March for Babies 2008

What a great day! Once again the March for Babies Walk was a HUGE success. The OK Twins Team officially raised over $1500 for this amazing cause. We had 13 walkers on our team this year. The weather was beautiful, the activities were perfect and the purpose close to my heart! I hope that through research, more and more babies will continue to be born healthy.

Thank you dear friends and family for your generous support again this year!

Cookie Monster and Clowns!

What a great Saturday we had! While daddy was working and then out of town for the night, the kids and I filled our day with fun. First, Cookie Monster arrived in the morning for a visit. My assistant at work has a dear friend who owns a costume shop. They decided that they wanted to bring some cheer to our home and have a character come and visit. The kids have not stopped saying "cookie monster came to my house"

Then, after hearing that the Shrine Circus was in town, I got tickets late Friday night for the Saturday show. I convinced a few friends and my bros family to come with because I knew I could not do it alone. Despite the sore muscles I have today from carrying Owen about a mile, it was a fabulous idea and a grand time! The kids were GREAT and we even got some one-on-one time with a clown named Jo-Jo who stopped by our seats and signed Owen's cast.

I had forgotten how fun the circus is. As a child we went every year with my grandfather who was a Shriner. I have great memories of this and the little goody bags that my grandmother packed us so we wouldn't spend any money on junk!

March of Dimes

We are officially two weeks out from the March of Dimes walk. We will be walking again this year with friends and family to celebrate the healthy lives of Owen and Kyle and the other children around the world that are born premature.

As I state daily, we are the lucky ones! We have crazy healthy little boys who thrive. I do realize that many others' lives are different. I have close friends who deal with severe side effects of prematurity every day. The irony is that these children would not be alive at all without the advances in medical care that March of Dimes has supported the research for. So, on April 27th, we will walk with the hope that these advances will continue and that more and more babies will be born healthy every year!

Please help us to achieve our fundraising goal of $1250. Please, please!

Inside or Outside?

I suppose that it just depends on the day of the week these days. Owen has started to motor along by using his arms to pull him. For some reason he is still waking up every night 4-5 times!

We are still hanging in there - 2 full weeks down!

Happy 3rd Birthday Owen and Kyle

What do you do for a 3rd birthday? I am sure for Janie we had an extravagant party that I started planning for months in advance. For the boys we booked Chuck E Cheese on Thursday for Friday. I have sworn off kid parties at my house simply because I am not creative and do not have the patience. Besides, why do it at your house when there are a million other places! I can't use Owen's accident as an excuse for not planning because it was only a week ago. Isn't there something they say about the best times are those that you don't plan? Anyway, our family, my mom, my bro and fam went to Chuck E Cheese last night. It was great! Outside of the few adults that seemed annoyed that they had to move to let our wheel chair through, I think it was perfect. Owen rode on the little cars with me and we had a grand time. Tonight, we celebrated with some gifts and cake.

I sometimes think about my life before the boys and this is what I have come up with:

Before the boys...

I thought I was sooooooo busy
I thought it was hard taking a child with me to the store
I could watch a TV show that I wanted EVERY night
I knew who Oprah was
I sat and ate entire dinners, in peace
I never knew how many things in my house could get destroyed
I thought that I could never love anything as much as Janie
I never knew how fun it is to sit at dinner and hold hand with your most precious gifts and say a prayer
I never realized what an accomplishment outings could be
I never understood how great it is to give love to 3!
I had never heard someone say "look mommy, you have two baby boys"


Love you boys and I am so proud of you!

Doing Fine

We are exactly one week post surgery with Owen and we are doing just fine. Days are great! He is such a trooper. He never complains or asks why he can't walk. He ask for things, smiles and constantly tells me that I am doing a good job.

The nights this week have not been great. We started the week with 2 almost sleepless nights. Nothing would make this child happy. Truly I don't think he is in a bit of pain! I just keep imagining waking up in the night and not being able to move anything but my arms. The last few nights he has woken a few times but only needed water. I can handle this! The difference may be that we put him back on Valium before bed and a stool softener.

Our Nanny is doing amazing with him. Being pregnant, she never complains or acts like she can't handle things! We realize how fortunate we are because if he was in school or daycare, I would most likely have to take a leave from work.

Life for Now

Two days home and we are making the best of it. Mike and I keep asking each other when it will get worse. Last night wasn't so great but again today Owen's disposition was wonderful. He wants to still do what his brother is doing but he just says "Mommy, can you push me there because I can't walk?" It is a little hard to get discouraged with him being so positive. He does not like it when I change his diaper or lift him but first this morning as I was carrying him downstairs he said "Mommy, I'm okay". Then as I was changing his diaper he said "Mommy, you doing a good job". Kids are just amazing!

