DIY: Freezer Paper Stencil Custom Shirt

Well.  Hey there.

Just popping in to show this cute and easy shirt I made for Gavin last weekend.  (Wish I could stay and chat longer, but my report cards are due.  It's that time of year!)

We had a Sing-a-Long birthday party for the twins on Sunday.  They're going to be five on Thursday.  FIVE!  In my head, I still picture this all of the time, and count my innumerable blessings:

Thankfully, they fattened up pretty fast those first weeks in the NICU, and there's no end in sight.  (For those new to this blog, you can read old posts dating back to the early days to get a glimpse of what life was like with preemie twins.)

Back to the shirt.  Since it was a sing-a-long theme, and since a talented friend of mine was singing her original children's songs to entertain the kids, I wanted Gavin to have a cool shirt to go with the theme of the day.

I started with a cheap navy t-shirt from Old Navy and this free stencil from the Acire Adventures blog.

I photocopied the stencil to scale it down a little and traced it onto the flat (not shiny) side of good ol' freezer paper.  Then I used an exacto knife to cut it out, placed it shiny-side down on the t-shirt, and ironed for about 30 seconds until the paper stuck to the shirt.  Please excuse the iPhone photo.  I was charging my Nikon battery!

Originally, I was just going to use light blue fabric paint to stencil the design, but I went with a bleach pen instead.

I waited about 10 minutes, and then peeled the paper off like a big sticker.  To get the smaller, peskier parts of the stencil off, I had to use the tip of the exacto knife.

I immediately rinsed the bleach off of the shirt, and then washed it in cold water by itself.  I always worry about "stray" bleach getting on other clothes.

I think my birthday boy looked adorable.  And tall.

As always, thanks for reading!

Preemie Twins Dot Com

Look at this!  Preemietwins.com named me one of their Top 10 Blogs about preemies.  You can read the article here.  The list was created about a year ago, but a few people have recently found my blog via this website.

I originally started this blog to describe and journal my triumphs and troubles of parenting premature twins.  It was not an easy road for me.  For those of you who may not know, the twins were born at 31 weeks.  Charlotte weighed in at 3 lbs. 3 ozs., and Gavin at 3 lbs. 11 ozs.  The first few months were a blur of diapering, breastfeeding, very little sleep, and some postpartum depression thrown in for good measure.

Charlotte and Gavin are now perfectly healthy three year olds.  We had a lot of help from family (and we still do), great doctors and nurses at the NICU (I thank my lucky stars for them every day), and a terrific occupational therapist from our county's Intermediate Unit.

This blog has evolved a bit as the twins have grown.  I'm now a mother of three.  But I like to look back at my earliest posts and see how far we've come and how lucky we are.  If you are visiting this blog because you are a mother of multiples, I encourage you to click back on the early links.  I hope you find something helpful!  Feel free to email me with any questions -- I'd be happy to help if I can!

Flashback to March, 2007:

Shaking Off The Dust

The twins are now 3 1/2, if you can believe it.

In some respects, it feels like it has been for.ev.er since they were born; and in other respects, I can't believe how quickly it's gone.  I was only just getting the hang of parenting twins when we found out (unexpectedly) that I was pregnant with Nathan, and in the blink of an eye I was, quite suddenly, a mother to three children under the age of 2.  Add a full-time job into the mix and, well, you can imagine how the last few years have seemed a little foggy.

I don't know how to say it other than to say that I feel like I'm slowly waking up from a long nap.  Things seem brighter, and happier somehow.  I am enjoying spending time with my children, and laughing with them, rather than constantly changing them and feeding them and rocking them to sleep and worrying about whether or not I was giving them enough attention.  

And I don't think I'm the only one that is noticing.  The kids seem happier lately.  (And by happy I mean they are only screaming, crying, and fighting 75% of the time, instead of 90%).  Michael surprised me with flowers today...a token of affection that I haven't seen in years (not that he's not affectionate....but we have definitely felt too busy and overwhelmed for any romantic gestures).  And colleagues at work have been so complimentary lately, too. I can't tell you how happy this makes me, since three and a half years ago my post-partum depression was so bad that I felt I would never be happy again.

