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Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Twin Weight Tuesdays. (Er, Wednesday ... again.)

Well, I'm happy to report that I lost a pound this week.  It's not much, but it's certainly a start.  And weight loss breeds motivation for me, so it's been a very positive thing.

Brian and I have also started counting our calories again.  We use apps on our phones to keep track and are able to see each others results too.  Even though he doesn't have any weight to lose in real life, he still would like to watch his calories.  And I think he does it to support me too.  It's easier to track when the person you live with is also tracking.  Even though he gets a whopping 1000 calories more than I do per day.  Sweet Jesus.

Monday night I attended a ballet class with my friend.  She suggested I join her before she knew that I danced for 10 years of my life.  After I informed her of that little tidbit, she was insistent.  I was intimidated by the idea.  I mean, it's been 15 years, 2 pregnancies, 3 babies, and about 80 pounds since I last set foot in a ballet class.  But she assured me that there were people of all levels and ages in this class and that all of the moves would come back to me once I started.  And she was right.  It all came rushing back to me.  My brain knew what to do, but my body COMPLETELY forgot.  Things that used to be simple were making me sweat and strain and almost fall flat on my face.  But it felt good to use muscles I haven't used in a very (very very very) long time.  I'm excited for next Monday!

Having two babies at once.


I realized the other day that I never wrote about my labor and delivery experience with twins.  I've encountered more and more people getting pregnant with twins and it has made me look back on the last year and revisit a lot of the new emotions I've experienced.  Maybe reading my story might help someone else facing a twin pregnancy and delivery.  And if not, at least I have it written down so I can remember it all after having my brains sucked out by my darling boys.

Having been a Labor and Delivery nurse for almost 6 years, I've seen plenty of different scenarios of twin births -- which is probably why I had mixed feelings on it.  I've seen beautiful, straightforward vaginal deliveries.  I've seen scheduled C-sections.  I've seen vaginal deliveries for the first twin followed by C-sections for the second twin.  I rolled with the punches as the nurse, fully comprehending the fact that, as I always told my patients, the only guarantee in labor and birth is that there are no guarantees.  But when it comes to my own life, I have a fear of the unknown.  Because my boys were vertex/vertex (read: both head down), I knew I had the chance for one of those "beautiful, straightforward vaginal deliveries".  And luckily, it all worked out the way I planned.  I'm so blessed to have been able to experience a twin pregnancy and delivery the way that I did.  And I want to remember the day my sweet boys came into this world, so I better get it "on paper" now before I forget the details!

I made it to 38 weeks, which in "twin world" is full term.  The babies were getting big and Baby B (Kiernan) was getting harder to feel move and had experienced some funny business with his heart rate during a few monitoring times.  So my doctor and I determined that it was time for them to come out.  My cervix was still only a fingertip (read: less than one centimeter) dilated in the office, so we decided to use Cervidil to soften it. When I arrived at the hospital in the evening for the Cervidil, my cervix was actually 1-2 centimeters dilated and very soft, so we decided to forgo the Cervidil and head straight for pitocin.

Still pretty comfortable.

I planned an epidural for a variety of reasons.  One of the biggest reasons was the safety of Kiernan.  If for some reason I needed an emergent C-section for Kiernan, and didn't have an epidural, I would have had to be put under general anesthesia for his birth.  I knew I didn't want to be put to sleep and miss the birth of my baby.  Plus?  My epidural with Brennan was HORRIBLE and honestly, I wanted a good epidural this time.  

With Brennan, my cervix dilated from 4 centimeters to 10 centimeters in less than an hour.  So when I got to 3 centimeters this time around, I wanted to get the epidural placed.  By 1:30 a.m. I was comfortable with my epidural and my water was broken.  My poor nurse spent the next 4 hours chasing my babies around with the monitors.  I helped as much as I could, but she was amazing and just kept telling me to close my eyes and rest.  LOVED her.

Feeling pretty good after my epidural.  
Thrilled to have gotten comfortable because I never really did with Brennan.

