As Thanksgiving approaches...

Believe it or not, we're hosting Thanksgiving dinner at our house this year! Sure, I've never cooked a turkey before, but how hard can it be? Don't worry - my parents will be in attendance, which means I can't go too far down the wrong path when it comes to the turkey. Much to Matt's chagrin we will not be trying a turducken.

As we get closer to Thanksgiving, I 've been trying to figure out how to explain the significance of the holiday to Erin. There are great, creative ideas I've seen like a Thanksgiving tree and placemats but I think these might be a bit over the head of a 2.5 year old. Instead, I think we're going to focus on giving thanks for something each night. We may get thanks for things like her Brown Bear book or her big girl bed, but that's okay. I'll be right next to her - giving thanks for my beautiful family. I feel like I have the best husband and the three most wonderful little girls possible.

My list of things to be thankful for is longer than ever before.... What's on your list?

A little bit of Halloween, a little bit of Karma

So, the theme was clearly Disney this year. Halloween was a blast for all of us - with our good friends joining us, we had a fun night of pizza, trick or treating and ice cream (believe it or not, they didn't eat any of the candy that night!)

And karma...I've always believed in karma but it doesn't always happen that you get to see the full effect. For those that remember the horrendous experience we had last year with day care, you'll be pleased to know that karma just kicked in.

We ran into an acquaintance from the day care from hell and she informed us that the day care director who so kindly gave us one week to find new day care was unceremoniously dumped from her job (or so it seems). For those that don't know the full backstory, it boils down to this - the first bottle of the first day the girls were there alone was given to the wrong child. (I had attended with them for 3 days to transition the girls in and to explain Sarah's allergy and the importance of checking the labels, etc) When we had the nerve to get upset, the teacher in question actually had the gall to tell us "Oh see, nothing is wrong with her" - this while Sarah's doctor was warning us we might need to head to the emergency room. Keep in mind, this is the same teacher who let Erin's little "friend" bite her 7 times in a 3 week span.

Yes, we know everything worked out for us in the end, and it opened our eyes to the bigger issues of the daycare from hell. Alas, I can't deny it's nice to see karma make it's way around...

One of the top 10 funniest web videos I've seen

http://mlb.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?video=200710302288282

What we see around us

A good friend of mine recently commented to me that it seemed like the world was going to he** in a handbasket. Given that by profession, she's a motivational speaker, I was shocked that I was the voice of optimism in this conversation.

Within the past week, we've talked to our good friend out in San Diego and watched California burn via news broadcasts. We received a call tonight that a family member was robbed in front of their house - in the middle of a suburban neighborhood. Matt has all but stopped watching the news and asks me why I watch it when I comment on how depressing it is.

Yet in the course of all of this, I'm reminded that each generation has gone through times when it seems like the world is going to he** in a handbasket and that we quickly lose sight of that.

I've always called myself a realist, almost to the point of cynicism and yet it seems easier now for me to see that each of these events stand on their own and that it just reminds us to focus on the here and now and try to make the world a little bit better for our kids. Those are my deep thoughts for a late Friday night with three stomach buggy children... rather than thinking the sky is falling, just take this as a push to give an extra hug and kiss to your kids before you put them to bed. And remember that they are the reason that the world, your world continues to brighten. And how can you not laugh when your oldest is eating popcorn in front of a metal gorilla?!

Ear Infections, Viruses, Oh My

The blog has been neglected with good reason. Two of the three are actively sporting ear infections, and the one who escaped an ear infection has a cold instead. After a very long night last night with Sarah and Sloane fighting approximately every 30 minutes for 8 hours about who was sleeping where in the bed, they are both off at school and I'm the one home recovering!

More funny pictures will be uploaded later today.

Going to the Farmery

First, a confession. With two working parents, our kids spend a percentage of their time shopping with us. The only way to get our grocery shopping done is to get one of those lovely carts with the car in front, settle a dispute of which two kids get to sit in there and put the third up in the cart facing us. So Erin is very, very familiar with the grocery store.

Now we live in the Garden State, right? So you would think she would be equally as familiar with farms, etc? Apparently not. With last weekend's beautiful weather we decided to go apple picking. When we informed Erin we'd be going to pick apples she said "Oh, at the grocery?" Well, no not quite. So we tried to explain the concept of an orchard to her by using a farm as analogy. The result? If you ask Erin where we got all of the apples she'd reply "At the farmery".

