Coupons

One of my family members suggested I share the following with you. One way to support military families is to send coupons! In overseas duty stations (which is where we are) we can use coupons up to 6 months after the expiration date. So if you have coupons that you are willing to mail, our family would greatly appreciate them! I went shopping a couple of weeks ago and saved $30.00! If you are interested in helping families across the military, here is some info. on coupon support.

Our family specifically uses the following coupons:

Tide

Joy dish soap

Huggies

Luvs

All baby wipes

Bounty

Charmin

Daisy sour cream/products

Any packaged baking mixes

Cheese sticks

Batteries

I suppose those are the big ones. Please feel free to send any of your expired coupons and I will pass them out to friends. Thanks for you support!

Send a Facebook message if you would like our mailing address.

P.S. Our commissaries let us stack most coupons. So no limit for most coupons for us to use on any one product. That means some products end up being free!

UPdate

Alright, so those of you who placed bets on whether I could let Matthew go back to the states w/o us...collect your winnings.

Since deciding that we wouldn't be able to afford tickets the prices they were, I kept checking the ticket prices almost daily. Just to hope and dream that we could afford them. Then I remembered, "Oh yeah, kids don't pay the full prices and the boys don't pay even close to the full prices." So after looking online today, I realized that we could afford the tickets. I called a couple close family members and discussed our options and the wisdom of traveling with 3 children 2 and under. Suggestions open here for those of you who have travelled overseas with small children...

We are super thrilled to be going back to the States!!! If you think you could make a trip to NJ area, we would love to see you!!!!

School Days

So here are the photos that all parents take the first day of school.

1st -- L leaving the house

2nd -- Standing in front of the apartment

3rd -- L standing outside her new school

After holding off starting school for one reason or another, L has officially started at a local Japanese school. She is the only English speaking child in the school. We are excited for this opportunity -- to stimulate neurons, learn a language and to just have an overall unique experience.

She loved telling me all about her day when I picked her up. She was so excited! Then she took a two hour nap from all the excitement! We think this is going to go very well.

Some updated pics can be seen here of the boys. Enjoy our cute kids!

The boys are asleep...

Connor and Caleb

Connor and Caleb

L going to visit her new school

It got real quiet one day, I walked into the living room to see what L was up to and this is what I found. Connor did not cry, he just kept hanging out.

L and mama got to go on a girls' date. This was L being super cute during our brunch.

Connor's whole face lights up when he smiles!

Being cute

Caleb talking and smiling away

Daddy holding -- can you tell which one?

And his baby girl.

So we will see how much of this post I can get done. These are just a few pictures we've been able to take lately. The boys are growing well, L loves being a big sister and with the maid coming and our Jenny, Mama is not going crazy.

Our most disappointing news is that when M and I moved to Okinawa, we planned all along to make a trip back to the states Nov. 2010 for M to run the NYC marathon. We also wanted to take a trip to KS/MO for my family to be able to meet the boys. (Well, when we moved we thought we were pregnant with one). But then we found out about twins....

Which meant buying an extra car seat, highchair, clothes, etc. Then we needed more help, so the maid and helper. Then with the extra ticket -- well you get the idea. We did not plan on twins when we planned a trip back to the states. Since I am not willing to commit to the stress of traveling on a Space - A (military flight) we are not coming back to the states. You see, if we try a military flight, we have to get up each day at about 3 am and be at the airport (with all the kids and all of our stuff). We hope and pray to be able to get a flight and if we don't, after waiting for 4 hours, we go back home to try again the next day. Then the flights only get us to Seattle, CA, etc. We would then have to buy a last minute ticket to get to NJ and that could be more $$$ than the ticket to get to the States. But we could get stuck on the West Coast for several days until we can get on a flight. If the kids were older, I would be all about this. Traveling alone with 3 kids 2 and under, there is NO WAY! So our disappinting news is that the whole family is not coming back. M will fly to NJ on his won, run the marathon and then come home. Since he gets about 2 weeks away, I stated that I get two weeks next year when the boys are bigger and don't need me all the time! Fair trade don't you think?