Four hours later, at 5:30 a.m. I was feeling lots of pressure.  My cervix only had a small "rim" (read: it was about 9.5 centimeters dilated), so they moved us back to the operating room to deliver.  The boys were both born vaginally, but like most twin deliveries, it was in the operating room in case of emergency.  I pushed for about 20 minutes and out came Baby A - sweet Beckett - at 6:07 a.m.  

A very fresh Mr. Beckett

When Beckett was born we didn't get much time to get acquainted as the focus quickly shifted to Kiernan's well-being while he was still tucked into the top corner of my uterus.  I desperately wanted that skin-to-skin time with Beckett, but the L&D nurse in me took over and I allowed the NICU team to take him over to the warmer to evaluate while we focused on Kiernan.  The neonatal nurse practitioner gave Beckett a clean bill of health, but declared that it was too cold in the OR for him to wait for his brother to be born.  My sweet nurse put up a fight to let him stay, but she also had to focus on Kiernan and eventually lost.  Beckett was whisked away to the nursery to await the arrival of his brother.

Baby A - Beckett - 7 lbs 3 oz, 19.5 inches

 Looking back, I wish I would have refused.  I wish I would have looked at the NNP and told him where to stick it to turn up the heat in the room and put an extra blanket on my baby.  But I was wrapped up in the moment and desperately trying to focus on pushing out the baby whose heart tones I could hear dipping significantly with each contraction.

Kiernan was born 28 minutes after his big brother, at 6:35 a.m.  I got a few minutes of skin-to-skin with him before the NNP struck again.  At this point, I decided that I would just get the skin-to-skin time when we returned to our room.

Baby B - Kiernan - 6 lbs, 19.5 inches

We returned to our room and reunited with Beckett.  Then we both got to work with skin-to-skin contact and  breastfeeding.  It was an amazing feeling to be all back together again.  I felt so at peace having the four of us in the same room, but at the same time it made me miss Brennan terribly and I couldn't help but feel a bit incomplete without him there.

Mommy and Beckett

Daddy and ... Beckett again?  I can't tell :(  I promise Kiernan got lots of skin-to-skin too!

This is where the "beautiful and straightforward" portion ends.  As I said, I'm blessed to have had such a great experience.  I see at as the calm before the storm.  I'm working on gathering the words to describe my breastfeeding struggles, as I know I'm not the only one to experience them.  While I work on that, I'll leave you with pictures of my sweet boys reunited outside of my belly.

Kiernan, Mommy, & Beckett

Beckett & Kiernan

Monday, February 27, 2012

Sleep is for the weak.


   
Beckett sleeping with Daddy ... for 15 minutes at least.

When Brennan was a baby, our soothe-to-sleep routine was very simple.  He ate, burped, we read a book, and then snuggled.  When he was tiny, we'd rock him to sleep.  But at about 5 months old, he got to a point where he'd wake up the second we put him down in his bed.  I bought all of the books on infant sleep and we tried a million things.  After deciding that "graduated extinction" (read: Cry It Out, in increments) was the way to go for us.  After about 2 nights, he was going down awake and soothing himself to sleep very easily.  Easy peasy.  I thought I had it all figured out.

Mr. Beckett has proven me wrong.

I always said that after being blessed with an amazingly "easy" baby, my second child would give me a run for my money.  Because he was born first, Beckett is technically my second ... and he definitely has me running.

Overall, he's a very mellow kid.  But he's also very stubborn.  A few weeks ago he decided that he didn't want to fall asleep.  And when we could get him to fall asleep he didn't want to stay asleep.  Naps were especially a problem.  If he went to sleep, he would wake up screaming 15-20 minutes later.  By bedtime, he was so overtired that he could barely stay awake to eat.  He'd doze off and be up minutes later screaming.  It took 4 hours to get him into a sound sleep.  And then he'd be up 2 or 3 hours later, screaming again.  This was especially an issue because another little person sleeps just a few feet away from him.  Kiernan is a champion sleeper, but the poor kid could only sleep through so much.

