One.. Two... Three...

Abby enjoys bread. To her it is not only a snack... but a great medium for creativity. At least that is what I told myself after she demolished an entire loaf that she had snatched from the counter-top. I'm not sure why Tom and I both assumed that when we saw her eating a piece, that she would stop at one. When we turned around she had the entire loaf sprinkled around the house like Hansel and Gretel. At least someone invented a vacuum, it must have been the mother of a toddler.

Coffee is brewing and I'm feeding Kara. Tom is sitting with Abby watching Dinosaur Train. Abby's consumption of the formula has dropped significantly. Yesterday I don't think she finished a bottle. I'm not sure if her stomach is a little off or she just doesn't want it anymore. She did drink out of her sippy cup so at least she was drinking fluids. We are having streaking difficulties with this one too. Yesterday, everytime I would go in to change a baby or make lunch etc etc... I would see her streak like a bolt of very naked baby. It's January here, if we're lucky it's 30 degrees outside. The biggest challenge has been her naps. Twice lately we have gotten her up from her nap to find her naked from the waist down... no diaper and the bedding ends up in the wash. Usually then she is cold, wet and naked. Not a great start to our afternoon! I put a onesie on her yesterday afternoon and this seemed to work. Hopefully it will again today.

I haven't written a few days, things have been a little stressful around here. Kiley & Kara's reflux issues seem to be getting worse. I've been debating calling the doctors about it but so far haven't. They have their 2 month check up on Monday (I think) so I'll probably try and bring it up then. Kara will drink and arch her back and cry and then get back on, then get off, on, off, on, off... it's frustrating. Both girls are throwing up, projectile vomiting everywhere. Spitting up I can deal with, the constant puking where they are soaked, I'm soaked and the crib sheets or our bed sheets are soaked, that gets a little more frustrating. Then of course they are both angry because the milk has shot out their noses. It always surprises me that after puking like that the first thing they want to do is get back on and drink... something I'm not thrilled about.

With Abby I used a homeopathic med called Colic Calm, it helped more than the drugs did for Abby. I've been using it on Kiley & Kara with moderate success. The first night I got 4 hours of sleep in a row (amazing!) so I was excited to try it again. The next night they puked... several times after drinking it. So it didn't really help their tummies. I'm also wondering if the rashes that are covering their faces and that flare up once in awhile are eczema. I guess we'll find out more later.

They are both getting more and more alert. It is fun to see them look up at you and give you a baby smile that melts your heart. Every once in awhile we catch them cooing back and forth to one another. (I love this picture of them both passed out on our bed after I finally got them back to sleep)

My college friend is staying over with us for a few days. Abby enjoys hanging all over her. We might go out for an hour or two as she wants to take me somewhere without the kiddos. My mom said that she would watch them for a little while. My classes are starting this week and I'm feeling overwhelmed with them. Hopefully once I adjust to the extra work it will get easier. One of my professors wants us to buy a textbook that is impossible to find. I've had two other people help me look but all that I can figure out is that the book is out of print.... what? How do you teach a college class with a book like that? (It's a wellness class)

So.... if you feel up to it, keep us in your prayers this week as I juggle everything.

Oh and Abby counted to 10 yesterday.... "One, Two, Three, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten!" Notice anything? :)

3D!

At Last! A movie date with my husband. My wonderful mother offered to babysit the girls for an afternoon so that Tom and I could go out together. His boss had given us $50 towards Spezia (a restaurant) for a Christmas present so we decided we could eat lunch there and head for a movie.

For the second week in a row we made it to church this morning. I averaged... probably 5 hours of sleep last night out of the 11pm-8am evening hours. If our church started a little later it would have been easier to get there, 9am is for us... just hard. But we managed to both get showers, get all three girls changed and fed... myself a coffee and out the door by 8:45am.... The roads were a little icky but I was so excited to finally make it out of the house! It was fun to see the way the drifts have swallowed the houses around here. There was one drift that was probably 10 feet high! We were both actually able to sit through the whole church service. Abby did pretty well actually. We sat next to quite a few families with children and next to my aunt's family and I think that helped. I also packed along 2 little boxes of raisins that Abby enjoyed 'sloooowly' eating out of the box... and dumping them on the floor. Sadly, although we were able to stay in church and listen to the sermon, I wasn't able to hear much of what was being said. Some day! It was fun to talk to people after church again... and I was finally able to get the cookware that had been sent along with the meals that were given to us when the twins were born. One of the families lives right here in our town!