He finally pooped tonight and got his first sponge bath. He has not been eating great so he hasn't gotten may treats but his brother finds a way to slip him a lick!

Owen

Some things you just don't plan on and this happens to be one of those things! We had to take Owen to the ER on Wednesday night after he and his sister tripped on one another and then Janie landed on top of him. After his leg began to swell, I decided that it needed to be looked at. The x-rays showed it clearly snapped in half on a beautiful angle! We ambulanced to U of M hospital, spent the night in ER and went into surgery at 8am. My angel did well and is now in a full Spica cast and will be for the next 6 weeks or so. This cast goes up to the breast bone, down the abdomen, over the hips and down the full right leg and part of the left. He can move his upper trunk, and his left leg from the knee down. He has a small opening to stuff a baby diaper in but it can not be fastened. Keeping this cast clean will be challenging! The bummer is that if we have to recast, we have to go back through the OR.

We pushed to come home last night so that we all could get some sleep. Our hospital room was a quad so we shared with 3 other families. If we don't get a major respiratory infection now, I will be surprised!

Owen seems to be doing pretty well. He isn't begging to walk or jump around. This of course may change in a few weeks. We have no choice but to do this so we may as well make the best of it! Of course on the forefront of my mind through this are my friends who have children with special needs. I thought I had a good grip on what their lives are like but truly, I had no idea. I can deal with this because it is temporary. They deal with physical disabilities every single day of their lives! I have the utmost respect for you Billie and Shannon!

Vacation and no computer!

Mike and I slipped away for a few days to Florida so that I could check one of my life goals off of my list. This is a silly goal but I really wanted to see Tony Bennett in concert before he dies. You know, he is in his mid 80s! He was truly amazing! So we used this as an excuse to take a 3 day trip alone to Florida! It was wonderful. Beautiful weather, great food and most importantly QT with my hubby! Janie had a rough time (missing us) so that weighed me down a bit but I got over it quickly!

Now back to reality. I am very lost at home because our internet service is having trouble. Actually, it is the computer! I may need a new computer and a new window fairly soon!

Spring is almost here!

Fortunately we have finally had some time outside in the past few days! The kids are now asking as soon as they get up if we can go outside(a bit overkill). On Friday we built castles with the remaining little snow, we rode bikes and we puddle jumped. Yes, puddle jumped! Certainly my mother would have never allowed this and my inital thought was "don't get in the water". Then it came to me - I could be a cool mom today and really let the kids roll with this. They had their boots on and baths were in the near future so why not? I had a serious conversation with them first, explaining that this is not something that we do everytime we are outside. As if they were really listening. So the 15 minutes of puddle jumping was incredible and well worth the extra load of laundry!

A Girlie Game

Since we are nearing the end of winter and going absolutely stir crazy, we have resorted to any new and fun activities. It was Janie's idea the other night to play "dress up" with the boys. Out came the princess stuff, the wigs, the shoes...You get the idea! I am thinking these pictures may appear again some day!

A Little Fresh Air

We actually got outside to play on Sunday! The temperatures certainly weren't "warm" but it was better than usual.

So now we are back indoors and sick. It really hasn't been too bad but we have spent the last couple of nights cleaning up puke in the middle of the night. Mike cleaned up the first night. Last night I heard Kyle at 1:30a saying "mama, I throw up in my bed" I went running in and in my sleepy state could not see any puke. I went to run for some water. When I returned, Kyle was saying "See mama, see. Yah, yah, see, I throw up right there!" It was the cutest throw up I have ever seen! The boys don't have fevers but they aren't eating. Their demeanor is good so who knows. Anyway, we will get through it and so far so good with the breathing!

Inside Stuff

I guess tis the season to be inside! With bone chilling temps, we are pretty much trapped indoors. There can only be so much TV and so many puzzles and books. The boys are now into cooking dinner and helping with dishes. Of course this requires me to let down my guard about the mess!

Anyway, we are making the best of it and also realizing that we will be in Florida one month from now!

My Little Gymnast

We are well into our competition year of gymnastics. This year is very challenging as we have moved up three levels (I say we because I am paying the bills and doing the transporting). Janie is doing very well. I see her constantly putting her best effort forward. It is requires you to be very disciplined and hard working. I am thinking this may be what she needs to stay in a good place.