Finding out the problem was easy.  We had straightened out reflux issues.  We knew he wasn't hungry or too full or wet or poopy.  The minute we would walk up next to his crib, he'd stop.  He just wanted someone near him.  Brian joked that we needed a cardboard cutout of one of us to put next to his crib.  I totally looked into it.  Desperation people, desperation.

Totally uninterested in sleep ... unlike his parents.

Needless to say, we were an exhausted clan.  And of course exhausted = cranky.  Oh, the crankiness.  We decided we needed to do something.  I talked to other experienced Moms.  I hauled out all of my parenting books and book on baby sleep and poured over them.  I Googled it all.  Babywise, Ferber, Sears ... they all have ideas on getting your baby to sleep well.  And none of it was new to me.

The idea of rocking my babies peacefully to sleep is a beautiful one.  But the reality of our life is that it's physically impossible.  There are 3 of them and one of me and if I attempted to rock them all to sleep there'd be more crying and less happy awake time with them and my butt would be fused to the rocking chair.  And crying it out seemed impossible to accomplish and unfair to Kiernan.  We needed a concrete plan to stick to.

We decided to resurrect "graduated extinction", but this time needed to use it for naps too.  I really like the book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Dr. Marc Weissbluth.  I'll be honest, I don't think it's well-written at all.  But the concepts within it work well for our family and make sense to me.

So we separated the boys for nap times and let Mr. Beckett cry a bit.  At bed time, we left them in the same room and poor sweet Kiernan fell asleep despite his brother's screams.  It took a solid week of screaming day and night, but day by day the crying periods were shorter and shorter.  And finally, he started going to sleep beautifully and staying asleep.  Sometimes he falls asleep during a pre-sleep feeding, but when we put him down in his bed he soothes himself right back to sleep.  He wakes up once at night to eat, but it's usually before we go to bed.  So he's more rested, his brothers are more rested, and his parents are more rested.  All in all, I feel successful.

It just goes to show that no two kids are exactly the same.  And it's incredibly humbling as a mom to be reminded of that.  It took a lot of patience, tears, and beer to get through it, but we figured it out.

Post-nursing milk coma.

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Brother antics.

Oh toddlers.  Why are they completely insane?

This morning started like any other.  All boys up and fed by 8:00, then the morning nap routine for the little ones started at 9:00.  They were both sleeping peacefully in their beds by 9:30.  Then I launched into productivity mode since Beckett's naps are usually short - throw in a load of laundry, make oatmeal, pump.

At 10:00, I decided to run to the bathroom and then get dressed.  Brennan was playing on the floor in the family room so I rushed off to my bedroom.  Two minutes later I had just pulled on my pants when I heard a baby stir on the monitor.  I didn't think much of it and continued to put on some socks.

That's when I heard it.  The train whistle.  Not from the family room -- from the nursery.  Oh.Balls.  I didn't have a shirt on yet, so I grabbed my robe and flew to the other side of the house.  Luckily, Brennan found the camera earlier this morning and after taking it from him I had shoved it into the pocket of my robe.

I expected just to find him playing on the floor in the nursery, but instead, I found this:

(Notice the wooden train whistle too. )

(Not happy about getting lectured...)

No, I don't generally allow my not-quite-6-month-old to sleep with one stuffed animal, let alone five.  I think they frown on that.  Big brother apparently decided that Kiernan needed some company in his crib.  And then to hear the choo-choo whistle, probably being blown in his face.  Good Lord.  I resisted the urge to yell and instead opened the blinds to get better light for pictures.  Don't worry, he got a nice talking-to after the photo-fest. 


Poor sweet Kiernan was a trooper and didn't mind being woken up after just 25 mins of sleep by a rainstorm of stuffed animals and a big brother.  He didn't like the choo-choo whistle very much.  
 

