Week Eleven

Twins with their Uncle Jake & Nanan; 12/24
Thanks, Brady!

(12/20) Dad survived his first day as Mr. Mom and even took the twins out to run errands yesterday! C went to the museum for carpet skating and some Christmas fun with Sarah & Jor, so Dad wasn't too overwhelmed.    

The twins slept a lot yesterday, and went down quickly at 9pm, only to be fully awake and smiley at 1am this morning.  J was a cooing, kicking, grinning fool ~ it was really cute!  They eventually settled in and went back to sleep and I left the house this morning before any of the men woke up. 

Today will be Kathy's first day watching all *5* boys.  Good luck, Kathy!

D 12/23

(12/21) Kathy said everybody did just great yesterday.  Hooray!  D was pretty clingy and didn't do much sleeping, and today was flip-flopped with J having a happy day of babbling and D marathon napping.  D slept from 9pm yesterday til 3am today and then again from 11:30am-3:30pm when I woke him up.  Somebody was tired!   

After work, I packed the boys up and headed to Nana's to help make gingerbread cookies.  Mom brain, however, intervened.  Even though I *packed* the diaper bag with diapers and extra sleepers, I left it sitting on the couch and didn't remember it until I was just minutes from Nana's.  Sigh.  Back home I went.  The boys had a nice nap and were ready to socialize when I finally did get there.

D 12/23

(12/22) Today is the last day of work before a week-long break.  WOOT!  What a great schedule to ease back into working (9am-3pm).

Both boys had a great night of sleep.  I put them down at 9pm, and even though I had to resettle them at 11pm, they both slept til 3am & 3:30am before their first wake-up. Win!  Nice job, boys!

Tonight we're off to Grandma & Granddad's for Barracca family dinner.  I love Christmastime!

D left; J top; C right 12/23

(12/23) We got home about an hour after the babies usually are in bed last night, but they still went down pretty easily. D woke up a couple of times and fussed himself back to sleep until I went up for the night.  Then he slept in til 9:30am.

The boys were all congested today, so I broke out the nebulizer.  D thought it was funny and smiled the whole time.  J wasn't impressed and C was convinced his cough was all gone within two minutes.  Goofy guys!

It's Christmas Eve Eve and we have nothing planned, so we'll be all rested up for the festivities tomorrow.

J 12/23

(12/24) We had a lovely day and evening with family in Gig Harbor.  The babies were quite the hit tonight!  I think I held them for all of 20 minutes.  Maybe.  I love this picture of Nanan and the twins! 

Nanan 12/24 (J on the left)

Riley & J

Trudy & J

Kyle & J

J 12/23

(12/25) We had a wonderful Christmas at Granddad's!  The twins are set with a new highchair, baby food containers, diapers, cute outfits and blankets!  Talk about spoiled.

J	Dad & D
Dad & J	 Granddad & D

J

(12/26)  I am off from work this whole week, so we're going to make the most of it.

Today we're off to take Dad's new "Hockey Dad" practice jersey for a test drive at a stick and puck session with C.

I put the boys in slings and they immediately conked out.  When I would sit, they thought it was time to eat, so I paced the hockey rink for about an hour and took lots of pictures of Dad & C.  A gal there with an 18 month old said she felt so bad that I had to carry them, when really they're not all that heavy. It was easier to wear them than to drag a double stroller up and down the stairs.

My men ❤

Week Ten

J - 12/17/11

(12/13) Wow.  I guess the boys were tired.  They slept until almost 11am today!  We didn't do much this afternoon either. They napped while I worked.

Oma & baby D; 12/14

(12/14) The boys had their two month visit today. Here are their stats: J is 9lbs 10.4 oz (10%), 23” (51%), Head 39cm (25%) and D is 9lbs 6.1oz (9%), 22.5” (25%), Head 39cm (25%). They have doubled their percentages from last time and are doing great. D was a little congested today, so they stocked us up on saline for RSV season. 

J & C - 12/17/11

We then hit Sbux and visited with Sarah & Nana while the little boys napped. They watched C for me while we were at their appointment this afternoon. Thank you!

Oma & Opa stopped by on their way home. 12/14

(12/15) Today did not start out great.  Two failed diapers and a temper tantrum from my oldest all before 8am!  I took advantage of Dad being home and went for a quick run and returned feeling better.  We spent the rest of the day at home.  I worked, the twins napped, and C played games against himself and cheated (lol!).

Pouty D!  12/17

(12/16) Kathy, Bridger, and Jax came over to visit with the twins and C. They will start watching them when I go back to work *next week*.  I'm both happy and sad to go back to work.  I love the routine of work, and my coworkers, but at the same time I know it's going to be hard to leave the boys at home.  Sniff.  I'm sure it will go just great for them though.  J slept the entire time Kathy was here, but D was awake enough to hang out and socialize for a while.

D - 12/17/11

After Kathy and co left, we headed over to Sarah's. Nana bravely offered to watch all the boys (5) so we could do some shopping. I am almost done.  WOOHOO!! 

D had a rough(er) time while I was away and just wanted to be held.  J got everyone cooing - he even got big D cooing after he had calmed down a bit.

