Christmas!

The day after Christmas is so depressing. It is a holiday that nearly everyone looks forward to and spends hours and hours preparing for, but then 24 hours later, it is all over.  I think the day after Christmas is maybe my least favorite day of the year, followed by the day after my birthday.  At least I didn't have to get up the next day to go to work as many people did. 

Alena kept telling me about how excited she was for Christmas Eve so that morning, everyone slept in until 7:30 and we had a quick breakfast and got ready to head to Papa and Grandma's house.  We spent the day playing and Alena convinced Grandma to let her and her brother and sister open one gift.  After lunch, the twins went down for a nap, and the adults were actually able to play a game of golf (since children/grandchildren, our hours of game playing on the holidays has been cut short!). 

After naps, we all got dressed in our finest and headed to church.  It was a good reminder why we don't go to church on a weekly basis-it is hard with three little ones, especially when the two youngest want to get down and run around (and we even had two extra adults to help!).  Lauren loved the music and the clapping (although she usually clapped at the wrong times-like when it was silent!). She also left quite a few Kix on the floor to let God know she was there.  We survived the entire service, including the children's play, then headed to our favorite Christmas Eve location, The Mandarin.  It wasn't too busy when we got there, but during dinner, the place filled up very quickly.  The fish tank kept the kids entertained until our dinner arrived.  Everyone was so hungry and as usual the food was excellent!  Caleb even enjoyed some of Grandma's hot tea.  As is tradition, Jason called during dinner to join in on the fun.

We then headed back to Grandma and Papa's house to open presents.  As usual, they bought WAY too much but all three little ones took a turn at ripping the paper off.  During gift opening, we watched most of The Christmas Story before packing everything and everyone into the van for the trip home.  We carried the sleeping twins into the house and placed them in their crib while Alena picked out cookies for Santa.  She also left 8 carrots and water for his 8 reindeer and we checked the Santa Radar before heading up to bed.  Since both babies were already in bed, both Justin and I put Alena to sleep (we usually take turns).  We read the Night Before Christmas and the 12 Days of Christmas then kissed her goodnight. 

 

Alena picking out Santa's cookies

Luckily Santa had all the gifts wrapped so we just had to fill the stockings, place the gifts around the tree and get things prepared for breakfast the next morning.  The twins woke up around 7 and Alena was up at 7:30.  We opened our stockings first, then enjoyed breakfast before opening the gifts under the tree.  Later that afternoon, Grandma and Grandpa S arrived.  We watched the Polar Express, opened gifts, then enjoyed a marinated pork chop dinner, requested by Alena. 

It was a fun two days celebrating Christmas.  The favorite gifts were definitely the trampoline, the tent and tunnel, and the magnetic building shapes.  Although, I think I received the best present:  A new camera!  I am so excited to have a nice camera to take pictures with.  We will have many, many special memories in the future with our little ones and having a nice camera that takes good pictures is so important!  I make a photo book every year for each child, depicting what we did over the year, including pictures of other family members.  It's a fun keepsake that will now be even better because the quality of photos will be amazing!  Thanks Santa! 

Traditions

Who doesn't love traditions, especially around the holidays?  Everyone has their own special things they like to do to celebrate and many traditions have been started in our family.  I think it's important to not get overloaded with traditions though, which can be stressful and make you forget the real meaning of the holidays.  These are some of our traditions:

1.  The Tree - One of the first traditions of the holidays is picking out our Christmas tree. I love that our tree has been hand planted by my dad many years ago and shaped by his own hands.  It is so special going to Papa's house to tag our tree or cut it down.  Each year, we seem to get a bigger and bigger tree (we had to cut some of the top off this year to make it fit). Maybe our ceilings are getting smaller or my ability to gauge the height of a tree is WAY off!  I like to have the tree up in early December so we can enjoy it for the entire month.

2.  Ornaments - My mom buys the kids a new ornament each year. I keep the boxes of each ornament, labeled with the date to help keep them all organized. Justin and I also have our own ornaments from when we were growing up and before we had children.  The little ones love picking out their ornaments and I think they will be excited to put them on their ow tree after they leave home.  I was thinking of making a handmade ornament this year with every one's thumbprint, but I may not have time...

3.  Cookies - Since we've had Alena, we have made it a tradition to make sugar cookies with Grandma and Papa.  Papa is always helpful and makes the dough ahead of time (we use the same yummy recipe).  Each year, Alena has gotten more and more into making the cookies. This year, she pretty much rolled her own dough, cut out the cookies and frosted and decorated them without much help.  Lauren and Caleb skipped the decorating this year because they were napping, but they did get to enjoy their first cookie after their slumber!  They enjoyed it! 

4. Elf On The Shelf - I honestly had never heard of Elf on the Shelf until my mom bought us one the year Alena was born. It sounded a little weird at first, but thought it might be fun once she was 2.  I know some people use the little elf to threaten their little ones to behave.  We don't do that. Instead we have fun hiding him each night, or making him do naughty things, but we don't tell the kids "The Elf is watching you."  Alena gets a kick out of looking for him each morning and it's a great way to get her out of bed in the morning on school days :).

5.  Gingerbread House - This was a new one this year but I would say it was successful. Alena enjoyed decorating the premade gingerbread house with frosting and candies (I can't imagine doing one that wasn't already put together!).  I'm not sure if this tradition will continue-I guess it will be up to Alena and the twins. 

6.  Tour of Christmas Lights - We have "sort of" done this each year but it will be more fun when the kids are older. Alena and I will go out later this week in the evening for a tour of lights around our neighborhood. I think it would be fun to sip hot chocolate, but she doesn't like hot chocolate so I guess a little glass of juice will have to suffice.

