weight loss during pregnancy last month | PREGNANT NATURALLY AT 53 WHILE ON PILL

weight loss during pregnancy last month

Im always amazed at the number of women who not only get pregnant over 40 naturally, but also women who get pregnant over 50 naturally.  What makes this case remarkable is  the woman in the story got pregnant by surprise at the age of 53, and she was on the pill at the time.  She also admits to a "once in a blue moon" love life!  What are the odds of that?  Her pregnancy had a fairytale ending too.  She carried to term and had a healthy baby after a natural delivery.  
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SEE ALSO: 49 AND PREGNANT (getpregnantover40.com)

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At the time of her pregnancy she also had two grandchildren from her two grown kids.  After delivering her baby, she said her motherly instinct kicked in right a way and her age just was not a factor (except to the doctors who, when finding out her age, automatically assumed she had donor eggs!)

The article also mentions a few other women who had natural pregnancies in their 50s including one at 59 and one at 55!  Researchers from Israel’s Hadassah University Hospital reported at a major European fertility conference that there may be a genetic combination in some women which can  slow aging of the ovaries and protect against cellular damage making older age pregnancies more likely.

from: dailymail

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post pregnancy weight loss youtube | Unique to twins

post pregnancy weight loss youtube

There are a lot of things about having twins that are hard to put into words or hard for people without twins to understand. For some things, parenting twins is double the work. For other things, it is half the work. I absolutely love being a momma to identical twins.

However, I read some of these articles about parenting twins or talk to some people with multiples and it feels like they are trying to make parenting twins far more unique or unusual than it is. Some of the things involved in parenting twins applies to parenting more than one child. Having twins in itself is special and unique. Why make it bigger than it is? Why say things in a way that puts down other moms, especially since most moms are moms of singletons? It feels like it is making a divide, when there is no need to create more mommy competition than there is already.

I was reading this article and it seemed to cover all the bases for most of the "unique" twin things I hear a lot, "9 things only parents of twins will understand," by Megan Shauri on FamilyShare. I went through the points she made regarding "unique twin things" and expanded on them, since many of them are not twin-exclusive, and some apply to sibling groups but are a little different for twins.

1. "People will ask inappropriate questions."

Totally agree with this one. We have heard some wildly inappropriate questions-- especially in front of our children-- as to how our twins were conceived. Even now I get asked if they are natural. But now that we have 4 children, we hear a lot of inappropriate comments, especially because they are all boys, these also said in front of my four precious children. Comments Ive heard from strangers:

"If I had 4 boys, Id put a gun in my mouth."

"Having 4 boys is the worst thing that I think could ever happen to me."

"Are you an alcoholic? I would be if I had 4 boys."

"God bless you because I cant think of a worse thing than having 4 boys."

"Better you than me because that sounds miserable."

I know the author was referring to fertility/conception when stating the inappropriate questions. When people ask about our boys ("Yes, all boys, all mine") they usually notice two are the same height and look the same ("Yes, they are identical twins") and I will sometimes hear if we "planned" them-- because using our magic looking glass we knew down the road that our 4th child would be another boy? So we thought lets do twin boys for children #2 and #3?

"Good Lord, Im so thankful I dont have twin boys."

"Twin boys! That is horrible. Wow, I have always wanted twins, but never twin boys."

"Im surprised you are out of the house and dressed. If I had twin boys, I would stay in bed crying all day."

Note on that: people really need to stop using the Lords name in vain to curse my blessings.

2. "You have to learn to speak twin."

This is the first point she makes that I truly dont agree with. Twin language? Really? This is one that just makes me shake my head...

Anyone who has raised a toddler knows how language gets warped and distorted as their child learns words. Dirty diaper becomes "bo bo;" water becomes "wah." Ive met people in adulthood who are still called by the name they referred themselves to when they were three-years old, unable to pronounce their full name.

Then you take two children learning language at the same time who spend all day together... yeah, they babble and sometimes it appears they have invented a little language. But they havent. They are babbling. We have taken our boys-- all 3 of the older ones-- on playdates where they are playing with their peers and their friends even seem to know what they are talking about.

I attribute this to the fact that these children are just used to not understanding a lot of what is being said to them. Up until that point in their cognitive life, they have had a world of people talking over them and at them. And so they are imitating what was modeled for them, just like they do with everything else. You give them a pot and a spoon, they pretend to cook {until they start beating their brother with the spoon...}.

Our boys have all gone to speech therapy. With our oldest, we were taught not to encourage his mutated words. Even when he said words in an absolutely adorable way, we were to repeat it back to him correctly so he learned the correct pronunciation. With our twins, we were taught not to encourage their "twin speak," even when it was hilarious. When one babbled a word incorrectly, we were to repeat it back correctly.

Honestly, we never had an issue with "twin talk." I have met many people that strongly believe in twin language. Strongly. We have had age appropriate babble from our children that seemed to be understood by each other-- even our oldest. Our twins would be fussing in their high chairs, yelling some undecipherable stream of words, and our oldest would say, "Mom, he wants the red car and he wants his blanket!" after my attempts of appeasing them failed. Our oldest would diligently fetch these items; his brothers would take them and instantly stop fussing, their attention fully absorbed in their treasures.

As our twins have grown, we have encouraged correct language. When we figure out a hard to pronounce word that they have been struggling over, we learn to recognize it in their speech and work with them on the correct pronunciation. It doesnt make sense to me to latch on to toddler speak and dub it twin language.

When I tell people, no, our twins do not have a secret language, they usually launch into how their cousins twins could read each others minds. One would just burst out crying and the other would go get a certain toy and the twin would stop crying because they just knew. My sisters and I were always very close and always anticipated/knew what the other sister wanted, just from our surroundings/past experience/knowing each other. Siblings have a bond. Twins have a leg up on this sibling bond because from their moment of conception they have been thrown together as a pair, even in familys where the sibling bond is often ignored or left to grow on its own without parental guidance.

3. "You will never stop being asked if they are twins."

My sisters and I look like replicas of each other. We used to find it so amusing when people asked us if we are twins. Sometimes we said yes; it was all a game to us. Now that Im grown with a set of identical twins... it isnt the game it was then. Our boys are three-years old and Im not sure I can really convey how often we are asked if they are twins. It isnt that I mind talking to people or that Im not friendly; I feel like I am very friendly and open. I love our boys and love talking about all of them. It is just that we get asked at every store, at every errand, at the guard shack driving on base, at Chick-Fil-A when we walk in the door, when we order, when we are sitting at our table, by the parents in the play area, by the fellow patrons around us, on our way out to the parking lot... We seem to go in waves of being asked if they are twins. We will only get asked on some of our errands and then other times we are asked e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e every time we go out. {Mind you, I do not dress our twins alike. I sometimes put all of our boys in matching/coordinating outfits for events and such, but not our every day wear.}

4. "There is no such thing as just running to the store quickly."

