The Gibbs 5

what's in a name

2012-02-20T10:49:00.004-05:00

When I was a little girl, I was so proud of my not-so-common last name - Quarles - and would search high and low for other people with the same name. I'd read the paper, magazines, movie credits - anything with lists of names - looking for other people who shared the name. I would get so excited when Norma Quarles would do the national news. It wasn't very often, but it was SO COOL to see my family name on the television.

Gibbs is a different story. There's lots of Gibbs around. There's Joe Gibbs, the NASCAR guy. And Leroy Jethro Gibbs, the NCIS guy. There's even a Gibbs Museum of Pioneer and Dakotah Life. And this....

My dad found this brand of rice somewhere in Minnesota and sent it to me....pretty wild, huh?

valentines

2012-02-14T09:17:00.000-05:00

Valentine's Day. A day to show your love.

And to show the other kids' mom how awesomely creative you are. Ha!

Let's start with Julie's gift to her classmates....a tiny bottle of bubbles with the sentiment "You blow my mind." Very cute.

Next, Maddie's....two brightly colored band-aids that make her "feel better." Adorable.

And, finally, JP's annual photo valentine. The awesomeness is awesome. His valentines in previous years have been good, but this year's is by far the best. And I had the most fun putting this one together. I geeked out too many times to count.

Not to take too much credit here....every one of these ideas was "borrowed" from Pinterest. That place is amazing.

And, look, ma! No candy! I figured the kidlets would get plenty from their friends and I didn't need to contribute to the sugar rush. Seriously, my kids are sweet enough.

chloe

2012-02-07T15:57:00.000-05:00

Most everyone, at some point in their lives, has a love-hate relationship with someone. Sometimes this relationship is hot and fast; other times it's long and smoldering. Usually, though, they end in tears.

When Chris and I were newly engaged oh so many years ago, we adopted a kitten from the local shelter. She was tiny and beautiful and climbed the cage to get our attention. We knew she was our cat. We had been chosen.

Chloe was a mere 5 weeks old when she came home to us. An itsy-bitsy ball of gray and white fur. She loved to attack our fingers and toes while we slept and, in true cat fashion, tried to trip us every chance she got.

Then, we spayed her. And she turned into Catzilla the Fat. That forever-a-girl feline could rip you open in 2.3 seconds flat. You wouldn't even know what hit you.

But I loved her anyway. She was my cat. Even after Roxy and Max came along, Chloe was my baby. But she scared the living crap out of everyone else.

For the past year or so, Chloe hasn't been right. She lost her weight, her fur went from sleek to dull, and she chewed on her skin mercilessly. We treated her with occasional steroid shots and they helped but she always returned to the street cat look.

Yesterday, when we got home from work, I discovered several blood smears throughout the house - by the food bowl, in the bathroom where she slept, and around the litter box. I found Chloe and saw she had gnawed through her skin in several places.

Today, she went to the vet. I initially asked for treatment, but it quickly became clear to me that providing medical care to a nearly 15-year-old cat wasn't a very good use of resources, and it wouldn't improve her quality of life very much.

So a decision was made.

I knew this decision was a strong possibility (OK, the only possibility) and I thought I'd be OK with it. After all, Chloe had been less momma's girl and more annoying-won't-you-please-just-go-away cat for a long time.

But I bawled like a baby anyway.

She was first given a sedative so they could inject the final solution into a vein, and she showed her true colors. She screamed and fought and hissed and acted like the Catzilla I knew and loved. One last hurrah for Chloe.

Once she was completely stoned, the medicine was administered. And then it was administered AGAIN. Damn cat needed TWO doses to die. The vet said he gave her enough for a 60 pound DOG.

Just like Chloe to be so stubborn. Give 'em hell in heaven, girl.

home again

2012-02-03T16:26:00.000-05:00

This post was supposed to be published on Thursday, Feb. 2, but I think Maddie had a coughing fit or a cat threw up or something so I got distracted...

Sick day #2. The girls were feverish all night so home they stay today. They aren't super sick, so we ran a couple errands this morning - went to my office for some time-sensitive tasks, went to Kroger for some milk, and met a friend for lunch.

Now we're home. I was hoping they'd nap, but their coughing is keeping them up. So, Maddie is sacked out on the couch watching Yo Gabba Gabba and Julie is quietly applying heart-shaped stickers to the wall.

I have a general feeling of apathy but also a small nagging feeling that I should be "doing something." I should have a project going - organizing a drawer or making some crafty thing or something.

Staying home with the kids isn't easy for me. I'm never sure what to do with them or myself. Today, they aren't well so it makes sense for them to rest on the couch and watch TV....BUT....that's what they do when I'm home and they're NOT sick.

My friends take their kids to the park, the lake, the zoo, the library, on picnics and so on and so forth. Generally speaking, the idea of taking Julie AND Maddie to such things makes me want to pull my eyelashes out one by one.

So, we'll just continue watching TV and thanking the stars that the ladies get to do fun crafty stuff at day care.

wants

2012-02-03T16:22:00.000-05:00

JP and I were walking on campus this afternoon when he said out of the blue that he wanted a slushie. I commiserated with him. I mean, who DOESN'T want a slushy on a warm Friday afternoon in February?

His matter-of-fact statement got me thinking. Why is it that a twerpy little 8 year-old boy can so confidently state what he wants and I, a wise old woman of the world (ha!), cannot even decide what to fix for supper any given night.

So, I thought, why not make a list of the things, both concrete and not, that I want right now? It would be an exercise in owning my thoughts or, at the very least, in sheer consumerism. Which is the true American way, after all.

As of this very moment, I want...

1. a new desk chair. This one is getting old and isn't very supportive anymore.
2. the very slight headache I'm developing to disappear.
3. to run a mile without dying.
4. to fit into my jeans again (grief eating is not good for my wardrobe)
5. to wake consistently early enough to get my exercise in so I don't have to think about it the rest of the day
6. someone else to cook dinner for a whole week.
7. for Nancy's house to magically be cleaned out and sold.
8. a hug from Chris and then another one from the girls....I already got one from JP.
9. to feel content and satisfied with my life.
10. a slushie.
11. a dress that doesn't make me feel like a dork. I'd kinda like to wear a dress this spring.
12. to lose 20 pounds and stay that way (don't we all?)
13. to find a craft or handwork that I enjoy and want to do again and again.
14. to read "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" that is sitting at home on Chris's Nook (that sounds weird, doesn't it)
15. to take a nap.
16. everyone to sleep in their own beds tonight all night long with no interruptions.

That about does it for rightthisverysecond. In 20 minutes, I'll probably want something else.

tubing

2012-02-01T14:56:00.001-05:00

The fourth time's the charm, right?

Sunday evening, the runny noses started....a tiny voice in the back of my mind whispered, "Here it comes....get ready."

Monday evening, the coughing began. That tiny voice got a little louder.

Tuesday morning, the coughing worsened. Day care reported that they coughed all day.

Tuesday night, low-grade fevers and very fitful sleeping. That tiny voice was screaming EAR INFECTION!

Today, we went to the doctor. The voice was right.

The right ears of both ladies are mildy infected, so we'll start a round of the usual pink stuff. A little ear infection is no huge deal except when it's the fourth one since October.

So, we'll see the ENT this month to consider ear tubes. I'm less than thrilled about putting both girls under general anesthesia but I'm tickled about the highly-likely reduction in ear infection frequency and severity.

I had a ton o' ear infections as a wee one. Tubes were the best thing to happen to me. I still got infections once in a while, but not as often and certainly not as seriously. Ask my mom. She'll tell you.

And you know what? This is a medical intervention NOT related to their prematurity. This is regular kid stuff. I LOVE regular kid stuff!

Stats: Just 21 days shy of their 3rd birthday, Julie weighed in today at 24.5 pounds; Maddie is a lightweight at 22.5. They're at less than the 3rd percentile for their age (meaning they're pretty much the tiniest nearly-three-year-olds around) but man, are they cute.

blaaaaaack socks

2012-01-18T14:27:00.000-05:00

JP goes to a week-long summer camp every year run by the Episcopal Diocese of Kentucky and my dear friend Beth.

JP has a ton of fun and always comes home wishing he could stay longer.

He learns a lot about God and Jesus and living in community and stuff like that. He also learns a lot of great songs. Like this one...(sung as loud as possible, please)

Blaaaaaack socks, they never get dirty
The longer you wear them,
The blacker they get!

Blaaaaaack socks, someday I will launder them
But something is telling me
Don't do it yet, not yet, not yet.

It's a typical obnoxious camp song. Fun to sing if you're feeling punchy.

Fast forward to January....a full six months post-camp.

JP has worn holes in most of his socks so I buy him a pack of new ones. It's a mixed pack of white and (wait for it) black ankle socks. He's upset at first ("But I've never worn black socks before!" in the whiniest 8 year-old voice you can muster) but gets over it when he figures out how cool black socks look with his jeans.

He wears the black socks a lot. Every day, really.

This morning, as he's putting his shoes on, he announces, "I've worn these black socks for two weeks straight. They're black, so you can't even tell."

You did what?

