A Womb with a Few

Congratulations are in order

2009-01-28T20:25:00.000-08:00

For my dear friend Liz and her husband Seth as they welcomed their daughter Anna Justine into the world. Well done you! Born on January 25th, which also happens to be the triplets' birthday.

Just as an aside, I absolutely cannot believe that Ewan, Noel, and Mairin are 2 years old. I seriously have no memory of most of the past 2 years which is probably for the best or I would have been institutionalized.

It's 11:14 pm

2009-01-07T21:09:00.000-08:00

and Quinn is still wide awake, which is not unusual for him, and I am wondering what the hell did I ever give birth to? He certainly broke us in for having triplets, who I am pleased to report, all sleep well through the night and at a reasonable hour!

Quinn's male bonding

2009-01-03T19:46:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow afternoon Quinn, Eddy, and Eddy's father are going to the Vikings playoff game. Don't ask me who they are playing as I have no idea, but I am thrilled to potentially have a few hours of a semblance of quiet without Quinn asking what time it is every 2 minutes. He is big on the telling of time lately, and working out how long things take. I can safely tell you that it doesn't take long to become annoying, but of course I cannot tell him that and crush his little spirit that thirsts for knowledge. Just hoping he doesn't come home with his face or chest painted tomorrow, though I believe we are safe as Eddy is not that big of a Vikings fan... perhaps if it were the Bears?

Das brood

2008-12-29T21:42:00.000-08:00

What are they up to these days, you ask? Here is where we are at:

Quinn-
Would be summed up with the word, "Stormchasers". Not sure who is familiar with the show by that name on the Discovery Channel, but Quinn is absolutely obsessed with it and I am wondering what other four year old boys are out there re-enacting tornado interception with their DOW (doppler on wheels, for those not in the know) and hoping for an EF5 tornado footage. What a geek!

Ewan-
Has some giant man hands on him... like that Seinfeld episode where Jerry's date cracks a lobster with her hands... rather like that. He is an eating machine who I reckon will be kicking Quinn's arse any day now. He is like a little professor who loves to study everything, especially doors and drawers. Open. Close. Open. Close. Fast open. Slow close. Slow open. Fast close. You get the idea. He also has quite a fine set of pimp teeth on him.

Noel-
Is a compete goof and has such a fantastic belly laugh, when he isn't shrieking with displeasure. Also a major dare devil/risk taker type, can be found standing on the kitchen table trying to access the giant tub of animal crackers, and luring the others into working in teams against me. Noel is the darkest meat of all the babies. Yes, I did just say that.

Mairin-
Is the laziest baby in all of creation but the best news here is that she is finally walking this month, just in time for her second birthday. The girl has some major rhythm and loves to dance and sign. Her rendition of Jingle Bells brings down the house every time. Not quite so literally as Ewan jumping and slamming his crib on the wall, but close!

The babies have all been sleeping in the nursery, each in their own crib, and it is so enjoyable to hear them in there chattering away and singing together. However, the cribs have been progressively been moved closer and closer to the middle of the room because the naughty babies keep pulling things off windows, walls and sockets. We are all class around here... looks so trash haha.

Blog address change

2008-12-29T19:53:00.000-08:00

Obviously if you are reading this you have been made aware that I changed my blog address yet again, by Eddy's bidding... and if you know me, you know I always do what I am told haha. He was all concerned that by using our last name, some total nutter might suss out exactly where we live and come kidnap one or all four of our children, or some mix thereof. Ah hello?? Don't you think I was hoping someone would do exactly that? Might have to resort to auctioning them off to the highest bidder now, or renting them out to holiday parties, bar mitzvahs, birthdays, what have you...

Okay, so it makes sense and makes me a good and obedient wife at the same time, a win/win!

Happy Christmas?

2008-12-25T21:05:00.000-08:00

Though the past few days have been very emotional, I still tried to put on a happy face for Christmas today as I know Quinn has been looking forward to this day for months... ever since they started showing all those toy commercials back in July it seems. His obsession this year was still train related, the Geotrax train and airport set, which Santa thankfully saw fit to put under the tree even though Quinn has been threatened on numerous occasions that Santa would not be coming if he continued being a naughty boy. Wonder how many years that will work for? Quinn did wonder how Santa was able to get our Thomas wrapping paper to wrap his gifts, and also why he left some scraps behind that the babies happened to pull out of the recycle bad whilst looking for boxes to play with. Damn babies! There had also been a tense moment at Costco a couple weeks ago when I was buying a set of DVD stories for the babies when Quinn was with which prompted a lot of questions. I do believe in the end he bought my explanation that Santa's elves had difficulty this year producing some movie related merchandise so Santa had asked me to buy this and help him out. He may kill is later when he learns the truth but for now it was good.

Emilie's passing

2008-12-25T13:13:00.000-08:00

My dear friend Emilie passed away late on Tuesday night, with her husband at her side holding her hand. She will be sorely missed by so many, but most especially by her husband Stephen and boys, Daniel and Benjamin. Even in her passing she was always thinking of and caring for others as evidenced by the quote she wanted Stephen to share after she had passed.

"And did you get what
you wanted from this life, even so?

I did.

And what did you want?

To call myself beloved, to feel myself
beloved on the earth."

— Raymond Carver

One of my favorite pictures of Emilie on her wedding day, which was also the first day we met in person after more than a year corresponding online. I remember watching her walking down the aisle and she caught sight of me and said, "Kerry!", in this fantastically happy voice. It was such a wonderful day.
It makes me happy to know that Emilie was loved by so many.

It has been awhile, no?

2008-12-22T23:20:00.000-08:00

So I have been exceptionally tardy in making any type of regular updates as of late, but I am here now, so suck on that!

I expect you all want updates of some sort as you are all incredibly selfish and it is all about you, you, you! I kid...
keep your knickers on.

The big news is that Quinn officially became a man today! I was making dinner and he came round to look and got waaaay too excited and shouted in the most and loudest voice he could muster, "BACON?!? I LOOOOVE BACON!"... rather like the Beggin Strips commercial dog now that I think of it. I didn't have the heart to tell him it was heart healthy turkey bacon. I am led to believe that intense love of bacon makes him an official man though. He actually ate some of the strata I made so I consider that my Christmas miracle.

Emilie

2008-12-22T16:00:00.000-08:00

I know, I know, long time no blog... we can get into that all later.

There are many people who had previously read about my friend Emilie who was battling cancer whilst PG. Ben is 9 months old but Emilie is now in hospice care at home preparing to die. Please take a minute to visit her blog and let her know she is thought of or say a few prayers for her and her family.

Items of note (potentially)

2008-01-20T21:05:00.000-08:00

I am going to bust out the big guns and give you all a rundown of the wild and wacky happenings in our household. Not the same lass ass crap that I am always throwing your way, but the real hard hitting, taste of bile in your mouth, world changing news I have disposable at my fingertips.

I hope I have now sucked you all in.

And no... I am not PG so don't even go there. Who needs BC when you have a three year old, and nearly one year old triplets?

Actually this really is more of the same old crap. I have a bunch of things I keep meaning to post and never get around to so this will likely be a jumble.

Item of note #1:

If you ask Quinn what his favorite TV show is he, will tell you very animatedly, "Ninja Warrior"!

What parent could be prouder than Eddy and I? Are any of you familiar with this particular form of Japanese game show? サスケ, Sasuke (or Ninja Warrior for those of us in the US) is a Japanese program which consists of a competition in which 100 competitors attempt to complete four obstacle course stages. The obstacles are fairly nuts and many times end with the competitors falling into mucky water. Oh those crazy Japanese! It isn't violent so I don't really mind letting him watch it occasionally, but he is SOOO into it. They had one of the "Women of Ninja Warrior" episodes on recently and Quinn is fixated on the ladies trying to make their way through the course. He keeps shouting, "you go girl!", and "you can do it!". He has even started playing his own make believe version of "Ninja Warrior" at home. Apparently the ottoman, big chair, and sleeping bag on the floor make for an ideal pretend course in case you too wish to play at home. See, aren't you riveted already?

Item of note #2:

Noel is a crazy man and he has what I have so PC-ed-ly dubbed, "Pimp Teeth". I am not kidding... I think you could drive a Cadillac between the space in his top two teeth. I am trying to get a picture of them but they remain elusive on film. Quinn has a space between his upper teeth as well (which should prove beneficial once the big people teeth come in) but Noel's is at least double Quinn's space. I love it and it totally fits his wild guy persona.

Item of note #3:

Mairin has this strange habit of anti-crawling on her back. We have captured it in pics and it looks like she is levitating.

I will update this later as it it now late and the momma is tired...

Holi-daze

2008-01-14T21:18:00.001-08:00

Dude, this Christmas deal is the best thing ever! Can you tell that I got excited opening my gifts this year (even if mommy did almost have to call Santa several times because I wasn't listening to her)?

Can't believe

2008-01-14T15:04:00.001-08:00

That these babies have been out of my body for nearly an entire year

Disclaimer:
* Not the most flattering shot of me (but few are really) and feel free to excuse the shot of my brother-in-law's ass in the background.

L to R we have Noel, Mairin, and Ewan

Here we are in our special feeding table (yes, a special order item):

They will be 1 on January 25th, though somehow in my mind I still have until their due date of April 10th. It makes me a little sad that we are hitting this mark.

I have a lot of other holiday-esque photos to post later. I am so happy that our Mac is fixed and more so that we were covered and didn't have to pay $700 some dollars. Yikes!

Grammy winning performance?

2008-01-07T20:16:00.000-08:00

Here is Quinn's first violin recital. We got stuck in the back so it was hard for Eddy to get very close but I think you get the gist. I love my boy's face full of pride upon completion. You can also hear Mairin squawking right toward the end as I steer Quinn toward both grandmas and I walk back toward Eddy.

Serious prayer request PLEASE

2008-01-04T19:44:00.000-08:00

for one of my former bridesmaids and dear friend from Chicago. Gita gave birth to a baby girl (let's call her cinnamon) via emergency c-section yesterday at 27 weeks. Things are as critical as they come and she could use all the prayers that others have to offer. Baby cinnamon's heart isn't fully functional and she has a few other major obstacles as well.

Please tell everyone you know to keep this family in your prayers and tell them to tell everyone they know. My friend has already lost stillborn twins and miscarried and I can't bear to think of her losing another baby. I would give anything to take this situation away from her. She is such a good person and I am really struggling with why this is happening to her and her husband who are currently the amazing parents of 3.5 year old twins. Please help them through this impossibly difficult time.

Quinn's first violin concert

2007-12-04T19:46:00.000-08:00

4 words:

CUTEST FREAKING THING EVER!

