March Madness

The last 2 weeks of March were totally insane for the Million Family; we had 2 parties, attended 2 ice shows, & added 2 new members to our crew! Needless to say, the term "March Madness" means more than just a bunch of basketball games to us this month! Since I haven't had time to post anything on my blog lately, I will try to recap some of the insanity in this post:

A Magical Day....

I won't say that I hate ice skating, but I will admit that after spending 20+ years dedicated to the sport & retiring the way that I did, hasn't left me with the warmest of feelings towards the sport. I do not watch skating on TV, I do not go to ice shows, I don't attend skating competitions, I don't go to the rink & skate for fun, & possibly the saddest part of it all is that I have completely lost contact with over 90% of the friends that I grew up on the ice with. With that being said, it is probably quite easy to understand why I was NOT overjoyed to go to Disney On Ice with Molly this year. I wanted to say no, or send her with her Grandma, but NOTHING is as powerful as the guilt that a child can conjure up in their Mother's heart when they pout & say 'please, Mommy.'

So, on March 23 I took my little girl to see Treasure Trove at the Sprint Center. The smile on her face when the skaters took the ice in the opening act was ALMOST enough to make me enjoy the show.

Look how excited Molly was when the show started! This expression is priceless!

As I watched the brightly costumed skaters my eyes fixated upon one male skater, who looked super familiar to me, but I couldn't figure out why. I grabbed a program, looked at some closer pictures & realized that Prince Aladdin was once a very dear friend of mine, Eddie Zeidler. We had trained together for years in Detroit, and even been on the National Team together. Eddie was an amazing singles & pair skater, who had retired before I had & we lost contact over 10 years ago. I quickly grabbed my phone & started dialing the cell phone number that he had posted on his facebook page. As I am typing this I realize how ridiculous it was to call someone who was in the middle of performing in an ice show, but at the time it seemed like a good idea....At the end of the show, much to my surprise, my phone rang & it was the Prince himself calling to try to catch us before we left the arena! I was so excited, because #1 I would get to reconnect with an old friend & #2 I thought that Molly might get the chance to go back stage & spend some time with the person she admires most in this world, Rapunzel! So, we met up with Eddie after the show, took some pictures & found out that due to new union rules character meet-&-greets were no longer allowed. However, he told us that he would be able to get Molly a little closer to the long haired beauty if we were to come back for the Sunday afternoon show. As if 1 ice show in the past 9 years wasn't enough! Now, I was getting the joy of seeing 2 in the same weekend, but I will do just about anything to make Molly smile!

The girls got to meet Prince Eddie after the show!

A Very Magical Sunday Afternoon Show:
On Sunday morning, Molly & her cousins, Katie & Ally got dressed up in their favorite Disney Costumes & we headed off to the show. During intermission we were escorted down to ice level so that Allyson could help out with a very important part of the show & Molly could a bit closer to the lovely Rapunzel & Eugine. (The reason that Ally was chosen to play this special role instead of Molly or Katie, is due to age requirements from Disney On Ice.) I will let the pictures tell the rest of this fairytale:

A VERY brave, Allyson, standing up in front of a sold-out Sprint Center!

Up, Up & Away!

Big Hugs from the Stars of the Show!

Isn't that a magical smile!

It seems like everyone enjoyed their magical Disney on Ice Day!

So, that was our Disney on Ice experience! That night Brian & I decided to go out and spend some time with the cast from the show. We haven't been out for a very long time. I have actually only been to the P & L district 2 times since it opened....It was a fun evening, but a very long Monday the next day!

