July 27: BIG meeting with Senior Executive VP at client

July 27, 2011 by Leave a Comment

My morning and commute:

I had a great morning. I got ready for work – had to dress well for the Executive Presentation later today. I will do hair and make up while at work. Red and Twins were already downstairs with Hubby, who had breakfast under control

* Red and Twins were eating at the dining room table, Twins in their booster seats. This is because they were all eating yogurt. Twins self feeding with yogurt is a very scary sight. It was everywhere but they were doing great. They love the spoons. Yogurt was in their ears, hair, all over their faces and necks. Their arms were covered and their shirts soaked. Sooooooooooooooo cute.

Yogurt morning

* I ran upstairs to get extra clothes that were requested by daycare for Twin Crazy. Big Bro was still in bed. “Mommy…. can you help me?” “Help you with what?” “Getting up.” “OK.” So he needs some mommy-time. I went over and hugged and kissed him good morning. I felt the warmth of him cuddled in his blanket. I said “Ohhhhhhhhhhhh you’re so warm and cuddly…… do you feel lucky?” “Yes mommy!”. How cute.
* He had to pee but we decided for him to walk downstairs with me holding hands so we could spend more time together. He agreed. It was only one extra minute but I think both of us needed the extra time together.
* Red’s PJ tops got stuck on her head while getting changed. Her nose was in the way. So I took the opportunity to tweak her nose and get her laughing as we struggled to get the top off.
* It took several minutes to wipe down Twin Crazy and Twin Husky from their yogurt adventures. They loved it. “Is there yogurt HERE? Yes. Is there yogurt HERE? Yes.” We made a game of it and they had a good time getting clean.
* OK – Time to go! Twin Husky seemed to repeat this statement even with inflection. How cute. It’s harder for me to notice their level of speaking ability, compared to the first two children. I have less time to focus on what they are saying and learn what their sounds mean.
* We were running late. Had to run to the car without giving the twins diaper changes. So not only did we drop them off with hair sticky with yogurt, but they were also sopping wet with diapers sagging almost to the floor. Not only that, but she requested me to bring in more diapers and I forgot (I was too focused on the extra clothes for twin crazy). So I had to scour the mini-van and found 3 diapers. We really should have changed them ourselves this AM. I’m not sure how shes going to last with one remaining diaper for two kids for the rest of the day…..

Today at work I will need to focus on:
* preparing for the presentation this morning. It has been several days since I’ve seen the presentation draft and I need to refresh my memory of the content.
* working with our analyst who will be starting on Draft 1 of the white paper.
* if possible, closing the loop on the next steps from our partnering meeting yesterday.

Lots to do today! The sky is grey. We are approaching the city now. On the ferry I just met a developer for the iPad so am learning lots of crazy features that of course now I’m forgetting, but at least I know who to talk to if I have any questions on iPad, iPhone, etc. going forward. Gotta go!

Highlights of my working day:

* decided to buy quick breakfast (breakfast tacos and HUGE hazelnut coffee) since I need the food/energy for my meetings today
* make up and hair in ladies room
* worked with analyst to make sure she is on track for outline and drafting of white paper
* quickly prepared for Executive presentation; had admin print and bind. Reviewed content to refresh my memory of issues. Coordinated with director on how to deliver and present the material
* I throw my heels in my bag and put my walking shoes on… it is sunny outside and we enjoy the sun on the walk over. Outside of the office I do the “shoe switch” but at that same moment I notice that I have dried yogurt on both sleeves of my dress. Shit!!! I quickly pick these off.
* presentation went EXCELLENT. The person was actually a Senior EVP and very high up the chain — very funny and personable guy. We established rappore immediately over small talk re: iPad. During the presentation he was very quick, very on-point. He kept me on my toes. Afterwards, we received great feedback and thanks from all clients. Director comment: “That couldn’t have gone any better than that. Great job Kim”. YEAH!
* We quickly run for sandwich; while in food court there is a farmers market. I of course seize the opportunity to buy strawberries, peaches, and cucumbers while waiting for my take out lunch.
* we run to office for another conference call with another set of potential partners for a different business development opportunity which could be huge for us. I was actually supposed to be in Seattle today for this meeting – half of our team is there and we took the call from our office.
* Worked with the analyst on the whitepaper to see the progress; made suggestion on visuals and how to package the content. Quickly crafted some visuals in powerpoint for use in whitepaper; we will meet with the client tomorrow to talk about the first rough draft.
* There was no time for me to follow up with the business development go-to-market approach as I had originally planned. Oh well, I’ve learned that I can’t do everything all of the time. This can wait until tomorrow or Friday.

Busy day!

I had an appointment in the city after work so Hubby is solo with kids tonight. Then I get the news…. the new, undependable mothers helper has proved herself to be undependable again tonight. Hubby is solo with all four kids. I’ll need to take care of him tonight. 🙂

Hopefully the kids will be awake by the time I get home; at least enough for me to read a book and tuck them in.

Till tomorrow –

– Mama K.

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July 26: On the road again…

July 26, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Today’s routine was a bit out of the ordinary since I had to drive to two different face-to-face meetings today for work. I had to leave the house by 7:45 AM and not only that, but I actually had to get myself ready and look presentable (e.g., hair and makeup). So, I literally had almost NO time with the kids –

Highlights of the Morning:

  • Red woke up in the middle of the night because she “lost” her two plastic measuring spoons in bed. Why do we let them bring toys into bed? Hmmm. Sounds like a topic I should poll our group on.
  • they ate well because of Chocolate Tuesday
  • Twin Husky wanted out of the high chair. He wants to move and explore in the AM
  • Twin Crazy was in her high chair, COVERED with blueberry yogurt (self-feeding). Literally all over her hands, face, YUCK but so cute. I think she realized that I was very hesitant to be too close to her and she was in a very anxious mood towards me the rest of the AM.

