TWINBEARZ

13 days and counting!

2009-11-13T14:48:00.008-05:00

Potty training was something that went relatively easy for us - if you can call potty training two toddlers at the same time "easy!". I had no interest in it for the longest time, but when the kids started to show interest (around 2 1/2), we figured we might as well go with it. But only after a couple of months (before they turned 3) of relatively minor intervention they were fully potty trained. This made things at daycare - and at home - much easier, and I wondered why we waited soooo long to do it.

But what I speak of is really "daytime" potty training.

"Nighttime" training has been a little different. And in all the things I read about potty training there doesn't seem to be all that much that addresses the nighttime situation. From our experience, they are two separate beasts.

That said, nighttime training has been a mixed bag for us. Adelaide was nighttime trained before she left diapers. And this was completely her own doing. I NEVER expected a 2 year old to hold it all night. But night after night, she would just wake up with a dry diaper. We would constantly marvel at it - even wondering if something was wrong. So by the time she was "daytime" trained she was also "nighttime" trained. That didn't stop me though from keeping her in pull-ups at night for another 6 months. (I just didn't think it was possible!) One day, though, I just gave up and put her in underwear. She has NEVER had an accident.

Then there is our sweet Kestian. Daytime training for him went pretty smoothly, if I recall. I even think there were less issues with him than with Adelaide (it took her forever to poop on the potty!). It has been another story for nighttime. He wore pull-ups at night ever since we got rid of diapers. At first, he would have a full pull-up every morning. But then around last fall/winter (more or less) there would be nights in between where he was dry. Soon he started to be dry more often than wet, and would go 3 or 4 nights between accidents. By last spring/summer, we switched him to underwear at night and he would maybe have an accident once a week (but never longer than that).

Then we moved. Now I don't know if it was all the commotion from the move or something else, but he quickly regressed. He had an accident his first night at the new house, followed by several more that week. He slowly crept back to having accidents every other night. I finally asked him if he wanted to try pull-ups again - just for a little while - so we all didn't have to get up every night to change his bed. He happily agreed.

Then he went through a spell where he had an accident - in the pull-up - just about every night. I worried that the pull-ups might even be causing the problem. But before I could think about what to do next, one night he was dry. Then the next night. And the next. After about 4 or 5 days in a row of dry pull-ups we agreed to let him go back to underwear. That was 13 days ago. He has not had one accident at night since then. I can't really explain it, other than perhaps he is just getting older, more comfortable with his bedroom, and the craziness from the summer has dissipated.

Now, we never made a big deal about the accidents (but gave him lots of praise when he was dry) so as to not make him feel bad about something he really couldn't control. Adelaide has this amazing camel-like ability to just hold it. Kestian, not so much. He sleeps so soundly (I only know one other person who sleeps more soundly than Kestian, and that is my brother. Mom, Dad - can I get a witness!!!) that he can hardly ever wake himself up when he has to go. Hence the accidents. But then one morning when I woke him up, he announced "5 days!". I asked him what "5 days" meant and he said that he hadn't had an accident in 5 days. It was then that I knew he was keeping track of how dry he was and so very proud of himself for it. Now every day when he gets up, he announces how many days. Today: "13 days!"

So we are so proud of him for going so long - the longest he's ever gone - without an accident. Sometimes he wakes up to go pee, but mostly he just holds it all night. Also, limiting how much water he can have at night has helped. And even if he has an accident tonight or next week or whenever, I can clearly see that he has come a long way.

Great job, Kestian!

Not everyone was thrilled

2009-11-10T09:25:00.001-05:00

We told the kids that the baby will be a boy. Let's just say that not everyone was thrilled with the news:

Drum roll please.....

2009-11-09T15:19:00.007-05:00

For any of you who are eager to know if it's a boy or girl, the following inconclusive, don't-quote-me-on-it, wait-before-you-buy-a-bunch-of-stuff, results are in:

And it is......drummmmmmmmmmm....rollllllllllllllllllllllllllll....

A boy!

Now I say that we aren't sure because the technologist wasn't sure, but I am pretty sure. Here is today's ultrasound... Note, what is called in official medical terms, a "turtle" shaped object below "BOY????"...

Now for comparison's sake, let's look at Kestian's ultrasound from this time 5 years ago. Again, note the "turtle."

Now look at Adelaide. We have here, what is also in official medical terms, a "hamburger."
This baby (which we are now referring to as "Damon Jr" until it is born) seems to have what is identical to Kestian's "turtle" and not much of anything like Adelaide's "hamburger".

We'll get another scan next month - but I'm calling it!

It's a boy!

Here are some other scans from today. The baby is not quite 5 inches (crown to rump) and roughly 5 oz.:

H1N1...round 1...done.

2009-11-08T09:22:00.003-05:00

This weekend was the first opportunity for most people in Fayette County to get their H1N1 shots. As you probably know, I couldn't wait for it to get here. None of the doctors around here had it, and the health department was waiting until their clinic to give it out. (Believe me, phone calls to them asking if we could get it ahead of the clinic went unheeded.) So shot clinic it was.

The clinic was supposed to start at 9am. We arrived at 8:15, only to find the high school enveloped in people.

Was U2 scheduled to arrive? Obama? Surely, based on the crowds alone, some iconic band or high ranking politician was going to make an appearance. Sadly, I never did see either one while we were there...

Anyway, after parking we walked to the back of the school, got our "green card"

and proceeded to wait.

And wait.

And wait.

After an hour of being outside, we finally crossed the threshold, into the warmth of the building, and were handed information cards to fill out. Believing that the shots were minutes away, we furiously scribbled on them. Little did we know it would be yet another hour till we could consider ourselves h1n1-protected.

