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!!!

4 months!

Our little angels are 4 months old!! We just got home from their official 4 month visit and they are both doing great. We made a plan to treat Nora's eczema and I have decided to continue to nurse for now and hope we can get a hold of the problem with some more diet modifications and medication. However, if nothing works we will go to formula. 

Nora is in the 75% in height, weight, and head circumference. She weighs 14.5 lbs, is 25 inches long and her head measurement was 16.5 inches. 

Zoe is in the 95% in height and 75% for her weight and head. She weighs 4.11 lbs, is 26 1/4 inches long and her head measured 16.5 inches.

So, the girls are about the same weight and have the same head size but Zoe is a lot taller! Which explains why Nora weighs less but looks much chunkier than little Zoester! 

Both girls are starting to babble a lot. Zoe must be the most social little creature to ever live. She never stops talking. She babbles herself to sleep, she babbles in her car seat, she babbles in her swing and babbles at her reflection. She gets SO excited when she makes eye contact with someone and realizes they want to talk to her. It.Is.So.Cute!! She is the kind of child who will skim right over a nap if anything is going on. She has to be in her bed in the dark to sleep. She just loves people.

Nora is not as much of a "people person". Nora loves one on one time with mommy singing or reading. She loves to smile at Zoe and has started cackling the cutest little squeaky laugh! However, Nora loves her sleep and unlike Zoe we have to make sure our little Nora gets her nap ON TIME or life is no bueno for anybody!! Nora's little smile and soft voice will melt your heart. It is just so sweet, but she is definitely our more serious child! 

It's interesting having twins because you can see two such different little personalities emerge. We originally thought Nora was really laid back compared to Zoe, but now I'm not sure. They both have their moments of freaking out and both have their sweet moments. Zoe has definitely evolved into a baby who can roll with the punches a bit better. She can handle a late nap, or hunger pretty well. Nora used to be that way but they seem to have switched personas this month! I guess we'll see if they switch back again. 

As far as their motor skills and things go they are both rolling some. Interestingly, Nora rolls from her tummy to her back and Zoe rolls from her back to her tummy. However, neither baby cares to do it much at all. Nora sleeps on her tummy and has been rolling to her back in the night and is none to happy about it! However, yesterday I went to get her up and she was on her back smiling at me! Progress!! 

Zoe pretty much always wants to be "standing" and looking around. When on her back she is always trying to sit up and is pretty annoyed I think that she can't sit up. She is trying so hard. Shes done it for a few seconds before falling so far. Yesterday, she even supported her weight on her legs and held onto the ottoman for a out 15 seconds! At 4 months! She's really a strong little thing! 

Nora is finally supporting her weight on her legs. She had earned the nickname "little blob" because every time we tried to get her to put weight on her legs she would just crumble into a blob. But now she's every bit as good as sister! 

Both girls are doing great with tummy time. No joke, when I realized I needed to be putting them on their tummies each day I put Zoe down and she popped up on both elbows and stuck her head straight up and smiled. She cracks me up. It took our little sweet blob a few weeks to master tummy time but now she can almost keep up with her sister. 

Nora loves to lay in her activity mat and swat at her toys. She loves all things yellow. She truly favors anything yellow. Its funny. Zoe likes to grab the toys and try to pull them down to put in her mouth. Just today she rolled to her side, picked up her empty bottle and started drinking from it. Looks like its time to make sure Zoe doesn't get her hands on things she can choke on! 

I'm learning that Nora is 100% on track developmentally, but Zoe is pretty ahead of he game in lots of ways. But for a while I worried that Nora was delayed. But shes not...she is just not as strong and motivated as Zoe in lots of ways. And that's ok! They are different people. 

I really can't wait to see if they continue to stay so different. Because right now I feel like they are pretty much opposites! I think Nora would like to spend the day in the sling with me cuddled up singing songs and talking and I think Zoe would like me to push her stroller into the middle of a crowded room and just let her "talk" to everyone! I can't imagine which child is like Lance and which is like me!? ;) 

Anyway, we are seriously enjoying these girls. It's gets better and better each day! We are blessed!!

