Tuesday, June 30, 2009

The Magic TV Feature

I have recently found this perfect feature on the television. When I have this feature on, Seth plays with his toys, uses his imagination, remembers his manners and how to be polite. He is such a well behaved child - every mother's dream! I use this feature on our television almost everyday. It makes for nice attitudes from all and good time spent with the family. There is virtually no "mean voices" and everyone is happy.

My secret:

The OFF button!

Seth really has gotten to where he will watch whatever is on television (and Jack and Ian too!). Naturally, most of the shows Jeremy and I watch are not suited for young children, and since we have the smallest satellite package available, there are not many choices for young viewers.

Turning the TV off is the best answer for us. With trying to keep up with housework, taking care of babies and playing with a toddler (plus keeping up with my emails and blog!), there really isn't any more time left in the day to watch TV. Plus, with Sweet Seth out and about, there's no telling what cute thing he'll say next!

The Boys - June 2009

Another attempt...let me know if it works!! :)

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Swimming Seth


Today my sisters, brother in law, Jeremy, Seth and I went swimming at a family friend's house. Seth is so cute swimming all over the pool! He's has swimming lessons the past two years...mainly an introduction to water and basic swimming techniques. He's still too short to swim without assistance, but he sure does a great job swimming with floaties! He swam back and forth across the pool the entire time we were there.

The pool has a beach area on it (which Seth called the ocean). It was perfect for him to play on and "jump" off of into the water. He's still a little skeptical about actually jumping off the side; although he did do it a few times when someone was there to catch him.

We all had a really nice time! I really look forward to having our own pool and enjoying it with our boys someday!


Friday, June 26, 2009

Admitting Defeat...Maybe

I'm a "big picture" kind of girl - I look at things in the future as to how I handle them now.

When Seth was born, Jeremy and I both agreed that we would offer him a pacifier. We both were under the mindset that a pacifier is easier to throw away than a thumb. Fortunately, we had absolutely no problems with Seth taking a pacifier as a baby and giving it up at 18 months.

So we tried it again with the twins. Jack and Ian both like their pacifiers but have always had a difficult time keeping it in their mouths. Jack likes the Soothie pacifiers (they mimic a bottle nipple). We bought a Wubbanub pacifier (a Soothie pacifier with a stuffed animal attach to it so that it help them hold the pacifier in their mouths). It's working okay...he still has a difficult time keeping it in his mouth. Ian likes the NUK pacifiers. And he really does a good job keeping it in his mouth.

Several weeks ago, Ian discovered the art of thumb sucking and that it offered immediate soothing. At times when they were both screaming and couldn't keep a pacifier in their mouths, I'll admit, it was nice for him to self-soothe this way. However, the "big picture girl" in me knew that this would be a bad habit to break down the road. So I would gently take his thumb out of his mouth and replace it with a pacifier.

This brings us to today. Am I really up for that battle? The hard-headedness in me says "YES! We can win!" But the sleepiness in me says "ah, just fight it later."

I know what I need to do - persistence. I'm sure I'll end up sucking it up and replacing the pacifier every chance I get (...starting after my nap).

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Twins Overrated?

I love having twins! I feel very blessed to be able to experience something that is somewhat rare. (Although, the older the twins get, the more people I run into that have twins/is a twin/knows a twin/etc.)

Sure, I guess it's more work. But isn't every additional child more work?

I frequently hear "I don't know how you do it!", "I can't imagining having two!", "I bet you stay busy!".

I admit it; I like the attention to how I handle things. I like people to think that I am doing a great job despite how "difficult" it may be.

But then I started thinking about it; what about all those people out there with more than three kids? How do they do it? Sure twins are work, but isn't each additional child you add to your family more work than the first?

So even though I like people thinking I'm SuperMom, there really are way more SuperMoms out there that don't get as much attention because they had their kids one at a time.

Loving and caring for your kids is a lot of work, but I know a ton of great women that do it well everyday! Way to go, moms (and dads)! :)

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Circus Act

Ahh, the joys of young kids and babies!

It's funny how things are totally chaotic on the nights Jeremy works...go figure. (I guess it shows what a big help he is!) Seth is sick...which means he's a little cranky (and rightfully so, he has strep throat and maybe an ear infection). Since I took Seth to the doctor today, Jack and Ian stayed with my parents. By the time we got home and did baths, the babies were screaming because they were sooo hungry. I had turned Thomas the Train off to watch something I wanted to watch (ha!) which, apparently, made Seth cry. So I'm home by myself with three screaming children two of which want to eat. I finally get them to calm down enough to eat (and I turned Thomas back on) and they both poop their pants! Jack doesn't want to eat with poopy pants...so I go change him and leave Ian screaming for more. Eventually I get the twins in bed. As I go to put Seth in bed, he informs me that his bed is "yucky." Apparently, he had thrown up in his bed sometime last night/this morning and didn't tell anybody. Talk about the never-ending night!

So, like tonight and so many other times, I feel like I'm a huge circus act. If someone had a camera on me, we would be certain to get lots of laughs! I guess it's a good thing I can laugh at myself...

When we found out we were pregnant with twins, I told Jeremy that all we really needed (besides two of everything) was a really good sense of humor. I love it when I'm right!

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Hi There!

I am very new at this blog thing! I really wished I would have been more familiar with it whenever I became pregnant with our twins...man could I tell some stories! Actually, our life is way more exciting now. A toddler and twin boys tend to keep you on your toes! I love being a mom to three boys. Although every mother wants a little girl to do hair and dress up really cute (I sure did!), God knew better. Jeremy and I are so thankful that He gave us our precious boys!