This point made by the author was one of those comments that make singleton parents glare at twin parents. Because leaving the house with one child is so easy and singleton parents have no idea how easy they have it?

As a parent of singleton first, I can tell you that it is not that easy. Our first child was a breath holder from 6 weeks to 3 years. It was intense. And going from buckling no car seats as a free agent adult to buckling a car seat every time you leave the house, it is a big change.

Now as a parent of 4, I can tell you leaving the house with one child is not the chore it used to be. Buckling one car seat and taking one child in when I have 3 more children in car seats staying home with Dad feels like much less work. That sounds like Im saying that one car seat is easy...

No, what Im saying is that it is relative. Having your first baby is a major learning curve. Having your fourth baby is much easier. Things dont surprise you so much. I expect to have some fussiness in the store, maybe some crying in the car. I expect babies to be loud and disruptive in public and know what age appropriate behaviors from our toddlers are. I enjoy going out and having one on one time with just one child and appreciate not having to do zone defense down the aisle of the commissary.

If I could go back in time there are so many things I would be much more relaxed about with our first, but I cant because I was figuring it out then. I had no idea what to expect at each of the ages and stages. There are definitely times now that I hear a mom of one complaining to me about how their house is a mess and I do want to laugh out loud, thinking about the uphill battle I have at home with our 4 children. But I have been in that moms shoes. I know how that mom feels and I know those feelings are real.

5. "The learning curve for sibling rivalry happens much sooner."

I think this really sums up a lot of the differences between twins and singletons, not the sibling rivalry, but that things happen much sooner. Instead of easing into balancing sibling groups, you are thrown into it. We went from one child to three children-- a big transition! As someone who rarely pushed a stroller with our first, I was then taking a stroller that could hold three children everywhere we went-- two infant carriers, two bottles, two sets of baby toys and blankets to keep track of, three children to balance. And when our twins became mobile it was much more difficult finding a place for our oldest to do toddler activities, like Playmobile sets. He would pull his toys away from one baby only to be accosted by the other baby. It was a lot for him to take in. Our style of parenting changed a lot going from one child to three children, though there has been a much smaller shift going from three children to four.

6. "They truly love being together."

This one is another stretch. How is this just twins? Our boys fuss and fight and bicker all day long. But they freak out if one of them leaves. They worry about the baby when I leave the house with just him, "Dont forget to feed him while you are gone!" Thank you, 6-year old; I will remember to do that! They worry when my husband leaves with any combination of them-- our 6-year old and a 3-year old; both the 3-year olds... They are so excited when their brothers come home after any amount of time away. "Where did you go?! Did you have fun?!" Whenever we go anywhere-- doctor appointments, piano lessons, etc-- and the one with me is offered stickers or suckers or treats, he demands 3 more for his brothers. They all look out for each other. We have encouraged from the beginning the sibling bond, the band of brothers. It is so important for brothers to have each others backs.

7. "It feels like your kids grow up faster."

It is weird to me having two pass through the phases together. It feels... different. We seem to hit the phases fast and furious. We binged on toys to make our day easier; we have so many baby toy hand-me-downs, two of everything, because it was easier to give them each a toy in their Bumbo. We had two swings, two bouncey seats, two, two, two. Two push lawnmowers, two Fisher Price poppers, two Fisher Price school buses... And then they grew out of it all and it is passed down to baby #4 who finds far more entertainment in his brothers than his toys.

Looking at baby #4, Im amazed at how old our twins are. We are out of the baby stage with them-- they are 3 years old! We are moving into the preschool years. How did we fly through that? I still remember the long evenings, double the colds, double the diapers...

And suddenly they are playing games with their big brother and our house is now three of everything. This was a Christmas of threes. Our garage has shifted from toys for our oldest {one of each} plus toys for our twin toddlers {two of each} to toys for our boys {three of everything}.

I think maybe now they are older and out of the extreme hands on baby phase, maybe it will feel more normal to have two children pass through the stages together. Maybe it will feel a little less intense than when it was two babies. I dont know. I am just floored that our oldest is now 6 years old. SIX. Not the tiny baby on my hip. Our twins are 3 years old. THREE. Not the round babies in cribs and diapers. And we have a fourth baby. What? How time flies!

8. "They will always be compared to each other."

There could be a whole article on this one alone. Yes, yes, yes, yes, a million times YES. We have 4 children and we have heard, "Does he sleep like the other ones? Does he eat like the other ones? Is he a good baby/bad baby/same baby as the other ones? Does he look like the other ones?" Normal, right? Yup.

But for twins, it is different. We hear that and then some. If one of our twins falls off the slide and starts crying, I hear, "Is he the sensitive twin?" If one of our twins is wearing mismatched clothes and the other twin is wearing what I picked out, I hear, "Is he the rebellious twin?" If one of our twins is throwing a fit in public, I hear, "Is he demanding twin?" If one of our twins says hi to the people asking if they are twins, I hear, "Is he the outgoing twin?" The are just labeled. Labeled everywhere we go no matter what they are doing. They are labeled as the twins and then people want to attribute each and every one of the smallest behaviors they are exhibiting at any given moment to which twin they are.

And when our oldest is noticed in the midst of the twin labeling, he gets asked, "Are you a good helper with your brothers?"

{Face palm}

9. "You will always be teaching people about twins."

Yup.

"My dad is a twin so I was sure I would have twins."

"My brothers cousins wife had twins, so I know my turn is next."

Read my blog post, "Identical or Fraternal {revised}."

What do you think of this list and of her article? Do agree that these are unique to twins or do you think they cover sibling groups as well?

 

View Megan Shauris article here: "9 things only parents of twins will understand," by Megan Shauri on FamilyShare?

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hcg pregnancy weight loss | ADOPTION MAY NOT BE AN OPTION FOR EVERYONE

hcg pregnancy weight loss

Pregnancy Over 40, Do Not Ask If Youve Considered Adoption

I mean no disrespect to those who are considering adoption or to those who have already adopted.
 Its just that when I was trying so hard to get pregnant, if someone said "have you considered adoption?" it was absolutely devastating. First of all, I never considered adoption. Its not because I have anything against it, its just that I had already been on such a roller coaster ride of ups and downs with infertility and miscarriage, I couldnt even imagine starting a whole new process of paperwork, social workers, home visits, and a birth mother. I just wanted to smack whoever said "have you considered adoption"?

