Kimber's Navy Family

 Granny trying to wrangle the great-grandchildren. Maryland March 2012 "Life is what happens to you while your busy making other plans." -John Lennon  After the husband and the Navy and the baby and then the cat and then the twins and finally the dog came along, my plans became fluid. When it was just W and I, we would make reservations for dinner, only to cancel them because of a fast cruise. Then the baby came along and nap times started becoming the decision maker in our house ("I can meet you after two..."). Then I needed to find someone to watch the cat so that we could go on vacation. The twins, yes, that really adjusted our schedule. Nap times didn't just decide when we would do things, but became a huge fixation in our house ("Did they take their morning nap?" actually means "Will they take their afternoon nap? Will we sleep tonight?"). And finally the dog. Having never been a dog owner-- not counting the cocker spani...

February was a month of disease in our household. We started the month out with a cold, which we passed around between the five of us. There were a few days of rest before we picked up a stomach bug, which we passed around between the five of us before giving it to my poor mother who had come to town to help us unpack (turns out it will lie dormant for a few days before attacking another member of the family-- sorry, Momma!). But then C and O came down with a nasty cold. First came the cough, then the fussiness, then the fevers, then a long weekend where no one--save for the three-year old-- got any sleep. I took them into the pediatrician as soon as they opened Monday morning to receive a diagnosis I was not expecting: Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV). Having done a fair amount of research on RSV after the babies were born (thanks to a very well-informed friend of mine), I knew that RSV is a concern for premature infants for the first two years of their life. Our insurance deni...

There was a point in time where I felt sexy. I could (and often did) spend hours applying make-up in new and interesting ways. The mornings were a time for reading, coffee, open closet doors, trying on shoes, but were spent, most often, sleeping. I went to college, had a job, friends who would invite me to join them for dinner after the sun went down. There is a part of me that remembers being indignant when a restaurant in New Hampshire was already closed at 10 pm. The babies want Momma's lap everytime I sit down. North Carolina January 2012 I had a conversation with a friend the other day about being a stay-at-home mom. Having worked up until she had her twins, she said that what she misses the most is feeling witty . She said she misses the banter at her work place. It really stuck with me. We discussed how you make a joke with your spouse and it often falls on deaf ears. You are home after a long day and want to relax, a baby is crying, a basketball game is on, so...

 North Carolina February 2012 Moving... again. This was a self-induced move. When my husband and I first got to North Carolina, we found an adorable 2-bedroom apartment on the third floor. The rooms were large and we happily anticipated bringing a new baby home to our cozy little place. Then we found out we were having twins. How would I leave the house with two infant carriers and a toddler? I tried imagining the scenarios, carry one infant carrier down the stairs to the car, lock the car, go back upstairs and get the second infant carrier and the toddler, walk down the stairs in front of toddler to catch him if he falls (can't hold his hand while going down because then I'm carrying an infant carrier and a toddler with no handrail). Two flights of concrete stairs, 19 on each staircase. Ugh. I could make this work. Diaper bag. Purse. Diet Coke. Two infant carriers. Toddler. Groceries. Newborn appointments. Yeah, we decided to see if we could move to a first floor three...

There comes a point in every mother's life when she looks around her and thinks, "What on earth am I doing? When did this become normal ?" Welcome to my life. 10 things that I never even considered doing, but now do regularly -or- My new normal Refer to a gallon sized Ziploc bag in my purse as the "just-in-case-we-have-poopy-pants-while-we-are-out" bag. Excessively talk about myself in the third person, refer to myself as "Momma" when talking to other adults, and exclusively use "we" instead of "I" (ah, the royal "we") even when my children are not present. For instance, "We would love to have a girls' night with you. Momma is usually in bed by nine o'clock, but she could sure use a glass of wine!" Translation: "I would love a girls' night. I'm usually too tired to stay out late in the evening, but adult conversation would be very welcome." Discover there is, in fact,...

 Spending the day with just D Washington DC December 2011  Flipping through a magazine in the waiting room of my OBGyn during my pregnancy with C and O, I saw an ad for headphones to put over your pregnant belly. They came with CD's to play for your baby to help your child get an early start on reading-- a very early start. Recently at the children's playseum, a woman approached her daughter and started giving her instructions in Spanish. The daughter replied in English; the woman countered in Spanish. The little girl then replied back in Spanish; she looked like she was three, maybe four, about D's age. And yesterday at the pediatrician a little girl crawled across the lobby floor, stood up independently, got back down on all fours to crawl to the row of chairs, and then got up to walk along the chairs, bracing herself against the chairs as she walked. A woman leaned over to the mother and asked how old the little girl was. The reply? "She just turned 10...

Something about a new year is invigorating, much like a new purse. When you get a new purse, you look at all the storage pockets inside and imagine that this purse will not turn into a disorganized mess of diapers, lipstick, loose Cheerios, or a limbo for random scraps of paper. It's like a New Year's resolution to be more organized. Hearing my friends discuss their New Year's resolutions makes me want to take out all my old purses, the ones stuffed full of gum wrapped in coupons, and clean them out. I try to do this periodically, but here we are at the new year, so I'm taking out my purses. In my favorite Coach tote, I find a million Target Catalina coupons that I had every intention of using, a Clinique lipstick and gloss duo that is pretty nifty (gift with purchase?), a pair of stockings that I had given up for gone, my stretchy ring that I knew was somewhere, Star Wars band aids, prenatal vitamins and "Preggie Pop Drops," and gum. In another purse I foun...