Becky's Wedding and Upstate Travels

Me and the kiddos!

Well, we requested a four-day weekend to head up to New Berlin to attend the wedding of my dear friend, Becky, on Saturday, Nov. 9th. As usual, we don't really look forward to a long car ride with the kiddos. It's much easier to travel when they are sleeping and we've had adequate rest -- neither of which is truly achievable.

So after packing on Thursday, Richard and I hit the hay to get an early start Friday morning. We woke up around 3:20 a.m. Got ourselves cleaned up. Finished packing the last few things. Loaded up the car. Got the kids locked and loaded. And we were on our way at 5 a.m. We made one or two stops total (amazing how it's a blur even though it was just a week ago). We got to New Berlin around 11:30 ish. Moses was the only one who fussed and it was only the last 12 miles of the trip! Lucky!

We spent Friday hanging with my niece, my brother and my folks. It was snowing when we were there. I took the girls out to traipse around my parent's backyard, and Alex's old yard. Good times and good memories.

Grace, Francie, and Savannah reading with Grandma/Nana

Savannah and MiMo

Aren't we a chair full of cuteness!

Saturday morning Alex, Sarah and baby Roaran came to visit. It was my first time meeting the little guy and their first time meeting our little rugrats. Roaran was a BIG hit with the kiddos -- whether he liked being mauled or not? Well, that's a different story haha. Moses was very intrigued with "baby" and Frances spent a lot of time sitting with him.

Aunt Sarah, Uncle Alex, baby Roaran and Frances

In the afternoon, Richard and I got gussied up to head to my friend Becky's wedding at the Catholic church up the road. The ceremony was short and sweet. The priest was hilarious. It really was such a lovely wedding. After the ceremony we headed outside where the bride and groom were greeted by a horse-drawn carriage ride! So romantic!

We carpooled with Sarah and Alex over to Oneonta for the reception. Made one false stop. And managed to avoid going through the "scariest trailer park on earth." At the wedding we caught up with some familiar faces from our school days: Angie, Rob, Kristen and Allison. It was also nice to catch up with Becky's mom and to see her dad again. The father-daughter dance was probably the best I've witnessed. I only wish I had caught the whole thing on video - classic! AND all the toasts were superb. Man. I was in tears (Thanks be to waterproof makeup!).

Becky and Josh looked amazing and super happy! I was so glad to be there :-)

Me, Alex, Becky, Josh, Angie and Allison

Me and my old man

And I was super thankful to my parents and Lori for watching the kiddos while we were out celebrating. You guys rock!

Grace, Grandpa and Frances picking crab apples
on Alex's old property.

Grandpa and Gracie on the big trucks!

On Sunday, my bro, mom, niece, the girls and I headed up to the Fly Creek Cider Mill. I used to love going to that place as a kid (and as an adult). It's a lot more nerve-racking now that I have kids. I was afraid to let them touch anything in the food area (they even had peanut brittle out for sampling - scary for me!). And in the upper area, there are so many breakable items. Ah well. I hope it gets easier and less stressful for me as they get older. The kids all had fun feeding the ducks and playing in Tractorland.

Grace, Frances and I - silly girls!

Frances, Savannah and Grace with the cider press

Francie, Grandma, Gracie, Savannah and Tom feeding the ducks

Frances (climbing), Savannah, and Grace (sliding) on the tractor

Sunday evening, Grandma and Grandpa prepared an early Thanksgiving dinner since we won't be together on the actual day. It was lovely!

Mo in high chair, Frances at head, Grace, Grandpa, Grandma, Tom, and Savannah
Turkey Time!

Monday morning we left at 5 a.m., in snow flurries. We stopped around Harrisburg for about an hour and a half to let the kids eat and stretch. Made it home around noon - to nice comfortable weather!

All in all. It was a nice trip. I miss everyone. But, we have more company coming this weekend! Yay!

Moses' 15-month Checkup

Moses had his 15-month check up today.