The first set of pictures is from the "farmery".

Since that was such a hit, we decided the next day to take the kids and meet up with friends at a farm with a corn maze. It was a lot of fun for everyone other than the angry cow pictured below. Yes, I used the zoom lens for this one because she really did appear to be quite annoyed by the gaggle of kids on the other side of the fence. Seriously, it was a lot of fun. And I dare say I even matured a bit - I much more appreciate the farms and what they have to offer than when I was a teen growing up in that town and dealing with the smell of cow manure and sheep farms on the highway!

She Walks...and They Fight!

How do you add more chaos to house with three kids, two dogs, a mom who has been working crazy hours and a Dad who's learning to cook dinner every night now? You have a 13 month old start walking of course. Sloane took her tentative first steps a few weeks ago but is starting to get good at it now. Halfway across a room with no spills and going further each day. Are we thrilled that she's reached this milestone? Of course! Are we trying to figure out what to do once Sarah walks and we're outnumbered? You betcha. Once I figure out how to work the handy dandy new camera, I'll take some video and post it.

Ever since we found out we were preganant with twins, we've been bombarded with the twin stories and statements from other parents of multiples "Oh, they'll be so close" and "They'll have a special twin bond". I've now deciphered what all of those parents were really trying to tell us - "They'll start fighting even younger than the average toddler". This past weekend was witness to the first Sarah & Sloane Smackdown. It was like pro-wrestling for toddlers, or a game between the Yanks and Red Sox! Let it suffice to say that after Sloane had taken a crayon from Sarah we learned who could hit, who could push, who could pull hair...and who could bite.

Erin's recognized that all of these events have given her a bit more freedom - while we're busy separating the twins, she's figured out that she can get herself the popcorn, sit back and watch. Hmm.... enjoys bench clearing brawls and dirty fighting - looks like we have another NY Rangers fan in the making!

Random Updates

School: Today was the official start of the new school year/daycare year for the girls. All three girls did very well, even as Mom teared up upon hearing how Erin beamed upon entering the Ladybugs classroom. Sarah and Sloane are now in the Honeybees Part II room and were thrilled to see their beloved R. (teacher) this morning after a 4 day weekend.

Home: Speaking of the 4-Day weekend. Can someone please explain to me how a family can have 4 days off of school and work and manage to get virtually nothing accomplished around the house? I can't complain that it wasn't fun - we had time at the park, time with good friends, time walking around and back to school shopping. Yet, we still haven't managed to grocery shop for the week or get all of the laundry put away.

Work: For anyone still wondering -I actually like my job now! I'm learning a tremendous amount and I've been blessed with great project teams that make me laugh as much as they make me pull my hair out - what more can any project manager ask for?

Random: Many moons ago, I asked for suggestions for blog links. I'm going to start putting them up as soon as I get a little bit of a breather at work. I'm going to add some of my favorites - Here Be Hippogriffs (pregnant with twins after infertility), Nine Texans (my IRL friend) and many more... have patience! I'm also planning on putting up a few book reviews in the next week or two as well (when I have time to read...hahaha)

Back to School Time

Well, we're getting better - about 3 weeks between posts instead of a full month! We're heading into back to school season and although our kids are little, it's that time of year for all of us.

• Erin is graduating to the next room at her daycare/preschool. We're really pleased because if the basis was made on age alone, she'd be staying in the same room she's been in. She's been able to keep up with many of the bigger kids (2.5-3 years old) - so a Ladybug she'll be.
• Sarah & Sloane are graduating to the Waddler room. Unlike the waddler room at the daycare we were previously at (known from this point forward as evil dc), this room still has pack and plays for safety during naps, high chairs and toys that are age appropriate. In addition, it shares a half door with their infant room so they'll continue to see any infant room friends that aren't moving up with them.
• Matt has been accepted into and enrolled in a graduate program for Information Systems - he starts early September. I'm really proud of him taking the initiative!
• And then there is me - I still haven't closed on a thesis topic. My goal is to decide between a few that I have brewing and submit my proposal over the next month or two. I'd like to enroll again in the spring to complete my thesis and complete my graduate degree over the Spring/Summer.

