Happy Number 7

THE FUN AND SOMETIMES NOT SO FUN STORIES ABOUT RAISING 5 KIDS UNDER 6!

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Babies Update!

Baby Update being a father Parenting multiples Pregnancy Stories Pregnant with Twins

The date is rapidly approaching, that day when we become a family of 7 plus our dog is less than 3 weeks away.. yikes!

Whether we are ready or not, what we have left to do, what we have done so far and whether we are freaking out or not is content for another blog… it is coming.. just not even mentally prepared to put it on paper!

This post is to share the amazing news that our baby boys have cleared the date when their arrival might have been considered risky… Cleared the date where we would have had to go to a different hospital that had special caring facilities for premature babies.  We are in the clear. If they were to decide to come into this world tomorrow, we will be able to go to “our” hospital and the delivery would be performed by Becca’s doctors.  The ones she’s been seeing since we were pregnant with Nati (that’s right, I said “we”). Moving forward, our babies will he delivered where we received all 3 of our other kids as it is likely that their lungs are developed enough. Again, it’s “our” hospital, our comfort zone – and this is very important at the time of delivery. Trust me, this is my 4th rodeo.

In addition to the great news above, the babies are doing great! They are growing at a very nice pace and weighing approximately 5.5 and 5.7 lbs respectively.  The momma could not be doing any better (considering the circumstances).  Yes, of course she is tired, in pain at times, uncomfortable, itchy, etc. but none of these are anomalies for a pregnant woman at 36 weeks of pregnancy.  She is rocking this pregnancy yet again – she is good at this!

For the past couple of weeks both of the babies were facing head down in perfect position for delivery. However, on Tuesday we found out that one of them decided to rebel against the system and decided to show the other baby who the alpha kid will be. He decided not only to shift, but also to pin the other baby down so no further movement is possible, or at least the chances are minimal.

What does this mean?  More than likely Becca will have to deliver via C-Section- this is new territory for us. But hey, everything about this adventure seems new.  Because of the position of our little rebel, the doctors will not perform natural delivery at the risk of encountering complications and having to do an emergency C-Section- they require both babies to be head down.

The bottom line: It sucks for Becca as the recovery is longer.  It sucks for me because I will be exposed to things I’ve never seen before and I am not 100% sure how the heck I am going to handle it…. I hope well enough to be Becca’s rock by her side, but I seriously have no idea what to expect … let’s just hope I don’t pass out or are scarred for life.

The good news in this is that unless the babies decide to make an appearance earlier than expected, we will book the delivery date.  Doing this allows us to plan ahead, plan who’s going to be watching the kids, who’s taking them to school, who will house-sit, who can we count on for running errands, cooking meals, etc for the kids.  Trust me, it is not an easy task.  Taking care of 3 kids at once (ages 6, 3, and 1) when you are not used to it can be a daunting task.. only a few people (family :)) are ballsy enough to volunteer for the task.

By scheduling, we can pack our bags, set up our alarm, prepare ourselves and the kids mentally and physically, etc. I like it like this. All of our kids have been scheduled – as mentioned above, Becca rocks pregnancies and kids seem to get comfy in her belly and choose to stay there as long as allowed.. 🙂

Crazy long story short, we are in the final stretch. Babies are, thank God, healthy and so is Becca, I couldn’t ask for anything more.  Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we embark on this insane adventure in the next couple of weeks.

Thanks for “listening”. Can’t wait to welcome you to our world little ones.

Babies' Update
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To Party or Not to Party?… That is/was the question.

being a father Birthday Parties Fun with kids Life Reflections Parenting multiples Pregnant with Twins

I wish this post was about Becca and I partying… that has not and will not be happening for a while.. but our day will come..

Nati’s birthday is at the end of this month.. she is turning 6! Holy cow… where has the time gone? I know it is the biggest cliché, but man, time does fly, they grow fast… too fast for my taste.  I absolutely LOVE everything we’ve experienced with Nati and everything she has taught us. Being the oldest kid, she has been the one that has opened our eyes to so many things and has helped us grow as parents.  She has been the “manual” for our other kids, and truth be told, a huge role model for Nico and Santi.

Anywho I digress as always…

Being that Becca is as pregnant as pregnant can get, and that the 38 weeks mark is on 2/6, we did not know whether we should even consider throwing a party for Nati.  The uncertainty of what could happen does not really leave much room for “reliable plans” but, after sitting down and evaluating how Becca was feeling and how the pregnancy was going and talking with Nati, we decided it was best if we did organize a party for her.  We had to plan..and quickly!   I seriously bought the invitations that night, reserved the place the next day, and distributed the invitations 2 days later. Yes, we have all guests on standby in case I need to send a mass text from the hospital with party cancellations 🙂 but we are moving forward with it.  We are also going to keep it simple, not a whole lot of prepping and stressing the night before: simple games, pizza (delivery) and cake.