First, the stats:

Weight: 26 lbs. 4.5 oz. (88%)
Length: 33 inches (95%)
Head circumference: 49 cm (94%)

Almost 2 pounds heavier, and 2 inches taller, than his sisters at the same age!

He didn't cry at all during this appointment. Nice! He has a cold right now but no fever, so he was still able to get his 2 vaccines.

One of his 1-year molars has broken through, the others are simmering below the surface.

The doc said he's dropped a bit off the curve for his weight. I assured her that he is eating when he wants to and doesn't seem to complain too much. But he definitely doesn't chow down like his sisters used to. He's still heavy for his age though, so there are definitely no worries that he's malnourished or anything! Haha. He did have a growth spurt for height. We had been saying he looked "skinnier" so I guess it was the lengthening that made him thin out a bit.

He has been having this chronic tearing issue for the past month or so. I had called the office two weeks after it started and they told us to massage the tear ducts and hopefully it would clear up before this appointment. Well, he's still tearing, out of both eyes. The doc said I should take him to a pediatric ophthalmologist -- hopefully it's something easy to remedy.

Since the last time I posted, his vocabulary has expanded. He says: "I did it!"; "peepee"; "poopy"; "thank you." He loves the "Wheels on the Bus" book/song. He'll sing and do the motions.

So he'll have a busy time coming up. He has the eye appointment on the 25th, a follow-up flu shot on the 26th, and his allergy appointment on Dec. 3rd.

Moses is 15 Months Old

Moses and his baby

Moses is 15 months old today. He's changed a lot in the last month. I swear within a few days of writing my post for his 14 month birthday he was walking like a champ! Now he's on the move. And climbing on everything. Seriously, Frances & Grace didn't do that much climbing at that age. He loves making the big circle through the kitchen and dining room doorways, like the girls used to do when they were his age. The girls will play peek-a-boo with him, like we used to do with them in the doorways. It's so cute, but I have yet to capture this interaction on video.

He officially has that 8th tooth in and has become Mr. Chompy-Drooly baby lately - me thinks this means another tooth is coming.

He has had a language explosion this month. He's saying a lot - not that it's perfectly pronounced but we understand him. New words/phrases include: go, up, no-no-no, uh oh, don't touch, more chip, nana, duerme, grandma, peek boo, apple ... and more I am forgetting at this moment. He is really good at copying us. This morning I gave him a sticker and he repeated it clear as day "Sticker!" He likes to hold the baby doll and swing it back and forth saying, "duerme" - Spanish for "sleep." He loves Dora. When ever Dora or Boots ask a question he replies, incoherently, but he replies.

He has been tearing up a lot the past few weeks. At first I thought maybe it was allergy/pink eye. But it never got red. Just keeps tearing. The nurse said it could be a blocked tear duct even though it's more common in young babies. Right now we keep massaging the area. If it doesn't improve before his 15-month checkup, we'll have the doc check it out. Doesn't seem to be bothering him too much though.

The weirdest thing about hitting this 15-month milestone is that he is now the same age the girls were when I got pregnant with him. I can't believe I had the equivalent of two of him running around while preggers. Maybe I am crazy...?

Here's a few cameos from this past month:

Moses (the tear is due to a blocked tear duct - we think)

Frances, Moses and Gracie at the Tot Lot near our house

Hug fest!

Halloween 2013!

Grace, Moses and Frances

All three kids got dressed up for Halloween. Moses was a little devil. My mom picked up his costume at a yard sale. And the girls were each Tinkerbell. I got their costumes at a consignment sale, and used wings & wands from their birthdays.

Ready, set, Trick or Treat!
Frances, Moses and Grace

Here's a video of Moses rocking his devil costume:

I took the girls out trick or treating in the cul-de-sac of our townhouse complex. Moses stayed home with daddy. We were out for about 30-40 minutes. The girls got a lot of candy. I had to take about 3/4 of it due to allergens. Being as they are not candy fans (sacrilege!) they didn't even like what was left (smarties, skittles, twizzlers, tootsie rolls, tootsie pops). I saved the Dum Dums lollipops, since those seem to be the one candy that was a winner.

