L & M and O

Every morning for the last three months, the girls wake up and ask if my baby came out yet. I think they, like me, were starting to think this baby was imaginary.


Thank goodness she is not imaginary.


I believe the first words out of London's mouth were "Don't give her any pokey medicine," pokey medicine being the term for the suppository we use in desperate digestive situations. Look at that, already looking out for little sis.


London loves holding little Liv, as does Maddie, but unfortunately Maddie is not as photogenic. (Her pictures look like she's plotting an evil plan against her sister).


Grandma got all the girls matching outfits and hairbows. Liv is a pretty happy baby except when she is hungry, or forced to change clothes. As it turns out, pink is her color.


On the porch with grandma, and our new cat Figaro (ok, Figaro is pretty imaginary). The girls and I go on walks through the neighborhood and they keep asking why our house is not decked out in inflatables. I guess this cat is the best we can do!

Leslie's Post

You know you're ready to deliver when your right foot swells up twice the size of normal...and your left foot swells up twice the size of your right.


And your stomach is bigger than all of the pumpkins in the pumpkin patch.

I was SO ready to deliver. However, when Tuesday finally came, I wasn't so sure. Are there really any guarantees with this childbirth thing? Well I will spare the details of Liv's birth, only to say that I knew when the moment came I could be brave. I knew I was in good hands; I knew it would be over soon. I knew more than ever I couldn't wait to meet my baby girl. And finally--



The first time I looked at the face of my child, I didn't think 'my child.' I made no claims. Transported by awe to someplace way past tenderness, I was courteous and grave, one fierce creature greeting another, newly arrived. Then (he) said, 'Our daughter, our little girl,' and -wham- I bought the complete package: tenderness, yes; devotion and longing, euphoria and despair; ache and work and rage and boundless gratitude. My girl and I got it backward, backward and right. She did the claiming. I was delivered, unto her. 'You are mine,' she cried, her hands reaching for my face, and nothing was ever more true.
-Marisa de los Santos, Belong to Me

Liv

The barlowing.com board of directors convened and agreed to temporarily withdraw my barlowing.com blogging suspension, while the lead writer, Leslie, fully recovers to her maximum blogging state. Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm pleased to present the newest addition to this Barlow family:



Olivia (Liv) Harper Barlow
8lbs 7oz
20.5 inches
Dark brown hair
born: 10/21/08, 11:07 p.m.

Day 1: Pictures first and then a brief recap of the experience.

Mommy 5 minutes after birth

Dr. Lockey

Close Up

Daddy daughter time

7 a.m. - We just arrived at the hospital. Excitement was in the air. We never would have guessed this pregnancy would lead to an induction. Dr. Solomon, broke Leslie's water and the fun began.

9 a.m. - Leslie started having regular contractions and she dilated even further. She was forbidden to eat, in case we had to do a C-section.

4 p.m. - Leslie continued with the regular contractions, however, she stopped dilating once she hit 7 and half centimeters.

5:30 p.m. - There were no improvements with the dilating. Our wonderful Dr.'s shift was over. He tried to arrange it so he could stay, but he had a family issue that needed some attention. We talked about c-section. Leslie refused to do a C-section, unless it was absolutely necessary. We agreed with the doctor that she would be checked again at 7:30. If there continued to be no improvement, we would do the big C. James was able to stop by and help me give Leslie a blessing.

7:30 - Leslie dilated to a 9 (yeah!!!!). We met Dr. Lockey

8:15 - Leslie started to push.

11:07 - (yes three hours later) - Liv was born.

Reflections: I can't remember being this excited before in my life (the twins birth excitement was a little diluted with fear). When I get really excited, there is something in my body that forces this large amount of air that turns into some form of laugh that can be best compared to a hyena choking. Usually this can be very embarrassing, but in that room, at that moment. . . I didn't care. My little girl was here. I enjoyed watching every step of the process (minus the cutting of the umb cord, I couldn't be a part of that. I have my limits). When all was said and done, the strangest thing happened. . . we got to keep her. She wasn't taken away from us. Leslie got to see her, hold her, sing to her, within seconds of her birth, and they've been together ever since. She was brought up with us to the postpartum room and just the three of us were left alone. Oh yeah, and Leslie was finally able to eat again...yeah!!!)

The Final Countdown

(For all you Arrested Development fans, the title of this post was inspired by GOB's career as a magician....)


And just in case we forget, we have this hanging on our fridge. Yes that word is induction, and the date is this Tuesday.