7.  Christmas Eve - Growing up, my family always went to church on Christmas Eve, watched the play of the birth of Jesus, and went to the Mandarin for dinner.  My brother used to be horrified that we went out for dinner on Christmas Eve.  When we first started this tradition, we were probably the only people at the Chinese restaurant.  Wouldn't you know it, now a days, that place is hopping!  I'd like to think people realized what a great idea it was and followed in our footprints. Who wants to make dinner Christmas Eve, when you will probably be making a big feast on Christmas Day?  My brother still thinks it's crazy, but when he is back in Iowa, he can't deny enjoying his Mongolian Beef at the Mandarin.  "Fa Ra Ra Ra Ra...Ra Ra Ra Ra"

8.  Starting this year, I am going to allow each kid to open one present on Christmas Eve. This will include new jammies and a family movie we will all enjoy together before going to bed and preparing for Santa to come.

9.  Preparing for Santa - Alena sets out cookies and milk for Santa and carrots and water for his reindeer.  I know some people who go a little overboard making it look like Santa came (sleigh tracks in the snow, reindeer "droppings", etc). 

10.  Wrapping Presents - I grew up with all of our presents wrapped, including those from Santa and stocking stuffers.  Justin did too, so that is what we do. I do try and use special paper for Santa's gifts (ie paper with Santa on it).  The REALLY big gifts won't get wrapped because let's be honest, that's a lot of work for Santa and a waste of paper in my mind. 

As much as I love the holidays, I hate how fast they go by.  Alena is going to be really sad when Christmas is over this year and I'm sure for the next 12 months, we will  hear "when is it going to be Christmas again?" 

Twins-15 Months

When someone asks you, what is your favorite age of kids?  I would definitely have to say from 1-2.  It is amazing how much they learn in that little span of time.  They are still too innocent to have much of an attitude, they still cuddle and they let you carry them around, and they are eager to learn.  I love how 1-2 year olds start mimicking adults and turn into little people.  I sometimes think if I was a daycare provider, what age of children would I want to have?  I think 1-2 year olds would be perfect.  Lauren and Caleb's teacher, Molly, also taught Alena and helped shape her into who she is today.  As a daycare provider, it would be fun to see these little "infants" come into your room when they turn 1, learn how to walk, run, talk, color scribble, eat with utensils, and interact with others before turning 2 and moving on to the next room.  Molly is loving, but firm.  The other day she was instructing a friend to sit back down at the breakfast table if he wanted to have another drink of milk. He was not happy, but rules are rules.  We are so excited to have her teaching the twins.  I strongly believe that this is such a crucial age for development and having someone who will show love and affection as well as instill rules is important. 

I remember when the twins were infants and I would see other mothers of twins when I was out and about with them.  Many times these moms would say to me "it gets easier."  Now that I have two toddlers, instead of two infants, it is easier, but also harder in a different way.  They are m-o-b-i-l-e!  I still haven't been brave enough to take them into a store and let them both walk.  I'm sure I'd spend 90% of the time, chasing after them and 10% shopping, (guess that would limit my spending!).  The other day, the girls were out at the mall and I let Lauren out of the stroller.  She moseyed in and out of the women's clothing sections at Younkers, (I think she was shopping for Grandma), having a ball.  Soon after, she started following her older sister and laughing.  It is so crazy watching two little ones walk around like little people.  They are so small still that I would be scared I would lose them amongst the racks of clothes or in a crowd of people.  And those backpack leashes make me cringe...

Lauren:  My little fire cracker!  We love your fun, loving personality.  You make us laugh so much.  You have really caught on to mimicking us and love to comb your hair (and your sister's), wash your face, play peek a boo, and make silly faces at us.  We have been working on animal sounds and you have quite the neigh!  Along with your silly personality, you also have a little attitude.  You do not like when we tell you no or you can't have something.  You stick your bottom lip out as far as it will go and the biggest tears roll down your cheeks.  It's so hard not to smile at that pouty face.  You also think you are much bigger than you are and often try to take your brother down (it's a good thing he's like a big teddy bear and doesn't mind).  You mastered walking before your brother, but he wasn't soon after you.  For a peanut, you are a pretty good eater.  I think your favorite foods now are corn, cottage cheese, any fruit, and yogurt.  You still are not a big meat eater, but hey who blames you when you only have two teeth!  I think your top 4 teeth are on their way. 

Caleb:  I knew once you figured out walking, you would just take off.  Pretty soon you will be running.  You love this new found freedom and walk around with your arms in the air making dinosaur sounds.  You are so excited for yourself!  You have actually said more words than Lauren and your favorite words are tractor and cracker (OK so they sound alike, but I do think you differentiate between the two :)).  You can impersonate a monkey, bark like a dog and meow-all things that will take you a long way in life :).  I know I have said this before, but you are all boy.  Some of it must be inborn because I've never shown you how to push tractors and trucks, but you have done it as long as you could crawl.  You are also a messy eater, which must be a male trait.  Lauren picks up one morsel of food at a time, while you grab a handful and try to shove it all in your mouth at the same time.  The other day at the mall, instead of playing in germ land, you wanted to walk around and around the two cars parked in the middle of the mall.  Maybe you were wondering, "why are there cars in the mall? or maybe you were really fascinated with the cars-all I know is we couldn't pry you away from them.  You are such a snuggler and hugger.  I love it and so do your teachers.  Miss Pinky loves when we come back to say "hi" and she gets another hug (she told another mom that you and Lauren have been her favorite little ones thus far). 

I'm looking forward to the next few months-watching you learn new things every day!  Please don't grow up too fast! 

