7 months old!

Wow....didn't I JUST write a 6 month post!? How are my littles 7 months old!? Thank goodness for blogging because otherwise I wouldn't remember a thing and it has been so fun to look back at what they were doing each month because heaven knows I don't remember it! Sad yes, but true. 

This month has seemed to be a month of lots of change for the girls. They are seeming so grown up to me lately. I'm just going to list lots of boring facts about them so I can look back and remember....sorry readers!!

Zoe this month you:

-started trying to crawl! We have gotten a few legit lunges forward but you mostly just rock on your knees, or stand up on your feet with your booty in the air. It's pretty cute.

-started sitting up from a laying position. All of a sudden you just popped up from the floor onto your bottom. Again, pretty cute! 

-started lots of babbling. You now love to repeat "mamamama" over and over again. I know you don't have a clue what you are saying but I love the sound of "mama". I've been hearing a ton of different consonants this week from you. You will be an early talker I'm pretty sure! 

-started loving the sound of your loud shrill scream. You will sit and scream a joyful little screech until you are red in the face and have to catch your breath and start again. It usually scares your sister or at least makes her jump.

-started for real sleeping through the night. I actually can't pinpoint when you really started sleeping through the night but I also can't remember the last time you woke up at all. You are a great little sleeper. 

- you usually sleep from 6:45-7 or 7:30. Sometimes you wake up at 5:30 for a bottle and then go back to sleep until 7ish. You are a superstar sleeper. 

- you still love to be rocked to sleep and after you spend about 30 seconds fighting going down for bed or naps with ALL your might at all your high decibel glory, you relax and are out cold! Sometimes I swear you are in the exact same position we left you in 13 hours later! 

- you have pretty much started only taking 2 naps a day. If we happen to be in the car at just the right time you will drift for a minute. But regardless of how much you nap or don't nap you still go to bed around the same time. You are a predictable little baby. 

- you play appropriately with your little toys and are starting to grasp cause/effect. Is fun to watch you spin your little spin toy and wait for it to stop and spin it again. It's fun to watch you discover your little world. 

- you take a while to wake up from sleep. You have the most tired little face when you wake up and the pinkest little cheeks. However, the second we walk into the living room and you see your sister you come alive and know its playtime. You smile and wiggle for me to put you down to play with sissy! 

-you are extremely distractable. This was a huge problem when I was nursing and now is a big problem with the bottle. It's like you are on speed spinning your head in all directions, turning to any little sound, straining your head to look out the window, or at sisters toy, or the person talking in the kitchen. We pretty much have to let you sit completely upright and we have to just follow your head around with the bottle. The process is not fast!  Its mainly a concern on the few times I am not with you. You have to take 2 bottles a week from other people and you don't make it easy on them! 

-you are kind of "whatever" about solid food. I think you can take it or leave it. If I put a spoonful of food up to your face you will eat it. But I don't see much of a love for food yet. 

-you are taking 5oz sometimes 6oz bottles about 5 times a day and eating a couple times a day. But I can usually only get you to really eat solid food about once a day. You would rather chew on the spoon, or the tray or turn your head to look at the pattern on the high chair or look out the window.

- you are pretty much over the paci. We still put it in your bed, but you mostly use it as a teething toy and chew on the back of it. I'm not going to force it, I'm hoping we are one of the lucky few who seamlessly part ways with the paci. 

- your current favorite activity is to just crawl around and explore your toys. You are in more of an independent phase lately and seem to want to spend more time exploring your toys and environment than being held in my arms at all times. 

- you continue to be pretty leery of strangers. Just today you got swarmed at the hair salon and had a bit of a breakdown. I could see it building but couldn't get to you quick enough to stop it. You are overwhelmed by crowds at times and loud noises. Not to the point of freaking out or anything, but your daily life is pretty calm and you aren't around a whole lot of kids. 

- you are still big, I think about 20lbs, and are in 9-12 month clothes! 

- you are happy and content about 99% of the time. Lately when you get overtired you just get quiet and very calm. Not a whole lot of screaming. 

Nora this month: 

- you started sitting up from laying down. Your sister did it and you did it about 5 hours later.

