Anyone else due in June "06

[cpl]

I'm not caught up on reading the posts I missed last week, but it may take me a while.

Thanksgiving at the IL's went well. The babies were a big hit. They loved all the attention. Right now they recognize Mommy and Daddy and look around for us when they hear our voices, but they're usually happy as long as someone's holding them and giving them attention.

I was afraid they would be terrible today with just me around (Grandma withdrawal.) But they haven't been too bad.

I just wanted to add, don't be afraid to vent here. Everyone needs to sometimes.

Well, Gideon woke up, so I need to go.

Charlotte

[JERSEYGEMINI]

Happy Thanksgiving! We are back from upstate NY, but tired. The twins did great the first two nights, but then for the next three nights tortured us- they woke up every 1 1/2 hours. None of us were used to sharing a room anymore.

Steph-your story made me cry. DH and I were almost in the same situation. After four miscarriages, and so much devastation, we did IVF as our last attempt at adding to our family. I had two embryos implanted and one split into twins. For ten weeks, I carried a triplet pregnancy and we were out of our minds with anxiety. We were faced with the same decision--reduce in hopes of producing a healthy twin pregnancy or take our chances with three. Everyday we were tortured by what to do. You expressed some of my thoughts so perfectly-I was actually angry at times with the embryo who naturally split. Then, I miscarried ONE. After all my miscarriages, I was grateful to still be pregnant. However, my feelings were so ambivilant. I would cry one second for the loss of another baby, and then feel relief the next because I knew triplets, even if they were healthy, would push us to the limits emotionally and financially. I truely don't know what we would have done. It is a terrible decision to have to make. I look at your sons and see how perfect and healthy they are, though, and honestly think you did the right thing for your babies. I like the idea that our lost ones can come back to us in later pregnancies. I never thought of it that way before. I still feel such deep sadness for the babies that I miscarried. Maybe if I imagine that Isa and Mason are some of the lost ones coming back to me, it won't seem so bad. I hope after the 28th passes, you will be able to regroup and feel a little better.

On a lighter note, I was thinking about holiday traditions today as well. My mom always wrapped our Santa presents in red and green tissue paper. My brother and I LOVED this-on Christmas morning the Santa presents always stood out from the others. It seemed so special and definitely made Santa feel very real to us. I think that I'll start doing this. Also, I liked Christel's idea with the frame ornaments. I'm thinking of making a tradition of always decorating a gingerbread house with the kids. My DS loved doing this last year...maybe each year we could do a different theme.

Mason is SOOOOO uncomfortable in his infant carrier. At 17 pounds, it is getting unruly to carry him - even for my husband. I cannot spend $600 on carseats, either Steph, but I LOVE the floral Britax patterns. Graco has a girl carseat (comfortsport) at target, but I don't like it as well as the Britax. Christel, which Evenflo do you recommend?

Sorry to hear about your tough week Lisa. I hope things look up for you soon, and that your dad heals quickly.

We are ordering a jumperoo for the twins' one and only holiday gift. I haven't tried the barley cereal yet to stop the constipation, but maybe we won't need it!!

Oh, must go- bottle time!

[mmzill]

Here's the link to the Evenflo Triumph Carseat - there are different colors, but they are all neutral. I got mine for around $115.
http://www.evenflo.com/Homepage/ProductList/tabid/203/navid/1/Default.aspx?categoryid=0967b93d-ca99-479b-99cd-cb460e254ea8

They have a really good safety record. At the BRU website you can read reviews about it. Anyways - I would like to get two more for the boys when we need them.

Well, it's getting late. Hope all the babies are sleeping peacefully!
~Monica

[AndreaR]

Steph - I am thinking about you today and hoping that you soon have some peace. :throb: :throb: :throb:

AndreaR

[LucasMom]

No time to post, just wanted to say...

Steph- you are a strong woman and I love you and am proud to call you my friend. I am sorry you are having a hard time and I am thinking of you. JC and I lost a baby 4.5 months into our first pregnancy 6 years ago today, and I think about it every year. It never goes away, but it gets somewhat easier to reconcile each year, if that makes sense...I never talk about this, but I am sorry you are in pain, and I wish I could make it easier...hugs to you, and I am thinking of you.

Love,
Mindy

[vthompson]

Steph - I just wanted to let you know that I have been thinking about you today. I am sending good thoughts your way!! :grouphugg

Valerie

[swineland]

You guys are wonderful.......

I truly don't know how to say thank you for all your kind words. Today wasn't too bad, at least not as bad as I thought it would be. I think it's because I spent the last 2 weeks leading up to it crying and thinking and being sad. I guess I "got it all out" and had nothing left to give, no energy to cry any more. I will be fine, of course. I know that it is out of love that we created that little being and it is also out of love that we said goodbye. Life goes on and so will I. Evan and Bailey are the absolute lights of my life and I am so thankful.

Again, I love you guys and appreciate all your support and long-distance hugs....I felt it. :)

More soon...
Steph

[Jillmami]

Steph, glad you made it through today and it wasn't too bad. It sounds as if you did what my mom used to do. The few weeks leading up to the anniversary of my sister and brother's deaths, she would be so upset that by the time the day arrived, it wasn't as bad.

It definitely sounds as if we each have our share of issues to tend with this holiday season. Luckily we have our terrific twins to brighten our day with those adorable smiles and giggles. (Not to mention our super support system here.)

Keep those heads up ladies and keep up the super 'mom' work with the babies. They are look fabulous!

[SunMoonMom]

Good Morning All,

I have been stalking the boards the last day or so with nothing to post.

Steph - I am so glad that you made it through okay. You were in my prayers.

Did have one thing happen...

The boys were approved last month for the RSV Vaccine. Went to the doctor on Monday to get their second shot and found out that the medicine had not arrived. Called my prescripton coverage company and found out that my company has a specific payer of claims who rejected the second round of shots. So they qualified the first month but don't qualify now. So I have to go through an appeals process to see if I can get the rejection overturned.

The doctor was none too pleased about the situation. Just a bummer... I had come to grips with the expense of the shots and was proud that the boys would be protected from this awful virus. Now this option has been taken away by some person sitting in an office building somewhere... Always seems like you get your feet under you again just to have something happen to send you for a loop. It could be worse but now I will be worried every time the boys cough that it is RSV and that it could have been prevented.

Wow... guess I had more to say that I thought.

Hope everyone is doing well and that your twins are growing like weeds...

Kerrie

[EBTwinz]

Steph: So glad you made it through the day. I knew you would, you are a strong woman!!! And the best mom Evan and Bailey could hope for. Just remember, some day you may have that baby but right now you have two of the most beautiful children in the world. :grouphugg

Love,
Lisa


Valerie: Got your email.... Thank you. :) I am going to write back to you right now. You are such a GREAT friend. I don't know what I would do w/out you.

[AndreaR]

Kerrie - I totally understand your frutration about the RSV vaccine. We were also rejected, went through the appeal process and everything. It was my first real negative encounter with the healthcare situation in this country. I know that other people have had much worse problems with insurance coverage, so I really can't complain, but it is just terrifying to think about what could happen to the girls, especially Maddie, if they get RSV. Thankfully, we are switching insurance providers Jan. 1. Right now we have Cigna. I'm not sure who we are switching to, but hopefully they'll be better.

Steph - it sounds like you found the peace you were looking for, at least a little bit. You are an amazing mama.

JIll - I meant to say that I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the video of TJ laughing. It put tears in my eyes to think of what she looked like in the early days, and then to see that smile and those sparkly eyes.

Well, we're in nap hell here, so I gotta go.

xoxo
AndreaR

[sgarrett]

Steph: My sister told me this when I had the tubal and lost baby C and it really helped me get through it all. She beleives that "soul" chooses its parents, she said these babies needed to go through the experiences of that short lifetime. She said they very well may be the next babies that come into my life. It helped me to think of it that way. I know I am not typing it near as eloquently as my sister would be able to, but I wanted to share with all the mommies on here that had similar experiences. It is amazing sometimes to look back at all we went through to get were we are right now.

Valerie: Thanks for confirming me for me I am not a total nut job to have those fears. It is good to know I am not alone!

Jill: Wow, sounds like are lives having taken pretty parallel paths. Good luck tracking down your dad. I did track mine down (through his new wife) when I was 23, I found out he had died the previous year. I was so mad, I just wanted to ask him "How do you desert a child like that? Escpecially after you found out her mother died." I never got my answer. You really wonder after having your own kids, how could someone do that?

Lisa: I cannot beleive your DH is picking this battle with you now with everything else you have going on. I am so sorry, I hope when things are a little calmer ya'll can sit down and really talk things out. I will be keeping you in my prayers in the mean time.

Babies News: We have teeth! Aiden has two teeth coming in at the same time on the bottom! He is going to look like a reverse vampire. Anyone out there breastfeeding with teeth? I am scared!!!!:eek:

The past two nights they only woke up once at night! I hope this is the start of a trend.

Have a great day everyone!

Staci

[sgarrett]

Geesh sorry for all the typos I am always in such a rush when I type!

[SunMoonMom]

Okay... I have to share...

My dh just called and said that Zach is army crawling... He didn't go very far but it was a definite scooch vs. a roll.

I am so excited... I hope he will do it again when I get home from work.

Kerrie

[JERSEYGEMINI]

Hi - I only have a moment--all THREE children are sleeping -what a treat! My 4 yo never takes naps anymore :yippee:

Kerrie- congrats to Zach! How exciting! It's almost time to put up gates, right? They add such a nice decorating touch to the house :crazy:

Staci- Congrats on the teeth! Don't worry about BFing. He WILL bite you once, but if you take him right off your breast with a forceful "NO BITE!" he will probably never do this again. Mason bit me once, and I screamed (not on purpose, it hurt like h*ll). He cried for the next 20 minutes b/c he was so scared of my reaction and then fell asleep. He has never tried that again.

Monica- Thanks- I checked out the carseat and it looks comfy. Do you put it in a minivan or an SUV? I'm wondering if it will be too big for my minivan (in the bucket seat). I tried out Max's old graco comfortsport and it barely fit...the evenflo looks even wider.

Is anyone feeding plain yogurt to their babies? I did this with DS (stoneyfield farm, whole milk), but I can't remember when I started. ...maybe 8 months...but he LOVED it. I know it is not the same as milk in terms of how it digests, and i don't think it has the same allergy potential. I should have asked the pediatrician the other week, but forgot!

Oh- one baby crying...the quiet times are so fleeting!

Jennifer

[christel]

Hi Girls

Stressing out today - DH started his new job this week. It's going well, but the change over has been uber-hard finacially b/c we're down a paycheck for one pay period. This is not good b/c I don't get a paycheck. Today we are so broke I can't even afford to pay attention! The good news is that he gets his signing bonus tomorrow. I hope it's early in the day and he can deposit the check at lunch because we are BROKE! I hate not having a nest egg in savings. That's where the rest of the bonus is going.

The other stress out thing is the change over in insurance. We'll have to pay for cobra the month of Dec. b/c DH's benefits don't start until Jan. 1. Just to cover the girls will be nearly $1000. But, to not cover them will be so much more b/c of the RSV vax... which they're supposed to get Friday, but I don't think all the insurance stuff will be worked out by then. There's a tight little window of when they can get that shot, so it better be worked out by then end of next week. :banghead:

I'm about to do my first solo trip to the pedi w/ the girls. Ruby has to go for a weight check and they're both getting the 2nd dose of their flu shots. My plan is to load 'em up in the stroller and go in that way. Wish me luck.

We just bought big girl car seats (but post dated the check!) from a girl in my MOMs Club. They're 2003 Britax Roundabout seats in great shape and we were able to get the pair for $150. I know the mom, and know the seats haven't been in a car accident. I also did some research on recalls, expiration dates, etc. All in all, these are going to be great for us for the next 2 years or so. I'm relieved to have that taken care of, too.

BF - I'm done. I've weaned the girls to bottles only and have pumped about 10 min. once every other day for the past week and am working down. I don't want to have a painful dry-up, if possible. I'm a little sad about it, especially when one of them will snuggle up and root a little, but mostly I'm ready and so are they. My mom is giving me guilt about it, though. 'Cause I need that.

Steph - you were in my thoughts yesterday and I love what you wrote about the hello and goodbye. You're such a brave woman and a great mom.

Staci - congrats on A's teeth. My baby book gives the same advice about biting that Jennifer said... "NO BITE!"

Kerrie - crawling?! WOW! Hey there little over-achiever!

Monica - did your boys seem like they were getting the zoo "experience"? I've hesitated to do that stuff w/ the girls b/c I didn't think they were old enough to really get anything out of it.

Must go get ready - the solo dr. appt. looms
:lovemytwins:
Christel

[JacobsMom]

David and Tate had their 6 month checkups today. Doctor declared them "perfect" yet again! LOL! Tate FINALLY passed up his big brother. He has been trying to catch up to him since birth. Tate weighed in at 19 lbs. and .5 ounces. David was a mere 18 lbs., 15.5 oz. They both are 27" long. Jacob at 6 months was 15 lbs, and 25". He was a late bloomer. He had his big growth spurts between 12 and 18 months. The boys did well with their shots. Only had to get 3 each today. They cried at the sticks, but were quickly soothed with the bottle and went to sleep when they finished them.

We are all almost well again. DH and I are still hanging on to a little bit of a cold. We made it to my MIL's house about 30 minutes before Thanksgiving dinner. It was delicious! BIL and SIL also had bad colds, and they ended up with stomach viruses Fri. and Sat. night. Don't know if we brought it with us, or they had picked it up on their own. We felt bad. I know my MIL hosed down her entire house with Lysol after we left! LOL! I really hope they didn't get sick. I haven't been brave enough to call and ask! I didn't DARE visit with any of my sister's family. My neice is getting married this Saturday, and I wasn't about to risk getting any of them sick the week before the wedding. We are heading back to Mississippi tomorrow night. At least I don't have to drive this time.

PORTRAITS: We had family Christmas portraits done at Sears Sunday night. They came out pretty good, and then I had some taken of just the twins. OMG! They turned out soooo adorable! (Well after I went back Monday and had the GOOD photographer reshoot some of them!) I splurged and got the CD and will attempt to post a link to some of my favorites as soon as I have time. I really wish I could figure out why my slide won't work! GRRR!

CAR SEATS: We are going to shop for them in the next few weeks. We haven't decided what kind to get yet. I like the Evenflo Triumph models, but don't think Jacob would still be able to fit in my backseat between two of them. I drive a Camry, and have no chance of getting a bigger car anytime soon. I'm kinda worried Jacob won't fit between any of them! A couple of moms in my Mothers of Multiples group swear by the Cosco Alpha Omega Elite series. It goes from 5-80 lbs, infant to booster. They sell it at Target and Babies R Us. Those of you who like the Britax, but not the cost - BRU also carries the Fisher Price Safe Voyage Convertible Car Seat that is made by Britax. It lists for $180 and goes from 5-55 lbs. When you purchase your carseats, be sure to ask a manager if they discount for twins. I know that Babies R Us and Burlington Coat Factory will, not sure about anywhere else, but it never hurts to ask.

LOST BABIES: I too have a missing family member. I had a miscarriage in 2001. I had found out on my birthday that I was pregnant, told all of my family at my party, and within 3 days had lost the baby. I had already chosen the date for my scheduled c-section, Oct. 24. I always got really sad around that date remembering the one who wasn't there and getting really depressed each passing year that I still had not been able to have a second child. Last year, when I was almost certain that I was finally pregnant again, I waited until October 24 to take the pregnancy test. It was my way of reclaiming that date as a day of celebration. This year, I didn't really get that emotional about it. I took note of the date, but right now I'm too wrapped up in the special blessings I have now to dwell on the past. I know that I'll meet that baby in Heaven one day, and if my DH is right, I may be surprised to meet a couple more we didn't even know about! I lost both my parents within 9 months of Jacob being born. I like to think the baby I lost is the grandchild they get to enjoy in Heaven, since they physically couldn't be with Jacob any more. A Christian singer, Christy Nockels of Watermark, wrote a song to help her cope with the emotions of having several miscarriages before she had her two children. This song has been such a blessing to me. Here is a link to the lyrics: http://www.sinteticor.com/artist_w/watermark_lyrics/glory_baby_lyrics.html

CHRISTMAS: I have bought Jacob a Hallmark Christmas ornament every year since he was born. They have a series of Baby's 1st Christmas, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th for boys and girls. After his 5th, he had started school and I bought a School themed photo holder ornament for his school picture. I'm really mad cause for some reason this year they didn't make one! I also let him choose one ornament for himself. The year I lost my baby, I bought a special angel ornament as a keepsake. This year I am getting both boys all of the Baby's First Christmas Ornaments.

NURSING WITH TEETH: bottom teeth aren't so bad. When they latch on, the tongue is usually between the bottom gum and the nipple - it's when they get those top ones in you really have to worry!! Neither of the twins have bitten me yet, but I have gotten scraped a little once they fall asleep and start loosing the latch. When Jacob bit me, I immediately took him off and told him sternly NO BITING! He only did it a couple of times and I nursed him for almost 14 months. BTW - those of you who are still nursing, how long do you plan to breast feed? I'm not ready to give it up. I have the opportunity to go away for a weekend retreat in March, but they will only be 9 months old, and I'm not sure I want to give it up before then. Who knows, I may change my mind before then. It's getting really hard to tandem nurse now since they are so big. We still manage for now, but at the rate these kids are growing, I'm not sure they will fit on the pillow in a couple of months!

Well, it's almost 2am and I need to get some sleep. I have to get up early and start to wash and repack all the clothes that we have worn this week. I didn't even bother unpacking from Sunday, so hopefully it won't take all day.

[swineland]

Quick update:

Boys had their 6 month appt. today. Evan weighs 16 lbs. 13ozs and Bailey weighs 16lbs 8ozs. Their heights, respectively, are 27 3/4" and 28". That puts them in the 40th percentile for weight and the 90th percentile for height!

They got a couple vaccines and a flu shot. Both of them did terrific. In fact, when it was Evan's turn, he didn't even make a sound when the first needle went in, he actually looked at the nurse and smiled!! But then the second shot came and he didn't like that too much. They were back to their old selves when we got home.

Also, both boys now officially have 8 teeth a piece. I have a little toothbrush thingy that I use....so cute!

Well, I've got to go fight the bumper and it's 1200 ties so that I can change the crib sheet :banghead:

Hope all is well with everyone...
Steph

[Jillmami]

It's so wonderful to hear how big everyone's babies are getting! Mine are now 14.4 and 11.10 pounds. Quite a bit smaller than most of yours, but a long way from where they started! They are also around 24-25" long.

No teeth here but lots of drooling and gnawing on everything in sight.

We have our county's infant development program coming tomorrow to go over their assessments of the babies. From there, we'll develop a plan as to what they need to improve on, who will be responsible for them, how, and when they should be accomplished by. We are really fortunate with all of the local support we receive. We have a public health nurse come over monthly to weigh/measure the babies, a neonatal nurse from the NANI project comes over once a month to do some basic development assessments, and now we have the infant program.

Steph, it's cute how Evan didn't make a peep the first shot. We had our RSV shot a few weeks ago as well as their first flu shot and as soon as they heard the crinkly paper on the table, they started to cry. Luckily, it doesn't last too long. Those darn shots.

Christel, hope the solo doctor visit went well. I haven't had to do that yet but my dh has twice. He works from home so on the days I work, he takes the babies if we have a dr. appt.

As for Xmas traditions, still trying to come up with something good. We have received so many baby's first xmas ornaments that we are going to have a smaller 'baby' tree this year with just their 1st ornaments.

[christel]

:sunshine: Morning Everyone,

The solo dr. appt. went well. The girls did really well w/ the 2nd dose of the flu shot and Ruby's gained 2 lbs in the past month, so the dr. is pleased. I was hoping she'd put on more than that, but am not surprised. She's only been eating well, w/out pain, for about a week and a half - since starting the meds. This morning she actually finished her bottle before Emme and then asked for more :yippee: That hasn't happened in a LONG time.

Emme's awake - must go...
:lovemytwins:
Christel

[swineland]

:birthday: Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy BIRTHday dear Mindy.......Happy Birthday to YOU!!!!!

:partygirls: <---- that's all of us, doing a little "jig" for your birthday, Mindy!!

I miss you, and hope you are well....

Steph
(please call ANY time!)

[Jillmami]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Mindy!
Hope that you are doing something special for yourself as you so deserve it.

:clap: :woo: :party:

[AndreaR]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MINDY!

:birthdaybabies:


xoxo
AndreaR

[vthompson]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MINDY!!! :party: :birthday: :present: :partygirls:

I hope you are having a fantastic day!!

Just wanted to check in and say hello! Congrats to all the big healthy babies! We go for our 6 month next Friday. Nothing much going on here...just been taking the babies Xmas shopping everyday. I am worn out! I think we will try and lay low next week. It has been so warm here this week. However, the winter weather started settling in today. YUCK!!! Tomorrow, DH and I are going to buy Xmas outfits for the twins and finish our shopping, hopefully!

I hope everyone is doing well. It is so quiet lately...where is everyone? Lisa, Daniele, etc. I am convinced that Ters and Sherry are gone forever. I hope that is not the case, but it sure seems like it!!

Valerie

[michtown]

Hello everyone,
I don't post much but I have followed your threads since Dec. of 2005 when my daughter found out she was pregnant with twins. I have cried with you, laughed with you and prayed for you! I wanted to chime in about the Evenflow Triumph car seat. My daughter had one for my now 2 1/2 yo gson and had to replace it when she moved him in to the back seat of her Mazda MPV minivan as it was too wide. It is one of the wider car seats, I actually got out a tape measure!! He is back there with his 6 yo brother who is in a high backed booster seat (until age 8) and in the middle is his 10 yo brother. Since he was 2 yo and he is now at 37 lb at 2 1/2 years, I cannot remember what we bought but it was not a convertible. The twins are still in their infant seats and are in the middle bucket seats.

A government program that she was on during her pregnancy sent her two Cosco Alpha Omega car seats that are usable from 5 lbs thru 100 lbs. They are inexpensive and extremely well built even of not as plush a some. Here is a link to the carseat:

http://www.coscojuvenile.com/product.asp?productID=562

Here is their more plush version:

http://www.coscojuvenile.com/product.asp?productID=2602

I believe the basic one is priced around $50 and the more plush one is around $160. We will use the basic ones as our second set. I also believe that they have one of the highest safety ratings even though I cannot locate that info at the moment (getting late here). Just wanted to share my experience with these carseats!

[Jillmami]

Regarding car seats, I went to Consumer Reports and the top convertible car seats are: Britax Roundabout, Evenflo Triumph 5, and Cosco Alpha Omega Elite 22-155. These ratings are from 10/06.

Just thought I'd share since we have a subscription to their online ratings.

OK, pumping done! Everyone have a terrific weekend!

[EBTwinz]

Happy Birthday Mindy!!!! :clink: Wish I could've shared a drink w/ you last night!!

Just a quick update, boys had their 6 mo appt yesterday. They were always a pound different (Brady was always smaller). Well, Mr. Peanut caught up!! Ethan is 17lbs, 28 in. Brady is 16.12lb, 28 in. They are in the 90th % for height!! Brady has grown 10 inches since he was born. I can't believe it. They did pretty good w/ the shots. Ethan didn't even cry after the first one. I think his leg was too chubby and he couldn't feel it...LOL! But he was screaming by the 3rd one and held his breath. Brady screamed after all 4 shots but was laughing by the time we left. Ethan had an x-ray on his rib cage b/c it was protruding a little bit but it came back that he was fine.

Thanks to everyone on the info on car seats. I guess I better start researching b/c it won't be long before we have to buy one. They are already hitting the back of the seat w/ their little feet.

Well, I better run. Boys are still sleeping!! I can't believe it!

Valerie: I just emailed you.

Love,
Lisa

[LucasMom]

Oh My God...You guys are so awesome!!! This is the first chance I have had to check the board in a few days, and I am so overwhelmed by you guys once again!! Thank you so much for your birthday wishes! I left early yesterday (no easy feat these days!) and went and had a quick drink with my best friend (she had water, she's pregnant!) before heading off to pick up the boys at my moms. Had a hoagie that I picked up for myself at the store and played with the peanuts before falling asleep. Many of my coworkers gave me cards and gifts, which was sweet. JC was working, and left for work this am at 7ish, so no big change there. All in all, par for the course when you have children. Your birthday is no longer important! Thank you for making me feel so special! You always do! Lucas told me I was the best mommy ever and that was an awesome present. I miss you all very much. Thanks for bringing some :sunshine: to my day...

Love you mamas,:throb: :throb: :throb:

Mindy

[AndreaR]

Jill - OMG! Love the new slide show with the snowflakes. New pics are great! Thanks for info about car seats.

Michtown - thx to you too for car seat info

I think it's going to be a while before we need to move into the next car seats. We go for six month appt on Monday........ stay tuned!

[swineland]

Jill, they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery......with that, I hope you don't mind my copying your snowflake theme on the slide.....it's so cute!!! Puts me in the holiday mood :)

Well, here I sit, drinking my coffee and trying to keep my eyes open. Last night was unexpected. Evan woke up at 2:45 and didn't go back to sleep until 4am and then 15 minutes later Bailey woke up and didn't go back to sleep until 5am and then they BOTH woke up at 6!! :banghead:

Finishing up Xmas decorations today. Got the cutest lighted reindeer for the front yard.....19 bucks at Old Time Pottery! Oh, FYI, if some of you are still looking for gift ideas: I was at Burlington Coat Factory (baby depot) looking at their double strollers (I don't like the duoglider anymore....it's too heavy and whoever has to sit in front looks terribly uncomfortable) Anyway, they have, for $9.99, a little kit to make a round clay handprint tree ornament. I am going to get one each for the grandparents and one for us, of course. It looks really easy and will be a cute way to remember their first Christmas. So, if you can manage to bring along a gallon of hand sanitizer and not touch too many things, you might want to head to Burlington Coat Factory! (I say that because ours is disgusting......I only go when completely necessary)

Traditions: Mine came to me yesterday while standing in line to pay at OTP. I am going to, each year, make the boys an ornament (one for each of them) using a clear glass ball ornament. I am then going to use glass paint and do a different decoration on it every year, including the year and their name. The cool thing is you can take the little top off of the ornament and fill it with something, if you want. Like fake cranberries, or "snow" or whatever. Then every year we'll pull out the ornaments and hang them on the kids' tree! (We want to have our big tree be the "nice" tree and then have another tree just for them that they can decorate and do whatever the heck they want with it.....tinsel, snow, popcorn, whatever)

Car seats: we have decided to go with the Britax/Fisher Price Safe Voyage car seats. I did a bunch of research on them and I know they have the same safety standards as other Britax car seats, but are a little less "plush". It's okay, I just want them to be safe. Plus, these seats go to 55 lbs, whereas others typically only go to 40lbs. (Unless of course you are getting the kind that has a booster too, which usually go to 100) Anyway, BabyCenter.com is having a sale on the Safe Voyage for 20% off, it's 143.99.

Gotta go!
Steph

[Jillmami]

Steph, Aren't those snowflakes on the slide show the cutest as well as being ever so festive! Love them. No problem on the imitation, I just stole the idea from myslide! Sorry to hear about the bad night with the boys. Hopefully that won't continue! Thanks also for the input on the car seats. We don't need to switch for quite a while since ours are still a bit tiny. I have a good file of research that keeps growing so that's good. Love the idea of the xmas ornament too. We are planning on doing a kids' tree as well. My husband and I go to one of those 'do it yourself' pottery places every year for our anniversary. Sometimes we will each do a plate, bowl, whatever piece we might need. We decorate some design having to do with that year for each other. It's quite fun regardless of my lack of artistic talent. :crazy: We were thinking of doing that with the kids each year on their birthday. Might be fun to give them a collection of their 'art' work when they get ready to, dare I say this, leave the house when they get older. Re: the ornaments, love the decorating one each year. I do that with my students actually. They take the top off, drop in a few colors of acrylic paint and swirl away. Makes for interesting designs. So exciting to begin new traditions!!

Enjoy the rest of the weekend! OH, Noah is in his first 'magazine' shoot Sunday. :lol: It's for a local magazine and we get free pics of him. Plus, the lady said that the photog. will more than likely take some of both of them so we can get 1 free copy and then order more if we like. Should be fun and it's at the park. The weather has been so nice we will make a day of it. I guess that's one advantage of not only having twins, but having them be multi-ethnic. Hopefully it won't go to his head.:cool:

[Jillmami]

Felisha,
Just checked out the site. HOW CUTE are those babies! Love the video as well. Just adorable!!:clap:

[swineland]

Felisha,
Your babies are so darn cute!! SO glad you're back......you are always such an inspiration to us and I was wondering where you'd gone!

Hope everyone had a good weekend :)

Steph

[swineland]

Real quick...here is a link to the car seats I ordered......

http://www.specialtybaby.com/fiprsavodeco1.html

They are on sale and free shipping. This is the site where we ordered our cribs as well, so I know they are reputable.

Steph

[Jillmami]

And then there was one...
I guess all the mommies are out doing some shopping? Hopefully you are getting some good things if that's the case. Here's to a good week of growing and learning!

[AndreaR]

Felisha - I know that Maclaren makes a good double stroller that folds up pretty small. It's pricey, though. When my sister went to Florida to visit our parents last winter, she rented everything - even beach toys - for the week they were there. Maybe you could find a place to rent a double stroller while you are in MO? If not, I think you would find that you will use an umbrella-type stroller quite a bit in the future, especially as the kids get bigger.

I'm sitting here hoping Isabelle will go back to sleep. She's smiilng and talking to herself (to her hand). Doesn't seem very interested in going back to sleep.

I've been too busy and/or too tired to post much lately, but things are going relatively well here. We had our six month check up today (yesterday). Izzy weighs 13 lbs 5 oz, and she is is 25.75 inches long. Maddie weighs 13 lbs 1.5 oz and is 25.5 inches long. They did pretty well with the shots. Madeline has been miserable in general lately. We can't figure out whether it's her teeth, reflux, or constipation. We're trying to treat all three, and we're hoping for a turn around soon. It's been a bit exasperating, but I try to remind myself that it could be so much worse.

I've been trying to take a good picture of them (in their Christmas dresses) for our Christmas card. First they have to be awake at the same time, then they have to both be in a relatively good mood, THEN we have to get them into the dresses and finally we have to get a good picture. So far, it hasn't worked. I already ordered the cards - they kind you stick the picture in - and I'm feeling under the gun to get the picture taken.

Oh I am so tired, please Izzy, go to sleep!

xo
AndreaR

[AndreaR]

Is anyone feeding plain yogurt to their babies? I did this with DS (stoneyfield farm, whole milk), but I can't remember when I started. ...maybe 8 months...but he LOVED it. I know it is not the same as milk in terms of how it digests, and i don't think it has the same allergy potential. I should have asked the pediatrician the other week, but forgot!

Jennifer


Jennifer - my pedi recommended yogurt to us today. we are just starting to give them veggies and he suggested that we try yogurt as an additional texture. i bought the stoneyfield soy yogurt, because i'm still a little skeptical about giving them cow's milk before they're one. we gave them some this afternoon and they LOVED it.

[vthompson]

Hello Ladies!! We have been so busy lately with Christmas shopping, hockey, etc. However, I have been reading posts, just have not had much time to post myself. Well, winter has finally arrived here in the great state of Ohio...woke up to a snow covered ground! It is going to be a pain in the butt to take the babies out now.