Meanwhile, the kids were behaving pretty good considering they thought they were doing some slow version of a death-march. Having recently gotten their seasonal flu shots, the whole "shot" idea was just too fresh in their minds. However, I do want to say that we saw this awesome episode of Sid the Science Kid last weekend about getting shots. It explained to the kids all about getting the shots, and how the shots will start their bodies making antibodies, providing them the immunity they need without getting sick, and how that helps to keep other people from getting sick (since if you aren't sick, you don't have any virus to spread). They were honest about the shots hurting, but kept emphasizing "It will hurt a little, but help a whole lot." The kids were entranced during the show, hopefully relating it to their recent experience with getting their seasonal flu shot and with the upcoming H1N1 shot.

So finally, after two hours of waiting, it was our turn. We split up - boys and girls. It wasn't really until the kids SAW the shots being given out that they panicked. Adelaide wanted me to go first, so she could see how I handled it. So I did. But by then she was certain that this was just not a good idea for her. I mentioned something about getting a treat if she got her shot, and she muttered that she didn't want a treat. Poor girl. I sat her on my lap and had to really hold her - in fact another nurse had to help - while she got her shot. There was a lot of crying. From both of us. I looked over to Kestian and he was already done, but still sobbing. It was sad. But several lollipops, stickers, and a happy meal from McDonalds later and no one was the wiser.

Now, I had promised the kids that once we got these shots, they would be done for a whole year. Um, yeah, until the nurse who gave us the vaccine crapped all over that idea and said they will need a booster in one month. They had boosters before with the seasonal shot, so I wasn't surprised. But now I have to tell the kids that we'll have to do it once again. Now that will be fun!

Having said all that, I must say that I am really glad we got the shots. I was very nervous about H1N1 after hearing about how children and preggies are at a much higher risk for complications (pneumonia, hospitalization, miscarriage, and death) with this strain of flu. Things, quite frankly, I just don't want to bother with. All the while, the debate about whether to even get the vaccine has fascinated me.

I say all of this because during the past month or so, I have been trying to be the poster-child for excellent hygiene while we waited for the shots. I would use a paper towel to open the door as I left the bathroom, and use hand sanitizer every time I left and came back to my office. I was washing and sanitizing so much that I was becoming OCD. Did I just touch that door? More sanitizer! Did that guy just sneeze as I walked by? Don't breathe in! In fact I was thinking that I was doing such a good job at keeping germs at bay that getting any kind of shot might be just a practice in futility.

Until I got smacked in the face with this cold. My second cold this pregnancy. My second cold that I cannot take a damn thing for and so I must be miserable for what will be weeks.

Now let me tell you, people get colds. I know that. But people who are super-psycho with washing hands and not touching stuff? If I can do all this excellent hygiene and still pick up a cold virus, then it could have just as easily been a flu virus. Sure I sound paranoid... but obviously I wasn't doing enough, even though I thought I was. It's almost like it has been all for naught. Heck, my son goes around licking his hands all day (we are working on that!) and HE doesn't have a cold... Hmmmm. Maybe he's on to something!

Shining Star

2009-11-05T21:00:00.001-05:00

Adelaide has been nominated Shining Star in her class. She got her name put on the sign and we brought in some pictures for all to see. We have all been very excited for her. But while we are all excited, I had just a tiny bit of concern about Kestian.

You see, last year Adelaide was made Star-of-the-Month for her class. Everyone was very excited about it and Kestian kept talking about "when I get to be Star-of-the-Month...". But for whatever reason they just stopped doing it after Adelaide was nominated, so Kestian never had an opportunity. Wanting to make sure he felt just as special, we ended up making our own Star-of-the-Month for him, which he was very excited about.

So this year, seeing that Adelaide is once again the focus of attention, I wanted to see if Kestian would also have an opportunity to have the recognition at school and I've been reassured that he will. I certainly don't want to take anything away from Adelaide, but I guess the "fairness-itch" in me needs to get scratched, making sure that Kestian (who we ALL know is also a Shining Star) also gets his moment to shine.

Meet LOVE the Doulas...

2009-11-03T21:45:00.004-05:00

For our last birth, we thought we were doing what everyone should do to get ready. We took those ridiculous hospital classes that show you how to diaper your baby and tell you how your abdominal muscles can separate during pregnancy (pretty much permanently, by the way!). Good stuff. I remember sitting in those classes, practicing silly breathing exercises while Damon did everything in his power to make me laugh every time I "hee'd" and "hoo'd". While it was entertaining to me, I'm sure the other couples there did not appreciate it. And we would secretly discuss in the car on the way home important things, like the instructor's ill-fitting shoes, or the actor's clothes in the 70's-esque movie we watched that night. Needless to say, I was not all that impressed.

But then one night, the instructor talked about doulas. I had never heard what a doula was before that. I've heard of midwife, but never doula. But as she described it, a light-bulb went on and I knew that having a doula was the right choice for me. She handed out a flier for a "Meet the Doulas" night over at BabyMoon and we promptly headed over and listened to the group. I was enthralled. I was convinced. I started to think, "How could anyone have a baby and not use a doula?" It was something both Damon and I needed.

So we got some names and numbers and interviewed a few before we settled on one that we liked. We happened to choose Anne, who was also the owner of BabyMoon. I was so excited. She gave us tons of information, was supportive while I was on bedrest, and just made me more reassured during what was an exciting but scary time.

However, all along we knew there was a good chance that I was going to end up with a c-section. Baby A (aka the bottom baby, aka Kestian) was breech. Butt-on-my-cervix breech and was like that for quite a while. He would not move. So when events found me in the hospital one day 4 centimeters dilated, and Kestian was still butt-on-cervix-breech, c-section was pretty much my only option. Anne came by before the babies came and offered her support, but really we couldn't use her much since there would be no labor.

That was pretty much it in terms of my doula experience.

Flash-forward to now. A recent conversation with Damon probably gives some indication to our current state of concern:

Me: Do you think I could handle a natural birth?

Damon: Do you think I could handle a natural birth?

