Bear down, Arizona.

Matteo's loyalties are with daddy and the Pac 10 for now. Smart kid... he already knows how to suck up to his daddy.

If you ask Matteo what his thoughts are on Arizona's showing during March Madness....this is the look he'll give you:

Oh, and this was Matteo's face when he found out Lute's coming back again to coach... I'd have to say I had the same reaction. Dan, on the other hand, couldn't be happier!

My godfather would be proud! Tuesday - April 29, 2008

Rocco says:

"Oh boy... my godfather would be so proud of me. I'm ready for college football, uncle Mark! Oh... and my mommy already said it's ok if you swing through SFO next fall to pick me up on your way to a game."

Knock on wood. Tuesday - April 29, 2008

I really need to start knocking on wood, literally, whenever I decide to tell someone the twins are such easy babies and are sleeping so well for being preemies.

Dan was on a business trip for the past two nights. I was SOOOO happy to see him when he walked in the door…

Sunday night was great. Honestly. Rocco was down at 6:20pm after screaming himself to sleep for 15 minutes while I was hooked up to a pump. Ok…that wasn’t fun. But, I’m not an octopus… last time I checked I still have 2 arms and hands. Anyway… Matteo’s witching hours are usually from 6-8pm, but he went down at 9pm with minimal fussing. I was SO relieved since I was exhausted from the weekend and was simply not looking forward to getting triple-teamed by three under 3!

Matteo slept 9 hours straight Sunday night! And, Rocco slept a 7 hour stretch! EXCITING STUFF, right!?

Well, then I opened my big fat mouth and told someone about the great night… So, Monday night was awful. Matteo screamed from 6-8pm. Rocco screamed for about 40% of that time and refused to go down in the 6 o’clock hour. What on earth?! To make matters worse, I couldn't fill the kid up... he was eating like a horse (or I guess, a Martino). Dan finally walked in the door at 8pm and I handed off the babies one by one.

Two screaming babies for long stretches + one fussy/testing two year old + one hungry and tired mommy = CRAZYNESS!

Welcome home, babe!

Thank you Lexi & Callie! Monday - April 28, 2008

Gabby says:
“Thanks cousin Lexi and cousin Callie! I just love the stuff you sent me from China and Thailand! I play with it all the time. Don’t I look PRETTY?!”

Two little monkeys

Aren’t these two of the cutest little monkeys you’ve ever seen?!

Gabby and best friend Livi… just hanging around in gymnastics class.

3 months of life to celebrate! Monday, April 14, 2008

Life is so busy for us right now. The boys hit the 3 month milestone last Thursday. I can’t believe it. CRAZY!

Developmentally, I think we’re a little behind where Gabby was at this point. But, that’s normal for pre-term babies. Both boys have entered the stage of getting interactive… talking (cooing) and smiling at us. They will sometimes giggle or scream when watching big sister Gabby. She likes to dance around and sing to them. Gabby will frequently serenade us and anyone who calls us with “ABCD…”, “Twinkle, Twinkle”, and “Rubber Ducky”… all in that order.

The next pediatrician appointment is in May, so I don’t have any 3 month growth stats to share. But, I think Matteo is now pushing 15lbs and Rocco must be over 14lbs now too.

We have our good days and we have our challenging days. We’re still not on a real schedule of any sort, but apparently that is also quite normal at this age for pre-term babies. Sleep still is questionable at night, but both have shown us they know when it’s night-time. Matteo is the better sleeper in that he’s slept for more longer stretches than Rocco (9 hours has been his best). But, Rocco has the ability to somewhat put himself to sleep when we know he’s tired without too much drama. He’ll fuss for less than 10 minutes and POW… he’s asleep! I think Gabby cried for 2.5 hours at one point before she fell asleep. The whole sleep training thing just didn’t jive with her. Knock on wood… but I think the boys will sleep train just fine!

Gabby singing:

Rocco:

Matteo:

Taking a moment to be raw… Monday - April 14, 2008

One thing I have been struggling with a bit lately is when I go on a walk or somewhere with the boys and people will comment on the “twins”… how cute they are or how much work it must be, etc. And, even though I also refer to the boys as twins… every time I hear the word “twins”, I can’t help but think of how they were actually triplets at one point, and how we have a little angel that spends each day and night with us. What really seems to kill me lately is when I have all 3 kids in the triplet stroller… and people will come up to me and ask if I have triplets in there. I say no. But, my heart hurts each time.

I have a slight obsession with reading blogs. Probably not a good habit… but it started when I found out I was pregnant with triplets. I needed a way to connect to people who had multiples and make myself aware of the good and the bad. By bad, I mean, the reality of babies not surviving the multiple pregnancy, or becoming angels soon after being born. We’re often very aware of the good stories – proof that miracles do happen. But, the bad outcomes far outweigh the good. Everyone in my world was completely unaware of the health complications and risks we were up against. And, let’s be honest… nobody can claim to understand your emotions, fears and anxiety unless they have been in your shoes.

