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Indiana trip was fun. What would normally be an easy 3.5 hour drive turns into about 6 or 7 with the twins. We left early Thursday afternoon at naptime. Blake and Brady were asleep with in 15 minutes and remained sleeping for nearly 2.5 hours.  During that time we managed to travel across the state of Michigan from Detroit area to Benton Harbor before the boys woke up.  Once in Benton Harbor, we stopped for lunch, dinner, “lunner.”  We did some more stretching by walking around the local Wal-Mart.  It was over 2 hours before we hit the road again. Arrived at my sisters around 7:30pm. We gained an hour since she lives in central timezone.  It was a fun visit. The boys had a blast. No problems (last time Brady got sick and we had to take him to emergency).  Renee and I got out Friday night. Went to see the new movie Mirrors, it was pretty scary. Had both of us watching it through her sweater.

On another note. I was going through some old boxes and came across an old cell phone I used to have.  It comes from the early days of consumer cell phones.  My husband thought it was one of Gavin’s play phones. He was shocked to discover that this thing actually worked. And I thought I was cool when I had it, as cell phones weren’t nearly as popular back then as they are now.  I remember purposely calling people so that I could be seen using it. LOL  I wish I remember what the ringer sounded like. I remember when it would ring, I’d look around to see if anyone noticed. Like “yep, that’s me, that’s my cell phone, I’m cool, I’m important.”  The darn thing about took up my whole purse.

The twins birthday was quite a hit. My guest list was over 50, including kids, and that’s about what we had and then some. We had a Luau theme. Our 30in. deep pop-up pool was packed with kids. We even borrowed my brother-in-laws moonwalk. The kids had a blast, the adults had a blast. The twins? I suppose they had a good time. They were miserable for part of the day though. They were so off routine and they do not do well when they are off routine. My sister was in town for a few days so the craziness continued. It took a couple days to get them back on routine. Even now, a couple weeks later, we aren’t still quite right. Seems we’re still running about 90 minutes behind.

I can’t believe it’s been a year already. I actually survived. I’m still breathing, though barely, and more importantly, Blake and Brady are still breathing. I’m still amazed some days that I have two babies, who are now officially toddlers. They’ve been walking since about 11 months. They both weighed about 22lbs at their one yr well-baby visit. We’re still breastfeeding. Though night weaning is well at hand and is going rather well, however they still wake a couple times at night for comfort even though “Mom’s Diner” is no longer a 24 hour establishment.

Just when things seemed normal again, then it was time for my dad to visit. Last time he was here was for my wedding back in September of 2003. He lives in the Houston area and drove up last Friday. It was so nice having him here for four days. I don’t get to see much of him and with every visit it seems I get closer and closer. I really missed him after he left.

Going to Indiana later this week. Mom took the train out there to my sisters and she needs a ride home. So I get to spend a few days with my sister again. Looking forward to “getting out of dodge.”

Just in time now for the twins first birthday this Sunday. We’re having a Luau! Looking forward to the celebration. I can’t believe it’s been a year. And it was a year ago yesterday that we closed on this house.

The funny part is; it’s been close to 5 months since my last entry and here I sit, with absolutely nothing coming to mind to write about. Suppose I can get all statistical and say that the twins are both around 23 pounds each and at their 9 month check-up they were over 31 inches tall, off the charts in height. Both are walking. They started walking between 10 & 11 months. I’ve been using sign language with them and they’ve picked up on it pretty quick. We used baby sign language with Gavin and it was so nice to be able to communicate with him before he could actually talk. Let’s see, what else. They are starting to say a few words, like mama, dada, more, and uh-oh. Our house is full of toys everywhere. They have just about full run of the ground level. They are a lot of fun. They have completely different personalities. Brady is attached to Dave and Blake is attached to me.

Gavin is having a lot more fun with them now. Especially since they can interact with him more now. He loves to make them laugh. He’s still attention starved. Not as much as when Blake and Brady were newborns, but they still require a lot of care and attention and Gavin has to be a bit more independent than what he’s used to. But he’s adjusted well. The sparkle in his eyes are quite back yet, but he’ll get there.

I’ve switched blogging platforms. Please pardon any ‘dust’ whilst I figure WordPress out and add new things. The TypePad monthly fee was just getting to be too much. Most of my files are all hosted over at Yahoo anyway also with a monthly fee. So I was getting tired of paying at 2 different places. We’ll see how this works for awhile. It’ll be nice to not see that automatic deduction on my bank statements anymore.