And of course all the chaos woke up this guy too.  He wasn't happy til Mommy sat him up in the corner of his crib so he could see the action (while Mommy snapped pictures of course). 

I have a feeling that since I have 3 boys so close in age, things like this will be quite the norm in our lives...

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Lenten Madness.

See this stuff?  


It's one of my biggest weaknesses in the world.  I know, I know.  It's insanely terrible for you.  But I've loved it for years.  I've quit a few times, but can't seem to quit for good.  And I've gone through a few times in my life that I drink obscene amounts of it every day.  OBSCENE.  I've been getting bad about it since having the boys too (caffeine free though!).  

So this year for Lent I decided to give it up.  Madness people, madness.  Today was my first day sans-DC and I survived.  Sure, I drank a cup of coffee.  But coffee is so much more work than just walking the the fridge and cracking open a can that I'm confident it won't just replace my beloved DC ... it'll just help get me through the mornings.  

The hubby has decided to give up meat.  He has an unhealthy relationship with it.  I mean, he's not a "meat and potatoes" man, he's a "meat" man.  One time at a family gathering he ate 7 steaks.  That's it.  Just beef.  I feel sorry for his GI system.  Of course, because he has given up meat, I'll be eating significantly less of it too. It's a good thing though.  I think it'll shake up the monotony of dinner ideas and open his mind to beans and seafood.  

The next 40 days will be interesting in our house.  We aren't sure who'll be crabbier:  me without Diet Coke or him without meat.  I think both of our money is on me.  Seriously, it's an addiction.  I miss it already....

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Twin Weight Tuesdays.

My keyboard is getting a workout today.  I've started this post a million times and deleted every attempt.  I just don't have many words to describe how I feel about weight loss this week.  So I'll leave you with some of the pictures I've been looking at lately for motivation.





It's not about looking like this person again.  It's about feeling like her.  Feeling strong, energetic, and healthy.  I'll get there.

Weekend success.

Can I just say that I loooooove weekends?  They've always been precious to us since I worked nights and weekends and our time as a family was already limited.  But now?  They're so.insanely.important.  They are days that Brian and I can accomplish things as a team and time that we can focus on the 5 of us.  I love it.  And long weekends?  I die.  They're amazing and beautiful and spectacular and seem to fall perfectly into times when I'm starting to lose it and am in need of my hubby's presence for an extra day.  (Yay God.)

So we had a pretty productive weekend.  Some things didn't get accomplished and some things were added in.  And while I planned I totally forgot that Brian had Monday off, so that was a big fat bonus.  All in all?  Fantastic weekend.  Here's the breakdown:


Friday
  • Finish boys laundry and diaper laundry
  • Sort the rest of the laundry
  • Organize coupons
  • Menu plan 
  • K - finish Brian's Vday gift (he knew it would be late)  (moved from Saturday)
Saturday
  • Laundry
  • K - coffee with a friend
  • Run errands as a family  (added)
  • Clean out babies' dresser (added)
Sunday
  • Laundry
  • Clean and organize laundry room
  • Steam mop floors
  • Family walk to yogurt shop (this might not happen depending on weather!)
Monday
  • Play frisbee golf as a family (added)
  • B - mow lawn and edge (moved from Saturday)
  • B - fix screens (added)
  • B - fix under-cabinet lights (added)
  • K - sort through baby clothes (added)
So there you have it.  I still need to steam mop the floors, organize my coupons, and menu plan.  But it felt like a very productive weekend.  We're getting better at balancing life and babies as they get older.  It feels good to function semi-smoothly.  Emphasis on the semi.

Friday, February 17, 2012

Florida in February.

Last weekend we threw housework out the window and decided to get out of the house.  We went to the local Toys-R-Us that's going out of business and got a crap ton of stuff for under $130.  (Brennan's 3rd birthday ... done!)

On the way home we decided to stop at our favorite park to let Brennan burn some energy.  It was gorgeous outside, which is still hard to wrap my brain around since it's February, but we certainly enjoyed it.  The babies are getting old enough to enjoy the swings now and Brennan doesn't need quite as much supervision (read: stalking) as he used to, so it was a nice relaxing visit.