Car Seats - We are going to keep them in the infant carriers as long as possible. My BIL has 2 forward facing car seats that we can use from his kids. I really do not want to buy anything before then...they are so darn expensive.

Xmas Cards - We bought their outfits this past weekend...we are going to attempt to take pics on Saturday. They have their shots on Friday so we will see how it goes! I also feel stressed out, like we need to get them done ASAP.

Yogurt - Have not tried it yet. Interested to see what other peds say. Maybe I will ask on Friday.

Felisha - I am so glad you are back! I was worried you had left forever!

Well, I have a million and one things to do as usual! Talk to everyone later!

Valerie

[vthompson]

BTW, Felisha - That website is so cute!! The video was adorable...I cannot believe how strong they both are!

Valerie

[vthompson]

Someone emailed this to me...I thought it was cute!

WHY I LOVE MOM

Mom and Dad were watching TV when Mom said, "I'm tired, and it's getting late. I think I'll go to bed"

She went to the kitchen to make sandwiches for the next day's lunches.

Rinsed out the popcorn bowls, took meat out of the freezer for supper the following evening, checked the cereal box levels, filled the sugar container, put spoons and bowls on the table and started the coffee pot for brewing the next morning.

She then put some wet clothes in the dryer, put a load of clothes into the washer, ironed a shirt and secured a loose button

She picked up the game pieces left on the table, put the phone back on the charger and put the telephone book into the drawer.

She watered the plants, emptied a wastebasket and hung up a towel to dry.

She yawned and stretched and headed for the bedroom. She stopped by the desk and wrote a note to the teacher, counted out some cash for the field trip, and pulled a text book out from hiding under the chair.

She signed a birthday card for a friend, addressed and stamped the envelope and wrote a quick note for the grocery store. She put both near her purse.

Mom then washed her face with 3 in 1 cleanser, put on her Night solution & age fighting moisturizer, brushed and flossed her teeth and filed her nails.

Dad called out, "I thought you were going to bed."

"I'm on my way," she said.

She put some water into the dog's dish and put the cat outside, then made sure the doors were locked and the patio light was on.

She looked in on each of the kids and turned out their bedside lamps and TV's, hung up a shirt, threw some dirty socks into the hamper, and had a brief conversation with the one up still doing homework.

In her own room, she set the alarm; laid out clothing for the next day, straightened up the shoe rack. She added three things to her 6 most important things to do list. She said her prayers, and visualized the accomplishment of her goals.

About that time, Dad turned off the TV and announced to no one in particular. "I'm going to bed."

And he did...without another thought.

Anything extraordinary here? Wonder why women live longer...?

CAUSE WE ARE MADE FOR THE LONG HAUL.....(and we can't die sooner, we still have things to do!!!!)

[megzmom]

hi miss you all. Been reading but not much to say. Same ole same ole.

Car seats-ouch! can't imagine spending that much. OUr police station will swap out old ones for new ones. I am soo broke I might have to do that. I didnt change dd until she was 11mths. Didnt know about weight issues until you all :crazy:

Ben-well crazy kid is starting to wake up at 3am and keep waking back up until 5!!! Poor dh. He is off on M/T so he has been up both mronigns and he is a walking zombie. I am afraid of tomorrow when he goes back. He is gone by 4am so I am on my own!!! I have been so spoiled. Both boys slept since 6-7weeks through the entire night.
I am not sure if it is the bumper? We finally took his off because his head somehow ends up under the bumper.

[megzmom]

hi miss you all. Been reading but not much to say. Same ole same ole.

Car seats-ouch! can't imagine spending that much. OUr police station will swap out old ones for new ones. I am soo broke I might have to do that. I didnt change dd until she was 11mths. Didnt know about weight issues until you all :crazy:

Ben-well crazy kid is starting to wake up at 3am and keep waking back up until 5!!! Poor dh. He is off on M/T so he has been up both mronigns and he is a walking zombie. I am afraid of tomorrow when he goes back. He is gone by 4am so I am on my own!!! I have been so spoiled. Both boys slept since 6-7weeks through the entire night.
I am not sure if it is the bumper? We finally took his off because his head somehow ends up under the bumper.

Eating-I put real bananas in a mesh sucking thing we got and they really like it. I put them in their high chairs while we eat dinner and they are so darn cute!

[mmzill]

Hey ladies -

Just checking in. I too have been really busy! We decorated for Christmas this weekend. That was fun. DD really enjoyed the tree decorating and the boys really like it all too. Most of our shopping is done....thank goodness, now to get it wrapped.

Valerie - I was thinking about you yesterday, wondering if you had gotten snow yet. It has been so darn cold here! But I'm sure it's worse up there.

Thanks for the links on the car seats. I didn't realize they had seats that went up to 100 lbs. We will probably get two of those types seats when we need to, but are going to keep the babies in the carriers as long as possible. I also appreciate someone mentioning the ratings from ConsumerReport. I was wondering what they had to say, but do not have a subscription, so I couldn't find out. About the Evenflo one that we have for DD– they are really wide, if you are concerned about that, I would go to a store and measure them first.

Well, I've finally started feeding the boys regularly. Anthony is doing really well. I’ve been giving him about 4 Tablespoons of oatmeal with formula twice a day– he seems to like it. We tried Sweet potatoes today and that went fairly well. Nathan is a different story!!! Last Thursday I got him to eat oatmeal mixed with Breastmilk, but since them he won’t open his mouth for anything! It’s so aggravating. I’m afraid that he is never going to want to eat. (I can’t handle that!!!!! I’m so over Breastfeeding!!! But we are still plugging along.) I think that he is having such a hard time because he was given AWFUL vitamins by mouth when he was still in the hospital. He would puck just about everything back up after he would take that, so I think he just doesn’t like different tasting foods. I don’t know what to do. He doesn’t weigh that much yet, 14 or so lbs, but still I’m afraid he’s going to get too old and not like to eat. They are 8 months already!! (6mos adjusted)

They are both sitting up pretty well too. Anthony especially - he has really started reaching for toys in from of him too, and today he was on his belly and pushed himself around the room that way. It was so cute. Nathan sits up for a while but likes to arch his back. They both have lots of fun in the jumper seat. Someone mentioned their kid pulling up! Wow, that’s great! (but my guys are no where close! DD took her first steps at 8 ½ mos….not these boys!)

No rolling over – they seem to be happy whichever way they are put.

I hope everyone is enjoying their time shopping or whatever is keeping us all away from posting. I know this is a very busy time of year. But it’s so much fun!

~Monica

[megzmom]

MOnica-your boys are sitting up by themselves? My boys ar ethe opposite. They roll but dont sit. Zack can balance for a few seconds before falling over. Ben likes to stand but can't pull up.

[Daniele'sTwins]

Well hello everyone! I have not forgotten about you guys I have just been SO busy ( I know you must all understand)!

First off Happy Birthday Mindy! :birthdaybabies:

Second...I HONESTLY think the babies born on our thread are the most BEAUTIFUL babies ever!!! I know that everyone thinks their own babies are the absolute cutest but COME ON NOW! They are ALL so stinking cute!

OK, so I have been staying at my mothers this week because we are painting the walls in my house. My house is only 2 years old but I did not have any "guts" when we were building to add too much color at the time. So most of the walls in my house were off white. Now, I am painting my living room a caramel color and kitchen a cranberry, etc. All my furniture is going into the basement and we have all new furniture being delivered tomorrow. I am so excited BUT I am So homesick. I just want to be back in my house so badly! Living with my parents gives me such anxiety! I feel like I need Xanax just to get me through this. My parents are very controlling and my mother's parents live next door so they are here all the time and my grandmother keeps telling me that she feeds better than me and that when I dance around the house with the boys I shake them too hard and they are going to get brain damage! They love the bouncing so I told her that is just if I was to shake them not bounce them around and she said ..."that's what you think!" UGH!

MY babes....We had our 6 month check up on Thursday and my DH took the entire day off to be with us! Now, those of you that know my dh, know how BIG that was. Well...Nico is 18.3lbs and Luca is 18.6lbs and they are both 26 inches long. For height they are in the 50th% and weight 75th%.

Reunion...I had my 10 year reunion the night after Thanksgiving (I think Lisa did too, right) and I had a BLAST! I was a little tipsy (DRUNK) after just one martini! Then I continued to have more but my friends promised me that I was a "fun drunk" and not a "sloppy drunk". I can't stand "sloppy drunk". I saw my HS sweetheart (and college...7years!) and he looked terrible!!!! That was the best part of course. He got really chubby and he is balding on top and he is even shorter then I remember. I usually LOVE bald/balding ( i know weird but true) but not on him ;-) BUT it was so nice to catch up with him. I also talked to this one girl that I had a falling out with 9 years ago and we told each other how much we miss each other...so it was a very good night.

Steph... I emailed you a few days ago, I hope you got it.

Car Seats...I changed mine about a month ago, my boys are chubby and then when you add a coat, the infant carrier just wasn't cutting it anymore. I have the Eddie Bauer one and DON'T love it too much. I miss the Graco Infant one so much.

Sleep...I have moved the boys bedtime down to 7pm. They were going to bed at about 8 and I was so scared to push it back because I thought they would just get up earlier but that is not what happened at all! For the past week I put them Down at 7pm awake but tired in the crib and within 5 mins they are sleeping. Then they wake up for the pacifier a few times in the night and I still go in there even though I know I should just let them sooth themselves (too hard). They wake up at about 6am and I give them each a 9 oz bottle and right back to bed they go until 8:30-8:45am!!! So I can either go back to bed myself or I could get so much done in the morning. (I hope I didn't just jinx myself)

Christmas Shopping...DONE over here. I have been shopping since August though. I did most of it online and early because I have a very big family and with the boys I knew I wouldn't have any time.

I know there is more to write about but I have to go back and catch up I feel like i have been a bad friend. Ok, I am going to go read...be back!

Love you guys~!:sunshine:

[Daniele'sTwins]

I have snow now too...and all new pics!

Love,
Me

[qbanmom5]

OOOOOOOMG its been soo long and all of your babies are ADORABLE! I never seem to have time to log on and just when I start tyoing I need to stop. The babes are awesome. Luke is 17.7 and Leia is 17.13. She took the lead again in weight finally. Luke is 26 1/4 inches and Leia is 25. needless to say, a butterball. They laugh and coo and are soo cute. I haven't had time to read but wondering if you all are still getting up 4-5 times a night like me. Usually at 11:00, 2:00 4:00 and 6:00. Stinks. I saw Stephs babies sitting, and mine arent sitting yet. I can sit them but within 15 seconds they fall forward or to the side. They eat fruits, veggies, cereal. They love it all. Still on stinky soy formula. Gotta go but I really want to update my slide so you can see them!" miss you all sooo much. Work is o.k. talk to yu later and srry for the typos. babe in hand. Ters

[AndreaR]

Ters & Daniele! so glad to see you and glad to hear that your babies are doing well. sorry but i don't have time to post any more than that.

[qbanmom5]

Can you tell me how you got your slides on here? I updated mine and when I try to save it as my signature it tells me its too many characters. I am trying manually...CLick the link. I don't know why but its the only way...

http://2656817408.slide.com/p/0/Luke

[Daniele'sTwins]

Ters...just go to slide.com and edit your slide and it will automatically update on your signature...very easy!

[mmzill]

Heather - Anthony sits up really well. I still put pillows behind him though just in case. I put the boppy around Nathan. That works really well. But they don't fall forward, mostly back.

[vthompson]

Ters - I really thought you were gone forever!! I am so glad you are back!! All of your children look so much a like! I can't believe it!!! I really hope you have some time to post...we miss you!!!

Daniele - I am so glad you are back, too!! It has been so long since you have posted. The boys look great!

Sitting up - Mine are not sitting up yet...they can do it for a little bit and then they fall over.

Monica - Has it snowed by you yet? It is darn cold here! Just last week at this time, it was in the 60's! Crazy weather!!

Well, I wanted to post more, especially with some of our MIA moms back, but babies are yelling at me...yes, yelling! Kayley likes to yell at us now. I really hope this is not a preview into her teenage years!

Valerie

[Kimberly0206]

My boys are not sitting or crawling yet I think it's coming though. They are finnally sleeping all night. What are some of the ages your kiddos started to crawl.

[sgarrett]

Been gone forever, it sounds like everyone is crazy busy too. I had to take my son to the hospital last night after his basketball game. He was going up to dunk the ball and this kid swiped his legs while he was in the air and he came down hard on his head! It scared me so bad. He was not knocked out just dazed real bad. And embarrassed that mommy came running out on the court! We went to the ER and got a CT, he is OK, just cannot play anymore until the headache goes away. Did not get home last night till 3:00am. This is his 2nd concussion in two weeks during a game! You think when they are little that once they are "big" you will not have to constantly worry, WRONG it never ends!

Babies are doing great, Aiden two teeth are so darn cute! They have their 6 month appt the 13th. Aiden is rolling around everywhere, very funny. He also manages to "scoot" around on his tummy a little. Isabelle rolls every once in a while. She loves to "stand" though, her little legs are so strong! (and chubby) They are no where near sitting up though.

Car seats: What weight do you have to change them out of the infant carrier car seats?

Christmas cards: We took the babies and Chase to see Santa. It was so funny I have all three of them in Santa's lap. Chase is 6' 4"! Santa's eyes got real big when he saw him coming! We are going to make cards from the pic - they turned out too cute! I can never get pics of the babies smiling though. They are ALWAYS smiling until they see the camera! They freeze and stare at it.

Bumbers: The other night Aiden was screaming and I was trying to wait 10 min before going in. I went in and his head was stuck completely under the bumbers, it was awful. He was fine once I picked him up, but I felt terrible. I could not stop crying thinking that he was in distress and mommy did not come immediately. I was so worried that he might have been without air too, I woke him up in the middle of the night just to play with him and see if he seemed OK. What do you do? Without bumbers they can get their arm or leg stuck, and now I am worried he is going to suffocate under the bumbers/ Any suggestions???????

Christmas traditions: I love the ornament every year idea, unfortunately I do not have a creative bone in my body, so they will have to get the store bought ones. I bought two baby's 1st Christmas ornaments at Hallmark. It was so hard to find some I liked. The ones I got are"OK" but I did not love them. My mom used to hide our stockings, I do that now with Chase. We also open one gift every year on Christmas eve. I like the idea someone put on here about wrapping Santa's gift in different paper, I think we will start that as well. When Chase was little we made cookies and decorated them together, I would like to start that again. My mom did that as well.

Have a great day ladies, sorry I have been gone!

Staci

[megzmom]

Staci-the bumper thing happened to me a couple of times. I never had this with dd. Totally think we need to invent a bumper pad that slides under the mattress like a mattress skirt.

okay phone ringing....

[qbanmom5]

Hi all, are yours crawling? no crawling here yet. just serious scooting. ok, i went to slide.com, edited my slide and copied the code and tried to paste it onto my signature here like I did before. Now it says I have more than 500 characters. Why? ters

[Jillmami]

Glad to see some of the "regulars" back on the board! Love seeing the babies grow and hearing all of the exciting news about them. Felisha, you have some crawling fiends on your hands. Looks as if they are really doing a great job! No crawling here. Noah can sit up by himself although today he had fun falling backwards on purpose and then laughing about it. He also delights in hearing himself screech and squeal. He will lie there for 20 minutes or so grabbing his toes, trying to get them in his mouth, and squealing. It's quite funny. TJ will look at him, then at me and smile as if to say, "he is a total nut job mom."

Well, my work week is done so I get to enjoy the babies all day until Monday.:clap: Unfortunately my dh is going out of town for a commercial shoot for 10 days so I'll be on my own. Wouldn't mind except for trying to keep the pumping up 6x/day on my own is challenging at times; even with the 'hands-free' bra.:crazy:

As for the bumper problems, we never used them. Noah does cover the entire area of his crib nightly. He has also figured out how to turn on some of his musical crib toys in the am which is nice. He's good about entertaining himself so we can get some extra sleep.

Enjoy the rest of your week ladies. Sounds as if a lot of you have your Xmas shopping done and can relax.

[vthompson]

I can't sleep and I am so annoyed about it! I went to bed around 9pm and woke up at 11:30 to Kayley making noises...I have not been able to get back to sleep.

Crawling - No crawling here yet. I can't believe your little movers, Felisha!!

Bumpers - We took ours off...more so because the nurse at the hospital made me completely paranoid that the babies would suffocate with them in there...now I realize how ridiculous that was...however, I blame it on being a new mom and lack of sleep (lol). Both babies move all over the crib and we have not had too many problems. Sometimes, Corey sticks his hand and/or leg out. I think he does it because he thinks it is funny.

Jill - I was laughing at your explanation of TJ looking at you as if her brother is crazy! I feel like Kayley does the same thing sometimes. Corey is definitely more amused at things like foot eating then his sister. In fact, he is fascinated with trying to grab her foot and put it in his mouth. It is so funny when she "yells" at him!

Staci - It has been forever! I am glad you found time to post. I am just so happy that some of our missing moms are back!

Lisa - How are you? I emailed you a few days ago. I hope everything is ok.

So, I found the greatest deal. We have a grocery store chain around here called Tops. They are going out of business so everything in the store is 40-60% off. I found our very expensive formula for $14 a can!!! I could not believe it. Normally, it is $23 at that store and $19 at BRU. I bought 15 cans. The sick part is that each can only lasts us about 2 days or so. The Alimentum is about half the size of the other Similac cans. Someone just gave me a bunch of coupons so I think I am going to go back and get some more. It is expensive up front, but you cannot beat the price in the long run!

Well, I guess I should try and go to sleep. I have a full day with my mom and the twins. She wants me to come Xmas shopping with her. It is supposed to be very cold and snowy today. Dragging the twins out should be interesting! I swear it seems like the nights before we have a busy day planned, I sleep like crap and I am exhausted the next day.

Valerie

[vthompson]

BTW, Daniele - I LOVE the pic of the boys sitting in the chairs with the Santa outfits. They are too funny!!

Jill - I cannot believe you pump that many times a day! That is amazing. How do you find the time? Do you still put them on the breast or do you just give them the pumped milk? Just curious! You should be proud of yourself...pumping is A LOT of work!

Valerie

[Jillmami]

Valerie, I pump around 5-6 times a day. That's all the babies get; by bottle. They just never really took to the breast. We still have quite a bit of milk in our deep freezer so that helps when I have a busy day where I can't pump as much as they need. I am hoping to do breastmilk for a year. Only have 3 more months to go so we'll see. It is tiring.

Oh, Valerie, thanks for reminding me about Daniele's new pics.

Daniele, they are just the cutest those pictures. How adorable!!

Valerie, GET SOME SLEEP and have fun shopping. I used to live in Ohio (Marietta and Upper Arlington/Columbus) so I know how cold it can get. I don't miss that at all.

[AndreaR]

Jill - I give you SOOO much credit for pumping for so long. Not everyone could do that. I cracked up when I read about TJ's "he's a total nut job" look.

Daniele - I love the Santa outfits, too. The boys are gorgeous!

Christmas shopping - I just barely started. I am so stressed out about it, because I don't know when I'm going to have time to do it all. I am trying to do most of it online, but I find that is hard to do unless you know exactly what you want to buy.

We are not crawling nor are we sitting up. Isabelle can roll over, and she does it all the time. Madeline rolls to her side, but that's it so far.

Isabelle's new trick is to roll over in her crib. I put her down on her back, but she flips onto her belly. It made me really nervous at first, because she was kind of lying with her head straight into the mattress. When I go in and flip her over, she gets really mad. Also, I let her fall asleep with her lovey, and once she's asleep I take it out of her crib. I dont like her being on her belly with the lovey in there. Should I insist on flipping her over to her back? She doesn't do it herself yet, or I would worry less. I think it's kind of weird that she's doing this, because she doesn't love to be on her belly very much. She never liked to sleep on it.

We have bumpers on the cribs, and they don't seem to be a problem yet. Isabelle actually likes to feel the ruffle at the top of the bumper when she's falling asleep or playing in her crib.

Still no teeth, but both girls seem to be very uncomfortable and drooling a LOT! Maddie is on Motrin pretty much around the clock. Isabelle seems to handle it a little better. I tried Hyland's teething tablets, because they seem to get rave reviews from so many parents, but they didn't seem to help Madeline. Also, my pedi had never heard of them. I thought that was kind of weird since they seem so popular.

I'm going to try to add a slide to my signature. I created one the other night, but I couldn't get it to work here.

Have a good day!
AndreaR

[AndreaR]

OMG - FINALLY!! the slide show is working. thanks felisha for the instrux!

[qbanmom5]

thanks fel! will write more later xoxo

[JERSEYGEMINI]

Look at all these big, round happy babies! I love all the new slide pictures for the holidays. I just adore older babies-- 6 months on-- they have so much personality and become fun to play with.

Thanks Andrea for the yougurt update. I haven't tried it yet, but will have DH pick some up at the store soon! My two have had cereals, sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, peaches, pears, avocados, apples, and peas so far. They eat a little better each day. I found that when they hate something they seem to like it when it's presented a few days later. Except for peas!

Has anyone tried those "breathable bumpers"? BRU sells them. They seem to rest close to the sides. I have found Mason tangled in the bumpers a few times now and it scares me. BUt, without the bumpers, he get stuck between the rail! Ugh!

We got our new car seat and I LOVE it. I just couldn't cram 18 lb Mason into his infant seat anymore.
It is the Alpha Omega-in Alpine Blue (this gets better reviews than the more expensive model with arm rests)-- from BRU. It is super soft and cushy, supportive, lots of room, and it can be a booster seat so it goes up to 80 pounds. Now I want two! We have an old graco comfortsport that I'm using for Isabella.

How is everyone else getting around without carriers? Isn't it a pain? I had to pullout the side by side umbrella stroller that we got (we have one by chicco that I like well enough). It is just so much work to get out! I miss my snap and go. The babies wake up when I transfer them from stroller to carseat. Also, for example, when I was picking up DS from his play date today, I had to carry the babies into the house one at a time to visit for a while...or when I have to pick him up at school...what will I do? Get out the stroller to walk 20 feet? Has anyone tried putting one in a sling and using a single stroller for the other? I'm thinking that might be easier to get around....less crashing into merchandise at stores, too!:crazy:

Alright, time for some more online shopping! It's the best way to do it this year!

take care,
Jennifer

[Daniele'sTwins]

Jill...OK, I want to jump in the screen for those cheeks!!!!

Andrea...I love the new pics! My favorite is the kissing pic! As for flipping Izzy, your the mom and you know best but if she is flipping then I am sure she is fine now.

Stroller...I am using the side by side PegPerego and it is the same width as a wheelchair so I can get through all doorways and handicapped bathroom stalls...plus the boys love being side by side so they can hold hands.

Sitting up...They have been doing it for about a month now but believe it or not they have only rolled over once each!!!! and that was just recently!

crawling...nope

playing with each other...I put them side by side in the exersaucers and they CRACK UP laughing at each other, it is the cutest thing ever! They also love when I come down the stairs with the other one while they are waiting downstairs...I love to see their reaction to each other!

Teeth... Nico has none but Luca has 2 now.

Am I missing anything?

[sgarrett]

Wow, now I am really wanting a side by side stroller! I was afraid they would be too wide when I was originally shopping. We have the Graco duo glider, it is so big and cumbersome! Do they make an umbrella double stroller?

Danielle: Aren't your boys identical? I thought they would get their teeth at the same time. Just curious. Love the new pic of you on your slide, you look beautiful!


Felisha: I am so glad to see my Tennessee buddy is back! The babies look great! I cannot beleive they are crawling already. I am so scared of crawling, they keep me hopping now! Gloworms, I loved those when Case was little, I have not seen them anywhere recently. That must be great to have your mom help with all the shopping, will she adopt me?:crazy:

Valerie: Sorry about the sleeping issues, that is so aggravating! I have trouble sleeping from time to time too. Like babies waking up all night long isn't enough.

Jill: You mentioned that your DH is out of town for a commercial shoot. What does he do? That sounds kinda exciting!

Ters: Glad to see your back, Luke and Leia are adorable!

Aiden has had really bad chapping with all of this dry winter air. Called the doc today they reccomend either Aquaphore or Cetaphil lotion. Anyone else out there having dry baby skin issues? What are you using?

We are leaving for Gatlinburg after Chase's bball game tonight. He probaly will not even get to play and their is a college coach coming to watch him. We will not get to Gatliburg until probaly 3:00am and we are turning around and leaving Sunday morning. I am dreading this trip. It is such a long drive for one day! We are renting a cabin with all of my in laws to celebrate Christmas together. I love them all, but what the heck am I going to do in Gatlinburg with two little ones? It is too cold to take them out all day. I do not even like it there anyway! I am trying to decide what to pack for the babies, I think we are taking the exercauser and the swing. But what do I feed them in, has anyone tried feeding them without a highchair? I feel like we should rent a fricken U Haul just for baby gear!

Staci

[Daniele'sTwins]

Staci...i just called my DH about the dry skin. He says Aquaphore is an oil base so he is not crazy about it. He said your best choice for a baby with dry skin is Eucerin lotion.

[Jillmami]

Staci,

My dh is a writer. He gets a check for writing commercials however he writes other things (like potential screenplays, etc.) in his "spare" time. If you happen to see a McDonald's commercial where there is a mime in it, he wrote that spot. They are filming two more McD's spots 12/10 - 12/19 down in LA. It's an interesting job to say the least. I went with him for a few radio spots he did for California Boating Safety that Eve Plumb did. (Brady Bunch's Jan) She was quite nice.

I can't remember if anyone lives in NC or not, but we are more than likely moving there next year. We have to wait until TJ has her surgeries but we are looking at Charlotte and Raleigh/Durham areas. Anyone have any suggestions/input from personal experience or from family/friends? If so, I'd love to hear it.

Well, our the ladies from the County Dept. of Ed. will be here soon for our weekly therapy session. Today is our first one. Should be good to get some good activities to help them get stronger with physical skills. Although Noah sits up all by himself with no help needed. That's about it though. Enjoy your weekends everyone!

[AndreaR]

Jill - a good friend of mine just moved to the Raleigh area. She is a little homesick for New England, but she really does like it down there. They live in Apex, although they are currently renting and not sure where they want to buy. They just moved this summer. Also, my best friend's sister moved to Charlotte (from Long Island, NY) about ten years ago, and she absolutely loves it there. Just curious....why NC? Let us know how the physical therapy goes, if you get a chance. We have someone come for Maddie every other week. Mostly she shows us ways to play with her to help her progress. The therapist doesn't think she's that far behind any more. It is nice to see progress and feel like the gap between her and Isabelle is closing.

Oh, I am sooo tired and glad that it's Friday night. I look forward to weekends with DH so much. Hopefully we will be getting our tree tomorrow (if the girls cooperate) and we'll spend the rest of the weekend decorating it and the house. I wanted to get some of it down last weekend and this week, but I haven't had time. Like I said, HOPEFULLY we'll get it done this weekend.

[Jillmami]

Andrea, we are thinking NC because it's beautiful there, it's in between my husband's family and mine, we each have a few friends that live in various places... We are both ready for a change. We absolutely LOVE CA but it's so expensive! We like to spend money on having fun and want to be able to do lots of things with the kids when they get older without having to take out loans.

As to our therapy session, I took a baby and our OT had one. Normally there will be two women here, but one was sick. She showed us a few stretch ideas to get them kicking their legs up separately and not just together, some things to do on a big exercise ball which Noah loved, and a few ideas of how to sit them up so that their hip/leg area is bent at 90 deg. as well as their knees and ankles. They are prone to go up on tippy toes due to lack of fetal position in utero. They need to not focus on the back muscles which are already stronger than the front ones. Noah sat by himself playing with a ball and shaking it around. She was amazed at his balance since she just saw him a week ago and he was still wobbly and wasn't sitting up all that well let alone on his own. He is really doing well with the sitting. Getting better at pushing himself up too from his tummy even though he is not fond of it. Will roll over from time to time also.

I am glad to hear that Maddie has pretty much caught up. How wonderful!! :clap: I didn't know she was behind. She looks great in pictures. We have so many different ladies/groups that come over it's great to get the extra support. I won't turn it down! We have county nurses to assess weight monthly, a NICU nurse assess monthly any issues we want, the OT and educ. spec. weekly, and also a county resource that will help us get free respite care as well as partial reimbursement for our nanny. So not bad. I figure any bit helps.

Wow, that was a longer ramble than I had anticipated! Sorry!! If anyone has any suggestions for nice family-centered locations, please share. We love the idea of being not too far from the coast.:sunshine:

[AndreaR]

It's very quiet here this weekend - I hope you all are enjoying yourselves.

We just put the girls down for a nap and are waiting for them to fall asleep. We are hoping to start decorating the tree during this nap, and then finish it in bits and pieces throughout the day.

My mom bought the girls the cutest christmas ornaments, and we're going to put their names and the year on them. I'm going to try to do that every year from now on. And once they are big enough to make ornaments and help decorate the tree, I am giving them their own tree. I know this sounds horrible, but I am a control freak when it comes to my Christmas tree. It all has to (kind of) match and I have a few fragile ornaments. So we'll have a grown up tree and a girls tree. I hope they see it as a good thing, like they get their OWN tree, instead of "Don't touch mommy's tree." We'll see how that goes.


Friday night we had a dual meltdown when we tried to put the girls to bed. DH and I wrestled with them for about four hours. We finally gave up and went to bed, bringing the girls with us. Of course, both babies fell asleep right away. We've never done that before (not with both of them, sometimes with Madeline), and I really don't want to start any bad habits, but we were so exhausted. Last night went so much better. Both girls went down easily and EARLY! DH and I actually sat and watched a whole movie! I think it was the first time since the girls were born.

Well, have a nice rest of the weekend everybody.

AndreaR

ps. Jill - Maddie has a big exercise ball (it's actually an inflatible beach ball) and it's really helped her strengthen the muscles needed for sitting up (although she's not there quite yet).

[Jillmami]

Wow, it is really quiet around here. Did I miss something but where has TMOT/Sherri been? Haven't heard from her in quite a while it seems.

Hope everyone had a great weekend. We actually took the kids to get pics with Santa today. THey were great during the 1 hr wait but couldn't muster any smiles for the photo. No crying, but since they aren't morning babies, they were just as mellow as can be. The picture actually is cute even though I would have preferred smiles. We got some at home with smiling so it's ok. Looking forward to seeing others' Santa pictures.

OK, quick question... do any of you use BabyFirst TV or baby videos? If so, how often? I notice that when my dh is out of town, the BabyFirst channel comes in handy when I have to pump as they kids enjoy watching certain programs. Noah even bounces with the music on certain segments. I have to put Noah in his high chair because he hates leaning back. He can pull himself up to a sitting position in the bouncy chair so we'll have to not use those or else keep a real close eye on him. He LOVES to sit up; especially on the couch like a big boy.

Pumping over. Talk with you all later.

[mmzill]

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. Ours was nice, nothing big really, but nice to have dh home some.....oh and (sorry for tmi in advance) my dd pooped on her potty today!! TWICE! I was so excited. She just turned two. We'll see if that trend continues.....

About North Carolina. I grew up in Murphy (very most western part of the state) and went to High School near Asheville. I'd move back to Asheville in a heartbeat. It is so beautiful there. We like to do stuff outdoors, so that was a great place to be. So many mountains and rivers. Anyways - that's the part of NC that I like! My dh's mom lives there, so we do get back fairly often.