Babies are waking up so I am off to nurse (yes, 6 months of nursing!) and take care of my crew.

Prayer requests:

M is going to be gone a lot over the next 2 months, so we need prayers...mostly that I don't eat one of my young. ;)

These days

Some days are good around here and some days are not so good. Today was a good day. In fact, this has been an alright week. However, I think the biggest blessing and reason for bringing my mood up -- Caleb slept through the night last night! And not just the 5 hour block that Drs say is "through the night". That is NOT through the night in my book! He slept from about 10 pm until 7:00 am! Then to top it off, Connor only got up once through the night!!! So I woke up refreshed and renewed and looking at the world through brighter eyes. Typically I am getting up about 5 times each night with one various boy or the other, so it was AMAZING!

Now we have also figured out that Connor has reflux. So he started Zantac today and a friend provided some suggestions of things we can do on our own. So with the medicines and helps, Connor may just start sleeping even better. So I am hopeful that we are on our way to more and more sleep. Three years is a long time to go with only a few good nights sleep here and there.

At out 6 months Dr appointment this morning, the Nurse Practitioner didn't have any major concerns. Which was a huge relief since I have been a little stressed about how delayed the boys are physically. She said there were even a few areas where the boys were actually ahead of even what a 6 month old baby should be doing (their adjusted ages -- 4 1/2 months). The boys are growing well and doing well overall. They are still delayed, but making progress with PT and what we do with the boys after the PT leaves.

Other big news is that L is going to school. On Tuesday night, the night before we visited her school, she went to bed at 6:30. She was SOOO excited about going! When I went to get her the next morning, she jumped up on her bed shouting, "Lexi wake up, Lexi go to school!" Then she jumped up and down several times. She will be starting for one 1 -- 1/2 day on Sept. 3. Then she will be going for 3 -- 1/2 days the next week. After that she will be going 3 full days per week. She is so thrilled to talk about school and to get ready for it! She already has her backpack packed and ready to go. I hope she has the language skills of one of M's sisters (she spent 2 years in China and can speak fluently) and not my ability for languages.

M is getting ready to head back to the states to run the NYC marathon. He is running lots and getting very excited.

Those are our big goings on. Have a great day!

At the Habu snake/Cobra show

Dr. Fish -- the fish eat the dead skin off your feet

L being cute

L promoting M with Brandon's help

M swearing in

We had my dad and sister here for 3 glorious weeks! I was so grateful to have them come and help out with the circus that is our home. My brother has now decided that each time he walks out of our door, the Circus theme song should be playing...yeah we have lots going on.

While my dad was here we got to see lots of the island and eat all over too. My dad LOVES to eat different/unusual/new foods so we tried to get in as many places as we could. One restaurant was a Garlic House -- fried garlic, baked garlic, fried potatoes, garlic and cheeses and on and on with the garlic recipes. Oh man, it was yummy!

We visited the Aquarium, a Butterfly garden, Fruit Land, Okinawa World and several other places I am forgetting. It was such a pleasure to be able to get out and enjoy where we are living. When our other visitors were here we had too much going on with sick/quarantined preemie babies. Having the boys older who could tag along was great. The little ones and I only went out and about every other days so they could rest (and I could rest) but we still were able to do lots.

Along with the sites, Matthew was promoted to Chief Warrant Officer 2! Matthew chose to have my brother help Lexi pin daddy's new rank on.

Let's see - other goings on. We have help coming two days/week. Our Jenny comes to help us hold babies and occupy L. She has Children's Lit background, so she has been recruited to read like crazy to little L.

The boys have started PT and are coming along. Mama has lots of movements that she has to practice with the boys, but they are making progress from week to week. In fact, we are already moving the PT sessions from one time per week to every other week. Caleb has also started baby rice cereal. Connor will hold off a couple of weeks on the cereal but has made baby progress in other areas.

The boys both have Opthamology appointments on Tuesday. Each one of them has a lazy right eye so we have figure out what to do about that.

L is also going to visit a Japanese preschool on Wednesday! She is so excited about going to school and we are so excited about her learning to speak Japanese. We hope this will be a fantastic experience for her.