We spent a great weekend up north this past weekend - take note of Erin's outfit, including the fall rain boots. It's great to be 2.

Summertime

July was a busy but fun month for our clan. Not only did we have Sarah and Sloane’s birthday but we also had a family reunion.

We went to Bethany Beach, DE for a week and spent it with Matt’s aunts and uncles who traveled from Missouri, Georgia, Massachusetts and Michigan to join the festivities. After about a day of warming up, Erin became absolutely enamored with her cousins and we spent the remainder of the vacation hearing “I want to see my cousssssssinnnnns” whenever they were out of sight. Erin was the youngest by 6 or 7 years and it worked out well. All of her cousins were “big kids” to her and she thought they were the bee’s knees. It was a week of many firsts:

Erin slept outside of a crib/pack and play. She slept on a cot her Granny purchased and loved it! We’re now contemplating the move to a big girl bed at home.

Sarah and Sloane experienced the beach. I think they weighed about a pound more at the end of the week as a result of all of the sand ingested.

Matt and Karen learned that should we ever have to downsize to a one bedroom condo, it is possible to fit two pack and plays, a cot and a bed in one room. We rented a three bedroom condo on the beach and found out quickly that our girls were interested only in one room for sleeping – ours. We decided to go with the flow rather than fight it and everyone slept in the master bedroom. Luckily for us it was a good size. The other two bedrooms made great dressing rooms.

We actually spent the twins first birthday in Delaware. We took them out for a celebratory hamburger (hey, it’s tough to find restaurant food that doesn’t have milk or soy in it) and then their Aunts, Uncles and Cousins surprised them (and us) with presents and a card. The girls (and their parents) had a great time and are looking forward to the next one.

The 4 hour drive back was a breeze compared to the 7 hour trip down. Thank goodness because the barbeque that we had planned for 30+ people the next day quickly became an indoor party once the monsoon hit. Instead of ordering pizza, the guys all stepped in and made it a smashing success. Ed was able to provide a tent that he had in the back of his car – he and Matt set it up, getting soaked in the process. Mark and Pat (better known as Granddaddy and Pop Pop) barbequed in the torrential rain! The girls enjoyed a vegan cake Fed-Ex’d in from a Manhattan vegan bakery (yes, we did just say we had a cake fedex’d- I ask you – could you make a cake with no egg, soy or milk?!). The rest of us enjoyed a good old commercial ice cream cake.

We had a wonderful time with our friends and family all month and hopefully will have a lot more fun events coming up. More soon…

Happy Birthday Babies!

Happy birthday my beautiful girls! You and your sister are the lights of our lives!

Thestart of summer...

Okay, we’re pretty lame for not having a post up in a month. And no, we have no real reason other than the normal summer distractions.

As far as my last post – I haven’t gotten as far as feeling settled in at the new job. Part of me still wants to bolt. Really, really bolt. But, I’m balancing that against everything I’m learning and treating it the way I want to teach our children to treat difficult situations; as a challenge to overcome. Or in corporate speak: an opportunity!

We’ve entered a new phase in the Hinchey abode. All three children are officially mobile. Erin of course has been walking, climbing, jumping and straight out plotting since she was about a year old. Sloane has refined her scoot into a more classic crawl, with a twist. Sarah has very methodically learned from both of her sisters and has found the traditional crawl to be her cup of tea.

So what does this mean? Well, at any given time in our house you can hear Erin saying and doing one of three things:

“I open the gate!”- Cue dogs running in at warp speed and slamming themselves into furniture as they didn’t give themselves enough time to stop.
“I play in my kitchen” – Usually Erin heading to the playroom to be the next Julie Child
“I play in my house” – This would be where Erin has figure out how to unlock the back door, open it and the screen and try to climb down the stairs to reach her playhouse. Yes, we are investigating other locks for the back door.

