My view
Words
Hands
Buttons
Stranger
Sun
Front door
Something that makes me happy
Blue
Heart
Closet
Something new
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Saturday, February 18, 2012
Friday, February 10, 2012
Mail Pilot
I had to post about this, I know it's been a few months but Mail Pilot is an innovated new email platform that was created by a Virginia Tech student and Alum. It is an amazing new organization system for email and the creators are selling subscriptions. Go and check it out, it's really awesome and has gotten some great feed back from the New York Times and Wired.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Mommy Psychic Abilities
Ok not really, or at least mine haven't been properly honed yet. I'm deep in the middle of NaNoWriMo and so close to finishing- less than 5,000 words to go! I'm projected to finish today, we shall see. I'm taking a little break to spend some words over here because something struck me hard yesterday.
Do you ever look at your kids and see the future? A neighbor and I were standing watching our kids play, and Lily had little jeans and tennis shoes and she looked so old. All we could think was taking the three of them to the bus stop in a few years.
This happens to me a lot, especially recently. Sophie was playing with some older kids at Gymboree and she desperately wanted them to accept her in their game but they were to busy to notice the baby. She wasn't really upset and tagged alone any way, but what about in future years when she gets left out or teased. The thought of it just breaks my heart.
We took Sophie to a speech therapist yesterday. The pronunciation issues we were worried she had seem as though they will be something that she will out grow. The therapist was worried that she could have a processing issue though so we are going to do another test.
This scared the heck out of me. I grew up with a learning disability that seems to be genetic and I am very afraid that I will pass it on to my children. The therapist said that if Sophie has these difficulties it could be another manifestation of what I have. I did just fine with my LD and taught myself how to do something that people do naturally. I worked hard though and I was often jealous of my sister who did so well in school, not that I didn't but she always did better than me.
I worried about Sophie's future. I don't want her to feel competitive with her twin sister, I don't want things to be hard for her. I worried about the work she will have to put in to adjust. I know that we would help her and do everything we can to help her overcome this, but I know how hard it is.
As a mom it is hard to know that you can't protect them from everything. Sure I can watch over them and hopefully protect them from the big things but they will be teased and they will feel sad and frustrated and I can't stop it. There are hard life experiences that they have to go through to become fully capable adults. Although experiencing those things are all part of life it is hard as a mom to let go and let be.
Do you ever look at your kids and see the future? A neighbor and I were standing watching our kids play, and Lily had little jeans and tennis shoes and she looked so old. All we could think was taking the three of them to the bus stop in a few years.
This happens to me a lot, especially recently. Sophie was playing with some older kids at Gymboree and she desperately wanted them to accept her in their game but they were to busy to notice the baby. She wasn't really upset and tagged alone any way, but what about in future years when she gets left out or teased. The thought of it just breaks my heart.
We took Sophie to a speech therapist yesterday. The pronunciation issues we were worried she had seem as though they will be something that she will out grow. The therapist was worried that she could have a processing issue though so we are going to do another test.
This scared the heck out of me. I grew up with a learning disability that seems to be genetic and I am very afraid that I will pass it on to my children. The therapist said that if Sophie has these difficulties it could be another manifestation of what I have. I did just fine with my LD and taught myself how to do something that people do naturally. I worked hard though and I was often jealous of my sister who did so well in school, not that I didn't but she always did better than me.
I worried about Sophie's future. I don't want her to feel competitive with her twin sister, I don't want things to be hard for her. I worried about the work she will have to put in to adjust. I know that we would help her and do everything we can to help her overcome this, but I know how hard it is.
As a mom it is hard to know that you can't protect them from everything. Sure I can watch over them and hopefully protect them from the big things but they will be teased and they will feel sad and frustrated and I can't stop it. There are hard life experiences that they have to go through to become fully capable adults. Although experiencing those things are all part of life it is hard as a mom to let go and let be.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Raising Twins
As a twin mama I get asked a lot of stupid questions. Typically conversations go as follows:
"You have your hands full. Are they twins?"
"Yes"
"They don't look much alike"
"No they are fraternal, and very different"
"Do twins run in your family?" or recently "Was it a surprise?" (usually meaning did you do IVF)
"No they don't" or "Yes it was a huge shock. We never expected to have twins, they were spontaneous"
I typically try to end the conversation there. I hate how having twins means that people can ask you crazy questions about your reproductive system. I always feel a little self concious at church too, which is totally my own doing. No one has ever said anything to me, but we are Catholic and reproductive help is not sanctioned by the church (which I think is stupid but I'll keep that to myself). So I feel like people just assume that is what we did, and everyone is judging me. Which is so stupid, I know they don't. Ok ramble done.
