What did sick Mommies do before DVDs?

When I think back to my childhood, I don't remember my mom being sick. I'm not saying she wasn't ever sick! Nope. I just don't remember it. There were 3 of us and I'm sure that when she was sick, we all just played together (or tore the house apart - Since I don't remember it, I have no clue which is true!). I have no idea how she did it.

I've been home since Thursday. At first, I planned to stay home only Thursday to take care of sick Twinsies, but as I headed home Wednesday night a familiar achy, chilly, yucky feeling came over me. Sure enough, when I got home, I had a fever. My fever made me #3 of the Uribes who had fallen sick. I took Tylenol, but it hit hard. I was down for the count.

Someone forgot to tell Gracie and Luke that Mommy was sick, too.

Toddlers can't help being demanding when they are sick. They are little, they want their mommy, they want that cracker - no, that cracker - no, that ONE! When you give it to them, they decide two seconds later that they really didn't want it in the first place and throw whatever it is you just gave them right back at you.

It's frustrating, period. Add to that frustration one sick Mommy and it becomes frustrating, exclamation point!

So what saved me? Elephants, Barney and dinosaurs. Literally.

We watched Barney and had some juice. We watched Ice Age, Dawn of the Dinosaurs, twice and had more juice. We watched Barney's Great Adventure and took naps. We watched Thomas the Tank Engine and ate some Goldfish crackers. We went outside for about 10 minutes before crying brought us back in (Lukie, not me!).

I honestly don't know what I would have done by myself without those DVDs. I was miserable and so were Gracie and Lukie. For some reason, those DVDs helped us get through the worst of it.

So it begs the question: If I lived 40 years ago, before the dawn of DVDs and videos, what would I have done? I was so sick and so unable to function. What did moms do? Seriously. Help me here. I would have locked myself in my room and let my toddlers take care of themselves.

Okay. Maybe not.

All I have to say, whether you believe in letting your kids watch T.V. or not, is Thank You for Elephants, Barney and dinosaurs! Thank You for electricity! Thank You for the T.V.

Thank you!

A Public Thank You to Daddy

Today, I woke up to the sound of pounding on a door and "Momma! Mommmmmmy!" Well, that isn't entirely true. Daddy shoved me first and said, "The babies are awake." Then, I heard the pounding of the door and my name being called. So, I dragged myself out of bed and opened their door. They almost tackled me in their excitement about escaping.

The first five minutes with Gracie and Luke are among my favorite moments all day. They are blissfully happy to see us, as if the time they were sleeping was a million years and they couldn't stand the time apart. Smiles, hugs, laughter. It's a wonderful five minutes.

And then someone hits the other one and our day truly begins.

As evidenced by yesterday's post, I am very close to the edge emotionally. I've never been good at accepting my faults and since I am my own worst critic, my faults have been many lately. This morning, after milk was thrown at the floor one too many times and Lucas managed to find my bottle of antibacterial lotion, open it, and dump it all over himself, the living room floor and the kitchen (somehow missing the carpet between the two rooms), I told Daddy I needed him to get out of bed and help me or I was going to lose it.

Now, I don't think I really would have lost it, but he's seen me getting closer and closer to a marathon cry over the past few days. I have been feeling more and more anxious, depressed and, generally, unhappy. It's just sad that I feel like this when I am so BLESSED to have my beautiful Twinsies.

When Daddy realized that I was at a critical point, he arranged for Lukie to hang out at Grandma and Grandpa's house and he took Gracie with him to his doctor's appointment. He did not say when he would be back. I figured they would be gone for only a few hours. So, I rushed to put Gracie and Luke's new table together, wash some clothes, do some dishes, and fix the front yard a bit. Before I knew it, it was noon and there was no sign of Daddy and the Twinsies. I actually watched All My Children and called Nana because I could not believe they were doing a story line where a baby boy is being dressed as a girl to keep him hidden from his real dad. I can only imagine the story lines to come for Baby Trevor!

Hours continued to pass and no call from Daddy, no sign of the van. So, I cleaned out my purse, paid some bills, and did a few other things around the house. I have to admit that while I was keeping an eye out for my family, I was enjoying my time puttering around the house. Who knew housework could make you so happy!

Finally, around 3 pm, Daddy pulled into the driveway. Gracie was awake, minus a shoe, and Lukie was passed out with his mouth hanging open. Gracie and I went inside and Daddy offered to go get me some lunch so that Lukie would sleep longer. When they got back, I attempted to put Lukie in his room so that he could sleep more, but it didn't work. As soon as he realized I was holding him, he would not let me go.

