Breakfast

I enjoy a bowl of cereal… especially Cheerios. However, the price for cereal keeps going up and the box keeps getting smaller. Has anyone else noticed this? So, I am banning cereal. However, a girl still needs to eat a good breakfast. Lately I have been making Baked Oatmeal. I found a few recipes online, but have changed it a bit to make it my own. The original recipe was calling for a whole cup of brown sugar and a ½ cup of melted butter (1 stick)… too sweet and too much butter. Here is what I have come up with:

Ingredients:

3 cups of rolled oats
1/3 cup of brown sugar
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
2 teaspoons of baking power
1 teaspoon of salt
1 cup of milk
½ cup of applesauce
2 teaspoons of vanilla
¾ cup of dried cranberries (or other dried fruit)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix together the oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat the milk, eggs, applesauce and vanilla. Stir the wet mixture into the dry ingredients. Stir in dried fruit. Spread into a greased 9x13 baking dish (or line the dish with parchment paper).
3. Bake for 40 minutes or until browned.
I eat mine warm with a glass of milk. It would also be good mixed with yogurt.
This keeps in a container for a few days (or until it’s gone).

On another note:
We are leaving the Midwest sometime today and making our way to Jamestown for the night so that Aunt Pattie can spend a bit of time with the twinkies. We will then leave for Olean from her house tomorrow morning. We will spend Christmas Eve at Dad & Wendy’s house – they usually have a holiday open house; Christmas morning at Kathleen’s and the rest of the day at the White’s house. Busy, busy. Not relaxing at all it seems. I am hoping we just stay home next year.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas photos

The twins do not like their Christmas outfits. Do you know how I know this? Because today was the second time I dressed them up in them to try and get a holiday photo... it's the second time that it bombed as well.
Here are a couple of really bad holiday photos....

Something New

I have off from work today, so I am going to do some shopping in actual stores rather than online. This is something that I cannot do much of anymore. I am pretty excited. The twinkies are going to the sitter's for a few hours. No worries.

Have a super Friday and a wonderful weekend.

Teeth

John is cutting a tooth. I put my finger in his mouth yesterday and felt the nubbin just breaking through the skin.
My little guy is getting teeth. My how time flies!

Elinor cannot be too far behind. She is eating her hands and drooling like crazy.

Twin Mommies

I read this on another's website... it's by author Elizabeth Lyons:

“Know that no matter what challenge a particular moment might bring, another moment will bring a solution. Moms who are blessed with two children at once receive that blessing because they are the perfect mother for both of those babies and even in the moments when the moms themselves aren’t so sure, the universe knows that they can do it. Some moments require more faith than others, but all moments leave you smiling — either because of the amazing love you have for your children or because a friend says something hilarious in the midst of your explaining to her that you don’t know if you’re going to make it!”

Sometimes I read things that hit the nail on the head at the very exact moment that it is needed....

The babies seem to have put themselves on some sort of night routine. They are usually falling asleep by 7 or 7:30. They wake up around 1am and then again at 5am. It seems to be working. This morning John would not go back to sleep after the 5am feeding. He was talking up a storm in his crib and cracking himself up. I went in before I left for the grocery store at 6am and I was laughing so hard. He is the silliest little guy.

4 months old

Today the twins had their 4 month check up. This was the first time I took the babies to an appointment on my own. I am exhausted. They did really well even with the 2nd round of shots. The doctor is a bit concerned about Elinor's fussiness.... by the way, her ear infection has healed well... he is also concerned about her bad exzema. So once we finish with the total dose of antibiotics we are going to try another formula and he wants to check her stool. I am almost sure that the formula is not the problem. But I'll do as the doctor suggests... since I did not graduate from med school.
Elinor weighs 12 lbs. 1 oz at 23.5 inches and John John is 14 lbs. 1 oz. at 24.5 inches long. The doctor is concerned about the size of John's head at 44 cm... it seems to be in the 95th percentile. But I am not too concerned because Daddy has a big head too.


We put up the Christmas tree on Sunday and added the lights. However, we haven't quite finished with the ornaments yet. The kids love it just the way it is.
Andy even decorated the back and the front of the house. This was a first for him.
I still have yet to get pictures done for Christmas cards. I hope to get to that this week.



One last photo of Elinor and me.

Still sick

Elinor is still sick. She has been up for hours the past few nights. I am home with her today and she will not take a nap. She won't lay down, she won't swing, she doesn't even like to be held. Poor baby. Right now she is crying it out in her crib.... I think it's working. Don't worry it's only been 1 minute and 24 seconds....

I ordered these for the twins. They will match the ones Mom, Dad & Lloydie have.