I know I still have many busy years ahead.  But I certainly appreciate how far I've (WE'VE) come.  :)

EggHeads

How I love Easter. The adorable girly dresses, the spring flowers, brunch food, and Peeps, of course!

Yesterday the twins and I dyed Easter Eggs. We did this last year, but the twins were really too little to understand what it was all about. They weren't quite so sure about it this year, either, but they played along. Mostly they just wanted to play with the little copper egg dippers.


We used these bowls from Ikea to hold the dye. I can't recommend these enough. We use them about a thousand times a day, for about a thousand different things: cereal, goldfish, stickers, toppings for tacos...you name it!













Here's a shot of the eggs in the dye. Lookin' good!













And here's the finished product:


Happy Easter!

Why I Hate Tubby Time, or An Exercise in Futility

I can bathe Charlotte and Gavin in 90 seconds flat.

I am in no way bragging about this. In fact, I would love it if the twins would take 30 minute baths, because they seem to love being in the water. The problem is that they splash. And by splash I mean they literally throw every drop of water out of the tub and onto the floor, the walls, and their mother.

Since they seem to have difficulty lately comprehending the word "no," and generally seem incapable of following even the smallest direction, I've decided that when they splash, then tubby time is over. I believe they are right on the cusp on understanding cause and effect, and I'm hoping this little exercise will speed up their understanding and stop the splashing once and for all. I'll tell you one thing, it has stopped the amount of times I've yelled, "For the love of God, STOP SPLASHING RIGHT NOW! CAN"T YOU SEE I'M DRENCHED! AND I REALLY DON'T HAVE TIME TO MOP UP THE FLOOR AGAIN!" Because, really, the twins just think it's comical when Mommy loses her cool. And when they laugh at me, they win. And I can't let them win!

Once we get in the tub, I talk up all of their tub toys: "Oh, look! There are the basketballs and the net! And here's your little fishing pole! Look at the tub crayons! Can you draw Mommy a picture!" And they either don't care about the toys or they just love to piss me off, because they immediately decide that splashing is WAY more fun than drawing Mommy some stupid picture. The splashing starts about 5 seconds after they get in the tub. Which means I have to wash their hair and scrub their little bodies at warp-speed and lift their kicking, screaming, soaking bodies out of the tub while they yell, "TUBBY! WANT TUBBY!!!"

You'd think with all this exercise, wrestling 30-pounders in and out of the tub, I'd have lost all of the baby weight by now. Not so, my friends. :(

The Twin Takeover

What is it with the twins and dish towels?

I'm not really one to *decorate* for any holidays other than Christmas, but I do have cute little dish towels that I change with the appropriate season or holiday. This month it's white towels with simple, understated hearts. I hang them over the handle of my oven. There's really nothing fancy or ostentatious about them; in other words, they don't have blinking lights or loud noises or anything that otherwise resembles a toddler toy. But for some reason the twins simply CANNOT leave them alone. No sooner do I put out a dish towel than they are pulled off of the handle and placed on the floor. I can't tell you how many times a day I nearly fall ass over teakettle because I've slipped on one of the towels. (Not good when you have a 6 week old baby in your arms.) So, I've put the dish towels away (sigh), along with the kitchen chairs (because the twins climb up onto the table and dump salt everywhere), the diaper caddy (because they pull out all of the wipes one by one), and the fireplace screen (because they hurl their bodies against it until it falls over.)

At what point does my house become MINE again?!?!

Talking...

I find this language acquisition thing incredibly fascinating. Watching the twins progress from babbling to being able to follow simple directions to uttering a word or two to being able to communicate some of their needs has been amazing. It's one thing to hear them use words that we have been working on (i.e. more, please, help, bless you) , but it's quite another to hear them say things that they have just picked up along the way. Like when Charlotte slings her purse over her shoulder and exclaims, "Bye Mommy! I miss you Mommy!" Or when I lather Gavin's head with shampoo and he points to his "bubble hat."
Just as cute (but slightly more obnoxious) is when they refer to us as "Amy" and "Michael."

What amazes me most is when they bust out in a song that I didn't even know they knew. Just the other day Gavin started singing Frere Jacques, and he was perfectly on pitch. Charlotte's new favorite is "Rocka," aka Rockabye Baby.

