A Precious Video

Okay, so they didn't quite connect.  Unfortunately, I missed the first two kisses.  By the time I got the video camera out, they became a little camera shy.  They did this without any coaxing from me.  In fact, I was busy preparing a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for them.  I turned around when I heard a bunch of giggling and witnessed two complete kisses.  I don't know how many there were before their giggles caught my attention.

You can see that Alivia was going in for another kiss, but when Adalyn ran away she decided she'd rather play with the water/ice machine on the fridge anyway.  I wish I would've gotten a real full-blown kiss on video, but I'm sure there'll be plenty of time to do that.  These girls just make me smile.

Sick, sick, sick

So the sickness once again passed from Adalyn on to Alivia. I'm beginning to notice a pattern. Addi brings the bug into the house and graciously shares it with everyone else! Her cold lasted about 10 days but she was fine. It didn't affect her all that much. However, Livi got it much worse. Not only did she have the sneezing, runny nose, watery eyes and cough, but she also spiked a fever that seemed quite resistant to Tylenol. Throw in the fact that she pretty much stopped eating and drinking (something Adalyn never did), she ended up with a pretty bad case of constipation that was making her absolutely miserable.

Of course it couldn't stop there. Nate came down with a cold of his own. Thus we started sleeping in separate bedrooms because unlike when we had the stomach bug run through the house back in January, I was not going to get sick this time! And it's a good thing I started sleeping in the guest bedroom. Turns out that Nate ended up with strep throat as well as a case of sinusitis. Knock on wood, I've managed to stay well so far!

I was going to post a few pictures, but blogger isn't allowing me to upload them right now.  Hmmm.  Maybe I'll try again later.  How frustrating.

Finally, all about the girls

Well, we're dealing with our first cold ever.  Little Miss Adalyn is the only one affected (so far).  She's complete with the runny nose, hacking cough, more sneezes in a day than I can count, and a watery right eye that just won't quit.  She honestly looks quite miserable, but she doesn't act sick.  So I think she'll survive.

Whenever she sees a puppy now, she says "woof, woof."  She doesn't identify the puppy yet by name, but she definitely knows what they say!  And she's still obsessed with kittens.  Whether they're on TV, in a book, or Desi comes upstairs to play, she has to let everyone know that she spotted a kitty by shouting "kitty!"

Alivia got her first haircut on Saturday courtesy of Grandma Fran.  I didn't really want to cut her hair, but unfortunately, Adalyn refuses to let her keep a barrette in her hair.  Livi's head becomes an automatic magnet for Grabby McGrabberson.  So we resorted to brushing the hair out of her eyes many, many times a day.  I finally conceded to the fact that it wasn't working and she probably didn't enjoy having hair in her eyes, so we gave her bangs a little trim.

They've been enjoying the warmer weather we've been having.  Each nice day we've had, we've been getting them outside for a wagon ride.  They absolutely love it!  They point at all the trees and the cars and the puppies playing outside.  The only bad thing about it is that they cry sad little tears when we have to bring them back in the house.  They'd much rather stay outside!

Oh and did I mention that they're *obsessed* with brushing their teeth?  They definitely don't let us forget to brush!  They know where we keep the toothbrushes, so they will go over to the drawer and "eh, eh, eh, eh".  When you pick them up, they try to open the drawer so they can grab them.  They're definitely going to have some pearly whites!

Ah yes, and who can forget naked time?  Well, not really naked time...but they love to run around in their onesies, even though I still think it's cold in this house (dressed in my flannel pants and long sleeve shirt, topped off with a hooded sweatshirt and slippers!).  But these girls think it's prime weather to run around with as little as possible on.  So when one of the girls tugs on their clothes for me to take them off, of course the other little girl must follow suit.  Monkey see, monkey do.  And boy do they think it's funny!

This is meant to hold the toys.  But instead, she thinks it IS a toy!

Livi's first haircut...not too sure about it

Wearing their "My First Brewers Tee"

Yesterday was a big day!