I'm not going to write about the hours since Daddy left to go to dialysis. They were hard and there were a few moments that I had to do some deep breathing exercises. But, there were also some lovely and fun moments involving spray bottles, the new Twinsie Table and a warm afternoon.

So, Thank You, Daddy! Thank you for my few hours to recharge my batteries and have a breather. It was a lovely gift and I really needed it!

A Special Christmas Party at Kaiser

A few weeks ago, Eddie received a phone call from his friend, Sharon, in the Physical Therapy Department at Kaiser. She wanted to invite us all to a Christmas Party at Kaiser. We both thought this was odd. We've never been invited to one before! I couldn't go, but Eddie decided he would. Sharon insisted that he bring Gracie and Luke. So, Eddie kept Gracie and Luke home from day care and took the babies (by himself) to Kaiser.

When he arrived, all of his friends from Physical Therapy, Physical Medicine, and Outpatient Physical Therapy were there having their department holiday parties. They had planned them together and the guests of honor were Eddie and the babies. These nurses, PAs, and doctors have been in our lives for years and years. They've walked in the Diabetic Walk with us, cried with us when Eddie was sick or in pain, laughed and celebrated with us when the Twinsies were born. When they heard that we had been displaced by the fires, they decided that they wanted to make sure that we had a fantastic Christmas.

They had tons of clothes and toys for Gracie and Luke. They had gift cards and a soft blanket for Eddie and me. They gave us so many fantastic things that Eddie cried from the love he felt from his Kaiser Family.

To all our friends at Kaiser, Thank You! Your gifts were amazing and Gracie and Luke had a fantastic time with you today. We are blessed to have you all in our lives!

Giving Back

I know this blog is supposed to be about Gracie and Luke. However, half of the time, I find myself wanting to write about things completely unrelated to them. This blog is not supposed to be my soapbox. Today, I've decided to hijack the blog for a worthy cause.

We are very lucky. I have a job that allows us a home, food, clothing, and more. There are many families today who don't have those things because of the economy. Occasionally, I think of what our lives would be like if I lost my job. What would we do? Where would we go? I distinctly remember going to the Welfare Office with my mom when I was little. I remember sitting in the lobby and then crawling under the little overhang she wrote on during her interview. I remember her relief when they gave us money for food. That was one of the hardest things my mom ever had to do.

When we were displaced by the Sayre Fire, I saw first hand how amazing people can be. You expect the Red Cross to show up when there is a disaster. You expect it, but you don't realize how much they do. If you've never been to a shelter, then you don't know how desperate things feel there. The Red Cross Volunteers do their best to make the "refugees" comfortable, but it is still a shelter. They coordinate donations, feed, and house those who have been displaced. They keep them safe from the media and allow them to get much needed rest.

The one group I never saw coming was the Salvation Army. You see them at Christmas time and I vaguely remember seeing a thrift store or two. But I've never seen them in action. Until November 15th. The Salvation Army worked with the Red Cross in the most amazing coordinated effort I have ever seen. They brought hot food to the high school as we all waited to see the destruction at Oakridge. They gave us water, clothing, comfort. They gave those who were displaced vouchers for their thrift stores so that they could find comfort in clothing and furniture that are our own. In short, the Salvation Army stepped up to help and they did things for us that we never would have expected. They were amazing.

Back to the food issue. The Salvation Army has food banks all over the country. As the economy has gotten worse and worse, they've seen more and more people come to them for help. At the same time, donations to the food banks have dropped dramatically. In fact, the Salvation Army has seen a 34% decrease in monetary donations over the past 3 years. The United Way used to donate $250,000 to the Salvation Army Food Bank. Now, they are only sending $50,000.

So, why am I throwing all of these numbers at you? Because any of us might find ourselves in the situation where we might need the Salvation Army's help. We might find ourselves in need and the Salvation Army would step up, even if they had very little to help.

Today, a local radio station is sponsoring Operation Feed Our Families to help the Salvation Army. If you live in Southern California, you can donate nonperishable food items directly. If you don't, you can donate money through the special website set up for this event. If you have been planning to donate money to a charity this holiday season, I hope you will consider donating to the Salvation Army. Not only because of how amazing they are, but because the work they do is so very important.

If you can't contribute today, then please consider emptying your coin purse for the bell ringers this holiday season. Charities are being hit hard by the downturn in the economy and they are having to cut back how they help people. How amazing would it be if we could make it so that they can't even tell there is a recession from the number of donations?!