Another One Bites The Dust

We were oh so excited to spend the week of Thanksgiving in Colorado with my brother, his family, and my parents. I wasn't really looking forward to the 10 hour drive with two 14 month olds but remembered we had made this trip less than 6 months ago without any difficulty. Alena rode with my parents in my moms car and arrived in Loveland about an hour and a half before us.

Our trip was very smooth. We stopped at Wal-Mart in Omaha to let the twins get their wiggles out, and walk around. (Sorry Wal-Mart for the $1.99 light up candy cane I'm sure my daughter broke as she repeatedly hit it on the floor). We also survived two meals out and they both took a decent nap in the afternoon. The last hour of the trip was probably the longest (for all of us), so I sat between them doing whatever I could to entertain them:  singing, listening to music, making silly faces, reading.  Finally, we arrived around 7:00 PM and encircled everyone in a hug.  That was when I realized Alena was wearing different clothes and there was a pile of clothes on the driveway wrapped in a plastic bag.  I should have known that was a bad sign.  Apparently, Alena got sick twice in the car, (I am so thankful for patient grandparents!).  My parents thought it was just car sickness as she acted fine the rest of the day/evening and ate a good dinner -besides looking white as a marshmallow! I knew better-this girl has never been car sick.  THIS WAS A GI BUG! 

The next day was Sunday, and Alena felt much better and we sort of forgot about the BUG.  Deaner, however, wasn't feeling all that great, but contributed that to the recent course of Augmentin she was on for a sinus infection.  We spent the day outside (it was in the 50's) and went to the Children's Museum in Fort Collins. 

 Experiencing hurricane strength winds

 

 Playing Music

 

Caleb wasn't so sure about the snake (me either!)

 



Monday, Jason and Deaner both had to work so we had to play zone defense:  4 adults against 5 kids.  Mom and I decided to take the older kids shopping at the Outlet Mall while the guys played one on one with the babies.  Caleb was not a happy camper when we left with the girls, so he got to go on an outing to Jax with daddy and Papa all by himself (he is Papa's boy!).  By this time, we had forgotten all about Alena's little illness.

I went to bed Monday night with a headache and nausea, which I thanked the twins for because they were sleeping HORRIBLY!  However, early in the morning, the BUG struck another victim.  Trips to the bathroom, coupled with getting up multiple times with the littlest Schaacks made for a very tired mommy (and daddy).  The next morning, we learned the BUG attacked another victim-my dad. He stayed in bed until 11:00.  For those of you that know my dad, that is unheard of. He is usually the first one up, making breakfast or playing with the little ones-he takes advantage of every minute with his grandchildren no matter how tired he is.  We had planned on taking all the kids to the indoor swimming pool so we all got our suits on and were ready to head out the door when Lauren's dinner from the night before ended up in Addie's swim bag.  Another one bites the dust.  So the three sickos stayed home to rest and disinfect the house while the others headed to the pool. 

Later that afternoon, my mom was making some frequent trips to the bathroom and wasn't feeling all that great either.  Deaner continued to have issues too.  While I was out on a walk with Caleb, yet another victim fell ill to the BUG. I walked into the living room and poor Addie was lying on the couch, her hair wet from a recent shower.  Deaner also had to shower as Addie's lunch ended up on her.  By this time, I was ready to get in the van and drive home-we were so tired from sleepless nights and were scared the rest of the family was going to get this "deadly," highly contagious thing!  We were even second guessing having a Thanksgiving meal because who knew who would be well enough to eat!  Thankfully, my brother was able to see the positive side of this whole ordeal. He went out the next day and bought a 24 pound turkey! 

By the next day, we were all feeling better, except Deaner (she likely had c. diff from her antibiotics).  My dad was up early, baking the pies, preparing the pretzel salad, and getting as much food prepared as possible before turkey day.  I kept waiting for Caleb, Justin and Jason to get ill, but they never did. 

Thanksgiving morning, mom, Jason and I ran the 5K turkey trot.  I ran this two years ago and it is always such fun-the turnout is great and it is well organized!  We all ran very well (Jason got 2nd in his age group and mom got 3rd).  It's nice to start a day where you are going to gorge yourself with a little exercise :).  We loved having all the kids at the finish line to cheer us on.  Maybe next year the older girls can do it with us. 

We hurried home to help get the Thanksgiving meal prepared:  Turkey, homemade stuffing, real mashed potatoes and homemade gravy, homemade rolls with homemade strawberry jam, pretzel salad, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole with beans from Papa's garden, corn from Papa's garden, wild rice, and homemade cranberry sauce.  Plus pumpkin and pecan pie for dessert-it was all delicious and reminded me of why this is my favorite holiday.  I love spending it with my family and eating all the homemade food.  We were all so glad that Justin didn't get the BUG because last year he wasn't able to enjoy Thanksgiving, (he was developing a bowel obstruction after his hernia surgery). 

Their first Thanksgiving meal-I think the corn was their favorite

 



After getting all the little ones asleep, Deaner, mom and I went out for a little "Black Friday" shopping.  We got some great deals and were home by 11:30.  The next morning, we headed back home, following my parents and Alena.  We had all decided to come home a day early to have an extra day to get ready for the upcoming week.  It was a long trip home.  The twins did really well and we utilized the Wal-Mart in Grand Island this time to burn off some energy and have dinner before getting Jammie's on.  They slept the rest of the way home.  Wouldn't you know it, they slept the rest of the night after we got home-little stinkers! 

So, what have we learned from this trip:
1.  Also pack a "puke" bag and have extra clothes for everyone.
2.  No matter how much you disinfect/wash hands, the BUG will find you!
3.  No more family get togethers in the Winter!  (OK, that isn't possible, but seriously every family get together ends up with people getting sick!). 
4.  No more than 1 overnight stay per visit for the twins until they are 2 or are done teething! 
5.  Thank God for grandparents who watch the little ones in the morning, while the parents catch up on sleep!
6.  Once again, we are so glad we have our mini van. We had PLENTY of room for everything we needed, plus some extra stuff you never know if you will need.

