40-week update

I should have written this yesterday:

Yes folks, today is my official 40-week due date. My babies should have not been here until today! I cannot imagine being pregnant this whole time, and completely admire those people that make it this far, and farther! They will be 6 weeks old tomorrow, and officially at their correct gestational age. Yay for that!

On a similar note - I boxed up the preemie clothes today and was surprised at how sad it made me. Yes, I am glad they are growing and they are getting healthier, but they have outgrown clothes! They are already growing up too fast, I was looking at the little suits...and I can't believe they fit in them. And a lot of the outfits were too big! And now...they're too small. :-( The time is already going by too fast, and I'm cursing myself for not taking pictures of them in every single thing they wear, so I can look back and remember and remember how cute and small they were. Some of their newborn clothes now are getting a tad small, the Gerber ones, Gerber is much more true to size, and they are getting too long for some of the sleep and plays. Again, SAD!!!!

Oh well, such is life, and I guess that's what happens to babies, they grow up! Lol, none of us would be where we are today if we hadn't grown up and I'm sure all of our Mamas felt this same way. I swear though, I feel like the time is slipping away...

There's not much else to report. William and Emily both are doing really good. William likes to be up more at night than during the day. I am trying to keep his sleepy head up more during the day, but it's very tough. There's a stretch in the night where he just likes to be awake, and thinks he wants to suck on something, but he's not sure what it is. I found myself trying to put his thumb in his mouth last night. I know that sounds horrible. But I am trying NOT to give him a pacifier at night, because he wants it, but he sucks so furiously it pops out every 5 mins. Meaning Mama has to get up and put it back in. I'm not really into that game, so I'm not giving the Passy to begin with, and I'm trying to encourage thumb sucking. So far, it's not working. ;-)

Emily's tummy still has some issues, but it is much better and she is resting better at night. She has one little fussy spell in the evenings, but other than that, she's very mellow. She is very patient, because for some reason she ends up having to wait on William for a lot of things. She'll sit in the Boppy or just lay in her bed, or lay on the couch next to us, and just look around. She's still the more vocal one and we still get a kick out of all her noises.

They are both adorable and I love them to death. Yes, I sigh sometimes, and yes I watch the clock and wonder when they are going to be done eating, because my eyes need to be propped open with a stick of some kind...but they are wonderful. They smile and they make noise at you ( not sure it's really at us, but it feels like it is), and they just do funny things...and I love every second of it. When I'm out without them, the very few times that has happened, I want to wear a sign that says " I have 2 babies at home. I'm a mom." It felt good being pregnant because people could see it, they could see what was going on. But now - no one knows and I want them to!

Anyway, happy Saturday and happy weekend!


Our Family Portrait, taken with the tripod and not dressed for pictures


Mama and her Emily

Mama and her William

Lessons Part 2

Or maybe they are confessions of a new mom...
1. When the changing table cover gets a little messy, from a little spit up, I put a lap pad over it. Or I turn it the other way, to where the dirty part is at their feet.

2. If a lap pad that they are laying their heads on gets wet, from spit up of course, I will turn it over, instead of washing it. When it gets wet again on the other side, then I wash it. Some people may call us dirty or unsanitary...I call it being enviromentally friendly by not washing every single solitary thing.

3. Babies make a lot of noises. Sometimes we hear puppies, birds, goats...the goat is the best one right now.

4. Babies make really bad faces, and cry out, and then in the next breath they smile. It's the craziest thing. We get up to check on them, and by the time we make it to their bed, they are smiling.

5. Boys go through more clothes than girls do.

6. Karo syrup does work. Too well sometimes.

7. Bibs are our new friend. Bibs are great. You must remember to fasten bibs before washing though, or else they stick to stuff while drying.

8. Everywhere I look in the living room,there is a burp cloth or a bib..on the arm of the couch, over the pack and play, on the floor, on the coffee table. We have a stack a mile high on the back of the couch. Easy access is a must.

9. I need to take more pictures. Some people would say I take too many, but honestly, I thought I'd be taking hundreds a day. I'm not. I take maybe 10 a day. Some days more, some days less. I feel like I'm going to miss this time though. I also need to use our video camera more. I just got it on X-mas, 2 days before they came, so I didn't have much time to learn it.

10. It's hard to decide between taking a nap and doing housework. I know I need to do both. I'm not sure how to prioritize where this is concerned.

I think I'll leave it with 10 for now...I just heard one of our little goats and Y&R is calling my name! Here are a few pictures from the last several days!



Emily in her new bed

Daddy and William

Aunt Kristin and William

Mama and Emily

Emily with her arm somewhere other than the arm hole

Lessons I am Learning

1. We are now Mama and Daddy, not Billy and Beth.

2. You really DO do a lot of laundry with babies. I didn't believe it at first, I thought I might do an extra load or two a week...but I'm doing about a load a day, of just their clothes. We go thru an insane number of burp cloths!

