Tuesday, November 5, 2013

We have A LOT to celebrate!


Our house now contains THREE 2 year olds (as of October 23rd, I'm a little slow)! I'm not sure how we got here because the first 2 years are a blur as any Mom of Multiples will tell you! I'll have to go back and read my own blog to jog my memory...

Well, regardless of how we got here, here we are at an incredible time in our boys lives. They are so inquisitive, creative and adventurous and are really forming their own individual personalities! It's funny I look back through the years and can see how we were leading to this day from even their very early, very tiny moments,

 From the anticipation in the room on their birthday

to their first official photos (Mylo)

(Oscar)

(Victor)

 From first Baths

to first days out of the isolette

to graduations from the NICU
they've had so many, many milestones and have been growing towards the healthy, happy, silly little boys that giggle their way through our house today. 



These are certainly little fighters that deserve to be celebrated! 

and celebrate we did. They had a party with all the grandparents including Great-Grandma Helen and a some of their aunts and uncles and cousins. They all love big diggers, especially Mylo, so I had a blast making them a cake that I knew they'd be excited about...


and we had fun getting them to help them blow out the candles



and the only photo from their party where they are all looking at the camera! 

On their actual birthday we  had the traditional Angel Food cake and a nice time opening presents with Mom and Dad and Grandma Pat. I absolutely love that of all the gifts the boys received their favorite are all the books. I have readers and am oh so glad for that! 








and as much as we love our books, I think this is my favorite shot of the boys together on their birthday...



We have a lot to celebrate! Happy 2nd birthday little men! 

Sunday, October 27, 2013

growing, groWING, GROWING


As we are fully getting back into the swing of things with the new school year and new routines, I finally have a minute to look back and share our fabulous summer adventures with you all! We truly enjoyed every minute of it, well maybe not the minutes at 2 and 3 and 4 am where somebody's new eye teeth and molars were entering this world for a large portion of the summer, we didn't enjoy so much! But as long as I was able to get fully caffienated to start the day we had pretty amazing daylight hours! We spent a lot of time this summer learning how to get out of our stroller and play in new places without giving mom too many heart attacks along the way. We have had a blast exploring and my motto for the summer is "we can always pack up and go home!" So most days we tried to have at least one adventure, sometimes it's just to a local park, which the boys are getting really good at and my only rule now is no tunnels so aside from that, the boys have pretty much free reign on the equipment and scary as it is actually do pretty well. One of my favorite (and scariest) quotes from one of the docs at our clinic when I said I was surprised how busy it was at urgent care hours on a summer Saturday morning "well, you know, flu season gives way to monkey bar season." I'm grateful that we weren't hit with any accidents and am so amazed at how strong and flexible and healthy my little 2 pound babies have become! Well in all these adventures my favorite ones start in one place, home. I love watching the boys navigate the world of sharing, eating, climbing, talking and walking right in our own back yard. They are learning new things everyday and we are extremely lucky to have such healthy little boys growing and thriving after their rough beginnings.
All Great adventures begin in your own back yard with balls, 


Cars, 
sandboxes, 


 and sprinklers and lots lots more!






We've also ventured out a lot to discover the great places our city has to offer and we've explored and have spent time at the library, the aquarium, lots and lots of parks, family yoga class, the zoo, local restaurants and many other fun new adventures. We went to our first wedding for Uncle Kevin and Aunt Jessica  and we also spent a week of summer in Southern Wisconsin visiting my hometown and my parent's farm and meeting lots of family and friends for the first time. I could share a million pictures, but I'll stick to our week away, we had lots of fun!
dressed up for Uncle Kevin's wedding

teaching our friend Jenny and her BG how to corral triplets at the zoo

popsicles

at granpma's place

chillin' at the farm

and eating at the Unique. 

As we've settled into the fall routine we've  been having a blast getting out in our littls red wagon shopping going to parks, watching mommy in a race and our first pumpkin patch experience. The boys loved the free space to run and run and we really loved the animals. Especially Victor!







At home with our pumkin stash!

I'm one incredibly lucky mama. These boys are growing into such amazing little humans with personalities that delight your soul, melt your heart, drive you crazy with worry, and yes, madden you to no end, but in the end the thing they do best is bring an amazing love of each other into our family. I can't imagine that I could love them anymore, but each day I do. They are incredible!








Saturday, August 10, 2013

Oscar's Summer Saga

So I keep meaning to get our summer fun post up about all of our incredible adventures this summer, but we're too busy having the adventures to stop and write about them! It's coming, I promise. In the meantime, I did want to update about Oscar's procedure so all who were sending their healing thoughts our way could know that he is doing well.

