Prayers Needed

This week has been a week of bad news. My boys are healthy and fine (with the exceptional fuss over our new excursion of teething), but I have some friends that need your prayers. One of my friends from high school and her husband had their first baby last night. They had a little girl, who was due in mid-July. Their daughter is named Ella and weighs 1 lb, 3 oz. I haven't heard any updates, but if it so moves you, please pray for them and their little girl.
Also, a friend of a good friend of mine could use some prayers. Her son is sick and in the hospital with a heart condition. You can read her story here.
It all makes me so grateful that I have healthy little boys.

3 months old already

Time sure flies by! Here we are at the end of March already! The boys are 3 months old, and I have to go back to work on Monday...

Here are some of the latest pictures.

Good sitters on the couch - Dad's been practicing!

The bowling pin keeps getting smaller.

They got a little crazy in this picture!

We weighed the boys on the scale last week (this is on our home scale, so it's not exact). Drew was a little over 12 lbs. and Luke was over 13 lbs.!! It's all in the cheeks :) Our nurse comes on Thursday for our last RSV shot of the season - so far no one's been sick (knock on wood!).

We had a busy and exciting weeked. We took our first car trip to Adam's parents' house (an hour away). We stayed overnight, and the boys did very well. Well, they got up a couple of extra times in the night, and didn't sleep that great, but overall it went well. Even Grandma and Grandpa's dog, Kirby, was well-behaved!

That must've worn the boys out because on Sunday night after we got home, they slept from 9pm to 5am (8 hours!!). I hoped and prayed that it would stick, but of course not. They were back on their 'normal' schedule again last night - which really isn't that bad - they only get up once a night and are efficient eaters now, so it takes no time at all.

Recent developments in the past month include the following:
Luke started sucking on his hand (not his thumb, not his fingers, his entire hand). He may be teething?? He's being fussier and droolier than normal, but so far has no fever and no red cheeks, and we can't feel anything on his gums - we'll see.

Andrew has decided that he never wants to sit or be put into a seated position. He would like to stand up at all times (assisted of course). Downside, he will NOT sit in a swing or on the couch without some coercing - upside, he is getting very strong legs and can hold his head up very well. Soon, they will be able to go into their jumpy toys, which I have a feeling they will just LOVE.

Both boys have started talking a LOT and you can hear all sorts of screams, coos, and outbursts from them at any given time. They also both enjoy being entertained and having a lot of "face time" with us. This is a little tricky when I'm the only one home, but gets pretty fun when dad's around!

That's about it for us here. I have to go back to work on Monday and I have a feeling that I will be exhausted! I was in last week for 2 1/2 hours and left feeling like I was totally drained! I am very nervous for that "beginning of the year" feeling. You teachers know what I'm talking about! The rest of you think we have it easy having the whole summer off, but it's a lot of work getting back into the swing of things those first few weeks back at school, and now I get to do it again while I'm worn out and not getting enough sleep because I have these two fellers. I am hoping that they will soon sleep through the night and that I am not stupid when I return to work. Wish me luck!

The Visitor

Yesterday, the boys had a friend come to visit! Their (2nd?) cousin, Grant, came to play for the day. Grant is my cousin Erica's 3-week old baby. They were all originally due on the same day, but my boys came 2 months early, and Grant decided to come 1 week late. Since we had all the boys together, we decided on a photo opportunity. Drew and Luke really liked looking at Erica instead of their boring old mom, and Grant had to be propped up because he is too little to sit between the big boys. We were laughing so hard!

Someone's tipping

Now someone else is tipping

Erica must be funny over there

Woah, everyone looks tippy here.

We had a nice afternoon with snacks and talking. My boys took a nice nap, and I got to hold the baby, and he is so cute and little (comparatively - he's 10 lbs himself!)

What A Weekend!

First of all, this weekend was fantastic! The weather was gorgeous and most of the snow melted in our yard (which always makes me so happy). We were also very busy! On Saturday, my friends from graduate school came over and had a little shower. We had a very fun afternoon. When you get that many SLP's together, there is a minimum of 3 conversations going on at any given time, so it was both exciting (since I never get to talk to adults anymore) and also very exhausting! The boys got some very nice gifts.

Here is a picture of Luke (wearing his name shirt from Nikki - thanks Nikki!) modeling his new Bumbo seat! Adam is worried he won't fit into it very soon :S

Drew is modeling one of his new BumGenius 3.0 cloth diapers. Yes, I use cloth diapers most of the time. The reason is not only does it seem so ridiculous to throw away that much garbage, but also do you know how many chemicals are in disposable diapers (sposies to the eco-friendly :) )? Infertility is linked to chlorine in disposable diapers, and who wants their kids' little butts sitting in all that?? If you think about it, my generation was the first that were really sitting in disposables most of the time, and you don't even know how many people I know (including myself) that have/had infertility issues. Plus, it's much more cost-effective for diapering 2 kids to use cloth. Ok, off of the soap box, now look how cute he is! After all the partying, Drew was worn out and sleepy the rest of the day.

Luke was happy, but fought naps the rest of the day and has been doing so ever since!

On Sunday we had another shower from the ladies that I sing with at my church. We had another very nice afternoon and got more books and gifts. One of the ladies made this cake for the boys - yes, she made it herself - Anne you know who it is - and she makes a good cake!

So, all in all, a wonderful weekend!