This past Sunday Quinn had his first public performance at the Saint Paul Conservatory of Music. All of the Suzuki string students have regular performances (about 2-3 times a year) to get them accustomed to performing in front of people and this was Quinn's first opportunity to get up in front of a crowd. Can I tell you how excited he was?

On Saturday (the day before the concert) in his group class they were practicing going through their performances. He gets up in front, does his bow, song, final bow, everyone starts clapping, and he gets this huge grin on his face and starts shouting, "thank you, thank you everyone" and doesn't want to get off the stage. Talk about a ham! I have no idea where that came from- what 3 year old does that? I was a little worried he wouldn't get off the big stage on Sunday.

However, it went very well. He was the third performer, got up there with the world's smallest violin (1/32), took a beautiful bow, his teacher helped him place his violin properly, she played the tune of "Pop Goes the Weasel", he had piano accompaniment, and his big job was to pluck the 2 "pop" notes in the song. He did it perfectly, placed his violin in resting position, and took a huge bow. You could tell he was so proud of himself and I was almost balling because it was the most touching thing ever. He totally brought down the house and loved the fact that everyone was clapping for him. He is the shortest and youngest student that was performing so I am sure that helped the cuteness factor, but several people commented to me that he was such a natural and so charismatic on stage. It made me feel so proud too.

I hope to eventually post the video but our Mac be illin' and we don't know what is going on. Just take my word on it darn it, it was adorable!

Dear Oprah,

2007-11-15T20:01:00.000-08:00

So first there are the unfortunate sex abuse allegations at your girls' school in South Africa, and now you have chosen Ken Follett's, The Pillars of the Earth as your book club selection. It even has it's own special edition! When will it ever stop? I inhabit such a small space in the world; why must you invade my space? Is this some sneaky means of getting me on your show? Because if it is, it will work.

Seriously, I am really annoyed by this for some reason. I have always disliked being one of those on the bandwagon sorts of people, not that I go out of my way to purposely be different, but still.

I guess I would characterize myself as having somewhat of an obsessive-compulsive personality when it comes to my reading habits as I tend to get hooked on a topic (usually historical) and then read as many books as possible on said topic.

Recent topics have included Italian Renaissance art history, Tudor England, and the Black Death. I read this book last year as an aberration during my Renaissance obsession and it was as if I had struck gold... secretly. Now Oprah has to go and make this an instant smash hit and everyone will know my little secret, well not so little as this is nearly 1000 pages. Screw you Oprah, I found this first, check my library account!

An exciting side note is that Ken Follett has just published a follow-up to Pillars, and it touches on the topic of the Black Death. See how nicely this fits into my obsession. I am 30-something on the waiting list at the library which is fine, as I am reading another book on Tudor England; Philippa Gregory's, The Boleyn Inheritance.

And don't all be sitting there thinking to yourselves, "What the hell does she think she is doing reading all of these books. She doesn't have time for that? ". No, I don't really have a lot of free time (or any for that matter since I can't even go to the bathroom to pee without Quinn following me in), but I sneak it in when I can- which is usually during the wee hours of the night when all others are sleeping. Thankfully I read quickly.

Here are some of the books I have read in the recent past:

The entire Harry Potter series. Yes folks, I finally broke down and read them all after the final one was published. Am I ashamed to admit I really enjoyed them? Slightly.

Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling by Ross King
Brunelleschi's Dome by Ross King
Galileo's Daughter by Dava Sobel
Letters to Father: Suor Maria Celeste to Galileo, 1623-1633 by Sobel
The Ruby Ring: A Novel by Diane Haeger
Artemisia: A Novel by Alexandra Lapierre
The Passion of Artemisia by Susan Vreeland
The Birth of Venus: A Novel by Sarah Dunant

Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks
A Vision of Light by Judith Merkle Riley
The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance by Laurie Garrett
Plagues and Peoples by William H. McNeill
A Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe
The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague of All Time by John Kelly
Nectar from a Stone by Jane Guill

The Last Boleyn by Karen Harper
The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory
The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory
Katherine by Anya Seton
The Six Wives of Henry VIII by Alison Weir
I, Elizabeth by Rosalind Miles (currently reading)

Stats and updates

2007-11-11T19:27:00.000-08:00

Here are a few of the goings on in our little world.

Eddy's parents are coming for an extended visit this next weekend and they are just going to die (not literally I hope) when they see Quinn and the babies. His mom last saw them when they were still in the hospital and his dad saw them for 2 or so weeks right when they came home. They didn't even look like real babies at that point and have come so far. Babies go in for their 9 month check tomorrow so I will have official stats, but they were in for a sick visit about a week ago and the results from that were as follows:
Ewan ~ 14 lbs.
Noel ~ 13 lbs.
Mairin ~ 13 lbs.

If I must label the children I would say the following:

Ewan seems to be really thoughtful and even-tempered, perhaps a future peacemaker? He is the bulkiest of the triplets and a great jumper and swinger. The 2 bottom teeth are coming in concurrently. I just felt them for the first time with my finger yesterday and then again today though unfortunately not with my finger if you get my drift. Yeow!

Noel is either really up or really down. Luckily since he has been better able to get around and amuse himself, his moments of unhappiness are becoming less frequent. He would, love, love, love to be held all day long, or better yet, surgically reattached to momma. I think he may be the clown of the family and also jumps like a maniac. His first tooth came in a couple of weeks ago and number 2 made its appearance this past week. Also enjoys biting toward the end of a feed.

Mairin may be the world's laziness baby and has become so soft and squishy. Will complain if made to work too hard at something. It is quite humorous. No teeth yet but the biting still hurts the momma. Her response to my yelp... a goofy grin and big belly laugh. Quinn is ridiculously in love with her and is always acting like a mother hen when she is around. Very expressive and generally happy, though who wouldn't be if they slothed and snacked all day.

Quinn is still enjoying both preschool and excessively pushing his limits with the parental units. That boy is so intense and not likely to give up; traits I hope will serve him well in the future. Still has an amazing ability to pick up and memorize music. Must get that more from Eddy who can play anything by ear on the guitar. Me so jealous. Since he seems so musical, we decided to enroll him in Suzuki violin lesson at the Saint Paul Conservatory of Music. He has a private lesson with me and his teacher on Wednesdays, and a group class with 4 other students and parents on Saturday mornings. For those unfamiliar with Suzuki the general idea is that young children can begin to learn an instrument much like they learn language. There is a lot of repetition and memory involved (right up Quinn's alley) and a very set course of study- everyone begins with variations of Twinkle, Twinkle and progresses from there. So far so good! He gets to participate in the winter recital which should be interesting. I have to say that there are few things cuter than a little child walking around with a tiny violin case strapped to their backs.

That is about all I can think of right now.

Please keep in your thoughts

2007-11-06T19:12:00.000-08:00

my friend Carrie who could use prayers right now.

Her mom has recently been diagnosed with a form of lymphoma and her maternal grandmother has been hospitalized with chest pains/heart problems.

If you could spare some thoughts and prayers for her family I think she would be appreciative.

I hope you don't mind I posted this Carrie. Let me know if you prefer I didn't.

Check out her cute fluffy duckie- haired daughter as well. She is the same age as the triplets should be. Ewan and Noel will probably be fighting over her in the future. She is going to be a heartbreaker, as is Mairin I fear.

We did it!

2007-11-05T17:22:00.000-08:00

We took our first family vacation...

and survived.

We had been thinking of going somewhere fun and romantic to celebrate our 4th anniversary, and frankly, what could be hotter than vacationing with a cranky three year old (just getting over a nasty cold) and super-cranky 9 month old triplets (in the throes of the aforementioned cold and teething)?

Initially we were thinking of going to Chicago because we miss living and more importantly, eating, there. I was a little leery of going any further in the car than the babies could theoretically go without having to feed again, as stopping to feed all three could literally take 1.5 hours. We decided to go up to Duluth and the North Shore area as Eddy and I have never been there before. I had skimmed through my friend Emilie's blog for places to stay as I knew she has been up there many times before with her husband Steve, baby Daniel, and now lemon drop the sequel. Whilst doing that I also was checking out exploreMN and just as I was about to log off I came across our perfect destination.

We ended up staying at Northern Rail Traincar B&B, largely in part because we knew Quinn would most likely be happy there (can anyone say train OCD?). It essentially is 2 rows of train cars that have been refurbished into comfortable rooms. We stayed in one of the Queen conductor suites which worked out really well for our needs. It had a separate sitting/living room in addition to the bedroom and bath. We literally had an entire traincar to ourselves, which, I am sure our follow travelers appreciated in the wee hours of the night when they weren't kept up by the noises emanating from our room. It was almost exactly like the sexy traincar scene in Risky Business, aside from the sex and prostitution. That was replaced by crying babies and poopy didies. Hot, right?

We had a good time though and the weather was in the 50's. Will try to post some photos and more info later.

We were able to partake of a couple of slices from Betty's Pies in Two Harbors, which was strategically located about a mile away from our lodging. I enjoyed both the French Silk as well as the Key Lime. The Key Lime was probably my favorite and one of the best I have ever had.

Tart but not too tart... much like myself:)

Stage mother

2007-10-18T20:34:00.000-07:00

Ewan, Noel, Mairin (and a few of Quinn) had their second photoshoot with Meghan Doll and are 8 months old in the photos. You can view them online for 30 days at:

http://www.meghandoll.com/online_viewing.html

event id: sookswat

it asks you to register, but really you can put anything it doesn't matter. Aren't they just too damn cute? If I could only get a handle on their careers...

Happy anniversary and, "Where'd you get him?"

2007-10-18T20:06:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th anniversary to Eddy and me!!!!

Who would have ever thought we would make it four years? Kidding. I hope you all thought we would. I will admit that if anyone had told me four years ago today that I would have infant triplets and a three year old I would have thought they were on crack( or maybe LSD, that being more trippy and all). I am also fairly certain that Eddy would have fled somewhere across the cheddar-curtain (WI in case you were unaware) or across the ocean. Is it quite a lot to take in after all. It has been four years filled with many amazing changes, some of which have been stressful, but overall I don't think I would change anything. Life has a funny way of working out. Sometimes you are given something you never knew you wanted or needed, and then there it is and you can't imagine your life without it. I hope we have many more wonderful years together.

Thanks to all my wonderful bridesmaids who stood with me that day: Bridget (my sister), Lesley, Gita, and Elizabeth. I am glad to have you all in my life.

Part 2 of this post deals with my recent trip to Trader Joe's with Noel.

So last Monday morning Eddy had taken the day off and I decided to make a quick escape and go get a few things from the new Trader Joe's which finally opened by us in Woodbury. I LOVE TJ's and used to shop there all the time when we lived in Chicago. Anyhoo...
I took Noel with me so Eddy wouldn't have to keep 4 other beings alive in my absence and frankly, Noel is the most likely to totally lose it and make you want to hit the bottle; the liquor bottle. I decided to try him in the Baby Bjorn as he loves to be held and he was quite pleased with that decision. He was gleefully kicking and making happy noises throughout the store. People were smiling at us and it made my day.