Twin Crazy goes crazy over blueberry yogurt

  • I was rushing – trying to help Hubby get things organized for his drop offs; I made a huge cup of coffee in the Tervis Tumbler
  • Said goodbye to everyone — they each came over for a hug and a kiss, even Big Bro (melted my heart…. he is still innocent and will go out of his way to get a hug from mommy). Twin Crazy was still very anxious. I feel like i did not hug her enough this AM so I’ll need to focus on that tonight.
  • I drove out to my meeting, got a big lost (thanks map quest) but realized it when I started driving by cows and the road dead-ended. I made the meeting in plenty of time.

Highlights of My Working Day:

  • Business development meeting went extremely well. We are partnering to potentially bring a product to market and we had a very productive meeting. I was an active participant and feel good about my contributions. The Head of Marketing there is a woman and through small talk I found out that she is also a mother of twins. Instant connection. YES\!! And then the pictures came out (which I had in my bag for a separate meeting with another mother of four). I honestly have no problem “pimping out” my kids for business development/sales/client relationship building. I’m always talking about stories and using my situation as an icebreaker when appropriate.
  • Grabbed lunch at In and Out Burger. Double cheeseburger, with fries, soda, AND a chocolate milkshake. It was outrageous.
  • Drove to city to pick up a co-worker; drove to a different sub-rub for a different business development meeting. The client is also a mother of four. Her kids are older than mine and are spread farther apart, but still I need to pick her brain on how she manages and will obviously share the group. We organized the project, set up a plan, deliverable and timeline. We’ll be meeting with her again on Thursday. I need to craft an email to her that specifies the budget we have to work with and the deliverable promised to her. The budget is tight, but there are other projects like this in the pipeline so we want to invest in this one and position ourselves well for follow on work with her.
  • After the meeting we drove back to my place. We quickly read through all materials and crafted the storyline for the white paper that we will be drafting. It feels like a good outline. The consultant will start fleshing out the content tomorrow for my review so we are prepared for Thursdays’s meeting. I used my new iPad to craft the outline and easily emailed it to both of our work emails. I sent out some emails confirming our work for the whitepaper and the fee.
  • Tomorrow will be a big day because of the Executive Presentation for my last project. I need to go through that tonight and in the AM so that I’m well prepared. I will be doing the majority of the presenting.

What to do for dinner? I’m sitting at home now so I should start to organize that. I’m thinking steak or pork. Let me check the freezer. I can’t wait to see my kids tonight. I owe them a lot of hugs and kisses.

Dinner and Bedtime:

  • I picked up Big Bro and then met Hubby at the ferry terminal. Big Bro decided to go with Hubby to house to start dinner. I went solo to pick up Red, Twin Crazy, and Twin Husky.
  • Kids run to me during pickup and I absolutely love it. “Mama mama mama mama”. And then they get side-tracked with a rock or leaf or something. How cute.
  • We played lots of tickling games tonight. Big Bro would sit on my ankles and tickle my feet. Same thing with Red.
  • All ate well
  • Twin Husky tumbled down four stairs — it was OK. He is pretty rough and the stairs have rugs. He was more scared than anything. He stopped crying after 20 sec.
  • Twin Husky and Twin Crazy started fighting over an indoor tricycle which caused a lot of problems tonight
  • Twin Husky was the first to start to meltdown so we started bedtime routine with the twins. Twin Crazy kept dumping her sippy cup milk on the rug — on purpose. She looked at me with an evil eye when I said “NO!!!! No milk for [Twin Crazy]!!!” She definitely got mad at me. She refused to listen to books and was stomping around. She has a temper.
  • Big Bro was giving us a hard time with going pee-pee. I didn’t feel like playing his games so I left him on the bathroom floor “to sleep”. Hopefully he is in his bed by now, AFTER going pee. Otherwise we will certainly be woken up in the middle of the night because of his accident.
I feel like today was a bit out of balance for me; but I still don’t feel like I got much work done. Too much driving everywhere. I’ve found that commuting really sucks out a good chunk of the day (which is why I like using that time now to write). I’m going to have to catch up on a lot of things in the office tomorrow, after our presentation.
I also feel like I didn’t get great quality time with my kids. They were either too cranky or I just didn’t have the time with them. I’ll hopefully get more hugs from them tomorrow.
Till tomorrow –
– Mama K
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July 25: Lost “lovey” predicament

July 25, 2011 by 2 Comments

Another Monday. Mondays are always a bit rough for me. I don’t really feel the excitement of getting to work aft the weekend with the kids. Mondays really just keep me longing for more. And the evenings with the kids are usually pretty tough. The kids (as do I) have a hard time adjusting to the weekday after the full-court-press time over the weekend.

Highlights of morning and commute:

  • Big Bro always takes the longest to wake up. He is always so snug and warm and he is the fourth of our kids to “bloom” each morning. Today I was hugging and teasing him: “oh you are sooooooo snit and warm and cuddly……. Oh how warrrrrrrrrm……… Oh your so comfortable and snuggly…..”. He replies “I’m so lucky”. I am thrilled that at least he can appreciate moments like that (at least when prompted)
  • We keep calling for Big Bro to come downstairs even Twin Crazy walks to the foot of the stairs “calling up” to big bro to come downstairs. She’s doing a lot of talking these days – full sentences with inflections and everything, but with words that no one understands, with the possible exception of Twin Husky
  • Twin Husky gives me an open mouth kiss when he first sees me — a big, wet one…. with pieces of bread crumbs stuck to his lips and now sticking to my face. I love it. Give me more of those wet kisses, baby!
  • Big Bro wanted to water the big tomato plants that we still have to plant in our small backyard. They are about two feet tall by now and still sitting on our windowsill
  • Because of this, Red wanted to water the tomato plant seedlings we have growing in out two pails. Again, another project that I did with the kids that will likely never see cultivation in our yard. I mean it’s almost the end of July! When was I supposed to start the seedlings? Too much pre-planning. I’ll hope for better planning and luck for next year.
  • I play and hug Red who is hanging on me like a monkey – things are going so great. Then I proceed to step on her toe which of course throws her into a fit because she has NO threshold for pain. She sits on my lap and we talk about it. I say how sorry I am and that it was an accident and how I know it must hurt. The twins come over curiously and watch her and her foot. I kiss Red’s toe. Twin Crazy by this point is “talking” about it and then also kisses her toe and offers her a Graham cracker. This melts my heart.
  • I cut Big Bro’s hair on Sunday during bathtime/showertime and honestly it is the worst haircut I have ever given him. I’m so embarrassed for him. But he seems to like it just fine. When we got him to pre-school in the AM, he asked if I could wet down his hair a bit since it was sticking up all over the place. I told him it’s actually the style for guys to wear their hair a little bit scruffy. He cautiously agreed….