Baby Videos- DD watches alot of the Baby Eisntein ones and the boys like them pretty well. I only have the ones for 1+yrs. I really like them. They are so educational. Another great set for future reference is the Leap Frog Alphabet Factory, Words Factory, and Math Circus. The Alphabet Factory had Alaina knowing the letters and sounds by 19 mos. Call me bias, but I think that was pretty good! :)

Nathan still won't have anything to do with food. Just clenches his jaw and turns his head. I don't know what I"m going to do with him. Oh well.

Love seeing all the new pics! It's so hard to believe how big all the babies are getting. This thread definetly has cutest kids.

Well, it's getting late.
~Monica

[qbanmom5]

Hi all! We do have the cutest babies. They are all sooo adorable. Does Sherri still come on here? I miss her. HAven't seen Stephs post in a few days either but then I am not one here a whole lot.

No teeth on either yet. What about you all? All my others were late teethers though too.

What is the best diaper rash ointment. Leia got a bad rash from amoxicillin and it won't clear up all the way. What do you all recommend?

Gotta go-I'm at work
Ters

PS: Monica, Every time I see your pictures I want to move to West Virginia! It looks beautiful!

[vthompson]

I feel like I have been away forever...I truly missed coming on here...I am with Lisa, it seems with the holidays that we have been on the go non stop...the babies have been very cranky so I think they have had enough.

They have both been getting up the past few nights...they have been screaming as if in pain...I have to assume that their gums are really bothering them. When the heck does the stupid teeth come in? It seems as though they have been teething forever but no teeth! I feel so bad for them.

We had our 6 mo on Friday, everyone is doing well. Corey is 16, 3 and Kayley is 14, 7. I asked her about their flat spots, Kayley's is much worse then Corey's. She said that it will probably not get much better. The good news is that it is only cosmetic...meaning it has no bearing on their brain, IQ, etc. She said their hair should cover it. I just hope that is true, I would hate for them to get made fun of because of their heads!!

The ped said to go ahead and try meat baby food, like chicken. Has anyone tried this yet? I tried some tonight but it did not go well at all. They were both very tired and cranky. I felt very bad because I got so aggravated with them. Corey refused to eat and Kayley was very whiny. My patience just was not there today. I think I am tired of all the running around!

The greatest news is the ped said we could try and start offering soy formula gradually and see how they do. If they do ok, we can give it to them and stop the Alimentum, which is SO expensive. I really hope they do well on it! We could really use the price break!

Santa - We went twice...they had Santa pics at the ice rink DH's hockey team plays at and then we took them to the mall. They reacted just like your twins, Jill...they did not cry, but did not smile. I will try and post pics this week.

Stroller - Still using the carriers and stroller. We do not really have any other option at this point so I will keep chugging along!

Jill - Sherry has not posted in months...I think she may have left us!

Dry Skin - The ped said Aquaphor so I bought that before I read Daniele's post...it was pretty expensive. It seems to be working though, it is very much like vaseline in consistency.

Well, I know there are a million things to post and respond to, but I am exhausted. My stupid wireless is still not working on the computer so I am stuck at the desk...at night I like to take the computer upstairs to our room and watch TV while I am on the computer. We really need to call HP AGAIN...after my last experience, I want nothing to do with it!

Talk to everyone soon!

Valerie

[EBTwinz]

just updating my slide... hope it works.

[JERSEYGEMINI]

Hi! I don't get on my computer much these days!

The twins got a jumperoo last weekend for an early christmas present from their grandma. They sure have fun in there. :yippee: It's nuts!

I have given them some yogurt for a few days now. As usual, Isabella loved it right away, but Mason wasn't so sure. They both seemed to like it alot today mixed with some oatmeal. I've noticed that I can't skip their "meals" anymore. Sometimes when I get busy, I try to forgo it, but now they get really fussy and watch me like a hawk if I don't whip up alittle snack...

I'm trying to stop BFing, but the milk keeps coming! I would like to get down to one morning nursing session and one in the evening.

Neither of mine can sit unsupported or crawl full-force, but they roll like crazy as a means of locomotion. Mason has started to do a slow, laborous army crawl. It is really exhausting even to watch, but he manages to get to my DS's toys (all labeled "not for children under 3") when he wants to!

Those with PT- do you know what excerises can be done to help them sit up independently? thanks!

Jill- I haven't played videos for my babies, but they watch disney programs with their older brother every morning! They love Mickey mouse. I think I might buy a few little einstein videos for xmas presents.

We're gearing up for the LONG drive to Miami. I have no idea what I should pack for 3-4 weeks away....I want my whole house! I have such a great routine going, and I'm scared that our time away is going to ruin all my hard work!

Staci- my two have very dry, red chapped cheeks. I use Eucerin and I also really like the Aveeno baby "soothing relief" cream for excema. BTW- when my mom visited this weekend and saw their cheeks, she immediately said, "Oh, they have teething cheeks!". I had never heard that before, but she said that babies often get red, chapped cheeks while they're teething. How is your son?

Alright, laundry to do and a house to clean...

Good night!

Jennifer

[vthompson]

Monica - I forgot to say congrats on the potty!! I hope it continues.

Lisa - Those pics are priceless! I cannot believe how smiley the boys are. Too cute! Where did you have them done?

Corey got up last night at 3:30am but put himself back to sleep...then up at 4:45am to eat and back to sleep. As soon as I was falling asleep, Kayley got up around 6am to eat and refused to go back to sleep after. I am so tired!

Hope everyone has a good day!

Valerie

[EBTwinz]

Jennifer: Brady has PT tomorrow and I was going to ask her about some exercises for sitting up. We have the bumbo but now they arch their backs and I am afraid they will fall out of it. My guys love to roll everywhere. Today Brady rolled to the cat and laid on him. It was so funny. Brady has PT for torticollis (where his neck muscles weren't built up and he kept his head to the side) but it has been gone for months. I think I am going to quit the PT since he met all his goals. Mine can sit up but still lean forward to the point their little tummies are on the ground. As for crawling, not doing it yet, but are rocking so I think it will be soon.

Valerie: got the pics at Sears. I was happy with them. Brady was afraid of the woman taking the pics so he cried most of the time but we managed to get a few smiles out of him. ISn't it nice to see smiles instead of the serious faces? lol! I think my camera sucks. It flashes before it takes the pic so they always squint in the pics. I think dh is getting me a new camera for Xmas.

Monica: Yeah for DD!!!! Pooping on the potty is a HUGE deal!!! :yippee:

Talk to you all soon,
Lisa

[megzmom]

Jennifer-when are you coming to Miami? I live 3 hrs away. Too far for me to drive but are you driving or flying? If you are driving let me know if you are passing through central Florida (Orlando area).

sorry I havent posted in forever. Work is going crazy trying to end out the year at school. Plus we (the administration) are pushing for an entire way of doing lessons/curriculumn aghaghahaghhghahaghha

Love you all! Miss Sheri and Steph!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[christel]

Hi Mommies :sunshine:

I've been reading, but have had trouble carving out time to post lately. I'm trying to keep the holiday madness to a minimum around here and that's helped. The weeked of Christmas Eve and the week afterward will be insane, though. We're travelling to both of our parents' homes and all siblings and grandkids will be there. I can't wait to see all the family, but am dreading the loss of routine and its effect on the girls.

Rolling - Ruby is rolling over every time I put her on her tummy. She's rolled from back to tum a few times, but doesn't like to be on her tum, so doesn't do it much. Emme will stay on her tummy longer and isn't as quick to flip. She's also got 5 lbs on Ruby and it must be harder to roll 20 lbs!

Sitting - Emme's got a nice wide base :lol: and good core strength and can sit for quite a while IF she's balanced. She doesn't tripod w/ her hands b/c she doesn't tip forward when she's sitting. She just weeble wobbles over to the side. Ruby will go the traditional route, I think. She's starting to use her hands to tripod in front.

Crawling- not yet. Emme has started to rock on her knees when she tummy times on the boppy, but not on the floor. Ruby has just started getting some good strength in her legs (finally!) and can stand w/ just some balance assistance. No more noodle legs!

Jumping - Emme :throb: the jumperoo SO much that even when we stand her on the floor or our laps she's jumping. She won't stand still anymore! Ruby tolerates the jumperoo - she doesn't jump or rock in it, just stands and has a blast w/ the toys. We also have the FP Step and Play (http://www.amazon.com/Fisher-Price-Step-Play-Piano/dp/B00006C29H), but it requires a lot of foot movement to get to the toys. Do you think she'd like an Exersaucer better? Should I get one?

Eating - I give the girls a tsp of yogurt (plain, active cultures) w/ their other food every day. The cultures help Ruby's belly b/c the reflux meds (Prilosec) can screw up some of her digestive enzymes. It's bitter and they make faces, but they keep eating it. I've mixed it w/ applesauce and also w/ avocado so far. Today we're trying sweet potatoes. I'm only doing solids once a day.

Bottles - How much do your babies eat? I'm giving them 4 bottles a day now. Emme takes 7 oz. and Ruby takes between 5 and 6 oz at a time. Oh, and Emme's holding her bottle now! That makes feeding time MUCH easier :yippee: Ruby's got to fall back in :throb: with eating before she'll hold AND put it in her mouth to suck. Poor baby :(

TV - they love it SO much that I find it hard to not let them watch. I know I need to not let them watch very much and have restricted it to Sesame Street and Baby E for the most part. They also love the PBS show, Between the Lions. I like to have the TV on for background noise during the day, but if they can see the screen, they'll stare at it!

Teeth - none yet, but drooling and gnawing on everything the can reach

Babysitter - we got one last Sat. for the 1st time and intended to go on our 1st date since the babies came. BUT... the stupid @$$ dog that we were dog-sitting dug out of our yard about 30 min. before we were to leave and we spent the entire time combing our neighborhood looking for that little $@i*! His "parents" were in IN for a wedding and I had to call them and she was sobbing on the phone, so we couldn't not look for him. Anyway, we put up flyers on Sun. and got a phonecall on Mon. and the finder brought him back. Phew! Thought we were going to lose some friends over that one. But I'm still really pi$$ed about my date!

Dieting - Staci & AndreaR ... Since I'm finally done BF, I'm doing South Beach, phase 1. I've got 4 more days to go on it and am down 8lbs so far:yippee: Just 20 more to go :crazy: DH's office party is Sat. (getting a baby sitter again) and I've got an outfit I just might look good in by then. I am going to wear my industrial Spanx underwear to make sure it works, though! :funny:

Good Lord, this is a long post! Going to shut up now...
:lovemytwins:
Christel

[christel]

Oh, forgot to add that I LOVE everyones new pics! OMG, these "June" babies are too freakin' cute for words!!!

[vthompson]

So, my daughter is driving me crazy lately! She is not sleeping well at all, naps or at night. She rolls constantly to her tummy, gets angry and panicked, but cannot seem to roll back the other way. She has rolled from tummy to back before, but only a few times. We end up going into her room and rolling her back over, which causes her to get really worked up when she realizes she is not coming with us. I am trying to be very patient, but everyday I am exhausted. She has been getting up twice a night...usually around 12 am and then between 4 and 5 am. After the 5am bottle, we try to put her back down and she screams. She will not go back to sleep until their 9am nap, by then she is so overtired that she cries in her crib. She seems fine otherwise...I thought it was teething, but now I am not sure!

I am giving up on the meat baby food for now...I tried it twice and they hated it. It is much thicker then the veggies and fruit so I think they have a hard time swallowing it.

Christel - That sucks about your date! I hope you can schedule another one very soon. I know you have the xmas party this weekend, but some time alone with DH can work wonders! How is the South Beach diet? I was thinking of trying it after the holidays. Is it hard? Did you buy a book or find free info online? Sorry so many questions, but I am curious.

Eating - We are doing baby food 2x's a day and about 6 bottles. Kayley eats more baby food then Corey, but Corey drinks more formula during the day then Kayley. I have a feeling he is going to be very difficult when it comes to eating table food.

Crawling - Nothing here yet, but they both seem very anxious to move around. They both sit up pretty well...each day they seem to sit unassisted for longer periods. Kayley can stand holding onto the coffee table for a small amount of time...of course, we have to put her in that position. Her legs are very strong. Corey kicks constantly, but just recently started standing for small periods when you stand him up on the floor.

We have an Xmas party on Saturday...it is kind of fancy. The twins are sleeping over my BIL's. I have to admit I am very nervous. Kayley is so skeptical of unfamiliar places. Plus, they do not sleep well in the pack n play at all so I know they will be up a ton during the night. I typed up a ton of directions...they are probably going to think I am crazy. I just pray that everything goes well!

Well, I better go. Talk to everyone later!

Valerie

[megzmom]

Hi all.

Finally found a place to print off the photo book. SOmeone recommended to go to costco so I did but it is only online. UGH

I went to cotsco but somehow I got diverted to mypublisher.com. I think someone also recommended. It was easy to download too seconds and upload pictures was a breeze. The hardest was making the design choses. I am too picky. I ordered a "sample" copy which I sould get by Sat. If I like it then my brother will get it, if not I'll keep it. I am also going to add more pics tomorrow and place an order for both grandmas. The total cost with 2 day shipping was $20. It had 31 pictures. I got the soft cover this time.

eating-pretty much cereal for breakfast 6oz bottles every 3hrs. Baby food at lunch then baby food/cereal for dinner before bath at 9:30.

NO crawling or sitting up but Ben is moving all around on his back. Looks like he is going to break his neck.

Standing-legs are soo strong, I think they will walk before crawl :) jk

bye for now!

[EBTwinz]

Valerie: I just had to post to tell you that I LOVE the new pics of Kayley and Corey. They are sooooo darn cute. I miss them. Can't wait to see them over the Holidays. I will write more later and I am going to email you today.

XO~
Lisa

[AndreaR]

Valerie - sorry about the troubles with Kayley. I know just how you feel. Luckily, my girls seem to take turns giving us trouble. I always thank God that they're not BOTH driving us crazy. Hopefully Kayley will change her tune soon. How long has it been going on? I've noticed that when they get all weird about their sleep, they're about to change a sleeping (either night or nap) pattern. And it's up to me to figure out what they need. SO frustrating. I do have to agree with Lisa on your pictures, and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that little dress on Kayley!!!

Eating - Isabelle is still nursing, about four times per day, and sometimes one in the middle of the night (but not usually). We try to give Madeline a bottle every four hours, but she doesn't always take it. We make six ounces, and most times she doesn't drink it all. She likes the solids much better, but I'm worried that she doesn't get enough of the nutrients or liquid (for hydration) that the formula provides. Although she is gaining weight fine, so I probably shouldn't worry too much. For solids, we give them 3 TBSP of oatmeal and 3 TBSP of a vegetable (so far sweet potatoes or carrots) twice a day, plus a little soy yogurt at the end. They both love the food, and I'm wondering if we should start feeding them three times per day? What do you guys think?

DH and I went out last night, for our second time since the girls were born. We went to dinner and to the Boston Pops Christmas concert with some clients of DH's. It was soooo nice to have a nice meal, a little wine, and adult conversation. I felt like a stranger in a foreign land in the restaurant, though. Like it had been so long since I'd partaken in fine dining. As much as I love, love, love my girls, it made me long to go out more. But I don't feel comfortable asking people to babysit two babies. I know how much work it is, and I feel bad asking. I've decided that if anyone offers, I'm going to take them up on it. So far it's been all talk, but from now on, I'm going to whip out my calendar and say, "sure! when is good for you?"!!

I have so much shopping left to do, and a lot of baking. I have our Christmas cards, but I don't have a picture to go inside (it's a frame card). I am thinking of using the one that's on my slide here, but DH doesn't love it. I don't know if I'll have time to get them all dressed again - times a'tickin' for getting the cards addressed and mailed!

Well, both girls are napping, so I'd better be productive.

Hope everyone is doing well.

xo
AndreaR

[mmzill]

Andrea - I am worried about the nutritional content of Anthony's food also. So I always mix the oatmeal with formula, then add the vegetables to that. It seems to work ok, but I don't think that he is getting enough fluid. I tried watered down juice, but he wasn't a big fan. oh well.

Ok, got to go
Monica

[vthompson]

Andrea - I love the pic where it looks like one of the girls is kissing the other! It is too cute! I would just use the pic from your slide for your cards...they both look adorable! I just mailed ours today...I know what you mean that time is ticking!

Lisa - I look forward to your email!! :sunshine:

So, today was a terrible day. I swear, just when I think I have things under control, babies are doing well, I feel pretty good, everything explodes. I know it has been said before, but I feel like we take 1 step forward and 18 steps back! I cried today for the first time in a few weeks. I just could not handle it anymore. They both refused to take an afternoon nap so they were a barrel of laughs by 4pm (I am saying this with great sarcasm in my head). I had to do homework with the boy I babysit, plus tend to 2 fussy and overtired babies. Plus, I had a meeting this morning for the one company I do work for from home and they truly piled on the projects. Therefore, I REALLY needed the twins to sleep this afternoon so that I could get work done. Instead, they fussed, while I tried to entertain them in the computer room and work at the same time. DH got home and I just got up, went to the kitchen, washed bottles, and cried as I looked out the window. I felt better after, but man, what a stressful day. I really hope tomorrow is better. I have decided that my twins are on strike from sleeping and Kayley is the union head!!

I hope everyone has a good night...I PRAY and PRAY that they sleep till 6am!!

Valerie

[Jillmami]

It's so weird how many things I can't do with my babies since they were so early. We are not allowed to use exersaucer type "standing" things. That's a big NO NO. Noah has been eating barley cereal 2x/day for a month and is finally going to be starting green veggies. TJ has started cereal and will only eat it if she can put the spoon in her mouth. She will take it out when the cereal is gone and give it back to me. She is a smart one that girl. We are still striving to get both babies drinking 28-32 oz milk/day in addition to whatever solids they get. (Since the goal of the solids now is to get them used to different tastes as well as learning how to eat.) As for sleep, Noah goes down between 7:30 and 8:30 and wakes up around 8am. That includes getting up once to eat. TJ will do the same and wakes up once, if not twice. Last night Noah was so sleepy he couldnt' handle it and had a meltdown for a few minutes. Took everything not to laugh since there wasn't a tear to be seen. Luckily it didn't last long.

Valerie, I really hope that this evening goes better and they get back on track. Adorable pics too. They are just as sweet as can be to look at.

I just got my book from mypublisher.com and it turned out wonderful. I too had a hard time deciding what pics to put where. My book turned out to be longer so I paid extra but it was worth it. Hopefully yours turns out well.

OK, both babies want to eat. Oh, for those of you moms who are your own during the evenings, you are my heroes. My dh has been out of town this week and I am tired!

Later!

[Jillmami]

Oh yeah, when one baby cries, does the other one join in? Mine do and it's cute. They sound like they are grieving for the other.

[Jillmami]

one more oh yeah... cute cute cute CUTE babies in the newpics!!!!

[vthompson]

Crying - For the most part, unless they are both hungry and tired, only one cries at a time. Now, if they are hungry or tired then it is a lovely duo crying fest!

Last night was slightly better, I guess...Corey got up around 1:30am but put himself back to sleep and then again around 2:30am. He finally got up to eat around 3:30am. Kayley got up around 5am and took a stinking 40 minutes to finish 6 ozs...slow poke! They both got up for good at 7am....I guess I am just frustrated because they were both sleeping until 6 or 7am without getting up to eat like a week ago. What happened? They are usually asleep around 7pm.

Gotta go, babies getting fussy!

Valerie

[AndreaR]

I just spoke with my sister, who started wrapping her presents last night after her kids went to bed. She put all her kids' presents in their cellar, but she put other presents under their tree. When the kids (5yrs and 21mos) woke up this morning (before my sister and BIL), they thought it was Christmas morning and opened all the presents!

Talk to you later......

[vthompson]

Everyone must be very busy with holiday stuff...it sure is quiet on here!!

Andrea - That is the cutest story ever!! You sister should take pics of all the presents opened so she can show the kids some day.

Felisha - WOW!! Your twins are really doing well! That is great!!

Well, we had a VERY good night last night! The babies went to bed around 8pm and slept until 6:30 am!!! I feel like a new woman today! They took a later afternoon nap yesterday and slept until 4pm...I think that made a big difference. The only problem is that I pick up the little boy I babysit from school 3 days a week so I have to try and put them down so that they are up by 3pm. Then, they are so exhausted by 6:30 and ready to go to bed.

We have a fancy Xmas party tonight. The babies are sleeping over my BIL's house. It should be fun! However, I am nervous that they are going to be up all night long. They really HATE sleeping in the pack n play.

Have a great day.

Valerie

[vthompson]

So, has anyone had to go somewhere and dress up since babies? I have found that the 2006 version of the girdle is now my best friend! (lol)

Valerie

[christel]

:sunshine: Hi mommies,

I'm SO relieved that DH is coming home today! He's been out of town since Wed. Not that long, thank goodness, but long enough! The girls really seem to miss him. They've been out of sorts, a bit, and woke up sad and upset Wed. at 3AM... that's pretty unusual for them. After hugs and dipes, they went back to sleep. Last night was normal, but they woke up an hour earlier this morning. I get kinda jumpy staying by myself at night, too, and I also busted out "Gene", my 5 foot long body pillow to occupy DH's side of the bed. I haven't needed Gene since having the girls.

Valerie -South Beach Diet is ok if you can survive the first 2 weeks. All the bread, flour, sugar, fruit is forbidden during phase 1. But that's also when you drop the most weight. If you like eggs, you can manage it. After phase 1 is over, it's pretty much a common-sense diet, like WW or any other plan... portion control, limit or omit the bad foods, etc. Oh, and we have the book.

Dressing up- DH's party tomorrow is the first thing I've dressed up for since last Christmas! My super-tummy-thigh-butt-sucking Spanx underwear makes all the lumps and bumps and twin-skin disappear, thank goodness! And, I can breathe in it :clap: It isn't even remotely sexy and I won't let DH see me in it!

Andrea - :throb: the Christmas presents story! :funny: My little sisters used unwrap and rewrap gifts to get a peek. They also used to get up in the wee hours of Christmas morning and dig through everyone's stockings (except their own) so they knew what everyone had and could concentrate on their own stuff :lol:

Felisha - I heard about an octagonal pack and play (by Graco) I think. Maybe that would work for you. Sounds like it might have a little more room in it than a regular pnp.

Jill - my girls are sympathy criers sometimes. Especially if they're tired. It's kind of funny and a little sad.

gotta run - phone's ringing...
:lovemytwins:
Christel

[vthompson]

Christel - I was laughing about your sucking in suit that you won't let DH see you in...I REFUSE to let DH see me in mine either.....I think it would scar him for life!!

Felisha - I forgot that you asked about pack n plays...we got one on sale because it was being discontinued and I love it...it is pretty big and has a changing table that folds back when not needed. Some of the other ones I have seen you have to take the changing table on and off. I would go to the store and look and see what options you like. BRU has a decent amount. Or, you could probably go on Graco's website for more options.

Valerie

[LucasMom]

Hi all,

Sorry, no time to write right now, but plenty to catch up on with all of you. ALL OF YOUR CHILDREN ARE SO BEAUTIFUL!!!

Just wanted to check in to let you know I am alive and ticking here. Alot going on between work, kiddies and failing marriage! Waiting until the holidays are over and then going through with what looks like a divorce unfortunately...anyway...

I miss you all so much and wish you the happiest of holidays. Today begins Hanukkah (thanks, Lisa!).

Boys are well, have had a cold, but are growing and eating all foods, dinners included. They are "tripoding", can sit on their own for about a minute in a very bent over position, but doc says they look great. Babbling alot, DaDa, Mama, etc. I love the three of them SO much.

Love you all, have to go pick up the kiddos!

Love,
Mindy

[vthompson]

BTW, I am pretty worried about Kayley. My BIL came to pick the kids up and Kayley was pretty upset...she just stared at him and gave him very dirty looks. She would cry here and there...you could tell she did not want to go...it was breaking my heart. I really hope she is going to be ok. Corey, on the other hand, as long as you make him smile, he is good! He is such a goof ball!

Valerie

[AndreaR]

Felisha - we have the Graco pack n play which has a pretty good changing table on it. I think it might be a bit small for two babies (at their current size), but maybe not. I have seen a square portable crib, which could def fit two babies, but it doesn't have a changing table and I can't remember the brand. sorry.... check out the BRU website maybe?

Mindy - Thanks for posting. We've missed you around here. Happy Hannukah to you and your boys. I'm really sorry to hear about your marriage. It breaks my heart. I am, as always, praying for you.

Valerie - my sister and BIL videotaped the kids (they awoke to the sound of ripping paper, and figured it was a Koday moment). Have fun at your party. Don't worry too much about K&C. Even if they do cry a lot, it's only one night and it won't do any permanent damage to them, you or your BIL. What's important is that you are taking some time for you. You deserve it! Have a BLAST! I have all sorts of girdles, SPANX, etc. But am I the only one who gets horrible gas pains when I wear them?? To the point that I end up peeling them off halfway through the night and either sticking them in my purse or throwing it away (if I have a small purse).

Christel - it sounds like your sisters and I are exactly alike! I used to find every present my mom hid, so she started hiding them at her friend's house until she wrapped them. Then I, too, would unwrap and re-wrap. Honestly, I am almost just as bad til this very day. DH is really lazy about hiding my presents, so I barely count what I do as snooping, but I usually figure out what my birthday and Christmas presents are every year. Actually, this might be the year that I finally mature...DH told me that he put my birthday present in the gym....LORD KNOWS I DON'T GO IN THERE!! And I haven't even peeked! I guess it took forty years for me to grow up!

Yup, I turn forty on Sunday. I can't believe it. I was really dreading this but now that it's here, it's not that bad. I am just so incredibly thankful for my life with my DH and my two GORGEOUS girls, and I am happy that God chose my 40th year to give them to me, because I feel like I have the life experience that I needed to handle it. Do you know what I mean?

Well, have a great weekend everyone. Love you all.....

AndreaR

[swineland]

Hello everyone!!

I feel so bad for not having posted in such a LONG time!! What can I say....the holidays are here, the babies have been sick and I have been busy with Xmas shopping, getting out Xmas cards, etc. Plus, DH is now sick and I feel it "coming on", though I am trying my best to keep it at bay. Thank goodness for Airborne!

I have SO much to say, reply to, etc. However, this is great opportunity for me to get to sleep early. With DH being sick, he is in bed already (watching tv, not sleeping) and the boys have been asleep for a couple hours. So, all is quiet and the bottles are all washed for tomorrow...nothing for me to do but sleep!

I promise to write more this weekend......
Mindy, I'm calling you soon and Heather, I got your message and will also be calling you as well....thanks for thinking of me, girl :)

Miss and love you all......
and Happy Birthday Andrea :party: !!

Steph

[Jillmami]

Andrea - :birthday: from a fellow Sag! I turned 36 today so I'm getting close to the 4-0 as well. Just think,another year of wisdom under our belts! Hope you have something fun planned.

My neighbors took me and the munchkins out for dinner. Dh has been in LA since Sun. (gets back Tues.) Filming 2 more McDonald's chicken snack wrap commercials. If you see one now w/ a mime, that's his.

It's nice to hear from some of the regulars on here!

Steph - sorry to hear that you have the sick bug going around. We had that last month. It took my dh over a month to get rid of his cough and Noah still gets a snorty sounding nose from time to time. Me and TJ have stayed quite healthy. GIRL POWER! :lol: Hopefully it will run it's course quickly.

Speaking of, anybody getting the flu shot for their babies? We had our first of two and have the second coming up at the end of the month along with their 3rd synergis shot. Gotta love those shots. :cry:

Mindy, hoping that you continue to find the amazing strength to get through these next few weeks with your beautiful boys. I hope you find comfort in your decisions as they will be the right ones for you and your family. Hang in there tough mama!

Valerie, I am sure she is fine. I know that once in a while, the babies get that freaked out "just saw a ghost" look and they are ok in the end. I have noticed that once in a while, Noah and TJ both have their "I want mommy" moments which is such a wonderful feeling. Hope you were able to have a great evening and were able to eat even with the spandex device! :clap:

Well, pumping time at the farm is up! Enjoy your weekends everyone!

Oh, someone was asking about things to do to encourage a stronger torso for sitting up. Our OT has the babies sitting on an exercise ball. We hold them as low on the hips as safely possible and slowly roll them around (side to side, front back, etc.) Noah loves to do it so that he can watch himself in the mirror. Cheeseball! He can sit by himself and grab toys/play for long periods of time and thinks it is the coolest thing. TJ just watches him from her Bumbo her from her lying down position. We're gonna keep working on that girl!

I just realized how long this is and hope it didn't put anyone to sleep! Night!

[Jillmami]

I finally got our Santa pic on my computer. My little ones aren't AM babies so the 1 1/2 hours in line with no crying and then none for Santa was cool with me!
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j121/Jillmami/kidssanta06001.jpg

[Jillmami]

OMG that's a huge pic. Will try later to make it smaller. Otherwise, I guess I'll just take up half the page of this thread myself! :crazy:

[AndreaR]

JILL! SOOOOOOOO adorable. I love it!

[Daniele'sTwins]

Hi everyone...I skimmed the posts so I am probably going to miss a lot so please forgive me.

Happy Birthday Jill and Andrea!!!:birthdaybabies:

Val... I am glad to hear things are getting better with the babies sleeping!

Mindy...I think of you often, I hope you enjoy the holidays with your little men!

My days...6am BIG 9oz bottles....back to sleep until 7:30-8:30
9:00 Breakfast (6oz bottle, 1 stage 2 fruit each)
12:00 Lunch (6oz bottle, then they share a stage 2 veggie and a stage 2 dessert...they don't always finish the bottle)
3:30 BIG 9 oz bottle
6:00 Dinner (6oz bottle, then they share a stage 2 veggie and a stage 2 dessert)
7:00 Bed (awake, they sometime just go right to bed but sometimes cry for 5 mins)

phone call...I will get back later

[Jillmami]

Daniele, How weird that you posted - When I signed on tonight, I was planning on posting about how busy you must be and that you have been missed on here. Alas, you had already posted! :funny:

Your guys eat a TON compared to mine. I struggle to get them to eat between 28-32 ounces/day and yours are gulping down 36 oz.! Noah is eating cereal in the am and we just started green veggies late afternoon. He LOVES green beans. His second time trying them, he ate 3/4 of a stage 2 jar. TJ is just doing cereal in the am and she is still trying to get used to it. Other than that, they are getting just breast milk. I am counting down until March when they turn 1. I would really like to quit pumping. I guess it depends on them and how they are doing healthwise.

I am looking forward to not having to work for two weeks. Even though I am working just 2 1/2 days, it's nice not to have to go in. (I do miss the students though.)

OK, both babies went down early tonight. A bad omen for the wee hours? I hope not! Val, hope your two are letting you get some sleep.

Night everyone!

[vthompson]

Hey Ladies!! What a busy weekend...the week ahead seems even busier with the holidays so quickly approaching! Can you believe in a week it will be Christmas???

Happy Birthday Jill and Andrea!! :birthday:

Jill - I do not remember, but what do you do? You mentioned students...I was just curious. I am still amazed that you are still pumping. I know I keep saying that...but you should just be so proud of yourself! I LOVE the Santa pic!! Too cute!

Lisa - I never received your email...can you resend it?

Steph - I hope everyone is feeling better at your house.

Daniele - It is so nice to hear from you!

Mindy - I am so sorry to hear about your marriage...I pray that you continue to have the amazing courage and strength that you have had up to this point!