Then some random 40-something woman comes up to me and says, "Where'd you get him?". I was like, "excuse me", thinking she had said, "them", and not "him" meaning something in my cart looked good. Then it clicked with me what was happening. She said, "yeah, where did you adopt him from?". I was a little taken aback and didn't quite know how to answer. I said something to the effect of, "my husband and I made him". She then realized what an ass she made of herself and started fumbling for words, "oh, my friends adopted a baby from China, yada yada yada." I just walked away at that point, somewhat offended.

I mean, who the hell cares if he was adopted? Do you really ask a complete stranger where they got their baby? I realize that he looks just like Eddy (which I love) but it is not as if we are the first inter-racial couple ever to reproduce. The face of the world is changing and people are making half-breeds all the time. I can say that lovingly! It certainly makes for a good story.

Praise Jesus that I shaved recently

2007-09-24T20:30:00.000-07:00

My legs that is (you pervs). They just seem to fall to the wayside these days. I am fresh off a weekend shave and now sporting this look

"Why", you ask?

Because I had gone to shut the garage door, as this evening's downpour was in full effect, I was holding Mairin and tripped on a train Quinn left on the floor on my way back to the couch to continue feeding her. My motherly instincts and ninja-esque presence allowed me to bite it in such a was as to protect my precious cargo. Mairin was absolutely fine and probably thought we had just sat back down on the couch to continue Feed Fest 2007. Me however, not so much. I ended up breaking my foot. I had a bad feeling that that might be the case. I was still crying when Eddy got home about 15 minutes later. Quinn kept telling me, "Don't cry, daddy will fix it when he gets home". Well, I just had daddy take me to the after hours clinic, dump me at the front desk, and return to the Sienna to drive around with our brood. They confirmed the break and now I am in this sexy accessory for at least a week.

As if I didn't have enough going on trying to care for the clan with two good legs. It's never a dull moment around here!

It also doesn't help that I am probably the least graceful person on the planet. Call me Kerry the Klutz.

Everything old

2007-09-23T10:46:00.000-07:00

Is New Again.

I have to tell you that old school seems to work best when it comes to teethers. We *think* they are all teething as evidenced by the massive drooling and desire to shove everything including both fists at one time into their mouths. I have been on a quest to find a teether that actually helps that they don't drop within a second of gripping it.

The clear winner is the totally retro Soft Teething Beads by The First Years. I remember them from way back in the day. All 3 seem to prefer this teether and can actually chomp on it for quite some time before it falls away. Easy to grip, easy to jam into mouth, and even better...cheap! I think I paid about $2. Too bad you can't find them too many places as everyone seems to be pushing all the crap that is just too much sensory overload, IMO. It says they have them at Target but I didn't see them there. This was an impulse buy during a quick run to Cub that had gone horribly south for Noel. It was a Christmas miracle, aside from the fact that it wasn't Christmas. Anyhoo.

A close second is the RaZbaby RaZ-Berry Teether which I purchased from Creative Kidstuff. Good especially if they like a pacifier (which ours do).

On a somewhat unrelated note though in the retro category, I scored a few amazing finds at a garage sale my mom, Quinn, babies, and myself just chanced upon up at the lake over Labor Day.

Remember the Fischer Price School Days Desk?

And the Little People Schoolhouse?

And the Chatter Phone?

Well I got them all (ha, ha, ha-evil laugh), complete, and want to keep them all to myself. Quinn has really been enjoying the desk and letters/numbers. I still won't let him play with the cardboard word cards as he is too rough with them right now. Is that bad that I don't know how to share?

Wanna come over and play?

For those following Emilie's story

2007-09-21T19:18:00.000-07:00

She is an amazingly gifted writer and has recently published a story in the Catholic Spirit which can be viewed here. I hope you don't mind me linking this, Emilie.

Keep thinking good thoughts for her and her miracle baby.

Bottle talk

2007-09-20T20:10:00.000-07:00

Is it just me or did anyone else not know about this issue of bottles leaching chemicals?

The gist:

"Whether the animal studies translate to humans is a matter of intense debate. But in early August a federal panel of scientists concluded that there is "some concern" that BPA could pose some risk to the brain development of fetuses, infants or children.

Meanwhile, an independent group of BPA researchers issued their own warning in the journal Reproductive Toxicology: Very low levels of exposure to the chemical can potentially pose adverse health effects, especially to a fetus.

That was more than I needed to switch from Avent bottles, which have been shown to have high leaching rates, to glass. "

Guess who was using Avent??? Me! Of course I did so thinking that it was the best choice in regard to colic and overall health, being as close to BFing as possible. Quinn rarely used a bottle and really only BF directly so I am not so worried about what harm might have been done. The babies now frequently get bottles of pumped milk (and sometimes preemie formula since I need to supplement some now). I have officially made the switch to some glass (which are not so easy to find) and also Adiri bottles.

I love the Adiri Natural Nurser. It really is very breast-like and the babies have taken to it just fine. I was afraid they would refuse being as they were accustomed to Avent, but no problems from any of them. I personally feel it is more like BFing than Avent it. Yes, they are of course a bit more expensive, but in the end it is worth it to me if by chance I do prevent chemical uptake in their tiny bodies.

They have plenty of time to pump their bodies full of chemicals in their adult lives, but not under my watch.

Comment:
Overwhelming body of scientific evidence shows BPA is safe...

Response:
The reality is that there is a significant body of scientific research that establishes, beyond any doubt, that bisphenol A is highly estrogenic. In other words, it binds with the estrogen receptor and has the capacity to stimulate estrogenic responses. This means that it is biologically active and therefore not "totally safe." Moreover, there are a series of animal studies in the last 5 years that show that bisphenol A actually does lead to developmental abnormalities in laboratory animals at low levels of exposure. This also directly contradicts their assertion that it is totally safe.

The Gentleman Farmer

2007-09-20T19:11:00.000-07:00

My beautiful big 3 year old boy started preschool following Labor Day which is both a happy and sad occasion for mommy. I am happy that I get him out of the house for a couple of afternoons a week so that there is a minuscule chance that I can catch up on laundry/clean, etc., but sad to think that he is already old enough to be in preschool. Before I know it we WILL be going to prom together (you don't think that will be awkward for him do you?).

I really love his school, The Children's Farm (I think their website sucks but am guessing they put all their focus on the kiddies). I had been hearing amazing things about this place since we had moved up here and started thinking ahead to his schooling future. Since it is nearly all outdoors I heard it was great at wearing the kiddies out and God knows that I need that since he has never been a napper. I had also heard that it was nearly impossible to get into because they only take a handful of kids. I didn't know if I really wanted to try and enroll him this year or wait until next when he would be 4 because I didn't know how nuts things would be with the triplets, etc. I sent in his application (it had to be in by Feb. 1st which was right after the babies came) figuring he wouldn't get accepted but he actually did!

I will write more about the school in a bit. Here are a few photos of him during the first class (which was with mommy).

They feed and water the animals, go on nice walks, grow things in the garden and use them during snack time, etc., ride the horses, do art projects, sing songs... Kind of a non-traditional school but really great nonetheless. I want to go there myself.

Feeding the goats, Sugar and Pepper. They have very soft tongues.

Learning to pump water, and being pleased with his result.

Here are the basics from their site:

AT THE CHILDREN'S FARM,

EARLY LEARNING is important,
and LEARNING BY DOING is basic.

Love of nature and understanding of the interactions of all living things are learned.

There are many outdoor activities in a spacious, aesthetic, natural surrounding and first-hand experiences with the nature cycle in gardening, hikes, wildlife observation, weather, plants and trees, and food.

Enjoyment of and respect for animals is learned, and this knowledge can help children understand their emerging selves and strengthen their ability to love and respect other people.

Many experiences with animals on the farm are provided, including daily chores, baby animals, birth, death, and food production.

Learning how to control their bodies through many kinds of physical activities gives children strength, confidence, and skill that carry over into all areas of development.

There is a large outdoor play area, and climbing, digging, building, swinging, and daily physical fitness activities such as skill-building, movement exploration, or hiking are offered.

Respect, love, and enjoyment of other people are learned gradually as the shild experiences and interacts with an increasingly larger circle of friends and acquaintances.

A homelike environment and small groups (17 in a class with 2 teachers) allow for an informal atmosphere with many opportunities for social interactions.

Self-confidence is learned through developing many skills so the child becomes increasingly self-reliant.

Children are encouraged to dress themselves, prepare food, make choices, take responsibility for their actions, and help themselves and others.

Concepts of space, shape, classification and quantity are learned at an early age as children play with real objects and are guided to see relationships.

Learning through the senses and direct experiences with shapes, number, size differences, and a large variety of manipulative material, much of it found in the natural or home environment, and introduced to the child individually when ready to learn.

Communication skills are basic to future learning and to the child's ability to speak and listen well and are learned as the child is surrounded with language and encouraged to talk.

There are so many activities that are stimulating to talk about! By discussing, questioning, sharing ideas, planning new projects, carrying out directions, books, stories, charts, signs, and children's story telling, children begin to see the written word as an extension of speech and as another exciting way to communicate.

Learning attitudes are developed, and a child's early contact with school is a strong determiner as to how the child views the whole world of school and learning.

Curiosity and initiative are encouraged as a child learns to direct his own learning. Each child's own learning rate and style are respected. Warmth and friendship accompany real enthusiasm for learning.

Thank God for large and small miracles

2007-09-08T14:50:00.000-07:00

My friend Emilie and her unborn baby made it through her surgery okay. It took about twice as long as they thought and she lost a lot of blood but thankfully she still has two heartbeats residing in her body. Please keep the prayers coming for her as she recovers! She deserves a miracle if anyone ever has.

Labor Day at the lake house... a synopsis in blurb and picture

2007-09-06T18:28:00.000-07:00

We went to my parent's lake house for the holiday weekend, which is currently the only holiday we will be getting for quite some time. Not so easy to pack and travel with 4 children. Luckily, it isn't too far ~ 45 min on Balsam Lake in WI. They bought this property right before my wedding in 2003 and then proceeded to rip the old joint down and rebuild on the footprint. I wouldn't exactly say we are roughing it at the lake which is good seeing as we probably qualify as urban campers; hotels as opposed to tents. There is no smell of must anymore, just fresh clean lake air.

Noel's first boat ride. We still only have 1 infant life jacket so I chose the fussiest baby at the time. Surprise, surprise it was Noel. Eddy stayed and napped with Ewan and Mairin. Noel seemed to enjoy himself as judged by the lack of screaming.

