Bits of Tid...

I haven't had many blogs lately, and have received more than a few texts wondering why...and what we've been doing. Here are some tid bits to fill you in.

Lately my hands (and arms!) have been very full...

The babies are teething. Sharp little teeth are actually starting to poke through. This is apparently very painful (based on their reactions), and I have spent much of my day soothing fussy babies. Thank goodness our teeth come in when we can't remember it. If only there were some way for parents to not remember...

Ry-guy playing peek-a-boo through the slats of the play yard...we've had some fun!

Along with the teeth came an un-named illness. Apparently, this is common with teething. Both babies ran their first, honest-to-goodness fevers (I know...how did I get by this long without a REAL fever? I actually worried my thermometer might be broken!). I discovered that the thermometer makes a different beep when the baby has a fever (like you need something to add to the alarm?!). Allie's ran higher than Ryans, and while I wanted to rush the babies to the emergency room, or at least put a call into the doctor (it was Saturday afternoon...), all the books said their fevers were not high enough to cause alarm (HA!), and they could wait until the doctor's office was open (rather than rushing them to the nearest open medical facility). It did mean one night of little sleep (I clocked 2 1/2 hours). Is there any possibility that tylenol can keep babies awake? Monday they were still fussy (crying while eating - not common...especially for Ryan!). I called the doctor Monday morning and he confirmed (based on their symptoms) they have a virus, but it's nothing to worry about unless it gets worse. And since there were no fevers today, I think the worst is over.

My poor, sick little girl with her daddy

A few precious memories from these crazy, fussy days.

Nothing makes you feel the multiplied guilt of being a mommy of multiples more than illness. When you long to give your sick baby all of the attention and cuddling that they want (and possibly even more!), but have another sick baby needing the same, you feel the guilt of not having enough of you to go around. Case in point - Monday Allie just wanted to be touching me all day. Preferably lying down and touching me. Ryan needed his diaper changed and Allie crawled over to us, laid on the hardwood floor, put her head between my legs and laid it on my foot...just because she wanted to be touching mommy. It was too precious. There were many tears...all mine.

Attempting their escapes...

Ryan has impeccable hearing (which is funny because he failed the hearing test in the hospital and had to go back for a special screening!). He often hears (and looks for) bird calls, cars, and airplanes. One other noise he never fails to miss is sirens - and we hear a lot since we live in between 2 Fire Stations and near 2 main roads used by emergency personel. The funny thing is that, even though he has never seen a fire truck/police car/ambulance with a siren, he is afraid of the sound and always looks at me with a whimper. I often don't notice the sirens (we've lived here long enough that I've become accustomed to them) until he stops and whimpers. Today, during dinner, I heard the sirens (they were exceptionally loud...I think multiple sirening vehicles went by at once) and looked over to see Ryan stop, drop his sippy cup, and put his hands in the air! No joke. I would have laughed if he hadn't looked at me with the saddest, most frightened eyes I have ever seen. It took a lot of reassuring to calm him down.

If it takes a while for another blog, fear not. More will come. We're just in the trenches of teething the first teeth, but we will return in full force once their in (until the next ones of course...).

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Actually, it's looked like Christmas for a while here (the day after Thanksgiving everything switches over...no matter how tired I might be!). I'm just finally getting around to writing about it...

The Christmas Penguin I gave to our usual "Guard Penguin" for company during the Holiday Season...the one that Allie keeps trying to drag into her crib (right)...yesterday it was on the floor after naptime...

My Christmas gifts...

For the twins' First Christmas I wanted everything to be PERFECT. I wanted the entire house to be a Winter Wonderland. I wanted to make their stockings - beautiful, original ones rather than generic. I wanted to play Christmas music non-stop. After a few days of the decoration boxes hanging around (with hopes that they would inspire me with some magically perfect arrangment of everything) I got sick of the clutter and ordered them downstairs (and threw whatever didn't have a place somewhere - it was good enough). After not being able to find my perfect stocking pattern (it's somewhere...) or a similar pattern online, and running out of time (literally...I have no time!) - I bought generic ones at Target. And the Christmas music has been playing...sporadically...but I've listened to no where near my usualy quota.

Just a few of the snowmen (and women) in our house...

However, the tree is up with some of our favorite ornaments (it's small...so we have to be choosy about what goes on) - our Angel Bell with a quote from It's a Wonderful Life, a Nativity ball given to us for our first Christmas, the disco ball Lucas got on our trip to Martha's Vineyard (I know...a disco ball? Of all the ornaments...but that's what he wanted...and now we're pretty attached!), our Huskers and Michigan snowmen (gotta represent!), a ball that was hand-painted by Lucas' Grandma, a replica of The Elms - one of the Mansions we visited in Newport, RI last year with our families, and the star - which was given to me by my dear friend Kelsey. There are more on the tree (but did you really want a picture of EVERY one?), and if you gave us an ornament that you don't see, never fear! I find all sorts of fun places to put our other ornaments!