Taking a moment to say Thank You!

Today, I went to Target (not my on my list of favorite places) to buy thank you cards. We have been inundated with amazing gifts from family and friends who heard about our situation. We've received money, gift cards, wine (Thank you, Martha!), baby clothes, toys...The list goes on and on.

It is in times like these that you learn exactly how loved you are. A few months ago, I told Eddie that I wanted to move to another state because no one ever came to visit us or seemed to want to. In my overwhelmed state, I was feeling unloved. We hadn't heard from many of our friends in a long time and when we tried to set things up to visit people, their schedules were already full. Our friends and family are busy with all of the things in their lives, just like we tend to be with the Twinsies. I really just missed spending time with people and could not find a way for that to happen. By the way, we love our friends and family like crazy!

When the Sayre Fire took away our Oakridge Community, we were flooded with phone calls, offers of clothes, places to stay, and offers of help. Our friend, Carol, went up and down her block telling her neighbors they had to step up and help us out! Boy, did they! It was a tremendous feeling to have so many people offering to help us and we were overwhelmed by the love we felt from so many.

In addition to our family and friends, the response from the Red Cross and the Salvation Army was amazing to see. I hope no one ever has to go through a natural disaster like we did, but if you do, you will experience first hand the giving and support by these two organizations. Not only did they provide shelter, they provided food and a community place for us to come and grieve for our Oakridge home. The volunteers had the patience of saints and incredibly generous hearts.

I have a ton of thank you notes to write, but I wanted to take this opportunity to say "Thank you!" to everyone who offered help or did help in any way. Your generosity and love were amazing and very welcome at a time when we felt completely lost. We will never forget what you all did for us! Ever.

We are loved! (in the world of bloggers....)

One of my Twin Momma friends, Carrin, has given us this award:

Along with this award comes a challenge. Answer the following questions with one word and one word only! Here goes!

1. Where is your cell phone? wallet
2. Where is your significant other? school
3. Your hair color? brown
4. Your mother? loving
5. Your father? heaven
6. Your favorite thing? twinsies
7. Your dream last night? crazy
8. Your dream/goal? home
9. The room your in? classroom
10. Your hobby? web-design
11. Your fear? overwhelmed
12. Where do you want to be in six years? thinner
13. Where were you last night? home
14. What you’re not? hungry
15. One of your wish list items? stability
16. Where you grew up? Ontario
17. The last thing you did? lunch
18. What are you wearing? dress
19. Your TV? old
20. Your pet? obnoxious
21. Your computer? laptop
22. Your mood? exhausted
23. Missing someone? GandL
24. Your car? SUV
25. Something you’re not wearing? pants
26. Favorite store? Walmart
27. Your summer? long
28. Love someone? absolutely
29. Your favorite color? purple
30. When is the last time you laughed? morning
31. Last time you cried? Monday

Not as easy as it looks! The next part of the challenge is to pass it on. The challenge and award are now passed to:

1) Kristen at Created by the Uribe Family with Love

2) Caryn at Team Kyte

3) Traci at The Adventures of Ryan Roy

4) Kat at Motherhood, Mayhem and Mirth

A Monumental Night

Note the date: Saturday, June 28, 2008
Babies' Age: 9 Months, 3 weeks and 2 days old

This was the date that the babies had their very first Slumber Party. No Daddy. No Mommy. All Nana!

Nana (God Bless her!) offered to have a slumber party with Gracie and Luke so that Mommy and Daddy could get some work done for their jobs. So, packed down with everything babies could possibly need, Mommy and Daddy delivered the Twinsies to their Nana. They even stayed for an hour setting out all of the babies' food, filling bottles with water and pre-measuring formula so that Nana would have everything at her finger tips. Aunt Becca even came down to help Nana get the babies to sleep (although, we suspect that Nana Poppins did not need her).

Kisses were pressed onto little cheeks. Hugs, hugs, and more hugs were given to sweet little ones. And then, Mommy and Daddy walked out the door and got into the car.

Until they reached Pasadena, Mommy suspected that Daddy might just turn the car around and go collect the babies. He was so sad! She kept telling him that they could. But he continued driving and they arrived home to a very quiet house. And for the first time in 9 months, 3 weeks, and 2 days, Mommy and Daddy slept through the night without a baby's arm in their backs, a hungry cry in the night, or a leaky diaper. In fact, they did not wake up until 8 am! (Mommy woke up at 7:30 because the babies have her trained! She just read a book until Daddy woke up.)