Years from now, we will all remember this Thanksgiving and laugh about it.  Some wonderful memories were made!

Night Night

Every parent has developed their own bedtime routine to help get their little ones to sleep. I love hearing what other parents do and comparing it to our own routines. Do you bathe nightly and go right to bed after a bath? Do you sing to your little ones and rock them to sleep?  Do they sleep with a lovey?  A blanket?  A pacifier?  Or God forbid, do you lay them down with a bottle? 

Shortly after having kids, I learned about how important it is to develop a good routine to help cue children that it is time to fall asleep. Luckily we have been blessed with three pretty good sleepers. Alena's bedtime routine has evolved over the last 4 years. It is a LONG routine so we usually start the process at least 30 minutes before her actual "time to sleep" time.  As she's gotten older, she attempts to delay her bedtime as much as possible.  We bathe the little ones every other night.  I know some people may think that is crazy, but honestly unless it's 100 degrees out and they have been rolling around in dirt, a bath every night is just not necessary.  Plus, I love having a little extra time in the evenings to spend with my loves.  Justin and I trade off nights putting Alena to sleep. She is so good at giving her brother and sister a hug and a kiss before she goes up for bed. There have been many instances where we put a twin to bed before Alena had a chance to give him/her a goodnight kiss. So we allow her to quietly go into their room and blow that twin a kiss otherwise she will not go to sleep!  Because her bedtime routine is so long, she usually only has time for one book.  Lately, she will get hooked on a couple books that we read over and over for many weeks before moving onto new books. After her book we turn the lights off for story time. She used to let us make up stories, which I found pretty enjoyable. My favorite was the story with the Chinese lady who found our lost cat, Milo. I had perfected my Chinese accent after telling this story many, many times.  We both would end up cracking up during this story.  Lately, she wants us to retell a story of something that actually happened, such as a recent wedding we went to or a trip we took. After the story, she usually needs to go to the bathroom again (she must have inherited my bladder), and have a drink of water. Sometimes applying chap stick and lotion comes next. Finally, she is tucked back into bed again. However, before she will fall asleep, she makes me give each of her teddys a hug and a kiss. We used to limit her to 2 animals, but lately a third has joined her in bed. After turning on her fan, and giving her a big hug and kiss, I'm finally free to leave the room. (We are big believers in white noise and have a fan running in each bedroom).

The twins usually give cues to let us know they are ready for bed. Many times Lauren is ready to hit the sack by 7:00 PM. We sometimes lay them down at the same time, but if we don't, we make sure the first twin is asleep before putting the other one down. I like to sing them a song while walking upstairs with them before turning on their lullaby CD and fan and laying them down in the crib with their lovey. Lauren is obsessed with sucking on her bunny's ears and Caleb just gives his lion a hug and rolls onto his tummy. Lauren is definitely a deeper sleeper than Caleb and can sleep through Caleb crying if he wakes up from teething pain. Lauren, however, has a high ear-piercing cry that no one can sleep through! Caleb loves his little cat naps in the van on the way to and from school. I've also learned that he can sleep pretty much anywhere if he's tired. A few weeks ago he fell asleep in his high chair during lunch. A few months ago, he was in the infant room and Ms Pinky was looking for him and couldn't find him. He had crawled over to his crib, grabbing a stuffed panda on the way, and fallen asleep right in front of his crib. Just recently he fell asleep on the playground at school!  The great thing is, he is always in a good mood, even after just a little cat nap. 

We are so thankful that Alena continues to take a nap most of the time, but lately she has been protesting her nap. We still tell her she has to go up to her room for "quiet time" and 9 times out of 10, she will fall asleep.  It is so nice on the weekend to have a couple hours of kid-free time.  Justin and I usually hurry and get as much done around the house or outside as possible before anyone wakes from their slumber.

Now if only there was time during day for mom and dad to take a nap...

"I think I'll Take This Moment To Celebrate My Life..."

"...the ending of an era and the turning of a page." - Phil Vassar

Wow, it's hard to believe I am 33 years young. I wish in high school I would have written down what I thought I would be doing in my 30's, 40's, etc. I wonder if I would have predicted to be where I am right now. As I look back over the years, I realize I really haven't done all that much.

I had a busy childhood full of activities. There were few sports I didn't try and I'm still not sure how my parents were able to afford everything, let alone get me and my brother to all of our practices, meets, competitions, and games. Competitive gymnastics required training at least 5 days a week, plus multiple competitions outside of the state of Iowa. I chose to stop gymnastics when I was a Freshman in high school to focus on high school sports. I likely gave up a gymnastics scholarship when I made this choice. Looking back, I wonder if that was the best decision, but at the time my heart was not in the sport any longer. Although, this gave me the opportunity to do high school sports including volleyball and track.

Thankfully, I was on the track team or I would never have met Justin. We first met prior to track season in the weight room. He soon became one of our hurdle coaches and a good friend to many of us. We reconnected after I graduated and have now been together for nearly 14 years. Finding someone you want to spend the rest of your life with is something we all hope to have happen some day. I recently read a blog about marriage, reminding everyone that you don't marry to make yourself happy, you marry someone to make them happy. I hope that Justin would say I make him happy.

I think I would have predicted I would have 2-3 little ones by the time I was 33 years old. I never would have predicted to have twins, but we got two for the price of one and are truly blessed. I love being a mother and hope that my children would say I'm a good mom. It is definitely more challenging, but more rewarding that I ever thought it would be.

