Piglet sings

I took this video about a month ago and have been meaning to post it since then. Piglet does this adorable thing where he sings "Mama" from time to time. Often this is what I'll hear through the monitor when he wakes up from a nap. Of course, it's just as often that I'll hear "Mommmmmmm! Mama! Mommmmm!!! Hellooo!" instead. I must say, this is sweeter than the bellowing, but the bellowing is hilarious.

I was trying to get him to practice saying that he was two in preparation for his birthday...he humors me once by saying "I'm two!" but then his short little fuse quickly ignites. Whenever he gets impatient with us or shows his fiery little temper, Mr. K always shoots me a sideways glance and says "I wonder who he gets that from..."

Well, I never.

P.S. - B from our friends at McMillerPDX, this is in direct response to your request for more videos. Also, to hopefully brighten your day a tiny bit after the, ahem, "stuff" you had to deal with this weekend! Yikes!

Top of the mornin'

This morning at approximately 5:42 a.m. this was the scene at Maison Piglet:

Mr. K: (getting ready in our bathroom)

Me: (groggy, turn over to try and sleep a little longer, throw leg over comforter because am suddenly sweltering and then...) Ahhhhhhhh! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Oh-my-gawd! Owwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!

Mr. K: (comes running) What?! What?! What's wrong?!!!!

Me: (thrashing around, yelling like wildebeast) Mah...mah...mah...llllllllegggggg! Crrrrraammmmmp!!! OMG! OMG! Ow! Ow! Ow!

Mr. K: Which leg? Where?! Do you need a wooden spoon to bite?!

Me: (slamming leg into comforter whilst continuing to thrash like rabid animal)

Mr. K: (pins down leg, rubs calf) Better?

Me: (after approximately 60 seconds) What the hell was that?! I think I stopped breathing momentarily.

I love, love, love Les Twinks, but boy are they wreaking havoc on my poor little body. If you have any crazy remedies for leg cramps (Katell, I remember your bar of soap in the sheets one), please for the love of Jude, pass them along!

Just added to my list of To Dos? Wooden spoon on bedside table.

Kaboom

**Warning**

Graphic, uncomfortable, somewhat gory details below. Read at your own risk,.

Saturday started out as a normal weekend day. I had plans to meet my friend who was in town from Seattle for brunch. Later Mr. K and I were at long last going to celebrate his birthday by going out for dinner at a restaurant where the chef/owner was recently named one of America's top 25 chefs by Food and Wine Magazine. There were going to be Beef Bourguignon cheeks involved. Exciting stuff!

So of course you can guess that our day did not go as planned.

In fact, it turned into one of the most terrifying days of my life.

I swear I am not exaggerating.

After I got home from meeting my friend, an under-the-weather Mr. K and I were sitting in the kitchen with Piglet who was in his tower. I was lamenting about needing to pick up the kitchen before our nanny arrived for Piglet duty in a few hours. Mr. K was sniffling and coughing and in a bit of a fog. I got up to walk ten feet into the mudroom and get the dustmop. A second later I heard a horrible smack on the ground and Mr. K scream - "OH NO!"

OH NO!!!!

OH MY GOD!!!!

HE FELL!!! FROM THE TOWER!! (headfirst and straight onto the hardwood floor below, nothing breaking his fall).

I ran into the kitchen to a SHRIEKING Piglet.

Mr. K was holding him and he reached for me.

And after a one second glance where I saw that he had all his teeth and no visible goose eggs, I saw it.

The blood.

Gushing from his poor sweet little head.

Oh my dear God.

I ran to the powder room and grabbed the washcloth I always keep there and told Mr. K to soak it in cold water.

Piglet was inconsolable.

The left shoulder of my shirt was soaked with blood.

At some point I'd started sobbing too. Way to keep it together, Mom.

I applied pressure to the cut and sat down on the couch with my poor, poor little boy. I told Mr. K to go get a sippy cup of pure, unadulterated apple juice and a lollipop. I remember reading somewhere along the way that sugar helps kids with pain. Sugar? That, I have.

About ten minutes after the fall, the wound stopped bleeding actively and about five more minutes after that, Piglet stopped crying, demanded more juice and an episode of Olivia.

I'm sure you're all wondering why I haven't yet called 911 or raced to the ER.

You want the truth?

I'm a chicken shit. Pure and simple. (It should be noted I have never actually written out a swear word on my blog, but this really warranted breaking out of my typical G rating).

