Don't you hate it when you're "discussing" something with someone and it escalates and it just keeps on going and going and going? In the middle of the discussion, you realize you're both saying the same thing, and the other person realizes it too, but it doesn't matter. It just keeps on going and going anyway. Until finally you give up (or the other person gives up) and you want to hit your head on the wall.

 

I had my physical therapy today, and as usual, I had the twins with me.  When I got called in, I saw a room with a man in orange jumpsuit with shackles on his legs and arms and there were 2 officers. We head to the gym and I see 2 uniformed men, though I wasn't sure what they were until later. They were juvenile delinquency officer of some sort and they were escorting a teenager (the teenager wasn't in cuffs though).

My mind was racing. I thought what if something happens? I have 2 babies with me to protect. I was thinking of asking to make sure that my next appointment next week was not with the 2 people being escorted by uniformed men. But then, I calm myself and imagined that if they were violent men they wouldn't have been allowed to leave jail/prison, right? I really wouldn't mind if I only had myself to look after, but I had 2 precious ones with me. It wouldn't be so easy to run for our lives with 20 lbs on either arms.

Thankfully, I overheard them setting an appointment for Friday next week... my appointment is on Tuesday. Phew!

What would you do? Would you freak out or not mind?

Getting a 3 year old to eat breakfast in the morning and get dressed in time to get to preschool is sometimes like being in a time warp of some sort. I run around the house to get the twins fed and dressed and ready while the boy sits in front of the TV moving slower than molasses. He moves so slow, you'd think he's frozen in place.

This morning after telling him to put on his socks and shoes for the 100th time, he finally did it and was very proud of the fact.

Big Bro: Mommy, I did it! I put one sock on.
Me: Good job! You're becoming a big boy and pretty soon you'll get to do more stuff yourself.
Big Bro: (pauses for a second) I don't know how to drive you car, Mommy. I know how to drive Daddy's car. I don't know how to drive your car.
Me: Oh.

I called Daddy to tell him this and give him a laugh and he reminded me of something that happened the other day when he picked the boy up from school. They were on a stop light right in front of a car dealership lot.

Big Bro: Daddy, what's that?
Daddy: That's car dealership.
Big Bro: What is it?
Daddy: That is where people go to buy a car.
Big Bro: I want you to buy a car, Daddy.
Daddy: Daddy doesn't need a car right now.
Big Bro: Daddy, I want you to buy me a little car.
Daddy: So you can drive around the backyard?
Big Bro: YEAH!!

Daddy and I both had a good laugh.

Big Brother enjoyed playing with Thing 1 a little too much this morning.

photo by spitzgogo_CHEN on Flickr

 This girls is so cute! Maybe she's on the phone with her agent?

Hello Minti!

There is a marketing campaign that is sure to attract many newcomers onto Minti in a few weeks time. I think it's a great idea to show others how welcoming and great this community is by giving them a helping/guiding hand. If someone makes a "not so nice' comment, it is better to show them the way rather than showing them the boot. I see that the community is far more forgiving toward established members, but there really is no reason why we can't show the same love to newbies.

Please help me in showing newbies the way by showing them links. There really is only a few strict places here, and they are the Q&A and the advice section.

Q&A & advice section welcomes parenting/family and Minti site related issues.

Commenting and showing newbies the 'way' to participate on this site is much more welcoming than using the report funcitonality.

Thank you all!

Last week my huband's computer's motherboard broke and then shortly after, his xbox 360 broke too.  And it's going to be a while to get them in order again because he needs to ship them off to the manufacturer and then wait for it get fixed and shipped back.

So what has he been doing lately? He's been making his family tree. He's been wanting to do it for the longest time and just never get around to it until now. Last night he said he's traced back as far back as the 1800s.

If you want to make your family tree, here is what my husband is using: Ancestry.com

It's a search engine, basically. It searches all major public records archive. It also uses Mormon's ancestry database (and they do have an extensive one!).

Note that you do have to be a member if you want to use it for extensive research. You can create your own family tree and if the system thinks it is coinciding with someone's family tree, it will alert you. You can make your family tree private though so that no one else can view it, unless you've given others permission.

There is a trial membership for free. But even without becoming a member, you can use it to search basic information.