Today was the first time I had been away from the twins. It was really nice to get out and have a nice dinner without worrying about Abby throwing a fit or trying to run away... or the babies crying. It was even nicer to go see a movie! We saw Avatar in 3D, I wasn't sure it was really worth the 10 dollar tickets but since the last movie we saw in the big theaters was for our anniversary date in June... and our next date will probably be awhile... we broke down and spent the 21 dollars. During the beginning credits they asked for us to be 'green' and give back our glasses.... for 10 dollar tickets I was keeping my glasses!!!! (Abby had fun with them after we got home, so it was totally worth it!) The only thing we regretted was not getting there earlier because the theater was crammed with people and we ended up staring straight up at the screen. I really wasn't expecting the movie to still be so popular that you couldn't show up 20 minuets before and get a good seat. Oh well... we still had fun. It was interesting that some people brought their small children. The mother behind us kept having to read the subtitles to the kids... and there were some violent scenes that I wouldnt have wanted my girls to see... I hope the little girl doesn't have nightmares tonight!

But we both really enjoyed the movie, it was a lot of fun. The girls all did great and Kara & Kiley took the bottle with no troubles at all. My mom did say that Kara seems to have a little harder time handling the faster slow of the bottle (similar to how Abby was)... not that I am surprised at all. She also has the worse reflux of the two. But everything turned out to be just fine. I'm not sure what our plans are for tomorrow. I'm really hoping that the girls sleep fairly well tonight. I'm so tired my eyes are heavy and my body just aches. It was really hard to not want to just curl up and fall asleep in the dark theater.

Both babies are on their way to sleep so I should get to sleep while I can.... night!

Tales of Toe Munchers and Chunky Milk

I don't want to post solely on our night time battles. I will say that it wasn't any better... and it wasn't any worse. Perhaps with the exception that Abby added herself to the night time routine. We aren't really sure if she had a nightmare or if her teeth were bothering her.

My mom, sister & brother came over around 6:30pm, I'm honestly not sure how we survived until then. There was one minor 'breakdown' around 3pm and then we moved on. Kiley and Kara just wouldn't stop crying. I fed Kara, went to Kiley and fed her... Kara was already screaming so I fed her again... by now it had been almost 45 minuets of feeding (or more) and Abby was jealous and upset that I wasn't paying attention to her. So she started pulling things off of counter tops and creating mayhem. I will admit... there was a point where every single one of us was crying. I guess to look at things positively... thats only ever happened twice.

After the tear fest I decided that nothing I was going to do would help the babies. They were changed, fed, warm and swinging in their swings. So I poured myself another cup of coffee, added sugar, a little milk... thought I saw chunks. Great... yep. The milk was spoiled. Which might NOT have been so bad except that I had used it on my cereal and in my coffee earlier that day. Ugh... it's like eating pancakes and as you go back for seconds you find worms in the batter. (yes that happened to me when I was younger... couldn't eat pancakes for years) So I poured it out, made myself a fresh batch of coffee and Abby and I retired to the basement.

Where we played house. Abby likes her play area in the basement. She took a stocking hat, placed a wooden carrot and cucumber into her 'purse,' slung it over her shoulder and said... "Bye Baby!!" Then left her 'house.' She did a few things, climbed into the tunnel and we took care of her 'baby.' After about an hour of playing downstairs she seemed in a better mood. Bouncing on the bed will do that.

My sister stayed overnight and helped me by giving Abby a bath last night. Abby has a set of bath tub crayons... and wow it was all over! My sister said that Abby was trying to eat her toes... with her legs straight, so she showed her how to bend her knees so she could munch on her toes. We now have a full fledged toe muncher.... When I took a shower the remains of Abby's 'preeties' made me smile. Little reminders of Abby are everywhere!!! This set was cute though.

Well it's 10 am... probably should get the babies changed and get some breakfast. I think we will head down to my parent's place after Tom get's off work. We are all in need of a little scenery change. I'm glad I have someone else to help and play with Abby... it will make our day fly by!