The stockings are hung by the chimney with care (we had to find additional stocking holders since J-O-Y wasn't big enough!), the Nativity is in it's place (actually, I have 5...including two little ones that are carved out of a single piece of wood, and my personal favorite with the Nativity scene in God's Hands...which I like to keep up all year), the snowman are out in all their abundance. It may not be perfection, but it's enough of a Winter Wonderland to make me happy :)

And as for music, every night we listen to Baby Einstein's Holiday Lullabies, and during playtime we often rock out to the Chipmunks Christmas cd and a special mix with fun Christmas songs like Dominic the Donkey and I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas! I also have pulled out all of our cds and have played the Hillsdale Choir Christmas cd "Sing Noel" - which I helped make (as an alto in the choir)!!

We're working on our holiday traditions. One of them is handed down from my childhood. My mother gave me the Christmas Countdown calendar that we had growing up. When I was young my brothers and I would fight over who got to move the mouse each day - prompting a rotation set up at the beginning of the month. Now we move the mouse each day with Allie and Ryan (no official rotation, but daddy does a good job of keeping it even).

I sometimes hate the days between Thanksgiving and Christmas because I want so badly to relish every second, but they fly by so quickly. But I love, LOVE the Christmas season, and ultimately remembering the Little Baby whose birth brought the Greatest Gift.

Discovering our world

Here are some things the twins have discovered lately:

If they pull the bottle out of their mouth, and immediately squeeze the nipple, the contents squirt out...all over them. They love this - mommy thinks it's very messy.

When strands of hair catch the sunlight streaming through, it is very pretty. So pretty it must be touched...and then pulled. The baby pulling the hair thinks this is a fun way to enjoy beauty - the baby or mommy whose hair is being pulled does not.

The space in between the slats of their crib and play yard are open and things can be placed through them...like toys. They love to drop toys through the slats of their play yard and think this is fun - mommy thinks it's very messy.

Ry-guy sticking his hand through the play yard to get a toy...

Hands & fingers are attached to us, controlled by us, and fun to watch! They spend a lot of time looking at their fingers, touching them together, watching themselves touch other things. They think this is amazingly interesting - mommy thinks it's adorable.

When eating finger foods, food can be squished between the fingers and then dropped on the floor beside their chair - making a fabulous splat. They think this is a wonderful way to use unwanted food - mommy thinks it's very messy.

One meal's worth of food...a dog would be handy...

The world around is full of objects that seem to be placed there for the sole purpose of allowing baby to pull to a standing position and hold onto. They think this is wonderful and try to do this a lot...like all the time. Mommy thinks they are growing up too fast.

Things mommy has discovered:

The more mobility they have, the more they will attempt - and they will get into everything, quickly.

The more ability they have to communicate, the more they will let you know what they really think. Loudly. Often. Usually this has something do to with the food they don't want to eat.

Even when they're cranky and not feeling well, even when you've had babies vying for your arms and attention all day and you're tired, even when daddy is home to help out and you could use the help - there is something delightfully wonderful about your babies reaching for YOU or crawling over to be held by YOU. It really is wonderful to be "Mommy" :)

9 months

Today the twins turned 9 months (these pictures are from the 9 month "photo shoot" we had today). It's hard to believe that so much time has passed. At the same time, it's hard to believe that it took so little time for them to grow and develop into the little people they have become. Where did our little babies go? Here are some of the things they've been doing of late.

Allie, as you know, is crawling - which has branched out into so many different things very quickly. The most difficult (for mommy) is her skipping her naps to practice her balance and control (and babble incessantly while doing so). Yesterday I went in (after Ryan had already napped and woke up) to find her lying sideways in her crib, with her feet hanging out, and with no socks (one was tossed aside in her crib, the other was lying on the floor). Also, I could tell she had tried to drag a penguin that sits near her crib inside because her bumper was pushed down and the penguin was askew...with his head leaning toward the crib like someone tried to yank it thorugh the slats...and she just giggled!

Ryan has started having conversations. None that you can actually understand, but if you ask a question he will grunt a response. Occassionally, you will get more than a grunt, but he is usually very concise with his answers. He will also often ask a question (he does the rise in inflection at the end of his babble) and then look at you and wait for an answer. I have no clue what schemes of his I have possibly consented to, but I truly enjoy our daily "conversations."

