A Shopping Gripe

Those of you who are friends with me on Facebook have already heard my gripe for the day, so sorry if you hear it again here.

I hate those days that I desperately need to get to the store on my "day off" also known as my day home with the kids, also known as my not-so-day-off. I need to make a few stops today and I'm trying to decide if I'm feeling brave enough; one to Sam's or Costco, another to the regular grocery store, and another to our local Target. I really would love to get this done during the day while Kevin's at work, but as those of you with two or more small children know, easier said than done.

I've got a three year old that has two options: (1) walk or (2) sit in the big, basket portion of the shopping cart and be surrounded and squished by shampoo and tampons. Inevitably, if he's actually chosen to sit in the basket, he gets maniacal and has the increased urge to stand up in the cart while it's moving, risking a nice goose egg for him and onslaughts of starring from strangers for mommy.

If he chooses to walk it's pretty much guaranteed that he'll make a mad dash to the toy aisles leaving mommy behind in between the toilet paper and Lysol sprays with two screaming babies. I've yet to totally lose him in a store, but I honestly feel like that luck is rapidly approaching an unsafe danger zone. I'm just waiting for the day to hear a page over the intercom system stating that somewhere in the store a failure for a mother is missing her firstborn son.

This is all assuming I've been fortunate enough to score a cart that miraculously seats both of my one year olds in the first place. The Target we frequent hasn't jumped on my list of "stores I adore because they cater to moms with more than one small child" - no double carts (that aren't broken, anyway). So B & C usually end up with one leg bent and smashing their little manly bits into their intestines while the other leg dangles freely through one of the leg hole openings. At least half of their bodies are comfortable. :insert sarcastic eyeroll here:

As you can imagine, this arrangement interferes with the personal bubbles of even the smallest of mankind. A few minutes into our trip to hell elapse and I have reached my threshold for screaming and whining. Then the true madness starts - the biting. Oh, the biting! They both lean into the other and chomp down on anything they can get a hold of; a shoulder, some fingers, even a cheek or nose - no discriminating for the Wibb boys, they take whatever they can get, so long as it ends in tears. (The suffering of blood relatives apparently makes them their happiest.)

Usually by this time I am doing my best at giving evil glances back to the slew of onlookers we've developed as we try to race about the store in a last-ditch effort to grab everything on the list before someone reports me to CPS. There are always those few "helpful" people that like to joke and make comments like, "Wow! You've really got your hands full, don't you?" and delay your trip to the checkout counter by a couple of seconds more.

And most likely, an astounding 99% of the time we end up forgetting the number one reason we went into the store in the first place, whether it be diapers, milk, or maybe even Advil for the kid-induced headaches that are a daily occurrence. I know, you're jealous!

I'm still alive :)

It's been a while since I've even checked in here. Sorry :( The babies haven't been sick in quite a few weeks, so that's good. Evan's finally starting to come around to them and treat them nicely (most of the time). Evan's getting bigger and smarter by the day, I swear this kid amazes me all the time.

Our Parents As Teachers rep came over last week for a visit with the twins and Evan was doing a puzzle in the floor. Ms. Jenny noticed how quick and efficient he was at putting it together and made the comment that what he was doing was at a first grade level.

I also tried something new with him three nights ago and he did surprisingly well at it. We brought up his art easel from the basement and I spelled out words on the dirty chalkboard with my fingers to see if he could trace over them - and he did awesome at it! I think I'm going to purchase one of the preschool learning books for him that have the letters to trace so they can learn how to write. He's also doing basic addition and subtraction. Seriously, so stinkin' smart.

The babies are doing great and are growing so much; they're such big boys! They both have a nice handful of words and really like playing with their shape sorters. Their appetites are out of control and they are still out-eating Evan most of the time. They don't really have many foods they don't enjoy.

Things are going great with working out still and I'm down to 132 as of this morning. I went for a tummy tuck consultation on Wednesday to see how much money I need to save up. Ugh, seems like getting voluntarily sliced across your stomach has a going rate of about $9k around here. The doctor said I was an awesome candidate since I've lost a ton of weight and that in her opinion I was at my ideal body weight. She was also really impressed with my abs and said she has never seen a person that's had multiples keep their abs as intact as I have, almost zero separation. And to think my stomach was measuring nearly 60 weeks pregnant at the end. I was spared in one area, at least.