I am meeting up with Kirsten, Patty Rizzo and my sister Pattie in Lakewood this evening for Kirsten's fundraiser - Give a Little, Get a Lot. Andy will be home early (by 5pm) to be with the kids. I am really grateful that I can get out for a few hours.

Have a nice weekend everyone!

Long night makes a long day

Elinor was sick all night long. She was so congested and having a hard time breathing. She kept crying and crying until she cried herself back to sleep. So I was up most of the night with her. We got in to see the pediatrician this morning. Of course by that time she was all smiles... .you could barely tell that she was sick. But she does have an ear infection in her right ear. Ouch! We have her on antibiotics and constant Tylenol. She was pretty good all day. We'll see how tonight goes.
John is John.... smiling about everything... as usual.

Thanksgiving

I know. I have not been very good about blogging or posting pictures. It’s Monday again. I have been at my new job for a week now and really like it. However, there is always a period of adjustment. I like how laid back it is and of course the work itself. We traveled to Milwaukee for Thanksgiving. The twins were such troopers on both the drive there and back. They caught colds somewhere between Huron and Gary, Indiana. That was our first stop. We fed them and changed them at the rest stop and also gave them a bit of Tylenol. Elinor vomited her formula all over Andy. We were a spectacle at the rest stop. Both babies had a hard time eating because they were extremely congested. They did sleep a lot in the car – while the car was moving. We stayed at Peter and Leslie’s house. It was crazy there. In that small house we had 7 adults, 2 tweens, 1 toddler and three 4 month old babies. Our visits overlapped so it worked out very well. Thanksgiving dinner was outstanding. It was a joint effort between Peter and Jim and Leslie and also the use of their neighbor’s oven. The first night there I got up around 2 am to feed the babies and was carrying Elinor down the stairs and I missed the last step and fell forward. I fell on my knees and elbows and Elinor never left my arms. Thank goodness Leslie came downstairs because I must have had the wind knocked out of me or something. I started to feel dizzy and broke out into a cold sweat. Shortly after, I recovered. But the next couple of days I was incredibly sore. It's amazing what we are capable of to protect our own baby. Elinor never even touched the floor.
We went to Miller Park for lunch on Friday and the babies slept the entire time. I am always worried that they may have a meltdown in public. Elinor is hard to console sometimes. We were able to have an entire meal without holding a baby or two. Incredible.
The rest of the weekend flew by. Les & I stayed in with the kids on Saturday while the boys had an adventure.  Back home yesterday evening. The babies are still getting over their colds. Now Andy is sick too.  I have off tomorrow and Friday. Looking forward to Friday and seeing Pattie, Patty Rizzo and Kirsten.
I’ll post pictures from the holiday as soon as Leslie sends some. Our camera ran out of juice and therefore we do not have any good pictures of the kids’ first Thanksgiving. Thank goodness Aunt Leslie’s camera always works.

Monday again

Where does the weekend go? It flew by way too fast. I feel like the entire weekend is filled with just house stuff. House stuff and babies.

Today was a really pretty day. I dragged Andy away from the computer to join us at the park. We took the Lloyd and the kids. The kids were great. They enjoyed plenty of sunshine and fresh air. Then we took made a quick stop at our friend's, Lee & Anne, house. Their daughter had twin girls 5 weeks ago. Oh my gosh, they were so small. I cannot believe my babies were ever that small. Once home, they both took long naps. I was able to hang a new curtain rod and curtains at the back sliding glass doors. However, a bit of a snafu occurred. I washed the curtains and they shrank. So they fell about 2 inches above the floor. Why do these things happen to me? Why?
So I had to rip the hem out. So far I only have 2 out of the 4 done. But so far I really like them. I'm so glad I finally got them. Geez, we have been in the house for over 3 years.

A little photo session this afternoon...

New job tomorrow. But I am more excited about seeing everyone over the holiday. We travel on Wednesday. Wish us luck!

Last Day!

Today is my last day at my job. It’s sort of bittersweet. I have enjoyed a lot of the people I worked with. The job however was not challenging at all. I knew that when I accepted the position because I was desperate at the time to find something. All along I was thinking that I would be able to find something else. Something else never developed. It took having kids and deciding to go part time to be able to find something different. The right opportunity came at the right time. I am really blessed. For those of you who are interested, I will be writing for an online publication for special needs children. It’s really quite challenging – not the kind of writing that I am used to. Because it is for special needs children, sentences cannot be more than 7 words long and the words have to be something that can be depicted with a picture. So for instance, the word “interesting” cannot be used because how would you draw that? So a lot of thought goes into each word and sentence.
Although I am excited about the job, I am even more exited about Thanksgiving in Milwaukee with all my siblings and families. We really do enjoy spending time together. We laugh so much and everyone gets along really well. It’s a lot of different personalities sharing the love. It’s what Thanksgiving is all about. Kath and Morgan are traveling from Olean on Monday and will stop at my house overnight. Pattie and her family are flying on Tuesday. We will be traveling on Wednesday after work (yes, the busiest travel day of the year). We were thinking of driving halfway into Indiana and stopping overnight to try and avoid Chicago traffic. Then we would wake up on Thanksgiving and drive the rest of the way that morning. Andy has been so busy at work, I don’t even think he can stop and think about a plan.
No big plans for the weekend. I need to shop, clean the house from top to bottom because it is a disaster, do laundry, and pack for the trip. I hope I find the time to do it all.

