Nagging Negatives

I get it... I have twins and I will hear all sorts of comments about them because of this fact. I truly do wish though that more of the comments would be more on the positive side and not the negative.. I understand that not all twins and other multiples are well behaved in public. I also understand that having multiples is hard work. I realize that many people are glad that they aren't me (a mother/parent of multiples).

I do realize that even having 1 baby is hard work (and secretly I sometimes wish that I had 1 kid at a time too). Must I hear this almost every time I go out (even when I'm out with only one kiddo or by myself) ? Do they think that I am not sick of it? So I've started to retaliate..

• When I get asked "Are they twins?", I've started to say... "No..they're triplets...oh no I left one home alone".
• When they say "Double Trouble", I reply with "Twice as Nice" or "Double the Love".
• When they ask how I wound up with them... I so want to say 'I had infertility problems and after many years of trying we finally tried IVF and got lucky..do you need my doctor's number?' but I do usually just say "I guess I got lucky".

I've also been much more aware of people who are out with their own multiples and making sure that I comment positively or commend them on how great a job they are doing (even if the reality is far from that for them).

So you might be wondering why I am blogging about this tonight. Well something happened tonight while I was out getting groceries with Lily. We had scored a Car Shopping Cart (I've only seen 2 at our Stop n Shop and they are usually being used by kids that really don't need them) and Lily was having a great time sitting in the car section and turning the steering wheel and beeping the horn. She was also leaning out every so often and I was having to remind her to "Please sit up Lillian Grace" when she would do it. She only threw her hat out of the cart once (and luckily someone retrieved it for me). As we were leaving though someone commented about her (I can't even remember what they said) and I commented that we were heading home to Daddy and her twin and they were basically floored and commented about them being Double Trouble. People who don't even know us or have met Anna just figured that if Lily was acting up (she was at that moment) that her twin must be just as bad or didn't deserve the opportunity to go out with Mommy too. In truth, Lily was having a not so good day and it was easier to bring her with me than to leave her at home to have a fit with Daddy since I had taken the opportunity to do some last minute shopping for the holidays with my mom and was gone for a few hours today. These comments just aren't fair. So if you've made it this far into my rambling on this posting, please be kind to parents of multiple children. We need to hear it.

Party Palooza

We are officially One now... wahoo... it's been fun to be one so far. The girls got totally spoiled with presents at their party. They got a TON of clothes, DVDs, some new toys to play with, a water table and a totally awesome Pool from their uncle and his family. We've already worn a few of the outfits and even tried out the new pool. The toys are so much fun.


The party went relatively well...


I made their cakes...


Everyone at the party was impressed that I not only made them but also decorated them.

They came out so well and are so adorable..









and speaking of adorable....

Look at the girls now that they are ONE...


Lillian Grace Ringen

Born 5-12-09
@ 4:52pm







Anastasia Elizabeth Ringen

Born 5-12-09
@ 4:32 pm









I love this picture so much...







BUT....



This picture totally cracks everyone up who sees it since the expression on Anna's face is just so her. I'm glad that the photographer was able to get it.






I have not downloaded the party pictures yet... But once I do I will make sure to put them up here. The girls loved the cakes and totally enjoyed smearing them all over themselves.

She did it!!!!

The she being Anna and the it being Crawling forwards. She's had Backwards down for a little while now and had been working on getting the coordination going to get herself going forward. Well she did it today.. while we were at a playgroup at the Family Network. I doubt if I've ever been prouder of one of my girls. The funny thing is that she did it on the bare floor at first and I immediately thought she's just sliding herself forward.. not a big deal but then she made it onto the carpet and kept going. I was so excited I went and got the director of the Network to see my girl in motion. It was quite the celebration.. now we need to get Lily mobile. Hopefully it won't be too long for her to get the hang of it and then I will most probably will be needing to split myself in two to keep up with both Anna and Lily.

New pictures of the girls

The Girls at Two Weeks. Lily and Anna

Anna tries out the bouncy chair

Mom and Lily bonding

Mommy's belly is gone!

I can't believe how big they are getting to be already. Hope that you enjoyed the pictures here. There are plenty more to come each day.

Baby Announcements I'm Making

In an effort to save us some major money...I'm making our baby announcements.

It's been a fun process so far. I scraplifted (stole) a saying that I saw in the baby announcement book at IParty while I was Pregnant. I also bought my own cardstock (25 already folded sheets with 25 envelopes) and background paper at Michael's (8x8 paper on clearance) for less than $20 total. I'll also be including a wallet size photo of the girls from when they were 2 days old (see the post below for the picture) and came up with the following which I think is a rather great attempt at my own announcements. Maybe this could be a new career for me. What do you all think?

Pictures of the Girls and Us

Anastasia Elizabeth Ringen

May 12th 2008 4:32pm

Lillian Grace Ringen

May 12th 2008 4:52pm

Cheryl with Lily (l) and Anna (r)

Our Family: Cheryl w/ Anna and Lee w/ Lily

Anna (with binkie) and Lily at 2 days old

May 14th 2008