At work today I’ll likely be spending a lot of time on the litigation support case. We have a meeting this afternoon. I am dressed to impress again today – another short dress. Hopefully my colleague does not bring in her baby today otherwise I know I won’t be able to stop myself from crawling on the floor and accidentally exposing my ass to the office.

Highlights of my Working Day:

  • I spent time preparing documents for a face-to-face meeting where we will hopefully be partnering with another company to offer a formalized, recurring product to the market. If this concepts works and is accepted by the market, it can be a big money maker for our company.
  • I also spent some time organizing for logistics for tomorrow – two face to face meetings across two different suburbs of the city. I’m all set.
  • I spent time reviewing our arguments for our legal case project. We met with the client (lawyers) today and I made several suggestions for wording changes and clarifications in our arguments that should protect us during deposition and any counter arguments. I felt good about my contributions to the meeting.

In terms of dinner, I’m not sure what we’re going to have. The sun is out, I’m using my NEW wireless keyboard with my iPad, and feeling very good about the logistics of blogging from this point on. I’m sitting at the ferry dock now, typing away, with a handbag packed with presentation materials for my 9 AM meeting tomorrow, along with my high heels (I’m wearing flats now) that went great with my work outfit today.

Dinner and Bedtime:

Rough night. Right now both Red and Twin Crazy are crying. Twin Crazy has an excuse. We accidentally left her “lovey” at daycare. So we’re to blame for that one. I have no idea why Red is upset. We’ll let her cry for a bit and check in on her. Highlights of tonight:

  • New mother’s helper came, and did a great job for the first night
  • We had our rugs steam cleaned during the day, so the house looks great
  • I went to check the mail with Twin Crazy. Then Red and Twin Husky got upset. So I walked out a second time with them and came back quickly since dinner was on the table.
  • During dinner Big Bro asked for milk and then picked out one of Red’s “princess” cups. Red noticed this and said that princesses are for girls. Big Bro turned around and proclaimed “it’s JUST a cup.” OMG I was so proud of him. Did we turn a corner away from the possessiveness and downright demands of this age???? Please???? Tell me yes?@!!??!?!???
  • The kids ate an extreme amount for dinner – everyone except for Red. They ate like teenagers. Breaded fish, side of pasta, string beans, edamame. We ran out of food
  • Red keeps talking in Spanish with the Twins. “Aqui”, “Aqui”. How cute.
  • Twin Crazy is really good at Twinkle Twinkle with her hands. She now makes the diamond shape with her fingers. How cute. Must video.
The day went reasonably well. Twin Crazy sounds like she’s finally asleep. Red is still upset. I’ll go check on her soon. Tomorrow I have two meetings face-to-face in different locations; so will need to leave here by 7:30 AM. Ugh. REALLY bad timing. It’s almost easier for me to leave before the kids wake up but I think I’ll grab that extra 1/2 hour of sleep.
Till tomorrow –
– Mama K
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July 22: Morning routine without Hubby – I lose one of the children

July 22, 2011 by Leave a Comment

The Morning and Commute:

OK so I’m on the ferry after a VERY hectic morning. Hubby had to leave very early for a business meeting so I was solo this AM with the kids. Some highlights:

  • Red had a pee-pee accident in the middle of the night. So I woke up with her in my bed this AM. “it’s OK sweetie…don’t worry about the sheets. You just worry about getting to the potty in time. The sheets are no big deal. We will clean them and then you will have fresh sheets again“
  • Ran to the Twins room and closed the door to confine them to their room for their diaper changes
  • The four of us head downstairs. I am holding twin husky’s hand while Red is holding Twin Crazy’s hand. Twin Crazy looks at me anxiously so I wind holding both the twins hands, along with Red holding to twin Crazy, the four of us clustered together walking slowly down the stairs
  • At breakfast both Twins were interested in self feeding themselves cereal with milk, after seeing Red doing it. They were pretty good for awhile, but then Twin Crazy wound up dumping out the bowl on the floor

Twins eat cereal after watching big sister Red

  • I had to make Big Bro’s lunch today since Hubby is not here. I heat up leftover pizza and corn on the cob and put them in 2 wide thermos containers. He also gets “refreshed” shredded carrots an d a cup of applesauce. He will probably reject half of the lunch
  • Big Bro finally comes downstairs fully dressed. I love when he does that. It makes him so much more cooperative since he is proud of his independence and it’s simply less that we have to do
  • I lost Twin Husky this morning. I hope it does not scar him for life. I went running into the garage for a special flavor of yogurt for Big Bro but I did not realize that Twin Husky followed me in (he is a stealth explorer). It wasn’t until much later that I realized he was missing. I ran all over the house and then FINALLY checked the garage. The poor guy was sitting by the door in the dark holding onto his spoon. He seemed a little shaken up but did not seem devastated. He quickly got up, happy to rescued or at least remembered while I continued to tell him that I was sorry and that it must have been scary for him
  • All morning I basically heard “Mommy….”. “Mama…” non stop. I needed to stop and take a deep breath a couple of times
  • Ran to laundry room to pull the stuff in the washer into the dryer. I miss my mother’s helper!!!!

