Cousins

I never lived close to my cousins. Ever. Our parents must have felt guilty because they would fly us to each other's house for the summer. Seriously, who puts their 8 year old alone on a flight from South Dakota to Colorado? But those summers were the best.

The problem is, so far all of my kids' cousins live far away. It makes me sad. I guess I better start a frequent flyer account (is that even what it is called?).

Can’t you tell they are all just gonna be best friends? 

The days

Even if it's technically only by 6 minutes, he still needed the shirt.

This girl can fall asleep in .2 seconds (yes, .2) if she has a blanket over her face. Just thinking about it makes me feel claustrophobic.

I thought he was coming for the camera

because he usually does

 then he spotted my flip flops. Which are apparently more exciting than I am.

 I won't lie, my feelings were a little hurt.

FAQs

It seems that anywhere I go I get at least one of these questions. 

1. Do you ever get any sleep with 2 babies?

We have great little sleepers. Like 10 hours worth of great. Occasionally I have to go stick a binky back in a mouth but usually both babies sleep from about 8 to 6. I really believe that I can do anything during the day if I have a good nights sleep!

2.  Are your twins identical?

This one I have to be careful with. Here’s what I want to say: “They are until we take off their diapers!” or “No you ding dong, a boy and a girl cannot be identical.” Don’t make me get out my biology powerpoints. But usually I just say, “Nope. They are fraternal.”

3.       Do twins run in your family?

Actually they do. I have 3 cousins on my mom’s side with twins. The oldest are 3 years old. Mine are the youngest. And here’s a fact for you – twins only run on the girls side of the family. Not boys. Boys have nothing to do with it (if you want more details I have powerpoints on this too!)

4.       Do you ever get anything done?

Nope.

5.       What do you do if they are both hungry at the same time?

Well, I feed them!

6.       Do they share a room?

Yes. Both of their cribs are in the same room. They are so used to each other that they don’t really wake each other up.

7.       Do they play together?

Not really yet but I hope they become best friends. They do smile at each other. And Jace likes to attack Allie and take her binky out.

These two babies really are so different.

Jace likes to snuggle. Allie does not.

Allie takes shorter naps than Jace does.

Jace is sitting up and crawling.  Allie can roll but usually just stays stationary.

Allie talks in happy squeals (about 2 octives too high for me) and Jace is more of a grunter.

How Embarrassing

Its been a while. To be honest, it's a little embarrassing. I won't make excuses just promise myself that I will try to be better about visiting this spot on the internet a little more often.

We are doing well around here.  6 months old and both babies are hovering around 17 pounds. It's hard to believe they are more than 3 times as big as when they were born. How on earth were they ever that little?

Pictures

Blogging is on my list of things to do somewhere under getting dressed and putting on make up. Judging by the way I look everyday, this blog isn't going to be getting a lot of love any time soon. But here are some pictures.

 First time going to church (a few weeks ago).

 ASU graduation. Aunt Ashlee, we are so proud of you!!

Blessing day

The new normal

During weeks of bed rest I would dream of life being normal again. A normal schedule, a normal life out of bed. I could go shopping and clean my house and make dinner and drive again.

Then the babies came. And I was ready to start back to 'normal'. However, even though my living room usually looks like an F5 tornado hit, I can't seem to put down the sweet baby that I am holding to clean it. And even though I am now free to drive anywhere I want, the car usually just sits in the driveway as I just soak it all in.

Because before I know it, these kids will not fit in a basket and will complain when they get smothered in kisses.

A shout out to my friend Amanda who did these photos. Check out her blog here. She's pretty darn good.

Babies Everywhere

We have babies. Which makes for lots of cute little parts to hold and kiss all day.

 We try to look so big in our carseats.

 We play dress up but most everything is still too big for tiny bodies (Bryan says he is going to strap on a toy truck to baby boy's head...so he won't be left out).

 

We work on our tans. 

And of course we sleep...cause that's what we do best.

3 years, 2 babies, 1 impatient mama-to-be

As of yesterday I have been married for 3 years. I was thinking a lot about how I am going to have to start sharing this man of mine with 2 little ones soon.  I am pretty sure he was made just for me, so hopefully I learn to share quickly because I have been spoiled for the last 3 years.

