Going nuts

Just over a week ago, I discovered, after 30 some weeks of struggling each morning to find something for breakfast that I could get down and keep down, that I can consistently get down some whole wheat toast with Nutella and a glass of milk in the morning. 

It was such a relief for me to have a food I knew would calm my stomach, but for Anna, this food was completely fascinating.

Anytime I'm eating something, Anna will, without fail, have to share.  "My have some?" she'll ask, opening her mouth and waiting for me to fill it with whatever I'm eating.

After her first bite of toast with Nutella, Anna laughed.  "Shocolate?  Bread with Shocolate?!" she exclaimed in amused shock. 

This taste led to Anna having her own piece of toast with Nutella and a new favorite food.

Flash flood

We certainly didn't predict what the weather would have in store for us yesterday. 

In the morning, Kate was thrilled when she saw it was finally raining. She couldn't wait to try out her new umbrella that she'd bought on Monday with her allowance. I let the girls go outside in the rain wearing their dress-up clothes, and they had a great time.

In the afternoon, it seemed things were drying up and we thought of going back outside.  But, by the time we made it out, the sky had darkened and it was pouring.  In the next two hours we got over seven inches of rain, it took Dave two hours and multiple attempts at different routes to make it the two miles home, our upstairs window was leaking from nowhere, we had the sewer back up into our basement, and the tornado sirens were sounding.

Fun in the morning rain. 
Kate's dress-up dress kept slipping down, but she only cared about her umbrella.

Anna couldn't hold up the other umbrella. 
Without being asked to do so,
Kate let Anna use her own new one because it was lighter.

When the rain started up again in the evening, the girls headed back out.

This is before the water on the driveway
was so deep it poured into their boots.

This is our front yeard and driveway. 
The water was moving so fast that I couldn't have waded across it.

This is our neighbor's yard.

It's really hard to see, but the intersection just north of us had such deep water
that an SUV ended up in water up to its headlights
and backed out right before I took this picture.

All in all, though, we got off pretty easy.  Although we had some water in our basement, it was a very minimal amount, which was clear water that mostly came up through the drain, and our neighbors on both sides had their basements completely flooded with raw sewage.

This was the corner of Oakland and North. 
The car fell through the street down into a 20 foot deep sinkhole.

Anna counting

I took this video today to try to get a recording of Anna saying what have become Dave and my favorite numbers.

Dave’s favorite is “seben,” how Anna says, “seven,” and mine is “elebenteen” which generally ends the series, “…eleben, twelb, thirteen," when Anna is counting.

Although I did capture Anna saying, "seben," I never got her to say “elebenteen.” I mention at the end of the video where I think I went wrong in my attempt.

Click here for Video of Anna Counting

Those people

Anna had her first dentist appointment today. It went about as I expected. (What is that expression that applies here? Ah, yes.  “Hope for the best; expect the worst.")

Kate has always done great at the dentist, so I planned to have Anna watch Kate have her appointment first, which I hoped would inspire Anna to want a turn. I arranged this with the office ahead of time.

The first hint I got that my plan may fail was while we were still at home and Kate was talking the appointment up to Anna. Kate excitedly explained, “Anna, you get to have your first dentist appointment today, right after I have mine!” Anna’s face became set in a stubborn expression, and she began to exclaim repeatedly, “I don’t want a dentist appointment! I don’t want a dentist appointment! I…”

I got the next hint while Anna was watching Kate’s appointment. Anna once again began to chant her new anti-dentist-appointment mantra. Finally Dave took Anna out to the waiting room.

I held out hope that Anna's appointment might not go too badly.  The first appointment is just a "meet the dentist" thing, the child remains on the parent's lap and all the dentist does is count her teeth and then brush them.

When Kate finished her appointment, she and I waited in the waiting room while Dave took Anna back.  A minute later it started, the loud, scream-crying, coming all the way down the hall and through the heavy waiting room doors.  Anna was making enough fuss to get the attention of everyone else in the room, including other children anticipating their own appointments.  Although I had enough hope left to let myself question momentarily if it may be another child, I quickly recognized my own toddlers voice.

After her appointment, we got Anna in her carseat.  I turned around and asked, "Anna, what was that all about?  Why were you so upset?"

She made her face into an angry expression and burst out, "Those people!"

"Those people?" I repeated, trying not to laugh at her word choice, "What did they do?"

She furrowed her brow and explained, "They cleaned my teeth!"

Definition

When I was reading The Little Mermaid to the girls, we came to the part where King Triton tells Sebastian that Ariel needs supervision. 

I asked Kate, "What does 'supervision' mean?" 

Kate immediately answered, in a matter-of-fact way, "Super eye sight."