Who knows what the next few months have in store in terms of language acquisition? I can't wait to find out.

I'm off to try to watch the Obama Inauguration. Too bad the twins are too little to know they are witnessing history!

Why I'll Be Throwing My Snack-Traps Away (or Free-Cycling Them...We'll See)

Moooooooooo!

Does anyone else have children who make this much noise when they eat? My house sounds like a dairy farm!

Also for your viewing pleasure: Gavin in a food coma after trying (and loving) water ice for the first time and Charlotte entertaining us with a rousing rendition of "The Wheels on the Bus."

Catching Up

Wow, I really fell off the blogging wagon this past week. The weather has been incredible here, and the last place I wanted to be was holed up in the basement, at the computer, away from all the sunshine. So I barely even checked my email.

We were out for lots of walks this week. Not much of interest going on, except maybe:

1. Gavin is getting his eye teeth AND his molars at once. Yikes. He's been up often during the night.

2. Charlotte has a nasty rash. I thought it was diaper rash, but it seems to be more of the yeast-variety. In the same vein, we've put her back on soy formula and nixed the whole milk for now.

3. I joined my local library. I've dragged my feet about joining because it's kind of a joke of a library--they still have a CARD CATALOG, for crying out loud--but a new library is in the works and the plans look promising. Gavin checked out The Pigeon Has Feelings, Too! , Leo, The Late Bloomer, and War and Peace.

4. Charlotte is saying her first semi-recognizable word: key, which means kitty-cat. Gavin has been saying uh-oh for a while, but this week added Ma! to his repertoire. Finally!

We're Here Again?

So how come nobody told me that I'd have to do cry-it-out more than once?

Charlotte and Gavin have been putting themselves to sleep for a long time now. We get a bath, we read a book, we sing a few songs, and then they go to sleep! Done! But for the past four nights the babies have been screaming at bedtime. They stand up in their cribs and howl until they can't catch their breath. Gavin has gone so far as to hurl his pacifier across the room in frustration. What gives?

The first night of this, I ignored them, mainly because I had to go grocery shopping. It took them about a half and hour to quiet down that night, according to Michael (so I'm automatically tacking on an additional 15 minutes to his estimate). The past few nights, I've been caving and going up to rock them. That's because (a) when I rock them, they literally fall asleep within five minutes, and (b) they've had some major intestinal distress* over the past 2 weeks, and I don't know if they're doing this because they don't feel well or what. They are literally pooping about 8 times a day, each. Is that TMI? To complicate matters, Charlotte just cut her third tooth.

I've read that sometimes babies go through these phases where their sleep is disrupted for a while. I'm just not sure if I'm setting a precedent by going in and rocking them. Perhaps I should let them cry it out again? I hate this part of parenting!

*That's a whole other topic. I've been giving them rice, bread, bananas, applesauce, white grape juice, and anti-diarrheal formula....anything to stop the constant flow of poop! Nothing is working!

Let Them Eat Cake!

I've got the first birthday party under my belt. It went well, I think. My cats were only moderately terrorized, and just one child puked due to accidentally ingesting Rice Krispie Treats made with fluff, which apparently contain egg whites. (Mia Culpa, Jakob!)

We stuck with The Cat in the Hat theme, which was pretty easy and I was pleased with the overall effect. I'm no Keri, but I tried. Here are a few of the highlights:

Happy Birthday, Babies!

Dear Charlotte,

One year ago you had enough of Gavin's shenanigans and decided you were ready, already. You cried a bit upon delivery, but the nurses noted that you mostly just looked around in wonder. You had your eyes open for nearly an hour, they said, which is unheard of for a 31-week newborn. And you continued to surprise us on a daily basis. "Preemies don't nurse well; they only get 10 cc's at most," they said. But then you went and took 60 cc's! Holding you on your true birth day was the realization of so many of my wishes. Watching you grow has been amazing. The nicknames your grandparents have given you, "Nosy Rosie" and "The Newsbox," fit you perfectly. You are extremely alert and observant, and always have been. You're certainly not a cuddler, but I live for those tight squeezes you give me every morning when I get you out of your crib. You've captured everyone's heart with that sweet smile and a sense of humor that's emerging already. Daddy and I can't wait to share the wonders of the world with you.

