The Moms of How Do You Do It?
Goddess in Progress is a first-time mom to boy/girl twins, Daniel & Rebecca, born August 2007. She left a lovely but not-so-lucrative career in higher education to be a stay-at-home mom for the forseeable future. Originally from Chicago, she now lives outside of Boston with her husband, two kids, a dog, a yard, and a minivan. How very suburban! Back when she had spare time, she enjoyed cooking (baking, in particular), and crafty things like knitting, crochet, and quilting. She remembers those days somewhat fondly, but wouldn’t trade all the fresh cookies in the world for her twins. She blogs all about it at goddessinprogress.wordpress.com.
As a first-time mom to twins, Jonathan and Faith, Krissy can honestly say she had no idea what life would be like post-infertility. When she got her first glimpse at the two little heartbeats, she thought “Twins! How cool! But now I will need two of everything!” Little did she know how little she knew! Her background is in the field of aging, and she has a particular fondness for persons with Alzheimer’s or other dementias. Working in a senior center, adult day care and assisted living facilities helped some what to prepare her for the constant multi-tasking needed to juggle the demands of her two kiddos. Krissy enjoys eating out with her husband, hiking, taking the kids on walks, blogging, reading, baking (loves to get fancy with her sugar cookies!) and of course, spending as much time with her girlfriends as possible. Visit her family at Two Are Better Than One.
Cynthia has always enjoyed having a plan and takes enormous comfort in making to-do lists. Never known for her ability to “go with the flow”, Cynthia and her carefully-laid plans were thrown for a loop when her 6-week ultrasound showed (surprise!) twins. Now, with 3 kids, a dog, and a full-time job, Cynthia is actually more relaxed than she has ever been. Even with her minivan, slightly dusty furniture and often un-styled hair. Cynthia spends most of her free time doting on her children. But once they are asleep, this multiple-mama keeps sane by having date nights with her husband, girl nights with her friends, and “me” nights with a good glass of wine and mindless television. Follow the Journey on her personal blog.
Laura N is very familiar with the question, “How do you do it?” but is more often asked, “Are they all YOURS?” Let’s face it, pushing a quad stroller full of toddlers attracts a fair amount of attention, especially when there’s another child walking alongside it. Laura jokes about being a celebrity among members of her Moms of Multiples group, as people often approach her and ask, “Are you the mom with the two sets of twins?” So far, nobody has asked for her autograph. The truth is, raising two sets of toddler-age twins (and a teenager!) can be pretty overwhelming, and having a sense of humor about the situation has helped Laura get through some of the darker days. One of the darkest days was two years ago, when one of her twins was diagnosed with autism. Since then, Laura’s learned a whole lot about early childhood intervention. When she isn’t writing at Twinfinite Chaos and Autism is Beautiful, she spends her days playing Mr. Potato Head, listening to Laurie Berkner songs, and trying to pick up the house faster than her children destroy it.
American Wife is a rockin’ mama to three lovely little ladies, Peyton (5), and Clarity & Moxie (born Sept ‘07). She currently resides just outside of Baltimore, though born and raised in Pennsylvania. Her husband looks better in jeans than she does, but believe-you-me she is working on that! Spare time? What is that again? Oh yes, for hobbies and stuff. In her “spare time” she enjoys knitting, playing Guitar Hero, photography, and listening to music (not simultaneously!). Her favorite things in life (after family of course!) are her tattoos, bananas, music, rainy days, and elephants. You can read more of American Wife’s c-c-crazy adventures and thoughts over at american-wife.blogspot.com.
CraftyLissa was always destined to drive a minivan – her first vehicle was her parents’ maroon GMC Safari. Now her love for minivans is finally considered normal, as mommy to 4-year-old twin boys, Jack and Nathan. She, husband and the two boys live in Kansas City where they don’t love barbeque quite as much as one would stereotypically think. CraftyLissa works full-time outside the home, runs her own side business and yet still tries to sneak in a little craftiness every now and then by knitting, sewing, and digitally scrapbooking. She is currently addicted to Lost and Project Runway and blogs about her twins at Adventures of a Twin Mommy.