Ummmm....I might need to have a talk with Beth.

keeping house

2012-01-11T08:39:00.000-05:00

JP made a gingerbread house over the Christmas break. It was just a kit so really all he had to to was decorate it. He took his time and applied frosting and candy as carefully as he could and it was beautiful.

For about an hour.

Then he decided it was time to eat it.

And that was that.

My house is just like that. I get it clean and organized and tolerable and it lasts, oh, 20 minutes or so.

It makes me crazy and then I start yelling and then I feel guilty and just clean it up myself.

Just call me St. Anne the Martyr.

C'mon, Gibbs! Help a mom out!

santa delivers!

2012-01-06T10:50:00.000-05:00

Wanna see what the kids got for Christmas? You know you do!

For the third year in a row, JP begged Santa for a Nintendo DS. Santa did not disappoint this year. I don't think JP peeled his eyes away from that tiny screen for three days straight.

I think JP looks a lot like Chris did at this age.

The ladies got a few joint gifts (because, really, that's one of the benefits of twins). A sweet little dollhouse (that they promptly took apart).

All the Yo Gabba Gabba! characters (which they still haven't put down)...

And a little play kitchen that took HOURS to assemble...

The girls were really clued in to Santa ("Santa come today bring me a present?") and were so excited to look at Christmas lights and ribbons and ornaments. JP is a HUGE believer in Santa and made a little origami fish tank thing for Santa to take back to the North Pole.

Grandma Nancy would have had a blast with the kids this year. The kitchen was Grandma Nancy's final gift to Julie and Maddie. We found it in her basement in September along with a massive Lego set for JP. Bittersweet.

merry xmas and happy new year from an irresponsible blogger

2012-01-03T10:52:00.000-05:00

The blog world tells me that I should respect my readers by posting regular updates to this blog.

I mean no disrespect.

It's just that I'm busy trying to, you know, be present with the people around me. So, the blog gets pushed to the background.

It's not that I didn't have time...I've been off work for nearly two weeks. But the blog felt like an obligation and I had enough obligations to deal with.

But you'll forgive me....you always do.

Especially if I post pictures of the kiddos.

Like this one...

And the accompanying reaction...

Pretty much that's how my whole vacation went.

I'll work on more photos and updates this week...promise. (Fingers crossed)

all i want for christmas...

2011-12-20T11:52:00.002-05:00

...is a Nintendo DS.

hair's looking at you, kid

2011-12-19T13:30:00.001-05:00

Perhaps the worst pun I've made all day.

Baby hair is ridiculous. It's super-fine and thin and it flies all over the place. It's particularly sensitive to static and won't stay in a pig-tail or hold a barrette. It looks really bad really fast.

I'd had enough....the girls needed a haircut.

Their first professional haircut.

It wasn't their FIRST haircut, though. That happened in the NICU when they were just a few weeks old....the nurses shaved a little spot for a special IV to go in their scalps. Blech.

This weekend's haircut was far less traumatic.

My friend Lori cut their hair. She also cut JP's hair the first time way-back-when. At least the girls didn't cry like he did.

Maddie looks apprehensive.

Julie just isn't sure about this...even if there ARE penguins on the sheet...

At least they each got a certificate out of the deal...

Of course, I didn't get an "after" photo. I'm not together enough for that these days. Suffice it to say, they were ADORABLE.

sleep, and other delights

2011-12-08T09:02:00.001-05:00

The girls have been stricken with I, in all my professional medical wisdom, have diagnosed as a wicked case of allergies. Dark circles under the eyes, runny noses, sneezing, and the dreaded nighttime cough

Oh, the coughing.

The endless hacking lose-your-breath coughing.

Which ultimately means no sleep for momma.

Of course, an internet search of their symptoms clearly indicates they have whooping cough/asthma/plague so I have a semi-panic attack thinking my girls are going to hack out all the air in their lungs and suffocate and DIE.

They aren't going to die, but at 2 a.m. when they're in the midst of their third coughing fit of the night and I can't pour Robitussin down their throats because (1) they'll cough back up all over me and (2) the pesky FDA says not to, the only thing left for me to do is get in the bed with them and keep propping them up when they slide down the pillows and offer them water to clear their throats.

I haven't slept in the marriage bed (ahem!) in a couple of weeks, I think. Chris is going to get used to having the whole bed to himself. We can't have that, now can we.

Anyway, last night, in a stroke of genius, I dosed the girls with some FDA-approved Zyrtec in the hopes of drying up all that snot so they wouldn't choke on it in their sleep.

Success! We had just one coughing fit out of each of the ladies! Sure beats four. Yeah, the girls all ended up in the bed together, but we pretty much slept and I call that a victory.

On other fronts, we trekked to Louisville this week for our semi-annual visit with the neonatalogists to track the girls' progress. Here's what we learned:

The girls are still squirty. Julie's 23.25 pounds and 33.25 inches tall. Still below the lowest curve on the chart, but she's at least following her own curve and most of all, LOOKS healthy. Maddie is a mere 21 pounds and 32 inches tall and below even Julie's curve but still curving and looking great.

The girls are both pretty advanced cognitively. They've surpassed milestones for their corrected age of 29 months and are ahead a little bit even for their chronological age of 33 months. They're really only expected to meet the milestones for their corrected age. So, to translate, Julie and Maddie are little geniuses.

Diagnosis? WE'RE FIRED! Seriously. We don't have to go back to Neonatal Follow-Up. Julia Ruth and Madeline Wynn are a rousing success.

I think I squealed audibly when we were told not to come back.

Those girls. I love 'em. Even if they do keep me up all night.

phone calls

2011-11-28T21:25:00.001-05:00

More proof of pre-teen madness...

remember

2011-11-28T15:40:00.001-05:00

It's easy to remember that the girls are (were) micro-preemies when we put their eye patches on every day to help keep their weak eyes strong. That's obvious micro-preemie stuff.

It's hard to remember these guys are micro-preemies when they say stuff like, "Get out of my room, Mom" or "Stop bugging me, Mom." That's not micro-preemie stuff. That's snot-nosed pre-teen stuff.

thankful

2011-11-23T09:31:00.001-05:00

Thanksgiving! I love this holiday....great food and family and friends, no decorating required and definitely no presents to worry about. I'm excited to make the bird again this year along with stuffing and sweet potato mash and this wacky thing.

We've had another rough year (can't we catch a break?) but I'm still thankful like you wouldn't believe. I've got this amazing group of people around me and they are all I really need. And a great cup of coffee. But you knew that.

It occurred to me last night that yesterday was the girls' 2 3/4 birthday. That means they're nearly THREE. I'm thankful for this, but also scared. Pray for me. The three's are way way worse than than the so-called "terrible twos." Three kicks two's butt every time. Anyway...

JP, my little man.

Julie, the sticker fiend.

Maddie, my little helper. Who has started calling me "Miss Momma". She's such a lady.

got my eye on you

2011-11-16T09:32:00.001-05:00

This is Baby Fox. Baby Fox is well loved by one Miss Madeline. She's crazy about this fox and this fox's mom, Momma Fox. She insists on having Baby Fox when she goes to bed every night. It's a DISASTER if Baby Fox cannot be located. DISASTER. Baby Fox has kinda crazy eyes, don't you think? Which leads me to...

Semi-annual eye appointments! (Great segue, huh?) Our twice-yearly trip to the fabulous Dr. Douglas so he can peer into their baby blues and tell us that their vision is terrible and we need to get back to eye-patching on a regular basis and keep wearing their glasses and M has a dimple in her optic nerve and we really need to do a particular test on Maddie that requires sedation and on and on and on.

Sigh. Poor girls with their preemie eyes. We're hoping that science will perfect the bionic eye soon so we can just replace the girls' defective ones. I wonder if bionic eyes would make that little mechanical whizzing sound every time the iris adjusts....

tweaks

2011-11-11T16:02:00.001-05:00

I read something on the interwebs today that struck a nerve:

My emotional life looks a lot like this these days. I suspect it does for many parents—a high-amplitude, high-frequency sine curve along which we get the privilege of doing hourly surfs. (Source)

Yup. That's where I live.

One minute I'm pleased as punch with the world and the next I want to punch the world in the face. Not much of it really has to do with the kids - they are emotional beings and I get that - but with me. I should be more emotionally mature by now, shouldn't I? I mean, really, I should be able to handle bumps in the road without flying out of my seat, right?

I sigh a lot lately. My friend Beth and I make jokes about all the sighing we do these days. We're sighing for different reasons, but, still, we exhale loudly and with great frequency. I wonder if a little shift in routine would help.

(Now, the last time I "complained" about "needing a change" on this here little blog, I ended up spending nearly two weeks at Kosair with Madeline going through epic head surgeries. So, believe you me, I am not complaining about being bored. I certainly don't want to jinx anything.)

I just need to tweak some things. Smooth out some of those sine waves. Decrease their amplitude. Reduce their frequency.

A tiny bit.

And here's a gratuitous pic of the ladies that has absolutely nothing to do with this post (which I know is a bit rambling and a wee bit incoherent but hey, it's Friday afternoon).

the droids you're looking for

2011-11-01T20:09:00.001-04:00

So trick-or-treating with two 2-year-olds isn't the easiest thing in the world. Neither is taking their picture.