It's always great hearing how you can be an inspiration to others in real life. Today a coworker told me that she really looked up to me for making the healthy lifestyle changes and that she is starting to get back into health and fitness too. It never gets old when you see people changing their lives because of the improvements they see you doing in your own. And then there are the coworkers who are afraid to tell me what they had for their last meal because they think I'm secretly judging them :P (I'm not) If there's one thing that I believe whole-heartedly, it's that you really have to want the change you desire down to your core, with every ounce of your being. If there's even the faintest of doubts, you are almost certainly setting yourself up for some form of failure.

I struggle with my food choices every day, and I still slip into some slight binge cycles and mindless eating, but after I do (and I inevitably feel like crap emotionally and physically) I try to ask myself what caused it and what I learned from it.

Last night was a candy corn binge. I told myself I could have one. And then another. And then another, and before I knew it, I had the entire container sitting in my lap going for handful after handful. And then I felt sick to my stomach. What did I learn? That I really can't have "just one" - it's nearly impossible.

Screw you, daycare germs!

We knew it was inevitable, but didn't expect it to happen so soon. I have been a very busy mom these past few weeks. As soon as the boys got their one year immunizations they developed slight fevers. Fevers = no school. As soon as the low grade fever cleared up on Carter he went back to school. However, Brennan's didn't go away, it got worse and, at times, was in the 104s. I was home with baby/s for nearly two weeks when I finally got to go back last Friday for the first time. And then the weekend happened...and Carter spiked a fever. He's home with me while his best friend and brother is away at daycare.

It kind of makes me sad to think they haven't been together much going on three weeks now. Last night was awesome though. Early in the evening their new squeaker shoes came in the mail and of course we had to see what the boys would do with them, so we put them on their feet and watched on in amazement and pure joy. They LOVED them! Squeak, squeak, squeak...all throughout the house, so cute! I joked with Kevin that we need to keep them on them all the time so we'd know where each on is, kind of like a bell ;)


Just before bed time I was in their room changing their crib sheets when they both came walking in. They immediately started up a baby version of hide and go seek and it was the.most.adorable thing I have ever seen. One would duck down behind the cabinet I keep the sheets in and then pop out causing them both to squeal with excitement and bubble up with giggles. Can you imagine the cuteness that ensued when they did this over and over again?


Evan's third birthday is tomorrow (Wednesday). For his birthday this weekend we got him a puppy. He's a 12 week old Dachshund and Evan name him "Steve Blue". Nice, no? He's the cutest little guy and ever since watching those two play together that first afternoon I haven't regretted the decision of a puppy versus an older dog one bit. They have the same energy levels and they both adore playing with each other. Simply put, we are quickly realizing you can't come between a boy and his dog.

The hands of Jesus

Did I ever tell the story about the hands of Jesus? I don't think I did... Kevin's family always gets together on Christmas Eve every year. This year Aunt Carol and Uncle John were hosting. They have a very lovely house, filled with very lovely things and not an inch of the place is child-proofed.

We had somehow managed to go the entire night without so much as bumping the couch cushions (even with a rousing game of tag between the older boys and Evan). Just as we were packing everything and everyone up to leave, Evan decides now's the time to really make an impression. A tantrum ensues and mid-tantrum Thomas the Tank Engine is launched across her sitting room.

Earlier that evening the ladies of the family were all oohing and aahing over Aunt Carol's beautiful ceramic religious scene, all of the big players were there. These lovely works of fine crafted art were, as it turns out, also conveniently displayed at the perfect train catching height.

I watched in slow motion as Thomas took flight, he was headed right for Jesus himself! Sure enough, Thomas lands ON Jesus and with such great force that even the Son of God could not keep his hands attached.

I see the praying hands of Jesus shoot across the room and into an unknown resting spot. Many searching eyes had great difficulty finding Jesus..'s hands. I finally spotted them in the corner and now it was time to explain to Aunt Carol what had just transpired.

She was very understanding. I offered to buy her a new one, but she declined and said he was "just being a kid". Gotta love Aunt Carol, such a kind, soft heart. Talk about an embarrassing moment in parenthood. How many people can say their kid broke Jesus? On Christmas Eve?

I'm an addict. There, I said it!

It all started innocently, in the morning rush. It was hard getting in a proper Paleo breakfast, so I relied heavily on the use of chocolate protein powder and fruit, and nuts. Sounds okay, right? That's until my trainer suggested I try putting a spoonful or two of instant coffee into my shake in the morning if I'm sleepy and dragging ass. It's safe to say this is a crutch now and I need it every day. This morning I even used the coffee maker and brewed my morning fix because, well, because I didn't have a protein shake for once. I actually had time to cook some eggs. Aren't you proud of me?