- you are finally up on all fours but aren't quite crawling yet. You somehow get around though! You can fly all over your crib with you crafty little scooching and rolling! It's funny and spastic looking.

- you have become LOUD....you alternate from screaming, to growling, to babbling to laughing. I was trying to describe you to your daddy one day and said you were a "scrappy little spaz!" 

- you seem to be all over the place lately. Constantly bouncing in your bouncer or swatting at toys. You just seem hyper to me.

- you have a VERY chipper demeanor about you. You are just so happy to be alive. You love being in the middle of the conversation, love an excuse to laugh or smile and seem to just be waiting for the opportunity. You are SO smiley!

- unlike Zoe you bounce up on all fours the second I come in to get you from your nap. If you are laying down all I have to do is whisper "Nor-Nor" and you flip over and pop right up with the biggest smile on your face and start flapping your arms for me to pick you up. Once I do you are usually so thrilled you start shaking both legs and bouncing up and down. Also unlike your sister, you would be held all day. The way the two of you trade off personas each month is interesting. You continue to change and flip flop on who does what. 

- your are doing much better with night sleep. But I can count on two hands the amount of nights you have slept through the whole night, and that number is 7, ha! You will often sleep from about 8-4 and then eat and go back down until after 7. But you will more often get up around 2am for a bottle and then sleep until morning. You are by no means a bad sleeper, you just don't have it mastered quite like sister. Which I also want to add that I have heard SO many moms allude to the fact that babies sleep or don't sleep based on the parenting style. Not in our case. Zoe was sleeping through the night at 4 months and never needed help with it at all. We have had to WORK to get Nora not to wake up 5x a night. Our 1 night waking now is serious progress! 

-oh and most nights it takes you a good amount of crying or just talking to yourself to go to sleep. I tried my hardest not to let you cry, but I truly can't figure out how. You just seem to need to unwind or something. However, due to this you have been officially relocated to the guest room. It's really sad because the nursery was SO cute, and now your crib is missing. But it's on my to do list to make your new room cute and cozy too. I actually really like having more space in the nursery to fold laundry and such and we are in the process of making the study a guest room which will be great and it's much farther away from babies so now our guest won't have to walk on egg shells, afraid to unzip a suitcase! 

- you are a pretty super napper though. You nap from about 9-10 or 11 and 1-2 or 3. 

-we are in a funky place with you at night. You don't want to go down for a third nap, but are a grump without it. We are just in a transition phase right now, which is making the hours of about 5-7 not a pretty sight. We also can't quite figure out your bedtime. If we put you down at 6 you scream like it's too early, but if we keep you up until 7 or 8 you are in rare form. Between 7-8 seems like your natural bedtime, but we are still trying to figure out a way for you to be more of a happy camper up to bedtime. Because unlike your sister who just gets really quiet and observant, you scream and flail around! 

- your favorite playtime activity is jumping all around in your jumparoo. It seems to give you so much joy!

- you love love love eating. You are thrilled when we put you in your highchair and the only food you have protested so far is peas. You bang your little hands on the tray and pretty much are opening your mouth for your next bite before you are done with your previous one. I think it's safe to say that you much prefer solid food to formula, which is probably because you are on a revolting hypoallergenic formula. Poor baby. 

- I think your eyes are officially brown. And your hair is definitely very dark. Your hair is also starting to curl up when it gets wet. You definitely stand out as having your own look among your sister and cousins who all seem to favor each other with their bright blue eyes, fair skin and light hair. You get to be unique with your darker completion! 

- you weigh exactly 19lbs as of yesterday at your ear infection follow up appointment. However, you seem tiny to me! 

- you are also over the paci and just like to play with it too. You have finally taken to your lovie which is good. 

- you take four or five 4oz bottles a day. This month you are none to interested in having anything to do with a bottle. I think it slows you down too much and I don't think you love your new formula. Unless you are starving it takes us a couple tried to get you to finish a bottle. Which probably attributes to you still waking up at night to eat. It is an even bigger task for someone else besides me or lance to give you a bottle. You spend a total of 8 hours away from us each week and the bottle report is never good for at least half of the time! 

-I would say you are happy 90% of the time, with the 10% grumpy revolving around bedtime. Hopefully this next month will bring some more predictability in your sleep needs! 

