We have bottle drama.

My twins still are on Similac Soy Toddler Milk, they still drink it from bottles. We are not ready to torture them with removing bottles quite yet

Anyhow we usually give Parker a bottle with a blue nipple ring and Graham one with an orange nipple ring.
Lately they have meltdowns if one has the bottle they want. I even have had this happen 2-3 times in the past 2 weeks when I gave them each an identical bottle..totally identical.
I will hand them each one at the same time or let them take them from my hand..but then one of them decided they want the bottle the other twin has and it turns into a tantrum...complete with screaming and banging their head on the floor.
I try switching then bottles and then the other twin starts his screaming tantrum.

fun huh!  :)

Twins Clubs & Twin Moms

I keep meeting more and more twin moms who have had terrible experiences with their local twins club.
I feel bad for them.  I thought I would have a great experience with my local twins club but I did not.
See here.

What is the problem with so many Twins clubs?  I have heard so many horror stories and then ones very similar to my own. I have even heard of them alienating Triplet and Quad moms or acting oddly with them. I have heard of them alienating moms of twins who then end up getting pregnant after their twins and having a singleton. Why are so many twin moms against associating with other moms who have ONLY twins.
I love being able to chit chat with other twin and multiples moms. It is great but I do not limit myself to only twin moms. All of my singletons are much older and more independent, and are way past playgroup age. I could easily be one of those twin moms who will only associate with other twin moms. I choose not to. I really feel like I would have missed out on a lot of great mom friends if I had done so.  I understand the need for other twin mom companionship but are some twin moms taking it too far?

Do baby and toddler twins know that they are twins?  Do pre-school age twins fully understand what being a twin is?  Do school age twins care if they are not hanging out with another set of twins? Do twins age 0-18 feel if they are not hanging out with or playing with another set of twins that they are slighting themselves in some way? Do twins age 0-4 even notice or care that they are or are not playing with another set of twins?

I love being a twin mom and I love being friends with twin moms but I feel like I need all kinds of mom friends.

I really had high hopes for being in the local Twins and Triplets club but wow did they let me down and then some. I am still in shock at the bizarre and untrue accusations against me from the local twins club. All because someone was lazy and others misunderstood....and then never tried to make it right.
Sad.

I hope to keep meeting more twin moms. I do enjoy it but I would not trade my singleton mom friends. :)

Twinisms

Are you one of those twin moms who don't like the twin nick names?

Twinkies, Twinkers, Twinces, Twincesses..etc etc.

I am

I am not sure what it is about the nicknames they just make me cringe. No offense to anyone who uses these nick names for their twins. I just don't like them. I guess it is kind of like not liking banana flavored popscicles or banana flavored candy. They taste utterly disgusting to me. I hated it when I was a child and my mom would buy banana flavored popscicles. I felt slighted. I would not eat them even if I was desperate for a popscicle. I usually froze some orange juice on those occasions. I guess she just really liked banana popscicles and maybe I was being naughty that week ro something. :)

Which brings me to thinking more into twinisms. Why do people have such a strange stigma about twins. When they see you in public they say things like.. "Oh dear I feel terrible for you"  or  "Wow do you have your hands full",  I hear a lot of  "I was so afraid I was going to have twins, so glad I did not:" and " Oh look out double trouble".  Not to forget the "I have a baby and a toddler, it is just like having twins but worse"  or  My 1 year old, 3 year old, and 5 year old are more difficult than having twins".  Been there done that honey, it is not the same.  You see I have an advantage over many twin moms.  I was a singleton mom x3. I have a child who is 14 and is 2.5 years older than my 2nd child who is 11 1/2...who in turn is 15 months older than my 3rd child who is 10. I was also a single mom for 7+ years. I lost my first husband in an auto related accident and was left at 25 years old with a 15 month old, a 2 year old, and a 5 year old who just started Kindergarten 2 weeks before. I had 3 kids very close in age....2 of which were even more close in age. I had an 8+ year break from having children and then my current husband and I decided to have one child, had a loss, and then had twins. Wow TWINS!! They are 2 now. 4/21/08 (32 weekers)

So I have really been there and done that. I can vouch for ALL twin moms far and wide.

