Crawling

Well it happened this weekend. Andy FINALLY is crawling forward. Matt also started going backward FINALLY which is really cool. I am so excited!!! It won't be long before Matt is going forward. Matt also made his way out of the living room and down the hall today by rolling. Andy also was trying very hard to pull himself up on the exersaucer from being on his tummy. He could not get it figured out but was very close. It was a busy day in our house with all of the movement. I wanted this so bad, but now I'm thinking what the heck did I want this for.

The power of a comfort item

WOW! I am amazed at the power of a comfort item to a baby. We went to a friend's house for the evening last night and put the boys' down for bed while we were over there. They aren't use to sleeping in their Pack'n play cribs because we rarely use them. When we first laid them down they were screaming bloody murder. We have started keeping a set of Puppy dog blankies in the car that are very similar to the teddy bear blankies they sleep with all the time at home. I ran out to the car to grab the blankies and as soon as we gave them the blankies they were both quite and fell right asleep. I am amazed at how comforting that little blankie was. I think it can really help a child to have something like that. However, you do have to be careful that they are old enough to be able to move it out of the way should it cover their face in the middle of the night. I always thought I would follow the new suggestion of "nothing but baby" (meaning you don't put anything else in the crib with the baby). I didn't put these blankies in their crib until they were 4 or 5 months old. Even at that age I was always going and checking on them before I went to bed and many times found their faces covered. Now, they move all over in bed so I don't really worry about them with the blankies.

Also, Matt started scooting backwards yesterday!!! Until then he'd only been able to roll over (granted he did that very well). Andy has also started doing push ups to try and crawl. He pushes up onto all fours (hands and knees) and then pushed off so his butt is in the air and his hands and feet are on the floor. He still hasn't figured out how to move forward, but I'm sure it will come soon enough. Part of me hopes he doesn't start crawling because that is the beginning of the end.

Consignment Sale

It's come time to start clearing out some of the boys' little clothes. I can't believe they are growing up so fast. I went to put some of their clothes in a consignment sale for this week. I had a hard time trying to decide what to sell and what to keep. I hope to have another child someday so I want to keep most of the stuff I have, but at the same times I have no idea if we will have a boy (I want a girl) or if that child will fit into the right sizes at the right seasons. I thought i could sell one of a lot of the twin outfits, but then what if we would have twin boys around the same time of year again I wouldn't have any matching outfits for them. So I put some basics up for sale that I can easily go to this sale if/when we have our next child and buy back for about the same price I am selling them for. I'm selling a lot of stuff that I bought at the sale last year or that was given to me and the boys never really wore. I hope I make some money on the sale, but if not then oh well. It's so hard to decide what to get rid of and what to keep. Everything takes up so mush room to keep it all and we don't have that much space. For anyone who lives around Omaha I recommend this sale. It's called Munchkin Junction it's at Bethany Luthern Church just north of 204th and Maple. The sale runs Wednesday through Saturday (Saturday is half price day). Check out their website at www.munchkinjunctionsale.com

Eatting out

Well, how do you deal with eating out with kids? I have yet to figure this out. The boys are getting to that age where they are interested in anything and everything on our plates. I hate giving the boys cheerios or anything like that on the table in restaurants because you never know how clean they are. I spend half of my time sitting there sticking cheerios in their mouths so then i barely get to eat. I can't imagine what I am going to do once they really start eating table food. I saw this cool thing someone had in a restaurant that was a rubber place mat thing that you stuck on the table then it also had a little cupped thing to catch the food that drops between the table and your child's mouth. I wish i knew where they had gotten it. How do you encourage your child to make the healthy kids meal choices when all of their friends are eatting fries and drinking pop? I know I don't really have to worry about this yet, but it's still something to think about. I have decided it's pretty nice to have twins because they can split things while they are little. They can share a Happy Meal because what one or two year old needs to eat a whole hamburger and fries. They can also share jars of baby food so instead of having one jar of fruit or veggie at lunch they can each have a half a jar of fruit and a half a jar of veggie.

Life with twins

Well, for the first time today I got a little taste of what life with twins is about to be like. The boys were playing on the living room floor today and they both started rolling around. They kept rolling in opposite directions and then they would get stuck in a corner or just up against something. (They couldn't understand why the wall wouldn't move when they rolled into it and wanted to keep going in that same direction.) Matt actually made his way out of the living room and a little way down the hallway before I went and caught him. They seemed to take turns crying and getting stuck. I was running around like crazy after one and then the other. I haven't really experienced that yet because they always stayed pretty close to each other. I now know what is coming yet it will only get worse as they start to move faster. What will I do when they start to run???

Traveling with babies

WOW!!! Traveling with babies is hard work. We went back home for Easter and just got back last night. The trip is five hours drive time, but of course with kids it makes it more like six or six and a half hours which really isn't bad, but it is long with 10 month olds. When we first made the trip with the boys they were 3 months old. The trip wasn't bad because they slept the whole time and we stopped once to feed them and other than that they were perfect. Now that they are getting older it is getting harder to travel. First of all, they don't sleep all the time like they use too and they want to be entertained or out moving around when they aren't asleep. Of course it's not safe to have them out of their car seats, moving around the car when we're traveling.