Some Long Nights... And Long Days....

How did my night go?

9:30PM: Babies falling asleep, decided it was a good time to go to bed and maybe get a little more sleep. They had been really fussy and I was feeling really overwhelmed. The last few days were beginning to wear on me.

11:30PM: Kara is fast asleep....Kiley still not showing any signs of slowing down. She's wide awake and playing the 'Pacifier Game" where I put it in, she sucks, spits it out 3 minuets later and then cries for it to be put back in.

12:00AM: Kiley finally goes to sleep. I settle in.

1:15AM: Kara is up. Time to eat..... followed closely by her cranky sister.

3:30AM: They are finally back to sleep. Sorta.... I finally decide to let Kiley fuss herself back to sleep. I'm just too tired to play her games right now.

5:00AM: Kara is screaming. I start the feeding process again. Kiley wakes up about 5 minuets after Kara and demands to be fed. Tom ends up getting her out of the bassinet because she doesnt stop screaming. She actually falls back asleep in my lap while Kara is eating. I wake her up when Kara is done though because I want her to eat.

6:15AM: They are both finally almost back to sleep. I lay back down and ponder if it is even really worth laying back down and going to sleep... Then decide that even if they do get up in an hour and a half... I'll need that hour and a half to get through today.

And then we are up again at 8:00. Yes I'm feeding them again. The last 3 nights have been like this, with different babies playing the fussier roll. Take that and then have us stuck at home for three days in a row... with a very hyper Abby and maybe you can see why my batteries are just running low. They both need to be changed now too... Hopefully they didn't soil their outfits.

The funny thing is at 6AM I really wanted to make rolls for my Dad. He stayed the night with us again last night because of the weather and so brought us some very much needed groceries. THANK YOU (I made a roast last night for the 4 of us) But he had also brought these simple/easy to make Pillsbury Orange Glazed Cinnamon Rolls... Dad had a big meeting at work today and I soooo wanted to make him some rolls and coffee. If I had had more than say 3-4 hours of sleep at that point I would've done it. I wish I hadn't been so tired. It would have been fun to do.

I have no idea of our plans today. I doubt that we will be going anywhere once again. The high for today is -7... yes the high. I don't think it would be safe for us to travel in case we got stuck somewhere by myself. I'm not even sure what roads have been cleared. Yes we could get to the interstate but then where do we go?

Does anyone know at what point a rash on Kara's face should be something I get checked out? It's on her right, left cheeks, back of neck and chest the last I checked. I noticed it on Tuesday. I thought that if it was heat rash it wouldn't last long but don't have much experience with rashes.

Well I need to get going so that I can get a quick shower before Tom leaves and baby duties resume. I'm ok... just tired and needed a place to talk through some of my frustrations. God will give me the strength to make it through one more day (Though I wouldnt mind a little prayer for strength and peace this morning) I should get back into my coffee momma devo... if I could just remember where I hid it from Abby....

This is what keeps me going, even when they drive me a little nuts..

100th Post

Wow have I been posting that much? I have taken to this blogging thing and enjoy capturing the little moments during my days with the girls. I hope that you are enjoying it too :)

SO what have we been up to lately? Not much. We have been strictly homebound for the last two days. Yesterday Tom's Jeep died on the way to work... we aren't sure why as it was one of the warmer days in the last 2 weeks (10 degrees). So he took the van to work and we were stuck at home. It was an interesting day... Abby had her good moments and her not so good ones. Kara was very very fussy and cried most of the day. There were a few times that I couldn't console her and with 2 other children in the house needing my attention she got left to cry a few times. When the odds are 3 to 1 there isn't much you can do. Kiley probably got the least amount of attention because she was so sweet and sleepy...