Any way we had a friend who is a fraternal twin in town, she said she and her sister learned how to say fraternal by the time they were three because they got so many questions. But our friends were so different from each other that you never really even thought of them as twins but they have always been very close, which is what I am hoping for my girls.
We treat them as two very separate individuals which based on the research I've done seems like it is the best thing to do since they are two very different people. They've started picking out their own clothes (with limitations or they would wear elmo slippers and cowboy boots everywhere). They choose very different things. I plan on potty training Soph first because Lily has no interest. Lily will use the potty when she is good and ready. I discipline them differently at times because different methods work better for each- Lily will do time out but if you yell at her it hurts her feelings and Soph responds much better to verbal correction.
They are different but oh how they love eachother. They try and sleep in the same bed at night, they act truly excited when they see each other after nap time. The other day they had the following conversation:
"Yeye, I miss you" Big hug
"Soapie, I miss you" big hug
and they kept doing this over and over.
They watch out for each other when they are around other kids. Sophie always makes sure Lily has a toy, and they both want to take turns with each other, forget all the other kids but they are happy to go Sophie then Lily then Sophie then Lily.
It's been an interesting ride so far, I'm a little excited to see how their relationship changes- if we survive the terrible twos...
"You have your hands full. Are they twins?"
"Yes"
"They don't look much alike"
"No they are fraternal, and very different"
"Do twins run in your family?" or recently "Was it a surprise?" (usually meaning did you do IVF)
"No they don't" or "Yes it was a huge shock. We never expected to have twins, they were spontaneous"
I typically try to end the conversation there. I hate how having twins means that people can ask you crazy questions about your reproductive system. I always feel a little self concious at church too, which is totally my own doing. No one has ever said anything to me, but we are Catholic and reproductive help is not sanctioned by the church (which I think is stupid but I'll keep that to myself). So I feel like people just assume that is what we did, and everyone is judging me. Which is so stupid, I know they don't. Ok ramble done.
Any way we had a friend who is a fraternal twin in town, she said she and her sister learned how to say fraternal by the time they were three because they got so many questions. But our friends were so different from each other that you never really even thought of them as twins but they have always been very close, which is what I am hoping for my girls.
We treat them as two very separate individuals which based on the research I've done seems like it is the best thing to do since they are two very different people. They've started picking out their own clothes (with limitations or they would wear elmo slippers and cowboy boots everywhere). They choose very different things. I plan on potty training Soph first because Lily has no interest. Lily will use the potty when she is good and ready. I discipline them differently at times because different methods work better for each- Lily will do time out but if you yell at her it hurts her feelings and Soph responds much better to verbal correction.
They are different but oh how they love eachother. They try and sleep in the same bed at night, they act truly excited when they see each other after nap time. The other day they had the following conversation:
"Yeye, I miss you" Big hug
"Soapie, I miss you" big hug
and they kept doing this over and over.
They watch out for each other when they are around other kids. Sophie always makes sure Lily has a toy, and they both want to take turns with each other, forget all the other kids but they are happy to go Sophie then Lily then Sophie then Lily.
It's been an interesting ride so far, I'm a little excited to see how their relationship changes- if we survive the terrible twos...
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Halloween Happenings
My children had been anticipating Halloween for weeks. They knew what they were going to be: a monkey and a paingin, they knew they would get candy and they knew all about pumpkins and witches (thank you Dora and every Halloween book ever printed). They had practiced saying trick or treat (super cute).
We knew they were excited but didn't think they would pull it off. They managed to go two blocks and said their lines just right. We had a few scares, a scary pumpkin and a man in a mask, but they had a blast with their neighbor friend who is a month younger. It was so exciting we are still talking about it and carrying around the candy we haven't eaten yet. Can't wait for next year!
Monday, October 31, 2011
From the Mouths of Babes
My ladies have quiet the attitude, they get it from me. A short summary on their little personalities:
Sophie: Busy, she wants to touch every thing, explore, see what it's about. She loves other kids but is timid in large groups of adults. She is a snuggler and loves to sit with you and give big hugs. She can be cautious.
Lily: The princess, she wants what she wants when she wants it. She is a girly girl and a ham. She likes figuring out how things work, and is very quick to catch on to things. She will love on you on her own terms, and is quick to have her feelings hurt.
So lately lots of funny little things have been coming out of their mouths.
