Whaddaya Know...We Just Did It!!!

During the girls’ second summer, when they were about 18 months old, my goal was to have them eating an entire meal in a restaurant (without me bringing food from home).  Check!

During the girls’ third summer, when they were 2 ½, my goal was to have them sitting in regular chairs at restaurants, eating from regular plates (such that I wouldn’t have to pack a huge bag with highchair covers and disposable placemats).  Check!

And on tap since then?  Moving away from highchairs at home.

You may know I have been resisting this change.  I promise it’s not – as some have suggested (Husband!) – that I want to keep them babies forever and ever (although if I could, I might).  No, it’s just that mealtimes have been downright pleasant at our house for a long time.  The girls settle down in their seats, remain focused on their meals, and it gives me 20 minutes of “peace”, not having to worry who’s scaling the blinds.

Still, this is our girls’ fourth summer.  They’re 3 ½.  They probably need to work towards shedding the highchair stigma at least by Kindergarten.  Right???

You may recall that we made an attempt at booster seats a couple of months ago.  The seats we bought weren’t compatible with our kitchen chairs, though…so I took that as a sign from above that our girls should continue to eat in their highchairs.

Fast forward to last week, when the girls’ friend K came to play for a couple of hours and joined us for lunch.  We all sat at the table (since I didn’t want to strap the girls in their highchairs while their friend – who is their exact same age – got to eat alongside Mommy and Daddy).

As they have been doing in restaurants for over a year, the girls did fine.

And you know what???  The next day, I just set their places at the table...no boosters, no cushions, no straps…and they’ve been there ever since!

You know, I might have a tendency to over-think things.   

And my modus operandi is usually to assume the very worst situation (usually involving the girls swinging from the chandelier).

And…again…I have been reminded over the past week…sometimes it’s OK to just DO something.  The worst doesn’t always happen.

And…our girls are big girls, and they’re smart girls.  Those highchairs are still sitting right there, and they seem to understand that sitting at the table is a privilege.  If they misbehave and act like babies, they’ll go back to their baby chairs.

There are times when I owe my girls more credit.

Noted, girls.  Noted.

And how very nice it is to eat around our table as a family of four!!!

"Multiple Mayhem" - or - "Fun with Friends"

...or perhaps a little of both!

Our MoMs group had our annual family potluck picnic on Sunday.  We had such an awesome time!

This is our third year for the club.  While we have over 40 families on our local roster, there are only about 8 or 10 families who attend the majority of our activities.  That makes for a pretty tight-knit group.  It's always so very sweet to see our families together...kids running around as friends, hubbies interacting, and moms catching up from our last get-together.

We had a beautiful shady field next to our picnic pavilion, where we all played before we sat down to eat.  We started with the soccer ball...followed by the blowing and chasing of bubbles...and we ended with many, many renditions of Ring Around the Rosey.

The latter activity resulted in what I think is perhaps The Cutest Picture Ever!

With this being a newer group, A and B are some of the older kids.  Most everyone is in the two- to three-year old range.  There was one set of 9-month old twins at the picnic, and one lone singleton older brother, who is five.  

All the kiddos played so well together...such a precious sight.

Here are another couple of pictures of my girlies...

I've been putting their hair in braided pigtails quite a bit lately.  It's manageable for me, and it keeps their hair out of the way when they're playing.  And I happen to think it's pretty stinkin' cute, too!

 

I was snapping some more pictures after we enjoyed our meal.  The kiddos were playing with sidewalk chalk, having a blast.  Baby A was standing beside our friend K, and I really wanted a picture of these little cuties.  K was all smiles, but A must have been tired of the camera.  I asked K, "Can you make A smile?"  She tried so hard...but to no avail.  ;)

As most of the mamas were cleaning up, the daddies took the kiddos to the playground to run off some of the sugar from our flight of desserts.  I got over just in time to snap this little jewel...

I have been trying to get a picture of the girls going down the slide together...finally got it!

Having not known anyone with multiples when our girls were born...to now having some of my closest friends among this group...I am very thankful for my multiple blessings.

Super 7 Sunday!

It’s been a SUPER busy week as we jumped head-first into swimming lessons.  (That’s figuratively speaking…there has been no actual jumping just yet.)

Amid the most hustle-and-bustle week we’ve ever had, I’m very thankful for lots of fabulousness to keep us afloat.

1)      We surprised the girls with a trip to the zoo last Saturday, to celebrate the official start of Daddy’s summer break.  It was a HOT day, but we hit the road early and so enjoyed our kick-off celebration.

2)      On Sunday morning we decided to have some impromptu one-on-one time.  Baby A came to the grocery store with me for a few items, and she was such a great helper.  Baby B stayed with Daddy and had lots of learnings to report when A and I got back home.  Both girls were all hugs, saying, “I missed you, Sissy!” as if they’d been apart for days.

3)      Some of our bestest twin friends invited us to spend Sunday afternoon with them.  The girls were SO excited to hear we were going to M&C’s house when they woke up from their nap.  They had lots of fun playing together, swinging on their porch, and petting their cat.  And they really enjoyed their dinner, too…grilled veggies, chicken, and ribs, with plenty of fixins’…and TWO desserts…yum!!!

[This was the bet picture I could get...two out of four smiling, and everyone looking more-or-less at the camera...I'm calling it a win!]

4)      On Wednesday morning we had to run several errands.  We made an adventure of it, including a special morning snack at Panera.  The girls are getting to be such little ladies (at least at times!)…they sat so nicely and shared a bagel and each had a milk.  They were talking up a storm, to the amusement of a couple of folks sitting near us.  I love to see other people delight in my babies.  :)

5)       On Thursday morning the girls’ friend K came to play for a couple of hours.  I loved seeing the three of them running around in tutus, cooking up a storm together, cooperating to put together a puzzle, and piling up together to listen to books.  So, so sweet!

