It's Friday and there's no school so I am alone with all my kids. I have anticipated that it may turn ugly really early so I've urged my hubby to take a half day at work today. He should be home about 2:30pm. 

It's now 10am and it hasn't been that bad at all, if me being on Minti is an indication. I have a couple of more hours until reinforcement comes so there is plenty of time to go insane, but hopefully not.  There is no school on Monday either, but it's a holiday so the hubby has no work either.

I placed the girls on their tummies today and they fell asleep. Katie woke up and found her sister's hand near her mouth and just used her as a pacifier. Or maybe she thought it was her hand she got? It was so funny so I thought I'd share it on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgFCDjfyjMA

We get home from picking up Matthew from school at 5:30. I leave the girls in their carseats if they're asleep so that I can get Matthew to eat, and then when daddy comes home at about 6:30, I get him to give Matthew a bath. But Matthew has been tired lately, I wanted to get him to bed a bit earlier than usual. So I got him to eat quickly and then gave him a bath myself.

I nursed the girls and then set them up on the floor right outside the bathroom so I can watch them and Matthew at the same time. But it didn't work out quite as well as I had hoped. The girls kept crying. I tried to just let them burn off energy while I play with my son a bit, but they wouldn't stop. So I sat on the floor with them and nursed again. It was quite stressful because of the crying and because of me working against time to get Matthew to bed early.

It was a multi-tasking gone bad. While I was able to accomplish things, it was quite sressful. From dinner time on, it gets very hectic in here!

Our weekend was pretty low stress and so it was great! We didn't go anywhere because it was too hot and Matthew didn't have too many tantrums and the ones he had weren't all that bad. His potty training went well. He only peed in his pull ups about 3x on Saturday and didn't at all on Sunday. Most of the time I had to regularly ask him if he wanted to pee and get stickers, but there were a few times he came up to me and said he needed to pee in the bathroom.

Here is his potty train so far. It's one I printed from the internet. My hubby and I just colored it. The Thomas stickers is something we already have. I just tore out a couple of pages from a sticker book so that they are "special" and could only be used for potty training.

Too bad he can't do it at school. Or maybe he could? Hmmmm...

Also, I was thinking this weekend that I need a "me" time. So I thought about learning guitar. I missed playing an instrument. It used to be such a fun fun time to perform in an orchestra many years ago. We have reward points accumulated on a credit card and so I used it to order a guitar. I also bought a couple of books from amazon to teach myself. I can't wait! And I am also excited that Matthew and the girls would gros up seeing me play and perhaps would grow up to love to as well. That's if I get serious about it though..and I think I will. I can't wait to get it!

I hope you all had a great weekend too!

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to go ahead pick up on my son's potty training again. But I could only do it at night when he gets home from school and in the weekends. He could get him to pee, but not poo.

Then a couple of days ago, the hubby and I just found out that Matthew would be moved to the next class up where they potty training is part of the curriculum. So I decided to go ahead and really get a head start. I searched online for potty training charts and found a train one. Matthew absolutely loves train so I thought this would get him excited.

I instituted the chart last night and so far so good. I told him he would get one sticker for peeing and two for pooing. (Incidentally, he has been dry overnight for the past 3 nights in a row.) He woke up this morning and I got him to pee in the bathroom. A couple of hours later he said he needed to poo. Yay! One time this morning though, he came up to me and said "pee and sticker". I asked if he needed to pee and he just said he wants sticker. I checked his pull up and he has already peed... so no sticker. Hopefully this will reinforce the idea that in order for him to get a sticker her needs to use the bathroom.

I phoned the pediatrician about the flathead issue and he said this is normal and that I should give the girls a lot of short tummy time sessions through out the day and keep them off of the flat side when they are on their backs. We will see if this will change things and will evaluate in about a month.

I've also found an online group about Plagiocephaly and was told the same thing and that I must be vigilant about keeping them off the flat side. The parents also told me to take pictures weekly to document any changes. At 2 1/2 months, there is still plenty of time to give reposition therapy a chance to work and if things do not improve then there are other options then like the band and helmet.  I also saw pictures of babies when they started on helmets, and Katelyn's head is nowhere near as severe. What a relief!

I was just watching the Today show and saw a woman from Canada (though she delivered in the U.S.) gave birth to identical quadruplets. Yikes!!! She didn't use any fertility drugs. What are the odds of that?! Well, actually, the odd is 1 in 13million.

They were born 2 months early weighing in at about a little less than 3 months. Another wow!!! That woman carried her children very well, indeed.

Oh and she has a 2 year old...  Suddenly my everyday trials and tribulations with a 2 year old and twins seem like  a party.

Here's the link. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6951330.stm

I feel like a new woman today. Last night I got a block of 3 1/2 hr, a block of 3 hr and 1 hr of sleep.  It's the most sleep I've gotten in a while. For the past 3 nights, the girls have been waking up 12:30am, 3:30-4am and at 6am but like the fool that I am, after their 12:30 feeding, I go downstairs and clean up around the kitchen for a little bit. Because of all the activity, I usually can't sleep anymore when I go back to bed. Well, last night I finally decided to just go back to sleep after feeding the girls and I was able to. Yay!!