I love you!

Mommy

Dear Gavin,

You gave your parents quite a few scares with all that heart-rate-dropping business, but look at you now, kiddo. We weren't allowed to hold you for a few days after your birth, and that was pure torture...but you are so worth the wait. We remember when you always had your little hands in tight fists, and your body was so tense. We were afraid that your motor development would be seriously delayed. But you crawled first, and are now pulling up on everything! You are incredibly curious, too. I love watching you study new objects, turning them over and over in your hands to get a better look. And everyone loves your sweet disposition; even strangers are immediately drawn to you. You have a big world to explore out there, but for now I love having you close, sitting on my lap. Hope it stays that way for years to come.

I love you!

Mommy

Books and Sports...Really, What Else is There?

Ever since the twins were born, Michael and I have been daydreaming about hypothetical moments we will one day share with them. Since I am an elementary school teacher and *almost* a Reading Specialist (blame it on the preemies...they came when I was two classes short of my degree), I have had visions of cuddling under the covers with Charlotte and Gavin, reading The Tale of Despereaux or The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles and stopping for the night just before we get to the good part, despite their protests. I've always felt that Charlotte will be a Book Worm like her mother, especially since I chose her name from the first book I ever loved, Charlotte's Web.

Michael has different dreams for Gavin. Since Michael was a running back in high school and still plays on a flag football team today, he can hardly wait to toss a ball around with Gavin. Even when the babies were in utero, Michael was trying to talk to Gavin about his first love (no, not me...sports).

Here's what I love about raising kids: every preconceived notion you have about what parenting is going to be like is shattered the moment that little person(s) is born. Every plan you have for raising your child is modified in a way that you probably would never have imagined. And today I had to smile when the twins reminded me of that!

Here's Charlotte, crushing all gender stereotypes by playing with her beloved ball. I'm almost certain her first word will either be "ball" or "Gavin," since those seem to be the two things she's most interested in. And she already plays a mean game of catch!

And here's Gavin, melting his mother's heart by closely studying nearly every board book we own. To hell with your preconceived notions, Momma!

Catch-All Post

Wow, it's been a heck of a long time since I blogged. A lot has been going on lately.

I'll give you the general idea:
Last weekend, several of my friends from college and I got together for a girls' weekend. It was heavenly. The company was fantastic, the food was delicious, the conversation was wonderful, and the relaxation was just what the doctor ordered. We went to a spa on Saturday, and I treated myself to a facial and a massage. (Actually, Michael treated me, as a Valentine's Day gift.) As one of my girlfriends noted, the weekend was effortless. Hanging out with them is easy, easy, easy, and even though I hadn't seen some of them in years, it was like no time had passed at all. Those are the best kinds of friends.

The babies' naps are getting slightly longer, thanks to an earlier bedtime and strict adherence to the clock. We were at a half-hour max, and now I might get an hour in there a couple times a week. Naptimes are at 9am and 1pm sharp. If they skimp on the later nap, which they usually do, it's an earlier bedtime to make up for it...usually around 6:15pm. Believe it or not, the naps are beginning to lengthen, knock on wood, so we'll see where this goes. If it works, I owe it all to Dr. Weissbluth.

We toured The Malvern School the other day, and liked it. My nephew goes there and seems to really enjoy it, or at least he isn't totally unhappy. I just about cry at the thought of handing my babies over to someone else for most of the day, but I don't really have another option. They will be with my mom for two days a week, and the environment at The Malvern School seems very nurturing and positive. I know they'll do well there, and I'm thankful I've been able to spend so much time home with them. The next six months are going to fly by...

I'm co-teaching a few workshops for the Pennsylvania Writing and Literacy Project (PAWLP) in April and June. I'm excited about it, and ready to start thinking like a teacher again instead of just a mommy. I became a Fellow of the Literacy Institute in 2004, and I'm seriously considering becoming a writing Fellow this summer. More on that later.

In other baby news, the babies have a new favorite game that I like to call "You're Playing With That Toy? I Want That Toy." As you can imagine, it consists of taking toys out of each other's hands and making each other cry. Oddly enough, their favorite toys are the tubes of Boudreaux's Butt Paste and the wipes containers.