I had my first OB appointment yesterday with the Nurse Practitioner.  We went over all the normal stuff...family history, she listened to my heart and lungs, etc.  Then we addressed my prior pregnancy history: how long I carried the pregnancy for, how big the babies were when they were born, any complications during the pregnancy and/or delivery, and so on.  Seemed like it was taking FOREVER until we got to the fun part - being able to hear the baby's heartbeat! 

It took her several minutes to find it, but once she did, the very quick thump, thump, thump, thump filled the room.  The little baby's heartbeat was 171.  And she said I was measuring right on track for 11 weeks.  It really dawned on me yesterday just how different this pregnancy is going to be!  First, she actually listened for the heartbeat whereas when I was pregnant with the girls, we always looked for them via ultrasound.  And secondly, I will most likely be measuring on track as opposed to several weeks ahead!

Anyway, Nate also started a new job yesterday.  It's a position with a new company that we're very excited about.  He said that he's really going to like it and that he definitely has a lot to learn!  Overall, it's a good change for him and his schedule/vacation time will be very beneficial when the new baby comes.

I'll update about the girls soon.  I gotta start getting ready for work.  I'm working the dreaded PM shift today.  I really dislike my Tuesdays.  Start work at 3pm and don't get home till midnight.  Yuck.

A little pregnant survey

How far along? 11 weeks tomorrow

Total weight gain/loss:  Absolutely nothing.

Maternity clothes?  Not yet.

Stretch marks?  Oh, there's plenty of those.  But not from this pregnancy.  In fact, if I were to get one from this pregnancy, I'm not sure I'll even be able to tell!

Sleep:  Not enough.  Ever.  A pregnant bladder is not my friend.

Best moment this week:  Having one FULL day where I didn't feel sick!

Movement:  None yet.

Food cravings:  Potatoes still seem to go down well.  Doesn't matter what kind...mashed, baked, fried...just give me potatoes!

Gender:  To be announced at the birth!

Labor Signs:  Absolutely none.  Way too early for that.  Hoping I can stave off any "labor signs" for oh, 28 weeks or so!

Belly Button in or out?  If it were to be out, we would have huge issues right now.

What I miss:  Not feeling dizzy every time I stand up.

What I am looking forward to:  My first OB appointment on Monday!

Weekly Wisdom:  I have no wisdom.  Have you ever heard of pregnant brain?  It's already in full force.

Milestones:  Ummm, I guess I'm lacking in the achievement category as well.

10 weeks today

Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry.  I know I said that I wouldn't be posting on the blog very often until I felt better, but I really didn't expect it to be almost a full two weeks since I last wrote anything!  I'm 10 weeks pregnant today.  Unfortunately, the "morning sickness" still isn't gone.  I'll have a really great day and think that I'm on the tail end of it, but then the next day it flares back up.  For the most part, I feel pretty good during the day, but I start feeling kinda crummy right around 4-5 o'clock.  With the girls, I remember being sick the entire morning, afternoon, night, and middle of the night.  It was 24 hours a day.

I still haven't gained any weight this pregnancy.  Which is okay.  I had only gained one pound by this point last time.  So I'm not concerned.  I still have plenty of time to pack on the pounds!!  Ha.  I think it's going to be really hard not to continually compare this pregnancy to the last one.  Isn't that what most women do?  But obviously, this one is already drastically different...the fact that I'm carrying one baby this time instead of two.  So although I probably shouldn't compare, I probably will!

The girls are doing great.  Let me tell you, when I'm having a rotten day because I don't feel the best, they're sure able to bring a smile to my face.  They're such little entertainers!!  Just the other day, I was changing Adalyn's dirty diaper and said "whoa!"  So the little stinker brought her feet to her face, took a big sniff and loudly exclaimed "WHOA!!"  The girls think it's funny when we (pretend to) smell their feet and make a big stinky face.  Apparently, she's caught on to this and realized that if she smelled her own feet, she could express a dislike of them just like us!

They're still in to feeding each other.  A couple days ago, Alivia loaded up on two handfuls of crackers and one by one, starting shoveling them into Adalyn's mouth.  One, two, three, four.  Addi kept opening her mouth.  Livi tried to insert a 5th cracker but I had to stop her.  Poor Addi's mouth was stuffed!!!