In the span of one crazy year, LauraC had major ear surgery, her husband started a new job, moved from Chicago to Raleigh, got pregnant on the first try, found out 18 weeks later it was two boys, bought their first house, spent 14 weeks on bed rest, and birthed healthy premature fraternal twin boys in May 2006.Most days, being a working mom with a traveling husband and twin toddlers is even crazier than that. She spends way too much of her free time keeping up with her favorite bed rest shows, contemplating exercise, drinking wine, listening to NPR, and writing her not-so-deep thoughts at Laura’s Mommy Journal.
TraceyS is the un-seasoned mother to Abel and Oskar, who just turned one at the end of January ‘08. That date marked another major milestone in her life – living in the same residence for more than a year! Originally from Chicago, this self-proclaimed nomad finally settled in Austin, Texas with her super-husband, and yellow lab Matilda. One week after giving birth to her boys, TraceyS decided not to go back to work as a historic building preservationist, but to spend her days with her rambunctious duo. She squeezes in her love of photography at every opportunity she can. And when the wanderlust calls…she packs up her men and off they go! She blogs at www.babysilverman.blogspot.com.
Originally from Portland, CarrieinAK fell in love with an Alaskan boy during a not-so-fun epidemiology class in graduate school. Shortly after graduation, she packed up her outdoor gear and beloved KitchenAid mixer and set out to start a new adventure in the Last Frontier. The adventure got much more interesting when CarrieinAK and her handsome husband added identical twin boys, Finn and Reid, to their family in January 2007. This full-time working momma enjoys strong coffee, making lists and planting flowers in the springtime. She has zero tolerance for movies that last longer than an hour, pumping her own gasoline and communities without curbside recycling. Her boys (all three!) are the light of her life and, in a perfect world, there would be more hours in the day to read Karen Katz books together. CarrieinAK’s personal blog can be found at The Adventures of Carrie, Brook, Finn and Reid.
After two years of infertility, Rebecca’s six week ultrasound showed two heartbeats! Thirty weeks later, on Easter 2007, Danny and Abigail made their way into the world. Nothing has been the same since! Part doctoral student, part social worker, part stay at home mom (with none of those parts sleeping through the night), Rebecca’s life often feels like a delicate, complicated balancing act. So far it hasn’t collapsed! She gets through the days with an organizational system of who does what when that frightens her husband (although he rarely admits it) and an intricate schedule of who does what when. When possible, she loves to fit in some yoga, time with friends, a good cooking project, a fun novel or just a quiet Saturday hanging out with hubby and the kiddos.
Fully-embracing the M.O.M. (Mother of Multiples) experience since her twins’ conception, Cheryl has gleefully transitioned from full-time video post-production maven to home-based mom and telecommuting writer/editor. With her twins Darren and Sarah now too big for their recently pastured DuoGlider, Cheryl’s dicovered she genuinely misses the “Are they identical?” question from strangers. With he-child now outsizing his little (by seven minutes) sister by five inches and sixteen pounds, Cheryl has discovered the new oft-repeated onlooker declaration, “But they’re not twins!” requires comparable composure and personal restraint. When not expounding upon the adventures of twin parenting, Cheryl enjoys reading, giving museum tours, and participating in her adult church discussion group. Above all else, she prefers hanging out with dreamy husband, Scott, and of course, the twins. Learn more about them by visiting www.Twinfatuation.blogspot.com.
When Emomily isn’t changing a diaper or three, throwing clothes in the laundry or making yet another trip to Target, she enjoys sleeping, taking a quick shower and doing dishes. (Okay, she really does not enjoy doing dishes. But she would give up chocolate for a year to get more than 5 hours of uninterrupted sleep!) She is a former corporate software marketing drone who is now a happy SAHM to three kids. Katie, who will be 3 in July ‘08, is mastering how to say no in every spoken language on the planet. And fraternal twins Nate and Josh, who will turn 1 in September ‘08, are having a great time learning about all of the many different buttons they can push on the computer to turn off the power. She advises all of you women out there not to contemplate moving 400 miles when 7 months pregnant with twins nor to move into your new home the day you bring your babies home from the hospital. It kinda sucked. You can read more about her adventures at The Mencken Mob.