The boys were pretty good on the trip down. We didn't leave until 5:00 and I hadn't let the boys take an afternoon nap so they were ready to go to sleep for a little while. They slept for an hour or so then we stopped to feed them. When we got back in the car I sat in the back of the van so I could read to them, sing to them, and play with them in their seats. They were ready to go to sleep for the night after about and hour and a half. The only problem came when we did get to my mom's because we had to wake them up to get them out of the car, but I nursed them and they went right back to sleep for the night.

The trip back was much harder because we were traveling earlier in the day. The boys took their afternoon nap as soon as we got in the car. Then they were awake for the rest of the trip except for the last half hour when they fell asleep. I spent the trip in the back seat trying to two the peace, but all they wanted to do was get out of their seats. I had to try and feed them their baby food on the road which was interesting, and a little hard, but I got it done without too much of a mess.

Some tips for making it through a long car trip. Have new toys (or toys your kids haven't seen in a while that will seem like new) ready to keep them entertained. Have snack foods that aren't messy ready to grab. Make stops every hour of so (if the kids are awake) and get the kids out of the car to stretch just like you do as an adult. Try and find out about your route before hand and find some parks or rest areas that have room to run. Depending on the age and ability of the kids try running some races along the sidewalk, playing a quick game of tag, or playing with a ball (make sure you are far enough away from the parking area that your ball won't roll out in front of cars). You can play lots of games in the car while you travel too. You can play eye spy (finding something in the car and give a clue about it and let the others guess what it is...like dad's shirt, the car radio, a car seat, the window, or some of the toys you have along). You can also go on a color scavenger hunt (look out the window and try and find things that are all the different colors and call out what you find as you pass by). This is a game that can encourage kids to look at the world around them and the scenery in a whole new way. Look for green grass, brown trees, brown rocks, the blue sky, white or gray clouds, the yellow sun, or the color of cars driving by. Just a few ideas, I'll include more as we get closer to summer and the big travel season.

So BIG!!!

I can't believe how big the boys are getting now. I just got them dressed for the day and they now fit into the 12 month size clothes, well, almost. The 12 month size shirts fit them just fine, but the pants are all still too long for them to wear. That is making it really hard to find outfits for them because I can't buy two piece outfits for right now. I hope this stage doesn't last for very long. Their legs need to catch up to the top half of their bodies.

Religion

Well today sucked. I haven't been feeling well today. I don't know any mom does it, taking care of her children when she is sick. I got to feeling better as the day went on, but I really don't know how I would have made it through the day if I had been really sick (like I thought I was going to be).

I can't wait for Easter. We're going back to Wichita to be with my family for Easter. I can't wait. Easter has always been one of my favorite holidays. I don't like it for the bunnies and candy , but I love it for the religious aspects of the holiday. I love Holy Week! It is such a wonderful inspiration of faith and reminder of how we should be living our lives everyday. I once heard a quote and I don't remember where it was from but it said, "Do you believe that had you been the only person on earth that Jesus still would have died just for you?" I had never really thought about it like that before, but I really think he would have done that. I don't think that I would deserve that kind of treatment. I wish I could say that I lived my life so that I deserved to be saved by Jesus should I be the only person on earth. I am reminded of this every year and I try to live my life a little better every year so I don't feel so guilty the next year. It is occurring to me as I write this that this year that it is no longer just my eternal well being that is in my hands, but also the well being of my sons. I have thought that I have some responsibility for Corey's eternal life since we met, but at the same time I have always figured well he's an adult and it's his business were he ends up for eternity. But at the same time being joined as one in marriage means that we are both responsible for each other. Corey was never raised in a very Catholic home. He never really learned anything religious where as I had 13 years of Catholic eduction and I have been no better at living a good Catholic lifestyle than he has. Is it wrong for me to only be waiting to be a better Catholic because of my children? I know that being a good Catholic and having a good Catholic role model is very important for my children and maybe God knew that is what it would take for me to come back to the Church. Anyway, enough religious rambling for now.

There's always room for jello

Happy St. Patty's Day! We had my favorite thing in the whole wide world for dinner tonight...lime jello with pears. I gave the boys a little bit to eat/play with. Andy tried it and seemed to like it, but then he spit it all back out (in the form of a raspberry). Matt would not try it at all. I just put put some on his highchair and he touched it then shot me this look that could only say, "what the heck is this stuff?" It was so cute. Andy didn't really play with it but every time he'd try and pick it up to eat it the jello just fell through his fingers and confused him.

I can't believe how many new foods the boys are eating now. They had graham crackers for the first time tonight. They love cheese and yogurt. They eat a lot of crackers, cheerios, and the Gerber puffs. I gave them a couple of bites of my blueberry waffle this morning which they seemed to like. I have to be careful what all I give them because Matt only has two teeth and can't chew a lot of things, but Andy can chew more because he has 5 teeth. I don't really want to give Andy new foods and not Matt so I am taking it slow. I know they are only 9 months old so they shouldn't really be eating a ton of table food, but the more table food I can give them the less I have to spend on baby food. I've tried the whole making my own baby food and have decided I should just give up. It really isn't all that hard or anything, but the boys just don't eat it that well. Maybe I just don't puree it enough or something, but it doesn't doesn't work out like I think it should in the end. Oh well only a couple more months of mostly baby food and then it will be just a little baby food and mostly table food.