And can I have a drumroll please?  Adalyn has slept through the night 4 times in the past seven nights!!  I think she might finally be catching on to this whole sleep business!  When I woke up at 7:30am the first night she had done it and realized that I hadn't heard from her, I bolted into her room thinking something was wrong!  Nope.  She was just snoozing away.  And as usual, Alivia has been sleeping through the night 90% of the time.  Bless her little soul.

That's about it on this end for now.

We've been keeping a secret

Yup, we're expecting again. NewBaby is due on September 26th. And it's just one baby this time, I promise. We had an ultrasound on Thursday, Feb 11th to "count the babies" because my OB wanted to know what we were dealing with. And there was just one perfect little baby.

I actually started typing this way back on Friday, but due to not feeling the best and doing a bit of traveling over the weekend, it never got done. "Morning sickness" arrived about a week earlier than it did when I was pregnant with the girls, but it hasn't been nearly as severe (knock on wood). I have some pretty good days and then some not so good days. I realized that pregnancy amnesia really does exist, because I completely forgot about how miserable I was with morning sickness during my early pregnancy last time. In fact, before we even knew we were having twins, I told Nate that he better enjoy *the baby* because I was NEVER going to go through that again! And here I am.

So I'm a little over 8 weeks pregnant now. At our ultrasound, the baby was measuring a full week ahead of schedule. Its little heart was beating away at a perfect 168bpm. Nice, fast, and strong. We were able to see its little arms and legs already, though in the pictures we got it's really hard to see them.

For those who are curious, we will not be finding out the sex of this baby either. I guess we just like surprises. And it honestly doesn't matter to us. If it's a girl, great. Since this baby is due in Sept and the girls were born in Oct, the girls' clothes we have will match up perfectly as far as seasons go. And if it's a boy, great. Because, obviously, we don't have a boy! So until the big delivery day, this baby will remain a surprise!

Oh and please be patient with me. I may not be updating the blog all that often until this morning sickness phase is over. I'm trying to lay down to rest whenever I get the chance because I've noticed that the less sleep I get the sicker I tend to be.

Here are a couple pictures of the little baby. Head is on the left and feet/butt on the right.

They're getting so big

My little peanuts are growing up way too fast.  They're learning more and more everyday.  It's so fascinating watching them learn and develop into the little people that they're becoming.

Take nap time for instance.  For a while now, I have not had to carry the girls to their room for nap time.  I would just tell Adalyn to get "teddy" and we would hunt down a nuk for Alivia, then they would follow me to the nursery where I just had to pick them up and plop them in their cribs.  However, now all I have to say is "Addi, get your teddy" and she finds teddy, Livi finds a nuk, and they race down the hall beating me to the door!  It's so cute.  They stand there and pound on the door till I open it up to let them in.

They're now mastering the use of a fork.  Which I'm actually quite surprised about given the lack of practice they've had.  I simply haven't wanted to deal with the inevitable mess that would ensue (I know, bad mommy), so I haven't really given them much practice time.  Well wouldn't ya know it, they're actually quite proficient at using the fork!  They need a little help sometimes at stabbing the food item but otherwise they're able to find their mouths quite easily...and with little mess!!!

And to top it all off, my littlest baby (Alivia) cut her 4 canine teeth in the past month or so.  So she's now up to a grand total of 16 teeth.  Adalyn still stands at 12 teeth and I don't think she's remotely close to cutting any of her canines.  But Livi, wow, does that girl have a mouthful!!!

Wordless Wednesday

Two different personalities

A lot of people have made comments to me recently about just how different the girls' personalities are.  Those statements couldn't be more true!  For some reason, I think a lot of people believe that twins automatically act like each other, do things the same way, etc.  Just because they're twins, it doesn't mean they're the same person.

A good example of this was today in church.  Alivia was pretty content reading a book and eating her cheerios.  Adalyn...not so much.  There was no detaining this girl.  She wanted to be on the run, exploring every nook and cranny she could find.  She was up and down the hall about 20 times (maybe more).  She had to touch the plants, push the chairs, press her face up to the glass doors, etc.  She was all.over.the.place.