Allie, my acrobat, has started pulling herself up on her knees. Today, when I came in to get her from her nap (this time she had slept a little at least) she was on her knees, holding onto the slats of her crib, trying to pull herself up. With a little help, she easily pulls to a standing position and has really incredible balance. Since she was tiny I have said she was my dancer - she is always holding her body in perfect dancing positions - and her current balance and body control are proving me right!

Ryan is not so interested in crawling. I do not doubt for a second that he can (in fact, today I took Allie to the living room and he was in their room - because he doesn't crawl, so I could leave him for 30 seconds - and when I got back he was playing with the football...which I know wasn't near the toys he had...so how did he get it?), but he doesn't seem to want to. He will grab onto anything (usually me) to pull himself up to...jump. As soon as he's old enough, we are getting him a trampoline! Another reason Ryan isn't interested in crawling - he is an expert at snagging toys from his sister as she crawls by!

They are becoming more and more independent with their eating, and we do at least one meal a day that completely consists of finger foods. Allie loves this and readily eats (and smooshes) all the food I put in front of her (meanwhile, she often refuses food on a spoon). Ryan, who doesn't seem to like messy hands, will only eat dry solids (puffs, yogurt melts, etc.). Anything sticky or smooshy he refuses to touch. He will take anything from a spoon, however!

Books are a favorite. They love to sit with books and turn the pages. In fact, if they are fighting over something, it is usually a book! The other day they were playing in the play yard and I watched as Allie pushed a book (from the opposite end of the play yard) over to Ryan. They sat with the book in between them and looked at the pictures (it was one of those first word books with lots of pictures of animals). Until someone decided that they wanted to control the turning of the pages. Suddenly it was a tug of war (with only about an inch of free space between them and the book...so they didn't have to tug far). I ended up having to take the book away. But the few moments of sharing were precious.

They love to "get" each other. Granted, this is currently only possible with mommy's help. They think it's the funniest thing when I hold one and help them "get" each other (move them close enough that they can grab the other with their arms...and then pull them away once everyone is giggling). I think, when they are both mobile, this will be a fun game - one I wish they hadn't started.

Teeth are starting to pop through - which means everyone is miserable. Today was one of the worst days - orajel, tylenol, frozen teething toys - nothing worked. But the teeth will come in and we will survive! Their 9 month clothes barely fit so they've moved into the 12 month clothes. The clothes are a little long (which makes for some funny crawling incidents), but at least we'll get a little extra wear out of them! They are suddenly ready for a whole bunch of new foods (egg yolks, asparagas, cheese...they can eat like big people!). I can't wait to start making more yummy meals for them - and being able to have them eat the same thing we are (with a little planning this is totally possible now!) My babies are growing up! So happy, but also so sad!

Weekend recap: Heartbreak, Hope, & Milestones

As we have mentioned before - we take college football seriously in our house. Yesterday was the Big 12 Championship game between our beloved Nebraska Huskers and Texas. We, of course, donned our Huskers gear to show our support. I (Kim) wanted even more to win this game because Texas is the team of choice for my brother-friend Logan. And, after all of the harassment I have taken from him throughout the years because of my beloved Huskers, I really, really wanted his team to lose. I won't go into the details (because if you get me started...), but it was a crushing loss...13-12...they (Texas) got the winning field goal with 1 second on the clock. Heartbreak. Not only did Logan's team win, but they officially ended the twins' first college football season. Oh, well. We always have next year!

Once again Allie kept stealing the football...

And Ryan got mad...

As you probably know, last Sunday was the beginning of advent. The time of waiting and anticipation for the coming of Christ. Advent is often observed by the lighting of the candles in the advent wreath - 1 each Sunday. Our church is no exception, and they have a different family do the reading and lighting each week. This week they asked our family to participate in advent! We felt it might be a stretch to have the twins do any of the reading or lighting...

So I did most of the reading (with Allie),

and Lucas lit the candles (with Ryan)

They did a spectacular job and actually seemed to enjoy being up in front of all of the people...It was a very special for us to be able to participate in our first advent as a family.

And, the final big news - Allie is officially crawling. She has crawled a step (do you call it a step?) or two for a while, but she is now crawling distances. She did it first when we were skyping with my parents - she wanted to play with the laptop that was sitting on the floor. That evening, she started to follow me out of the room when I went to grab their bottles - that was the moment I realized that life, as I knew it, was officially over. She has been crawling all day, and since the laptop is usually what she's after, and our laptop takes video, I did a short video of her new accomplishment.

Yes, Ryan is crying in the background. He does not seem to like sister's new found independence, and wants to crawl, but gets frustrated when he can't figure out the complicated opposite hand/knee combo that his sister has. She was there a few days ago, so I really don't think it will be long before they are going in different directions!