SEE ALSO: SHARING INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR INFERTILITY (getpregnantover40.com)

Ok, enough ranting, its just that when youre certain that you can succeed in getting pregnant, having someone suggest adoption is a slap in the face. Its almost like theyre telling you that you need to move on and "give it up". I kept my struggle with infertility and miscarriage very private for this very reason. I didnt want unsolicited advice. One person who suggested adoption to me was a physician assistant who I saw after one of my miscarriages. She was a quite rough around the edges and bit of a loose cannon. There I was grieving my lost pregnancy and instead of saying something truly consoling, her adoption comment left me feeling like I was at the end of the road. I never went back to that clinic and I now always insist on seeing a doctor, not a PA.

Anyway, I should mention that Ive known many people who have happily adopted. I know people whove adopted older children, I known people whove done foreign adoptions, and Ive seen many open adoptions where the birth mother is very much a part of the childs life. It can work beautifully. Its just that considering adoption needs to be your decision. Every person/couple struggling with infertility knows that adoption is an option. I guess most people who ask if youve considered it just want to help. Let them know that you understand your options and youll arrive at your own decision when the time is right.

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post pregnancy weight loss yoga | Homeschool schedule

post pregnancy weight loss yoga

When this homeschool year started, I was excited. Our first "real" year of homeschooling! I opened up my calendar and my feelings shifted slightly, "Oh no! There is nothing on our calendar!" So I started adding things to our calendar.

I continued our piano lessons on Wednesdays. He is really interested in music and learning piano.

I found a fun ASL co-op class on Thursdays. He likes sign language and I thought he would enjoy doing it with other kids-- just for fun.

I found a storytime on Fridays. This is really our only "toddler-friendly" activity.

Fall started. We enjoyed our schedule.

Then we found a fun co-op class on Wednesdays after our piano lessons. We joined that.

Then one of our toddlers needed speech therapy on Mondays.

Plus we go to church on either Saturday night or Sunday morning.

Plus we still had to go grocery shopping...

...and I joined a mommy meet-up group that I never had time for.

...and a homeschool field trip group that I never had time for.

...and friends that I was having a hard time finding room in our schedule just to hang out with.

...and a house to take care of.

...and toddlers that were still napping.

...and a newborn.

Oh, yes. And homeschool to actually accomplish with our kindergartner.

Suddenly our schedule was not fun. How had kindergarten become such a chore?

At a park playdate I opened up my calendar to a homeschool mom currently homeschooling her 4 children. I figured that she is wise at planning her family calendar since her oldest 2 are teenagers. I asked her, "What am I doing wrong? We are stressed and fighting every morning when we leave the house and we are homeschooling kindergarten! I dont think it should be this hard." Bless her she went through my schedule and helped me cut it down. {Side note: be thankful for honest friends!}

We dropped piano lessons and ASL co-op to free our schedule and because winter break was a good point to drop the classes before we move.

We obviously kept church and speech therapy.

The Wednesday co-op stayed since it was one of the things that our oldest loved and really wanted to keep on the calendar, plus it wasnt too stressful to get to or be at especially after our calendar was cut way down.

Friday storytime is drop-in and so on Fridays when we are looking for something to do, we go. On Fridays where we are way to busy after a hectic week, we dont.

I dropped the mommy meet-up group and the homeschool field trip group. Even being part of them online was stressful. I never had time for the playdates, even the ones that I wanted to go to. It feels so much better not having that "failure" hanging over me. I figure that if our schedule ever dies down, then I will consider joining again, but first I want to get in the swing of things.

After such a busy schedule, I wanted to give us a chance to breathe and regroup. Our co-ops and commitments ended in December then we hit the winter holidays. I gave us the freedom and flexibility to let school happen or to take a break. We ended up doing more no-school days than school days over Christmas, which was fine. We started school early this year and have plenty of days we can take off for moving, if we need to. As we get ready to start school again post-holiday, Im keeping in mind the lessons I learned this past fall.

Dont feel that homeschooling means open schedule.

Dont fill up each day with an out of the house activity.

Dont make it harder than it needs to be.

Since Ive cut down our schedule Im being far more discerning as I put things on our calendar, especially weekly commitments:

1. Does it include all the age groups of our children? Finding activities that all our boys can participate in is wonderful, specifically our oldest 3. If I have something interesting for them to participate in, it is so much easier to get us out the door. "Lets all put on our shoes for our nature explorers park trip!"

2. If it doesnt, do I already have several things on the calendar for that age group? For instance, my schedule was very heavy with activities for our kindergartner, our "official" homeschooler. Even though we were doing things for him, I was still bringing his 3 younger siblings to all those activities and they were getting bored and tired of hanging out in the car or lobbies or sitting quietly on benches watching their brother. While I do think that some activities geared toward a particular age group are great and fine {storytime for our toddlers, co-op for our oldest}, it is important to balance how often I put things on the calendar for one age group.

3. How busy will I be? Over extending myself on weekly commitments meant a lot of the other daily tasks became much bigger chores, such as grocery shopping, house cleaning, laundry, and the kitchen. As a family, we love cooking together and eating dinner at home, but we were short on ingredients and short on time. Our dishes were stacking up. Our laundry was piling up. It was stressful because each day we had too much going on. With young children, leaving one day {Tuesdays, in my case} open wasnt much help because I couldnt count on that day being a good day to get chores done. What if the boys came down with colds? Or our toddlers were exceptionally uncooperative that day? Or the baby was up all night and I was feeling sluggish?

4. Do we have free time? I love free time. The best things happen out of free time. Our boys invent a wild game to play together. We bake together. We do crafts together. We snuggle up and watch movies and eat popcorn together {we love watching movies together!}. When our schedule was so full, free time was miserable. The boys were tired and always fussing at each other. I needed a break and didnt feel like engaging when I finally had a minute to myself. Free time gives us the chance to let our math lesson run over because we are having fun. Free time lets us read just one more book together. Free time allows us to throw on shoes and take a walk. Free time lets us say "yes" to our neighbor that wants to come over and hang out for awhile. I am a firm believer in free time.

What lessons have you learned regarding your family calendar and homeschooling?

