab 5 Friday

This week absolutely flew by in fabulous fashion!

1) We had such a fun family-oriented day on Saturday. We went out to lunch, and the girls did great…they ate so well, behaved beautifully, and made fast friends with an adjacent table of little old ladies. And then we took an impromptu trip to the ice cream shop after supper. It was just a great day.

2) The girls had a lot of fun at our Mothers of Multiples family picnic on Sunday. They really enjoyed walking around the park and seeing all the other kiddos.

3) On Wednesday, we took the girls on their first official “field trip” to an Australian-themed zoo. The girls’ squeals of delight at seeing the animals were priceless.

4) Our den looks slightly less like an insane asylum. We had the couch and love seat facing the walls so the girls couldn’t climb them. (It was just one step shy of a padded room.) We turned the couch around like normal people, and the girls are doing really well (most of the time) at sitting like big girls.

5) We’ve been working with the girls on walking up and down the steps. They still need A LOT of help – especially going down – but they just giggle the whole time, I guess feeling like such big girls. Upon reaching the bottom, Baby A often wants to turn around and do it all again.

Stayed tuned next week for another count of our fabulous adventures!

The Cover of the Rolling Stone

Actually, I'm a far cry from Lady Gaga, and our local paper is not quite the Rolling Stone...but the girlies and I did make the cover today!

Our Mothers of Multiples group held a family picnic on Sunday, and the local paper covered the story. We had a great time at the picnic, and this will be a cool memento for the girls' scrapbook.

Gotta love a small town!

Mothers of Multiples

When I started blogging a few months ago, I joined the Multiples and More blog network. It’s an amazing group of blogger mommies (and even some daddies!) who have twins, triplets, and more. Multiples and More posts a Question of the Week, and I’m taking part in it for the first time.

Are you in a MoMs group?

When the girls were born, I really didn’t know anyone with twins. I had briefly met a few families in the prenatal classes at the hospital who were expecting twins, and I knew of a couple of people who already had twins, but I didn’t really have anyone I could call with questions.

I scouted around and made contact with the daughter of a former colleague whose twin boys were born about three months before A and B. Unfortunately Joline lives a couple of hours away, but she was wonderful to talk with over the phone…she answered some housekeeping questions for me (like how in the heck do you feed two babies at once?), and she reassured me that raising twins has been done before, and I can do it, too. :) (Joline has since become a great friend via Facebook and email…she’s still imparting wonderful wisdom, and I love seeing pictures of her kiddos doing things my girls will be able to do in a few months.)

I eventually scouted around some more and made contact with a couple of moms from our prenatal classes through friends of friends. (Call it the Seven Degrees of Twinhood, if you will.) It was super-great to talk to Jenny, whose twins were born one week before A and B, and Danielle, whose twins were born four weeks after A and B. We were able to share in so many “real time” experiences with each other.

A week or so into reconnecting with Jenny and Danielle, I mentioned I had been thinking about starting a local Mothers of Multiples group. Jenny said she had, too, and asked if I wanted to work together on it. And thus, Bowling Green Mothers of Multiples – BGMoMs – was born!

Jenny and I had several planning meetings over coffee at Barnes & Noble, after we got our kiddos in bed. (We did a lot of club planning, but those meetings inevitably turn into “mommy therapy sessions”, too.) We worked with pediatrician and OB offices in the area to get the word out about the group. We had our first meeting in February, an organizational, get-to-know-you meeting, and we were thrilled to have 14 MoMs in attendance!

We’ve had two more meetings since then, and we have over 20 MoMs on our roster to date. It’s been a lot of work, but it’s been so much fun to meet other MoMs. Following our May meeting, we have our first social event planned in June. I can’t wait to see 20+ sets of multiples together!

Having twins is such an amazing blessing, but it also presents some pretty unique challenges. It’s awesome to be able to share in this experience with other MoMs.