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!