A new year!

What a year 2011 was!

We found out January 4th we were going to be parents!

January 20th we found out we had not one bun, but 2 in the oven.

I spent the next week in shock.

And the next 6 months with my head in the toilet.

We moved across the country in June! Florida to California!

I was admitted to the hospital on June 2.

My pop pop went to heaven on June 8 and as you all know by now...

June 9 we were blessed with our 2 miracles.

We spent the next 2 months with great doctors and nurses taking care of my precious babies.

Then it was finally our turn, we brought our babies home on August 2.

September 11 we baptized our babies.

And finally on September 13 we took our munchkins to our new home in California!

The next few months we finally had the chance to enjoy our life as a new family of 4.

2011 was an amazing year. There were a lot of ups, there were many downs, and it's a year I will never forget. I hope 2012 is just as wonderful! I can't wait to see what it has in store!

Happy new year!

A lotta Cloth

So as many of you know, we use cloth diapers on the twins. There's a lot in baby books and websites about cloth diapering and there are definitely pros and cons to it. Overall, we think cloth works best for us and it's our plan to keep using them. For some people, it might not work out as well.

Some key points that make it easier for us to choose cloth...

• we have 2 babies, which means twice the diapers, which means twice the diaper costs. Unlike some things where you're buying a little for one so buying a little more for the 2nd doesn't make that big of a difference, buying twice the diapers makes a HUGE difference. 
• We don't pay for utilities! Woohoo! So no extra electric or water bills! If we're staying on base for awhile, and maybe even our next assignment if we get what Tom wants, for the next few years, we should be utility free so we don't have that added expense.
• If you're washing for one, you might as well wash for 2. This is something where you're doing something for one, what's a little more for the 2nd definitely works out in our favor. I'd be doing the laundry almost as often for one because we wouldn't be buying more cloth diapers that I'd be able to go 3 or 4 days without washing them. The loads are just a little bit bigger, but one way or another I'd be doing laundry, folding laundry, stuffing diapers, what's a few extra?

Overall, it came down to costs for us. We counted how many diapers we use, how much they cost, and figure if they keep up that rate for about 4 months, we'd have paid off the expense of the cloth diapers.We were spending $100 or so on diapers in a month before I started using the cloth, so the cloth are already paid off and now in the 4 months we've been using them, so we're just banking the rest!

A lot of people are scared about the up front cost of cloth diapers, and it is a few hundred bucks (for 2 babies)...on tops of cribs, clothes, swings, car seats, strollers. The start up costs for a baby are a little ridiculous. We definitely cut back on cloth diapers costs because I've been buying them (a few at a time) since the spring when there would be a great sale on Baby Steals or Baby Half Off. I got all of our cloth diapers with some kind of sale, usually close to half off. Which means, if you go out and buy cloth diapers at regular price for 1 baby, I spent about the same to get enough diapers for my 2 babies. It was still a few hundred dollars, but did I mention we're done paying for diapers? Even if we have another baby, we are DONE buying diapers. Woohoo!

We have wet bags for cloth diapering on the road, cloth wipes to use at home, and so far, not having to worry about running out of diapers and wipes has been A-Mazing!

So what do you need to get started cloth diapering?

• Enough cloth diapers for 2-3 days. We go through about 6 diapers on average a day per baby. Usually more, never less. So we started out with about 20 diapers and have since upped it to 32. I wash diapers Mon, Wed and Friday.
• A diaper pail or bag for dirty diapers, preferably 2. Depending on how often you leave the house, 1-2 wet bags for traveling. We have Fuzzibunz hanging diaper bag and fuzzibunz wet bag and we're fans of both!
• Cloth wipes, if you're going that route, which I highly recommend. About as many wipes as diapers, we can usually make it through even a big blowout with 1 cloth wipe. You can make your own or we have some Thirsties wipes which handle big messes really well! You will also need a wipe spray or a plan on making your own. The oils to make your own can be pricey, we just use Bumgenius spray.

That's it! Easy as pie!