2 Pirates, The Queen of Hearts, A Fairy, A Prince, A CPA & A Dr. (almost) Walk into a bar!

New Additions to the Million Family

We are proud to welcome 6 new feet to the Million household this month. On March 19th we seem to have acquired an uninvited house-guest who decided to stay. According to Benjamin, this guest is a "Big, Mean, Scarey" guy named Elmo. He set up camp in Benjamin's bedroom & refuses to leave. We have tried everything we can to get rid of this pest (flashlites, nitelites, monster repelling spray...), but he really likes it here so I guess we will have to deal with him for a while. The problem is that I have never actually been able to see Elmo & Benjamin refuses to sleep in his room until Elmo is found & moves out.
In a fit of desperation I decided to try getting a "monster hunter" to take care of our little problem. This is how we came to welcome, Nanna, a 9 week old St. Bernard to our family!

The twins were sleeping when we went to pick Nanna up, but they woke up after I got out of the car to run into the petstore to get her some food. Mom brought them in to meet their new friend for the very 1st time ever. I love the expression on Ben's face "You mean, this is MY puppy!!!"

Nanna at 9 weeks old, weighing 11lbs.

So far Nanny has been an awesome addition, but she hasn't been able to get rid of Elmo, either. I am open to suggestions on this Monster infestation....

Nanna's 1st trip to the park. Who is walking who here....

There is nothing cuter than a puppy & a toddler!

Maybe, a puppy & 2 toddlers.

There is that smile again!!!

Nanny has been with us for almost 2 weeks now & she is up to 16 lbs. The vet said that she will probably be over 150 when full grown! She is very sweet, loves the kids & already knows how to play fetch. She has been eaiser to potty train than either one of the twins (who would have thought)! Last Saturday I cleaned up 7 accidents & only 1 of them was created by Nanna! I am madly in love with her. Louis isn't a fan, but he has gotten use to the idea of having another dog around.

She is not intended as a replacement for Tiffany - there could never be a replacement for that wonderful puppy! I still miss her everyday. As an aside on the Nanna story: My old skating partner, Rob, purchased a dog while we were training together in Delaware. The dog was about a year younger than Tiffany & he ended up being her best friend. The 2 of them were inseprable & taking them apart after Rob & I stopped skating together was heartbreaking! Well, Tango passed away last week, just 2 weeks after we lost Ms. Tiffany. It kind of makes you wonder about the whole soul mate thing....

More March Updates:

I feel like this post might be getting a little too long, so I will stop here for now. I will post more later about a few more of our March events ( we had a gold buying party & a suprise party for my sister's 40th Birthday). I am currently on my rural family medicine rotation & I have been collecting some great patient stories! You know you are in rural Missouri when a patient's chief complaint is "I fell off of my tractor."

     *** We have been having so much fun with our new family members that we are considering adding more feet to the Million household....more to come on that very soon!

MySpace-Countdowns

I can do it myself; go away!!!

It seems that there is a new theme in our house; a theme that has become more & more apparent every. This theme is independence! I started noticing it a few weeks ago when we were getting ready to leave the house & I told the twins to "go get their shoes." Instead of bringing me their shoes & fighting for 10 minutes over whose shoes I should put on 1st, they both sat down & put their shoes on all by themselves. I didn't think much of it at the time, but I was very relieved to have avoided the whole "me 1st" fight.

A few days later, while we were going through the very difficult routine of brushing teeth & getting dressed when Molly protested & told me that she would pick out her own outfit. 35 minutes later she had on Ben's jeans and an ugly sweater. The thing that surprised me most is that when I tried to help her put the jeans on, she told me "I can do it myself, go away Mommy!" I went away, & she did it herself (kind of...)

Last week, Molly started taking off her diaper and tossing it on the ground whenever it was wet. A couple of days after that, she started taking the diaper off, running upstairs, & putting on underpants. Two days ago I heard her flush the toiled & proclaim "I went potty, like a big girl!" Then, last night Ben told me that he couldn't sleep until he went potty. We went into the bathroom & when I tried to help him take his pants off he pushed me away & yelled "no, I do it myself, Mommy!" He went potty, flushed, and washed his little hands all by himself (well, I had to turn the water on).