I am really into American Idol this season. My early favorite is Michael....older guy, sang Bohemian Rhapsody. (I find him impossibly sexy...but then again, I find Prince sexy, so you may think my radar is a bit off...)

Because we are such romantics (cough, cough), the husband and I made spinach-and-feta stuffed salmon and mashed potatoes for Valentine's Day. For dessert we had pound cake, strawberries, and marshmallows dipped in chocolate fondue. And when I say the husband and I made it, I really mean I made it while he watched Entertainment Tonight.

I think that's about it. Now you're all caught up!

The Cuteness Renders You Powerless!

Who Are These Twins, and What Have You Done With Mine?

Things in the Tulip and Turnip Household have changed dramatically in the last two days. First of all, Gavin took three excellent naps yesterday. He hasn't done that, ever. And lest you think that those naps gave me some respite, a break from the daily grind, a chance to sit down and enjoy the latest issue of Country Living whilst sipping a cup of coffee...think again. Because yesterday was the day that Charlotte, who has been a fair napper all along, decided NOT. TO. NAP. She's up to those tricks again today...I just put them down for their morning nap and she's been hollering for a good twenty minutes.

Gavin has also recently decided that his most favorite thing to do is dance in the kitchen with Mommy while listening to the iPod, preferably to Amos Lee's "Sweet Pea." It's actually pretty cute...he gets all excited and starts swaying to the music and kicking his legs as I twirl him around. But when the song ends, he wails. And continues wailing until we start over again. I'm pretty certain he is wondering where Amos Lee actually is, because he stares at the iPod so intently as we dance, as if he is certain that the man is going to appear, guitar in hand, and start strumming away in a private concert, just for us. He has also recently discovered that he can insert his fingers and arms into our toys that have holes. He got his arm stuck in a dump truck yesterday. And the biting, that's another story. I have teeth marks all over my shoulders.

Other than deciding not to nap, Charlotte has picked up a few tricks too. I think she's only just decided that she likes me. She has never been a particularly clingy baby, but lately she wants to be held often. And when I'm holding her, from time to time she will open her mouth as wide as it will go and attempt to suck/lick my cheek or mouth. I'm not sure if this is a baby-kiss or something to do with the fact that she's teething, but either way, it's pretty darn cute. She's been signing "all done" too, but it's never when we finish a meal as I had planned. It's when she's in the Exersaucer, or having tummy time, or at other times when it doesn't really make sense. (You could argue that she's telling me she's all done with the Exersaucer or tummy time, but I think she's really just interested in the movement of her hands.)

Anyway, I was going back and forth about signing them up for Kindermusik, but since Gavin seems so obsessed with dancing/Amos Lee, and since Charlotte has been preoccupied with her hand movements, I'm reconsidering. I might have two little musicians on my hands.

P.S. Charlotte did eventually stop hollering. I don't want you to think I typed this post while Charlotte screamed in her crib! But now I hear Gavin....

My New Obsession

Have you seen the i-Caught "Your Life in Three Words" feature on Good Morning America? I think it only airs on weekends, but I am completely obsessed with it. Basically, people send in a video or a photo of three words that describe their present situation. Then GMA compiles the submissions and puts them to music. They always choose a great song, which totally feeds in to my obsession. It's super-difficult to explain...just go watch it. I'll wait.

You watched it? Good. Here's my submission. Let's hope they add it to one of their montages!

Too Much TV?

I try not to leave the TV on too much during the day, I really do. But it can be nice at times just to have the background noise, and also just to feel a little more connected to the outside world. Honestly, I feel so cooped-up and trapped on some days, especially because it's so cold that I can't really take them out for nice long walks anymore.

But I have to wonder if I have the TV on too much lately, because every time the "800-588-2300, Empire!" jingle comes on TV, the babies literally stop in their tracks, turn to look at the TV, and start gyrating their torsos in what I can only surmise is their first baby dance. (Although it looks a little like an upright version of The Worm. Maybe they're trying to breakdance?) Either way, it's freakin' hysterical. One of these days I'm going to take a video and upload it for you all to see.

Charlotte and Gavin as Elves

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1457604542