You also need to decide on what kind of diaper you like. We didn't know what we'd like so we started just buying diapers on sale. What we have in our collection:

• Swaddlebees Econappi-pocket diaper, we like them, but they're pricey if they're not on sale ($30! yikes! Don't pay full price!)
• Thirsties Duowrap covers, prefolds and doublers-I LOVE this kind, mostly because we can make it through 2 or 3 prefolds before we need to change out the cover. We have twice as many prefolds as covers and I think it's great. Tom hates them though because you need to make sure all the cloth is tucked in well or else it leaks a lot. It's too much work for him. he likes to throw them on and move on with his life.
• Fuzzibunz-Tom's favorite, I'm also a big fan. They don't leak, fit well, not too bulky on the kiddos. Only con is that the elastic is a pain to change sizes. If you plan on using this on a newborn and toddler, you won't be able to use the same diapers for both babies unless you feel like messing with the elastic every time. It gives them a great fit, but it is a pain. 
• Bumgenius 4.0-My favorite. Easy to change out sizes, easy to stuff the soaker in the pocket, easy to use, dry super quick! If you are planning or have kids close in age and both in diapers, I'd recommend these. You can change out the sizes in about .2 seconds.
• Happy Heiny's-We don't have a problem with these, they're easy to use, one-size pocket diapers. We find these on sale a lot so if you find them for cheap, go for it! Snap and velcro combo though and we're not velcro fans.
• Kawaii-Pretty big and bulky, but good for overnight. Easy to stuff in a doubler if you need it for a long night. Not so great when the kids want to play around. We got this for free when we bought other diapers, so anything free is great! ;) They're pretty cheap too so might be worth having a couple for nights, but I definitely wouldn't have an entire stock of just these diapers.

Take the inserts out of the pocket diapers, toss them in a pail and your done. With bigger messes, they take some toilet cleaning but until your kids are on solids, you don't have to worry about that. Our washer has had no issues with messes, no stains on the diapers, and no issues at all with just tossing them in. When we start solids, we'll have to make sure we rinse them out before tossing them in the bag though.

Every other day or so, I unzip the bottom of the bag, toss is all in (bag and all) and wash! I do a cold wash, a hot wash with a little bit of tide (they make special detergents too if you're interested in those), an extra rinse on cold to make sure all the detergent is gone and I'm done washing! Toss the inserts in the dryer, hang up the diapers in the sun to keep them fresh and clean and you're ready for the next round. The diapers take a few hours to dry, not too long though. If I wash in the morning, I can usually use those diapers by the evening.

That's it! Any questions? haha

For us, we love cloth, it's worked out great, our kids have had no problems and it's been worth it to us in cost savings. I'd definitely recommend looking into it if you're not using them already. And I'd be happy to answer any questions. It's definitely a learn as you go process, everyone has a different way of doing things and you just have to find your own way to handle them. They are hardly any extra work though, look great, and save you money!

Catch up Week!

Want to know the best part of my Christmas?

Tom has over a week off of work! woohoo!

Even though we couldn't be with our families this year, it's been SOO nice to relax! We've gotten caught up on housework, hung out, slept in, and just enjoyed our new little family. If we had traveled to see family, it wouldn't have been nearly this relaxing. So I'm glad we stayed here.

We still managed to stuff our faces with way too much food, and hang out with lots of good friends for the holidays. We even included some of our normal Christmas traditions, just with a new baby kind of flare :)

We went to church Christmas Eve. I'm glad we have Catholic friends who were there too. Their son was baptised at the mass so that was nice to be there for that.

At church, despite making the twins match (mwahaha) we still got asked a lot if they were twins.

 No, they're just REALLY close in age. And we like to make them match, because what fun is Christmas without matching Christmas sweaters.

After mass we got together at our house for sleeping baby grown up dessert...with a toddler. It was the best we could do, so it worked ;)

Christmas day had a few traditional moments as well.

My mom makes us sit on the steps of our house EVERY SINGLE CHRISTMAS MORNING for a picture before we get to go down and unwrap our presents. And no, not just when we were kids, like last year. When we were all 19 and older. And made my husband sit there with us. He loves going to my house for holidays.

So since I knew my mom would love it, we took a picture of the twins on the steps. They can't quite balance on the steps by themselves...atleast not without mommy freaking out about them tumbling forward down the steps...so daddy gave them a little help ;)

 After skyping with everyone from both sides of the family, we finally opened some presents. The twins enjoyed the wrapping paper more than their new goys.

Until they discovered the kicking piano toy mat.

 

Can we say obsessed?

Tom put the presents together and organized things while I made our traditional Christmas breakfast!

Eggs, sausage, fresh squeezed orange juice (thank you brand new pretty shiny juicer, I love you) and aebleskiver. I've helped my mom make aebleskiver, but never made it by myself for a Christmas breakfast. I think it turned out pretty well!

