Karen and Sam

Today Aunt Karen came for a visit. We were honored she came by, as it was only a short 36 hour visit to Chicago to visit her brother and their newborn baby.

Karen is married to Andrew, Adam’s college roommate and my family friend. Karen also serves a very important role in our lives – Adam and I met at her wedding.

Since their wedding we have all become fast friends. Karen and Andrew (along with 10 other of our good friends) spent 11 days in Hawaii with Adam and I on our second date.

Last year we rented a villa with them in Cayman and vacationed together.

We now have two sets of kids that are the same age, which is a bonus when it comes to keeping  your friends close. Your interests in activities and vacation spots run parallel.

It has occurred to me that this month marks the one year birthday of my blog.

It amazes me how it has taken form. How much it has changed and how it continues to surprise me.

My readership continues to grow. It’s still a small amount of people reading it, but in the beginning I was lucky to get 8 visitors a day. Now it’s more like 30 people a day. Last week I had a surge of over 100 people on one particular day.

That same day, I also received my first comments from someone I didn’t know and it wasn’t computer generated spam.

I wasn’t sure what I should do with it, should I trash it or accept it? In the end I realized I had finally hit on a topic that people cared about. A controversial topic that effected people outside of my circle of friends. So I accepted the comments, though one upset me a bit.

The two comments were for my Double Bris blog.

One was not very nice, something about our poor children being born to parents who were willing to mutilate them. But one peaked my interest. It talked about a more progressive way to have a Bris. They call it a Brit Shalom. It is a ceremony for Jews who don’t believe in circumcision. It really made me think about a religious ritual that I always assumed was essential.

There a whole movement out there of people who are changing their thoughts about circumcision. You can read more about it here… Jews Against Circumcision.

Obviously it’s too late to do anything different. And even so I’m not sure if I would change my mind. But it really got me thinking about the practice of circumcision. What was the reason for it? And was it still necessary?

My first helper arrived this evening…

My sister arrives from North Carolina

I wasted no time acclimating her!

…or perhaps a small army of friends and family to lead any sort of normal existence these days.

View looking down most days (neither kid lets me put them down)

Since I can’t drive, Adam had to come home to take me to my Ob/Gyn appointment today. Jack was at school so we were down to three kids. Ben fell asleep in the car on the way over so instead of us all going to the office, Adam stayed in the car with the three kids while I ran out to my appointment. Luckily they all slept for him and he was able to get some work done.

The doctor cleaned up my cut and put some stuff on it to close off the bit that was slightly open. Otherwise she said my scar is healing great, and had me reschedule for the 6 week postpartum check up.

Afterwards Cindy and Pam called me to see if I wanted to join them at the park. I did, but I couldn’t drive there or walk long distances with 4 kids so I was stuck. Luckily Cindy’s husband had her kids and she was nice enough to load all my kids into our mini van and drive to the park for us. I’m not sure if she’ll do it again, though. Both Aaron and Sam spent the entire car ride bawling.

While at the park my friend Marie spotted Ben doing his signature move in the sandbox – eating fistfuls of sand. She told Pam who fixed the problem, wiped him up and got him out of there. Pam and Cindy also took turns watching my other kids and holding babies while I swapped out the twins for breast feeding for the majority of the time I was there.

Finally we got home to find a hot cooked meal from our friend Lauren Marks down the street. Perhaps the most delicious brisket I’ve ever had. The stuff literally melted in my mouth. I can’t wait for left overs tomorrow night!

Lauren Mark's Brisket

Sadly, even with all the help I didn’t manage to even take a shower today. As I sit here typing this Adam is passed out on the couch with Sam on top of him and I am typing one handed with Aaron asleep in my other hand.

Jack's Mother's Day Present

In the past I was very respectful of the fact that I am just one mother in a long line of mothers in front of me.

But this year, as a new mother of four, I very selfishly kept the plans for the day completely for myself.

In truth making any sort of plan for the day with six different people is daunting. Trying to add any extra people into the mix is mind boggling. I’m starting to realize just how much our mobility will be effected by our new additions.

Adam did the perfect thing this morning. When the older kids woke at the crack of dawn, he rushed them out to Starbucks so I could sleep longer with the twins. When I woke up they were at Adam’s Park. I said, “Great, I’ll meet you there.”

Adam and the Twins

Adam said, “We’ll come get you.”

I said no, I can just walk over. He replied, “How are you going to get the kids in the stroller? We’ll come back and pick you up.”

They came back to pick us up but we still didn’t manage to make it back to the park until 1pm!

These first six weeks after the Cesarean have been a lesson in humility. I have always prided myself on independence, but until I stop taking the pain meds I can’t drive and until my scar heals (six weeks after the surgery) I can’t lift anything heavy.

I’ve also realized I can’t be alone with my 2 year old, Ben, and discipline him in any way. If he is naughty all I can do is ask him to get in the time out chair. If he doesn’t go I can’t lift him up to put him there.

Ice Cream at the Park

Luckily Adam has been super helpful and soon my family members will arrive in shifts to help me throughout the summer.

Mother’s day this year couldn’t have been more meaningful for me. Besides my wonderful bouquet from Jack, his school put together a book of favorite recipes. The kids tell the teacher what they like best of their mom’s cooking. The recipe book is a collection of favorite foods from each kid and so all the other parents see what the other kids say. With the lead up to the birth I’ve been a less healthy cook than I would be normally. And Jack caught me out, his favorite recipe was pillsbury store bought biscuits. Ugh.

Otherwise I recently saw the Hunger Games with my friend Lottie. Such a good movie! I was wondering how it could possibly be a trilogy. Adam got me all the books, iTunes credits (you can never have enough!) and the promise of some much needed new sunglasses.

Jack Playing Chase with Papa

Today we ventured out to the park for the first time, all six of us.

Unlike in the past where we showed up promptly at 9 am and played until lunch, we only managed to get there by 12. Luckily Ben and Jack don’t need a nap most days, and all Sam and Aaron do is nap, so we had the whole afternoon to play.

It was a gorgeous day, and after 4 days in the hospital followed by 4 days of errand running for the bris it was wonderful to be back at the park with the kids, soaking up the sun and picnicking outdoors.

Ben Calls them 'Donuts' and Eats Fistfuls of Sand

Before the twins were born, Adam asked me to do some research on double carriers.

I must admit I’ve never seen woman in the park with twins holding two babies at once. Perhaps because this very quickly becomes unsustainable. How many pounds of baby can you comfortably carry?

For now it’s still a lot less than what I was carrying before they were born. But I would imagine within three months I’ll find carrying two babies too difficult.

But for now, I found this tutorial for twin moby carry on youtube. I tried it, it worked great!

Using the Moby Wrap for Twins

Holding Hands

Today we mustered up the courage to take all the Calisoffs to Target. It was our first trip all together. Adam and I giggled as we packed a small vacations worth of stuff to drive down the street.

On our way there I thought about how hard it would be to get through the store. In the last few months of pregnancy I couldn’t go anywhere without people stopping and asking when I was due, fawning over the fact that it was twins. Wait until they see us out in force, double twin stroller and our other two boys, which everyone always tells us are so cute, well behaved, or whatever they feel like commenting on.

But when were got there, we didn’t get a single ooh or aah. In fact, we got a couple of dirty looks and a few, “excuse me, your in my way” type comments.

When I walked away from Adam and the older boys to get myself a starbucks with the twins, three separate woman stopped me to coo and congratulate me over my recent arrivals.

I guess while the excitement of having twins is contagious, the reality of a family walking around target with four small kids is just white trash.