I am off of bed rest. The good: I am free, I am a bit happier,  I can get a few things done. The bad: my muscles are completely atrophied, I get winded walking from one end of the house to the other, I am so full of baby parts that I can barely move, I have pink eye and one of my pinky toenails is falling off.  Apparently I am falling apart. Literally. Hmm, maybe I need to go back and find more good… 

At the moment these babies would be eliminated from the olympics. They are totally juiced up on steroids. I think it would be cute to have them arm wrestle each other (stay tuned) so that is in the master plan if they ever come out! Technically I am due in 5 weeks. Well, twins are full term at 38 so 3 weeks. I have 10 pounds of baby shoved inside of me. All of you women who have big babies...I feel your pain. You have my respect.

So that's the update around these parts. And trust me, these parts are getting pretty round.

47 days and counting

That's right. I have made it on strict bed rest for 47 days. Am I going crazy? Yes. Is there any end in sight? I don't know. What I do know is that there is only so much one can watch and read. There is only so much time in the day that one can rest and sleep. And I am pushing the limits. Big time.
But we are growing by the day. That's the goal. Bryan calls me 'big belly' and I'm not even offended cause I am. I have a hard time breathing. I can only lay on my right side without pain (due to the arrangement of little heads and feet), I eat like crazy and my entire body shakes when both babies have a dance party together which happens quite often.
The doctors have slowed down talk about steroid shots and new anti-labor drugs and have started making comments like, "You can stop the medications at 34 weeks" and "We will go in and take them at 38 weeks". Oh heaven help me if I make it to 38 weeks. XL T-shirts are already being filled out quite nicely around the midsection.
So for now that's the update. Supposedly there is a whole world going on outside of my house, I am going to have culture shock when I am finally free. I hope that you are all enjoying it...I will join in again some day.

Back to school (or not)

Today school starts back up without me and I am having a hard time with it. I thought I would be just fine but I keep looking at the clock and thinking what period I would be teaching at that moment. It makes me sad. I try to keep thinking about all the crappy stuff I had to deal with to make not being there easier. Like the girl in my 1^st hour that would never stop talking and the girl in my 3^rd hour that I had to dress code 3 times a week because she was showing way too much skin (and tattoos).  I make myself think about the time I had a gang leader in my class that did nothing and the time I kicked him out of class and told him that he was wasting oxygen in my room (that was also the time I was a little nervous walking to my car after school). But it doesn’t work.  I am still missing it. Gang members and all.

Maybe it was divine inspiration this morning that took my thoughts back to starting college. I got all set up in my tiny dorm room and thought about how my entire life was changing. I was in a new state, I knew no one, I had no friends, and I got lost everywhere I went. What if I didn’t like it? What if I just wanted to go back home? What if the next 4 years of my life were friendless, eventless, and miserable? I was scared. I decided to give it a shot and I am so grateful I did. I can’t look back at those years and not smile. I made friends that are still my best friends today. I learned my way around, got a great education, and loved, no absolutely loved it. All of it. 

So today I will give it a shot. Good bye to grading papers, taking attendance, and kicking out gang members. Hello to cooking 40 fingers and toes full time so that someday (hopefully not too soon) I can be so grateful for spit-up, gross diapers, strollers, and smiles. Sounds like an adventure worth giving a shot.

This human incubator would like to sleep in

If you have ever stayed at a hospital you know that things get up and running pretty early. Around here is no exception. I have no problem with getting up early in normal life, but in my current predicament, what's the point? Get up early and...read? Watch TV? Go back to sleep? Knit a baby hat (yes, it's my attempt to being crafty)? See my reasoning? I say let the human incubators sleep. All day if they want to. Here's what the morning is like around here.

6am- nurse shift change and medication time (not to mention the earlier waking up for more medication)
6:15am- someone comes in and loudly empties the trash (which we have learned to put right by the door)
6:45am- Nurse pokes her head in and sees that I am still sleeping
7am- breakfast comes in. They just set it on my table and I eat it later...usually cold but that's ok
7:30- the Tech comes in to take my vitals, if she's nice she tells me she will come back later to get my weight (lovely)
By 8 I have usually given up and turned on my light, which prompts the nurse to come in and check me out.
By 8:15 they are in my room cleaning and mopping as I am hooked up to multiple machines to see if I am having contractions.

Apparently I have created a little reputation because everyone says they save me for last since I 'sleep in'. Really? The other girls stuck in this joint get up early? Really? I just figure that I should enjoy it while the sleeping is still possible.

p.s. Happy New Year! I hope you all had fabulous celebrations! I, in fact, was sound asleep and loving it.