Lately

So my girls have this weird thing that they do. It's really actually kind of a phenomenon. No exaggeration they have a wonderful, perfect day where all naps go well and they sleep well at night and no one fusses, every other day. It's like they are biologically wired to be perfect angels every other day. They aren't awful on the off day, but sleep is usually a bit of a struggle and we have night wakings and stuff. It's weird. Anyway, we are on a good day so I thought I would blog for a sec while they nap. 

Here's what is currently bouncing around in my head:

-I'm loving the reduced humidity. The girls and I have enjoyed swinging on the porch swing lately. It's like a miracle cure for fussing and is a huge sleep inducer for them. I'm glad that now we can enjoy the outdoors without melting and dodging wasps!

-I am chopping my hair off tomorrow. I woke up a couple days ago and literally couldn't stand another inch of nasty long hair hanging in my face. I am so over brushing spit up out of my hair and don't have time to blow dry and straighten it so it always looks disgusting! Not to mention, I am constantly pulling long strands of hair out of the girls hands. I have been growing my hair for a long time and thought I would love it once it got really long. However, all of a sudden I am done. I'm going back to short hair with bangs and will probably up the level of blonde. I also looked in the mirror yesterday and thought it was much to brown hehe! :) 

-Zoe is officially done nursing. She still takes breastmilk from a bottle, but won't nurse. It's my fault. I have been pumping a lot during the day but was always really good about nursing in the morning and before bed. Well, this past week, and I really don't even know why, I have been pumping in the mornings too while the girls played and I drank my coffee, and realized that I hadn't nursed the girls in a week. I think it's because they have been waking up so happy so I thought, why nurse. If I pump I can sit here and chill for 10 minutes and drink some coffee. Well, last night I tried to nurse her and she went ballistic! Like top 5 of all time in her life! I've since tried about 10x. Yep, we're done. 

-Nora wakes up every night, well morning I guess, at 1:30ish and 5:30ish. I know she is hungry at 1:30 but at 5 she will eat for like 2 seconds if nursing, or take an ounce of a bottle and then just chew on the nipple. That's all it seems to take to pacify her. However, if we try to sooth, or let her cry for a bit, or pat, or rock or ANYTHING else than offering food, she just escalates to hysterical. I'm at a loss for real! 

-I feel like when the girls are sleeping I am constantly cleaning, doing laundry and organizing and it never ever ever looks clean!! I guess it's just not meant to be right now!

-Lance is super dad. I mean for real. He works 10 hour days, and two nights a week pulls double duty since I work Monday and Tuesday evenings. I have yet to hear a complaint! He gets even less sleep than me if you can imagine that because nighttime feedings are a million times quicker if each of us just grab a baby and pop a bottle in by heir mouth. If I take the time to feed one, the other gets so upset and it's hard to calm them back down to sleep. I do both sometimes, and am SO ready for Lance to be off the hook for feeding duty.

- On a similar note, with Lance being gone 12 hours a day I am realizing how I absolutely could not do this without my family! They have been saints. My parents may just be the most selfless people I have ever met. Seriously! They offer me so much support in so many ways. My mom gets this twin life, and is truly so wonderful and helpful and just such a great friend! My sister is too!! Just today Betho called and asked how I was doing. I am seriously batteling a cold and was up all night with Nora and we have no food. No joke, 30 minutes later breakfast appeared on my porch. No need for me giving her my order or anything. It was exactly what I would have gotten myself. And THEN, without asking my dad dropped off a bag of food my mom had fixed up from their house for lunch! Same thing, my exact favorite lunch. I'm eating it now! 

-I am still just loving life. Most days are wonderful and some days, like today, are pretty hard. But I just love my girls, my husband, and my friends and family! We are blessed! 

 (Blog didn't get posted on the day I started...so we are on our hard day...hehe) 

5 months

Girlies you are 5 months old!! Such big girls!! 

So let's see, what have you been up to lately!? 

Zo Zo: You are a big girl. Not quit sure what you weigh but you seem to be chubbier and taller every time I look at you. Daddy went out of town for a week, and thought you looked bigger in just 5 days! You love to stand up and are very strong. You love to grab at anything within your reach and put everything in your mouth. You roll both ways, but would prefer to hang out on your side. I get it, I'm indecisive too! You can pull from laying down to standing straight up with very little help from us. It's actually kind of amazing how strong you are for a little 5 month old baby. Every time we have people over they watch you and say, "Man she is SO strong". I have a feeling your little will is going to be every bit as strong too. You like things on your terms! You love the exersaucer and have started hating the swing. Anything that makes you lay on your back annoys you right now. You want to sit up SO badly, but can't quite get it by yourself yet. You are such a happy girl. You love me and daddy and it makes me happy. You smile the second you hear us talk! You are very very content and really don't cry much at all. You pretty much spend most days playing and smiling and just looking around for me to talk to you. Zoester, you are the best and we love you so so much!! 