We got home before the rain started. Trick or Treaters still came to our house between 7-9 p.m. That's when I shut off the lights for the evening.

At 10:05 p.m. I hear LOUD, rapid banging on our front door. It sounded urgent. I tried to peek outside but it was too dark to see through the peep hole. So thinking maybe it was one of my neighbors having an emergency, I opened the door... only to see 3 teenage boys (16-17 years old) standing outside. They were dressed in plain clothes with back packs. I just kind of looked at them like, may I help you? And one of the boys says, "Trick or Treat." I thought to myself, really, this late, come on. I said to them, "Hmmm... y'all don't look like you're wearing costumes." One of the guys says, "Uhh, I'm a college student." Touché Mr. Smarty Pants! We still had a lot of candy left, so I gave them each a handful, and extra to the kid with spunk.

Here's to next year!

Twins' First Allergy Appointment at Johns Hopkins!

The girls had their first appointment with the pediatric food allergy expert at Johns Hopkins, Dr. Robert Wood. He is the same doctor we took Moses to see back in the Spring. I had liked him so much that I decided to switch the girls there as well. And yes, we had to wait this long for an opening -- he's a popular guy!

We told him what we believed are the remaining food allergies. Frances: soy, egg, peanut. Grace: peanut. I told him Frances has never actually tested positive for soy, but that if she eats it she gets severe vomiting (to the point of vomiting blood) and bloody diarrhea. He said it is an allergy specific to her GI tract and probably would not show up in typical testing. Due to her having eaten a hotdog with soy protein in it over the summer - having a bad reaction - he said we should wait another full year before challenging on full soy again. She is currently able to tolerate soybean oil, but we've given her nothing else. He said we can try a home challenge of soy lecithin, as it tends to not affect the allergy. So we'll attempt that this weekend. Cross fingers!!!!! Other than that, no other soy products/additives.

Grace and Moses had gotten their flu shots at the pediatrician this past weekend (Grace didn't cry and Moses cried for 2 seconds - easy!). The pediatrician refuses to give it if the kid has an egg allergy. Dr. Wood assured us that even kids with severe egg allergies can usually tolerate the flu shot since the vaccine has improved so much over the past few years. Since we were in the allergy clinic, Frances got the okay to get her flu shot. She only whimpered a little.

Then after that, both girls had to go get blood drawn for allergy testing. Grace whimpered a little during it. But once she got her sticker, she was right as rain. Frances, having just got stabbed with a needle was more wary and started crying before she was even poked. Poor girl. A flu shot in one arm and blood draw from the other. She looked like a little dinosaur with her arms all curled up. She cried and cried. And, as has been the scenario since the day they were born, when one is crying the other one does. So Grace, who had been previously okay, started balling her eyes out with Frances.

We left the hospital at 6 p.m. - they continued crying until they fell asleep in the car. We got home around 7 p.m. and the crying started up again all the way till they went to sleep.

Anyway, we should get the results in a 7-10 days. Cross fingers the egg allergy has improved. They will get tested again a year from now.

The doctor also commented that our family would be an interesting genetic study in food allergies since we have the identical twins and the sibling. So we've got that going for us... not.

Weird thing after our visit: When we got home Frances peed while sitting at the dinner table. We have not had a pee pee accident since she was potty trained over the summer. And when I went to check on the kids before I headed to bed, I discovered she had wet her bed too! Crazy. It kind of freaked me out. I hope the trauma hasn't set her back or something? We'll see how she fares through today. I gave the nanny the heads up. Cross fingers. I hope she's okay.

Fall Fun with Grandma and Grandpa Parry

Well, Grandma and Grandpa Parry graced us with a quick visit down this past weekend. Richard was busy Saturday morning running in the Baltimore Marathon Relay with our friend, April!