Brennan woke up early this morning and I could tell that he wasn't quite acting right. I felt his head, but couldn't really get a gauge on how hot he was because my fingers were icicles. I asked Kevin to feel him and got the "he feels fine to me" response. More not acting right. More fussing. More tears. And then just as we were about to leave Brennan pooped. While Kevin was changing him, I figured we might as well check his temperature, his behavior was sending off quiet little red flags in the back of my mind. Sure enough, his temp was right at 100. So I'm home with an ill little B-bear today.

I'm enjoying the snuggles and responsibility of just one baby. It's so easy, even when he's sick. In fact "I laugh at your one baby". Okay, that's just something the MoMs on our message board used to say, but it's kind of true. I guess the trip MoMs laugh at our two babies, but I digress. There's always someone out there who has it more difficult, so I don't really like to complain too much in real life.

I'm just glad they aren't all three home with me today with the yucks. I'd probably be pulling my hair out about now and dreaming of doping them up with Benadryl. By the way, that was a joke, we don't even have any in the house, so you can hang up that phone you have in your hand about to dial CPS. ;)

Oh, Monday

Today was busy! I woke up at 6 a.m. to squeeze in a shower and throw in some laundry. After I was finished the babies were up, so I threw on some clothes and started the usual routine. I think I'll start getting them ready on my "day off", also known as Mondays, using the same schedule we do on work days. It ended up really nice having Kevin help get everyone up and dressed for the day so I wasn't rushed for my morning gym appointment.

Today I set another personal record, I dead-lifted 140 lbs! I keep moving up, and I love that feeling of accomplishment and growth! I took Jordan's advice and got some Chuck Taylor-esque shoes (after his second time suggesting it) that have flatter soles. He said to ditch the running shoes, so I did, and I'm finding the weight lifting much easier to do now that my body's balanced and not literally on my tip-toes. So much easier to "push through the heels", which actually makes the weight feel a little lighter.

The boys had their one year well baby visit today. I had to take Evan in with me, so you can imagine the chaos of two walking little ones and one rambunctious bigger one. It was total madness in that exam room! I can only imagine what it sounded like to people passing by. I felt like I was going to implode at any given minute. We all survived, but not without the littles in tears from their two shots (each). They both have some great stats for twins, who are usually on the smaller side even if they were born term. Brennan measured in at 21 pounds, 10 ounces, which is the 26.62 percentile, and 30.5 inches long, 65.55 percentile. Carter is 22 pounds, 3 ounces, the 34.87 percentile, and 31 inches long, putting him at 78.53%. Evan was always about 50th for weight and 90th for height, though recently he's slowed down and moved down on the charts.

There was also a trip to Target thrown in after the gym. Talk about an exhausting day! I definitely work a lot harder staying at home with the boys than a day at the office.

News

These past two weeks have been pretty stressful for me. I started back at work and have been tired from that, trying to keep up with the gym and eating right while I'm at work, and also my dad had another cancer scare. He had went to his regular doctor for his yearly check up/physical and found out that his prostate had doubled in size the past year. Normally this isn't too great of a cause for concern, although it is still a marker that something could have been wrong, but coupled with his cancer history the doctor was extremely worried.

I cried myself to sleep for nights on end after hearing the news. My mom had done research and found that patients with CLL (chronic lymphatic leukemia) that also have prostate cancer usually have a survival rate of less than five years. I was devastated and sent up many prayers that everything would be okay.

I was to the point where I wanted to know, but I didn't want to know so that if his test did come back positive I could be in denial and pretend like it didn't happen for a few days more. I don't like talking to Dad about this stuff because I know it upsets him, so I waited for the right timing when I called down to speak with Mom about it.

I finally gathered up the courage to ask a few nights ago when I called them back after getting a message from Dad checking to see how his grandkids were(she sounded like she was in a good mood). Negative! I have NEVER been so relieved in my life! Even when the cancer diagnosis was new and the doctors were still trying to figure out exactly what kind he had; there was a strong possibility that Dad's cancer was an insanely fast progressing kind that would give him very little time with us.

Kevin's mom has the same kind of cancer as Dad (CLL) and she has had it for a few years now. They caught hers really early too and she has yet to need treatment because it is spreading so slowly. I hope my dad's in the same boat. When we first found out, his doctor told him that his goal should be to live long enough with the cancer to pass away from something else...old age, car accident, whatever. I pray every night he's with us for many years to come and that this evil disease doesn't get the best of him.