Having children close in age is NOTHING AT ALL LIKE HAVING TWINS.

 I PROMISE YOU THIS 1000x OVER!!!

I know most people just are trying to make conversation when they see someone with twins but why all the negativity?  Yes twins is a bit tougher than one but it is not like all twin mosm have been given a lifetime of punishment. Having twins is not a bad thing. It should not be feared, and when you tell a twin mom you feel bad for her or it is better her than you.... that is just plain ignorant and rude.

I hope one day things change and moms who do not have twins no longer see twins as a punishment.Twins are tough and all but are such a great blessing and what a wonderful experience for a mom!

I will leave you with some pics....yes this is our living room and yes these toys are only my twins toys. I do not run a daycare..and it is only half the room. Daddy was napping so I did not take pics of the other half of the room which contains the big playskool tent, the ride on's, and the bouce on's. :)

Big Bang Baby!!

Introducing.....................


My New Twins, Multiples, & Singletons Tee Shirt Shop!!

                                                http://www.cafepress.com/BigBangMom

Yes I decided to make tee shirts, why you ask? Because there are simply not enough cute tee shirts for Twins, Triplets, Quads, Quints, and Sextuplets.

I plan to specialize in multiples tee shirts and not just quirky ones!

So far I have added quite a few designs. I have 83 more to add...which takes time of course. I hope to have those designs all added by the end of July.

I have been pretty busy not only with my twins and my 3 singletons but with my 3 playgroups!!  I also hope to get this blog to really be going smoothly by the end of August.

Right now we are busy with lots of Summer Activities!!

If you are local or know someone local in Central Florida, check out my groups!!
North Orlando Sunshine Moms   
Sunshine Moms Twins and Multiples ages 0-4 Playgroup
Sunshine Moms Clothing and Toy Swap

TwinTuesday! What is your most memorable "public" twin experience?

Hey everyone! TwinHappyJen back with another TwinTuesday QOTW :-)

What is your most memorable "being stopped in public" experience?

Whether it was a comment someone made about your twins, or the circumstances surrounding being stopped... what one moment stands out in your mind as, "People really are crazy when it comes to twins." :-p

Mine was when my girls were just a couple of months old or so. I was at a new grocery store up the street, and I decided to stop and get some coffee. I was standing in line... the girls were asleep in their double stroller. And, then one person noticed them... and then another... and, before I knew it, there was a whole crowd gathered around them. It got so crazy that the walkway into the store actually became blocked (and this wasn't a narrow walkway by any means). I couldn't believe it!

What about you? What stands out in your mind as you most memorable "public" twin experience? :-) Feel free to leave your answer in the comments below... or, answer on your blog and leave a link to your post in the linky below! (And feel free to add the blog hop code to your blog post, as well!)

P.S. You can also feel free to talk about anything you'd like in the TwinTuesday posting on your own blog... the QOTW is just meant as a discussion starter, but you're certainly not restricted to that as a topic :-)

The next TwinTuesday QOTW:

Have you taken your twins on a road trip, yet? And, if so, any tips/tricks for making the ride smoother? :-)

Come back next week to answer!

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Great article!

This article was written by one of our fabulous twin momma authors, Joscelyn.

It mentions this blog and me!

Thank you Joscelyn!!!

FAQ sheet for Triplets

I'll bite on the "Question of the Week" this week. The most memorable occasion of being stopped in public actually came when I only had two babies, instead of three. It was during the two weeks between when Brenden and Caitlin came home, and when Tamara was finally able to come home. Brian and I had gone shopping at Kmart with the babies. We took the triplet stroller, but since we were short one baby we left the middle seat off so we could put our purchase there instead, like a shopping cart.

