Thanksgiving Day Parade
Columbus Circle
Soleil enjoying the Parade
Daddy & Neve- why so serious?
Neve making friend's with my co-workers kids
Beautiful Church on Columbus Ave
NYC Squirrel
The Turkey I made- thanks Sandra Lee!
Ready to eat!
I would like to eat this pea
Turkey Coma
Ready for this day to end
Hi- it’s me.
I have had a sort of writers block lately.
So what are your Thanksgiving plans?
We plan to go to an exclusive balcony (thanks Work!) in NYC to see the parade and the balloons. I know my girls are a bit young to appreciate it, but the pictures will be worth a thousand words. A bunch of co-workers will be there with their spouses and children.
Then after we try to navigate out of the city on thanksgiving (good luck), we’ll be having dinner at my parents house. Usually, I would not want be all gong ho about dinner at their home, but my mom is inviting her best friend ( who just got divorced), her friend’s boyfriend, son and dad.
My brother (luckily) will be out on a date so he wont make it (not unusual for my brother to bail out on anything for a date). A part of me is glad that my brother wont be there, because he becomes so focused on me, that I cant have a normal conversation with anyone else at the table (bec he constantly engages me in never -ending discussions).
Then I usually fight with my mom about one thing or another…
I only agreed to go because there will be company to diffuse the situation.
Can you say dysfunctional ?
So what am I thankful for this year:
last year during thanksgiving they were in the NICU. When people ask me if this will be their first Thanksgiving, I say yes- bec technically, event though they were born then, they weren’t with us. They light up my day. I rush home to see them. When I come home from work, the entrance door shuts very loudly, so you know someone just walked in. Even though my girls cant see me when I am in the hallway , they know someone is home and they run towards my direction. When they see me, they crawl towards me (Soleil not as often at Neve- but we’re working on that).
We have also started communicating via Skype. We have a webcam that we recently purchased set up at home- so now when I am at work, and my husband is home with the girls, I call them- and he puts the web cam on- that way I can see them while I am at work. It is great!!
We have been fighting a lot about money. A lot.
I spend, he doesn’t. We need to find a middle ground. We have $200 left in our bank account.. that’s bad. We applied for a student loan, and he will probably get it- but we hate to have to owe money to a bank. I asked him to talk to his dad, but he refuses- says it’s an honor thing.
But even with all the fighting, I could not have picked a better mate for me. He loves me, he adores our daughters, and is trying to educate himself; for us to have a better future. I’m a big believer in going to school young, because then you don’t have to deal with the financial burden of school, and family. But it is what it is, and we need to deal. He is my best friend, and takes my side when I am right, but tries to correct me when I am wrong. He never thinks he knows everything (“I am Man Mentality”) and when I teach him something, he really soaks it in. He accepts me for who I am…my major flaws and all.
Because we all need to be thankful for this. When I lay in the hospital bed for 6 weeks, I wasn’t allowed to be wheeled outside for even a moment. I remember craving the crisp fall air, I wanted to see the leave change. Now, even on my long subway ride home, I am thankful that I am outside, and not confined to a hospital bed- something all of us take for granted.
Enjoy your turkey day!
Neve & her 'Flock of Seagulls heartcut'
We didn't sign up for this cold
Mommy- save me!
I tell ya- I've been framed!
It’s funny that November is Prematurity Awareness Month, and my girls (and this girl) were born in November.
As most of you know, my daughters were born at 30 weeks. This means that they were almost 10 weeks premature.
It’s funny that when I tell people that my girls were preemies (and that they were born at 30 weeks), they ALWAYS respond “Well, dont twins come early?”
“Why- yes they do- just not THAT EARLY.”
Their first picture together
We are NICU graduates in our house.
I even managed to raise some money a few months back for our March of Dimes Walk here in NY.
Today, my husband took Soleil to two separate appointments.