I'm not sure what was bothering Kara, she threw up a few more times and wanted to just eat and eat and eat. Abby decided in the afternoon that she needed to scream. So the one time I called my mom she was screaming at the top of her lungs. There wasn't much to our conversation obviously. Around 6:30 I couldn't handle Abby any longer and both babies were screaming. So I asked her if she wanted a bath (usually my last trick). She played with her new bath toys... Kara was screaming, Kiley had given up after a few minuets and gone back to sleep... 15 minuets... Kara was still screaming so I told Abby I had to grab the baby quick. (She's really good with the water so I wasn't too worried about leaving her for a minuet)

Well in the 30 seconds that it took me to get into the nursery, grab Kara and get back... Abby had gotten OUT of the tub, grabbed a pink bath towel and brought it back into the tub with her.... I fed Kara in the bathroom as I watched Abby in the tub. Then Abby decided it was time to get out.

I was a little stressed by the time Tom got home to watch the Hawkeyes play. I took a bath and read a book after Abby went to bed. I needed the 'alone' time.

It doesn't look like I'll be getting out again today. There is a blizzard warning and temps are supposed to be very cold (-3 for a high) I'm not even sure if Tom will make it home tonight. He is making arrangements to stay in town if it is too bad. My Dad might be staying over at my house if he can't make it home. I guess we'll see what the night brings!Well Abby is digging things out of the drawers :P Time for me to run!

1 AM

I am currently in the process of putting Kara back to sleep. Both babies have been fed.... I've been up with them for 45 minuets. *yawn* Haven't even had a chance to get to sleep yet. It's probably my fault, I got so tied up in projects today that I probably let them sleep too long. (I've been working at waking them up every 2-3 hours during the day in an attempt to get them sleeping longer at night)

This afternoon I rearranged & cleaned the bedroom. Tom asked me if I was 'nesting' again... can you nest after the babies have been born? It 'feels' better in here... and I like having a clean room. Abby was pretty good most of the day, it wasn't till later on the in the evening she got naughty.

Lately I have been receiving a lot of notices that I'm eligible for an upgrade with my cell phone. My phone has been buggy (shutting off randomly on it's own) so I thought "Hey why not... lets see if I can get a different one." We get all three girls loaded up... ( a lot of work!) and get into town, go to the Verizon Store... Not long after arrival Abby throws a HUGE fit... I mean HUGE. She was screaming and trying to throw herself on the floor and kicking her arms and legs... nothing we did could get her to calm down. With no way of really being able to discipline her Tom and I go back outside and put the three girls in the van. He sits in the car with them while I spend another 10-15 minuets in the store where I learn that I am eligible for an early upgrade... meaning if I were to get a phone now it would cost me 70 bucks more than if I waited a month.

What a waste of time.

After all the effort, and trouble, of getting all three girls packed up I wasn't ready to go home. Tom and I decided to go to Home Depot. There we picked up a few things, one of which was a coat rack wall hanger thing. (Strangely I am very excited about it) Tom also picked up a stud finder. We grabbed tacos on the way home. (Abby learned a new word: tacos... she would say "Daddy's tacos")

Tom got the coat rack hung, we put the coats up on it (no more coats slung over the banister).... well it turns out that while I was taking care of Kiley and Kara.... Abby discovered that her coat was hanging up on the new rack. She was VERY upset about this....and made Tom take it down so that she could hug it... it's back up on the rack now, I will be curious to see if she notices...

Kara has been really spitting up again. Poor thing has it come shooting out of her nose sometimes. I hate when that happens as it looks so painful and she cries and cries. I also noticed some green mucus in her stool and am watching that closely. I really really really hope that it is just from their stuffy noses and that it isn't a  milk protein intolerance. I don't think I can handle a diet like that again!

She is still up... I'm getting sleepy.... I hope she goes to bed soon....

A Coffee Mom

My sister in law gifted me this Christmas with a devotional book called "The Coffee Mom's Devotional." If you've spent much time around me you will know that I looove looove looove my coffee! Lately the twins have been getting up around 7am, Abby around 8:30-9:00 am... which allows me around 30-45 minuets of 'me time' if I can get the babies content for awhile.

I finally was able to get a chance to sit down and read one of the devotionals and so far I am in love with the book. They are short, sweet and leave you feeling a little higher than before. Did I mention they were short? (a necessity for a young mother of three.

I wanted to write more but as Tom put it... "One of the babies exploded..."

