Sunday, January 31, 2010

A bit of video for your viewing

You will probably get a kick out of watching Elinor learn how to eat solid food. She is really starting to finally get the hang of it. Please ignore my commentary. I don't know why I feel the need to speak while shooting video of my children.

They really like their rice cereal. I have also prepared pureed bananas, pureed pears, pureed sweet potatoes and pureed peas. They seem to like all of it. I am going to try avocado and carrots in the next week.

Have a great week!

Dad and Wendy are coming to visit on Thursday. Looking forward to seeing them

Thursday, January 28, 2010

To Pacify or Not to Pacity? That is the question


Elinor loves her paci. She will immediately become silent from a good cry (scream) when it is inserted in her mouth. She sucks on that thing like she would not survive without it. John could take it or leave it.
So, when do I rid the house of pacifiers. What is the appropriate age when they should not have them anymore? 6 months? 8 months? 1 year?

The picture of above was taken by Pattie who is here visiting this week. What a huge help she is to me! She loves to take the kids into bed with her. We have found that Elinor is drawn to TV (and the pacifier). It's actually quite funny to see.

Monday, January 25, 2010

Big Kids



The bouncy seats have been put away and the high chairs are now the thing. Don't they look so big sitting in their high chairs?

Sunday, January 24, 2010

More of the same

Nothing much new going on at the White household. Ellie is back to normal with her bowel movements (lovely blog info). We had a nice low key weekend here in Huron. Andy and I are gathering up all of our 2009 tax information - hoping for a sizable return to throw back into the house. Adding two kids in one year has got to help.
Pattie is coming to visit this week. She will arrive on Tuesday and stay until Friday. Perfect! I think I prefer middle of the week visits.... more hands to help since I am alone most evenings. Can't wait to see her and for her to see the kids.




A couple of cute pics of the kiddos. They will be 6 months soon. I can't believe I have two 6 month olds.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Mastering Solids

John John is loving cereal. He finished his entire "bowl" (more like a tablespoon) and even ate the pureed pears that I prepared. I am so proud of him.
Elinor on the other hand does not want anything to do with either cereal or fruit. Poor thing is so constipated. She screams in pain to try and have a bowel movement. It's just awful. I think I hold my breath the whole time. So when she finally stops crying, she's exhausted and then so am I. I know this constipation is because of the cereal. So we are off the cereal for a few days. In the meantime I have given her an ounce of prune juice. I am waiting for whatever surprise the prune juice brings. Stay tuned if you dare....

Sunday, January 17, 2010

The Flu

Elinor got sick with the flu on Thursday evening. It came on pretty darn fast. She wasn't keeping any formula down. Her little body was so tired and so limp. It really scared me. I kept trying to feed her a couple of ounces every couple of hours and that seemed to work for the most part... by Sunday she had made a full recovery. Unfortunately I got sick on Saturday. It's tough being sick when you're a mom. I was lucky enough to have Hilary and cousin Emily here this weekend for a visit. They helped out a lot. I spent most of Saturday in bed. My mom duties were at a minimum. I mostly directed everyone else: "he's hungry"; "she's tired"; "check his diaper"; "pick her up please". Then there were times when I just got up and did it myself.
Andy made me a milkshake on Saturday evening. That seemed to be the only thing that sounded appetizing and it was the only thing I had eaten all day. Thank goodness the flu was over as quick as it had come.
I am keeping my fingers crossed that John John doesn't get it.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Haiti

The earthquake that struck Haiti on Tuesday is absolutely horrific. Haiti is probably one of the most underprivileged countries in the world. The country is overwhelmed with hunger and instability in their government. Many families had little to lose in the first place. The death toll from the earthquake is being estimated at thousands and thousands. How does a country so poor, so sick and so devastated overcome such an atrocity?!

For those who want to help, the Red Cross is accepting donations through its International Response Fund. You can donate to this fund here.

You can also help by texting “HAITI” to 90999 to donate just $10 to the American Red Cross relief efforts for Haiti. The amount will be added to your cell phone bill.

My heart, thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and family members. Please remember Haiti in your prayers.

