Friday update on Saturday

I know, I know, Sorry, sorry, sorry. I have been a tad busy yesterday(with sleeping) and today (with photo taking and playing around with making collages). But you forgive me, cuz...

Look who's two months old!!

I have two regular babies, people! They slept in 3 hour stretches yesterday. The first 3 hours, I was saying to myself, "Well, they will wake up anytime now...(30 mins later) any minute they will wake up...(30 mins later) Well, if I lay down now they are sure to get up...(30 mins later)...Are they alive???" So needless to say, after they got up and ate and immediately went back down to nap, I did too. Ahhh...it was nice, but do I even feel like I got caught up? Hell no! I am still exhausted. I took pictures this morning and have spent today playing around with them and making a collage with black and whites of different parts of their bodies. I am pretty proud of myself, but I made them in shutterfly and can't figure out how to let you guys see them. Anybody can help with that??

They went to the dr for their 2 month checkup on Tuesday. And here are the stats:

Abigail - 10lbs 7oz in the 50th percentile
Olivia - 10lbs 2oz in the 35th percentile
They are both 21 and 3/4ths in long, which is in the 50th percentile for height. Yay!!

They both did great when they actually got their shots, only a little crying. Olivia had a small reaction to hers with a fever, rash, and just feeling miserable. She was just pitiful with her tiny little cries and whining. But she is all better now.

They are now wearing size 1 diapers and 0-3 month clothes and have been for a couple of weeks now, but I have forgotten to tell you.

They getting so big I just can't stand it!!


Abigail is still my sweet snuggler. She just roots around rubbing her little nose on my neck when she wakes up. She just forms herself perfectly to my body as she does it. I could just melt into her when she does this! She is getting up every 2 hours at night now and really giving Daddy a run for his money. She is back on Soy formula. We tried her on the liquid gold hypoallergenic formula and it was also a no go, thank God. It is twice as much as regular formula so I was grateful she is fine on soy. Which means we are doing two different kinds of formula.



Little Olivia is getting more and smiley. She just wiggles and squirms when we talk to her. She has started to cry when I walk away. She still wants to be held most of the time, but I actually laid her in her bed when she was screaming the other night because I just didn't know what else to do! She. fell. asleep...on her own. Wha?? Yeah, I know. I am stumped too, but she does great with it now. I just sit down next to her on the bed and she just fades away to sleep and then sleeps for...wait for it... 5 hours!! Yes!! I am actually getting more sleep than Gary. She was in a faul mood for the photo session, but we got a few cute ones.

This is how you know when it is time to stop for the day

We have started putting them in the shower with me and they love it! I wear a tank top so they are not quite so slippery. I, of course, sing my heart out to them and they just watch me.

Can I say it? It might be getting better. Did anyone hear me? Good, maybe I didn't jinx myself. They are not as fussy in the evenings as they have been. I actually calmed Olivia down the other night...just by holding her!! I know! She may be a normal baby after all. Abigail stills need a bottle to calm down for the most part, but I know she is getting better too. So now I will shut up about it.

And guess who started school!!

Gaw, he looks so big. He loves his new class. He rides the bus home from school. He loves it and I do too. We are the first stop the bus makes. He gets dropped off right across the street and I can step outside and watch him and the neighbor girl walk home from the stop. The girls can stay asleep and I can remain sane. Thank you God!!

I have to share some of the picture I took of their little bodies today. I made them black and white, but you can get the idea. And can I just say that Abigail takes the best pictures. Olivia...they just don't do her justice. The pictures above and even most of them below just don't even remotely look like her and the beautifulness that she is.

But look at this...

THAT'S my beautiful Olivia
I just wish I could capture it more often.




Her birthmark, little hand with her pinky sticking up, and her fat rolls



And then there's my pretty Abby






Her birthmark (a little strawberry), sweet hand, and her fat rolls

I will share the collage as soon as I figure it out :-)
Have a great weekend!!