Quinn fell asleep while resting against grandma...

So we just left him there for awhile while mommy went in and got liquored up (okay, I had 1 margarita and my mom went back to read her magazine on the boat)

Then we did a little triplet fighting a la Michael Vick/Thaimerican Gladiators (but with none of the horrific torture or death). Okay, Ewan was to smart to get involved in this melee, plus he could literally kick the crap out of them (he gets crazy power and momentum whilst slamming his legs down on the floor).

Winner eats loser's arm:

All made up and lovey once more

I think they are conspiring and developing their own forms of communication

Baby or beast?

Daddy and Ewan

The end

I want to vomit

2007-08-29T17:33:00.000-07:00

Please, please pray for my friend Emilie who is faced with what seems to be a very bad situation. Potential cancer, potentially malignant, and potentially a threat to her life as well as the life of the unborn baby she recently found out she was carrying. I am so sick to my stomach thinking about the decisions that may face her, her wonderful husband, and beautiful 1 year old son Daniel. I am struggling with why she of all people should have to deal with this. Not that anyone should have to deal with something like this, but Emilie is truly one of the most decent and honorable people I have ever met. It floors me when I think of what an amazing person she is. Please keep her in thought and prayer.

We are here to help you fight every step of the way.

Time flies

2007-07-20T18:39:00.000-07:00

Our beautiful half-breed triplets are 6 months old today!!!

They have come such a long way from the tiny 2 pounders that entered this world nearly 3 months early.

I just constantly think to myself about how blessed, or just really lucky we are that we have no major health issues to deal with and that we have 3 living babies. This has been on my mind a lot since hearing that the fifth of the Morrison sextuplets passed away this past Sunday. My heart just breaks for them and they decisions they had to face throughout the PG. I recall at my first appt. with the high risk OB practice that there was concern with triplet B due to an increased nuchal fold measurement. One of the first things talked about was the possibility of selectively reducing triplet B. It was horrible to hear that after being overjoyed to see 3 babies and their strong HBs moments earlier. We were faced with the difficult decision to do CVS testing which carried a risk of miscarriage. Thank God there were no chromosomal abnormalities this time around and that we didn't have to make the decision to essentially kill triplet B. In my gut I knew I would never be able to go through with that decision, even if it had meant that I knew the baby would die shortly after birth. Now as I look at triplet B (Mairin) sleeping soundly in my arms, I am overjoyed with her addition to our lives and that of her brothers as well (including Quinn- my extra special potty trained boy!).

Ewan then:

Ewan now:

Noel then:

Noel now:

Mairin then:

Mairin now:

Special toilet-going big brother Quinn:

Not bad, huh?

Please take a moment

2007-07-13T08:35:00.000-07:00

to keep two very special people in your thoughts and prayers.

My dear friend Liz
on the anniversaries of the passing of and birth of her incredible brother Eric. I was thinking of you and should have posted this earlier.

and also my friend Barbara
who is also struggling with the passing of a loved one, her mother.

That they might find some comfort and peace and know they are thought of and greatly loved.

Check it out

2007-07-13T08:04:00.000-07:00

I HAVE CLEVAGE (thanks to the triplets and the BFing)!

I seriously never thought it could happen to me and now I am writing about it. Wait, this is starting to sound like some Penthouse letter to the editor.
Here is Noel (aka the Clinger) at the Church of St. Michael in Stillwater. We were here for their ceremonial baptism as my sister (the godmother) from Australia was in town with her 3 kids for 5 weeks. It was such a wonderful experience as Eddy and I were married here, Quinn was baptised here, and now we have the chance to share this sacrament with Ewan, Mairin, and Noel. It feels like we are finally putting permanent roots down somewhere after years of moving during college, grad school and the early years of living together and marriage.

We had the babies baptised officially in the NICU during their first couple of weeks of life, just in case... That was a good experience as well though tinged with some sadness for me. During the mental fog that was our NICU experience I made the baptism for a Wednesday evening that worked with Eddy's work schedule, my parent's schedule, and his parent's schedule as his dad was still working hard on our basement. It wasn't until I was in the car on the way to the hospital that I realized what the date was: February 7th, exactly 1 year to the day that we lost our baby girl. It was overwhelming and strange; almost like God speaking to me letting me know that there is some plan in place. I like to think that Mairin is God's gift back to us and that Ewan and Noel are additional blessings (which all children of course are). While it still devastates me to think of the little girl we lost, I now cannot imagine my life without the addition of these 3 babies and Quinn. It was one of those full circle moments.

Here is my brother (the godfather) with Mairin, me with Noel, and my sister with Ewan:

My cup runneth over.

A day in the life with triplets and a 2 year old

2007-05-28T20:16:00.000-07:00

This pretty much sums up a normal day for me:

SERIOUSLY!!! ???

Qui, c'est vrai.

I am so in love with Quinn and the babies. I wondered if I would be able to love the babies as much as I love Quinn. The good news is that your capacity to love seems exponential. I am so deliriously happy I cannot get over it. Sure it might be sheer exhaustion talking, but things really seem to be going well. It isn't as hard as I thought it would be (not that it is easy) and I am finding joy in the smallest of things. Not to sound like a bible-banger or anything, but I really think God gave us these babies for a reason and must have thought I could handle it.

It's like a fricking Rodgers and Hammerstein musical around here with a lot of the lyrics revolving around barf and baby poop with the occasional getting urinated upon chorus.

In the mood for nude?

2007-05-17T13:50:00.000-07:00

We recently had the triplet's pictures professionally taken by Meghan Doll (our wedding photographer who also photographed Quinn as well). Quinn was able to sneek into a few shots as well which made me happy as I didn't want him to feel left out. I think they turned out really well and if you would overlook the porno-esque nude shots in the begining you are welcome to view them online:

HERE

id: sookswat

I am going to assume that you can all figure out which is Mairin... if you can't then I suggest you stop reading my blog and go get yourself an education. Noel is the slightly darker skinned young buck and is wearing the blue and green vest, which leaves Ewan wearing the blue and khaki vest.

Please feel free to point any talent/modeling agencies our way so that one day we might be able to retire.

Lots of changes on the homefront

2007-04-24T18:58:00.000-07:00

enough. However, it also meant that my in-laws moved in and took over our house for 3 months. I won't go into a lot of detail but suffice it to say that I am an extremely private person and have huge personal space issues and my MIL has absolutely no concept of personal space. I know she means well but it really drives me insane to have anyone staying in our house for more than a couple of nights. So there was a lot going on toward the end of my PG which I don't think I touched on here. It added several layers of additional stress onto an already stressful PG and marriage. "It", was the finishing off of our English garden-style basement by my father-in-law. He did an amazing job and saved us many thousands in labor costs; for that I cannot thank him- let's just skip ahead to the good parts. Our lower level was completed a couple of weeks after that. We now have our house completely back to ourselves.

Quinn LOVES the massive great room down there and runs himself nuts (as evidenced by the blur of him in the photo). We have nearly 900 additional square feet of living space comprised of a great room, additional bedroom, full bath and furnace /utility room.

Brave New World

2007-04-13T18:51:00.000-07:00

Here they are leaving the NICU- the only home they have known thus far.

Here they are hanging at home

Mairin looking at mommy

They definitely have a sense of knowing each other and seem to "speak" to each other in weird alien-like squeeks. I could sit and watch them interact for hours.

However... the special big brother is exceptionally high on life these days and always performing for us all.

Quinn is doing so well. He really loves the babies and seems to have a nurturing quality about him. He always wants to kiss and hold the babies. It melts my heart.

HOLY CRAP!!!

2007-03-15T18:52:00.000-07:00

We are bringing all 3 babies home tomorrow!!!

Yes, that's right folks.

All 3 babies.

Tomorrow.

Maybe we will swing by the liquor store on the way home? Kidding. Kidding. Don't go reporting us to child and family services.

Not sure we are really ready for this but can we really ever be ready?

Hopefully Quinn continues to be excited about his brothers and sister. I feel bad that his universe is about to explode. I only hope he will eventually enjoy bossing around his minions.

Wish us luck on this crazy journey we are about to begin.

I will continue to keep everyone updated as best as possible.

Mother jugs and sleep (a.k.a. living at the hospital)

2007-03-06T13:21:00.000-08:00

So as of yesterday I am literally living at the hospital. All three babies have decided that they like breastfeeding and I am thrilled. The lactation consultant has asked that I be here to try and BF at every other feed. They all feed every 3 hours; for example, Ewan feeds at 7 am, Noel at 7:30 am, and Mairin at 8 am. It's completely nuts. We weigh them on a special scale before I feed and then again directly after so we can see how much they take in by weight difference. Then they get the remainder of their feed in their nasal tube. On top of this I am also still having to pump every 2-3 hours as I have an enormous milk supply which is fortunately a good thing when you have triplets. My boobs have never been so huge (well huge for me is probably a B cup but still...), especially when place next to a tiny preemie head.

I never thought I would be such a hardcore advocate of breastfeeding. I almost feel like I could be one of those La Leche League extremists that you hear about. It is just the most amazing thing to watch your baby grow everyday and know that it is all because of you. Then there is the whole issue of bonding. It just is not the same as feeding a bottle. I have literally been brought to tears on several occasions over the past couple of days while I have been BFing each of the babies. Looking down at these tiny preemie humanoids rooting around for the breast and then latching on like it is the most natural thing in the world. Well it is the most natural thing in the world; every other mammal nurses their young. It is hard to describe the amazing power of nursing your infant to someone that doesn't nurse. I wouldn't trade it for all the money in the world. We have been so blessed that the triplets are doing so well considering how early they were born. Much of that is attributed to them getting only my breastmilk- the Drs and nurses keep lauding me for sticking with it. You cannot even imagine how much milk I have stored in the freezer. So much that Eddy went out and bought a chest freezer today. We had talked about it for awhile, but now what better reason than storing the milk of life. They say we are in the final stretches of enabling the babies to come home. That has not quite sunken in yet but I can't wait.

How cute are we???

2007-02-15T17:44:00.000-08:00

I love the NICU nurses; they are really wonderful people and they take pictures of our babies doing cute things when we cannot be there in person 24 hours a day. Here is the pic they used to make a Valentine for us.

As a side note, Quinn has been referring to the babies as, "my babies". I hope he remains as excited when they come home to stay. He has been better than I expected so far. Such a good boy.

My miracle babies

2007-01-31T08:36:00.000-08:00

We are so truly thankful and blessed. I cannot now imagine my life without these three tiny miracles.

Ewan

Noel

Mairin

Wasn't quite ready to post this birth story...

2007-01-28T14:52:00.000-08:00

But as most of you already know, the triplets made their early appearance at 29 weeks and 2 days of gestation.