Called out

I'm getting so crabby.  Things that normally slightly irritate me are driving me crazy.  One of the big things is when Kate asks me a question, I answer, and then she immediately asks me the same question because she doesn't listen for a response.  I used to say something like, "Honey, I just said 'yes.'"  But, I guess I've been instead snapping, "Yes, I said!"

I wasn't aware of this until Kate called me out on it today.

The girls were climbing into bed with me this afternoon so I could read to them for a while.  Kate asked, "Can we read both these books."  "Yep!" I cheerfully replied.  Before I'd even finished the one syllable reply, she again asked, "Can we read both these books."  I was busy helping Anna up on the bed and didn't even think about what I replied. 

As we got settled in Kate said to me, "What's your name?  Kristal or 'Yes, I said.'?"

I was baffled for a second, and I started to question, "What?" but I figured it out.  I instead asked, "Have I been saying, 'Yes, I said.' a lot lately?"

Kate was so excited to harvest our first cherry tomatoes and radishes,
along with some basil for the tomatoes.

Big Mama

Yesterday, Anna, in her two-year-old innocence, said to me, "You big, Mama!"

I laughed, and rolling my eyes, said, "I'm big.  Thank you."

Anna looked very pleased that she'd said something that had gotten her thanked and replied, "Welcome."

As an aside... at least Anna's two.  I got a similar comment from someone at least thirty years older than that today.  I'd planned to take the girls to the library today, to get out of the house but still be in air conditioning, but on our way, I felt really sick, so we went to Bruegger's for a bagel.  The lady there asked when I was due, and I told her.  She said, "Well, you're carrying it well."  I said, "Thank you.  I feel huge."  She said, "Oh, you are huge, but you're carrying it well."  Once again, I have to say, "Thank you."

Prenatal massage, take three

For the record,

Take one - A first trimester massage where my pregnant super-nose had me fighting back the impulse to vomit much of the time, because I could distinctly smell an Italian lunch on the therapist's breath.

Take two - A second trimester massage from the world's most awkward, I even suspected homicidal, male massage therapist.  http://kateandannamoments.blogspot.com/2010/05/my-masseur.html

It sounds impossible, but I'm here to attest to the fact that a twin pregnancy can even ruin a very expensive, lavish massage at an upscale spa.

Since nothing has seemed to really help my back pain, I thought I'd finally use a gift certificate Dave got me for my birthday last year and try a one-hour prenatal massage at Neroli.  I'd been too cheap to use it before, thinking maybe I'd use if for two hair cuts or something, and keep getting my $15 massages at the school, but I decided to treat myself.

I was really excited to go there, because they have special foam forms on the massage tables so pregnant women can lie on their stomachs, right through the end of their pregnancies.  I never wanted a side lying massage, because one of the best part of a massages is just lying face down, while both sides of my back are massaged symmetrically.
I changed into a luxurious robe and had a relaxing wait, sipping tea and reading magazines in a fancy lounge.  Then a wonderfully personable female massage therapist brought me back to a beautiful room with just the right ambiance.  She explained how the forms on the table would support my hips and shoulders without putting undue pressure on my belly.  She left the room so I could get positioned on the table.  I got comfortable and... and therein lies the problem.  I could not get comfortable.  The girl baby is so high up in my rib cage, and the boy baby so low, that I couldn't find a way to lie on the form without some pain.  When the therapist returned, I asked her if we could do some adjusting.  She readjusted the form, and I lay back down.  She began massaging my back, and the massage was perfect, but all that I could feel is pain in my right rib cage.  After only a minute or two, I repositioned.  And then, a minute later, the baby moved and the pain got worse, so I repositioned again.  Finally, with the pain so bad I couldn't take more than a quarter of a breath, I admitted to myself that the "lying on my stomach thing" wasn't going to work.  Then, feeling like I was suffocating, I actually jumped up into a crawling position to get a breath (which, I'm sure, had to be the strangest thing that therapist had seen in her career) and explained to the therapist that I couldn't even breathe.

The very understanding therapist spent the next ten minutes collecting pillows and getting me into a less painful position on my side.  The remainder of the massage, now shortened by all the readjustments, really wasn't bad, but I'd had such high hopes!

12 months pregnant

My back has been hurting a lot.  I went to the gym today to float in the exercise pool and try to relax my muscles.  When I came out of the pool, a guy in the other pool stopped swimming laps and yelled something.  It didn't really register what he said, but I was pretty sure he was talking to me.  I asked, "What's that?"  He repeated, "You look 12 months pregnant."

