Adam's gift from Santa

A tooth!

We were at my Uncle Bob's on Christmas Day and Adam started chewing on my Aunt Robyn's finger. She said 'I think he's got a tooth in there!' I was surprised because I had been checking every few days and didn't feel anything yet. We walked into the kitchen and grabbed a metal spoon out of the drawer and when he bit down on it, sure enough, you could hear a little 'ting'.

First Family Christmas

It's hard to imagine that one year ago, our family was half the size, excluding pets of course.

I would have to say that so far this holiday season has been one of the best for me that I can remember in quite some time. What you see before you is a family in front of a live Christmas tree. To go a little deeper, you would discover that we had decided to forego buying a tree this year. We felt like our money needed to go toward essential living expenses. I decorated some other things around the house to be festive. And then we received a monetary gift from long-time friends in order to have a family Christmas tree this year. Quite humbling.

You can't tell from the picture but we also haven't bought any presents this year.

Some would say these would be signs of feeling empty. But it is actually quite the opposite. Shannon lost his job almost a year ago. We still have food on the table, a roof over our heads, clothes to keep us warm. The NICU roller coaster ride from the twins being born 3 months earlier was nauseating at times. Look at them now. To say we are blessed is an understatement of how I feel.

For me, I celebrate the holiday season by enjoying the decorated houses, seeing the first snowfall, sampling wonderful food, and spending time with family and friends. So far Christmas has warmed my heart.

Corn Flakes saga Part III

This just keeps cracking me up. I ventured to the grocery store today. Usually Shannon does the shopping but since I needed to restock food for the kids, I wanted to see what the selections were. Shannon copied down a list for me that he had started out of his PDA. I gathered all my things together and got ready to walk out the door and what was at the bottom of the list? Corn Flakes. Now that he is throwing out the Frosted Mini Wheats (generic, of course) he needs to replenish his stock.

I made it to WalMart, which was crazy busy with the holiday shopping, and had 2/3 of my shopping done before hitting the cereal aisle. Can I say, by the way, that there are way too many cereals to choose from? I always have a hard time making up my mind. Maybe it would be easier if I just ate one kind of cereal to eat, too. It seemed quite stocked except for one gaping hole on the bottom shelf. You guessed it - they were out of Corn Flakes!

A different pants issue

This afternoon I heard Adam waking up and went to get him out of his crib. There he was, laying face down as usual. I pulled the blanket back and what did I see this time? A fly and pockets. Silly mommy, a fly goes on the front of the pants, not the butt! Apparently I was really paying attention at the last diaper change!

The weirdness is over

Comment from Shannon tonight...

"Ya know, I bought the Frosted Mini Wheats thinking these shouldn't be too bad. They're frosted...

They're crap!"

So much for trying something different!

Historical household cereal moment

I am shocked.

I opened the cereal cabinet this morning and what did I see? Right next to the standard box of Generic Corn Flakes?

It's the running joke I have with Shannon that he eats so much Corn Flakes. When he comes home from the store with another box, I often say 'Aren't you tired of eating Corn Flakes? Don't you want something different?' He always tells me 'If I wanted something different, I would have bought something different.' Good point. Sure he throws in an occasional Corn Chex or Rice Chex, maybe even Rice Krispies if he is really pushing it. And he may enjoy a bowl of Captain Crunch, Crunch Berries, or Lucky Charms if it's in the house. I think he even tried Maple Life one time. But his staple is the Corn Flakes. Generic Corn Flakes. 'Because generic is the same as name brand - it all comes down the same conveyor belt, they just change the box.' Except for the Kroger generic, which he doesn't like.

And then this morning? There, nestled in the cabinet was Frosted Mini Wheats. Generic brand of course. 11 1/2 years we've been married and I don't think I have ever seen Frosted Mini Wheats in our cabinet. Weird. Very weird.

The freezer's empty

This picture makes me a little sad and at the same time it makes my heart beat a little faster with nervousness. This freezer used to be full to the top of frozen milk for the kids and was actually overflowing into another freezer. When the kids were still in the NICU, we had to purchase another standing freezer because we were running out of room to store both food and milk. I knew at one point that we would use the surplus of milk I had created. And we were intentional about using it before it would expire. For months we added the frozen milk to the food and cereal the kids were eating. I started my journey not knowing whether I wanted to breastfeed twins during my pregnancy, uncertain of whether it was "right" for me or if I would be up for the challenge. My whole world changed on April 2. When the nurse came in at midnight wheeling a breast pump behind her and said "We are going to give this a try." I said "Okay." Maybe I wasn't thinking clearly due to all the Mag Sulfate I was on. It probably would have been an entirely different turnout if she hadn't been so adamant. I spent hours in the nursery by myself, pumping while the kids were in the hospital - it was the best gift I had to offer them. I was blessed with abundance. Almost 9 months old and I am still nursing them. Now it's my goal to just go as long as I can. I'd love to be able to provide for them until they can have cow's milk. But knowing the freezer is empty and it's up to me...that's what makes me a little nervous. I'll keep getting rest, drinking water, and taking in extra calories. We'll ride it as long as we can.