Twinmom122606 is a stay-at-home-mom to 3 beautiful girls, a wonderful loving husband & 2 dogs (a sheltie and a chocolate lab) that aren’t very fond of 3 children chasing them around all day long. Her oldest daughter, Hannah, will be 4 on August 1st, and Sarah & Samantha are her identical twin girls, born December 26, 2006. She found out at 8 weeks that she was expecting identical twins (talking about a BIG surprise) …and at 15 weeks that they were girls. She lives in Houston, Texas but has big plans on moving out to the suburbs as soon as the twins start elementary school in 2011(who can afford private school tuition for 3 kids and still have money to put food on the table and clothes on their backs?!)! She was pursuing her degree at The University of Houston, in hopes of becoming an elementary school teacher…but when she became pregnant with the twins her doctor recommended that she drop out for the semester. She has plans to go back to college and finish up in 2011, when all the girls are in school full time. In her free time she loves to blog, play in the backyard with her girls, shop, read gossip magazines, read other blogs about multiples & hang out with other moms of multiples. If you would like to read more about her family adventures, you can visit her personal blog at themyershouse.com.
Stacey (aka Snickollet) is the single mom of two-year-old boy/girl twins Riley and Madeleine. Stacey is a Managing Editor by day, and thus practices the art of multitasking both at work and at home. “Free time” is pretty much a foreign concept at casa Snickollet, but Stacey and the twins do find ways to spend time outdoors, hang out with friends, and enjoy elaborate games of pretend. You can keep up with the day-to-day adventures of Stacey, Madeleine, and Riley at Stacey’s personal blog, www.snickollet.blogspot.com.
Shawn is the mom of twin girls, who are 2.5, and blog owner of Between the Lines and The Chunky Purse, a frugal blog. A career journalist, she returned to work only to off-ramp after four months, and after nearly two years of being a stay at home mom who worked at home, she is now preparing to on-ramp back into the workforce for a job she didn’t apply for. When she’s not writing or mothering or being a wife, she can be found drinking wine, reading books or walking in nature.
Rachael at Little Bites of Heaven is the mother of 4. Lydia was born in 1996 & the peaches (triplets) James, Ella & Cameron, completed the set in 2007. She and her husband, John, have been married since 2004. Their wacky adventures are documented at www.schiranotriplets.blogspot.com.
FIVE FUN FACTS ABOUT RACHAEL
- As a life long resident of Central Illinois, Rachael has been able to travel to Paris, Kansas, and San Jose without crossing the state line.
- The age difference between Rachael and her youngest sibling is equal to the difference between Lydia and the triplets (11 years).
- Rachael can spell antidisestablishmentarianism. It is more effective when presented orally…
- Though her hobbies, for the most part, have been limited to repetitive singing of Old MacDonald, toy sharing regulation, and embarrassing dancing for the purposes of distraction, Rachael has uncovered a passion for photography. In an effort to stimulate the lagging economy, she recently purchased a brand new camera and began exploring the art form. She currently employs three young, up and coming models.
- For the moment she is a SAHM, however the dreaded inevitable return to work is drawing near. The world is currently short one group health insurance agent and someone must step up to the plate…
Rachel the birth mom in a two-mommy household, carried the twins to 37 weeks exactly, born April 2008. Which is the last time she can remember finishing something early. Unwittingly, her partner, Jennifer, and she stumble upon opportunities to breakdown stereotypes of a two-mom family in and through their involvement with church, their local mothers-of-multiples group, and in dealing with health care providers, to name a few. Other than that, they find the biggest difference between their family and more conventional ones is that, absent social mores that traditionally dictate parenting roles, the household chores and child care responsibilities are more easily and equitably distributed. The downside of this for Rachel, however, is the mowing the lawn and taking out the trash. Both mom’s work full-time outside the home, Rachel as a Financial Analyst, and Jennifer as a golf professional. But their most rewarding career is being Mommy and Matou to their boy/girl twins. Their journey of motherhood squared is chronicled on Rachel’s blog, RaJenCreation, at www.rajencreation.wordpress.com