Exactly. So last night I saw that BabyMoon was once again having their Meet the Doula night, and I dragged myself over. I had a great, although limited, experience last time with having a doula, but yet I wasn't sure I wanted a doula again. I was feeling like I knew all I needed to know, that I could handle it, blah blah blah. But lately I've also been worried about the birth and just how is this all going to work, and I know Damon has been too. This may be my second pregnancy, but the circumstances are so different. It's only one baby this time, and so hopefully I won't have the same complications I had last time. There is a very real possibility that I will be able to deliver this child naturally. And that is what I want to do, but at the same time it scares the heck out of me. I look at my kids' baby-dolls and think "Yep, that's about the size of what this baby will be when it's born", and then I think "Oh. My. God! That's about the size of what this baby will be when it's born!"

I can envision the full pregnancy, starting labor, and then holding my baby. The whole "actual labor" and "pushing the baby out" part - yeah, I'm not quite sure how that could possibly work. I watch the videos of women laboring and delivering and I see the trance that they enter while in a state of pain that can only compare to, well, giving birth, and how it goes on for hours, sometimes days even, and I think "Holy Crap! Will that be me in six months? I don't think so!" I want to do it, but I'm freaked out at the prospect of actually doing it. It's like bungee-jumping: It may look fun and exciting, but holy crap you have to be nuts to do that!

So I went over to the doula meeting and fell in love with them all over again. Anne was there too, although she is not taking clients right now (serious bummer), but I met several others that I liked, including one who is a mother of twins herself. Let's just say we totally hit it off. I can see her being our doula for sure.

And after the meeting, I felt, probably for the first time, that I actually may be able to do this. For real even. Now I'm not just feeling "pregnant" with this ever-growing belly, but on a path to deliver my baby the way I want to. And let me just say that I really do believe that the end result is just as important as the process. While it's important to deliver a healthy baby, it is just as important that I deliver this baby the way I want to. And I feel that this doula will make it possible for me AND Damon to have the birth of our child our way.

Soccer bonanza

2009-11-03T15:55:00.005-05:00

In case you are wondering what a soccer game between 4 year-olds looks like, watch this video. You can see Kestian and Adelaide playing starting around 52 seconds. Kestian is wearing an orange shirt under his uniform, and kicks the ball into play. Adelaide is deeper on the field, but you can recognize her by her swinging pony-tail. If I am correct in what I am seeing, Adelaide gets a goal here. Way to go Kestian and Adelaide!

15 weeks, 4 days

2009-11-03T14:12:00.002-05:00

Today I am 15 weeks, 4 days, if you go by the assigned "due date," and things seem to be going along swimmingly. I guess this picture doesn't show too much of a belly, but it is definitely there. It's getting harder to lean forward, get up from sitting, and fit into clothes. I'm already worried about being able to shave, put on my shoes, and pick up stuff off the floor, and it's only going to get bigger. But despite the ever-growing belly, I've probably only gained about 4 pounds. I think that everything is just shifting around on my body, because an extra four pounds of weight would not give me such a belly-bump, and probably a lot of that weight has to do with the increasing blood volume and fluid retention in my body.

Eating has also become interesting. I didn't have "morning sickness" with my first pregnancy, nor have I really had it with this one, but that's not to say that I'm not hyper-sensitive to food. If I see a certain food, sometimes I just HAVE to have it, and I won't be happy until I do (things were not pretty when I wanted Lucky Charms but we were out of milk). But really it comes down to the moment I smell it or taste it. I can want something all day, and take one bite of it and be "done," disgusted by the thought of eating one more bite of it. Or I can not crave anything, but take a bite of something and it becomes ALL I want to eat - forevar! And even familiar foods can taste different - like the other day Damon made pasta with red sauce, and the sauce had mushrooms and garlic in it. I thought it tasted like fish and could not eat it, even though I have eaten it dozens of times before. So yeah, it's been a bit interesting. The other fun thing is that I swing from feeling sooo full to sooo hungry in a matter of minutes, and if that hunger goes on for longer than 30 minutes, I start to feel sick. So yeah, I'm pretty much eating something every 3 hours (long enough to eat, feel full for about 2+ hours, then shift to hungry and hunt down more food again). Not bringing in an afternoon snack to work has clearly taught me the wrongs of my ways.

Anyhow, since I last blogged about the preggie stuff, I was talking about my concerns with my doctor when I said I did not want another c-section. Since then I have transferred my care to my high-risk OB, who was my high-risk OB during the last pregnancy and apparently very pro-VBAC. I have an appointment with him next Monday, where I am very excited (and a little bit nervous) about talking to him about a VBAC and I hope it goes well.

And tonight there is a "Meet the Doulas" night over at a local place with lots of resources on birthing. I'm kinda excited about that too. We had a doula for the last pregnancy, but never "used" her really since I ended up having a c-section. But she was nice and I thought it would be helpful to me AND Damon to have the extra support. Honestly, I'm not sure I want to have a doula this time, but it actually may be more important to have one this time. My inner "I-Can-Do-This-Myself-The-Way-I-Want-To-Do-It" has been challenged and I think a little bit of back-up would help a lot.

The kids are still excited about the whole baby thing, collecting "baby" toys from around the house and putting them in a pile, and leaning their head against my belly and exclaiming "I heard something!"

There is a chance that we may find out if it's a boy or girl at this next appointment (since Ill be 16 weeks). But if not, we should be able to find out in December.

Ta-ta for now!

Halloween Fun!

2009-11-03T13:17:00.004-05:00

The kids have had several opportunities for some Halloween fun this year, despite us never making it to the pumpkin patch or getting a pumpkin. Little Goblins Galore was fun, and since then we had Fall Festival (aka Fall "Festibal") at the school. The kids dressed up and Adelaide was a Princess Witch again, but we couldn't find her hat so she wore fancy mouse ears instead (of course!), while Kestian was a Power Ranger. Kestian has no idea what a Power Ranger is, and was at one point calling it "Stranger Ranger", but he had a good time with the costume.

The kids decorated cookies...

And did some crafts...
And everyone had a good time..