Documenting the cuteness overload:

Poor Kiernan has insanely light and wind sensitive eyes.  The tiniest breeze makes him squint.  He was giggling up a storm though!  And do his legs not look a mile long in this photo?!

Mr. Beckett was cool as a cucumber.  He could've stayed in that swing all day.  

All of mama's boys enjoying the swings!

It took 12 tries to get Brennan looking at the camera.  And that blanket on Brian's lap?  Covering the pile of puke Kiernan had just gifted his Daddy.  He's so generous.

I love it when my insane photo snapping actually produces a cute picture of my little tornado.  He's so much fun these days.  Love him.

Weekend planning.

Weekends are precious in our house.  We've always looked forward to them, but once the twins were born they became exponentially more valuable.  It's not only our time to relax and spend time with each other as a family, but also to GET.SHIT.DONE.  On a day-to-day basis, I barely have time to accomplish the essential tasks - vacuum the family room, do dishes, wash bottles, pick up toys, keep the kitchen clean.  I try to squeeze in other stuff when I can, but big projects seem to get left in the dust.  So every week I formulate a nice plan in my head of all of the things I want to get done for the weekend.  

The problem is that Brian does the same thing.  He makes his own list, which doesn't usually overlap with mine at all, with the exception of spending family time.  Inevitably, Brian heads off to tackle things on his list and I'm left to tend to the boys and stew and boil and get insanely irritated because I have 78934 things to do and no help and WHAT THE HELL IS THE POINT OF EVEN TRYING WHEN YOUR HUSBAND DOESN'T EVEN LOVE YOU?!?!?!   (Can you see how things escalate quickly?  I have a tiny tiny tiny bit of a temper when I get frustrated and overwhelmed.  Brian is a freaking saint.)  So then the lawn is mowed and the cars are gleaming, but we're wading through 4 inches of dirt and dog hair inside the house.  (Oh, and I like to exaggerate too.)

So we decided to start coming up with a joint list, with a balance of tasks for each of us so that we're better able to function as a team.  Last weekend it worked well, but I thought it might be useful to blog about it to keep us on track.  A few of the blogs I read do Weekend Planning posts weekly, so maybe I'll link up to them too!  So here's the rundown of what we'll be doing this weekend:

Friday

  • Finish boys laundry and diaper laundry
  • Sort the rest of the laundry
  • Organize coupons
  • Menu plan 
Saturday

  • Laundry
  • K - coffee with a friend
  • K - finish Brian's Vday gift (he knew it would be late)
  • B - mow lawn and edge
Sunday
  • Laundry
  • Clean and organize laundry room
  • Steam mop floors
  • Family walk to yogurt shop (this might not happen depending on weather!)
We'll see how well we do!  Who else has busy weekends??

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Twin Weight Tuesdays.

Woo Hoo!  Actually writing this on a Tuesday this week!

Anyways,  there isn't much to update on this week.  I haven't lost any weight, but I haven't gained any either, which is always a celebration in my book.  I'm working on finding the time and energy to workout each day.  These babies are not making it easy as we're having sleep troubles.  And honestly, the last thing that I want to do  when I'm running on 3 hours of sleep is work out.  So that's the current issue.  And when I'm tired and stressed, I eat.  So that's the other part of the issue.  Right now I'm trying to focus on jumping on the treadmill even if I have 10 minutes.  Because those 10 minutes are better than no time at all.

As weird as it sounds, my goal for this week is to straighten out the boys sleep struggles.  Because if I can work that out, I'll have more time to focus on exercise!

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Blog Roll Please.

I've been reading a variety of blogs for a few years now and writing in my own for a little over a year.  I wouldn't consider myself a "blogger", but I do enjoy writing to keep my friends updated on our lives, to have something written to look back at and remember these crazy times, and just a place to vent!  Having my own little strand of this great big spiderweb we call the internet is fun.  And I love reading other people's strands too!

