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.

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.

Silly John

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

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..

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.

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.

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!