Anna's talent

Whereas Kate has taken an interest in photography, I think Anna may find her niche on the other side of the camera. She found a rock the other day and asked me to take pictures of her with it.  Here's a few of her modeling shots.

What a ham!

Anna's "owies"

I've written before about Anna's obsession with her "owies," particularly the one she got on her toe from the door at the hotel last month. 

It's gotten even more silly. 

First, I have to relate that Dave was drawing a picture of her the other day, and she asked him, "You draw my owie, too?"

I thought it was even funnier, though, that when we were talking about the girls going to Dave's parents house, Anna asked, a few times, "I bring my owie to Grandma's house, too?"

The owie on her toe is completely healed and now the scar is barely visible anymore.  Thankfully, she has a new owie, a mosquito bite she scratched open, that is now satisfying her obsession.

Sweet girl

Kate is so amazing.

Today Dave drove Kate and Anna down to his parents' house to stay for a few days.  They love it there, and we thought it would be a good way to help me relax and let the babies grow. 

The other day when Dave and I were discussing plans, my anxiety about them leaving and my high level of hormones got the best of me, and I burst into tears, right in front of Kate.  I felt horrible about crying in front of her.  I explained, "I'm just going to miss you, but I know you'll have a great time, and I want you to go have fun."

Since then, Kate's been taking the opportunity, a few times a day, to remind me how much she loves me, and that even though she will be having fun with Grandma, she'll always love me.  It's ridiculous that the poor kid has to worry about her mom.  I've told her a bunch of times that I know she loves me and that I'm glad she's going to go have fun, but I think she knows I'm a little crazy right now!

The other day, she took my hand, looked  me in the eyes, and told me, "I'll always love you, forever, no matter what.  Just remember those two words, and you'll always be okay."  Her math about the number of words may have been a little off, but the sentiment was dead on.

What a great kid!

Top teeth or bottom teeth

Monday night Anna was having an especially rough time at bedtime.  I managed to get her calmed down, even got her pajamas on by giving her a lot of choices about which ones and where to do it, and then began the process of brushing her teeth. 

I dubiously asked her, "Do you want to brush your top teeth or your bottom teeth first?"  To my complete surprise, she smiled and answered, "Bottom teeth!" 

I brushed her teeth for a moment, wondering if my question worked because it was different than the usual one of, "Who we should find in your mouth?  Super Why, princesses, Abby Cadabby...?"  As I brushed,  I noticed she had a funny look on her face, like she was surprised or amused.  When I finished the bottom teeth, I took out the tooth brush, about to attempt the top.  She backed up her head, looked at me closely and, pointing to her diaper, said, "My bottom down here.  You brush my bottom teeth?"

Kate's Photography

The photographer

I love when Kate and Anna get interested in the things I like. Sometimes I can coax them into finding things I like interesting:  the girls like to cook and bake with me, they both have loved picking apples, strawberries, and peas, and Kate is so excited to harvest from the garden that she bought a basket specifically for this purpose.  But other times, my attempts fail:  this spring, Kate gave up planting the garden before we were done, claiming it made her just too tired, and earlier this summer, after the first few times I asked Kate and Anna to help pick weeds in the garden, their answers were something along the lines of, "You go ahead. We're going to play on the swings."

The thing Kate has taken the biggest interest in is something I haven't even been trying to get her involved in as much, photography. Since I don't want little hands on my nice camera, I haven't offered to let her use the camera when I'm using it for the last eight months or so. But, she often gets out her camera, one we gave her a year and a half ago, on her own.

When Mollie was here helping on Friday, Kate decided there needed to be some pictures of the day. She posed Anna, Sarah, and herself in a line and said it would make a cute picture. After I took that picture, she got her own camera and started posing her sister, her friend, and me for "solo shots," a term she got from her tee ball pictures a month ago.  She first lined us up and posed us with the American flag.  After that, she lined us up again, and posed us in front of the bushes.

Here are Kate's pictures, after I helped her crop them:

Mama

This morning we were all doing puzzles and playing in the playroom.  Dave drew a picture of Anna on her drawing toy. 

Anna requested, "You draw a picture of my sister and my mama, too, Daddy?" 

Dave said sure. 

I asked, "Who's your sister?" 

Anna answered, "Kate." 

Then I asked, "Who's your mama." 

I expected Anna to point to me or say, "You."  But, Anna was more specific.  She answered, "Kristo Mehbye."

Dave's picture

Later, Dave drew a picture of Kate, Anna, and Mason on Anna's drawing toy. It's hard to draw on that toy, and drawing isn't Dave's strongest skill, so Mason looked nothing like a dog.

When he finished, Dave pointed to each part of the picture and asked Anna, "Who's that?"

Anna answered, "Kate...Anna...a turtle."

