Have I ever truly said how unprepared I was for having boys? Well, here’s my confession. I figured raising boys couldn’t be that different than raising my sweet girl. I figured people were exaggerating when they said boys could bring you to another level of insanity. I now admit that boys are a breed of their own. I’m still not sure if it’s because there are two of them at once, or if Taylor is just so awesome that a comparison isn’t quite fair. Either way, wow. There is pee on every surface of the bathroom; even things that are not within direct “shot” of the toilet. The obsession with their penises is real. The obsession with poop is real. The things they come up with are insane. On Friday, we had a gorgeous day and I was airing out the house with windows and doors open. I am still working on getting the boys to use the toilet consistently. That afternoon, I washed them with soap on a washcloth (because they always stink, too) and told them they needed to dry off before they put their pull-ups back on. I turned around and they were gone. I found them in the kitchen with their tiny bodies pressed up against the screen door. I asked what they were doing and they said “We’re drying our penis in the wind! The fresh air makes it clean!” I suppose I didn’t have much of an argument against that logic, but it just wasn’t something I was expecting to see. They walk around touching themselves, like the thing is going to fall off if they don’t hold them. I told them that their penis is not a toy and they need to leave them alone and go play. Joseph looked at me and said “It is a toy. If I play with him, he gets bigger and bigger!” Jackson chimed in and said “Yeah! He gets super big, like our arms!” I’m way out of my element here!

Later that night, I was in their room reprimanding them for taking their sheets off and crawling underneath. It was after 10pm and I was exhausted. I’m also blind as a bat in the dark, without my glasses, which I conveniently wasn’t wearing. I went to leave the room after being super stern with them, and tripped over their beds and fell. I completely ruined my street-cred with that move. I’m only thankful that the little guys asked me if I was okay before they laughed at me. I must be doing something right.

We have been following the giraffe cam in this house. For those not familiar with it, April is a giraffe in a New York zoo who is going to give birth sometime soon and the zoo is allowing us to watch. The kids love it! Taylor mentioned that the baby was coming soon, so now Jospeh walks around saying “Baby is coming soon! Mama is having a baby!” People don’t understand that he’s talking about the giraffe and not me, so things get awkward.

The boys have found a new, adorable annoying way of keeping me on my toes. While driving on I-95, they scream “Look out! That truck is gonna get us!” at the top of their lungs. It’s definitely not something I need to hear while sandwiched between two eighteen wheelers. Damn backseat drivers.

For all those of you who have been wondering if the boys were simply behaving since I’ve lacked stories – well, there you go. I’m not lacking in the entertainment department because these kids bring it on every day. I’m simply lacking the brain power to sit down and write it all out these days!

Most days are hard and long. I find myself crawling into bed at night and being physically and mentally exhausted. I think it is just part of being a parent. My kids are sweet and adorable, but let’s face it. We all know they can be fresh. And exhausting.

Moments like this revive me and give me energy, and my kids seem to know when I need these special moments the most. Seeing my twins holding hands and knowing that they will always have each other does wonders for my well-being. Seeing my crazy daughter, with such a love for life, tickling her own feet and cracking herself up let’s me know that nothing is as bad as it seems. It’s going to be okay. As long as I have these three, I can get through anything.

Happy Thursday, folks. We’ve almost made it to the weekend.

One of my friends gave me a heads up that I had a package on the way this week. I’ve been impatiently awaiting its arrival, wondering what it might be. Since this friend is as crazy as I am, I knew the possibilities were endless. I feared that it might be something as insane as lost baby teeth or the skin her creepy snake recently shed, but I was pleasantly surprised.

This friend, Siobhan and I “met” each other in a small Moms of Multiples group that I happened to stumble upon when pregnant with the boys. This group got me through lots of tough times. I have formed close relationships with a few of the women in the group, and will forever be thankful for that. Siobhan and I are completely different in so many ways, but we became friends because of our twins. We further developed our friendship over a love of reading (and a love for the show, FRIENDS). For the past few years, we have read books together, gushing over the amazing writing of some of our favorite authors. We have read sappy books together, and read stuff so gory and frightening that we’ve been afraid to open the book again and have needed to talk it out in our own Facebooks therapy sessions.