I thought it'd be fun to list some of my favorite blogs.  You know, the ones you read first when a new entry pops up on your reader?  Anyone who reads blogs knows what I'm talking about!  Funny thing is, when I did just that this morning and clicked onto my dear friend's blog, I saw that she had done the same thing!  I love it when even after more than 10 years of friendship, I'm reminded why I keep certain people in my life.

Anyways, here are some of favorite things to read while feeding and rocking babies (and maybe sitting on the toilet behind a closed door with the sole purpose of getting some alone time without husband, kids, or dogs.  Shhhh, don't tell them).  Because, let's be honest, holding babies is mostly what I do all day.  No one asked me to write about their blogs.  These are honestly just my favorites, with my own little descriptions.  Enjoy.

Mommies
  • the Heir to Blair:  I feel like I could be friends with BethAnne in real life.  And her blog is probably popular because that's how a lot of other mamas feel too.  She writes about real life with a toddler (a little boy just a few days older than Brennan), being a working mom, battling with postpartum depression, and struggles with her weight.  She's real.  She's witty.  I like her.
  • Baby Rabies:  Jill is a lot like BethAnne.  In fact, I think they're friends in real life.  She's funny and honest and makes no bones about putting in writing what a lot of moms think about life and kids but won't say.  Her Momisms make me laugh out loud.  
  • The Southern Belle {and her boys}:  Jessica is another mama that I feel like I could be friends with.  She writes about being a mommy, a wife, and a child of God.  She has a little boy who's cute as a button and another arriving any day now who'll no doubt be just as cute.
  • What the blog?:  Jenny has freaking triplets.  Triplets!!  So she writes a lot about them.  And she pumped, nursed, and bottle fed them for a year, so she's a great inspiration.  And she's funny and marches to the beat of her own drum.  And she has triplets.  'nuff said.
  • Baby Making:  This one is pretty new to me.  I stumbled upon it from another twin blog, and I like it so far.  Becky has twin boys who are a few months older than mine.  She's relateable.  I like that. 
  • Young House Life:  So I guess this isn't technically a Mommy blog, but more of a family blog.  John & Sherry's main blog is Young House Love, a DIY and home reno blog that I also follow and love.  But since we're renting and can't do anything to our current home, reading that one just makes me jealous.  So I get more excited for Young House Life posts because the focus is Clara, they're sweet little girl.  So cute!
  • Momastery:  I recently stumbled across this one too and I'm IN LOVE.  Glennon writes so beautifully.  When I read some posts she writes, I think, yeah, that's exactly how I feel, but she prettied up the words a lot.  Her article for the Huffington Post "Don't Carpe Diem" went a bit viral on facebook recently.  I believe it's because she's saying things that many mommies are too afraid to admit.  Honesty goes a long way with me, and she's got plenty of it.
    Funny Ladies
    • The Bloggess:  I discovered Jenny's blog when my friend Emily sent me a blog post about Beyonce, the giant metal chicken.  It's pee-your-pants funny, if you have the same sense of humor as I do.  She suffers from anxiety and depression and seems to use her writing as an outlet for recovery.  Respectable AND hilarious.  What's not to like?
    • Barefoot Foodie:  Self-proclaimed chubby girl, Brittany loves herself no matter how big or small she is at any given moment.  She curses, she babbles, she's flippin' hysterical.  You should read her blog.
    People I Know
    • A Modern Family:  My best friend from high school.  She's known her husband for over half of her life (and she's only 28), they've lived in 4 different places in the last 5 years (or so), she has a sweet little girl who's a month older than my boys and half their size.  She's an eternal optimist and a great friend.  She writes about all things mommy and family.  
    • oneCHURCHaWEEK:  My sister-in-law has decided to try out a different church each week for a year and to blog about it.  She's funny and irreverent and pretty much the female version of my husband ... no wonder I like her.
    • My Happy House:  I went to high school with Molly and discovered her blog when I asked her about some freezer meals I had seen her write about on facebook.  She writes about keeping a tidy house (and shares some great tips - although I won't be able to keep up with them til my boys are out of this house), shares yummy recipes, and talks about her cute chubby-cheeked Cam.
    • Adventures in Mommyland:  My friend Steph from my L&D days started a blog about being a mommy, which morphed into the perfect outlet to chronicle her experiences as a surrogate gestational carrier.  She hasn't written since shortly after giving birth to that little man, but I'm hoping I can talk her into it because having 3 kids in 3 (or so) years is definitely interesting to hear about...

