June 24, 2011

One day late...

Today I watched my boys turn 4 months old.
Today I was a zombie in the morning after being up most of the night with a stuffy-nosed Spencer
Today I watched Eli try to give Gracie a time-out for coming into the room.
Today I took all three kids to Baker Park to have their pictures taken by Beth at Waypost Photography.
Today I crossed my fingers that we could get through the photo shoot without any accidents, poopy diaper explosions, and meltdowns. We did pretty well. Eli gets a gold star for good behavior and I only had to use one pack of fruit snacks for bribery.
Today I was thankful that my mom caught me up on laundry and cleaning. Thanks Mom!
Today I tried to clean my oven glass and toaster oven glass with baking soda paste. It worked like a charm on the oven but not so much on the toaster oven glass.
Today I was thankful for a nice long nap for Eli.
Today I looked at the beautiful hydrangeas on my island that my mom cut from her yard and brought down for me.
Today I cut up a cantaloupe and Eli and I ate some for lunch.
Today I put a load of laundry in but didn't get it out of the dryer until Saturday morning!
Today was a beautiful day- mid 80s and sunny with a breeze.
Today Eli and I sang 'You Are My Sunshine' together .

4 Months

The boys turned 4 months old yesterday. Wow how much they've changed in four months. They are both doing really well. Their well baby appoint,ents are a little off-scedule because of their NICU stay, so their 4 month appointment isn't until next month. I guess we'll see how much they weigh then. If the rolls on their legs and rubber band wrists are any indication, I'd say they are catching up to their full term counterparts pretty quickly.

They both nurse well and take a bottle well. Ryan is sleeping through the night now (just starting this week) and Spencer still gets uo once to eat (usually between 2 and 3am). They are both still sleeping together in the same crib in our bedroom. Ryan is probably ready move to his own crib in the nursery, but I'm not sure I'm ready yet!

Both are getting stronger, although Spencer seems to be more physically advanced than Ryan. They are both smiling and cooing. They both laugh (just started recently) but Ryan definitely smiles and laughs more than Mr. Serious.

Ryan is a really good sleeper. He loves to nap in his crib and in the swing. Spencer doesn't like the swing quite as much, but he likes sitting in a bouncy seat more than Ryan. They both like the activity mat and swat at the octopus that hangs above them.

Last month I pulled out their preemie and newborn clothes. So sad. I can't believe they were that little. They are wearing mostly 0-3, 3 month, and some 6 month clothes now.

Time is going by so fast. Although some nights are hard, I love this age. I love seeing them both respond with smiles and coos. I love snuggling with them and kissing their bald heads.



4 months

  

Ryan, NICU

Spencer, NICU

Oh This Face....

How pathetic is this face?

Playdate with Bella

My friend Stacey and her 16 month old daughter Bella came over for a playdate last Saturday. The kids had a lot of fun together. I forgot how cute kids are at her age!

What is it about kids and vacuum cleaners?

Happy Father's Day!

showing off the cards we made

The bunny was made from his thumbprint. He drew the nose himsel and chose the placement of the pom poms.

Eli decided to turn the bunny sticker 45 degrees for dramatic effect. Additional pom poms and drawings really added to it, don't you think?

Eli helped me glue on buttons on Ryan and Spencer's card

June 17, 2011

• Today I woke up at 5:40 (because Eli was up) but we cuddled in his room for almost an hour. :)
• Today Eli and I made two Father's Day cards together. He's really proud of them. I'll post pictures of them after Daddy gets them.
• Today my three sons all napped really well. I got to spend one on one time with all of them.
• Today while scrubbing my kitchen floor I found a pea that could be bb gun ammunition.
• Today Eli and baked banana bread together.
• Today it took me 4 hours to do one load of laundry. It helps to turn the dryer on after you put wet clothes in.
• Today I took chicken out of the freezer for dinner. It's almost 5:00 and all I have for dinner so far is thawed chicken.
• Today I washed dishes 5 times. Where do they all come from?
• Today I tried to do Enterprise work while the kids were sleeping. That lasted 5 minutes.
• Today I watched Eli grab his "kari-doke" machine and sign Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to Spencer.
• Today I had to pick up 957,000 craft pompoms before I could vacuum the kitchen rug.
• Today Eli wanted to wear his firetruck pajama top all day.
• Today Eli and I made funny faces and funny noises to get Ryan to laugh and Spencer to smile.
• Today I ate peanut butter on Ritz crackers and oreo cookies for lunch. Don't judge me, we need groceries.
• Today I heard Eli tell Spencer, "I love you Sunshine."
• Today I tried to teach Eli the words to "These Boots Were Made for Walking"
• Today was a really good day. :)

Conversation

Me: Eli, do you need help carrying those [matchbox] cars down the steps?