I probably wouldn't have called 911 but a trip to the ER was certainly within reason. Because the I know the head wounds bleed more than any other and I could see that the cut wasn't more than superficial, but not life-threatening as well as the fact that it stopped bleeding in a relatively quick timeframe, I felt that a call to his pediatrician was a better first move.

Plus. I'm a chicken shit. I said it again. Because folks, I really really mean it.

Despite his break-your-heart-sad-little trying-to-catch-my-breath sniffles, Piglet really seemed fine just 20 minutes later. Demanding and clingy, but okay considering what he had just been through.

After a long, detailed conversation with his pediatrician (who without hesitation shares his home number, cell number and email address) we determined that we would observe Piglet from then on and also every two hours during the night, head to the ER if the wound started heavily and actively bleeding again and watch for signs of Piglet not being himself. Normally a pretty conservative practitioner, he said that we really needed to weigh whether stitches were worth it and since it had stopped bleeding and the cut was under Piglet's (thick mop of) hair, it would not matter cosmetically.

Mr. K really wanted to take him to the ER for stitches.

I simply could NOT handle it. Just telling the truth here. Piglet has an absolute meltdown when we even ENTER the building where the dr's office is. Regardless of whether he gets a shot or just has a check up, the hysterics are epic.

EPIC.

This kid has a memory like no other. We're in the car, 15 minutes away from the dr.'s office and he's already saying "no, no, no" and whimpering. I just couldn't do it to him. I couldn't create that memory for him at an age where I knew he would remember but I wouldn't be able to reason with him.

Keep in mind though, that if I thought he were in grave danger, if he was lethargic or vomiting or I saw any signs of him having more damage than a bad fall, I would've sucked it up. I swear I would not have let my chicken-shit-ness get in the way of my judgement. But my gut instinct told me he was okay.

And thank GOD (seriously, not just saying that, on my hands and knees thanking the Big Guy) that my darling, precious Piglet is okay.

That night he slept (and I didn't) and there was not a trace of blood on his pillowcase the whole night through. He was his happy, sweet, demanding self on Sunday morning, laying down in front of the pantry and whining to be granted full-access as usual.

That's my boy.

I am so, so grateful Piglet is okay, it could have been much worse. But I must say, I keep replaying the sounds, the scene, the metallic smell of blood on my clothes and in Piglet's hair and I have to physically shake it off because it's so disturbing.

Motherhood is certainly not for the faint of heart -- or those without good stain remover.

At long last

An update.

From moi.

This post threatens to be so long that I almost think it deserves a foreward. No really. However, seeing as it's 10:29 p.m. on a Friday night and I'm fresh out of famous people or experts to write one, I'll just jump right in. For some reason, I'm feeling the list format for this one.

1. I saw Dr. Dreamy this week...the tie was green with a silvery diamond print and the shirt was crisp and white with a subtle tone-on-tone stripe. The loafers were black and shiny, but not too shiny. There were four hugs and much friendly banter. I may or may not have hugged too tightly back. Clearly my crush is still present and accounted for. In fact, when I took attendance, it jumped up and said "That's ME! I'm here! I'm here! Alive and kicking!" What can I say, old habits die hard. Good thing Mr. K is not the jealous type. For my new bloggy friends, you can read a bit about my obsession extremely professional relationship with the Dreamster here.

2. I bought more twin gear. Not just clothes, but real stuff that requires assembly and installation and swearing whilst using allen wrenches. I am now the owner of not one, but TWO double strollers. The nesting continues. Today I washed bottles even though I know I will have to wash and sterilize them again once the babes arrive. I just needed to go through the motions to remind myself how it all works. I found all my pump parts and milk storage stuff...ah the memories. I've already been scoping out places with the plumpiest cabbage.

3. I've been having a lot of contractions, both real and Braxton Hicks. I had my first episode of feeling short of breath and had to lay down on my side and drink lots of water before it passed. My OB says the contractions are to be expected with a second pregnancy and especially with multiples. I lost two pounds last week. What?!

4. Mr. K's company party was this week. I was bad, very bad and stood up and walked around for three straight hours. Because it was an all-company party with the folks from the UK and Japan in attendance, not to mention all other remote and local employees, Mr. K needed to make the rounds. I have to say I had a great time because I've been around long enough now that I have made friends of my own within the company. Plus, I got to see my pie-baking friends from the condo, Avery, Caden and Josie's mom and compare bellies with Dr. A. The only downside was that the next day my body said:

Oh, so *that's* how you want to play?!