 We ate, relaxed, then went to our friend's house for Christmas dinner. They were nice enough to host and do all of the cooking which was so nice! We brought over pie and cookies and we ate lots of delicious food and hung out with the our babies and their little one, who was born right around when the twins were due!

Overall, we had a wonderful Christmas day. Not quite the same as being with family, but a very good holiday, just the same.

Hope everyone had a good holiday as well!

Now on to New Years. My game plan is to make it to midnight without falling asleep. I say there's a very slim chance of that happened. We shall see!

Merry Christmas

This time last year I had no idea I had even one, let alone, 2 little someone's growing inside of me.

This time last year I had no idea it would be our last Christmas just the 2 of us.

The next few months I spent dreaming of holidays and birthdays and celebrations with my 2 precious babies.

6 months ago, I wasn't sure if I would get to spend today with my little ones.

6 months ago, I didn't know if we would ever get to spend a Thanksgiving or Christmas or birthday with my twins.

Here we are on Christmas, with 2 healthy, beautiful babies.

I never thought I would be so blessed.

I'm so lucky to have my husband, babies, family and friends.

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year! Enjoy time with your family and be thankful for all of your blessings this holiday season.

Love, Tom, Emily, Jack and Amelia<3

Christmas Crafts

Hi, my name is Emily. I am NOT crafty WHATSOVER.

So naturally, for my first Christmas as a mom, I decided to take on a craft project. Duh.

I made a cute birthday present for Tom. And by MADE, I mean the nice people at Color Me Mine helped me attempt to color in small footprints and put the twins feet on a plate. But I was amazed with how much bigger their feet looked compared to their newborn feet.

So compared to many other baby feet, they probably look small but my idea of a small baby is completely thrown off.

So I thought their hands or feet might make cute ornament decorations.

In some ways, I was right, in other ways, glue and infants should never be combined.

My supplies....

+2 unruly children=

That's Jack's footprint.

It looks better in real life.

I did hands and feet for both of them, then used the glitter glue to write their names and Christmas 2011 on them.

I tried to take a few more pictures but you can't get the full idea with the pictures.

I swear they don't look as crappy as they might look in these pictures. They look...artsy.

Ok, they look like the twins did them themselves with none of my help. But I'm sure these will just be the first of many homemade masterpieces of ornaments we will have decking our halls and trimming our tree. It's the memories that count people.

Ho Ho Ho!

It's the twins first Christmas and we are so excited! If you're traveling this week, safe travels! Spend lots of time with family, eating cookies, and counting your blessings.

I know we were blessed with the 2 most perfect Christmas presents this year!

A Day In The Life

A lot has changed since I last wrote about the twins typical day. The eat a lot more, sleep a lot less, and are a lot more active and playful!

A typical day changes, depending on errands, doctors appointments, their moods. Everything is subject to change. The biggest thing I've learned is to just be flexible with their schedule. I TRY to keep them on the same schedule, but it doesn't always work out. Then we try to play catch up with one (feeding them snacks, taking cat naps), so we can all be on track for bed time together. Bed time is their only set in stone schedule that they know, and expect, at a certain time every night.

So here's a general idea of our days:

2-4am-Jack will sometimes wake up for an early morning snack. Not always. Sometimes he's loud enough to wake up Amelia, in which case I will get up and feed her, Tom will feed Jack, I'll pump and we'll all attempt to go back to sleep.

6:30am-Tom's off to work and Amelia is up. Unless she waited until 4ish for her morning snack, she's our early riser and morning baby. I'll get up, give them a syringe for their reflux medicine (even if they're sleeping, I can stick it in the side of their mouth by their cheek and they'll suck it down. It's only .6mL so it's not anything that will choke them). Then I'll get Amelia a bottle ready with some fortified breast milk (fortified with 1tsp Neosure/130mL of breastmilk) for some extra calories, her vitamins and her other reflux med. I feed her, while pumping usually, and watch the news.

7:00am-We're both up, ready to go for the day. I try to grab some coffee and food and we wait for Jack to wake up. We usually jump around, do some tummy time, or play on her mat. Her attention span is lacking so usually 1 activity won't keep her happy for more than 5 or 10 minutes. We just move around the living room for awhile and play and cuddle. Mommy and Mia time :)

8:00am-Jack is up. I add his vitamins and other reflux med to his bottle and feed him. He HAS to wait 30 minutes after the first medicine he takes or else he'll puke everything up so since I gave it to him over an hour before, he's usually fine and not pukey for this meal.