My big girl at the doctor...poor thing didn't know what was coming :(

My little"er" angel at the doctor...sweet thing! 

Both girls one morning....but this day was rough! Two little fussy girls for some reason this day! 

Zo Zo with Mimi 

The girls playing with the Bradford girls one day!

Nora angel one morning! 

Our Nora Girl

Our sweet little Nora is struggling. She has had dry skin and tummy trouble her whole life and at about 4-6 weeks the doctor suspected she may have a sensitivity to dairy. I cut it all out of my diet and it seemed to help a bit. I was never completely sold however that she was allergic to milk. But who knows! Anyway, her dry skin turned into what looked like a teeny bit of eczema and that teeny bit of eczema tuned into a lot of eczema covering her little body and driving her nuts. 

For weeks now she won't sleep and spends most of the day crying if she isn't being held. It's very hard to hold a baby all day when she has a sweet little sister who needs you too! It's also very hard to know your baby is hurting and not know how to fix it. 

I took her to the doctor yet again because she was screaming inconsolably and pulling on her ears all week. I thought she had an ear infection. Nope. Maybe teething...but who can really tell! Anyway, times like this is would be so helpful for our whole family if sweet Nora could tell us what's wrong. Lance and I are very tired from getting up 5-10 times a night with her. She just lays in our arms and moans! Breaks our hearts!! 

I am considering putting Nora on a hypoallergenic formula the doctor recommended months ago. I have resisted and cut foods from my diet for months hoping something works and she just seems to get fussier with each passing day, and gets more and more rashy, and is now pretty much congested sounding all the time. She has pretty textbook food allergy symptoms. So even though I can pump 20oz at most times in the day....I may be putting Nora on formula. Stinky, expensive formula at that. But I truly don't care one bit at this point. We are just desperate for our little nugget to feel herself again, we are all ready to sleep again and I think Zoe is ready for mommy back too! 

Parenting truly is 1000 times harder than I could have imagined. Having a little helpless human counting on you to make all their decisions and keep them healthy and happy can be hard work at times!! But I'm so thankful to be the mommy of my little fussball and look forward to the day that she is no longer quite such a challenge!! She has SUCH a sweet, easy going personality and whatever is bothering her has made it hard for her to be her happy, sweet little self! Poor angel! 

We will see how her trial week of formula goes! I'm a bit skeptical but we shall see! :) 

Enjoy the Nora pic overload! She really is such a precious little angel & such a blessing to our family! We wouldn't trade her for the world! even when she sleeps 4 hours a night and screams for the better part of the other 20!! Not really, but maybe close! Hehe ;) 

Wide eyes first thing in the morning on her 4 month birthday

Colleague of cuteness!

Listening to mommy act like a crazy lady singing show tunes to get her to smile! 

Sweet angel after her first "sleeping through the night" it probably goes without saying based on this post, but sleep has been seriously regressing! 

Work

So on September 3 I start work. I am only working Monday and Tuesday late afternoon/evening so not much at all, but work it is! I am very excited to get out if the house for a few hours a coupe days a week, I am very excited to be able to contribute to a few bills, I am very excited to add a little speech therapy back into my week, and I am very very excited to have 10 hours a week with some guaranteed adult interaction, conversations where people talk back (well, in my line if work people don't always talk back but that's what I'm there for hehe), and something to take my mind off all things mommy for a few minutes. 

But I will admit that leaving the girls for 10 hours a weeks, even though I 100% trust their temporary care takers and daddy, is making me uneasy! I pretty eat, sleep and breath these two baby girls. I know them inside and out and know how they tick. Well, at least this week, they do love to change it up! I am telling myself that a little distance is healthy, that they will live even if at that evening nap Zoe isn't rocked up on my shoulder and Nora in the crease of my other arm while simultaneously putting in both pacis and singing "You are my Sunshine". But it's hard for me. I'm sure it's just first mom"itis" but I just hate to change things up on them! I worry that they will have a hard time with the change and wonder where I am. Am I giving a 3.5 month old too much credit!? I have been told by those I love most hehe that I am a baby micromanager. I think it's sadly true. But this letting go thing is HARD for me! 