Then for Halloween, the kids got dressed up again. Kestian was Superman and Adelaide was a scarecrow.
We hemmed and hawed about what to do for Halloween (trick-or-treat in the neighborhood or at the mall), but with it being 45 degrees outside I just did not feel up to walking around in the cold for over an hour. Plus the kids were bound to complain about the cold and wearing their jackets (which we would have made them do, despite the majority of kids we saw NOT wearing coats). So we went to the mall and the kids got to walk around (with no coats) and got a whole bunch of candy, which we promptly sorted and traded and took samples of.

This has just been such a busy month, and I was feeling bad that we never did the whole pumpkin side of the season. But Damon pointed out, "It's not like we haven't been doing stuff!", what with Sesame Street Live, and soccer, and birthday parties, etc. So I guess that's ok. We'll probably go to one of the orchards this weekend and pick apples, and if they have some leftover pumpkins we'll pick some up. But I guess it has been a pretty fun month. At least, no one is complaining.

On to November!

The kids are very giving to me!

2009-10-30T14:15:00.001-04:00

September was good because I did not get sick (as far as I can remember). That is an unusual thing when you have kids. Damn kids.

What they don’t teach you in Parent School (other than ‘your life is over forever’) is that when you have kids, and those kids are in daycare or school, you will be sick. Not you might be sick, not you will often be sick. You WILL be sick. Heck, the Simpsons made fun of this, but I cannot admit it because the show got cancelled after season 8 in my mind.

I went to the doctor last year because I was sick all the time and they ran a bunch of tests to see if anything was wrong with me. Was there? Nope. The reason why I was sick all the time was because the kids. I guess that was good news?

When I was an undergraduate in the winter of 1996 I got the flu right during finals week. It was hellish, but I got better in time to take my advanced stats test (which sealed my ‘B’ in the class dammit). Out of the final six semesters in college, it was the only one that I didn’t get the Dean’s List, and for that I blame the flu (oh, and also MUDs).

But after that I got my flu shot every year and was flu free despite interacting with lots of people for my job. Then I had kids. Since I had kids I’ve had the flu THREE TIMES. If you haven’t had flu for a while, let me remind you that it is terrible, incapacitating, feels-like-you-are-dying horribleness. Thanks kids!

But I don’t have the flu now (thank ‘god’!), but I am sick. What do I have? I didn’t know, so I went to the doctor. He did stuff, and said ‘you don’t have flu, strep throat, or mono. Here, take some zyrtec and Tylenol.’ Thanks Doc! Not only did you not even attempt to try to figure out what I had (trust me, he half-assed the appointment), but you just told me to take an antihistamine despite that fact that it is useless for a runny nose that isn’t an allergy. Way to know your pharmacology! Also, great job noticing that I WAS ALREADY TAKING CLARITIN! Idiot.

But I’m sick. I’ve been sick for about a week. Over the past week, I’ve gone to bed sometimes at 6:30 (and yes, slept through the night), slept in and taken a nap on the same day yet felt exhausted, gone through the entirety of kleenex boxes in my office and the house, stayed home on the couch exhausted for one entire day plus multiple half days, and just felt like crap. But I’ve been feeling better the last couple days (‘better’), so what happens? Last night my bowels decide to explode in a…..ok, I won’t give details but I must be getting some new form of sick! Wait, did I say ‘new’, oh no, perhaps it is a re-occurrence of the same thing I had for about two weeks that ended just before the latest sick started. Can I blame my kids for this? Being that Kestian exhibited the same symptoms last night, I think I can.

What can I look forward to once I feel better? I’m sure the kids will surprise me with something (no flu). That’s the great thing about kids, they always are surprising you.

3 years, 3 months, 3 days

2009-10-28T12:22:00.009-04:00

On this randomly picked day to celebrate the 698th post to twinbearz.blogspot.com, I thought I would take a few minutes and look at some recent stats here (since I've been keeping track - somewhere in 2007). I'm doing this because even though many of you who read this blog never comment (don't be shy, now), I know you are out there. Oh - I know! And I know more than you might think I would know. Know what I mean? But don't let that scare you. Now, Kentucky's breastfeeding rate (lowest in the nation) and circumsion rate (2nd highest in the nation) - that should scare you! But if you are anything like me, you love looking through numbers and data and uncovering the long-lost secrets of the blog.

July 25, 2006 - First post to this blog
1,191 - Days that this blog has been operating
698 - Posts on this blog (that's more than 1 post every 2 days!)
15,226 - Page Loads (1,715 in 2007, 5,762 in 2008, 7,749 in 2009)
10,360 - Unique Visitors (948 in 2007, 4,087 in 2008, 5,325 in 2009). This includes:
- 8,098 First Time Visitors (681 in 2007, 3,324 in 2008, 4,093 in 2009) and
- 2,262 Returning Visitors (267 in 2007, 763 in 2008, 1,232 in 2009)
Blog Access - It seems that most people get to the blog through "no referring link", but other common access points are through:
- www.orsetti.com
- Facebook
- Blogger
- Google reader (Hi Paul!) and
- friend's blogs
Keywords - There are some strange "keywords" that have lead people to the site, including:
- "youtube our opinion matters" and
- "cat puts head under faucet"
Search Engines - As far as search engines used to locate the blog:
- 66.67% Google
- 16.67% Earthlink
- 16.67% Google Blog Search
Visit Lengths - People either seem to leave real quick or stay a while. Interesting. Let me show you a graph:
Browsers:
- 61% - Firefox
- 18% - Safari
- 13% - Internet Explorer
- 4% - Chrome
- 4% - Mozilla (which I guess my tracker differentiates from Firefox).
Where in the World?: The overwhelming majority of our blog visitors are in (or their ISP is based in):
- United States
  - Kentucky
  - Georgia
  - Michigan
  - Iowa
  - California
  - New Jersey
  - Ohio
  - Maryland
  - Virginia
  - New York
  - Mississippi
  - Pennsylvania
  - Rhode Island
  - Texas
  - Minnesota
  - Tennessee
- India
- Canada (Hi Paul!)
- Brazil (Hi Julia!)
- Malaysia
- Ireland
- I know we've had other countries visit us in the past, by my tracker is not showing them, such as Andorra and Italy, and my other tracker is showing Russia and Hungary.

