Amazed

I just cannot stop being amazed at how people act. Why do others insist that they are made a priority but when the time comes to do the same they will not do that for others. It goes a long way in saying something about that person's character and selfishness. I feel that it goes back to not asking people to do for you what you are not willing to do for them.

I also feel that when this happens there is no reason to stay connected to these type of people. It is like they have put you in your place - so to speak. A place that says that you don't matter, never did really, and are basically not worth their time. Once you have been put in that place doesn't it make it easier to disconnect. When you disconnect, have you really lost anything?? Don't you gain the freedom to make your own plans & know that you no longer have to change or cancel them? Afterall, why would you? Their not going to do it for you.....

Almost there...

The playroom is almost finished!! We painted the trim over the weekend and my husband and his father blew insulation into the attic over the room on Sunday. I need to clean the paint off the door window, my husband needs to hang the TV and the carpet is scheduled for Wednesday. The babies will wake up from their afternoon nap and I will have moved all their exersaucers and swings into their new room!! The only thing that will be left is to get a couple of pieces of furniture so we will have something to sit on when we are in the room watching the babies.

The other "room", the dining room, will be ready within a week to 10 days. The table top for the pool table has been built and is sitting on the pool table. I have ordered the table cloth and the chairs as well as 2 counter height stools for the kitchen. I love overstock.com!! The table cloth I found was at tableclothsfactory.com. It is a banquet cloth but due to the size that I needed this was my best bet - and only $22 w/shipping!! As soon as we know when to expect the chairs & cloth we are planning on having a "room warming" on either a Saturday or Sunday. I can't wait to contact our friends & invite them to dinner to celebrate. I'm thinking since it is officially fall a big crock pot of chili would be perfect!!

Are You Serious??

OK, I have to write about this because it has been bothering me for a few days. A few days ago we were at my husband's parents to have our pictures taken using their lawn as a back drop. They have a really lush, beautiful setting and we were hoping the pictures would be great. While there I was loving on our son while changing his clothes and kissing his scar. I was telling our son that his scar is my favorite part of him because it is why I have him today.

Can you believe that his grandfather asked why he had a scar? Hello?? Chest tube?? Remember the chest tube that was keeping him alive along with the respirator when he was born? Our son almost died twice, once when he was born and then again when he went further downhill and had to have a respirator to keep him breathing.

This statement just brought back how little our children were celebrated. I remember my husband calling his family to let them know that our son would be coming home after surviving the NICU - which has excellent doctors and nurses & why we have our son today - on a Saturday. My husband was calling to let them know that we were hoping the family could be there to celebrate this great occasion with us when we brought our son home, which was something that we were so scared would not happen. Afterall, the last grandchild that came home from the hospital and fortunately did not have any health issues came home to a family celebration - we all were there and we had even been told to cancel our dinner plans that nite with friends to be there. But our son survived and thrived and of course his family would want to celebrate him coming home. But, we were told it was not a good a day, pretty much everyone had plans. I guess after having our daughter come home 3 days before and no one had even called to welcome her home that it should not have surprised us that "it was not a good day" for anyone to celebrate our son surviving and coming home. This after we had changed and canceled so many plans to celebrate other family times. My husband told me that he was willing to do all of this because when we had children his family would do the same for us.

Well, they did not. What does that say about our children and their place?? How do I keep our children from feeling second class or not important? I don't want them hurt by this & I will try to limit and shelter them from these situations. I just hurt for them and wish I could change things for them. They are the sweetest babies and so trusting and look to their father and me for support and protection. I plan on doing just that.

Dinner w/Friends

Last nite we took the babies out to dinner with us for a friend's birthday dinner. Clark was typical - happy, playful, flirty. Caitlyn actually did better than we thought she would. She wouldn't let anyone hold her but she did not scream every time a person looked at her. Hopefully she is getting a bit more social. The only true meltdown for both babies came when it got past their bedtime. We knew we would be out a little later than normal but we had to see what would happen. Overall they did not do that bad for 7 month olds.

As a personal note, it was nice to be at a dinner with our friends. I do miss those times. It seems that since I have decided that I will no longer attends dinners where it has become common-place and acceptable for people to stand up in a restaurant and attack me we don't get out much. Amazing enough my husband got an email explaining the attack on me as "flashes of anger" because it was assumed that I meant something. He got the email, not me....he forwarded it to me. That is the whole problem, the assumptions that I mean something then the attack based on the assumption then the hurt feelings on my part. Then, two times we attended dinners to try to let it go and we and the babies were ignored. Again, this has become accepted behavior. Just like the email to my husband, not me. It is OK to treat me and the babies as if we don't matter.

