Stuff, Stuff, and more Stuff

Now that we know that we are having two boys Joe has gone into re-arranging mode.  If you know us, you know that we have stuff.  Alot of stuff.  It's a by-product of his job.  He brings stuff home.  All the time.  For example-the other day Grace asked me "why does daddy have two motorcycle helmets in the garage?"  Such a good question!  It's because we have stuff.  We have a house that can withstand the influx of two new people, even two babies with all the crap that comes with them.  When I say can, I actually mean should be able to.  Because we are full.  We don't have an empty bedroom just waiting for these bundles of joy to take over.   Oh no, their room is full of stuff.  Joe's stuff to be exact.  His stuff has been in the extra bedroom upstairs, while my stuff has been in the basement.  It's like having two walk-in closets!:)  Well, now we have to combine all of this stuff into the basement.  It is going to be interesting, that is for sure.  We started bagging up clothes to get rid of yesterday and Joe started moving furniture out of the basement to try and figure how he is going to configure the space to fit all of our stuff.  Side note-Joe is not so willing to get rid of stuff and he keeps coming up with great ideas of things I should get rid of.  I am trying to remain patient with him, but seriously. 

My problem with this whole situation is we are getting rid of stuff.  To replace it with  MORE baby and kid stuff.  What were we thinking? We like our stuff.  We don't wanna sort through it and decide if we should keep it or toss it.  And I am not going to lie, as I emptied out a dresser in our bedroom to give to Joe  (do you know how many clothes I can fit in one dresser!) I kept finding little, dinky kid toys laying around.  Under my bed, on my night stand, what have you.  And I threw them away.  Out of spite.   I know, bad mom here.  But, they have taken over our entire house.  We used to have beautiful Japanese vases and artwork, glass tables and candles everywhere.  Now, its princesses and barbies and dress-up stuff and a play kitchen.  Our house is not really ours any more, we just pay for it.   They have taken it over.  And we decided to have two more kids?  Seriously?  More stuff, more kid stuff.  And now it's two boys so we have to find room for blue stuff. Ugh.  This makes me sound like a selfish brat.  I am okay with that.  I have given away bags and bags of clothes, there will be more to go. I have to give away shoes...SHOES!  I will go through my books and weed out the ones that I can live without.  So, I have earned the right to be bratty!  Because at the end of the day, they will have the run of our house with our blessing.  We usually love and embrace every moment of being ran over....but, they better hope they don't leave any little dinky McDonald toys in my path while I give MY stuff away otherwise they will be joining me in this pain of purging!

The BIG baby reveal!

I had my ultrasound on Thursday. The very first thing I did was explain to the tech what we were trying to do with finding out the sexes of the babies and how I really, really wanted to keep it a secret-even from myself until the big reveal. Everything went beautifully.  The babies looked great, one weighed in at 8 ounces and the other at 9 ounces. And, the tech was great, she wouldn't answer any question that even came close to revealing the big news.  She was smart and even folded the paper in half, put it in the envelope and sealed it shut. (I know this because I tried to hold it up to the light).  Annie was with me and as soon as we were done we went straight to the bakery.  Before I even started to explain what I wanted I handed the lady the envelope, she looked at me kind of bewildered, but once I told her what we were doing, she got it:)  Everyone was so surprised that I didn't find out.  So much so that Joe told his cousins that he would know that night what we were having.  Haha, I proved him wrong!  They all had to wait just one more day with the rest of us. 

Poor Mike and Molly volunteered to pick the cakes up on they way over.  I can't imagine how they restrained themselves from sticking a finger in the center of the cake to cheat and know the results. Especially since Molls used to work at the bakery and has knowledge in cake repair:)  Could they be any cuter?!?!?

I made everyone suffer through dinner and then it was time! We had decided we would let each girl cut one cake, so of course Grace went first. 

AND, IT'S A..........................

BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Everyone was so shocked!  Joey made a boy!  YAY!  Then, it was Megan's turn.....

IS IT PINK OR BLUE???!?!?!!!???

Another boy!  OMG!  Two boys!?!?!  I think every, single person in the room was shocked.  The people who had guessed two boys had done so more with the hopes that maybe we would have one!  Joey and I looked and each other and just shook our heads.  We were totally blown away!  But, the person most moved by the reveal was Grace.....