Story to share:
Got the babies home from the sitter’s house last evening. While I was holding Ellie, I tried to let the dog out on his lead. He got away (which I don’t blame him because he has been cooped up for a couple of days). Then I see him over in the neighbor’s yard rolling around in something, which I am sure smelled like roses to him. He stunk to high heaven. So, needless to say I had to bathe one dog and two babies last night by myself. By the time I went to bed last night, I could not move a muscle. But I did it.

Happy Friday!

Oh Snap!

Just so you know how tired I am these days.... Yesterday I drove home from work and pulled into my driveway. Yes, I do this everyday.. but yesterday I found myself in the driveway without the babies. Oops! I forgot to pick them up at the sitter's house. Once I realized what I had done, I zipped right down the street at top speed! Thank goodness the babies will never ever know....
It's not good to be on auto-pilot. It's not just the babies that get missed.. it's all the little details of the day that can pass me by while I am in la-la land. I need to take in everything around me including conversations and press them into my memory so that I don't forget. I have found my memory to be really bad these days. I hope that is a sign of lack of sleep and not my age. Uugh!

Mobile

Here's Ellie lovin' the mobile that Mimi got for her. Thanks Mimi.

Both John and Ellie absolutely love them. It keeps them quiet and content for a long period of time. Very cool.

Who's Your Team?

Thanks for the t-shirt Auntie Hilary. I can finally fit into it.

Happy Kids

I have read about child psychology and child development. I know that children are a product of their environment. I think about John and Ellie and wonder what can Andy and I do now to help them grow into lovely, giving, confident adults. It seems like a lot of pressure to always be thinking about that. If Ellie is crying and I pick her up too soon will she become spoiled? If John is crying and I wait a couple minutes will he become insecure and have low self-esteem? It’s hard to know I guess. I know that I can love them and meet their basic needs and make sure that they are happy kids. I know that as they get older they may experience other emotions such as anger and sadness. When that happens, it is my job to guide them and remind them that I love them and that I am here for them. However, I feel that it is important to let them work through their emotions. I don’t feel like I should try and “fix” their emotions and make them feel better. They need to know how to work through things. It will be tough because we don’t want to see our children suffer. I guess the key is to know where to draw the line. I just hope that we can.

Mimi and Grandpa were here for the week, which is such a gift. It’s nice to have the extra hands and I appreciated all the talks with Wendy. Dad cooked daily and fixed a couple of things around the house. It was nice to not have to worry on Saturday while Andy & I were gone all day at a wedding. Mimi played hard with the kids. I know this because there were some evenings that the kiddos had to nap at 5pm. That is probably a no-no in some expert mother book. But it just had to be done.

This came for the kiddos on Friday from Laurie & Scott. Aren’t they awesome! I did try to sit them in their chairs…. John was fine; but Ellie did the straight leg thing and would slide right out.

I think they are teething. Can that be possible? John has been a bit fussy (fussy for John) and has been chewing on his hands. Ellie has also been chewing on her hands too. Are my babies getting teeth???

Here’s a couple of close-ups of the kids. Sorry .. they were taken with the blackberry. John loves the stuffed octopus that hangs from the activity gym. This octopus has a huge smile and wears a sailor hat. John thinks it’s hilarious.

Here’s Ellie – happy and hanging out with Mom.

My last week of full time work. It’s a great feeling.

Happy Monday.

Snips and Snails, and Puppy Dog Tails...

I received some funny pictures my dear sister-in-law Leslie yesterday and I just had to share them. I just love these little guys. Ben is 3 years old and Drake is about 15 weeks old here.
I sure do wish the path from Huron, Ohio to Wauwautosa, WI was a lot shorter. Everything is just more fun with family. Don't you agree?

What's in a name?

Yesterday someone asked me how Andy and I picked the names John Macnamee and Elinor Anne. John Macnamee is Andy’s great-grandfather’s name on his father’s side. Andy’s family is very Irish.
Andy and I had a difficult time agreeing on a girl’s name. I wanted to name her Callahan, which is a family name on my side. However, he did not like the use of last names as a first name. Personally, I think it would have been cute. We both liked the name Elinor however Andy liked the traditional spelling Eleanor. I pressed to spell it my way after the character from Jane Austen’s book Sense & Sensibility.
Sense & Sensibility is my favorite book and I also love the movie. Elinor Dashwood is the central character and she is the “Sense”. She is intellectual, cool, prudent and unselfish. She puts others feelings before her own. She is a faithful friend and is not flighty. She is strong in the face of heartache and keeps her feelings to herself. She holds her family together. But in the end – she gets her man.
And that my friends is how my Ellie got her name.

