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?

When it all began....

So it was a year ago today that we found out that we were expecting. Little did we know HOW MANY we were expecting! I can't believe that it has been a full year since this journey began. It's funny, because my pregnancy seemed to last forever and a day. Then it got even worse once I was put on bedrest. But looking back, my pregnancy really did fly by. And then of course, the girls' first four months have gone far too quickly

The girls are doing really well. Adalyn is slowly becoming a better sleeper than she used to be. Two nights in a row, she slept for 9 hours. But last night she was up every 3-4 hours again. So it will be interesting to see what she does tonight. I remember Alivia going through the same thing when she started to sleep better at night...she would have a couple really good nights, followed by one or two rough ones. Speaking of Alivia, she shocked us and actually slept for 11 hours straight last night! That definitely made up for Adalyn waking every 3-4.

What else? Oh yes, solids have been getting better by the day. They seem to be getting used to the texture and don't make such disgusted faces anymore! And they are actually beginning to "chew" what we give them instead of immediately expelling it with their tongues. I will get a picture up of the girls trying cereal, but for now, they are both asleep, so I should be following them to bed!! Good night!

Wordless Wednesday

Our little sports fans

The girls love sports already. I really like Alivia's taste in sports (the Packers), but Adalyn's taste is a little more questionable (the Minnesota RollerGirls).

Daddy's funny......looking. (hey, he says it, not me!!)

Well blow me down!

The girls had their 4 month pediatrician appointment on Tuesday. And we were shocked. Our little Adalyn has now become the heavyweight...by quite a bit! She weighed in at an astounding 13 lbs 8 ounces (up from 9lbs 10oz), and was 24.75 inches long. Alivia weighed in at 12 lbs 11 ounces (up from 10lbs 5oz), and was 24.5 inches. So Adalyn not only made up the 11 ounces she was down by two months ago, but she surpassed her sister by a full 13 ounces. That is exactly a pound and a half swing!

We also got the ok from the doctor to begin some rice cereal. We didn't try yesterday, because neither little one was feeling very well from their shots. But today was the big day! And....we didn't get very far. We may have gotten a couple small bites down both girls, but otherwise most of it ended up on their bibs. And poor Alivia started gagging! So we will try again in a few days.

Oh yeah. I have gotten a couple emails over the past few weeks from people requesting more details about the girls' birth. So just so you know, I am working on writing that up and will post it when I'm done.

The power of blogging

So I remember back in the day when I blogged about feeling "Baby A" (Adalyn) move all of the time, but that I rarely ever felt "Baby B" (Alivia) move. And then the couple of days following that post, Alivia seriously beat me up!!

Well, I just blogged about how Alivia usually sleeps 8-9 hours a night, but Adalyn was stuck at about 3-4. And wouldn't ya know it, Miss Adalyn slept for 7 hours straight last night! She has never done that before. Like I said in the last blog, we can sometimes squeeze out a 5 hour stretch with her, but it has never been more than that. But we actually got 7 solid hours!! Yay for sleep!

So I have decided that whenever the girls have a behavior we are not particularly fond of, I am going to blog about it. Because apparently the girls don't like to be outed in public and quickly change the undesired behavior! You gotta love the power of the blog.

Nothing in particular

The girls are doing fantastic. Both of them found their fists several weeks ago. So the fingers are constantly in their mouths. Both girls are rolling over like crazy, smiling like crazy, talking like crazy, acting crazy...they're probably just plain crazy. I'm blaming it on daddy!

They have their 4 month appointment next Tuesday. Can you believe it has been almost 4 months already? Like before, I am very excited to see how much they weigh now, but not at all excited for the shots. That's 6 stabs total that I have to witness. Luckily, Nate will be along this time to help me console them.

What else. Alivia has been pretty good at sleeping about 8-9 hours at night on most nights. Unfortunately, her sister isn't fond of dreamland. Adalyn is stuck at about 3-4 hours. Sometimes we can eek out a 5 hour stretch with her, but it is few and far between! That's ok, she's our little work in progress.

Don't let the shirts fool you.

This puppy is possessed. But they think he's pretty cool!


Two smiles at the same time...not an easy thing to accomplish!

A little explanation

I know I told everyone earlier that I made a belated New Year's resolution to blog a little more often. And I apologize for slacking. Some people have emailed me and called me out on failing my resolution already!! Haha.

Here's what is going on at the moment that has made it extremely hard to find the time to blog.

1) The girls are awake a lot more often now during the day, and when they are awake, they demand to be entertained as they still have trouble entertaining themselves...especially one of our little pumpkins, but I will not name names!

2) I started back to work two weeks ago, which is why I made the resolution in the first place, because I knew my time was going to become even more limited.

3) And probably the biggest reason of all...is that Nate and I are in the process of interviewing college kids to watch the girls while both of us are at work. My schedule is always rotating, and we couldn't find a day care that would take the girls without making us pay the full day's worth, even if they would only be there for 3 hours before Nate picked them up. Sooooo...in just shy of two weeks, I have fielded 79 (SEVENTY-NINE!!) emails and 3 phone calls from college women interested in watching the girls.

It has been a draining process to weed out the ones who are looking for an "easy" way to make some extra cash, versus the ones who are qualified and will be able to handle two screaming infants at one time without getting too stressed.

So the blog might continue to be kind of slow until we figure out some child care options. I have learned to hate both my email and my phone. I think within the next few days, I am going to boycott both. Ha.

I'm too sexy

No more words are needed.

Show and tell

I would say that one of the most commonly asked questions (besides whether or not they are twins or if they are identical vs. fraternal) is "how do you feed them both at the same time?" First of all, when we are home alone with them, we keep our fingers crossed that they won't be on the same schedule so that we can hold and cuddle each of them while they are eating. Otherwise, this is what it sometimes looks like....

We put them in their boppy pillows and either prop the bottles with blankets (usually only if we have to get another bottle warmed or change a diaper), or we sit on the floor and hold both of the bottles for the girls. We hate doing it, but sometimes you just do what you have to do to survive! And trust me, two infants wailing at the same time is no fun! And unforunately, they haven't really learned the concept of patience quite yet. Haha.