E: Yes, these.

He takes a couple steps and turns around.

E: Carefully, Mommy, so you don't drop them.

Little Terps

Bath Time Helper

I Won This

I put my name in for a free giveaway on a blog randomly one day. And I won!

It was for a free 8x10 gallery wrapped canvas print from Easy Canvas Prints.

I wanted to use a photo of the twins to use in their nursery, but I was having a hard time getting it to look right. I got frustrated and decided to go another route. I had bookmarked some cute "family rules" canvases I had seen on a couple of blogs. I found one that offered a free 8x10 download, so I used that one. Here is the finished product. It's hanging in my entryway.

June 10, 2011

Now that I'm no longer working on Fridays and get to spend this extra day at home with the kids, I decided that I want to try to document our day. I want to remember these special days, even if they are just filled with the ordinary. And I'm sure some Fridays will be so crazy that I'll forget all about recording them.

Here's our June 10, 2011:

• Today I put a baby down for a 3 hour nap (Spencer) and another down for a 15 minute nap (Ryan). Napping is kind of like the lottery.
• Today I rolled out play-doh with a little plastic rolling pin while Eli cut out shapes with his safety scissors.
• Today I tried to get Eli to keep saying "safety scissors" because it sounds so cute ("sacey scissors")
• Today I put away 2.5 out of 3 loads of laundry (that was done earlier this week).
• Today Eli and I read books- Before You Were Born, Because You're You, Handy Manny Look and Find book, and a Boz the Bear book.
• Today dusted and vacuumed.
• Today I nursed babies.
• Today I cuddled with Ryan.
• Today I made butterscotch pudding with Eli. He likes to lick the mixer attachments.
• Today I called Kevin at work to ask him how to break into our bedroom. A certain toddler had turned the lock and shut the door. Little stinker.
• Today I had all three kids sleeping at the same time (20 minutes).
• Today Eli paint three pictures.
• Today I congratulated Eli for waking up dry.
• Today my son played with his cars, trucks, and trains.
• Today I watched the news to see that it was currently 99 degrees in Frederick. I decided that we might have to skip a walk this afternoon.
• Today I made my bed. Trust me, with three kids under 3, this is an accomplishment worth noting!

"I fink it's kind of like"

It seems like Eli "finks" everything is "kind of like" something these days!

For example:
We're reading Eli's toddler Bible and start the story about Noah's Ark.
Eli says, "That's Noah. I fink he's kind of like Santa Claus."

Then we get to the story about the angel appearing to Mary.
Eli says, "That's an angel. I fink it's kind of like a daddy."

I hung up the phone the other day and told Eli I was talking to Pop.
Eli says, "That's kind of like Mim."

Eli came over to me while I was holding Ryan. He thought it was Spencer and I corrected him.
He says, "Oh that's Ryan. I fink it's kind of like Spencer."

Most things (cord, play-doh, mop, etc) are "kind of like a vacuum."

All of his construction trucks are "kind of like" other construction trucks.
A front loader is kind of like a back hoe. Or a dump truck is kind like a bulldozer.

Fun Bath Idea

I saw this cute idea while checking out some blogs. Here is the link for homemade shaving cream bath paint.


image from Design Dazzle





image from Design Dazzle



Faces of Spencer (3 months old)

Conversation with Eli

Eli was "fake" crying yesterday about something. I told him we weren't going to get the play-doh out until he stopped. I asked him if he was done crying and he said (between wimpers) "Almost." Then he kept fussing for a few more minutes before announcing that "I'm done crying now."

The Many Faces of Ryan

Oh I love this boy and his cheeks!

Parenting 101

I think now would be a good time to start strapping him in, don't you think?