Sara

Coming up soon

Friday update is coming. The girls slept in 3 hour stretches today. Can you say blissful sleep for me also? Mmmm...so I am working on it :-) I have two month stats and some pretty great pictures.

It's Your Love...

Happy Anniversary! my honey said to me as he came through the door with a dozen white roses (my fav color of roses).

Ummm...huh??

My brain raced ahead to September 23rd. I know I haven't lost that much sleep to have lost 2 months!! But no, it is August the 27th...the anniversary of our first date. Awww...so sweet. So like him to remember how we started out right in the middle of the chaos of our lives right now. So, I began to remember that day 3 years ago.

We had met on Eharmony.com. We were matched by the best, seriously, like scary compatible. I hadn't had much luck on there in the past so I didn't get my hopes up. I didn't see it going past a first date but I thought, "What the hey. It'll be good date practice." We agreed to meet at the restaurant then go play miniature golf. I was late of course, because I am late to everything. But I did win at golf. I remember thinking to myself, "Should I let him win?" But no, my competitive side won out on that one. I think I only beat him by like one point. At one point during golf we went through a tunnel to the next hole. I remember wondering if he was going to kiss me. Later he told me he thought about it, too. (I did get a goodnight kiss later.......Mmm.............Sorry, got caught up in the memory for a moment.) Needless to say, we hit it off pretty well. I remember sitting across from him and thinking, "This could be it right here." And I savored the moment because I knew this could very well be my last "first date." It was...

At the State Fair
You know, it's the little things that made me love him:

~He paid for my babysitter.
In those days, I literally barely lived paycheck to paycheck. I could have asked my parents for help, but I had tapped that well pretty dry in the years after my divorce. They would have gladly helped, but I got tired of asking. The ex was a no-go. I had asked him with no results. Never mind that his child support had stalled for 3 months between jobs. That was about $500 a month I was not getting all of a sudden...but I digress. So I made due. Z did not go without. We just had lots of Ramen, mac n cheese and cereal for dinner. After a few dates Gary had figured out about my situation and he offered to pay for my babysitter.



::Sigh::


~He planned all our dates with no input from me.
And this was a good thing. I was so ready to just sit back and let someone else handle all the details. I felt as though I had carried a world of details for the past ten years and was ready to let that go.


::Sigh::

This was when we were dating
he read him a bedtime story

~He played with Z
After about 6 weeks, I was finally ok with him meeting Z. I refused to have my dates meet him before I felt that they were there to stay for awhile. He loved spending time with Z almost as much as he enjoyed being with me. He planned things for us all to do together that he knew Z would like.


::Sigh::



~He filled my car with gas every time he drove it.
Again, he knew my situation and the fact that I looked for gas money in the cushions of my couch and under the bed. One time, I told him he missed my street and he said that no he didn't. He then pulled into a gas station and then I knew what he was up to.


::Sigh::


I found myself sighing a lot around him. Literally, we would be on a date and I would just keep sighing and sighing. Exhaling all the stress my world had held for the past year or two. 2004 was a HELL of a year and no, it wasn't the year of my divorce. That was the year that my ex left a second time (more on that story at a later date), I ended a relationship with someone else I cared about deeply, and I started and ended yet another relationship, plus I changed school against my wishes. Yea, not a good year for me. For so long I felt like I couldn't breathe. I would take a deep breath and there would be no relief at the top. I would gasp because it felt like I just couldn't complete it. I couldn't take in a deep breath. I know that sounds so weird. But little by little I started being able to breathe again; deep cleansing breaths. Every time I sighed, it would be a little less weight I felt around my neck, a little more peace that flowed through me as I inhaled.

He became my rock, my steadfast partner; in love and life. And it all started 3 years ago today.

I have been humming these words all night and they are so true when it comes to us.

