Then and Now

I found the picture on the left of me and my mom while I was cleaning this afternoon. I'm about the same age my kids are now. I tried to recreate the picture with Oscar when I picked him up for school, but it didn't really work. I'm overly stylized, and he's not enthused. It lacks the spontaneity and seems over thought compared to the original. But there's something about posing with my kids like this.

It's not a pose professional photographers use, yet it's one of my favorites. Cheek to cheek. I've always loved walking around the house, holding my kids tight against my face. Their skin so soft. Their cheeks so bouncy. Nothing like it. It's such a weird sign of endearment, but one of my favorite parts about motherhood.

My mother died five years before I started having kids. I never had the chance to directly ask her about her favorite parts of motherhood.  Seeing this picture shows me we share the same joy. Cheeks! I like to think it's something I learned from her.

What's one of your favorite part about motherhood?

Saturday at the Conservatory Garden

Remember a few weeks ago when I checked the Conservatory Garden for signs of spring (here)? I went back on Saturday and wasn't disappointed. Everything is in full bloom. Oscar declared he is going to marry Violet in this garden. I thought it was so sweet that a four-year old is already planning his wedding. He's such a romantic. I hope he doesn't get his heart broken too many times.

While the tulips were gorgeous this year, I have to say I liked them better last year. Everyone's blaming it on the unusual warm winter and spring. Has your garden been affected by the heat too?

Back Track: Pregnant With Twins

Oscar is baby A. Owen is baby B. Can you kind of see it?

Last week, I got a two letters from readers who just found out their pregnant with identical twins. What are the chances? One reader already has three kids, the other reader has an 18th month old daughter.

Congratulations!

Now stop reading scary internet stories about identical twins!

While there are a ton of risks, there's also the chance you can have a boring smooth pregnancy.  I was lucky to have one! Here's my story.

I was 25 years old, and Ella was 18th months old. I decided to stop breast feeding her at that time. A month later I got pregnant. Whoops.

The biggest challenge I had early on (before I knew I had twins) was that I was really tired. I slept around 12 hrs a day. I was working from home full-time, and had the luxury to quit when I became absolutely useless.  Not only was I tired, but my brain stopped functioning. Writing a simple email took all my concentration. My husband thought I might have depression, but I assured him it wasn't. I was happy, tired and dumb!

I should have known something might be up. I was able to work full-time when I was pregnant with Ella, so I was confused why this one felt so different. That, and I was HUGE. I remember going to a baby shower when I was 18 weeks pregnant and sitting in between two women that were due in a few weeks. My belly was as big as theirs. I didn't think much of that either. I thought I was having one of those warped body image issues people tend to have.

When I got home, I asked Rob, "No, really, don't I look big?" I turned from the front, then the side pushing my belly out really far. Talk about a tough spot for a husband. He surprisingly handled himself really well. Instead of being his overly honest self, he convinced me I looked great and not to worry about it. Ha!

Confession: I didn't go to the doctor until I was 14 weeks pregnant, and I didn't find out I had twins until I was 20 weeks pregnant. Rob was transitioning to a new job and I didn't want to get trapped filling out paperwork twice. Looking back, I shouldn't have been so lazy, but it felt right at the time. Other than being tired and stupid, the pregnancy felt normal to me.

I like to think that for the most part, things usually end up on the majority. Most pregnancies aren't twins. Most pregnancies for healthy 25 year-old-woman are smooth. Most of the time, the things I worry about, never end up happening.  So I coasted right through the first 14 weeks.

As soon as my doctor heard a heartbeat at my 14 week check-up, she moved on to other patients. I guess it's not in their job requirement to look for more. Noted. My next appointment was for my 20-week ultra sound at another office. We couldn't wait to see if we were having a boy or a girl! I had a feeling I was having a boy. I would have been shocked if my prediction was wrong.

It was a Friday afternoon. Ella and Rob came with me to the appointment. The technician put the jelly on my belly, then placed the transducer (the camera thing) right in middle of my stomach. As soon as he put it on, he looked at the monitor and pulled the transducer off my belly. It was as if he had seen Bigfoot. He waited a second, looked over the notes, then asked:

"Have you guys had an ultrasound yet?"

"Nooo."

"So you guys don't know anything about this pregnancy?"

"Nooo, why?" Scared.

"Oh, you're having twins!"