So I will leave you with this quote:

"When I am rooted in God's truth, I feel affirmed in all I do. He whispers the truth that good moms are not defined by folded laundry, clean toilets, gourmet meals or dust free bookcases. He reminds me that lovng moms may not always have perfectly coiffed (or even clean) hair, shiny manicures or smooth legs; but they are marked by happy, healthy children, a solid sense of purpose in their calling to the job of motherhood and its fundamental, inherent value. When I am walking by faith, I am a better mom; I am more apt to be uplifting to others; I am honoring to my husband; and I am a fun-filled, all around happy person."

January 3rd 2010

We braved the wind, the cold and the snow this morning to get out to church. It was Kiley & Kara's first trip to our church. They must have realized this because they woke us up 15 minuets before our alarm went off. They slept awful last night, I'm not really sure what was bothering them but they were just inconsolable. The two nights before they slept so-so... I suppose it was time for an icky night. Somehow we managed to get all three girls (and ourselves) ready and packed in the van by 8:30am. The roads were a little snow covered but the interstates were fine so we made it to church on time. We were quite the attraction! It was so nice to see my church family again... one other mother of twins came and we talked for awhile about how things were going.

Abby's friend and her mom went with Abby to the nursery. I heard that at first she did really well, sitting in the chair watching Veggie Tales and eating animal crackers. The moment she realized that mom and dad weren't with her she freaked... out. One of the nursery workers had to come and get me because she was crying so hard she was making herself gag. She was pretty upset by the time I got there and wouldn't let me go for a long time. There were a few attempts at playing with her friends but fun time in the nursery was over. I hate to see her upset but those moments when she clutches your shirt and buries her face into your neck it is the greatest feeling in the world. Right then there is nothing else important in the world because my little girl needs me and she wants her mom. :)

This afternoon will probably be a quiet one. Perhaps we can get a few things done around the house. I brought in Abby's 'pretend play' toys and I organized the basement a little so that she had a place to play. There was one moment where I was feeding Kiley in the recliner and Abby had been cooking on the stove. She wandered off to look at something and I said "Abby! Your food is burning! Get it off the stove quick!" She ran over to her stove going "Oh No!"...... she understands things more than I realize sometimes. It was pretty cute though! She just got up from her afternoon nap and Tom is getting ready to make pancakes and bacon for lunch. (yum!)

For me things are feeling a little better. It's one thing that I have come to realize about being a mother of three, that there will be days or stretches of days where things feel impossible, where all you can do is put one foot in front of the other and press on. But when I have those days it is great to get encouragement and feel like I'm not alone. There are many twin mothers in my 'birth club' that are feeling about the same right now. It seems like that 4-8 week phase is tough because we are beginning to run a little low on steam. The important thing is to stay connected with people and keep from spiraling down into those feelings too far.

I had fun taking pictures yesterday, I posted them on Facebook but in case you didn't see them I'll put a few up here too.  There are days I really wish that I could do this for more than my children. I do love to take photos. I'm playing with the idea of getting a newer/better camera. Not one of the REALLY expensive ones but a crossover between a point and shoot and a more professional camera. Trouble is they run around 400 dollars.

If you didn't already know, the last "Which baby" poll answer was Kara (sorry I forgot to say who it was) This new poll might be interesting... perhaps I shouldn't have put the "They look like sisters" answer because I have a feeling that will be the default answer! I guess we will see!

(sorry the last two won't upload in the correct positioning... I can't get them horizontal on my blog. argh)

A Full Cup

There's got to be more to life than just making it... I want the full cup. Have you ever wondered that? It has been on my mind lately, a lot... especially tonight. Perhaps it is the close of the Holiday Season, the end and beginning of a new year but I've been thinking about it. The girls are all sick (Abby, Kiley, Kara... me) Nothing that is deathly horrible... just enough to make every single one of us tired, miserable (and maybe a little cranky) So in other words the last few days I've honestly just been surviving... trying to make it to the next 'little break' or till the next nap or till Tom gets home.

I dont like 'just surviving.' I feel like there are a million and one things that I should be doing or could be doing when all I really want is to crawl into bed, and go to sleep. The hardest things are those things I feel like I should be doing for the girls. With Abby I had a calendar where I wrote down little milestones as she got older (it's really full) and I feel awful that the babies are almost 7 weeks old and I haven't even BOUGHT their calendars. Because I KNOW that they will ask me someday why they don't have one...and I want to mark their babyhood/first year like I did Abby's... their babytime is just as special to me. Hopefully I can get them soon.