Without going into too many embarrassing details about Oscar's nether regions I'll share a little of the back story that led up to surgery this week. About a month ago Oscar began having trouble urinating and a lot of discomfort in doing so so we headed to the pediatrician and with a little bit of irritation on the skin we decided to treat it as a yeast infection and that cleared up any exterior irritation, but didn't make him any more comfortable, so one morning as we were getting ready to get into the car for Victor's PT I went to change Oscar's diaper and there was blood in it. Not much, in fact only a drop, but there shouldn't be any so I freaked out a bit, but since we were headed out the door any way I just packed everyone up as I called the ped to see what to do about this come to them, head to the ER, make an appointment for later that day. He said usually blood is just a UTI so to go to Victor's PT and then swing by right after so this is what we did. Thinking that we were just going to go in and get an antibiotics script and be on our way I was not worried at all until the doc and I started talking details and we decided this was probably not a UTI and it would be better seen by a urologist. Thankfully we already had one established from Oscar's earlier hernia repairs so it was easy to get in quickly. Basically Oscar had skin growing that was narrowing the opening so it was very difficult to go and he had to have a procedure called a meatoplasty to repair it. Typically the timing on this can be anytime that it's convenient, but if we either saw more blood or it seemed that he was in more pain than just the discomfort he had been experiencing we'd have to get in more quickly.

This Tuesday he woke up in the middle of the night in obvious pain and there was blood so we ended up in the ER, had a nightmare of an ER doc that sent us packing with virtually no help and we found out later he hadn't even contacted our surgeon's on call line to connect about the issue. Long story, short when we talked to the urologist in the morning it was clear that we needed the surgery ASAP and got everything scheduled for Thursday.

surgery morning freezie pop breakfast...



It was a whirlwind of a day since the only appointment available at our peds office for a pre-op was going to make us late for surgery, but we talked to Children's and they said they could be flexible since it's a very short procedure, but then our clinic got behind and I had to make some noise to get us seen and out the door, so we were running behind from the get go.

Neigh, Neigh, Oscar found a favorite in the waiting room! 

  Children's was wonderful and accommodating and I never even felt like we were late once we were in the door. We got him checked in and under. I hate anesthesia and watching your baby go to sleep is such an awful experience, I always just shudder and no matter how prepared I try to make myself, I always cry. The procedure itself was so quick I barely started my coffee when they were coming to tell me to come back. We did a lot of walking and snuggling for the first 45 minutes and then he recognized a toy from home and there was no holding him back! That brought all his jabbering back and the light back in his eyes so we got all the meds together and discharge instructions and we were off.
Back home and resting! 

He was very fussy and mama clingy on and off until late this morning, but seems to have turned a corner since nap time this afternoon and was running around the back yard with his brothers like nothing had happened!

yesterday's attempt to cure the fussy with Dilly Bars made for a peaceful half hour! 

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Oscar's turn

Just a quick update to share that Oscar well be having a minor surgical procedure to repair some urological issues tomorrow. This has been a very challenging month for him as he has had a lot of difficulty and discomfort and our procedure went from scheduled at our convenience to needs to be done asap as of an ER visit last night. Please keep him in your thoughts tomorrow as you know no procedure that involves anesthesia and your baby is ever actually minor to a mama. I'll update tomorrow night.

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Raising White Boys

As I was putting the finishing touches on a summer fun post, I couldn't bring myself to publish it today, because my thoughts today are heavier and bigger than our trips to the park. Don't worry those incredible memories will still get published, just not today. Today, in the wake of the Zimmerman verdict, I look at my boys, my beautiful perfect little boys and I'm very aware that I'm raising 3 white boys in America. What does this mean? This means I'm raising 3 children who have been granted privileges and rights that they have not earned. They have these rights simply because they are white and male in our society. This also means my responsibility as a mother just became bigger as this verdict made it very apparent that our country has a long way to go. I will keep this short and sweet as I share my hopes for all of us who are in this parenting village together.

To all the parents of white children, especially white boys, please understand that color blind is not the way to raise them, color aware is. We need to be able to see each other in all our glorious differences and understand that the physical ones are not the ones which should afford us our rights and priviliges rather the moral decisions we make day to day. As our children choose how to treat each other, let them recognize our differences as an attribute, not a detriment to our society. If my generation can't get it right, please let them be the generation that truly affords the privileges which they did not earn, yet received, to all their fellow human beings.

To my friends who are the parents of brown children, I'm truly sorry that you continue to live in a country where you must fear for your children's safety in a way that I will never understand. It weighs heavy on my heart that this fear is so very real. If there is one thing I do right as a parent, it will be to raise my children to respect yours.

To those who are disturbed by my statement that we should not be color blind, I simply say, if we are blind to a problem we cannot fix it. Let us celebrate our differences and learn to hold our judgements until we know the heart and the brains and the soul behind the skin.

Saturday, June 1, 2013

Doing our part!

Dressed up in our Team Uniform ready to go! 

