KLM Blog

Ava's 5th Birthday

Kate helped Ava celebrate her 5th birthday at Chuck E Cheese today.  She had a great time with her friends!  My pictures are terrible, but nonetheless, they mark the day and how much fun she has with her friends.

I loved this Repunzel cake!

Jean and Sibling Shirts

Jean Lee the first non-family visitor to ever meet Kate was in town and able to meet the neweset Duffys.  She jumped right in and helped feed everyone!

And then we took some pictures of the three kiddos together in their Big Sister, Little Sister, Little Brother shirts.  Technically, Megan could also have a Big Sister shirt.  ;)

Feed Yourselves!

Exersaucer Chat

 

Today was filled with me fighting a truly b.s. traffic ticket, interviewing what turned out to be a GREAT weekend babysitter that Kate will eventually fall in love with over the next few months (again, writing in the future), and capturing these two cuties on video for a couple minutes.

The Other Duffeys

Mom helped me bring the babies to The Little Gym to let Kate do her class.  The other Duffeys were helpful also with holding the babies.  Brave too since Megan is a spitter-upper!  

First Day of TK

So after all the talk about what to do with Kate in terms of Kindergarten, we decided to go with Transitional Kindergarten....some sort of between Kinder and Pre-K set-up.  Mainly I want her to be with kids her age and I don't want her to skip Kindergarten at her real elementary school.  There is a gifted program at her elementary for Kinder (IF she were to qualify for it) and they do different reading groups in class, so they should work with her on her level, I hope.  As for choosing between TK and regular Private K at Creme, I went with TK because I love her teacher, Miss Deonna.  I'm sure Miss Cossette is great also, but I just don't know her as well.  

So long story short, here she is very excited about starting TK 5 days a week!

Before starting class, she had to go say hi to Miss Pamela and Miss Terri.

She was happy to see familiar faces.  Zoe below, 

And Caden, 

I finally let her be as the kids sat down to their morning carpet time.

Kate told me to take a picture of her new backpack as I left.  ;)

Scoot

 

This video makes me chuckle, because I thought Liam was so close to crawling!  Turns out he wouldn't crawl for another 3 months!  And Megan beat him by about three weeks!  But it's a nice tiny scoot he had going on.  =)

Megan Rolls Over

 

 Meg has caught up to her brother and is rolling over all over the place now.  Jen caught this short video.

Broken Foot?

Bright and early I called my mom and had her drive me to the ER.  Lots of runners, joggers and cyclists there who passed out in the heat (even that early).  Have I mentioned that every day this month has been over 100 degrees? Ugh.  

Long story short, they x-rayed my foot and told me that I had no fractures and that it was probably just badly contused.  They gave me a little black "shoe" to wear and crutches, but told me to make sure that I don't stay off of it.  It was important to walk on it a bit and "work it out".  

Fast forward to 2 weeks in the future, and I went to an Orhopedist because it was still insanely painful, who x-rayed it and then did an MRI.  From the x-ray he was astounded that the ER missed a huge fracture.  The MRI revealed 2 more fractures.  He gave me a huge white boot and told me to try to stay off of it as much as I could...hahaha.  He said it was be at LEAST 8-10 weeks to heal....oh man....little did I know I'd still be wearing the boot until the middle of December!

Needless to say, this put a major dent in my abilities to care for three kids.  It made getting up and down the stairs nearly impossible and carrying babies up and down the stairs even more of a pipe dream.  Carrying them anywhere at all!?  

My spirits were way down.  Way, way, way down.  I've been so physically inhibited for SO long.  Being pregnant with twins took a major toll and kept me from running around with Kate....or even just getting on the floor with Kate.  Then I had the babies and was recovering from surgery, and now THIS!  

I knew that if I could somehow get through this, I could do anything.  But my foot hurt so much, at the time, I could never imagine ever being able to walk on it again.  (Writing this in January 2012, I can tell you that it still isn't completely healed and though I'm out of the boot, it's still very painful and I don't walk on it the right way....)

So I did spend many days depressed and stressed, but I kept going.  No rest for this mama, and honestly it's true....I got through it....I can do anything!

I was starting to realize that I needed more help than I was currently getting...to be continued.

The Calm Before the Storm - For Me

The calm before the storm.....here are some nice pictures of the twins from the day.

Oops, someone woke up!

Later this night....was the second most significant night of 2011 for me.  Aside from the amazing birth of the twins, this night was less than stellar.  While checking on the babies in the middle of the night....I may have slipped and fallen down several stairs....and had an unbelievably painful remainder of the night.....I may have screamed so loudly that I did in fact, wake up Kate....from a seperate floor and across the house....I would have had Mike drive me to the ER, were in not for the 3 kids in the house...who should have been sleeping...I knew it was my foot, or toe or something...and knew that it was not ok....