But I think this will be a good lesson for me. I can get in my car, put on my music and say a quick prayer knowing they are in Gods hands and he is their ultimate protector, not me. And hello, they will be with my mom at my house Monday and a sweet nanny at the house Tuesday. Then Daddy takes over! He will do great and I must say, I'm a little glad daddy gets a taste of what two babies alone are like. He is so supportive of me and helpful, but I think he will gain a more clear picture of my days with them when he sees the "fun" getting two babies fed and asleep alone brings hehe! 

But I am very thankful for my job, for the flexibility it allows and for the opportunity to switch gears from mommy to speech therapist a couple evenings a week! Not that you can ever really turn off mommy brain! 

Wish me luck! :!

They won't ever know...

Today as I was sifting through my girls 6 month clothes, yes they have outgrown 3 month hehe, I found 3 little onesies from a friend that she's got at an adoption conference. They say "hope for orphans" and we have 3 of them. One just waiting for Jane. 

I was looking at Zoe & Nora in the little shirts and thinking, "man, they have no idea." They have no idea that they were born into a family who loves adoption. They have no idea that they will likely be going on multiple trips to Ethiopia, celebrating Ethiopian holidays, and "gotcha days". But then I thought about it some more and realized they will no nothing different. We won't have to teach them that no matter what color you are God loves us all the same. They will only know a life with siblings with different color skin. And we won't have to help them understand that you can still be a family, even if you have different biological mommies and daddies. They won't know a thing different. We wont have to explain to them how much Jesus loves orphans and that we are called to take care of them. They won't have any memories otherwise. All they will ever remember is a family, all mixed up with different colored people. 

Sometimes since having the girls I stop and think, "ok....what have I done. We finally have a really good system down here. Am I really about to rock the boat with another child who will likely have some special needs?" Because, having twins comes with some serious "special needs" and not a lot of sleeping, or eating, or cleaning, or talking to your husband or keeping up with friends. But when I stop and look into the future and know my girls will only know adoption as normal, when I realized we will have to teach them that we are in fact the "different" family it makes me smile! Because it took me a long time in my life to realize that as a Christian "different" is in fact our goal. We are supposed to be set apart. My girls will only ever remember being "different" and as odd as that sounds it makes me so very happy! 

I can't wait to see what God has in store for us with little Jane, because the last two gifts he gave us were pretty amazing!! :) 

3 month old little girlies~

I am a few days behind but my girls are 3 months old! I would love to say, "where has the time gone" or "man, this flew by" but that would be a lie! I honestly can hardly remember what life was like before them, and it seems like I have been a mommy for much longer than 3 months! But oh what a wonderful 3 months it has been. I know I won't remember things, so boringly, for myself I am going to document what they are up to and how they are doing!


Zo Zo is:

-smiling up a storm
-cooing all day long and babbling...I have heard m, b, g, d and that warms this Speech Therapists heart!
- rolling from her back to her tummy...but HATES getting stuck on her tummy & screams until I flip her over!
-holding her little head up like a champ
-supporting her weight on her little legs when we hold her up
-has started straining her neck to watch the TV when it's on in the room....she loved her some TV
- loves to be read to and will attend to an entire 10 minute book smiling and cooing and making eye contact with me the whole time. It is precious!
-Has pretty much stopped crying much at all! She is the essence of content!
- sleeping like a little champ. Our sleep changes around here a lot. She was going to bed around 7, getting up around 1 for a quick bottle (It is always Nora who wakes up but we feed Zoe) and then sleeping like clockwork until 7:30am. I mean 7:30 on the dot. But lately they have been going to sleep around 8:30pm, getting back up around 5:45am to eat and then going back to asleep until around 9:15am. Yes please! Let's keep this up little girls. Zoe does not move an inch, or make a peep at night. She is the most still, quiet sleeper. I am pretty sure if we didn't have our little thrasher AKA Nora Beth, we would put Zoe down at night and not see them again until the morning.