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pregnancy hormone weight loss pill | WHY DID SHE GET PREGNANT BEFORE ME

pregnancy hormone weight loss pill

Get Pregnant Naturally, It Will Happen On Its Own Schedule

Doesnt it feel like a race sometimes? I recall when I ran a womens infertility support group, most people sheepishly admitted they felt like they were competing with others when it came to who could get pregnant first.
Your self esteem takes a beating when you cant get your body to "perform" and it seems like slap in the face when others get pregnant before you. One member said, "I definitely want to get pregnant before my sister who is getting married next month" as if she was going to be humiliated if she couldnt "outperform" her.

SEE ALSO: SHARING INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR INFERTILITY (getpregnantover40.com)

Well...I have one thing to say...take yourself out of the race...it only adds stress to an already overly-stressed situation - and stress will only get in your way of getting pregnant.

So how do you get yourself out of the "race" mindset?

1. Remember, babies come on their own schedule...not out of your need to feel like youre getting ahead of others.

2. Just because someone had a baby before you - it doesnt mean theyre better or more worthy...theyre just on a different schedule.

3. Now that I have my daughter, Im glad I had her when I did...if I had her when we first started trying to get pregnant, shed be older by now. Im enjoying every minute. Most people my age are going through the trauma of watching their kids move away from home or going to college...I have many years of fun ahead of me.

5. The way I see it, for every week, month, and year I waited for my daughter to come into my life, thats how much more I enjoy being with her. I dont think I could have ever appreciated what a miracle the whole process of pregnancy and childbirth is if I had gotten pregnant on my first try (or if I had a baby in my 20s).

6. It seems like whenever Ive been envious or jealous of someone else, I later find out that theyve struggled as much or more than me it some part of their life. What appeared to be a charmed life wasnt so perfect afterall. Maybe they had an easier time getting pregnant, but there are many phases of life and many twists and turns along the way.

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pregnancy yoga weight loss | Boys will be boys

pregnancy yoga weight loss

If you follow my blog, you might have read my post, "Mom to all boys." In it I say:

Why does it bother me so much hearing "boys will be boys?" Because, in my experience, people do not use that expression in regards to positive behavior demonstrated by my children.

To be honest, most of the time when I hear boys will be boys, parents are using it to justify their childrens bad behavior. It really bothers me.

I come back to that expression time after time and each time it just makes my skin crawl. Why are we teaching a future generation of men that their behavior is okay or justified due to their sex? It makes me think back to various jobs Ive held when men touched me inappropriately or said inappropriate things, once to a point that I had to report a guy. What if the manager had said, "Boys will be boys"?

I am not under some illusion that males and females think/act/are exactly the same and we need to drop all gender references. As our boys have grown, I have noticed our playdates with girls and boys have changed. In truth, our playdates {not everyday play in our own home or for our friends everyday play in their homes} have only really changed this past year. The boys and girls-- through no direction from the parents-- tend to split off or assign various roles to each group. The boys say, "We are knights and are defending the castle! The playground is the castle!" and they are off roaring around the playground with sticks and swords and imaginary bows and arrows. The girls say, "We are the princesses!" and they go in the castle, assigning bedrooms and nurseries and describing the imaginary dresses each of them are wearing. But this extreme division is only starting now. The younger siblings are following suit with the older siblings. When our oldest was 3 years old, he happily joined in on the game with whatever the boys or girls were doing. Now that our oldest is 6 years old, his little brothers trudge along after him, waving swords and occasionally wandering over to check out what is happening in the castle.

My problem is not with boys preferring one game over another or boys playing differently than girls. Our boys spend a lot of time sword fighting. All day long we have wrestling, sword fighting, bloody noses, fat lips, questionable injuries {"Is it broken? Is he fine?"}. Every thing that enters into our house is literally made into a weapon: stuffed alligators are swords, paper towel rolls are swords, paper folded round and round is a sword, pencils are swords, really short pencils are guns... Everything is a weapon. Even our 3 year olds grab long strands of grass and try to tie them to sticks to make bows and arrows. If you know me, you know I am not a fan of weapons. When I take our boys to play with other boys their age, they seem to all do this. They want to protect, to serve, to fight, especially these military children of ours who hear military talk all day {Soldiers! Sailors! Airmen! Marines! Duty! Honor! Courage! Commitment!}.

My problem is when all of the above behavior is immediately dismissed, justified, or permissible due solely to gender. Our oldest is 6 years old; our twins are 3 years old; our baby is 6 months old. We are still in the realm of "little kid play." Why is it okay for big boys to tackle our little boys to the ground as theyre crying and beat them with a foam sword? Why is it okay for big boys to chase a 3 year old down pelting him with Nerf bullets as the 3 year old screams in terror? Why is it okay for little boys to chuck rocks at our stroller with the baby inside? Why are we-- WOMEN-- justifying this behavior in front of our future generation of men by saying "hes all boy?" Since when is it okay for men to throw rocks at babies????

As a woman, that makes me angry. Why are we using our roles as influential women in these mens lives {because our boys will grow up to be men} to ingrain gender stereotypes in them?

Our boys are allowed to explore their creativity to the full extent. Our oldest has started playing Destiny {in small doses} with his dad and grandfather, an activity beloved by the men in my family. He plays Minecraft and revels in his successes. Our boys do wild sword fights where they make tents in their room and battle all afternoon. When we watch Lord of the Rings, they make KNex swords and reenact all the battles they see on the screen. Our 3 year olds are constantly on an Orc hunt. They are given the freedom and space to behave in the way that they wish.

However, we still have house rules. Older children must watch out for younger children. All children must have respect for babies. Respect is very big in our home. It is never acceptable to point guns or weapons at adults or babies, with the exception of adults who are willingly and knowingly joining in their game {such as a Nerf gun war}. We do not allow wild horseplay in our family room, where we have guests and babies, but we have a playroom and their bedroom for such activities. We feel that, especially indoors, they need to find appropriate ways to channel their behavior.

Dont get me wrong, our children do their fair share of far too rough play at home and at the playground. They do their fair share of hitting instead of using their words or sword fighting with unsuspecting friends. What I do is help teach and guide them on how we play with friends. "Why dont you ask her if she wants to play battle with you?" "When you pushed past him to go down the slide, you hurt him. Would you like it if someone did that to you?" "When we dont get our way, we use our words not our hands. You need to say that you are sorry and then take a rest with me for a few minutes."