Nor Nor: You are a big girl too, but much shorter than your sister. The difference in your size seems to be getting much more significant as far as height goes. Your little sister seems to be towering over you these days. Every night you seem to gain another pair of pjs that don't even start to fit her and fit you like a glove. It's funny...and unnerving to this mommy who likes you to match every day. Not loving that you are in 6 month jammies and she is in 9 month jammies! You are still struggling with eczema but don't seem to be itching now that we smother you in creams and aquaphor daily. You are a permanent slime ball!! You are rolling both ways too and won't stay laying on your back for more than 2 seconds when we put you down on the floor to play. I have never seen a baby flip so fast, and it's funny because for the longest time I was sure my tummy time efforts with you were a waste of time because you would not lift you head. Now that cute little head pops right up all cute and strong! You are a smiling machine and are a laugher!! You love to laugh and squeal, and cackle. It's is so easy to get you to laugh. I love it. You love to grab at toys too and love to be standing up! You are pretty much addicted to your crib and when you are tired you don't care too much for long rocking sessions with mommy. You prefer to be put in your sleep sack, given your lovie and paci and be left along. It's kind of sad, however your other half is NOT as easy to get down for naps so I am thankful you are always easy to put down. As easy as you are to put down in your crib....you are literally impossible to deal with when you are ready for a nap and we aren't at home. It is truly stressful. You would scream in the car for hours I think if we didn't get you home. It is shrill, and hysterical, and really one of the worst sounds ever. However, the second we get home and I put you in your crib you stop. Instantly. It's really crazy. Your particular nap time behavior is pretty much the only hard thing we deal with right now. You are perfection to us! Your sweet chubby face is just too much and I could kiss it 1,000 a day!! We love you little Nora Beth!!

Girls, you are also both getting better with sleep. You have been waking up at 12am to eat for months now and I finally got so tired of drifting off only to be woken up an hour later, that we now just feed you right before we go to bed. You usually then sleep (well go without eating) until morning. However, no joke Nora, you wake up every morning at between 2:30-4:30 screaming. All I have to do is replace the paci or let you eat for like 1 minute...but if I don't go in you will cry for an hour until you wake up your sister. We love you tons, but you have some high maintenance tendencies! Both of you have been going to bed around 7:30-8 and sleeping until 7:30-8 with the late night feeding and usually some middle of the night randomness. The middle of the night randomness is what I am hoping to nix here pretty soon. You take 5-6 bottles a day now. I am pretty much just pumping now. Since you and your sister wake up about 30 minutes off of each other the nursing was just getting to be too much and I wasn't willing to wake up the other sleeping baby. I am finally learning that as a mom whatever works for us is what's best. And for us, that has turned out to be pumping and giving the babies a little wiggle room to keep an independent schedule. 

You are both napping like champs and take 2 long (1.5-2 hour) naps, one in the morning and one early afternoon and then catch another hour or so nap in the evening. 

I am still dreaming if the day that we put you in your room and don't see you again until morning. Actually, I will even take the 10:30 feeding, if the night waking would stop! I know it's coming. We have had ONE glorious night where we put you down and you woke up 12 hours later. So now I know it's biologically possible! :) 

However, you are doing great and I probably can't expect much more at this point than a nine hour stretch. You are both big girls and I know it takes a lot to fill those tummies and I'm not a big fan of giving huge bottles....we have spitters for sure....so we will just spread out your feedings for now and hope you can handle bigger bottles in the near future so we can spend the DAY eating and the NIGHT SLEEPING!! 

Little nuggets, we truly love you more than you will ever know!! What a joyful, blessed, exhausting, fun, happy 5 months it's been!! 

Smiles

Just when I think it can't get any better it does! I remember when we were setting up the nursery and putting up the cribs I told Lance that I couldn't wait until one morning when I would walk into their pretty lavender room, look into the cribs, and see two smiling faces up at me!

Then the babies come and reality sets in! No one smiles for a while, and you are awaken out of a foggy 2 hour "nap" by screaming babies while you rush to try to get the life size nursing pillow set up while the screams get louder and louder. We lived that scenario for months and months.

But now, now my dream is happening and I am soaking up every last drop of it! In the mornings I usually see two little people perched up on their elbows just looking around talking. Then, when they see me the giant ear to ear smiles come! It.Is.The.Best.Feeling.In.The.Whole.World!