Got some catching up to do. It’s good to be back.~

I always tell people the best thing about co-sleeping is those morning smiles. Well, the best thing about co-sleeping with twins?? You guessed it.. double the smiles. Here is what I wake to each morning around 8:30am:

After morning time at the breast in bed.. it’s time to get up and start the day. Every morning the boys hang out in their bouncy seats or on the dining room floor and keep me company while I wash baby bottles and load the dishwasher. Mind you I’m usually standing on the other side, I just thought this was a cute angle.

After our morning chores, it’s time for breakfast. Some cereal and fruit.

Then it’s play time. A baby blanket on the floor just wasn’t cutting it for the boys to play on. The pak-n-play just seems so small for these two to play together and I needed to protect my expensive floor rug, so here you have it.. I threw a queen size blanket on the floor, and now my living room is one big play pen.

After playtime, it’s time for the first nap usually around 10:30ish. This is when they get one on one breast time. While I’m nursing one, the other is in his bouncy at my feet patiently waiting his turn.

About an hour and a half later, this is usually how I find them. I sometimes wonder what they talk about.

I’ll nurse them both again, then it’s playtime again.

or maybe even some nakey-butt time.

This is when they get their first supplement bottle, usually about 6 ounces of formula, and recently I’ve started adding the mid-day solid meal. Late lunch/afternoon snack of veggies and fruit.

Then it’s time for 2nd nap, usually around 4pm. This nap usually lasts till about 5:30ish.

Afterward, it’s the one time I usually tandem nurse.

Although, this particular day, they were more interested in grandma and what she was doing with the camera.

They get another supp bottle around 6:30pm, then dinner of some cereal, veg, & maybe fruit.

More evening playtime and breast time.

At around 8:30pm the lights in the living room are dimmed. We put their jammies and overnight diaper on, maybe a few minutes of laptime to settle into a sleepy mode and then a bedtime bottle around 9pm.

Then breast all night. If either wakes before midnight, that’s Dave’s tour of duty to parent them back to sleep. The first feed waking is around 12:30am(ish). Then quite often, each child is up every two hours, but alternating hours. Which means I’m up every hour. If they wake at the same time, Dave will come in and comfort one while I nurse the other.

So that’s our day in a nutshell.. it took about 6 months for that routine to emerge and it still isn’t quite consistant but I’m flexible. They still call all the shots. I think that’s what keeps them so happy.

Last Sunday marked the twins half-year birthday. Six whole months. With twins that’s like already a years worth of diaper changing. A years worth of sleepless nights. A years worth of breastfeeding and bottle feeding. And it’s also a years worth of toothless grins, belly giggles, cuddle time and oh we can’t forget, that irresistable, intoxicating new baby smell.

They’ve already cut their first tooth and the second is in the works. I read that identical (MZ) twins tend to cut teeth around the same time. Yep. It was within 4 days. Surprisingly though, I thought for sure Brady’s would cut first, he was just so miserable. But it was Blake’s that came through first.

They’ve flip-flopped traits so many times it’ll make your head spin. Just when I think I’ve got their personalities all figured out, they switch on me. I’ll tell my mom “They’ve switched bodies again,” just to give her a heads up. What a godsend it has been having her around. She still comes to help me just about every day. Except weekends or days Dave has off work. I think I’d go insane trying to handle it all alone. Sure I’ve had days that I was on my own, but it’s not every day that I am. Sometimes just having her presence here is calming and comforting to get me through the day. The thought of being able to have adult interaction on a daily basis is about pure bliss for me at this point.

They had their 6 month well-baby visit on Tuesday. The weight gap between them is wider still. Blake weighed 20lbs 1oz and Brady 18lbs 3oz. Both are 29 inches. I’m baffled at the weight gap. They pretty much eat the same. There may have been times that Brady doesn’t quite finish his bottle and Blake does. But it’s not often, and then it’ll be the opposite other times. So I can’t figure it out. You can’t really notice the weight difference yet. But if you were to pick them up, you notice. Most people still can’t tell them apart. I get a lot of the same question, “How do you tell them apart?” For me, it’s just looking at them. They simply just look different to me. Although I admit, there are days that even I can’t tell them apart. My husband, and most others look to one distinct difference. It has to be pointed out to notice, but it’s a sure way to tell who’s who. It’s all in their left ear.

[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=0cVlTeIATBs]
That is what it’s like around here. And I’m not talking about the babies. I’m talking about their big brother. He makes that sound over.and.over.and.over.all.day.long.it.never.ends. I know it’s probably for attention. And maybe he doesn’t realize he’s doing it. I’ll look him in the eye and say, “I see you, will you please stop making that noise?” or I’ll just come out and ask him “why.why must you make that noise?”  He and I went on a date tonight. It was nice to take him out. We went to the community college and participated in the Build-a-Book event that was taking place. We had a lot of fun. Gavin’s book was about none other than Superman. We still have a couple pages to finish.