Have you ever seen a more sullen C3PO? Or one with more stickers on her forehead? I didn't think so.

Maddie was a blur the whole night....she skipped down the street and grinned that devilish little grin she has. A perfect R2D2 to Julie's C3PO.

JP embraced his inner Jawa-ness.

JP tried to sell his sisters to his buddy Michael but Michael wouldn't take them.

We walked and walked and walked last night and finally collapsed back at the house. JP and Michael were still amped on sugar so we let them trick-or-treat in our neighborhood on their own. It was dusk by the time they got back. You know how creepy it is to have a Jawa knock on your door? That long brown cloak....those glowing orange eyes. CREEPY.

pumpkin mania

2011-10-31T10:12:00.000-04:00

About the middle of last week I got a wild hair to host a pumpkin carving party so I made it happen. We ended up with like 20 extra people in my house and it was a madhouse of squash surgery.The ladies really tore into their pumpkins...

Some with more gusto than others...

The guys were otherwise occupied....

Even the kids got in on the act....

The kidlets are trick-or-treating tonight....it'll ba a Star Wars extravaganza!

smiles all around

2011-10-19T15:29:00.000-04:00

Woke up this morning to find this photo in my email. My mom had taken it while she was here last week. There really are very few pictures of me with the kids so this is one special. Granted, we can only see the back of Julie's head, but it's still obvious that she's smiling. So, three smiling Gibbs Girls (and a Max Cat sneaking out from under the table). Makes me happy.

not too shabby

2011-10-14T16:05:00.000-04:00

You know, sometimes it just makes sense to put a bag over your head and pretend you don't exist.

But not this week.

This week, I got to repair a bit more of the body damage my pregnancies caused me. And to share that experience with my mom (which is even better than the repair, really).

I had a pretty good week at work getting stuff done and being generally agreeable about it (sometimes a stretch for me).

I decided that maybe the coffee bar isn't really such a far-fetched idea. I mean, if your 8-year-old believes in you, you can do anything, right?

And today I got to wish my friend a very happy birthday, meet a beautiful new ginger kitty AND a gorgeous golden retriever/lab mix, have lunch with Chris and an old friend, and spread the Gospel of Coffee to a couple of eager students.

Not too shabby, eh?

pumpkin patchin'

2011-10-11T16:22:00.001-04:00

On Saturday, Chris and I took advantage of the beautiful Kentucky weather we've been having and dragged the girls and my mom to a local pumpkin patch.

Julie touched every pumpkin she could reach.

And sometimes it was hard to tell the pumpkins from her fuzzy noggin.

Maddie thoroughly enjoyed the hayride (Julie was a bit more apprehensive).

The girls got to pick out their own pumpkins....munchkin-sized.

And Chris and Maddie braved the corn maze (along with a few freaky guinea fowl).

The farm also had a petting zoo but we had too much fun laughing at the obnoxious bleats of a particular sheep and squealing over the pot-bellied piglets to take pictures. Well, at least I was.

caffeine dreams

2011-10-05T14:50:00.001-04:00

Maybe it's just the sleep deprivation...or maybe this is legit...but I feel pretty defeated today.

Maybe you know and maybe you don't, but I have a (ludicrous?) dream of opening a coffee bar in my town.

You know, one of those great local independents that everyone loves and hangs out in and buys lattes for $3 a pop. The kind where the baristas know their customers and what they like and think to have your drink ready when you walk in the door every day at 7:48 a.m. on your way to work.

The kind where the high school kids hang out after school and the college kids live after dark. The kind where work-at-home types spend a couple hours a day with their laptops taking advantage of the free wi-fi (but not TOO many hours this is a business after all not the library thankyouverymuch).

You know what I mean.

So, I've spent the last several months pouring over research and tweaking spreadsheets and trying to find ways to do this without losing our house (or our shirts). I've scoured the internet and read countless articles and a few books. I've looked at properties and talked to lenders and construction companies. I even went to a freaking trade show on the other side of the country, for heaven's sake. I've talked and talked and talked about it until I'm sure my friends are sick of me. Heck, I'M sick of me.

And perhaps it's all for naught.

Today, at least, the very idea of the coffee bar makes me a little nauseous. So many details...so many things to think of....from cups to drink recipes to espresso machines to shop tables to refrigerators to water purification to employee handbooks to oh my gosh will I be able to pay ME to blah blah blah. SO MUCH.

While starting a business is not unlike having a baby, it doesn't have the benefit of a registry. I can't throw a business shower and register for a blender at Amazon. (Can I?)

My mom would say, "Inch by inch, life's a cinch." But this little project has about one billion inches.

Really....I wish someone else would do all this and then just hire me to work the counter. And then take my advice about everything from cups to drink recipes to espresso machines to......

sleepless...not in seattle

2011-10-04T16:01:00.002-04:00

So, I've been back from Seattle for an entire week and I can't quite muster the energy to blog about it. Let it be known that I had a most fantastic adventure and am super proud of myself for taking the trip. It was definitely a step outside of my comfort zone but completely worth it.

I've got coffee on the brain and can't let it go.

-------------------------------------

So. Tired. I counted back and I haven't had a solid, undisturbed night of sleep in one whole month. First, I was sick with a terrible cold and "slept" on the couch for a week hacking my guts out. Then, the girls got the cold and were up a lot at night coughing. Then, I went to Seattle and "slept". (Not really, but, again, worth it.) Back home and the girls are coughing again.

I'm starting to think I'm so tired that maybe I shouldn't operate heavy machinery. It's not helpful that I'm on a vicious caffeine & sugar cycle. I'm tired so I drink coffee and eat sugar and then I crash and am tired again so I drink more coffee and eat more sugar....vicious.

------------------------------------

The reality of undoing Grandma Nancy's house is sinking in and it's completely overwhelming. My mom came down to help us for a week and now she's overwhelmed, too. Nancy was a beautiful lady but holy crap did she have a lot of stuff.

-----------------------------------

Just for kicks and giggles, here's a pic of the girls that I found on Nancy's camera. I don't know how, but she managed to get pictures of the girls smiling at the same time. I think this one was taken in late spring of this year. Maddie's on the left; Julie's on the right.

emerald city

2011-09-22T09:59:00.000-04:00

I'm as giddy as a little girl this morning and I just can't help it. I'm going on a little trip this weekend....to Seattle!I'm going to see this...

And drink gallons of this...

At this thing...

And go find my Teen Spirit at this crazy place...

And hang out with this guy (and sleep on his couch)....

(Get your head out of the gutter...he's my little brother Brian!)

I may never come back...

(un)settling an estate

2011-09-19T20:51:00.000-04:00

First, many thanks to all for the prayers, thoughts, kind words, calls, cards, etc. in the sudden death of my Mom. As you all know it was a shock, and we're all still reeling, though we've had to move on with life and figure out how things work without her, and manage the affairs and things of her estate.

Second, thanks to all who have helped with organizing and packing the things in her house. Undoing the life of another person, however well they might be known by others, is a challenge.

As we've been going through the house, we've found many interesting things (at least to us), not the least being notes from some of her students through her many years of teaching, a poem written by her sister when she was 14, and this photo of my father (which I cannot recall ever having seen).

I'm guessing it was taken some time around 1970, largely on the basis that he is wearing two stripes (early in his service) and no wedding band. If my memory serves, Mom and Dad married in late 1971.

Chris

tut tut

2011-09-19T19:27:00.000-04:00

It looks like rain...

And snotty noses...

new routine

2011-09-13T09:35:00.001-04:00

It's official - my house is empty during the day (wait...maybe I shouldn't say that on the internet?)

JP is at school and the girls are at daycare.

Yesterday was their first day. I didn't get any pictures because I'm fighting a crap-tastic cold and can barely talk much less remember to take photos. They walked in happy and immediately got into the instruments - a little xylophone for Maddie and a little guitar for Julie. If I work this right, they'll be the next big thing in 10 or 12 years and all our financial worries will be over. The end-of-day report showed that they ate like champs and took fantastic naps. A mom can't ask for much more than that.

JP is getting off the bus at my office instead of at home. I wasn't sure when his bus would arrive so I sat outside on a porch swing for 30 minutes waiting. It was the best 30 minutes of the day. The cool and rain has been replaced by sunny 85-degree gloriousness. The porch swing was just what this tired sick girl needed to prepare me for...

...live banjo playing in my office. No. Joke.

You cannot imagine how irritating it is to have banjo playing right behind your desk at the end of a long, stressful day when all you want to do is go home and hide in your closet.