8:30am-Playtime! Jack can't be on his belly so soon after eating, but Amelia and I can do her stretching and OT exercises. I'll squeeze Jack's in in the afternoon or have daddy do it when he gets home.

9:00am-If Amelia slept through the night and didn't wake up for an early morning snack, she'll be hungry again. She tends to almost cluster feed in the early mornings and late afternoons. I nurse her while playing with Jack on the floor.

10:00am-They usually are both passed out at this point. Thank goodness. I get 5 minutes to read some blogs, do the dishes, put some laundry on, make some phone calls, take care of life beyond babies.

11:00am-They're both up again and ready to eat. I give them both their meds.

11:30am-It's been long enough since their medicine so we can all eat. I'll nurse Amelia while feeding Jackson then pump afterwards while I put them in a bouncey seat, jumper, random accessory lying around the living room.

12:00pm-Sometimes a quick cat nap, or I'll put them in their high chairs to prep dinner. They love watching me do stuff around the kitchen.

1:00pm-They eat AGAIN. No meds this time, but I will give Jackson a bottle, nurse Amelia and lounge on the couch until they're done. Usually it's just a quick snack before they doze off for the afternoon. If we're running errands, I'll try to do it now (or after I feed Jack and nurse Amelia around 9). They will either sleep in the pack 'n play, their cribs, their carseats or a swing or 2. Depends on the day, their mood, what we need to get done, etc. If they do nap this is my ultimate free time of the day. I can usually manage to get a few things done while they take their long nap. This is also the perfect time for a walk since they'll usually sleep right through it. It all depends on what I need to get done around the house, how tired I am, how tired they are, and how well we're all doing.

2:00pm-Jack wakes up before Amelia. Sometimes he'll want a snack, so I'll give him a bit. Sometime he just wants to be held. So we'll hang out, play, tummy time, cuddle, whatever he's in the mood for. This is Jack and Mommy time since Mia already had her mommy time in the morning.

3:30pm-Amelia is up! More meds.

4:00pm-Time to eat again, pump again, go through the afternoon ritual. Usually this is the longest. I try to feed them both individually and have some one-on-one time since they'll alternate snoozing and eating.

5:00pm-Daddy's home! I finish making dinner while he plays with them. Sometimes they'll doze off for a bit, sometimes they'll start getting really fussy, depends on how well they slept and ate all day and how excited they are for their favorite time of the day (bath time)

5-7:30pm-Tom and I will eat dinner, play with the twins, I will get things done that piled up throughout the day while Tom watches the babies. I will prep bottles for the next day, adding the Neosure to get them more calories, clean up bottles, stuff cloth diapers, all the little things that seem to never get done.

7:00pm-Usually an ideal time for Jack's breathing treatment. It's been long enough since he last ate he won't aspirate if he throws a fit. We cuddle up while I hold the mask on his face. Sometimes he likes it, sometimes he doesn't.

7:30pm (and not a minute later!)-The twins want a bath NOW! If we try to hold them off because we have dinner with friends or are running behind, they will let us know. Meds before bath so they have 30 minutes to sink in. We bath them, they play around in the tub a bit, then dress them in their bedtime sleepers.

8:00pm-Last feeding. We can't feed them before bath because of their reflux so we give them their last meal after bath. I nurse Amelia, Tom feeds Jack, I give Amelia a small bottle of prune juice and they both get their other reflux medicine as well. Plus the extra oz or 2 she eats in the bottle helps keep her to sleep longer. They'll chat a bit with us, tell us how their day was, then we'll toss them in the bassinets and they're down for the night.

8:30pm-I'll pump 1 last time, then it's Tom and I's turn to get ready for bed.

10:00pm-Bedtime for us! See ya in 4 hours...hopefully longer ;)


Things definitely change. For instance, it's 1pm now and they're already down for their nap. This will just bump things up an hour or so, might throw in an early evening snack to hold them over until bed time. Depends on how they're feeling. Amelia will still probably sleep until 3ish. I definitely don't have a lot of free time during the day. If I do, it's with a baby in arms or in between making a toy light up, putting a pacifier in their mouths or keeping them from kicking each other. There are a lot of diaper changes, outfit changes, and other random activities thrown in the mix. I don't change outfits unless they spit up. Sometimes that can be 4 times a day, sometimes we can make it all day in 1-2 outfits. We're flexible :)