A gawker approached us during our trip. "Oh how cute! Are they twins?"

"No, they're triplets," we said.

I kid you not, this woman LOOKED UNDERNEATH THE STROLLER for the third baby before we had a chance to explain that the third was in the hospital.

So with that, I bring you my Frequently Asked Questions list:

These are all real, live questions from real, live people, most of them asked at least once every day. In case you can't tell, they are really starting to get on our nerves. We would definitely recommend not saying any of the following to any triplets/parents you may meet:

Are they twins?
No. (Where does this question come from? People who can't count?)

I bet you have your hands full!
I bet you think you're original, don't you?

Do you really have three babies in that stroller?
No. It's only two babies and a doll. I'm psychotic and just think they're three babies.

Are they all yours?
Nope, I'm just masochistic, I like taking lots of babies everywhere I go.

Are all three triplets?
No. I get my kicks off of dressing up other people's children like my own.

I've never seen triplets before!
Neither have I.

I've never seen a triplet stroller before!
Neither have I.

Are they all different sexes?
Yes, that's right, we have one boy, one girl, and one alien.

Are they all boys?
Yup. We really wanted some girls, though, so we dress a couple in pink hoping they'll change their minds.

Two boys and a girl?
That's right, two drag queens and one bull dyke.

Nobody ever asks us if they're all girls, though, or even two girls and a boy. Feel free to if you see us.

How do you manage?
I'm not sure. My memory is pretty fuzzy right now. Could you pass me another drink? I need to take my medication now.

Did you know you were going to have triplets?
1st Answer:
Nope. My weight gain and size had the doctors completely mystified, and the ultrasound didn't show a darn thing. They never could figure out which lump was the head.
2nd Answer:
Yup. We had this planned from the beginning. We went to the doc and said, "Ok, we want to have three babies at once. Don't mind the leather and chains; we're into sado-masochism."

Do triplets run in your family?
They do now.

Were you on drugs?
Not before, but I sure do need them now. What have you got on you?

Were you on fertility drugs?
Do you want the long answer or the short one? Because by asking the question, you don't seem to understand the true risks involved in fertility treatment. In fact, yes, I was on fertility drugs. It was the lowest-level, least effective "fertility" drug on the market. I was also given a less than 5% chance of having twins. Triplets were never mentioned. If you think I should have been expecting this, think again. And how were your children conceived?

Do they all sleep at the same time?
This question made a little more sense the first year; after 16 months or so it started to seem a little insane. If they weren't sleeping together at some point, they would need to have some serious health problems.

Happy TwinTuesday! Twin Conventions/Meet Ups?

Hey everyone! Well, I seem to say this too often lately, but getting another late start. The girls and I just took a really long walk today (Anna in particular has just been wanting to explore the neighborhood lately)... and, then we all kind of collapsed when we got back :-p I got up just in time to get them off to school (it was the first time I had to wake them up for school :-p).

I also just got off the phone with a reporter, who wanted to talk to me about my experience with TTTS. I don't want to say more than that (I don't know how much I should and shouldn't say about it right now), but if/when the article goes up, I'll certainly post a link to it here! I just hope I didn't sound like too much of an idiot :-p I think I have some kind of phone phobia. Whenever I'm talking to someone I don't know really well, I get so nervous.... I start laughing a lot... and even just picking up the phone to call someone I don't know really well can sometimes be nearly impossible for me to do. I just do much better with meeting people in person or (especially) chatting online... I don't know what it is, but I usually avoid the phone as much as possible :-p

Anyway, back to TwinTuesday, I just realized that I never did post what today's QOTW would be, on last week's TwinTuesday posting... I'm so sorry! Will keep this week's question short and easy to answer...

Have you ever attended any kind of twins convention or meet-up?