Eating - We only eat baby food twice a day...morning and evening.
5-6am - Bottle...Corey eats a big 9oz, Kayley only eats 6 oz.
8-9am - 6oz bottle, nap
Around 10 or 11am - Baby Food - Oatmeal and then either veggie or fruit
Around 1pm or so - Bottle and then nap
4pm - Bottle
5:30pm - Baby Food - same as morning
7pm - Bottle and then bed

Wow, it seems like they still eat a lot of bottles during the day.

Sleeping has been better, knock on wood! The past few nights, they have slept until 5 or 6 am. As long as they are not getting up in the middle of the night, I can handle that!

Friday night went really well...I guess they actually slept through the night...I cannot believe it! My BIL and SIL said they were both really good. What a relief. DH and I had a great time! Much needed...however, we had a little bit too much to drink...me more then him. After the party, we went to a bar by our house...not that we needed to go, but it was still fun. We stayed out until 1:30am! I felt like a rock star (lol). We were exhausted the next day, but we survived!

Well, I am in the middle of baking sugar cookies while the babies are napping...talk to you later!!

Valerie

[vthompson]

Lisa - I totally forgot that I had 2 things I wanted to respond to you...first, I was laughing about Kayley's dirty looks...that is exactly the type of look she was giving. Second, both twins grab EVERYTHING in sight! If they cannot reach it, they try very hard to stretch their bodies and arms.

Valerie

[swineland]

HELLO!!

Just checking in....doin' my roll call! ('member when we used to do that?? those were the days......:))

I am going to try and write as much as I can while the little devils are being entertained in the jumperoo and exersaucer.

I took them to the ped today to make sure that what they have is, in fact, just a cold, which it is. They both started coughing over the weekend and are just having the worst time with the voluminous amounts of snot coming out of their noses. Of course, they see me coming towards them with the hospital-grade suction bulb and a wad of kleenex and it doesn't sit very well! I must say, though, that except for those moments and some occasional fussiness, they have really been great during their "first" colds. They are still a' smiling away and being the cuties that they are. I have had them in the house, though, for a solid week. Except for today's doc appt, they haven't gone anywhere (well, aside from 2 or 3 strolls around the neighborhood) and I am dying to get out of here!! My mom was here all last week and I could've gotten all kinds of things done, but I felt bad leaving here with two sick babies, so we just sorta hung out here all day in the bear den. I am so ready to head out and take the babies and hit the mall or BJs or Marshalls...something, anything! I still have several loose ends to wrap up, holiday-speaking. The clock is ticking and I'm stuck here with Sneezy and Snotty :)

Since some of you have posted what your day is like, here is a rundown of mine:
4:45am - hear babies stirring on the monitor, looking at my watch in disbelief
5:15-5:30am - finally drag myself out of bed in order to fetch babies, change diapers and head out to ground zero aka my family room
5:30-6am - prepare and feed 6oz bottles to each baby. They will finish it, but not a drop more. In fact, the ONLY time they eat bigger bottles is at bedtime, when i can get them to take 8-9 ozs.
2 minutes after finishing bottle - babies spit up half the bottle
6am-7am - play, spit up some more, play and get cranky
7am-7:30am - naptime in the swings (I'll get to that later)
8:30-9am - wake up and play a little while I prepare more bottles and breakfast, which consists of 2 6oz bottles and a jar shared of oatmeal with apples & cinnamon or a container of prunes and apples or cereal with pears.
9:30am-11am'ish - play, watch Einstein, etc. I proceed to pour my 4th cup of coffee and attempt to go brush my hair and get dressed.
12:30 - lunch, which is again 2 6oz bottles
1:00pm - attempt to get out and run errands, which is getting dinner for that night and spending unnecessary money at Target.
3:00pm - turn on Ellen and dance with (or without) the babies. I look forward to this part of the day so much. It's like "hump day", but it's "hump hour".....it says, hey, you made it.....the day is almost done and it's only 3 more hours till that nice glass of Shiraz.....:)
4:00 - 2 6oz bottles and a shared jar of chicken w/apples or turkey w/rice or chicken/pears OR they share one container of a veggie and one container of a fruit.
5:00 - try to start baths, get them out of the way. I proceed to get burning pains in my shoulder as I bend over the side of the tub, all the while holding Bailey's arm so that he doesn't do some crazy move and slide under the water. Five minutes later I do it all again with Evan.
6:00 - run for the corkscrew as if my life depended on it
6:30 - DH comes home and plays with babies while I continue sipping my wine and trying to cook dinner
6:45ish - babies get cranky and I make big 8 oz cereal bottles. They go to sleep and pretty much always sleep through the night now. That is, if you count waking up at 4:45am as sleeping through the night......
7:30 - DH and I eat dinner and watch a little TV. I sneak in for a little more wine and then by 8:45-9pm, I"m OUT!

Playtime: What are most of you doing for playtime these days?? I mean, where do you put your babies while they play? Mine don't want to be in the jumperoo or exersaucer ALL the time and love to play on their tummys on the floor. I have blankets scattered all over the floor and by the end of the day it's a mess....they are crumpled all over, dried spit up here and there...just so annoying. I wondered if anyone has gotten a foam mat yet for the babies?? I am talking about those ones that are like letters or numbers, they are foam squares that hook together.....

ah, crap.....doorbell....be back......
Steph

[sgarrett]

So Behind... I have been so fricken busy, but I see that is a common theme.

The big new first

Aiden slept through the night![/COLOR]:clap:

This weekend we tried letting them CIO. I would go in every 15 min to rub their back, give them their pacy, turn on their twin aquarium thingy and walk out. Friday night Aiden cried for two hours! My DH and I took turns hoofing it up the stairs every 15 min. As soon as he FINALLY went to sleep, Isabelle was up for an hour. Sat night, Aiden cried for about 45 min and Isabelle for 15 last night Aiden slept from 7:30 until 8:00 and Isabelle only woke up once! I could not beleive it! I thought of all my twin mommies first thing and could not wait to get on here and tell everyone!

Dieting: I am sorta back on the wagon, I have a trainer who comes to the house twice a week to force me to work out!

Rolling/Sitting: Aiden is rolling all over the place, it is so funny. He is so close to crawling, Isabelle is content to stay in one place but she did sit up this weekend without help for a few seconds!

Mindy: You are in my thoughts, I pray 2007 brings you many joys!

AnderaR and Jill: Happy Birthday!!!!!

AndreaR: The story was too funny. When Chase was about 4 he woke up at like 4:30 in the morning opened all the gifts and then came and woke me up to tell me Santa had come! I was so mad I missed his whole Christmas!

Jill: Your Santa pic is to cute, mine have that same look on their face! Who the heck is this guy??

Eating: They eat solids 3X a day now. We have moved to the #2 foods. They will eat one fruit and a Yo Baby yorgurt for breakfast, one fruit or veggie and a cup of barley for lunch, veggie for dinner with barley and sometimes they will still be hungry and I will give them a fruit for dessert. It is so time consuming to feed them though. We miss the "lunch" feeding alot if we are out and about. They are way to messy to attempt to do it in public yet.

Steph: We spend alot of time on the floor with toys everywhere. They still like the Jump A Roo and exersaucer as well. I am with you on the spit up thing, I feel like I am constantly washing blankets. I have thought about the rubber mat things as well. We have to shop for baby gates and car seats next month, maybe I will look at those too. Aiden loves to "steal" toys from his sister, it is so funny. I cannot beleive that is happening already! She is so sweet she does not even seem to mind, she just kinda has this look on her face like "Where did my bunny go?"

Danielle: Thanks so much for checking on the lotion for me, we ended up getting Cetaphil and it is working great. It is not as expensive as some of the others and his chapping has really cleared up.

6 Month Check up: Ours was the 13th, we got the flu shot for each baby. Aiden was 15lbs 6 oz and 28". He is 90% for height and 14% for weight! What a string bean! Isabelle was 16lbs 12 oz and 28.25". 98% for height and 65% for weight. I have two more basketball players! Aiden is wearing 9 month clothes and Isabelle is in 12 months!


Take care mommies! I will try to be better about signing and staying on top of everything going on!

Staci

[Jillmami]

Valerie, I am a teacher. This year I went to part time because of the babies. I teach 1-5th grade science. So I get to play every day!! Glad yours are allowing you to get some sleep!

[vthompson]

Staci - Congrats on the sleeping!!! Yeah!!

Foam Mats - We looked at these...really wanted to get them for the babies. However, all of them say for 3 and up because of choking hazard...I guess there are little pieces within the big pieces that also come out. Then, we looked into classroom like rugs...VERY EXPENSIVE!!!! We have contemplated buying a cheap remnant rug from Wal Mart and covering it with some sort of colorful fleece material...sounds like a good idea in theory, but who knows if it will work out. We even thought about buying a thin cheap foam matting and covering it with material. Does anyone have any ideas?

Playing - We do a lot of play on the floor...toys everywhere....also play in jumperoo and excersaucer...still go on play mats. Corey seems to be content playing on floor, whereas Kayley gets fussy quicker and needs change. I was laughing about one twin stealing toys from the other...Corey ALWAYS steals toys from Kayley...poor girl does not do much about it!

Valerie

[swineland]

Hi girls!

Well, today I went to BJ's and got a big 36 sq. ft. foam play mat for $19.99. I put it together tonight and it's perfect!! Val, I know what you mean about being leary of the '3+ years' category, however, keep in mind that all the pieces are the lock-together kind. Meaning, if a single square has small parts that make you nervous, you can just not include them in the final mat. You can put them together any way you like. I think this is going to work wonderfully for us......I can't tell you how annoying it is to put down freshly laundered blankets and sheets only to see one of the babies yak up all over it. By the end of the day, I know I certainly wouldn't want to be placed there to play. At least with the foam, I can quickly wipe away the spit-up before it gets "settled". One Step Ahead has the foam mats and they are approved from birth and up.....

Does anyone watch The Office?? In addition to House, it has become one of my favorite new shows. DH and I started watching it a couple months ago and just last weekend rented season 1 on DVD. It is the funniest show. Just our kind of humor. Rainn Wilson, who plays Dwight, used to be on Six Feet Under on HBO, which was another fave of ours.

Strollers/car seats: Today was the first day for E&B to be in their new "big boy seats"!! I latched them in this morning and the boys seem to really dig it. They didn't seem uncomfortable or agitated in any way. We ended up with the Britax/Fisher Price Safe Voyage Deluxe car seats....they go until 55lbs, unlike the standard 40 lbs. Which really doesn't mean anything b/c when you get to the booster seat stage, those are so inexpensive anyway.
The graco duoglider has become such a nuisance. The boys really don't like riding in it....one always kicks the other, the one in the back can't see anything and it is just SO heavy. So, like Daniele, I bought the Peg Perego Aria Twin stroller on Amazon.com for $209. It was a great deal. Normally, BRU charges $329, which is ridiculous. So far, I really like it. It takes a little getting used to after the tandem style stroller, but the boys LOVE it. They are able to be front and center, sitting straight up but not falling over to the side, look at each other, etc. Of course, i wish it had a parent tray, but none of the european stollers do. The cup holder seems to work well for now, until it falls off...which I know it will.

For Xmas, I ended up getting them the Swirlin' Surprise Gumball Machine from Fisher Price, as well as the Leapfrog Learnin' Hoops basketball game. The former was 50% off at babycenter.com. I did ALL of my Xmas shopping online this year....what a wonderful thing. Half the places you go to offer free standard shipping anyway. No lines, no hassles, no people staring at you or your twins, no crying babies! Plus, every day the doorbell rings and it's Mr. Fedex or Mr. UPS with another package! Now that's excitement in the life of a stay at home mom of twins. :)

Well, I guess I better get some sleep.......

Love you all.....
Steph

[christel]

Hi Mommies,

It's 10pm and I just got home from the outlet mall. It's staying open late for the holidays :yippee: I ran out the door as soon as DH got home from work and tried to get all the shopping done in one fell swoop. Almost there! A few odds and ends still left, but not much.

Eating - Up b/t 6-6:30AM to eat 6 oz (Ruby) and 7 oz (Emme) and down for a nap 1 1/2-2 hours later.

Awake again around 10 and eat close to 11AM (same amounts) then solids... 2 tsp of plain yogurt and 1/2 a jar of a stage 2 food - pears, sweet potatoes, applesauce, whatever - and some rice cereal to thicken it up a bit. They split this between them

Nap around noon and awake close to 2. Fast baths in the kitchen sink or a long bath in the tub. Then, bottles (same amount) at 3.

Nap at 4 and awake at 5. Bottles at 6 and then bed.

Playtime - we do a lot of floor time, too. Mostly in their pop-up play gym and a quilt on the floor to extend the mat. Some Jumperoo time and Step & Play time. Some swings w/ toys to hold and play with. Sometimes toys in the high chairs for a little while. I Tivo Sesame Street and Between the Lions for them to watch some days and also put in the Baby E dvds or Praise Baby dvd every few days. They get tv time every day - come on, Mommy needs a break! - but not the same stuff every day.

Jill - I'm a science teacher, too... middle school. I'm working from home this year, though, as a curriculum coordinator. I miss all my teaching buddies that I don't get to see every day now :( but am not missing all the icky red tape paperwork that classroom life had become.

Staci - how's that trainer working out? Is it pretty reasonable to have someone come to your house?

Steph - I hear ya on the online shopping - I did all my major stuff that way!

Strollers - we had the Peg Aria and took it back. The wheels got stuck all the time on tiny things (like cracks in sidewalks) and the sun shade was way wimpy. We have a BOB Revolution Duallie which I LOVE :throb:, but it's not compact for the car. We also have a DuoGlider (hand-me-down) that we haven't used yet. DH and I bought cheap light umbrella strollers and just use those when we're together and I save the big stuff for my alone trips.

Gonna go get in bed... no wine for me :( Not part of the diet.
:lovemytwins:
Christel

[Jillmami]

8 am wake up bottles (4-5 oz.) and barley cereal
watch BabyFirst TV while mom pumps then get dressed for day
10am +/- nap
11/11:30 wake up, bottle
play time/errands
Mine really vary when they take naps. They sometimes take a nap late afternoon, sometimes not. If they do, it's just a little cat nap.
2pm bottle
play time
5pm bottle and 1/2 stage 2 green veggies (Noah)
play time, baths
8pm bottles, off to bed
over night they wake once for a bottle.

We REALLY struggle with getting the 28-32 oz. a day. Mine just don't take giant bottles. Noah will take 5-6 oz. bottles and no more. TJ has taken more than a 4 oz. bottle only a handful of times.

As for play time, we converted our dining room to a play room which has worked out well. We have about 5 different 'centers' for the babies that they rotate through. Noah will look at the toy he wants to go to and will let me know in his very distinct, matter-of-fact way that he wants me to move him there. His brain is more advanced than his motor skills unfortunately. He is getting better. Now on his tummy, he will do a scoot type crawl for a little ways. He loves to sit up though and has amazing balance. His OT can't believe it. Unfortunately, their gums are killing them so every/any toy is shoved in their mouths. Noah likes to take the hard rattles and bang it off of any other hard plastic toy to make lots of noise. While he does that, he makes a high pitch squeal. It's hilarious. I usually have some type of music in the background. They both love to kick at things too so we have a toy for that. Sometimes Noah can entertain himself for an hour and sometimes 10 minutes. All depends. Due to their prematurity, we are NOT ALLOWED to use exersaucers/jumperoos. So that's a bummer.

Sorry, long post! Yikes!

[EBTwinz]

Okay, our day is pretty much like Steph's day in regards to spitting up. I was laughing when I read the post.

5-7am: Usually wake up, take a 6 oz bottle and try to put them back to sleep. Sometimes they fall asleep, other times they play, other times they cry.
7:30-8am: Up for the day.
8:30-9am: Breakfast (half a jar of cereal w/ fruit(they LOVE oatmeal w/ applesauce and cinnamon) and another half container of fruit each) then followed by a 5 oz bottle
9am-10am: Usually either play or take an morning nap
12pm: 6 oz bottle
1-2pm: if not napping again, they each get a jar of stage one veggie
3pm: Another 6 oz'er
4-5pm: Sometimes another nap if the earlier naps were short
6pm: Split a meat/veggie combo and another fruit
7pm: 7oz bottle and bed

Got the foam mat as a Christmas present. I told my sister to buy one as a gift for the boys. I, too, have spit up on EVERYTHING and do laundry all the time.

Be back, boys screaming in their high chairs. Thought I would have more time

Lisa

[swineland]

Saw this on the Today Show a little while ago and went directly to my computer and ordered two of these.....http://www.amazon.com/Rockabye-Baby-Lullaby-Renditions-Coldplay/dp/B000GY72JC/ref=pd_sim_dbs_m_1/002-5785573-1056055

It's lullaby music to the tune of regular bands and songs.... For the 80s in me, I got the Cure and also Coldplay. :dude: What a great idea! Very cool....

Steph

[swineland]

Something I'm sure we will all want to see:
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/inthewombmultiples/

[vthompson]

Steph - That special on National Geographic looks really cool...I have to check to see if we have that channel. I will be really disappointed if we don't. That gumball toy sounds like fun...I need to check it out. Have you put your mat out yet? Do you like it? Did you use all the squares? Sorry so many questions!!

Felisha - Did you update your slide? Your babies, including your DD, are truly adorable!! You do good work!! Reading about your day exhausted me! I cannot imagine how you do it!! You go girl!!! Your babies sound so strong. I cannot believe how much they are moving around. When did they start holding their own bottles? Mine do it once in awhile, but only for a few minutes. I cannot wait until they can feed themselves!!

Lisa - I still have not gotten an email from you...I am going to email you after I post. I think we should meet at your house next time....it sounds like your boys are going to have some cool stuff to play with!!! I totally understand about buying tons of gifts. Both DH and I had to really stop ourselves from buying a bunch of toys.

Jill - I really like the idea of "centers" in the playroom. After Xmas, we are going to survey all the toys we get and turn one half of our basement into the playroom. Hopefully everything fits!!

Baby Einstein - We only own 1 of these. I wonder if you can get them from the library? I would really like to use these more during the day. Lately, I am getting very scared of what is to come. The more they move around, the more I am fearful (lol). I told DH that I truly think I will have to run our house like a Day Care center with activities planned all day to keep their attentions. Already, they seem to get bored so quickly!!

Office - LOVE IT!! We have been watching it since it started...DH and I seriously die laughing at every episode. We also LOVE Scrubs...another die with laughter show! I highly recommend it!

Meat - Those of you that have introduced meat baby food, when did you do it? I tried about 2 weeks ago and they both refused it. I am not sure if it was too thick for them or what. But, I figured I would just try it again in another 2 weeks or so.

Sippy Cups - Has anyone tried them? The ped said to go ahead and let them practice with them with juice, water, or formula. We have tried it a couple of times. Mostly, they just play with them, bite them, or throw them on the ground.

Green Veggies - So, Corey seems to like green veggies, but Kayley HATES them. She either holds it in her mouth without swallowing or refuses to open up. What is everyone doing if a baby shows a disinterest in a certain food? I just gave up, tried it again yesterday, and same reaction. Do I try again in a couple weeks?

Rolling over - Kayley is driving me crazy! She rolls from her back to her tummy. Hangs out for a few minutes, sometimes not at all, and then screams. She will not even attempt to roll back. I have seen her do it a few times, but she acts like she does not know how now. I will roll her back over and then she does it again and again. Any suggestions? I have left her for a minute or so to see if she will do it on her own, but she just screams louder and gets more upset. It is so weird because I used to be so worried about Corey rolling...now he does it with such ease...now I am back to worrying about her! Does it ever end?

Xmas Presents - I asked my family to take any money they would spend on us or the babies and buy diapers, formula, or gift cards for those things. Instead, everyone bought toys! I know I sound like an ungrateful brat, but I am kind of annoyed, especially at my mother. She agreed a few months ago to do that...stating what a great idea it was. She bought all toys! I know these are her first grandchildren, but they are not even going to remember this Xmas. I was just really counting on the necessities to give us a little break in the spending department. If I was to take any gifts back, it would cause World War 3 and I do not have the energy to fight that battle. I just needed to get that off my chest!!

Well, I better go! I really had no intentions of writing such a long post.

Have a good night!

Valerie

[mmzill]

Hey everyone!
I figured I better check in before we leave on vacation to Florida....or you might really wonder what happened to us.

We have just been really busy...but I think we all have been really busy.
Alaina got a cold last week and was running a fever and she has given it to the boys. They have not had fevers yet though, but are miseralbe with their stuffy noses and all.

The boys are reaching for everything. And are sitting up really well. Not standing or crawling yet, but oh well. I'm sure that will come.

We are heading to FL on Thursday and won't be home for about 2 wks! I'm looking forward to it being with DH's family. Haven't seen them in forever. I hope everyone has the happiest of holidays!!!!!!
~Monica

[vthompson]

Have a safe trip, Monica!! We will miss you!

Valerie

[EBTwinz]

Valerie: Just emailed you.

Monica: Have a safe and happy Holidays.

I will check back later.
Lisa

[swineland]

Monica, have a safe trip down here to Orlando! I'll PM you my number if you would like to get together while you are here. I"m sure Heather would be interested as well.

Lisa, so glad you got those lullaby cd's! Mine should be here tomorrow, I can't wait for DH to see them....he'll think they are so cool.

Stroller: so, I bitched and moaned and wouldn't shut up about how much I hated the duoglider and that the double side by side Peg Aria was going to be SO perfect for me. FINALLY convinced DH that we can afford two hundred dollars on this stroller (which we really can't right now), ordered it and started using it the last few days. The babies really really like it....they can't kick each other, they can sit up and look at everything and each other. I've been able to recline both seats so they can take naps. But I gotta say, it REALLY aggravated the heck out of me today. It does fit through the front door of a store, but forget going down aisles or around the store once you are in it. I attempted to go into Crate and Barrel, Z Gallerie and Kohls. I got in fine, but kept getting stuck down all these "dead end roads".....I would have to back up and follow the exact path I took to get to that particular spot. I am CONSTANTLY saying, oh I'm sorry, excuse me, sorry. I was trying to get in between these two sales racks and I couldn't fit so I was struggling to back up and get the wheels to unlock when a lady with the exact same duoglider I have said "excuse me" and breezed right through the same spot!! I'm just so disappointed that I'm not liking it as much as I thought I would.

Steph's new lunch time: 10:30am. I get up so friggin' early that by 10am I'm starving.

Boys are still sick.....just sniffly and runny noses. They get PediaCare decongestant drops a couple times a day...seems to help.

I feel like crap these days. I'm sick as well, but now that I'm THE MOM there is no time for me to be sick, or even complain about it. But every morning I wake up and think, oh, you've got to be kidding me. Plus, the house is a wreck, we have both sets of parents coming on Friday and I have NO energy or desire to clean....at all. I spent way too much $$ on Christmas and feel nothing but guilt for putting half of it on the Visa. Of course, DH has no idea.

I think I'm just feeling sorta in a rut.....like, oh my god, this is going to be my life now, day after day after day....in this house, same routine, feeding, changing, go to Target, feed, change, go to Target....... Not that I for one minute take for granted being able to stay home with the babies.....it's just getting monotonous and I don't know how to spice things up. I like Val's idea of running this place like a daycare with scheduled activities and more structure. Maybe I'll try something.

Gotta run...
Steph

[christel]

Steph - I'm feelin' ya on the mommy-monotony (sp?) I'm completely uninspired to change out of my pj's today, clean the house, do laundry... bleah! I was also laughing at your previous post about "hump hour"... I LIVE for 3pm! It means the last feeding I have to do by myself, one more nap is around the corner and Oprah is about to come on :D I'm so blessed to be able to stay home w/ my babies... to even HAVE my babies! But, I'm really feeling blue lately. I'm hoping that visiting w/ all my sisters will perk me up. I miss them and my friends that I hardly get to see.

Also, thanks for the heads up on the NG In the Womb show. I saw the original while I was pg last Christmas and am fascinated w/ it! They had a tiny part on multiples that was cool, so this should be amazing. I had so many u/s during the pg (2 a week for the last 2 months) and I'm curious to see how my memories of stuff compare.

I'm looking forward to the new toys the babies get for Christmas because I'm bored w/ the stuff they have. Dh and I are copying someone here (can't remember who:crazy: ) and keeping our gifts for the babies secret from each other.

DH and I just bought a way fancy camera as our gift to each other. I'm relieved b/c DH is impossible to buy for. Now, I have to figure out how to use the new camera! I'm the one who takes most of the pics.

Praying for safe travels for all of you who are hitting the road. We leave on Sat. for a 4 hr. road trip to my parents. Then, we'll go 3 more hours north to DH's family and then 6 hours back home on New Year's Eve. I'm sure we'll feel like partying after we get home....not. Actually, I think I'm going to buy a bottle of champaign and a yummy frozen meal and stash them for dinner that night when we get back. Then we don't have to worry about anything.

gotta run
:lovemytwins:
Christel

[sgarrett]

Happy travels to everyone. I pray you have a safe and stress free trip!

Mommy bordem: CHECK - I do work, mainly out of the house. I just miss going out every once in a while. I mean the babies are 6 months old and we have had a sitter 4 times. The nanny is our only sitter and she charges 10 bucks an hour at night. We live 45 min from anywhere "cool" to go so it is just so expensive to go out! My DH does not seem to mind as much as I do, I miss having friends to go out with ya know? Again I wish we all lived close, we could get together with babies. The other thing is since I work out of the house I am usually in sweatpants all day and do not do my hair and makeup. So on top of never going out, I feel like a frumpy housewife! Should not complain, I have wonderful babies, an awesome teenager, great job and an incredible DH. Just wanted y'all to know I understand the mommy boredom issue to!

Teeth: Aiden is getting tooth #3 on the top to the left of his "front teeth". I thought the two front teeth would come in first, he is going to look so goofy! Pretty appropriate b/c he is such a goofy kid! He cracks me up every day. Isabelle sat up for about 15 seconds today! She also starting saying mamamamama! I do not think she knows what she is saying but hey I will go with it! It is so cute! It is so amazing how fast they are growing and changing.

Lisa: I am so sorry for your horrible day. It really sux when the freak in public. Have you tried the teething tablets? They really seem to help Aiden quickly.

Steph: Sorry you have been sick! When I was reading your stroller saga I just kept imagining the stroller going beep beep beep everytime you had to go backwards!:)

I am off to KY tomorrow to watch Chase in a basketball tournament. It is so fun to watch him, he is so so sooo good! Usually I will hear parents from the other team talking about my son, and how good that #44 is. I always want to stand up and say, THATS MY BABY! He babysat for 15 min yesterday with his girlfriend b/c I had to go into the office and was late getting home. It was so cute, I got home and they were both on the floor playing with the babies. They discovered a new trick too. If you have an IPod and play your Itunes on your computer, if you view graphics (or something like that) it will do all the sycadellic colors and stuff on your screen to the beat of the music. The babies were mesmerized! It was too cute!

Aiden is screaming in his crib gotta go!

Good night everyone and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Staci

[AndreaR]

I don't have time to post (must......go.......to.......bed). But I wanted to say hello quickly. I don't have much to add - we are going through everything you all are. I hope you all have happy holidays and enjoy the babies' first Christmas. Safe travels!! We will be home, so I may get a chance to post, but the way thing are going (or NOT going), I probably won't have time. So much to do, so little time.
Love you all!!
AndreaR

[vthompson]

I do not have time to post...but I wanted to check in real quick. It just keeps getting busier and busier.

I hope everyone has safe trips this holiday season. I cannot believe how far some of you have to go! I thought 30 mins to my in laws was bad (lol).

Lisa - I am so sorry for your ordeal. Poor Ethan!! I hope that tooth comes through soon.

Staci - That is so awesome about your son!! I do not blame you for being incredibly proud of him! Keep bragging mom! I would!

Felisha - I cannot believe JD is having a baby either! I keep waiting for them to write in the girl leaving, or loosing the baby, or something like that. Too crazy!!

Bored with Toys - CHECK!! Cannot wait for some new ones and a different routine during the day.

Ok, gotta run...babies fussing and a million things to do!

Valerie

[Daniele'sTwins]

Hi Guys...Day from h3ll here too. The boys have been sick since Friday...tomorrow will be a full week! They started with fevers, now it is a cough, wicked (RI word) runny nose and VERY irritable! I want to cry when they cry. Last night I was so sick but like Steph...MOMS can't get sick! I have chills and body aches. I just want to got o bed for 14 days!

Stroller...Steph, I am with you...most stores are good BUT there are stores I have such problems with...Bath & Body Works, White house Black Market, etc. I actually get more mad at the stores than the stroller. The stroller is the same size as a standard wheelchair which means the STORE is not handicapped accessible! That ticks me off. I just say too bad for them because I am a shopper and they are missing out on my money...lol.

My perfect scheduale....not doing so well while these boys are sick! UGH

Meats...can't do it! I still just do veggies and fruits. I did buy the meat but it smells like dog food and I just can't feed it to my kids. I am thinking of just making the meats myself. BUT I often say never and change my mind a minute later so who knows my babies may be eating meat from a jar tomorrow.

ok, so I am ashamed to say that I don't shop with the babies alone too often. You see, I can go to BJ's because they have the carriage for twins ( I will try to add the pic to my slideshopw) and mall where there is no carriages but what do you do when you go to the market or target, etc? do you put the boys in their own carriage and push one pull one? Do you still use the Bjorn (or sling), or do you push the stroller and pull a carriage? I know this soundds so silly but I save those types of trips for when I have someone to help me.

Dropping Cribs???,.. Ok, so after seeing Steph's new photos (LOVE your kids!!!!!) I was wondering if anyone is dropping the crib yet? i am thinking of doing it tomorrow. My boys are not pulling up onto things yet but I am sure it will happen very soon.

Clothes...so I just bought a ton of clothes from old Navy at 6-12 months and they are already too small! They are already fitting in 12-18 months! Do you guys realize our babies are closer to their first birthday than the day they were born?:sigh:

So, I have decided 10 more months until I (I mean we) try again:yippee:

Steph...I called you yesterday...did you get my message? Don't worry about calling me back....I have twins too, I know how it is!:lol:

[vthompson]

Daniele- I hope you feel better soon....everyone is right, moms cannot get sick! WOW...10 months!! That is great! I am too scared to try so soon...I was thinking more like 3 years from now (lol). As for going places, I usually put one in the front of the cart and one inside the cart in their carriers. I then use under the cart and whatever room is left inside the cart to put things. I only get a few things at a time because there is not much room. I have not dropped the crib...I will probably wait until they are starting to pull up on things. We are still in 3-6 month pants...6-9 month shirts.

So last night was the night from hell! Kayley woke up screaming at 11pm...Corey was sleeping until I walked in there, then all of sudden, he started screaming. We fed them and put them back down. At 1am, K did it again. C was sleeping, again, until I walked in there. Then they were both screaming. This went on for a little. I gave them some orajel and tylenol...not knowing what else to do. They finally fell asleep and got up at 6:30am. I feel bad for DH because he is also sick and got no sleep last night. I just hope tonight is better.

Talk to everyone later!

Valerie

[sgarrett]

Got back from KY at about 11:00 last night. Chase played pretty good, not his best. The college coach that was there said they were very interested, thought he was a good fit for their team and hoped he would consider joining them next year. He is just waiting to hear how much money Chase is going to get for his academic scholarship before he makes us an offer on the athletic one.:clap:

Christel & Steph: I hope you both get better soon, I could not imagine taking care of these little monsters all day sick! Do not forget to drink plenty of fluids. (where is Sherry when we need her!):spitwater

Christel, I do everything I can to avoid taking the babies out on my own as well, but when I do, I do what Valerie says and put one in the seat part of the buggy and one in the cart part of the buggy. I have also put one in the seat part in carried one in the baby bjorn, and that worked well too. I wear the baby bjorn around the house when I am trying get stuff done if I have a baby that insists on being held. They work out pretty well.