You would think with Erin being the big sister, Sarah and Sloane would want to follow to the gate, kitchen or playhouse. And that we’d be able to corral three kids into one area. Nope. These little ones have broken the stereotypes of twins –there isn’t a quiet one and a loud one, a shy one and a happy one. Once you really get to know them, you know that they are both smart, independent and willful little babies who are quickly turning into toddlers. Sarah loves water and clanging noises. Water parks, nah! Dog bowls can do the trick. We spend at least 20 minutes a day trying to convince Sarah to play with something other than the dog toys and water. Sloane loves Legos and climbing. She combines the two by sticking the Duplo Lego man in her mouth and scaling the coffee table. You can imagine how that normally turns out.

Sarah is continuing her PT to make sure she remains on track, but both her Physical Therapists feel that she is tracking right along with other kids her age. So our PSA of the day – early intervention really works!

We’ll leave you with some new pics and promise we’ll update again in less than a month!

Mommy goes to work

If you ask Erin what happens each morning she'll tell you "Mommy goes to work, Daddy goes bye-bye". In her two year old logic, she processes the fact that Mommy leaves in a different car and heads in the other direction while Daddy drives her (and her sisters) to school. After he gets her settled in, he leaves with a kiss and a wave "bye-bye".

I don't think Erin has processed that Mommy goes to a new work now. There are some benefits – I don't feel as obligated to check e-mail as obsessively as I did at the previous company, and I've been able to break free of feeling so connected with my job. And there are drawbacks. I miss my friends something fierce and I miss the comfort of being the person people came to for answers rather than being the person asking all of the questions. It's hard to get settled into a new job, to know if you made the right move, to know what's fear and what's truly your intuition telling you to run like you are in the Olympic trials. We all know I don't adapt particularly well to big change so right now I'm giving my job 100% and hoping that I made the right decision and that these feelings will pass as I gain more knowledge and confidence. If not, you may hear me practicing "Welcome to Crate and Barrel, how can I direct you?"


On the kid front. Sarah is doing very well in Physical Therapy. One of her therapists, Michelle, noted an issue where Sarah's eyes seemed to be crossing slightly. We took her to a pediatric opthamologist who at first glance believed it to be an optical illusion. However, after dilating Sarah's eyes she discovered Sarah is pretty far sighted - more so than the normal baby. She's on the cusp of where glasses would normally be prescribed so the doctor decided to hold off for now and she'll check her again at 14 months

Sloane is doing great - she began crawling and in true Sloane style, it's not a traditional crawl. It's kind of a scoot/crawl/butt boogie. We'll try to capture it and get it up on YouTube for you. She also appears to have some issues with her eyes, so she'll be seeing the pediatric opthamologist in July.

Erin is pure toddler right now. One minute she is a giant love who will give you the world and the next she's in of a full blown tantrum. We're handling it well - when she gets down on the floor and screams, so do we. Kidding of course...

On The Road Again

This past weekend we undertook a trip with all three kids and both dogs that involved driving 200 miles each way.

The drive up was a breeze. Erin chatted contentedly, the twins slept and Guinness and Scrabble watched the cars travel by. The drive back, well we’ll get to that later.

The girls (and pups) got to spend tons of time with their Granny and they were thrilled. Matt was in a wedding for friends of ours who have finally tied the knot after 12 years together. The wedding was beautiful and because I’m an idiot who brought the camera but not the battery I have no pictures to prove it.

On Monday we decided to start back around 12:30. We anticipated traffic at each exit, but for the first 100-120 miles it wasn’t terrible. There is a toll booth about 20 miles from the NJ state line and once we hit that we’re usually in the clear for the rest of the ride. On this trip, the traffic slowed a little sooner than we thought near the toll booth. After sitting in a 20 mile traffic jam, we finally learned that the delay was due to an accident. On the other side of the road. 20 miles of rubbernecking on Memorial Day. Once again, a reminder of why we need to move out of such a congested area!!!

Some pictures to keep you visiting…..

News

So, this may not be big news to anyone else but it's news for us. After 7+ years at my current job, I'm finally leaving. I've been offered a position at a marketing agency as a project manager. The commute is better, although still not wonderful. What is wonderful is that the environment is fast paced, dynamic and most importantly -outside of telecommunications!

I'll be sending out my new e-mail shortly to those of you used to contacting me at the work address.

I'll keep you updated on the transition.