I actually attended my first meet-up, right before the girls' 1st birthday. I organized a little trip to the DC Zoo, with a few other twin Moms that I chatted with on a twins message board. It was fun! It could have been better, though... I think the zoo just wasn't necessarily the best place for a first meeting between many different people, who didn't really know each other well: It was busy, everybody was trying to keep track of their own children, and ultimately everyone ended up going their separate ways. But still, it was a great first experience! And, in the future I'd love to do more (I don't know why I haven't before now)....

The only other thing I've done is taken the girls up to Twinsburg, OH (just outside of Cleveland) for the annual Twins Days Festival! Went up with my husband and the girls in August of '07 and took them again, by myself (I know, I'm crazy :-p) in August of '09. It is definitely something you should do, at least once, with your twins... especially when they get old enough to really understand their "twindom." I think it's so great for my girls to see that, they are not the only twins in the world... not by a long shot :-p It's a really great experience! And, my ultimate dream is to organize my own Twins Festival, in my own neck of the woods... I think it would be great to have more, in other areas!

For the time being, though, I'm currently working on my online twins festival: Twinstock! :-D I just set it up the other day, but have already received a whole bunch of sponsorship offers... and, since I still have almost a couple of months before it actually starts, I think this year's celebration is gonna blow last year's away! :-D I also have so many ideas for it...

But, I digress :-p What about you? Have you attended and/or hosted any kind of twins meet-up, convention, etc? Feel free to leave your answer in the comments below... or, answer on your blog and leave a link to your post in the linky below! (And feel free to add the blog hop code to your blog post, as well!)

P.S. You can also feel free to talk about anything you'd like in the TwinTuesday posting on your own blog... the QOTW is just meant as a discussion starter, but you're certainly not restricted to that as a topic :-)

P.S. And yes, Twinstock is what's been keeping me busy the past week :-p Sorry for letting TwinTuesday suffer because of it! But, to try and get on the right track, here's the next TwinTuesday QOTW:

What is your most memorable "being stopped in public" experience? Whether it was a comment someone made about your twins, or the circumstances surrounding being stopped... what one moment stands out in your mind as, "People really are crazy when it comes to twins." :-p

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CALLING ALL MOMS

IF YOU ARE A LOCAL CENTRAL FLORIDA MOM WHO SELLS A PRODUCT OR SERVICE, CONTACT ME ABOUT AN EVENT YOU COULD COME TO WITH YOUR PRODUCTS OR SERVICE.. sunshinemoms@cfl.rr.com

Happy TwinTuesday! Birth Order?

Hi! TwinHappyJen here with another TwinTuesday! :-)

This post is a bit long-winded so, if you're pressed for time (or just don't feel like reading my ramblings :-p), please feel free to scroll to the bottom for the QOTW.

However, I'd just like to say, today is actually a personally special day for me. Even though the girls' 5th birthday was actually a month ago, on May 1st, June 1st is the day I celebrate as the day I really became a Mom.

While they were in the NICU, I of course visited them every day. Well, I actually a missed a couple of days in the middle because I developed a breast infection. I think it was somehow due to the constant pumping I was doing, and I, again, ended up layed-up with a 102 degree fever. But, other than that, I made my way there every single day... spent as much time as I could... and really did more than I probably should have since I was still recovering from my C-section. (I drove earlier than my doctor told me to... always had to park a mile away at the hospital, so did A LOT of uncomfortable walking :-p)

However, one of the most stressful things about them being in the hospital, was the fact that, I didn't really feel like their Mom yet. Their primary givers were the nurses. I just felt like a visitor. It's hard to explain that first month... a lot of it was just a blur for me. But, about this time 5 years ago, I received the news: the girls were going to be released on June 1st! Much earlier then expected (since they were 10 weeks premature).