Thursday, February 9, 2012

5 months!





I don't have "official pediatrician stats" for the boys because appointments are only every 2 months.  But I weigh them weekly at Mom's Club, so I thought I'd share their most current weights and a recent developments.

Beckett
Weight:  17 lbs 5 oz


 

Mr. Beckett is as mellow as always.  He's very content to just sit where I put him.  This may be part of the reason he isn't moving around much yet.  As his physical therapist says, he's a "thinker".  When he sees a toy, he has to study it, decide what it is and if he wants it, look at you for approval, then he'll grab it.  The only time he doesn't show much thoughtfulness and concentration is in the exersaucer.  Beckett LOVES to play in the exersaucer.  He rocks around like a wild man.  He is quite chubby and feels heavier than his little brother, even though he isn't anymore.  But he is getting a bit stronger and is working very hard to continue.  He's drooling like crazy and I can see little white lines on his gums, so he might be working on some teeth.  If he's anything like his big brother though, we'll still have to wait another 5 months for them to make an appearance!

Kiernan 
Weight:  17 lbs 12 oz


I started calling Kiernan my "little bird" when he was first born.  When he was hungry he'd open his mouth wide and shake his head back and forth like a baby bird.  That nickname is still proving to be true in his voice.  He squawks like a bird for a good part of the day.  But he has defied the nickname in that he's not so little anymore.  Kiernan has almost tripled his birthweight and is now bigger than his big brother.  He loves to eat and is incredibly strong.  He  has mastered rolling from his back to his belly and has gone from his belly to his back a few times.  He only rolls to the right though, so we're working on encouraging him to go to the left too.  He's actually starting to sit unsupported for a few seconds at a time.  

Can't believe my sweet, smiley boys are 5 months old already.  Time is flying!

January.



January was an interesting month.  It felt more like an early summer month for me.  Hot days, cool nights, lots of sunshine.  I tend to forget that everyone back in the midwest is freezing their bums off in the cold, even though it's been a mild winter there too.  My heart hurts a little when I see Brennan get excited and yell "Mom-mom, SNOW!!" when he sees a snowy scene on TV or in a book.  It's sad to think that he won't grow up playing in the white stuff.  But I remind myself that he'll get plenty of experience building snowmen and making snow angels when we travel back to Michigan.  And we won't have to deal with the mess of living with it!  Someday I'll get used to the weather down here.

This month was one of the firsts months that felt like a glimpse of "normal" life.  We didn't have any major plans, just started to settle into a routine as a family.  The twins have physical and speech therapy appointments, which are going well.  I take them to a Mom's Club, breastfeeding support group, on some Fridays while Brennan goes to friends' houses to play.  We've started walking the mile and a half to a little yogurt bar by our house on Sunday evenings for a little treat.  I must say, Brian and I make a pretty good team.  We are learning to function like a well-oiled machine.  

We celebrated our 5 year anniversary on the 27th.  Brian took the afternoon off and we were lucky enough to have some friends of ours come over in the evening to watch the boys.  We went to dinner at a little restaurant in downtown Melbourne that we went to last year for our anniversary.  It was nice to be able to spend a little time together without little people around us.  It's hard to believe all we've accomplished in the last 5 years - a house, 3 dogs, 3 kids, a move, a new career, and a masters degree (and a half).  There are probably a few things I'm forgetting too.  It's definitely been a wild ride, but a great one.  