I guess that's the most interesting stats from the blog right now. I've had to adjust my other tracker so it will be interesting to see how everything looks as more data is collected.

I love data!!!!

The Kids Chime in

2009-10-26T20:37:00.002-04:00

We don't know the sex of the kid yet, but that doesn't mean we can't think of names! We've been trying to get the kids to give us suggestions (don't worry, we will think of the name, not them) just to see what they'd think of. Mostly we get things like "Baby Brother" or "Baby Sister" or something silly like that, but today they actually gave me real names. After the bath I asked them again and Adelaide suggested "Jacob" while Kestian suggested "Thomas". I'm sure the second was because of the Tank Engine, but where did Jacob come from? Interesting.

Note, however, we would absolutely never in a million years name our child the most popular baby name for a boy for the past few years (Jacob), nor something as common (though not nearly as much lately) as Thomas. Still, it is interesting to hear them trying to think about this. As of now, Damon Jr. or Diane Jr. are safe.

Little Goblins Galore, re-mix

2009-10-26T20:04:00.001-04:00

For the last couple of years we have always made it out to the pumpkin patch. In fact, we have often gone to 2 or 3 different ones throughout October. This fall has been so busy that we still have not made it out. In fact, we don't even have a pumpkin yet. But despite the busy weekends filled with soccer games and laundry, we should still manage a fair amount of Halloween celebrating. This weekend we went to Little Goblins Galore, like we did last year. While it was a bit cold, we had a good time playing games and trick-or-treating* (*by "trick-or-treating" I mean: the kids were successful at walking up to costumed people and just holding out their pails until someone put something in it. Why bother with formalities?)

Adelaide: A Princess Witch in her spider-web dress. It was too windy for the hat. Kestian: a capeless, but capped, Superman.

Games...

Games...

Games...

Trick-Or-Treat Trail...

Out of all the costume characters there, they went out of their way to see Scooby-Doo...

Later this week: Halloween Party at the daycare, and Trick-or-Treating. Stay tuned, as the kids may or may not have different costumes for those events. And why not?

Fill in the blanks

2009-10-25T20:00:00.003-04:00

__________ (your mother's name) is __________ (emotion) to raise the __________ (noun) on the __________ (random number) season of its __________ (small, British hamlet)-renowned Sesame Street Live touring productions. As the live stage show licensee of Sesame Workshop, __________ (your local vet) will present Abby Cadabby, the __________ (Popsicle flavor) Muppet on Sesame Street, along with Elmo, Zoe, Rosita and all of her furry and feathered __________ (non-bird species of animals) as they ask, ‘What do you want to be when you __________ (euphemism)?' Get ready to sing __________ (automotive profession) songs, ride the __________ (brand of off-road dirt bike) and more when Sesame Street Live "When Elmo Grows Up" performs at Rupp Arena from Friday, Oct. 23 through Sunday, Oct. 25.

When Elmo and his Sesame Street Live friends __________ (verb) about growing up, it's a musical show-and-tell! Bert dreams of becoming a __________ (type of container), Telly longs to be a __________ (major household appliance) and their newest friend, __________ (member of the Bush Administration), wants to be a __________ (body of water) just like her mommy. Elmo thinks about becoming a __________ (world’s oldest profession), but has a hard time predicting his own __________ (national holiday)—he wants to be a __________ (type of leafy green plant) and __________ (favorite fountain drink) all at once! "When Elmo Grows Up" includes lessons on__________ (political watchdog group), __________ (type of summer Olympic sport) and the __________ (pejorative) power of imagination. Children learn that if they __________ (verb) in __________ (imaginary friend) and are willing to __________ (verb), the possibilities are __________ (adjective).

Like television's Sesame Street, each Sesame Street Live production features timeless __________ (type of dinnerware) for all __________ (breeds of dog). Through the __________ (pleasant odor) of this musical __________ (room in house)-quality production, children learn about __________ (major chemical reaction), __________ (piece of furniture) and __________ (type of hybrid car). The universal appeal of a Sesame Street Live production continues long after __________ (physical reaction from food poisoning). __________ (partially interested care-givers) will __________ (verb) the high-tech __________ (piece of furniture), cleverly written __________ (Hardy Boys book title), and __________ (70’s hair style) they'll recognize and enjoy sharing with children, such as "__________ (brand of microwave pizza) on the Range," "Down on the __________ (favorite soup)" and "Give a Little __________ (board game)." "When Elmo Grows Up" features nearly two dozen songs that children will love to sing along with such as "I Love __________ (ice cream novelty)" and "Itsy Bitsy __________ (mythical animal)." Tickets are $___________ (some number over 100). Additional fees and __________ (fraternity prank) may apply. For information online, please visit __________ (small Indonesian country).

(Thank you to the press release at http://www.rupparena.com/aboutUs/news.php for inspiration.)

We need to tell Mommy about THIS!

2009-10-25T19:04:00.001-04:00

Where is my ducky? It's not in the playroom. Maybe Mommy knows where it is.

Ah, I knew it. Mommy can find anything. Mommy found it right here in the playroom. Now where is my other ducky? Hmmm... Mommy says I should look in the bins in the playroom closet. Seems obvious enough. I'm sure she means the closet that is closed that we never go in, and not the closet that is open with the white bins in it. I'll open this closet and see what I find.

Oh. My. God.

Addy! Come here! Look at THIS! Let's go show Mommy. I'm sure she doesn't know this is here.

Mommy! Mommy! Look what I found! It's something so cool. I've always wanted something like this!

What? No, Addy found the other one too!

Are you going to get it?

2009-10-22T10:14:00.003-04:00

There's been a lot of talk lately on the news about H1N1 and seasonal flu. I think a lot of it is media hype, and normally I just roll my eyes and sigh. In fact I still do. You can often even hear me yelling at the radio "It's just the flu, people!" I have yet to figure out what the big deal is and even why they are calling it a "pandemic." True it is spreading worldwide, but I thought for it to be a pandemic it had to infect a large number of people - like the 1918 flu pandemic that infected 500 million and killed 50-100 million. Now that's a pandemic. What the H1N1 is - with only about a million infected so far, and killing less than 10,000 (according to FluTracker) - I don't know, but I would not call it a pandemic.