So now that I am turning the 33rd page of my life and starting my 34th page, I have so much more I want to accomplish. I am looking forward to traveling more and cannot wait for our trip in 2 years to celebrate our 10th anniversary. I've always been jealous that my brother was able to backpack through Europe and visit so many countries. I am fascinated with the Holocaust and would like to visit Auschwitz some day. Some days I think to myself, "I can't wait until my children are older so we can do ___" Then I realize that they are already growing up too fast and I wish I could freeze time. I love each new stage of development and I want to keep them little for as long as possible. When things slow down, I'd love to find time to volunteer again. I also have lots of little projects around the home that I hope to find time to do (thanks to Pinterest).

I also need to change my mindset. I have always been a worrier, and busy body type of person. Lately, I've realized that I have missed so much. My oldest is definitely a "stop and smell the flowers" type of girl. She likes to take her time getting dressed in the morning, picking out the perfect snack and toys to bring for a two hour road trip, or walk slowly through the grocery store, when I have limited time to get the items on my list and get out of there. Why are we always in such a hurry?

Today my 90 year old dialysis patient reminded me of something we should all live by: Live for today, forget yesterday, and don't worry about tomorrow. I definitely need to start living in the present and "spend precious moments with the one that I hold dear." Here's to the next 33 years!

 

Four Eyes

Glasses.  I'm just not quite sure how people are able to wear them.  I'm a little more than 1 week into my "three weeks out of contacts" phase before LASIK surgery and I'm going crazy!  I feel like people are staring at me like I have coke bottle lenses. 

I'm constantly pushing my glasses back up my nose because I often need to lean over to assess patients or pick up a little one.  You'd think my long nose would prevent them from sliding down, but it doesn't.  Apparently, glasses can really change your appearance.  Patients I have been seeing weekly for the last three years have asked who I am.  Does adding spectacles really make you look that different?

Working out with glasses on has been challenging.  I've tried running with them on, but my face just gets sweaty, making the bridge of my nose slick, forcing me to constantly push my glasses up. I literally spent the entire run using my right index finger to slide my glasses up.  So now I just choose to run without them, wearing bright colored clothes, hoping cars will yield to me.  If only I had light up shoes.  This past weekend my mom and I ran the 5 mile Hot Chocolate Run.  I told her I was not going to have my glasses on so she'd have to lead me.  She reminded me that she wouldn't be wearing her contacts or glasses either.  The blind leading the blind.  We survived. 

Do most people have prescription sunglasses?  What about those little clip on things?  Are those still around?  What if you're out shopping at an outdoor mall, going in and out of stores. Do you keep changing from your glasses to your prescription sunglasses?  I'm sure I'd leave one of those at a store.  Last weekend I started a new fad and wore my sunglasses OVER my glasses at the Hawkeye football game.

Little ones LOVE to pull glasses off your face.  DQ thinks this is a fun game and spends nearly every evening taking my glasses off, trying to put them on herself or back on my face, while placing her slobbery fingers all over the lenses.  I eventually just have to put them on the counter which usually causes her to voice a complaint. 

I used to work with a PA who wore only glasses.  He said he would never wear contacts after seeing pictures of corneal infections and ulcers at his ophthalmologist's office. I always thought he was crazy for saying that.  Although these are rare it's possible.  I think of all the years I have been sticking a foreign object on my eye, and praying my solution will kill any bacteria as my contacts take their nightly 8 hour bath before I wake up the next morning and pop them back in. 

Here's to hoping I won't have to wear contacts again after 12/5/13.  I know I will eventually need reading glasses, as we all will after having 40 some birthdays. (Seriously, does anything get BETTER as we age?).  I'm hopeful that time will be many years from now.  It's scary knowing I will be having this elective surgery just for the convenience of not having to wear contacts.  My sight is everything.  Without it, I can't work, drive, browse facebook, or watch my little ones grow (the latter which is most important of course). 

So to those of you who wear glasses, props to you.  I couldn't do it; hopefully I can survive these next few weeks. (A patient really did call me Four Eyes this week-it hurt my pride a little bit).

"The Wheels On The Bus..."

Music has always been a big part of our every day life.  It's amazing the way listening to music can make you feel.  Different music can make you excited, calm, energized, happy, or melancholy.  I love that there are so many different genres out there that I find it hard to believe that there is someone out there that doesn't like to listen to music.  If you don't like one station, just flip to another. 

On our way up to Rochester a couple of weeks ago, Justin and I were reminiscing about the many, many concerts we attended before children.  Living in Iowa City, there were always great concerts coming to town, or just down the road in the Quad Cities.  Anything that we were remotely interested in we bought tickets to.  This included Creed, Lonestar, Kenny Chesney (5 times!), Jimmy Buffet, Dave Matthews Band, Guns and Roses, U2, Montgomery Gentry, Phil Vassar, Keith Urban, Brooks and Dunn (and many more that I'm forgetting).  I'll never forget my very first concert, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, at Carver Hawkeye Arena.  I wasn't allowed to go to any concerts in High School so I took the first opportunity that came around and went with my roommates when I was a Freshman in college.  There are many memories from these concerts:  2nd hand marijuana smoke at the Guns and Roses concert, having a few too many cocktails at our last Kenny concert, and losing Justin during our first Jimmy Buffet concert.  Don't worry, we found him after the concert sitting in the back of the truck eating taco salad out of a bowl the size of Texas without a utensil.  Apparently he needed a snack.

Without trying, music has become important in the lives of our children too.  Instead of having the television on, we usually have the radio on.  Alena has always loved music and looks forward to music class at school.  After she was born I bought a three pack of CDs with over 100 children songs.  I'm surprised these CDs even work anymore because we have listened to them so much.  Alena knows nearly every word to each song and she picks up on song lyrics much faster than her mommy does.  (I still believe the lyrics to the Zach Brown's song Chicken Fried are "Biloxi sunrise" not "I like to see the sunrise"-my version makes much more sense).  Lately she has been interested in listening to our music and her new favorite songs are "Call Me Maybe," "Cruise," and "Firework." 