Life is funny sometimes

Life is crazy. One day it seems to be going sooooo fast and the next day life is dragging on forever. I started thinking about the boys turning one in two and a half months. I was thinking about what kind of birthday party we're going to have for them. I started to realize that they are almost one and it seems like only yesterday that we brought them home from the hospital. I can't believe how big they are getting. Now, today the day won't end. It's Friday and I want so bad for Corey to get home and our weekend as a family to start, but every 2 minutes feels like 2 hours.

Why won't babies nap on a consistent basis? They sleep every night until 7 in the morning no matter what time they went to bed. Why is it that one day they will take two two hour naps and the next day it's two half hour naps? Of course it's always the days that I want to take a nap that they take the half hour naps.

We went to the park again yesterday. This time we went to a park that had swings so the boys got to try out the swings. They went down the slide again and played in the sand. Andy loves to play with the sand and feel it in his hands. He sat there for 15 minutes running his hands through it and letting it run through his hands. Matt wasn't as impressed with the sand this time. He just had this look like "yeah I've seen this before." They are so cute and so different. I can totally see their individual personalities already. With my experience in daycare I knew they would be developing their personalities already, but they are so different I can't believe they both came from Corey and I. Matt (who looks the most like Corey) totally has his laid back personality. Andy (who looks like me) has my I gotta go and always need attention personality. I guess both of our mothers got what they wished for when we were little when they said "I hope someday you have a child just like you." I guess you get what you wish for (maybe just not at the time you want it).

Moving

Hello! What a beautiful day it is here today. The boys are getting moving (finally). They still aren't actually really truly crawling on hands and knees, but Andy is making circles around the living room. Andy pushes himself backwards and gets stuck under the furniture. Matt just rolls everywhere or laying on his back scoots around. They are both pulling themselves up on Corey and I. They haven't figured out how to pull up on the furniture yet (thank goodness), but they can hold on and even cruise a little if you stand them up on a piece of furniture. The other thing the boys love doing is picking on the kitty. Andy keeps trying to pull himself up on the kitty when she's laying by him. This of course doesn't work since the kitty is just a close to the ground as Andy is. So he pulls himself up to a squat and then ends up flopping over on top of Pumpkin (our kitty). Andy pulls on her tail a lot (thankfully she doesn't have any feeling in here tail). Matt just pulls on her fur a little, but is much more gentle than Andy. I love having twins!!! They are soooooo cute together and teaching each other bad habits already.

Breastmilk supply

I have found an amazing easy fix to breastmilk supply issues...oatmeal. Just eat one bowl a day or a few cookies and some how it increases your supply. It's not a huge increase, but there is a difference. Everyday I'm amazed that I can breast feed twins. I'm so glad I gave it a try. I think that anyone can be successful at breastfeeding if you give it a try. Having supportive family and friends around is a great help too. I do sometime feel a little tied down, like I can't get away for more than 2 or 3 hours at a time. I do have frozen milk that I could use, but the boys haven't really had any bottles ever so they don't like to drink from a bottle. I'm not sure how I would have done at nursing/pumping if I wasn't able to be with the boys all the time, but that's part of why I worked in daycare with them and then also why I started staying home. I know that you can be successful at breastfeeding even if you are away from your child for 8 hours a day, but I've never experienced that. My biggest piece of advice for new moms is stick with it. It will most likely be hard in the beginning, but you can get through it and it will get better.

Getting outside!!

FINALLY!!! We got to go outside today and it was wonderful. We went to the park today with a mom and kids play group. It was the first time I met them and it was fun. There are several kids around the boys' age but all of them have older siblings. It will be cool for the boys to grow up always knowing these same kids. We had a ton of fun. I took the boys down the slide a couple of times and then we sat and played in the sand. Amazingly enough neither of them tried to eat the sand. Andy did try to eat the grass when they were sitting in the grass. After they played in the sand for a little while I took their shoes and socks off to let them feel the sand on their feet. Anyway, it was a great day!!! I am so glad that spring is finally here. I hope that it stays that way, but I'm sure we will get one more snow storm which sucks. Oh well, I'll enjoy it for now.

I'm back!

Hello all! I'm back finally. I'm sorry I haven't been writing lately. I've been so busy for the last month. I don't even really know what it is that I have been doing. Anyway, I am starting a new thing today. I found this website that helps you track your weight loss. I've been trying to lose weight for a while now and haven't gotten anywhere, so I thought making it public like this might help. I have my 10 year high school reunion this summer which I don't really care about, but at the same time I do. The thing that has really brought me to this conclusion is the fact that our life insurance company would not give me as much coverage as I wanted based on my weight. So, before the re-enrollment period comes around again in August I have to take off some weight. Anyway, that's my new thing for today. I know this really has nothing to do with the boys, but in a way it does because if I don't lose weight I won't be able to do as much with them. Tomorrow I will get back to talking to the boys.