Today at work I will need to read through some legal documents, think through our arguments, and do some research to substantiate and strengthen our arguments. I will likely focus on this for the majority of the day.

The ferry ride is coming to a close and I want to get into the office to learn more about an explosion that happened in Norway. The woman next to me has been talking to her daughter about it and has been on her cell phone sporadically to check on family and friends.

Highlights of my Working Day:

  • Still disturbed by explosion in Norway.
  • Spent time doing web research as well as “primary research” to learn deeper into the topic related to our litigation support case. This will be interesting. We have another meeting on Monday afternoon that we need to be prepared for
  • Heard some very embarrassing news at work. Yesterday I was wearing a short blue dress, feeling great and professional. We also had a visitor yesterday….my co-worker’s one year old son who is adorable and very engaging I of course love children and i was having a great time with him playing kissing games and peek a boo, etc. At one point i was on the ground chasing this kid around and tickling him on the floor What i did Not realize was that my ENTIRE ASS was hanging out, and the nanny who brought the child in did not speak english so she was strategically keeping my ASS from clear view of our remaining, male workers. Just great. Really.

Now I’m on the ferry – I’m taking an earlier one because I have kid duty on my own tonight AND I have to pack up and drive them to Sacramento this weekend. I’m looking forward to a baby shower and also relaxing in the HEAT

Closing:

I’ll likely not write about the upcoming evening since it is likely to be intense…..

So, HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND MAMAS!!!!!!!

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Meet other Mamas In Motion!!!

July 22, 2011 by 27 Comments

I first began this project thinking that the focus of Mama in Motion would be about the balancing act of managing work and motherhood.   However in talking to many of you there are many different flavors of this…. stay at home moms who are trying to stay “connected” through volunteer work or other activities, stay at home moms who are about to re-enter the workforce (either after 1 year or 15 years!!), etc.   So really ANY mother doing a balancing act is a Mama In Motion.

I’d like to hear from you and introduce yourself to the community.    This may not be the best page structure to do this, but let’s see how it goes.    I can rebuild something better if we need to.   For now, please click on the “Leave a Comment” box above to tell us:

  • who you are (your real name or even “MamaX”)
  • how many kids you have
  • your situation… the type of balancing act you face as a Mama In Motion
  • any other pertinent information you think the group could benefit from

THANK YOU FOR PARTICIPATING

– Mama K

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July 20: Moving too slowly…

July 20, 2011 by 2 Comments

It’s Hump Day! During my morning commute Hubby and I were collaborating on some ideas for Mama In Motion so I did not write up the details of the morning. I’m actually writing this after work so it will all be a bit abbreviated:

Highlights of the morning and commute:

  • I got to bed WAY late last night due to work. So I woke up at 7:15 feeling completely out of it.
  • Red again this morning was proud of her hair curly spray – I told her that she looked beautiful.
  • Great news!!!! Red did NOT wear a pull up last night and she didn’t have an accident!!!
  • I hear Twin Husky making noise from his room. Red runs into the room to greet him (she knows not to go in there until they are awake). We hear her excitement proclaiming at the top of her lungs: “[Twin Husky] AND [Twin Crazy] are awake!!!!!!! Then we start to hear her voice talking to them like a little mommy.
  • Hubby gets all breakfast ready for all kids; I gather the kid clothes for the day – Big Bro, Red – before heading downstairs. I put a cup of water in microwave for instant coffee immediately – I’m feeling a bit slow today.
  • I spend a lot of time with Big Bro today. Today is costume day at pre-school. He wants to be a skeleton, but honestly the costume we have is home-made out of sweatshirt material. It is summertime!!! I keep trying to sell him on the cute pirate costume (it has shorts, lightweight material, etc.) but he is very stubborn and seems happy with the decision of being a skeleton. I respect his decision, but I still pack up the pirate costume as a back-up. He’s OK with that idea.
  • No fights today which was great
  • Twin Husky is walking up and down the stairs with a toy broom. Probably not the safest thing he should be doing. He just learned how to walk down the stairs for goodness sake and now he’s holding a toy broom that is as tall as he is…..
  • OK, it’s AFTER 8 AM!!! We’re late!!!! Time to go!!! We shuffle out, and with the normal shoes, jackets, favorite toys. Today I’m also carrying the extra costume for Big Bro along with his sound machine for crickets at naptime at pre-school.
  • Me and hubby do the drop offs. First drop off: Red and Twins. Went smoothly. Twin Husky was sweeping with his broom and didn’t even notice us leaving.
  • Second drop off: Big Bro; he seemed really excited for the day. His “teacher” was curious about the sound machine. It will be interesting to hear how it went today.

This was a slllllooooooowwwwww morning. Ferry ride was great – sunny. Working on some ideas for Mama In Motion. Not thinking that much at all about my day job at the moment.

Highlights of my Working Day:

  • The normal routine…. In the ladies room I transform into career woman – makeup, pull wet hair back in clip. In office, I grab tea, water, and a cup of trail mix. Boot up computer and check website stats. Read emails to see what I need to accomplish quickly. Check the news. Now I’m ready to begin.
  • Worked on Business development, Phase 2 thinking for last project. It would be great to win that one.
  • A good portion of my day was spent plowing through legal documents to prepare for our meeting tomorrow with the legal team, our client. I’ve been on litigation support projects before and am used to the style of the legal language and documents. So I’m able to get through a big stack of documents relatively quickly. This project may actually be interesting.
  • I also spent some time setting up meetings with two potential mother’s helpers for tonight. Hopefully we don’t get stood up like we did last night. We need to find someone! I don’t want to be without a mother’s helper starting next week!!!!

