Our Christmas Craft

In the spirit of reducing, reusing, and recycling, we came up with a container idea this year for the "goodies" that we give family, friends and co-workers.  Actually, my super crafty Sis came up with the original idea for Halloween - see the Mummy - and I played off of that and decided to just use ribbon.

What to do:  Take clean coffee cans or formula cans (of which we had a TON of), remove outer paper and drill 2 holes in the top for handles.  I wrapped them all in streamers first (because some of the ribbon was see-through), then wrapped them in ribbon.  I then tied a bow, and used pipe cleaners for the handles.  I actually had a much cuter idea of using different colored streamers to make candy canes, snowmen and I even had a tree figured out, but in the interest of time, I punked out and went with the ribbon.  I still think they are super cute anyway.

Happy Holidays!

Morax of the Borax

Borax Laundry Booster is my new all-time favorite cleaner.  As you can imagine, I've spent a LOT of time spraying stain remover on my 3 babies' clothes.  A LOT of time.  So much time in fact, I feel like I don't need to lift weights for my arms on laundry days.  Sounds silly, doesn't it?  Not really.  It's also VERY time-consuming.  But now, all I do is just soak the load of clothes for about 20 minutes with some Borax, then wash them again with some Borax mixed in with the laundry detergent, and the clothes come out cleaner than they were when I was spraying them individually.  I LOVE not spraying stain remover on every bib, onesie, shirt, sock, etc we own.  Also, now I don't dread washing a load of whites - that is until they need to be folded.

Anyway, I figure if a product has been around for close to 100 years, something about it must be good.  Truth be told, I just like buying a product that says "20 Mule Team."  It makes me laugh.  Plus it has about a million other uses.

So, yes, 20 Mule Team Borax is my new best friend. 

Thanks Mom for the tip.

Benadryl or No Benadryl?

So the babies are almost 6 months old.  Six of the shortest and longest months we've ever experienced.  Short because they've grown so fast, and long because they still do not sleep through the night. 

I'll say it again.  Still not sleeping through the night!!!!  Ok, we've had the occasional teasers - probably about a dozen of them, but nothing consistent.  What IS consistent is Ella up at midnight, Maggie up at 2am, Ella back up at 3am and Maggie up by 5am.  Then of course there is Karlie Bea.  She wakes up with the babies each and every time, so not only do you need to take care of an unhappy baby, but you need to put back to bed a very unhappy toddler.  Add that to the fact that Maggie is a screamer - not an unhappy screamer - a happy, at the top of her lungs, wake the entire house up because she doesn't care it's 2am screamer and you just can't win.

Yep, 6 months of this.  My husband and I have tried taking turns.  It doens't really work.  Right now we are doing the shift thing, but truly that just creates a teaser for both of us.  Neither one of us are really greedy with sleep.  Both of us wake up wonderfully refreshed after a solid 5 hours - the trick to that is it needs to be solid. 

So, we've tried different routines.  Right now we are feeding them as much cereal as they will take, giving them a bath, then a bottle.  You'd think that would do it right?  Ha, ha.  Up at 12, 2, 3 and 5 everytime. 

We've never been the parents that gave our kids drugs to sleep, but as my step-mom pointed out, you should NEVER say never.  We've discussed giving them Benadryl, and I've shot down that idea each time, but I'm thinking it might not be a bad idea. 

Maybe.

Possibly.

I'm thinking about it.

Sick of Being Sick

My worst nightmare came true early last week.  EVERYONE was sick.  I remember bringing the girls home those first few weeks and thinking to myself, "I can handle anything as long as they are not all sick."  Literally, I would think how lucky I was that we didn't have to worry about that - especially during the transition period.  Turns out, I was right.  We were so lucky!!!  It has been horrible!!!!!!!!

All three of my babies and a borderline sick husband is just not pretty.  It all started with Karlie.  She had a terrible fever and cough and had to be held all day - wow, she is 30 pounds and I felt every ounce of it by the end of the day.  And I would race around her and make sure that everything she touched was wiped down, trying not to spread the germs.  What an idiot I am!  That didn't help a bit, and I should have been conserving energy!  Then came Ella.  Ok.  I can handle it.  I am an expert at holding two babies, rocking and feeding them is no problem.  Yeah, add Maggie to the mix and then a whiny husband.  By day 2 I was doubling my Zoloft and just praying someone would start feeling better.  By day 3 I think Karlie really did feel better, but she had figured out that if she acted sick she would get more attention.  My sweet, sweet, manipulative little girl.  By day 4 I was extremely concerned because not only did I feel like crap, but there was no end in sight.  By day 5, I called the emergency number for the girls' doctor (of course it was Sunday) and just balled to the poor doctor who returned my call.  She probably wasn't expecting to talk to a completely worn out, hysterical Mommy, but that's who she was dealing with.  By day 6, Ella's fever finally broke completely by morning, and Maggie's that afternoon.  By day 7 everyone was really doing better - except for a totally exhausted Mommy.

On a more serious note, that was a really scary sickness we went through.  I have never experienced fevers spiking like that, and it came on so fast!  I really wish someone would come out with some type of medicine to give the babies.  It is some kind of hell to watch them suffer; knowing the best you can do is Tylenol and a humidifier. 

On a less serious note, it is only the end of November.  I really hope we don't get sick all winter!  I'm going to have my Zoloft refilled tomorrow!