Clothes: We are in 12 - 18 months too and size 3 diapers. BTW I hate the size 3, I have tried Pampers and Huggies and neither seem to fit as good as the Swaddlers did. Anyone else have this problem?

Isabelle is saying ma ma ma ma ma all the time now, it is so cute. They are eating like pigs, for breakfast this morning they had a cup of mixed oats, a #2 size thing of bananas and oranges and 1/2 a container of Yo Baby yorgurt. Breakfast is the meal they usually eat the least at! Have not tried meat yet is it a #2 food or have y'all started #3?

Poopy issues: Anyone else still have a baby that cries bad when they poop? We found out Isabelle had a little fissure and that was what has been causing all the crying. We put vaseline in her butt crack, (sorry if that is TMI) at every diaper change now, and it has helped tremendously! Just wanted to share in case anyone else has this problem.

Ok drum roll please:harmony: Wed night I got to sleep through the night for the first time since I was 6 months preggo! :yippee: I woke up in the morning and ran upstairs to check on the babies. I could not beleive it! Aiden did wake up once in the night but it was DH's turn to get up first. It was wonderful! Does anyone have a crazy sleeper out there? I mean Isabelle we lay down and she is pretty much in the same spot when she wakes up. Aiden is all over the place. Last night when I got home I went upstairs to peek in on them and he was sideways with his neck pushed way back against the bumber to where the back of his head was pratically touching his back! I moved him (which of course woke him up) But he was sideways and totally uncomfortable looking when I went to get him this morning too. I do not know what to do about this bumber issue. He is such a spaz I am scared to take them out of the crib and him get his arm or leg stuck, yet he gets his head stuck underneath them, gets smooshed sideways into them etc..

I hope everyone has a wonderful time this holiday, I hope you all get a little break with all the family around to help with babies too!

Take care,

Staci

[vthompson]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LISA!!!!

We hope you have a fantastic day!!

:birthday: :party: :partygirls:

Love,
Valerie, Kayley, and Corey

[Daniele'sTwins]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LISA! :birthdaybabies: :partygirls: WE LOVE YOU!

[LucasMom]

:birthdaybabies: Happiest of birthdays, Lisa!!
Miss you all so much. Happy holidays and kisses to everyone!

Mindy

[swineland]

:birthday: :partygirls: HAPPY BIRTHDAY LISA!!!

As for the rest of you, I miss you and hope to be back on the board and up to date as soon as the holiday is over. Merry Christmas to you all......I am thankful for you.

xoxox to you and your families

Steph, Evan and Bailey

[EBTwinz]

Thank you all for the Birthday wishes. This was my best birthday so far because I got to share it with my twins.

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy New Year. I love you all!!

Love,
Lisa

[vthompson]

Hello Everyone!! I hope all of you had a very merry Christmas!! Ours was very good....exhausting for us and the babies, but very good!!

:holidays: :santa:

Valerie

[mmzill]

Hey everyone from COLD Orlando - Isn't Florida supposed to be warm and sunny?? Oh well. We are having a nice time here. Steph as much as I would like to get together with you and Heather, I don't know how I would have time. :( Dh's brother and sister both live here and we are just very busy getting time visiting with everyone. Have something planned every day.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!
~Monica

[SunMoonMom]

Hi All...

Long time, no post...

I fell down my back stairs on 12/1 and basically broke my foot off my leg... Surgery and a short stay in the hospital later and I am healing.

I have been off work for three weeks and medicated to the extreme.

It has been some of the toughest weeks yet with the leg, the twins, Christmas and feeling worthless because there is so much I can't do around the house to help... either way... nothing I can do but get up every day and keep at it.

Its hard for me to get into the office so getting on the computer has really been low on the list.

Just wanted to wish everyone a belated Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year.

Kerrie

[vthompson]

Kerrie - I cannot believe that happened to you...I really hope you are feeling better soon.

Monica - I cannot believe it is cold there! That sucks!!

I guess everyone is still recovering from the holidays! I cannot believe how exhausted and overstimulated the babies were! I truly believe they are still recovering. I took down all of our Xmas decorations today. I usually wait until after New Years, but the tree was so dried out. I could not believe it. I was actually scared to turn the lights on!

Have a good night!

Valerie

[JERSEYGEMINI]

Hi everyone- a quick hello- we made it to Miami.:yippee: I'm just checking email for the first time since we arrived. It's been a whirlwind .

We were in the car three days together and survived. :crazy: The kids all did surprisingly well in the car and hotel. We made it to Miami on the 23rd. We only had two incidents- Max was attacked by fire ants at one rest stop and we had a little fire in the car on the last day (I don't recommend the Munchkin bottle warmer for your car!). I think on the way home we will try the train-- there is one that lets you load up your car, and takes you to Virgina. Then we'll drive 4 hours to NJ. You sleep on the train so it is only one day/night of travel instead of three in the car!

I hope everyone has enjoyed the holidays so far.

I hear ya, steph, about the boredom. I'm having a mild diversion with our trip right now, but I dread going back to wintery NJ, and the same old scene. Ugh.

I want to thank whoever told me about torticollis- I went back to find the thread and couldn't. Maybe it was Monica? Monica (or if it was someone else?) You were so helpful! That is exactly what Mason has-- the physician didn't notice it b/c it's on the mild side. I've been stretching his neck two times a day for the past two weeks and it is already improving.

Formula question if anyone has a minute-- I'm trying to decrease the spit up. Right now we're using Nutrimigin and it makes no difference in quantity, but the spit up is clear instead of white. What does that mean? Also, I bought some formula A.R. (added rice starch). Has anyone used this? Does it work?? I feel like it is so unnatural and I shouldn't use it. Is that crazy?

Thanks-- sorry for being a dingbat and not remembering who has helped me. Please know that I appreciate you all so much.

Jennifer

[sgarrett]

Kerrie: OMG that is terrible! I wish you a speedy recovery! What is the expected recovery time? How many steps did you fall down? I am a major klutz and since the babies were born I am so paranoid about falling down the stairs while carrying a baby.

I am glad everyone is making it home safe.

Jennifer, You are too funny they way you downplayed your little incidents! A car fire and fire ants?? Geesh sounds like a sitcom! Is Max OK?

Aiden and Isabelle are both sitting up pretty good, we still need to be right there in case they fall over. The boppy is a great tool to put around them while they are sitting. Isabelle has starting waving back at you, it is too cute. She does not do it every time, but it is really cute when she does! They have been sleeping from 7:30 - 8:00pm until 7:00 - 7:30 am pretty consistently now. It is great!

Anyone have fun plans for New Years? A few of our friends invited us to Las Vegas, and we cannot go. I want to go sooo bad! We do not have any family who can babysit overnight like that and I am not ready to leave them with the Nanny overnight. Total bummer. We are having some friends over to play poker and drink champagne. Oh well maybe next year...

Staci

[AndreaR]

:partygirls:
Happy Belated Birthdays, Jill & Lisa!


We had a very nice first Christmas with the girlies. Madeline was sick, so she wasn't really herself, but she rallied. I took her to the doctor today and found out that she has an ear infection. I feel bad that I didn't go earlier, but she really wasn't that bad. She even seemed better today, but I figured better safe than sorry. Anyway, she's on antibiotics now and should be on the road to recovery.

gotta go.......babies crying..........

[AndreaR]

Okay, I'm back. Luckily, I did manage to grab a few hours of sleep in between. We are having a hard time with getting the girls to sleep together, and I could really use your advice. They haven't been sleeping in the same room since they were about three months old. That's when Isabelle pretty much started sleeping through the night, so we put her in her crib. But Madeline was still eating twice during the night, plus she had to sleep in her Papasan chair, because of the reflux. Well, over a month ago we decided that she was too big to sleep in the chair (and was okay lying down) so we got another crib and put it in our room and Madeline slept in there. I am SOO ready to have our room to ourselves again, so we've tried putting them both in their room. During the day, for naps, it usually works okay. We've figured out that Madeline can fall asleep with Isabelle crying, so we put her down first, and then Izzy. The problem is if one of them wakes up, they wake the other. For naps it's not that big of a deal, because usually they get a good chunk of sleep before one of them wakes up. Sometimes the other will even stay asleep. But at night, it's a total mess. Izzy has learned to self soothe, so we usually let her fuss a little. Maddie isn't able to self soothe, and we're always having to go in and replace her pacifier and "sshh" her. That pisses off Isabelle - that we go in there but don't pick her up. We try to give her a little pat, too, but it doesn't help. So inevitably, they both end up crying, and we end up taking Maddie out. The frosting on this cake of disaster is that Madeline has decided that she will only sleep in our bed since she's been sick. I know, I know, I know but when I am so exhausted I do not have the strength to deal with the crying, so I let her sleep with me. Madeline still gets a bottle once during the night (and I don't want to stop that because she just won't take enough formula during the day). I am afraid that the only answer is to suck it up for a few nights and let them both cry and learn to deal with eachother. Maybe we'll try over the long weekend. Any thoughts? Does anyone else have a similar situation? Thanks for listening.

[sgarrett]

Hi AndreaR: I am so sorry for the frustration, we did finally pick a weekend and let them CIO. My DH and I took turns going in every 15 min to pack their back and sooth them, we would not stay in there longer than one min. and would not pick them up. The first night was AWFUL, Aiden cried for about 2 hours straight and Isabelle cried for about an hour or so. The 2nd night was not as bad and by the third night they were sleeping through the night. They might wake up and fuss for 5 - 10 minutes but then they would turn on their crib toy and go back to sleep. The hardest part (beside no sleep!) was waiting 15 min to go in, 15 min with our baby screaming seems like an hour. And Aiden does SCREAM, it it horrible, but with the exception of last night, they have been sleeping through the night for over a week now. Ever since we did this. The doc said it can take a week but if we did not do it now we could have babies that will not sleep through the night when they are 3 or 4! He said to just let them cry but I could not do that. We opted for going in every 15 min. It did work though. I hope this helps, it is really hard to do, but I am SO glad we finally did it!

Staci

[AndreaR]

Thanks, Staci. We seem to be wimping out this weekend. I have reservations because I know Madeline will wake up at least once to eat, sometimes twice, so I'm afraid of what that will do to Izzy in the middle of the night. I think we'll try it soon, though. Listening to them scream is the absolute worst. I did it by myself with Isabelle, because I started letting her CIO for her naps, then transitioned to night time. That worked really well, but it was incredibly hard the first few days. Now I put her down in her crib and hardly ever worry that she won't fall asleep.

Sure is slow around here.... I bet you are all getting ready for a big night tomorrow?? Not us. If we make it to 9:00pm I'll be surprised. I think I went to bed at 8:00 last year, when I was pregnant.

Isabelle is sitting up pretty well. She can stay up for a few minutes most of the time. Madeline has a ways to go, but we're working on it. We are supposed to do exercises on her big beach ball to strengthen the stomach and back muscles, but with the holidays we've been a little lax on that.
Maddie is getting really close to rolling over, too. She gets about 75% of the way (from her back) and then needs a little help. When she's on her belly, she flips herself over like a pancake. It's really funny. She always looks surprised when she gets there, too.

We got them a little piano for Christmas. It looks like a real piano, only it's small. It's wooden and has keys that are spaced apart the same as a real piano. They both love sitting there and banging on it. We got some good video footage of Isabelle today. If I weren't so technologically challenged, I'd post a video. No signs of crawling, but Isabelle does scoot around her crib. I'm not sure she knows she's doing it though. I think she does it in her sleep. When she's on the floor on her tummy, she usually stays put.

They are still in 3-6 months clothes, size 2 diapers. They are eating solids three times a day. Most of the time we give them 3 tablespoons of cereal mixed w/ formula along with carrots or sweet potatoes that I made myself. They are both starting to turn a little orange, though, so we bought some peas and are trying to give them more green than orange. I heard string beans were hard to make yourself. I don't know about peas. Has anyone else tried? Along with the cereal and veggies, we also give them a little fruit (bananas, pears, peaches or applesauce) or soy yogurt. Isabelle is a much better eater than Madeline. Maddie only wants the sweet stuff. You should see her get all excited when we have to give her reflux medicine (or Motrin or Amoxycillin) - she grabs the syringe. This kid has a big sweet tooth! Speaking of teeth, we have none yet. Both girls drool a lot and put EVERYTHING in their mouths, but I don't see or feel anything.

I am still ten pounds away from my pre-pg weight, which is about 20 pounds over what I should be. The fertility drugs really did a number on me. I gained like 15 pounds before I was even pregnant. I am hoping to start anew come 2007. I am desperate to look normal again. DH got me a ton of clothes for Christmas (what the %*^# was he thinking??) and of course nothing fits. He even bought me sneakers which are too small. My feet are definitely a size bigger now. I can't seem to get over that one. Maybe because I was a size 10 to begin with. I was hoping that it was all fluid during the pregnancy, but it doesn't look like it now. Elevens....ugh. Mostly I want to be healthier, though. I feel so old and achey now. I'm hoping to start exercising and get some more energy and flexibility.

Well, this is really turning into a novel, so I'll say good night. I hope you are all okay and are enjoying yourselves over the holidays. I'm going to try and update my slide.

xoxo
AndreaR

[vthompson]

Hello Everyone!! Sure is slow..

AndreaR - I love the new pics! Your girls are adorable!

Felisha - Glad to hear you are all back safe and sound!!

Jennifer - Your trip sounds like a National Lampoon's Vacation movie!! I hope everyone is ok, especially after the fire ants! What exactly are those? What do they do? I do not think we have them here in Ohio. I have never used the AR formula...I would just ask your ped if it is ok and if he/she says it is, I would definitely use it...

CIO - This is the worst thing in the world to me...I HATE it!! However, we have to do it often...Kayley will wake up in the middle of the night and if we let her cry for a little bit, she will go back to sleep. Now, if she really gets going, we feed her. I can only handle so much. Lately, her crying at night is waking up Corey...has been some tiresome days lately in this house. Basically, Kayley cries almost every time she is put her in crib for a few minutes, then it turns into some weird moaning sound, and she is out.

Sitting up - Both babies are doing really well with this. However, they still wobble from time to time...in fact, I forget and poor Corey has toppled over and banged his head on the floor...talk about feeling like a terrible mom!!

Rolling Over - Both babies are finally doing this...Kayley worried me because she would only roll to her tummy and then cry because she could not get back. However, she is doing much better lately. In fact, both babies sleep on their tummies now. As soon as we lay them down, K rolls over and then C rolls sometime during the night.

Clothes - We are in 3-6 or 6-9 shirts and mostly 3-6 pants...some 6-9 pants are beginning to fit. We are using size 3 diapers, mostly because they were leaking through the size 2 at night.

New Year's Eve - We are just taking the kids over DH's parents house. We are having steaks and shrimp then heading home. I predict we will be home by 9pm.

So the craziest thing happened to me. DH bought me some clothes for Xmas that didn't fit. We took them back on Thursday. He stayed outside the dressing room with the twins while I tried stuff on. I ran out to get a different size and when I came back, all the clothes from my dressing room were gone, including the pants I came to the store in! Some worker came and cleaned out the dressing rooms...I was able to find the clothes I tried on, but they never found my pants from home!! I was so upset...I am very short, 5 foot, and it is very hard for me to find jeans that are short enough to wear with tennis shoes and not drag on the ground...these jeans were that pair! Anyways, the manager let me pick out a new pair of jeans and did not charge me for them. However, by this point, the babies were very cranky and I was so aggravated and tired that I just grabbed a pair and they are too long. Now, I have to go hunting for a new pair of jeans that fits me in the length. Being short is so annoying! I spend more money having my pants hemmed!

I guess I should end this novel and go to bed. Talk to everyone later! If I do not have a chance to post, I hope everyone has a happy new year!

Valerie

[vthompson]

I forgot to ask this in my last post...

I was wondering what all of you were doing when one of the babies dislikes a particular food. Corey will pretty much eat anything. Kayley is very particular...she had such tummy problems in the beginning so I am not sure if that is why. However, she refuses to eat any green vegetables or meat baby food. When I say refuses, she will either pearse (sp?) her lips, hold the food in her mouth, or in the case of meat, she actually cries. I meant to ask the ped but I forgot. Do I keep introducing it? Do I lay off of it for awhile? I am so confused! Any help would be appreciated!!

Valerie

[sgarrett]

Valerie: I was reading the other day about introducing new baby foods, they suggest to continue to try and introduce new foods even if they do not like them. They said it could take up to 20 times for them to suddenly start liking new foods. Just thought I would share, it was an article in American Baby magazine.

Staci

[JERSEYGEMINI]

Hello!

Kerrie- I missed your post before--so sorry! It must be a horrible feeling. I hope you heal quickly.

Staci- I am so jealous that your twins sleep that long, but congratulations!

Andrea- I am in the same boat...I'm soooooooooooooo tired of getting up during the night. These babies shouldn't need food anymore at night, right? I am leaning towards the CIO method. That's what we did with Max when he was 20 months. It took three nights and he has slept through the night ever since...it's just agony to listen to a crying baby and not cuddle, though! Now it's x2! I supposed I'll do it soon. Isa sleeps through the night, but if Mason cries he will certainly wake her up...seems unfair to wake her up like that then make her cry. Maybe we should put our non-criers in a different room for a few nights? I have to get my courage up and just do it- I need sleep! So do you!! BTW- I was a wonderful size 10 shoe prepregnancy and now I need a 10 1/2 or sometimes 11. yikes.

Valerie- I can't believe you lost your pants! That will be a funny story someday, but for now, I'm sorry about your favorite jeans! As for the food, Staci is right-it takes many presentations for some children (even up to 80). This was part of my job. If she has terrible aversions, you can start just having some of the despised food sitting in a bowl in front of her. Once she can tolerate that, you can let her smell it or feel it if she will...you slowly move towards her mouth... even one spoonful is progress. These actions all count as presentations; also, try giving the less desired foods first when she is really hungry can help!

Thanks for asking- Max is fine. Fire ants are just in FL (I think) --my curious son stuck his foot in their mound and they are very fast climbers. They swarm into a person's clothes in 10 seconds and BITE. We had to strip him down and brush them all off. Yes, he is traumatized and will not leave the house without his tennis shoes on!

Florida is great- :sunshine: Iwant to stay here until May! We went to the beach yesterday and have also walked around the coconut grove, the zoo, two parks, the children's museum and science museum. It is great to get out of the house and have so many helping hands. My husband and I actually went on a DATE last night!

The AR formula was a disaster. Both babies were up with cramps all night. Poor things. I guess I'll deal with the spit up for a few more months.

I am so fat and I'm going on South beach-starting tomorrow morning. I just need a big dose of will-power. I have realized this because we had all our christmas photos developed today and I look like I have three double chins in all of them! I'm writing it here so that I will have my announcement documented (hopefully this will help with the will power part: ) )

Anyway, hope everyone gets lots of sleep tonight!

Jennifer

[Jillmami]

It's been a while... seems as though everyone had an interesting past week. It seems as if I/my little ones are in the same boat as some of you. Noah has slept in his crib in the nursery for months and months now. (For the most part, through the night.) TJ however, has slept downstairs. First in the swing, and for the past month or two in the pack-n-play bassinet. For the past 2 weeks, she has slept through the night waking up to eat a few times a week. I dont' mind waking up to feed her once though since she needs to grow! We have tried having her sleep in the crib upstairs in the nursery but she woke up so frequently at the time that her crying would wake up Noah. He is such a sentimental baby and has the saddest sounding sympathy cry. Last night we tried again and each baby woke up just once without waking up the other one. :clap: It was amazing. We have tried it again tonight so we'll see what happens. I have some good advice, thanks ladies, so if it gets worse, I have some back up plans.

Noah is in 6-9m and TJ is in 3-6. We are still in size 2 diapers. Noah is still trying to get used to solids. He cringes with each bite. All I can say is that my bmilk must be darn tasty! :crazy: So far we've just tried veggies. We'll keep chugging along!

Kerrie, hope that you are healing well and finding you are getting better at taking care of the twins with the bum leg.

Some of you had some funny things happening! Nothing exciting here whatsoever. Just a mellow Christmas trying to adapt to no mom but 2 wonderful babies. They absolutely LOVED opening presents; as long as we let them chew on paper and ribbons.

Still having trouble getting mine to eat enough daily. They should be consuming 28-32 oz/day and we are like 20-24 most days. Noah is better but TJ struggles. I'm not sure why. We'll see on our next home health nurse visit in January about her weight and where she should be. Not sure what we'll do so we'll see there.

We'll, I hope that those of you in the same boat as me re: babies sleeping at night get some sleep. It's nice to have 1 out of 2 doing it, but will be so much nicer when it's both.

[Jillmami]

TJ slept downstairs. She kept waking up hourly. argh!!

[Jillmami]

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
I was thinking earlier about what I was doing last New Year's. It's crazy to think that my babies are almost 1 year old. Yikes!!

Hope that everyone had an enjoyable evening. Take care! Cheers! :clink:

[vthompson]

Happy New Year Everyone!!! :partygirls:

Thanks for all the eating advice! We actually tried the chicken with K last night and she ate about 4 spoonfuls...at least that is a start!

It is crazy to think about where we all were last year at this time! I still cannot believe that the twins are here!!

Our New Years was good...we just went to my in laws and ate and played Taboo. I LOVE that game!! I had a few glasses of wine early one. It tasted so good (lol)!! We were home by 11pm.

Valerie

[AndreaR]

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

We had a very nice evening at home. The girls went to bed fairly easily, then DH and I had a candlelit dinner (I cooked all his favorites) and a bottle of champagne (I had one glass, he had the rest). Then we played SceneIt? which I got as a Christmas gift. I was in bed by 10:00, DH by 11:00. The girls then decided to tagteam us and ring in the new year at midnight our time and for every time zone in the USA. Boy was I tired today!

Catching up on some old posts - sorry - I think I inadvertantly overlooked some:

Kerrie - I am so sorry to hear about your foot!! Try to focus on getting better and don't beat yourself up about not doing more. I hope you are up and around very soon.

Jennifer - I can't believe what you went through on your trip down to Florida! I hope the rest of your vacation and your trip back is uneventful! I'm sorry I can't help you with the spit up question. Maddie is on medicine for reflux - it's called Axid. It has helped quite a bit. She never spit up a lot, but she was always really uncomfortable and we could hear her trying to swallow the stuff coming up her throat. Thanks for the empathy with the shoe situation... and I'm going to start my diet/exercise changes tomorrow, too. My goal is to be at my target weight by the girls 1st birthday. I must say, though, you look BEAUTIFUL in your slide picture. No double chin in sight! But if you need it, you can always find support from me and others here at the board.

Staci - I think that it's so cute that your Isabelle waves to you!

Jill - It sounds like we are in similar situations with the separate sleeping and the babies not eating enough. Madeline only drinks about 15 ounces of formula a day. I am going to call the doctor about it tomorrow. I mentioned it to him at their six month appointment and he wasn't all that worried, but it's slowly decreased since then. Most of the time she eats the solids well, and we try to mix a lot of formula into her cereal, but I'm really afraid that she's not getting enough.

Valerie - sorry about your problem introducing new foods. From what others have said, it sounds like it may take a while, but they'll eventually come around. Let us know how it goes. Luckily, my girls like everything we give them, although Madeline definitely prefers the sweeter things. SOOO sorry about your jeans. I can't help but wonder what could have happened to them???

Is anyone reading any books on twins? I have one, I can't remember the name of it. I started reading it when I was pregnant, but it was more about raising twins than carrying them, so I put it away for later. I don't even know where it is right now! But I sometimes wonder if I should learn a little bit more about having twins and how to do things differently than a single child (not that I know anything about that either...LOL).

Well, Happy New Year all you amazing mamas... my girls are seven months old today. Unbelievable.

:throb: :throb: :throb:
AndreaR

[sgarrett]

:partygirls: Happy New Year Mommies! We had three other couples over to celebrate. The plan was to play poker but we opted for Taboo instead! I love that game too Valerie! Our neighbors put on a huge firework show and we walked over to watch that at midnight. It was fun. Another couple brought their 5 month old, and we were all wearing our baby monitors when we walked next door to watch the show. Boy how times change! I can not believe I am about to be 37 years old. Wow it even looks funny as I type it. It seems like yesterday I was 25! What happened? Time goes by so fast. It is kinda scary.

I am faithfully starting the workout routine tomorrow!:walking: Oh yeah and diet too. I could not start today, after drinking wine and champage last night all I wanted today was pizza.

Teeth: Aiden is getting his 4th tooth, it is his left incisor (sp?) He already has his right, he is going to look like a little vampire! Are you suppose to start brushing their teeth this soon? I have a little toothbrush for them and I use it on Aiden every once in a while. Am I suppose to do it twice a day? Isabelle still has no teeth.

They started #3 foods today! They have been eating like such little pigs I decided to move them up. They like just about everything, but make reallly yucko faces with green beans. I gave them both a little peice of canned asparugus today too. Wow what a face, but they ate it.

Sorry with the sleeping issues, I hope it gets better for everyone soon. Knock on wood, they have been really good lately. It was hard getting Aiden down tonight, I think that new tooth is bothering him. Uh oh, as I finished that sentence he started crying. Poor baby.

Good night everyone, I wish you all happiness, prosperity, health and much love in the new year!

Staci:)

[vthompson]

Hello!! Just wanted to check in and see what everyone was up to. Both babies are sick. Kayley has a pretty bad cough and Corey seems to not be feeling well either. He has not had a bottle since 10:30am and refuses to take one. He did the same thing yesterday and I actually called the on call...she said to try and give him liquids every hour. We gave him a bath after I got off the phone with the ped and he took a bottle after that. I am worried, though, especially since he is not really eating. He seems to have a lot more energy today, which is good.

Staci - I read that once they get teeth, you are supposed to brush them without toothpaste.

AndreaR - Someone had to have stolen the jeans...that is what I think happened. I am not reading any books on twins, currently.

Talk to everyone later!

Valerie

[AndreaR]

WOW..it's really quiet here. You could hear a pin drop! I hope everyone is okay.

Valerie - how are Kaley and Corey feeling? Better I hope? Have you been able to get Corey to eat more? Did the doctor have any suggestions about that? How do you get him to take liquids if he's not hungry?

Not too much new here. We're still having sleeping issues with Madeline, but I'll spare you the details.

I've tried to be good from a diet/exercise perspective, but I haven't been too successful so far. I'm trying to feel good about the fact that I haven't scarfed down multiple servings of dessert for two days in a row. I know it's not much, but I've got to start somewhere and I was SO SO SO bad over the holidays that any reduction in sweet eating is an improvement. I am joining a new gym tomorrow. The local YMCA, actually. We are going to get a family membership and start taking the girls there for swimming lessons. It's a really nice facility and they have free daycare while you work out. I used to belong to this really posh health club in Boston, so going to the Y seems like a bit of a downer, but I guess that's where my life is right now. And I am happy - no, THRILLED - with these girlies, but sometimes I do miss my prior life.

Well, I promised DH that I would watch the Notre Dame game with him. I CANNOT WAIT for football to be over. Then maybe I'll get my husband back.

Love to all - I hope that you are able to post soon. I miss everyone!

AndreaR

[swineland]

Hello everyone!! Gosh, I miss you guys! It's been too long.....

I know we all have different things going on and with the crazy schedule of the holidays, travel, visitors, etc it is hard to find the time to post. I have been faithfully reading and thinking of you all, but each time I sit down and even THINK about posting, something comes up....until tonight!!

Christmas was good. We had my parents and DH's parents in for the holiday and it was so much fun spending it with the babies. They looked adorable in their outfits; Evan in his "CHEER" long sleeve onesie, red pants and santa hat from Old Navy and Bailey in his "BAH HUMBUG" long sleeve onesie, striped pants and santa hat. Needless to say that after several days of activity, noise, and baby-passing they were wiped out! I must say though that they did really well, all things considered. Their dispostions were cheerful as always and they really only cried when it was obviously time for a nap. Of course, between all the grandparents, us and "Santa", the boys got enough toys to last them for a long long time. I got them the Swirlin Surprise gumball machine, the VTech learning car dashboard thingy and the Leapfrog learnin' hoops basketball post. Inlaws got them the Fisher Price learning table and a soft book. My mom went postal and got them all kinds of crap with lights and sounds......they love all of it, though.

Playtime: well, we moved out the 4-seat dining table that we had near the kitchen and replaced it with the 35-square foam playmat that I got at BJ's. It's on hardwood floor and is PERFECT! All of their toys are there and they have the whole area now to scoot and play. It has alleviated the total toy explosion in our family room and given DH and I a more tranquil, adult place to be (a la pre-baby days). I'll try to post some photos of the new setup.

Solids: the boys are on stage 2's for sure, sometimes stage 3. I do stage 3 for fruits, but the stage 3 dinners seem to be a little much for Bailey, so I keep them both on stage 2. I get the ones that have double the meat though.....simple recipe, I think it's called. It's chicken and pears or turkey and apples.... They will eat ANYTHING. Mouths always open wide, no matter if it's peas or green beans or prunes.... I am about to start experimenting with fresh peas, mashed potatoes and well-cooked pasta. They are still eating roughly 6 ozs every 3-4 hours.

I took them to the park today for the first time. I put out a big blanket and we laid there and played with some toys and a book. Then I put them each in the baby "bucket" swings....they laughed and laughed.....it was so cute.

They start Kindermusik in February and I am so excited. I know by then they will be sitting up really well and I should be able to handle both of them by myself. They sit up pretty good now, but still have to keep an eye on them as they will lose balance and topple over. When we've been going out to the store (Target, BJ's) I have been putting both of them on the top of the cart with the cart cover. It's cute seeing these two fuzzy heads :)

We love our new car seats. The boys seem extremely comfortable in them and they fit in the captain's seats of the Sienna no problem. We got the Fisher Price/Britax Safe Voyage car seats. They go to 55lbs, instead of the traditional 40 lbs.

DIET: Today is day 2 for me of South Beach. DH is weighing me once a week, though I don't get to look down to see what it says. Not sure if I like that.....I wanna know!!! Andrea, I know exactly what you mean about being bad over the holidays. I feel like I have been bad for the last 7 months!! Today I was cleaning out the fridge and I had to actually throw away 4 pieces of cheesecake!!! It was torture! At least they make sugar free french vanilla coffee creamer and I can still have that. I've been eating leftover ham from Christmas and salads, low-carb yogurt smoothies and lots of cheese. Oh, and eggs in the morning.....those egg beaters with cheese and chives...not bad. I hate cracking open eggs and mixing them....gets everywhere. Plus, with my new Circulon pans that I got for Christmas, there is no stick!! :)

I have so much more to say, but my hands hurt from typing! I am going to get some zzzz's and catch up more tomorrow. God knows I'll probably be up at the crack of dawn (or rather, way before that) since E&B fell asleep at .....5:45pm!!!! We did wake them up at 8:15 though to feed them and they each ate the whole bottle, so maybe that'll keep them sleeping until a decent hour....or at least until my coffee maker kicks on at 5am!

So glad to be back...I have been thinking about you all!!