P.S. I also started making my own baby wipes because my boys were getting actual tears in their skin from even the "sensitive" wipes - also many chemicals - so I make my own. Here's the recipe if you are interested:

Baby Wipes

1 roll Bounty paper towels

2 cups water

1 TBSP. baby oil

2 TBSP. baby wash

4-5 drops tea tree oil (optional) - acts as an antibacterial agent

*Cut paper towels in 1/2 with a serrated knife so you get 2 shorter rolls. Take center tube out and pull the towels up from the middle. Put in round air-tight canister (I got one at Cub). Mix together water, baby oil and baby wash (and tea tree oil). Pour over paper towels. It'll soak in after 10 min.

This lasts us about a week, and the boys haven't had any problems with it yet. I am not using tea tree oil because it is toxic when ingested and I worry too much that I'm poisoning my kids (yes, I'm crazy). I use Aveeno baby wash and shampoo (lightly scented) because it's less toxic than other brands (go to Skin Deep to check toxicity of products). My friend who also does this uses Daisy Blue or Arbonne Baby products for her wipes.

Also, yes, I'm planning on making my own baby food and I use organic produce/food when possible. What have I become?? (I still drink diet mtn. dew which I am sure is poisonous!)

T minus 3 weeks

In just 3 weeks, I have to go back to work. I am SO not excited for this and would much rather stay home, but unfortunately we have not won the lottery yet, so I have to keep working. (BTW have you ever played Lucky Lines? Adam got me hooked when I was in the hospital, now we have "date night" and do scratch-offs - I'm not kidding. This is my life).

There are about 5 million reasons why I don't want to go back to work, but here is the main reason:

We tried to get them to smile - that didn't work. They apparently think we are crazy.

Dad got Luke to smile for him.

They are probably trying to eat each other, but I like to think they're talking. :)

Look who FINALLY started smiling at us!

As you can see, they are pretty cute kids if I do say so myself! How am I going to leave them all day?? I did get them on a pretty good schedule, so they will hopefully be awake in the evenings when we get home. Then we can spend time with them for a little while at least.

FYI: The schedule is working great so far! The boys have been taking 2 naps during the day, are happier in the evenings, and have been sleeping from 8:45-2:15am at least! Then they usually get up around 6:00-6:30 for the day. Someday I hear they will sleep through the night. Won't that be wonderful!!

Baby Schedule

The past two days have been pretty horrible during the day. The boys won't take naps, then they fuss all day and night. When Dad comes home, he gets to deal with my bad parenting skills :) because I didn't make the boys take very good naps. Plus, they are so overtired at night that they get all worked up right before bath time, which isn't that lovely to begin with and then they just can't settle down. Their new night trick is to wake up screaming and crying to eat and by the time we get downstairs, they are sound asleep again. We try to wake them up to feed them, and they have a hard time finishing a bottle because they are so tired so they fall asleep and are hungry in 2 hours. AHHH! Therefore, today I started a new plan. I have decided that I need to help these guys get on a schedule. Especially since I have to go back to work in about 3 weeks :( and they will be at home with Grandma Judy who might go back on her daycare offer if she has to deal with crabby pants' all day long! Here's our new schedule:
6:00 wake up to eat (ok, this did NOT happen today - instead they were up with me from 4:00-6:15 in varying states of conciousness trying to eat, but not really doing a good job and I was so frustrated that I needed to go back to sleep once they were done).
9:15 - 10:15 eat (each boy takes roughly 30 min. start to finish including burps and diaper changes)
10:15-10:30 play (technically Luke played for 40 min. and Drew for 20 or so)
10:30 nap in cribs (big step for me to put them upstairs during the day - I like hanging out with them - bad mom)
12:15-1:15 eat again (right now it's 11:15 and I heard someone cry, but it was only 2 crys and they are sleeping again so I'll wait to check on them)
1:15-2:00 play again
2:00-4:00ish nap upstairs again
4:00ish to 5:00 play with Dad when he gets home
5:15-5:45 eat (this is shorter because Dad helps!)
5:45-7?? play
7:30 bath
8:00 bottle
8:30 bed
Oh, I hope this works! I'll let you know how it goes... wish us luck!
P.S. I hope you all realize that I will be flexible and not force them to starve if they're hungry - this is just a general guideline to make my life (and those who care for my guys) easier. And hopefully, they will be less tired when Dad comes home so that he can actually get some good face time in instead of dealing with crying babies all evening.

big boys

These guys are getting so big! I can't believe in just 2 months they have gotten tall and chubby and everything. What happenend to my little tiny babies who just slept all the time? Don't get me wrong, I'm so happy that they are healthy enough and fat enough to have energy to stay awake, but really they sure do like to stay awake! Last week after their vaccinations, they were very sleepy so I had time to do this:

I painted the bathroom and redecorated a little bit - looks good right? :)

Now today, Luke has been avoiding sleep at all costs. Here he is during nap time:

Here is Andrew during nap time. Good baby (sleep now baby Jesus?).

So since everyone likes to be awake more and more, we have had to be the "Entertainers" (cue piano music now). We tried some tummy time:

Not really too fun...

Dad put Lucas in the jumpy toy - even though he shouldn't be in there yet, Dad!

Drew tried the swing and really liked it! (for about 5 minutes...)

It has been a constant back and forth, trial and error to find something to please these guys in between naps and feedings!

Today I decided it was finally time to put their tiny little newborn clothes away. They outgrew them a couple of weeks ago, but I just couldn't do it. Here is Luke next to a preemie outfit that was too big for him when they were in the NICU. He looks so gigantic now!

I folded up all the little clothes and put them in a box for when we have more kids - yep you heard me right. I'll be having more kids, I have NO idea when, give me a few years at least, but these guys are just so much fun, who wouldn't want more?! So I boxed up the clothes, which was much harder than I thought, and looked at each tiny outfit, then looked over at my huge babies and sighed. Kind of sad. :(

Uh-oh gotta go, someone's hungry!