Twins

I love when they can where matching outfits. These outfits came from Pam Pezzimenti. Thanks Pammy.

Good news

Gosh the weekend just flew by. Don’t you agree? I have two most excellent pieces of information to share and I’m not sure which to start with… I’ll start with the kiddos.

Elinor and John both slept for 8 ½ hours last night. Wow! They did not nap well yesterday so that may have contributed to the long sleep. Their Mimi and Grandpa arrived yesterday afternoon. They are staying until next Sunday. It’s so nice to have the extra hands. No daycare for the kids this week. No waking up at 5:30 am to feed and get dressed. I will have extra time in the morning to walk Lloyd and Andy won’t have to wrestle with getting the kids out of the door. Everyone benefits.

By the way, Andy hopped on the scale with each baby because we wanted to get an idea on how much they weighed. We figured that Elinor weighs about 12 lbs and John is just about 14 lbs. John is definitely wearing 3-6 months now while Ellie is still fitting into her 0-3 months.

In other news…
I finally put my 2 week notice in at work. I have accepted a part time position doing some writing for a children’s online publication. I will be working just 3 days per week. The office is minutes from my house and the sitter’s house. We won’t have to get up at the crack of dawn anymore. I will have 2 extra days home with the kids. Andy and I are both thrilled.

Sidenote: Andy gave me a wonderful compliment yesterday and told me that I was a wonderful mother and that I am at my best compared to anything else I have ever done.

It’s all about the love people.

Beautiful weather over the weekend. The kiddos and I went into Lakewood and visited with Kirsten. We walked the Metroparks. Exercise and fresh air. Nice.
Sunday was a cleaning and laundry day. I also cooked up a few dozen meatballs and tomato sauce. About a third of the meatballs didn’t even make it from the oven to the pot of sauce. Hhmm…. Where do you think they disappeared to????

Will post some more pictures by tomorrow.

xoxo

Pictures

12 weeks old

Underwear shot

Aunt Pat with baby Drake

Early to bed - Early to rise

The kids were especially tired when we got home from the sitter’s last evening. They both fell asleep – for a long time. So I decided that I would do bath, bottle bed earlier. Big mistake. But that’s how we learn, right? Early to bed definitely means early to rise. Not only that but they woke up twice during the night. Okay, so we will never do that again. By the way, in case you were wondering, yes, I still wake baby #2 to feed in the middle of the night after baby #1 is done. People (whoever they are) say that you aren’t supposed to wake a sleeping baby – but those “people” never had twins. If I fed one and then waited until the other one woke I would be up and down all night. I have been doing this since they were about 2 or 3 weeks old. It works for me. It is the only thing that provides me a piece of sanity. And we all know what happens to me when I lose my sanity. It gets ugly.

Okay, so I don’t have photos to show of the babies at 12 weeks. I have them, but I just cannot download them. My computer is still not working. I am suffering without it. Truly. I am praying for the computer fairy to grace me with her presence… soon.

So, as most of you know, I was lucky enough to have lost all of the pregnancy weight and then some within about 3 weeks of delivery. Nice. However, since I stopped breastfeeding, it is harder to keep it off. The area right above my c-section incision has grown. I am also a bit flabby and need to try and fit in some exercise. It’s been difficult to fit it in. I feel terrible, but even more so for Lloyd. Most nights we don’t get out until after the babies are in bed…9pm! There are nights when I look to the bed, then I look at Lloyd, I look at the bed, then at Lloyd. Lloyd wins… but not always.

The weekend

Good Monday…

My computer is still pretty much fried, so posting has been sporadic. (I just had to look up the spelling for sporadic…I swear my brain is fried like my computer).

Andy took Friday off to spend the day with the kids since our sitter couldn’t take them that day. He took them to the office for a bit and the ladies loved them. I am sure he was looking for a break. It was really nice not to have to get them up at 5:30 am and rush to feed and dress them. So I am sure it was a relaxing day for the kids... not so much for Daddy. He was quite tired by the end of the day.
Saturday was a house day. I tried to get as much housework done as I possibly could. Andy was busy with the outside. He had to mow the front lawn twice just to get all of the leaves on the ground. He had to meet with a work associate in the afternoon; so needless to say, I never got out of the house that day.

