Thursday, May 30, 2013

Tutus!

Since I'm staying home now, I really need to get this tutu business going!

The last winner of my giveaway just happens to be a photographer and took some pictures of my tutus in action!  I am giving away another tutu to one lucky fan when Chevelyn's Tutus gets to 200 likes so click here to go to the page!

Custom tutus are just $25 including shipping.  Canada is $5 extra.  Photos are courtesy of Cara Gallagher Photography.  You can find her page here.  She's located in Canada!




2 a.m.

Last night at 2 a.m. I was up thinking about how this time of day will change.  These days, I am usually up at some point around 2-3am to pump and some nights to feed the boys as well.  Last night it just happened that both of them woke up around the same time so I was awake for about an hour.  

In another couple of months there will be no more baby snuggles in the middle of the night... I will still have to get up and pump, but that's only 15-20 minutes and then back to bed.

In a couple of years, 2 a.m. will be the time when I have little girls and boys getting up to ask for water, more stories, snacks, or for me to check for a monster under the bed.

In a few more years after that, at 2 a.m. I will be hearing giggles coming from the girls' room when they have their first sleepovers.  They will be talking about boys, painting nails, or just having "girl talk."

After that, at 2 a.m. I will be waiting up to make sure that they get home safe and sound from nights out with their friends.  I won't be able to sleep because they aren't home but I will secretly have GPS locators on their phone so I know where they are.

When they go off to college, I will look at their FB status' at 2 a.m. saying that they are up late studying for tests.

Someone told me that the days are long, but the years are short. Isn't that the truth.

Sunday, May 26, 2013

3 Months Old!!

Wow, 3 months already? Where has the time gone?  These little boys are growing FAST!!!!  I don't even remember what "small" babies were like because they really aren't that small!
Elliott and Oliver

Elliott and Oliver

Elliott

Elliott

Oliver


At two months, they had a doctor's visit and were "officially" weighed.  I have a scale at home and weighed them just for fun!

Elliott:
Birth: 7lbs 14oz
2 Months: 14lbs 2oz (9.5 weeks)
3 Months: 16lbs 4oz

Oliver:
Birth: 6lbs 3oz
2 Months: 12lbs 0oz (9.5 weeks)
3 Months: 13lbs 9oz

It seems extremely crazy that Elliott has gained more than 2 pounds in less than a month, but he has been eating and eating and eating and EATING lately!  Just tonight he ate TWELVE ounces in about an hour to an hour and a half right before he zonked out.  Oliver ate EIGHT ounces and is currently fussing so I might try and feed him two more.  Generally speaking, they eat 4oz every 3-4 hours.  If they are still hungry after that, we give them another 2oz.  I am making about 40oz of breastmilk every day so after that's gone- they get formula.

They have been in size 3-6 month clothes for about 3 weeks now.  I don't think Elliott is going to last very long in this size.  I could probably even bump him up to the 9 month clothes now!  I have a few more cute matching outfits in this size that I want them to wear so I will bump them up when I run out of clean cute outfits. ha!  Another twin mom that has twins the same age as the girls sent me a huge box of the most adorable matching outfits I have ever seen!  It was so nice of her!!

The boys are wearing size 2 diapers.  I tried to stretch the size 1s out as long as possible, but we had 4 blowouts in one day so I went up a size.  I had some open, but my friend is having a little boy in August so I will give them to her.

Sleep? Sigh... some nights are great and some are really not.  Elliott will sleep all night most nights.  Oliver has just maxed out his sleep at 8 hours! Once.  Otherwise, its about 6 hours.   This really isn't bad, but when they do wake up, they seem to stagger it so that mom doesn't get any sleep.  I know they will though, and then I will just have to wake up in the middle of the night to pump.. baby snuggles when pumping are way better than just pumping!

I'm still trying to breastfeed Elliott and I have all but thrown in the towel for Oliver.  I did get a nipple shield that I still have yet to try though, but I keep forgetting. D'oh!

The boys are doing such cute things.  Elliott is such a sweet boy and really doesn't cry unless he is super hungry, wet, or upset.  When he wakes up in the morning he just starts wiggling around, batting at toys, and smiling.  It melts my heart!  Oliver is a little more demanding but boy when he's happy, he's really happy!  Oliver is such a little wiggle worm.  He's got the strongest legs too!  They both have the cutest pouty lips I have ever seen in my life.  Its hard to be upset with little people that are just that cute. Seriously!

Oliver's favorite place to be is either in the swing or in someone's arms.  He loves just sitting on daddy's lap chilling out.  He just melts into his dad.. so adorable.  Elliott's favorite place to be is in the bouncy chair or in someone's arms.  The chair makes monkey noises when you pull and I can't wait for the day that he figures out how to pull them himself.  He just smiles and smiles when one of us pulls it!  Elliott is starting to make screeching noises, but neither are laughing yet.  Elliott really started smiling at 7.5 weeks and Oliver at 8 weeks.

Both boys are some seriously happy babies.  Everyone said that we would never get lucky with happy babies again but we sure did!  They have their moments and times of the day when they are cranky (7-9pm) but overall they are just amazing.