As for the babies, Gracie slept in the Pack 'n Play through the night, while Lukie slept in the bed with Nana waking up for his usual bottle. On Sunday, they played with Nana at her house, hitting their hands on her coffee table and following her about the house. They came to an understanding with Nana that a) she will come back when she leaves a room and b) she can still be seen while in the kitchen, so no crying is necessary. At 3 pm, they headed with Nana to Aunt Bec's where they played with their cousins until it was time to come home.

Nana met Mommy and Daddy at Spaghetti Factory to pass the babies back over to their parents. They had dinner at Spaghetti Factory (at least Mommy and Daddy tried to) and the Twinsies even got to try Spumoni ice cream!

Nana did such a good job tiring the babies that they slept in their car seats and Lukie did not even wake up when Mommy took him out to go to bed.

We LOVE Nana!

(P.S. This picture is from 12/7/07 - Nana doesn't like to let us take pictures of her with babies. She couldn't say no this time. She had her hands full!)

Saying Goodbye to Sonia

Gracie and Luke are lucky to many people who love them. In the 6 months since I returned to work, they have had Grandma Rosi and Grandpa Al who come to help Daddy during the week and in February, they met Sonia. Sonia came to us by way of the DOLLS, a charity group who donated her services so that when Grandma and Grandpa could not be there to help, Daddy would not be alone. Sonia fell in love with Gracie and Luke right away. She often told us that she loved them like they were her own grandchildren.

Sonia would take the babies for walks, could get them to sleep for 2 hour naps (wow!), and taught them all kinds of songs in Spanish. She was an expert at distracting the babies when they would cry and getting them to laugh.

Today, we had to say goodbye to Sonia. She was so wonderful to us and we are grateful for the time she spent with our family. We feel lucky to have had her as a part of Gracie and Luke's life.

In a few weeks, Sonia's son and daughter-in-law will be welcoming their own twins to the family. They are expecting a boy and a girl! Hopefully, she will enjoy them as much (MORE!) than she enjoyed spending time with Gracie and Luke.

Thank you, Sonia!

A Somber, yet Joyous Anniversary

Today is exactly one year to the day that I went into pre-term labor. We "celebrated" with the following thought: If Dr. Hartford and the amazing nurses hadn't done such an awesome job, today might have been either Gracie and Luke's first birthday, or a very sad day remembering babies that once were. It's a sobering thought, but to make it happy, we had a very busy day.

We took Gracie and Luke for their 9 month check up. Gracie is 15 lbs, 2 oz and Luke is 16 lbs, 13 oz. They are both up 3 lbs in the last 3 months, but are just barely on the curve. I think our biggest percentage was Luke's head! He's in the 5th percentile for his age. Dr. A is very impressed with Gracie's crawling and, not to be out done, Luke decided to crawl forward about 8 inches to impress Dr. A (aka his girlfriend). They were very cranky after their immunizations, but we forged on to visit Dr. Hartford (our OB).

At Dr. Hartford's office, we delivered 2 of Eddie's pecan pies and a card thanking him for making our 9 month check up possible. He looked stunned, but happy that we came. I gave him a card with a very long "thank you." That night one year ago, my Dr. Hartford stayed with me until 2 am, making sure the nurses in L&D took care of me and monitored me closely. He was there when I was admitted to the Perinatal High Risk Unit and was put on IV Magnesium Sulfate. For the next 12 + weeks, he visited me in the High Risk ward. His conservative treatment and straightforward personality helped me keep my babies growing inside until 35 weeks 6 days.

After letting Luke flirt with Dr. Hartford's nurses, off we went to visit the nurses at the High Risk Unit. There, we delivered Eddie's Rustic Apple pies and Toffee Cranberry cookies. We saw several of the nurses who took care of me and some of the PAs as well. In addition to my OB, the nurses in the High Risk Unit held my hand, encouraged me, talked me down off of the ceiling when I had a bad day of too many contractions, made me laugh, brought me shredded wheat when I was craving it and my Eddie was in another hospital room recovering from surgery.

While we were there, we met up with another lady who had had a very long stay in the High Risk Unit along with me. She brought her twin boys and we had fun trying to get them to smile. James and Jonathan are adorable.



The Twinsies were not too excited about all of the transferring into and out of the car seats, but in the end, we felt like we had done what we set out to do:
Say Thank You to those who made our 9 month check ups with the Twinsies possible. Instead of being their 1st birthday yesterday, it was just any other day to them. What a gift that is! We have so much to be thankful for today!