Richard and April on the right.
Richard ran a 7:55 min mile!

My folks arrived around 1 p.m.-ish on Saturday. The weekend was a bit dark and dreary but we managed to find things to occupy ourselves.

Here we are at the school playground:

Grandpa helps Frances along the monkey bars

Grandma and Frances steer the "ship"

And at the nearby basketball court:

Doing a dip with the grandparents!

Racing! Frances in green and Grace in pink

On Sunday the girls helped me make an allergy-friendly apple cake for grandpa's 60th birthday (we celebrated a bit early)!!!

Gracie!

Here they are singing to grandpa (Grace left, Frances right):

Grandma made allergy friendly pancakes so MiMo devoured them with some NY maple syrup. Yum!

Grandpa helped the girls carve their first Jack-o-lantern:

Grandpa, Grace and Francie

Grace getting in the pumpkin guts,
Frances trying to clean them off.

Here's a video of them cleaning the pumpkin:

Grace helping poke out the carving pieces

Grace and Frances with the pumpkins

MiMo eats his pumpkin!

Grace showing Moses the inside of the jack-o-lantern

Grandma helped me weed through our new hand-me-downs and others we had in the attic. So now everyone has their winter clothes out and summer clothes stored away. It was a short visit and we miss them terribly! We can't wait to see them again.

Richard turns 33 years and Moses turns 14 months

Last weekend I took the girls to the farm (as usual) and it was in its full Fall form. We played in the newly constructed hay maze and we picked two pumpkins from the pumpkin patch. The weather was gorgeous.

Grace in pink and Frances in gray

Gracie and Francie being silly

Francie and Gracie with their pumpkins.

We’ve taken advantage of the school playground and the big rocks by the front of our complex.

MiMo and the girls

Grace at the top, and Francie waiting her turn

On Friday I worked on a simple project that's taken me THREE years to complete! Can't wait to hang them up!

Frances, Grace and Moses

Sunday was Richard’s 33rd birthday! The girls helped me make an allergy-friendly apple cake that everyone could enjoy (even MiMo!). I cooked it a little too long, doh. I knew I should have trusted my instincts and not followed the baking directions on the recipe, but there’s always next time. Anywho, still tastes good to us.

Frances in foreground and Grace in back

Measuring sugar!

Moses will be 14 months old tomorrow! He still only has 7 teeth, I swear the 8th one is still simmering under the gums. He waves goodbye and can say “bye.” He likes to put the play phones up to his head and say “heh-ro” – sounds like Scooby. He says “shoes” and “car” and “agua.” He likes pointing at the picture of the girls as babies and saying “BABY!” He makes lots of animal sounds. He’s not really close to full on walking. I was hoping by 14 months, but maybe by 15? Yesterday he walked from the front door, around through the kitchen, out through the diningroom and only sat down to go down the step into our sunken livingroom. So he can go far, he just decides crawling is easier for the most part. Here is a video I took of him walking in circles at the basketball court:

Squirrels, Maryland Zoo, Perfect Weather, Hockey!

We've all been nursing a lingering cold for almost 3 weeks now. So we haven’t had much to update on as we've been holed up inside.

We did have a squirrel issue for about a week. We knew one had fallen into the chimney. It was scratching in the fireplace. We tried Howard County Animal Control, but weirdly, they don’t handle “wild” animals. So we had a hard time finding a company that actually dealt with wild animal removal – that didn't want to charge an arm and a leg. Many of you know, I have had a personal experience chasing/catching a squirrel in my living space before (college), so I know how hard it is, and having kiddos around, I wanted a pro to do it. We finally got a hold of a company, scheduled them to come, but they never did. Last Saturday we called them back but they wanted to double the charge for a “weekend call” – even though it wasn't our fault they didn't show up. Anyway, we didn't hear much from the squirrel, so we figured it had expired. But then Sunday night, we heard it scratching like crazy again! So I called the pest place back and made another appointment. Richard graciously stayed home to wait in our allotted time period. But nobody showed up. He called and had trouble getting hold of them. Then they claimed they’d been calling him, but nobody had. Then they said we never had an appointment (I had made it just the day before, really?). So anyway, they claimed they were going to make a quick trip out to us. They finally showed up and we had TWO dead squirrels in the fireplace. Blah. So they are supposed to come back to replace the cap on the chimney – sometime??? Ah well, hopefully no more animals get trapped.