My New Diaper Deal

I totally renege on the diapers.com post.  Now that I have been buying diapers for 3 babies for a few months, I think I finally have it figured out.  Not just diapers either.  Here is my new gig for groceries, diapers, cleaning supplies, etc.

So you can load coupons onto your shopping card - I use Kroger.  For some reason the electronic coupons (which do not double by the way) do not interfere with physical coupons that you hand the cashier.  So for any one item, you basically use 2 different coupons, AND the paper coupon if it is under $.50 still doubles.  I found this out totally by mistake, but am now going to take full advantage. 

Here is an example:

Jumbo pack of Huggies at Kroger $8.99.
Electronic coupon loaded on shopper's card -$1.50.
Paper coupon for Huggies -$3.00.
Total cost - $4.49.  For Huggies.  Not a bad deal.

I only bought one pack of diapers and some other items I had coupons for because I wanted to verify that was what was really happening.    It was and is.

SWEET!!!!!

Now I have to go back and buy more diapers.  Really.  We'll be out in 3 days or less.  Seriously.

Ba, Ba, You Damn Little Sheep

Karlie has a Ba.  It is her absolute favorite, favorite, favorite stuffed animal.  She has multiple blankies and depending on the day, other favorite stuffed animals, but they ALWAYS come second to Ba.  If it is time to sleep, cry, or even in times of great happiness, we need BA.  BA needs food and drink at the same time as Karlie, and frequently he needs bottles, to be burped and put down for a nap, go potty or a new diaper, etc at the same time as everyone else.  He also likes to play outside, typically in Karlie's jacket.  He is very needy.  BA is an extremely well-loved, ragged out, used to be white sheep.  Of course it is one of those stuffed animals that came from the dollar store (I know this because I finally found more BAs) which means that he does not hold up to wear and tear nearly as well as a 2-year old thinks it should.

Last Friday, BA underwent major surgery.  Two of his arms needed to be sewn back on (they were almost completely torn off), and his entire chest cavity was seeping out.  Ok.  No problem.  Mommy the surgeon took care of that.  Happiness and contentment in our world again.

Yesterday, we lost BA.  WE LOST BA!  WE LOST BA!  THIS IS NOT GOOD!  Somehow, that damn little sheep has found the most elusive hiding place in our house - I know he is in our house somewhere - and after hours of searching by myself during the day, then searching again with the hubs last night, we had to declare BA missing. 

As I said previously, I found more BAs at the dollar store.  We have 8 more of these little sheep in a bag in the closet in Karlie's room.  According to Karlie, these are not acceptable.  They are new BAs and have no resemblance to old BA (she is completely right - new BA is entirely too white and fluffy).  Damn.  Are you sure you can't sleep with a new BA?  Ha Ha.  "That not BA Mommy, I need BA!!!!!!"  Damn!!!

We have lost BA before.  Of course it was one of those special times when my husband was out of town, so the frantic searching ensued for hours by myself.  I didn't find BA then either - I am fairly certain he was "exchanged" for a rooster at the Kroger. I called the store, and did another frantic search in the parking lot at the Kroger, but it was no use.  BA was gone.  So, I took a new BA, cut off his tail, ripped some holes in him, let the dogs chew on it for a little while and ran him over with my car.  I then proceeded to sew a new, more acceptable "tail" which would be the tag - the most important part - and all of the sudden - "Mommy, you found BA!" was declared and I could finally relax a little.

Last night, Karlie passed out from exhaustion so BA wasn't such a big deal at this point.  Luckily, from my previous experiences with that damn little sheep, I now am constantly breaking in a new BA.  I always throw one in with the whites in order to start the "matted, well-loved" look.  So, while I am sure that I will need to "fix" the tail this morning, and he might still need to be played with by the dogs, and hell, I'll probably just run over him with my car for fun, new BA will hopefully become acceptable as old BA by the afternoon.

God I hope so.

A Little Q & A

I am frequently amazed at the audacity of some people.  Since my dealings with the public are typically in the grocery store, it is from my most recent trips to such stores that I would like to share the stupidest, rudest, and down-right thoughtless comments I receive:

Comment #1:  Are they twins?  Oh, are they girls?
Real Response:  Yes, they are.
Response in my head:  No.  They are just the same exact size and have matching clothes and car seat carriers.  Somehow I gave birth to children just a month apart.  And no, they are not girls.  I like to dress my little boys in flowers and have them swim in seas of pink all day.  Do you think they will turn out gay?

Comment #2:  Wow, you had twins?  You look really good for having twins.
Real Response:  Thanks.
Response in my head:  What the hell?  What am I supposed to look like?  You mean for having twins, or in general?

Comment #3:  What did you do to get twins?
Real Response:  We just got them the old-fashioned way. 
Response in my head:  Fuck.  You should try it.

Comment #4:  Wow, you look really great, oh goodness, did the babies do that to your hiney?
Real Response:  No, God gave me this hiney, I've always had it....
Response in my head:  I've always had this ass.  I got married with this ass.  I'll probably die with this ass.  Luckily, my husband likes a big ass.  In fact, he likes it so much it spurred the response in comment #3, which made the twins.

Comment #5:  My kids are 9 months apart, so I know what it's like to have twins....
Real Response:  Do you think so?
Response in my head:  You are so incredibly silly you have no idea.  Did you have 2 newborns to nurse, change every hour, and deal with in general?  Do you really think that a 9 month old is the same as bringing home an extra baby fresh out of the oven?  Just think about that statement for a couple minutes.....

Silly, silly, silly people.  I don't think I'll ever forget that 4th one.