It isn't like we haven't tried potty training; we have tried more than once without success! The 1st time we tried Molly peed on me 3 times, and Ben stood right next to me and peed on my brand new Ugg boots! Our next 4 attempts were no better, so we finally just gave up & decided that they weren't ready yet. I mean seriously, how much pee can one mommy clean up & those pull-ups cost a small fortune....

When I got home from work today both kids ran into the bathroom & started taking off their pants & fighting over the "big kid potty." When I walked in to break up the fight, they told me to go away. I stood outside the bathroom door for 30 minutes while they took turns "going potty" & flushing the toiled. An entire roll of toilet paper later I decided it was time to do something different. I went in and told them that it was time to wash their hands. They said okay & I turned on the water & was once again told to "go away!"

It wasn't until later on tonight when they put their own toothpaste on their toothbrushes & put their own jammies on that I started to realize that I am actually being rejected! My babies are growing up & they don't need me to do everything for them anymore. While I am proud of the fact that they are growing up & wanting to do more for themselves, I have to admit that will I miss the baby days of feeding them, changing their clothes, & constantly feeling needed......

June 7, 2009 - they were safe & sound on the inside

Late June, 2009 - still in the NICU

Already starting to get big; Molly is holding her own bottle!

2010 in Turks & Caikos - Sitting all by themselves...

1 year old photo shoot at Antisdel's  for Mady & Me.

Summer 2011 at Deanna Rose Farmstead

I'm a big girl now!
March, 2012!

I can skate by myself; go away!
March, 2012!

Is it genetic???

The one thing I said that I NEVER wanted Ben & Molly to do is ice skate. I swore that the moment they were born all of my skating pictures & videos would be tucked away in boxes so that they would never ask to skate based on seeing images of me doing it. What I wouldn't be able to hide from them would be some of my closest friends who are still involved in the skating world, their cousins who like to skate for fun from time to time, and of course their Grandma, who would love to get back at me for all of the early morning practices & hundreds & thousands of dollars that she spent on the wonderful sport that I once loved....

I have to admit that I was taken a bit by surprise when Grandma dropped Molly off at home one day in one of my old skating dresses proudly wearing one of my medals around her neck. I didn't think much of it since Molly had just turned 2 at the time & loved to dress up in almost anything with sparkles on it. What really shocked me was last August when Molly asked me one day out of the blue "will you go ice skating with me?" I quickly replied "someday" & changed the subject. I didn't hear about her desire to hit the ice again until November when we were talking about what she wanted for Christmas. We were looking through catalogs & she quickly pointed out a pink pair of ice skates that were on a doll & exclaimed "I want those & Ben wants blue ones!" I replied, "Oh, you want skates for your dolly?" She stamped her feet, crossed her arms, and said "No I want pink ones for me!" My heart sank. Who was filling her head with these ideas....

Sweet little Molly napping in the dress that Grandma sent her home in (she refused to take it off for 2 days)!

I immediately called my mother and asked her why she was trying to get Molly to skate & she swore that she had never mentioned it since the day she sent her home in the dress. Hoping that this was true, I made her swear not to mention it to the child again. A few weeks later Molly again asked for skates & this time added a pretty skating dress to her wish list. I was doomed!!!! The last thing that I wanted to do was spend another minute of my live in an freezing cold ice arena. Why couldn't she want to do a summer sport or dance class? So I started thinking about possibly letting her attempt skating. After some serious deliberation I decided that it was probably a good idea for her to try skating as soon as possible so, I got on the internet & ordered 2 tiny pairs of skates to place under the tree!!!

Had I lost my mind!? No, I had a plan...I have spent many years teaching skating lessons & I have vary rarely seen a 2 1/2 year old who enjoys skating. They get on the ice, fall a couple of times & NEVER want to do it again! So, the investment of a couple of pairs of cute little skates was going to be worth not having the spend the next 10-20 years of my life in a rink. I have already spent over 17 years freezing to death - I am ready for a summer sport! So, I signed them up for soccer & gymnastics too...