It was the best day...

Today it was 65 degrees...in New Enlgand...in December. The weather today was nicer than any day we had in the entire month of June! It felt like spring. And so, we had to go outside and enjoy! Not too far from us there is a playground. We often walk there...and walk by...and then walk home...because they're too young for playgrounds. Or so I thought. On Thanksgiving I saw a baby in the baby swing that looked much younger than the twins. I had thought that the "baby" swings were actually for children who were older, but I started to think that maybe they were ready. After googling it to find out, I discovered that they actually had been ready for a couple months (they are ready once they can sit up on their own)!

So we went to the playground and Allie and Ryan tried the swings for the first time!

Allie LOVED it and took to it right away. She held on perfectly. You would have thought she had been swinging all her life!

Ryan didn't like it so much and actually started to cry.

So I took him and we got on a "big kids" swing and swung together (a tip I had gathered during my online research). At first he just wanted to snuggle, facing me. Then he saw dogs and wanted to face out.

Once we had been on the swing for a while, we tried the baby swing again. This time he loved it. He cracked a few smiles and even giggled once or twice!

By this time Allie (who had skipped her afternoon nap - choosing to talk and play in her crib instead) was exhausted and was starting to fall asleep in the soothing swing.

So I took her on the "big kids" swing for a little while too.

The we took a LONG walk home - where Allie promptly fell asleep. It was part of my master plan to sneak a nap in for my little chatterbox.

We really enjoyed our wonderful afternoon out in the beautiful weather - which is good because it is supposed to drop 10 degrees each day and be in the 30's by Sunday. And it was so much fun to try out the swings with the twins! I just wish we had discovered that they were ready for them before winter...

Good Memories

Today I decided to take the babies on an adventure. Partly because the weather was gorgeous - and how many more sunny days in the 50's will we have in December in New Enlgand?! Mostly because today was another difficult day (Allie woke up at 4 am and refused to go back to sleep, then she was tired and wanted to sleep when Ryan woke up - which put the babies on alternating nap schedules...disastrous for mommy productivity - and Ryan refused to sleep during an entire nap time). I didn't want another day that was characterized by being a "difficult" day, so I decided to do something to create a happy memory.

Not too far from our house is Beaver Brook Reservation - with a pond, ducks, geese, waterfalls, and a trail. Before the babies were born, Lucas and I loved going for walks here. In fact, when we were going through all of the fertility treatments (especially after finding out yet another one had failed), this was one of my favorite places to go. Being outdoors and near water has always had a way of restoring my soul. And waterfalls, no matter how small, have been especially dear to me and soothing. It is a place where I have always felt God's presence so closely, and where I used to dream of the day when I would walk along the water and through the woods with my baby.

Of course, then we had 2 babies...and since the trail isn't especially stroller friendly, and I can't take 2 babies in a backpack, I never took them. But today I decided to load up the jogging stroller and try this particular adventure.

Allie has one foot forward - ready to embark on our adventure!

In the past, upon arrival, the dozens of ducks at the pond have come running out of the water to meet us (in hopes of food). You can imagine my surprise when, instead of being met by ducks, dozens of geese started to move our way to check us out. I have a deep-seeded fear of geese (after being attacked by one when I was little), and the thought of bringing my babies near them almost made me turn around. But, I'm much larger and stronger, and felt that I could take on a goose if necessary...and the geese really were not interested in getting that close to us (not like the ducks always were). Plus, Ryan thought that the honking of the geese was hilarious! They would honk and he would giggle...I loved it!

We walked a short way down the trail (on the easiest part) to the first small waterfall. The babies didn't seem as thrilled as I was to be there, but they were intrigued by the water and the view. We turned around (since there was such a thick blanket of leaves that I couldn't find the trail there), and went back to watch the geese some more (Allie got a little more interested this time - almost cracking a smile! She gets so serious sometimes!). Then we tackled the trail from the other direction, and made it to the other bridge and waterfall! Have I mentioned how much I love waterfalls? We made our way around the trail the other way (the loop is less than a half mile), and then headed back home.

The twins enjoy the waterfall

Note: Not only did I have the brake on, but I had the wrist strap on, and I was holding onto the stroller. No worries, mom!

It wasn't a long adventure (40 minutes), but I really enjoyed being able to share this treasured spot with the babies. I loved that they enjoyed watching the geese. The few minutes we spent at each waterfall were literally enough to soothe my sleep-deprived, shriek-shredded soul. And the fresh air and sunshine did wonders for all of our moods! It was the perfect way to make this a joyfully memorable day.