D left; J right; 12/17/11

(12/17) Hockey day for big brother!  Granddad took C, and while he was gone I went through all his toys, reorganized, and thinned them out.  J helped me put together puzzles to make sure all the pieces were there and D took a nice, long nap. 

D - 12/17/11

(12/18) I think I'm all done Christmas shopping!  Dad watched the little boys while I went to class this morning, and then ran out and did the rest. 

D left; J right - 12/17/11

(12/19)  Back to work with me!  For real (in the office).  Sniff, sniff!  Dad has the little men today.  Good luck, Daddy!

D left; J right; C top

And finally, our Santa pic!

Santa pic! 12/8/11 (D left)

Two Months

The babies love their big brother! 12/6/11 (D left; J center)

(12/6) Second day back to work (from home) for me.  The babies napped the day away, and big brother made paper airplanes out of my reports.

D 12/11/11

(12/7) Nanan came to watch the little guys while I took C to the dentist.  When we got back, Cathy had come to meet the twins and brought the crew some cute jammies. They look so snuggly - I can't wait for the twins to grow into them!

D left; J right 12/11/11

Nanan ended up staying to play cards with C for a little bit, so I was able to sneak in some work.  And because she was here, you know she had a baby in her arms. 

D 12/11/11

(12/8) Oy.  Not much sleeping was done last night.  Thank goodness we both were off and could sneak in a nap today while the twins finally slept.  We haven't had a night like that in a while.  Shew.

D left; J right 12/11/11

Nanan brought the twins darling outfits for Santa pictures today!  I'll scan it when I'm back in the office in a couple of weeks.  It turned out very cute.

D left; J right 12/11/11

I weighed the boys again today. D is holding at 8.5 lbs and J is 9.5. And I made J laugh today. Both babies are cooing quite a bit and are starting to 'talk back' to us.

D 12/11/11

(12/9) My company's Christmas party was tonight and this was our first night away from the twins.  Nanan stayed at our house to watch the babies and C went to Granddad's.  We figured divide and conquer would be best for the folks.

Wore D out; 12/11/11

(12/10)  I'm happy to report everybody did great!  I had just enough stashed milk to make it through the night, and uh, pretty much replenished the supply over night.  It is much easier to feed babies than get up and deal with the pump in the middle of the night!  And the pump is definitely not as cute.

After returning home, we piled in the car and went to Grandma & Granddad's for cookie and gingerbread house decorating.  Since the cookies were done, I "quality tested" while the babies slept.  Nanan must've worn them out, because they were asleep all evening.  Nanan said she was out the minute she sat down too.

J 12/11/11

(12/11) Happy 2 months, boys! We're planning to put together the gingerbread train this afternoon and have a quiet day at home.

J 12/11/11

(12/12) Busy social day for the boys! We're off to my work and then to Grandma's to visit!

J 12/11/11

Week Eight

12/1; D on the left

(11/29) We didn't do a whole lot today.  Granddad came to see us and brought us some lunch.  Yum! And then he played Chutes and Ladders with C.  C kept asking him to put the baby down.  Somebody wanted his full attention!


(11/30) The three boys and I went to the library and while there a gal commented on how small the boys are.  I don't think of them as small and fragile anymore.  I guess they're still techically the size of your average newborn, but they're pretty sturdy now.  D's head control is really coming along and J's has been great for a few weeks now. 

Brudders

(12/1) Happy Birthday, Oma!

I've taken to pumping an extra bottle for D once or twice a day.  I'm wondering if maybe he isn't a very efficient nurser.  I'll weigh them later this week to see if there's been a significant weight gain.

And yay, the cloth diapers fit! Love fluffy bums!

(12/2) Whoa!  The scale says 8.5 lbs for D, and I weighed him last on Monday of this week.  That's a gain for 1-1.5 lbs (scale was fluctuating) in four days?!  Guess pumping is working...

D

Got some much-needed perspective when I was stressing about the twins' hospital bill.  I first read the blog of a mom of *very* preemie twins and was reminded again how lucky we are to have had such healthy boys after a "boring" pregnancy.  And then another blogger shared some words that her mother had said to her, "It's just money; you'll make more."  With that, I'm ever so thankful that our medical community can do such amazing things when it needs to, and at the same time, I hope to never need it!

J

(12/3) The scale says 9 lbs for baby J. Little brother continues to out-weigh his twin. 

I enjoyed a quiet morning with the twins while big brother was off at hockey.  It was picture day today, and Dad said we have one handsome hockey player!  I wonder what the twins will be interested in when they get older.

Love the little wrinkled forehead!

(12/4) I left J on the playmat when I headed out to class.  He was still there, sound asleep, when I got back.  I guess he was content.

After class, I bundled up the twins so the big boy could go to the park.  They still fit in one stroller (sorta), but not for long!  Unfortunately, the tires were flat, so we squeaked as we walked around the park, but we made do.

(12/5) Back to work with me today. Luckily, I get to do some work from home for the next two weeks.  I have an awesome job!

It's funny, my brain must be stuck in October, which was the last month I worked.  I keep starting to date things with 10/ instead of 12/. C'mon brain, fast-forward!

J