I'll leave you with a picture of my mom coloring with the girls. I took the photo with my horrid phone so forgive the poor quality. My parents and sister came from Minnesota for the funeral a couple of weeks ago and they were a wonderful cushion for me. See all those flowers? ALL of the funeral flowers made their way into my house. ALL OF THEM. My dining room looked like a florist's workroom. Anyway...here you go.

alphabet

2011-09-09T15:34:00.000-04:00

I needed a distraction this afternoon, and found this...enjoy the little trip through the attic of my mind...
A – Age. I’m 35
B – Bed Size. Queen. Big enough to have my own space but not so big that I can't find Chris with my ice cold feet.
C – Chore I dislike. Mopping floors...I'd rather clean toilets than mop. I LOATHE mopping.
D – Dogs. No. We're cat people.
E – Essential start to my day. Coffee and lots of it.
F – Favorite Colors. It depends on the day, and what we’re talking about. Wall paint? In my head I paint with blues & greens, but in reality most of my house is taupe. Clothes? Black & gray & denim.
G – Gold or silver? Silver, or white gold.
H – Height. I’m 5’4″ (barely)
I – Instruments I play(ed). Piano - still play every few days. I majored in percussion in college, though. Which is hilarious considering how much I stank at it. I'm surprised the faculty let me continue down that road. Maybe they needed a good laugh. Know what I'd like to learn? Mbira.
J – Job title. If this means something other than CEO of Gibbs Corp., than I'm secretary of my department at work.
K – Kids. Three little minons.
L – Live. Suburbia. But in my dreams I live in an urban loft
M - Money tip I like best. Whatever you earn, spend less. Or, failing that, win the lottery.
N – Never plan to… bungee jump, skydive, or any other free-fall activity that might result in soiling my undies. Have any more kids. Pierce my nose.
O – Overnight hospital stays. More than I care to count...some for me, many for my kids.
P - Pet Peeves. People who can't follow basic instructions...and people who "reply all" needlessly. Seriously, people.
Q - Quote from a movie. I quote kids movies all the blinkin' time but I can't think of a single quote right now to save my life.
R – Righty or lefty? Righty
S - Siblings. Two brothers and one sister
T - Time I wake up. I should get up at 5:30 a.m., but usually it's a lot closer to 6:30 a.m.
U – Underwear. I would tell you, but then there'd be no mystery left.
V - Vegetables I don’t like. The shorter list is the vegetables I DO like. Veggies and I don't get along all that great. I did recently discover sugar snap peas, though, and I go through a bag a week now.
W – What makes me run late. Um....Chris, JP, Julie and Maddie slow me down a bit.
X – X-rays I’ve had. Chest, back, abdomen plus a fair number of MRIs, CT scans and ultrasounds. I'm fully nuked.
Y – Yummy food I make. Lately, if it doesn't come out of a box and is ready to eat in less than 20 minutes, it doesn't get made. I'd like to cook more, but I have a strong dislike of chopping things.
Z – Zoo animals I like. Meerkats, all the way. I could watch those little guys all day long.

new normal

2011-09-06T22:32:00.000-04:00

You know how people talk about feeling like they're in slow motion when something really awful has happened? How it doesn't "seem real"? Yeah, that's exactly how the past week has been. I get it.I remember feeling this way about a week after the girls were born. Like it wasn't really happening. Like if I just blinked or took a deep breath or held myself just the right way everything would go back to the way it was. But the funeral is over and it's time to find our new normal. I don't really like the new normal.I miss her. I miss hearing her open the front door in the morning. I miss seeing her carry in more luggage for one day with the girls than some people take to Europe. I miss hearing the girls say, "Hi, Grandma," when they first see her and "Bye, Grandma" as she's walking out the door. I miss seeing ladybug stickers all over the house - remnants of her attempts to distract the girls from ripping off their eye patches too soon. I miss seeing her lunchbox on the kitchen counter and her Mountain Dew in the fridge.The house isn't the same without her.The girls are going to move to a traditional daycare later this week. My house will be empty during the day. No Nancy, no girls. The new normal stinks.

nancy

2011-08-29T22:21:00.000-04:00

Eternal rest, grant unto Nancy, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon her.
May she rest in peace.
Amen.

We lost our beloved Nancy today. She died suddenly and we are shocked and grieved. Her sons lost their mother; her grandchildren lost their grandmother and caregiver; I lost a friend.

Please keep our family in your prayers.

the problem with pedals

2011-08-20T19:34:00.000-04:00

ella's tree

2011-08-18T16:03:00.000-04:00

Last night we were privileged to help celebrate the all-too-brief life of our friend's baby girl. A tulip poplar was planted in her memory.

Julie and Maddie spent a good deal of time around the tree...examined nearly every flower....called the tree Ella's Tree.

I like to think my girls are connected to Ella...that they will all meet one day. I hope they do. J&M could teach Ella about dealing with a twerpy older brother...

maddie say what?

2011-08-16T13:36:00.000-04:00

If you've ever met her, you know that Maddie is a big talker. Her pronunciation and enunciation are spot on most of the time (except for those pesky r's), which sounds really odd coming from her tiny little body. She has a lot on her mind and likes to share it with us.

May I present some Maddie-isms...

"It's not working! (pause) Problem!"

"I'm fwustrated!"

"Toofbwush, pwease!"

"Go fwimming?"

"Mom, Julie took my (insert object name)!"

"Later, tater!"

"Blech."

JP was working his math homework while the girls ate a snack. He was explaining something to Grandma Nancy when Maddie chimed in, "Oh, I get it!"

You know, I wouldn't be surprised if the girl really did get it.

loss

2011-08-12T14:38:00.000-04:00

As much drama as we went through with the girls, we never had to experience the gut-wrenching reality of losing them. We have them. They are perfect and wonderful.

Two of my dear friends crossed that bridge this week. They sent their precious daughter to heaven. She wasn't able to live in the world - she was just 18 weeks gestation.

They are heartbroken. We all are. Please keep them in your prayers.

To The Zoo!

2011-08-06T21:35:00.002-04:00

Today, I had the honor of taking JP to the zoo, along with the sixth member of the Gibbs 5, Michael J., and our friends Mitch and Eliot.

Everyone had a blast.

From 20110806

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35

2011-08-01T13:41:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow is my birthday. My 35th birthday.

I'm melancholy about it, of course. I always am. Summer birthdays kind of stink - there's no school celebrations, no cupcake parties with 28 other kids. Fall birthdays get bonfires and hayrides; winter birthdays get ice skating and hot cocoa; spring birthdays get...I don't know...may poles or something. Summer birthdays are just hot.

I really want the second half of my thirties to be different from the first. The first five years were fraught with drama that I could just as soon do without, and I've learned some hard truths about myself that I'm working to accept. It's cool...just not what I expected.

I'd love to see these things happen in the next five years...

Save enough money to put a down-payment on our forever-house. One that doesn't require anything more than fresh paint, please.

Or, barring that, get enough money together to open a wicked cool coffee shop.

See all my kids excelling in school - one down, two to go.

Help St. Thomas grow. And find them a better pianist. :)

World peace (too much?)

Happy birthday to me, y'all.

last week of summer

2011-07-29T11:41:00.000-04:00

Around these parts, kids go back to school at the beginning of August. It seems almost unnatural to shop for school supplies in July. Gone are the images of falling leaves and fresh apples and crisp air. They're replaced by blazing sun and HEAT. Not exactly picture-perfect.

JP has had a great last week of summer, though. He spent Monday and Tuesday at Kids College learning the basics of photography and how to make play-dough and baking soda volcanos. While he hasn't raided my kitchen for science experiments yet, he has commandeered my camera and has busied himself making stop-motion Lego videos. I'll try to post one soon.

He had an AWESOME trip to the dentist on Wednesday - no cavities and hardly any muck to scrape off. Go, JP!

Last night we went to his school's Open House to meet his teacher and see his classroom and get the annual ridiculously enormous packet of paperwork for me to fill out. He's in third grade this year. I distinctly remember feeling like I would never survive third grade - the multiplication tables were going to kill me. I told that story to JP and he responded all cool saying, "I already know a bunch of my times tables." Thanks for the vote of confidence, kid.

His classroom looks a lot more cluttered than mine did but that might just be because I'm taller now or just hyper-aware of clutter. His desk looks just like mine did, though. That fabulous solid-surface top with an open-front metal cubby to shove all kinds of stuff in like papers that never make it home for Mom to see.

His name is written in cursive and taped to the top just above the pencil groove (love that pencil groove). I'm trying to convince him that having legible cursive is important. Cursive is FASTER and therefore one can get one's work done SOONER. I think I've almost got him on my side on this one.

JP amazes me. He's generally happy and inquisitive and self-reliant and easy to be around. He has his moments, but we all do. I worry that he spent too much time alone this summer; he didn't get much time with friends because Chris and I were working and it was hard to coordinate stuff. He seems to have survived it, though.

I'm sure third grade will be awesome, just like JP.

friday

2011-07-22T13:38:00.000-04:00

It's Friday, y'all. It's hot. The office is super quiet. I'm stalled on a work project. So, for your enjoyment, a few pictures taken this past weekend in our front yard.

Maddie & Julie

Julie looking sweeter than usual.

Maddie with her baby (I think it's Maddie...oy. Can't tell my own kids apart sometimes.)

Maddie isn't too thrilled that I still confuse her with Julie.

Julie justs points at me and laughs. "Silly Momma!"

Some of these photos were edited using Picnik. It's fun and easy and free (and no, they didn't pay me to say that). I'm not that great at editing color stuff but it's fun to mess around with it. Did I go too far?

tiny change = big difference

2011-07-15T11:51:00.000-04:00

For the past several months, I have dreaded coming home from work. I am often thrust into overdrive the second I walk in the front door.