So I am trying to keep us out of as many of those situations as possible. I much rather enjoy the situations like we attended last nite. Everyone last nite that was at dinner is supportive of us, our babies, and just great to be around. Thank you for a great dinner and a great nite out.

Coming along

Well, the room renovation is coming along. It seems to be taking a long time however, we are only working on it about 3 days a week. We hope to have the new room painted by the end of the weekend so we can look for carpet next week. So far the round wall has been modified - it is weight bearing so could not be completely removed - the sub floor built, the french doors put in, the room has been textured, a door cut into the garage wall to access the back yard, and the lights have been bought. We still need to buy baseboards and crown molding, carpet, tv, install lights and complete the finish work on the kitchen side of the round wall (mud/sand/texture/paint). I would love to have it all finished in the next 3 weeks. I am getting tired of all of the dust and really want my kitchen table back. After the room is finished our contractor will get the table top finished for the pool table/dining table conversion.

Back in the Swing

My husband came home yesterday afternoon after being away all weekend for a conference. He took over the babies' dinner activities and I went out to run some errands. Due to the rain all weekend I had not been out of the house since going to the grocery store Thursday morning. I was so looking forward to being out for a brief time but of course I had to run into someone that I have no desire to see. Oh, well, what's a girl to do?

Today, I am back in the swing of the week with the babies. I had actually jumped into the week with both feet. My husband got called out to surgery just as I was fixing the babies' breakfast. I fed them, ran the vacuum to try to keep the dust down from the room renovation, played with the babies & had them back down for a nap around 915. Very busy morning!!

Whew...

My husband is out of town this weekend at a conference. He left yesterday morning after we fed the babies breakfast. I got them down for their nap and made them some sweet potatoes. I really enjoy making their food. Anyway, my day with the babies progressed as usual - lunch, playtime, bottle, nap. They woke in the afternoon around 430. Just after 5 their babysitter came by.

We had hired a college student at the end of the last semester to babysit for us. She has been away all summer and during this time our daughter has developed this fear of strangers. I thought that this would be a good time for our daughter and the sitter to get to know each other. Our sitter helped me with the babies' dinner and played with them while I got some laundry done. She also helped me give the babies their bottles and put them to bed.

The babies slept pretty good last nite. I was only up 2-3 times to flip them back onto their bellies so they could continue to sleep. Our son woke up around 620 this morning & I just took him to bed with me. I got our daughter up at 7 and let them play in their swings while I fixed their breakfast.

I got them fed, changed for the day, rotated them through 4 toys and back down for their morning nap at 930. I felt like I had already put in a full day.

I got them up for lunch, played again, bottle and now they are down for their afternoon nap. I would love to have their schedule! They will be up in about an hour and a half. They will play in their swings while I get their dinner ready, then we will eat, play and get ready for bed. They will back down around 730. It has been a very busy day and the day is only half over.

Although it has me worn out, I would not trade this time with the babies for anything. I am very proud to have them wear me out! I will also be very thankful when my husband gets home tomorrow....

7 Months

We have made it, or should I say the babies have made it to 7 months!! Our son is a chunk and our daughter has a weird thing for eyeballs but other than that everything is great. They are healthy and happy and fun to be with. I get amazed at how fast they start to do things these days.

We have up'ed their food to 3 ounces a feeding with a bottle afterward. There are times when they push the bottle away because they are full from the fruits/veg/cereal. The get to start having proteins at 8 months which I will not be making. So far I have enjoyed making their food. I feel good when they like what I have fixed for them.

Today was a very busy with us and the babies. Last Thursday our son came home with a stuffy nose. Then Friday our daughter "caught" it. I truly feel that they have not caught anything but are reacting to the room addition/remodeling we are doing. There is a lot of drywall sand and dust from cutting out a wall. Both myself and my husband are sneezing/stuffing the entire night from the dust. Due to all of this stuffy nose business with the babies, we were not able to take them to "school" today. My husband really needed me to work in the office today as his assistant was out.

So, my husband called his mother to see if she could save us. She was available to take care of the babies today! It was nice to have someone come through for us when we needed it. I also hope that the room construction will be finished soon so the babies will be able to attend MDO next week.