I think the babies are quickly following in her footsteps.  I love watching them sway to music and nothing cheers them up more than singing "Wheels On The Bus."  I always sing the same song to them at night and play their lullabies on their CD player when we lay them down.  When I found myself alone with them during maternity leave, not knowing what to do, I often would make up any silly song, while they stared at me like their mom needed to be committed. 

Thank goodness for electromagnetic radiation and frequencies-they keep us sane and entertained! 

Saving Pennies

Frugal?  Cheap?  Thrifty? I don't think any of those words categorize me, but I am a saver!  For as long as I can remember I have always been a saver.  I was the child who would save her Easter candy for as long as possible (while eating my brother's instead).  It wouldn't be unheard of for me to still have candy left over by the time Halloween came around.  I rarely bought anything with my allowance, but instead watched as my savings continued to grow and grow.  I would "save" my new clothes, not wanting to wear them until I thought it was time. 

I remember having to write my first rent check when I was a Junior in college--I had never written a check for that amount of money and I felt like I was just throwing money down the drain. It took a little while to get used to writing that check every month.  I didn't get my first credit card until a few months before Justin and I got married; and that was only to build up some of my own personal credit before we tied the knot.  The thought of using a card to pay for things frightened me.  I knew too many friends who were thousands and thousands of dollars in debt because of these little plastic things. 

Before children, I wasn't a big spender, but I was definitely not as careful with my money as I am now.  Let's face it, children are expensive and full time childcare for three little ones drains your income pretty quickly.  Before purchasing something I always say to myself  "do I need this?"  Usually the answer is no, at which time I will just walk away.  Although it's much more fun to shop for my little ones now, if I am shopping for myself, I usually go right to the sale rack.  I have an "it's meant to be" attitude and if I don't find something or if they don't have my size, I shrug and move on.  I love finding a bargain though!  Today I was shopping at one of my favorite stores when I decided to browse through the shoe section (after I had already picked clothes out for my oldest and my little buddy-sorry Lauren, you get hand me downs).  I knew I didn't "need" any shoes but you never know what might be on the sale rack.  I had recently bought a pair of gray boots, but thought it might be nice to have a new pair of brown boots (the ones I currently have were purchased eons ago).  Wouldn't you know it I found a pair of brown boots, in my size for $9.40 (original price was over $100!).  Even the check out lady was impressed by my purchase--I'm certain those boots were not marked correctly but lucky me! 

After Justin and I got married we both wanted to be in charge of our finances.  Entering receipts on Quicken, writing bills each month, and monitoring a checking and savings account is fun, right?  I decided to surrender and let him have control, which in hindsight has probably been a great idea. I have no idea what our electricity or water bill is each month.  Although I do cringe during the summer months when Justin waters the lawn every night.  I did know that our cable/Internet bill was well over $100 per month.  Which is why I finally convinced Justin to get rid of cable. When you have twins + one you don't have time to watch TV.  We made good use of our DVR, recording lots and lots of shows but we never had time to watch them.  I think we have both adjusted to being cable-less, although the college football season has been a little challenging. 

Every year my parents are wonderful and give me money for my birthday to spend on something just for me. I set it aside waiting to find something I "want."  Yes, there are tons of things I would love to have, but convincing myself I need them is challenging sometimes.  In fact, my birthday money envelop still has money in it from last year and my birthday is in 3 weeks!  Time to schedule a massage, because that is something I need! 

Groceries are expensive.  The twins are just a little over 13 months old and they eat a lot (and they eat 2 meals a day at day care 5 days a week!).  I can't imagine how much food and milk I will be buying when everyone gets older.  I used to be able to keep my weekly grocery bill to under $50.  With the cost of everything increasing lately, it is really hard to do that any more.  I am not a crazy coupon lady-that in itself is a full time job, but I do check the ads for sales, clip a few coupons from the Sunday paper each week, and try to buy in bulk when possible.  I keep a spreadsheet of the most common items I buy and the best prices for each item.  We rarely eat out for two reasons:  1.  Let's eat at home and save money ;), 2.  With three little ones it is challenging and not enjoyable at all unless we have help.  The twins are literally done eating in 10 minutes and ready to crawl around and cruise the restaurant and Alena is a slow eater like her mommy and daddy. It can take her an hour to finish half a cheeseburger (it doesn't help that she NEVER stops talking).  Needless to say, Justin and I usually get to enjoy about three bites of food before a twin ends up on our lap or we are walking around with one.  So advice to anyone wanting to save money by not eating out: have twins!

So from reading this, you probably think I am a crazy penny pincher (like some people I know), but honestly I think I am just a wise spender.  My little ones have everything they need and then some.  We've made numerous updates on our home, prioritizing what needs to be done first and not choosing cheap materials to make it more affordable.  Yes, our vacations are few and far between but that's not because we don't want to spend the money, but because it's challenging to travel with three kids.  I don't see my ways changing too much in the future as that is what I am planning for. I want to be able to retire at a decent age (so I can enjoy and spend money on my grandchildren), help grow a college fund for each child, and have plenty of money in my savings to do whatever I want when the time comes.  We'll see how this all pans out...

Fall

Fall has always been my favorite season.  How can you not enjoy watching the leaves change colors, sweatshirt weather, and evening strolls while the moon is rising?  There is a reason why I had all three of my kids during this season (OK, so the twins were born before the Fall solstice, but close enough!).