However, as someone who is a parent of young children and is pregnant herself, I do have to consider the risks of complications that can occur in these high-risk groups. And I have heard mixed things, like the risks of complications is much higher for children and pregnant women (along with some other high-risk groups), but also that the death rate is comparable to seasonal flu. The latter is good news, but knowing that me and my children are at a higher risk for complications really bothers me. So I have been trying to get a hold of the vaccine in hopes of minimizing our risks. (I guess any vaccine carries some risks, but I have decided (for us) that the risk of getting the H1N1 (with or without additional complications) is worse.)

Now let me tell you about my recent journey with trying to get the kids their seasonal flu shots. Damon got his at work, and I just got mine from my doctor (after waiting until I was past my first trimester), but to get them for the kids has been ridiculous. Every year I get them their shots with no problem. I just call the doctor's office and take them in. The hardest part about getting their shots would be deciding when would be a good time to go so that I could still find a parking spot in the garage when I got back.

No. Not this time. I have been calling the doctor's office every Monday since early September to see when I could get them in. Every time I would call I would be told that they didn't have the shots yet. Ok...early September...it's probably too soon. But by mid-October (when they told me they would have them) they still kept telling me they had none. Meanwhile, the flu has been migrating its way around the daycare and the clock was ticking. So this week when I called they told me, "Oh we ran out." I said "What do you mean you ran out? I call every week and you tell me you haven't gotten them in. Are you saying you had some?" "Yeah, we had some, but they are all gone now." I held in my frustration, although I just wanted to yell at the lady, and calmly asked "Well, are you going to get some more in?" "Nope. That was it."

I hung up utterly frustrated. During all of this I had called the local pharmacy to see if they would give my kids the shots, but they said they usually don't do children's shots (it's a different dosage). They asked me how old my kids were and when I told them they said "Oh we definitely won't give shots to 4 year olds."

So Plan C at this point was to go to the one last place that had shots: the health department. Now, mind you, I could have gone there from the beginning, but going to the health department is out-of-pocket, whereas if we went to the doctor the shots would have been free. Knowing that going to the health department was going to cost $50, I thought if I just waited another week or two...

But all options were gone. So we went to the health department last night and found it full of people all waiting over an hour for the shot. We decided we would come back the next day. Meanwhile, I had told the kids about the shots and they were relatively excited about it. I mean, they knew it was a shot, and were telling me about how the last time they got shots that it hurt, but I had convinced them that it was important and much better than getting sick. When we decided to leave, Adelaide got very upset, crying that she did not get her shot. I'm sure she was all psyched up for it, and was disappointed when we she didn't get it.

So today Damon took them back for their shots (I had to be at work). The report afterwards from Damon was that there was a lot of crying, limping (because it was in their leg), and more crying. I was sad that I could not be there for them, but they told me on the phone (after saying that "it hurted!") that they loved me. Their Papa's hugs and the free lollipops surely made them feel better.

So that was just for the seasonal shots. All the news is saying that kids and preggies need to get the H1N1 shot too. Well we'd like to*, thank-you-very-much, but it's not available here for another 2 weeks. The health department will be giving the H1N1 shots out (FREE - which is good because the doctor says that they won't be getting any), and you better believe that we will be one of the first in line on the first day of the clinics. Then we will be set.

*Ok, with all that being said, I am quite surprised (but I probably shouldn't be) at how may people aren't getting seasonal/H1N1 shots - perhaps as many as 2/3's of parents say they won't get their kids vaccinated. Are you one of them? Seriously, I'm curious about this. Everyone has their reasons and I'm not going to try and change anyone's mind, but I find this interesting. Are you concerned about the risks of the shot? Do you feel the risk of complications from the virus is low? Tell me what are you going to do.

Bounce U

2009-10-20T21:00:00.001-04:00

Last year the kids were invited to their friend's party at Bounce U, and this year they were invited again. The kids had a blast, but sadly I had to sit this one out, what with the baby and all.

Always a good time.

Arbor Day

2009-10-20T20:30:00.001-04:00

The other day Adelaide found an acorn at school. She saved it, carried it around all day, and brought it home. When we told her that the acorn was really a seed for an oak tree, she wanted to plant it. So tonight, we got out the shovel and watering can and put that acorn in the ground.

Excavation:

Deposit:

Reconstruction:

Saturation:

After we finished, Adelaide stood there waiting for it to grow.

Fall morning

2009-10-20T10:50:00.003-04:00

Snuggly children.

Frosty windows.

Warm socks.

Morning shadows.

Golden sunrise.

Red leaves.

Radio chatter.

Sweet orange juice.

Toasting bread.

Crisp newspaper.

Fresh perspective.

Too much depends on chance

2009-10-15T16:24:00.006-04:00

Yesterday was the last day to enter the kids into a lottery. Now I'm not talking about the kind of lottery where if you get picked you get stoned to death. Nor is it the kind where if you get picked you win $10 million. While the former is horrific, and the latter quite desirable, this is a totally different kind of lottery. We are talking about our children's education!

With the kids starting kindergarten next year, we are thinking hard about the school they will attend. We are located in the district of Southern Elementary - which is not a bad school - but we really want the kids to go to Maxwell Elementary School. You see, Maxwell is a very desirable school to send your children to (at least we think so). Why - you ask? Because it's the city's only Spanish immersion school. Let me correct myself - it's the city's only PUBLIC Spanish immersion MAGNET school. Not that there is a private option, but this school is completely public. As in FREE. And when your child attends Maxwell, 50% of their instruction will be completely in Spanish. Since kids learn languages best at a young age (obviously), they can become fluent in the language at a very fast rate. We want our children to have the gift of multi-languages (Italian at home, Spanish at school, English everywhere) in hopes of greater opportunities in their adult life. If we could have our way, we'd add French into the mix (and we just might!). But for now, Maxwell is our golden ticket.

