Mommie Dearest......

Anyone who knows me knows that I will willingly say that I was the product of two people who should have never been allowed to reproduce. Yes, that means I wouldn't be here, but you know what - the truth is the truth!

Now, my dad will openly admit he made mistakes. He will admit that he was no where near being the perfect father or parent for that matter. But, my mother. Wow..... To hear her talk, she was the almighty perfect mother and I was just the lousy kid she got stuck with. But, in reality that was the furthest from the truth.

Now, before I go on, let me clear the air a bit. Yes, I had the necessities growing up. No, I was not beaten or sexually abused. Please note, that I have not denied being mentally/emotionally abused. We all have our skeletons, some are just much worse than others.

Now, here is a picture of my mom on Christmas 2009.

This is her, her current boyfriend and his granddaughter.

Yes, this picture upsets me. I lived in my home state all my life, up until January 2009. I had 6 children of my own at that point. Do you know how many pictures I have of my mother and any of my children together? One. Yes, one. And in all honesty, I really don't know where its located. It was of her holding my oldest daughter at my wedding. And that's it. The only photo I have of her with one of my children -- her grandchildren. And believe me, she wasn't smiling in that one. It just irks my nerves that she puts her man's grand kid above her own grandchildren. And on top of that, this little girl is a few weeks younger than my 2005 twins. And, I always have to hear about how she is such a genius and was talking before them and what she knows that mine doesn't. Who cares? My children are smart. Sorry if they don't develop on the same level as someone else's kid. Oh, I could go on and on and on about this; but I won't.

And you want to know the worst part if it all? She doesn't even call my kids her grand kids. She calls them "My daughter's kids. I'm not grandma!" She has them call her Ms. Tricia or Mama's Mama. What is that crap? When the twins were born in 2007, I had their birth announcement put in the local paper. She came and cussed me out for putting them as her grand kids. Ummm...... well THEY ARE! Besides we lived in a small town. Everyone knew before I left the hospital that she had 2 more grand kids! I mean sheesh!

34 Week Pregnancy Update

It's been awhile since I last updated on my pregnancy. Well, today I am 34 weeks along with Connor. I also had my 34 week appointment. I had a NST (non-stress test) and that went well. I also had a growth scan. Connor is breech, but makes no difference since I am having a C-section. He is measuring about a week or 2 ahead. They approximate his weight to be almost 6 pounds. All other stats on us were good.



I go back next week for my 35 week appointment and a NST.

Here are the two pics I got from the scan:

The arrow is pointing at his hair:


His ear:



The more she tried to look at him, the more he tried to hide.

QOTW: How I Chose the Twins' Names.....

Twins, Part 1!

These are 4 year-old twin girls named Caitlyn Renee and Charlotte Alayna.

Did you stick with family names?

For these 2, not really. Charlotte was named for my granddaddy, Charles, who had passed away the year before. I was an absolute Granddaddy's girl, so I felt like I needed to honor him in my life. Charlotte's middle name was for "Alan". Alan was my husband's youth bowling coach and a huge influence in our lives. Alan also had a son named John Alan who was a few years younger than my hubby. They had been friends pretty much their entire youth. He was killed in an auto accident in 2000, so we used Alayna as a way to honor the 2 Alans. Caitlyn was a "C" name we could agree on. At the time I was pregnant, we said that these 2 were going to be our last 2. Picking out a 4th C name wouldn't have been such a big deal to me if it wasn't for the fact our oldest 2 also had C names. We got to thinking, "Either this baby will thing its an odd ball and that's why we didn't give it a C name or the other kids will think this is the special kid and got a special name." So, we settled on Caitlyn and after much debate, I told hubby to just pick a darn middle name. So, we got Renee.

How do you feel about "matchy" names?

That is completely up to the parents. Who am I to judge? I had considered naming these 2 Arabella and Isabella. LOL But, I wanted to honor my granddaddy more so I went in a different direction.

Did you worry about their names "coordinating?"

Not really. As long as they sounded good as a whole, it didn't matter to me.

Did you name your babies before you met them, or wait until you saw them to assign names?

Baby B was the first one that we found out the gender on. She became Charlotte. Weeks later we found out girl for Baby A and she became Caitlyn. We got Charlotte's name dead on! It means "womanly" and she is pure prissy!

What were your second choices?

For boys, Charles Alan and Christopher John (or Christopher Michael, Jr). If it had been boy/girl twins we would have had Christopher (Michael Jr or John) and Charlotte Alayna.