Since having kids, I've grown to love pumpkin patches and Halloween.  You can't beat the festivities at our favorite pumpkin patch, Center Grove Orchard:  Cider donuts, petting zoo, a huge corn pit, a "pillow" to jump on, and the big slide.  We are usually too busy enjoying those things that we never even make it to the hay ride!  Alena is really getting into trick or treating, (read:  gather as much candy as possible).  I love that she's old enough to decide what to dress up as and big enough to walk by herself.  Mom and dad usually end up eating her candy because after a couple of night she forgets about it.  We don't complain. 

When I have time, I like to do most of my baking in the fall because I love pumpkin anything!  This past weekend Alena and I made pumpkin cookies.  Hoping to follow up with pumpkin bars, pumpkin muffins and pumpkin bread in the near future (I have to spread it out before we all get sick of pumpkin stuff!).  Caleb enjoyed the cookies, but the verdict is still out on Lauren.  I also love the smell of hot apple cider-no wonder Yankee makes a candle that scent. 

Who doesn't love jumping in a big pile of leaves?  Alena is so excited to do this this year and keeps waiting for our leaves to fall.  Little ones in a pile of leaves make the perfect picture-hopefully the twins will enjoy it this year.

Fall also means the start of one of my favorite sports-football!  I used to hate football.  I grew up a basketball fan, going to ISU games with my dad.  We never went to football games growing up, and during high school I was too busy chatting with friends and watching the cheerleaders to learn about the game.  Yet, when I went to school at Iowa, I decided to get football tickets because that's what my friends were doing. I soon learned to love the game.  I now enjoy watching college football on Saturdays, (or listening to the games, since we are now cable-less).  Behind gymnastics and track, it's possibly one of my favorite sports to watch.  Tailgating on Saturday mornings became a ritual when we lived in Iowa City and we have quite a few tailgating stories!  

Fall also brings one of my favorite holidays, Thanksgiving.  For as long as I remember, I have always loved turkey day.  This was such an important holiday for my family that we used to have a "practice Thanksgiving" a few weeks before the actual big day to help prepare and make sure the food was "just right."  Let's be honest, as a family, we just love to eat so it was a good excuse to get together and enjoy some yummy food.  We also enjoyed hours and hours of game playing!  I pretty much started playing games as soon as I could hold up cards and remember my Aunt Pat teaching me how to play "Kings on the Corner"  when I was younger.  I love games and miss having the time to play them.  Alena has quite the collection of games and I'm always encouraging her to play them with me.  I'm looking forward to "family game night" when everyone gets older. 

The only thing I don't like about Fall is it seems to be the shortest of the four seasons.  We're only a month in and the weathermen are talking about snow flurries this week!  I just wished I could make this season last a little longer...

When Are You Going To Be A Doctor?

It's hard to believe I have been a nurse practitioner for seven year already. It seems like yesterday I was studying for boards and trying to find a job. Very few weeks go by where I am not explaining to a patient what a nurse practitioner is. This drives me crazy because this is not a new field-nurse practitioners have been around since the 1960's!

Unfortunately, nursing is a complicated career because their are multiple paths to becoming a nurse. You can get your Associates Degree (which is being fazed out because they are really encouraging nurses to get their 4 year degree), or Bachelor's Degree to become an RN. There are still LPNs which can confuse people. Some nurses go on to get their Master's Degree, but that doesn't necessarily mean they are nurse practitioners. Yet all nurse practitioners have a master's degree. See what I mean about confusion? Plus, every state has a different term for nurse practitioners: In Iowa, we are known as Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioners. In other states I may be known as an Advanced Practice Nurse, Advanced Practice Registered Nurse, or simply Nurse Practitioner. To make it even more confusing, a nurse practitioner's scope of practice varies from state to state. Iowa has one of the most "flexible" scopes of practice. There are no restrictions with regards to my prescriptive ability and I can open my own clinic and practice independently. Many other states are more restrictive with regards to what an NP can do.

Probably the two most common questions I get from patients are: When are you going back to school to become a doctor and what is the difference between a nurse practitioner and a physician's assistant. I always laugh at the first one and explain that I don't ever want to become a doctor and that I'm done with school. Being an NP is the best of both worlds-less schooling, thus less school debt, no call/weekends, but still being able to see, diagnose and treat patients. Now if only our salaries were the same...The second question is also easy to answer-we pretty much do the exact same thing.

After 4 years of working in a busy internal medicine office and 3 years working in nephrology, I have gained a ton of experience. There have been moments I will never forget. Like when I have to tell someone they have HIV, hepatitis, an STD, or cancer. There are also patients I will never forget. I will never forget my "dumpster diving" patient who resumed his hobby just 1 week after having open heart surgery and developed a horrible infection in his incision. Nor will I forget his wife of whom I was doing a pap and pelvic on and had an abscess on her abdomen. She proceeded to squeeze the lesion and drainage shot across the room-thank God I had my PPE (personal protective equipment) on. I've been practitioner, nurse, counselor, therapist, and friend for many patients. I've lost many patients. I've shared pictures of my children with patients and met many of my patients own children. I've rejoiced with patients when their CAT scan showed their tumor had shrunk, their diabetes was under better control or their blood pressure was within range. I truly enjoy what I do.

My job as a nephrology nurse practitioner is very unique. On the days I am in town and not seeing patients in the clinic, I round at the six dialysis centers in Des Moines. When seeing patients on dialysis, I evaluate their treatments and make adjustments if needed, monitor labs (specifically their hemoglobin, phosphorus, potassium, and calcium levels, and ensure they are getting good dialysis). I evaluate their blood pressures before, during, and after treatments and make changes in medications if needed. I also adjust their treatment medications pending on what their labs are. Besides addressing dialysis things, many patients believe I am their primary health care provider so I sometimes manage other health conditions too. This means I see the same patients every week on dialysis. I've become close to many of these patients. We talk about our weekends, they ask about my children, and we chit chat about Iowa Football.