Neither boy can roll over yet.  The both don't really like tummy time all that much and well, I haven't pushed the issue.  I am so afraid that when I put them on the floor that the girls will step on them, poke them in the eye, or be too rough with them.  Overall, the girls are super gentle, but they are still unpredictable toddlers!

We still don't have a regular schedule during the day.  With the girls, we let them dictate the schedule and we just went with it.  That seemed to work out pretty well.  I've been too tired to mentally note what time they eat/nap during the day but I will probably try and figure it out a bit more after our trip to MN in June.  Traveling always screws up schedules anyways, so I will worry about it when we get back.  The one thing I do know is that I generally get at least an hour of down time with all four sleeping when the girls nap from 11am-1pm.  That hour is seriously amazing!

Other than that, I don't know what to say about my little cutie pies.  No teeth yet! I'm so not ready to start teething with more kids.. the girls teeth have been bothering them a lot lately and that's enough crying for one mom to take!!  I love these little boys so much!  It really is hard to imagine our lives without our two sets.  Each one of my children brings me joy (and challenges!) each and every day.  They all have their own personalities and I just love watching them grow.
Elliott and Oliver

Elliott

Elliott and Oliver- pondering how they are going to take over the world.....

E & O

Elliott- Love that sleepy face

Oliver- always looks so deep in thought

Oliver in the boppy (Yep, we reuse a lot from the girls!)

Elliott

Elliott

Love those prints on the butt! Elliott (Monkey) and Oliver (dog)

E & O

Elliott (top) and Oliver (bottom)

Oliver, Elliott, Char and Evy (on the floor)

Oliver and Elliott

Elliott

Oliver

Oliver with his daddy

Elliott (top) and Oliver (bottom)

O & E

Oliver

Elliott in his bouncy- covered up with mama's sweater

Oliver, mama and Elliott

Oliver, mama, and Elliott (Don't mind how tired I look!)

Elliott and Oliver

The highs and lows... What our week looked like

All days are hard but some days are really hard.  Not sleeping is something that I just can't get used to.  When I get sleep, I feel on top of the world and when I don't, I'm not sure how I will make it through my day.  

Monday I went to school, officially resigned, and cleaned out my classrooms.  I wanted to get it all done in one day so that I wouldn't have to think about going back later in the summer.  

Tuesday I had my adventure to IKEA.  I went to get that picture frame that I wrote about yesterday.

Wednesday was hands down the most challenging day as a mom that I have had so far.  Generally on Wednesdays Brian doesn't have class until 6:30 and he leaves around 4:30/5:00.  I wake him up in the morning around 6-7 a.m. and put him on baby duty and I go to sleep for 3-4 solid hours. BUT, this week he had a doctor's appointment at 9:00 a.m. and had to leave by 8:00.  That meant I didn't get really any sleep . Some nights are better than others, but the boys didn't sleep well that night.  I don't remember how many times they were up, but I pretty much didn't sleep at all.  To top it off, my back was killing me!  I guess I am out of shape, because pushing a stroller and carrying a baby around IKEA all day Tues killed my body.  

So Wednesday I was exhausted from the start.  Brian went to his appointment, came back and I immediately went grocery shopping.  We were completely out of food, and we shop on Wednesdays because its double ad day at one of the stores we frequent.  When I got home, I put away the groceries, fed Oliver (he threw up on me) fed Elliott (he threw up on me too.)  Great.  Earlier in the day I had tried to BF the boys and was unsuccessful.  They cried and cried and cried afterwards and just wanted their bottles.  It just breaks my heart actually.  A little bit later, I took Char into her room to change her diaper (she had poop) and she wuld just NOT lay down for me to change her.  I lost it.  Completely lost it.  I started bawling my eyes out because I had no idea what else to do.  The girls were super feisty that day and wouldn't listen to me either.  They threw every last toy around the living room, dumped out the dog food- you name it!   Brian was in our room doing homework and must have heard me crying.  I understand that his homework/school stuff is important, but so is my sanity.  He came out and said something like, "You need a nap." and I was thinking, "DUH!"  While I was crying my eyes out, Charlotte patted me on the back.  She finally let me change her diaper and then gave me the biggest hug ever and wiped the tears from my face.  She has such a sweet heart.  The kids don't understand that mom's tired and I need to remember that.  We all have our good days and our bad, and that was not a great day. Yes, I know, I signed up for this, and most days I can handle it.  That day- I just couldn't!  Lately there has been a witching hour between 7-9pm too.  The boys eat and eat and eat and eat!  Sometimes up to NINE ounces before bed, and then they are out.  That night, Oliver wasn't hungry, wasn't wet, didn't want to be held- nothing.  So, I gave him a paci and he calmed down instantly.  I didn't know what else to do!  I hate pacis and had never used one before, but I just couldn't take it and had to give in.  It was the best thing for all of us.

Thursday I woke up a new person.  I slept long and hard that night.  It was a good thing, too, because we had lots to do.  We started out our day by going to a twin playgroup.  It is usually Friday from 1-3, but got moved to Thursday from 11:30-1 because they closed early for the holiday.  The girls usually nap from 11-1, but I wanted to go, so we did! And it was okay.  Their schedule is flexible and I am glad for that. I met another twin mom there that also has 3ish month old twins. There were 5 moms there and 12 babies/toddlers!  