Vitals in order of arrival:

Triplet A (boy)- Ewan Loetchai 2 lb. 5 oz; 14 inches
Triplet C (boy)- Noel Loetkiet 2 lb. 9 oz; 14 inches
Triplet B (girl)- Mairin Lilawan 2 lb. 4 oz; 14 inches

They are truly tiny miracles from God.

Here's how it went down.

I had had my normal weekly maternal-fetal medicine appt. that Wednesday the 17th of January and the babies all looked great in each of their swimming pools and my cervix was still nice and long and locked tight. I was actually joking with the Dr. telling him I was wondering if I was going to set a new world record and carry the triplets to 42 weeks or something nuts. He assured me that we would probably start seeing signs of pre-term labor change within about a month- that would have been right at my 32 week goal.

That Friday I started feeling stronger contractions (I had been having contractions for weeks which is typical) that seemed to be grouping together more. I kept drinking a ton of water and laying on my left side to see if it helped ease them away and I couldn't really tell if it did or not. I just figured that I had been a bit too active over the past couple of days.

I was still feeling them all day on Saturday and they were now accompanied by back pain and menstrual-like cramping. I decided to look at my "emergency" card the Drs. had given me to diagnose pre-term labor. I suddenly had all of the typical signs aside from leaking water or bleeding. I called my Drs. and they told me just to go in and get checked, "just in case". I felt bad having to call Eddy and tell him we needed to go in. I have been staying with my parent's since after Christmas to have them help with Quinn and Eddy's parent's have been staying at our house the past couple of weeks as Eddy and his dad are finishing off our basement (though that is another story in itself). We made the drive to the hospital and I was having contractions the entire drive that were about 6 minutes apart. They decided to check us into antepartum and hook me and the babies up to the monitors. Of course during this time the contractions seemed to be pittering out and I figured I was just nuts. Then they started picking up again and were bow about 4-5 minutes apart but not strong enough to really be doing much and they hadn't changed my cervix at all. They decided to keep me and pump me full of fluid and also started some oral meds to stop labor. These things in combination seemed to be helping and I would have to keep taking the meds every 6 hours to ward off more contractions. I also got my first of 2 doses over the next 48 hours of steroids to help the babies lungs develop. They planned to keep me until my next regular maternal-fetal med. appt. this past Wednesday and reassess me then and potentially let me go back home to keep on strict bedrest and keep taking my pills. The pills seemed to be working well and I hadn't been having any more issues with contractions. I was thrilled and kept telling myself that I would be going home on Wed. I hadn't expected them to keep me and I was upset because this was the special time I was supposed to be spending with Quinn before the babies came.

My Dr. and sonographer came over on Wednesday morning to check out the babies and my cervix. The scan of the babies was great and they were still kicking away whenever they tried to zoom in on each of them. Next they did my weekly vaginal ultrasound to check my cervix and as soon as I saw the screen I knew I wasn't going to be going home. My cervix had started funneling and also had "no appreciable" length left to it. I started bawling because I missed Quinn so much and I knew I was going to be in antepartum until the babies came. I called Eddy to let him know I was stuck and then called my mom to have her bring Quinn to visit me. That was just about the best thing ever, especially seeing as it was our last together time before the babies came (though I didn't know it then).

My contractions were still well under control all day Wednesday and I was starting to feel better about the whole situation. I was getting ready for bed at about 10:20 pm and as I was standing in the bathroom I got this horrific backache to the point where I could barely get back to my bed. I started getting strong contractions as soon as I lay back down and so I buzzed my nurse. She came in to hook me up to the monitors and the babies were still doing fine but I was now 1 cm dilated and contracting every 43-4 minutes and they were strong! The resident on-call came in and we decided to pump me full of more fluid and start some more meds for contractions. Well it turned out I couldn't take the other meds because my pulse was too high and so we tried a larger dose of the meds I had been using. They checked me again and I was now 2 cm dilated. I decided I should call Eddy as I was starting to realize that the babies had different ideas about coming out. He woke up and started freaking out and i just told him to get here because I thought we would be having the babies. This was now 1:30 am; 3 hours into full-on horrifically painful labor. It was feeling about 10 times worse than my labor with Quinn but I was in a waiting pattern to see if we were going to the OR or not. Eddy got there about 45 minutes later and upon checking me again realized I was now 4 cm dilated and there was no stopping this labor. One of my 4 OBs was on here way in to do my surgery and they were amassing all 3 teams needed for each baby. Things started to happen quickly and then triplet A's water broke and there was no turning back. I had to start accepting the fact that I wasn't going to make it to 32 weeks like I so desperately hoped.

The OR was pretty much a blur. They gave me my spinal and Eddy was whisked in just as they were making the first incision. At 3:29 triplet A was removed. 2 minutes later triplet C delivered and 2 minutes after that triplet B finished making her way into the world. I couldn't really hear any of them crying and I started to freak out but Eddy assured me that they all looked good and that the teams were working on each of them. This was all behind my drape so I was blind to everything. They whisked the babies out of the room and I didn't get to see them or kiss them goodbye. That was very upsetting to me but I realize they wanted to stabilize our brood.

I got to see them a few hours later at about 9am and all were already stable and doing really well all things considered. Within 24 hours all were taken off the vents and now past 48 hours all are on just room air. These babies are amazing troopers and really feisty. They keep improving and the neonatologists assure us that they have a long road ahead but it couldn't be going any better than it currently is. I have been pumping since they were born and the amazing nurses that work in the NICU have been feeding my colostrum and now, milk to each of the babies. They now only have a small feeding tube in their noses and they are tolerating feedings were well. They also really encourage touch and I have been doing kangaroo care with each baby a few times a day. This is where they lay skin-on-skin with you on your chest. I can think of no better feeling in the world right now. The babies love it and become amazingly calm, until you try to put them back in their isolettes and then they get really pissed off which cracks me up.

Quinn has been able to visit them and keeps asking where their mommy is. He got a horrified look on his face when my mom explained to him that I am their mommy too. Soon he will be able to boss them around and I can see him getting really into that.

I am thinking about starting a Caring Bridge site to keep everyone updated. We expect the babies to be in hospital until close to their April 10th due date so there will be lots of updating to do. We will continue to upload photos and some can currently be seen at:

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AcMmrRo0ctGJd
Please keep in mind that I hadn't slept very much at all for a few days and consequently look and feel like crap. Otherwise, enjoy...

Final stretch (literally and figuratively)

2007-01-17T15:15:00.000-08:00

I made it to the magical 28 week mark! This means the babies are all viable and should do well if born tomorrow. I have been focusing on this mark since finding out we were having triplets. There is such a sense of relief for me right now; I know there are no guarantees for how things will turn out but at least I feel a little less worried. I had my weekly checkup today and as usual all babies are doing amazingly well- good fluid levels, strong HBs, kicking the mommy. My mom sat in on the u/s today and got to see some interesting movements. The sonographer always does 3D scans after measuring everything else, and today we saw triplets B&C yawning and they were all playing with their cords. We got some good 3D face shots as well as one of C yawning so hopefully I will get those scanned in sometime soon.

In the meantime, enjoy some 28 week belly shots. I feel like I might literally explode but somehow I don't have any stretch marks (yet); just freakish vampire-like veins.

21 weeks + 3 babies =

2006-12-06T18:51:00.000-08:00

This is from a week ago

He is so not going to be smiling once these babies are born.

3 good weeks

2006-12-05T18:33:00.000-08:00

Maybe 4 weeks if I really stretch it out. I had about 3 weeks of feeling pretty good on the whole. I should have done more during those weeks. I have hit the really uncomfortable part of this PG and that won't end until the babies are born. I am 22 weeks now and I need to get to 28 weeks to get a pretty good outcome. That is a mere 6 weeks from now- not enough time! I hope to go longer; maybe 32 weeks? I feel huge and every muscle in my body hurts. Not that I am complaining about any of this- we are so happy to be having these babies. I wish I could breathe a bit more and maybe be able to eat more as well. As of last week I have only gained about 8, maybe 9 lbs. Not good. The Drs. keep telling me I need to gain 20 lbs PER baby. That gives me 6+ weeks to gain 52 lbs. I definitely look like I have gained more than that so I don't know where it is coming from. My theory is that it is migrating up from my ass and thighs. Good thing I was vigilant about keeping a nice supply of blubber down there.

I am supposed to be on bedrest now and spending my days eating. Any other time in my life this would have been a dream come true. Now I can barely eat anything and nothing really seems appetizing. I am not sure I have the ideal body type to be carrying 3 babies. If only I were taller and had more room in the boobs to crotch area.

The babies are also engaging in some sort of Thaimerican Gladiator competitions. If one starts kicking the rest follow in suit. It is very bizarre and very nauseating at the same time. They especially like to practice at night when I am trying to sleep. Naughty babies!

A proud mommy moment

2006-11-08T17:29:00.001-08:00

Eddy, Quinn, and I were in Babies-R-Us this past Saturday just looking around to see if they had this specific co-sleeper I am interested in. They didn't but that really isn't important here. Eddy runs to use the restroom and Quinn and I are just browsing and I notice this other mother with her little daughter and grandma also in tow and they kept looking over at us. At first I couldn't figure it out but then I realized that Quinn had been singing the entire time; the same tune over and over. I had been hearing it all day so it kind of had become background noise to me. The grandma then comes over to us and asks if he is singing an Edvard Grieg tune. I told her that it was actually an Antonin Dvorak tune, the main melody from New World Symphony No. 9. She was just shocked and yells over to her daughter that he was singing Dvorak. She was absolutely beside herself with disbelief. She goes on telling the daughter how he is singing it with all the right notes. I just said that he really seems to like music and picks tunes up right away. In the back of my mind I was thinking, "sweet Jesus, my boy is a musical genius". I was such a proud mommy at that moment. Eddy missed the entire exchange but I relayed it to him again and again.

It really isn't as if we force music on him. I don't play classical music 24 hours a day but he seriously has this frighteningly good memory. His Kindermusik teacher was also very impressed with my story. We hadn't listened to Dvorak in class at all but I think he picked it up listening to it at home one time. I can almost guarantee that that mother from Babies-R-Us took her little girl home and started playing classical music for her.

You can find the excert here. The portion he has mastered starts around the 45 second mark.

My little cowboy

2006-11-05T17:57:00.000-08:00

We took Quinn trick-or-treating at Kowalski's and he LOVED it. He was much more engaged with the whole process this year. It was so cute to hear him saying, "trick-or-treat" in his sweet little boy voice.

We also took him up and down or street on Halloween which he also enjoyed. My mom came over to help us hand out candy and he had even more fun helping her hand the candy out when we got done. He was so high on life and excited each time the doorbell rang. My mom would open it up and he would shout, "hello everybody". He also resorted to his "scary" dinosaur roar later in the evening. What a kook!