Elinor has been having colic fits nightly around 6 to 8pm. They are quite unbearable. Andy is a lot better lately at handling it. I tried different formula for her last night and she vomited it all up… so that wasn’t it. The bath is pretty much the only thing that calms her. So, bath, bottle & bed came a wee bit early last night. They were in bed by 8:30. I was in bed by 9pm.
Kirsten knitted some Halloween hats for the kids. I think they are just the cutest. I love a handmade gift. Thanks Auntie Ag!

Ellie loves it. I swear.

Sleep

My laptop is still out of order, so it has been difficult to download photos and blog. I think it might be time for a new one. It’s one of those things that is hard to live without anymore.

We had a nice trip to Olean last weekend. It was a lot of running around. It gets exhausting. We had Kathleen’s surprise 40th which turned out to be a lot of fun. It was held at a local restaurant and all I have to say is “great wings”! And I don’t usually eat them.

The kids are really smiling a lot these days. Their hand-eye coordination is progressing very well. The floor activity gym has music and lights that can be activated only when it is touched. John was going to town with it yesterday. I don’t know if he was purposely aiming for it or if he kept touching it by accident. Elinor even enjoyed looking and playing on the floor.

We usually do baths starting at 8-8:30 each night. The routine is bath, bottle & bed. This all happens by 9pm. However, I have noticed that Elinor is quite ornery in the evening and I have to wonder if she is overtired. John was fighting sleep after 7pm last night. So I may try doing bath, bottle, & bed a bit early tonight. Then I may feed them a couple of ounces of formula right before I go to bed. I think they call this “dream feed”. Also, this morning it was difficult to wake them and feed them before I left for work. I hate having to wake them. Again, John couldn’t keep his eyes open. This is what they looked like after I left for the day:

Everyone is tired here

We went right home from the sitter’s house yesterday and Ellie continued to cry for about an hour. I had no idea what was gong on. All this time John John sat in his car seat and slept. After trying to feed her a bit, I then tried to rock her, I put her in the swing (her favorite) and still there was no relief. Finally, I swaddled her up and put her in her crib to let her cry it out. That didn’t take long, she was asleep within about 15 minutes. She was overtired. How is that possible? She took some really long naps at the sitter’s house. She has been napping a lot lately and I have to wonder if she is not feeling well or if it’s a growth spurt. How do I know?

Meanwhile, Andy came home to greet John who was full of smiles. We ordered a pizza. It was real bath night last night which is Andy’s job. He bathed them both and dressed them and we fed them and put them to bed. Then we got mostly everything packed for our weekend in Jamestown/Olean. We will leave after work today.

The weather is crummy… rainy and cold. I would rather see snow.

Three things:
1) keeping in touch with old friends
2) good hair day
3) trips to visit family

Ditto

They did it again! 6 whole hours. Could it be that we have actually turned a corner? Everything I read indicates not to count on anything. So I am grateful for the 2 nights, but will welcome it if the pattern continues.

We have two swaddle blankets.. the kind with the pocket for the legs and then 2 flaps that velcro. John will allow me to swaddle him. He looks so cute all contained like a mummy. He is perfectly content to not have arms and hands. On the other hand, Elinor does not like it one bit. She is like a mini Houdini... she squirms and grunts until magically both arms are free, flapping away.

10 weeks

Halleluia! The kids slept for 6 straight hours last night on their 10 week birthday. No joke! We did bath, bottle and bed by 9 p.m. and John John did not wake until 3 a.m. There was a false alarm at 1 a.m. when Ellie awoke. I got up and stuck a paci back in her mouth and I ended up having to wake to feed her at 3:30 a.m. Once they were in bed after that feeding they never woke again until I had to get everyone up at 5:45 a.m. What are the chances of this happening again? I am keeping my fingers crossed.


Three things:
1) 5 consecutive hours of sleep
2) hot coffee ready made when I arrive at work
3) my husband for getting up on his own this morning to help me

Have a great day!

Too Cute!

Halloween is drawing near!

9 weeks old

The kids turned 9 weeks old yesterday and to celebrate we took them to get their immunizations. John is now weighing 10 lbs 14 oz and Elinor weighs 9 lbs 10 oz. They were so good in the doctor’s office. They were just lying there on the table that has the white paper all the while moving their arms and legs for the longest time. I think they liked the sound of the paper crinkling as their legs moved. Let me tell you that they did not know what hit them when the shots were administered. I expected Elinor to cry but John was a different story. I never heard him cry so loud before. His face got so red that when he finally calmed down he actually looked somewhat pale. Elinor cried so hard that she was not making any noise. The nurse had to tell me to blow on her to get her to breathe again. Geez! When we got home I brought them into the big bed with me and we napped for a while. They seemed to be sleepy for the rest of the night. However John started to have a meltdown around 7:30 and I wasn’t sure if it was just a plain old meltdown (so unlike John) or if the shots had bothered him. So I erred on the side of the shots and gave him a bit of Tylenol and off to sleepyland he went.
They did not wake up on their own this morning. That’s right people, John did not wake up at his usual early time between 4 am and 5 am. Nope. Today, he started his grunting at 2:30 a.m. I tried to pat him to sleep. I tried the paci… but he knew better. So, I finally picked him up and brought him into the big bed with me. He was fine after that. Imagine.

