18 months old!

Growing, growing, growing!

Hudson is now a bright, inquisitive, fun-loving 18 month old! His preferred mode of transportation is either running or hopping while chirping "ribbit" and beaming at everyone in sight.  He learns at warp speed from his sisters, and wants to be doing absolutely everything that Olivia and Brianna are doing, at exactly the same time, much to their dismay.

He knows many words, far more than would be expected for a child his age, seemingly another benefit to being the youngest child.  He loves to snuggle and loves to play, and really just hang out with his mommy all day.  He is my little man, no doubt about it.  He still loves to nurse and snuggle, and ride around in his wrap close to mommy when we shop at the store.  Mommies little peanut indeed =).

He continues to follow the Hollibaugh growth chart, to no great surprise, landing in the 90+ percentiles for both height and weight. He is still sporting size 4 diapers, and 18-24 month clothing.  He seems to have leaned out quite a bit, but surprisingly he's still in the same size clothes. His favorite foods continue to be eggs, spaghetti, string cheese, teddy grahams, strawberries, watermelon, cantaloupe, grapes....who am I kidding, this kid loves ALL food! Well, except sweet potatoes...he got that from his daddy and gramz!

Loving this peanut more every day!

Happy 18 months little man!

Until next time -
Megan

Two Butterflies (ahem...Ladybugs) and a Bumblebee...

We are bugs for Halloween this year! Last year the girls were cupcakes and Hudson was a monkey and they all had a blast.  This year I figured the girls would want to be princesses or something "cool" like that with their tutu fascination, but they were more than THRILLED to be Butterflies (pretty sure they are ladybug costumes, but whatevs).  And Hudson rounds out the bug mix with a perfect bumblebee...complete with stinger on the tail end! LOL!

There are two trunk or treat events right down the street from our house, so we made sure to have plenty of candy and non-candy offerings at our house this year (usually we get all of 12-20 trick or treaters total).  If you stop by you will have your choice of candy, play dough, glow braclets, mini balls, or erasers.  It's been quite the challenge keeping the kids out of the Halloween bowl...they want it all and don't understand why we are giving it away to our friends...lol!  They will figure it out once we start trick or treating...they were practicing what to say all night last night. =)

What are your kiddos for Halloween this year? 

Happy Halloween!

Megan

Our Pump It Up 3rd Birthday Party!

What could be more fun than twenty 2-4 year olds bouncing the morning away at Pump It Up on a Husker Football off week?  Um...nothing of course!

The girls had a blast with all of their friends and even sang Happy Birthday to themselves twice!

The girls had an absolute blast.  Not that you can tell in pictures...lol...look at that pouty face on Livvy!

Now, I do have a question to all of those mommas out there about birthday gifts if you'd be willing to share your process.....

Here's the deal.  We went to one of our triplets friends birthday parties a couple of  years ago, and the momma very specifically asked that people not bring presents.  She stated "your presence is the best present".  I couldn't agree more, and we've made that statement at each of the girl's parties since.  As such, we never talk about or open presents at the actual birthday event (although every time at least half of the attendees do bring gifts). I guess my question is, what should I do after the girls open their presents at home?  Should we be sending thank you notes to everyone who gave a gift? Is it uncouth to do nothing?  I've only sent thank you's once, and I feel like if this is the process we are following with gifts that we should be sending thank you's every time.  What is your process with gifts?  Do you open them at the party?  After?  Send thank yous?  Not?

Hope you all are have a great weekend!

Until next time -
Megan

Look who's THREE!

Yep, you guessed it! We've survived yet another year of twin chaos and continue to feel incredibly blessed with the life we have been given.  Today Oliva and Brianna turned 3.  THREE!!! AHHH! They've learned their ABC's and 123's, have successfully potty trained, have gained a whole lot of spunk, love to dabble in creativity, and spend most of their time making sure mom and dad stay on their toes!

Let's go down memory lane for a moment, shall we?

Year 1 they spent hitting major milestones...first foods, first tooth(s), first steps.  We thought that we had the whole situation under control.  Yeah, right!

Year 2 they figured out how to walk, and walking turned into running.  Mom and dad spent most of this year figuring out how to take care of two MOBILE toddlers, and how to incorporate another little one into our already chaotic family dynamic.