And then, the day finally came; we packed up those cute little skates, put on matching skating outfits & headed to the local rink. One of my best friends, Carrie, who teaches skating agreed to help out, since I hadn't been on the ice since the little monsters were born. When we got to the rink, things started going exactly as I had desired: Benjamin saw all of the cool game machines & refused to put his skates on! 1 down, 1 to go... Molly still wanted to skate, so we laced up her tiny white boots & sent her on her way. She couldn't even WALK in the lobby without falling down; I was so relieved. She would NEVER want to actually get on the ice. Or, would she....

Oh, she couldn't wait to get out there. She fell and laughed about it. She loved it so much that she refused to get off of the ice; even after she knocked poor Carrie over & caused her to fall almost on top of her. When I saw the two of them go down, I thought that Molly would be in tears & we would finally be done with the sport for good. Nope, she wanted more. My plan had backfired!

So, it has been 2 months since our initial trip to the rink & Molly has asked to skate again almost every week. I have been able to ignore her requests until today when her Aunt Christa & her cousins invited her to go skating at Crown Center Ice Terrace. Deep in my heart I prayed that this time she would get to the rink & decide that the ice was too slippery or that it was too cold, but of course that wasn't the case. This time it was even worse - Ben begged to put his skates on, too!

Well, it looks like I have lost my first major battle in parenting & I have learned to NEVER say NEVER. I hope Grandma is ready to spend a few more years getting up before dawn & heading to the rink (and I hope that Grandpa is ready to fund this little experience)!!!

Memories...

Nothing too exciting happened in my life today! Since I don't have anything new to blog about I thought that I would go through some of my old pictures & write something about the one or two of them that I think the twins might have a good time looking at later on in life. After all, I did start this blog as a sort of scrapbook for them!

Ben's Big Boo-boo

While I was growing up so much time was spent traveling to skating competitions that we didn't really have the chance to take many "family vacations." As soon as I quit skating my sister and I jumped on every opportunity that we had to get our parents to take us on a trip. Our 1st family vacation was to Belize; I will talk about that one in a later post! Our most recent family vacation was to the Dominican Republic over Christmas 2011.

Every time we take a family trip, my mother and sister get all stressed out and want everything to be perfect, because "It is going to be our last trip as a family." They said this in Belize, last summer in Orlando, last year in Turks & Caicos, the year before in Jamaica, and of course they repeated it daily on our adventure to the Dominican.... Needless to say, we have yet to see our last family vacation, but that doesn't keep them from obsessing over the fact that it just might be our last trip together every time we book a flight! I have come up with a little theory about stressing & obsessing over things that "might be." I have noticed that the more energy that you put into trying to make something perfect, the less energy you actually have to enjoy the event that is suppose to be so amazing! Seriously, think about it: take a wedding for example - most people want their wedding day to be amazing & put an incredible amount of time, energy, and money into trying to make it just right. By the time they get to that day, they hardly enjoy any of it, because they are so busy focusing on every little detail that didn't go exactly as planned (the flowers aren't exactly right, someone didn't show up, someone didn't RSVP and did show up, it rained, it snowed.....). This is EXACTLY what happens when my family goes on a trip together.

So, we all head to the airport for an international flight with two 2 year olds, two girls under 10, a very fragile 80+ year old man, my mother, my sister, Brian, myself & way too much luggage!  1st problem: 2 of our bags weigh too much! So, instead of paying the extra fees, since they are ridiculous,  we open up all 14 pieces of luggage & start shifting weight around. 45 minutes later, we can finally go to the gate. We are all carrying extra carry-on pieces now to make up for the pounds that we had to remove from our checked luggage. As if carrying enough diapers & wipes to make it through flight wasn't enough....

