Thursday, February 18, 2010

Baby Food

I am sure you must wonder what I do in my spare time. What spare time? Every minute of the day seems to be filled up. For example, once the kids went to bed last night around 7:45 I was able to clean the kitchen, do a load of laundry, vacuum the house, clean out the refrigerator, walk the dog and also do this:



Yes, I make my own baby food. You must think I am crazy to do so with twins. But honestly it isn’t that much work. First of all, I love to cook. My cooking has been limited since the twins have arrived – I am so less creative lately. Anyways, I like being in the kitchen. It is the central room in my house – in everyone’s house I am sure. So why not spend more time there? Okay, you still think I am crazy. Preparing homemade baby food is so easy. It’s much healthier than store bought. I am not a huge fan of prepared foods anyways. I will make my own pizza and bread dough. I bake breads, cakes, brownies and cookies from scratch. I make homemade soups and sauces. I use old fashioned oats instead of the instant. I also make my own granola. I could go on and on…
So anyways, homemade baby food is quick and easy. While I am in the kitchen cooking dinner, I can quickly peel and chop a few apples and pears. It takes no time to steam some peas and carrots; bake some potatoes. Once they are cooked, I throw them in the processor and puree each one. I pour the purees into ice cube trays and freeze. Once frozen, they pop out and go into individual freezer bags.
I will need to incorporate some meat into their diet soon. That should be interesting. But I am looking forward to the challenge.

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I am looking for another baby carrier. We need a second one. We only have the one Baby Bjorn at this time. If family and friends are reading this, keep an eye out for a gently used one and let me know.



Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Night Terrors

My John John has night terrors. I am not sure what else to call them. I am pretty sure it is much different than nightmares. He will suddenly start screaming hysterically like he is in pain. Sometimes I hear him and it startles me to hear John scream in such a manner. As I am running to his crib I am picturing him caught up in the side rails or something. That’s how bad he sounds. Thank goodness he is not. He is just lying there where I put him earlier. When I get there, I pick him up and cradle him and kiss him and rock him. He never wakes. However, his eyes are somewhat open but they look weird. They are not focused. That’s how I can tell that he is not awake. He also does this thing where he shakes his head back and forth. But this is not something that is necessarily associated with the terrors.

I have done a bit of reading about it. Night terrors usually occur in the first few hours of sleep. That’s why they never happen during a daytime nap. It is rare for a baby to get real REM sleep during the day. John John does not have terrors nightly, but I would say maybe a couple times per week. Sometimes they last longer than others. I think he gets them on the days/nights that he is most tired.

If you know our John John, then you know that he is not a big crier. He is our Zen baby. He is Mr. Happy. So when we hear him scream from his crib it is alarming. I am so glad that he doesn’t remember anything the next morning.
Does anyone have any experience with baby night terrors?

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Packages Tied Up With String


Look at what came in the mail for Elinor yesterday! My good friend Jennifer from Connecticut sent me some of her daughter’s clothes. We love the hand me downs… at least while Elinor doesn’t know they are hand me downs. I am sure there will come a day when slightly used clothing will not be so attractive to her. They are 18 months size. So she will be able to wear them next winter. There is a really cute rain slicker in that package. How fun! Thanks to Jenn and her daughter Caroline for their generous gift.

We are packing up and headed to Jamestown for the weekend. We just like to get out of town and there aren’t a lot of choices. But nonetheless, we always enjoy Aunt Pattie’s house. It’s the change of scenery and Pattie’s enthusiasm to help out with the kids that makes the trip so worthwhile.

Don’t you just love this? I feel inner peace just looking at it. I love it and I love all of her stuff.

Have a great day!

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

6 month checkup

We took the kids to their 6 month appointment yesterday. Their stats are:

Elinor: 14 lbs 1 oz; 25 ½” long
John: 16 lbs 9 oz, 26 ¾” long

They also received 3 shots each which is always heartbreaking to watch. I was blessed that Andy was able to take time out of work to go with us. You would not believe how much easier it is when he comes along. He carries both car seats. He can feed one, undress one, play with one…. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a lot of work – but at least the work is divided between the two of us. The babies cried after the shots. Of course. We got them home and they slept in their cribs for 2 ½ hours straight. Poor babies.

Ugh.. I don’t have any new pictures to post. I should have at least taken a picture of all of the snow. The snow didn’t stop yesterday at all. Again, I was blessed that Andy cancelled last night’s council meeting and came home to clear the driveway. It’s supposed to be pretty brutal again today with more snow and wind.

We are hoping to get out of town for the long weekend. We will probably just go to Jamestown and maybe a day trip into Olean to see Andy’s parents. I would like to go skiing – but that won’t happen. So I’ll settle for lunch in Ellicottville at EBC and take in a Blueberry Ale. No skiing. Blueberry Ale instead. Life is still good.

Monday, February 8, 2010

What to do?

Boy did we get walloped with snow on Friday! (and about 6-10 more inches tomorrow).

The kids slept about 10-12 hours on Friday and Saturday nights. Last night, with Wendy being gone, Elinor must have woken up about 3-4 times crying for her paci. I would like to tape it to her. She is just so darn cute. I finally broke and fed her at 4:30. I had to wake John John at 6:30.




This is what the kids look like first thing in the morning.


Thursday, February 4, 2010

Birthday

Happy 6 month Birthday Elinor and John!


I cannot believe I have two 6 month olds. In the very beginning, it was hard to imagine them being 6 months old. Some days and a lot of nights are a blur. I wouldn’t trade a single moment – good or bad.
I remember thinking, way back when, how can I be a Mom without any prior experience. Most jobs require experience. I truly lacked experience in the Mother category. It truly amazes me how the maternal instinct kicks in. It was there. Deep down. And it surfaced with perfect timing.

I won’t have weights and statistics until their doctor’s appointment next Tuesday. However, I can tell you this:

They are both enjoying rice cereal , as well as, bananas, pears, sweet potatoes, squash, peas, and avocado.

They are both pretty strong – Elinor especially. John sometimes gets lazy.

John likes to bring his feet to his head. He enjoys pulling off his socks and sucking on them. Funny.

Elinor laughs spontaneously. Out of the blue.

John squeals spontaneously. It is sometimes very loud and piercing.

They are sleeping for about 8 or more hours through the night.

They are able to soothe themselves to sleep. They have been doing this since week 1.
John has 3 bottom teeth and I think more are coming.

Elinor has 2 bottom teeth.

They can both roll over from tummy quite easily.

They both love music, singing and dancing. John especially likes “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.” Go figure.

They are aware of each other. John watches Ellie and smiles.

We look forward to the next 6 months.


We are truly blessed.

Happy Birthday!

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

2nd Post for Today

This is our fun for today - inside.. never leaving the house once.



BONA PRIDE!

Patience

I really wanted to get out of the house today. I had high aspirations for starting out early. But 8 am came and Ellie had already been up for a couple of hours so down she went. Then John got up and needed to be fed. An hour later he was ready for a nap. Then they both got up at 10:30 and whined and whined. So I fed them. I changed them. I held them. They continued to whine. Back to bed they went.
I must confess that I am yelling at my kids today... something I swore I would never do. Good lord they are getting on my last nerve with all of the whining. It never stops.
I am counting to 10, to 20, to 30. I am breathing. I am meditating.
So there they are in their cribs.... I tell them to go in there and relax... but actually it's me that needs to relax.
I love them dearly. It's just one of those days. I really wanted to get out of the house today.