Here he is on his naturally induced Halloween high (please excuse the runny nose but it was cold out that evening).

Well, it's official...

2006-10-16T16:28:00.000-07:00

We got the final full chromosome reports back for all 3 babies and first off let me say how thankful we are that they are all completly normal (well I guess that is relative with us being the parents). I can also now say with 100% certainty that we will be welcoming into the world:

1 GIRL and
2 BOYS

I now just have to wait to meet them, and this becomes harder by the day. I would prefer they be well-done and not rare though.

So... this is what it feels like to simultaneously have 2 vaginas, 2 penises, and 4 balls.

Weird.

Just hangin' about

2006-10-05T08:13:00.000-07:00

Here is the latest 3-D image we have from several days ago. It almost seems like abstract art or some Matisse print:

Triplet A is head down on the bottom right. Triplet B is head down (partly cut off) on the bottom left, and Triplet C is head up on the top right. They each have their own sac and you can kind of see that diferentiation as well. I feel like some carnie worker/freak show.

What a glorious day!!!

2006-10-04T11:29:00.000-07:00

Triplet B is absolutely normal (well with at least 95% certainty)!!!

Triplet B is also a GIRL!!!

We won't know the other 2 sexes until we get the full results back in about 7-10 days, but I can wait that long to know. I am just so relieved that we are not forced with having to make a decision we would have to live with the rest of our lives.

Thank you to everyone that keep us in their prayers. It meant so much to me to have the support.

Now on to names...

Today is either going to be really good or really bad

2006-10-04T09:42:00.000-07:00

Today is the day we are supposed to hear preliminary genetic results on triplet B. I have been so sick to my stomach for the past 2 days waiting to know if we should celebrate or grieve. So if we hear back that everything initially came back good, meaning no lethal abnormalities were found, that is 95% reliable. If it comes back bad, meaning they found something, it is 99% accurate. We will get the full results for all babies (including the sexes) in about 7-10 days.

I feel so helpless about this- there is nothing I can do and I hate that feeling, having no power over some things in my life. I am sure God has a greater plan for us, I have to keep telling myself that, but I really hope it involes triplets and not twins as a consolation.

I am driving myself nuts here waiting for the phone to ring. I think I might just go to Target and kill some time...

Will fill everyone in when I hear the news. Keep your fingers crossed.

The babies

2006-09-30T10:53:00.000-07:00

Here are the first really humanoid pictures we got last Tuesday (at 12 weeks). Eddy had to take a photo of them so they aren't the best quality but you get the gist. You can even see their umbilical cords:)

Triplet A:

Triplet B:

Triplet C:

Aren't they beautiful?

Really tough decisions

2006-09-27T08:41:00.000-07:00

We had our first appointment at the University yesterday and it didn't go exactly as I hoped it would. We had an ultrasound initially before we saw the Dr. and immediately we saw all 3 babies and all 3 heartbeats. It was such an amazing difference from 3 weeks ago; they look much more human now, and they were moving and kicking around off the walls of their sacs like maniacs. I started bawling when I saw them moving around; like somehow this dream is more real now.

Our tech was really, really thorough and explained everything she was looking at. We have some amazing images I will post later, both 2 and 3-D. We even have an early idea of the sex of Triplet A and C! Of course this could be wrong but as of now we think A is a girl (thank you God) and C is a boy. Triplet B didn't want to cooperate with this. Apparently at this stage all babies have a weenie thingie (yes, that is the correct medical terminology) that either angles up (boy) or down (girl). We will be interested to see if her predictions hold true.

So she also did the nuchal fold translucency screening and was a bit worried about what she saw on Triplet B. The space in the back of the neck was larger than what is considered normal. What this means is that the baby is at an increased risk for major chromosomal abnormalities or heart defects. I was so crushed to hear this and the thought of losing another baby... I don't even know how I could ever go through that again.

The Dr. came in to discuss our options: 1) Do nothing right now 2) Do CVS testing and get accurate genetic results in 5-10 days 3) Wait a few more weeks and do amnio, also to get genetic results back.

Because this is triplets I am already considered very high risk. If the baby turns out to have a lethal chromosomal abnormality we could decide to terminate just that fetus. God, I can't even type this out without bawling. I don't know that I could ever do that, even knowing that the baby will die and endanger the lives of the other 2. This is the absolute worst-case scenario and I PRAY that we are not forced to come face-to-face with such a decision. The thing is that we have to have the CVS done on Monday if we decide to go that route (there is a limited space of time that the test is able to be done and we are quickly moving out of that range). We could also only decide to terminate after getting the CVS results, as waiting to do amnio would put that out as an option, it would be too late.

I think we are leaning toward doing the CVS on Monday. I am terrified though because there is a slight risk of miscarriage with the procedure. The thought of that; I don't know if I would be able to live with myself, it would be my fault.

Now I am just really praying that we will find out that nothing is wrong with triplet B. Please God, let the baby be okay.

So now if you all have any prayers to spare I could really use them.

New plan

2006-09-20T16:57:00.000-07:00

After a lengthy discussion with my regular OB this past Monday, we have decided against me going to the perinatal practice at United in St. Paul; mostly due to the fact that they have over 20 physicians on staff and you rarely get to see the same one.

Instead, I will now be going to The Maternal-Fetal Medicine Center at University of Minnesota Medical Center. This is where her other set of triplets went and things were really wonderful for them. They have 5 physicians on staff and I will likely see the same one most of the time. I like to be able to develop a relationship with my care provider, especially in this circumstance, so I think this will be a better fit. My first appt. is this next Tuesday and I am nervous, as always. I just want to be reassured that all 3 babies are there and doing well. Please think good thoughts for us.

Not quite sure

2006-09-17T18:04:00.000-07:00

Where 3 babies are going to fit in my body???

I am just over 10 weeks in this photo. If you look really closely you can see my vampire-like veins on my belly feeding my uterus plenty of blood. It probably doesn't help that I am normally almost transparent.

The fact that this is not a normal easy PG like I had with Quinn set in on Friday when I spent several hours at the transfusion center of the ER getting pumped full of fluids. I have had horrible headaches that will not go away with Tylenol, along with some full body heaving- they figured I was probably a bit dehydrated. It did help but the headache returned the next day. I have already been referred to the high-risk specialists at Minnesota Perinatal Physicians and consequently will be delivering at United Hospital. United has a specialized NICU unit that our babies will likely be spending some time in after birth. Apparently most triplet births also go at about 30-32 weeks which means we are looking more at February and less at early April. I am conceivably done with 1/3 of this PG. Nuts.

Please keep your fingers crossed that these babies want to cook a good long time.

I will do anything to get 3 healthy babies out of this experience.

Holy f-ing sh!t

2006-09-06T17:28:00.000-07:00

So we go to our latest ultrasound yesterday, just so I could get another peek at the twins before my appt. on the 18th. Eddy decided to meet me there from work because he has been really nervous since I got PG (due to us losing the baby in Feb.); I told him I had a good feeling and it was fine if he didn't come. For once, thank God he didn't listen to me. Now I had to have a full bladder before I got there which is no easy task. Doreen (our sonographer) found the twins right away and immediately we saw the 2 beating hearts. She zoomed in to measure baby A and get a heart rate which all looked great. Then she starts to zoom in to baby B and she is taking more time, really moving the probe around on my extremely full bladder, and then she says, "ummm... I think I see 3 heartbeats!" I think I told her to, "'shut up. That is not possible". Well apparently it is possible and we are having triplets... naturally which is like an insane statistical anomaly. This is absolute insanity and it hasn't even really begun to sink in yet. We prayed so hard for *a* baby and now God has given us three! I think he has a wacky sense of humor.

Triplets???

Triplets!!!

My other beauties

2006-08-31T14:19:00.000-07:00

I just realized I haven't posted any photos of the doggies in my blog yet; what a bad mommy I am. They *are* my first babies afterall.

Here they are in the order they were rescued.

Nessie:

Sweet Pea:

Bernie:

My little beauties

2006-08-27T18:44:00.000-07:00

This

I am just under 8 weeks in this photo. I can only imagine how I will look as the weeks progress; not that I am at all complaining. We are very happy with what we have been given.

Wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles

2006-08-24T18:41:00.000-07:00

I will share a secret with all of you. I am finally PG again (just over 7 weeks)!!!

Not only that, but I am PG with TWINS!!!

*and to think I was just about to start fertility drugs (Clomid) because my OB and I didn't think I was ovulating*

We found out last Thursday at our first ultrasound but we couldn't see too much then (just what possibly looked like 2 heartbeats). We had another one today and the babies hearts were both beating away: one at 136 bpm and the other at 130 bpm, and they are both measuring the same size so that is very good. It is just the most miraculous thing that could of happened after we lost our baby girl in February and I am taking it as a sign from God. I was so angry with God after we lost the baby, so much so that I almost completely turned away from him. Eddy and I both see this as a very significant sign from God and it makes me feel so good. I also feel much better about this pregnancy than I did our last. My OB has been wonderful and is really monitoring me closely. I get to go back in 2 weeks to get another u/s just so I can see the babies again before I have my appointment with my OB on Sept. 18.

I know I am still fairly early in this pregnancy and could really use all of the spare thoughts, prayers, and vibes everyone has. We want these babies SO much. I will post our u/s pictures later...

My boy is ALL man!

2006-08-14T19:29:00.000-07:00

As I am getting ready this morning I am bent over blow drying my hair and I look up to find Quinn sitting on his Baby Bjorn potty with reading materials in tow. He was fully clothed of course but crapped himself nonetheless; at least he is getting the idea. He knows poo poo goes in the potty. It just cracked me up to see him sitting there reading a book.

Like father, like son!

Rub me raw

2006-08-08T18:23:00.000-07:00

I finally got around to using the spa gift certificate Eddy and Quinn got me for Mother's Day. Actually I probably would have used it sooner it my mother hadn't been involved. We got her a gift certificate for MD as well and she wanted to wait until my sister and 3 kids left town; she figured she would need a massage by then. So I make our appointments (for separate rooms- we are close but not that close) for a Saturday afternoon and look forward to my 90 minute deep tissue massage all week long. The spa is very nice and professional and not too new-agey for me.

You think I would just be able to lay there for 90 minutes and enjoy myself???

No!

I always lay there feeling guilty that someone is giving me a massage. What kind of moron am I? I can't just completely let go and enjoy it. It was wonderful though; my lady was very good and really got into it with her elbows, etc. I like it when the massage hurts a bit; I feel like I am getting my money's worth. Do I want another massage? You bet. Will I completely enjoy it? Never.

Can I keep her?

2006-07-31T18:22:00.000-07:00

I promise I will feed, walk, and pick up after her every day... please, please.