Take THIS! (sciatic pain) and

THIS! (contractions) Oh, you still want more?

How 'bout a little of THIS! (toilet facial)

5. And last but not least an update on Les Twinks. A week ago Friday I had another appointment with my MFM practice. It was a standard fetal growth scan where they measure the babies growth, check their amniotic fluid, make sure all their important bits are present and no irregular bits have popped up. They also listen to the babies' heartbeats and take note of the BPM. It usually takes about 90 minutes or up to two hours if the babies are feeling particularly wily.

My ultrasound on this particular Friday took over three hours. It appears that Baby B has an arrhythmia so they did an immediate echocardiogram. Structurally his heart looks fine, no abnormalities so that rules out more serious types of arrhythmias. But I have to tell you, MY heart was in my throat when I heard his heart skip a beat on the doppler. I was all "What, why, um, did his heart just SKIP A FREAKING BEAT?"

My MFMS, who is a prince of a man (perhaps could have had Dreamy status were he about 20 years younger), and not at all alarmist, said that while many arrhythmias resolve themselves, he did not think Baby B's would. And for some reason in my mind, I still thought that it would be something he'd eventually outgrow, but nope. Dr. MFMS said that it would likely not cause him any problems in infancy, childhood or even adulthood. Adulthood - WHAT?! I was so sad to learn that it's something he'll probably have his ENTIRE LIFE. Eff.

The good news is it will not preclude him from doing anything (Mr. K's response was "Does it mean he can't run?!"). It just means he will be monitored for it his entire life. When I take the Twinks to the pediatrician, I'll always have to say "Oh and he's the one with the arrhythmia." As an adult, when filling out medical forms, he'll have to check the box with "arrhythmia." And while the news is not devastating, it it never feels good to hear that there is something, anything irregular or wrong with your child. And especially not a major organ. Sigh...

And were that not enough drama for one visit, my cervix shortened nearly one centimeter in a week to 3.4 cm. And while the sonographer was checking it for funneling she saw that I was having contractions that I WAS NOT FEELING. Eff!

I had another ultrasound this week and all looks the same - cervix still 3.4 cm and arrhythmia still present. Oh and the boys' weights are discordant for the first time ever. Baby B weighs 2lbs 12oz. and Baby A weighs 2lbs 6oz. At least they're both still fatties. :)

First things first...

A long overdue post about the status of Les Twinks and life in general is in the works, but I didn't think I could leave you all hanging any longer with this birthday business. You've all endured me go on and on and on (puleeze someone, anyone make her stttttaaaahhp) for weeks now about Piglet's birthday parties and how I am

Still.

So.

Tired.

So I'll first regale you with photos from our last party! And captions! And too much cuteness for Thursday morning! Go on, leave the sugar out of that coffee, you'll get plenty here.

Piglet, upon returning home from balloon pick-up with his dad, discovers the sweets table.

The sweets table, version 2010.

Cupakes, buttercream and fondant, oh my!

What's a cupcake without a party hat clad Piglet? Boh-ring.

Yes I made all the little tags for the candy jars...

and the toppers for the the Voodoo doughnut tower. Why sleep just because you're tired? I mean, really. I can sleep when I'm dead, right?

To prove we did actually have food other than sugary goodness at the party, we also had fruit salad, homemade egg, spinach and mushroom biscuit sandwiches and potatoes O'Brien.

Because Piglet is all about being sustainable, he insisted on reusable treat bags for his friends. The contents? A train conductor's hat embroidered with each friend's name, a T.homas the Tank Engine (or polka dot for the girlies) fabric crayon roll-up, crayons and stickers.

A lollipop for breakfast? Sure, why not.

Cutie pie J.P. enjoying one of the many train-related toys.

C'est moi with my BFF (and goddaughter aka tater tot, Cate)

Our favorite neighbors, the Ulbrichs.

Moms and daughters and yellow sweaters were all the rage.

The McLachlans

Our local twin experts with their cute girls.

Getting ready to blow out the candles! Piglet would *only* wear the party hat when there was a cupcake with lit candles in front of him and people singing the Happy Birthday song to him. Any other time and he would run away shrieking "No ank (thank) you! Nooooo ank you!"