The first was for her eyes, as she had slight ROP in her right eye (caused by prematurity). The Doctor said her eye looked quite better than it did last time, and that all he needs to do is see her again in three months. Yes!
On to the next appointment, Pediatric Cardiologist.
Soleil had a hole in her heart valve (another cause of prematurity) that needed to be checked on when she turned a year. Neve had one too, but it cleared up with medication when she was quite small. We were told that if by Soleil’s first birthday, it didn’t correct itself- it would need to be corrected. They say that most of the time it closes itself by the age of 2 years.
So needless to say, we can all now breathe a sigh of relief.
But- they did say that they saw some fluid around her heart and asked my husband if she had a cold recently (she did last week, and is still little mucusy). They said that it is most likely why she had the fluid, and just to make sure that is the correct reason for us to return in 3 weeks. Of course, I wont feel 100% better until I know that her cold was to blame- SO i AM SEMI- happy right now.
So anyway, if you donate to the March of Dimes with your Mastercard- Mastercard will double your donation (so for every $25 you donate, Mastercard will put in $25 of their own money)!!
500,000 BABIES ARE BORN PREMATURLY EVERY YEAR.
No one thinks it will be their baby….
The March of Dimes Rocks, and there’s nothing more I can say about that.
I received a really fun book last week- and told the author that I would do a book review! Now, mind you- if I didn’t like it I would be quite honest. I would say,“Well, it just isn’t for me”…. but It was sooo for me!
The book is called “Mommy’s High Heel Shoes”by Kristie Finnan.
The story centers around a little girl whose mother works outside the home full time. The girl becomes enamoured with her mother’s shoes and imagines what her mother does at work or when she’s out- while wearing the shoes.
I liked this story because I am a working mother myself. I work outside the home 40 hours a week (50 if you count my commute time). It’s not easy being a working mom since I feel guilty about the time that I cant spend with my girls. It’s nice to know that there are other mothers hwo can relate.
There is a line in the book where the daughter asks her mother why she wears her high heeled shoes since they are hard to walk in. The mother replys that although they are hard to walk in “..Wearing them makes me feel good. And when I feel good, I’m a better mommy.”
I loved that line in the book, because it’s not just about the shoes. I definitely feel like I am a better mother when I work. Just getting up in the mornings, putting on work attire, applying make-up, having adult conversations… just makes me be the best mom that I can be (of course, everyone has their own thoughts on what makes them a better mother).
Overall, the book was really well written, funny and the illustration was phenemoenal!
Go out and get a book for yourself, or as a gift for the working mothers in your life!
***PS- If you type in the code : ggirl ( before 12/31/2008 ) In the shopping cart, you recieve 10% off!****
Soleil finds Grandpa's hat funny
We're one today
Grams & Gramps came to celebrate
Mommy looks so much less puffy a year later. But boy, is she still tired
We each got a cupcake!
Neve got an elephant!
Soleil got a monkey!
Yummy
Are you going to finish that?
What merit badge do our parents get ?
My dear daughters,
Today is your First Birthday. Oh how time has flown. I wish I could press the pause button and keep you this way forever.
November 13th, 2007:
Hospital Bed Rest Week 5.5
I awoke with bad cramps. Since I had been feeling them all night long, and was already being monitored for contractions (which didn’t show up)- I thought it might have been something that I ate. The pain was getting worse so I begged the nurse to call the Doctor who was on call- up to see me. Luckily, my favorite Doctor was on call. He ran upstairs, put his hand on my stomach and felt tightening. He said he believed that I was in labor.
I picked up my cell phone and called Daddy. He said that he needed to know that I was for sure that I was in labor, because he wasn’t allowed to miss any more days of school. Right at the moment, my Doctor checked me internally and said I was 5 cm dilated. I watched enough ’Bringing home baby’episodes at that point to know that babies don’t arrive until a woman is 10 cm dilated, so I knew my husband would be there by the time I was to give birth. The Doctor said I was right about the 10cm thing- when it’s a full term baby- not a premature birth. I was the equivalent of completely dilated.