However, the only way to get into Maxwell is though a lottery. So many people want to send their kids to Maxwell (300-400 applicants for 100 slots) that the school system has decided a lottery is the fairest way to select their students. Now one could argue that references and essays may help to weed out the best applicants, but I'm guessing that because this is a public school they can't restrict in that manner. So lottery it is.

Now, the lottery was open from September 1 - October 15 to apply for next fall (you gotta be early, folks!) and I dutifully entered the kids in on September 2, feeling bad that I was a day past the first opportunity. Deep down I hoped that the lottery officials would go ahead and pick my kids because they were one of the first entrants. I envisioned a nice elderly lady in blue polyester pants and a flowered shirt and orthopedic shoes telling her colleagues: "Ah! I see that the Orsettis are serious about this - entering their kids early! Let's just go ahead and pick them." And then her colleagues jump up, put her on their shoulders and carry her around saying "We want the Orsettis! We want the Orsettis!" You see, I am bitter that anyone who waited until 11:50pm on October 15th has the same chances as we do. We deserve it because we really want it, and our prompt application obviously shows that! Those lazy slackers who waited until the last minute obviously aren't that committed. If you can't sign up early - don't sign up at all! (These are things I need therapy for.)

But yesterday the lottery closed. And we now have to wait. They don't make their decision until January, so it will be a while until we find out. I know, I know, you are saying, "Well, if they don't get in this year, you can try again next year." But it doesn't work that way. All the kids accepted this year will fill up the 1st grade class next year. And they have a very low attrition rate. Out of the 100 they admit, they may lose 4 or 5. To apply again next year for the remaining spots - well, good luck with that! Plus, they will have missed an entire year of being exposed to Spanish. We went to their open house last month (See! We are serious! Pick us! Pick us!) and the principal said that over the course of one year, the kids will get about 1,000 hours of Spanish. You can't make that up with tutoring. And while they will accept a few new kids for 1st grade, the kids will be just so far behind. And after that (2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th grades) the kids will have to test in to meet the Spanish proficiency requirement.

So basically, if the kids don't get in now, they won't get in at all. That is quite scary. We really want them to attend this school to have this wonderful opportunity, and so much of what we want - and ultimately their entire bilingual future - depends on the luck of the draw.

Now I'm sure Damon will review with you the statistics in play here, but I can touch on it a bit. We actually have a pretty good chance. Better than most actually. And here's why: They have this policy that if one sibling gets selected, the other one(s) are also automatically selected. So we have 2 "chances" to get picked, whereas everyone else (except any other twins) will just have one. Assuming there are 100 slots and 300 applicants, our odds go up from 33% to actually more than 50%. Again, I'll have Damon go over the math. Math is hard.

Now, we haven't mentioned anything about this on the blog (or Facebook, or even just to anyone) because we are selfish and don't want to clue in anyone who could eventually be our competition. But now that the lottery is closed, we can blab all we want. We hope that this works out for the kids and they get in. Now is the time for rain dances, prayer, and sending good vibes to the lottery officials:

Orsettis..... Orsettis.... Pick the Orsettis!...

Adelaide

2009-10-14T19:37:00.002-04:00

Adelaide sleeps wonderfully at night in her ‘big kid bed.’ Wow, such a small sentence that I never thought I’d write, but it turns out like that anyway. At night she sleeps really well, looks very comfortable, doesn’t toss and turn much, and almost never wakes up in the middle of the night. This is not the girl from a couple years ago.

If you are unaware, our darling daughter was never what you would call an easy night-time girl. She was in the NICU for two weeks with her brother (we were there all the time), but she needed the whole two weeks while they kept them together when Kestian could have been moved out of it. I remember the tubes in her, the pricking her feet, all that stuff, it was all very heartbreaking.

When we took them home, Adelaide tended to be on my side of the bed much of the time (they both were between us). She wasn’t all snuggly at night as much as Kestian (though he was very squirmy falling asleep), but she would curl up to my pillow and would love when I held her feet (I attribute that to all the pricking of her feet in the NICU). No matter how difficult she was, I always remembered back to the NICU and (despite being frustrated many times) never resented putting in the time to get her to sleep.

“Putting in the time” is probably an understatement; Adelaide was always difficult to go to sleep. I would often carry her around for hours, sometimes walking up and down stairs (she liked that sometimes), sometimes holding her in front of the fan (she liked that a lot), bopping up and down, curling up with her, singing to her, occasionally taking her for a walk. Laura would do this too, but the majority of the time I had the responsibility for Adelaide’s sleep.

I like to think that all that time and care and co-sleeping and attachment parenting really helped her be comfortable sleeping so that she is where she is now. It makes me happy.

Beyond sleeping, however, Adelaide has changed and blossomed from when she was a baby and toddler. Nowadays, she is an outgoing girl who participates a lot in class and even is often the dominant playmate with her brother. She can play on her own and with other friends, but loves playing with her brother most of all. I think his easygoing and people-person personality really helped her grow socially.

But this just isn’t the same girl I used to know a few years ago. I remember in her old daycare how one teacher said she never heard her say anything ever (as opposed to chatterbox Kestian). She’s much more outgoing and social and there is something in her eyes that is hard to describe. Go back and look at pictures of both kids from about two years ago versus now. You can look at Kestian and immediately recognize him through his eyes (heck, he’s been like that from birth pretty much). Not her, though. Her eyes now are much more bubbly and similar to her brother’s, which is unlike the reticent, unsure, and almost melancholy dint that was a few years ago.

I am really happy she is blossoming into a more social and outgoing girl who sleeps well.

But I still miss the way she was.

(almost) 13 weeks

2009-10-14T18:15:00.000-04:00

If I'm this big now - how big am I going to get?

Soccer Stars

2009-10-14T18:06:00.000-04:00

Soccer has been going pretty well. So well that we even arrived at the last game - on time!

But really, I think the kids are getting more into it. When we first started the season, Kestian would often be found standing in the middle of the field, by himself, spinning in circles, while everyone "actively participated." Adelaide has been into it from the get-go, but it's been a slower journey for Kestian.