Did you consider the popularity of a name as a deciding factor?

Nope. I have no idea where these names are on popularity for 2005. Ok, I went and looked it up just because I have a curious mind. And, well since you asked, I wanted to know! In 2005, Charlotte was ranked #97 according to Baby Center. Caitlyn (or Caitlin) was not on the top 100 at all. According to Nickelodeon's Parent Connect, Caitlyn was 182 and Charlotte was 134 for 2005.

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Twins, Part 2!
These are 2 year-old twin girls named Cheyenne Elyzabeth and Courtney Michelle.

Did you stick with family names?

Nope. Not really at all. Chris actually named these 2. I had chosen an A and B name for them if they were girls. He decided that no, we had begun the C tradition (our names are Chris and Crystal and our 4 oldest children are also C's) that we were going to continue the tradition. He had originally chosen Cheyenne and Courtney, but we had no middle names chosen yet. One day he came home and said Cheyenne Michelle and Courtney Elizabeth? I said to change them to Cheyenne Elyzabeth and Courtney Michelle and he said ok. My older sister's name is actually Elizabeth, although it never crossed my mind when I was thinking of names. I changed the spelling, because honestly, I like odd spellings. Michelle is a variation of Michael, which is hubby's middle name.

How do you feel about "matchy" names?

See above for Twins 1.

Did you worry about their names "coordinating?"

Again see answer for Twins 1.

Did you name your babies before you met them, or wait until you saw them to assign names?

They were given their names prior to birth.I can't find a meaning of Courtney that I understand. LOL For Cheyenne, all I found was "brave warrior".

What were your second choices?

For boys, Christopher John and Charles Alan. For boy/girl twins Charles Alan and Cheyenne Elyzabeth.

Did you consider the popularity of a name as a deciding factor?

Nope. Again I looked it up and according to Baby Center, neither name was on the Top 100 for 2007. According to Nickelodeon's Parent Connect, Cheyenne was 148 and Courtney was 233 for 2007.

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Don't forget to stop by Multiples and More and see what how other great moms of multiples chose their multiples names!

Common Twin Questions

I got this idea from Twin-Spiration, who got it from Simply Blessed with Chaos. I figured these are questions many people have for me when they find out that I am a mother to not one, but two sets of twins.

Caitlyn and Charlotte are 4- year- old twin girls (identical? we don't know and don't care about right now). Cheyenne and Courtney are 2- year- old twin girls; very obviously fraternal twins.

1. Do they have a special 'twin' language?
A: Yes. Both sets have their own language. I do not understand it, nor am I going to try. They communicate with me in English and each other in twinspeak.

2. Does one cry when the other gets hurt?
A: Nope. As a matter of fact, and this goes for both sets, the other twin tries to "mother" the one that got hurt.

3. Do the girls share a room/crib/bed?
A: Yes, they share a room. Caitlyn and Charlotte still share a bed. They prefer it that way and that is how it stays. It doesn't matter if I lay them down separately or not, they will end up together touching hands. As for Cheyenne and Courtney, they do not share a bed. Cheyenne prefers to sleep with me and Courtney prefers to be alone.

4. Can I tell them apart?
A: Yes, I can. I can tell Charlotte and Caitlyn apart by face. From the back, I haven't got a clue if they are dressed alike. As for Cheyenne and Courtney, no one believes they are twins based on how they look to begin with. They look nothing alike; there is no way to confuse them!

5. Why do you (don't you) dress them alike?
A: Caitlyn and Charlotte, I do dress alike sometimes. For special occasions or if I see an outfit I really like, I will dress them alike. Otherwise, they choose their own style. Caitlyn is a tomboy. She prefers jeans and T-shirts. Charlotte is prissy. She prefers dresses. As for Cheyenne and Courtney, it is extremely difficult to dress them alike. Its hard to find 3T and 18 months outfits that are identical.

6. Do you have a favorite?
A: No. This is a dumb question. No real mother chooses one child over another. I love them all equally.

7. Which one is older?
A. Caitlyn and Charlotte will be complicated to explain when they are a little older. They honestly have different birthdays. They are only 20 minutes apart, but it was around midnight. Caitlyn was born at 11:42 pm on 10/19 and Charlotte was born at 12:02 am on 10/20. There is only 30 seconds separating Cheyenne and Courtney (born via c-section), so it really makes no difference. However, Cheyenne did come out first so technically she is older.