Steph

[christel]

Hi Ladies :)

We got back from our holiday travels on Monday. We spent 9 days away... 5 at my parents' and 4 at DH's parents'. I really enjoyed the time w/ my fam, especially my sisters. They all live out of state and I rarely get to see them anymore. I've only met my 17 month old nephew twice -so that was fun. He is Such a BOY. The time w/ DH's folks was a different story. Those people stress me out! I am SO glad to be home.

We had the girls dedicated at my parents church on Christmas Eve. That was so special b/c my elderly grandparents were able to be there. The girls also had a great time Christmas morning with the wrapping paper. Ruby had mysterious red stains all over her outfit. We finally found a slobbery wet piece of red tissue paper balled in her fist that she was rubbing all over herself. They got TONS of books and toys. I'm going to put half of it up for now, though. Like the baby dolls. They just want to eat the dolls' hats right now. :lol:

Weight Loss - Staci and Andrea, I'm going to email you back when I finish this post... but YES, I'm ready to get back on track. I did really good up to the start of travelling, but gave it up while we were gone. I haven't been back on the scale 'cause I'm scared! It's SB phase 2 for DH and I right now.

Valerie - seriously? Jeans stolen from the dressing room? Un-freakin-believable! I'd be SO mad! Great jeans are not just a monetary investment, their a labor of love, time and devotion.

Kerrie - Sending you fast healing prayers! Ouch!

Jennifer - we've got fire ants here in TX... they are the WORST! I know your Max's pain... ouch ouch ouch. We actually had our air conditioner go out this summer b/c of those evil ants. They're attracted to electricity, crawled inside and caused a key component to not receive an electrical signal b/c their evil ant bodies were blocking things. DH figured it out and blasted them out w/ the air compressor.

Jill - my babies both make the "face" for the first 1/2 of their solid feedings... every time. DH calls it the poo-poo face and says I make it too, when I try new things. :crazy:

That's all I've got in me for now... I'll update on the girls later.

Night ladies,
:lovemytwins:
Christel

[Jillmami]

ok, runny nose... to humidify or not?? if so, cold or warm?

I hate when they are snotty-nosed!! TJ wants to be held 24/7 and when Noah needs attention, TJ lets you know she is unhappy.

[AndreaR]

YAY! It's so nice to see everyone posting again. I'm glad you all had nice holidays. It seems like the babies really held up well through all of the hustle and bustle. How great was it that they were old enough to participate a little?

Jill - The humidifier might help with the stuffiness. I would go with the cool mist rather than warm. I think warm helps breed germs. And, in keeping with the germ theme, you have to clean the humidifier a lot - like every other day - so bacteria doesn't build up. I usually have one going in the winter, but I haven't had to fire up ours yet. I hate cleaning it, so I've been waiting until we really need it. Luckily the girls haven't had many congestion issues. knocking on wood........

Steph - your new play area sounds fantastic! Where do you eat, though? Your boys sound so sweet. I was picturing their little faces when you were talking about feeding them and them opening their mouths. Too cute.

Car seats - we're not even close to being out of the infant car seats. The girls are still under 14 pounds, so they're not that hard to carry. They both fit lenghwise, too, so we're going to use them until we MUST change over.

I have a doctor's appointment today - at the RE. They're going to look inside my uterus and see if there are any fibroids growing back. That is why I couldn't get pregnant for so long before. I want to know if the fibroids are growing back quickly, because if they are, I may only have a short window of time to get pregnant again. I was really open to having another baby about two months ago. But now I think I'd be very happy with my girls and that's it. DH is in total disagreement, however. I'm taking it day by day. We'll see what happens today.

Have a great day everyone. For those of you/us on a diet - stay strong! It sounds like everyone is off to a great start! I like that we have eachother to lean on.

xo
AndreaR

[sgarrett]

Steph: What is Kindermusik? Is the Fisher Price/Britax car seat the same as the Britax? Goofy question, I just did not realize Britax was Fisher Price if that is the case. That is the seats we are looking at as well. Do you think they are worth the money?

AnderaR: You can buy these little ball thingys that you drop in the humidifer and it does all the cleaning for you. You just have to replace them once a month. They seem to be working pretty good, we have had the humidifers on for about a month now.

Christel and Andera: Ugh I will start the diet tomorrow, while in this training class at work it is impossible, they brought Heavenly Ham in yesterday for much and Kentucky Fried Chicken today!

Sitting Up: Aiden is 61/2 months old and still not sitting up, should I be worried? Isabelle sits like a champ. She also waved bye bye to me this morning when I left for work. It was the first time she had waved at me before me waving at her. It was soo cute!

Staci

[SunMoonMom]

Sitting Up: My boys are not sitting up on their own at all yet. I asked the peds about it and she said some kids just develop slower. The boys can stand up but not sit up... I'm not going to worry for another month or so.

Update on broken ankle -- It's healing. As of yesterday, the doctor said I could start putting weight on it as long as I was in the aircast.. yeah me... hurts like h*** to walk but getting better...

Question: Benjamin is a diva! He is constantly cranky. He wants to be held all the time. With me being home with the injury and not able to get around much, I held him more than I should have. Now SAHD is paying the price. Any suggestions on what to do to help him be more independant? Zachary is the most content kid and so DH and I are constantly feeling guilty because we are always taking care of Ben. I can say that Ben has bad acid reflux and so I know he doesn't feel good.

Thoughts?

Kerrie

[swineland]

Hi girls...

Stacy, the car seats are called Safe Voyage and they are a collaboration between Fisher Price AND Britax. They have all the safety features of a Britax, but are less expensive and more budget-friendly. We paid $149 a piece for them. The boys seem really comfy in them and they are very sturdy. Here is a link: http://www.specialtybaby.com/fiprsavodeco1.html

Andrea, the new play area truly is a godsend.....we're all happy with it. That is, until they are full fledge crawling and then to hell with boundaries (as far as THEY are concerned :) ) DH and I have a really bad habit of eating our dinners on the coffee table in the family room, so we never used that dining table that we moved. Only our parents sit there when they come. I have put the 2 highchair seats on the floor and it's perfect. I sit in front of them and feed them.

Crap, gotta run. be back!

Steph

[EBTwinz]

Valerie: I emailed you a couple times. Just wanted to make sure you got them.

I just noticed my ticker. I can't believe we are getting closer to one year!!!

[Jillmami]

car seat safety article from consumer reports

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/babies-kids/child-car-booster-seats/car-seats-2-07/overview/0207_seats_ov.htm

[swineland]

Staci, I forgot to answer your other question which was "what is Kindermusik?". It is a 15 week class (once a week for 45 mins) for birth-18months (there are other age groups as well, up to 10 or 12 I believe). It teaches development on all levels, baby sign language, physical movement, sounds and, of course, music. It's just a really neat class that I heard of from a friend of mine a while back before I was pregnant and I made sure to check it out. There are usually certified Kindermusik teachers in every area....though less populated areas may not. http://www.kindermusik.com/ I looked up your area and the closest one that came up is in Franklin....not sure if that's anywhere near you or not. As for price, it is $357 for both babies for a 15 week semester. Both grandparents contributed to this for us for Christmas which is how we were able to swing it. Otherwise, I know that's a big chunk of change. It's worth it though, I think.

Anyway, hope that helped! Check out the website for more info.....
(they should pay me for that!)

Steph

[megzmom]

hi all. been so bad about checking and posting.

My grandma is has hospice coming to my mom's house so I have been real busy trying to make sure my mom is okay. She isnt eating or sleeping. Luckily my brother booked an earlier flight and arrived yesterday.

car seat!!!!!!! - read about the 10 car seats that FAILED the consumer reports test http://www.babycenter.com/newpoll/1511019.html?scid=te-other:20070104:3129:20193:9678

Steph-hope you are doing good. Left a message and email a while back. Kindermusik-my music teacher just took a leave of absence because her classes took off. She is really a great teacher and has an infant herself. If you want more info on her classes let me know. Don't know if you want to meet at one of the parks and walk. I got to shrink my thighs and but soon. Refuse to buy larger clothes.

Kerrie-my Zack and Ben's personalities are almost the same as yours until recently. All of a sudden Zack found his inner VOICE and squeals and screams just to hear himself. Ben use to be the town crier and had to be held more that Zack. Now he is happy playing.

Sitting up: Zack is a pro but Ben cant with out my help. I am going to ask the ped in 2wks when we have our flu booster.

okay short post. Gotta go to finish report cards YUCK then go to my mom's.

[AndreaR]

Scary stuff on the car seats, huh? I keep trying the link to locate an inspection site near me, but the page has an error. I wonder if it's because of high traffic to the site. This story was all over the news today. We have the Graco SnugRides, which seem to have tested okay, but I'd like to be assured that they are installed properly.

Steph - first of all, I am head over heels in love with your boys. They are just too cute. The new pictures are great. The play space looks awesome. It makes me want to do something similar in our house. Great idea!

Heather - nice to hear from you. I'm really sorry about your mom. She is in my prayers.

Lisa - nice to hear from you, too! Any update on your period?? I just can't imagine!! We haven't had any issues with separation anxiety, but some of the moms/babies in my mothers group are. Madeline gets very clingy when she sees me, but she doesn't seem to really mind when I'm not there.

Sitting up - The physical therapist that comes for Madeline said that 8 months is when most babies should be sitting up competely unassisted. Izzy is getting better at it every day, Maddie is going to be a while.

Both girls have learned to drop stuff off their high chairs. It is kind of a pain to keep picking it up over and over again, but I also think it's really cute. I like to see their little brains going, you know? Also, Isabelle loves peek-a-boo. She does it herself with her lovey - puts it over her face, then takes it down and smiles this HUGE smile. It cracks us all up every single time. Peek-a-boo is supposed to be good for separation anxiety, btw.

I went to the gym today for the first time since WAY before I was pregnant. It was very nice to be away from the kiddos for a bit. When I got home, Isabelle would not go down for a nap, so I ended up taking her on a three mile walk. She still didn't fall asleep, but at least I got in good exercise today!

Good night everyone! Hope you all have a great weekend.

AndreaR

ps. I missed Grey's Anatomy last night, hoping they would run it again tonight. No such luck. What did I miss!?

[Jillmami]

I always LOVE to see the new pics of everybody's babies! So adorable and neat to see how they are growing and changing. It's so interesting to see how differently each baby is developing even though they were born around the same time.

Andrea, your girls seem just like my two. One is ahead of the other one by quite a bit. Also, my TJ is smaller and doesn't eat as much as your Madeline. Have you heard anything from the ped about getting her to eat more? Have they mentioned fortifying your formula or anything? I will find out hopefully next week when our nurses come over for the monthly check up. TJ will get there when she's ready. As long as she is growing at her appropriate growth rate, I'm ok with it.

Steph, cool play area. Dh and I took out our dining room table/chairs and have turned that room into the play area for downstairs. We just have the carpet in there and various play mats around the sides of the room. Works really well. When the therapists come over, we put a big blanket in the middle of the room to do exercises on. Like you, we never ate there much anyways. We still have a table in the kitchen area but we don't use that either. :crazy:

Heather, I really feel for you re: your mom. I have experience with hospice from my mom this past summer/fall. You and your family are in my prayers. From my experience, make sure you ask questions and stay as informed as possible. If you have any questions, please ask me.

Well, I'm off to get some sleep, hopefully. Keep up the great work with the cutie pies!

[mmzill]

Well, we are finally back in West Virginia! After an 8 hr drive today.....I'm really tired. The kids were great travelers though. The boys slept alot.

We had a very nice Christmas and New Years. Enjoyed Florida and time with DH's family. Then drove to my moms in North Carolina for New Years. That was nice also.

No teeth here yet. But they are really chewing on things so I think we'll see those pearly whites before long.

They are both sitting up unassisted. Anthony better than Nathan. No crawling or turning over yet, but they really strech for toys out of their reach.

Anthony is my eater.....but not Nathan. He won't eat anything, only me! UGH! He closes his mouth and turns his head away. It's so frustrating. I'm afraid he's not getting enough to eat. I have pretty much weaned Anthony so Nathan can nurse more. (he won't take a bottle either) We have a dr's apt next week, I'm going to talk to the pedi then.

Well it's close to midnight, so I better get to bed. Enjoyed reading all the new posts and seeing the pics! Just don't have the energy to respond to everyone, but I hope you all have a wonderful Saturday!
~Monica

[vthompson]

I have missed my Internet friends so much this week!! This has been the absolute week from HELL!!!

Both babies and myself have been sick. In fact, we took Corey to the ER on Tuesday night because he refused to eat and it had been 12 hours! I was so scared. We get there and the dr comes in and says he is fine and begins to walk out of the room. I was like, what do you mean he is fine? He says he should be eating soon if not, call your ped tomorrow! I was so angry! Not that I wanted anything wrong with him, but don't dismiss him not eating! He made us feel like we were crazy parents! Well, I call the ped the next morning. The nurse at least offers me an explanation that there are a ton of viruses going around and that it probably hurts him to eat. She gave us some ideas on how to get him to drink fluids. Wednesday, we spent all day holding Corey and sleeping with him because he refused to lay in his crib. Luckily, DH stayed home or I think I would have lost my mind. Kayley had a cough, but was eating fine. The rest of the week, they seemed to get better then on Friday, Corey wouldn't eat again so I took him to the ped. She said the same thing about the viruses. His throat was red, but not too bad. Today, everyone seems to be doing much better. I felt so mommied out yesterday I just kept crying at every little thing...I had NO patience for my poor little babies. DH must have sensed it because he got up with them this morning and let me sleep. I feel better now.

Lisa - I did get your email...I am going to write back when I am finished here. Sorry it took so long!! Kayley definitely has some separation issues. Anytime we see someone that has watched them, she clings to us and begins to cry. It takes her, literally, like 2 hours to warm up when we go places.

Steph - Do you think that mat would work on carpet?

Monica - Glad to hear you made it back safe and sound! I am sure that Nathan is getting enough of what he needs. I am interested to hear what the ped has to say. So, is it easier just nursing one baby?

AndreaR - My twins have also discovered the throw toys on the floor and watch my parents pick them up trick!! In fact, we went to dinner last night and they sat in the high chairs at the restaurant. All they did the whole time was try and grab everything off the table and throw toys on the floor. We must have looked like crazy parents to everyone else there! I also love to watch their face as they try and figure something out. It is too cute!

Heather - I am sorry to hear about your Grandma. Hopefully your mom is coping ok...that is a lot of work.

Kerrie - Glad to hear your ankle is healing. Corey used to be the diva of the house. Poor Kayley was always left to fend for herself because Corey needed so much attention. Now, they have switched and Kayley is more needy. I think they like to keep us on our toes!

Eating - Since Corey's sickness, he has changed his eating pattern. Instead of eating 6 ozs every 3 hours, he has moved to 8 ozs every 4-5 hours. Is this normal? It stresses me out when Kayley takes a bottle and he refuses. I don't know why...I keep telling myself that he would tell me if he was hungry. Anyone else experiencing this?

Sitting up - The twins are doing well, but we still can't leave them unattended because they do wobble from side to side, especially if they reach for a toy.

Well, I wanted to respond to more people, but I hear Kayley upstairs so I better go! Talk to everyone later!

Valerie

[vthompson]

Monica - I stole your slide snowman!! It is too cute!

Valerie

[swineland]

Hi all..

Val, I originally had the mat on carpet and, in all honesty, it didn't work so well. The soft surface underneath caused the seams to buckle when the mat was stepped/played on, which, in turn, caused the whole mat to come disassembled and messy (i.e. the letters popping out, tiles moving, etc). Now, as I always say, that is just MY experience, and yours might be totally different. I do know that ever since we moved it to the hardwood floor, it has been a dream. The boys love all the textures and tactile exploration. Of course, I came around the corner today and there was only one baby! I'm like, WHERE is Bailey??? He was halfway down the hallway towards the nursery.....hahahah. That little bugger doesn't always stay on the mat where I put him :)

I am leaving Tuesday morning to head to my mom and dad's for the week. The babies do pretty good on our little road trip to SW Florida, usually watching the DVD player. I'll be back on Sunday. But don't worry, I'll be checking in!

It's been one week on South Beach and it's going really well. I don't know what I weigh, but my clothes are fitting better and my sweet cravings have subsided dramatically. Of course, today I"m having Miller Lights while football is on, which I know is a big no-no. I said that I would relax the rules on the weekends.....

Speaking of football...did anyone watch the Dallas-Seattle game??? Oh boy. DH's favorite team is the Cowboys and it was utterly painful to see the way they lost and poor Tony Romo.....I just wanted to give him a big hug!!

I gave the boys mashed up early peas for lunch (La Seur) and they ate it all. I've also tried cooked macaroni. I am going to try mashed potatoes next, as well as get them on some soy baby yogurt. All of their dinners are stage 3 and they eat solids 3 x a day. They're still taking a 6 oz bottle roughly every 3 1/2 hours. They sleep from 7pm-5am (estiimate).

Andrea, thanks for saying such sweet things about my boys. I, too, am head over heels in love!! They just get cuter every day, especially now that they have such interactive personalities. And Bailey...he is such a ham. He blows bubbles ALL the time and it's just the funniest thing to hear.

Heather, I have been thinking about you. I am a bit confused as to who is ill, though...is it your mom or your grandma?? Whatever the case, you are in my thoughts. Please let me know if there is anything locally that I can do...... One day soon we will get together, I promise! As for Kindermusik, I have already signed the boys up for the spring semester to start Feb. 15th here in Hunters Creek. It's at one of the park social centers and is Thurs. mornings at 9:30am. Her name is Erin Guiltner.

Well, better go...hope all your weekends were good!
P.S. Jill, thanks for the link to the Consumer Reports car seat study.....we appreciate your "inside" info!!

xo, Steph

[megzmom]

Hi yall. The babies all look so darn CUTE. Just want to eat them up!!!

Grandma-my grandma passed away on the 6th. Not real sure what today's date is. It has been a blur. We went to funeral home (mom, stepdad, brother from AZ and I) Luckily all was paid for and pretty much set up. All we did was confirm add/subtract services. Hospice care has been absolute God sent. They are walking angels which has made the stress on my mom finally lessen. It was extremely emotional even though she had lived a long life. The funeral is on Tuesday. My mom was able to get some sleep and honestly she was the only one I was concerned for. Grandma had sever alzheimer's and in the last 2wks was pretty much in a coma/unresponsive to anything. Thank you all so much for your kind words.

I will try to get on but it might be a crazy week.

[vthompson]

Heather - I am so sorry to hear about your Grandma. We are all praying for you and your family.

Valerie

[swineland]

Good early morning!

Felisha, good to hear from you.....we always start to get a little worried when you are AWOL for awhile!! I can't believe Maya is walking! Your babies have always been so advanced.....are we talking Mensa here?? :)

No walkers here, but Bailey did pull himself all the way up on his crib railing and was standing when I walked in. Pretty scary sight. We've already lowered the crib one position, but they're both so tall, we might have to do it again soon!

Had a blow up fight with DH today b/c he says I've been treating him like "shi!". In his defense, I have. I told him that I should have sat him down a long time ago and gotten some things off my chest, instead I let it build up and build up leading to resentment and, ultimately, my taking it out on him with sarcasm, rudeness and just an all-around unloving attitude. What had been bothering me is how I just sometimes feel like I am the maid around here. I sleep in the guest room b/c I get up so early with the babies and don't want to wake him up. (DH has terrible sleeping problems, if he wakes up in the middle of the night, whereas most of us can go right back to sleep, he's up for hours) So, we all walk on eggshells around here when it comes to his sleep and I do what I can, which includes sleeping in the guest room with the monitor. Additionally, when company comes, I then get shuffled to the sofa every night. I just feel like I'm the hired help and I have no place of my own in this house. Of course, I know it's all temporary, but I'm just getting kind of tired of it. And not one time has he ever offered to get up with the babies on the weekend.....he'll offer for me to take a nap once he IS up, but never to get up with the initial waking/feeding. Also, he is notorious for leaving stuff around, particularly in the kitchen. Empty yogurt containers, empty 2-liter soda bottles, he puts his dishes in the sink to "soak" and then I'm the one who has to come along and clean it all up, put it in the dishwasher, etc. I just feel like he needs to step up to the plate and start acting like "the man of the house". Nevermind that I also do all the laundry, cleaning, bill-paying, grocery shopping, etc.....all while watching the twins. Needless to say, when all the builds up over time, it leads to me being a total ***** to DH. Well, now he knows why. He said that there'll be some changes when I get back. We'll see.

Heather, I am so sorry about your grandmother. If I had actually used my head when I last posted, I would have known that it was your grandma and not your mom. Duh. We talked about the alzheimers before and how my grandparents also had it. It's a terrible disease. As I said, my thoughts are with you and if there is anything I can do, please let me know :)

Office: the Jan/Michael thing is pretty funny. I love how she's like, "I can't believe this is happening, but I actually like you". haha. Like she's disgusted by her feelings, but can't stop them either. Jim is just the cutest thing since sliced bread. If he knocked on my door these days, he'd be my Ashton Kutcher :) And Stanley....he is one of my favorites too.....his facial expressions crack me up.

Desp HW, getting ready to watch the one from last night...so excited! I also TiVo'd that Grease! broadway reality show....just to see if it's something I can get into or not. I really want to watch the Apprentice, but it didn't record....will have to try again next week.

I gotta go....
Love to you all..!
Steph

[SunMoonMom]

Good Morning...

I just wanted to thank everyone for their well wishes. I am back up on my feet with the aircast on, but in about a week I will have the aircast off and walking on my feet again. I still am having to use the walker but soon I hope to be able to walk without any assistance.

I took Ben to the Chiropractor on Friday for an adjustment and after he was done it was like I had a new baby. He wasn't near as cranky.. Still needy but not as hysterical with the crying. It was like night and day. I took him before and noticed a little improvement but this time was like wow! I am going to be monitoring Ben's back more closely and as soon as I feel like something is out of wack, I am taking him in... I really think that it all stems from the fact that he sat in my pelvis the last 8 weeks while I was pregnant. His legs were curled under him and his brother was sitting on top of him. When Ben was born, it took a good 3 weeks before he started straightening his legs. The nurses in the hospital asked the doctor to check it out before we took him home and the doctor said that it would work itself out. Do any of you have any experience with chiropractic help for babies?

Crawling Question... Both boys are pulling up on their hands and knees and rocking back and forth. I know that this is something babies do when they are trying to crawl. This is great but right now the only direction they can go is backwards. One minute they will be on their play mats and the next minute they have gone across the room backwards and are mad because the wall won't let them keep going. I told DH that we need to get a rearview mirror for both of them so they can see where they are going. Did any of your kids have this directional problem as they were learning to crawl?

Well, I hope everyone is doing fine. I will tell you that every night before I go to bed I pray for all of you... (That's not meant as some holy rolling statement! I just know that every night once the boys are asleep, I know that I hope someone is praying for me to get through the next day and to do what's right for my boys) I don't know how we juggle two babies all the time but we do... We are a special group of women...

Kerrie

[martinmommy26]

Hi I am cristi I am a mom from the sept forum. I am looking for advice form you who have older babies. I ma wanting to know how you contain them? Play pen ? Or do they roam free? what kind of play pen will hold two? thank you for your experience. cristi

[SunMoonMom]

Christi,

We have gated off part of our great room and have put foam mats down on the floor for the boys to roll on and play. My dh refers to this as the prison and the boys as prisoner 001 and prisoner 002.

We have hardwood floors and this was the only way we could figure out how to protect the boys.

Hope this helps...

Kerrie

[vthompson]

Kerrie - Those prisoner names are hilarious!! I have never used a chiropractor. What did they do when you took him? I am sure they will soon learn to crawl forwards, too. I was laughing at your description of the wall not letting them go.

Lisa - I hope Brady's punishment worked...I was laughing!!! Thanks for being worried about me...I was really worried about us too! Sick babies are no fun. I am sorry DH is driving you crazy! Since he is so worried about money, have you sat down with him and went over how much you would make at a part time job vs. how much it would cost for the boys to be in day care, gas, lunches, etc. etc.? Maybe that would help him understand.

Cristi - My twins are not mobile yet...they are just rolling. Currently, they are just free...however, when they start crawling, we are going to spend most of our time in the basement and use gates to keep them from leaving the family room part of the basement.

Speaking of crawling, Kayley gets up very high on her arms and you can tell she gets frustrated because she cannot figure out how to go...I feel sorry for the poor girl! She used to do the same thing when she would roll on her tummy and could not figure out how to roll back, then one day it just all clicked. I am so scared for that day and 2 babies crawling around like crazies (lol)

Steph - Even though you did have a fight, hopefully DH will understand where you are coming from. I am interested to hear if you see any changes with him...like helping more around the house.

Felisha - Steph is right, your twins have always been very advanced. I cannot believe they are trying to walk!! Mine are not even crawling yet!! As for your DD, is she jealous of the twins and that is why she is acting out? I hope the teacher is able to work with you to try and solve the problems. Has she been acting out at home, too?

Da Da - Both twins have just started saying these sounds.

Office - It was so funny last week! I was cracking up at Dwight and Pam's conversation. I cannot believe Michael sent that email out...what a moron!!! I wish Pam and Jim would just get together, too.

Eating - I know Steph mentioned that her boys are eating 3 times a day...I was wondering if other babies were doing this? We have not transitioned to 3times a day yet. Is there a certain time frame when we have to?

Yogurt - I tried giving the babies yo baby yogurt today. They seemed to really like it. Has anyone else tried it?

Cereal - How many times a day are you giving cereal?

Talk to everyone soon!

Valerie

[AndreaR]

Heather - I'm really sorry about your grandma. And I'm sorry I misunderstood and thought your mom was sick. I will keep you and your family in my prayers. Good luck tomorrow.

I have more to post, but I don't have time. Suffice is to say that I was cracking up at some of your posts. Hopefully I'll be back later.

xo
AndreaR

[christel]

Things have been absolutely INSANE! We came home on Jan.1 from 8 days of holiday travelling. Dh got a cold while we were gone. He gave it to me. I'm dealing with the stuffy head thing, tryng to eat a little better, blah blah blah. Then, Thurs. we take the girls for their RSV vax and Mary Elizabeth's eye is weepy and red. The nurse practioner tells us to see her pedi b/c eye infections can morph into ear infections fast. So, I take her in the next morning - craziness, because I had a BIG meeting for work. My sister, on vacation from college, keeps Ruby. The pedi says Mary Elizabeth has pink eye in BOTH eyes and a mild ear infection. We get Rx and I take her home and rush to my meeting. My sister keeps both girls. Then, DH calls and says that he's been called to one of the field sites (he's a mech. engineer for a wind energy firm) and it's close to my parents' place. He has to be there 2 weeks. Then, back home for 2 weeks then he leaves for Europe for 2 weeks! So, on Sat. we start packing for the whole fam, because I decide that I'm not staying home alone when we could go with him and stay w/ my mom. And that's when I really get sick and completely lose my voice.

On Sun. we drive to my mom's w/ 2 kids, 2 dogs and everything but our kitchen sink for 2 weeks. Dh goes to the field site first thing this morning and my mom, who is to be helping me, comes in the room and tells me she has a stomach bug and has been vomitting and had diarrhea all morning! So, we're staying away from her and then I hear a suspicious sound and Mary Elizabeth looks surprised and mildly insulted and she's got diarrhea... and proceeds to have it 3 more times in the space of 4 hours. I've emailed her pedi and am waiting to hear back.

Oh, and get this! Dh's new job, which we are really both loving by the way, involved a change in insuranace plans. Turns out, our pedi's group doesn't take it. I'm destroyed because I worship this woman. She gave us to her daughter's pedi in another group and hopefully we'll like him, but I already know that he won't take emails from us.

Really hoping that we all get better, that Ruby stays well and that things settle down around here.

:lovemytwins:
Christel

P.S.
Staci - :birthday: :party:

[Jillmami]

So many posts! Some funny stories too! I only have a minute as I, like some of you, have caught a bug combined with allergies or something. So just a quick post to say that the babies had their first check up at the hospital's developmental center today. Things went as I expected re: their gross motor development. However, they gave us a program, for lack of a better word, to help with strengthening torso muscles to help with rolling/sitting/crawling. I know that most of you don't have to worry about it as yours are crawling or well on your way, but if anyone would like a copy of the exercises, please let me know. Andrea, I didn't know if you had something like that for your Madeline or not. OK, will catch up later! Take care of those colds and those babies.

[mmzill]

Val - sorry K and C weren't feeling well. The day I was packing to go to FL Nathan had a fever and he would not let me put him down all day long. It was so draining! I feed Anthony food twice a day. Generally cereal mixed with formula and a fruit once then some veggie the other time.

Lisa - that great that your boys are eating the puffs, I feel like mine are so behind in the eating department. Nathan actually threw up last night after having maybe a 1/4 teaspoon of green beans. ugh!!! Steph - sounds like yours are doing really well too.


Containing the boys - I probably will not try to contain them, but we have a fairly small living area that I can shut the door to the basement and to the upstairs.

I am going to look into one of those mats. They sound great, and I'm tired of putting pillows behind them everytime I put them on the floor.

Well, hope everyone had a good night.
Monica

[mmzill]

Wow, it's quiet on here today! Hope everyone is ok.....having lots of fun with your little ones.

[swineland]

Valerie.....just wanted to say how sorry I am about the giant loss for the Ohio State Buckeyes last night.....I know you are a big fan! I am a Florida native, but don't really give a rat's you-know-what about college football, so I was secretly rooting for the Buckeyes for ya :)



Question: (I feel like Dwight) Please forgive me if this sounds like a dumb or uneducated question, but my aunt has been diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma and is currently undergoing chemo and radiation therapy. My mom wants her to come over and meet the babies for the first time, and I was just curious as to whether or not this was safe?? I am not usually the overcautious type, but for some reason a big question mark just sprang up when I thought of it. I guess I was thinking that maybe b/c her immune system was being put to the test and kicked around, that maybe she might be more apt to passing along an illness to the babies??? (obviously, I mean like a cold or something, not cancer....I"m not THAT dumb) Anyway, maybe Jill or someone with experience having a loved one with cancer knows the answer?? I couldn't come up with much on Google...

Love to all...
Have a great night!
Steph

[mmzill]

Loved House last night! Did anyone else see it? I'm trying to figure out if Kuddie (i know that is not spelled right) really did lie or is she told the truth. For some reason I think she is just wanting House to kiss her butt for awhile.
DH and I love that show. Is anyone else 24 fans? We are looking forward to the new season!

Steph - where did you get the mat? I looked at Walmart with no luck. I'm not sure where else to try.

Val - sorry about the game! What a bumb!

Crying baby gtg
Monica

[EBTwinz]

Monica: My sister bought our playmat at KB Toystore. IT was $20.

Hope that helps,
Lisa

[swineland]

Hey

Monica...

Our playmat is from BJ's and it was 19.99. I have seen them at Marshalls for 12.99 and also One Step Ahead has a nicer one you can order (it's thicker I think).

Off to take my cat to the vet. You may remember that I sent him down here to live with my parents and since I am here visiting I can see that he is clearly very sick. He has lost a TON of weight, is listless and lethargic and I'm worried. I'll keep ya posted. I just hope he's not dying of a broken heart b/c I sent him down here. :(

xo,
Steph

[mmzill]

Thanks Lisa and Steph. We have a KB Toys, so I will look there. No Marshall's or BJ's :( I may price the ones at One Step Ahead. Thanks again.
Monica

[AndreaR]

Checking in quickly......so much to catch up on, but I dont' have time. Our big news is that Maddie has a tooth! It's barely up, but it's there. We are VERY excited in this house, let me tell you. I will try to get on later catch up more. Thinking about you ladies, even when I can't get on to post.
AndreaR
ps. Remember being pregnant? I think about it all the time.

