Thursday, February 21, 2013

Making Life Easier!

It is not news to anyone that life with twins is... well, it is a lot of things- but busy is right at the top of my list. In addition to being busy, it is cumbersome. Have you ever tried steering a double stroller while carrying a HUGE box of diapers? Plan on sweating. And, if you're at that in between place between maternity pants postpartum and your pre-pregnancy pants, you know when you have to pull up whatever you're wearing about every ten steps-- forget about it.

What has made my life about a hundred times easier is having diapers delivered to my house. I've used both amazon and diapers.com and both have been great. Today as I was making my order I realized that there is a referral program and I thought I'd quickly toss a shameless plug out to all of you to order from diapers.com AND use my referral code so I can cut down price of my next obscene diaper order.

Here is the thing, I find the diapers (we use pampers) to be cheaper than they are in the store (we usually shop at target) and I order them one day and usually receive them on my doorstep the next day- all complements of free shipping on orders over $49.  It is AMAZING! They also sell their own generic brand of diapers and you can first order a sample of them before committing to a whole case. I did that this time, so we shall see!

Anyone who uses my referral code gets 20% off their first order on diapers.com AND any of their eight sister sites which you'll find as tabs at the top of their web page. Just enter my code in the promotion/savings code box at checkout..... CHRI809447

 Also, make sure you take advantage of their new customer discount on a box of diapers (BABY7AFF)-- awesome deal!

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

6 months... a little late!

First, how are my babies already six months old? Second, I'm a crappy blogger.

The boys are as sweet as ever. They smile constantly and are really starting to have more personality which is really fun to watch develop. Their love for each other melts my heart on a daily basis with all the hand holding, kisses, snuggles and hair twirling I am forever snapping a picture of their brotherly affection.

The droll is never ending but there are no teeth to be seen just yet. We're back on the solid food bandwagon and most days we are really good about remembering to actually get some solid food into the boys. Can I just say it is SO difficult to add/subtract things from a routine you've been living as a cycle for the last six months? Holy cow! So far the boys have tried rice cereal (like, not love- made better with something sweet-ish mixed in) prunes (like, but looks SO gross when spit up later) peas (not a favorite, but again mixed with something sweet they are tolerable) and both banana and squash are LOVED by these boys. In terms of amount, they each eat a table spoon of cereal mixed with one ounce of formula and 1/4-1/2 of a container of fruit and the same of a vegetable. Currently we are only feeding them solids once per day most days, generally in the evenings unless it is a new food, then we feed in the morning in case there is a reaction. In addition to solids the boys get five bottles per day of 5-6oz of formula and breastfeed twice, once first thing in the morning and again right before bed at night.

They are growing- both of them- finally! I think its finally safe to put away ALL of the newborn and 0-3 month clothes. A had been wearing some, but I think its time to call it quits. H is pretty well out of 3month clothes, but 3-6 stuff still fits depending on the length. Each of them just graduated up a size in diapers A is in a two and H is in a three. A weighed in at 14lbs 4oz and was 25.5" long placing him in the 4th percentile for weight and 19th for height. H weighed 16lbs 4oz and was 27.25" long. These stats put him in the 28th percentile for weight and 78th for height. They are both growing and thriving healthy boys!

They had shots again this month and took them like champs! Generally they run a low grade fever and are pretty sleepy the afternoon/evening of immunization day and this time was no exception. H was grumpy for a couple of days, but he seems to be back to his normal self now!

A & H are still sleeping in our room at night in a shared crib. It seems like they still loving being close to mama and even more so, to each other. Whoever gets into bed first lays and stares at his brother's place in the crib.... makes my heart nearly burst every night! They are still sleeping through the night averaging 7 hours then a quick nursing/diaper change and another 2-3 hours depending on the baby and the day. It is WONDERFUL, but it makes the vary occasional wakeful night REALLY difficult. Mama has gotten very used to getting a good stretch of sleep again :) We are currently working on naps. The boys have always napped in various places, the swing, bouncy seat, boppy, my arms... you get the picture, everywhere BUT their crib(s)! I decided to work on H first, knowing he'd be easier. So far I've gotten a couple good naps out of him in the nursery (gasp!) using a sleep sack instead of a swaddle (double gasp!). Once I have him consistent, I'll throw A into the mix. I'm hoping this will just transition over to night time and will help me move them from our room into the nursery... we'll see about that!

Developmentally, the boys have hit just about every milestone for their age. We spend a lot of our days rolling around on the floor, playing with our hands/feet and playing with anything that plays music and lights up! We're still working on sitting up, but it seems like its getting super close and it will likely be one of those things that just happens one of these days. A is scooting backwards and has a lot of control over his little body-- I'm sure he'll be mobile before too long. AHHHH!

The sweetest thing these boys do is lay together and H twirls A's hair while they snuggle up together. In fact, just this week we had gone to our bedroom for bedtime and I had nursed H and he was waiting for daddy to give him in bedtime bottle right next to me as I nursed A. As soon as A got into position, H reached over and put his hand in A's hair and began twirling-- these are the moment that I sit and look at my boys and hope their love for each other is as pure and simple for all of their lives as it is in this season.



Monday, February 11, 2013

Motherhood...

This past weekend the boys met someone they hadn't met yet, someone who is a twin and also a mother. She very candidly asked me... 'So, is it like Christmas every morning?' in the moment, without skipping a beat I said YES!

And now,days later, I get teary eyed just thinking about it. It is absolutely the most perfect description of how I feel. They are words I would have never thought to say to describe my feelings on motherhood, but they are the most perfect.

For me, motherhood feels like Christmas every.single.morning.