-Nora you are a little ray of sunshine, with a permanent smile! 

One new, unfortunate development this month has been illness. NO exaggeration, the day after the girls first full day without breast milk they got colds. It started with Nora, then a week later went to Zoe, then Zoe ended up with an ear infection, then Nora ended up with an ear infection, then Zoe's ear infection didn't respond to the antibiotics and she ended up with a double ear infection and a sinus infection. This all started the day of their six month appointment and we just got the all clear on the ears and sinuses 2 days ago. Then when I felt like I could finally breath a sigh of relief that night Zoe woke up with diarrhea and 102 temp and then Nora followed with projectile vomiting. This was just yesterday. So if you are doing the math it has been a straight month of illness. To say I regret stopping nursing them would be the understatement of the century. And for all you mommies who beat yourselves up because your littles get sick from daycare....don't! It happens to stay at home kids too! Mine are a prime example!! It has really been tough. And I have felt pretty guilty about stopping nursing. But I suppose it's now or when they turned one and everyone who hasn't yet been sock gets sick. But I am praying that this month we have healthy babies! 

But we are happy and loving life in our little corner of life! It gets better and better each day!! I think I'm finally to the point of wanting the freeze time! They are at such a fun age and we are truly blessed!! :) 

My grocery shopping buddies

Bright eyed beautiful baby

Crazy hair with a little left over milk on her face from her crazy eating style! 

Baby dedication Sunday

Me and my little Nora Beth 

Cuties today on their 7 month birthday 

Daddy is home....hallelujah praise The Lord! I love being home with them but I'm with them 6-6 and it can be a LONG 12 hours! 

Bundled for the cold! Cuteness I must say. 

Twin mom dinner

Last week I went to a little get together with other twin mommies in the area. It was really fun and I left with a bit of a new perspective on parenting twins. After talking with all the other mommies I realized I was the only and I mean ONLY mom who doesn't keep their littles on the same schedule pretty much no matter what.

I started out this way. If one ate both ate, if one was up both were up and somewhere along the way, maybe around 4-5 months, I just kind of let them pave their own path. We ended up with Zoe waking up around 7am, Nora waking up around 8:30am. Thus, naps were occuring for someone ALL day long around here, bedtimes were spanned about an hour and a half and if I ever needed to leave the house someone was always missing a nap and fussy! I was always feeding one and having to write down who ate when because Zoe would eat at 7, Nora at 9, Zoe again at 10, Nora at 12....see my point! :) 

Anyway, I left that dinner and decided that I was going to take back my life, even if just a little bit! Who are we kidding, I won't ever truly have my life back with two soon to be three baby girls (and I wouldn't have it another way I might add) but I decided a change was in order! 

Zoe is completely over 3 naps a day and is pretty much the easiest baby on the planet. With no work, no sleep training, nada, she sleeps 12-13 hours a night, naps from 9-10:15 and again from 1-3:15. She then happily plays until 6:45 and drifts off to sleep without a hitch. Nora...umm bless her little heart. She is more of a spirited soul! I forgot to mention that Nora was insisting on a 5 or 6pm nap for about 20 minutes lately and wakes up and stays up until 10:00pm! Not ok when Zoe is out cold by 6:45! So I decided that I was going to keep Nora up and make her skip her third little nap. Hoping that she would just go to bed at an earlier time and be more on track with Zoe. 

Well, it was a miraculous thing and it actually worked. Nora powered through and skipped her third nap and went to bed the first night at 8:45 then 8:00 and last night went down at 7:30! I have been stretching her to keep her up until 1pm so she naps later and the past couple days she napped until 3:00 and was perfectly fine until bed. However, staying up until a 1pm nap is still a little hard for her. :( 

But the past three days I have had 9-10am and 1-3pm TO MYSELF!! Like, rush to wash bottles, brush my teeth, do my work out, fold some laundry and then sit on the couch with a cup of coffee and watch Duck Dynasty TO MYSELF time! This is a far cry from the serial napping, baby always up, baby always needing something while the other was being fed or put down! It's been great and I think Nora will catch on here completely in the next few days and be able to easily make it to her 1pm naptime! 