If anyone has any other questions...just ask! It's actually kind of fun!

Updates, updates, updates.....

Well, it is 20 days into 2010 and I have only written one blog for 2010. I always tell myself around December 30th that I will blog at least 5 times a week. It never happens; I don't know why I keep lying to myself about it. So, since I've already ruined the 5 times a week thing, I am resolution free!



Updates on us:



Chris -- Not much to report on. He's still working.... and hating it.



Me -- Spring semester has started for college. I am only taking 4 classes this semester: Intermediate Accounting, Auditing, Cost Accounting, and Principles of Macroeconomics. Hopefully I'll do decent this semester, and keep current in my classes instead of falling behind.



Crystina -- Well, in as little words as possible, she is no longer a little girl. And we'll leave that at that. However, no - Daddy and I are not dealing with that all that well. Its a hard fact to face. Also, on the Tina front, she has become such the typical teen lately. However, this attitude just isn't going to cut it here anymore. She blatantly lies to us. I mean we can literally sit here and watch her do something, see it with our own eyes, then ask her about it and we get the "It wasn't me. No I didn't!" Any advice on how to curb this attitude, please let me know. I just don't want *my* kid to be the lying, stealing kid!



Carolyn -- Has become highly whiny. I mean every time she says something its with a whine. She is still such a tattle tale. Every little thing is something I must know about whether I want to or not. I mean do I really need to know that one of the kids is wearing mis-matched colors? Not really, but apparently Carly thinks I do.



Caitlyn -- She is still my tomboy. She is also the more aggressive of the 4 youngest. She still loves wrestling and is determined to one day marry John Cena. Not sure how to break it to her that it will most likely never happen, but for right now she can dream. It's either him or Mickey Mouse and I really don't want my daughter to marry a mouse! LOL



Charlotte -- Still convinced she is a princess and says that one day her prince will come for her. I hope her fairy tale happens for her. She is prissy and loves to dress up.



Cheyenne -- Is the most talkative child I have ever encountered! She talks from wake up to bedtime and even in her sleep! She still sleeps with us. I don't think she understands how it's going to be once Connor is born. She prefers to be right between me and Chris. She's still a little chunky thing!



Courtney -- Is still my runt! She is barely wearing 18 months; they are still too big on the waist but she needs the length. She loves all things monkey. She's obsessed, I would say. I even call her my little monkey because of her long legs and arms.

Pregnancy -- I am 33 weeks along now. I am eager to meet my baby boy. I am eager to have my body back. I don't share that well, body space included. Chris and I have been arguing over the details. You know, which college should Connor play football at, what position, what we would do if he got drafted to an NFL team we hated (cough... cough.... Cowboys). You know, all the things parents of boys worry about during pregnancy! LOL Just 7 or less weeks and he'll be here! I so cannot wait!

Happy You Left Dad Day!!! ????

My mom is the most complexed person I have ever met. To me, even more complexed than men! So, several years ago when I got a phone call (and trust me, she NEVER calls unless she wants something) from her, it left me with an even more complexed opinion.
Now, I cannot for the life of me remember what year this conversation took place. I want to say it was prior to 2002, but could very well have been after that but prior to 2005. Well, the conversation went like this:

Me: "Hello."
Mother: "Did you forget to call and tell me something?"
Me (after thinking for a bit): "No."
Mother: "Are you positive?"
Me (after thinking for a few more seconds): "Yeah I'm sure."
Mother: "Do you know what today is?"
Me: "Ummm.... January 6th?"
Mother: "Do you remember what happened X number of years ago?"
Me: "Ummmm...... No?"
Mother: "It was the day I left your dad!"
Me: "Ummmmm.... Ok......"
Mother: "You were supposed to call me and tell me Happy Anniversary!"

I mean seriously WTF? Why, after over at least 10 years, am I supposed to remember the exact day she left my dad?? It's not something I keep circled in red on my calendar. And what am I supposed to say? "Hey, Mom! Happy You Left Dad Day!"? And am I supposed to call my dad as well and say, "Hey Dad! Happy Mom Left You Day!"? What's the appropriate gift for this occasion? And does Hallmark have a line of cards for this? I mean she can't tell you when my birthday is, but she can tell you the exact day she left her husband!? And Nevermind the fact that my dad was remarried for at least 5 years prior to this conversation and my mom was in a relationship.

So, I quickly muttered "Happy Anniversary." and hung up the phone. I sat down trying to figure the whole conversation out. And honestly, I still am......