Every ounce of me knows how incredibly lucky we are to have been blessed with three healthy babies… the first born at 40 weeks and 3 days, and the second and third born at 35 weeks and 5 days. It’s a reality that I am thankful for every single day. I know there are so many women whose hearts are heavy because they are struggling with getting pregnant, as I did. There are so many women who have experienced a loss similar to mine. And, there are countless women who have experienced a miscarriage, stillbirth or held their baby in their arms only to have had to say goodbye. Every one of these women, including myself, feels a pain and hurt so different from the next. It would be impossible to fully explain it to anyone.

Every single day I am thankful for our children. They are 3 of the 5 souls I hold most near and dear to my heart. Dan and Baby C make up the other 2.

12 weeks old today! Thursday - April 3, 2008

Life has been CRAZY busy lately. And I have a feeling I'll continue to feel that way and say that for the next few years. It’s almost as if every day needs to include some sort of drama.

Oh, and after last week, I am convinced we’re funding Dr. O’s children’s college educations. Seriously. We had 6 (yes SIX!) visits to the pediatrician because of ear infections last week (oh, and Gabby’s ear ruptured… ugh!). Trust me when I say I was not happy about dropping $210 on co-pays. DANG! I remember the glory days of spending that on a pair of sexy jeans. Some people choose shoes or maybe hand bags. My indulgence? Jeans. And it sort of has been ever since I was a kid and my dad brought me home my first jean jumpsuit with a rainbow belt and fish patch on the knee. Don’t laugh – it was hot at the time. I’d post a photo if I had access to my mom’s albums… lord knows I wore that jumpsuit out. ANYWAY… the glory days of personal spending indulgence are sooooooooooo gone. Total blur in the memory…

At least the boys are finally sleeping better. Matteo has now given us 5 nights with a 9 hour sleep stretch (not consecutive nights), and Rocco gave us his first 9 hour sleep stretch last night. I think we're just a few weeks away from developing some consistency with morning and afternoon nap schedules. Apparently, it takes premature babies a bit longer to fall into a sleep routine. I must say… I am SO EXCITED about getting the boys on a sleep schedule. That’s something we were never able to do with Gabby at the start since she was a bundle of colic.

Anyway, here are some photos of our little 12 weekers… and actually, there’s nothing little about these guys. They’re HUGE!

Rocco:

Matteo:

A man thing… Thursday – March 27, 2008

I’ll preface this entry by saying I truly love my husband dearly.

However, I don’t know any women (even those of us with momnesia) who have such issues when it comes to lists or toothpaste. It must be a man thing…

LISTS:
I made 3 lists and even reviewed them together with my husband prior to his 3 trips to the grocery store (over the course of 3 days, mind you). And I still didn’t get the final item I needed to make a simple dinner. All I needed was:
- chicken breasts
- 2 cans Cream of Chicken soup
- 1 can Cream of Celery soup
- 1 onion
- cooking wine
- shredded cheddar cheese

The cans of soup completely threw the poor man. First trip to the store: he came home with 1 can Cream of Mushroom, 1 can Cream of Chicken and he went bagel on the Cream of Celery soup. Second trip to the store: he brought home 1 can of Cheddar Cheese (I didn’t even know Campbell’s put cheese in cans) and 1 can of Cream of Chicken… still no Cream of Celery. Third trip to the store: he completely forgot the can of Cream of Celery soup on the list (a NEW list with more stuff on it). So, I decided to just hit the store myself… this was getting far too painful.

BTW: This is also the man who brings home “Cool Whip” whenever I put “Miracle Whip” on the grocery list. Even AFTER I make fun of him every time this happens. Good lord…


TOOTHPASTE HOARDING:
The other night I found myself wondering why the new tube of toothpaste I recently opened had disappeared. Where in the world could it be? I literally opened it last week. It couldn’t be gone already, right?! Then I get to thinking… hmmm… this has happened quite a bit in the past 2 months. I don’t get it. Is there a toothpaste black hole in our house or do the Martino’s just go through massive amounts of toothpaste? Doesn’t seem possible. So I start looking through drawers…

Aha! My husband is SO guilty of toothpaste hoarding. Seriously, super-guilty. I found 7 large tubes (I’m not kidding – SEVEN!) of opened toothpaste. Most were half used and a few close to empty. All are squished from the middle mind you… so all the toothpaste is stuck in the bottom half of the tubes and none at the top. So sorry if you’re reading this and are guilty of squishing your toothpaste from the middle and not pushing all the bottom toothpaste to the top. But seriously… that habit is VERY annoying to us who keep squeezing from the bottom. Seriously. Totally annoying. Anyway… in addition to the 7 large tubes, there were 2 medium sized tubes and several small travel tubes. WEIRD! So… because I only have limited amounts of time to actually talk with my husband these days… I decided to just take all 7 large tubes out of his drawer and put them back in the top drawer.