So thanks twin mommies for the reality check!! I think I needed it!! :) 

Sunday night blues

I love the weekends. I love lance being here to help with the girls. I love getting to spend one on one time rocking one to sleep, not worrying about the lone baby crying in the living room. I love having a partner in bottle washing, dish washing, clothes washing....get then point with the washing!? I love when meltdowns begin being able to say, "ok...you rock her and I'll hold her". I love only carrying one car seat to the car, dressing one baby, and changing one babies diapers. 

See a trend? 

Every weekend I seem to forget how to do it alone, and then Monday comes and I learn all over again!

I have no greater joy in my life than caring for my girls. I couldn't ask for a more blessed, full life if I tried. 

BUT, sometimes is hard to make the shift from constant help to 6am-6pm solo duty! 

Oh well, bring it on week!! By Friday we will know how to do it again, then forget again and start this whole thing over!! :) 

Thought I'd throw in an old school pic. Now at this age, I most definitely did NOT have things under control by myself. I think I called my mom 100 times a day...begging her to spend the night! But oh my goodness, the preciousness of this picture kills me! Thank you God for weekends spent enjoying my family. I am blessed! 

I've been obsessing......I know!

So, yes I am a typical first time mom. And yes, I have been slightly freaking out about my children's first illness. I have always been a weirdo about sickness. I don't really get sick much, but when I do get sick  I tend to think I am probably dying. ;) 

Anyway, we introduced food to the chicas a couple weeks ago and they were loving it. Especially Nora. On Tuesday evening my mom was with the girls and she said that Nora hated her food. I thought it was wierd and then the next day, she didn't eat a bite. She then woke up around 1am and I was kinda bummed since her sleep had gotten SO great. I went in to pat her and could (pardon my grossness) hear the snot! It was out of control. And she was up ALL night because she couldn't breath. The next day it got worse and worse and man is it ever stressful to have sick twins! Nora needed so much attention, and pretty much needed me holding her at all times and couldn't sleep. However, my little 6 month old other baby girl isn't quite old enough for me to hand the remote in times like these and say "Go crazy" I need to take care of your sister. SO, I did my best. But Nora didn't sleep much at all and pretty much the only naps she took were in the car. I actually drove around for 2 hours one day to make sure she got a morning nap. Has anyone ever been to Needville? Ha! 

Next thing I know, and I know this will just be our life, but I hear the same sniffles and coughing on the monitor and Zoe is sick. And so far, Nora has been a much better patient! Zoe acts like we are trying to kill her every time we wipe her nose! Oh Zoester. But it was the same story, only Zoe got sick over the weekend so it was way less stressful! She is still in pretty bad shape, but hopefully she gets better soon so I don't have to do this all over again this week by myself. 

But that's all part of it right!? Lance has convinced me that they will infact live to see another day and I am just praying God heals their little bodies soon. I have racked my brain on where they picked this up. Call me crazy, but I think it's from chewing on the tables at Gringos. Hehe! I've tried really hard to protect them from illness, but I guess it was bound to happen. We hang out with friends and most have kids over 1. So I guess now they are building up their little immune systems. 

In other news I am no longer nursing. Lots of reasons why, but the point is I am done. It was hard at first and I cringed with every bottle of formula they drank. However, now I feel great. And in very very exciting news, we tried Nora on a sample of a prescription formula because her eczema was still awful and after 24 hours she was a new child!! I mean the girl has a new set if skin!! We have been rubbing her sweet little arms, legs and face all weekend in amazement!! She is so soft, and smooth and perfect! She was perfect when she was bumpy too...but she has got to feel better. I even put her in a onsie with not pants yesterday and no itching! This is huge...I usually have to cover her legs because she scratches until she bleeds. Based on this dramatic change, it can very likely be concluded that Nora is allergic to dairy & soy. Our insurance even pays for the formula which is huge because out of pocket it was going to cost us hundreds per month! I no longer cringe at the formula. I scoop that powder in her bottle with a smile on my face and cheerfully shake it up and smile as she gulps it down! I am just so happy she feels better! I suppose we will worry about what a dairy allergy means later. But for now we are celebrating this exciting change! She has also slept about 2 hours later each day since we started. Not sure if this is from less itching or her illness but I am just so happy we seem to have found the key to her comfort! 