Three kids want my attention, I need to get the daily report from Grandma Nancy, supper needs to be cooked, the house needs straightening from the day's playtime, on and on and on. You know, the usual stuff that everyone does.

It was exhausting and I grew to resent it.

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to make one small change and it has made all the difference.

Instead of launching into full-scale war against the chores immediately, I sit down on the couch for 10 minutes and let the kids climb on me and talk about their day.

10 minutes.

It's made the rest of the evening soooooo much better. Everything is smoother, quieter, easier. And supper still gets cooked and the house straightened up and baths done.

Best 10 minutes of the day, frankly, and it makes me happy.

(Don't laugh at my self-portrait. Please.)

brains in your head

2011-07-14T08:36:00.000-04:00

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
- Dr. Seuss (from Oh, the places you'll go!)

Maddie and I drove to Louisville yesterday for her annual CT scan of her brain. We like to make sure that 1) her shunt is placed and functioning properly and 2) her ventricles are of normal size. I also like to see the inside of her head and marvel at her beautiful little brain.

All three goals were accomplished. Her brain is perfect.

I knew that, of course. But it's awfully nice to see it on film.

besties

2011-07-06T10:39:00.000-04:00

Little ladies love each other!

I wonder if this will last beyond elementary school...

vacation got me all messed up

2011-06-24T09:52:00.000-04:00

We've been home from vacation for a week (did you know I was gone?) and I'm STILL all messed up from it. I had all these plans to paint the dining room and sort through JP's stuff and upload photos and blog and blah blah blah.

Didn't get any of it done. We did manage to vacuum and mow the lawn and that's about it. Ha!

No photos today except for the one I stole from my sister's Facebook page. Me and all my siblings together for the first time in a looooong time. Years, I think.

Me on the left, then younger sister Mary, baby brother Brian, and eldest child Aaron.

I think it's funny that my sister and I have basically the same haircut and the boys have matching do's, too. The outfits match, the body positioning matches. Really, this is a WEIRD photo. Honestly, who lined us up like that?

Maybe I'll get it together this weekend and get some photos of the kids up...maybe not.

hay there!

2011-06-07T14:26:00.000-04:00

I'm home for a few days with the kids while our regular sitter recovers from an illness (Hi, Nancy! Get well soon!). If you know me at all, you know I'm not exactly a natural stay-at-home mom so more than a couple days alone with the kids make me a little crazy. I haven't had to up my meds just yet though so keep your fingers crossed.

We went outside this morning to get a little playtime in before the Hell-like conditions really settled in. Ladies insisted on the "fwings" so that's what we did.

Well...they swung. Not me. In between pushes I messed around with my garden fountain and watered my baby sunflowers.

Anyway, there's a hay field behind our house and it's really quite lovely to see the hawks circling for mice and watch the grass sway in the wind like waves on the ocean. A couple of times a summer the grass is mown and baled. Today was a baling day.

The hay rake came right up along our back yard. It had to stop and do a little maneuvering to get around our neighbors garden plot. Doing that made a mess of the hay so the driver came back, got out of the tractor and straightened the mess into a row by hand.

A few minutes later, the baler arrived!

I was hoping the girls would get to see the baler poop out a big roll of hay (there's no other word to describe it, really). Lucky for us the baler stopped directly in front of us and dropped a bale right on the edge of our yard. I was ecstatic! The girls? Not so much.

JP was annoyed that he missed the whole thing. But that's what happens when you go inside to bury your face in your laptop watching BeyBlade videos.

2011-05-31T15:10:00.000-04:00

It was HOT this weekend. Fry an egg on the sidewalk hot. Get out of the kitchen hot. HOT HOT HOT.

But the ladies insisted on going "outsiiiiide" and "fwinging" about a dozen times. So we did. And we were all a sweaty mess for it. But at least the girls were happy.

So what, besides requesting time on the swings, can the girls do these days? Lots.

They can...

Climb up on the double bed in their room.
Empty their dresser drawers.
Ask for specific snacks (animal crackers, bananas, milk)
Feed themselves yogurt with a spoon and then ask for a napkin when they make a mess.
Knock on closed doors (especially the bathroom door when one just wants 30 seconds of quiet child-free time)
Take a sippy cup to the other sister.
Take a sippy cup away from the other sister.
Ask to watch "Abby Elmo" about a hundred times a day. (Sesame Street for the uninitiated)
Drag dining chairs all over the dining room.
Build tall towers and demolish them with a single strike.
Recognize and name random numbers and letters on sight.
Sing "C is for Cookie" and the theme song to Elmo's World.
Cry for 30 seconds and then hold a fat tear on their cheek for 15 minutes to extend the drama.
Roll over a large bouncy ball and "kiss" the pavement with their foreheads. Ouch.
Throw everything out of their cribs in a fit of hysterical laughter and then cry their heads off because they need their blankies.
Give a hundred kisses just because I asked for them

(co)independence

2011-05-22T19:20:00.000-04:00

NICU reunion yesterday! We saw a lot of nurses and several doctors and we were interviewed by a local TV station and we had a great time. We didn't get to see our bestest nurse Wendy and her boys...we weren't on the same time-table. But rumors have it that she did indeed make an appearance and I'm glad she was able to make it! Wrangling 4.5 month-old twins is hard work!

Anyway...after mingling for a while we headed down the hill to check out the rest of the zoo. We saw the elephants in particular. Julie was beside-herself-excited and made joyous elephant trumpets over and over. At one point, the African elephant looked straight at her - so Julie responded with a tremendous trumpet!

The ladies insisted on pushing the stroller themselves. We heard a lot of, "Oh my goodness! Look how cute!"

hello!

2011-05-19T21:32:00.002-04:00

(cough cough cough)

the eyes have it

2011-05-11T09:43:00.000-04:00

Semi-annual pediatric ophthalmology appointment yesterday. Always an adventure.

The girls have allergies/colds AGAIN. Their noses are fountains of snot and they're cranky which makes travel anywhere difficult. They aren't great at wiping their own noses and I lack the acrobatic flexibility to properly wipe their noses from the front seat. So, the drive to Louisville was a snotty mess. Blech.

The girls had a blast in the waiting room. That is, until the eye drop lady showed up and she had to go and ruin the fun. Eye drops bite.

Once the girls were all wide-eyed, the doctor did his magic tricks and figured out that the girls eyes have gotten worse. WORSE. Julie's left eye is weaker and her nearsightedness overall has increased. Maddie's right eye is no stronger (although she's still using it, which is good) and now she has astigmatism. Maddie has to continue patching and now Julie has to join the fun, too. Grandma Nancy is beside herself with the prospect of patching TWO toddlers every day.

And both girls need new glasses. I can hardly contain my excitement.

The girls are cool with it, though.

many hats

2011-05-08T21:01:00.001-04:00

Moms wear a lot of hats...mom, of course, but also wife, cook, maid, driver, counselor, friend, manager, CFO, you get the picture.

This particular mom is also the maker of hats. Derby hats.

Maddie - will you please hold still?!?

Julie wears her gangster-style.

And my own hat, with a lily for the fillies. My horses, Pants on Fire and Twinspired, lost miserably, but it was fun anyway.

moms

2011-05-06T09:10:00.000-04:00

Happy Mother's Day!

I have the great fortune of spending this Mother's Day at HOME (a.k.a. NOT in the hospital like last year (guess I didn't blog that day...too depressing) and the year before) and I plan on milking it for everything it's worth.

My own mother will likely be with my siblings and my dad and her other grandkids and enjoying some fabulous dessert thing. She's a fantastic lady and I owe so much to her - she gave me the gift of sarcasm and for that, I'm grateful. Seriously.

I don't have very many pictures of my mom, and I don't think I have ANY pictures of Mom and me together, but here's a great one of her with Julie from October 2009...

looks

2011-05-02T08:46:00.000-04:00

Happy Monday, y'all!

JP thinks Mondays are awesome!

Julie? Not so much.

one, two, fwee

2011-04-29T09:00:00.000-04:00

It's pretty exciting for me to watch the itsy-bitsies develop into little girls. They're doing all sorts of things that little girls do - run around, jump, wear tiaras, aggravate their brother...

We've been watching a LOT of Sesame Street these days and since we started, Julie and Maddie are rapidly learning to count. They tend to skip over "five" and "eight" but they get the idea.

Stinkin' cute, huh?

outside

2011-04-28T11:21:00.000-04:00

Dear God - please stop the storms...Momma needs some sleep!

Forgive me while I whine for a little bit - I haven't had a full night's sleep in over a week now. Between the storms and Maddie's struggle to stay asleep, I'm sooooo tired!

Whew! Glad that's out of my system. On to the pictures!

When it hasn't been pouring rain, we've been outside in the yard. Our grass is so green right now, it's almost cartoon-ish.

Maddie (l) has a little zebra and Julie (r) has packing peanuts. They carried them around all day.

Maddie's giving her zebra a ride. Julie's pushing for the sake of pushing.

Love how Maddie is grinning impishly and Julie's distress. Turn-about is fair play, Julie.