[swineland]

Quick update:

my poor kitty has lost 7 lbs in a month and has hepatic lipidosis brought on by not eating. Basically, his liver is failing. So, to the tune of...this makes me sick....$749, the vet was able to tell me that there is no underlying cause such as cancer, diabetes, hyperthyroidism, etc. Great. Just a cat who is not eating for some reason and now has liver failure. They have him tonight and are giving him IV fluids. What is most likely going to happen is they are going to want to give him a feeding tube through which my mom will have to feed him 4-5 times a day through the tube for probably 4-6 weeks! And I've been reading online that it can get up to 4 or 5 thousand dollars for all of this. I love this cat with all my heart, he's been my little guy for 8 years....through all my single days, dating, getting married, etc. He is the sweetest most wonderful animal I have ever known. I obviously can't spend that kind of money to save him though. So, I am sick over it. He is 10 years old and I know has a lot of life left in him were he to get over this, but I just can't see how the treatment is going to be a viable option for us. So do I kill him b/c of money? Uh...I hate this. It just sucks. :(

Steph

[Jillmami]

Steph, How awful! I can't even imagine what you must be going through. You certainly have your plate full now. I am not even sure what to say about it. I guess ask specific questions of the vet re: financial costs for those future feeding treatments to know the exact details. I wouldn't be able to afford that cost either. Ugh... my heart goes out to you. (Sorry, not much help here.) In regards to your aunt, I know that my mom was find to be around when she had her radiation treatments so I'm sure it won't be an issue. Never hurts to double check with the ped I guess. Since cold/flu germs are present a few days before any symptoms, hmmm... Should be ok though. Your boys seem very strong and healthy. We had our babies around my mom when she was pretty ill and they were fine. We even had them at the hospital to visit her and they were fine. (Your boys are much healthier than mine too.)

Andrea - congrats on Maddie's tooth!

RE: becoming pregnant again, I think some of you read the May posts. If not, one of the moms is pregnant! Can you imagine! The excitement and the full hands to soon have. Makes twins a breeze. :o)

On the playmats, we have carpet in our dining room so the interlocking mats don't work too well. However, the physical therapist at the hospital we saw has a solid mat, like a yoga mat. It's the same size as the interlocking mats though. I'm going to look into one of those.

I know I have missed a bunch of things - sorry. I've been dealing with a cold for the past week. Trying not to catch what my students have, when I see 70 of them in my 2 1/2 days is not easy. Trying not to let the twins catch it is even more of a challenge. So, I'm off to drink more water and hopefully get a bit of sleep before our day begins.

Hoping that Mindy, Daniele, and other MIA moms are doing ok with their little ones.

[SunMoonMom]

Hi All..

Steph - My baby dog was poisoned with antifreeze Someone dumped it over our fence. We took her to the vet and were presented with the impossible decision of treatment and then long term dialysis to the tune of thousands of dollars or putting her down. My dh and I discussed our options and one of the things that we kept coming back to was the money. Although the money was an issue, the final decision came down to quality of life. Our baby girl would not have been the same dog that we loved and she would not be able to do the things she loved. We finally decided to put her down. She was a bridesmaid at my wedding (I have pictures of her in her little dress). She was so very special, but I knew that I had to be brave enough to let her go to ensure that she would not lose the quality of life that she was used to living. I just wanted to share my experience. I understand the guilt you feel just about thinking about putting your kitty down. It is a very personal decision and only you can make it.

Mats - We have the One Step Ahead mats and I have nothing but praise for them. They are 5/8" thick instead of the standard 1/2" thick. They are rated for babies and not just toddlers. We have all hardwood floors in our living area so these mats are a life saver. I just ordered 3 more sets so that we can cover the area that is currently being used by the swing. Now that the boys are close to really crawling, this area needs to be matted too... The only critique I have about the mats is that they are so popular that they are always on back order. The ones I ordered yesterday are back ordered until 1/26.

Funny Conspiracy Story - I have told you guys that I broke my leg/ankle on December 1st. Because my bedroom is on the 2nd floor of our house, I have been camping in the great room on a futon each night. Last night I was just good asleep when suddenly I am woken up by a loud crash and the song "I've been working on the railroad". I sat straight up on the futon and turned on the light to find dh running into the room wearing his tighty-whities and black socks (funny sight at any time but especially half asleep). Next thing we know a cat leaps from the gated play area and takes off not to be seen again to this moment. DH was terrified that I had fallen and was in a panic. My heart was pounding from the shock. And all the while "I've been working on the railroad" is playing. Needless to say, it took a good 30 - 45 minutes for me to fall back asleep.

Now we have had this play area set up for a month and not once has a cat ventured into it.

DH and I have often theorized that babies conspire to keep mom and dad from sleeping. With twins, they work together. Tag teaming. Last night we believe the boys were tired and wanted to sleep through. To ensure that mom and dad's sleep is not restful, they passed a note through the yorkie poo to the cats to arrange for some sort of incident. We can't prove this but all the signs are there, DH and I will never get 8 hours of sleep again.

I hope everyone has a great day!

Kerrie

[AndreaR]

steph - i'm so sorry to hear about your cat. i can only imagine how you feel having to make that decision. are there no other options? that is an awful lot of money, and do you know if it would definitely make him better? just pray on it, and talk to you mom and dh - maybe they can help you accept whatever decision you have to make. but keep in mind that you were a great mommy to him for 8 years and you're doing everything you can right now, too. regarding your aunt coming to visit the boys, i don't think you need to worry with her any more than you would worry with anyone else. and if she is feeling good and washes her hands well before she touches them, you should be okay. i bet she would really like to spend some time with them - they would brighten her day - they brighten my day every time i look at your slide, those little faces.... i'm sorry to hear about her diagnosis, and i hope that she is able to beat the cancer. i'm praying for her.

monica - i saw a playmat in the "sensational beginnings" catalog, but i think it was more like $40.

jill -sorry to hear that you've been sick. hope you're feeling better. maddie's PT came yesterday. we hadn't had a session for a few weeks, because madeline was sick. she estimates that madeline is at 5 - 6 months for her motor skills. some things are closer to 5 and some are closer to 6, but she's definitely not at 7 months. i would love to see the program you got for TJ. our PT just gave me some things to work on - a new way of assisting her as she rolls from her back to her belly; putting our legs on either side of her, so she can't roll from her belly to her back (which she does almost automatically now), that way she will strengthen her muscles needed to crawl. i feel like maddie is doing great, because i see progress all the time, so i am not too worried that she's not yet where the average 7 month old is. i know she'll get there. i am worried about her speech, but i don't think they evaluate for that until they're over one? i'm not sure.

lisa - PHEW! you're not pregnant. i can't even imagine. one of the moms from the may board just found out that she's pregnant. wow!

christel - how are you and the girls feeling? how are things with DH's new job? how are you liking the new doctor? so much happening in your life!!

valerie - my girls are eating three times a day. they get a bottle/breast first thing when they wake up, then they have 3TBS of cereal mixed with formula along with a fruit or veggie. if they are still hungry, they get soy yogurt, too. it's the same thing for lunch and dinner. they are also LOVING teething biscuits. we get "healthy times" brand, which seem to stay together longer. i have tried "earth's best" but they broke really fast. i'm too worried about them choking, even when i'm right next to them. we also give them puffs, but neither of them is interested in eating them. they just like to play with them on the highchair tray, and throw them off the side, which is really good for their pincer/fine motor skills. plus, the dog sits there and waits for them. yesterday he took izzy's teething cookie right out of her hands. she wasn't even really dangling it off the side or anything. he's just so tall that he can reach right over the side of the tray. he wasn't even gentle about it - i was so mad!

talking - izzy says "dada" all the time, and maddie says "mumumumumumaaa." it makes me so glad that we had twins, because we each got the first word! madeline especially likes to say it in the middle of the night, which is hard, because i think it's way cute, but i try not to laugh or talk back to her, because she is supposed to be sleeping!

i'm looking foward to watching the office tonight and grey's anatomy, of course. hopefully it's not a repeat!

sorry for the long post, but i wanted to catch up with you all for a few days.

xo
andrea

[EBTwinz]

Real quick, I just skimmed the posts but will check back later.

Steph: Feel really bad about your cat. Is it Rylee? I am having major issues w/ my Rylie, too. I will write more, later.

I got a call from Valerie, her computer is broke and she may not be able to check in for a while. She just didn't want us to think she was dead... :)

I will check back later. I just got back from allergy testing. I feel groggy....

Lisa

[EBTwinz]

OMG, Dwight quit!!!!! tonight's episode was sooooo good. CAn't wait for next week. I think I may use the line, "I really 'schrewed' that up"... LOL!

gotta watch Scrubs. Check back later.

[SunMoonMom]

Good Morning Ladies...

Just a quick questions...

When did you start giving your little ones hard solids such as teething biscuits, chereos or anything like that?

Kerrie

[AndreaR]

Kerrie - I gave my girls teething biscuits right before Christmas, and they love them. I have also given them Cheerios and Gerber puffs, but they are not interested in eating them. They like to play with them, pick them up, drop them on the floor, etc.

I missed The Office. I'm so bummed out. Madeline wouldn't go to sleep. Does that make me a bad mother that I am upset about missing a TV show?? I need to get a DVR... I was able to watch GA, thank goodness! I wish you could watch The Office online, like you can watch shows at abc.com.

I'm a little worried that my girls' ears are bothering them. Both of them keep pulling at one of their ears, but neither has a fever, and neither is cranky. And they're both eating okay. Do you think it could be ear infections without a fever? I guess I should just call my doctor.

Have a nice day!
AndreaR

[SunMoonMom]

Ears - I read somewhere that when babies are teething that they will sometimes pull on their ears... Without fever, it might be something to consider.

Kerrie

[christel]

So, we're at the end of week 1 away from home and I am just now getting my voice back. Emme is better, but Ruby developed pink eye yesterday and also vomitted up her entire final feeding of last night. She also has a break-out type rash on her belly and back. I called her pedi and they said to have her seen here to rule out ear infections.

I went to a dr. here in my parents' town on Wed. and got a steroid shot for my laryngitis. I also told the dr. all about the twins ickiness... b/c Ruby woke up w/ pink eye on Wed. morning. This dr. is a friend of my parents' and he called last night to check on me and Ruby right after I talked to her pedi. I told him that I'd like to take Ruby to see him today. He said not to bother, he'd just stop by the house on his way to work... he keeps a bag of medical tools in the car! So, at 8:30 this morning he knocked on the door, checked Ruby out, saw that her ears were clear :clap: and told me what I could give her for her congestion if needed. Amazing!

Tonight or tomorrow AM we leave for Dh's parents' for the weekend, and then come back to my parents'. His stepdad leaves for Tanzania on Tues. for a missions project and will be gone for 2 years. We're having the girls dedicated at our old church (we used to live there) and will have lots of family there to see the girls and also send Papaw off to Africa. BUT... there's an ice storm rolling in soon, so now, there's some debate about actually being able to make that road trip!

Oh, and one more thing... The girls and I are coming back to stay w/ my parents for the 1st 2 wks of Feb. b/c DH is travelling to the UK, Denmark, Germany and France and I am SO not staying home w/ the girls alone if I don't have to! Absolute craziness. I'm just looking forward to March at this point.

Kerrie - you had me LOL at the Conspiracy Theory! My sister's Jack Russell terrier has figured out how to turn on her 17mo. old''s toys and does it in the wee hours of the morning, too!

Ears - my girls both play w/ them, especially if they're tired. They keep a blanket by their face when they sleep and it's like they're reaching for it and grabbing their ears instead. Fever and irratability and not wanting to swallow are good signs of an actual ear infection.


Steph - really sorry about the kitty :( That's a hard decision to make.

Girls are awake - must run
:lovemytwins:
Christel

[sgarrett]

HI Ladies!

I feel like I have been gone forever, work has been CRAZY! I get on and read some but never have time to post. I am so ready for some down time, they do not pay me enough for this stress!

Steph: Thanks for the car seat type, we ended up buying them! They look great, we have not put the babies in them yet, but they definately seem safe! Kindermusik (sp) sounds great, Franklin is about 30 min from me. (It is where the rich folk live :) ) Wish I had time I would love to look into something like that! So sorry about your kitty, have you tried possibly negotiating with the Vet or maybe calling around and "price checking" him? We have 3 dogs and a cat, and I have found a huge dif over the years in what vets will quote you for one procedure or another.

Playmats: We bought ours at Toys R US, they are the interlocking type but they are about 3 times as thick as the baby ones, they are made for working out on to. They are great! They do not have to cool colors or the interlocking letters in them, they are plain blue. They are great on the carpet though!

AnderaR: I do not want to scare you but my girlfriend's just found out her daughter has hearing damage apparantly from an ear infection she has had for a while. She had not taken her to the Dr b/c she was did not have any other symptoms to make her think she had an ear infection. It might be worth a doc appt just to be safe.

Breastfeeding: I finally had to throw in the towel. I was just not producing enough milk. My breasts have not been to tender, but it has been over a week now and just to see I squeezed one yesterday and got squirted in the face with breastmilk! EWWWW When will they dry up completely?

Baby Stuff: Aiden has #5 and #6 teeth coming in! It is his two front teeth, they seem to be bothering him more than any of the others. They both said mama first, but now say dadadadada ALL the time! No fair! They have really been playing together - it is SOO cute! Yesterday Aiden was inconsolable, I had been rocking him, tried a bottle, baby ora jel, EVERYTHING! I sat him facing his sister in mid fuss and he got this HUGE smile on his face! She screeched at him while smiling and he screeched back. They went back and forth for like 15 min! They were having their own conversation, why can't I ever get this stuff on film!

Baby Gates: Has anyone purchased these yet? We are trying to decide if we should gate off the two entrances to our bonus room or get one of those circular baby prisons. Problem is, even if we gate of the two entrances, we have speakers on stands, a wet bar with cabinets and a little frig, pool sticks hanging on the wall not to mention the million buttons on the surrond sound and TV for them to play with! I am afraid if we get the baby prison, they will get tired of the small amount of space within a month. It is $100.00!

Thanks for the Bday wishes, I cannot beleive I am 37! I took this one kinda hard. Not really the number that bothers me I am just feeling soo out of shape. I have been on SB phase 1 since I quite BF and as of yesterday have lost 3 lbs.

Chase: We got the call yesterday that he qualified for the Dean's scholarship at the college he is looking at! We are so proud of him! Between the lottery scholarship, basketball scholarship and academic sholarship we will get about $15,000 a year for his school! This is such a releif!

Felisha: Give me a call when you have a chance, let's do lunch soon!

Take Care,

Staci

[swineland]

Thank you all for your kind words and support.....as always, you guys are wonderful. Today at around 4:30 pm we had to have poor Riley put to sleep and I am so cried out I can hardly think straight. This cat and I have such a history, everyone who knows me, knows Riley. He was getting sicker and sicker and it was stemming from pancreatitis, enlarged gallbladder and liver failure. The only option was surgery and, even then, it was only a 50/50 chance he'd survive. The surgery would've been $1500-1800 on top of what we've already spent, $1500. Anyway, he will be cremated and returned to me in a couple of weeks.

Sorry to be a downer, but I just wanted to let you all know in case I'm not on for a few days. I'm just so incredibly sad and shocked. I always told DH, when the day comes that Riley is no longer around, well, I just can't think about it. I can't believe that day has arrived......

Thanks again everyone....
Steph

[AndreaR]

wow - steph - i'm so so sorry. my heart goes out to you.
:throb:

[sgarrett]

Steph: I am SO sorry. I will be thinking about you.

Staci

[mmzill]

Steph, I'm so sorry about your cat! I'm sending you a big hug:aww:

Well, we had our 9 month check ups today. Anthony weighs in at 18lbs 6 oz! He also has an ear infection in both ears. :( Which I couldn't tell at all!

Nathan is lagging at 14 lbs. I'm a little worried about him because he won't eat solids and he will only nurse, but not for very long and I don't think he's really getting the hind milk that is more fatening. He didn't gain any weight this last month. :( The dr said that he looked good well proportioned and healthy, but that he should see an OT and that they can help with eating. I'm not sure what they will do for him, but we will see.

Well, I hope you all have a good night and weekend.
~Monica

[Jillmami]

Steph, Sorry for your loss.

Monica, Not sure if this will help or not, but our ped recently had us start adding 1-2 tsp rice cereal per oz. breast milk for TJ's bottles to give her more calories. Although you nurse. OK, nevermind. Almost any help is good help. Will be interesting to see what the OT has to say about him not staying latched on for long. Our PT suggested that if TJ didn't continue with her steady growth, small as it is, that we might want to see a nutritionist. (We talked to our ped and that's when he said to start putting the rice cereal in her bottles.) But if Nathan isn't eating anything there's not much to analyze. I asked our OT today the difference between an OT and a PT and from what I remember, the OT has to do with tasks/skills/and other daily activities like eating. So it sounds as if that is a good direction to start. Good luck with everything. Your doc doesn't seem too worried. I think Nathan looks great. (Sorry if this came across as too rambly. It is early for me.)

Hope that everyone enjoys the playoffs if you are watching them this weekend. I enjoy some football but not as much as dh has been watching lately with the NFL channel and all! I can analyze and break down these playoffs just as well as any man after this past week of shows. :crazy:

Christel, you have quite the hectic schedule! I feel for you re: dh schedule. Mine was out of town in Dec. for 9 days and it sucked. I had some help so I was only completely solo for 4 of those days though. Nice that you will have support/help. Hope everyone is getting strong and healthy.

Staci - great news re: Chase and the scholarship!:clap: Congrats as well re: the new teeth!

OK, I'm done pumping so I'm off to bed. Enjoy your weekends ladies with your beautiful angels.

[Daniele'sTwins]

Well Hello there LADIES! I have missed you all SO much! I want to give you an excuse as to why I have been MIA like we have all been sick lately etc but so haven't many of your families and you have still been here! I am soory and ONCE AGAIN I will try to post more regularly!

First of all, Heather, I am so sorry to hear about your grandmother. I am thinking of you.

Steph...I am also sorry about your cat. I know first hand how animals are like family.


*****

Teeth...Both Nico and Luca have the two bottom teeth and the two top are coming through right now.

Andrea...I wanted to do the swimming with the boys at the YMCA too but it is on Saturdays and nobody can go with me :-(
As for the infant carseats consider yourself so LUCKY! I miss those things!
I do want to get together next week if you are still up for it! I will email you soon.

In-laws...ok, I know I am very sensitive when it comes to my inlaws because I really don't feel that they are very nice to me so please tell me if I am overreacting...BUT i get SO annoyed when they try so hard to find the differences in my kids. please don't get me wrong I am not saying that I want my kids to be completely "alike" BUT it bothers me when one baby smiles or laughs and they say "he is much happier" or "he smiles a lot more" or if one baby eats his whole bottle and the other leaves 2 ounces and they say..."oh he is the better eater". I can't begin to tell you how I get so mad! I don't say anything but my dh will say that they are both very happy and they equally laugh a lot. Do you know what I mean? Well...my mother said they do it because they don't ever see my kids (this is only my mil's 3rd time seeing them ever) so they try to act like they "know" them.

Steph...I envy your picnic with the boys! I can't wait until the weather gets warmer over here! I also can't wait to take them to the beach! I have already bought them so many toys for the sand. It is so funny that you love your coffee as much as I do. I think about my pregnancy and wonder how I did it without coffee for so long! I love the sugar free hazelnut myself!

KindermusiK...I do it here too! We LOVE IT! Our price is different here though. It was $100 for 10 classes and second baby $90 for 10 classes.

Chemo/Radiation...I think it would be fine for the boys, however your aunt is more inclined to get very sick with just a little cold so make sure the babies are feeling well.

Kerrie...I am so glad you are feeling better and are able to get up and around now.

Sitting up...they have both been doing so for a while.

Felisha...I can NOT believe Maya is already starting to walk!!! Wahoo!

Crawling...they don't crawl but either roll to where they want to be or get on their hands and knees and rock back and forth, or slide back, back back until they are under the couch (all but head) we laugh so hard! They try to go forward but only go back!

Husbands...My husband is a SLOB! I am constantly cleaning up after my three men. Good luck to you Steph...if something changes please tell me your trick!

Discovery Channel...I think there is a special on the discovery channel tomorrow night on multiples put on by NAtional Geographics. I keep looking for it so I can Tivo it but it is not showing up. Does anyone know about it?

Christel...Yay for you/Chase! You must be thrilled!

Talking...Nico says "no no" and shakes his head when he is done eating. He also says da da ( little stinker!) Luca says Ma Ma and constantly blows bubbles.

Sharing toys...It has already begun! Do your kids pull toys from each other???

Guess what ladies! I have been going to the mall BY MYSELF with the boys! I cannot even begin to tell you how good that makes me feel. What I like about the mall is that it doesn't matter if they are sleeping and they don't need to go in a carriage. Because they aren't in infant carseats anymore I cannot go into a "store" by myself or I have to pull one carriage and push the other...unless you guys know of a better idea!

I absolutely LOVE all the new pics of out BIG babies! I will try to update my slide a little now too!

Love you all!!!

[megzmom]

Hi everyone. THanks so much for the very kind words. Can't remember my last post. My GRANDmother did pass away and thankfully my mom was right by herside the moment it happened. It gave my mom a sort of peace about it. She has been so on edge and very hard to be around. I dont know how to be by her very much. I have seen her everyday for 2 weeks and everytime I leave I am miserable because she obviously isnt herself but she is alos very short tempered with me but not with my brother and his family that came in. okay no more venting.

Feeding-NO teeth. I dont think I can give the boys any REAL food yet. We do baby food 3x a day but between both of them they only finish 1/2 a jar each feeding and 7oz of formula. Dr said we should cut down on the formula but how do I do that? They are still hungry every 3 hrs. any suggestions?

Steph-real sorry about your cat. Our family dog passed out in my arms when I was a teen. She was 14! We had to put her down and it was soo very hard.

Mat-Steph, I looked at BJs on John Young and couldnt find it. We have carpet so not sure which one to get. Right now we are using a couple of huge quilt/blankets. Not working too good. THey still spit up every feeding (a few times) and we have to continuously wash them. I much rather wipe clean the spit up.

Internet!!! Hopefully I will be on we finally splurged and got internet hooked up for me.

Going to try and update our slide pictures. We got some done at Sears yesterday before my brother left. DIDNT like them at all. The photographer didnt tell us where to sit/stand, hold our heads. Plus there were MAJOR shadows. I am not a photographer but I kept telling her too many shadows and she didnt reposition anything. My brother bought he cd. We are going to get a family one done soon.

love you all!

[SunMoonMom]

Steph - I am so sorry for your loss...

Update on gimpy - I am now out of the boot and walking on my own foot again. I am still having to use a walker but that is going to get better. I was able to make it up the stairs on Saturday so for the first time since November 30th, I was able to sleep in my own bed... Yay Me!!

Sweetest Thing Ever -- Last night I was holding both boys and they were babbling back and forth. Suddenly Ben started laughing and every time Zach would say something Ben would laugh... I believe that I am raising the Rodney Dangerfield of the baby set. "Take my pacifier, Please" :funny:

Hope everyone has a great Monday!

Kerrie

[swineland]

Hi everyone....

Thanks for all your good thoughts and sympathies. I'm doing better. Yesterday was hard because I came home from SW Florida and being back here brought on the tears! I cried all day but am doing fine today.

Food: I give the boys mashed up bananas, early peas, cooked macaroni, puffs, Graduates mashed potatoes or sweet potatoes w/glazed carrots, etc. Still take 6 oz of formula about every 3-4 hours except for overnight when they are sleeping.

shoot, baby crying...be back...
Steph

[Jillmami]

Heather, sorry to hear about your grandmother. My condolences. Hang in there re: your mom. Just be there for her. I know that even now, I will be thinking about my mom and dh says something and I am a bit short with him. It will be a weird transition period for her I bet. Don't have any suggestions re: feeding issues. Sorry! Mine only eat cereal in am and veggies/fruit in pm. Other than that, they get breast milk. That's it. No teeth here either.

Kerrie, congrats on the leg improvements! I bet you are elated! How cool is it when the babies commnicate? It is just adorable. Whenever I put TJ close to Noah, he reaches out his little chubby arms to hug and squeeze her.

We are looking for suggestions on individual strollers to take to the mall and other places where we might want to split up. Any ideas? Oh, they need to accomodate tall people since I'm 5'11" and dh is 6'1".

OK, time to get ready for school. Have a terrific week everyone!

[AndreaR]

Steph - Glad to hear you are doing okay. It's going to take a long time. I like your new pics. Oh, to be on the beach!

Kerrie - So happy that you are getting around better. It must have been heaven to be in your own bed again! My Isabelle will laugh when she looks at Madeline. I agree that it is just about the sweetest thing in the whole wide world. It makes me tear up every time.

Heather - Do you give your boys cereal along with the jar of baby food? Maybe if you mix it with a lot of formula, they will be more apt to eat it, since the taste will be somewhat familiar? Dunno.......just a thought. Hopefully your mom's emotions will continue to improve as time passes. I know it must be hard to see her act so differently. You are a very good daughter for being there for her.

Daniele - SOOO glad you posted. We've missed you around here. I think your mom is absolutely right on about your in-laws and why they feel the need to comment on each boy's characteristics. It would annoy me too! Where do they live that they've only seen them a few times (NJ I think?)? Hopefully we can get together - just email me a date when you are available.

Jill - My only single stroller advice is don't buy the singel Peg Perego Aria. I'm only 5'8"" and I feel like it's WAY too short. Other than that I think it's okay. I think Chicco makes adjustable handles, but don't quote me. I am going through my own stroller research hell, but I'm looking for a double...... We have the double snap 'n go, which I LOVE LOVE LOVE. I'm am already having anxiety attacks about the girls growing out of their infant car seats. We also have the Baby Jogger double, which is good for walking around my neighboorhood, but it's a P.I.T.A and TOO BIG to get in/out of my car. I do take it with me sometimes, depending on where we're going, because I like the way it handles. So I'm looking for something inbetween an umbrella type and a jogger. I feel like I am searching for the Holy Grail.... I want side-by-side, easy to fold (and somewhat compact), durable, comfortable for me (tall handle), with a good track record, good on the streets for handling and good at the mall/stores for maneuverability. I am really hell bent on side by side vs. tandem, but after hearing Steph's comments, I"m not sure if I should be more open minded. What kinds of strollers does everyone have and what do you like/dislike? If any of you read the May board, Georgina has been going through quite the saga over a double stroller. I find it humerous - like a sitcom.

Have a nice day everyone.

xo
AndreaR

[SunMoonMom]

This is a probably a silly questions, but I have been noticing on the boards mothers talking about E/I evaluations for their babies. I don't know what this is and how to know if our babies should be evaluated.

I believe this is something to do with gross motor skill development but other than that I am clueless.

Our boys turned 7 months on Friday, 1/12.

Currently, they can do the following:

Roll both directions (back to front and front to back)
Pull up on hands and knees, rock back and forth, crawl backwards (not forwards)
Stand if holding their arms or hips
Babble (endlessly)
grab toys in their hands and pass it between hands.
Eat solid baby food... nothing that needs to be chewed yet.
Of course they can be adorable...

Things they can't do yet:

Sit up on their own
Crawl forwards
Pull themselves up

Does this seem like they are developing normally. Should they be evaluated? Does your pedi normally recommend or do you have to pursue?

These are my first kids and most of the time I feel like I have no idea if I am doing the right things for them when it comes to developement of skills.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Kerrie

[Jillmami]

Kerrie - Since mine were born so early, we have a neonatal nurse that visits monthly along with a public health nurse to assess both babies for any issues that might arise. We also have an occupational therapist and an educational specialist come weekly to work with the babies. In addition, the hospital where they stayed in the NICU just did an assessment a few weeks ago and will do a follow up in the fall. As to term babies, I assume that any issues/concerns you have would be brought up to your ped and he/she would make the call for assistance if needed. From what you described, yours sound as if they are doing just fine.

Daniele - sorry, I don't know how I missed your post with your little cutie pies. Glad that you had a chance to say hello. I don't understand why people feel the need to make comparisons as if there is something wrong with one baby if they don't do something the other does. Is it truly because they are twins and therefore they should do the same things no matter what? Especially when they are id.? In family, I try to ignore comments like that. Mine made some when they were out for my mom's service that I just had to ignore. They were great as far as wanting to watch/feed/change diapers/etc. the babies, but family is family as they say. Hang in there girl!

[EBTwinz]

BTW, has anyone been in touch w/ Mindy? I just am worried about her and I know that some of you stay in touch w/ her through email. If possible, can someone pm me her email address?

Thanks.
Lisa

[Daniele'sTwins]

I am sitting here watching American Idol with a nice glass of red...thinking of you girls! I want to invite you all over for a party! I would serve Oreos and martinis.

i hope mindy is okay too. I think of her all the time.

Time for bed...I am exhausted!

[megzmom]

THanks again for some good advice. Last night my mom called ME. was a nice changed just to say hi. She sounded like my old mom again. almost made me cry. Jill thank you for sharing about your situation. It did help me refocus my concern to her than on me.

Andrea-I laughed so hard when you said you were ONLY 5'8. I am barely 5'1 and shrinking.

love ya all.

steph-want to meet soon? Are you up to some company? I want to get out an enjoy this weather. I am going to Cypress Gardens on Sat. 2 free passes for being a teacher!!!!!

[SunMoonMom]

DH just called me at work... We have ERUPTION!!!!

Zack's 1st tooth has finally broken the gums... We have been teething forever (I think it started inuteral)...

I AM SO EXCITED!

Can't wait to get home and see it...

Note: Before I became a parent, teeth really did not excite me... Oh, how I've changed...

[sgarrett]

Kerrie: Congrats on the tooth! It is funny the stuff you get excited about now huh? I have actually exlaimed with fervor "Isabelle had two soft poops today without crying!"

AndreaR: I too am on the stroller hunt, we currently have the duo glider, but they are getting too big for it. Whomever is in the front gets the crap kicked out of them all day! I am also 5' 10" let me know what you decide and I will ditto!

Twin Interaction: They really play together now, it is so cute! Aiden "attacks" his sister whenever she is within reach. He grabs, kisses her, accidently pulls hair, sticks his fingers in her eyes, you name it. The funny thing is she just laughs and laughs! She on the other hand, is so gentle and just loves to reach out and pat his cheek. The screech back and forth to eachother like they are talking, it totally cracks me up.

Talking: Lisa, I cannot beleive they are saying kee kat and Hi! How precious! We get tons of babble. Isabelle said mama for like two days and now all I hear is DADADADADA! Aiden says mama dada. I cannot decide if they really know what they are saying though.

Danielle: Oreos and Martinis YUM! Can I have mine with Vodka and EXTRA dirty?:dude:

OK, my DH and I hardley ever fight, but lately it seems he nevers listens to me and it really pisses me off! Example, he will come home and I will be all excited b/c the babes pigged out for dinner and will tell him details of what and how much they ate. About 5 min later he will ask me what they ate for dinner. It happens all the time, I am getting to where I rip his head off every time he does it. Am I being too bitchy? It drives me nuts, I understand that it may not be earth shattering news I am giving him but surely he should retain it longer than 5 fricken minutes! Just thought I would get others opinions. We have been snapping at eachother b/c of this and I hate that. We are both pretty stubborn, smart ***, get the last word in, kinda fighters!:battle:



Staci

[swineland]

Hi everyone!