Chatting with Anna

Yesterday Dave took Kate swimming for a little while, and Anna and I were playing cars together while I lay in bed.

She was so adorable, and I was feeling a little worried about her adjusting to all the changes.  I took the moment to remind her how much I loved her.
I asked Anna, "Who's my favorite little girl?"

Anna answered, "Kate."

I was so heartbroken.  She thought I loved Kate more than her.  I quickly began to explain, "Oh, no, honey, you are!  Kate is my favorite big girl, but you are my favorite little girl.  I love you so, so..."

Anna interupted by saying, "Kate.  Kate.  Kate..."

I looked up and caught a smile, the beginning of a giggle, on her face.

I asked her, "Are you teasing me?"

She began to giggle, as she emphatically nodded.

That darn kid got me again!

Names for the babies

Dave and I have been having a horrible time coming up with names for the twins.  It's been a source of stress, but it's also been fun.  At least once a day, Kate will come up with a few made up names and ask if we like them.  "Do you like the name 'Forla'?  What about 'Aneenyas'?  What about 'Kanyos' for the boy?  What about 'Rovery" for the boy?" she'll ask.  Dave and I used to be really polite and say something like, "Hmmm.  I'll have to think about that."  But, lately, we just laugh and say, "Nope, not really."  Kate's been complaining lately that no one likes her names.  Most of the time, after Kate suggests several names, Anna will pipe in with, "You like the name 'Anna'?"  We'll always say, "We sure do!"

It turns out, all the indecision was for nothing, because Anna has it all figured out.

As Anna and I played cars in bed together yesterday, I asked her for some help with names for the babies.  "What should we name the girl?" I asked her.  She immediately told me we should  her "Sally," after the Porsche from Cars she held in her hand. 

"Okay," I said, smiling,"what about the boy?"

"Anna," she declared.

I laughed, "That's not a boy's name; that's your name!"

She giggled and emphatically reiterated, "Anna!"

"No-o-o," I said, tickling her, "that's silly!"

She turned around, put her mouth up to my belly and yelled, "You name Anna... boy!  You name Anna!"

My girls get along wonderfully, but they really have different senses of humor.  Anna knows her joke about naming the boy Anna is funny.  She's pretty proud of herself for it and repeats it at request.  But, Kate didn't seem to get the humor.  When Kate returned home, I had Anna tell her the names she picked out.  Kate said, very seriously, "That's not a boy's name.  And, anyway, we can't have two Annas!"

Buying time

My obstetrician checked me on Tuesday and declared that, with me measuring full term, the baby boy's head very low, and my cervix thinning and dilating, I could "go any minute.”

Prior to the appointment, I’d almost hoped for news like this, an end to all my pregnancy miseries. But Dave informed me in detail about how weak babies born 7 weeks premature are, how they can't quite breathe on their own, how they need a few more weeks in the womb to be able to eat on their own, how they can't maintain their body heat, and on and on.

So, I've cancelled everything I'd planned on doing, and we've been doing everything we can as a family to give these two babies a little more time to develop and strengthen before their arrival. I spend the majority of each day lying or at least sitting around, trying to reduce the pressure on my cervix.

This has been a big change for everyone. Although Dave and I both have experience with me being on bed rest, the past two times it was at the beginning of the pregnancy. That felt different, because then I knew I'd have plenty of time in between getting off bed rest and the arrival of the new baby, time to prepare for the new baby and, the second time around, time to spend with Kate. This time, I feel like my kids will go from having a mom who can't lift them or really play with them to having a mom who is beyond exhausted and unbelievably busy with two newborns.

As he has in the past, Dave has had to take on much of what I usually do around the house in addition to working full time. But along with the extra physical work, this time he’s also had to deal with a sick, incredibly crabby, and very stressed wife.

Kate and Anna are being forced to adjust to not having me do what they're used to. Kate has been dealing really well with having a mom who's out-of-commission. She'll tell me to grow the babies stronger. Anna, though, doesn't understand any of it, of course, and she's very frustrated. She's insistent that I pick her up. She simply does not understand why I can't, and it makes her mad, it hurts her feelings...it breaks my heart. It’s nearly impossible for me to deny her such a simple thing every two-year-old deserves.

I've been feeling miserable. I get so depressed thinking about what I’m not able to give my girls. And, physically, every day is so hard. I'm sick so much of the time. I have a lot of diarrhea, horrible nausea in the mornings and many nights, ridiculous swelling (the tops of my feet were two inches higher than they should be), headaches (the lying around has made these even worse), and constant pain in my rib cage and back.