16 pairs of newborn pajamas
28 birth to three month outfits
40+ pairs of matching socks
Two blessing dresses
Two eager big sisters
One hundred diapers
One grad school mid-term successfully down
One visiting grandma

I think we're ready....Then again, are you ever ready? :)

Thoughts and Muffins...

The other day the girls and I whipped out the baby muffin tins and engaged in their all-time favorite activity: baking. I had really bought the bran muffin mix in a desperate attempt to get the girls' bowel habits functioning properly (if you haven't heard the details of this one, consider yourself lucky), but leave it to any mom to find a way to kill many birds with one stone. Even though the process of making muffins takes ten times longer with two little helpers, I can't help but think that I will look back on these days as being easy. Easier. While life with two toddlers is hard, life with two toddlers and a newborn, will it be manageable? I suddenly felt bad for my little daughters, as these are some of the last days they will ever have their mom to themselves. I don't know why it's so heartbreaking, really, these girls never had their mom to themselves. As a result, I may spend a lifetime trying to make up for it. I strangely relish the moments in the middle of the night where one or the other is disturbed from her slumber and inevitably ends up at my bedside. It's so different when it's just one. I find intimacy in those sleepy moments and try my best to drink them in, even draw them out.
Maybe the source of this lies in my being the oldest child, possessing two and a half years of memories where I am the smartest, loveliest, most imaginative center of the universe two parents had ever known. Or more likely, these feelings are the result of impending birth, the madness, the nesting, the endless worry and sleepless nights. They say you always worry if you are going to be a good parent before your first one comes, but then in subsequent births, is the worry that you ARE a good parent?

I did start this intending to list the things I will not miss come a few days from now:

*The endless nausea and vomiting that have followed me to 39 weeks.
*Sleeping upright with three pillows and two Tums in my mouth in an effort to ward off heartburn.
*The way my stomach feels like it is anchored to the bottom of the ocean when I try to roll over at night.
*Never knowing which internal organ is going to be sharply kicked, and when.
*Eating, and eating, and eating, and eating...and still feeling as hungry as when I started.
*Having my bladder taken over as one of the casualties of this pregnancy.
*On that note, where are my ankles? :)

All of which are heavily outweighed by the things I will miss:
*Being justified in getting pedicures as needed, because I truly can't reach my toes.
*Having a good idea of when the twins need to use the potty, because our bladders are all the same size.
*The nesting instinct in overdrive has finished many projects I may not have otherwise done for years.
*The way Singleton gets the hiccups at least four times a day, we think it's the cutest thing ever but then again, we don't have much to choose from right now.
*The cravings that come on like a tidal wave and nobody else really has a say in what we eat, or do, for that matter.
*Feeling the baby jump around in the morning as her way of telling me how happy she is to be alive, as she's done every day since the first I felt her move.

I Scream You Scream

Ryan told me our blog is no longer getting traffic because of the Betsy pictures. So we will fill up the space with other Barlow events...:) Here is our last ice cream excursion at Baskin Robbins. L & M loved the pink spoons and have kept them around for their oatmeal in the morning. Notice that London has three cups in front of her: hers, Maddie's, and mine! I think this outing managed to combine two of the girls' all-time favorites things....pink and sugar!

Betsy's Fate

So it wasn't just me overwhelmed by those last pictures. All day after posting, I fought the urge to hyperventilate into a paper bag. The spider jar had been retired on the back porch, and of the six back-facing windows we have on this floor, I opted for a day of gloom rather than risk a peek from any one set of blinds opened. I only felt better after scrounging together my nine months' pregnant energy and bathing the twins, scrubbing the kitchen floor, vacuuming, showering, and piling my family into the car to head to my doctor's appointment (no baby yet folks). But of course, as soon as they saw their dad, the number one thought on everybody's mind was the little pet L & M so lovingly named...Betsy.
Though I wanted nothing to do with setting Betsy free by the lake, Ryan and I had negotiated a plan. He would grab the jar while I waited in the car with the girls, then would take the girls to the lake while I ordered and waited for a pizza at home. However on Ryan's way back from the porch, a half-wince, half-frown, half-busting up with laughter look on his face told a fateful, yet comical story. "Girls," he said, "I don't think Betsy is feeling well."
Don't worry, no more graphic pictures. And I will spare the details of what was in the jar, because I didn't look in the jar. But it's safe to say that this morbid turn in events parallels the ever-popular children's book, Charlotte's Web, in which Charlotte becomes old and sick and takes a final bow, leaving the legacy of a rambunctious new generation of spiders. At least that is my desperate attempt to cast a hint of poetry into the previous images, now burned into my brain and yours. And thanks to tonight's Lake Pflugerville at sunset intervention, the hideous offspring of Betsy can now build a new life elsewhere, anywhere, but the Barlow garage. My only regret is that we told the twins we would visit often.