We left the playgroup a little late and were driving away at about 2:20. I pumped in the car on the way.  I found an actual outlet in my van, so I don't even have to use the battery pack all the time!  We then had to go to a picnic with people from Brian's department.  The girls slept maybe 30 minutes in the car.  We got there, got out, and the kids got passed around for a while.  It was nice that I actually had some time to eat! YES! The girls were SO tired, but didn't stop moving.  We got home about 7pm, took them inside, changed diapers, and put them straight to bed.  They slept until 8am!  They usually get at least 3 hours of naps and only had 30 minutes.  It wasn't good, but we all survived!

Friday Brian didn't have class like he usually does... it was postponed until next Friday so he was home all day.  It was so nice! I got the chore chart done and a few other things around the house.  I'm really serious about this de-cluttering thing.  I just can't take all the crap in my house anymore.  But, like someone said, it didn't take a day to get that way, so I shouldn't expect it to take a day to fix it.  Its going to get taken care of over time.

We all need some time to ourselves, so Saturday Brian went and hung out with his friends all day.  He went to a Magic tournament and then out to watch the UFC fights.  Generally the rule is that if he's going to be gone all day, he needs to find someone to come over and help me.  He was gone from about 8:00am until about 11pm.  I can handle things for most of the day, but 15 hours is asking a lot.  Our friend Sherrie and her girls came over around 11:30 a.m.  She is such a great friend and her daughters are great helpers.  They play with the girls, dog, feed babies, change diapers, you name it.   They are also helping with the garden.  She doesn't have any space in her yard for a garden, and I don't have a lot of time to tend mine so we decided to do one together.  She said she would come over and help weed, water, etc. and then take home some of the veggies.  Works for me!  I love home grown veggies.  Saves a trip to the store too!

Anyways, they ended up staying until about 9:30pm.  It was so great to have help all day.  I got the coat closet cleaned out and put some comic book boxes in there that were taking up space in my living room.  I got rid of a few pairs of boots that I didn't wear and an extra shoe rack that was stored in there.  It was great to have a 4:4 ratio for a day.  Seems like even 4 big people are not enough for 4 little people some days.  Makes me wonder how I do it all day when its just me!  I guess you just do what you have to do.  

Today, Sunday, has been pretty chill so far. I got up, helped with breakfast (Brian cooked) played outside with the girls for a while, played with all 4 in the living room for a while, then put the girls down for a nap, fed the boys, and put them down for a nap.  Currently, everyone is still sleeping- hence me having time to write this uber long blog post.  When the girls take their morning nap, I usually get at least an hour of baby-free time.  I love my babies dearly, but do need a break every day too.  If I was smart I would be taking a shower, doing a load of laundry, or something productive but I today I didn't.  Rest is important too!  

This is how we go out....

Oliver and Elliott

Oliver
Daddy and his little dudes

Cake!

Frosting!

Here I am!!

Evy- looking  at her daddy

Evy

Elliott

The daddy double feed

Charlotte- out!

Evy- out as well!

Don't we all mop the floor in a tutu!?



Friday, May 24, 2013

Chore Chart Art

I've been talking about our need to actually get things done at home.  Some days its hard to even get a shower in daily, let alone get the bathrooms cleaned and laundry put away but it won't be like this forever.  I'm also super sick of the house being a complete disaster all the time and am actually trying to de-clutter and purge bit by bit so that someday it might all be done.

Brian saw a chore chart calendar at a friend's house a while back.  He never got around to making it, so I finally figured out what exactly he was talking about and made it happen.  


I started out with the biggest picture frame that I could find at IKEA.  Yeah, remember that trip earlier in the week? It had a purpose! The one I got was $24.99

Close up of the stats- so you can see the size

I had to go to Home Depot anyways to get some new handles for my tub, so I picked up the paint sample cards then.  These are from the Glidden type of paint.  I got colors for weekdays, weekend days, and then the chore lists themselves.

I used glue dots  to put mine on, but I'm sure you could use double sided tape or regular glue.  I just happened to have the glue dots and that seemed easy and not messy.

I used the paper that came in the frame to put my calendar on.  I laid out my cards first to see how they were going to fit.


I made lists of daily, weekly, and monthly things that need to get done. Also, a spot for meals for the week. I wrote them on the cards with pen but I wish I would have used a marker so that they would stand out more.  (I might go back and re-do these.)

Chore lists


Everything is glued in place! I made 5 weeks

The outside of the frame is plastic, and I used a dry erase marker to write in the month on the side and the numbered days on the calendar.


Last but not least- I hung it up!  The IKEA frame even came with a wire to hang it with.  So easy!  It took me about an hour in all do do everything which I didn't think was too bad.




A blog post would not be complete without a couple cute pictures of the kids!  I got out these IKEA high chairs that I bought a while back.  I put the girls right up to the table for the first time and they LOVED IT!  They didn't even throw their food or their plate on the floor.  They did drop their forks and milks about 100x each, but those don't get stuck to your feet when you step on them :)