Dinner and Bedtime:

  • Red was having a pretty bad night. First, she peed her pants. It looked like she was trying to get there but just didn’t make it in time. Then, she was playing in backyard and got splinters all in her feet
  • All ate corn on the cob and loved it

Big BroRed

Twins
  • Both twins were very clingy tonight – both wanted to be held
  • Big Bro was extremely tired and fell to pieces at the end of the night.
  • During bedtime, Twins participated in “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”. I’m teaching them “Itsy Bitsy Spider” next.

So, it was a good day but not so good evening. We are much closer to hiring our mother’s helper replacement which makes me feel more at ease. We met someone tonight who sounds too good to be true…. loves to clean, likes to cook, was great with the kids, followed directions…. Things are looking good!!!

I’m looking forward to playing with my brand new iPad (it was delivered today) so maybe I’ll be creating my journal tomorrow on that! How fun!!!

Till tomorrow,

  • Mama K.
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July 19: My son, the father of twelve bird hatchlings

July 19, 2011 by 2 Comments

This is my second daily journal posting. Hopefully these are the kinds of things you are interested in reading so I’ll keep this up until folks say it’s no longer interesting. But with four little kids in the house in the AM while both parents are getting out to work (and getting the four out to daycare/pre-school), there is almost always good content to write about. So, here I am on the ferry during my commute to work. Hair still wet, no make up on. Recapping from this morning:

Highlights of the morning and commute:

  • I wake up at 7 AM to Red, who asks if I can help her put her “curly spray” on her hair. She is really beginning to become a diva. In my eyes she is stunningly beautiful with her red curly hair and deep brown eyes. What a wonderful way for me to wake up.
  • While getting ready, Red plays quietly in our room. She decides to play with “bath letters” (the spongy things that stick on the sides of the tub during play time). She says she’s matching colors and building towers of letters based upon color. Red: “Mommy, there’s only one yellow.” Me: “Awh sweetie, he must be lonely”. Red: “And there’s only one red.” Me: “Well, maybe they can be friends.”.
  • I gather the kid clothes for the day – Big Bro, Red – before heading downstairs. I put a cup of water in microwave for instant coffee immediately – I’m feeling a bit slow today.
  • It’s CHOCOLATE TUESDAY!!!! A couple months ago I was struggling trying to figure out how to get more protein into these kids who are very picky/predictable in the morning. I stumbled on Nutella which because a HUGE hit. So much so that I really think the kids became addicted to the “chocolate”. They demanded it daily. Hubby put a stop to it and declared that only one day of the week should be “chocolate day”. We asked Big Bro which day he thought it should be and he proclaimed “Tuesday”. Of course on that day we had the conversation it was a Tuesday so I thought that was pretty clever of him
  • I come downstairs and Big Bro and Red have chocolate all over their faces. Think handlebar mustaches of Nutella chocolate. They are so quiet though. I love Tuesday mornings because of this. They tend to cooperate more with us since the Nutella puts them in a good mood.
  • Twin Husky is busy with bread crusts and eating Hubby’s cereal. Twin Crazy is walking around with a banana, very proud that she holds it like a big girl. We then start on applesauce with the Twins which quickly turns into a disaster since they really want to self feed. There is apple sauce all over themselves and the floor. I’ll worry about that clean up after they’re done.
  • Some issues / fights between Big Bro and Red, but they are mild.
  • Big Bro has a ‘silly shoe day” at school and I know this will be a problem. He is very sensitive to tactile things (e.g., like tags on his shirt, bunched up socks, etc.) and I suspect that wearing two different shoes will be a problem. We talk about it and come up with four different pairs of shoes that could be similar enough to feel OK. He rejects all, so I suggest bringing his favorite sneakers and another pair of shoes as back-up, in case he feels pressure once getting to school. For some reason as well he is asking to bring his Toy Story play tent. He claims they are doing “camping” at school. I question this but pack it up anyway.
  • Twin Husky and I wind up playing a game where he takes a step backward, I kiss his head, he laughs. He takes a step backward, I kiss his head, he laughs. We did this all the way into the living room where we started doing diaper changes.
  • Diaper changes for both Twin Husky and Twin Crazy were uneventful. However during Twin Crazy’s diaper change, Twin Husky kept “head butting” my body for me to give him kisses. It was so cute. Even Twin Crazy was laughing at this. He manipulated lots of kisses from me this morning.
  • OK, it’s 8 AM!!! Time to go!!! WE shuffle out, and with the normal shoes, jackets, favorite toys, I also have a Toy Story tent, sleeping bag, and extra pair of shoes.
  • I am doing drop-offs solo this morning since Hubby has to drive in for a meeting.
  • First drop off: Red and Twins. Went smoothly.
  • Second drop off: Big Bro; lots of kids with crazy shoes. Different pairs, but some have decorated one pair of shoes with strings, stickers, etc. This will work. I ask the pre-school teacher if he could work with Big Bro to get his sneakers “crazy”.

This was another great morning. There were only a couple of mild fights but they were really tame. Now on the ferry but it is very grey. Oh shit! I forgot to bring a jacket for myself. This happens frequently. One morning I left the house wearing my slippers. Not good. For work today I will need to focus on:

  • Continuing the selling efforts of Phase 2 of our last project.
  • Starting to refine the Executive presentation for our meeting next week
  • Getting those legal files downloaded and start to review – to prepare for internal meeting tomorrow.
  • Attend status meeting for big event we are hosting later this year – communicate the traction I’ve made in securing client participation and membership. I’ve secured ~5 additional participants and am excited to report on this.

That’s it for now. Hoping the day goes well and that I get in good spirits. I might need extra caffeine today.