Life without Bobby

We finally bit the bullet and decided to take Erin's beloved pacifier, Bobby, away. We let her keep it through her actual birthday. The next morning when she got up we asked her to leave it in her room. Erin proceeded to wail and carry on as if we had removed an appendage. No doubt about it, Matt and I felt like the meanest, worst parents in the world. Really, our pediatrician told us her son had it until he was 3 and here we were at just 2 years old and a day making the kid go cold turkey. You would think that two parents who gave up smoking cold turkey would have more compassion, right!?

Day 1 was horrific. She screamed from the moment we brought her downstairs, straight through getting dressed and the ride to school. She screamed through drop off. She was fine all day at school, and the minute Matt walked back in to pick her up, the screaming commenced again. Through the ride home, through playtime in the yard and through the first half of dinner - yup, you guessed it - screaming. Shockingly enough this seemed to be the end of it. She went to bed with no qualms. She asked for Bobby once at bed time and a few times since but seems okay with the answer that Bobby has gone bye-bye.

Our baby isn't really a baby anymore... she's growing up

It's great to be (almost) 2

Erin's birthday is coming up and we had her party today. It was a phenomenal day spent with our family and friends. We started the day with some friends her age at a local indoor kid park and finished with a larger party back at the house.

Erin had a great time and would gleefully tell anyone who asked (and many who didn't) "It's my birthday" and would annouce her age of 2 while holding up 5 fingers.

We also got to show off the house to friends who hadn't yet seen the renovations. Of course, we also discovered a potential issue with the siding, but that's a whole post in and of itself :) Nothing a hammer and a few roofing nails can't fix...... I hope.

In other updates - Sloane is on the verge of crawling - she scoots on her bum from the table to the entertainment center. We've also determined that it will be she, our quiet, sensitive twin who will kick the butt of anyone who gets in her way or her sisters' ways. She's become incredibly determined and doesn't hesitate to do everything in her power to get her way. Of course this is while she is still being our sweet, sensitive girl. Sarah is doing really well in PT. Both girls just had their well baby check and the doctor felt Sarah has made significant progress in catching up.

Matt and I are doing well also. Stay tuned for some news this week. And no, I'm not pregnant!!

Other Random Photos

Potty Training and other household related incidents (HRIs)

Having a not quite two year old who virtually potty trained herself seems like a dream come true – right? We’re certainly relishing the fact that for all intents and purposes we’re only changing two sets of diapers per day. For Erin, we basically replace dry pull ups and rush her to the bathroom every time she utters the words potty, poop or pee. There in lies the one small twist to this potty training experience. Erin has developed a potty preference. Since the renovation, our house has two full baths – the old non renovated one and the new one that is bigger than most kids bedrooms. Guess which one she likes? Right, the old one. For any of you that have been to our house, you know that it’s tricky at best to maneuver in that bathroom. Now add hoisting a 30lb 23 month old who has to potty NOW onto her drop in potty seat. Two people have now been afflicted with the injury we like to call Erin potty training back. Seriously though, we’re very proud of our girl.

In other kid news, Sarah has now been in physical therapy for several weeks. I took her today to the private PT and am thrilled to report that she sees noticeable progress. She feels that Sarah is making significant strides in catching up. While Sarah still whines and moans when the therapist makes her do any real work, she’s really grown to like her. She even graced her with a smile today which is huge since she usually sees her and scowls.

Sloane is our happy little sensitive girl. She takes the longest to warm up to people but once she does will sit contentedly in your lap and cuddle for long periods of time. We’ve determined she might be our cheerleader because her favorite phrase seems to be RAH RAH RAH!

In Karen & Matt news - we were pretty lucky with this most recent noreaster. Our backyard took the brunt of it with just minor flooding in the basement. Other people in our county weren’t so lucky – losses of homes, business or significant damage. Please keep them in your thoughts.

For viewing pleasure, some pics of our tip to the Turtleback Zoo this weekend with Erin’s best friend. We didn’t include any of her best friend simply for her privacy (so, E&E– if you want us to send the pics to you directly, just let us know)

Easter

No funny posts today. Just wanted to share pictures from a wonderful family Easter. We were thrilled to spend the day with our cousins from both near and far. Aunt Lorraine and Uncle Drew joined us from across the pond - our first visit with them since they moved last summer.

We hope your holiday was as wonderful as ours.