Rocks are terribly fascinating right now. Maddie will carry a rock around for an hour before setting it down somewhere. I've found rocks in her bed, her diaper bag, her car seat, her dinner plate.

JP's mildly obsessed with climbing the dogwood in the front yard.

Are your kids playing outside much this spring?

helping, part ii

2011-04-18T15:18:00.000-04:00

I've been baking a lot lately...I don't know what's come over me. Maddie decided to get in on the fun.

Mmmm....tasty....

This girl has weird hair growth patterns, don't you think?

FYI, Maddie had a follow-up today with the doc who put her in the hospital a couple of weeks ago for pneumonia. Mad's lungs are clear and perfect. Not a speck of congestion. Hooray!

Our college held an Easter egg hunt yesterday so we thought, "What the heck! Let's take the kids." So, we went. And we conquered. JP alone grabbed enough plastic eggs for all three of them, but Julie and Maddie did quite well for itsy-bitsies. All together I think they brought home at least 100 eggs. Gibbs Rule!

Thanks to Beth Bojarski for the photo! Her son Eliot did pretty darn good at the egg hunt, too. That's me and Maddie discussing technique. Pick 'em up, put 'em in the bucket...boom boom!

helping

2011-04-07T10:32:00.000-04:00

Julie! What are you doing???

I help with dishes!

(You know, it's pretty unnerving to realize one's toddler can climb up on stools. Suddenly, the counter isn't so child-proof anymore.)

home!

2011-04-03T20:55:00.000-04:00

That's right...we're home!

Shortly after I posted yesterday, Maddie weaned down to 0.5 liters of O2 and she was fantastic. She had an excellent nap and started acting like a regular 2 year-old again (God help me...have you ever had an energetic toddler trapped in a hospital bed before?). At 6 pm we bravely turned her oxygen off and held our breath hoping she wouldn't hold hers. So far, so good.

At 7 pm, the doctor unexpectedly popped in. She said that if Maddie continued to keep her sats up for another hour we could go home. HOORAY!

At 8 pm, with the help of Kate, one of the godmothers, we packed Maddie into the car and drove home.

Another hospital visit behind us. I did lecture Maddie about these little trips to the hospital and how I would like a little more space between them. We'll see if she listened.

She still has an ear infection but a week of at-home antibiotics will clear it up.

Many, many thanks to everyone who prayed for Maddie's speedy recovery. We felt every prayer.

will it ever end

2011-04-02T13:00:00.000-04:00

Day 3 of pneumonia with Maddie. The doctors are being far less aggressive than I would like at weaning her oxygen. Maddie is really tired of being tethered to the bed...so tired, in fact, that she's smacking me with her bulb syringe and playing with the bed controls.

We've watched countless hours of Sesame Street and put Elmo stickers on every available surface.

She had a great night...slept deeply and satted in the high 90s all night. She's down to 1 liter this afternoon and we should be able to drop her down to 0.5 liters pretty soon.

Looks like we're here one more night, though. Argh.

Breathe

2011-04-01T11:09:00.001-04:00

Maddie is in the hospital for RSV and pneumonia. She's on oxygen and iv antibiotics and tolerating everything really well considering.

Hopefully we can wean her off the O2 today and go home tomorrow.

It's weird that Maddie got so sick and Julie didn't.

M is better today...more herself. Chatty and into stuff. Just like I like her to be.

mine

2011-03-30T08:46:00.000-04:00

The ladies have been down with colds so they've been having trouble sleeping. Last night, as we listened to the girls fussing in their beds, Maddie started saying in her most pathetic itsy-bitsy sad voice, "My momma, my daddy." Over and over and over.

Oh, my.

Somehow I resisted swooping into their room and sweeping Maddie up in my arms. I must have nerves of steel.

sleepless

2011-03-28T08:51:00.000-04:00

There was snow on the grass and cars this morning. What the heck??? Mother Nature, you need to check your calendar - spring has arrived!

The girls and I have been down with colds all weekend. We are fountains of snot. Blech. While I can medicate myself into oblivion (thank you, Mucinex!) the girls are too little for any type of decongestant or cough suppressant. Poor babies. Hack, hack, hack. Wipe, wipe, wipe.

They aren't sleeping well because of all the congestion and drainage. Thus, I am not sleeping well either. The past two nights have been spent propped up on the couch with a baby on my chest to keep her elevated. None of us have slept nearly enough.

So, if you talk to me today, forgive me for my incoherence. It's a hazard of the job.

I'm ready for my close-up...Maddie, get out of the frame!

spring

2011-03-21T14:00:00.000-04:00

Spring has arrived in Kentucky...just over the weekend, trees starting leafing, magnolias are in full bloom, and the dogwoods are thisclose to decorating my neighborhood with white and pink blossoms.

The ladies are spending lots of time outdoors. They've finally gotten over their fear of grass (oh no! it's touching me!) and are learning to throw a ball so we've had a lot of fun lately.

JP and his BFF went to a nearby field recently for a little play and a lot of photos. This hill has been covered in daffodils for a number of years and is a favorite spot to take spring pictures.

Can't help thinking about the opening sequence of "Little House on the Prairie" when I see this shot."

3.14

2011-03-14T20:32:00.002-04:00

Happy Pi Day, everyone! The geek overlords (um...me) decided it was high time we celebrated this fine day in style.

someone special

2011-03-14T09:38:00.000-04:00

If you've ever met JP, you know he's quite a talker. He likes to start conversations with, "Do you know (insert something Lego or Star Wars here)? I'm going to tell you about it." It seems his writing style is the same as his conversational style, and I'm going to tell you about it.

Last week, JP was selected as Writer of the Week for the entire second grade. This is quite an honor since there are something like 250 second graders in his school. His teacher, a lovely woman, invited us to Morning Meeting on Thursday to hear JP read his essay to the school. THE WHOLE SCHOOL. Heck, yes, we're there!

Chris and I walk into the gym Thursday morning to sound of 1,200 kids ages 5-10 talking at once. You've not lived until you've heard a sound like that. JP completely ignored us (that's his job, right?) and we stood there like dorks waiting for something to happen.

The principal finally took the microphone and started counting backwards from 3. Suddenly, it was silent. SILENT. He made a couple of announcements and then introduced JP to everyone.

JP read his essay into the mic clearly and slowly enough that everyone could understand every word. Chris and I had tears in our eyes as our little man described "someone special" to him - his dad.

Oh, my.

JP came down off the stage with a certificate and a piece of candy. We high-fived him, he gave me the candy, and we were off to work.

He came home with a copy of the essay. The spelling is ATROCIOUS. But that's another issue for another time.

Here's the essay, typed verbatim...

I want to tell you about someone special to me. He is my dad. He alwase takes me to my Cub Scout meetings on Tuesdays. He also helps me on projecs. One time he helped on my Pine Wood drerby car. He even made a game contreoler out of wood.

My dad is 37 years old and he is 6 feet tall. He amost waeres chrerch clothes evey day and he waeres galsses and long pants.

In 2009 evey Friday we would visit my mom and twin sisters in Louvill that's when they wer in the nikue. My mom was already out of the hopital. She was therer in the Hotel for 124 days.

Now you know why my dad is spical to me.

Are you crying yet?

Maddie's Day

2011-03-09T13:24:00.000-05:00

March 9. I'll never ever forget this day. Two years ago today, I kissed Madeline goodbye. Her body was shutting down. The doctors didn't give her very long to live. So I kissed her forehead and said it was OK to let go. It was the first time I'd gotten to kiss her, I think.

Somehow she made it through the night.

And she is my joy, my heart.

20 pounds!

2011-03-08T13:23:00.000-05:00

TWENTY POUNDS! Julie and Maddie have broken TWENTY POUNDS! Not collectively...EACH!

(Can you tell I'm excited?)

J&M had their two-year check-up this morning (no shots!!) and, with the exception of slight colds, they're perfect.

But you knew that already.

Julie's 31.75" tall...Maddie's just and half inch shorter. Their head circ is exactly the same (that makes me happy!). Julie, however, is TWO pounds heavier than Maddie. The little beast. I swear she must be stealing Maddie's food.

We had to see a new pediatrician this morning because of insurance SNAFUs. Pbbt. So, to bring her up to speed, I had to relay the entire story of their birth and NICU stay again. Luckily, this lady knew a thing or two about how micro preemies work so I didn't have to go into minute detail. Whew.

There is slight concern that Julie isn't talking much yet. I think it's because Maddie doesn't let her get a word in edgewise. Kind of like me and my sister. I blither on while she quietly plots my demise.

Alright, I'll stop talking and show you some photos...since that's really what you guys want anyway. :)

Maddie's in pink this time...just like to mess with people's heads.

Maddie had a stomach virus when this was taken. She held that blueberry for ten minutes before finally eating it. We saw it again later.

The world is good upside-down. At least Julie thinks so.

hat trick

2011-02-28T19:33:00.017-05:00

It was warm on Sunday so the ladies played outside a little bit before church. I stitched together a few photos from their mini adventure on the front sidewalk. For reference, Julie's in pink; Maddie's in teal.

look at you! you are two!