Highlights of my Working Day:

  • The normal routine…. In the ladies room I transform into career woman – makeup, pull wet hair back in clip. In office, I grab tea, water, and a cup of trail mix. Boot up computer and check website stats. Read emails to see what I need to accomplish quickly. Check the news. Now I’m ready to begin.
  • I had a good time today working with a team building a “business” inside our company – the big meeting in October. I felt good about the progress made with selling potential clients on the idea and getting them to agree to come to the meeting. We still have more work to do, but I’m having fun with it and like the group I’m working with.
  • Finished up the thinking for potential Phase 2 project for our last client; just need to tweak and then we’ll send it to the client tomorrow. I worked on the Executive Presentation but did not finish. So unfortunately I will need to work on this tonight after the kids go to bed. That is the problem with this profession…. Client work means working after hours and traveling. That’s just what is required to be successful at this job.
  • Got some flack from a director for not being able to download files from the secure server for our other client project just starting. She will blame this on me (she already has). I’ll have to deal with her tomorrow.
  • Also did some business development to secure a small project as a subcontractor to another consultancy. I like the relationship-building aspect of this job.

I’m on the ferry now and it is still sunny out – another beautiful day. Still not excited about the work I need to do tonight. Wish I could spend more time with my children. Have not thought about dinner yet. Why do I continuously do that??!??!?!?!?!? I should know better by now, right??!??!?!?!

We are meeting two potential mother helpers tonight; looking forward to meeting them. OK, signing off for now and getting my keys ready for pick up!!

Dinner and Bedtime:

Pick ups were uneventful, except there was great music on. I took advantage of the good weather and my reasonably good mood and rolled the windows way down while singing “Jesse’s Girl”. The kids were laughing. Hubby was already making pizza when we arrived which was excellent – because of this the dinner was done quickly and we had lots of time to play with the kids. Here are some highlights:

  • Twin Crazy was particularly playful tonight. She kept wanting me to flip her upside down. I love when she does this. Her laugh is contagious. Plus I get to kiss her pudgy neck when she’s flipped over. so cute
  • At one point things were quiet upstairs and I checked the older kid’s room…. there was Red, Twin Husky, and Twin Crazy all sitting there in Red’s bed. I’m not sure how the twins made it in there. I think Red is carrying them around now.
  • Twin Husky constantly picks up balls now and says “ball” in his deep, throaty voice
  • We had a great dinner. Hubby made pizza, and we also served leftover mac-n-cheese, broccoli, and sliced cucumbers. The Twins were eating like crazy with their forks. Then Red started feeding them. Then the Twins started feeding Red. It was too cute.
  • Big Bro is having “spirit week” at pre-school and they’re doing fun things each day but also doing a camping theme all week. So after dinner he gets his sleeping bag and puts the sound machine on “crickets”. I’m laughing out loud just thinking back on this.
  • Big Bro then decides to be a “bird” in a “nest” that he constructed around himself from the sleeping bag. He proclaims that he has 12 eggs. I gasp and say “12 kids???!??!? Oh my goodness how will you ever be able to care for 12 kids? Will you get a job?” He says “No, birds don’t do that.” Me: “But how are you going to care for them?” Big Bro: “I’m going to build a bigger nest. With a roof. And a hole so they can go in and out.” Me: “Well what else are you going to do to care for them?” Big Bro: “I’m going to keep them safe. I’m going to fly around to get them food.” I say, “Oh my goodness are you strong enough to do all that flying for all of that food for 12 kids??!?!?!??!?! What else are you going to do for them? How are you going to make them feel loved?” Big Bro: “I’m going to hug them all. And I’m going to ‘tweet’ when they fly away when they’re bigger so they can come back.” OMG I almost crumbled with this exchange. He is so sweet. He then proceeded to name them (largely based upon the kids in his class): Ryan, Scanlan, Robert, Lindsay, Jin Woo, Eva, Ruby, Dinosaur (our favorite), Elena, Gabriella, Jessica, and Hana.
  • Twin Crazy and big sister Red were playing make believe in the play kitchen.
  • Twin Crazy then started carrying shoes around, and also shoving her face into fluffy stuffed animals
  • Twin Husky was walking up and down the stairs
  • Red had velcro play food items stuck all over her socks
  • Hubby was falling asleep on the floor – he claimed it was the sound of the crickets. Red ran over the sound machine to get rid of the crickets so hubby would no longer fall asleep
  • I started a tickle fit with Big Bro. His trick to get me to stop tickling him is the comment “You’re GREAT mommy!!!!”
  • I took a short walk to the mailbox with Big Bro and Red. Twin Husky was hysterical when we returned so I went on a second walk to the empty mailbox just with him to calm him down.
  • Hubby brings out peaches and then it’s like “Dawn of the Dead” with all of these kids reaching out to him for peaches
  • bedtime! Hubby and mother’s helper work on the Twins – story and singing
  • I work with Big Bro and Red. Teeth, no problem. Red decides to go poop. This took awhile. During this time she happens to remember a time when she tried to dump the little potty of poop into the toilet but somehow missed and the poop landed on the floor. “Daddy had to get it“. I started laughing thinking of his expression of doing this task. I guess I wasn’t around that night.
  • I say to Red, “Come on man, let’s get these PJs on man”. She responds “I’m a lady. Not a man. Call me Lady.” Isn’t she too young for this?
  • We read a Dora book and I start to use funny accents with the characters. Except they wind up in some mangled French accent instead of Spanish. Red laughs at this but Big Bro doesn’t like it. I try to slip them in there but he still protests.

I am in such a great, energized mood because of the time I was able to spend with the kids this evening. Believe me, the cost of a mother’s helper is worth their weight in gold. We don’t have to worry about dinner clean up, laundry, etc. We can just focus on being with our kids.

Speaking of which, the two mothers helper candidates I had lined up for tonight didn’t show up. I need to figure out if we were stood up or if I messed up an appointment. Chances are 50/50 that I messed up at least one of them. I’ll need to work on that tomorrow!!!!