Monday, January 11, 2010

Schedule vs. Routine

Many people ask me about whether the babies are on a schedule. I struggle with that. Should I be feeding them at the same times everyday? Should they be napping at the same times everyday?
I decided to discuss this with my sister-in-law Leslie. My nephew Drake is 7 days older than the twins. I was interested in finding out what she thought.
I was so relieved when she started talking about “E.A.S.Y”. That’s exactly what we follow in my house. It is a routine, not necessarily a schedule.

E - Eat
A - Activity
S - Sleep
Y - You (time for me… which turns into time for the house)

That’s the routine. We don’t follow the clock. I follow the babies signals and know when they are hungry and when they are tired. In following this routine, the babies rarely have a meltdown. They are very good sleepers. They can put themselves to sleep every time. They are sleeping 8 to 9 hour stretches per night. The only thing I need to start adjusting is their day feeding routine. They are still eating every 3-3.5 hours. Incorporating cereal has been slow. Elinor does not like it at all and John takes a couple of spoonfuls.
The routine has worked really well. I especially like that Andy follows it too. It doesn’t leave room for any questions. When John or Elinor start to fuss after playing for some time, we know that they aren’t hungry. That’s when we scoop them up, lay them down in the crib, put a blanket over them, turn on the sound machine and nap time begins. I cannot imagine what it would be like if I had to fight with two babies to get them to nap.

Thanks for your affirmation Les.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Silly John

This is a game Daddy and John like to play. It will crack you up for sure.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Just because

Patent leather Mary Janes...

On a Wednesday ..... just because....




And this is where I found Lloydie napping yesterday while the twins were down for their own nap..

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Rice Cereal

The rice cereal was not as big a hit as everyone promised it would be. I had to feed them with my finger because I didn't have a baby spoon... it worked fairly well. Everything I have read says to feed the cereal when they are hungry. So when they are hungry all they want is that bottle. They are very cranky about having that cereal.

Here are a couple of pictures that are definately keepers.




I bet you have never seen that face on Elinor before.

Monday, January 4, 2010

Happy 2010

Happy New Year! Hello 2010. Saying good-bye to 2009 is somewhat bittersweet. Andy and I were blessed in ’09 with the birth of our twins. Other than being very uncomfortable, the pregnancy progressed beautifully. We were very lucky!

Christmas in Olean was extremely hectic. We were there for a very short period of time and had to squeeze in a lot of people. We have agreed to stay put next year. That’s what Peter & Leslie did this year… they stayed in Milwaukee. I missed them terribly.
New Year’s was back in Ohio. We brought the New Year in with our close friends Chuck and Deeds. New Year’s Resolutions? I never have any…. However, I would like to lose 10 lbs by the end of February. I should go back to church (this is a tough one for me because I would not be doing it for myself but for the babies). I need to be a better wife, sister and friend. I want to exercise more; exercise Lloyd more; spend time being artistic; read more; take a vacation…..

John and Elinor are 5 months old today. Oh gosh, they are so much fun. Elinor is able to roll over from back to tummy. I saw John roll from his tummy to his back. John has two bottom teeth. Poor little guy has been drooling like crazy and just wants to snuggle all of the time. Oh, how I wish I had two extra arms. Elinor has one tooth and is cutting the other.
They are both pretty strong. They can hold their heads up very well. They can both grab items and pass them from one hand to the other. They recognize their own names and look when they are called. They smile like crazy. They are big talkers and also laugh. Those are my favorite sounds.
We started the rice cereal on New Year’s Day. Each time I have tried it they both get a little cranky. They just want the bottle because they are hungry. I will definitely keep trying it of course.
On average, they are sleeping five hour increments at night. They go to bed by 7:30pm…up at around 12:30am and up again by 5am. We did have a couple of 8 hour nights last week. I just wish their 8 hours could coincide with mine. I cannot go to bed at 7:30 though and they won’t stay up any later.
They received activity saucers from Grandma & Grandpa White and Auntie Hilary and Uncle Brian. These have been great!



Happy New Year to you all! Wishing you many blessings this coming year.

Note to Family: Please save baby related coupons for me. Thanks. I hate to buy diapers without a coupon.