Freak of Nature

Imagine my surprise when I spotted THIS unholy beast in the garage last night!



Here's the thing about this spider: the pictures do not do its size justice. It is seriously the size of a small rodent, an estimated 5+ inches. Ryan agreed with me on this, even though I always exaggerate the size of spiders!!




And on its stomach......BABIES. Anyone else want to throw up?


There was no singing 'itsy bitsy spider' this time around!


The other three members of my family were pretty fascinated. Turns out our little budding scientists wanted to stare at the thing for hours. Oh they are pet deprived, they even had to tell the thing goodnight before bed.

Ryan and the twins made plans to go out to the lake tonight to set it free...I think they may have to go solo. About the time this last picture was taken I started to feel light headed in the beginnings of a mild panic attack! I even dreamed last night the spider emitted some sort of poisonous gas into the jar, plus all its babies had been born when we opened it. I usually don't freak out this much about spiders, but it was the babies that put me over the top. I am seriously disturbed by this one...I guess it's true what they say-everything truly is bigger in Texas!

Got Your Back

Didn't we know it from the beginning....




With the baby just around the corner we have been working on using the potty by ourselves (though lately...using the potty at all is a stretch). One day London comes out of the bathroom and says "I went potty!" I asked her if she remembered to wipe, only to see little Madelyn follow her out of the bathroom with a proud smile on her face and hear them both gleefully exclaim, "Maddie wiped!"
(Oh no, says Ryan, they will never be independent now.)

Then there was the Ikea incident. Has anyone discovered their free hour of daycare? Happiest day of our lives when we realized the girls meet the height requirement. Last Saturday, during one uninterrupted hour of Ryan and Leslie's frivolous spending, we came back to a little sore on London's ankle and this story, told by Maddie:
"The big girl came and pushed London down and she cried and cried. I told the big girl (pointer finger up, drawing out every syllable) 'Don't bother London! You be careful!' "

There you have it. Keep in mind that the phrase 'got your back' could probably also be associated the WWE-like moves the girls practice on each other during frequent disagreements. I read somewhere about a mom who names her son's tantrums the way hurricanes are named, starting with 'a' and moving through the alphabet, and I have no doubt the same method could apply to cat fights around here. But the little moments in between makes me realize the bond between these two extends beyond their three years I've known them. And I count myself lucky I always get to see what they come up with next.

Outnumbered

Sometimes I think Ryan is at a disadvantage being the only guy in sight around here. L & M are constantly reminding him that boys don't wear lipstick, like pink, or most devastating of all, get to be princesses. We are still working with London that when she wants to recreate the wedding scene from Sleeping Beauty, Maddie is not a boy and thus, can't play the part of the prince. And how much of actually what it takes to *be a boy* do we explain? We knew it'd only be a matter of time before we needed to introduce L & M to the not so subtle essentials of gender identification. Alas, Maddie accidentally introduced herself one morning in the simple act of observing Ryan get out of the shower.
Here is the exact phrase out of her mouth:

"Daddy, your front bum is so silly!"

Oh, Maddie. My stomach still hurts from laughing. Equally funny to me was the twins' clever and functional system for distinguishing between the front and the back bum...Maybe this anatomy thing will not be so bad after all. Either that or it's time for a new lock on the bathroom door.

Why did the turtle cross the road?

We don't know why this humungous snapping turtle was in the middle of the road near our neighborhood Saturday. We did have to swerve to miss him, and then pull over to make sure he wasn't a figment of the imagination. The turtle had already started to draw a crowd of people, none of us really knowing what to do. We had no idea where he came from or what to do with him, and most of us were scared to even touch him. Eventually a guy came along and scooped him up and crossed the road and set him down in the marsh pointing towards the lake. I'm not sure how anyone expected the turtle to locate the lake again, which was about 1/2 a mile away. Do turtles have a good sense of smell OR direction? At any rate what a funny way to meet new neighbors. And then of course the whole way to our destination L & M worried about the turtle's babies at the lake...typical.