OK, now I have to switch gears and work on that presentation — It needs to be sent to the Director tonight; hopefully it does not take me more than 1 hour. I also have a stack of legal docs to read but I don’t think I’ll crack that tonight.

Thanks for reading –

– Mama K

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July 18: Twin Husky’s hairstyle botched by ice-water accident

July 18, 2011 by 6 Comments

Ok, so this post is largely a test… this will be my first posting discussing the highlights of the morning with the kids, my working day, and the “witching hour(s)” with the cranky tired kids.   I’m anxious to see how much time the effort takes – but excited too since there was a lot of good content going on in our house today.

Highlights of the morning and commute:

  • I wake up at 7 AM to get ready.   “Getting ready” is quite abbreviated these days…. I take a quick shower and quickly throw on the clothes that I set out the night before.   I simply comb my wet, straight hair — it is long and I will either sweep back with a ponytail or a clip.  I save make up for later – at work.
  • While getting ready, Twin Husky decides to walk up the stairs by himself and greet me.   “Hi Sweetie!!!”   Hugs and kisses.   He is so lovable.   He watches me brush my hair so I then sit with him on the floor brushing his hair and telling him how handsome he is.   He wanders about while I finish getting ready.
  • I hear some crying downstairs… a breakdown.  I think it is Red.
  • Big Bro comes up for a visit, with his sound machine (he has always had trouble going to sleep and this was one of our tools that we tried several years back… it appears that he found it again).   “Mommy can you plug this in?”  “Yes, of course sweetie.”  “Mommy, I wish I were grown up so I could use plugs and be tall like Daddy.”  “Yes, and Daddy sure is tall…”
  • I gather the kid clothes for the day – Big Bro, Red, and also a weeks worth of clothes for Twin Husky, requested by daycare.   Big Bro wants his OLD shorts, not his new shorts which he rejected after we purchased 4 pairs.
  • Downstairs, Red is having an issue, on the floor. It likely has something to do with breakfast.  I think our kitchen cabinet is out of oatmeal.  I sit on the floor with her and ask her if she wants to go “shopping” with me.   Just me and her.   We hold hands and run into the garage (I keep extra non-perishable food in the garage on shelves, I guess its the Italian in me that always craves an overabundance of food).   I explain that the 3 boxes of oatmeal are there for her, and only her.   Our back-and-forth conversation goes like this:  Does Daddy eat it?  No.  Does Big Bro?  No.  Does Twin Crazy?   No.  Does Twin Husky?   No.   Well then, WHO eats it???????.    ME!!!!!   with a big smile on her face and an unsolicited hug from this little sweetie.    I feel on top of the world whenever I fix the issue.   However, this feeling does not last for long.   Literally 20 seconds later while leaving the garage I accidently step on her toe and she is thrown into another crying fit.   Shit!!
  • Twin Crazy is walking around “talking” eating bananas.   Twin Husky is eating bread and raisins.   Big Bro is finishing up a bagel.  Thanks hubby for getting them all set up.   Red proceeds to eat 2 ½ packages of oatmeal (she boycotted dinner the night before).
  • Big Bro requests his sound machine.   Now imagine the sounds of fog-horns filling up our kitchen and living room.
  • I put a cup of water in microwave for instant coffee.  This is the only luxury I give myself in the morning.
  • Big Bro spreads out his clothes on the floor as lillypads and proceeds to act like a frog hopping on them.
  • Twin Crazy is sneezing non stop and hubby and I are running for tissues non-stop.   This is a doozy I hope does not spread to the rest.
  • Big Bro fills up a cup by himself with ice-water.  He is proud that he has filled his drink to the top “like mommy does”.   He proceeds to accidently dump the entire (full) tall cup of ice-water on Twin Husky’s head while I’m giving the poor guy a diaper change (he was already cold to begin with, all exposed and all, and then imagine getting doused with ice-water on top of that).   So much for all that hair brushing earlier in the morning.  He cries a bit since he scared, but then we all start laughing.   “That must have been scary for you sweetie”.   Big Bro admits that he was scared too.
  • Diaper change for Twin Crazy is thankfully uneventful.
  • Then both twins decide to climb up and down the stairs, playing.   Breaking the rule of “no playing on the stairs”.  I shuffle them down.  Oh, forgot to mention that days prior they both worked together to dismantle the gate/board at the foot of the stairs.   So now they have free reign of the stairs walking up, walking down, walking up, walking down, etc. etc. etc.
  • I run upstairs and take my anxiety pill with my coffee.
  • OK, 8 AM!!!  Time to go!!!    Everyone begins to shuffle out.  Finding shoes, finding jackets, finding the toys they want to bring.   Big Bro says that for this week he wants to bring only Toy Story toys to pre-school because he likes Toy Story, and also Batman because he likes superheros.
  • Red is proud that she buckled herself in by herself.   Big Bro has been doing this for awhile now, thank goodness.  Makes things much easier.
  • I drag the big “Smart and Final” bag of all the kids clothes, shoes, and jackets for daycare.
  • Hubby and I make the first drop off:   Red and Twins.   We let the provider know that Twin Husky is teething with two big molars on each side.   I give each of my sweeties a kiss on the top of the head.
  • Hubby and I make second drop off:   Big Bro; it is crazy hair day!   Wait a minute, the ONE day that he does NOT have crazy hair!!!   We promptly fix that with water and gel.  He now looks like a rock star.
  • Hubby and I head to the ferry with plenty of time to spare.

All in all, the morning went well.   There were only 2 breakdowns, which really isn’t bad.   We are on the ferry now.  The day is beautiful.   Water is flat.   Approaching the city now.   For work today I will need to focus on:

  • Helping with RFP response, developing question list for further clarification
  • Selling phase two for project we are wrapping up; need to outline what Phase 2 could look like
  • Beginning Executive presentation format for next socialization meeting with client senior executives
  • ON a personal front:   need to set appointments for mothers helpers to visit our home.   Our current helper found full time employment and her last day will be this Friday.