She wasn't so happy with the fact that there was only boys in my belly.  She had been hoping for two more sisters and everyone's excited and happiness made it only worse for my poor emotional girl.  No worries though, we have talked her into the fact that it is actually better for her!:)  We appealed to the selfish streak in all five year olds-such as you won't have to worry about sharing a room now and you're the only girls out of all the cousins on this side of the family.  She decided she was definitely okay not sharing "girl stuff" with any other kids.  

So, there you have it. We are having two boys.  We were both pretty shocked.  I think as I am adjusting to it a little bit more that I was hoping for girls because the two that I have are so awesome and amazing that I just wanted more adorable little girls to see that awesomeness again.  I have adjusted to the fact my boys will just have to be awesome now too!  It didn't hurt that I went shopping today and bought all sorts of adorable little boy outfits and blankets!

In the Throes of Potty-Training

I know I said this blog was going to be all baby and pregnancy stuff and all I can say is that since I've been pregnant sleeping has been a real issue for me, which leads me into the topic of this blog.  I started potty-training Miss Megs this week.  We have had a couple of other attempts at this, but looking back I don't think either one of was fully committed to the process;)  But, after a trip to Sam's Club were I shelled out $90.00 on diapers-one box for her and one box to stock up for the babies, I was done with that!  Plus, I really,  really, I mean really want a break from changing diapers for a little bit.  Not long, I am a realist, but any type of break would be awesome.  Plus, the kid really wants to start at "sissy's school" when she turns three and she has to be potty-trained.  So, alas we started again.  What do you know?  She has been doing fantastic.  Let me back up by saying that I had a conversation with her over the weekend and asked her why she didn't want to "use the big girl potty".  She looked at me said, "Um, let me think about it........because I don't want to."  Lets just say, I was slightly concerned about how all of this might go.  But, like I said, she is acting like an old pro!  This *might* just be the end of diapers for my baby girl.

This all leads into this morning.  Early, early morning.  4:30am to be exact.  Which just happens to also be my witching hour.  Without fail I wake up between 4:30 and 5am for one reason or another.  To use the bathroom (darn babies kicking my bladder already), one of the kids has started screaming or the cat is "knocking" on the bedroom door to get in. Once I am up during this time I can not for the life of me go back to sleep.  I probably should get up and be productive but I refuse to let insomnia win.  I.am.tired.  But, my mind has rested just enough to start thinking and worrying.  The worrying I do can and probably will be it's very own blog so I won't even bother to delve any further into that topic.  But, needless to say, I would prefer to just stay asleep through those hours. Well, this morning Megan decided to wake up.  All I could think is great.  I looked over at my dear husband, with the wishful thought that he maybe heard her, but yeah right.  That man could and does sleep through just about everything. Dogs barking, getting stepped on, kids screaming, the damn cat knocking-all of it.  So, I stumble out of my room and of course inevitably stub my toe on the bench at the end of the bed, trip over Joe's house shoes and then trip over the damn cat who is stalking my bedroom door....all in the 10 feet between my room and her door.

I open the door and she is sitting up in bed smiling.  Smiling?  It is 4:30 am I want to scream, but seriously that would take way too much energy at this point.  She holds up her empty sippy and says "I need water".  I just stare at her for a moment thinking a million horrible, bad mommy responses....all that comes out those is "What?".  She must have mistook my look of death and question for the normal prompting she gets to use manners.  So, she continues holding up the cup and says "Can I please have water?"  I just sit down at the end of her bed and continue to stare.   And then she says it.  "Mommy, my diaper is dry and I have to go potty!!!"  And oh my, she was so darn excited.  I check and sure enough, the diaper is dry.  There are two thoughts going through my mind, the first is the bad mommy thought-just tell her to pee in her diaper, it's ok, that's why we put it on before bed.  Then there' the good mommy thought-Yes! YES! YES! The kid is getting it, even at the god awful hour of 4:30, she is getting it.  So, the good mommy in my brain over-rules the bad mommy and off we go to sit on the potty.