Unfortunately little Meghan is a very cranky and disagreeable baby. This photo was taken during her 5 minutes of happiness for my sister's entire month long stay. She is cute though.

p.s. Don't adjust you screen; my head really is that large. Oh the curse of the Irish!

Today's news

2006-07-27T13:52:00.000-07:00

Quinn must be obsessed with the food chain lately.

Today's lesson for me was that, "we don't eat goats". I said some people do, especially in Jamaica; those jerks! I bet jerk goat is pretty good though I don't think I could ever try it as I find goats to be very cute. Quinn must think they are cute as well.

New revelations

2006-07-21T19:02:00.000-07:00

Quinn just got done telling Eddy and me very resolutely, that "we don't eat seals!". Where the hell did that come from? I asked him if he was an Eskimo and he said no. Funny boy.

We went to Paper Source today so I could buy some supplies to make his birthday invites with and on the way home he was tugging at his hair and kept saying, "cut hair, cut hair", so I granted his wish (because I am up for that mother of the year award). If you need to know anything about Quinn, know that he absolutely despises getting his hair cut. I have always done it at home myself because I knew he would scream and I didn't want to pay someone else to make him scream when I could do it for free. Today I branched out. We were near the exit for the Kids' Hair so I drove the car up the ramp like we were being chased by the po'lice. We walk in the door and Quinn is initially all excited because he see the cool chairs with TV's in front of them and then he realizes he is being duped and starts shouting, "let me out, let me out". Luckily they had a sort of chest strap on the chair (not like a torture device or anything) which dramatically minimized his thrashing ability. He did scream the whole time but the lady was very good and quick. The bonus was that he got to watch the Wiggles during the ordeal and he got a little sucker at the end. All in all it was worth the money and we will be going there from now on. I will try to post a photo as soon as I download some.

White on Rice

2006-07-17T23:05:00.000-07:00

(Also entitled: Kerry goes to see Damien Rice in concert)

We went out to see Damien Rice (and Fiona Apple, though I really only cared about Damien Rice) last Friday, sans Quinn (which was nice for a change). He is just phenomenal; a beautiful melancholy about his music, very Irish in that poetic nature. It touches this Irish girl's soul. I really don't think you can listen to his music and not feel something; unless you have no sould or something. Plus he gets lots of bonus points for incorporating a shit-load of cello music in his songs. It just works so well with his guitar. Anyhoo... I highly recommend him, and if the fates are so alligned that Damien himself is reading this, I will come and play cello for you anytime. My cello is aching to get out of its case more often.

I am so proud of my big-headed fellow Irish people.

Bird brain boy

2006-07-17T21:28:00.000-07:00

So I got this bird feeder for our yard awhile back (you know, the cheap $3 cylindrical kind) during a difficult trip to Home Depot with Quinn. Difficult in that I was actually trying to buy some stuff I needed to refinish some Adirondack chairs and Quinn only wanted to look at the mowers (or tractors as he likes to call them). Sometimes if you give him a task, and make it seem like he is really helping you out, you might get an additional 3 minutes of real shopping in. Thus the bird feeder. He felt very important carrying that around.

He has watched me fill it with birdseed several times now, and really enjoys watching the birds eating the seeds just off of our side porch. So we are going to run some errands in the car last week and he is waiting for me in the garage as I quickly put the dogs in the laundry room. I walk out into the garage to find him digging through the bag of birdseed (which you could tell he knew he wasn't supposed to be doing as he covered his eyes; his latest thing where he thinks I can't then see him) and he has got some birdseed on his lip. I brush that off and get him in his car seat. As I am buckling him up he likes to tell me important things. On this particular day he says, "Mommy... We no eat birdseed. It's very crunchy (as he fishes out a sunflower seed)". What a funny boy he is. Some of the things that come out of his mouth lately just really crack me up. The development of language is just a phenomenal process.

Here he is celebrating the 4th of July with his cousin Nicholas from Australia. We had a big parade in our neighborhood with all the kids decorating their bikes, stroller, wagons, etc. Both Quinn and Nicholas loved it and felt very important to be marching and waving to the onlookers.

Just because I think they are pretty, here are the flower boxes and urns I planted. I am very proud of myself as I have never done any type of gardening before.

Been in a funk

2006-07-13T20:20:00.000-07:00

So I have been in a funk as of late, mostly due to our inability to conceive. I do have an appt. set up for the end of the month with my OB to discuss what options we have. Since my sister has been in town with her newborn baby girl it has sort of opened the wound of losing my baby girl in February. I find myself wondering what she would have looked like, what she could have become, and envisioning moments that we will never share together. It is hard to describe the loss and the pain that surrounds it, especially if one hasn't experienced it for themselves (not that I would wish that upon anyone). I think some people think I should be over it; my mother included. I don't think she understands how it kills me to listen to her talk about little girls and their cute clothes, etc.

Will I ever get the chance to have a baby girl, or any baby for that matter?

I am totally ready to adopt a baby girl from Thailand (or China) but Eddy isn't quite there yet. I am under the feeling that this process could take 2+ years so why not start today. Eddy wants to wait to see if we are going to be able to conceive on our own, and I don't fault him for that as I still want to have babies of our own as well. Somehow I always wanted to adopt and now I feel like something is telling me that if we did, that the soul of the baby we lost would be reborn into the baby we would adopt- a Buddhist influence surely to contradict my Catholic upbringing, but one that gives me some peace to think about.

My beautiful boy

2006-07-04T15:48:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I look at him and just can't get over how much I love him and how beautiful he is. Who knew we could create such a looker?

Weltschmerz. So that's what I have

2006-06-08T20:27:00.000-07:00

Weltschmerz...

I suffer from weltschmerz. I discovered this while watching the final rounds of the Scripps National Spelling Bee (as if it isn't depressing enough that I was actually watching this).

The definition(s) is as follows:

1 : mental depression or apathy caused by comparison of the actual state of the world with an ideal state
2 : a mood of sentimental sadness

So there it is...
Ah, the good ole days. Sigh. I need to cheer up and just walk it off.

OPERATION CHOCO-TOILET

2006-05-23T19:31:00.000-07:00

DT,

You know this is for you. I will finally recount the tale of operation choco-toilet. Tomorrow that is... I don't think I have it in me to do it justice tonight. I know you are all waiting with baited breath.

I burned my elbow, cookies, new neighbors, and various musings

2006-05-21T19:16:00.000-07:00

I made an exceptionally tasty Chicken Parmigiana this evening. Thanks Tyler. I saw this yesterday morning and had been craving it ever since. I used all organic ingredients, including organic chicken, and it was very much restaurant quality. I also make my own marinara sauce:

1/3 cup olive oil

garlic cloves, thinly sliced

salt and freshly ground pepper

(28-ounce) cans crushed plum tomatoes

10 basil leaves, chopped

1 tablespoon chopped parsley leaves

In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, heat the oil. Saute the garlic, salt, and pepper for 5 minutes or until the garlic is softened. Add the remaining ingredients, then raise the heat to medium-high, and bring to a simmer, stirring often. Simmer for 30 minutes. The sauce can be stored for up to 5 days in the refrigerator and several months in the freezer.

Thank God for the nice all-clad cookware set we got as a wedding gift. Unfortunately I burned my elbow on the hot handle while I was reaching for something else after taking it out of the oven. It feels like it had the white-hot intensity of 10,000 burning suns. Note to self: never burn your elbow again, and try your damnedest not to bend your arm at all! Who the hell burns their elbow?

Because I am the best wife and mother I also made chocolate chip cookies this evening. I know, I know, I should be sainted (I also made a nice brunch this morning)! Hey Vatican, I am still waiting...

I was looking through the oven door to see if they were done and Quinn walks over and peeps in as well, as he likes to mimic everything he sees. He added his own special flair by screaming very excitedly, "cookies, cookies!". He rarely gets to eat cookies and yet this was one of the first words he mastered. Guess he has inherited mom's and dad's sweet tooth.

So we had new neighbors start moving into the house next door that had been sale for quite some time. They must think I am partially insane as they noticed me digging up and replanting some sod in our yard at 10:30 pm Saturday night. Hope they didn't think I was getting rid of a body or anything (our neighborhood is very much like the set of Desperate Housewives); it was just a convenient time to get it done. As a side note, the yard looks great. Like I would even bury a body in my own yard.

Places I have been

2006-05-21T19:09:00.000-07:00

No, I am not writing a country song. I can guarantee that will never happen.

Here is a world map of countries I have visited.

create your own visited countries map
or vertaling Duits Nederlands

Apparently I have visited 16 countries (7% of the world). Guess I have a way to go. I already have plans to visit several Asian countries; now if only those plans would come to fruition... SIGH. Momma wants to take a vacation.

Quinn's first in-store

2006-05-17T19:34:00.000-07:00

So we took Quinn to his first in-store concert a few weekends ago. Don't get all bent out of shape people, it was acoustic, and he can still hear (though he seems to choose not to listen) just fine. Our little rocker has a broad musical palate; from the Wiggles (see previous entry) to Pete Yorn. Mommy and daddy love Pete Yorn as well. The Electic Fetus in Minneapolis was having an in-store with both Pete Yorn AND David Ford (who is so good both musically and lyrically that he probably deserves another post), AND it was free! We got there fairly early so I could get as close to Pete Yorn as possible, and boy am I glad we did because I got a spot with Quinn right in front of the stage and the store ended up being packed. Both performances were amazing and Quinn really got into clapping and cheering after each song. He was such a good boy the whole time. It got pretty warm in there and Quinn wanted as many of his clothes removed as possible and he ended up in just his onesie. He can get away with things like that still, mommy wanted to strip down as well but held off as she didn't want to be ostracized from society *and* I wasn't wearing a onesie.

This was a good rock star in training lesson for Quinn and mommy enjoyed the eye candy.

Is it wrong

2006-05-15T22:02:00.000-07:00

to despise Britney Spears for being PG again? Where is the order in the world? This just throws off all my notions of good and evil, right and wrong, etc. what have you...

Oops she did it again my ass! K Fed must have the world's most potent sperm- not that I want to find out with him, I think he is dirty, and not good dirty. Just yucky dirty.

Well Britney, I hope you really pork out after this one. Okay, I feel better getting that off my chest.

Who doesn't love hunky firemen?

2006-05-15T21:48:00.000-07:00

Yes, Quinn and his new friend Stone will be posing for a new 2006 1/2 calendar, Hunks in Uniform. Order early for best availability. All proceeds will go to support their moms' Dunn Bros addiction. Will try to crop out mom's arm as she holds Stone in place; it is damn near impossible to get a decent photo of the two of them sitting nicely together so just use your imaginations people. They had such a good time at their play date and it was fun to hang out with another cool mom; well, I will just be cool by association.