Adalyn is our adventurous one.  She has no fear (unfortunately).  She needs to be where the action is at all times (which probably somewhat explains her sleeping troubles).  She would wander off to timbuktu if we would allow it.  She will socialize with anyone who will give her the time of day.

Alivia, on the other hand, is our reserved child.  She finds comfort in knowing where mom and dad are at all times if we're out in public.  She's unlikely to stray too far unless we're right behind her.  She has developed a healthy amount of stranger anxiety and will look to us to make sure it is okay to smile and/or "talk" to people she's not familiar with.

Even the way they do things is different.  Adalyn gives kisses by pursing her lips and saying "mmmm" (though she seems to have dropped some of the vocals of giving a kiss).  Alivia gives kisses by opening her mouth up as wide as she can, and as soon as you move a bit closer, she tries to bite your lips off.  No lie.  Kisses with her gotta be quick!!  Adalyn will pick up one or two crackers at a time and come back to the snack table several times until she's had enough.  Alivia picks up as many crackers as her tiny hands can allow so that she only has to make one pit stop at the snack table but she has enough to fill her belly for the next few hours!

They're different...in so many ways.  From the way they look (Adalyn like me and Alivia like Nate), to the way they learn, to their personalities, to the way they act.  They're two very different little people.

She was none too thrilled about having her picture taken

They're learning to play nice with Desi

I know I've been slacking

Sorry.  Life just got busy and the blog got dumped by the wayside.  We're all doing well here.  Still healthy, yay!  I wish I could say the same about our big screen TV.  Poor thing fizzled out on us Friday night.  It's just the lamp that needs to be replaced, so we ordered the piece pronto.  I think the girls are missing their Sesame Street!  Not good.  There have been more temper tantrums, more food throwing (they usually watch some TV while eating to distract them from the "fun" of throwing things on the floor), and less things getting done around the house.  Sesame Street usually provides us with ample time to tidy up, get some chores done and disinfect the house.  Not so much right now.

The girls are quickly becoming mommy's little helpers.  Alivia has deemed it her personal responsibility to push the high chairs back into place when they're done eating.  Like I said, they watch a bit of TV for a distraction, so we have to pull them forward so they can see the TV.  After we wipe hands and faces and (gently) shake the babies to get the crumbs off, she *needs* to push the high chairs back...not just hers, but both.  Once they reach their final destination, she claps.  A lot.  And if she doesn't clap for herself right away, all I have to say is "Good Job" and that sparks a nice round of applause!  Too cute.

Adalyn helped me dust mop the kitchen and dining room the other day.  She had to walk in front of me and help me push the mop.  I think she thought she was pretty smart because she kept looking back at me with a huge, cheesy grin on her face.  And because dust mopping was so fun, she had to help me vaccuum shortly thereafter.  Do you know how hard it is to vaccuum with a toddler attached to it?  You can't do the normal push-pull motion.  Instead, I walked up the hallway, turned around, and walked back down the hallway.  We went in straight paths instead of push-pull, push-pull.  Although it took quite a bit longer to get the vaccuuming done, I didn't mind.  The girls are constantly learning and I don't mind taking the time to show them how to do it.  Especially since I will reap the benefits in about 5 years!!!  Haha.  Just kidding.  Or am I?

They're still working on the whole sharing aspect of playing together.  What one has, the other needs.  Just like any other young kids.  But just two nights ago, they were trying to feed each other graham crackers.  It was so sweet.  I kept emphasizing the fact that they were *sharing* so nicely.  "Yay, girls, yay!!  Sharing is so nice!"  They just smiled and went about their mission of filling the other's belly.

My little ballerinas

Mom, you're distracting us from Sesame Street.

15 months

The girls had their 15 month appointment yesterday.  As always, the doctor is very happy with their progress.  I must admit that I was a little concerned about their language development - or lack thereof.  Adalyn has a handful of words she knows and says fairly consistently.  But sometimes she'll then go a week without saying much of anything intelligible.  And then there's Alivia...she's pretty fluent in foreign languages, but doesn't say much of anything else. 