Our Wedding Day with our sweet baby Cooper


Brennan is growing like a weed.  He is so much fun one minute and a complete terror the next. I'd expect nothing less from a 2 year old.  He's very patient though, and puts up with lack of attention very well.  His vocabulary grows by the minute and not a day goes by that he doesn't have me wondering "when did you learn that?"  He asks for his Daddy all day long.  All I hear during the day is "Daddy home?", "Call Daddy.", and "Daddy go?"  The second Brian walks in the door Brennan is ready to run and wrestle and play.  But at night time he wants his Mom-mom (yes, he calls me mom-mom.  it's ADORABLE.)  He has developed quite the bedtime routine and after he insists on being "tucked tight" and having a litter of stuffed animals piled on top of him, he wants "Mommy song".  It's the words to a goodnight book sung to a tune I made up and have been singing to him since he was little.  For some odd reason he loves it, even though my singing skills leave a lot to be desired.


February will be more of the same routine.  Aunt Jen and Uncle Brian will come to visit for a day and we have lots of appointments on the schedule.  Brian has decided to give up meat for Lent and I'm giving up pop.  The meat will make dinners interesting, but shake things up a bit. I'm planning a 75% meat free dinner menu.  The other nights he'll have to fend for himself ;)  And giving up Diet Coke will make for a cranky mommy, but it's terrible for me anyway, so I need to get rid of it.  I'll let you know how it goes!

Twin Weight Tuesdays. (Er, Wednesday ... again.)

Maybe I should just change it to Wednesday.  Hmmmm.

Anyways, I haven't lost any weight, this week, but I'm doing a bit better on the exercise front.  Brian and I are attempting to get up early and work out before the boys wake up, but their wake up schedule has been a little funky these days so that doesn't always work.  But most days I've been able to squeeze a bit of time during the day to jump on the treadmill for a mile or two.  Not enough, but it's a start.

On Saturday or Sunday evenings, we've been taking a trip to the yogurt bar near our house.  But we've been walking there as a family.  So we get good exercise in and then eat frozen yogurt.  Look people, it's better than ice cream.  It's a nice time for us to talk and just be together as a family.  Last weekend, we started walking and we were barely out of our neighborhood before my tennis shoes started to rub the skin on my Achilles tendons.  I contemplated going home to change socks, but didn't want to hold everyone up.  After walking just another short distance, we were barely a quarter mile into the mile and a half walk and I decided if I continued I would be in so much pain that I wouldn't be able to walk back.  So Brian managed both strollers and I ran back to the house.  Yes, ran.  All the way back to our house.  I put Bandaids on my already broken skin, changed into higher socks, and set out.  I told myself that no matter where my boys were, I was going to run to them.  (And I prayed that Brian had walked very slowly!)  It was tough til I turned the corner and saw them and just kept running. Over half of a mile. I felt like I was going to die, but Brian was so proud of me and I was proud of myself.  It's been a very long time since I ran that far without stopping.  It's a small accomplishment in the grand scheme of things, but it was a breakthrough for me.  I can keep running and I will keep running.

Now, it's time to focus more on food.  One of my close friends has a sweet little girl who is a month older than my boys.  She is struggling with weight loss too, as I think most postpartum mommies do.  She said that she focuses so much on healthy food for her kiddo, but doesn't do the same for herself.  I am so insanely guilty of this too.  So this week's focus will be to eat healthy.healthy.HEALTHY!!

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Twin Weight Tuesdays. (er, Wednesday).

Yesterday was all kinds of busy so blogging got bumped.  As has exercise and healthy eating, actually.  If we're being completely honest here, and that IS the point of blogging about after all, I'm gaining weight.  So insanely frustrating.  But I'm not making exercise a priority, so why wouldn't I be gaining?  Brian and I have come up with a plan to get up together in the morning and workout, but that plan has been foiled by early-awakening babies a few days in a row.  It might take some time, but we'll get the kinks worked out.