Ain't a joke......

Being a mom is seriously no joke. Not saying that anyone told me it was going to be easy but it is hard work. Hard work, especially being the mom of twinsies. The boys are actually really easy going and tend to sleep a lot but it's all the other stuff that gets overwhelming.

 

  Let's first talk about the insane number of bottles I clean, make, feed, clean, make, feed, over and over again. I started the feeding process breastfeeding the boys. I bought the Brestfriend pillow (lifesaver) to help me feed them. Unfortunately, I was not making enough food for my little ones so I the doctor told me to supplement with formula. I then decided that it was too much to get both boys latched and continuously feeding for each session. I felt like I was ADD looking side to side making sure the boys were doing what they were supposed to. I   just knew in my heart that this bonding experience was not going to work anymore, plus my nips were not feeling too hot. Sorry for the TMI! I now pump and supplement what I don't make with formula. Much easier and manageable. The only thing now is the added expense of the formula, which is outrageous for our boys and all of the bottles. I typically have 18 plus bottles in one day. My hands are chapped and dry with all of the cleaning.

Next is the laundry and the crazy hours that I do it at. I tend to do the boys laundry at around 2 in the morning. With all of the spit up rags, dirty onesies, burp cloths, swaddles, changing table covers, etc, my load is pretty hefty each "morning". I am a little OCD and have to soak everything before I wash it because I don't want gross stains and I also never want to go a day without cleaning their stuff because god forbid I need something from that pile!


The late nights are by far my favorite and hardest part of being a new mom. I love love love getting to be with the boys in the wee hours and talking to them. I probably seem crazy but that is my mommy time. I stare at them and adore every little feature on their cute little faces. The hard part about it all is trying to keep my eyes open long enough to remember what I am doing lol!!! I have opened my eyes many times in the middle of a feeding to find the bottle in their ear or neck. I know this sounds ridiculous but when your head is rolling around on top of your shoulders you can't help it!!! All you moms out there know what I am talking about!

Lastly the part that is by far the most overwhelmingly hard part of being a new mom is all of the questions and attention it entails. Nick and I went to Panera yesterday for a lunch date. It was rush hour and the place was packed. Here I was with a two-seater stroller trying to maneuver my way around tight corners and low and behold I get stopped by on lookers to see the boys and ask a trillion questions. If you know me you know that I am not social. I don't like talking to strangers. Don't get me wrong I will never be rude and I am always cooperative but it is not my favorite thing to do. I always find that I tend to get a little awkward and probably sound like a do do head. haha!

As hard as all of it is, I love being a mommy and I will do this a trillion times over and make a thousand bottles, clean a billion loads of laundry, stay up forever, and talk to an endless amount of strangers for my boys. They are my new pride and joy and they were definitely worth the wait!

Cookies and Friends

 Yesterday one of my good friends, Heather,  came over to visit Dominick and Noah. Heather has been a part of my life since we were in college together. I met her when I began rushing for the sorority Alpha Xi Delta. I remember sitting at a table with her and she was really upset about a recent breakup. I had a BF at the time and looked at her like she was crazy... well one thing led to the next , I had a breakup too and Heather and I bonded forever. We did crazy stuff together, had some adventures (T.I.M.M. hehe), and were  both a part of eachother's weddings.

We have been lucky enough to remain friends for about 9 years.. whoa that's a long time for me. Heather, you are my longest relationship to date... hehehe! 

Back to what my original post was going to be about.... Cookies! Well Heather was at my house and since my babies are really good, don't fuss, and sleep forever we began talking about my blog and my hobby of cookie making!! I made cookies for Heather's wedding favors, with help from her mom, her friend Lauren and her.

So we were talking about cookies and she began showing me an etsy store her friend just started where she makes custom order cookies. My thought was OMG.. overachiever activated... Yes I want to start an ETSY business on top of being a full- time teacher, mom (2x) , and a great wife to Nick. It can be done, right??? With that said, I need to start thinking of a name for my cool new cookie shop. I am taking any and all suggestions. 

I am so pumped to begin yet another adventure and we will see if it goes anywhere. Thanks HB for reminding me about this potential moneymaker!!!

Flower Power

Those of you that know me know that I love me a good headband. Whenever I am having a blah hair day it is my go to item. Lately I have been a little obsessed with wanting to make my own headbands specifically ones with flowers that have the ability to be taken off the band and switched out. I created this post to go through the steps on how to make a cute one that is both simple and quick to put together. Before I begin though I NEED to tell you about my trip to Michael's to purchase the items for this little project. First of all it was one of the very few times I have been out of the house since having Dominick and Noah. For that reason I think I was a little overwhelmed and excited at the same time. I mean I am out of the house and then to top it off I am at the best place on the freakin' planet!!!!! All that aside my sis and I were on a mission. We had only two items to get :