So thats' life with twins. I don't think it's too much busier than other new moms. They eat about 4oz 5-6x a day. A "snack" is about 2oz, which they'll sometimes do 2 snacks instead of a big meal. I just go with the flow and what they want. As long as they're eating well, taking a few naps, and happy and playing, I don't worry too much about a strict schedule. As they get older we'll have more enforced nap times and try to plan meals around our meals (because I get to eat so often haha). Things are going really well so far so I won't mess with a good thing until I need to ;)

I'm just so lucky to have them and to get to spend my days with them. The smiles and giggles will never get old. Thinking of just how 6 months ago, I wasn't sure we'd get these moments, makes me so incredibly grateful for every second I get to spend with my babies.

A Solid Mess

Some fun video of the twins first experience with solids from this past weekend :)

Some days...

Some days you gotta swing... she loves swinging and jumping :) she's such a big girl! Jack likes it too but he had just eaten when we were at the park so we opted to just let him sit in the swing to keep his lunch down ;)

We Went There

The "there" I'm referring to is solid foods. We did it.

I admit, Amelia has already had some rice cereal. In one of the 10398501980 recommendations early on in her reflux days (aka September) we mixed in a VERY small amount of rice cereal to bottles to feed her to help thicken it up. It did absolutely nothing for her reflux. We added a TINY BIT more, I'm talking 1-2tsp for 4oz of milk. She immediately became constipation, grouchy, and we were done with rice cereal.

I had mentioned the doctor had discussed considering starting solids. His biggest advise was to follow the motherly instinct (he's a good doctor, totally trusts me when I think something is wrong, listens to my concerns, talks everything out and gives me options). Since he isn't there with them and watching them all the time, he can't tell, but there are common signs when a baby is ready for solids. If my babies were showing those signs, it wouldn't hurt them. They've had 6 months of good breastmilk and that would continue to be their main source of food for atleast the next several months. He recommended starting slow, once a day, bump it up as needed, and just go with what I thought was best for my babies.

So I said I'd start some research, think things over, and see where we ended up. Essentially, all my research pointed to Amelia being 100% ready for solids. She is using her tongue (sticking it out mostly, it's freakin adorable), sitting up very well, great head and neck support, showed interest and attempted to grab our food, watched us eat and would imitate our chewing motions, and chewing on toys (hands, feet, objects, anything that gets near her mouth really). Part of the chewing is from teething, but she just likes to suck and chew on things. She is also increasing the amount of times a day she eats. Sometimes she eats almost every hour. She never seems full. You're supposed to wait until a baby is double their birth weight (which happened before she even left the hospital) and about 15lbs, but she's tiny. I doubt she'll be 15lbs by her 6 month adjusted birthday haha So I left that out of the equation, since being a preemie, things are a little off.

Essentially, she was text book ready. I am also concerned about my milk supply. Now that she's eating 4-5oz every 3-4 hours, sometimes even more, I'm having a hard time keeping up with her and her brother. Essentially if I pump I need atleast 8oz to feed them both, preferably more. If I nurse her, I need to pump atleast 4oz afterwards for him. In a 24 hour period, I like to pump enough for 6 4oz bottles for Jack and an extra 8oz or so for Amelia for middle of the night feedings and bottles for when I give her medicine. I know they say I'll get more by demand, and it does go up little by little but not nearly as fast as they're wanting more. If I nursed Amelia, pumped for Jack and she is still crying for more, I've given her formula just because I really don't have any other option. She needs more food, I'm running out of food. I let her nurse before I give her the formula to up my supply but it seems to only do so much good. It's not like I immediately get an extra 2 or 3oz for her to eat.

So last night I took half of an avacado, mixed in about 2oz of milk, mushed it until it was soft and creamy and dished up!

Why not rice cereal? Mostly because I didn't find the need to give them rice as their first food. Clearly, Amelia doesn't digest it very well. She might later on. I did buy store bought rice cereal for our reflux prevention attempt and if I was going to feed them more of it, I'd definitely make it myself (why should rice cereal have 10 ingredients in it? They need rice, just rice, not all the other junk). But in all my reading, it didn't seem like it HAD to be the first food. The doctor didn't say it had to be. I've spoken to some mothers who have never given their children rice. So really, I thought avocado would be easier for them to digest, smooth to go down, and have lots of good healthy fats for their brain development. It also mixed into a nice consistency with the breast milk that turned out really well I thought.

