The Owens-Peters Family Christmas Letter

'Twas two days before Christmas/And in every room/The scent of Lysol/Hinted at past doom....

Um....Lysol?

Yep. The stomach bug knocked the Owens-Peters family for a loop mere days before Christmas. The ONE thing Andrew and Cooper picked to do at the same time? Get sick at 4:00 am on Wednesday morning, the day Sue had taken off to finish all the Christmas stuff and Kim's last day of class/final push for grading.

After 16 months (yes, the boys are 16 months!), you'd think we'd have the hang of this parenting thing. But no, the learning curve is steep and our new lesson this month: baby germs can knock adults on their ass. Sue got hit driving home from Lansing on Thursday afternoon - I'll spare you the details but let's just say a hefty dry cleaning bill was the end result. Kim got hit later that night. Again, no graphic details but it looks like she won't be eating again until 2013.

And fear not for the boys: they were fine by Wednesday night.

Grammy and Pop-Pops came to our rescue. Again. When they aren't off globe trotting, they are here helping us. Grammy cooks, cleans and plays with the boys. Pop-Pops usually holds one of them until they both fall asleep. Clearly, each one plays to their individual strengths. I can't tell you who is happier when they are together, the boys or Grammy and Pop-Pops. The boys actually cry when they leave sometimes, and though she will never admit it, this pleases Grammy to no end.

Aunt Keri works hard to make sure she is one of their favorite people and it is paying off. Kim and Sue have even left the boys with Aunt Keri on a few rare occasions without going into full blown panic attacks once they walked out the door. (To be fair, this is a bigger issue with Kim than Sue.) But their true love, especially Andrew, is Natalie, the girl with the hair made of sunlight. Andrew smiles ALL THE TIME when cousin Natalie is near. And she is far more helpful than one would expect an 8 year old to be, which is why we think she's really 16. Noah, who will be13(!) in a few weeks, intrigues them. He doesn't venture away from his X-Box very often but when he does, the boys want to be with him. He will surely be teaching them some mad soccer skills next summer. Uncle Dan helps keep the boys fit now that he is a certified PTA. He passed his exam in October. We are expecting free exercise regimens and regular adjustments in the near future.

As we reflect on this past year, we are constantly reminded of a few "truths":

- We are awesome parents simply for surviving. We are not perfect - any hope of that went out the window a LONG time ago - but we do the best we can and we always put the boys first.

- We are the parents we are because of the boys we have. They ARE perfect in every way, even when they won't sleep (and again, this is more on Kim than anyone else). The happiness they bring to all of us cannot be described.

- We are beyond grateful for all of our family and friends who have helped us along the way and continue to do so.

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy 2013!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Joys and Challenges

Working a full-time job (professor) and an all-the-time job (MoM - mama of multiples) has turned out to be both exhilarating and difficult, which is why I have been away for so long. Here are a few examples:

Joy: About 6 weeks ago, the boys started sleeping for much longer stretches during the day and at night, often, at least partially, at the same time! This means more time to get stuff done (like catch up on all the tv shows we have missed) and more sleep!

Challenge: This turned out to be a temporary arrangement. We are discovering that as soon as we think we have figured this whole mom thing out, the boys switch it up on us. Frankly, I think they are toying with us. I am fairly certain they are in cahoots to see if we will crack under their ever-changing demands.

Joy: They notice when I am gone and welcome my return with much excitement and adulation. I feel like I have the two cutest groupies every time I walk through the door.

Challenge: They notice when The Saint is gone, and this can cause much grief and sorrow on some days. These are the days when they look upon me with their own version of contempt and disgust, mixed with a tinge of bitter disappointment that they are stuck with me for the day. I wasn't expecting this until they hit 12 or 13; it can be very unnerving when a 4-month old feels that you are beneath him.

Joy: They slowly started on solids!

Challenge: Those solids eventually work their way back out - YUCK!

Joy: They are making the transition to their own room.

Challenge: This is just the first of many steps they will take AWAY from us. I know that is what all children must do but it doesn't make it any less painful.

- The 2nd Mommy