Having a 3 1/2 year old son and 14 month old twins, free time is hard to come by. I am reminded of the few days that I was in the hospital when I went to pre-term labor with the twins. It was absolutely quiet. I found myself just staring at the walls of the room. I had my mp3 player with me, a handheld game, a notebook, a pen, a book and there was a TV in the room. But what did I do? I did absolutely nothing. My thoughts were of... well, actually, I kept my mind blank! I was just being. Such times is very hard to come by, but I am not complaining. But this leads me to appreciate the quiet times I do get no matter how fleeting. I'm sure everyone here on Minti can relate to this.

My twins are napping, my son is in preschool, my husband is at work. I am sitting in my dining room. It's quiet. My house is messy, but that's alright. There'll be time for it later. I'd like for this time to be about goodness. Reading about anything good gets me in a good mood. I want to read about other's kids, and what they've done and what they are discovering they can do. Things like this make me reflect on the things my children are just starting to do as well. My son just started using the word "to" a couple of days ago. He can now say, "Mommy, read TO me", instead of "Mommy, read A - me". And just this morning, Thing 1 finally got the courage to take a step forward by just me supporting her elbow. And thing 2.. oh, Thing 2 is communicating. I just love it.

Am I respecting my time when I fill my head, my heart, my soul with negative things? No, I don't think so.

A number of people have been warned several times about abiding by Minti's Code of Honor and still continue to go against it. Continued disregard of the warnings and disregard of the Minti's Code of Honor will result in time-out. There are already members that are currently in time-out. I urge everyone to stop contributing to any negativity by commenting on it. If you see something getting out of hand, please report it and remove it from the public eye. Protect yourself and others and rise above the negativity and preserve all the goodness that Minti stands for.

The Minti Code of Honor

1. Above all else, respect others. If you see disrespectful behavior, report it, rather than further inflaming the situation. You can attack the idea/topic, but you can not attack the person.
2. Before you write, rank, tag or comment, ask yourself if your contribution increases the strength and virtue of the community.
3. Minti is for collaborative advice and discussion of the parenting ideas, not self-promotion. Posting full articles which also appear on your blog is acceptable but purely seeding your own links is not.
4. To keep Minti's positive atmosphere, personal conflict/issues between members should be handled privately.
5. Keep your titles accurate and free of sensationalistic language, the community will appreciate it.
6. Although full internationalization is important to Minti, please keep all posts and comments in English until the website is launched in other languages.
7. Keep Minti tidy by tagging for accuracy rather than for readership, editing titles to be compact and descriptive, and referencing your contribution to the original source in a respectful and legal manner where applicable

 

A long time member has created a 2nd account and has been caught. The 2nd account has been deleted and the member's main account has been locked out for a few weeks.

Minti members are only allowed one account. Having more than one account is a violation of Minti's Terms of Service. If anyone creates a 2nd account here are the consequences:

1. All new accounts will be deleted.
2. Member will receive a warning.
3. Member will be locked out of their main account for several weeks.
4. If the member continues to create new accounts, they will all be deleted, including the person's main account.
5. After all of the above, the person is no longer welcome to come back.

 

I just want to remind everyone that you can now delete comments in your own blog. This means that for whatever reason that you want to delete someone's comment in your blog, you may do so without having to report it.

This post is from from my other blog here

In spite of feeling crappy last night because of my cold, I headed out to the grocery store to get some food. I know my cold will only get worse so I had better head on out before we get incapacitated and starve over the weekend (hubby is sicker than I am).

It seemed like I all I did was to read labels looking for anything that doesn't have any milk products. And what I learned is that almost everything I have been given the girls have milk in them. I was looking forward to going home with tons of safe food for the girls, instead I came home with even less stuff. Even some of the baby food I give them has milk.

It's not going to be easy. Here is a list we have to now live by. (We are going to buy a small laminated list to put in our wallets from The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network )

This post is from from my other blog here

This post is from from my other blog here

Yesterday I got a call from the pediatric allergist that they had a cancellation for 1pm today and if I wanted to, I could have it. Of course I said yes. We were to arrive 15-30 minutes early, but got my time all wrong and we got there right at 1pm. But funny how it all works, apparently my appointment was really 1:30. I guess they heard about me and my mommy brain. And we didn't leave the place until 5:30. Yup, we were there for 4 1/2 hours. Poor little Things.