I decided to try both twins, despite Jack not showing the signs of being ready. I did this because of 1. Worth a shot right? 2. If they do develop any kind of allergy, I don't want to be stressing over who I gave what to. If Amelia gets farther ahead on the food lists than Jack does, I don't want to mix up anything if there's any kind of reaction. Now I know, neither of them is allergic to avocado. We'll move on to the next food. and 3. Easier for me if they stay on the same pace. If I'm feeding one, it's easy to feed the other. If I'm nursing Amelia, giving her solids, pumping, giving Jack a bottle...it's just a lot to handle. If they can, staying on the same schedule works out much better.

The result...they BOTH did amazing!

They both sloshed it around in their mouths for a minute or 2. Amelia made faces like we were torturing her. But once they swallowed, they both realized they liked it. Amelia started licking her bib to get more. Jack licked every little bit around his lips that he could reach. Together, they downed the avocado mush in a matter of minutes. I was really surprised that Jack handled it so well.

They were so cute with it in their mouths for the first time. They both had the same "what the heck, Ma!" kind of look and just let the food sit on their tongues for a minute. Then they pushed it up to the roof of their mouth, took a little swallow and down the hatch!

It was a little messy, there was a good amount of sloshing that got out of their mouths and onto their faces, but overall, I'd say 90% of the food made it to their tummies.

What was my favorite part was NO SPITTING UP! After months of terrible reflux, constant spitting up, projectile vomitting, you name it, it was so nice to see a meal go in and stay in. I'm really hoping adding more solids in their diets will help with their reflux.

Later that night, Jack did have a little throwing up spell at his bed time meal but none of it was green, which made me think he had digested his avocado pretty well and only threw up some of the night meal. I'll count it as a win.

Tom gave them solid B+ for their first attempt at solids.

We might try banana or sweet potatoes next. Our plan is to just try out different foods. We're only going to do solids once a day at dinner for a few weeks until they start to get the hang of it. We're really not in any rush with the solids. It's good practice, a little extra something and we want it to be extra food for them, not replacing any meals, so they'll still get the same amount of breastmilk and just a few extra calories of solids. When they get closer to their 6 month actual age, we'll bump up their intake and really start to focus on their nutrition outside of breastmilk to see if solids can start replacing meals.

I plan to make all of their food. Santa brought me a spiffy Vitamix last year for Christmas that is amazing at making...well...anything really. I'm obsessed. I use it every day to make everything, smoothies, guacamole, sauces, lentil loaf (surprisingly, one of Tom's favorite meals...never would have guessed it haha). Once they start eating more, I'll start prepping meals, freezing it, and exploring the best ways to keep 2 babies well fed. But for now, I'll mix something up while we're making dinner and see what the little ones think.

Overall, great success, I'm glad I did it, and excited to see if things keep going this well!

 

Please excuse Tom's crappy phone pictures. He should have used my iPhone and our children have very pretty blue eyes, not red eyes, promise ;)

1/2 of a year later....

I can't believe it's been 6 months since our crazy June. It's funny because this was Tom's first time at work in DC for 6 months. The last time he was there, he came out of a meeting to find out he was a dad on his voicemail.

Whoops. Sorry baby.

I felt really bad about it, but honestly, what's a girl to do when she's giving birth to 27 weekers? Not quite what we had planned for the birth of our first children. It all turned out well though. Although, as he went into his meeting this week he texted me not to have any more babies until he was done :-P Hardy har har har.

So this month the twins had their first Thanksgiving, met Santa for the first time, and have really made leaps and bounds as far as their strength, alertness, awareness, and just overall cuteness ;)

Amelia is practically sitting on her own. She needs some help balancing, but very little. I can hold her by her fingers and she'll sit up just fine. She CAN catch herself when she topples over when she's sitting but she's not very good at it yet. Sometimes she does a somersault. And, as mom of the year, I let her fall and laugh at her. But she usually rolls over and starts laughing with me.

My favorite part of this month is Amelia being a little less stingy with her smiles. I've known for awhile that she CAN smile and she CAN babble like her brother, but she has to be in a particularly good mood to do so. This month she's really brightened up (or lightened up?) and will smile when you smile at her...usually. She can still be very serious and give you a death stare if she so desires. Silly girl.

Jack is finally starting to get a lot of head strength and this month he finally ROLLED OVER! Yay Jack! We were doing some tummy time and he just flopped right over...mostly to get off of his belly but I'll take it. It scared him though, he's only done in a handful of times since and I don't think he's ever been a big fan of rolling. It always seems to catch him off guard.