Year 3 they have spent learning...learning how to love, learning how to share, learning how to care about not only one another, but for those around them. They grew flowers, tomatoes, and peppers in the garden. They drew lots and lots of pictures, and told their first stories. They learned how to be creative, they love reading books, and they starting asking the question "why" about absolutely everyone and everything =). They love to watch Caillou, Super Why, the Bee Movie, and Finding Nemo.  They think ABCmouse.com is amazing and want to play on it constantly.  They really are growing up!

We continue to show distinct differences as well, of course:

Olivia - Age 3

• Can tell you one heck of a story! She will just start talking, and talk, and talk....
• Loves to draw with chalk 
• Has a relatively short attention span and likes to jump between multiple activities at once (hmm...a multitasker in training?)
• Loves Mac and Cheese
• Very caring....loves her little brother, and loves taking care of her "babies"

Brianna - Age 3

• Walks to the beat of her own drum....doesn't care what anyone else thinks about her or what she is doing
• Loves to color, paint, play with stickers, and do anything creative, and can sit for 45 minutes or more working on one activity.
• Loves "chocolate cereal", yogurt, mac and cheese, and PB&J
• Not a huge fan of her little brother....prefers to have her stuff, her way, and doesn't like to share with Mr. H =)

So that's the shout out for the day...Happy Birthday to our sweet girls! We love you more and more each day and feel so blessed that we have been given the opportunity to be your parents! Life wouldn't be the same without you!!!  Here's to another year =).

Until next time - 

Megan  

Mr. Hudson - 15 months!

I love this little man to pieces, and can't believe just how quickly he is growing.  We went in last week for his 15 month checkup, and in pure Hollibaugh fashion, he's one BIG boy!

Here are his "official" stats from the pediatrician's office:
Weight: 27 lbs, 14 oz (96th percentile)
Height: 33.5 inches (100th percentile)

Other fun stats:
Diapers: Size 4
Clothes: Barely squeezing into the 18 month, mostly wearing 24 month...no surprise here!
Favorite foods: EVERYTHING!  He loves eggs, spaghetti, mac and cheese, all fruit - especially grapes, watermelon, cantaloupe, and strawberries, yogurt, soup, peanut butter toast...the list goes on and on! He eats more than I do, not kidding!!!
Words: Momma, Dadda, Bailey, Kitty, Boots, Caillou  eggs, up, down, more, water, juice, cheese, milk, yes, no, papa, car, chalk...and many more I am sure I am forgetting! 

The difference between Hudson and the girlies at this age? It's amazing what happens when you have older siblings to learn from! Hudson was walking earlier, talking earlier, and eating a selection of delectable food offerings earlier than the girls did.  It's amazing how much more relaxed you are the second time around!

Strangely enough, what is actually most notable to me is the difference in when the kids have been first introduced to suckers.  You know when you go to the bank and they give you dum dums for the kids?  Well, Hudson now INSISTS that he get a dum dum every time too! We didn't let the girls have dum dums until maybe 6 months ago (at 2.5 years old), but now we have been letting Hudson have dum dums (with supervision of course) for the last 6 weeks! He knows that he should have one too, and he will throw quite the fit if we don't give it to him.  I guess we are getting laxed in our old age! HA!

So that's the scoop with Mr. H! He's getting bigger and more handsome everyday!  Do you see those curls?! Ah! I love this kid!

Until next time -
Megan

I had to share....

I'm sure there will be many more pictures like this over the next couple of years, but this is the first!

This is what happens when you have diva twin girls and little boy who wants to be just like them.  The girls wanted to be "princesses" tonight, so they went through their closet and pulled out their tutus and matching shirts.  Hudson watched them do this and decided he wanted to be part of the action too! He went into their closet and pulled out a tutu, then turned to me and said "on"! HA! Si was mortified...I think it's adorable!

Love these crazy kids!

Until next time -
Megan

The Potty Training Chronicles - Twin Style

How is it possible for two children born at the same time to be SO different?! Sometimes I seriously forget that they are twins because they are so incredibly different.

Which brings me to the topic of the day...the girls are finally potty trained!  They have been for about 6 weeks now. I think parents always hold their breath when they write that because you know, once you write it down and make it official you're bound to be proven wrong and have some serious relapse.  We will see what happens tomorrow now that I've cursed myself =)

Now, to be fair,  we do still have some ongoing poop issues with Bri who is refusing to poop at all, not only in the potty.  This turns into an awful constipation mess requiring suppositories and enemas (great fun!), but for all intensive purposes we are finally fully trained and go potty in the potty without any real prompting from mommy or daddy.  We wear big girl panties from the time we get up to the time we go to sleep or down for naps.  But wow...this wasn't at all the journey I expected it would be.