The rest of the trip doesn't get much better from there. Ben screamed for over an hour during the last part of the flight. A very rude lady behind us kept complaining very loudly, which made me want to cry & neither one of the twins so much as shut their eyes once for the entire 9 hours of travel time. By the time we landed, I was praying to be arrested at customs & sent back to the US or held as a prisoner  alone for the next 10 days! That didn't happen; what did happen was:

1. They messed up our rooms & Mom spent the first 24 hours of the trip crying while my sister argued with the management to give us at least 1 of the 3 rooms that we were promised. My sister won that battle (as she usually does) & my parents got a poolside suite for the remainder of the trip. Unfortunately, it was a long walk from the other 2 rooms, which meant that our "last family vacation" was ruined because we were not right next to each other as planned.

2. The pool was freezing, the staff at the hotel was rude, and there wasn't much for kids to do at the resort. Again, not what was planned.

3. A few days into our trip my dad got sick and had to stay in the room for the remainder of the "last vacation."

4. Benjamin slipped in the pool & split his chin open. This was the highlight of the trip! There was a doctor on staff at the resort, so I put a towel over his bleeding wound and headed for the medical suite. I was shocked to find out that the doctor who staffed the place had just graduated from medical school 6 months prior to our encounter. He was working there because he was unable to get a spot in a residency program. (that did give me an idea of something to do if I don't match next week, but that's a whole other story). I asked if he had anything to clean the wound with, he said "no", any suture - "no." When I asked if he had any super glue, he freaked out and had a car take us to the hospital. At the hospital, there was only 1 person who spoke English and that isn't the person we got to stitch Benjamin up. We got a dermatologist who couldn't understand one word that we said. They didn't have Dermabond or Mastasol, they didn't even consider using dissolving suture (in the US we would usually use that on the face of a child) & they didn't have any topical lidocaine cream. It took 3 people to hold Ben down just to get the injections. After an hour of holding down a screaming baby, we left with 4 stitches costing us over $600....
The funny thing about this little boo-boo is that when we got home, Ben laid perfectly still & didn't shed a tear while I cut the stitches out in our living room. Another little funny is that every time Ben so much as stubs his toe he starts to wail "I wanna go to the hospital, I need to go to the doctor." Seriously, I hear that at least 4 times a day! I would rather repeat the 1st 2 years of medical school than take that kid to the hospital again!

In my opinion, the trip was a blast. Even if it was our "last family trip," I came home with some amazing memories & pictures. My mother & sister hated every minute of it & never want to go on a family vacation together again! Some of the cool parts of this disastrous vacation were:

1. Santa came to see the kids on Christmas

2. Ben & Molly actually remember this trip & talk about it all of the time. They tell me every week that they want to go on an airplane to the beach:

3. The twins actually started to understand who their "family" was on this vacation. They constantly ask where their cousins, and Aunt Christa & Uncle Robert are. I think family is really important & I am glad that they had this "one last family trip" to spend some time with their family!

4. I learned a little something about medicine on our adventure....be grateful for all of the advantages that we have in the US, as far as medical care is concerned & if I don't get into residency - I can apply to work at a resort in the Caribbean!


That's enough for tonight. I have to be up early tomorrow for my cardiology rotation. More later....

Web-links mentioned in this post:

1.  The resort that we stayed in on our last family vacation.

I'm Starting a Blog?

A Family Picture for my Family Blog

Okay, here it goes - I am actually starting a blog! I don't have anything against blogs - I spend a lot of time reading other people's blogs; I just never thought that I would take the time to start writing a blog of my own. I mean really; what do I actually have to say that is important enough for anyone to read???...


So, why am I doing this? Well, I have been reading the book "52 Things Kids Need From A Mom," written by Angela Thomas & number 24 on the list is "To Keep a Family Blog!" After I read her chapter on why you should start a family blog, I decided that blogging might be a good idea for me. After all, my twins are almost 3 and I haven't even come close to creating baby books for them! I figured that a blog might be a good way for me to keep track of important family moments so that the twins can read about them later.


