Twindergarten

written by leslie. Posted on August 24, 2010. Filed under Twintuition. 3 Comments.

How are we already here?

Oh you are so excited. Last night I helped you carefully calculate your first day of kindergarten matching-shirts-but-not-matching-pants combo. Packed your Cupcake backpacks with extra Lipsmackers and Band-aids to share with all the new friends you’ll make. Breathed a sigh of relief that the hours we spent collecting double pink pencil boxes and Hello Kitty folders weren’t in vain. Today was it.


London pauses for a minute before going into Miss Cengic’s classroom, separated from sister as anticipated. At least you are at peace with being next door neighbors. Last week it was love at first sight when London first met her teacher because “she is SO pretty!” Somehow that fact alone chased every butterfly from your stomach.


Maddie is a little uneasy but a lot brave. Running a fever last night and skinning your knee on the way into school once again demonstrates your resilience. And, you are at advantage because your teacher’s name, Mrs. Wood, is easier for all of us to remember.
We couldn’t be more pleased with the pivotal instructors you and London will be spending seven plus hours each day with.


Any sentimentality about the first day of school was eclipsed by the shock of waking up this girl and finding out that she had spent 12 hours in her crib having removed her diaper…Way to provide an angry distraction so your mom couldn’t event think about crying, including the short trek to school, the drop-off, and the appropriately named ‘crying room breakfast’. I was beginning to blend in with the fathers in the building, you know with the ‘whatev’ shrugging of the shoulders.


Home again, the entourage has grown to seven babies (weren’t we trying to cut back?) while you have every couch to yourself and I am restless.

That brings us to now. Liv is wandering the house and I am wondering why it is so clean, and quiet. Isn’t that what I’ve been asking for all these years? However home doesn’t feel like home without you; your cereal bowls still in the sink and pajamas on the floor, I am waiting for you to spring from the crevices of the toy closet with your makeshift confetti and surprise one of your favorite princess guests, whose birthday it always seems to be.

I keep thinking about this conversation I had just five years ago in the NICU, after a particularly hard day when I wondered out loud to one of the nurses if having sick babies is something a person can ever recover from. And she changed my life, because she said to me, “This is just something they did…just like Kindergarten will be something they did.” The heartache of subsequent days was thwarted because of the vision you’d be doing just what you did this morning. I am more proud of you than I could ever have hoped.

Liv jumps out of the armoire yelling “surprise!” just the way you would, perhaps practicing for your grand return in just five hours. Three musketeers down to one feels so empty, but she is basking in my full attention and my day, and my joy, is already full
to
the
brim.

And now the tears can flow.

Eighth Month and Year

written by leslie. Posted on August 15, 2010. Filed under August and Everything After, Family: Isn't it about time?, Memory Lane. 5 Comments.

So Ryan and I decided to celebrate our 8-year anniversary in Houston, of which event we thought we could kill two birds with one stone and declare it a family vacation. Ultimately, the event was classified more as ‘trip’ than ‘vacation,’ but ah, the memories.


Upon first getting to the hotel, these three were bouncing around the hotel room like pinballs, even in pitch black at 11:30 at night, which was to be expected. Only after a little dose of Blues Clues did they settle down enough to sleep, of which Olivia, the non-cuddliest child we have would only sleep on mom’s left shoulder. (Turns out she snores AND talks in her sleep…something about cheese?) Two babies kicking me all night! :)


Ryan has been dying to go to the NASA Space Center ever since we moved here. With the girls’ recent interest in space, it seemed like a great idea. Here we are touring a little mock up of what it is like to be an astronaut.


We were able to go on a little tour and see one of the control centers.


Family picture. At this point I was not so much interested in the exhibits as getting out of the heat.


We played ‘Where’s Waldo?’ with Olivia the whole time. I loved that she brought her baby with us everywhere….Keep in mind this baby is only one of the five in her entourage!

The kicker for me was walking into what we thought would be several exhibits in this warehouse–

and seeing this! This shuttle was so huge it took my breath away. We walked around staring at it for over an hour and still were blown away.


We have shots from every angle.


Another family pic. I was impressed that random strangers kept offering to take our picture, not only that but they also knew how to work the camera.


These Asians had been working up the courage the whole tour to ask if they could grab a shot of L & M….I had to document the moment!


Can you believe we did NASA and the beach in the same day? Here we are at Galveston, my favorite part of the trip.


Liv and I lounged from these chairs while the twins built sandcastles and jumped over waves with Ryan. I love the smell of the ocean and how relaxing it is to listen to the waves. After awhile, Livvy thought it would be fun to chase Seagulls and make friends with other families, charming her way into many a beach setup. I guess she follows in the twins’ and my dad’s footsteps, always on the lookout for new friends.


Our last stop Saturday morning was at the Kemah boardwalk, which turned out to be my lesson in recognizing signs of heatstroke in pregnancy! :) I ended up camping out the whole time at Starbucks, guzzling yummy passion iced tea while Ryan attempted to take the girls, including a very height-phobic Madelyn on some rides. Needless to say, we left early. We learned our lesson not to attempt a carnival at mid-day during record heat in Houston, while 9 mos. pregnant!


The girls did eventually find a brilliant way to cool off…


Even Olivia, and baby #4.


Here’s our sweet London on the carousel, undoubtedly the only one who came out of the Kemah boardwalk happy! I’m certain the place would be a blast under different circumstances. Funny enough, the girls’ favorite part of the trip was swimming in the hotel pool and eating at Panda Express, two things we enjoy quite frequently at home. I guess everything’s just better on vacation. And the .2 minutes I got to spend with Ryan weren’t so bad either. Here’s to another eight-infinity years!