Kerri, congrats on the tooth! Also, too, Andrea..... all these teeth popping up! I am glad that you are all finally seeing pearly whites as I did when they were 3 months old (I still can't believe that. They have each had 8 teeth for several months now).

Which leads me into my next thought: biting. I have to keep a close eye on these guys b/c they will inadvertently bite one another. They love to put anything and everything in their mouth (as they ALL do) and of course they then chomp down. Well, if they happen to be near each other, it could be a leg, a shoulder, the back or even the head! Poor Evan has 2 spots right now that are awful! I hear this shrieking scream and turn my head and immediately know what's happened. And their teeth are like little razors! I have been bitten all over the place.

Which leads me to my next though: "no" and when to start saying it, implying wrongdoing, etc. I know it is around this age that they start to understand cause and effect, and that they are starting to "get" things might trigger some unwanted behavior. I guess I'm wondering, when do you stop saying "oh, he's just a baby" and when do you start some form of teaching right from wrong? I certainly don't want to be a hitler about it, but I also don't want to wake up one morning and find myself on Supernanny saying "what the hell went wrong?" :)

Staci, with regard to DH, I understand completely! We have been at each other's throats lately and I know our communication has been marginal, at best. My big thing is when he doesn't look for stuff before coming to me to ask where something is. He's like, where are my grey shorts? I say, did you look in the closet? He says, yes. I proceed to the closet and there are the grey shorts, underneath the khaki shorts. If he doesn't see it without having to pick something up in the process, then it's just "not there". Arghhh!! He and I both agree though that any stress we are facing as a couple (and I'm not talking just about the above referenced pet peeve) is due largely in part because of the HUGE life changing even that happened almost 8 months ago. Having a baby is a strain on any marriage, even the strongest ones. Let alone TWO babies. Both of you feel the stress and the strain and the new roles that you have to play and sometimes it just all comes to a head. And I know what you mean about the childish arguments. DH and I are both "only" children, so we really know how to be stubborn and pigheaded with each other.

I have got to go to sleep now!! Jill, i got your PM and will write you back tomorrow :)

love you all,
Steph

[AndreaR]

Kerrie - CONGRATS on tooth! I think it's VERY exciting, too! Regarding Early Intervention, we have it for Madeline. A PT comes to our house every other week and does some exercises with her and gives us things to work on. I've noticed a dramatic difference lately in her (lack of) gross motor skills compared to Isabelle. Maddie can't roll over from her back to belly, and she can't sit up hardly at all. But we're working on it and I do see improvement, so I don't think it will be long. I am certainly no expert, but it sounds like your twins are perfectly fine. You can always ask your pediatrician for his/her opinion on their development. Here in Massachusetts, I think anyone can request an assessment from Early Intervention. We had a visiting nurse for Madeline until she was 9 weeks old. She was the one who suggested EI, and she called our pedi for his opinion, and the pedi's office got in touch with EI. But I seem to remember our case worker telling me that a parent can call them directly if they are concerned.

I don't know if it's just me, but it seems like some of the babies on this board are VERY advanced (which I think is awesome, especially for twins), so I try not to worry if my girls are behind others here. I guess we have a good mix of abilities with all of our babies, which makes sense, right? duh.

Heather - good to hear that things are improving with your mom. I've been keeping her in my thoughts and prayers.

Staci - you and your DH sound a lot like my DH and me regarding the way you argue, last word, etc. I'm not into astrology, but someone once told me it was because he and I are both fire signs. Anyway, he often will ask me a question, I'll answer it, and then he'll ask me again a few minutes later. It drives me bananas!! Also, I'll be answering a question of his, or just responding to him, and he'll walk away or start paying attention to something else, obviously not listening. I've noticed that it happens most often when he first comes home from work, so I wonder if he needs some time to decompress and adjust to being home. I dunno. Sorry I don't have any answers. And, no, I don't think you're being too bitchy!

Lisa - I can't believe your boys are talking! Wow - that's great! Izzy & Maddie both say mama, and Izzy says dada and a whole bunch of other stuff, but I don't think they know what they're saying.

Daniele - mmmm....chocolate and red wine! DH and I have been watching AI, too. I feel so bad for the people who are really bad, but they are a little "off" so they don't understand. I think it's too mean to show that stuff. We've never really watched it before, but there was nothing else on the TV. Looking forward to seeing you next week!

Mindy - if you're out there, we're all thinking of you and sending you good vibes. Check in if you can!

I also miss Sherry & Ters and all of the other MIA mommies. I hope everyone is okay.

Well, I'm rambling, and it's late, so goodnight!

AndreaR

[EBTwinz]

Okay, false alarm on the "hi, da da". He does say it but not just to dh. He said it to his toys, to me, etc. But he still is saying kee cat. He said it again yesterday when the cat walked by him and dh heard him. it's so cute. Ethan just babbles all day. La, la, la, ma, ma, ma, da, da, da.....

Congrats to Maddie and Zack on their teeth! I am still waiting for my little guys to get theirs. They are 8 mo old and still no teeth. But my mom told me I didn't get my first tooth until I was a year old. Poor things take after me.

Staci: I don't think you are being too b*tchy at all! It's so hard when you are trying to talk to someone, especially when most of your conversations are w/ two 8 month olds who don't know what you are saying, and it feels like you are being ignored. Trust me, it happens to me all the time. However, my dh has ADD and never pays attention. Same w/ his family. I just feel like I talk to myself all the time. Don't feel bad for getting upset w/ dh. You are excited about the babies and want to share the great news w/ dh. It's upsetting if he isn't listening. But, maybe he's stressed at work??? I know when my dh is really stressed, he spaces out.

Andrea: I completely agree w/ you on American Idol. It's funny but these poor people have mental problems. The one guy last night had to be autistic. I think a couple of them were autistic. It's just wrong that they exploit them. But, on the other hand, some of them are hysterical.

Naps: How many naps are you all doing during the day? Sometimes we still do three. It's so inconsistent, too. I am stressing over it. The morning nap is great. Usually same time each day. Afternoon naps are a nightmare. They cry, want to be rocked, etc. I think I will do the CIO method for a couple days to see what happens. I want them to start doing a nap in the morning and another one at 2pm. Do you all think if I just do the same thing everyday for a week, they will eventually catch on? It just breaks my heart to hear them scream at the top of their lungs and want me to hold them.

well, I will talk to you all later. Thanks to some of you who responded to me. I guess I am feeling pretty down lately and feel invisible on this board...

talk soon,
Lisa

[Jillmami]

to several of you regarding the dh issues: Unfortunately I had to laugh at first because we are going through the EXACT same issues and I mean EXACT. I have learned over the years that at times, depending on my dh's mood, I can be honest with him about how he has acted or how I've felt by using some humor. Then other times, it backfires. But last night, I said, "honey I have to share something interesting with you. Well, it is interesting to me at least..." I told him about the specific issues some of you have with your dh's and after a few words of each instance, he started to laugh and said, "ok I get it." My personal feeling is that many men can't help that behavior. I used to tell my 8th graders that genetically speaking, males have an XY and females have an XX. An easy way to remember is that males have that Y for a reason... "Y does he leave his shoes in the middle of the landing when he knows that I carry babies up/down the stairs? Y does he leave dirty dishes out and then walk by them to go into the kitchen to get a drink and use a 3rd glass? ETC. :funny: " The other issue I believe Staci first brought up was being ignored. Yeah, got that too. BIG time. The interesting thing is that my dh will get so irritated because I, according to him, keep asking him questions. He calls me Barbara Walters at times. I tell him that I wouldn't keep asking if would actually answer. My favorite is when I am talking to him and he makes a comment as if he's listening and then when I'm about done with my story says, "I'm sorry, what?" And if I get irritated, he spouts back with, "Couldn't you see I was in the middle of something?" Um... then don't 'pretend' to listen in the first place. It is so irritating. I feel a slight bit better to know that I'm not the only one. He never used to be this way until recently. My dh has lately come into the room when I'm playing with the babies and he will be all excited about something the babies did during the day with the nanny. (he works from home so is here all the time.) Um... did he not hear me when I mentioned it over a week ago? Makes me feel like I don't do anything with my own kids. However, I know. I finally broke it down for him last night about how they have been doing things for me for a long time. He came into the bedroom and said, "honey, I'm real proud of you. You are doing a great job with the kids." Part of was like, "thank you" and the other part was like "yeah blah blah blah." Lisa, I swear my dh has ADD. Our neighbor is a rep for aderall and a newer ADD/ADHD med. so I keep telling them they need to invent an adult ADD teabag so that I can slip it to him and he won't notice.
Lisa, my dh has what I call 'Julie syndrome'. When my sister was a kid, she would NEVER find anything when it was right in front of her. That's how mydh is too. So whenever he can't find something I say, "did you check the closet JULIE?" He then stops to realize that it was obviously somewhere he already looked and gets a chuckle out of it. If my dh didn't have a sense of humor at times, I would probably be in jail for strangling him by now. Again, he didn't used to be like this. But I love him to death. Like many of you, I am strubborn and strong-minded. But those are great traits. None of you are "two" bitchy but rather "two" tired from dealing with "two" babies. :crazy: Hang in there mommas. I get a great deal of advice/strength/inspiration from you all. And Lisa, I am so sorry that you feel invisible on these boards. I always enjoy reading your posts and your wisdom. Mine don't have teeth either and mine are 10 months old! (Of course that's not their adjusted age, but still.) I get so excited with everything your babies are doing and have to remember that mine will get there too one day. So you are all leading the way for me and what to expect. I couldn't ask for better guides. So none of you can leave!

Re: naps, they both take a solid nap in the am around 10/10:30. Noah will take one more in the afternoon. Once in a while a 3rd one if he is super tired around 5-6 but it's a cat nap and I try to prevent it because it bumps his bedtime back too much. With TJ, she almost always takes 3 naps and a cat nap. I figure that with her, she needs to keep growing and needs that sleep for some reason. We are still trying to fatten her up so we can have her first surgery in March. She is finally up to 12 1/2 pounds. We need her to be around 15. I think that putting them down around 2pm whether they sleep or not for a week will get them into the routine that yes, this is nap time. They might not sleep for the first few times, but I think it will work. Do you keep track of naps? Maybe jot that down for a week and see if there are any patterns. I never wrote down anything from jump street but have started doing so recently when we thought they weren't eating enough. Has helped with naps too. I definitely saw a pattern emerge which has helped out re: a schedule.

OK, I KNOW that I didn't respond to everyone and I apologize. I think that I have rambled quite enough. *Wasn't planning on that! Hopefully I didn't scare anyone off or put anyone to sleep.

PLEASE, enjoy the rest of your week, cherish every moment with your babies, and remember that your dh just can't help it some times. (The other times just imagine strangling him.) I think they suffer from 'not enough mommy time'. They were used to getting all of the attention, which I believe men so desperately need. They need to feel special and important and now that babies are along, and two of them, that 'mommy time' is being split up. I look at it as "get over it already". But, it doesn't always work that way. At least I have the babies to keep me sane. HAHA

[Jillmami]

Stroller: here is what a mom from the May board purchased after extensive research http://www.chiccousa.com/product.php?productid=171&cat=5&page=2

Oh, and no biting here since no teeth. BUT, I see it as a potential hazard since mine love to grab/hug/poke each other. I guess I'm glad we have no teeth yet!

I say 'No' even though they might not get it now. Will have to look into that issue. Supernanny comment was funny Steph.

OK, honestly, no more writing for a bit. :lol:

[SunMoonMom]

Steph - I have started looking the boys in the eye, stopping the action that I want stopped and say no sternly (no loud though, just in a deeper voice). The other night Zach wanted to eat his bib instead of dinner. So I kept taking the bib out of his hand and mouth, looked him in the eyes and said no. He then laughed at me... I think it became a game after the first two times because he would smile and then start to move the bib to his mouth.

Thanks to everyone on the congrats on the teeth...

dh and naps: I am in a special situation because dh is a sahd and is in charge of naps. He isn't as strick as I am about sticking to a schedule so its hit and miss on how the boys nap. It drives me crazy. When I was at home due to the broken ankle, I had the boys on a schedule. That's all gone now. Yesterday when I got home from work, I had Ben in my lap and he fell asleep. I ask dh to get Zach down and his solution was to put him in the swing. Zach is getting so big now that he was moving the whole swing when he tried to sit up. I got scared and asked dh to try to hold him and try to put him to sleep then put him down. It was like watching two octapusses (sp?) fight. I finally said give him to me... After about 3 minutes of squirming, Zach was asleep so for a good hour and 15 minutes I was trapped under two sleeping angels. Now don't get me wrong... I loved it but man it would have been good to be able to go to the bathroom or something. Dh spent the time playing a video game. (Note: Would have put both down but I was so worried that they would wake up that it was easier to hold them. According to dh they had not napped up to that point.)

E/I - Thank you to everyone for giving me the 411. I think the boys are fine but I didn't want to not being doing something if I needed to be.

I hope everyone has a great day!

Kerrie

[Jillmami]

Kerrie, have the video games here as well. My dh is just like yours too it seems. Oh, they are fussy/tired/etc., put them in a swing and look, I have free time! Um, not how it works. Mine fuss and I do the same thing, "give them to me already!"

[swineland]

laughing here b/c of all the DH issues that are emerging....not that they are funny. The reason I am laughing is b/c whenever I get into an argument with him, his responses are always "oh great, here we go" or "go ahead, tell me what else I'm doing wrong" or "yes, yes, I'm just the worst husband in the world" OR, what he said in a recent argument, "why don't you just get on your twins board and you guys can bash your horrible husbands all day" !!!!! I was like, WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY??? I wanted to kill him.

He always gives me those lame responses.......

Anyone else's DH do that???

[mmzill]

DH issues! Yes Steph, dh does say, here you go again, or what else am I not doing right. This last week has been awful. We are just a each other's throat it seems! and Honestly I'm too tired to fight with him! It's driving me nuts. I'm going to have issues with biting once we have teeth. I can tell all ready! I don't think it's too early to stop a behavior that isn't ok, by saying no, or changing the environment. We have to start sometime, and with twins I feel that it may be sooner than it would with just one. :)

Naps - I'm trying to figure out what schedule they already have, that I just have not been paying attention to. I've been making a note of when they last napped and then 2 1/2 to 3 hrs later putting them down again. That has been working pretty well. Their am nap is around 10 for 1 to 2 1/2 hrs then afternoond is around 2 or 3 for the same amount of time.

Jill, thanks for the advice on feeding Nathan. I'm still not sure what to do. I've been trying to make sure he nurses as long as HE will. (sometimes I think I've hurried him, because someone else needs me :) ) Getting set with an OT on Tuesday.

Kerri - as the development goes. It sounds like your kiddos are doing really well. My guys are sitting and holding stuff, picking it up and changing hands. Anthony just started holding his bottle really well. But no rolling or crawling. No teeth either.

Lisa - sorry you are feeling invisible, and little down. I'm at fault for not always responding to you wonderful ladies on the board here. I read everyday, but just don't always post. I need to do better because I love hearing about all the issues and relating with everyone! I've been feeling down too. I think it's just after the holidays and January yuk! Keep you chin up!

Dd has a very runny nose today...ugh! I so don't want everyone to get sick again! So aggrivating.! WEll, fussy boy, better run~ Hope you all have a wonderful day!!!

[mmzill]

Lisa, we must have been posting at the same time.

[EBTwinz]

Forgot one thing.... Steph: I say "no" to the boys. I think they may understand a little bit. According to "What to expect the first years", they should start to understand "no" around 8 months. I am mostly saying it to Brady. That kid is all over the place. He started army crawling and gets into everything. When I say no, he will look at me and then start to do it again, but watches me the whole time and does it very slowly. Then he laughs at me. I think Kerrie said her son does the same thing. I can just imagine the terrible twos...

As for biting, no advice here. Still waiting for the teeth.

Lisa

[EBTwinz]

Monica: Just saw your post. :) I know we are all busy and I guess I didn't mean that no one ever responds to me. You are right, this time of year is so depressing.

Still hoping that you, Val, and I can get together. Maybe we can do an spring outing....

Lisa

[Jillmami]

I think the men have a secret site with "man tips!" Ex. when you want to play a video game, put child in swing. When wife gives you the look ask, "what did I do now?" crying babies? turn up tv/go to different room in house to plead innocent! no clue what to do then just stick baby in swing! :funny:

[mmzill]

Jill, that is so funny!!!! Dh has said to me SO many times......"How do I know what to do?"

It's not like babies come with a manual or something......we figured it out, why can't they at least attemt to???????

[megzmom]

No-too funny you all are talking about it. I feel like I am pretty strict with Meg but I cant remember when "the lessons" began??? I dont say no when they are doing something wrong I say "OUCH" in a squeeky voice. My husband does get a little made because they love his glasses, chest hair and pinching skin. He has a couple of times said NO too loud/mean for me. I correct him...Should I correct the dad?? Kind a hard because he isnt Meg's dad so this is all new to him. For me I feel like I dont stress over the little things like I did with Meg.

Okay got to go get the kids from lunch.

[sgarrett]

Wow the DH issues really opened Pandora's Box! I do not think I have this many posts in a short period of time in a while! Men, you can't live with them and you can't shoot em! Thanks for all the respones, it is good to know the man disease is an epidemic and my DH is not the only victim! I laughed at the swing issue to! We have that argument as well. I am fearful of the babies only going to sleep with the swing you know? Steph, I get the "I know, I know, I am just the worst husband/father in the world" comment alot. Makes me want to beat the crap out of him! Know I just say, "yep and you said it not me!"

Saying no, I do the same thing that Kerrie mentioned, a stern no. Ecspecailly during feeding time. Aiden grabs the spoon, (causing the food on it to go flying) bites the spoon and will not let go, eats his bib, spits food on his bib to play with it, grabs my hand and smears food all over them, spits the food out b/c he loves to blow spit bubbles while eating, he is a monster to feed! Someone needs to invent a bib straight jacket combo! Meanwhile, Isabelle opens wide every time the spoon is near her mouth!

Naps: No real schedule here, Isabelle will take a morning nap around 11:00, and an afternoon around 2:00, her naps are around 20-30 min. Aiden usually takes one long nap. (1-2 hours) He is teething big time right now, (we have 4 teeth coming in at the same time!) and is really fussy so forget any type of schedule.

Lisa: Aw shucks please do not feel invisible. :worry: I get so busy at work sometimes I do not respond to everyone. I love all of our different personalities we have on this board. I would be super pissed at my DH too, it sounds like y'all need a date night for yourselves.

Gotta go Fussy babies today and tons of work to do!

Staci

[swineland]

Hey everyone...

I'm only keeping this "public" for a little while so the weirdos don't get ahold of it....but check it out. It's Bailey and this is pretty much what he does all day long....blows bubbles :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6MQsKq85b8

[Daniele'sTwins]

Hi Guys!

First of all Lisa...I LOVE you and if I have missed responding to you ever please forgive me!

Naps...the boys nap for about an hour in the morning 10:30-11:30 and then in the afternoon without a significant time. I like to be out of the house in the afternoon so they will nap in the car when we are on the road but if we are at home 2 is when I would put them down. I just put them in the crib...sometimes they cry a little and sometimes they go right to sleep but I do not rock them to sleep. I wish I could but I know that would be a bad thing for me with two.

Staci...I feel your pain with the feeding. Nico is such a good eater. He opens really big and when he is done will shake his head "NO". As for my dear LUCA...UGH There have been numerous times where I just push the highchair away because I just give up! He bites on the spoon, rubs it all over his face and clothes and spits it out. Oh yeah and do any of you have the fisher price high chairs? You know the ones that come with the toys attached? Well, Luca would play with those things handing from the sides instead of eat and then he would wack my hand with it while I was feeding him so that the food would go flying everywhere. WELL...I got so pi$$ed off that I cut the damn thing off. My dh's mouth dropped, I dont lose my cool too often...The worst part was when my mother came over and showed me that they come off...I thought they were on there permanently! I felt like a CRAZY person!
So, if you invent the straightjacket thingy, I will buy the first one!

Tonight...In about an hour I am going to dinner with my boys and two of my babyless friends. I am a little bit nervous because they don't have babies and I am praying that they will behave (Andrea, I keep having flashbacks of both my boys screaming in the restaurant). One of my friends is actually a nurse but she has never been a big "kid" fan but she is the one that begged me to come and bring them and she promises to help...we will see! PLUS I will have to feed them while we are there and if you read my last paragrah you will understand what I mean about that one. BUT I HAVE TO GET OUT! Wish me luck!
Babies Crying....be back later

[Jillmami]

Steph, that video is priceless! Aren't you glad we have video these days to capture such wonderful moments! Way too cute!!!:clap:

[vthompson]

I'm Back!!! I cannot even tell you how much I have missed you ladies! I truly felt like I have been shut off from the world...I never imagined I would feel so lonely without all of you! Well, as Lisa posted for me, my computer broke and had to be sent in for repair...it is only 5 months old!!! Anyways, it is now fixed and back home with me!! It has taken me an hour to catch up on posts. I apologize in advance for not responding to everyone. As I have read everyone's posts, I was going through a range of emotions....from laughing to feeling sad for some of the things that have gone on. I feel like I have multiple personalities (lol).

Napping - We usually take 2 naps, although they could use 3. I just cannot get the 3rd one in early enough to still have a decent bed time. They seem to be ready for a nap 2 hours from when they wake up (i.e., if they wake up at 7:30, they go down at 9:30). They will have a bottle before their naps. Is anyone else still having a bottle before nap? Have I created a terrible habit?

Talking - Mine make a lot of noises, but I do not think they know what they are saying...they love their new found sound of dadadada.

Teeth - None here yet!

Biting - I am so scared for this...they put everything in their mouths, including each other!

Interaction - Lately, they seem to be so energetic...just rolling all over the place, grabbing and poking at each other...poor Kayley cried today because Corey pulled her hair. They just make me laugh!! I am so glad that I have twins, I cannot imagine only having one baby!!

Multiples Special - I watched it on National Geographic. We do not have the channel, but ironically, it was one of our free preview stations this week. The show was pretty interesting...a little more scientific then I thought it would be.

Crawling - Not happening yet...Kayley seems a lot closer then Corey. Corey is just so content laying on his back, kicking his legs like a mad man. If I put them on the wood floor, they move some because it is so slippery. DH bought them this ball that is meant to be chased by babies when they crawl and they are so funny trying to get it.

Saying No - I have done this from time to time. Kayley was doing this thing where she would blow bubbles as soon as the food entered her mouth and it would go flying everywhere. It was so ANNOYING! I sternly told her no...she looked at me and started to cry like I hurt her feelings. I felt so bad!! I read somewhere that they are not doing things because they know they are wrong, but rather to explore their environment and that learning the meaning of no is important.

Eating - I was so glad to hear some of your stories about how unpleasant feeding can be! I feel like it is struggle...they are both so picky...I have to "hide" foods and mix them with things they like...Corey constantly pushes my hand away which really gets on my nerves. Daniele, I was laughing at your story about the highchair toys!! I have been known to push Corey's chair away because he just fights me and fights me.

Dh - Since his coaching has started for hockey season, things have been rough...I will be very glad when that is over to have the extra person in the evenings. I really cannot complain, though...I am amazed at how well DH has adapted to all of this baby stuff...sometimes I think he has adapted better then me (lol). He really is a wonderful father and husband...I just feel very lucky.

Steph - That video is so funny!! I am so sorry to hear about your cat. That is terrible. I can't believe how well he stands up in the crib!

Lisa - I am so sorry you have been feeling blue lately. I think you, Monica, and I really need to try and get together. It sounds like we could all use some companionship right now. You had every right to be mad at DH about going out...I would have wanted to kill him!!

Jill - I love the picture of TJ and your DH on your slide...it is too precious.

Staci - Our twins sound similar in personalities...I often find myself shaking my head in agreeance when I read your posts.

Monica - I hope everyone is feeling better...I HATE sicknesses!!

Kerrie - I am glad that your ankle is doing better.

Mindy - We are all thinking about you...that goes for all the other MIA moms like Ters and Sherry, too.

Well, I know there are a million other people to respond to, however, I did not take notes and I should have. Sorry!!! Just know that I have been thinking of all of you and I am so happy to be back!

Love ya all!!!

Valerie

[SunMoonMom]

Lisa - I totally understand about feeling blue... I have been on anti-depressant medication for years. I struggle with social anxiety and depression daily. I stayed on the medication when I was pregnant due to fear that the depression would get worse while pregnant (of course I was under the care of a psychiatrist and my ob at all times). After the babies were born, I seemed to deal with the post-partum depression pretty well. Returning to work, then breaking my ankle and the boys getting older so I am missing more of their development while at work, I couldn't handle it any longer. So I arranged to have a phone appt. with my psychiatrist (could not get into her office due to the ankle - about 50 stairs). We upped my medication and hopefully this will help. I have done therapy for the depression and lack of self-esteem (never feeling good enough). I know all the positive statements and self assuring techniques but when the blues get you its hard to focus on the positive without taking the edge off. The thing I always tell myself is that the only way I know its the blues is because I have the reds. Things will always get better... Take heart its just for a short time. (Lisa, don't think I am recommending meds for you... I just wanted you to know that I understand the feelings of depression and how hard it can be to get through)

D/H sayings - My favorite is "Would you please make up my mind for me?" My answer is usually "yes... do (enter task here)"

Zach is on a roll this week... tooth pops through and last night he sat up on his own for a little while. Of course dh was there in case of a crash and a toy had to be between his legs to keep him focused but he sat unassisted... I am going to count this as first sit... and that's my final answer

Multiple Special - I finally watched it last night and I just kept saying "That's what they were doing... I thought they were having a rave... " Told the boys last night that I was glad they had each other to interact with but couldn't they have left my bladder out of it... Of course they just smiled....

Playing with each other - We have gotten to the point now that Ben is always looking for his brother... The other day Zach back crawled under the swing to get a moment of quiet to take a nap... All other efforts in the play area to nap were met with his brother pushing him and trying to eat his leg... This morning Ben smiled so big when dh brought his brother down from the nursery... I swear it never gets old... its like seeing it for the first time every time they do it...

I know that I forgot to reply to someone but I have to get to work... Just wanted to say that I really have come to look forward to reading everyone's posts and to find out how everyone is doing... Take care... TGIF...

Kerrie

[sgarrett]

O MI GOD I am so freaked out today. I go into the office to find out a guy I have know for 7 years was arressted last night for several counts of child rape! I can not beleive this, you never in a million years would have thought he was capable of something like this. He is married with two young children. I am so heartbroken for his wife and kids and so disgusted as well. There are so many fricken weirdos out there. I hope I do not offend anyone, but my personal opinion is that these people should exterminated like the insects they are. It is just driving me nuts that he always seemed so normal and nice and an all around good guy. What happens to these guys that they can do something so terrible. I swear you cannot trust anyone!

[Daniele'sTwins]

Val...I am glad you are back...we missed you too

Felisha...I can't get over your kids! They are so damn advanced! However we do NOT practice the whole crawling walking thing over here. They both do the military crawling (pulling their legs) but I make them sit up when they do that because I am so scared when they get to mobile!

lISA...your brother and his family is in my prayers definately!

Staci...YUCK YUCK YUCK! That guy is a big gross pig! You never really know do you!

Dinner last night was very good actually the boys were perfect angels but still a lot of work, I know you know what I mean. Lug a huge diaper bag full of stuff including a bunch of toys to keep them occupied, and two of those fluffy high chair covers etc. But all in all they were good.

Today I took my boys to the mall by myself again, I am really enjoying that except that I lost my parking ticket and had to pay $20 instead of $1! I was soooo mad!

Do any of you wish you were pregnant again? I miss my belly but I know it would be way too much right now. I already think of names I would want to use...lol. I am so pathetic I know.

Andrea and I are getting together again next week! i am so excited!

Vacations...are any of you planning to go on any vacations anytime soon? We are planning a trip with the boys to Bahamas in March and I have soooo many questions. What do I do about cribs? If I take my own sheets should I still trust the beds or is that gross?

Ok, it is 9 and I am ready to pass out...Good night guys!

[Daniele'sTwins]

MINDY COME BACK WE ALL MISS YOU!!!

[vthompson]

Staci - That story is repulsing!! It is amazing how disgusting this world can be...I would be so freaked out, too.

Lisa - First off, you have every right to be feeling the way you do, especially after the week you have had. I am amazed at how well you are able to keep everything together feeling the way you do. I emailed you back...Monday works for me, weather permitting!! I am so excited. I hope it does not snow! Unfortunately, I do not have any advice on the napping. Do you have a routine for napping? That seems to help us...granted, it involves a bottle, but that is what works for us. I will keep your brother and his family in my prayers. That is crazy that they are moving there for 6 months. Do they keep their house here? Are they the ones that live in Ohio?

Kerrie - I agree with Lisa, you seem to have a great sense of humor! I was also laughing about the twins and their rave!!

Felisha - It seems as though a lot of people are feeling the stresses of motherhood...You are such an amazing mother...it is so obvious by how well your children are all doing!!! I also like the Duo Glider...I do not have any intentions of buying another stroller anytime soon. How is your DD? Has she had anymore problems in school?

Office - I DVR'd it and have not watched it yet. I am anxious to see what happens. If anyone talks about it, I will have to "skip" those posts (lol).

So tomorrow, DH and I are going on a date! I am so excited. We decided to go to dinner and then to a comedy show. We so do not have the money...but that is why we have a credit card, right???

Does anyone have a baby that moves their hands a ton? Kayley moves them all the time. Is that normal? She will just put them in front of her face and bend her wrists back and forth. Mostly, she does it when she does not have anything occupying her hands. Of course, I got paranoid thinking there was something wrong with her neurologically...however, she seems fine in every other way.

Have a good night.

Valerie

[Daniele'sTwins]

Val...I dont think anything is wrong with her, I think that is just her exploring her hands.

BY THE WAY...I am going to be in Philly for my sil's bay shower on February 16th. We were going to get there that morning and leave to come back home the same night but I will stay an extra day if anyone wants to meet up! What do you think? MINDY??? who else lives near there?

[megzmom]

Steph-first time going on Youtube. your boys are so advanced. Ben is just now starting to strech his hands for me to pick him up. LOVE it. Zack isnt interested. I think my boys will be "late" in the physical dev. I think there are too round:funny:

Chair/cart covers- Has anyone bought one online? I was trying to find one that can convert from a double for (BJs or Sams) to 2 seperte ones for Walmart/Target. Not sure if there was one out there like that??

Got food poisioning from cafeteria food yesterday. Horrible. SOme insider advance NEVER let your kids eat from cafeteria. Too much fat, unclean workers and most of the time not cooked enough or left our too long.... trying to hold onto the piece of toast I had for dinner....

staci-I am totally with you. Castration is too good for them. Went through somthing similar. I feel really bad for all those kids. Were they his kids friends??? ugh!

good night.

[megzmom]

Lisa-I never heard of such a thing. I will definately be thinking of your brother and family. What a huge change for them.

Felisha-I have the boys to myself 2 nights a week after school with dd and I am dead meat. I cant imagine the stress and sacrafices you are going through. I am sorry, cant remember...do you have family near. I know you are still the one at the end of the day.

Depression-I am not a dr but my mother had a pretty bad time of it a few years ago. Ended up that her thyroid was way off. There are 2 types. I get mine checked every year and I am overdue. Especailly since all the changes in my body because of the boys.

Carseats-missed that post. What happend with 35mph vs 70?

ok nite for real....