Three things for today:
1) Socks and sweater weather
2) Hot cup of tea with honey
3) Kisses from Lloyd

Three things

I think sometimes we get caught up in a routine and we forget to look outside of the box... When I remind myself of all the good things in my daily life, I am no longer focusing on the negative.

Three things I am grateful for today:

1) Smiles in the morning from my kids
2) New comfy shoes
3) Cutting out of work early today
-----------------------------------------------------
For the past 2 weeks John has been waking up anywhere between 4 am and 5 am wanting to get up. It is not time to eat and he does not seem to want to eat at that time. He won’t go back to sleep even with a pacifier. So we, or I, created a bad habit by bringing him into bed with us – or usually Andy because I have to get up by that time. Once he is in the big bed he becomes “snuggle Joe” and goes right to sleep.
Last night we did our last feeding at 10 p.m. I actually had to wake John for that one because he had already been asleep. So we tanked up the babies thinking they may sleep for 4-5 hours. Not John though. He awoke at 1:15 for another fill up. I cannot tell if he really needs it or if it is just habit to go every 3 hours. At this point I did not wake Ellie because I wanted to see how long she could sleep. She slept until 3am. Good girl! So, I fed her and put her down. Then I woke John, because he would have been up in an hour anyways. I fed him a couple of ounces and put him back to bed… and there he was at 4:30am… grunting to be picked up and brought to the big bed.
How do I fix this problem???


Have a GREAT day everyone!

Autumn

What a great Autumn weekend! I love this weather… it definitely agrees with me.
Friday did not come soon enough. But I loved picking up the kids on Friday knowing that I would have the next two whole days with them… and Lloyd too.

Andy cooked dinner on Friday night. I was truly grateful for that. As I have said before… when Andy cooks it is always something with a tortilla. We had tacos… they were quite good. He also announced that he got a babysitter for Saturday night and that we were going on a date.
On Saturday we did our usual tidying up around the house, laundry, lawn work, etc. Then we got the kids out of the house and went chair shopping in downtown Sandusky. We did not find a thing. We have been in our house for three years and we still do not have a furnished living room. People come over and we all have to pile up on the couch… not great for conversation.
After the furniture store, we strolled the kiddos around town letting them soak up as much fresh air as possible.

After a couple of pumpkin pie lattes we decided to get home so that we could get ready for our date.
Andy and I had a delicious meal at Zinc Brasserie. It is by far our favorite restaurant in the area. He started off with a cheese plate and then a Seafood Medley over pasta. I had a bowl of pumpkin soup with one large scallop. Yum. Then for dinner I had the Alaskan halibut on a bed of lobster ravioli and sweet pea puree. I also had two pomegranate martinis. Really wonderful night.
Sunday was a lazy day. We took our family walk in the morning and never left the house again for the rest of the day. I made Butternut Squash soup in the crockpot (I added 1/2 cup of heavy cream at the end). It was delicious. And I have enough for a couple of lunches. I will definitely make this again.
Mimi and Grandpa arrived around 6:30. Bath night for the kids and in bed by 10pm.

Happy Monday… Cannot wait until Friday!
Bonus: We caught a picture of our sweet John John smiling.

Mornings

The mornings before work are really quite hectic. I get up at 5am, shower and do my hair and makeup. Then I go fix the bottles for the day unless one of the babies is already waking - which usually happens. Today I got John up and fed him then gave him to Andy in bed. Then I got Ellie up and fed her and put her in her car seat. In my haste to finish getting everyone ready for the day I did not realize that the car seat handle was not all the way up and when I picked it up, Ellie was slightly forward and catapulted out of the seat and onto the floor - face down. Oh my god! It all happened in slow motion. I felt absolutely terrible. I finally calmed her down and gave her to Andy (I still had to finish getting ready).
This is what Andy does with the kids after I leave in the morning:

Ellie is on the left and John is on the right.

Have a great day everyone! I hope it starts out 10 times better than mine did.

Edit: Today is the first day of October. Autumn has definately arrived here in Huron, Ohio. There was ice on the car windows at 6:30am this morning. I have my fleece and flannel out for wear. Will definately need to consider one of these which I absolutely love.

Smiles

This was Ellie yesterday evening after a full day at daycare with a stranger...

Isn't she just beautiful? I think she is starting to look more and more like her Daddy.

I would have taken a picture of John, but he was sleeping as usual...