The Pfourth

written by leslie. Posted on July 6, 2010. Filed under Festivities, P to the f. 4 Comments.


We had ourselves a lovely little Pflugerville Pfourth and kept things simple at our house with the Round Rock Barlows and Ryan’s parents. It was the last day of their visit, of which I will later document, so we had to show them a good time. Who can go wrong with a BBQ menu devised by not one but two pregnant women? Hands down, Lonna’s brisket took the cake for my favorite part of the 4th, but even not including food we really did hammer out some good memories.


James showed up with a box of some pretty hard core fireworks, complete with snappers and sparklers for the kids. Pretty much James and Ryan did the lighting while the rest of us watched out for five kids poking someone’s eye out. Gwen and Harry seemed to get the hang of the sparklers better than my three children, who kept putting them out in the bucket, halfway burned.


Liv and Grandpa Barlow.


and again with Ryan. Love that little tongue.


Little London hams it up for Grandma.


Ok so these fireworks were insane! Blinding, deafening, smoking, shooting fire in all directions. But really, who laughs in the face of danger more than these two? Not to mention, we totally showed up all two of our neighbors who were also setting off fireworks in broad daylight.


And the cheering section, of which I accidentally hopped up on about 2 lbs. of candy.


Liv and Grandma Barlow and said candy.
How nice was it to have two extra adults around to keep the kids away from fire?


I made Baby Liv slow down for a minute but apparently the sugar rush wins over a great picture hands down. I didn’t get a shot of Lonna that day! But I think by then we’d had enough of pregnant belly shots, not that Lonna’s even counts as a belly.


Ok so what is it about Roman Candles that makes some grown men revert back to age six? We finally talked these two into moving things into the backyard as they had previously ALMOST hit the house, the neighbor’s and our cars, oh and what was that about watching for poking out eyes? At any rate, this portion of the fireworks turned into some kind of sporting event, with the rest of us sitting on the porch swing yelling, “Watch out for the kids!” :)
Ultimately, our 4th resembled New Years where we did most of the celebrating about six hours in advance and wrapped things up right about bedtime. Throw in some apple pie, good conversation, and yummy chocolate covered Rice Krispy treats and there is my perfect kind of holiday. Later we watched fireworks over the lake right from our bedroom window, then I loved watching, and not being stuck in, the traffic on our street for the next two hours. So probably my first fourth with no mosquito bites, now there is one for the record!

Mother Hen

written by leslie. Posted on July 6, 2010. Filed under Liv and Love. No comments.


Liv has recently discovered the babies sitting in the toy box for 2.5 years untouched-and now they are the most coveted possession in the house. Every morning she wakes up and says, “BABY!” until we frantically locate the whole entourage. Wasn’t it just yesterday we brought these home for the twins?


Ryan and Liv had a few hours together one Saturday when I took the twins to a birthday party. It turns out a quick trip to the bank can become quite the Daddy Daughter date. Also, I just noticed Liv’s legs more closely match “Brown Baby” than any of the others….it figures.


Oh she has Ryan wrapped around her little finger setting up the whole thing for lunch, complete with a sun umbrella.


The other day Madelyn came running to me out of breath because Liv was dumping Rice Crispies on her baby’s face. Who knows what else these babies have ingested? I don’t envy her role as Mother Hen of four newborns.


And another shot eating chocolate on the couch, yes, two things only Dad would approve of together. The shiner on her face is from falling down the stairs as she has recently started descending facing front, to accommodate the babies of course, and sometimes wearing Princess dress-up shoes in addition. Oh Liv, I can’t wait to see you as a big sister.

The Man Behind the Camera

written by leslie. Posted on June 20, 2010. Filed under Festivities, Hello Son, Memory Lane. 3 Comments.

Father’s Day 2010 was a good one. My all-time favorite memory of today was the twins coming home from Primary with photos of themselves, mounted on beautifully colored neckties, labeled with… the wrong names! When asked why they didn’t set the Primary straight on who is who, we got the classic answer–
“We didn’t know!”
I guess it doesn’t help when you can’t even tell yourselves apart.


Meanwhile, we decided to complicate things even more and throw another matching girl into the mix. Olivia couldn’t have been more tickled to be included in what has turned out to be a very exclusive duo…


Even if she doesn’t always get the memo on which direction to run.
Can you believe the color of our lawn (dad especially)? Photoshop need not apply. When our lawn guy promised he’d have it looking like this in a couple of months, I chuckled thinking what a great salesman he was. We are all pleasantly surprised. The only thing keeping us from running our toes through this luscious lawn is a measly couple of thousand violently angry fire ants, of which we have the man of the house to thank for spending hours upon hours slowly warding them off.


An impromptu shot of Ryan Jr. *
The people in the ward just started noticing I’m pregnant! I guess they have not recently seen me in a bathing suit. Every now and then it hits me that this really is the last baby…during the smooth sailing parts like today I think we may want more, but then the heartburn hits and I tell Ryan that we are never doing this again.

And what is a family event without corn on the cob–

and this girl?
The other day, that is before childproof doorknob handles on the pantry became an emergency, I caught Liv going through the trash and scarfing remnants of un-cooked corn on the cob! That is how much she loves it. I think she eats more of it than any member of the family, not even saving room for the main course or dessert.

And a special shout-out to the man behind the camera to whom I did actually shout out, ‘Put on a shirt so I can take a picture of you!’ And so he did and he got all handsomed up and I missed it due to rapidly increasing forgetfulness. At any rate I have loved celebrating you today, and the father you are to our girls.
And my own dad, and father-in-law, how blessed we are to have you in our lives. I hope everyone had a wonderful Father’s Day and got to chow down on some form of corn too.

*Not his real name, though with ten weeks to go we hope we can think of it soon.