It's your love
by Tim McGraw

It's your love it just does something to me
It sends a shock right through me
I can't get enough and if you wonder about the spell I'm under,
oh it's your love

Better than I was, more than I am
And all of this happen by taking your hand
And who I am now is who I wanted to be
And now that we're together
I'm stronger than ever I'm happy and free

Oh it's a beautiful thing, don't think I can keep it all in
If you asked me why I've changed, all I gotta do is say your sweet name
It's your love it just does something to me it sends a shock right through me
I can't get enough and if you wonder about the spell I'm under,
It's your love
If you wonder about the spell I'm under,
Oh, It's your love

Gary, my love, it's your spell I'm under. And today, like every day, I just can't keep it in. I am better than I was and more than I am just from taking your hand. You just do something to me and I can't get enough of you. I am truly happy and free. It's your love...

on our honeymoon

a sunset sailboat cruise

It's your love
It's your love
It's your love

Sara

New Blog

There have been a lot of thoughts running through my head lately. I have come to find that I have no where to put them. I need an out, people. A Pensieve, if you will. You know, from Harry Potter. Dumbledore described it - "It is called a Pensieve. I sometimes find, and I am sure you know the feeling, that I simply have too many thoughts and memories crammed into my mind" Amen brotha' I would love to blog about my frustrations with my ex, but people who know him read this (I think) and I don't want to cause problems. I would also love to blog about my worries about Z's teacher this year but again...what if I forget and give her the link to see pictures of the girls sometime this year. How embarrassing that would be!! Sometimes I want to complain about my family, but they read this too.

I started this blog for people to get updated on the girls and Z. So every time I go to blog some little nothing about myself "aka Sara needs" or some other nonsense I feel like my peeps in real life are just rolling their eyes and searching for what they are truly here for; my kids. It's starting to get to me. I have stopped blogging so much because I worry what other people are thinking. Stupid, huh? I know. I have been dying to blog about the new "Breaking Dawn" book by Stephanie Myer, but again...who cares what I think?

Ugh! I know, It's my blog. I can blog about whatever I please. But will people come back? Will I be boring??

So...I am starting another blog. A private one for now. It is just for me to journal for now. One day I will open it to all readers without warning. I have no idea when that might be. A lot of you, I would have no problem with you reading my private one because you don't know me in real life. So here's the deal, if you want to be a reader of my new blog that really has nothing to do with anything baby, leave me a comment with your email address or email me your email address blueladybug77@sbcglobal.net and I will gladly add you. I don't expect anyone to want to read. Gawd, that sounds pathetic doesn't it? Ah well...it really is just for me.

I am going to change the comments so you can comment anonymously if you don't want to open a Google account, but please tell me who you are so I know :-)

And attention people I know in real life -- Now you have NO excuse not to comment! You can comment anonymously and just sign your name, so I want to see some comments please!!

Sara

MOM Blog

Our Nest message board has decided to get Oprah's attention by posting our stories in a blog. Since it is celebrity style to have twins now, we think she needs to have a favorite things show for us MOMs (mothers of multiples) that have to do it all by ourselves with no nanny, chef, personal trainer, and all that money to buy the best multiples equipment.

We are also going to take it from the angle of us on the message board being such great friends even though we don't know each other in real life. Wouldn't it be great for us all to get to go to the show and meet each other!?

We know it is a far reach but they looking for mom stories, so we said what the hey.

Here is my story. So go check us out and offer some encouragement. I will keep you updated on the happenings of it.

Sara

Friday Updates

We are doing better (knocking on wood). The girls went to the school yesterday and were perfect angels. Of course, my friend Casee declared that they just love being around her. And it's true :-) So Casee, why don't you quit your teaching job and be our nanny. Can I pay you? Nope! But you get to care for these two beauties and be around me all day. What do you say, hmmm??

Can I just tell you what has made the most difference? These two things right here...

Yep, the swing and the bouncer. The realization that when they are super fussy, screaming, red faced, if I put Abigail into the swing and Olivia into the bouncer...they calm down. Huh? What?? I KNOW!! The Lord truly knows what he is doing to create two little girls who can be calmed by not being in my arms. Am I grateful? Yes, truly! Am I happy about it? Umm...not really. You see, I am used to being what calms babies down. Especially my own. For them to scream in my arms and calm when I put them down is a little stinging to my heart, but whatever makes for happy babies, right?