During clinic days I see patients who have kidney disease, but are not on dialysis and may never be on dialysis. Some are kidney transplant patients. I do a lot of educating during my clinic, to prepare patients for dialysis if it is in the foreseeable future. I make sure patients are aware of the two different types of dialysis, along with their option for transplant if they are a candidate. I also spend two days a month at the VA hospital seeing Veterans with renal disease. I have a special place in my heart for Veterans. While going to nursing school at the University of Iowa, I worked as a CNA at the VA hospital on the post-surgical floor. I really enjoyed it and the Veterans I met. I especially love the WWII vets! For the most part, they are grateful for their health care and adhere to their treatment regimens.

I also travel out of town 4 days a month (soon to be 3). In two of these towns I only see dialysis patients and the days are usually short. The other two towns I see dialysis patients and do a clinic there. I also have one day a month where I see our home dialysis patients in clinic (home hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis). I enjoy this day each month because I love that patients have the ability to do dialysis treatments in their own home. Our home dialysis patient census is the largest in the state of Iowa.

You can't beat the flexibility of my current job and I will never find another NP job that is this flexible. On the days I'm not in clinic, I basically make my own schedule. If a child has a doctor's appointment I don't have to have my clinic scheduled cleared to I can take him/her. I often work hard in the beginning of the month, which allows more free time at the end of the month. There is no way I could run a household, take care of three kids, and work full time without this flexibility. In the future as my kids are in sports (hopefully!), it will be easy for me to be done working by 4 to go watch their games. I love not being in the office from 8-5 seeing patients every 15 minutes like my old job. This is the perfect "mom of twins + 1" full time job. 

Alena's 4th Birthday

May 2011

We welcomed your 4th birthday with a three day long celebration!  The day before your birthday, you brought cookies to school and got to wear the special birthday hat.  Most kids wear the hat for a couple hours, but you wore it the entire day, (except during meals and nap time).  School also let you pick out your birthday book and you chose Cinderella. 

That night we traveled to Riverside.  The morning of your birthday, we celebrated by having donuts and then you and dad went to the Iowa Football game!  You had so much fun and especially enjoyed watching the band play and the dance team.  You were also very interested in the score of the game and loved yelling "O" for I-O-W-A after they scored a touchdown.  For dinner that night, you requested pulled BBQ pork sandwiches, Cheetos and fruit.  You also requested a blue cake with pink frosting that you helped Grandma S make.  The cake was decorated with lots and lots and lots of sprinkles :).

Your last birthday celebration was at home, where Aunt Emily, Uncle James, Wyatt, Rylee, Pat and Willard and Grandma and Papa were there to help you celebrate.  You requested a Rapunzel cake for this party and dressed in your Rapunzel dress.  The neighbor's grandchildren, Julia and Madi also helped you celebrate.  Unfortunately it was a chilly, rainy day, but everyone had a great time.  You specifically asked for a guitar and underwear for your birthday :). 

Like I do every year, I watched the videos of when you were first born.  I still remember how surprised I was when I saw you were a little girl. The first six months of your life flew by and before we knew it you were walking at 10 months.  By a year you were saying a number of words.  You have always been very chatty, except when a lot of unfamiliar people are around.  We loved how much you learned from age 1 to 2 and never really experienced the "terrible 2's" with you.  Shortly after turning 2, you were potty trained (because you were SO easy to potty train, I know your brother and sister will be difficult). Every teacher that has had you makes mention of what a great listener you are.  Unfortunately you don't always have your listening ears with you at home, but others are always reminding us of what a great child you are.  Caleb and Lauren are so lucky to have you as their big sister.  You make them laugh more than any one else can and they are always so excited to see you. I can't wait to watch you all grow up together.   

I'm glad that it will be two more years before you go to Kindergarten because I don't think I could handle you going next year.  You are so excited to move into the pre-kindergarten class at school and I know you will really enjoy it.  This curriculum focuses more on different school subjects:  Math, Reading, Writing, Science.

We've loved watching you develop friendships with your classmates, cousins and neighbors.  You like to be a leader, but also don't mind learning from others.  We continue to think you are athletic.  You love running and would love to go for runs with me some day soon.  You can also hit a ball with a baseball bat when it is thrown at you and are  getting good at playing "volleyball".  I'm anxious to get you involved with more activities.  

20 Birthday Questions:

What is your favorite color?  Pink and Purple
What is your favorite toy?  My kitchen
What is your favorite fruit?  Peaches and Mandarin Oranges
What is your favorite movie?  Finding Nemo
What is your favorite TV show?  Martha Speaks
What is your favorite thing to wear?  Dresses
What is your favorite animal?  Giraffe
What is your favorite song?  The Balloon Song ("Alena had a yellow balloon so she blew and blew and blew.  'Til it got so big and fat it grew and grew and grew.  Alena kept it in the air and never let it drop, until one day it hit the ground and suddenly went pop"
What is your favorite book?  Tinkerbell
Who is your favorite friend?  Taylor Peterson
What is your favorite snack?  Cliff Bar
What is your favorite drink?  Lemonade
What is your favorite breakfast food?  Fresh toast, pancakes, waffles
What is your favorite dinner?  Peanut butter and jelly
What is your favorite place to go?  The Park
What is your favorite game?  Tag
What is your favorite thing to do outside?  Play with bouncy balls
What is your favorite holiday?  Easter
What do you sleep with?  Eeyore and Piggy
What do you want to be when you grow up?  A Teacher

Your BFF Taylor (during your first school trip to the pumpkin patch)