This note is very disorganized, but the boys still get up 3 -5 times per night and I am up around 7 with L...so on little sleep, this is as good as it gets for now.

Have a great day!

EI -- Early Intervention

Update on C & C --

Being a former Early Intervention/Special Educator, I have watched very closely the development of C & C. When taking into consideration that the boys came early, I have watched even more closely. Several weeks ago, we decided that there was enough of a delay to go ahead and refer the boys to be evaluated. I discussed this with the Dr. at the boys' last appointment, but she was of the mindset that the boys just need more time. I agree that given more time, the boys would probably catch up and they probably wouldn't need anything. However, if they qualify, then what difference does it make to have one more person around to provide ideas/suggestions and interact with each boy individually. They don't get much 1:1 time, so a person here exclusively for each boy sounds like a good deal to me.

A Nurse and a PT (Physical Therapist) came to complete the evaluations and sure enough the boys qualify for services. Right now they are only needing physical development. Apparently during the last month in the womb, the muscle fibers develop that help you to make slow and precise movements. When you are born early, as the boys were, the muscle fibers do not have a chance to mature. The PT will be able to help the boys develop these muscle fibers and give us motor movement ideas and suggestions to carry on during the rest of the week. Each boy gets to work with the PT one time/week.

It also appears that each boy has a lazy eye. The muscle problems are probably contributing to the eye problems. So we have appointments to get the boys' eyes checked and see what step we need to take next -- probably just muscle exercises to work on strengthening the muscles.

We are excited to start services soon and get to work -- though I am not sure how to fit in the muscle activities we need to do in between feeding 3 kids, changing 2 boys and making sure L gets to the toilet (before she pees on the sofa one more time), playing, reading books, naps and errands.

The PT suggested that the boys will probably not need services a year from now so that is great! We are thankful that the only concern is physical movement. Otherwise the boys have sparkles in their eyes, smiles on their faces and are cooing up a storm.

Bday and project

I had a wonderful Birthday! M woke me up with a surprise appointment for a massage. Then I got to shopping all by myself for materials to build a table for L. M and I then went to dinner. My wonderful friends gathered for a party a couple of days before my bday -- which was fun. One gal brought those beautiful flowers!!!

I have found that if I have projects going, I am in a much better frame of mind as a stay-at-home-mom. So after finishing my painting of the house and my balcony garden; I had to move on. With the supplies I bought, I was able to build a table. Was fun to put together and will go with the wooden kitchen I am having made for L.

Three baskets underneath for storage and 2 baskets for sitting on.

Birthday

It is that time of year. June 1 is my Birthday. Gifts are not really my favorite, I just love for people to acknowledge my day and wish me Happy Birthday. So celebrate with me as i turn 31!.

On Friday we are having pizza and an ice cream cake. On the actual day of my birthday we have fabulous babysitters lined up while Mama, Dada and Uncle Baba got o dinner. So thank you friends for watching our herd of children.

M also has taken off the next 2 weeks. So after months of craziness at work, we are going to have some time to enjoy one another. The Marine Corps. was kind enough to give M 3 weeks off when the boys were born, but there was not too much down time since the boys were in the NICU during that time. We are very excited to get out, enjoy one another and enjoy the terrific adventures on the island.

As far as L goes, she is telling stories like crazy. She sits at the table for dinner and just jabbers, jabbers and jabbers. We understand one or two words here and there, but every couple of "paragraphs" she will give a hearty laugh so we laugh along at the "punch line". She loves playing with her babies and balls. I am hoping to save up and buy her a real wooden kitchen soon so that she can "cook" dinner with me. I am not totally sure why it is so important to me to buy her a kitchen...I know she would LOVE it; so I suppose that is reason enough for now. Since we became debt-free I have not had too hard of a time waiting to purchase things, but this one is hard. I really want it for her, I know she would enjoy it so much, especially right now -- but will continue to save. Hope this encourages others who are trying to live the debt-free lifestyle. Takes some discipline sometimes. Lots of people are living debt-free which is awesome! Why should we work to pay everyone else. We should work for ourselves.