• 24X 30 picture frame

• yellow spray paint  

We not only left with those items but also stuff to make these headbands and two baskets to complete my front entryway. Yes it might not seem like a lot but typically I stick to my list but this time I allowed for an exception. Well as Marissa and I were in line (next up to be exact) there was an older woman "paying". I use the word paying loosely here because she wasn't actually paying at all. Yes, she was standing at the register but she was still shopping. She asked the cashier to have another Michael's worker search the store for two specific colored flowers because she just thought they would be a great addition to her shopping experience. Meanwhile the line was growing and the ONLY cashier was proceeding to be very kind but annoyed at the woman. The coworker returned with the requested flowers and the woman proceeded to say that one of the flowers was not the color she had requested, " this is more of a sky blue, I wanted an aqua ( turns to all of us in line) Does this look aqua or sky blue???" I think every person in line wanted to hurt this lady. First of all you are still shopping when you should be paying. Secondly, we could care less what color your little heart desires because you are holding up the line!!! Man, the audacity of some people. I guess a sense of urgency and respect for others time is not something everyone has. Well let's proceed to my B-E- AUTIFUL  hair accessories!!!

What you need:

hot glue gun

flower template

8.5X11" felt sheet

clips

rhinestones or any embellishments

*headband

*ribbon to cover headband

Look at all of the felt we got!!! Kinda excited!!

First, take the flower template and trace it 6 times on the felt sheet. You will only need 5 but I like to have extras for other projects! No waste here!

Cut them out.  I will even use the scraps for something else!

Now with each of the flower cutouts, fold in half as I have done here and place a dot of glue where my finger is to glue the sides together.

Layer the halves together , rotating as you go. Take your embellishment and glue in the middle of the flower!

Cute HUH!!!

Okay so when I was gluing the diamond on my stupid finger got in the way and I burnt the sh%* out of it. Now you can't see it here but it hurt really bad when I went to wash my hands. I thought my fingertip was going to fall off!!!!

Lastly, take the clip and glue it to the back of the flower. Now you have a cute flower to add to a headband, a purse, a cardigan, belt! Whatever your little heart desires. My next post will demonstrate all of these. I would do it now but the hair is not so cute (remember I am a new mom ). Have a great night and I will post more tomorrow!!!!

Journey to Parenthood

Well I have officially been a mommy for 16 days 21 hours and 45 minutes. It has been such a blessing to be able to say that my family of two (Nick and I) has now doubled in size and become a family of cuatro... yes,  that is spanish for four. A little background on the journey it was to have my little lovebugs starts when Nick and I got married. We were married in October of 2008 and immediately knew we wanted to start a family.

 Nick was teaching an SDC (Special
Day Class) for emotionally disturbed middle school children (20 something of them!!!) and I was subbing trying to get my foot in the teaching door. We were newlyweds and lived in a one bedroom apartment and absolutely loved everything about life except for the fact that babies were nowhere in sight. If you don't know me then this would be a good time to tell you that I am very VERY impatient. I learned to walk before I crawled gosh darn it!! So when the months passed and I didn't get pregnant I started to worry (yet another one of my flaws). Long story
short Nick and I ended up, after 2 and a half years of trying, going to a fertility clinic only to find out that I had a hypothyroid. My thyroid was under active and my ovulation was out of whack. I got prescribed a medicine that would help to balance me out and I also got on Clomid. The Clomid was to help with my ovulation.

After 3 months of crazy pill taking shenanigans I wanted to give up. I hated having to take 5 pills on the 4th day of ovulation when your LH levels are blah blah blah. It was just too much and I took a break. Well the month I took the break I got pregnant! Now everyone I had told about the Clomid told me there was a chance of having twins with it. Little did I know I was going to be part of that statistic. However, Clomid helps to create fraternal twins... my twinsies are identical. This means that my body let down an egg, it got fertilized , and then decided to split. Remember what I said about being impatient... prime example of my body showing me just how impatient it truly is. With all that said the boys came at a perfect time in Nick's and my life. We both have established teaching jobs and are making mortgage payments in our "forever home". The boys have their own room in the house, ( I will post about the nursery later, when the boys finally move into it) and our family is really shaping up. My little owls were well worth the wait.....

Like the pics... Check out the fantastic local photographers we had the pleasure to meet. They are really talented and fun to work with. We love all of their work ! Added bonus is that they make all of the props, so everything is super custom!!!

Brian + Amanda Photography

Up and Running ( Posting)

Okay, so it is 1:10 in the morning and I am officially outta my mind. As many of you who already know me, know that that I am by definition an "overachiever". I told myself this morning that it would be so much fun to create a blog and here I am writing my first post. Well this post won't have any cute cookies, no fun stories about my brand new twin baby boys, no delectable secrets on how to design on a penny (because a dime is too damn much!), nor will it have downloads or things I do with my 2nd and 3rd grade class. This post is dedicated to me getting what I said I would do done. I said I would start a blog and here I am at 1 o'clock in the morning doing just that, as the man of my dreams snores next to me and the babies lay soundly in their bassinets. I am a person of my word and gosh darn it I do what I say I will do. Now it might not be in a timely manner but the job does get done. These days with all the sleepless nights I have been getting I thought it would be as good a time as any to get this started. I should be getting some rest though. The 3 oclock feeding is creeping up on me and I should start dreaming about what my first official tidbit might be fun to share tomorrow (aka, for all you sleepers out there, today). Hell, I might surprise you all with a post in each category just to tickle your fancy! Sweet dreams !