Those of you that have followed my blog for a while may remember that I had such high hopes for my little ladies (don't we all have such high aspirations for our kids?!).  We bought the "Potty Time" DVD when the girls were about 17 months old.  They loved it.  They would run around and sing the songs and sign "potty".  They would sit on their potties multiple times a day, but they never went.  I wanted to work with them more on it, but then baby Hudson came along, and with a new baby in the house and sleep deprivation I honestly didn't have time to work on potty training.  The girls weren't interested anymore anyway, and always woke up wet in the mornings and from naps.  We decided to take a break.

Fast forward to this past July.  I started to notice that all of our other multiples friends that were the same age were potty trained, and here I was still spending $80 a month on diapers. I started to feel like a big slacker. Peer pressure, it's a powerful motivator!  I decided to try again.  The girls were very vocal that they were not interested in using their little potties, and didn't want to be big girls, but Si and I pushed the issue. We bought big girl panties and pull ups to help the girls be interested in potty training.  We were able to convince Olivia to try to pull ups.  Being the people pleaser that she is, as soon as she figured out that she was going to get additional attention and candy if she did what we asked, she was totally on board. Brianna absolutely refused to even try to go potty in the potty or put on pull ups.  So, we focused entirely on Olivia and let Brianna do her own thing.

After about 2 weeks, Olivia was about 80% potty trained on her little potty.  She was getting an M&M every time she went potty in the potty, and got a sucker every time she pooped in the potty.  Bri LOVES candy, and would cry and cry every time Olivia got a sucker and she didn't.  Bri refused to wear pull ups or sit on the little potties...they were for babies.

Then the light bulb came on.  Why don't we try just putting Bri in underwear and see what happens?

BINGO!

We put Brianna and Olivia in underwear the following Monday morning.  Brianna did beautifully!  She would ONLY go potty in the big potty, and she insisted on only wearing underwear and nothing else, but otherwise she did great! She had one accident the first day, and one accident two days later.  Since then her accidents have been so few and far between, she's maybe had 7 total in 6 weeks.  Olivia was already essentially potty trained via pull ups before we switched her over to underwear, and she had very few accidents as well.  We even took the girls out to shop at Target in their big girl panties the very first day we potty trained with the big girl panties since they had done so well.  Brave!

So, what I took from our experience that can be helpful to other potty training multiples parents is:

1. Every kid is different! What works for one child will not necessarily work for both.
2. Be flexible.  One kid insists on only wearing underwear? One kid will only go on the little potty?  No problem! There's no wrong way to potty train.
3. Consider not training your multiples at exactly the same time.  If you can get one child most of the way trained before bringing another child on board, go for it.  This allows you to focus on each child individually and on their own time, instead of the multiples being forced to "share" the potty training attention.
4. Buy LOTS of underwear.  I think we have about 40 pairs.  But it was necessary.  If you figure each kid could have up to 10 accidents a day, 40 pairs would only be enough undies to last 2 days for a set of twins! Plus you need some for in the car for accidents if you are out and around, and chances are you will end up throwing out a pair or two because the accidents are just "that bad"...lol....
5. Sometimes it's okay to push your kids out of their comfort zone.  For Pete's sake...my are going to be 3 next month.  In my opinion, the point at which they can passionately oppose potty training means it's time to MAKE them do it.  After all, you are the parent.  Parenting fail on our part here!
6. Be patient.  Some kids pick it up faster than others.
7. It's okay not to have your kid potty trained early.  If you look at Bri, she was obviously ready, she was just refusing....it didn't even take a day to train her.  Crazy. I think Livvy was just soaking up the attention, that's the only reason it took her 2 weeks to fully train. But I bought that DVD and had such high hopes that the girls would be trained at 18 months.  Don't push yourself!

That was our experience with potty training.  Was it similar to yours?  Different?  Any important points or tips I missed?  I'd love to hear your thoughts =)

Until next time -
Megan

"Why do you always dress them the same?"