A New Phase...Back to Work

I started back to work on May 18 and Kevin started that following Monday. I get to phase back to work, so the first week I worked 20 hours, last week I worked 28, and this week I’ll work 32. I’m also doing a new schedule- just Monday through Thursday. Kevin will be off on Thursdays and he works ½ days on Saturdays. So we have the kids enrolled in our neighborhood daycare center for three days a week- Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.


Definitely have some positives and negatives with the switch. First, it’s nice having them close to the house. Eli’s old sitter was located about 5 minutes from my work, so he would make the commute with me each morning. While we usually enjoyed that time, it can sometimes be a long drive (45 minutes or so). Now that the school is closer, Kevin can take them in the morning so Eli doesn’t need to leave so early with me. We’re also excited that he’ll meet some other 2 year olds that he’ll be going to school with later on. The twins will be in the same class as their friend Julianna Chisholm- which we are very excited about. It’s also so nice to have them there 3 days. For over 2 years we paid for 5 days/week and Eli only went an average of 3-4 days.

On the other side, I definitely miss Eli’s sitter Smita. For 2 years, she cared for him and he made friends there. It’s a tough time for a kid to make a transition like this, but he’s really doing well and seems to like it a lot.

My mom has been down these past two weeks to help. The twins don’t start until June 13, so she’s been watching them while we’re at work. We’ve walked over to pick up Eli together (with babies in carriers) and she’s even done it herself with all three kids. The center is within walking distance for even Eli. It’s a great time for him to be outside and tell us about his day.





Playing with play-doh this morning

Today is my first Friday off of work with all the kids. So far, so good. I miss my mom already and she just left a couple hours ago! But we've done well- laundry's in, reading books, playing play-doh, babies are napping. Happy Friday everyone.

Memorial Day Weekend

On Memorial Day weekend, Kevin and I drove to Northampton, MA for my college roommate Theresa’s wedding. It was a brief trip, drove up Saturday morning and left Sunday morning, but it was nice to have a night of good sleep and no crying babies (although I missed them dearly). We spent the rest of the weekend at my parents’ house. I love being there anytime of year, but it’s so much fun when it’s warm out. Eli helped Pop wash cars and he loves to play in their driveway and out on their deck. The babies seem to really like the outside too. My Aunt Darlene drove up from West Chester to watch the twins with my Aunt Jo while my parents took Eli to the circus on Saturday.

My parents said he had a really good time and held his ticket during the whole show. When I asked him about his favorite part, he told me he liked the elephants. When I asked him if they did tricks, he said that ‘yes, they peed and pooped a lot.’ He also liked the clown in stilts. They got some great pictures that I need to download and post, but here are a couple from the wedding.

3 Months... on May 24

The boys turned three months old on May 24. They are really plumping up and have even started to develop my favorite baby quality- rubber band wrists! Both babies have the biggest cheeks and are growing so fast. Ryan is getting much stronger and his head control has improved a lot. He smiles at us a lot, especially when we pretend to sneeze. Spencer is still really strong and continues to roll over sometimes when we put him on his tummy. He’s much more serious and will only crack a smile every once in a while. He likes to put his hands on your chest when he’s being held, push back until his arms are straight, and give you the most serious look. Both babies like to swat at the overhead stuff on their play mat.

Sleeping is getting much better, but the nights are still hard. Both babies are fed at 10pm. They get up once at night- somewhere between 2 and 3 and then are back up somewhere between 5:30 and 6. Spencer is always up first and then we usually wake up Ryan so we can be done with both and back in bed in an hour.

It’s been really interesting to see their different personalities emerge. They really are two very different babies.

Ryan is much calmer than Spencer. Spencer is more fidgety.

Ryan usually just cries when he’s hungry/messy diaper/needs to be burped. Spencer will often cry just to be held.

Ryan isn’t as active during time as Spencer. He hasn’t rolled over, but Spencer does (front to back).

Ryan loves the swing. Spencer is hit or miss with it.

Spencer seems to enjoy bathtime more than Ryan, although I think Ryan is starting to enjoy it more.

Neither one seems to particularly like the pacifier. They will use one just occasionally.

Both like to be swaddled when they sleep still. My mom discovered that they will take longer, uninterrupted naps during the day too if they are swaddled up tightly.

They don’t seem to be all that interested in each other.

They like being outdoors.

Both are great in the car. I’m not sure if this is a fair assessment because we’ve left the house with them about 5 times since they’ve been born. :)