Recently, Siobhan had the opportunity to meet one of our favorite authors, Colleen Hoover. She was doing a meet and greet in Texas and Siobhan went. Of course, I was jealous, but was so happy for her that she got to meet someone we held in such high regard. We spoke later that night and she told me how awesome it was, and how incredible Colleen was in person. When I got my package in the mail today, I teared up big time. Not only was there a very sweet note from my friend, but there was a signed copy of one of Colleen Hoover’s books, written out to me! I was floored. It’s so special for a book-nerd like me to possess an autographed copy of a book, but it’s even more special to know that my friend took the time to do this for me.

Thank you, Siobhan. You made me smile so big today, and have given me lots of love and encouragement throughout the years. I’m so thankful for our friendship. Love you!

It’s probably not a sign of a good day to come when your coffee machine has an error message on it. No matter what I did, I could not produce coffee from it this morning. Thank goodness for drive throughs, because Mama needs her coffee!

The kids were all tired and slow moving this morning. We did go to a super bowl party last night, but everyone was in bed at a reasonable time. I guess the excitement got to them! In true Taylor form, she wanted to be “fancy” for the Super Bowl (which she called “Super Balls” a handful of times throughout the day). I even helped her apply a swipe of shiny pink lip gloss! She looked gorgeous, as usual, and I had visions of helping her get ready for middle school dances. Slow down, time. That’s my baby.

While the boys have been pretty good lately, they are still relatively crazy and keep me on my toes. I have unfortunately had more than one fight with a small boy who was demanding that he only wanted to poop standing up…on the toilet. Not happening. The same child also needed to be asked to take his testicles off of the coffee table today. I don’t know why he thought that was a wise choice, but I looked up and there they were. This boy mom stuff is still an adjustment!

I also caught one of the boys taking the screen off of the living room window today. This is the main reason why those windows are never opened anymore. I just can’t look away from them for a second!

Today, we wear red in support and awareness of Women’s heart disease. Heart disease is the number one cause of death in women, in the US. It even affects more women than Cancer does.

Heart disease and awareness for it is something that is very near and dear to my heart (pun intended). My mom had life-saving open heart surgery when she was just a girl. My male cousin died of heart disease when he was in his early thirties. Joseph and I were actually both born with heart issues as well. Thankfully, ours are something that we can live full lives with.

I encourage everyone to take control of your health. Exercise. Keep your blood pressure in check. Eat healthy. I am slowly making changes in my own life to better myself. I am actually attmpting to multi-task and am writing this post from the treadmill! If you would like to further educate yourself on the topic, or if you would like to make a donation to the cause, you can do so here.

I feel that now, more than ever, it is important to empower our children. It starts at home. I think my kids are pretty incredible, but doesn’t every parent think that? I took the time to sit down and write out some of the things I love about my daughter; things I say to her nearly every day. Seeing these things on paper makes it so much more special. I always want Taylor to know how incredible she is and sincerely hope that this activity sticks in her meomory for a long time.

I remember seeing an idea somewhere (I can’t remember where) to write your kids little love notes. I made 28 hearts (one for each day of February) that say special things on them that are specific to my girl. I put them in a gift bag and will let her blindly choose one each morning. She will be able to put it on her door or bedroom wall after we read it together. I can not wait to see her excitement with this throughout the month.

Taylor and I started this today. She was so excited as I explained it to her, and she couldn’t wait to choose her first heart. As she stuck her little hand in the bag, she said “This is special, Mommy!” She lit up as I read her first message. It, quite appropriately said, “You are Smart.” She was elated and stuck it up on the back on her door with such gusto and a big smile on her face. The remainder of the morning, she kept telling me that she was smart. She couldn’t wait to tell her brothers about it. As we pulled into school, she said “Mommy, I really love my hearts and love that I am so smart. I can’t wait to see what tomorrow says!”

This excitement and this face made it all worth it. Love is everything.