Last night our boys were playing wildly with stuffed animals and one of our 3 year olds took it way too far. All the stuffed alligators {aka alligator swords} were taken away. We have rules for indoor play. "Do we play like that in the house? Is it okay to hit your brother when hes asking you to stop or not playing your game?" We have outlets for them. Our boys are allowed to play on our back porch where I can supervise them and they can get a little wild. We have games they enjoy doing, like puzzles, KNex, trains, cars, Legos, coloring. When they get too wild all together {as sibling groups can easily do}, we break them up and have them do some quiet activities on their own until they can play together and follow the rules. When it has gone so far down hill that they all just need a rest, I either send them all to sit on their beds {which means they took it way too far} or I have them take a break and watch a movie or read stories.

When we discuss their behavior with them, we do not make them feel that they are destined to be a certain way because of their gender. How would it make them feel being put in a little box due to their gender? And how does that make them relate to others based on their genders? We talk to them based on the incident, just like how we do all areas of our parenting-- not dragging in far past incidents, not heaping more and more trouble on them-- but discussing what happened then. "Do you think that you treated your brother fairly or unfairly?" "It is never okay to behave that way towards a baby. That was far too rough of play for a baby." There are definitely behaviors that we have constant issues with that we are continually working on. For instance, our oldest lately is playing way too rough with his brothers when they all go into their room {aka the coliseum}. We are really working on that because he views them far more as peers than as younger children-- when there is just over 2 and a half years between them in age. "If you want to go play in there with your brothers, you will follow the rules or you will have to find something else to do."

Why is this so important to us? Because we arent raising boys to be boys; we are raising boys to be men. We dont want them to be limited in their views or the future generation of old men to make racist/sexist/bigoted comments towards young mothers in Target {which I have had my fair share of}. Right now, being so young, they obviously dont have any bias regarding race or gender. We are starting to hear comments like, "This is the boys table, Momma," but our boys still happily play with all their little girl friends. One of our 6 year olds best friends is a little girl who trudges through our front bushes finding weapons with him one minute and then the next is teaching him all sorts of cool gymnastic/dance moves, which according to our oldest are very useful in battle.

As for race, our boys are still blissfully unaware of skin color-- or, rather, experience of racism. Our oldest is really drawn to Martin Luther King Jr right now {actually wants us to throw a birthday party for him}. When we read stories about him, he gets emotional that anyone would treat someone badly based on their skin color; I think it is hard for his little 6 year old brain to fathom tolerating or practicing racism. So far we have stuck to picture books on Martin Luther King Jr and the book "Pink and Say." We feel that equality is a conversation that is worth starting now, to get the vocabulary and understand that we are all people, that Christ died for us all.

Picture books are a great way to initiate these conversations and to help bridge any gaps that our children may encounter. As boys, they have encountered far more "bully" behavior than anything else. They get frequently told that behavior inflicted on them is okay because they are "boys playing with boys," mostly in playground situations where we are playing with strangers. For bully behavior, I love "Llama Llama and the Bully Goat." That book is great at pin pointing behaviors that our children frequently encounter and also helps outline a great way to help diffuse bully behavior. In the book, the bully goat has to sit next to the teacher through recess and for the rest of the day so she can help navigate his interactions with the other kids. When our boys have "bully goat behavior," as weve come to call it, I explain to them that they need to take a break for awhile with momma, mostly applicable to our 3 year olds who are still figuring life out. It has been a great resource for our oldest to recognize behaviors that he previously had a hard time processing. It upset him to have kids treat him in a way that hurt his feelings {or his body} and then have their parents tell him to suck it up because he is a boy. Now hes feeling far more confident in telling a child that he doesnt want to play with him anymore and moving away from him or alerting an adult of what is going on.

For gender issues, we focus on modeling the attitude we expect. They hear positive things about girls at home and do not hear gender stereotypes from either parent. We read books and encourage open play. Our boys have baby dolls and a variety of toys. The book "Just Like Me" actually sparked a lot of conversation regarding girls and boys as well as interaction with siblings. The twin girls talk about their similarities, but also their differences. All of our boys, twins and singletons, talked about how they are like that-- the same, but different. They also talked about how they are a lot like the girls in the book, which then evolved to how girls and boys have a lot of similarities and differences as well. This topic has been one that we try to let naturally penetrate our interactions with peers because we want them to see it in action, to respect males and females alike, and to recognize we are all people, despite our differences.

We have taken a similar approach with race as we have with gender-- that we model the attitude we expect. For our 3 year olds, we have followed the same path we took with our oldest at that age. We focus on the Bible, how Christ loves all of us, we are all people. As our oldest has grown, the conversation has changed, mostly due to his questions. Weve talked about how sometimes appearance and skin color is an indicator of your culture and different regions of the world. Weve talked about how America is a melting pot and weve even dove into some of the more sordid aspects of our history. A hero is always welcome to a 6 year old and so weve introduced him to Martin Luther King Jr, a hero he has really taken to. While with gender we have really tried to just let the conversation be without pushing any agenda, race is something that we have focused on introducing. We want them to be aware and conscious of how they treat others, as well as biases that they will need a response to.

In our house, "boys will be boys." We are proud of our boys. We love parenting boys and we want them to embrace who they are: young men. But we are going to do our best to raise these boys to be Christ following, conscious men who exude love, peace, faithfulness, and self-control.

To quote the movie Little Women:

Marmie: "Feminine weaknesses and fainting spells are the direct result of our confining young girls to the house, bent over their needlework, and restrictive corsets."

Meg: "Marmie, must you speak to everyone about corsets?"

Marmie: "Oh, Meg. Do I?"

Some things are worth talking about.

 

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baby weight loss first days | FERTILITY EXPERT IVF MAY BE A WASTE OF TIME

baby weight loss first days

Ive seen Dr. Robert Winston on television a number of times over the years talking about everything from fertility, to pregnancy and everything in between.  He was recently on British television talking about how IVF may be a waste of time for some couples and compared it with treating a headache with brain surgery before trying to figure out the underlying cause.

from the article:

He explained: A large number of people with hormonal problems are not getting the right treatment. Hormone drugs are cheaper but many go straight to IVF.

One of the most common causes of infertility is tubal damage and this can be investigated with a telescope and then with minor surgery to release and open tubes. 

Statistically these treatments and hormonal drugs are more effective than IVF and leave patients more likely to be permanently fertile afterwards.

SEE ALSO: HAVING A BABY OVER 40 (getpregnantover40.com) 

For couples who have been told they have an unexplained fertility problem, Prof Winston - whose Essential Fertility Guide was published this week - said they should push their GP for further investigations. 

Unexplained fertility is not a diagnosis. There will only be a very small minority who are classed as having explained infertility, he said.