The crying began at the very start when the nurse weighed them. Then we were ushered into the room where I was asked a heck of a lot of questions. An hour or so later, more people came (doctors and students) and there were more preliminary examinations. Then the pricking began. While Thing 2 was on the table with one doctor listening to her lungs and looking at her ears, I was sitting down with Thing 1. The nurse had drawn a line of letters on her whole back, then the pricks. Of course Thing 1 cried and cried and cried. To the nurse's credit, she did it super fast. When Thing 1 was done, someone put Thing 2 on my other leg. She cried and cried and cried, and Thing 1 cried. They both cried so hard, their noses started bleeding. After all the crying, I was left alone in the room "hugging" a baby on each leg. I couldn't really touch their backs.

Instantly, there were obvious reactions. When the nurse returned and measured the welts (if any), Thing 1's welt for the milk allergy was 9mm and Thing 2's was 8mm. This is actually very big! The only other reactions that were noted were for peanut (4mm).

The doctor said that around 4mm is really not considered 'true' at this age. But the milk welt being so big, it is a true milk allergy. The peanut allergy is noted and would be watched, but it's not enough to be worried about right now. So the girls were prescribed an epi pen, Singulair and antibiotic (apparently they have a sinus infection). Then she went on to the subject of asthma. She said with the risks factors of eczema, food allergy and family history of asthma, this is an asthma that must be treated, especially that the girls often wheeze. For the asthma, they were given Singulair which they are to take everyday for a loooooong time. If it doesn't control the wheezing, we'll have to consider a steriod by nebulizer.

After being shown how to use the epi pen, we were sent for blood work. The blood work is to put quanitity to the allergy and for the purpose of comparison a year from now when they get tested again.

The blood work. Well. The phelobotomist worked on Thing 1 first. I normally don't look at the needle when I get blood work done, but this time I did. I thought I should see the whole thing in case something goes wrong. The woman had to fish for a vein. She stuck Thing 1 and fished this way and that way. It was horrible. Finally the blood flowed, but then it stopped. Absolutely horrible. The poor girl is exhausted, sleepy and she has been through too much by this time. But finally it was over. Than it was Thing 2's turn. The woman exclaimed, "wow, they have the same vein", but yet she also had to fish for it. It was especially horrible. Thing 2 trashed and kicked and I had to really really hold her down. She was hysterical at this point but yet no blood. The woman took out the needle and said she wanted to try the other arm. Thing 2 kicked and trashed some more. The woman said, she doesn't like this arm, she'll do the first one instead. Finally, she got the vein. By this time Thing 2 was absolutely hysterical. By this time, I am so frustrated and felt so bad for the girls I was on the verge of crying.

I really needed another pair of arms today. Not because it was tiring for me, but because it was a horrible experience for the girls. They needed a familiar face to comfort them but there was no one. I did my best, but someone had to be put in the stroller to cry by herself so that I could hold the other one.

The day has been horrible and the girls faced it like little troopers. I'm glad it's over with, though the diagnosis has left me a little depressed. There's nothing like being made to carry an epi pen to shock you to your motherly core. I know it's not the end of the world. I just need time to process and to adjust.

We are to avoid any milk products for a year and then the girls will get another blood test to see where they are then. Having no clue about food allergies, it was another shocker to think that all we had to avoid was the word "milk" on the ingredients. I need to read up on a lot of information.

We were given this as a trusted source: The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network

This post is from from my other blog here

Daddy wasn't feeling well on Sunday so only Big Bro and I were planning on going to church. Then I had an idea that I can take one of the girls with us to see how they will do alone. Also, partly because I took Thing 1 with me a while ago to the grocery store and I've been feeling guilty that Thing 2 never got her turn.

So with Big Bro and Thing 2 in tow, we headed to church. Big Bro was as good as a 3 year old can be with his coloring books and stickers. Thing 2 was great also, but in the 2nd half of the mass, she started fighting me to get to the floor. She was still a good little girl, but just more fidgety.

When we came home, Daddy said Thing 1 was a little more challenging than usual as well. Instead of playing by herself (like she and Thing 2 usually do), she just kept hanging around Daddy and climbing all over him. And according to Daddy, Thing 1 kept saying, "wan jo, wan jo."
When we put Thing 1 and Thing 2 on the floor, they didn't look at each other but they started playing very close to each other.

Very very interesting....

Oh, I almost forgot. On Saturday afternoon we went to a restaurant for my birthday dinner. But before we left, Big Bro kept saying, "we have to get a cake or we will miss Mommy's birthday!". When we were at the restaurant making our orders, Big Bro told the server that it was my birthday. Out of nowhere! Of course Daddy had a laugh and was amazed that he didn't even have to put him up to it.

So we got free dessert and a birthday song. My boy is soooo sweet. And contrary to what Daddy thinks, I did not get embarrassed. In fact, I enjoyed it.