Poor little ones are so worn out. We went to my Grandma's house on my Dad's side for a Christmas. It was a lot of fun and Abby did really well considering she didn't get a nap until we came home at 4:30... she was practically begging for us to let her go to sleep. She got a Little Tykes crib and kitchenette (old school kind, like what was around when I was a little girl) Abby and her 3 year old cousin had a lot of fun playing with it. She even tried to give her new baby doll a bath in the kitchen's sink! Then she crawled into the crib and held her baby. :) Tom got some more work clothes and I got 2 more coffee mugs (backups!) coffee, gloves and a giftcard to Target. The leftover pork roast is going to make a great lunch too.

We spent New Years Eve at my mom's house. It was really relaxing. We had a Prime Rib dinner and then my sister and I just spent some time watching HGTV while I took care of babies. Abby had fun taking a bath... she likes bubbles.... alot... Maybe I'm getting old, or maybe it's just because I have so many other things going on, but the countdown to the new year wasn't a very big deal to me. Perhaps I just value sleep more right now... but in any matter looking back on 2009 it's amazing how much has changed. I never would have believed we would have experienced the pregnancy, birth and infanthood of our twin girls.... and watching Abby grow and develop and learn has also been amazing. Even when things are overwhelming I'm so grateful I was given the opportunity to be their mom...

My appointment with my OB was pretty uneventful... Dr H and my favorite nurse just looooved the babies. They thought they were so beautiful! Dr. H was also very impressed that I have been able to nurse them exclusively... she said i was the first twin mommy of her patients to be able to do that! They were also impressed that I am able to handle all three girls alone, and that Abby doesn't go to a daycare. It's nice to hear those compliments sometimes... I keep them in my 'arsenal' when I start to feel like I'm not a good mom, or that I can't handle it... I also got my thyroid levels checked... I suppose I'll find out Monday if I need to change my dosage.

Kiley and Kara are very clingy right now.  Their noses get so stuffed up they wake up a lot. I gave them a bath tonight to see if it might help them relax after a busy day... so far it's not helping. Hopefully it will later. They were pretty cute, they didn't even cry throughout the whole thing this time! Each day they are getting stronger and stronger. They can almost hold up their heads unassisted (with a little flopping around) We are even seeing more and more little baby smiles from them (they melt my heart!) Abby loves to hold them. Tonight she was trying to take care of Kara and Tom was struggling to regain control as Abby loves on them a little too hard sometimes. She has figured out that you 'pat' the babies' backs to burp them... only her 'pat' is more like hitting. She is so helpful....

Well the girls are 'almost' asleep... maybe... and I should try and get some sleep myself if they are going down. Tom is bravely attempting to sleep in our bed tonight, we'll see if he gets any sleep. At least he can sleep through their crying! Kara is cuddling with Dad.... I hope I can steal her away and put her in the bassinette without her waking! Goodnight!

The bugs have invaded...

Kara (not Kiley as my earlier Facebook post stated) threw up today... all over. I've never seen a little baby throw up so much milk. It was spewing out her nose and mouth and it just kept coming and coming and coming. I was soaked and so was she. I have a  sneaking suspicion she has the flu. So now I'm keeping a diaper and feeding account in case I need to call in if she is getting dehydrated. Both of their diapers have been loose and I've gone through 5 sleepers in the last day. So laundry must get done in case they dirty more...

And... with the pukes... we have the booger bug again. I'm playing with the idea of taking them into the doctor and checking for RSV. For now I think I'll just watch it but last night I was up every 30 minuets because they were having troubles breathing through their noses and were very upset. It makes for a tired mommy! Abby has a bad cough too so she probably has her own version of it... as long as she doesn't start throwing up I'll be happy. Doesnt look like our New Years Eve plans will be very exciting, I'm not even sure if I'll go to my dr's appointment tomorrow.... we aren't going for coffee with the neighbors that is for sure. I do NOT want to get them sick!

Well my pizza is done, I had better eat before Abby gets up from her nap...

P.S It's really nice to be home... even if I'm by myself with sick girls.