The problem is the advice given by GPs is not good enough, they are stressed and have a lot of patients and often see infertility as a minor problem, I get that feeling anyway.

from: dailymail.co.uk

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baby weight loss first month | YOGA POSITIONS TO HELP YOU GET PREGNANT

baby weight loss first month

How Yoga Positions For Fertility Can Help Couples Conceive

Guest Post By Rebecca Prescott

With more and more women delaying having children until later in life, there are a growing number of couples having difficulties conceiving. From their mid thirties onwards, womens chances of getting pregnant drop dramatically and many are turning to medical intervention to assist them in having a baby.
Trying to conceive can be a very stressful and emotional experience, particularly when it involves undergoing fertility treatment or IVF. Many doctors are now recommending women use yoga in conjunction with their medical treatment, both to assist them in de-stressing and to enhance their possibilities of becoming pregnant.
A Harvard based study found that women who were trying for a baby were three times more likely to conceive if they took fertility focussed yoga courses than those who did not. But what is it about yoga that prepares the body so well for conception and pregnancy?
As we have already mentioned, stress can be a major problems when a couple are having trouble conceiving. Stress can interfere with a womans menstrual cycle and delay ovulation, as well as reducing sperm production in men. The emotional release of yoga can ease stress and anxiety, enhancing a couples chances of conceiving.
This is most effective if both the male and female participate, and a couple might consider partner yoga in this situation. As well as deepening and strengthening their relationship, partner yoga can teach them how to cope together with the strain of trying for a baby.
There are numerous other ways that a fertility focussed yoga course can help a woman to conceive. In yoga the body is seen as an energy system, with a number of different areas or chakras. Certain yoga positions focus on increasing the energy flow in the second chakra, known as the seat of creation, which is where the reproductive organs can be found.
There are many yoga positions that increase energy in the second chakra. Certain restorative poses are perfect to prepare the body for conception. They can help to soften the abdominal region and remove any tension from the area of the ovaries, fallopian tubes and uterus. Reclining poses are used to elongate the abdominal region, allowing more blood flow to the reproductive organs.
There are also specific yoga positions that a woman can use after sex to increase her chances of conception. One of the most popular is a legs up the wall pose, known as Viprarita Kirani. This ensures that the sperm remain in the optimum position for fertilisation for as long as possible.
A final way that yoga can assist conception is by correcting irregular hormone levels that may be limiting fertility. Certain yoga positions can improve glandular function, which helps to normalize hormone levels.
Although nobody would claim that yoga alone can make you pregnant, following a course of fertility focussed yoga can significantly reduce the stress and emotion of trying to conceive. Used in conjunction with medical treatment, it can prepare your body and mind for pregnancy and greatly increase your chances of creating that longed for baby.
For more information on the best prenatal yoga exercises [http://www.yogatohealth.com/What_Prenatal_Yoga_Exercises_and_Poses_Are_The_Best.html], click here. Rebecca has an online yoga site [http://www.yogatohealth.com] suitable for beginners here.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rebecca_Prescott
http://EzineArticles.com/?How-Yoga-Positions-For-Fertility-Can-Help-Couples-Conceive&id=514582

Click picture for more on yoga, massage, acupressure and reflexology

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weight lost during pregnancy boy or girl | Let it be

weight lost during pregnancy boy or girl

"When I find myself in times of trouble,
Mother Mary comes to me.

Whispers words of wisdom,

Let it be.

Let it be; let it be; let it be; let it be.

There will be an answer.

Let it be."?

-The Beatles

After such a stressful month, it was time to give ourselves a break, get out of our routines, and have fun together. My parents graciously let us use their time share again (we used it last year as well). Even better, they came with us. I dont know if you ever outgrow wanting your momma when youre broken hearted. It was so good seeing them and our family had a great time at the indoor waterpark, especially our oldest. Whenever we had down time in our room-- like when the toddlers were napping-- my hubby would take D down to the arcade where they had a ropes course and a blacklight miniature golf course as well. I dont think D wanted to leave! It was good for us to just forget about everything else for awhile and have fun.

I forgot to take pictures of the timeshare, which was wonderful. It was bigger than our old 3-bedroom apartment. My parents had the master suite, which had a jacuzzi tub and a large walk-in shower. There was a second bathroom by the second and third bedrooms, but the kids loved bathing in my parents big bathtub! We slept in the large second bedroom on a king bed. Im not sure how many times my husband and I said we are excited to buy a king bed while we were there (we currently have a queen). The boys all shared the third bedroom. We brought the toddlers packnplays and wedged them in the empty spaces of the room. D slept in a double bed. Some mornings they were up earlier than usual, but, for the most part, they slept together great. (This gave us hope because we are hoping to get all three of them in one room when we move to South Carolina.) It was nice to have a room to ourselves. We brought our air mattress with us just in case it didnt work having all the boys in the same room and D needed to sleep on our floor. I loved that the timeshare was basically a 3-bedroom apartment. The boys slept down a hallway, away from the living space, making naptime possible even away from home. I also loved the full kitchen. We made BLTs one night and bread pudding another night; we also ate breakfast and lunch in the timeshare. We could walk indoors from our room to the timeshare, so, even though there was snow outside, the boys were in swim trunks and flip flops for most of the trip! D loved the waterpark immediately. The toddlers took awhile to warm up to the loud music and shrieks from people riding the slides or in the wave pool when it started up; I think they were a little over stimulated. I also think they are a little unsure about how they felt in the water. D was a toddler living in Hawaii; we were beach bums togethers. The toddlers, however, only went to the pool twice last summer! Their "water experience" is exclusively from the bathtub.

