Thirty

Today, I leave my twenties... forever. It isn't a sad day, I can assure you, if I were still in the throws of infertility it would be an incredibly rough day. But, here I am, waking up to two perfect boys- happily skipping my way out of my twenties. Those years held some of the best of times, but also many of the worst.....

20: I was in college. I was living with my best friend from high school- she turned out to be not exactly what I was looking for in a roommate. I continued to date my high school sweetheart and our relationship grew and grew.

21: My parents threw me a 21st birthday BBQ. Still in college- new roommate. We had an insane amount of fun together. Hubs and I spent spring break visiting his sister out of state.

22: Became engaged, planned a wedding and graduated from college! One of the best years EVER!

23: Got married and honeymooned in Mexico. Upon our return we move away from our hometown. We ended up in a more metro area than where we grew up and we enjoyed being newlyweds with very few responsibilities.

24: Hubs worked hard and I worked as a sub here and there until I got a long term position at the world's worst private school. Looking back it was probably a good experience, but those were some rough months.

25: Started trying to get pregnant. It was fun right up until every female of childbearing age in my family got pregnant. Then it just got difficult. I was beginning to realize something might be wrong just in time to celebrate all of the baby showers. Cue a round of clomid to finish out 25. On a happy note, my first nephew was born just 4 days before my birthday.

26: It started with a hopeful heart- surely I'd be pregnant with clomid before the rest of babies were born... wrong! We did 5 more rounds of clomid and then decided it was time for a break. It was a dark and depressing year.

27: I finally decided one month exactly after my birthday (on our anniversary) that it was time to bring out the big guns and see a fertility specialist. That year we found out I have a thyroid problem and PCOS. In addition we did six unsuccessful IUIs, took a very short break and then geared up for IVF#1. This year was filled with hope, disappointment and longing.

28: We did our first round of IVF shortly after my birthday. I took my very first positive pregnancy test and was able to tell my husband for the first time that he was going to be a daddy. Unfortunately, just a couple of weeks later we also had another first- a chemical pregnancy/miscarriage. This broke me- but built me up all at the same time. I was SO ready to try again. And try again we did- just a few months later. With a second fresh IVF cycle I became pregnant with my boys. I spent 6 months of this year pregnant with twins and loved every last second of it!

29: I spent the first six weeks of the year largely pregnant with twins putting the finishing touches on their nursery and preparing for our life to significantly change. Then, on August 15th, the best thing to come out of my twenties happened- we became a family of four. I spent the remainder of the year raising my boys and with struggle and sleepless night came coos, crawlers and kisses so sweet they take away much of the pain and despair it took to get here.

So while it wasn't the easiest decade of my life, it was probably the sweetest. We grew and we fell more in love with each other in the hard times, but also in the good. We watched as we became mama and dada- my life changed in my twenties and that I will always remember- maybe someday the other memories will fade, but I hope I always remember how sweet 28 1/2 - 30 were!

Ten Months!

I'm sooo late on this post! The boys turned 10 months on June 15th....

• Shortly after their 9 month birthday both of the boys started crawling. A was first by about a week, but brother followed suit pretty quickly!
• Not only are we crawling, but also climbing... and causing near heart attacks on a daily basis. 
• A now has 6ish teeth and H has 4 and two more that are just now starting to show through- let me tell you I hoped for months before that they'd get their teeth at the same time and ALL at once. Watch what you wish for! But, in reality I think it really has been the best for all of us. Ok, mostly me because if I'm going to be up all night, it might as well be with two at the same time instead of just one on alternating nights :)
• We now have a permanent fixture in our living room that is a huge play yard with a million toys inside that we lovingly refer to as 'the kennel'.
• I made some baby pancakes for the boys with apple sauce and a touch of cinnamon-- love at first sight for A... H was not as impressed at first, but has since warmed up. 
•  The boys are warming up to 'real' food, but often still prefer cereal and baby food. 
• We are working on the whole sippy cup thing. H is much, much closer to mastery than A. 
• Both boys are in size 3 diapers and H is wearing a size 4 nighttime diaper. 
• A and H continue to love their wubanub pacifiers. We are hoping to break them of their lollie love sometime around their first birthday. 
• This month they went to the zoo for the first time, did a lot of 'swimming' in their pool and played in the sand at the beach for the first time!
• We're working toward eating mostly table foods. It is a hard transition as A REALLY wants to eat things that are mashed and on a spoon. He is trying more and more and I'm confident that soon they will both be eating baby friendly versions of my meals. Life will be so much easier!
• Speaking of eating... if I step on ONE.MORE.CHEERIO/PUFF/other easily crushable baby food item I may lose my mind!
• Both boys continue to take 4 7oz bottles per day.
• We're working on more consistent naps, the boys generally take two per day for at least an hour each time. If I cant get them to nap at home I hop in the car and go for a drive... works every time!
• We've had a lot of sleep regression this month. H ends up in bed or on the couch with me almost every night because I can't just let him cry and wake his brother. The massive teething has added a snotty/runny/stuffy nose to the mix of things and sleeping with me up on a pillow is very helpful. I cannot wait for the day they go back to sleeping through the night. Buuuuut, I'm not wishing it away either, they are growing up WAY too fast and they wont need me like this forever.

That is all for now. Hopefully I'll be back in just a couple of weeks to write their 11 month post- holy cow... the last one before their big birthday! On the topic of birthdays- birthday party planning is in full swing! Theme/color scheme has been picked and invitations will be started this weekend! I am getting so excited, but at the same time I cant stand the thought of them turning ONE!