Connor is consistently rolling over and can be selective as to when he wants to pass out smiles. He is holding his head up and loves to be held and swaddled. Connor is definitely a higher maintenance baby than L or Caleb ever were or is. Though in the world of babies, he is still easy.

Caleb is somewhat holding his head up. He gives out smiles like no other and he rolls over occasionally. He is much more content to hang out in the swing and does not need to be swaddled during the day. Caleb is very laid back and squeaks all the time...even while eating and sleeping.

Mama is holding up. So many people comment on how lucky we are to have twins (especially the Japanese) or comment on how they always wanted twins or thought it would be cool. Who wold wish for twins?!?!?! Who would want to have barely enough sleep to smile. In the last week, I have had 4 days which started at about 4:30 am and ended at about 11 pm. Why would that be cool? Why would you want to just get one baby to sleep and literally within 30 seconds the other starts to cry? Then when you get number 2 down, you hear, "Mama, Mama" coming from the big girl's room. Ok, I know this is a bit different from the last post, but the reality of twins and then twins with a toddler is tiring. Teaching was still more difficult than parenting, but with parenting I am just so tired.

All of this is also included with chasing L through the house and then tackling her with tickles. Then there are the moments where L and I get to giggling and just keep on and on. Oh, yeah, we also have the times when Caleb looks into my eyes and smile at me like I am the only person on the planet. L will also walk up to Connor and kiss him on the head or ask to hold Caleb. The joy of seeing calm wash over the boys when they are laid together is pretty great too. I love my kids, I love my kids, I love my kids...but maybe my grandmother was right to cry when she found out I was having twins. She cried because she remembered how hard it was. Maybe I should have a good cry and then go change another diaper :).

Happy Birthday to me!

Thinking

This past weekend we had a NICU reunion. The families who have had babies in the NICU while living in Okinawa are invited to attend this annual celebration. The NICU staff gathers and invites the families to honor the babies who have been taken care of in the NICU.

It was surprisingly an emotional event for me. The staff who took care of our 2 boys were incredible. And every once in a while I think about what they did for our boys. C & C would not be alive had the staff and NICU not been there. I would be a mother grieving the loss of her two boys. Especially the first week of the boys' lives...there is no way that Connor would have lived just after birth and Caleb would have died shortly after. So in the moments when all 3 kids are crying for something, all 3 kids need diaper changes (though L is very close to big girl panties) and all 3 kids are having rough days --- I need to think back to how had we not had the NICU and NICU staff, I would still be the mother of one living child.

I don't know why I keep processing our NICU experience over and over. I suppose its just part of life. At one point M and I were so stressed that the skin on my feet and the skin on M's hands was all coming off. Before this experience I had no idea that skin would peel off in times of stress. As soon as the boys were home, both of our hands and feet cleared up.

I wonder too if I keep thinking about this because I have several friends struggling with the grief of loosing their babies. I read their blogs and am so heart broken. I know how close we were to grieving our boys, but our boys are alive and doing well now.

I celebrate the lives of our 3 kids. I am grateful that L has had an extremely healthy life and that the boys are now doing well. I am grateful for a husband who works hard for our family. I am grateful for my brother who is the Godfather for the boys and who took care of us through all of the craziness with C & C's births. I am grateful for wonderful friends. And and I am grateful for my mom and M's mom and step-dad who came to get us through the roughest part of being home with the boys. Even the first month and 1/2 at home were very difficult. I am grateful for my dad and sister who are coming to visit. (My dad is a awesome cook as well). I am so thankful that these people who came to help and are coming to visit are getting to meet C & C rather than attending their funerals. Sitting at the NICU reunion, I was overcome with thankfulness for the lives or our children. I suppose these moments will come and go throughout the lives of my boys because I know how close we were to not being able to enjoy watching their first smiles, first laughs and so on.

Here is one photo of Caleb while he was in the NICU. When I walked into the NICU and saw Caleb under the blue lights, I remember thinking, "This is the worst he will look. Take a picture so that when he is marrying the girl of his dreams on his wedding day, we can remember how far he has come." This is still the hardest photo for me to look at -- but I am so grateful for where C & C are now!