Well, I suppose I should head to bed. It's only 10:30 and I've already had to rock Zoe back to sleep 3x and suction her nose. Plus, Nora seems to have liked getting picked up every time she wiggled for a week and I have a feeling she may have regressed a bit with sleep. Actually, I hear a munchkin now! I must say, this week has made me feel so honored that God chose me to be a mommy! I get to be the one to wipe noses, and give medicine and sing to sleep. I get to be the voice that calms and the person who wipes tears. I know I am a tad mushy when it comes to them, but I am just in awe of this gift God gave me and this role he is trusting me to fill! I love these babes SO much! I love to get to be the mommy! Although, I am the tired mommy lately that's for sure! 

Ok, off to pat some little bottoms! :) 

Nora sleeping in her car seat. This was the only way we could get her to fall asleep! 

Me and Zo Zo shopping for sisters medicine

Zoe "steaming" in the tub

Bottle time in the sauna :)

First trip to buy a weeks worth of baby food! 

Nora her first night...she was in bad shape :(

Sicky head baby girl 

Mommy trying her best to force a smile out of the little munchkin 

My new babysitter the Camry! This is a life saver when you have sick twins and can't put both to sleep! 

Starting to feel a tiny bit better

"Mom, for real stop with the pictures!"

6 months!

I am posting a few days early because both are napping at the same time and who knows when that will happen again!

But the girls are 6 months!! They are all of a sudden little people with personalities and are just so precious! They are the smiliest little things and are trying so hard to be "on the move". Both girls are sitting up unassisted for a few seconds at a time before toppling over. They have mastered the art of rolling both ways which is a lifesaver for us! We were going in and flipping them at night for weeks and weeks and I was about to go insane....for real! They love to grab at their toys and like to play on their tummies and try to crawl. Their little bodies have all the motions down but they can't quite get their tummies off the ground to actually crawl. It makes Nora very very angry! The second I put her down she flips to her tummy, and then sets her sight on a toy and tries to crawl over but can't. She then screams until I pick her up or put the toy in her hand! On that note, I'll update on Nora....then Zo can have a turn!

My little Nora. We love you so much. You get cuter and cuter every day and this month you seem to have transformed from our little Budda blob baby to a little girl! You can sit up like a champ and sometimes I can't believe how big you seem. You love to laugh and love to play with your toys. You have unfortunately gained a new nickname this month and that's "little HM" aka High maintenance! You are a touch cookie some days. You want to play on the floor, but are very annoyed that you can't crawl. You currently require being held or being in a toy that keeps you upright. Your short little fuse just can't handle your current developmental stage! I am looking forward to when you can see a toy and just go get it! We did "sleep training" with you this month and this was something I swore I'd never do! Not to label our parenting because who are we kidding we are just winging this day by day, but for lack of a better explanation we kind or do the whole attachment parenting thing with you guys. I kind of don't believe in sleep training, however I also don't believe in being a Zombie mommy who can't properly care for her children so sleep training it was. We did the Ferber method and you fought it hard. Like hard hard hard!! The first night we went in every 20 minutes to calm you down for almost 2.5 hours!!! It was misery. And contrary to what most people report it took you about 14 days to get it. However, now you are doing awesome!! You are sadly a night pooper so I still have to go in and change diapers nightly, but we have finally kicked the "mommy I am going to scream until you feed me 5 times a night habit!" Your teeth are also starting to show a bit through your gums and I can tell it is going to be any day that they pop through. This will be cause for celebration!! Nora you love people and really like to be in the middle of the conversation. You flash this adorable little closed mouth smirk at us about 100 times a day and it melts my heart! You love mommy and daddy but also love your family and friends too! You will happily play in someone else's arms as long as you can look over every now and then and see us. You adore your sister. It's too much! I snap about a million pictures a day of you smiling at her, crawling on her, and holding her hand!! Your are our little sweet pea and we couldn't love you more!