Jack is definitely our sensitive baby. He gets upset when car doors slam, he is terrified if you come up to him too quickly or make any kind of jerky movement. He's just really starting to figure out the world around him and how it works and it startles him every time haha. What a cutie :) He's our sweet smiley baby though too. He will sit and talk to you for hours, or his octopus, or anything with a face. He'll laugh and smile and just babble away and have a grand old time. It's so cute to see him being so social. Sometimes he tries to talk to Amelia. She scoffs at him. Someday they'll love each other...I hope ;)

Their new favorite toys are their exersaucer, still the octopus on their play gym, and recently, Johnny Jump up! They love that they can hold their heads up and look around. They like things even more now that they're finding out they can move around. I am placing a bet now that Amelia walks before she crawls. She's a get up and go kind of girl. She loves that she can "stand" in her johnny jump up and move around. She's going to be a wild one when she learns to walk! They love to swing at the park and go for walks, and of course, eat.

They're eating about 5-6 times a day, Amelia eats more frequently, probably more like 7 or 8 times a day, but she's almost 100% nursing. She'll take a bottle overnight if she gets up and before bed but throughout the day she just nurses so she needs to do it a little more frequently than Jack who will mostly just take a bottle, maybe nurse  time or 2 during the day if he's in the mood. We're in a good routine with nursing and pumping and bottle feeding though so unless we need to do something all day, it's no big deal to feed them as much as they'll eat. After Jack's little weight dip, I practically shove bottles in his face. He's back on track though so hopefully that was just a fluke and he'll catch back up.

So that's our life. Eating, sleeping, and playing. We're loving every second of it. As much as I want them to grow, I'd also be happy to keep them just like they are right now because they're so cute and fun! We're very lucky to have such good babies.

Even if they do like to beat each other up from time to time

Here Comes Santa Clause

We had quite a Christmasy kind of weekend!

First we had the base tree lighting ceremony. It turned into a mad rush to see Santa, who was escorted to the ceremony in a cop car. Hmm....

We chatted it up with our neighbors though, grabbed some hot chocolate, and skipped the longest line possible to see santa and headed home ;)

It was a surprisingly cold SoCal night so I'm glad we didn't stay out too late.

 Clearly, she cared about the event a lot.

I was so excited when I found out they were having Santa come to the church's pancake breakfast! I wanted to get the twin's picture with santa but the tree lighting ceremony was out and I really didn't want to take them to a mall (and wait in line for hours with 2 little babies during flu season). I knew the church crowd would be a little more controlled and a better environment for them. Plus we were going to church anyway and to the pancake breakfast so it didn't mean any extra work to get the kids dressed and loaded up and take them to the mall 30 minutes away.

I was so excited to see that there was a relatively small crowd for Santa (we hardly had to wait 5 minutes) and the twins were the hit of the entire pancake breakfast/crafts bazarre/meeting santa event going on at the church.

If I had a nickle for every time someone told me Amelia looks like a doll, I'd be a millionaire.

Everyone was talking to them, they were laughing and smiling and putting on a show the entire time. What goobers ;)

And santa was a very nice santa actually. He talked to them a bit and held them. They smiled a bit but I couldn't get it on camera. They just liked his fuzzy jacket and wanted to take a nap with him I think ;)

They're also incredibly camera shy. I know, after I just told you what shows they put on for the crowd. They love people, but toys and cameras and anything else really brings out their serious faces. They stare at it like it's going to jump at them and bite them haha

 

 My little sweeties :) Santa didn't have to ask me what I want for Christmas, I already got the best present ever this year ;)

Healthy As A Horse...for a preemie

So people have asked about updates on the twins and their health so I thought I'd give you all some info on what's going on right now.

About 2 weeks ago we had our monthly visit with the pediatrician. Jack's weight had dropped from our last appointment for shots (about a week and a half earlier, but in the main office, not the sattelite office we usually go to and get weighed at). He went from 11lb 1oz to 10lbs 8oz. Even with the sattelite office scale, Jack's weight gain was still pretty low. He had only gained about 4oz in the month. So the doctor was a little concerned but we knew we had a GI appointment coming up soon. So we made plans to do a weight check in 2 weeks and see if what the GI doctor did helped his weight gain.

So we went to the GI doctor and both babies had their medicines changed for their reflux.