2011-02-22T08:27:00.000-05:00

Unbelievable. The little ladies were born on this day two whole years ago.

I could get all debbie-downer and recount the whole sad story of their birth and NICU stay but I don't want to go there very often anymore.

Instead, I'll share a couple of the silly things Julie & Maddie did recently.

We were supposed to have a birthday party this weekend, but the evil stomach virus ruined our plans. I was stuck with a bazillion strawberry mini cupcakes. Might as well eat them, right? So I gave Julie a cupcake while I was home for lunch yesterday. She tiptoed around the kitchen carefully licking the pink icing off her tiny cupcake while dragging her blankie around behind her and wearing a silver tiara with blinky lights. Ridiculously cute.

Maddie, while not of the tiara-wearing ilk, has gotten quite vocal lately. Words are pouring out of her mouth at a rapid pace. On Sunday, Chris asked Maddie if she wanted a cracker. Maddie shook her head fiercely and said, "No. Apple." Ok, then. Apple it is. She's gotten quite good at saying "No." I'm getting nervous about that.

Things are pretty much roses and sunshine where the girls are concerned. They're happy and growing and learning and getting into trouble just like they're supposed to. And we're thrilled to pieces!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Itsy Bitsies!

what's the problem?

2011-02-21T11:02:00.000-05:00

There's your problem...your flux capacitor isn't fluxing at the right capacity.

Actually, our problem is a gender-specific stomach virus. We were supposed to have a birthday party yesterday afternoon. But the dreaded stomach virus invaded the female side of the household. Two solid days of fatigue and whole body aches and puking. Blech.

The little ladies and I are on the mend, but now I'm stuck with 5 dozen strawberry mini cupcakes. Looks like my co-workers are in for a sweet afternoon.

Can you believe that the girls will be TWO tomorrow??

love x3

2011-02-14T15:39:00.000-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day, y'all. Chris & I don't really celebrate this day with each other, but we can't pass up the chance to tell our readers how much we love you!

Julie loves you...

Maddie loves you...

And JP loves you...

...but he's in too big a hurry to tell you.

so big!

2011-02-11T08:39:00.000-05:00

Up to this point, we have been safe from little girls falling off of furniture because they've been too little to climb up on the furniture. Not so anymore.

Julie is pleased as punch with herself.

Julie hasn't fallen off the furniture yet. But Maddie sure has. Of course she has. Murphy's Law clearly states that she who has a million-dollar head will do everything possible to smack said head against the floor at least once a day.

Oy.

mood enhancer

2011-02-04T16:20:00.000-05:00

Do you know how awesome it is to come home after a long, frustrating day and have your nearly-two-year-old twin daughters rush up to meet you at the door laughing and smiling because they're so excited that you're home?

Julie laughing her head off.

baby boys!

2011-01-30T08:39:00.000-05:00

Chris & Wendy are thrilled as punch to announce the birth of their twin boys on January 25! Read about it on Wendy's blog.

jealous

2011-01-27T09:10:00.000-05:00

Maddie: Hey, Mom. Check out this cool doohickey thing I have. Isn't it neat?

Julie: Hey, Mom. Check out this cool doohickey thing I have. Isn't it neat?

Julie: Wait a sec. Why does she have a cool doohickey thing? Why is her thing better than my thing? This isn't fair! This isn't right! Don't we have bylaws against this sort of thing?

Julie: Dangit. Maddie: (Smirk.)

I heard through the grapevine that is Facebook that Wendy had the boys! No details yet, but I understand that everyone is OK. Praise God!

ready for my close-up

2011-01-17T14:37:00.000-05:00

Hey....mom's got the camera out...let's go check it out...

Keep praying for Wendy, everyone. She's still working hard to keep those boys of hers contained.

bottles be gone!

2011-01-12T10:15:00.000-05:00

The ladies are officially big girls! They had their very last bottle on Christmas Night. We documented the occasion, of course. Somehow, I didn't get to administer this final bottle. That's OK...I didn't get to give the first ones either.

Julie - a bit weary-eyed from all the excitement of Christmas. Our friend Bill helped her with the bottle.

Maddie getting help from her dad.

Just for reference, here are their first bottles on April 27, 2009...

Julie...big eyes...so tiny!

Maddie...sleepy eyes...even tinier!

I was sad about ending the bottles for about 10 minutes. I got over it when I realized I would never again have to wash those confounded Dr. Brown's bottles with the bazillion pieces. Hooray! I didn't even wash these two bottles...I chucked them right into the trash. No guilt. Not even a little bit.

Bottle feeding Julie and Maddie was a struggle from the very beginning and, frankly, I'm glad it's over.

pray for wendy

2011-01-10T16:54:00.000-05:00

If everyone would take 10 seconds and lift my friend Wendy up in prayer, she would feel it. She needs every prayer she can get right now. Her boys are trying to escape far sooner than they should.

Thanks.

bang a gong (not your head)

2011-01-03T19:43:00.000-05:00

Can someone please tell me why Julie has started banging her head on the floor when she receives correction? Please?

We correct her. She pauses, bends overs, smacks her head once, and stands back up. Every. single. time.

pretty good year

2010-12-28T15:40:00.000-05:00

A look back at 2010...

merry christmas!

2010-12-27T13:16:00.000-05:00

No time to blog! We've been busy with parties and churching and celebrating Christmas!

Christmas Eve morning we had brunch at our house with lots of food and friends...

Christmas Eve we went to church. The ladies had new outfits...

Christmas morning we woke up to snow! We haven't had a white Christmas in a long time.

JP opened presents...

He had that set built by mid-afternoon.

And the ladies played with the boxes...

All in all, a wonderful beautiful busy Christmas.

all i want for christmas

2010-12-21T08:48:00.000-05:00

...is a Lego Advent calendar.

...and some old magazines.

...and maybe the ability to read.

Maddie, did you see this? Unbelievable!

Christmas is in full swing in the Gibbs house. The shopping is done, the tree is up, wrapped packages are appearing, and cookies are made. The ladies giggle at the tree (and want to de-ornament) and JP is desperate to open presents. We have a busy week ahead with church and open houses and general Christmas mayhem, but we're really excited about it. Honestly.

perfect

2010-12-15T09:49:00.000-05:00

The ladies are perfect! (But you knew that already, right?)

On Monday we had another make-the-parents-of-preemies-feel-good appointment with the neonatologists in Louisville. They're the NICU doctors and they like to follow preemies for several years to track development.

But really, these appointments are to reassure the parents that everything is OK and they aren't ruining their children.

The ladies look awesome! No tightness or floppiness (bad bad bad)...hearts & lungs sound fantastic...height & weight & head circumference are progressing nicely. Maddie is a whopping 18 lbs, 10 oz, and Julie finally broke 20 lbs! Even for their corrected age of 18 months, they're still below the curve on the growth charts, but they're following their own curve which is just fine with everyone.

The girls were their usual hilarious selves at the appointment. They walked themselves to the exam room and had an audience cheering them on. They played with blocks and a little bell (Salvation Army in their future?). They had conversations with the doctor, pointed at whatever they were supposed to point at, and Julie demonstrated her sideways glance and finger tapping routine (She does that when she's unsure of a situation). Developmentally, they're right on track.

All in all, the girls are in great shape for 18-month-olds, and we were instructed to keep doing whatever it is we're doing. Which is mostly chasing and tickling and being silly. But apparently it's working.

snow

2010-12-10T16:19:00.000-05:00

Look! My blog is snowing!

I stole this idea from my friend, Beth.

You like?

giggles

2010-12-09T13:03:00.002-05:00

brrr

2010-12-07T10:37:00.000-05:00

Baby, it's cold outside! The car thermometer read 18 degrees this morning. The light snowfall we had last night stuck around enough to call off school for JP today. We're all bundled up and I'm considering making hot chocolate tonight.

Maddie & Julie are all set for winter with coats, hats, mitten, and the sweetest little boots you've ever seen. (but you won't see them here because photos aren't working for me lately). I suspect those boots will never touch snow, though. I'm pretty chicken about taking the ladies outside in cold weather. JP still needs boots. He had boots last year but dang if he didn't outgrown them.

If I wasn't in the Christmas spirit before, I am now. Snow does it every time.

little step, big step

2010-12-01T10:46:00.000-05:00

We have a little step down from our kitchen into our living room - it's maybe six inches. The ladies have no trouble climbing up the step into the kitchen. They hold on to the doorway and step up one leg at a time like most functional human beings. Julie has no trouble getting down the step - she hangs on and drops one foot at a time. Easy.

Maddie is another story. After falling on her face a couple of times, she has refused to take that step unassisted for months. The little stinker insists that a grown-up help her down. Frankly, I've been concerned that she may have a developmental issue that's preventing her from climbing down. Maybe she has a touch of the dreaded CP or maybe her eyes are so gosh darn bad she can't properly judge the depth of the situation. Maybe she's just afraid she's going to smash her face again.

Chris has been coaching her diligently for the past week or so. He sits on the floor in the living room just within reach and gives Maddie a pep talk until she just can't take it anymore. Her dedicated daddy has gotten her to take the step holding just one of his hands, but progress had stalled of late.

Until last night.