Now if I can only do the same and nap at least an hour during the day instead of doing other things, I'd be one happy momma!

On a sad note: yesterday I was looking at Katelyn's head and despair came over me. Her flat head is just a lot more pronounced than that of Jordan's and I'm worried about it. I've been putting a rolled up blanket on her right side (where her flat spot is) to prevent her from turning her head that way but I don't see that it's getting any better. And of course, as I stare at her head, it seemed to me that it was getting worse in front of my eyes!!! Her forehead looking uneven like it head a bump.

I imagined that she would hate me when she's grown up and question the fact that her head is not normal looking while her sister's head is perfectly normal. It would be terrible for her to have a not so perfectly shaped head because she's a girl. She may get teased. ARGH! I almost called the pediatrician right then and there. But then, I stopped myself and thought that I will just keep on with the rolled up blanket for a month or so more because the girls are due for their shots anyway in October. I can bring up the issue then and have the pediatrician look at her head.

Here's a picture of Jordan and Katelyn. Jordan fell asleep and ended up nice and happy on her sister's shoulder. Katelyn later got uncomfortable and started crying.

On a funny note..  This morning as I waved goodbye to Matthew and his daddy at the driveway on the way to school/work, my husband stopped the car and started on reverse. He rolled down his window and said Matthew wanted mommy and daddy to kiss goodbye. We had kissed goodbye already but he didn't see us then. Hubby and I are both amazed since this is the first time Matthew has done this.

We had a terrible storm last night. When my son and I and the girls went to bed, it was just a slight thunder and lightning. But a couple of hours, I woke up because of the very loud thunder. For 30 minutes, the lightning was right above us. There was no time gap at all between the lightning and the thunder. In fact, the thunder never stopped. It just sounded like one big one lasting 30 minutes. And a lot of the lightning sounded like it was right in our backyard. It sounded like a big tree splitting in half when it striked. It was horrible. The power flickered so many times (though we never lost it completely) that my husband just used his cell phone as an alarm for this morning. I'm glad Matthew didn't wake up at all or he would have been terrified.

After 30 minutes, it stopped. It seemed to be a fast moving storm, but then 2 hours later here it was again. For another half an hour there was a none stop thunder and the lightning was again right on top of us.

I decided to eat my breakfast while on the computer to do some Minti-ing while the girls are still asleep. I think I did alright, was able to say hi to a few friends but now I have to go. I have let the girls cry for a bit long and now they're hysterical. Maybe I can pop in again later.

I am 31 years old today and when I came down to help out the boys to get ready for work/school, my husband asked me if I've read Minti lately. I told him I didn't get to read it yesterday and so he told me to go log on because there are people that say I shouldn't feel too guilty.

So here I am. I read what you ladies wrote and some of the replies even got me teary eyed. You're all awesome and such great cheer leaders too! 

Blackwidowkate is right. I should take care that my feelings of guilt do not lend itself to post partum depression. Just a few days ago, I thought to myself that if my period is back and is confirming that I've relied on formula too much, then I shouldn't even bother to keep on breastfeeding. I should just stop right now and make it easier on myself. I know it's a logic that doesn't make much sense and I see that now.

Besides, I have nothing to be depressed about, right? All of you are right. My son is doing very well at school and behaved (as well as any 2 year old, that is), and my girls are doing great (except Katelyn - her head seem to be misshapen because she favors her right side). My house is otherwise OK and not bursting at the seams with messes, and my husband has adjusted well to having 3 kids and has resigned himself to helping as much as he could around the house and only plays on the computer if and only if he finds time.

I think I was getting caught up in my tunnel vision and only saw my immediate circumstance. I couldn't see past my sleep deprived state and couldn't hear beyond my crying babies (in stereo!). But enough of that. It seems, based on all of your replies, that the return of a woman's period has nothing to do with anything.

We went to visit my husband's parents this weekend (4 hr drive). The trip went very well. My son slept almost the entire way and we only had to stop once to feed the girls. My son had a blast because the in-laws have a swimming pool.

On a sad note, it seems my period is back. My post partum bleeding has stopped a while back, so I'm pretty sure this is my period. If you read my previous blog, I was feeling guilty about supplementing with formula... well, it seems my body is confirming my guilt. You'd think breastfeeding twins mean I probably won't get my period for a long time, but I guess not. I didn't get my period with my son until 12 months after childbirth, and now it's only been 2 months and here it is.

Now I feel even more guilty. I've never missed a feeding, even at night.  I breastfeed for about 15-20 minutes or until the girls fall asleep, and then give them formula to top off. Sometimes they don't even take formula. I'm a bit puzzled why my period is back after only 2 months, but I guess it's my body telling me I've relied on formula too much.

I feel like my body has failed me.  My husband tries to make me feel better and tell me that as long as I'm breastfeeding it shouldn't matter when my period returns.