We are so blessed to have amazing support system from friends and family. My mom came on Thursday and plans to come a couple days a week. Yesterday Mollie came and was incredibly productive getting things ready for the babies.  She took apart, washed, and reassembled the baby swings and bouncy seats, did other laundry, made meals, and even organized the pantry in the basement, which has been a source of stress for me. My poor friend Brenda, who has been sick herself, brought us dinner. My dear friend Samantha calls every single day, sometimes more than once, offering to help in whatever way she can. My friend Erin will take Kate to swimming next week.  And countless other people, who have offered their help, will get their offers accepted soon.

Although every day is hard, each day is also a victory, where the babies have had one more day to develop. Kate and Anna may not have everything in their lives ideal right now, but in the end, three weeks of their lives being less than perfect is very insignificant compared to three weeks for these babies inside me to gain strength and develop. And, since I know none of my current complaints will seem significant in a few weeks, I'm trying, although often unsuccessfully, to keep things in perspective.

Tee Ball

Today was Kate's last day of tee ball.  She had a great time this whole season, but today was extra special.  Here's a description of the day, in her own words:

"Today I caught two balls at tee ball.  I hit really well.  I hit well all year, but this is my first time catching balls.  One, it was just shooting toward me, and I ran, ran, ran and catched it.  I caught it with my glove, and I threw it back to the person putting the balls on the tee.  And number two, it was shooting toward another person.  She kicked it away, and I caught it.  When I caught the balls, Daddy yelled, 'All right, Kate!  Good job!'  Another person yelled, 'Nice play, number 3!'  I felt brave about catching the balls."

Oh, Anna

I was just reading on a friend's blog about some of the sweetest things her two-year-old said to her in the last couple days.  I was also going to blog about something my own two-year-old said this morning, but it's not exactly in the same realm.

This morning at breakfast, Anna was eating Dave's Cheerios and talking, for the thousandth time, about the owie on her toe.  Kate was just watching Anna adoringly, and finally said, "Awww, she's so cute."

Anna, with every ounce of spunk she could muster (and there's no lack of it) retorted, "I'm not cute!  I'm perfect!"

Filling the pool

Smell

Yesterday at dinner, Kate claimed she smelled something a little funny in the kitchen. 

Dave said, "Maybe it's coming from the garbage."

I said, "Maybe it's coming from the dishwasher."

Anna piped in with, "Maybe it's coming from my bottom."

Medicine

Once again, I wonder how traumatized Anna will end up being by this pregnancy.

The other morning, I was taking some medicine for a migraine.

Anna asked, "What that medicine for?  You tummy."

"Oh, no, sweety..."

Before I could explain it was for my headache, she knowingly pointed to my ankles and, nodding, asked, "For you swelling?"

Bad dream

Kate ended up sleeping with me a couple nights ago.  When I woke up, I found her head up on my pillow, but her body practically perpendicular to me, nearly falling off the bed.  I braced myself to adjust her, pushing up on my arm by the pillow and pulling her body straight.

She cried out, "Mommy! No!!"

I interrupted, "Oh, honey, you're dreaming."  Pulling her closer I cooed, "It's okay."

Kate argued, "Actually, I know it's real."
I rolled my eyes and said, "Shhh, sweety."

But she continued, "You're pulling my hair, and it really hurts!"

The arm I'd used to brace myself had pinned her poor hair to the bed!

Anna's injuries

Anna loves to milk her injuries for all they're worth. 

Not only does she, multiple times a day, point out the "owie" that she got when I opened the door on her toe at the hotel three weeks ago, but she also takes every chance she gets to explain that a bee stung her finger a few months ago.

Yesterday morning, we were lying in bed together looking at animal flash cards.  When we got to the bee card, she said, "That a bee.  Buzzzz.  A bee stung my finger...  Poor Anna!"

She doesn't even need others' sympathy anymore.  She's supplying her own.

Singing her ABC's as she swings.

Tell it as it is, Kate

I've been exceptionally crabby the last week or so.  Although I try to exude nothing but patience around the kids, I think it's rubbing off a little on Kate.

The other day, Anna was playing with a little computer toy and it was making a lot of obnoxious beeping noises.  Kate finally said, "Anna, that darn noise is driving me crazy!"

Later Kate and I had read the book version of the movie Bolt.  Kate was saying we should watch it again.  I thought it was interesting that we'd seen at a friend's birthday party, so I asked Kate, "Do you remember we saw it at Peter's birthday party?"  She thought I was saying we couldn't see it again, so she annoyingly said, "Yeh, but I'm sure a Blockbuster would have it!"

Another time I was explaining to Kate that we'd just take a little time to relax, and she asked me, "How can I relax with Anna annoying me?"