I Love You, Mommy

So simple, those four words. So simple and yet so powerful in their meaning. "I love you, Mommy." Out of nowhere I hear those four words. Out of nowhere I hear a sweet little voice whisper them to me and I think for a moment, what does "I love you" mean to a three year old?

Even before Lily was born I loved her. From the moment she was conceived at my fertility doctor's office, with my husband standing next to me with the highest of hopes, I loved her. Our Rainbow Baby. I told her every day, throughout the day while rubbing my belly. When she was born, I whispered it in her ear as I held her close, "I love you, Lily."

1/14/2012 - Lily's Birth Day

I know what those words mean to me. They mean that I will always and forever be on her side. Her needs will always come before mine. She will never be without a piece of my heart and so she will always feel my love even when I am no longer here (which goes for all three of my babies). But, I wonder... what do those words mean to a three year old? Does she really know what love is? Does she say those words because I so often say them to her? No. I believe she knows. I believe she gets it now just like she gets what being sorry is. She knows that I am her mommy and I will always protect her and be here for her and for that, she loves me.

3/1/2015 - Selfie fun

Out of nowhere I hear a sweet little voice whisper, "I love you, Mommy" and in that moment I feel alive.

Lily Didn't Do It

Nope. Lily didn't do it. She didn't write on her table. My three year old is very clear that her friends Roar and Robot did it!

I love her imagination. Her imaginary friend, Roar, is the monster from her room that used to scare her until I told her to introduce herself to him. Now they are besties! Her friend Robot came along after we watched the movie The Iron Giant. Then, of course, she has to make her other friends help clean up. These would include the Fisher Price Corn Popper and the Fisher Price Little People City Skyway.

So, yes, this video is primarily about Lily, but I can't help but notice all that unfolded laundry. I think there's three baskets full. Yes, all clean. This is like an everyday event around here. There is always at least one basket of laundry hanging around needing to be folded and put away. Hey, there are five of us, or more accurately, one three year old and two six month olds who go through clothes and bibs and burp cloths and blankets like it's the coolest thing to constantly be doing laundry. Well, it is the coolest thing, isn't it? Please tell me it's cool.

Sibling Fun

Yesterday, I was in the kitchen when I heard Lily call me to come see her. Uh oh. What was she doing this time? Then, as I came out of the kitchen, I saw this...

I love that Lily wants to play with her 6 month old brother and sister, but did I love the fact that she somehow climbed into the pack n play to do so? Uh... maybe not so much. I didn't here any screams of pain or crying, so I guess she made it in there without stepping or falling on one or both of them. That's a plus!

You Know You're A Parent of "3 under 4" When...

1. ... you hate laundry day because everyday is laundry day.
2. your 3 year old wants to march to the kitchen, bathroom, around the dining room table, or just about anywhere and you get tired after the first few steps.
3. ... before you feed the twins, you change one of their diapers and think "I can wait to change the other one's diaper until after they eat." Or you don't change both of their diapers until after they eat because, well, you'll just have to change them both again right after they eat anyway.
4. ... getting out of bed anytime in the night with twins is dreaded because you know as soon as you take care of one baby, you'll get all cozy in bed again and the other one will wake up.
5. ... you secretly jump for joy when someone, anyone, calls you up to take even just one child off your hands for a few hours - even if it's just to come over to play in his/her room.
6. ... it takes you two hours to get everyone ready and in their car seats to go out somewhere.
7. ... you have given up trying hard for your 3 year old not to put her snotty, coughy, grimy hands all over your 6 month old twins' faces. It's better for everyone to be sick at the same time anyway, right?
8. ... you realize you're sorta an expert when it comes to multitasking and laugh at parents of one who complain about not being able to get stuff done.
9. ... you fantasize about running away to a remote island or your car for a few hours.
10. ... you have all three kids hanging on you and you think, "I have an amazing life" then someone spits up all over your shirt.
11. ... someone spits up all over your shirt and you smile because you know you'll be doing another load of laundry that day anyway.

Buried In Laundry

With two adults and three children I sometimes feel like all I do is laundry. Then I look around and realize that it's true. I always have at least one basket of laundry left to fold and put away but then, guess what? I have to start all over again. So I don't think there will ever be just one last basket of laundry to put away. Maybe I'll start calling the last basket, the first. That seems about right.

Britax Marathon Clicktight Car Seat

I changed my twins' car seats on Sunday (the 12th). They will no longer rest their wiggly bodies in the comfort of their infant carriers. Even though they are still able to fit in them, I do not wish to struggle with the weight of it all. Especially Killian, our boy, Mommy's mushmallow, such a big boy at six months old. No longer able to carry him in the infant carrier with one hand, I was having such a hard time getting the seat in and out of the van. Piper was still OK, but if I changed one seat, I wanted to change them both. Maybe I thought one would get jealous of the other? Possible.

Anyway, we have the Britax Marathon 70 for our three year old daughter, Lily, so we wanted the same seat for our twins. Because it has been three years, Britax has come out with newer versions of the Marathon seat. We opted to get the Marathon Clicktight. Awesome comes to mind with the ease of installation. Seriously. Just awesome!

Pros:

1. Installation. No more kneeling or sitting on the car seat and struggling to make the seat belt or latch belts tight enough for the it to be safe. All you do is lift open the seat, pull the seat belt through, then close the seat until you hear a click sound. Easy as 1-2-3!
2. All the safest safety stuff that's really important...
3. Did I mention the ease of installation?

Cons:

1. The seat itself is really heavy. Heavier than the regular Marathon seat. This is not really a con though, since you will most likely never take the seat out of your car until your kid outgrows it. But, for those of you who might be taking it in and out, then, yeah, it's heavy....but did I mention the ease of installation? So again, not really a con!

FYI: I am not getting paid to make any reviews. These are just the things I have used or do use and want to let more parents know about.

My Twins Are 6 Months Old

My twin babies are six months old. This time has gone by in a blink of one eye and even though I am sad that I will never again have a baby that fits the length of my torso, I am happy that they are growing healthy and strong.

At their six month checkup Monday (the 13th), Killian and Piper were weighed and measured. Here are their stats...

Killian: 21 pounds, 8 ounces, 27.5 inches
Wow. Killian more than tripled his 6 pounds, .05 ounce birth weight. He is in the 97.4 percentile with both height and weight for a six month old.

Piper: 18 pound, 1 ounce, 27 inches

Piper just almost tripled her 6 pound, 2.2 ounce birth weight. She is in the 67.9 percentile.