Nora Beth is:

-smiling a lot but we have to work for it! When she is in the mood she won't turn the smile off for hours, and then some days we go a whole day and I am lucky to get a few good smirks!
-lifting her head up and supporting her weight on her elbows while on her tummy. She sleeps on her tummy now all night and I think the extra "tummy time" is doing her good.
-babbling like Zoe, but in the softest voice you have ever heard. When she cries it is downright shrill, but when she talks it is like she is whispering. Its odd to me. But very cute (the babbling...NOT the shrill crying).
-Will sit and listen to a book and watch my face the whole time. When I get really animated her little eye brows lift up in delight and it is beyond precious!
- Has become a tad hard to deal with during the day because she has developed an insistence on being held! I took her to the doctor twice because I was just sure she was ill or had an ear infection or something. Nope...just a mama's girl!
-Sleeping much better stretches at night! However, she must be the world's lightest sleeper. She thrashes around her crib all night long. Sometimes I look at the monitor and cannot believe a child can be moving so much and still be sleeping. She is officially a tummy sleeper and will not even consider a 2 second nap now on her back.
- She is eating up a storm and at 14 weeks was 13.6lbs. She never stops eating and I am starting to think our night wakings are a habit and not from hunger. I have yet to let her "cry it out". :) 

-rolling from her back to her tummy...but doesn't really seem to care to do it much. She really likes to just chill on her back and swat at her toys. She will smile and do her tricks if we force her...but I think she would prefer we leave her alone! :) 

Both girls are SO wonderful. I just love them so much! Looking forward to what month 4 will bring!! :)

Just for me :)

This is just for me....just to remember it all (and prob won't edit or spell check)

Little angels, you have been doing so well the past couple weeks! Your smiles are constant and it is so so so much fun to look at your sweet little faces all day! I love spending my days with you and sometimes still can't believe I am the mommy to both of you precious little girls! I found myself folding laundry the other day with a huge smile on my face thanking God for finally answering my prayers. I have always said I would rather stay home and be a mommy, fold clothes and make peanut butter sandwiched than go to work and here I am. Living what I truly  believe to be my perfect job, and exactly where God wants me to be!

Zoe Rose, you are a sleeping machine and are officially " sleeping through the night". You go down around 10:30-11 and get up around 5:30-6. It's awesome!

Nora Beth, my little peanut, you are doing so well too! You have pretty much dropped the middle of the night feeding too and sometimes just need a paci of a little squeeze from Mommy or Daddy to get back to sleep. Last night I heard you whimpering and waited a few minutes and you stopped all on your own. Such a big big girl!!

Zoe, you bring SO much joy with your smiles and energy. You are so alert and people are so amused by your outgoing nature! People always think you are older than you are because you are just so alert and strong! You have started kind of laughing and I can't think of a better sound on earth!

Nora girl, your are our snuggly little peanut and anytime we are with friends people fight to hold you little snuggle bug. You are so alert too and lock into whoever is holding you with your big blue eyes and huge smile. You are so super sweet, it really melts mommy a heart.

I am, at least this week so far (it's only Monday hehe) feeling pretty rested and still soaking in the baby bliss around here. We still have stressful days, lots of them, and we still have days with lots of crying. We still have dishes piling out of the sink and onto the counter, and with each load of laundry  the girls clothes get more and more unorganized. BUT I am just so thankful. Please God never let me forget how thankful I am for these precious blessings you have given me and thank you in advance for the third precious blessing we will have coming soon!! :)

Now, I am off to see if I can grab a quick 30 minute nap while the girls sleep! :)

(Girls at the gas station for a quick bottle and diaper change on our way home from Belton. Pumping in the car with very little tint on the windows is comical I must say! Oh the things we do for our babies huh!?)