I started screaming “No, it’s too early- I’m only 30 weeks!”
My Doctor said that you would be fine, and that you would need to stay in the Nicu for a while but would be ok.
They wheeled me into the operating room, alone and scared. There were many people around: Doctors, nurses, NICU nurses, Neonatologists….
They knocked me out.
I awoke when I was being wheeled out, Daddy was by my side.
“We have two beautiful baby daughters. The first one, Baby A came out screaming. Baby B came out screaming as well, but had trouble breathing so they had to put in a breathing tube down her throat”.
Baby A: Neve, born at 9:09AM/ 3.4 LBS
Baby B: Soleil, born 9:10AM/ 3.10 LBS
All I wanted to know was that you would be OK.
They told me you both were taken to the NICU.
I wasn’t allowed to see you for over 24 hours.
Those were the longest hours of my life.
When I did see you both, my heart was ripped into shreds- you had tubes and wires all over you. You had tubes up your nose, a hat that held the tubes in place, and eye mask for the jaundice. I couldn’t see who you looked like!
I htought, this was not the way to see my babies for the first time! It wasn’t fair.
The NICUnurses told me that you were both doing well, although Neve was a bit stronger.
You stayed in the NICU from 4-6 weeks.
Nicu life was not easy…. it was hard to not have you home with us. We came home to an empty house, an empty nursery. I knew that I had had you, but coming home empty handed made me feel like what I went through didn’t really happen. Like I hadn’t truly given birth to twins.
Neve came home first on December 9th, Soleil followed on December 25th.
The entire process of going from no baby to two babies was not an easy transition. We didn’t know how to deal with the lack of sleep, the lack of inexperience.
But Daddy and I worked together and were a wonderful team! We managed to become feeding, changing, bathing pros!
You have brought so much light to our lives, it’s amazing.
************************************************************************************************************
Neve,
My First born baby! You were the first child that I saw- and I could not get over just how much you looked like your father! You were always smiling in the NICU (even though we know it was just gas). You always looked so chill in the incubator!
You were the first baby to come home. YOu were also our first real parenting experience! You were so quiet and were such a good baby. You never cried, and always seemed so relaxed. The funny thing is – you started crying the moment Soleil came home!! It was the funniest thing- as if you knew something was happening!
You went from being the smaller baby- to the larger one!
You are always smiling and friendly to people, and babble quite often.
You are content just laying around playing by yourself.
You take your own time to reach milestones, and are so relaxed and cool about it.
You look eerily like your father.
You also seem to have inherited our afro hair.
We love you so much our beautiful baby girl A!
************************************************************************************************************
Soleil,
You worried us so much. You stayed in the NICU longer, and we longed for you when Neve was home and you weren’t. We didn’t feel complete until you came home.
Did you know that the NICU nurses used to fight over who would be your nurse for the day? They all loved you!
You were a huge crier from the get-go! I think it had to do with the tummy aches you may have had.
You were and still are- soothed when we caress your head (just like grandpa!).
You looks so much like me, it’s unbelievable.
You don’t warm up too quickly to people- but are loyal once you do.
You are the adventurous baby- always crawling and getting into places you shouldn’t!
You are also the first to hit developmental milestones- rolling over, pulling yourself up, crawling etc…
It’s funny to see you do all these things since you were the baby we often worried about from the start.
You are attached to Daddy- and adore him.
We love you- our beautiful baby girl B!
************************************************************************************************************
We love you , our sweet angels.
Happy First Birthday- and Thank you for letting me be your mother- you have made me a better person.
Love,
Mommy
Made a little montage. Click Below to see!
Two things that pissed me off today:
1) It was 9:30 am, and my girls were jumping in their exercisers as usual. Suddenly I hear a loud banging against my living room wall! The dumb f*ckers who moved next door, apparently do not like the noise.
Well get freaking used to it.