As much as the previous month had been a blur, I remember that car ride home with crystal clarity: I was scared out of my mind :-p For the first time, the girls weren't hooked up to any machines and I remember feeling, "How am I supposed to know that they're still breathing, and that their hearts are still beating, without the beeps of the machine??" :-p We, of course, had to put them rear-facing, in the back of our car. So, I just kept reaching back, trying to get them to squeeze my fingers, so I knew they were still OK. We only lived about 10-15 minutes away from the hospital, but it was the longest 10-15 minutes of my life :-p

Finally, though, we made it home... and sure enough, they were safe and sound in the back seat. And, after that... well, things get blurry again :-p BUT, from that moment on, I was their Mom. I mean, I always was... but, now I was their primary (and pretty much only) caregiver. And, my bond with them grew both quickly and deeply from that moment on...

So, June 1st is a special day for me, personally. May 1st is their birthday, but I celebrate June 1st as my Mom-iversary :-p

Anyway, onto the QOTW!

The other day, I came across this article about birth order (and love choices so, it's a bit on the shallow/cutesy-side, for lack of a better description, but still interesting) and, it got me to thinking....

I've always been very interested in birth-order theories... I have always believed that birth order can at least be a very good indicator for someone's personality.

Me: I'm a firstborn. I have 2 brothers and a sister, all younger than me (by 3, 5 and 7 years respectively). And, like many firstborns, from a pretty young age, I was often left "in charge" of my younger siblings. Unfortunately, that led to a "me against them" (and vice-versa) mentality/relationship between us. But, it did also instill a strong "take charge" attitude in me. I have always strived to find my own way, take care of myself, cut my own path... which is sometimes a good thing... sometimes, maybe not so much :-p

The only person with whom I tend to let those tendencies fall by the wayside a bit, is my husband, Dave :-p He is a lastborn, with MANY older sisters and brothers. His family's a bit complicated... he's actually the only product of both his biological mother and father, but he has many half and step siblings, that may or may not have lived with him at some point. But, he is the last of all those siblings and, as the article pointed out, can have a tendency to be "easygoing, spontaneous, used to being noticed and fussed over, charming, and manipulative." And, I mean that in the nicest possible sense... really! :-p Many times, I do want, and will let him take the lead... I had a bit of a domineering Father, and I think sometimes I just get a little insecure about my own abilities. But, I think most of the time, I prefer to take the lead... and my husband even prefers that I take the lead (as long as he gets what he wants :-p)

ANYWAY, of course, a wrench kind of gets thrown into the works when it comes to twins. Even though Josie was technically born one minute before Anna, they're really the same age. Heck, for about the first week after conception, they were simply one fertilized zygote :-p And, since the only other children in the picture are their MUCH older half-brother and sister (my stepkids are now 19 and 17, respectively), they're pretty much just another couple of grown-ups in the house, to the girls. So, there's no real birth order dynamics taking place... in fact, they're kind of like two only children... taking on qualities of both first and last born children.

I know in some twin relationships, regardless of technical birth order, one twin will become the more dominant twin... but, that really doesn't seem to be the case with Anna and Josie. For awhile I thought Anna might be, just because in the beginning, she was developing a bit faster than Josie (leftover complications from the TTTS), but now that they've evened out that way, there truly does not seem to be a more dominant twin. They certainly have their differences... Josie tends to be a bit more sociable, while Anna likes to go off and do her own thing. But, when it comes to the dynamics between them, sometimes one will take the lead, sometimes the other will... but, they do seem to be true equals, in every sense. Which again, can be a good thing... but, sometimes it does lead to power struggles between them :-p

What about your experience, though? Just like everybody, every set of twins is different. Does there seem to be a more dominant twin? And incidentally, does it seem to correspond to their "technical" birth order in any way?

Feel free to leave your answer in the comments below... or, answer on your blog and leave a link to your post in the linky below! (And feel free to add the blog hop code to your blog post, as well!)

P.S. You can also feel free to talk about anything you'd like in the TwinTuesday posting on your own blog... the QOTW is just meant as a discussion starter, but you're certainly not restricted to that as a topic :-)

Special Note: Twinstock '10 is starting to take shape! Check out the update page/info for it at http://twinstock.org

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Check out the ever-growing "Twin Tweeters" list!