As soon as I found out I was pregnant with twin girls I started dreaming of all of the cute, frilly, pink and purple outfits they would be wearing.  I knew I had no intention of being one of "those" moms that dressed their twins in the same clothes every day.  Hello, the kids are individuals! Why are you crazy moms dressing your kids the same?!

Perhaps I had spoken too soon. Once I became a mom to twin girls I quickly understood exactly why these moms may have dressed their kids in identical clothing.

There are so many things that you have to keep in mind as a mom of twins that may not be in the front of your mind as a mom to a singleton.  For one, you are constantly comparing your multiples, even if you try not to....

Sally is already hopping on one foot and running, and Samantha is still only walking....I wonder if there is something wrong with Samantha...is she delayed?  Should I be concerned?  

Now multiply this mindset times everything...

• Speech and communication skills: Sally knows 25 words and Sam only knows 15; or, Sam is signing a lot, but Sally will only sign more and milk
• How much they eat: Sam eats everything that is put in front of her, but Sally won't eat anything - I wonder if I need to supplement
• How much they weigh: Sally weighs 2 lbs more than Sam, is that okay?!
• How much they sleep: Sam is a great sleeper, but Sally only sleeps 7 hours a night, should I be concerned??

I could go on and on! It's difficult not to drive yourself crazy comparing your multiples! But rule #1 of having multiples....try not to compare them to each other! 

Okay, so I can work on that....but what about when other people do?  Then what?

One day when we were at Whole Foods in the checkout line with the girls when it happened....
"Wow, she is gorgeous!  And how cute is that outfit?!" a woman behind us in line says
"Oh, thank you" I say, smiling at her
"Oh, and you are pretty too" she says to our other peanut....(an apparent afterthought)
"We are very blessed with two beautiful little girls" I replied back

And at that moment it hit me.....the girls were going to get enough input from people around them about who was smarter, who was prettier, who was better dressed.....and I didn't want to play into it. Perception is everything in our American culture.  I didn't want the girls to think that I was purposely dressing one of them in cuter clothes than the other or was treating one girl differently from the other.  From that point forward, I purchased almost exclusively matching outfits for the girls.  If complimentary outfits were available I would purchase the complementary options, but otherwise, everything was purchased in identical sets of 2, from tops and pants, dresses and skirts, all the way down to socks and hair bows.

This is what the girls' closet looks like today...essentially 2 of everything!

The girls will be 3 in October, and they love to pick out what they wear each day. I give them two options.  They can both wear the same, or they can each wear one of the different outfits. I would say that about 97% of the time they choose to wear the same exact outfit.  Maybe as the girls grow older and start school and start to pick out their own clothes when we go shopping they will choose to wear different clothes, but for now, they are almost always dressed the same....and they like it.

What about you? Do you dress your twins the same?  If so, why?  Are our reasons similar?  I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Until next time - 
Megan

One Word Wednesday - Bubbles!

BUBBLES!!!!

Bubble machines are awesome! Hudson got one for his birthday and all 3 kiddos have been enjoying it thoroughly!

One Word Wednesday!

Mohawks!!!

I CAN do it myself Mom!

"I can do it myself!"

That phrase has been uttered so many times in our home recently that by the end of most days it literally takes all I have to not roll my eyes and respond like "Marlin" (Nemo's Dad) in Finding Nemo ("You think you can do these things, but you just can't Nemo!").  

I get it.  The girls will be 3 in October, and they want to be independent.  They want to be able to make the decisions that affect their daily lives.  And I'm cool with that. Really (okay okay, read, maybe).

 

You want to wash your hands by yourself?  You go for it.  

You want to put your shoes on yourself?  Super!  

You want to vacuum the floor? Sounds great!

You want to pick out your own clothes? You can do it!

But how do you know when to draw the line???

Case in point; the girls love to go to the park.  They are getting braver by the minute on the swings and the playground equipment! But what am I supposed to do when I hear that all too familiar phrase from them... "I can do it myself mom!"....but I don't think that they can??  At what point do you let them take that risk, and potentially fall and get hurt just to learn that maybe they can't do xyz thing themselves?  How do you know? 

And the follow up to that question...how do you know when you are just being overprotective, and you need to back off and let the kids learn on their own and show you what they can really do?

The girls have shown me that they CAN do several things recently.  I didn't think that they could.  

Walking across the super slick steep bridge at the zoo in the Rainforest....I had to hold on with both hands not to fall on my face, but not the girls!