Safari Painting

Last fun day before Kate starts Traditional Kindergarten 5 days a week.  The babies were dressed and ready to go!  

We packed up and headed to Safari Park, which took the place of Boomerangs.  Kate donned her socks.

And took off!  I got to run around with her a bit, while Jen manned the babies.

The train was a nice touch

They had these funny robot animal ride along things.  

You have to hear it.  It's awesome!

 

Then it was off to the Painting place to make Mike his birthday gift. (yes, we're a little late...)

Meg loved getting her foot painted.

NIce job Megan!

 

Kate worked on her heart for her dad.

THen it was Kate's turn to paint her hand.

Liam's up!!

 Jen painted a mug for her boyfriend.

Great day with my three kiddos!  Hope dad likes his gifts!

Finished products!

Jumping and Fish

Continuing my effort to spend time with Kate before she goes to school 5 days a week, we packed in Jumpstreet (above) and the aquarium below.  The babies and Jen came too!

I wish I felt like I had the time to really go into a big spiel about how I've loved nearly every minute (good and bad) of going places one on one with Kate for the past four years, but being that I'm really posting this in January 2012, you know I'm so behind, I may never recover, and I need to just keep posting like crazy.  

But it does go without saying that I love my one on one time with Kate.  I worry that I'll never have the same thing with Liam or Megan being that there's two of them at the same time and now Kate is in school, so maybe that's all come to an end.  But maybe not?  I hope I'll be surprised and figure out a way to have one on one adventures with each of my children....although, they'll likely all want to be with each other more than hanging out with old mom!  

Way to End a Playgroup Megan

Liam and Megan woke up bright and early and ready for a big play group day!

Joanne invited us to her house to let the babies play together.  Meg and Liam are the youngest babies in the group, and not crawling yet, so we just hung out in our corner mostly.  =)

Katherine's Reese and Sophie are not much older than M&L so they aren't yet scooting either.

Everything was working out nicely.  Feeding the kiddos...

But then Megan pooped. Something fierce.  Everyone heard it.  Then everyone saw it.  Everywhere.  Joanne lent me a hand and snuggled with Liam.

That's some serious multi-tasking Joanne!

And just like that, it was time for us to go home, since Megan didn't have a change of clothing.....and neither did I....ew.

Sleeping Liam

Terrified Laughter and Family

Some random good shots from when Anne and Jack were in town visiting the kids.

Below is a video of terrified laughter.  I came downstairs to find Liam on the floor and Mike smacking the floor next to his head.  My initial reaction was, "STOP!  You're terrifying him!" But after his quick look of shear horror, he then began to laugh.....for a long time!!  It took me far too long to get the video camera, because he was finding it less and less funny each time and I pretty much caught the end of it.  But it's still cute, sad and funny at the same time!

 

Pop Pop LOVES Megan

Pop Pop seemed to be a bit addicted to Megan and he was wonderful with her.  Liam made up for the attention with his Grandma Anne.

 

  

New York Grandparents Visit

Liam was rolling over with excitement to see his Grandma and Pop Pop that came to meet the babies for the first time, from New York.

Love this picture of Megan with Pop Pop.

Rainforest Diaper Changes

As Kate and I continued to make the most of her free weekdays, we headed to the Grapevine Mills Mall to hit up either the aquarium or Legoland, but apparently, EVERYONE else had that idea also, so we headed to lunch at the rainforest cafe.  

We were going to take the babies to the aquarium also, so we had Jen with us.

She was very helpful especially when it came to diaper changes, which she boldly made happen on the table!  (Wonder why I won't eat anything that touches the table?)

We didn't make it to the aquarium or Legoland today, but Kate had a yummy lunch and also scored a bag of self-selected candy!  Not a shabby day at all.

Sisters, Jump, Dentist, Dinner and Smurfs!

Even though it looks like Kate is detaining Megan, she's just trying to get her to pose with her for a sweet sister picture.  =)

Later that day Kate got to go to Jumpstreet with Gracie and Rocco.  This place is AWESOME!

The picture above of Kate and Gracie, made me go back and search for my 1st picture of them together....Spring 2008...

And now they're such big girls!

'

Thrill rides!!

 

Fun first and the dentist next.  Although, Kate LOVES the Dentist.  What's not to love, movies, trinkets, no cavities!!

After that, we hit up the Cheesecake Factory together....

before we saw the Smurfs in 3D

We're making the most of our weekdays before Kate starts 5 days a week!

I LOVE spending my days with her!

Sleeping Beauty

I almost never make photos black and white, but this one worked out nicely.  Also, it's Megan and she happens to be wearing Liam's blue sleeper and snuggling with his blue blanket.  I like to try to confuse myself.

Peek A Boo Hand and Giggle ABCs

Starting to wonder if the bumper is all that safe anymore.  Someone's hand keeps poking out!  (as cute as it is!)

