Thankful Thursday

    Thankful Thursday #4!

     It seems I have a lot to be thankful for. And I mean a whole heck of a lot. But to be concise (and to continue having blog subjects), I will just narrow it down to one thing today. 


     I am so thankful for being married to the best guy, Brian. He does everything he can to make me happy. And I am usually pretty easy to please. But there have been a few instances recently where I have been quite difficult. Just this morning I was being less than friendly after a loooooooong night in the nursery. Instead of Brian reacting to my bad attitude he cooked me breakfast to cheer me up. Sometimes he can be so selfless. 


     Thanks, Brian! You are seriously amazing!!!


      And now, back to that nursery story. Brett and Emma have slept in their cribs all week. And it hasn't been easy. For the record, they are doing just fine in the cribs. I am the one losing sleep. We started by putting B&E in the same crib. A big crib can be a scary place, so we thought they needed each other. The first night I woke up to some crying over the monitor. No big deal, I could probably get by with just returning some pacifiers and be back in bed in minutes. When I went into the nursery, Emma had turned herself sideways and was kicking her swaddled little legs all over the place. And since she was sideways, those little legs were landing on Brett's face. The weird thing is, he didn't seem to notice! She was the one screaming. After completely freaking out and confirming that Brett was still alive, I separated them. The next night, I came into the room to Emma's leg hanging out of the crib. Freaked out again...but everything was fine. That same night, Brian found Brett face first into the side of the crib. I am so tempted to put the crib bumpers in. But, I am going to wait it out and discuss the situation with the pediatrician next week. Last night there were no issues, but I was having trouble sleeping and was up all night finding pacifiers. How these babies manage to get them out of their mouths and across the room is beyond me. 


     Emma is already in bed and Brett is yawning away in Brian's lap. So, cheers! Here is hoping to an easy night. Did I just jinx it?


     And PS - in case you didn't notice, the Bolts won game 7 last night and went to the next round of the playoffs! Game 1 vs. the Washington Capitals is tomorrow night. But we aren't scared, the biggest fans in the land live right here in Seminole, FL!

The first flag we have ever flown, haha!!

Daddy's playoff beard, B&E in their jerseys

Thankful Thursday!

Thankful Thursday # 3!

Today I am thankful for...my car!!! 


     A couple of weeks ago I made a challenge to myself that I would get out of the house at least once a day. It might not seem like a big deal, but taking the babies anywhere alone seemed very intimidating to me! I figured most MoMs (Moms of Multiples) were like me and didn't do much without some helping hands. Boy, was I wrong! I went to a MoMs group a couple weeks ago and learned that these women were taking their babies and toddlers out all the time. So why couldn't I do that??


     The very next day I went outside and had a stare down with my stretch limo stroller. All 44.4 lbs of it. After a few minutes I opened my trunk and decided to lift the stroller into my car. By myself. Obviously, I survived. It wasn't bad at all! What was I so afraid of?


     Since then I haven't stopped. Sometimes Brian calls me and when I tell him where I am, he just laughs. I literally take B&E everywhere!! Earlier this week I called a Lincoln dealership with a couple of questions on the MKT. Does the third row go flat? Is there cargo space with the third row up? Can car seats go in the third row? The salesman was very friendly but not sure on all my questions. Being the extremely patient impatient person that I am, I told him I would just come take a look myself! So I grabbed B&E and we went over to the dealership! And in case anyone is curious...the third row lies flat when not in use. There is cargo room even with the third row up (more than most SUVs I have looked at), and the third row does take car seats. Unfortunately this car is stellar on paper, but when I actually saw it, I couldn't get over the fact that it looks just like a hearse. But at least I was able to cross it off my list!! 


     Some other adventures we have been on include trips to the mall, Target, lunch with Brian, and visits to my school. 


     I am just so incredibly thankful that I have a reliable form of transportation so that I can get out of the house and get things done! And Brett and Emma love it, too. They take the BEST naps while we are out. And good day sleep = good night sleep. I don't want to jinx it but Emma has basically STTN (slept through the night) all week. Brett only wakes up once to eat, and they both go to sleep by 10.  They are by no means on a "schedule" (but wouldn't that be nice??!) but at least they sort of have a bedtime. 

     And while we are on the subject of sleep...I am happy to report that B&E have been in their bassinets for probably two weeks now. And I am sad to report that the weight limit on said bassinets is 15 lbs. Something tells me Brett should already be out of his! So I am going to stretch it out until their next weigh-in at their 3 month checkup. And then we will move them into their cribs. So sad :( 

Tummy time - so close to rolling over!!!

Rusty wants tummy time, too! 

Thankful Thursday #2!

     I learned on Facebook, from Alyssa, that April is infertility awareness month. So, today I am thankful for science, my doctors, supportive friends and family, and the best husband in the world. Without all of them Brian and I would not have been able to survive the struggles we faced. Our battle with infertility was short lived, compared to most. For that I am thankful. 

     And while twins DO run in my family, they also run in the fertility treatments :)

Can I have some cheese with my whine?

     I have seen a few bloggers continuously post "Thankful Thursday" updates and I thought that was a cool idea. I am going to be keeping my eyes peeled for a Thankful Thursday blog hop so if you see one please let me know :)

     Today is the perfect day to start because I am not feeling particularly thankful at the moment. Instead I am pretty tired and cranky. Last night Brian and I made an attempt to move Brett and Emma back into their bassinets. It started out easy enough. Sometime between 11-12 they were sound asleep just a few feet away and Brian and I could sleep peacefully without worrying about pillows, sheets, arms, dogs, or other suffocation hazards. So imagine my surprise when I am woken to cries at 1AM. Hmmm...that's a little early for a feeding, but maybe they will sleep for longer after this? Wrong. Next came 2AM, then 3AM, 5AM. 6AM and 8AM I think someone should give the babies a memo that they forgot to wake me up at 4 and 7. Ahhhhh! What was the reason for this madness? I almost forgot what it was like to take care of week old babies, until last night! (I guess it is true - you really forget how bad it was!!!) 

    I know we need to give it more time, but this is rough! Brian and I have very mixed feelings about bed sharing. During pregnancy we said we would never do it. It is dangerous, we want our own bed, there were plenty of reasons. Well, lots of things that we said we would or wouldn't do went out the window.  We bedshare for a few reasons. They sleep better, we sleep better. (Happy Baby = Happy Mom, right??) Also Brian works a lot. Most weeks he works 6 days and 60+ hours. He has maybe a couple of hours to be home with the babies before we go to bed. And these are the "witching hours." For some reason between around 8PM-11PM Brett and Emma want bottle after bottle, sometimes only 1-2oz at a time, sometimes 4-5oz at a time. We never know what is going to happen. It is sometimes a battle, sometimes pleasant, but it always ends in two babies finally passed out in our bed after crying, eating, crying, eating, crying, eating, pooping, and usually a throw-up from one of them. By then, all Brian wants to do is cuddle up with them as they fall asleep. It's so cute :)

      I know quite a few breastfeeding moms who bedshare because it is very convenient. But for me, I am still getting out of bed to make bottles multiple times a night - so I don't necessarily get that benefit from it. But we do get to snuggle our little babies and trust me, they love it as much as we do.

     No matter what, we are determined to have them out of our bed before 8 months. At this point, separation anxiety sets in. And in some babies it can set in at 6 months, maybe even earlier. The last thing we want is our Kindergarteners sleeping in our bed. 

     So...today I am thankful for my family. They make cranky days without sleep much better!

     

Emma and her Great Grandma

Brett listening to Daddy read Hop on Pop

Emma and Great Grandma / Brett and Grandma