8 weeks

The twins are 8 weeks old today.

Eggs & Bacon. Thanks to Aunt Leslie who made these tees.

(Look at John holding Elinor's hand)

I am back to work today - unfortunately. The morning was a bit hairy but hopefully as the days go on there will be much improvement. The babies awoke at midnight and then at 3am for feedings. I got back to bed at 4am and the alarm went off at 5am. John has been waking around 5:15 for the past week which is too early for a 6am feeding. Typically I have been picking him up and bringing him into bed with me. However, I could not do that today. After I finished showering and getting dressed, I put him in a bouncy seat on top of the counter while I washed and prepared the day's bottles. That little stinker did not even have a wet eye. He is a big faker for sure.
Once I was done with the bottles, I then changed and dressed John and started to feed him. Andy got up and did the same with Elinor. I finished with John and then finished with Ellie. I then fed the dog and let him out. Meanwhile, Ellie puked up breakfast and I had to do a quick clothes change. I let the dog back in and finally got myself out the door with tears strolling down my cheeks.
Surprisingly I am holding up well at work. However, the novelty could wear off pretty quickly since there is little work for me to do. I would much rather be taking care of the kids, house and dog. It's much more productive.

Dinner this evening was made by my sister Pattie. She put together a pan of stuffed shells and sent it along with Dad and Wendy this weekend. I love, love, love when dinner is already prepared for me. Thanks Pat!

Computer Down

So, once again my laptop is not working. This makes daily posting very difficult. The laptop is over 4 years old. Is it time for a new cheapie? I will try to keep up with posting through my Blackberry. Thank goodness I have not given that up yet.

In other news...

Grandpa and Mimi arrive today for an overnight visit. Yeah!

The babies are now 7 1/2 weeks old. Ellie is getting a lot better... or maybe I am just handling it better. They are both full of smiles which makes any bad day great. They are also getting bigger which means they will have to move into two separate cribs very soon. I have also packed away all of their newborn sized clothing. John was busting out of his.

 

Back to work on Tuesday. No part time work, even temporarily, was granted to me. Next week may or may not be quite hairy... I'll let you know how the first morning goes.

Weekend

We had a very busy weekend here. It all started with a visit from Kirsten on Friday. She arrived in the morning and stayed most of the day which was a huge help to me. I actually got out of the house for 2 1/2 hours for some maintenance on the hair. It felt so good to be out.

Pattie and Abigail came in on Friday evening. They were here to visit with the babes and also more specifically to babysit all day on Saturday while Andy & I attended two weddings. We went to the church for the 1st wedding. Then we headed over to the second wedding which took place outside of a yacht club - beautiful day, a bit chilly on the water and my hair was so windblown (no pictures of that). Then we went back to the first wedding's reception. Andy was first on the dance floor and I followed. It definately could have been a reception that we closed down.. but the babes were calling and we were home by 9:15pm. We were typical newbie parents showing off pictures and sending texts back home. We found Pattie exhausted. She exclaimed "This is hard. I don't know how you do it."

It is hard and I don't know how I do it.
Today we took the kiddos to their first festival. It was called Shamrocks & Thistles and it was down at the boat basin. Beautiful day. We were enjoying some traditional Irish fare and a couple of Black & Tans for myself when John suddenly vomited. Oh dear! It was all over Aunt Pattie. We skidaddled out of there pretty quickly.


We are settling down and getting ready for what is my last week at home. On Sundays, I find myself filled with anxiety. I am without Andy and other help during the week. This week I am especially weepy because although the days are hard (as Pattie discovered while babysitting for 7 hours) it will be quite difficult to return to a job that I don't love and leave my kids with someone else. I wish there was another way. I continue to pray and pray about it.

Halloween

It's a bit early for me to be speaking about Halloween but there is reason.

I had no intention of dressing up the kids for Halloween this year... A) the expense; and B) we would be the only ones to see them in costume.

However, I sent Andy to Target the other evening for formula and he came home with two costumes. They are hilarious. This one is for John and this one for Ellie. Aren't they hilarious!

In other news... Auntie Kirsten is coming tomorrow for the day. I have such wonderful friends and family that give me such wonderful gifts. I am blessed. She is going to allow me an hour or two to go get my hair cut and colored. I cannot wait.


Have a good day!

Random

Yesterday was pretty much the first full day that the kiddos and I were alone all day. It didn't go so bad in retrospect. Yes there were some hairy moments, some tears (kids and mine) but at the end of the day Andy was home, dinner was eaten, a walk with the dog along with Ellie in the Baby Bjorn had been completed. We even drove to pick up clothes from the drycleaner. My drycleaner lady friends gave me a gift for the babies. It made my day. Nice people.

Here's a little taste of a part of my day.