Here they are in the kids area with their daddy:

 

Here are a few more pictures taken on my camera from the vacation:

 

?It was a great trip. My parents even drove home with us to stay for a couple days after the waterpark. I really needed the family time and the away time. Thank you to my parents for letting us use your timeshare. Thank you for spending the week with us. We had a great time!! :)

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safe weight loss during pregnancy obese | Parklife

safe weight loss during pregnancy obese

"All of the people,
So many people,
Go hand in hand
Through their parklife."
-Blur

What snuggling the boys looks like

It has been awile since I posted a blog about our schedule. Scheduling a family of five is difficult. Some days we do better than other days. There is a lot that goes into a family schedule. Before I decide on a schedule for us, I think about what our family needs. My husband is busy and needs to be able to have time for his studying. Because I cant count on him to always help with bedtimes or dinnertimes, I like an easy schedule that I can do by myself. This works out well too because on those nights that my husband is home, it is nice to be able to leave him to do the bedtime routine by himself so I can have get out of the house or curl up in the fetal position on the floor-- er, I mean-- have a minute alone to read or unload the dishwasher. I really do think about the needs of myself and my husband before I start thinking about the needs of the boys. We feel that the children need to learn that they are part of the family unit and need to adapt to the rythyms of our family. That is why I loved the book 12 Hours in 12 Weeks by Suzy Giordano. I feel that book-- that schedule-- set the tone and helped the babies adapt to our family life. The first couple years are hard. As much as you dont want to just cater to your childs every whim, newborns need to eat frequently. Babies need to nap. Toddlers need to practice independence. The two books that really helped us form our family schedule and parenting attitude (besides the B-I-B-L-E) were 12 Hours in 12 Weeks by Suzy Giordano, which we relied heavily on for the first year and a half, and Bringing Up Bebe by Pamela Druckerman. We didnt follow either book to the letter, though we were extremely strict about the twins schedule the first year. I really liked the foundation of both books: the children must adapt to your family schedule. As parents, it is not our job to cater to our childrens every whim for the rest of their lives. It is to teach them to become self-sufficient human beings. It makes me feel like I have a goal and purpose these busy first couple years; it keeps perspective on the long, long days; it helps me cherish those tender moments that happen in the midst of the chaos. More importantly, those books, especially 12 Hours in 12 Weeks, gave us structure so we were able to get through the days.

I posted several blogs the first year regarding our family schedule. I have found, as stated in 12 Hours in 12 Weeks, that often times people say their children sleep through the night, when really they wake up a couple times in the night or at some point come crawling in their bed (we are planning on transitioning them to toddler beds when we have to or perhaps when we move to South Carolina). We still have our 23-month old toddlers in their cribs and they sleep 12-13 hours a night. They nap between 3-4.5 hours a day. During those times of sleep I dont ever go in the nursery. I get 12 hours of uninteruppted sleep every night. Of course there are times when a baby is sick and I need to get up. Our four-year old is prone to bloody noses. When O is having a flair up (read my blog post "Follow up on reactive airways"), I tend to not sleep well; when I hear him coughing in the night I sometimes go to the hallway outside his door and listen to make sure he is okay. On the average night, we put the boys to bed by 8-- all of them have an 8 oclock bedtime-- and I do not get out of bed until 7:45 am on weekdays (preschool days) or 8:15-8:30 am (weekends). I like to get up a little before the boys to make my cup of coffee and get myself together. D wakes up the earliest. We have taught him how to get himself a snack (he can open a banana, make himself a bowl of cereal, and get himself something to drink by himself) and entertain himself in the mornings. Most mornings I find him in a "nest" in the hallway outside our bedroom doors with a picture book in his lap. O wakes up next. We have a couple toys in the toddlers cribs and he will play with his toys quietly until it is time to get out of bed or until C wakes up. C wakes up last. He loves his sleep. He takes 10-15 minutes to wake up; he needs to roll around in his crib a bit before getting up. If you interuppt his morning routine, he will be one grouchy bear. He has slept until 9 am-- not sick-- and frequently naps for 4 and a half hours, sometimes still needing a morning nap. This child loves his sleep.

In the mornings, I let the dog out, brush my teeth, primp a bit, make my first cup of coffee, eat a snack, make the boys the first course of breakfast (cut a slice of breakfast bread, open a banana, or wash some berries-- something to tide them over until their eggs are ready), and then go get the boys up. D is usually with me once I open my bedroom door. We like our time together before the toddlers get up. He tells me about his dreams last night ("I had the noddle dream!") and I tell him about mine ("I had the noodle dream too!"). If the toddlers diapers arent full, I just put them in their high chairs straight away. If their diapers are full, I change them and then do breakfast. They always eat breakfast in pajamas so they dont mess up their clothes for the day. If it is a preschool day, I pack Ds lunch while they eat breakfast. On preschool days, I usually take D to preschool with his brothers in their pajamas, slippers, and coats, then I come home and do Os medication. On weekends, we hang out in pajamas until Daddy wakes up, then Daddy does Os medication. The toddlers like to play with the train table right after breakfast. D likes his morning cartoons.


On preschool days, I like to run errands while D is in school. That way I can put both toddlers in the cart with the aid of my Buggy Bench or using a double cart and Im not dragging all three boys through the store. I find taking one age group is usually the easiest, only the toddlers or only the preschooler. If I have no errands, we hang out at home and get home things done: laundry, dishes, reading, and lots of train table time. The toddlers usually eat a late lunch, which works out since they eat a pretty late-- and large-- breakfast. If they are hungry before lunchtime, after we get D from preschool, I give them a little snack in the car while we are picking D up. We eat lunch at home after getting D from preschool. They eat at the table while D finishes up his lunch or eats a little snack. After lunch, they all like to play in the sunroom a bit before nap and quiet time. The toddlers go down to nap anywhere between 1 pm and 2 pm, if we arent out. If we are out, I can push them to about 3 pm. If they go down after 2 pm, though, they sometimes dont nap very well, especially O. I like to get them down between 1-1:30 pm. The flexible nap schedule is nice. I like not having to rush home and having freedom to say, "Yeah, lets run to the grocery real quick and pick up milk." (As if there is really a "real quick" when running to the store with three kids.) If we are out and fall asleep in the car, C is really good about moving from the car to his crib. I can count on him to fall back asleep. O, on the other hand, is a bit more unpredictable. Sometimes when I transfer him, I hear him hollering in his crib and playing for 20-30 minutes before quieting down and napping. Sometimes he never does fall asleep and just quietly plays in his crib until I come and get him. The hard days are the ones where O doesnt want to nap and screams until I come and get him. Those days are when he wakes C up and then C wont nap; then I have two angry toddlers. I try to give them a late evening nap on those days. I play with them in the sunroom, give them a snack around 3 pm, and then attempt to lay them down for a late evening nap around 3:30-4 pm. It doesnt always work, but if they do nap, it makes the evening better. I let them sleep until about 6 or 6:30 pm. C can sleep all the way to 7 pm and still go down to bed at 8 pm. O has a hard time falling asleep at 8 pm if I let him sleep too far past 6 pm. Funny how they have different nap needs, being identical twins.