That's when I had a moment of hysterics. Laughing, crying, calm, the whole bit. Part of me felt peace of mind for quiting my job. Even up until this point, I had felt like such a loser! I couldn't wait to email my old boss! Also, I was grateful I found out so late because I had less time to worry about all the potential risks.

The technician observed that Oscar had slightly more fluid than Owen. This happens a lot with identical twins--one of the babes starts taking up all of the fluid. It's not good. I worried all weekend about it. On Monday morning I called and made an appointment with a twin specialist to give it another look. I needed to know. He took another look that day and assured me everything looked fine and not to worry.

From then on I had an ultrasound every week. I think. During the last few weeks, the twin specialist called me a Baby Making Machine. I was so flattered.

Look! Accidental Chevron Stripes! I was sooo ahead of the times. 

Eventually, I walked right into my C-section appointment at the hospital at 36 weeks. My doctors wanted to make sure the babes got out with the least amount of drama because I only had one placenta (typical of identical twins).

They were huge--Oscar was 6 pounds 6 ounces, and Owen was 6 pounds 3 ounces. Even being 4 weeks early, they didn't spend anytime in NICU. We went home with them easily from the hospital. Here's a cheesy and overly sentimental movie Rob and I made of their birth. Enjoy!




Thanks to my two readers for inspiring me to remember this crazy time of my life. Good luck!

FYI: We're done growing our family. It feels good to move to the next phase of our life.

Here's a picture I took of my belly the night before I had the boys.  My face says it all. After the jump.

Ella the Elephant

i've always loved this picture of me and Ella. Taken almost 7 years ago. We both look so much different now. 

I've been really sick these last few days. Sore throat from hell. Totally ruined all my spring break plans for the kids. I feel horrible that they've been cooped up for 2 days, going on 3. I forced myself out of the house yesterday. Their heads were about to explode if they didn't get some fresh air. Living in a tiny apartment isn't so bad, except for times like this. We're steps away from the best parks and museums, but sometimes we have to pay the price for that.

While I rest, the kids have been watching a lot of TV.  But now on day 3, they have been finding other things to do. Currently, they are playing in our endless hallway with a long green ribbon. Don't know exactly what the game is, but Ella seems to have a lot of rules for it. "Clap, jump, turn around. That's how you do it! Or do you want stomp? Break! Time out! Time out!" She's giving out her left over Easter candy to the winner.

Besides making up games, Ella has also been busy writing on her private blog. Here's some of my favorite posts:

Once she got to move up from 1st to the 2nd grade for the day:

at scool

 Last thursday  I went to 2nd grade It  was fun . I made new friends .But this kid called David he was mad he thought that he can do whatever he wanted the teacher  got mad so he did not  get centers he got so mad that he said I will  be good the teacher said okay but he lied  he pushed somebody he got really hurt  so he did  not   have centers he got bad the teacher said that is A lesson.

and one about my birthday:

mom brthiy

When it was moms brthiy we went to a fennsy reashtrot we ate cupcakes and sinwishes and we pinted our nels and we put macup on. I wade a red dress it had 2 pucess. and it was just the 2 of us .we had so munsh fun.And when we got home we had chokelt  cake it was kind of like brownnys.

Then I taught her how to use spell check:

cookies

today went to 2 boots. I ate  a cookie it was chocolate chip I taste a bite I like  it. but I like it butter. the girl scouts cookies are way butter. and I also had pizza. it was so good it is like the big apple. that is the best pizza in the would . so that is why you have to go to NYC. and  for  breakfast I had a bagel and they have  the best bagel in the would  so that is also why you have to come to NYC. 

Do your kids have blogs? My favorite is when she says, "It's so weird, mom. Your keyboard doesn't have the letter "v"!" And then I have to show her it actually does. "Oh, there it is!"

Hope you have a great weekend! Don't get sick! Wash your hands after reading this post.

Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn

Huck Finn left, Tom Sawyer right.

Last Thursday, I found a beautiful copy of Huckleberry Finn on sale at Anthropologie. It's not there anymore, but I found the same copy at Amazon. I was planning on waiting to give it to the boys for their birthday.  I've never read it before, but I knew it was a classic story about a boy getting into a lot of mischief. A perfect gift for Oscar and Owen. Especially Owen.

