I see summer!

I'm just going to skip over the fact that I haven't blogged in a couple of weeks, that I turned 30, celebrated 5 years of marriage and that I went to Montreal to celebrate during my blog hiatus.  I'll get back to it when I feel like gathering my thoughts.  In the meantime, let's talk about summer!

Yes, summer is almost here (or already here depending on how you define summer for you and your family) and I am surprised to be excited about it.  Surprised because last summer was awful - the kids were in a rough patch (18-24 months, you were not my friend), we had record heat for the last two months of my 42-week pregnancy and my A/C was broken for most of that time.  Last July pretty much turned me off to summer forever.  Or so I thought.

This year, with Matteo and all the classes for Sebastian and Collette, I feel so rushed and busy.  Getting Matteo down for a nap and on time so I can wake him up in time to get out of the house and into the car and to whatever overpriced activity I signed us up for has been exhausting!  Not that I wouldn't do it again, I'm just tired of it now.  I'm ready to take a leisurely pace that compliments summertime so well.  With the twins starting school in September (albeit just 2 mornings a week...), I am excited to just go with the flow and live schedule-free.  Sure, they will still have a nap schedule - I haven't completely lost it!  But I won't feel the need to have each day planned weeks in advance.  I'm already relaxed just thinking about it!

So, as of Saturday, if you wanna hang out with some super cool toddlers, a very cute baby and me, we are officially free :)  And we have a kiddie pool - all are welcome.

Thank You Isis!

For those of you who are local, I'm sure you are familiar with Isis Maternity. I first learned about this gem from a friend who did an internship there for his MBA. His wife was pregnant when I was pregnant with the twins so all of us went to one of their guest speaker events - I think it was about children and brain development. We went on to take their "Parenting Multiples" class which I HIGHLY recommend if you are expecting twins and in the greater Boston area. My personal favorite thing about Isis, though, is there selection of baby/parenting/nursing gear. They sell a lot of things that you can't easily find at Babies 'R' Us, especially their nursing and pumping stuff. We have yet to partake in any of their baby/kid classes but I would like to try them out once they are a bit older.

I told you all a while back how I won an Ergo carrier from them. I also mentioned that I won tickets to see Babies - also courtesy of Isis. As if all that wasn't enough, they invited me to special event where they announced their new name which I agree better reflects their services: Isis Parenting. The event was lots of fun, although I had to rescue Sebastian from the babysitting room - such a momma's boy. We learned about Isis' new brand and got to see a great cooking demo from a local Boston chef.

The next night was the Babies movie event. All the ticket winner received free goody bags with nursing mom essentials. I got a kick-ass pumping bra - much better than the one I had last time. These things have come a long way! The movie was adorable but I'll save my thoughts on that for another post.

So, a big thank you to Isis Parenting for letting us into your world this past week. I will continue to sing your praises and will remember to use your new name!

Updates and Such

We had our second music class this week (well, third, but I forgot about the class last week. Isn't pregnancy lovely??) and things went MUCH better. I brought snacks and got there early. Except we ended up being on time because the class started at 930 not 945 - again, pregnancy brain. But still, things worked much better this time.

To be honest, the first time I was frazzled before class even started. The space is not handicap/stroller accessible and that put me in a very foul mood from the get-go. Kids pick up that stuff, ya know? Anyway, this time, I knew what to expect, my attitude was better, the kids didn't have low blood sugar and everyone was (mostly) happy. This class probably isn't the best music class out there so we might consider switching to a different one for the summer.

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In baby news, I have a correction to make. I have been spelling my new son's name wrong. Billy and I discussed it and he won (sort of...) and our baby boy is Matteo. That's two Ts like his big sis. I prefer that spelling, too, but thought it would confuse his friends and family back home because in Spanish, it's just the one T. Two Ts is the Italian way to spell it. No Italian in our family, in case you were wondering. So, now you know how to engrave that Tiffany sterling silver rattle you've had your eye on. :)

Not Mini Mozarts

One of the things I was most looking forward to about our one-nap schedule was the freedom to take some baby classes. With 2 naps, finding a class at just the right time is near impossible. Now, we have a 3-4 free hours in the AM and a class is a great way to fill up some of that time. Or so I thought.

Most mommy-baby classes are designed with a 1:1 ratio in mind. However, the wise members of my MoT group seemed to agree that a music class is very doable (even fun!) with two babes. So, I signed us up. I chose one that was only 6 weeks long (most are 10) because if the kids hated it, I didn't want to be stuck going or out all that money. The rec department in town runs a 6-week one and it's very close to our house so a win-win all around.

Monday was our first class. We got there on time and I got the kids into the room (no easy task, BTW, and I think this may have contributed to some of our problems). There were lots of different instruments for the kids to play with. Sebastian and Collette would both pick one up and then toss it to the floor to try another. But then, Collette set her sights on the instrument the teacher had. A wooden bowling pin shaped thing with a stick - musical people out there probably know what this is called. Anyway, the teacher needed it to sing her songs and keep the rhythm. It was the only instrument that was off limits. And for my little girl, it may as well have been the only thing in the room.

Things went pretty down hill from there. Thankfully, Sebastian, just ignored the class half the time and quietly explored the room with one of the shakers in his hand. But Collette just couldn't settle in. The only thing that made her happy was if I held her and stood up. And even then she wasn't always happy. She was fussing so much I had to take her out of the room for a few minutes and I gave her a little snack. And then 10 minutes later had to do the same thing with both of them - thank God I brought enough!

As the class was winding down (and I was holding Collette, again), Sebastian started to fuss. At one point, I thought he was going to throw a temper tantrum right in the middle of the circle but he kept it together enough that we could finish the class. Overall, I don't think either of them really enjoyed it.

I have a few ideas to make it better for next time. I will use the correct entrance so I can bring the stroller into the room. (The way I came in, I was on a whole level above the room and was not about to bring my stroller down the stairs) I might get there early and give them snack right before class. At least they will have full tummies. Other than that, I'm not sure what I can do to make the experience a better one for them. I was almost in tears at how badly it was going. It's so discouraging to go through all this effort to do something fun for your kids and have them act like its torture. So, any words of wisdom? I don't want to quit because I know that they will probably to a little better each time. But, I don't want a repeat of last week either.