It Began with a BBFT: May 2010

Mother's Day 2010

Posted on 1:56 PM - by Heather

I had a perfect Mother's Day. Breakfast at Starbucks (we did Northstar the day before as part of 'mothers day weekend' and I had the pancakes as a splurge), church, relaxing while the girls napped, family lunch made by Ryan, the zoo, dinner again made by Ryan and then just relaxing in the evening. During church my caffeinated mind started to wander back to my own mother's day memories growing up (corsages for moms, having all the moms at church all stand up, reading proverbs 31 at church--every year, brunch or lunch for mom, etc) and I started to think about how weird it is that now I am on the other side of that fence. Don't get me wrong, I love it, but sometimes it's just weird that I am the mom. I think I am starting to feel more like a parent too. When the girls were first born, it seemed a little like babysitting or even having a pet (just gotta keep that thing alive.). Of course I loved them in an indescribable way, but they just don't give much back in return in those first few months. Then the smiles come, but they are pretty free and loose with those--even with strangers, so I still didn't quite feel 'it' yet. I think some of my favorite moments as a parent are when they really start to show preference for you--you are their comfortable place, where they feel safe. They reach for you, climb up your legs when they are scared, are excited when you come to get them out of their cribs in the mornings or when you come home from work. My very favorite is when I pick them up from the daycare at our gym (mind you, it's two hours max). First I just like to watch them playing before I get their attention, and then when I say their names, their heads snap up and they squeal and laugh and come running for me. As simple as that experience sounds, I have to say that nothing else has compared to it yet and it really feels like I have 'arrived' and am now an official mom. One of the best blog posts that my friend Rachel Elek has written included a video of picking Norah up from daycare and it was same experience (except Norah first threw her toy hamburger and then ran)--so now I truly identify with that and I love it!

Lydia on the carousel before she cried

Grace combing a goat

Lydia combing a goat

Ryan and Grace with the lorakeets. (not my favorite)

Grace on the carousel before she cried

Me and my girls on our second mother's day

Lydia decided to eat the chalk at Jeni's before we were able to get our icecream

Ahhh, much better!

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My streak is broken

Posted on 12:49 PM - by Heather

**Warning, for those of you who know me well this rant is not new and you may want to skip it--it's just my way of processing as I like to tell Ryan**

I had about a 6 month streak going without anyone asking "are you pregnant?" and today it was broken--at the gym--when I was in my sleekest workout gear and heading to my spinning class. It was nice while it lasted I guess. So this is more of a ranting post and an educational post for those of you who are doing the asking. When the girls were first born it was pretty understandable that people might've thought I was pregnant--it's tough to bounce back from that I'll be honest. At the beginning I'd smile and tell them that I have newborn twins at home which would help to squelch some of their embarrassment and just the general awkwardness of the situation. However, as the twins got older and older it got harder and harder to smile and work through the awkwardness. Usually it goes like this--I see the person's eyes bouncing down to my midriff and then they get a little twinkle in their eyes and they lean forward and say with supreme confidence "are you pregnant?" As soon as I say "no I have twins" that is when the embarrassing pauses and hems/haws start, then they eventually collect themselves and try to smooth things over by saying "oh, you had twins--but you look so good for having twins! (too late for compliments now buddy!). I am not necessarily a woman of low self esteem but this really started to get old. I tried telling myself that it's a compliment--that if they just thought I was fat then they wouldn't be asking anything at all, so clearly they have deduced that--no this woman is not fat so that bump in her middle must represent a baby.

Here's the education part . . . this is very important . . . DON'T ASK THAT QUESTION TO ANYONE! unless there is a foot coming out or the person appears to be in labor and might need your assistance--DO NOT ASK IT. The outcome is just not good for everyone involved. Here's a visual lesson with pics.

In this case you can ask. Clearly pregnant and the hospital gown should give you an extra boost of confidence.

Not appropriate to ask. Abdominal flaws does not = pregnant.

Most women look forward to having another child so that they can again cuddle a sweet little newborn, but I when we decide to start jump back into this pregnancy thing again I will be so excited to say, 'why yes, I am pregnant'--and I'll get rid of any constricting underthings (even with those I get asked) and just let it all hang out even if it's minutes after the test turned positive.

And here's why it's all worth it in the end and if I did not have a shallow or vain component to my nature (which I definitely do) I'd say that I wouldn't change any of it, but 5 minutes after I eek out that last kid you better believe I'm going to be on the phone with the best plastic surgeon in town making my appointment!

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Turning over a new Leaf

Posted on 11:06 PM - by Heather

I've been a poor blogger yet again. I know I am not disappointing all of my many followers--my mom mainly-- (I still talk to my mom several times a week so she gets updates even without a blog and proficient with facebook) but I'm disappointing my future nostalgic side. Meaning that when I want to look back and see what happened in 2010 there will be big gaps. I was looking back at some of my earlier blog posts about the twins or whatever and it was really fun to look back on them. Even kind of witty I suppose (though nothing close to my dear friends and favorite bloggers the Eleks). I'm not surprised at myself though. I have always been somewhat of a journaler and when I look back through the archives of my life (which is only when I am at my mom's still trying to clean my junk out of my room) there will be months in which I faithfully chronicled my life however exciting it was at the time and then months when who knows what might have been going on? So, I'm up and down and hopefully I'll get back into my blog for a bit so when my girls are teenagers and won't talk to me I can go back and read with tears in my eyes about how they jump up and down in their cribs every morning and greet me with squeals and giggles.

So to make amends to my sentimental side, below are a few pics from the last 6 months.