Yesterday the four of us went to dinner with my parents. When we were waiting for the check Lily was getting impatient and kept telling us, "bye bye, go in car." So J said "ok here you drive" and handed her the keys. We get out the car and Nana starts putting Lily in her seat. She says "no, keys, drive, I go work, money." Boy was she ticked when we told her she had to sit in her car seat. She was already to drive us home. It was a glimpse into the future.
Sophie last night had her pjs on and was listening to Daddy read. Each girl had one of Dad's cell phone (work and personal). J says, "ok time for bed" and holds out his hand to take the phone back. Soph says "no, in pocket" and drops the phone down her footie pjs. J had to unzip her to get it back. I must confess that I wear a lot of clothes with no pockets and the iPhone often ends up tucked in my bra, opps.
Another from yesterday: We went to Target (seriously it is our Disney World). I had to get a perscription and the girls were being very good. I said they could have one thing each. Soph picked out a toy lion and Lily a zombie Mr. Potato Head. Then we found an alphabet Elmo and I said they could only have Elmo if they gave up their other toys. They agreed but then we found the baby dolls. I talked them out of that because we have at least 6 babies at home, including a Bitty Baby. Then we found what we really wanted in the clothes sections (yes they are really my children). Lily picked out a bright pink tulle skirt, a "pretty dress" and Sophie found Elmo slippers two sizes too big. We were quite satisfied with our choices.
Life with toddlers is never boring.
Sophie: Busy, she wants to touch every thing, explore, see what it's about. She loves other kids but is timid in large groups of adults. She is a snuggler and loves to sit with you and give big hugs. She can be cautious.
Lily: The princess, she wants what she wants when she wants it. She is a girly girl and a ham. She likes figuring out how things work, and is very quick to catch on to things. She will love on you on her own terms, and is quick to have her feelings hurt.
So lately lots of funny little things have been coming out of their mouths.
Yesterday the four of us went to dinner with my parents. When we were waiting for the check Lily was getting impatient and kept telling us, "bye bye, go in car." So J said "ok here you drive" and handed her the keys. We get out the car and Nana starts putting Lily in her seat. She says "no, keys, drive, I go work, money." Boy was she ticked when we told her she had to sit in her car seat. She was already to drive us home. It was a glimpse into the future.
Sophie last night had her pjs on and was listening to Daddy read. Each girl had one of Dad's cell phone (work and personal). J says, "ok time for bed" and holds out his hand to take the phone back. Soph says "no, in pocket" and drops the phone down her footie pjs. J had to unzip her to get it back. I must confess that I wear a lot of clothes with no pockets and the iPhone often ends up tucked in my bra, opps.
Another from yesterday: We went to Target (seriously it is our Disney World). I had to get a perscription and the girls were being very good. I said they could have one thing each. Soph picked out a toy lion and Lily a zombie Mr. Potato Head. Then we found an alphabet Elmo and I said they could only have Elmo if they gave up their other toys. They agreed but then we found the baby dolls. I talked them out of that because we have at least 6 babies at home, including a Bitty Baby. Then we found what we really wanted in the clothes sections (yes they are really my children). Lily picked out a bright pink tulle skirt, a "pretty dress" and Sophie found Elmo slippers two sizes too big. We were quite satisfied with our choices.
Life with toddlers is never boring.
Friday, October 28, 2011
NaNoWriMo
Ready for this one? Ok y'all already knew I was a little off my rocker but I've decided to participate in National Novel Writing Month again. Sounds awesome right? Yep totally is.
The gist:
You write a 50,000 word novel during the month of Novemeber with a bunch of other crazy people.
This year I've decided to tell the blogosphere about it so maybe I will actually finish. My first go was in 2008. Not sure why I didn't finish, I think being the yearbook adviser had something to do with that. I didn't participate in 2009 because I was really busy trying to keep 2 month old twins alive and you know barely had time to shower. Last year I tried again and wrote maybe 30,000 words. Not bad but hoping to finish this year.
I'm having my middle school Creative Writing students join me. They always have a blast. The goal for them is to hit 50,000 words as a class. One of my classes did last year.
Wish us luck and join in!
The gist:
You write a 50,000 word novel during the month of Novemeber with a bunch of other crazy people.
This year I've decided to tell the blogosphere about it so maybe I will actually finish. My first go was in 2008. Not sure why I didn't finish, I think being the yearbook adviser had something to do with that. I didn't participate in 2009 because I was really busy trying to keep 2 month old twins alive and you know barely had time to shower. Last year I tried again and wrote maybe 30,000 words. Not bad but hoping to finish this year.
I'm having my middle school Creative Writing students join me. They always have a blast. The goal for them is to hit 50,000 words as a class. One of my classes did last year.
Wish us luck and join in!
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