I’ll choose my battles. Who can waste time arguing about toothpaste. Honestly.

Again... love my husband to bits. Really honey... I do!

HAPPY EASTER! Sunday - March, 23, 2008

"THANK YOU, EASTER BUNNY!"

My how we've grown! Thursday - March 20, 2008

The boys are 10 weeks old today!

Just to do a little compare/contrast - check out how different they look now versus during that first week of life.

Rocco during his first week in the world:

Doesn't this photo of 2 day old Gabby look a lot like newborn Rocco?

Rocco today:

Matteo during his first week in the world:

Matteo today:

And, kudos to big sis Gabby who's given lots of hugs along the way!

To see more photos of the kiddos from January and February, visit: http://martino.shutterfly.com/

9.5 weeks old! Monday – March 17, 2008

The twins hit 2 months last Monday. My how time flies when you’re so busy you can’t think straight.

We visited the pediatrician for their 2 month appointment on Thursday and the boys have clearly been busy growing. Both are now on the percentile charts for height and weight… quite the accomplishment for preemie babes. And, Matteo has already more than doubled his birth weight… CRAZY!

Two month stats are:
Rocco: 11 lbs and 22 inches (30th %ile for weight & 25th %ile for height)
Matteo: 11 lbs 10 oz and 22 ¼ inches (45th % & 25th %)

Mornings tend to be the craziest time of day for us lately as the boys seem to have shark-like feeding frenzies. They just can’t decide how much food makes them happy. Then, Gabby… well, I’m lucky if I can get her to eat something in the morning. I usually consider it a super-successful morning if the following has happened by 1pm:
* contacts in (glasses off!)
* twins have had 3 feedings and are down for nap #3
* Gabby has eaten breakfast and/or lunch
* night dishwasher load emptied* bottles prepped for the afternoon & evening
* nobody has thrown-up on me
* mommy has eaten breakfast (or ANYTHING with calories)
* mommy has brushed teeth & showered
* Dan & I have smiled at OR talked to each other about something other than babies

On Thursday night, Matteo decided to gift us with 9 straight hours of sleep! That’s right… the little fella’ decided to sleep from 5:45pm – 2:45am. HALLELUJAH! Too bad I wasn’t in bed until midnight… sigh.

As a result of Thursday, all day Friday I was so excited… thinking we had finally started to turn the sleep corner. Both boys were in bed at 6:30pm and I was envisioning jumping into bed early… maybe even with an US Weekly magazine (they’ve been calling out to me and I just haven’t had the time to read them… I know… pathetic!), and sleeping undisturbed for a nice long stretch. Stupid me. Seriously. Both boys proceeded to wake up around 9:30/10pm... and there I was up with two unhappy babes until 2 a.m. DANG! And, for the past few nights they’ve been so ornery at night… as if to say “mom, you SO didn’t think we were going to start a sleep schedule, did you?” Blech!

The boys look so different now – I’ll post recent photos soon side-by-side with photos from the first week home.

In Gabby news… Thursday - March 13, 2008

Gabby’s been busy lately.

Tuesday’s & Thursday’s: School from 9am – 5:30pm
Wednesday’s: Gymnastics with her friend Livi AND a special weekly visit from Grandma Leo & Grandpa Kenny who come to watch the twins while we tumble.

Gabby started school in February and seems to really like it. Daddy dropped her off on the first day and there were no tears – she just ran off to play with the other kids. Apparently she cried when it was naptime and continues to do so (shocker!). The house is VERY quiet when Gabby’s not around… but it gives me the chance to spend some quality time with the boys AND breathe, eat and think.

Gymnastics class is a total hit. I’ve been going to class with her (it’s “Tumble with your Tot”) and I’m having just as much fun. However, I know I’ve gotten old when I get a head-rush after spinning around the bars. Gabby seems to think that’s pretty funny… so whatever… I’ll continue on with the head-rushes. Maybe this is proof that life is one big cycle… you spin around bars as a kid… then you get spins AT bars in your roaring 20’s… and then you go back to spinning around bars and getting spins, both, at the same time. Hmmmm…

We’ve also entered into the world of time-outs. This may be apparent when visiting our home and Gabby puts a baby in time-out. Yes… her dolls do in fact get sent to the same corner she gets put in for time-outs. However, the dolls sometimes spend a whole night in the corner. Clearly the dolls must have done something real bad...

There is also a very real fascination with the potty chair. Watching her little friends successfully use the potty is always reason to celebrate. Oh… and we were at Target checking out the other day and Gabby yells out “Mommy, do YOU have to use the potty?” Me: “No, Gabby, I don’t have to use the potty.” Sorry teenage guy checking us out…