Dr K assured us that they're doing just fine and that on average, twins tend to develop good language skills a bit later than the average toddler.  She asked us if they "talk" to each other and seem to understand what they're saying.  And when I thought about it, they really do.  I remember blogging about how they babble back and forth to each other for a good 15 minutes from their cribs when they wake up in the morning.  You can hear the dialogue going back and forth and back and forth.  She said it's common for twins to develop their own little language that they understand between each other and that they'll soon be saying plenty of words/phrases that we can understand.  So I guess it's just the mommy in me that's worrying.

Anyway, here are their 15 months stats:

Adalyn:
21lbs 6oz - 29th percentile
30 3/4 inches - 70th percentile

Alivia:
22lbs - 39th percentile
30 3/4 inches - 70th percentile

We think the length measurements are a bit off.  Either Alivia is shorter than what they measured her to be or Adalyn is longer.  When they stand side by side, Adalyn definitely has a height advantage.  I'm guessing they short changed Addi because she dropped from the 85th to 90th percentile down to the 70th.  Whereas Alivia has stayed pretty consistent between the 70th to 75th percentiles.  If I were to venture a guess, I think Adalyn's probably about 31 1/2 inches long.  Hmmm, maybe I'll have to measure the girls.  Again, it's my Type A personality emerging.  A bit perfectionistic.

So yeah, all is well.

Huge exhale...

It's been quite the eventful week.  As you know, Adalyn was sick on Sunday and Alivia on Monday.  Unfortunately, it didn't end there.  Both Nate and I got really sick on Tuesday.  And we found out that my dad had come down with the bug on Tuesday as well!  So after a really long night of being sick, we called my mom in for emergency back up to help with the girls on Wednesday.  Luckily she arrived fairly early in the morning because lifting our slightly more than 20 pound children felt more like lifting a 90 pounder. 

Come Thursday morning, I was feeling much better - symptomatic free but still a bit dizzy from being dehydrated.  Nate was in much worse shape and ended up in Urgent Care for IV fluids and some anti-nausea medications.  That same day my mom started feeling sick!!  Good grief.  But...I think we've all finally recovered!  Whew.  It was a long and draining week.

Big kids in a little cupboard.

Our attempt at pictures in front of the tree during our belated Christmas.

Two sick kids = no fun at all

So Happy New Year to us!  We're enduring our first sickness ever.  Minus a couple low grade fevers and one of the girls throwing up just once (and then acting fine immediately after), they've never been sick...until yesterday.  Adalyn woke up at 4am Sunday morning, had a bottle, and went back to bed for a couple hours as per her usual routine.  She woke up at 6:30am and within about fifteen minutes, she threw up all over Nate.  This continued for a good chunk of the day and even during our car ride home - we were out of town at my parents house all weekend to celebrate Christmas.  However, by the evening, she was pretty much back to her old self.  The little devil came out in her!

Fast forward to about 3:30 this afternoon.  Alivia was taking a nap and woke up crying a bit which isn't unusual when she wants out of her crib.  When I went to get her, she wasn't standing or even sitting like she normally is, she was still laying on her side.  I picked her up and she immediately put her head down on my shoulder.  So I thought "ok, I'll take her into our bed to see if she'll sleep for another half hour or so" (her nap only lasted about 30 minutes and they usually take over an hour).  So I laid in bed with her.  She seemed to be dozing off and then suddenly got up on her hands and knees and proceeded to vomit all over my right shoulder.  She threw up so much that it actually soaked through my shirt, my bra, the corner of my pillow, the bed sheet, the mattress pad, and the electric mattress pad.  And she's thrown up several times since then.  Poor girl.

Both of them just went down for the night.  I'm hoping they both do well overnight.  It breaks my heart to see them so miserable!  But I knew our good fortune had to run out soon.  They're almost 15 months old and have never been sick.  Let's hope it's a 24 hour bug and they're both fine in the morning!  Sometimes it's nuts in this house when they're both showcasing the devils in them, but then we know they're healthy!  So I'll gladly exchange my sick, lethargic kiddos for the ones with the little horns!!