Blame it on the rain

2006-05-15T09:35:00.000-07:00

If loving Milli Vanilli is wrong, I don't want to be right.
Fakers. Frauds. A blatent marketing scam. Sure. True. No contest. Damn good music though. Blame it on the Rain, Girl You Know it's True, Don't Forget My Number... who couldn't listen to these gems over and over singing at the top of your lungs because you know you still know all the words as well. Ah Rob (r.i.p.) and Fab, I won't forget your number, and you will always have a Grammy in my heart. If I could find my Walkman and your cassette tape I would listen to you right now.

Don't miss next week when we discuss the political ramifications of Debbie Gibson's Lost in Your Eyes, and Nelson's (Can't Live Without Your) Love and Affection.

So, I'm not living up to my humor potential

2006-05-14T18:09:00.000-07:00

I have a friend, let's call her "DT" because after all those are her real initials; well, she doesn't think I am entertaining you all (yeah, like the 2 of you who actually read this) with my dirty and clever repartee. Me so sorry!
This is her threat:

"I like your blog, but I won't consider it yours until you post some
of the raunchy humor of which I know you are capable. Please paste, in their entirety, some of the epic white trash jokes we laughed over.
Now if that doesn't put a smile on my face, nothing will.
Damn political corretness."

I will currently cull through my email files as I believe I saved most of the pee-in-your-pants funny emails we exchanges while we were still working at the AAOS. Since neither one of us is still there I don't believe we have anything to fear. Though, if you read these you will realize that we obviously didn't fear "the man" while we were working there. I am fairly convinced that the whole IS department must have wept continually for about a month after we left because if they were reading our emails they would have recognized and mourned the loss of our collective comic genius.

Damn, I can't find the emails. Did you save any DT??? I hope so because my memory isn't what it used to be.

Welcome to the world

2006-05-12T09:00:00.000-07:00

My sister recently had her third child, a baby girl she so desperately wanted.

Welcome Megan:
a life of possibilities - a tiny smile - even tinier toes - and such great potential

This card my sister created cracks me up and makes me think, "Damn, why didn't I think of that?"

I can't wait to meet you during your summer visit.

Momma has an addiction too

2006-05-11T12:07:00.000-07:00

To be fair to the little dude I feel as though I should confess my serious love and addiction of Dunn Bros Coffee (local coffee shops in the Mnpls. area). So, so good to momma. It is my freshly-roasted, with room for cream, DARK MASTER. My sister is just as bad, and when she comes to visit from Australia for a month every summer we littlerally go there at least once a day. Can I also give a shout-out to Jesus for putting the good sense into the local franchise owner to put in a drive-thru? With her 3 kids and my 1, it would be near impossible to get our fix otherwise. Okay, must cut this short so I can go and physicially get some.

Are you ready to

2006-05-11T11:44:00.000-07:00

WIGGLE??? The little dude loves to sing and dance to the Wiggles, like it is going out of style. He must be some kind of savant or musical genius because although he is just 21 months old, he knows all the words and dance moves to all their songs, and has know them for several months. There is nothing better than watching him shake his little booty and sing his heart out. So mommy and daddy decided we love our little dude so much that we would drive over 200 miles in each direction to go and see the Wiggles live stage show in Iowa yesterday. Was it worth that much time in the car? Totally. Just being able to watch him experience the Wiggles in person was something I will never forget. We got some great photos of him shaking his money maker. I seriously thought he might spontaneously combust out of sheer excitement; he was wired all night long.

My boy loves CHOCOLATE

2006-05-11T11:39:00.000-07:00

Seriously, if we would let him he would eat it all day long in place of everything else. We now refer to it as his DARK MASTER and Eddy and I have resorted to eating any and all chocolate desserts late, late at night while he is sleeping. Mommy needs the chocolate to keep her happy. Apparently I must not be eating enough. Here is the little chocolate fiend:

Can you guess what that is on his face? Funny, funny boy.

My newest purchase

2006-05-09T11:30:00.000-07:00

How lame am I that I find this completely exciting? Here she is:

What do you mean, "what the hell is that?"?

It's my new lawnmower! A manual push reel mower. And no, I didn't steal it out of some ancient tool museum. I bought it, on sale, at Menards. She works like a beauty- 18" cutting blade, adjustable height, etc. I feel really good about my purchase because it requires no gas or electricity of any kind; my own little contribution to saving the earth.

What hit me in the head and caused me to think this purchase was a good idea? Well, our yard isn't all that large (which is good because coming from Chicago with no yard at all, this isn't too much of a shock to our never done yardwork systems), and PBS made me feel really guilty.

I watched this NOVA program last week, "World in Balance" and it made me feel bad about how much energy the US consumes. It was a fantastic program about radically changing populations in rich and poor nations.

Here is a description:

In the first hour, "The People Paradox," NOVA investigates three countries where social and economic forces have produced starkly different population profiles. In India, women still bear an average of three to four children. Within a few decades the country will overtake China as the world's most populous nation. NOVA interviews a young Indian woman who nearly died delivering her eighth baby. Three of her children have died, and another pregnancy may jeopardize her life. Nevertheless, her husband and mother-in-law want her to try for another son—a highly prized asset in traditional Indian culture.

Meanwhile, the population pyramid in sub-Saharan Africa is beginning to resemble an hourglass. Adults between the ages of 20 and 60 are dying in the prime of life, largely due to AIDS, leaving the very old and young to fend for themselves. In a powerful personal story, NOVA interviews a 19-year-old Kenyan woman who suffers from AIDS. Her parents have died, and she is raising her four brothers and sisters as well as a nephew. Like many teenage girls in Africa, she is a victim of predatory sexual behavior by an older male, through whom she contracted HIV. Funding cuts in family planning assistance from the United States are putting many young women at risk for unwanted pregnancies, HIV infection, and illegal backstreet abortions.

In the second hour, "China Revs Up," NOVA takes the pulse of China's hyperactive economy, which is the fastest growing in the history of the world. During the last two decades, China clamped down on its population growth through its controversial one-child policy, but in recent years it has relaxed those rules, moving in the direction of more reproductive freedom. As the sprawling country develops from a poor nation and aspires to a more middle-class lifestyle, China's air, land, and water are beginning to suffer. Already, a massive dust cloud of eroded soil from Mongolia has darkened the skies over North America, and air pollution from Beijing and Shanghai regularly wafts as far as California.
The prospect that all Chinese will strive to live like middle-class Americans is daunting, since it has been calculated that if all the world's people had an American standard of living, two more planets the size of Earth would be needed to support them. But one planet is all there is, and "World in the Balance" shows that it will take our best scientific and technological efforts to make this one do for all its inhabitants—present and future.
Carbon Emissions, 1995
The amount of carbon dioxide polluting our atmosphere has risen 30 percent in the last 200 years as a result of increasing industrial and automobile emissions. Plants convert carbon dioxide back to oxygen, but human activities are now releasing more carbon dioxide than the world's plants can process. This map shows in magenta today's greatest polluters—the United States, Europe, China, and Japan. In the next 50 years, as industrialization increases, many of the purple areas on this map will turn to magenta and the green areas to purple unless stricter emissions standards for factories and cars are put in place.

I mean, I'm not going to stop shaving my armpits and buy a VW van to live in, but I will think twice about how much energy I use.

Maybe I should try a lighter subject next time...
like homelessness or the child sex slave trade?

What am I thinking?

2006-05-07T22:17:00.000-07:00

Am I nuts to be statring a blog? I am a mom with a 21 month old (as of yesterday) who may have enough energy to solve the world's energy crisis (if only we could harness all his potential). The boy doesn't sleep very much at all and napping is a completely foreign concept to him. Mommy on the other hand wishes she had napped more when she had the chance. I was always too worried to nap, especially while in college, because of the few times I did (mostly in winter when darkness seemed continual) I would wake in a panic not knowing what day it was or even if it was AM or PM. I was just sure I slept too long and missed some life-altering exam and was therefore destinted to wander the earth with no real profession.

Yes, my name is Kerry and I am a little high-strung. My husband likes to blame me for our son's apparent disposition: Wound really tight with a temper exponentially larger than his body mass. He is so zesty and fun though (and I can say this now, as it is midnight and he is finally sleeping; in bed with daddy of course). Here is my little firecracker:

"Wow, what a bad mother you must be to have such an unhappy child", is what you are thinking, right? This is Quinn, mad at mom and dad because we are making him leave the playground after an extended period of fun and frolick. He didn't want to say "bye bye" to the playground, this time or any other. Bad mother? Maybe, but we can live at the playground because momma loves indoor plumbing and all the benefits that come with it. I love my angry boy!

I should probably apologize now because if you have made it this far you will realize that my mind tends to jump around quite a bit and I have a hard time focusing my thoughts. I make no promises of prose which flows like water- my mind just doesn't work like that. I swear I think I must have adult ADD, and social anxiety, and regular anxiety. I don't want to take any drugs though, because if you have seem those commercials for such curative products, you will know that the side effects seem worse than the disorder itself. Yes. I want explosive diarrhea and excessive sweating. That will surely help me feel more comfortable in social settings. I could really be myself then.

I will confess that I am partially starting this blog to help keep my mind off current events in my life. I don't know if I am PG??? I won't know for a few more days and it is driving me even more insane. I want to be PG more than anything else in the world (so much so that it is probably a sin). It occupies my every thought, all day long. I wasn't always like this. Quinn was a honeymoon baby so I didn't have to obsess about wanting to get PG. NOW. I was so fortunate. Not anymore.

We lost a baby girl in February, and it almost broke me past the point of repair. Sometimes I wonder if it didn't. I think about *her* all the time. It is hard to lose a baby in our society (and others as well I am sure). People don't know how to react or act around you. Most people are really wonderful and say how sorry they are and that helps heal. It is those people who are not close friends, maybe not really even aquaintances that have been the worst. Saying things like, "Don't worry, you can try again", and the ever so popular, "It wasn't meant to be". Why don't you just cut out what is left of my heart? Or don't you think I even have one. You will also never notice more PG people out in public than after you have lost a baby. You think they are somehow out to taunt you even though they don't know you or know what has happened to you. Your mind tells you crazy things. But then when you are at your lowest point you can read the words sent to you by your dear friend's mother; a woman who has suffered much more than you have (you don't even feel like you should be able to feel sorry for yourself), lost several babies, and a grown son. She said exactly what you needed to hear, what you felt, what you couldn't express verbally to anyone else, and for that gift you are eternally greatful. I hope that the gift of another child won't elude us for too long.

This makes me think of my favorite quote in all of the world:

"The quality of mercy is not strain'd.
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath.
It is twice blest:
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes."

--From Merchant of Venice (IV, I, (184-186)
Shakespeare

Okay, I should probably go to sleep before anyone decides I should be committed.