6)      Saturday was a really cool morning.  We took the girls to the park to visit the ducks and play.  They were so proud to show their daddy some of the new skills they learned the last time the three of us were there without him.

7)      After the park, we took the girls to our favorite sushi restaurant for lunch.  They ate a great meal, including most of a crunchy shrimp roll.  This is the second time I’ve ordered a cooked roll for them to try…they think they’re such big girls!  As we were finishing up, a couple of ladies who were sitting near us stopped by to speak to the girls.  They said they enjoyed listening to their conversation and got a particular laugh out of their pronunciation of "eda-mommy" (edamame).  I hadn’t even noticed it…HA!

We have our MoMs group family picnic this afternoon.  I don’t usually tell the girls ahead of time about our activities (lest they get too excited and decide not to nap), but I had to spill the beans when they saw me buying hotdog and hamburger buns.   

They are super excited…it’s amazing how much they remember about our picnic this time last year!  In preparation, they’ve had more than the average number of picnics for their babies over the past day.  We’re all looking forward to beautiful weather and fun with friends!

Swimsuit Woes

I have a handful of friends who have little girls a bit older than A and B.  For a year or so now, I've noticed a couple of them lamenting shopping for swimsuits for their girlies.

This year, I joined the lamenting.

I bought the girls their first swimsuits -- size 18months -- a couple of years ago.  They each had a one-piece and a two-piece tankini.  I quickly discovered the one-piece was not particularly fun to get on and off...off, when wet, specifically.  The girls wore their tankini suits the last two summers.

I bought the girls a new tankini -- size 3T -- at the end of last season.  When we decided to enroll them in swim lessons, I thought I'd look for something with a little more coverage.  I was thinking about someone other than Hubby and me handling them in the pool, and I just wanted to be extra conservative.

I found what I thought was the perfect solution, a little "surfer" set (as I call it, anyway).  In addition to a fuller cut, I wouldn't have to be quite so diligent around the edges when it came to sunscreen application.  Win-win!

But...when I tried the suits on the girls -- super cute as they were...the bottoms fit more like pajama bottoms...very loose.  (At this age are the suits still designed for swim diapers?)

I think these will be great for running through the sprinklers in the yard, and maybe even the dancing fountains downtown...but I'm afraid they would fall right off with any real water-weight in a pool.

[I have athletic swim shorts myself, and they have a built-in "liner".  I didn't remotely think to look for that when I bought these for the girls.]

I went shopping earlier in the week for another swimsuit for the girls, and I had the hardest time.  I wanted a two-piece, but one with decent coverage.

I only looked at Walmart and Target, but there were so many higher-cut suits...not to mention itty bitty tops.

I ended up with another tankini almost identical to the one the girls already have.  That's OK, but I would have loved to have found something different for them to enjoy.

I know this conundrum is nothing new to mamas of little girls, but this was my first real foray into that world.  Ugh.  And I'm probably in for this battle for the next, um...25 years???

Hmmm...I wonder where the Duggars get those swim dresses.

Truth, Addendum

I wrote a post last week entitled “Truth in Blogging”.

I so appreciate the encouraging comments and great dialogue in response to that.  And I got a couple of questions about whether something prompted me to write that post.

There was no particular instance that drove me to write that, but rather some ongoing themes that generally float around in the back of my mind.

For a long time now I’ve had conversations with a few of my closer friends about motherhood.  It’s wonderful, yes…more than I could ever have imagined…but it’s hard…harder than I could ever have imagined, too.

I’ve long joked with one of my best friends, “Why didn’t you tell me this was such a hard job?”  We laugh, but – at least when the girls were first born – I was really pretty serious in asking it.

Those first couple of months, when the sleep deprivation was nothing short of torturous…when I felt like I didn’t know what I was doing, like surely I was missing some primal skill set…when my emotions were so scattered, I seriously doubted my psychological wellbeing at times…

…I remember thinking, “I didn’t know it would be like this.”

Looking around, judging by Facebook, motherhood is rainbows and butterflies, right?

Everyone else falls in love with their newborn upon first sight.  Those infant days are filled with contented snuggles and precious coos.  The toddler days are spent watching your baby delight in all things new.  And preschool days are spent attending themed play dates and playing nicely at the park.

Right?  Right???

With my closer friends, I’ve talked about how “nobody” talks about “the hard stuff”.  How, when you’re in the middle of “the hard stuff”, it can be easy to feel so alone, so isolated, thinking that “everybody else” has it “right”, that surely you’re the one who missed the memo.

So…if we would loosen up and not be afraid to talk about the nitty-gritty…if we’d be willing to risk the nomination for Mother of the Year and “admit” we sometimes struggle…then we’d all feel better about ourselves, right?  More “normal”, right?

But…if I subscribe to that practice in theory, then I’m doing a rotten job of holding up my end of the bargain, at least via Facebook and my blog.  Right?

It’s a question that tickles the back of my mind, and I just don’t know what the answer is.

But I guess I’m realizing that many other mamas may fall into a similar camp as me, one of focusing on the joys and the wonderment.  It’s not that the challenges don’t exist, but they (usually) pale in comparison.  It’s not necessarily a cultural conspiracy.

No, I don’t know what the answer is, but I’ll do my best to support my friends, as they support me.  And I am so grateful for that support.

Maybe that’s the learning for me here…just underscoring the importance of a circle of friends where you can laugh about your dirty laundry (and/or poop-stained wall).

I firmly believe it takes a village to raise a child.  And that village sure is helpful to a mama, too.