Saturday, April 29, 2006

Maiden Voyage-Part 2

Well, the maiden voyage was a success, and can be rightly deemed a fishing trip, as opposed to a boat ride. They went to Lake Allatoona, got on the water by 9am, and had caught several good sized stripers by 10 am. Than a lull, but after lunch it picked up again. All in all, a success all around.

Friday, April 28, 2006

Michael's New Trick




Michael loves to put his feet in his mouth. It is so funny to watch. Not only the flexibility that goes along with it, but the determination. If there happen to be socks in the way, look out. It is only a matter of minutes before they are soaking wet, and eventually, removed. A cute trick, but you have to be watchful when he is eating, it can get messy. Pam (Grandma Gould) took these pics last week. She also sent me the hospital picture of him for comparison....amazing what 6 months will do!

Maiden Voyage

Sorry to disappoint all my fishing crazy brothers out there, but Terry wins the race. He and Dad took the boat out this morning. I am not even sure which lake they were going to. We will see later today when they get home if it was a fishing trip, or just a boat ride. Will keep you posted.

Rough Day

Poor Soph, we had another traumatic visit to the audiologist yesterday. It started off great, we brought the twins with us, and Sophie was so excited to show them off to all her friends in the office. She went in the sound booth, got to play a new game for listening, and did wonderfully. There may be a slight change in the level in her right ear, we will have her retested in 2 weeks. Then it was time to make ear mold impressions. Before Lisa, her very favorite audiologist, can put the material into her ear, she has to make sure her ears are clear. They were not, and Lisa looked at me with dread, since we both knew what that meant: a visit to the microscope room, where the ENT looks thru a scope and cleans out any debris. We tried to pass it off as just going to the other side of the office, but Sophie knew right away where we were headed. "No, Mommy, I don't want to go to the microphone room!!" Last summer she had a lot of swimmer's ear, and we were in there a lot. It is not fun trying to hold down your almost 4 year old when you are 7 ms pregnant with twins.

Yesterday was no picnic either; I had to leave the twins in their stroller outside the door, so I could help Lisa hold Sophie still. Her shrieking was so loud that both Michael and Emily started screaming too. When it was all over (the longest 4 minutes ever) I peeked outside to see the two other audiologists each holding a baby, one was even feeding Emily. They are all so sweet in the office, I know Lisa was upset about having to put Sophie thru it, she kept apologizing to me. But, it has to be done. And I know it isn't really painful, it is more the being restrained that she hates. For her treat she got a tootsie pop, plus we stopped at Chic Fil A on the way home for dinner. I had to bribe her with that just to get her in the door of the microscope room!

It is amazing to me that Sophie was the same age as Michael and Emily when she got her hearing aids. I will never forget what happened when Lisa turned them on, Sophie was sitting in my lap facing away from me. Lisa asked me to say her name, and when I did, she turned around to look at me in wonder. Terry and I were amazed; it was at that moment we realized she had never turned her head for sound before. Now her speech is just like any other child her age. Even Dr Todd, the ENT, commented as she was screaming at him to stop, "Isn't it great to her her voice?" Yes, it certainly is!

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Picture Perfect

What a morning! I have been trying to have a professional photo take of the twins for 3 months now, and something always comes up. Finally, the stars aligned, Terry has this week off before starting his new job, and the babies were both free of colds. Sophie was included as well, so we had several different poses, Sophie alone, Michael alone, Emily alone, then all 3 together. Sophie went first, as Emily fell asleep as soon as we arrived. While I went in the studio with Sophie, Terry fed Michael, who had napped in the car but woke up screaming to eat....who knew, he had a bottle just 90 minutes before. Sophie was a pro, which was nice, given the fact that I hadn't had her picture taken since she was 2 1/2! Then it was Emily's turn, so Michael wouldn't spit up all over after just being fed. Emily did great as well, she was refreshed and happy from her nap, and even managed to sit up in the little wicker chair. Michael was next, and he was not as easy as his sisters. I had to hold him in the chair from behind, and even then he was pretty slouchy. We did manage to get some good shots, though. Then the final shot, with all three of them. By this point Emily was getting hungry, so time was of the essence. Sophie couldn't understand why she had to be in the back, her legs hurt, she was tired, etc., etc. At this point I knew Terry was at his limit as well, I think the photographer sensed that as well. She made it quick and we did manage to get one decent group shot. From start to finish, it took 90 minutes.

All this gives me so much more respect and admiration for my parents. Every Thanksgiving night we had our family Christmas picture taken. Either it was a neighbor coming in to take it, or Dad used the self timer. Given that there are 9 children, plus my parents, this was no small feat. And if anyone was missing, like when Larry was in the Navy, Mom propped up a photo of them on the side table, so it would be seen as well.

Now both Michael and Emily are taking a nap, and Sophie is helping Terry plant impatiens. I am off to the laundry room, my home office!

Monday, April 24, 2006

Spring Break





From left to right: Josh Bottitta-2, Elizabeth Moshiri-4, Sophie Gould-4, Noah Amsterdam-4, Katie Bottitta-4, Samuel Amsterdam-20 months, Ebi Moshiri-2


Spring Break was a couple of weeks ago, but I just got these pictures downloaded today. We had a nice break, the weather was good for the most part, and we were able to get outside a lot. One of the places we took the kids was the Chattahoochee Nature Center. It is only a 10 minute drive, the admission is nominal, there are animals to see, plus woods to "hike" through. So much easier than the chaos at the Zoo this time of year, and the kids were just as happy. And us moms even more so.