In other news. Today, my first born turns twenty. It was twenty years ago today that he made me a mommie for the first time. As quickly as it went, it still somehow seems like a lifetime ago. It was a different era in time for me back then. I’m so proud of him though. Very very proud. So Happy 20th Birthday Ray!!! I love you very very much!

Man am I bad at this or what? I’ve made a resolution to post at least twice a week. Not only for my loyal readers, but for myself as well. There’s so many things I’ve missed out on. Posts that would have been “posts to remember” had I just taken the time. Time.. time for what? I don’t have time these days. The twins were both sick over the holiday. Santa couldn’t even show up here until close to 2am because the babies were keeping us all up. The day after Christmas I took them to the doctor. They both had an ear infection and a sinus infection. Today was the last day of being on antibiotics.

The weeks leading up to Christmas, I kept arguing with my sister about her being here for Christmas Day. She’s in Indiana. She moved away 4 years ago and I hate being apart from her. She kept insisting that they couldn’t afford it this year. That she needed to work. Christmas Eve I talked to her and told her to please come, that she needed to be here for Christmas, needed to be ‘home’ for Christmas. We cried. She wasn’t coming until the day after Christmas.

Dave and I took Gavin and our sick little guys to Dave’s moms for a fantastic Christmas dinner and gathering. Then we went to my moms for more Christmas fun, including what will be the first annual ornament exchange. We went home with the ugliest ornament ever. I tell you that one’s going back in the exchange next year. As soon as I got to my moms, my older son told me to follow him to his room so that he could show me what he got for Christmas. His bedroom door was shut. He opens the door, and standing there is my sister. I screamed. I hugged. I cried. She surprised me. Everyone knew she was coming, it was all a secret behind my back. It was great though that she was here. I swear she’s my soul mate.

Dave and I did manage to get out for New Years Eve. Thanks to my mom and my aunt Susan. We didn’t get out the door til after 10pm, but it was nice to get out nonetheless.

Happy New Year to everyone. I hope 2008 is a year fulll of love, family, faith and happiness for everyone. Below is our Christmas Holiday Card picture. The hands you see are my moms and aunts holding up the babies while I took the picture. My mom helped to hand make the elf hats out of felt. I’ll have to post more from this photo shoot later. Oh, and we also “elfed ourselves.”

Sunday marked the official end of another NaBloPoMo, another failure on my attempt that’s for sure. However, I did do somewhat better than I did last year. Last year I think I posted twice the whole month. This year a whopping 13 posts for the month. That’s almost a record for me really. The toughest part for me was not wanting to make every post be about the babies. But in reality, that’s all I got for now. The babies.

Speaking of babies. They went in for their 4 month well-baby visit. I can’t believe it’s already been 4 months. The first year is already a third of the way over. Anyway, for the first time since I was just 11 week pregnant, they are significantly different in weight. They’ve always been within 2 or 3 ounces of each other.  Blake tipped the scale at a whopping 17 pounds 5 ounces. He is huge folks, huge.  Brady is 11 ounces under him at 16 pounds 10 ounces.  Both are above the 90th percentile. It amazes me how big they are getting.

Mothering 4 month old twins and a preschooler has finally taken it’s toll. I really looked at myself in the mirror today. It wasn’t pretty. It’s not that I haven’t looked at myself the past 4 months, I suppose I’m not really paying attention. But today I did. I look like I’d be one of those women on the TLC show 10 Years Younger. I swear they tell these women to not wear any make-up or even put a brush through their hair before appearing on the show. They’re always wearing sweats and torn t-shirts. I watch that show and think, my gawd, these women can’t look like this every day, they’re just playing it up for the show. Then I saw my reflection in the mirror. I.am.those.women. I’d take a picture and post it, but I’m to embarrassed. Oh and I’m losing my hair. I know it’s probably just a post-pregnancy symptom. But literally handfuls of hair come out when I brush it.

We have a wedding to go to on Dec 8th. It’s one of Dave’s guy friends getting married. All his friends will be there. Most of them will be seeing me for the first time since early in my pregnancy. I’m hoping I can let go of the mommy hat for one evening and be the sexy self I used to be, even if for just one evening. This means I’ll have to shave my legs. Oh, I’ve got to plan this one out.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Turkey Day tomorrow. I’m looking forward to going over to my mother-in-laws. I’m such a family oriented person and I absolutely love my in-laws. Anyway, don’t eat too much!