But now we are seeing both the kids really get into it. Running after the ball, trying to kick in the goal (sometimes even the right goal!), and complaining less about being "tired."

Adelaide has managed to get one or two goals in per game:

And Kestian is starting to get more aggressive with the ball - actually running up to it and sometimes trying to kick it. His favorite part of the game is when he gets to kick the ball into play. He will back-up as far as he can, either to the edge of the adjacent field, or to the edge of the bushes (yes that's him all the way up on the bushes)

and run up to the ball to kick it (a technique that the rest of the kids on the team seem to have adopted now). I am sure he is thinking he will get more speed/power this way, but his execution of it has not been refined. He often will kick the top of the ball, moving it about 2 feet, then stop and wait for someone else to come up and kick it.

I know. It's all about having fun and practicing, and I'm glad the kids are doing just that. We may have to post-pone the Olympic trials though.

20 minutes, a trip to Lowes, and $500 later...

2009-10-12T20:38:00.000-04:00

As you may know, we have never been a "dryer" family. Ever since we'd been married (12+ years now!) we have gone without - and have been happy about it. It has allowed us to avoid the cost of buying a dryer and the electricity to run it. To avoid shrinkage and wear on our clothes. We had a system. One load every 2 or 3 days, hung up on drying racks, kept us in business. Even when the kids came along it was not a problem.

Until now.

The kids' clothes are bigger. There is more bedding, towels, and non-apparel items. We can't keep up. It actually was going just fine until we moved. Moving created a back-log of laundry. Sheets, towels, swimsuits, clothes, clothes, and clothes. Keeping to our 1-load-every-2-or-3-day system was not practical since we were so busy.

But I thought we could catch up. We've fallen behind before and caught up. We can do it again. Well, after about a month of dutifully keeping to a 1-load-every-2-days rhythm, there was just no progress. We were maintaining but not advancing.

We finally made the decision to get a dryer, but then balked when we saw the prices. Having not looked at dryers forevar, we were shocked.

So I went back to thinking we could catch up. Be more diligent. Never miss a day. That's what I told myself. But 3 or 4 weeks later: still no progress. Just keeping up. And by now I was getting tired of the constant piles of dirty clothes everywhere. I had enough.

So we went to Lowes (after about 20 minutes of research) and picked one out. Normally I research things for weeks before buying anything - especially big-ticket items - but things are too busy and I'm too tired to bother. (What's happening to me???). Who knows if we got a good deal. Who knows if we picked the best dryer. I'm too tired to care. But we have a dryer and now we can really tackle the piles. Last night I did 2 loads and I'm ready for more.

I CAN Do This (http://www.ican-online.org/)

2009-10-12T20:21:00.001-04:00

Thanks to all who posted such thoughtful comments to my last blog entry. I have since "seen" my high-risk ob - "seen" because he was in the office but 'quarantined' in the back from the flu. I was disappointed to find that out because I was really hoping to discuss with him his thoughts on a VBAC.

But regardless of not being able to talk to the doctor, the appt went well. I had another ultrasound to check on the blood clot thing and because we need to monitor my cervix. Let's just say that "cervix problems" were the reason I had 8 weeks (you heard me - 8 weeks!) of bedrest the last pregnancy. I really hope it doesn't happen again, but so far everything is looking good. Of course the "problems" didn't present until later in my pregnancy the last time (around 24 weeks), so I am not surprised at this early date that everything looks good.

Anyhow, when we were done with the ultrasound, the technician wanted to know if I had any questions for the doctor. I told her I wanted to discuss delivery options. Her comment was "Do you want a repeat c-section?" and my heart just sank. I thought, "Oh no. Not these guys too?" So I said no, and I was about to go into why when she interrupted me and said "Oh! You want a VBAC?!" with a big smile. I said "Yes!" and she went on to say how that would be much better for recovery and that St. Joe East will "allow"* it as long as there is a back-up medical team (but she rolled her eyes at that, saying that of course there is a back-up medical team over there) and blah blah blah. So I asked her if the doc was supportive of VBACs and she said "Oh Yeah!" I told her how my "regular" ob was reluctant/hesitant and she said that if I wanted this doc to take over my care I could just call the other docs office and ask for my care to be transferred. It was very encouraging!

Now I still want to have "the talk" with this doc, and sooner rather than later so we are all on the same page, and also so I know if I still need to look for a midwife to take over my care. I'm not against a midwife at all, but I do have a history with this doc (he assisted in my care during my first pregnancy) and some of the midwives that have been recommended to me are in Frankfort - which I just can't afford to travel to (time-wise) every time I need an appt. As it is I don't have enough time to take off for maternity leave, so all my appts need to be short and at lunch so I can save what little time I do have. However, that the doc's staff say that he is supportive of VBACs is great to hear. If this doc will willingly work with me to have a VBAC, I will be happy. So I probably will transfer my care over to him in the next few weeks.

The other good news is that everything right now is looking good with the baby. It's about 2 inches long and the tech said she sees no reason for any concern that would lead them to recommend an amnio. The hematoma seems to be resolving on its own, my cervix looks fine, and we were able to see the baby "swim" around. In fact, they moved my due date up 5 days (it was April 28th, now it's Apr 23rd**) because of it's progress and growth. I figure if I can keep this up (whatever "this" is) I can knock off 10 more days by the time the baby comes. (Har har!) I'm actually not a a big fan of "due dates" because they are just estimates, so really I'm just looking forward to the new addition sometime in mid/late April.

This picture shows the baby is lying on it's side. You can see it's head (left), body (right) and it's little arm/hand above. There is trace evidence of the (nearly resolved) hematoma on the upper left.

*Would you believe that there are hospitals that have a policy against VBACs? I have been learning so much about this. Sigh.

**Interesting tid-bit: Kestain and Adelaide were "due" on April 21st. Of course they ended up being 7 weeks early, but how interesting it is that this pregnancy is following the exact same timeline as last time.