Of course after I get her water, tuck her in and rub her back I am awake for a good two hours, but this time around I just couldn't be upset.  Even as I nod off and the twins wake up to have a royal rumble in my uterus I am still at peace with it.  I was exhausted this morning when we got up, but hey, the diaper was still dry and my baby....oops my big girl (she would be sooo mad if she knew I called her my baby) is one step closer to being potty-trained.  One more hurdle cleared to becoming that all important pre-schooler.  And as much as I hate the fact that my girlies are growing up at me, I am also very proud of them for always taking the challenges we throw at them head-on and with a vigor that never ceases impress and amaze me.  Side note: Don't expect me to be so reasonable when Gracie-girl starts kindergarten this year:)  Let's just hope this doesn't become a habit though!

Just to make people laugh

A friend of mine at work (thanks Diane) gave us this great idea on how to reveal the sex of the babies.  We will use cakes to do so, pink or blue in the middle tells us what each one is.  So, the whole fam will be here on Friday and hopefully the babies will behave and let us have this party! Today I was searching google in attempt to get a theme or design for the outside of the cake and I came across this one that I just had to share.  It is definitely unique!



I do have to say that her boobies look amazing!

Doubling Kids in One Shot

Ah, so I had started this whole blogging thing at the end of last year and I was really stoked, really devoted, really excited to be doing it.  I used to write all the time and had fallen away from recording anything other first teeth and birthdays of the kids.  Then it happened.  We decided that we would try for *just* one more baby.  Joe and I had gotten the fever and Holly was pregnant. We had been going back and forth about the decision, but that sealed our fate.  I mean, all of our kids have a cousin that's theirs.  How could we deprive poor baby Mullaney?  So we plunged in, even without being 100% sure we were making the right decision.  My pregnancy with Megs was rough and we were both worried what another round could bring us.  As much as I wanted another baby, I also want to be a mommy to my beautiful girls for a very long time to come.  Well, fate had been sealed, the first month into this decision, we were pregnant. 

I knew WAY before the test that it had happened, not sure how I was feeling about it I kept it to myself.  Also, this was my third time around, I didn't feel that need to call the doctor at 6am to get in that day so that we could make it 100% sure, I knew.  I didn't need a test to tell me that.  About a week later I had a dream.  It was a dream that made we awake in cold sweat with my heart pounding.  I dreamt of my babies.  Oh, yes, I said babies.  In the dream I gave birth to twins-a boy and a girl.  I woke up and just knew then.  I told myself this is crazy, its just a dream.  But, I knew I was lying to myself.  Fast forward a couple of weeks and I was at my confirmation ultrasound.  It was St. Patricks Day.  I was all alone and planning to go into work when it was all done.  I mean, its the 3rd time I've done this, should all be routine, right?  Wrong!  The tech says "The heartbeat looks great!"  My response-"So, there's only one?!?!?!?"  And then there was silence.  I work in the medical field, I know what silence means.  It means, I need a minute to think of a good answer!  Sure enough, a minute goes by and the tech responds with "Ummm, no there's two."  I just started laughing.  This odd, awkward nervous laugh that sounded so foreign to me.  I laughed so I wouldn't cry. I started to think of all the bad things we could encounter.  Mom and Bob were in the terminal awaiting to board their plane to Mexico.  I waited to call her until I was out the door-knowing that as soon as I heard her voice I would break down.  Sure as shit, she said hello and I was balling.  I was (and still have moments of  being) soooo scared.  Two kids? Two babies?  She calmed me down enough to be safe to drive and I went straight to Joe's job.  Oddly enough he was finishing up a job that he had been working on for the last week or so and I had shown me the house the day before (that is what I call fate!).  I walk up to him and can barely speak.  Once I get it out, he is happy.  What?  What is wrong with this man I married, I am thinking.  Happy?  You pay the bills and your happy?  So, not only am I pregnant with twins but my rock has just gone insane on me in one conversation.  But, that's been he stance ever since.  He can't wait for his babies to get here.  He's certain it's two more girls (and even though he hates to admit he is totally okay with that!).

So, once I am over the shock I start thinking I need to document this.  Also, bedrest is inevitable and I am going to want something to do.  Blog names and topics keep running through my head.  But, I just couldn't risk it.  The beginning of this pregnancy has been rough, to say the least, and I have been so worried that my precious babies wouldn't be ok.  But, now, we have hit 18 weeks and Thursday I get to have *the* ultrasound.  And, I am making myself do this.  I know that once these babes are born I will more than likely not fill out baby books or document first smiles or roll-overs.  So, they can have this.  They can see what momma went through to get them here as safely as possible!