Mama Mama Quite Contrary

I was pretty sure that at this point in my pregnancy, I would be getting it all together. My floors would be mopped. The freezer would be completely stocked with food. I would have finished the quilt I wanted to make for one of my dearest friends whose due date is a few days after mine. I fully expected that there would be a handful of odds and ends to accomplish in the waning weeks of the Turtles' gestation but those would be trivial like pulling the diapers out of the box and putting them on the change table. Well, let's just say, my expectations were off... WAY OFF! First of all, I got Vivi's cold but what was a cold for her is something of a flu/walking pneumonia for me. It's been a week now and I'm not feeling much improved. I've taken to sleeping on the couch in part out of mercy for my husband but also because I am more comfortable in a semi-upright position in a colder room. I'm trying to nap when Vivi naps too which seems to leave me more groggy tha...

I suppose it was inevitable that Vivi would pick up a cold this winter. She woke up Tuesday morning with a runny nose and has been my pathetic, pink-cheeked, little patient ever since. We've been through plenty of colds since Vivi's birth but somehow this one seems different. This one is a test of our endurance. You see, since this cold started Vivi has been too uncomfortable or too unwilling to sleep. Yesterday, she got a twenty minute power nap in the car on the way home from Trader Joe's and that was it. This from a child who will regularly nap for a minimum of an hour and a half. (Oh, and yes, I took my sick kid out into the cold and ice but this pregnant lady really needed juice and Pirate's Booty!) I can usually cope with a missing nap here and there but when it is combined with a night of up and downs, then I'm just not good for much. Here is a sampling of what our last few nights have been like: 8:00 PM- Put Vivi to bed. She is crying from exhaus...

Vivi loves to tell secrets. For her secrets, you must always close your eyes and wait patiently until she comes up to your ear to reveal her little piece of information. Until recently, her secrets have always been her saying "I love you" in a deep, burly voice known as her monster voice. She thinks this is hysterical. Of course, you are then expected to reciprocate by telling her the same secret in the same monster voice while she closes her eyes. It's a game in which we both delight. Lately, we've been having lots of fun with our "I love you" statements. Vivi will usually ask how much I love her and I'll respond with something ridiculous like "I love you more than all the cow poop in Vermont." (Poop jokes never get old with Vivi.) Or she'll ask me, "Mama, do you love me more than this much?" which she demonstrates by holding her thumb and forefinger a centimeter apart. I usually say, "Yes, that's it. That much." Th...

Consistent with my pregnancy with Vivi, I have had a very strong craving for soup while carrying the Turtles. I can eat any kind of soup-- from clear broths to thick and creamy New England clam chowder. The more soup, the better. I love the way it feels going down on a cold winter's evening and the ease of reheating a bowl of it for lunch the next day. Combine it with a piece of buttery toast and all is right in the world. With that in mind, I wanted to share my "recipe" for vegetable barley soup. This is so ridiculously easy I am almost embarassed to pass it on. Almost... Vegetable Barley Soup 2 large carrots, peeled and diced 1 onion, diced 3 ribs of celery, diced 1 potato, peeled and cubed 28 oz. can of diced tomatoes with juice 1 cup of frozen peas 2 handfuls of barley 2 15 oz. cans of cannellini beans 1 bay leaf salt, pepper, sage, and oregano to taste Throw all ingredients into a slow cooker. Add enough broth or water (or combination of the two) to equal rou...

For 2009, Vivi has been conferred the official title of Little Miss Independent. This is a self-appointed position that she has taken on with great enthusiasm. Lately, Vivi has preferred to do most everything herself which includes getting dressed in the morning, peeling her own clementines, wiping herself after the potty, and putting her dishes in the sink. It's all very disconcerting to me and my husband. Sunday night, after snuggling on the couch downstairs and reading our requisite three stories, she informed us that she was going to go to bed. ALL BY HERSELF. Oh, and she was adamant that she doesn't need the hall light on or her bedroom door open anymore. My husband and I just looked at each other in disbelief as she walked up the stairs in the dark and climbed into bed. We went up 10 minutes later and there she was asleep snuggled under her comforter. Is it possible that she is this big already? Well, the answer is no NO NO! I'm not in denial about my child growing ...

In our grand tradition, my husband and I were in bed long before the stroke of midnight on New Year's. The cold weather combined with all the drunk people has made going out to celebrate totally unappealing for us. This year, the fact that I am seven months pregnant with twins sealed the deal for a homebound celebration. (And by celebration, I mean we rented a movie.) Well, the holiday was not lost on Vivi. When I put her in bed on December 31, I told her we would have a special breakfast to celebrate the new year. When she awoke in the morning, she ran into our room and yelled, "Happy Birthday!!!" We all snuggled in bed and I told her that it isn't a birthday today, it is the changing of the years. She asked, "Mama, this is the year the Turtles are gonna come out?" I told her that it was so we have to start getting ready. And getting ready, we are. In the last week, we've figured out where we are going to put the babies and some of their stuff. We'...