It has been a big year for Nati so we wanted to celebrate it.  She started Kindergarten and is doing great, she showed great improvement in her gymnastics and ballet skills (as seen here), she learned how to ride a bike without training wheels (read here), she learned how to read (this should’ve topped the list :)) and she has continued to be an amazing little girl full of love, compassion and joy.  How can you not celebrate!?! Hehe. And of course, we do not want the anticipated delivery of the twins to lessen the importance of her special day!

The theme she chose for her party is “doggies”.  Definitely not a whole lot of activities planned that are “dog related” but at least her cake, plates, cups, etc will include dogs.  We invited her classmates and a couple other friends and are hoping for another gorgeous Florida day so we can play games outside and simply let the kids be kids.  My aim: keep a permanent smile on my baby girl and try for both kids and adults to have a great time. (adult beverages provided of course. #thatisagiven)

So… we are partying!!! At least we are planning on it.

Cheers to the unpredictable future, flash party planning and happiness all around!

 

Nati loving on our almost 10 year old black lab Sammy.

Nati loving on our almost 10 year old black lab Sammy.

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What they are not telling you: Pregnancy is hard on men too!

being a father Lessons learned Life Reflections Parenting multiples Pregnant with Twins

Yes, I admit it, it is much tougher on women as they have to endure the body changes, fatigue, lack of sleep, deliver the baby (or in our case babies!), etc, etc, etc.  However, it takes a village! It is a long ass process… 9 months (or 10 months as my wife will correct me) of constant support, stepping up our game to cover some of the tasks previously performed mostly by our wives,  helping to parent the other 3 kids AND tending to the needs and mood swings of our lovely pregnant wife 🙂 Love you babe.

I am going to go ahead and say it: It is f**ing hard and gets tiring too!  Yes, my body is not going through insane changes like my wife’s, but my mind and time management is out of whack! Because a pregnant women’s energy is being consumed by the baby, they often (and deservingly) need more “down time”. This is where our role becomes more important and more tasks are added to our list. It seriously feels like I don’t have time for anything else other than coming home to cook, have dinner with my family, spend an hour or so together, clean up the house (toys everywhere), get kids ready for bed, read, practice phonics, and then back downstairs to finish up cleaning or go to bed. Rinse and repeat the next day. And No Free passes – it’s all got to get done. Thankfully, at home we have a very good team (see previous post here) and Becca, as pregnant as she is, carries a good amount of weight (pun intended) on our daily home chores.

I am thankful that Becca is an amazing pregnant woman; she is a trooper– she is active and rarely complains. Also, during all 4 pregnancies she has not had any middle of the night cravings where I need to leave the house to find a Hot Fudge Brownie with Ice Cream or some crazy stuff like that…. Her cravings are much more manageable, very few and they usually happen at lunch or dinner times (pizza, chipotle, five guys, etc.).  Her Coca Cola craving is the only one that is a bit out of hand 😉 especially since it HAS to be fountain soda so there’s no way for me to be proactive and have a 2 liter handy in the house…

Needless to say, at the end of the day it is all worth it. The return on investment is astronomical, but I am not kidding… it is hard on everyone– I am sure other fathers can relate.  AND consider this a warning for those men that don’t have kids yet — Yes, she is the one carrying the baby, but the weight you need to carry around the house will also get heavier.

And this is only the pre-game show…. The real deal will begin once the babies are born. Bring it! 🙂

Pregnancy is hard on men too!

 

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NOTE TO SELF: LET THEM BE KIDS.

Fun with kids Lessons learned Life Reflections Parenting Milestones Parenting multiples Uncategorized Weekend Fun

This weekend I had to remind myself to let my kids be kids….

Sometimes as parents we try to control situations, most of the time for our kids’ safety, but too often we try to control them to make things more convenient for us… avoiding situations that could disrupt our day, cause a little chaos, etc…

On Sunday, we went outside to ride bikes and scooters; however my kids changed their mind and decided they wanted to play in our backyard instead…  We have what I think is a pretty cool backyard with a pool, a nice treehouse with a slide, and some swings in the back…a pretty fun area for a kid. My first thoughts were…. “Hmm… if we go back, I am going to have to clean up the swings… also, I may have to go back inside to get mosquito repellent (they get bad at times), this may be a pain….”

After a couple of failed attempts trying to convince the kids to stay out front and ride their bikes, I gave up.  We swung for a bit and then went to the treehouse to slide… This meant I had to wipe the slide clean (had to go get Lysol and a towel)…

While the kids played in the treehouse, I took advantage of the time, cracked open a beer and proceeded to clean our pool.  Since it needed some water I opened up the hose and dropped it in the pool. This was their queue to play with water!!  My first reaction was “Guys, please don’t play with the water– you are going to get wet, we are going to have to get new clothes, you are going to get cold, yadda yadda yadda”… After they were initially careful due to my annoying directions, they later began to be more careless with the water… I caught myself wanting to tell them to stop but then I thought “what the heck!, what’s the worst that can happen?? They get wet. So what?!! Let them be kids. Let them have fun!”