That’s it for now.   I’m in a good mood because of this Mama in Motion project and also since the sun is out.  I am thankful for that!

Highlights of my Working Day:

  • OK so I get to the office and begin my transformation into career woman – in the ladies room I put on my makeup and pull my wet hair back in a clip.   I go inside the office and head directly to kitchen to grab tea and water.  I also throw some trail mix in a cup for breakfast (terrible, I know).   I boot up the computer and read emails to see what I need to accomplish quickly.   I take some time to look at CNN.com for what is happening in the world.   Now I’m ready to begin.
  • Worked on some business development activities; started the response process to a “Request for Proposal” which basically involved reviewing the document and thinking about what our approach could be if we won the work.   Ultimately there are clarifying questions that we need to pose so worked with the team to get these drafted.   I packaged the questions and sent off to the potential client – “another great example of good teamwork” [Director comment].   Now we’ll need to put a proposal together to win the business…
  • At lunch I responded to a number of potential “mother’s helpers” and set up meetings with several over the next few nights.  We need to hire someone by this Friday.
  • Started to think about follow on work we could do for the project we recently completed.   Thought about the strategic questions the project could address based upon our understanding of the client issues – and also drafted the objectives of the work and thoughts on the analysis so we can help to sell the work and its value.
  • Tried to download files from a secure server for a litigation support case we are starting.   All to no avail.   Will have to work with the technology contact tomorrow to get the files.

I’m on the ferry now and it is still sunny out – beautiful day.   But I’ve lost the spunk I had this morning.   I am tired, and my heart feels very, very heavy – more for reasons to be discussed later I suppose.   The ferry ride should be enjoyable, right?    I’m headed home to see my kids, right?   Why do I feel this way?   I look around at the crowd here and I feel like I can’t relate to any of these people.  Hubby is not here so I assume he is taking a later ferry.   I’ll pick up kids on my own which is actually fun (think loud music and singing which I can’t really do with hubby) but I’m just not the person I used to be, want to be, or should be.   I feel tired, isolated and alone.   I’m not sure what we’ll have for dinner tonight.  I’ll likely do a quick homemade mac-n-cheese and some sort of veggie.   I hope their little faces pull me out of my awful mood.   Plus we have a potential mother’s helper coming tonight at 6:30.  I must snap out of this.

Dinner and Bedtime:

The evening was relatively good; homemade macaroni and cheese, along with carrots and broccoli cooked in a double steamer.   We had our current Mother’s Helper show an interviewee around as a potential replacement.   She seems nice.   We are meeting two others tomorrow evening.

The kids ate well.    The twins ate like teenagers.

The only sad thing tonight was that there was not much time to play with them.   Dinner ended too late.  The big outing was going to get the mail with Big Bro, Red, and Twin Husky.   They like that little routine.  Our mother’s helper and Hubby whisked the Twins off for storytime.   I was in charge of Big Bro and Red.  No major issues.   I taught them how to arm wrestle which was really, really cute.   My guess is that in 2 years Big Bro will probably beat me.   We read books and I kissed both sweeties goodnight.   I’ll go back later at my own bedtime to kiss all four sweeties and make sure they’re covered.   It’s always cold here.

Overall the day was fine; but my heart still feels heavy right now.   I will likely get into those reasons at a later time but for now I am thankful that my kids ate well and they are tucked in bed, hopefully dreaming right now.

Signing off until tomorrow,

Mama K.

p.s., comments appreciated.    Do people want to hear this stuff???!?!?!?

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My first entry — week in Review

July 15, 2011 by 2 Comments

I had a rather hectic week on both a work and personal front.  Returned from a long-weekend vacation in Florida (I only took “Twin Crazy”) on Monday — I had to rush her to daycare; unfortunately I could not witness her reunion with “Twin Husky”.  It was the first time they were separated.   Daycare provider later told me there was LOTS of hugging and kissing.   Ran home for conference call with client, made changes to executive presentation.   Played with kids ALOT on Monday evening to catch up with their lives.

Tuesday woke up early, as did hubby.   Both had to leave early.   Got all kids fed and dressed and all were out of the house by 7 Am.   I head to airport — client presentation later that day.   Went very well.    It is the culmination of the strategy  project however we will need to go back for an executive presentation in 2 weeks time.   Caught earlier flight home; able to play with kids before bedtime.    Sing “twinkle twinkle little star” with sign language to Twins; I’d love for them to learn to participate.

Wednesday did some business development.  Relatively uneventful.  Dinner was great with kids.   “Big Bro” ate at least 5 servings of carrots (YEAH!!!).   Twins had great time using forks.  They were very proud of themselves.   Received bad news from our “mothers helper” that she found full time employment and next Friday will be her last day.   UGGGGGGGGGGGH.  She is wonderful.   We will all miss her.   She is our sanity life saver.   I will need to post something on Craigslist.    Went on date night and formalized thinking on website name and branding for this project.  Drank beer.  Ate sushi.

Thursday did more business development.  Secured client commitments for big meeting later this year.    YEAH!   Pack up my bag with my laptop and also some organic fruits/veggies for the kids.   I’m worried that each kid is not getting their required two servings of veggies per day!   Headed out for Girls Night for my belated birthday celebration.   I can’t believe I’m 41 (but I act like I’m 20 something).   Great time!   Thank you girlfriends!!!!

Early morning conference call so am working home today.   Another business development / proposal to prepare.   Need to also work on Executive Presentation from last project.   I was thinking about roasting a chicken tonight for dinner but it’s still in the freezer.   What are the chances it will thaw within 3 hours??????    Now what?????

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