We were all heading out for some reason or another and told Maddie it was time to "Go, go!" (She gets REALLY excited when it's time to go somewhere. Poor girl doesn't get out much.) She toddled right over to that cursed step, put her hands on the floor, and backed down to the living room without a single helping hand.

Success!

We cheered and clapped and hugged and kissed and high-fived and reveled in her new-found independence. You go, Maddie!

Such a big girl...

cherpumple pike

2010-11-29T11:09:00.000-05:00

Cher-what? Cherpumple pike. The epitome of Thanksgiving gluttony.

Start with this...

(A CHERry pie, a PUMpkin pie, and an apPLE pie baked inside a chocolate cake, a spice cake, and a yellow cake)

Assemble into this...

(there's three tubs of frosting on this monstrosity)

Cut into it like this...

Witness the awesomeness...

Get a tummy ache afterward.

thankful

2010-11-24T09:08:00.000-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving, y'all! I'm blogging today instead of tomorrow because tomorrow I'll be up to my ears in cooking. That's right, folks - I'm hosting Thanksgiving this year, bird and all. Scary, huh?

My game plan along with my recipes are posted on my fridge. My serving dishes with the appropriate serving spoons are laid out on the buffet and labeled with the hope of their future contents. My turkey is thawing in the fridge. The cranberry relish is done and in the freezer. The sweet potatoes are ready to bake and the dessert is coming together.

The schedule is very neat and tidy - on paper. In reality, I'll probably knock down the girls a couple of times and yell at JP to get his dang Legos off the kitchen counter and fuss at Chris for not keeping me sane. My friend Mitch will give me trouble for being too much of a control-freak and Beth will just dive right in and help me out.

Eventually we'll sit down and eat and all will be right with the world. It won't matter that the dining room floor is strewn with Duplos and the kitchen sink is full of dishes and Maddie is flinging her food across the room. It will only matter that I am with my husband and my children and my friends and that everyone will have a full and happy tummy by the end of the night. And for that, I'm thankful.

Julie is thankful for bananas.

So is Maddie.

(I have got to learn to use my camera better. These blurry photos are ridiculous.)

school of fish

2010-11-23T05:00:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago JP came home with an assignment to make a diorama - the assignment required choosing an animal (not a cat or dog) and creating its habitat. After much gnashing of teeth and begging him to get started, he finally chose a clown fish (think we watch Nemo very often?) Lucky for him, his 10 year-old cousin Valerie was visiting and she was game to help him. And, since I love a craft project once in a while, I was too.

JP designed the habitat and selected the materials and planned the layout, but Val and I did most of the assembly. Here's what we came up with...

See the awesome pipe cleaner seaweed? And the tiny yellow anemone? And the amazing googly eye?

As part of the project, JP had to do a bit of research on the clown fish...to the internets!

My dad and I were remarking that when I was a kid this project would've involved a trip to the library and an hour of combing through books to find out stuff about clown fish. JP and I spent five minutes on the web and presto! Amazing, really.

I hope this kid got an A on his project - if he didn't we at least had a great time putting it together and if you ask him what clown fish eat he instantly replies, "Algae and shrimp - they're omnivores." That sounds like a successful learning experience to me.

muppet=maddie

2010-11-22T15:03:00.000-05:00

Found this video today while wasting time at work (shh...don't tell anyone). Ernestine is Maddie made over. Seriously, Maddie is exactly like this baby muppet - the babbling, the dancing, e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g! And, frankly, Ernie is an awful lot like my dad. So watching this was like having a little family reunion at my desk.

cold

2010-11-22T09:28:00.000-05:00

Julie and Maddie looking a little green.

The ladies have a cold. Yuck. Snotty, snotty noses times two. Double yuck. Somehow, despite the constant wiping, their noses are not chapped. How is that even possible?

For poor Maddie, her congestion led to a double ear infection. It's not too serious, but it was keeping her awake at night so off to urgent care she went. She came home with the fabulous girly pink amoxicillin and some ear drops from pain. She's much better today, but now Julie is fussy. Dang. We should've taken them both in at the same time.

You better believe I'm watching the girls like a hawk - any sign of lung congestion and we are going to the hospital. I will not tolerate crap in their lungs! I'm more afraid of the girls getting RSV or pneumonia than just about anything.

---------------

In other news, my parents and niece visited last weekend and I didn't get a single picture of them with the girls. Parenting fail! But we did have an excellent time with beautiful weather and some shopping and caving and eating. I keep trying to convince them to move back to Kentucky but they are somehow resistant to my pleas...something about a poor housing market or some crap like that. Whatever. I'll call them in January when we're having a warm snap and make fun of them and their four feet of snow.

awareness

2010-11-17T08:48:00.000-05:00

Today is Prematurity Awareness Day. If you read this blog at all, you are aware of the effects of premature birth.

The baby in the banner is pretty tiny...the girls were HALF that size when they were born.

Prematurity stinks. It stinks for the babies and it stinks for the families. Chris and I encourage you to learn about prematurity and support efforts to fight it. Thanks!

don't worry, be happy

2010-11-10T10:46:00.000-05:00

Having a bad day? Come hang out at my house and your foul mood will disappear. The ladies will make sure of that.

Just walk in the door...they'll come toddling over squealing in delight that you've arrived. Maddie will rip off her glasses (to get a better look?) and Julie will try to climb your leg. No ill temper can survive that kind of welcome.

sugar and stinkface

2010-11-03T08:46:00.000-04:00

Sleep is a big dang deal in the Gibbs house. Our whole lives revolve around making sure the kids get enough time with the Sandman. We don't schedule anything during naptime and we make sure we're home by bedtime every night. If we think we're going to be late, the girls leave the house in jammies with bottles in tow. Tired babies are cranky babies.

But well-rested babies are wonderful!

Julie wakes up from a nap HAPPYYYYYYYYY! Such a sweetheart.

Maddie had a good nap, too. She's adorable...

...or not.

halloweenies

2010-11-01T15:59:00.000-04:00

Halloween! It's one of my favorite holidays, you know. Not because I'm some crazy pagan or anything like that, but because it's so cool to pretend to be something completely different for a few hours and eat one's weight in cheap candy and feel absolutely no remorse.

I also love it because I get to spend time with JP. He and I don't get to do very many things together except for planning and implementing his Halloween costume. This year was no exception. We started discussions in mid-September and, after a couple of weeks on intense negotiations, finally settled on this...

I think I ended up spending about 10 hours on this thing. He wore it for 2. But it was an amazing 2 hours and he will always remember this costume (he better).

Chris made a helmet for him, but it was horrifically uncomfortable so he decided to go for the "I'm Luke Skywalker, and I'm here to rescue you" version of a storm trooper.

The Ladies were supposed to be Ewoks, but they hated the headgear so they're really just bald bears.

So Vader wore their hoods instead...

sister mary

2010-10-21T16:32:00.000-04:00

This lovely lady is coming for a visit this weekend.

Do you think she'll do yard work for me again this time?

tip for tuesday

2010-10-19T08:36:00.000-04:00

Having trouble keeping your twins from running all over the sanctuary? Try this...

1. Install an enormous playpen in the front row so they can see all the action while being contained. Feed them a steady diet of cheerios. Go ahead and just pitch the cereal in the pen...the girls will find them.

2. When they get tired of their cage matches, bust out the laser pointer. Works for cats, works for twins.

balancing act

2010-10-11T15:49:00.000-04:00

We have finally introduced the Ladies to the park. After a few minutes of unsteady feet on the bark mulch, they were hooked.

Chris and I are like little kids at the park...we can hardly resist the see-saw.

At this moment, Chris is trying to throw me off the see-saw. Because he is obnoxious and seems to enjoy it when I give him dirty looks.

The ladies tried the see-saw on their own. While Chris was taking this, I was yelling, "She's tipping! Hurry up, she's tipping!" And I grabbed Maddie just before she slid off.

Then we went for ice cream and all was well in the world.

strolling

2010-09-30T10:34:00.000-04:00

The weather in the evenings has been amazing lately so the Ladies and I have been going for a walk most nights after supper. They love to go..."Let's go for a walk" yields squeals and hands in the air and virtual running toward the stroller.

We have a standard route through the neighborhood that takes about 20 minutes and takes us past trees and flowers and squirrels and birds. I often play music on my phone for accompaniment because silence makes me a tiny bit crazy.

"Mom, are you OK?"

Sometimes JP comes with us on walks and we talk about school and Halloween and Star Wars. Once in a while, JP handles the entertainment.

He's a little like the pied piper, you know.

swinging

2010-09-27T13:03:00.000-04:00

Cooler weather has finally arrived in Kentucky and the ladies are enjoying some time outside on the patio. We keep their little leather booties by the back door and Julie often brings them to us to put on so she can go out. Adorable.

Mostly they wander around picking up little sticks and pushing their lawn mower around but sometimes they like to relax and swing.

Sometimes they get distracted....

Sometimes they swing other things...

JP spent part of the afternoon training the girls in the finer points of light-saber-wielding...

(He always makes this face when fighting off droids.)

Julie is amused.

(That isn't grape jelly on her face...she fell and scraped her cheek on Saturday.)