This past weekend she proudly won the handstand competition that they hold after the meet. It is a good thing because I have not watched TV without a handstand in the way in months!

More SNOW

Although we didn't get what they called for, it was enough to get outside and enjoy a bit of February in Michigan. I only have pics of the boys because Janie was at gymnastics during all of this fun!

Note: We have scarves on this time so we shouldn't get sick! Right Billie?

In the dark and cold

It is really great having a babysitter come to your house daily except when you can't be at your house. I woke up several times last night thinking that I was in a trailer that was going to blow away. I actually woke up once and thought "I'm surprised that the power has not gone out". I woke up again and it had gone out! By the way, I am not a fan of cold, dark and silent houses! I spent the next several hours thinking about what I was going to do with the kids and how I was going to get to work. Fortunately, it all worked. Krissy, our babysitter, was amazing and came and picked up the boys and took them back to her house for the day. My dear friend Theresa was ready to take us in for the night tonight but instead, the power came back on. Theresa stopped by the house today and it was back on!

We have not lost power since the boys were 2mths old. This was a really crazy time because I had stopped breast feeding and was wheening off of the pump. The boys did one middle of the night feeding and their bottles had to be warm. We were so SOL when they woke up. Some how by the grace of God, the boys latched on again (after a month off the boob) and it was a good thing because I was going to explode! Funny to me now.

I got home from work early today, took a shower in peace, started laundry and dinner all before Krissy dropped the boys off! That was pleasant and very necessary since I did not shower today.

So I have definitely realized that I LOVE ELECTRICITY!

The Ups and Downs

For some reason the last week has been extra difficult. I am not sure if it is the dreary cold weather of just the fact that the boys are extra high maintenance right now. I have nothing to be bummed about - my job is good, my husband is great and the kids are healthy. I think more than anything it is that I am constantly questioning my parenting skills. Janie is smart as a whip but sassy as ever. I heard that she was talking to a friend about french kissing the other day! Yes, 2nd grade! The boys are just hard. Again, I don't want to complain because they are healthy but it is challenging. Every day when I come home from work, they spend the first hour crying and begging for stuff. They then spend a good amount of time in time out.

Today was a prime example of how our days go now. Mike was at work all day. I hate feeling constantly trapped in the house so I decided to take them to an open house that was going on at the pre-school I hope they will get into (I say hope after today). After we arrived I was talking to the director. The boys were about 3 feet away. Immediately I notice Kyle trying to eat a cookie out of this cookie arrangement on the table. After telling him no, I began my conversation again. Next, I notice him jumping up and down on the couch in his wet boots! After that we toured the school and then grabbed some snacks. Kyle proceed to have an absolute tantrum (the kind where everyone is looking at you) because I would not let him hold his own glass of red punch. He was so angry that he went to the fireplace screen and shoved it into the fire place. I decide it was time to go. The challenge - when they fight me, the boys are too strong for me to handle them both on my own. We finally got out of there and into the car and I cried the whole way home! I feel like I have no control over their behavior right now and it is so frustrating. The laws are really going to be laid down at the Mitchell house.

The good news - I booked a quick trip to Florida for the hubby and me today. This is something that came to me last week when I was looking for Tony Bennett concert tickets. He is someone that I wish to see before he dies. He is only holding 2 concerts in 2008 (that have been scheduled) so I decided to look into it. I am able to use frequent flyer miles for my ticket and my sis got us free hotel rooms with her Marriott points. Yippee, we are off in March for 3 days of warmth and refresh!

Got Spaghetti?

I always know that the kids are going to eat well when we serve spaghetti!

Christmas 2007

I am not sure that I have done a really good job of making my 2 year olds understand the real meaning of Christmas. They are still asking every day "more presents?". I even tried to take them to Christmas Eve service at the church where I grew up. It was a complete disaster as they talk throughout the fairly quiet service. Before we decided to depart early, they enjoyed signing "happy birthday" during "The First Noel" Oh well, I just laughed as there was not much I could do.

The rest of our holiday was a great time filled with family, tons of food and quality time. We did pass some sickness between the extended family but everyone seems to be over it now. We had added fun this year with my siblings' children. More children just adds to the spirit of things. We also had the bonus of seeing some of my best girlfriends and their children for a brief and rare visit.

We went up to my mom's on Christmas eve and stayed a few days. This was our first Christmas there in 5 years. Still, there is nothing like going home to where all the memories still remain.







New year post to come...