As exhausted as I still am, thanks to my little night owls, I cant help but smile every morning at 7:30 when my little Nora summons me, followed by her sister 15 minutes later. Now I take chipper little girls out of bed and they play on the floor while I pour my coffee and brush my teeth. We then leisurely get all set up for "breakfast" and it is just so wonderful!

I love love love love it!! I love love love being a mommy. I love rocking my babies to sleep. I love dressing them each day. I love ALL of it! I even find myself smiling as I am washing bottles thinking, "Man, I never thought I would be here....washing bottles for MY two perfect baby girls!" It is still SO hard because I am SO tired and I am beyond ready for them to get into a more predictable nap pattern so we can start to venture past our front porch without the fear of public humiliation. But I will be patient. I will soak in the long naps with my girls in my arms, I will soak up all the smiles, and I will try to freeze time so I never forget our long, quiet days together.

So, when I get stressed that my living room looks like a day care, or that it's 2:30pm and all I have eaten is a spoonful of peanut butter...I will try my best to stop and thank God for the life I am currently living. I have been praying for this life for years, and I will take all of it. Even the bad and annoying and tiring parts!

Thank you God for making me "Mommy"!

Lately

Man...people aren't lying when they say "it goes by so fast". I feel like just when my girls hit one "phase" they are going into the next. They are exploding with personality, laughing, smiling and are just such a joy to be around. They are doing so much better with naps and right now I can count on at least two 1.5-2 hour naps a day and a 45 minute or so nap in the evening. It really makes ALL the difference in parenting when you can count on a few predictable moments of rest in the day. The girls seriously KILLED it with "sleep training!" We bought sound machines and started separating them at naps. I kind of cancelled life for a few days and just waited for the girls to look sleepy, rocked them one at a time until they were drowsy and then put them down for their naps. Nora probably cried a total of 5 minutes the whole week. She was born loving her bed. Zo Zo did awesome too but we did have a few naps where we had to "cry it out" for a few minutes. However, I timed the screams and the longest she ever cried was 12 minutes! Before this new structured nap time I was rocking the girls at the same time until they fell asleep and then I was either stuck in the glider for 2 hours, or woke them upon transfer to their beds and then had to deal with fussy, woken up babies. This newfound ability to place a baby into bed after 5 minutes of rocking is changing my life!! I never want to give up rocking the girls, but I am happy that on days where I just need to get things done, I can quickly get them down for naps and move on with my day. I think the sleeping with the girls in the glider habit started when I was so sleep deprived I slept every time they did and then the girls just got used to it and it was a hard habit to break. But I am happy to report they have both been extremely predictable with their little daily routines. Lately like clockwork (this is for me to look back on...feel free to skip) they have been: -Wake at 8am -eat/play -napping from 8:45-10:45 -eat/play -napping from 12:30-2:30 -eat/play -napping from 430-5:30 (this is a struggle of a nap for Zo Zo...not sure why...I think she may just be super tired) -no nap -bed at 7:45 Of course there is a variance of about 15 minutes since they are different people and all....but it's pretty close to right on the money these days! They also slept straight from 7:45-8:15 last night without a peep!! It was a strange feeling. Lances alarm went off at 5:45 and we both woke up confused. Lance just assumed I got up an fed them and I literally thought I must have just forgotten I got up and then actually got a little worried and went in to check that everyone was breathing! Yep, everyone was alive. So we officially had out first "sleeping through the night" at 4.5 months! They have done long stretches here and there and often go about 8 hours. But we have never come close to a 12 hour stretch! I'm a realistic person and honestly we keep expectations pretty low around her so I am fully prepared that this may have just been a lucky night...but I'm thankful to know its biologically possible for them to survive that long without eating hehe!! (Ok...I have to add that while writing this one cried at 12:30 and then the other at 1:15 so we still aren't that consistent yet I guess!). On another note, I had my first day of work today. I am working 9 hours a week with 5 hours being on Monday and 4 on Tuesday. My Mom is coming to my house Tueadays and we have a sweet nanny coming coming Mondays. I'm working 2-7 & 2-6 so Lance is with them for a couple hours before I get home. I was kinda depressed to leave today and my mom was amazing and followed my pages of directions to a T!! It was great knowing she was with them. She is amazing and literally does exactly what I ask and even calls to clarify tiny things like kinds of lotions to use and exact details about things to make absolute sure she is doing it exactly like I would. She gets how important keeping a schedule is with twins and I am so appreciative! Lance did great too!! When I got home both girls were happily playing in their Jammie's ready for bed. Nora was all lotioned up an itch free too! I am blessed!! :) So that's about all that's up with us! Ill be posting a 5 month before too long....crazy!!!