Another reason for the blog is, of course, something my Mother ALWAYS says: "you should write that down; you are going to forget it." Seriously, she says that about every little thing that the twins do,  about every crazy case that I have been involved in during the last 2 years of medical school, about every silly party or business idea that I have, about every goofy thing that happens on family vacations....well, you get the point - she says it about almost everything! Well, what I have found to be true far too many times than I want to admit is that she is actually right! I was looking over some of my old Facebook pictures & I have forgotten so many things that I truly wanted to remember forever. I can hardly remember the month that the twins spent in the NICU, what it was like to compete at the US Figure Skating Championships, my wedding, and so many more very important life events. So, this blog is sort of like a living scrapbook for the twins to look at later!


So, there it is, my first blog post. I know, my closest friends are still stuck on the fact that I am reading a self help/parenting book. The truth is, I actually read a lot of them! My strongest desire in life is to be the best me that I can possibly be & to be an amazing mother while doing it! (I have other desires too, don't believe me, just look at my Pinterest boards.) I must note that I do not intend to keep this blog going just for my family members, I also intend to use it as a way to keep in contact with my friends all of the world. After all, family is not always composed of people who are blood relatives, but by those who hold a place in your heart!

Things that my mom would say  "you should write that down" for today:

(1.) The twins had their 1st ever swimming lesson today at Elite Aquatics Center! I didn't make it to the lesson, but it is probably better that way since they NEVER do anything but hang on my legs when I take them to their classes. The nanny, Nicie, reported that Molly did a great job & that she did everything that the teacher told her to do, including blowing bubbles & kicking in the water! She said that Ben was doing well too until the teacher poured water on their heads.... Oh well, maybe he will like it next week! The 1st thing he said to me when I got home was "I wasn't nice today" and when I asked him why he said "I told the teacher, NO NO NO." Kids are too fun!

(2.) My BFF in the entire world passed away last week. It was my dog, Tiffany. She was a tea-cup maltese that I had purchased with my 1st ever paycheck. I had earned $500 for filling in at an ice show in Chicago for a pair team that was injured & I took that check and bought myself a dog! Tiffany was an amazing friend; she traveled all over the US with me and has been there through thick and thin. When I put a post on Facebook saying that we had to put her to sleep I got 24 comments and 10 text messages over the next 12 hours! I am not writing this so that I don't forget the dog or the posts, but so that I don't forget that Molly finally asked where she was. Explaining death to a 2 year old was not something that I was quite ready for, so, I paused & told her that she was with God now & that we would miss her, but that she wasn't coming back. She looked at me & said "louie too?".... Louie is our Yorkie, who is NOT nice to the twins, so I thought that this comment was way too funny!

 Tiffany & Brian

Little Louie

(3.) The patient of the day: I am on cardiology this month & I saw a very touching patient this morning that I never want to forget. I can't use her name or anything, since it is against HIPPA, but I can share her story. The patient is a very lovely, 36 year old mother of 3. I know, a 36 year old with heart problems! Her problems are heartbreaking (no pun intended). She was born with a condition called transposition of the great vessels. In this condition the vessel that carries oxygenated blood from the heart to the rest of the body is flip-flopped with the vessel that brings un-oxygenated blood to the heart from the body. When she was 2 years old, she had open heart surgery to attempt to fix the problem. The surgery did help her to reach the age of 36 & to have 3 beautiful little ones, but the surgery was not a complete success. 34 years ago, medicine wasn't quite what it is today! This sweet mommy was able to work a full time job until a few years ago when her heart condition starting to interfere. She lost her job, and therefore, her health insurance. Now, she is lying in a hospital bed in desperate need of a heart-lung transplant, but it is not covered by her government health insurance! Talk about, bad luck. I feel so bad for this girl, and for her children. If anybody, has any ideas for a fund raiser, or some way to help her out - I would LOVE to hear it!

Links mentioned that may be of interest:

52 Things A Kid Needs From A Mom

Pinterest

Transposition of the great vessels

Eite Gymnastics & Aquatics