I had the Anthro bag hanging on my closet door knob and had forgotten about it. Then, last night, Oscar took the book from the bag and said, "What's this?" It was wrapped in tissue paper just like a present (thanks Angela!). I was sick all day, and so the kids had been cooped up in the house (it's spring break). I figured since we weren't going to get out of the house, we might as well as read about an adventure.

As I starting read it, I remembered Huckleberry Finn is always on the banned booked list. And I can kind-of see why. In the first chapter, it talks fondly about smoking and uses the "n-word" about forty times. I couldn't even say it (censorship!), so I replaced it "slave". Reason is, I don't want my four year old using it unknowingly.

As I continued reading the book, I starting thinking about this article I read in New York Family by Eric Messinger. He wrote about his decision to let his 11-year old daughter watch the Hunger Games. She had enjoyed the books and had been planning for weeks to watch the movie with friends. Eric knew the movie was going to be violent (the plot is about a televised fight to the death between kids!), but believes  "kids handle information that works for them". I agree. He concludes the article by writing:

I checked in with her about seeing The Hunger Games, and she didn’t think it was such a big deal and that she could always turn away at parts that seemed too violent—and she was really looking forward to seeing it with her friends. 

Rather than question her about its post-apocalyptic vision, I left the conversation there.

Maybe some of the content in Huckleberry Finn is not be age appropriate for my kids. I'm just banking on the fact that they will look forward to spending time together and everything else (racism, trouble making, smoking, etc) will go over their heads. More than anything, Owen has been more annoyed that I was reading it with a southern accent. He kept saying, "Can you stop saying it like that? Why are you talking like that? Stop, mom! Read normal." I ignored him.

Ever see this Lewis CK bit about Huckleberry Finn? So funny. It has tons of profanity, racist language, and makes reference to a lewd act.  Mark Twain would be proud.

*All photos by Lesley of Kensington Blue*
P.S.
Lesley sent these pictures to me in both monochrome and color.
I can't decide which version I like better.

Decide for yourself after the jump!

New York Botanical Garden: A Year in Review

April marks my one year membership to the New York Botanical Garden. I bought a Family Membership on a whim last spring break. I blame it on love at first sight. I've probably been back around 7 times and with each visit, I've seen something new. Each season brings new blooms, new smells and new exhibits on it's 250 exquisite acres. Here's my experience over the different seasons:

Spring      Summer      Fall       Winter

If you go, I recommend walking through the Conservatory first, then take the 30 minute tram ride around the gardens, and (if you have kids) finish up at the Children's Adventure Garden. That makes for a perfect day.

I also recommend taking the tram and getting off at a random stop. I've done this twice and both times I felt like I was dropped off in my own private backyard garden.  It sounds over dramatic, I know, but it really is amazing. Mostly because it's quite. Maybe I'll see another family or two, but they aren't stepping on my toes. That's what draws me all the way to the Bronx every time. Manhattan can be so suffocating!

The only time the NYBG felt congested was during the Holiday Train Show, but it was worth it. It reminded me of the elaborate model train displays my dad used to set up in our living room at Christmastime. I'm sure if I went earlier in the season, the Train Show wouldn't feel so packed. It's just that this year I waited until the last minute.

Below are the pictures of Monday's trip to the garden.  We started off at the Orchid Show, and then took to the tram to the Family Garden. It didn't open until 1pm, so we played amongst the Flowering Cherries while we waited. There was a lot of wild flower picking, headstands and barefoot running going on.

Thank you Rikshaw Design for outfitting Ella in this seahorse sundress!  Isn't it sweet? Ella picked it! Soft, comfortable, and vibrant. The perfect dress to wear to a garden. Their anchor sundress is super cute, too.  I love Rikshaw's use of block printing. Gives it that imperfectly perfect look I adore. 

7 Pictures of the Family Garden

2 pics of the Orchid Show 

After the jump. 

:) 

Easiest Art Project: Stickman DIY

My favorite crafts are ridiculously simple and encourage imagination.  In the past I've shamelessly promoted foil sculptures, toilet paper maracas, even a block of ICE.  Now I'm here to present the latest easiest art project ever: The Stickman.  We did this one at The NY Botanical Garden yesterday. They always have the best projects. Owen decided to complicate things by making his a Three Eyed Stickman. Odd yet wonderful. I like it.  

What are your kid's favorite super easy activities? Coloring in a coloring book? Paper Airplanes? Cartwheels?