Or climbing up this contraption at the park...I figured they could do it, I just wanted to be able to help them, or to put my hand on their back or booty in case they fell.  They weren't having it!

I was honestly worried for them. But they did an awesome job.  They didn't flinch.  They just did it.  I flinched! I held my breath!  Is that just how being a momma is from this point forward?  Veteran mommas...insight??? 

Thanks!!!

Until next time - 

Megan

Happy 1st Birthday Little Man!

One year ago, after 40 hours of non-progressing labor, I gave birth to the most wonderful "surprise" ever!!!

I savored every moment if the first year with this little peanut, even the year of 4 AM feedings! It was significantly easier with just one baby this time, and I loved it:-). For those of you contemplating trying to have a singleton after twins, I would do it again in a heartbeat. Si on the other hand, not so much...lol.

Here are Hudson's *sniff sniff* one year stats:
Weight: 26 lbs 14 oz
Height: 32 inches
Clothing size: 18 month, and 18-24 month
Diaper size: 4
Favorite foods: eggs, strawberries, and watermelon (so different from the girls!)
Favorite mode of transportation: WALKING EVERYWHERE!!! Although he does still crawl if he needs to get somewhere quickly:-)
Favorite things to do: play in the sandbox, eat sidewalk chalk, pet the cat and puggies, & swing!
Words: Momma, Dada, Denise, yes, no, Bri, kitty, eyes and Poppy Cat (lol!)

We had his Toy Story themed birthday party last weekend - so. much. fun.

In this last picture, it's Si and the girls (they are getting SO big), Papa Jake (the kid's great grandfather) and Gramz (Si's mom) holding Hudson.  The reason this picture is SO cool is because Hudson and Papa Jake share the same birthday....just 88 years apart =).  Very cool!

Happy Birthday Little Man!! I've loved sharing the last year with you!

Hope you all are doing well!

Until next time,
Megan

Running at 100 mph

I hope you are all having a splendid Mother's Day! You deserve it! 

I've come to the conclusion once again that motherhood is such an amazing gift, yet such an incredible commitment.   The girls are 2.5 years old (31 months to be exact) and Hudson is 11 months old today (I KNOW, and no, that's not a typo!!!).  I feel like I am running at 100 mph from daybreak to sunset and beyond most days, with no end in sight. It's fast.  All three of the kiddos are currently napping, and honestly I should be too, but I really wanted to write a blog post instead! It's "my" day (as Si says - thanks Hun!), so, I'm doing it!

I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but I just can't believe how "busy" I used to think I was before I had kids.  3 kids under 3 is crazy.  I love it, but MAN, this is nuts. It doesn't help that I'm crazy busy at work all the time though either. I wouldn't feel as "busy" at home if I had 2 minutes of down-time when I was at the office.  But, I wouldn't have it any other way.  3 healthy active peanuts who love Mommy and Daddy and each other (most days).  A dedicated husband and father, a home, a car, and money to pay the bills. I couldn't ask for anything more.

We've been busy, as I'm sure you are too.  The girls are learning SO much....they are just little sponges....so I'm trying my best to keep them involved and stimulated.  Once they are potty trained (that is totally a different post) I would like to get them into a preschool program.  I'm quite sure they are ready and would benefit from the structure that a classroom would provide to them.

In the meantime I am trying to "culture" them, to the best of my ability. Last month we did a "Paint me a Story" class for preschoolers at a local pottery place. They were the youngest in the "class", and their maturity level was pretty apparent in comparison to the older kids, but they didn't care.  They LOVED it.  

I also want to make sure that they are exposed to the performing arts, but it wasn't clear to me when to bring them to their first performance.  I am pleased to announce that the girls attended their first musical at the Rose Theater in Omaha about 6 weeks ago!  They did so well! So much better than I thought they would.  I think I was beaming by the end of the show. I will definitely be looking into getting a membership to the theater next season.  The girls really seemed to enjoy the seeing the performers, listening to the songs/music, and being in such a cool locale.  If you haven't taken your 2 year olds to a performance yet, maybe give it a try.  I was nervous for no good reason =)

The set:

I realize that I haven't posted since before Easter, so I am going to post those pics here too.  Of course we participated in our fair share of Easter festivities. The girls are 2 after all...that means game on for Easter Egg hunts.  I always loved Easter Egg hunts when I was growing up, so I was beyond ready to teach them the ropes of "hunting". =) We went to a Hy-Vee Easter egg hunt first, and while we were there Cookie Monster showed up!  The girls think Cookie Monster is pretty darn awesome.