D rarely, if ever naps. Some days a friend will pick him up from preschool. Shes a cool mom and will take the boys to bounce houses or the park. D looooooves going home with her. Those days he will sometimes nap. I put in a movie for him when he gets home, make a "nest" on the couch with blankets and pillows. Next thing you know, hes sound asleep watching "Sword in the Stone." If I feel bold, I turn off the movie and turn on The Beatles radio on Pandora; it is fun listening to my own music while all the kids nap. Most of the time I let the DVD menu repeat itself over and over again until he wakes up, not wanting to risk waking him. Most days he comes home with me from preschool. I insist on quiet time while his brothers are napping, giving me a couple hours to do my own thing. We pull out his playsets-- Imaginex or Playmobile-- and he will play quietly in the family room while watching a movie. We also have books on tape, puzzles, and crayons. After he has played quietly for an hour or two, we will often do something together. Lately weve been doing crafts. Most of the time he helps me with a household chore, like unloading the dishwasher or folding laundry. Im impressed that his four-year old hands can actually fold toddler shirts and pants.

After nap and quiet time we have snack. C often sleeps through this and it is just O and D having a snack. I start preparing dinner during snack time. If Im cutting up a bunch of veggies for dinner, snack is cut up veggies with milk. If not, snack is anything from cheese to leftover popcorn from Target or whatever I have on hand (healthy snacks or not-so-healthy cookies). I try to make snacks healthy. If dinner is time consuming to prepare, snack is usually something fun so they stay happy and busy. Fun can mean putting cheese on apples or eating yogurt out of a cup. Fun usually means messy, which the dog likes.

Dinner is not always fancy. Dinner is usually not fancy. I bought a few new cookbooks recently that I l-o-v-e. They are all by Southern Living: Big Book of Slow Cooking, Feel Good Food, and Fix It, Freeze It, Heat It, and Eat It. I also cook a lot from Real Simple, which I receive monthly. I also love The Pioneer Woman Cooks by Ree Drummond and Homemade by Clodagh McKenna. I love recipes that are fresh and simple with quality ingredients. To save money on whole foods, I shop online with Harris Teeter. We eat meat dishes about 3-4 times a week because buying free-range, organic meat is just pricey. A lot of our meat is just free-range since organic sometimes just doesnt fit in our budget. We also shop at Costco. They sell a 3 pack of organic ground beef for less than I pay at Harris Teeter, though I like getting freshly ground beef from Harris Teeter more. When I find quality meat at a good price, I buy in bulk and freeze what I dont use. I do the best that I can buying foods with good ingredients. Sometimes we make the "better" choice, like the Veggie Straws the toddlers love so much (they fall in the fun food category) instead of the Doritos my husband prefers. Right now we can afford to buy D his Squeezers yogurts for his lunch and the toddlers their YoBaby cups; we will probably have to make changes when all three boys want Squeezers. Often times I just buy tubs of plain organic yogurt and mix in berries or purees, which is healthier anyways. But we have a budget. The other day I chose regular eggs for about $6 for two cartons over organic free-range eggs at $14 for two cartons. We buy local milk for under $4 a gallon instead of organic milk which is $6 a gallon. I buy organic or local produce when possible (usually cant afford both organic and local), but we often have to buy conventionally grown fresh produce and organic frozen produce. We do avoid high fructose corn syrup, products with over 10 ingredients (like to stay under 5 when possible), and hydrogenated oils. Trader Joes is great because they do have convenient food with better ingredients. We have weaned ourselves from many processed food crutches, like how much cereal we used to go through and instant oatmeal (really, Quaker? Thats what you put in your instant oatmeal packets?) My favorite trick for making dinner is to make too much. I either freeze half to have for another night or re-purpose the leftovers. Chicken dishes often make great toppings or accompaniments to salad the following night. Beef dishes can usually be put on a sandwich, wrapped, or put on a crunchy toast. A lot of dishes-- vegetarian, chicken, pork, and beef-- are great leftover stir-fried with veggies. Or, my favorite way to serve leftovers: make rice and cut up some peppers. I do what I can around here. :)

I keep seeing these posts about "Facebooking." I think Facebooking falls under the same category our pastor talked about when I was growing up where your family argues all the way to church, but when you get to church you smile and say everything is "fine" when asked. I hope I dont give the impression on my blog that I make dinner every night, my kids all get along great, my husband and I have the perfect marriage, and that I love every single minute of being a stay-at-home mom. I also dont think that everyone needs to always air their dirty laundry. I think everyone knows that life is challenging, money is tight, and that family life will try your patience. Marriage is hard; being a military wife is hard. Moving is hard. Raising kids is hard. Im writing this blog while my kids eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on hot dog buns served with veggie straws and raisins. My four-year old is having a glass of sweet tea and Im on my fourth cup of coffee today (for my friends who have been following my weaning of caffeine, Ive fallen off the wagon). My husband is wearing a burnt orange colored t-shirt with a pair of red basketball shorts. Im still in pajamas. Neither of us have eaten since breakfast; his breakfast was a bowl of cereal, mine was a leftover carrot raisin muffin. Today is daylight savings and Im not entirely sure what time it is. The computer says 1 pm so my hubby and I are hoping naptime is soon. I think family life is just messy. Occasionally you hit this perfect Kodak moment that makes you smile. All the boys are squealing happily in a fort that your husband and son made. You take a picture of it and post on Facebook, "Happy boys!" Two seconds after you post the picture, a toddler hits the other toddler in the head with a block, your four-year old shoves both of them out, and your husband totally ignores the kids while focusing on the engineering side of building the fort. All this makes you start counting down the minutes until bedtime...

So we do have a schedule, but our schedule is a guideline. We do the best we can. Many days we are making judgement calls, "Okay, he needs an early nap..." and somedays we are flying by the seat of our pants, "All right, O is wheezing, C hasnt napped, D is watching his third movie in a row, Daddy is getting home late, and I havent started dinner..." Our boys have multiple minor skirmishes a day. My husband and I fight, sometimes just short sarcastic comments when we feel irritated, sometimes long drawn out arguements after the kids go to bed. Our kids sometimes get on our nerves, when they wont share, they wont listen, they keep repeating the same bad behavior, or when we just cant get something done that we want to get done. We forget to pray. We forget to be understanding. We forget that toddlerhood doesnt last forever. We stress over our budget. We dont ask for help. But the best part of family life is that we learn these lessons together. We ask for forgiveness. We rely on our friends to step in and say, "Hey, I know you wanted some time to yourself, but I gave you long enough and Im calling to ask whats going on." We have people who pray for us. We hold each other accountable. We love our kids; we love each other; we love this life that we lead together, complete with its ups and downs.

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