Zo Zo.....you continue to be the most laid back, chill little thing! You literally go most days without even a fuss. No exaggeration. You will wake up in the morning and smile for every waking second. It's amazing! I have truly never seen a happier baby!! You are very very tall. You are heavier and taller than most of your 11-12 month old friends. You don't look 6 months old! You love to play on the floor and like sister, wish you could crawl. You are close little munchkin, I can tell! You are teething and lately always have one little finger in your mouth that you chew on and the amount of drool you can produce is crazy! You have been our awesome sleeper from day one, but are now doing what your sister used to do and has since stopped. That's the hard thing about twins! We aren't excited to have to "sleep train" another baby girl! But you scream out for us multiple times a night lately and it's pretty hard to calm you down without waking up your sister! But you will get over the hump too I'm sure of it! Zoester, you continue to love mommy and daddy and have started to get pretty concerned when you can hear me but dont see me. Most times if I am in the house you have to have me in your sight. Usually I put Nora down first for naps and leave you in the living room playing in your exersaucer....lately I have to sneak out quietly and then you don't seem to mind. However, if you can hear me singing to Nora you scream from the other room! It's pretty sad and I haven't quite figured out how to do naps without always leaving one of you alone. I'm pretty sure there is no solution and you will just have to accept it sweet girl! You have been a smiler all your life, but this month we finally started to hear real laughs from you. We love it so much!! Zo you are perfect, and more and more fun every day! 

Hers what else you are up to:

Sleep: you guys have been fighting me on bed time bad! Well, not really fighting but all you want to do is go down around 5:30! No matter how late I put you down, you wake up at 5:30 and want to go back down at 5:30pm. So far all that "keeping you up" does is make for a fussy, hard next day! This has been very very hard to say the least. This has me doing morning time, all naps, all feedings, all baths and bedtime routine all by myself since Dad doesn't get home until 6! We are in the midst of trying to figure this out. But some tears have been shed on my part lately because I am very overwhelmed and exhausted doing everything by myself. It's hard, and a little bit lonely. The joy in the daily things you guys do, like baths, and first solid food and things like that are dampened a bit when you dont have anyone to share it with. It's been hard. You have fortunately started sleeping better, especially Nora and we have had a few nights with no wakings. We are still working towards "sleeping through the night" though! 

Eating: you are taking 5 bottles a day and have oatmeal sometimes. I haven't consistently started the twice a day food thing mainly because it's hard to add one more thing to the evenings right now since I'm trying to get everyone down by myself.

Size: we haven't been to you official appointment yet but I know you are both the bigger side! I'm excited to see the exact stats!

Life, continues to be so much fun with the girls! However, if I am being completely honest this month has probably been the hardest. Having two babies pretty much keeps you tied to the house. When I do decide to try to venture out, it can go great or end in disaster and that's hard to deal with alone in public hehe! I am hoping to find a friend soon that lives close by and can just go on walks with us or do quick, no fuss things! I have two sweet friends that come to my house every Thursday with their littles and it's means so much to me!! I know this is just a season and I don't want to wish it away, but it can be hard to spend so much time at home with babies and not really have an outlet to get out and have some fun sometimes. I had hoped to do ladies bible class but it just wasn't possible right now, and I try to do playgroup but it falls at nap time and it's just too hard to deal with melting down babies alone. I'm trying to stay positive and accept that this season is just one that is going to be spent at home, and I am going to try my best to soak in the time with my girls and not look at it as being lonely but look at it as time to spend uninterrupted with my two angels. I know I will blink and it will be over and I don't want to look back and feel like I wished away this phase of their little lives! I am enjoying every ounce of them and am so thankful I spend my days with my two little bundles! But I have been praying that God will send me a friend in a similar boat! I know he will! 

Other than that we are just trucking along, our new normal is pretty much constant business with short moments of calm. We are pretty much in "go" mode all the time and are used to it! We love it! We love our girls, and are so thankful for the 6 months we've had with them!! Can you even believe ANOTHER baby girl will be joining the Agan clan someday!? Ha! I kind of can't....but of course am ecstatic!! I told Lance once I was sleeping through the night for 2 straight months we could seriously start talking about our little JJ! So if these chicks want a sister they need to shape up soon!! :) 

That's all for now....off to bed at 9:15! :) 

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!!