As my sister Pattie says "They don't always cry at the same time and try to find some humor in it." I was not laughing at the time.

Colic

What is colic? It refers to a condition when a baby cries excessively for no apparent reason. It peaks between 3 to 6 weeks old and usually lasts until about 3 to 4 months old. I am pretty sure our Ellie has colic. It is very difficult. I sometimes cry along with her because I don't know how to help her. She vomits her "meals" atleast twice per day. The pediatrician told me that a colicky baby should be held atleast 3 hours a day. That is sometimes difficult because I have another baby. Thank goodness our John is very mellow and allows me to console Ellie for long periods of time.
There is only peace when she sleeps. She is never happy when she is awake. We are trying a hypoallergenic formula, but so far I don't see any changes. I may try a soy-based formula next.
We try many methods to quiet her. We walk with her, bounce her, rock her, put her in the stroller, take her for a ride in the car, put her on her belly, run the dryer, run the vacuum, run the faucet.. and sometimes this seems to work...

Does anyone have any other ideas???

4 week check up

Okay they are 5 weeks not 4 weeks.... The kiddos were weighed at the pediatrician's office yesterday. They are growing like weeds.
John weighs in at 9 lbs 1 1/2 oz.
Elinor weighs in at 8 lbs 11 oz.

They are both in the 50th percentile for weight and head circumference - which surprises me about John because his head looks big like his Daddy's.... However, they are considered petite for their height/length.

The family took a nice walk this morning. The house literally looks like a tornado went through it. One of the couch cushions is without a cover because it was spit up on. Lloyd chewed up a roll of tape and it is littering the living room floor. We have car seats, bouncy seats, pack n play, swing scattered.... Formula bottles are half made. The beds are not made. Laundry is not done.

I am showered! And breakfast has finally been eaten. Yes!

Tough Day

We had a tough day here. We got out of the house early to run some errands and then we stopped at Osborn Park. I walked a mile while Lloyd ran at the dog park and Kelly took the kids for a spin in their stroller - a 1.9 mile walk.

We got back to the house at 12:15 and started to feed the babies. Ellie vomited twice on her formula and then it took 2 hours to finally calm her down. John fed well, of course, but he would not settle either. So this is what one must do to finally settle the chitlins....

.... you put them in the big bed with you.....

Back Home

Back home this week. We had a great week in Olean. Mimi was a huge help to me. Andy drove in on Friday and took me out for an anniversary dinner. We went to the Old Library and had a very tasty dinner and dessert. I think we were home feeding babies by 11pm. Happy 2nd Anniversary!

Kelly is here this week. I am so lucky to have so much help and support. The babies have been great today. I hope good nappers doesn't necessary equal bad night sleepers..... I guess we will find out.

Family Time

We are in Olean this week staying with Mimi and Grandpa. I drove in with Kathleen and Morgan - packed into Kath's Chevy Tracker with the twins and the dog. It was incredibly uncomfortable but the rewards are endless. Wendy (Mimi) does the night shift alone. I must get about 6 or 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep. It is wonderful. Plus while I am here, I have no house work to do so I have a lot of relaxing time.
Pam came to visit today. I dropped the kids off at their grandma's house (Reg) while Morgan and I ran some "errands". We shopped at Old Navy. It was nice to fit into regular clothes. I am back to my pre pregnancy weight. I will start exercising (other than walking) as soon as the doctor says its okay.

Autumn is around the corner. Dad had a fire in the fireplace last night. Loved it!

The kids have been great. We miss Daddy terribly! Cannot wait until he gets here on Friday for the weekend.

Cheers to Moms

Andy received a standing ovation from many who attended the city council meeting last night. Many people got up and gave him glorious complements about the job he was doing for the city. I am pretty proud of him. He deserves the positive recognition for all of his gosh darn hard work (not to mention time away from home).


How nice to get a standing ovation for a job well done! You don't really hear of that. So right this minute I am giving a shout out and a standing ovation to all of the moms, whether working or stay at home.

Seriously, being a mom is the toughest job I have ever had... hands down. It's not just about taking care of twins. There is the washing bottles, cleaning dishes, sweeping and mopping floors, doing laundry, cleaning bathrooms, taking care of the dog, cooking, grocery shopping, making sure the bills get paid, making beds, picking up clothes off of the floor, washing the car seat pad when vomited on, etc., etc. I applaud all Moms today and everyday.

Currently, I have one baby sleeping in the car seat and one sleeping in the Baby Bjorn on my chest. I tried to establish a so called "routine" today but it went out the window at around 10 am this morning. We did have a bit of Tummy Time.....

Lloyd loved it... the kids - not so much. We shall try a little bit each day. What else do I do with newborns?
I forgot to post pictures of their first bath. I think after the initial shock, they both really liked it.