Ridiculously overly-enthusiastic parents.

Seriously.

Look at us.

Ridiculous!

Blowing out the candles *again* because, it was Piglet's favorite part. :)

Party favor distribution! Jacob thought the hat looked better on mom.

"The cupcake is great, but WHAT is this sweet colorful stuff on the top?! That's my favorite part!"

Top of the 'mornin' to you!

More conductor hat pictures...of course everyone wore theirs except for the birthday boy. Figures.

I can't eat anymore candy! I'm all sugared out!

(My friend suggested we make a gummy bear outline of him...bahahahaha!)

Well okay, maybe just *one* more piece.

Piglet's T.homas ride-on train was a hit!

Goodbye hugs for friends.

And some friends, Piglet did not want to part with. :)

A teaser

So utterly exhausted from the finale of Piglet's birthday festivities, but wanted to share one of the most precious moments from today's party.

Piglet literally stood there and hugged baby Ellie (four weeks old today) for over ten minutes. Just *look* at his chubby little hand resting on her diaper bum. *Melt!* And then he cried when her mom took her home.

Guess who's ready to be a big brother?

Much much much to catch you all up on (including a very eventful MFM appointment on Friday) but alas, my pillow beckons. I'm sure you understand. You're so good that way.

In the spirit of brevity

Just a short love note to say I am completely submerged in the following at the moment, but will return with photos and long wordy posts shortly:

1) Executing the second of Piglet's two 2nd birthday parties. Got that? K, just checking because there were a lot of "twos" in there.

2) Celebrating my perfect glucose levels and still long and holding steady 4.2cm cervix! Say it with me! More PIE please!

3) Fighting off my newest symptom which is total N.ARCOLEPSY. Seriously. I'll be sitting there on the couch just reading a magazine or surfing the net and the next thing I know, I snorting myself awake, wiping drool from the corner of my mouth and feeling as though I am waking from a deep C.OMA. It happens to me 2-3 times a day! Bizzaro.

4) Trying to break up with my Zo.friend. I've decided it is time to break the four Z.ofran a day habit. Yesterday I took only one, though I felt lousy by the end of the day, so today I've taken two and so far feel okay. Maybe, just maybe, the Twinks are letting up on me a tiny bit. Huzzah!

5) Growing bigger and more unwieldy by the day. No kidding. I'm getting HUGE. At my OB appointment last week I was measuring 32 weeks. So, way ahead. I'm going to go ahead and put it out there - I don't think I'm making it to 37 weeks. My guess? Somewhere between 35-36 weeks. If I'm lucky.

And lastly, I wanted to leave you with this picture of Moi leading by example in an attempt to convince Piglet to wear this birthday hat for the big blowing-out-of -candles moment. Guess what? He totally wore it AND he blew out those candles with the ease and speed of a four year old. He's a freaking phenom you guys.

My next post will be a recap and pictures from Piglet's birthday celebrations! Stay tuned! Oh and no we haven't bought my new car yet, but I'll tell you one thing. I am getting what I originally wanted to get. Resistance is futile.

Man vs. (wife's choice of) Car

As promised, I am going to share the dialogue between Mr. K and I about our upcoming car purchase. Clearly you should not try to reason with a pregnant woman unless you are armed with a generous slice of pie or at the very least some candy.

Mr. K: Hey, I bought this "Car and Driver" (magazine) so we can look at how the SUVs are rated and then choose which one we're going to test drive and buy. I also bought a subscription to C.onsumer Reports so we can compare.

Me: But I already told you which car I want.

Mr. K: We should still know what we are getting. Btw, I *think* the car you chose got only OK reliability ratings.

Me: Really? No way. I don't believe it! I've driven this make of car for 12 years and I have never had a major problem. Those people reviewing the cars are suckers.

Mr. K: I just want you to look at some other cars.

Me: Why don't you want me to get what I want?

Mr. K: Babe, you *can* get whatever you want, I just want you to know all the facts and maybe test drive a few others before making your final choice.

Me: Hmph. Whatever! I can *totally* tell you are agenda pushing. I like what I've chosen, I'm comfortable driving this make of car, I've driven them for the past 12 years. If I'm going to have to drive a much bigger car, I want to be familiar with the way it handles.

Mr. K: I have no agenda! This is the biggest purchase we will make other than a house in the next few years! I just want you to see what else is out there, what else got high ratings.