Another thing that has made the difference? Right here...

Lactose-free formula seems to be doing the trick. And yes, people, that will last us 4 days. What? What is that you say? Powered formula is cheaper and will last longer? Neh, neh, I say. Well, at least about the price. See those little red stickers on the cans? Those are clearance tags. 1 can for $4.54 instead of $6.59. Plus, I have a way to beat the system so I got all these cans for $1.32. No, that is no typo. One dollar and thirty two cents. How? Mmm...I could tell you but then I would have to kill you. And no, no sexual favors or bribes were involved.

Ok here are updates on each girl

Abigail
She has not done as well on this formula. But she really didn't like the taste of the Soy formula and she wouldn't drink a whole lot at one sitting so...we are adding juice to her diet twice a day. We'll see how this goes. She has the most expressive face. She makes all these faces. Especially when she is waking up. I tried to capture some of them. Right in the middle of it all was...

her first real smile

She is also really starting to love to cuddle. Again, especially after she wakes up. She just buries her little head in my neck and sometimes goes back to sleep. My little snuggle bunny!

And just how big are the eyes?



Some other funny expressions



Future Olympian
(please ignore the "death warmed over" look I have going on)

Olivia
She is smiling full huge smiles now and cooing a little more. She smiled really big at Zachary yesterday. Here favorite new place is on my shoulder.

I captured her smiling a little smile here


And another smile for Z here

This is how she usually looks though, poor little thing but I do think it is getting better.

Some other cute expressions of her

Z says it looks like I have shrunk down to a baby since he thinks she looks like I did as a baby. She is seriously asleep here after crying for about 30 mins. I finally just laid her on my pillow and patted her bottom until she fell asleep.



Wow a huge long post! It took me literally all day to do between all the other things going on here. I have to say I am looking forward to the first day of school.

Sara

Drs Appointment

Well we took the girls to the dr and wouldn't you know it. They were all smiles and cooing! It's like taking a car to the mechanic: it never does what you want it to so he can fix it! She listened to all of our worries and came to some surprising and not so surprising conclusions. They are constipated. Even though their poop is super mushy, they have to strain to push it out and are fussy before they have to poop. This was a surprise to us. We figured constipation = hard poop, but not so. She also said they have colic. That was not a surprise. We knew that but wanted advice on how to deal with it. We didn't get much more than sincere sympathy, but she did suggest either switching to a Lactose free formula or adding juice to their diet. Then if either one of those don't help, we will go to a Hypoallergenic formula, which is liquid gold for what it costs.

We are opting to switch formulas first then go from there. I went to Target to get formula (surprisingly the cheapest around, even Wal-mart) and they had the ready to feed on clearance so I got 8 cans. The girl who checked me out made a comment about how much formula I was buying and I told her we had twins...and this would last 4 days. She was shocked. Yep...it is expensive to have twins, especially if you don't breastfeed. Great, more guilt. Anyhoo...

Olivia is doing much better on this formula. She just smiled and smiled the past few days. There still fussy times, but I do think she feels better. I think Abigail needs to go back to Soy. She did better on it I think. Can you imagine what it will entail for the girls to be on different formulas?? But whatever it takes, right? Here's where those Bumpy Names can come in handy, right? Which reminds me. The owner of that website left a comment for anyone of my readers to have a discount when they shopped. So if you do want to order use coupon code #112081208 for 10% off. Thanks, Kay!!

Funny poop story time:
Abigail hates to be dirty...like, the minute she poops even a little, she screams to be changed. Never mind that she is not done. She will not poop any more until you clean her up. So every poopy diaper change is the same. She poops, screams and when we wipe her she continues to poop while laying there on her diaper. She cries after each little poop so we have to continue to wipe between poops. (Yes, I know, can you say high maintenance? I wonder where she got that from. Hmmm...). So the other day Gary was changing her and she was pushing extra hard to get it out. She had paused for awhile and Gary asked me if I thought she was done. I did so he went to put her new diaper under her. She grunted and POW! poop shot over the diaper, over Gary's hand, over the side of the changing pad and onto the floor. And not right by the table either, it was a good foot and a half away from it. If it wasn't so disgusting, it would have been beautiful. Gary had jerked his hand out of the way just in time to miss getting a handful (like he has before). Needless to say, Z got a huge kick out it as Gary and I stared dumbfounded at our tiny little girl who had done that. Ha!! What a little lady.