A few days later we went to the pulmonologist for Jack. They said everything checked out like it should for a 27 week preemie. Nothing too serious going on, and he should grow out of his lung issues in a year or so. They want to have a sleep study done to see how much O2 he needs and what his CO2 output is like so we have that in a few months. They also started him on breathing treatments daily and gave us medicine in case he gets sick during the flu season to help open up his lungs.

While we were there though, the doctor noted that she thought the liver felt a little large and we should get that checked out with our PCP. When I called to get things straight for the nebulizer, I mentioned what the doctor had said and they scheduled us for a liver ultrasound.

So we had a liver ultrasound and weigh checks this week.

I'm very happy (and relieved) that his liver was normal. They also measured his other organs and everything looks good. He also gained back the weight he had lost? or not been gaining lately. He weighed in at 11lbs 3oz, so about a 11oz weight gain in 2 weeks. Not his best weight gain, but we'll take it. He's also grown a lot length wise, he's now over 25 inches. The doctor thinks most of Jack's calories are going towards his growth spurt in his height so once that slows down, he'll chunk up quickly. Jack has also been a lot more active lately, awake, playing, rolling, sitting up in his bumbo or in the exersaucer, so he might need to get adjusted to his new active lifestyle. Hopefully his reflux will improve so he'll be taking in more calories. For now, we just have to feed him as much as possible, keep him active and happy and healthy, which should be no problem :)

For Mia, she's finally cracked the double digits and weighed 10lbs 3oz! So exciting! No wonder her clothes have been getting a little snug ;) she's officially way out of her newborn things and fitting nicely in 3 month clothes, even a few 6 month outfits. So she'll get there eventually. Maybe Jack was just waiting for her to catch up ;) Other than that, baby girl is healthy as a horse...I hate that expression. But she's healthy!

In other news, the doctor said we should start giving the twins a little rice cereal mixed with breast milk with a spoon. He says they're more advanced than a 3 month old, but not quite 6 month olds. He usually tells parents at 5 months to start practicing spoon feedings so when they hit 6 months and they want to start solids, the babies have some idea of how to eat from a spoon. So over the next month or 2 we'll practice that a few times a day. Closer to their 6 month adjusted age we'll start real food. My goal with their food is to keep them almost entirely breastfed until 6 months adjusted and then to make all of their food and juice until they reach the point where they'll be at parties and outings and traveling and they will be exposed to other foods. Hopefully they'll learn to think that spinach in apple juice is totally normal and fruits and veggies are delicious before they get too much exposure to candy and junk food. We'll see how it works out. For now, we'll just keep them on breastmilk and worry about solids in the next few months. I'm going to start doing my baby feeding research now though, and maybe even have a practice round of making food for them. I have a sneaky suspicion that santa is bringing me a juicer this year, so we'll be getting lots of juicing practice before they're ready to have juice! :)

So for the twins' health, we still have some kinks to work out. We've had so many doctors appointments and tests and other appointments lately, I'm pretty appointmented out. We have 2 more next week (Occupational Therapy and Synagis shots) and then we need to squeeze in their 6 month boosters at some point between synagis, as well as a flu shot now that they'll be 6 months old next week. Poor babies are going to be poked a lot, but during this high risk flu season, I say a quick prick is a lot better than either of them coming down with the flu! Hopefully after all of that, we'll be done until after Christmas. Hopefully...maybe.

As for me and Tom, we've had to learn to become very organized lately. We've had a lot to keep up with as far as all of their doctors and appointments. Even if we don't have an appointment that day, I still spend probably at least an hour on the phone with a nurse, case manager, or our insurance company. We need to hire a secretary just to keep track of all that is going on with the twins. Then I dare try to fit in some fun activities for us and the twins. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it's a bust, but getting out and doing things with my husband and babies keeps me happy when I get discouraged sitting in waiting rooms for hours on end, feeding babies in the car, and changing diapers in their stroller because there's no changing table or flat surface to be found anywhere. I've become a pro at juggling 2 babies, 2 car seats, multiple bags, and medical equipment. I could probably change a baby while holding them if I needed to. I can feed them both at the same time, nursing or bottles, and I can (and probably have) pumped everywhere imaginable.

Things are hectic and crazy and stressful, but when I smile at my babies, they smile back. When I laugh, they laugh with me. When I'm sad, they cuddle with me. And that is all I need to keep up with our crazy life these days. :)