Below is a video of Liam enjoying the same exersaucer that Joe and Kate both used.  He really giggles when it sings, "Q,R,S"  Those letters are hilarious.

 

First Solids!

Today the babies got to try solids for the first time!  In anticipation, Liam was kicking away on the piano!

Megan was ready first.

Liam was not far behind.  Look at at caved in dent.  He needs food to fill it up!!

Kate helped a lot by getting and putting on their bibs.

Sometimes I think having twins WITH a 4 year old is easier than not having one!

This is a spoon.

Kate is there for moral support.

Megan is excited.

Liam is hesitant.

Here we go!

So far so good.

Kate is nervous for them, because, to this day, she's not a huge fan of food.

Megan is so intrigued by it that she's not really sure it's ok to be putting it in her mouth.

She likes it!

He doesn't.

Megan might be the best eater of the three!

Gerber baby!

Not super pleased, is Liam.

Now for some live action video.

 She likes it!

 1st Rice cereal for the babies.

 Megan is a happy camper.

 l

Crazy Kate and Kickin' Meg

Above:  Megan loves her new kick and play!

Below:  You don't always have to act crazy Kate! ;)

 

Love These Munchkins!

Random cute iPhone pictures of late...

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Monitoring

 

When we moved into this new house in December, we found that our previous monitor we used to keep an eye on Kate didn't have a far enough range to go from her room to our bedroom.  And now with her upstairs and us downstairs, I especially wanted to keep it it in her room.  So we bought a more expensive version that had a bigger range and also more cameras for the upcoming babies.  When we turned it to Channel C to see Kate....it was great.  When we turned it to Channel A for whatever reason....we saw a little boy in bed not yet quite asleep..!?  Then Channel B showed another boy in bed with their dad reading them a bedtime story!  If we could see them, they could see us!  So we returned it and Mike found some cameras and a monitor that were on a closed circuit of some sort.  In otherwords, no one else could get on our frequency.  Though the cameras are big, black and intimidating, they work great! And I can have it on rotate on the kids.  In the movie above, you get a feel for what I watch and listen to from 7:00 on.

Every Morning

A typical morning around here:  When I turn on the lights at 7am, Liam throws his arms out in surprise and whines a little. He is no longer wrapped at all and always rolls on to his tummy now.

Megan always greets me with a smile.  As you can see, she is wrapped with arms only and stays on her back as well as sleeps horizontally in her bed still.

They sleep with this sound machine set to waterfall....full volume!

Unwrapped, Meg shoves her hands right into her mouth.

I put the Prevacid medication for her reflux on the inside of her cheek with one finger and squirt water on it while it dissolves there.  You can see little Previcid crumbs on her cheek.

Squirt!

She then enjoys her binky in bed for a bit, while....we have to wait at least 15 minutes before she can eat.  So...

Liam gets a clean diaper!  This is where he cheers up and smiles a lot for me.

He likes to grab my arm and pull it towards him to hug or snuggle.

I like to tickle him and he likes it too.

Quick look back to see how Megan is doing and she's happy and babbling so there's time to feed Liam.

Liam the thumbsucker.

I have stopped nursing Liam as I am pretty much out of milk.  It's a bit sad because he was very good at it and I didn't mind feeding him that way at all.  But as of now, I am officially formula feeding both babies.  Liam likes to hold his own bottle, if he's on his back.

When he's done, we cuddle while he burps.

He gets set up in his favorite bouncy seat.

By this time, Megan is usually done being patient.

She's usually fed up with me to the point that she doesn't enjoy diaper time as much as Liam did.  

But the minute she gets her bottle.....

She's very content.

She loves to be in her bouncy after she eats as well.

They babble to one another, play with the toys and bounce....

While I go wake up Kate.

Sometimes it's not so easy.

Good MORNING Kate!!!

You have school today!

You were sleeping HARD.

At first you SEEM grumpy.....

But you're not.  =)  Just sleepy. 

And finally, TADA!

She goes to her closet and tells me that "No one wants to see a picture of me in my underwear MOM!" And closes the door to get herself dressed.

I go back to check on the babies.  They haven't gone anywhere and remain happy!

Kate runs in and makes her brother and sister smile and giggle.

And just like that.....it's already time for a nap at 8:30.

Sleep tight Little Sis.

Tight is right!

And now I realize.....a bit too late that Liam was wearing Megan's sleeper the whole night and morning! Oops.  That's sort of not the first time either.  Not necessarily on purpose, but I needed a clean sleeper and he didn't have any....so...thinking no one would see him in it, who cares!?  But then I go and take a ton of pictures of him in it!  Ha!  Sorry Liam!!!
You don't mind!

And as soon as I wish him sweet dreams, he's on his way....

Over.

Downstairs Kate gets her breakfast about 50% on her own. 
My mom picks up Kate and takes her to school and before I know it, the babies are back up!  =)