I am going to visit my school where I used to work tomorrow. We are also stopping at the in home day care where Z went for 5 years. He wants to show off his sisters. Hopefully the girls will not be too fussy. Please Lord....please....

Sara

Great Wolf Lodge

We went to Great Wolf Lodge last week. My nephews birthdays are in July so they chose to go there to celebrate. The rest of the family decided to tag along. Well, everyone but my dad, the party pooper. We had a great time. It is only about 45 mins away from us.

It is a hotel that has a water park inside it. It is open year 'round so we might go back in January when the thought of swimming is especially enticing. You pull up to these huge wolves that tower over the opening of the doors. Very cool. The lobby is breath taking with its rustic feeling. There is a huge tree house looking thing with a big fireplace next to it. Did a get pictures of these wondrous things? Of course! Did they turn out? Of course not! The pictures are all dark and crap. Only a few turned out. I have already tried to fix them, but I can't figure it out.



The room key is one of those bracelets that snap onto your wrist so you don't lose your key. Pretty clever, I say. The room itself was super cool with a log cabin inside for the kids. Z called the top bunk immediately.



There are arcades, gift shops, candy shops, and other money pits for parents to spend money in. The whole atmosphere is geared toward kids, of course. Each floor is a different theme like woody forests, or fairy land, or treetop for the top floor (Yea, I know. Clever, huh).

The water park was pretty fun too. And can I just say that I wish I could wear a sign that says "I had twins 7 weeks ago"? I know I look pretty good for having twins 7 weeks ago, but dang if people there didn't know that and I just looked huge! I know I shouldn't care what people think, but...well...I do. There were several slides that were pretty crazy. There was one that you could ride with someone in a double tube. Z and I rode together after we talked him into it. He wasn't too sure about it. Usually during a ride we hoop and holler all the way through it, but he was silent on this one. A sure sign that he was freaked out. There was a huge drop off that emptied us out in this huge bowl thing, kinda like a toilet. We went round and round until getting "flushed" down another tube. Great fun! He loved it after we got off. He also loved the wave pool. He spent most of the day there. Then there was one slide that we had to climb a massive amount of stairs to get to. I was seriously out of breath when I got to the top. Like, embarrassingly out of breath. Again, I wanted to say, "I had surgery 7 weeks ago to remove two children that I have been carrying around for 9 months, so I am a little out of shape here, but don't mind me...really...I am fine..."


And to top it all off there is a little something called Magic Quest. Ahhh...the Cha-chinging of the $$ is all I hear. And of course my little dude had to do it. It is where you go and buy a wand. Then you go on quests around the hotel to find different things so you can earn points and such. You pay for the wand, the game, then an add-on to the wand if you want. Well, we wanted, of course. We ended up shelling out about $45 to play this silly little thing. After getting the hang of it, we actually had a blast doing it all. You race around pointing your wand at pictures, chests, and props. They talk back to you and then you race to the next one, usually on another floor. That was the thing. You went to the 5th floor, then the 2nd, then back up to the 6th. It literally took us about 5 hours to complete this thing and by golly we where going to complete it!!

We took the girls and they spent the night but then my mom took them home so we could enjoy a day at the water park. They had their usual melt down and ended up in the bed with us on their Boppys. Abigail fought and fought sleep. We finally got her to go to sleep at one point. I tip-toed over to the Pack-n-Play to check on them and Abigail was just laying there staring up at me with her big eyes wide awake. It was pretty funny.

All in all a great time. We can't wait to go back :-)

Sara