A week later we went to the OPMC (the multiples club) Easter Egg Hunt. There the girls (and Hudson) met the Easter Bunny.  We smiled for a picture, kind of, but if you ask the girls, they much prefer Cookie Monster at their Easter Egg hunts to the Easter Bunny. HA!

Hudson was just happy that found an egg or two to chew on at the hunt.  They are so easy to please when they are infants! 

Brianna was upset because she wanted "14" eggs, and the limit per kid was 10. Luckily for Bri, Baby Hudson agreed to take one for the team, and Bri got 4 of Hudson's 10 allotted eggs.  Problem solving at it's finest, right?  Don't ask me what I will do once Hudson actually knows what is going on though...I'm not that good.

What else has been going on?  Oh yes, the Spring multiples club clothing and equipment sale! Si ran the sale in the fall, but once he agreed to take a position on the OPMC (multiples club in town) board of directors, he had to let go of the "Sale Chair" position.  I volunteered to take it on instead. You know, because I don't have anything else going on! The sale was April 30th, and was a success.  The sellers sold a combined total of $12,100 worth of stuff in a short 7 hour time span!  20%-25% went to the club, so the club made some nice money too!

We personally sold $821 worth of stuff which translated into $658 after fees.  It's all MINE to spend!!! Momma is going shopping! LOL...I wish....

That's probably enough pictures and updates for now.  I hope you have had a wonderful Mother's Day ladies!!!

Until next time - 

Megan

Holy cuteness!

We got Hudson's 6 months pictures taken last month. The photographer did an amazing job. She got a ton of good pictures.  But my absolute favorite??? This one!

And the girls never miss an opportunity for a photo shoot....

I changed the picture in my blog header as well, so make sure you check out that picture too.  I know, I know....Hudson is going to hate me for ever dressing him up like this! But for now he can't complain, and I LOVE it! Tee hee!

Have a great Thursday peeps!

Megan

One of our new favorite things

The girls got a ton of stuff for Christmas. 

WAY more than they needed.  I was seriously considering donating some of the gifts I had bought them to the Open Door Mission or one of the children's homes in town....they got that much...

Their "big" present this year was a kitchenette, which they love, and the grandparents got the girls some really nice fake food items/sets to go along with it. It's pretty sweet.  Way cooler than anything I ever had when I was a kid, that's for sure!  They also got shopping carts and cash registers. And puzzles, tea sets, coloring books, markers, and crayons.  So much STUFF!  

One of the least noteworthy things that they received (or so I thought) were these bath tablets, made by Crayola, which were nestled in their stockings on Christmas morning.

Ladies, let me tell you...I bought these at Target...I needed something to stick in the girls stockings and they were like $3....I thought, why not?

Major score! The girls LOVE them! They love getting to choose which color their bath water is at night, and they love playing tea party in the bath with the colored water! Totally worth the $3! It's definitely one of the girls new favorite things!  And, it's a great way to kill an hour on a cold morning when we can't go outside and play....take a nice warm bath and play tea party at the same time!

Both of these pictures were taken with the blue tablets (I think the blue is the best!), but the girls like the yellow and the red equally as well.

So there! What I least expected turned out to be a big hit =).  

Do you guys have a favorite item that your kiddos got for Christmas?  If so, share it here! I'd love to get some more great ideas!  

Hope you all are well!

Megan

Guest Post: Type 2 Diabetes Prevention in the New Year

The New Year is often a time of resolutions. Many of us resolve to eat better or to exercise more. Others resolve to attend church more regularly or to volunteer more often. My guest blogger today encourages us to think about how we can be proactive and prevent Type 2 Diabetes in our children in the New Year.  Thanks so much for bringing up a very important subject and sharing your insight with us Carolyn!  