Then after a few minutes, we got a knock on the door. It was said neighbor who doesn’t speak a lick of English. Not ONE WORD. She started rambling in her language about something. I said to her “Sorry, I have two babies (I was holding Soleil) and cant do anything about it.” She just kept talking in her native tongue, as if she thought I might understand a word in Turkish.
My mom thought she was implying that she would go to the super and tell him.
She can go to him if she’d like, he likes us and he knows that we have two babies. You cant make babies quiet. If you wanted quiet, you should have moved into a private house doucheball.
Plus- my girls are usually asleep by 6:30PM. It’s not my problem that she’s home all day and doesn’t like to be disturbed at 9:30AM.
Second:
I was invited by an old friend to her son’s circumcision (her 4th child!). Since I hadn’t seen her in years, I decided to flip a coin and take one of the girls with me. Luck landed on Soleil, and we got dressed and headed out. Since she was my high school friend, there were other old classmates there as well.
All of them are stay at home moms.
I was having a conversation with one old classmate, and she was praising me for working full time, with two kids. She then asked me “When your husband finishes school and gets a job- will you quit your job and stay at home?” I told her that I like working, and that I didn’t get a college degree to stay at home. She then had the audacity to say “Well, you didn’t have kids to have someone else raise them, did you?”
I almost slapped her silly.
Working moms have enough guilt about working without being looked at by SAHM’s as being selfish.
Even if my husband was working and making enough money to cover our expenses, I would still work. I mean, just because I’m a mom- does that mean that I’m not important? That the desires that I’ve had all my life should take a back seat to child rearing? It’s not for me period. It doesn’t make me a bad mother.
I have the utmost respect for SAHM’S- It’s just not for me.
My mom was a SAHM. She didn’t have hobbies, didn’t have a job. She poured her everything into my brother and I, and you know what- ended up resenting us. Then as we got older and didn’t need her anymore, she didn’t know what to do with her life. Suddenly, she didn’t have a purpose anymore. I swore I would NEVER EVER be that way. Ever. My mother never payed a bill, doesn’t know how to write a check.
I wanted to be the anti-version of her, and I am.
I am proud of that.
Anyway- now that I am off my soapbox, how do you feel about being either a working mom/ or SAHM?
Thank G-D that’s over with! Whooh.
I’m tired people, and I deserve some sort of award.
I started planning this party two months ago. I had to make sure everything was perfect. I invited about 22 guests plus a few of their children. I called for 12 PM , but of course the bulk of the people arrived at 2!
I cooked, and there was food in abundance, but of course the most important thing for me was to make their cakes from scratch- since it’s kind of a tradition in my family. And I did.
It made me teary eyed just seeing all the wonderful people in our lives who came to celebrate our daughters’ birthday. I know there are many, many more people who would have loved to have been there, partaking in our celebration- but couldn’t because 98% of our family lives overseas.
I have so much to write about my amazing daughters, but it will have to wait until their birthday- on Thursday.
The girls were angels! Neve cried a bit at first when a few people arrived, but warmed right up! Soleil was a natural- pulling herself up and playing on the floor.
I even gave them a piece of cake each. At first they didn’t know what to do with it- and once it was in their mouths they became cake- eating naturals!
After all was said and done, I recioeved a few phone calls from people telling me how wonderful and fun it was. Even my single friends were pleasantly surprised that they enjoyed themselves at a kids birthday party!
Let’s just say I’m not doing this next year- maybe when they turn 3!!
Food
Daddy blowing baloons before company arrives
Fighting fo rthe baloon
More kids get in on the action
Let's jump on the bed!
Mommy made us cakes!
The girls, my parents and me
Mommy & Daddy are tired...
That was good- can we have some more?
Opening presents
Neve is more interested in the cup
Post- party play time
Too tired to write, preparing for their overwhelming birthday party tomorrow. I am so tired!! Please accept these pictures instead of a post.
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