They had a blast! They got soaked! They got a ton of things wet and even ended up without their bottoms on the shallow end of the pool (which is freezing based on my “I am a baby with cold water” standards).   I had a great time watching them be kids- they couldn’t stop laughing and played wonderfully together.  It was a great wake up call for me to relax and to let the kids be kids. It was a win-win for all of us and an awesome way to spend our Sunday as a family.

Thank you kiddos for continuing to teach me how to be your dad; I love you.

A great reminder to myself to let my kids be kids!

A great reminder to myself to let my kids be kids!

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Christmas & New Year’s break – Best ever?

Christmas 2014 Fun with kids Holiday Fun New Years 2014 Parenting multiples Pregnant with Twins Strider

Thanks to Becca’s line of work and the awesome agency I work for, we were off at the same time the kids were on Christmas break from school.

This Christmas not only brought with it the joy it usually brings, but allowed us to spend some quality time with our kids, our family and with friends (both local and visiting).

Because of how far along we are in the pregnancy (33 weeks!), we had to lay low and stay in town for the entire break. Looking back, it was probably the best thing that could’ve happened to our family.  We were able to make great progress on the remodeling of the kids’ rooms and setting up the twins’ nursery and we had THE best time together. Nope, we did not do anything out of the ordinary; we did not visit any theme park or anything like that. We just stayed home, went to the beach and visited 3-4 different playgrounds to let the kids burn some energy and enjoy the amazing Florida winter weather.

Sometimes less is more and this was one of those times. We are now getting back into our “normal” groove. This week will probably be challenging trying to get the kids to “re-adjust”… but as I am losing my mind arguing with them to go to bed and trying to wake them up in the morning, I will try to remind myself (and my wife) of the awesome time we had for the past two weeks.

Here are some pics to prove it. 🙂

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Florida Winter
Florida Winter Fun.
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A proud and emotional Dad – Part 2

Children Milestones Fun with kids Parenting Milestones Parenting multiples

Although it took me longer than expected to write this post, the evening of Nati’s recital is still very vivid in my head…

A little background: Nati has been in Ballet and Tap classes for about 2 years now… for her first recital we were all very excited to see her, but she did not make it on stage! She was petrified! She was scared of all the “staring” eyes while she was on stage, so she remained offstage while the rest of her class danced- we even had the camera all ready to record only to catch a glimpse of her terrified face running off stage… The following recital, 5 months later, she performed on stage and danced and her confidence grows stronger with every performance.

Fast forward to December 15th, 2014. Nati is taking ballet this session with her favorite teacher and she is in a small class of only 3 ballerinas. All classes are held with closed doors, including the dress rehearsal, so we have no idea what the dance is like. Her teacher had told us she was very proud and happy of all the progress they had made in the past couple of months, but we still did not know what to expect…

The only sneak peek we had was from her rehearsal day where we saw how adorable she looked in her outfit, but still had no idea about her dance…

The day of the recital came… Nati was performing to Ave Maria by Beyonce and her class was the next to last performance….

After sitting through 8-10 super cute performances from all the little dancers, it was time for Nati and her 2 friends to perform… The curtain opened and she was the first in line. My heart stopped for a few seconds– she looked so radiant, so happy, so confident. Her smile and confidence looking at the audience filled my heart with joy and pride.

Then they began to dance…. Wow… wow… wow… her lines, her rhythm, her musicality have gotten sooo good!! I am no dance expert, but I see how much progress she has made and know that her technique looked amazing for an almost 6 year old. She danced beautifully- she knew her choreography with confidence, and she even did a perfect split! :)… I was in awe the entire performance and could not stop clapping and cheering for her once the performance was over. When they came out for the final curtain… my eyes got watery… I choked a little… my baby girl had grown up right before my very eyes… Yes, her technique and dance skills have gotten so much better and we will continue to encourage her growth, but what got me the most was her confidence, seeing how much she enjoyed being on stage, no fear… she was soo happy and THAT makes ME even happier and very proud of her.

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Rehearsal Day

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Nati after her amazing performance. 🙂

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Nati and her Ballet/Tap teacher.

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Our Ballerina.

 

Thank you Nati for filling our hearts with joy and pride. Seeing you grow up and seeing how happy you are on stage is admirable and contagious.  You continue to amaze me and I love you.

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Happy Number 7

We are a very happy family of 7 -- including twin boys! We have 5 kids under 6 and a black lab.

Life is great — at times hectic but worth every second. This is our story.

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