This post is from from my other blog here

We were going to have a picnic at the Botanical Garden on Friday but it they were not open late enough for us to enjoy it. So we headed to the mall. There was a band playing so the little man got to shake his bootay.

This post is from from my other blog here



We finally bought Guitar Hero III for the xbox 360 this weekend. And look, we already have a pro! We all had fun taking turns, unfortunately, we had a little too much fun. We already beat the game.



Then our house came under attack. By hail, that is (notice the white stuff). It was so loud and so scary, I wish we didn't have so many windows. I also thought surely a tornado was imminent, fortunately it was only a severe thunderstorm. In a matter of 20 minutes or so our yard was flooded. But more unfortunate for our neighbor though, as you can see.

This post is from from my other blog here

1 hour old

6 months old

14 months old

This post is from from my other blog here

Yesterday at 5:30 pm, I got a call from the husband, "I'm DONE! I'm DONE! here, you talk to him."

"Mommy, I'm mad at Daddy! Daddy hurt my feelings! I don't like it, Daddy!" the little man said in between sobs.

I got the whole story when they came home. Daddy and the little man had a race on who could get to the car faster and when Daddy won, the little man threw a tantrum.

Fast forward to this morning. "Matty, don't fight with Daddy today when he picks you up," I said.

"Mommy, I need to. Cons why [because] I want YOU to pick me up!"

I was stunned for a few seconds but recovered nicely. "Matty, I can't pick you up. And if you don't want Daddy to pick you up, you're going to have to walk home. And it's a long way home!"

"Huh?" he said.

Now, we're both speechless.

Some members are worried about posting pictures of their kids on their blog. If so, mark your pictures private and only people in your Friends list will be able to view it.

I am trying to figure out if the 'private' photo functionality is working. So if you could please head on over here to this blog and comment there whether or not you see the photo.

Thank you so very much!

 

This post is from from my other blog here

I cleaned and cleaned and cleaned yesterday. Most of Big Brother's toys are now in the hallway and only the girls' toys are in the living room. I vacuumed, I mopped, I disinfected. It was back breaking work and now, finally, the girls can roam around outside the play yard! They absolutely loved it. They can now go and roam through the entire kitchen and living room.

Thing 1 went to the bookshelf that Big Brother used to love to go to and empty. She pulled the books one at a time until it was completely empty and then tried to climb on the pile of books. I think he may may climb in it like her brother used to do.

Of course we had to put the baby gates back on. And with that, we had to teach Big Brother to open it, which is not too easy for him and then there's Daddy complaining about it. He hates the gate. But hey, what can you do. The girls need to be able to crawl around and learn to climb up and down of stuff and practice taking steps. Now we have to be very vigilant about Big Brother's little toys lying around.

This post is from from my other blog here

Is there ever such a bad combination?

I've been suffering from crunchy knees for the past year and I have never thought anything of it (based on a casual response from my husband when I say my knees make noise). But then one day a couple of months ago, I actually let him hear it. His response was a contorted face that clearly told me the noise my knees make isn't normal.

I saw an orthopaedist and had tests done. And the result is that I have femoral arthritis and before considering surgery we have to try 6 weeks of physical therapy. My physical therapist thinks that I may have had this before and the weight gain with my pregnancy with the twins made it worse (but truth be known, I actually gained more weight with my son than with the twins). I've been holding myself in such a way that required less work from certain muscles, which made my knee caps wear out. Physical therapy then serves to develop those muscles (mostly the inner thighs) to support proper functioning of the knee caps.

After 6 weeks, I returned to see the orthopaedist on Friday and the verdict is "looks like the Physical Therapy is working, let's try 6 more weeks." I swear the whole consult took less than 2 minutes (the girls and I waited in the lobby for 45 minutes, and then waited in the exam room for 30 minutes).

I'm in pain, especially when I go up and down the stairs carrying the twins. But hey, it's better than surgery. I just can't imagine how things will go if I were to be out of commission for even just a week. Between deep squats (which I'm supposed to limit, as it is extremely bad for my knees) to get up and down on the floor to tend to the twins, and walking around the house at my toddler's beck and call, there trully isn't any rest for my bum knees.

Who knew hyper extending my knees could become such a problem. BAD, BAD KNEES! You have disappointment Mommy. Though on the upside, at least it isn't Rheumatoid Arthritis, so good, good knees. No. NO, still.... bad knees! Very bad!