Me: (Tearing up as the gnomes from the land called Irrationalnation begin to addle my brain.) I REFUSE to drive the same car as your mother! She will never let me live it down! I'm not doing it!!!

Mr. K: Who said anything about driving the same car as my mom?! What are you talking about?! (For the record it's actually quite a nice car, a L.exus SUV.)

Me: You won't be happy unless I I'm driving a Kia or a Hyundai! (Apparently I was *convinced* at the time that Mr. K only wanted me to drive a K.orean car.) And I am not driving a C.adillac!!!

Mr. K: (Laughs) Listen, I never said I wanted you to drive a K.orean car or a C.adillac! I just want you to read through the reviews and pick three or four cars to test drive. Maybe you will like some other car even better than the one you think you want.

Me: Don't laugh at me! I'm soooo tired! I don't think you fully appreciate how tired I am! And then all these salespeople, selling cars I don't even WANT will start calling me and harassing me to no end! (Tearing up again) I just want...what I want. I just, I...I need some pie.

Mr. K: (Heavy sigh)

Aren't you all just OVERCOME with jealousy that Mr. K is married to me?

Oh yessireebob I know you are!

Poor Mr. K.

Once, back when I was working, I was introducing a new staff member to the rest of the team. Somehow, Mr. K came up and I said "You'll hear me call him by his first and last name a lot, Mr. K" and one of the other gals piped up and said "actually you call him Poor Mr. K a lot." It was a funny realization and so true! I did and still do begin a lot of my anecdotes about him with "Oh, Poor Mr. K, the other day I made him..."

Every now and then, after we've had a "discussion" like the one above, I can hear my husband shuffling around the house muttering "Poor Mr. K, poor Mr. K..."

Hahahaha! Life with MVK, never boring and often times irrational. Shall I show you where to sign up?

On another note: I LOVE my delurking readers! Thank you for all your charming and wonderful comments. You all made me blush more than once (taking bow). And I have loved being able to link to your blogs (if you have them) in return!

Which reminds me, I really need to update my blog roll soon. Putting it on the list post haste! Right after I go read all those car reviews with an "open" mind. ;)

**Post edit**

In retrospect I realize that I sound TERMINALLY spoiled in the conversation above. Yikes! Hormones people, hormones. Dems to blame.

Twenty five big ones

We have officially surpassed the viability mark by a full week! Les Twinkies have been cooking for a full 25 weeks as of today. I just went back and re-read my posts from right after I found out I was pregnant and then the ones after I found out I was pregnant with identical twins.

I was a leeeetle bonkers.

In fact, I believe I still am.

Perhaps I have always been.

I'm pretty sure Mr. K would say the last statement is the truest.

Getting back to the Twinks...

They have been gestating for 25 weeks! They are active and growing and their heartbeats are strong (I know this because I check every night, sometimes Piglet helps). Tell me that doesn't break your heart with sweetness. And were your heart not already broken by that admission, I would share that one of his top three favorite things to do right now is lift up the hem of my shirt, rub my belly, put his face next to it and plant a loud kiss near my bellybutton. Mmmmmmwah!

I SWEAR TO GOD.

And it's not like he's mimicking Mr. K either because Mr. K isn't quite that squishy and sentimental. He's more into making me eat lots of leafy greens and avocados and well anything that I can keep down. :)

So back to the Twinks, I could meet them anywhere between 10-12 weeks from now.

TEN TO TWELVE WEEKS PEOPLE.

And next week I will say NINE TO ELEVEN WEEKS.

And the week after that I will say...well you get the picture.

Soon both those numbers will be single digits.

We are closing in on the home stretch and I have started feathering my nest. Right now it's full of tiny white onesies and blue and white polka dotted sleepers for babies "Up to 7lbs."

There I go breaking your heart (and mine) again.

So you will forgive my cruelty (and keep reading!) tomorrow I will write about my hilarious and circular conversation with Mr. K about the car we need to buy in the next TEN TO TWELEVE WEEKS.

TEN TO TWELVE.

I just had to say it again.

P.S. I heard from Murgdan that it is International Blog Delurking Week! Wahooty! Remember my philosophy - to lurk is to love. But I would like to return your love (unrequited is soooo 1992) so pretty please if you read my blog, if you are entertained by my Piglet, if we inspire a little giggle from you now and then, leave a comment! It will thrill us to the very core. No, really.