This morning we participated in our first Baby Steps 3K in support of Children's Neonatal programs and had  a great time. I've stood at many starting lines over the years, but as I stood among that crowd getting ready to walk it was struck me how incredible this crowd was. It was full of families who shared that common experience of having to share their babies' first weeks or months with the team of incredible caregivers that is Children's Hospital. I'm so very grateful to that team and am glad we were able to give back. This starting line wasn't about the race, it was about being there, alive, growing thriving and doing our part to make sure the families that come after us can have the same amazing beginnings that our families were given. Our team "Love Multiplied" raised $555. Thanks so much to all who donated, to Leslie, Paul and their twins for joining us in the walk and fundraising and both the grandmas, grandpa Norm and Aunt Evelyn and cousin Gavin for walking with us. The boys had fun getting out and seeing some new scenery and each one even got out of the stroller to do a little walking of their own. Here's a little glimpse of our morning




Sunday, May 12, 2013

For all the kinds of mamas

Mother's day is such a mixed day for me. I love that I'm a mother, love that I got to wake up to Mylo's Bear Hugs, Oscar's songs, and Victor's giggles and love that I spent my day playing with, eating with, snuggling with and dancing with my family of 5. I am so very, very lucky to be their mom and so very blessed to have my family. I will never forget the road here and that the day that celebrates moms can also sting those who aren't yet or couldn't be and it means that in the quiet moments between the singing, the playing and the dancing I reflect on how we got here.

For 32 years, when I looked down I saw this and I was grateful for it's abilities to dance and to run and to  travel and to play and to work

and for 28 weeks when I looked down I saw this and I was grateful for it's ability to create and to stretch and to grow and to hold on for even one more day

When I look down today it often looks like this (can you find it) and sometimes I can barely recall not having 12 extra arms and legs flailing, grabbing and climbing and I'm grateful for it's ability to stay flexible and strong and nourishing and playful and loving even when it's tired, tired, tired!

and in all that change I will never forget that there was a time (that felt like forever even though it was only a couple of years) when looking down and seeing this, I saw empty and broken and damaged

So to all the mamas out there however your children have come to you, enjoy the squishy parts and the wrinkles, the grey hairs and the creaks and cracks, you've earned them and they tell your story...Happy Mother's Day to You! 

and to all the mamas to be out there enjoy every stretch and turn and twist and appreciate those jabs in the ribs and welcome that little one (or those little ones) to stay in just a little longer so they enter this world good and ready for it's crazy ways....Happy Mother's Day to You!

and to all the mamas in waiting out there, trust in your body to figure this out or when it's time to give it a rest trust in your heart to decide when and how that turn will come and know that your maybe baby will find it's way to you from within or from afar at just the right time. Try to enjoy the calm before the storm, life after will be amazing, but it will never be life before so to you, more than any other, I say....Happy Mother's Day to You! 

To each and every woman: mama, mama to be, mama in waiting, or cool aunt that never wants to be a mama, mama, and any other kind of mama I've neglected to mention, my boys and I send you a great big slobbery toddler smooch for the place that you hold in mama land! 


Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Giving Back!


On June 1st, the boys and I and some other family members are going to walk to support the place and the people that supported us so much during their early, very tiny moments: Children's Hospital Neonatal programs. We are so very lucky to be so close to such an amazing hospital with incredible resources for the littlest humans that join us on the outside a little or a lot before their time. The most incredible part of Children's is how much they do to make the little world we build there a home for us and for our kiddos, no matter what we are going through or how long our stay. After more than 3 months of incredible care we were finally able to have all our babies in their real home, but we will never forget the place that proved to be the best place for our babies to come "home" to for the first couple of months of their lives. The people that helped us along the way from surgeons and doctors to social workers and family resource center employees gave our family a strong foundation and beyond any of those are the nurses. Our primary nurses were the most incredible, loving, supportive people we could have asked to have by our sides. I remember our ICC nurse being their with us on Christmas when Victor was really struggling and I thanked her for sharing her Christmas with us and told her to thank her children for sharing their mom with us on Christmas. It was so important on that day to have a nurse and a care team that really knew our boys and Katie felt like part of our family by that time so to have her there for Christmas made such an impact for this mama. Each of our boys also had their own incredible nurses in the NICU and Mary, Kris, Lori and Laurie made our stay there what it was in so many ways and we also can't forget the ICC's Christine who we didn't get to spend as much time with since she was nights, but she was sometimes the reason I felt I could go home without reservation. The list goes on lactation consultants, volunteers rocking and reading to babies, and more and more. If you would like to cheer us on in person or in spirit you can click on the link on the left side of the blog that says Baby Steps 3k or for those of you viewing this on a mobile appp I'll include the link here:


If you would like to join us in walking and fundraising click on the join team tab and sign up. If you would just like to help us support Children's click on "donate now" and that will be a huge help!

Either way there will be lots of cute pictures of these boys taking a little stroll to help out those who've helped us and a post about our adventure! 

Monday, April 29, 2013

18 months of amazing!


It's so hard to believe that we've gone from this:
the first time I got to hold all three
To this:
The day Victor came home (107 days old), our family all under one roof! 

To this: 

This totally captures their personalities at 6 months! 
 To this: 
1st birthday! 

2nd Christmas (14 months), 1st one at home! 
To this:
Our 18 month olds on the move!



I think back to that day that we were told was going to be their birthday and thinking there is no way this is going to be ok. It's just too early! Then they arrived and one by one each of them entered the world with a good loud cry and I realized those were their "It's ok mom" screams. It would be a few days before I could hear any of them again because of their intubation, but their was something in hearing those little lungs work in the first seconds after arrival that told me I would be chasing 18 month olds before I knew it and sure enough, we are on the run and loving every minute of it!