Kimber's Navy Family

I wanted to post a blog with a little information about twins. I am frequently asked-- since I think everyone knows that we are going to eventually have another baby-- if we are nervous about our next pregnancy resulting in twins. When I reply, "No. Our twins are identical," many people still do not know what this means. Here's my attempt at spreading a little "twin awareness." Our twins are identical , confirmed through genetic testing. They are monochorionic-diamniotic twins. Basically this means that my body produced one egg that was fertilized. Somewhere in between days 4-8, the egg split, creating identical twins. Identical or fraternal twins are a result of zygosity. Identical twins are monozygotic, meaning there was one egg that was fertilized and split, creating twins that share DNA . Because identical twins came from the same egg-- which is either male or female-- identical twins are always the same sex . Fraternal twins are dizygotic, meaning t...

During a conversation at the soft play area in the mall the other day, a mother of singletons, as they are called in the world of multiples, shook her head and said, "I don't know how you keep up with two one-year olds! My one-year old is such a handful!" Another common thing I hear is that, "Well, I may as well have had twins. Mine are a year apart!" Or less, whatever the age difference may be. Let me begin by saying that I have always wanted to a mom. In kindergarten when we made paper cut-outs of what we wanted to be when we grow up, I was the only one in my class with "stay-at-home mom." I started baby-sitting when I was ten and a half and loved every minute, all the stubborn children who weren't mine, the newborn babies who I got to spend hours holding, the late night jobs that required me to do midnight feedings. I loved it. And then I started having my own kids-- a whole different ball game. My oldest was a breath-holder (we've had...

Driving home today from visiting my parents, I listened to the same six CDs over and over again for six hours: Queen: Greatest Hits disc one and two, Torches by Foster the People, Elton John's Greatest Hits disc one, Rubber Soul by--of course--the Beatles, and Beggar's Banquet by the Stones. I actually, um, borrowed the Queen CD from my momma because I've been obsessed with the song " I Want to Break Free " after watching a special on Freddie Mercury a couple months ago. Anyways, there I was driving on a straight stretch of road for hours, listening to Rubber Soul for the second or third time, thinking about life and singing loudly to my sleeping babies. Rocking out in the mini van North Carolina April 2012 When people find out that my husband is active duty Navy, I frequently hear, "I don't know how you move so often!" I don't know how we do what we do either. These past couple moves in North Carolina--local moves-- my parents helpe...

 After a year with twins, we have been through our share with baby products. I try everything that comes my way or that fits in our budget. Here is what has worked well for us and some things that haven't. 1. Graco Pack'N'Play Before the babies were mobile, this was their go-to place while we were home. We knew where they were and that they were safe from a very "helpful" older brother. For travel, we used them as cribs. Now that they are a year, they are a great way to keep them contained when we play outside with D or if we are doing a less-friendly baby activity, such as a Legos. We love our Pack'N'Play. Bright Stars Play Yard in front 2. Bright Stars Play Yard Major thumbs down. My parents have a Graco Pack'N'Play at their house and we have a Graco Pack'N'Play. We bought a Bright Stars Play Yard because it was cheaper than buying another Graco Pack'N'Play-- big mistake. It looks nice, but it is a total pain to fol...

Three boys holding still for a picture? I don't think so. Maryland May 2012 There are a lot of different blogs and articles out there about how there isn't a "perfect mom." Still, we flood ourselves with expectations, the need to cook visually amazing food that is organic and locally grown (shame on you for buying grocery store strawberries out of season!), homemade baby food with complex ingredients and frozen in BPA-free containers (always mixed with breast milk because of course you are breastfeeding ), amazing little systems around the house to not only make life easier, but also recycles household waste (who doesn't cut toilet paper rolls in half and use them to organize a junk drawer?). On top of having all of the above under control, we are supposed to regularly have girls' nights out, complete with cocktails and dry-clean only dresses. Our husbands brag about what is for dinner that night and always have the best packed lunches and never leave ho...

The only time the three of them were in the same place. Virginia April 2012 There is a very short list of things my parents did that I swore I would never do. Several years ago, my sisters and I found our baby books in the back of a cabinet. Excitedly, we opened them all up. My baby book was filled out cover to cover, complete with stickers for extra special milestones. My middle sister's baby book had a great start, the first two months fairly well documented, only to taper off quickly and never finishing. My youngest sister's baby book only had her name written in the front. The same goes for pictures and videos of us as infants. There are videos documenting my smallest milestones, bathing, interacting with family members. You could watch the first two years of my life on the VHS collection marked "Kimber-Bee." And then my middle sister was born and there were lots of videos of the two of us, lots of pictures of the two of us. My youngest sister? If you had to ...