Type 2 Diabetes Prevention in the New Year 
Preventing Type 2 Diabetes became a mission last year, and it's the same resolution for my family in 2013. My little cousin has had weight issues for some time, and was recently diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. Last November, during American Diabetes Month, it became clear that more than just adults are susceptible to this chronic illness. In fact, according to information from St. Joseph’s Hospital Cardiac Center, 1 in 3 kids is diagnosed with obesity, with a large majority of them also carrying a Type 2 Diabetes diagnosis! For my other cousins and family, this was a big wake up call (and honestly, to me as well!). We needed to eat better, exercise more and do things as a family to really help pull my young cousin out of a dangerous unhealthy path.


The Diabetes Diet: Don't Call It That 
Well it's not necessarily so much as a diet as it is not eating bad food and replacing what you used to eat with tons of healthy vegetables and protein. My family realized it was important to set an example of healthy eating for all the little ones in the family, so we started by cooking and eating healthy meals together.

My little cousin doesn't respond well to broccoli, but there are creative ways to cook things that make it delicious. For example, cauliflower puree looks like mashed potatoes and you can make it taste just as great with a little butter and garlic. In moderation, this is a great recipe for finicky children who love starches and sugar. It’s also really important to incorporate lots of non-starchy vegetables into the meal, such as spinach, mushrooms and peppers. In addition, lean protein is also great for preventing or managing diabetes. Meat needs to be grilled, but you should also look at vegan and vegetarian sources of protein as too much meat isn't necessarily good for kids either because of the fat content. Stick to lean sirloin meats, tofu, tempeh, soy or other protein sources that will excite your kid and that you want to try as a family.

"Mashed Cauliflower"

Exercising with Little Ones 
Kids shouldn't have trouble burning energy, but some do. That's totally okay if they love the indoors and they're whizzes with computers or love video games. However, they need to get active in some way. Knowing where to start is key.

For some kids, it's as easy as buying a game like Dance Dance Revolution or any of the Wii Fit games. For others, you need to do things again as a family. Sports games, scavenger hunts, musical chairs, tag and other fun things with family can make exercise not seem like exercise. For those kids who are already overweight, you may need low impact exercises like stretching, yoga, weight lifting and light movement activities such as swimming!

These are great ideas Carolyn! It seems to me like making some small changes can make some big differences in our children.  Thank you so much for taking time to share your personal experience with Type 2 Diabetes with us! 


Carolyn is a 20-something year old with a passion for life, fitness and overall well-being. She is an avid cycler, golfer and has been known to bust some serious moves on the dance floor. Check out Carolyn’s blog at http://fullonfit.blogspot.com/!

6 months old!

Having a singleton in our household is so very different than having twins.  Or maybe we are so busy now with the twins being 2 and crazy that it seems more difficult having an infant! I'm not sure.  But what I do know is that although we were exhausted with the twins at this point, they were sleeping through the night on a regular basis.  They would take a bottle without question. They liked to try new foods (okay, or they would at least eat real foods). They had a routine.

Hudson does none of these things! 

I'm pretty darn sure I would be a better blogger if Mr. Hudson would start sleeping through the night.  At this point the girls go down for the night, then Hudson gets in the bath and nurses to sleep, then I prep my lunch and clothes for work for the next day and watch the news. 9 times out of 10 Hudson is awake again and wanting to nurse and snuggle by the end up the newscast. Really kiddo?! Then he's up, on average, again at 12:30 AM and 4:30 AM. Oye vey!  I love him to death, and I know that this lasts for such a short period of time, but I'm literally exhausted constantly!  And as it relates to my blog posting, previously 95% of my blog posts were written between 9:30-11:30 PM, so this has taken any blog writing time that I once had and thrown it out the window.  So, my loyal readers, I apologize for the lack of updates. If someone wants to take my youngest child one night a week so I can sleep I promise to update my blog weekly as well  =).

But I digress! Back to the purpose for this post - Hudson is 6 months old - and such a chunkaroosky! Look at these rolls! I LOVE them!

Here are his 6 month stats:

Weight: 23 lbs 11 oz (99.9%)

Height: 27.2 " (78%)

Head Circumference: 17.7" (83%)

He is thriving to say the least!  He is currently in size 4 diapers (I KNOW!!!), and size 12 and 12-18 month clothing.  I have got some of the cutest outfits, and he never even made it into them!

He loves to be outside, so the cold weather has not made him very happy.  Good thing he doesn't mind dressing warmly so he can still stroll around the neighborhood in his stroller!

Okay, well, my nap time blogging time is up! Baby H is awake and trying to squirm out of his swing - Gotta go!

Until next time!

Megan