So after all that hassle, I decided we needed to get out of the house, since people we feeling a bit better. So last weekend, with the nice, cool weather, I decided to make a “girl trip” out to the Maryland Zoo (Richard stayed home with Moses). I had never been before, and I guess my expectations were low given my allegiance to the National Zoo. Pleasantly though, it was an amazing visit! Even more kid oriented than the National Zoo. You could bring strollers in everywhere!! And there were zoo staff all over the place, providing interesting tidbits of information. Plus, lots of play stations (things to climb on, slide down, climb in, etc.). And the exhibits were a lot closer, so you could actually feel like you were close to the animals. Oh it was a big hit. I’m thinking a season pass will be a nice Christmas gift this year!

Grace and Frances!

We saw some animals we didn't get a chance to see at the National Zoo (either because they weren't there and/or we didn't have time). We saw the giraffes, the warthogs, the chimps, the penguins, the crowned crane (Uganda!), lots of leaping lemurs, polar bears, and a kookaburra (a personal fav of the girls). And of course, many, many others.

Francie and Gracie
This was a bit higher up on the trail, we were able to go closer!

Finally! A giraffe, and sooo close!

Penguins!

I can’t wait to go back! Yes, me (hehe).

On Sunday I took the girls to the farm in the morning. The cashier asked where we had been the week prior – I told her we were home, nursing colds – I guess we’re definitely recognizable as regulars!!

Grace and Frances being silly

The fairy cottage in the Pine Tree maze (where Sleeping Beauty was raised)
The girls hear "a witch!"

In the afternoon we went out to Centennial Park. Love that place.

Grace in blue and Francie in pink
Can't wait for the leaves to start changing...

Tackling Moses with kisses

Moses loves the outdoors!

Throwing pebbles

Tuesday night, Richard and I had an actual date night! Wow! It was a belated anniversary/early birthday present for Richard. I had bought us tickets to the Baltimore Hockey Classic: Caps vs. Bruins. The game was awesome. Ended in a shootout. Caps lost, but we still had fun!

Moses is 13 Months Old

Moses turned 13 months old on the 1st of September. He's still not walking yet. But he's taking little jaunts here and there. Yesterday he walked a good five feet by himself. So I know by 14 or 15 months old he'll be walking full-time. I was a late walker - 18 months old - so I think he's doing better than I was at the same age.

He's talking a bit more now. Not clearly, but the intent is there. He says, "hi", "thank you," "pee-boo (peek-a-boo), and "Agua." And whatever else he was saying before. Still not the vocabulary his sisters had at this age, but he's just taking his time.

Moses' hair was getting quite long, so Richard broke out the clippers for his first haircut. We were surprised how emotional we would be about it. It was sad to see the curls go and see this "little boy" emerge from where our "baby boy" had been. He looks very handsome though - growing up way too fast.

Haircut aftermath, all those soft baby curls...

Back view

Front view

Looking like a big boy!

The girls are changing too. Just today, Frances woke up, made her bed, got dressed and came downstairs - all by herself. They are  more and more independent. I had to go get new shoes for them as the ones from the spring were running a bit small. We got "cookie" inserts to support their arches since they were pronating while walking.

The latest Wacha Sayin'?:

After a marathon clothes-changing in the morning, I had told them, "no more until after breakfast." I'm in the kitchen and I hear them whispering, "Geez, Mommy is being bossy!" I had to laugh.

A recent favorite phrase, "That's boring..."

MY current fav: "I love you sooo much."