Goodbye, dear friend

So it's been a little over a week since I said goodbye to my dear friend "the pump." Never in a million years did I think I would miss that thing! But in a small, small (very tiny!) way, I do. What I miss is that I know I am no longer the provider of what my children need nutritionally. And hey, the cost savings wasn't bad either! While I was pumping for or nursing the girls, we went through a large can of formula about every 10-11 days. Now we go through a can of formula every 3-4 days!! Yikes!

I had a love/hate relationship with the pump though. Anyone who was in this house for any length of time knew how much I despised "pumping time." I would curse, I would cry, I would throw a temper tantrum. Ok, maybe not. But I really did NOT like pumping. In fact, I seriously felt like drop kicking the thing across the room. However, I refrained.

As much as I am sad about not providing for the girls anymore, there are a couple positives. I have freed up about 2-3 hours of my day! Between pumping and washing the parts, it was a big time commitment; time I wasn't able to spend playing with and holding the girls. So that is an incredible relief. Oh, and the fact that I don't have to stress out over trying to pump really quick while the girls are napping when I am home alone. I always kept my fingers crossed that they wouldn't wake up while I was pumping, but that rarely ever happened. I guess almost 5 1/2 months was a pretty good run.

In non-pumping news, the girls continue to learn new things almost daily. Adalyn is beginning to shriek a little bit less because she now knows how to blow spit bubbles! She drools like a mad woman when she does, but I honestly don't care. If it replaces some of that window shattering squealing, we will deal with it!!

And then there is Alivia. She showed us her new trick yesterday...she is now able to roll over from back to belly. In fact, she did 4 1/2 complete rolls last night (back to belly, belly to back, etc.). She probably would have kept going, but Nate and I had to retrieve her, otherwise her next roll would've landed her on the hardwood floor. And well, we weren't really in the mood to see how she would react to that.

Oh yes. For those of you who keep asking, I am STILL working on posting the story of the girls' birth. February and March were crazy months as far as my work schedule goes. Finally in April, my schedule is going to calm down. So I will have some time to make a few revisions. Stay tuned!!!

Clothing Confusion

I'm seriously beginning to wonder why there are even sizes listed on baby clothes. They don't really mean much of anything. The girls are currently in 3-6 month "real clothes" (i.e. pants, shirts, matched outfits, etc.), 6-9 month sleepers, and 12 month onesies. Something is seriously wrong with this picture. Oh, and just to top it all off, when I realized they were outgrowing their 3-6 month sleepers and pulled out the 6-9 month ones we had in the closet...one of them was already too small!!! Huh?

In staying with the clothing theme, we found some pretty cool hats for the girls for next winter...but who knows if they will actually fit next winter or not. Oh well, they were on clearance.

Oops, sorry. Those were their newborn hospital hats. (click here for reference) Now those we KNOW are too small. And they were free. Well, if you can consider any hospital stay "free." With the expense of my pregnancy and the number of hospital admissions I had, I should have come away with 10 hats!!

Okay, that's honestly too cute for words.....

A family of 3?

What's that? Yeah, so it was a year ago today that we found out that we would be skipping that whole "family of 3" milestone and head straight to a family of 4!! I still remember the day so well. I had to leave my internship early to have an ultrasound to rule out an ectopic pregnancy on my left side. The student who started the ultrasound was not explaining anything to me. But I was 95% sure I was seeing two babies. Finally the student went to get the other tech who immediately confirmed that we were expecting twins. And I remember how all the blood rushed out of my head.

Here we went from fearing that I might have an ectopic pregnancy to finding out that "the baby" was growing where it was supposed to be...oh, and there is an additional baby. What? Oh geez. What a day, what a day. And then poor Nate found out over the phone. I called him from the parking lot because I had to regain my composure before I could drive home. For some reason, and one that I still don't know the answer to, he asked "so there is only one baby?" I didn't intend to tell him until he got home from work so that he could see the ultrasound pictures, but after he asked me that, I felt as though I couldn't flat out lie to him.

So here is a little look back in time....

At just shy of 8 weeks pregnant.

Alivia on the left and Adalyn the right (in both pics)

Exactly 1 year later.....

My how they grow.

They went from looking like little blobs to these perfectly formed and precious little babies. I loved them from the day I saw them during that ultrasound. And my love for them has grown just as much as they have. Corny...but true.

Who knew?

I'm not sleeping, so I figured I might as well blog. It really stinks, because I have to work at 5:30am, which means getting up at 4am just to make sure everything is ready for the girls before I leave. That's in just 4 hours. Ick.

Anyway, who knew that ice could be so funny? Apparently, Adalyn is absolutely fascinated by the sound of ice being dropped into a glass cup. If you want to hear the little lady laugh hysterically, try it. We're going to have to get it on video. I think it helps that when you drop it from a fairly high distance, teeny tiny pieces of it break off and land on her face. And I guess that's funny. Toys? Who needs them? I am quickly learning that babies are entertained by the free stuff.

Yeah, so with regards to the hilariousness of ice, I fear that my daughter is going to turn out to be exactly like one of my good friends...you know who you are. This friend of mine, whom I shall not name, thinks it is the most hilarious thing in the world to watch someone slip on the ice. Yup, that's my daughter. I can picture it now...she is walking to class and WHOOP someone slips in front of her and she busts a gut laughing! Hmmm. Maybe the hilariousness of ice starts at a young age. She who shall not be named, I'm going to have to ask your mother if you found ice in a glass entertaining....

A little "then and now"

Adalyn in the tub - 1 month

And 4 1/2 months.

Alivia in the tub - 2 weeks

And 4 1/2 months.

Wow, that really puts it in perspective just how big the girls are getting. They still seem like such little peanuts...and according to the growth charts, they ARE on the smaller side of average (about the 20-25% for both). Can't imagine how big they would be if they were on the larger side of average!! Like every mother, I still wish time would slow down. If only we had control over that....

Got earplugs??

If you enter this house, we suggest you have them. It is LOUD! Miss Adalyn Jean recently found out that she has the ability to scream. Now let me tell you, I did my fair share of babysitting for infants back in the day, and I never heard a child scream like this one. It is the most shrill, ear-piercing, shatter-the-windows type of scream you will ever hear.

Unfortunately, she doesn't just do it when she is mad or sad. She also does it when she is playing and having a good time! You can even see her getting ready to do it, because she drops her tongue back in her throat so that she can get that high pitch to come out.

It is so exciting when they learn new things, but this is one thing we wish she would UNLEARN really fast! Till then, all we can really do is grin and bear it. And keep our fingers crossed that this is a short-lived phase.

Otherwise, the girls are really starting to take notice of each other. It's so funny to watch them stare at each other rather inquisitively. When placed belly to belly, they have started reaching for each other's faces. Every now and then, their fingers make their way into the oppposite baby's mouth during these encounters.

Anyway, here are some pictures that I promised.

So I'm supposed to bite the spoon?

Yeah, ummmmm, are you sure?

I'm gagging. HELLLLOOOO, I'm gagging!!

Seriously, what IS this stuff? You trying to kill me?