I had a hard time getting these pictures to post in the order I wanted them, I finally gave up! Anyway, the first one is Sophie and Noah playing a game on the benches near where we had our picnic lunch, they were pretending to be animals that were chasing each other, those two never have a dull moment.

The next one is the kids climbing up on a bench to count the turtles sunning on a log in the pond.

Posing on the rocks when we first arrived, and last but not least, checking out the beaver area again. Still no sign of beavers. By this time we had been there 3 hours, we were all tuckered out, and Miss Kathleen had handed out the suckers to keep the peace. Hey, whatever it takes!

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Angels on Call


When we found out we were having twins, I tried to talk to many mothers of multiples so that I could get advice. They all told me the same thing: "You will need help!" Most people said to get help during the day, but we soon found that the nights were MUCH harder to get through. When Mike and Em were both eating every 2 hours all night long, it was brutal. My friend Kathleen told me about Angels On Call . They are a doula service and they provide help at night. Mary is our favorite by far, and has been helping us since the babies were about 5 weeks old, which is when we both hit the wall. I guess if you only had twins, and could sleep during the day, it wouldn't have been as bad, but I still wanted to participate in Sophie's life, and be able to take her to school and dance. (Although that didn't become a regular thing until we found Miss Sity, but that is another post) Mary arrives at 10:30 pm and stays till 6:30 am. She does the baby laundry, empties the dishwasher, puts all the dishes away, makes bottles, and of course, feeds the babies throughout the night. At the beginning, we had her 3 nights a week. Currently, she is only coming one night a week, as they each only eat once a night, for the most part. It is so nice to be able to close the door, and know that you can sleep undisturbed till 6:30, which is when Sophie usually wakes up. Plus Mary always go above and beyond, doing any laundry she can find, picking up and generally leaving the house cleaner than it was. And she is a great source for the many questions I have had, she has helped tremendously with finding the right nipple to feed cereal bottles and with getting Emily to eat better even with her reflux issues. She even offered to be the one to come when we decide to let them cry it out, so I wouldn't have to go thru that! Although I don't think it will come to that, they are pretty much going longer and longer each night.

We can't say enough about the service they have provided. It is so nice to know that your children are in good hands, and we know Mary is as attached to them as we are to her. It will be hard to say good bye.

PS. Thanks Steph, I got the link to work!

Old Photos




One of the drawbacks of not having a digital camera is that you can't post pictures immediately. I just haven't bit the bullet yet, I figure when things settle down, I will be ready to lean another new skill. So, keeping that in mind, here are some photos from late February, I just now found the disc and downloaded it....oh well, better late than never!

Michael and Emily were so jealous of Cousin James' Robeez, that I had to buy some for them. They really like them, when they manage to keep them on!

Cousin Brendan turned 1 on April 4th. Here is a shot of him and Grandma Maier on his recent visit to Atlanta. He and parents Joe and Peg will be moving into their new home in PA in early May. Congrats to all!

Here is a shot of Sophie, Michael and Emily in the backyard. This was a day in early March when I was doing yardwork. The kids join me; Sophie plays on the swingset and runs over to check on the babies for me. I love this stroller, it is a Double Snap n Go, and is so handy. Their carseats click right in the frame. The frame itself is so lightweight. We should be able to get almost of full year out of this before going to a heavier double stroller, which I dread. My friend Sharon (http://hembreehouse.blogspot.com) picked this up for me at the Twins Consignment sale, she got it for $40.00, they retail new for $150. The bargain price makes me like it even more!

PS to Mike and Kat, or any other skilled bloggers: Ok, I finally realized there is an icon to set up a link in the body of your post, but how do I get it to link without the web address showing?? any thoughts??

Thursday, April 06, 2006

Super Duper Helper






Here are some shots of Sophie, my helper that I could not do without! She helps me by doing the seemingly "little things" but they are big in the scheme of making the day go smoother, and with less crying from Michael and Emily. The twins are now eating cereal once a day, and the highchair is a favorite place to sit. Sophie likes it because she can hold their bottles while they are in it. One morning right after Emily's bath, Michael had a diaper explosion and was shrieking for me to change him. I wrapped Emily in her towel, laid her on the floor, and told Sophie to make sure she stayed covered, and didn't roll away. She was happy to oblige.

I love the picture of her and Noah, it really captures their personalities. His mom had an early dr appnt., so she dropped him off before school. He and Sophie immediately decided to dress up and have a parade. It was hard convincing her to stop long enough to get dressed. Oh, the life of a 4 year old!

Saturday, April 01, 2006

Falling Out of the Gap

Today I had a chance to go shopping for a few hours. I thought it would be fun, a chance to update my wardrobe and have some "me" time. I even vowed not to look at children's clothes, which as any mother can tell you, is usually where you end up, even when they don't need a thing. I discovered a few things today.......The Gap is really not the place to look for jeans when you are 5 ms postpartum with babies 2 and 3. Neither is Old Navy. Maybe it's the weight that hasn't come off yet, maybe it's the fact that I just turned 40. I don't know that I have ever spent two hours trying on and not finding a single thing that fit. And I am sorry, but I refuse to go up more than one size from my prepregnancy size.

So, it was on to Kohl's, where I managed to find lots of pants, not as trendy as the Gap or Old Navy, but cute and well fitting none the less. This shopping trip made me even more anxious to get back to the Y, only 27 more days and the babies will be 6 ms old, and can start going in the nursery at the Y. And I will be able to start exercising for the first time in over a year. Then maybe I will have to take another look at the Gap's selection.......