3. Modesty is out the window, several people have now seen my boobs that I never thought would see them. I walk around sometimes without a shirt on, like a guy, until I'm completely done with their feeding regimen.

4. Spit up/throw up is going to be all over the house, on the pillows, couch, carpet, etc. I have to accept that.

5. On that same note, my body is also going to have spit up on it. Today I got a good dose right down my chest, into my bra, between my boobs.

6. It's really easy to accidentally fold up a hand in a nursing bra.

7. I am tired and will be tired for many months to come. It doesn't mean I"m falling apart, it doesn't mean I can't go on. It just means I'm tired. Sometimes I'm sleepy, sometimes I'm not. When I'm not, I do other stuff. And when I am, I sleep. I have to let go of any "house cleaning" guilt that I have - which is actually being fairly easy to do!

8. I may never run an errand with the children. Going places is very time and energy consuming. The thought of actually voluntarily taking them out to a store of some kind blows my mind at this point. Doctor appts are the ONLY place we're going right now.

9. Babies are dirty sometimes, actually a lot of the time. I think I may have been judgemental before, not meaning to be, but I believe I was. I would look at kids in public and think to myself " how hard is it to wipe off that kids face?" Well, I'm here to tell you - the 3 times they've been out, their faces have not been wiped. They have milk mustaches and eye boogers, and Monday, as we were walking in, Emily's beautiful pink blanket had a big wad of eye booger/snot on it. Right on top, for all to see. I just looked the other way.

10. Having help is GREAT! I need help. I love help. I'm not good at asking for it..and I'm not always good at accepting it. But it's awesome, and I know I need it. I can say it. I can admit it. And that is Ok.

11. Family is so important. I miss mine more than anything right now. There is no one like your own Mama and your own Nana. Family is going to be there above all else and will stand there next to you, when no one else will.

12. Having a mother-in-law and sister-in-law within walking distance of your house = AWESOME! This goes along with number #10, but having people that love you, and love your kids more than anything and WANT to hang out and change diapers and do your laundry and talk to you, just be there, is so nice. It's actually fun and there are many people that can't and won't say that about their in-laws, but this girl is not one of them. I am very blessed to have family so close.

13. Seeing a smile in the midst of a frustrating feeding session is priceless. It makes you want to go on and continue, and just hang in there.

I think I'll end this for now. I will probably add to the list on another post.
I will leave you with a few pictures for your viewing pleasure!


Happy One Month Birthday Babies!


William, The Thug

Do you see something poking out that is not supposed to be?!

Our first try with the sling

Twins are Twice the Fun!

Can you tell they were not overly impressed?!

Photo essay

Emily's first mail



William's first mail

On the way to the doctor

Getting ready

William is a little wiggle worm

Our House

Is now filled with sounds we've never heard before...grunts, moans, whimpers, laughs, chuckles, cries, puppy noises and bird noises...then we hear our own laughs at this amazing situation. We went from a family of 2, just me and Billy, to a family of 4 in a matter of minutes, and we are left to care for these 2 tiny creatures that now live with us! They are our children!!!!
OURS!!!!
I'm still not sure reality has totally set in, that these kiddos are ours, no one will take them from us, they will be with us forever, and we are in charge of making sure they have what they need.
They are both so funny and so different. Emily is just hilarious, we laugh at her all day. Her faces and noises she makes are priceless. William is much more laid back, he just does his thing, smiles occasionally, but normally just "is."
But they are very both sweet and I can't wait to see how they unfold as they days go by.
All of that being said, caring for them is very hard work, and I wouldn't trade it for anything...but it is VERY hard. I'm not sure what I was expecting....but it's harder than I thought.
William threw up on me yesterday and yes I know many moms have had this happen, but this was my first actual throw up down my skin...my shirt was pulled up and down it went, over my chest, down my stomach into my pants.
Both of them go crazy when it's time to eat, they root around, turn their heads, and once they start eating...right to sleep they go. It's amazing they can be SO awake one second and then just like that, their little eyes close, and it's a miracle to get them to wake up again to eat!
They have been home with us for 2 weeks and one day. People keep asking me what they need, what I think, and all I can say is " I have no idea." I don't know if they need more to eat. I don't know if we should check their diaper again. All I can do is guess. It might be wrong, it might be right. But I believe that if we are doing everything the best we can, and doing it in their best interest, and just loving them with all of our hearts...we will be Ok.
Today is a new day. Last night was a rough night, and I said several prayers that I would get through it, in one piece, and so would they. I had to enlist help from Billy, which I didn't want to do, but I sucked it up and did it anyway. And it worked out fine. So now they are sleeping peacefully, about to be woken up to get ready for the doctor...but I will accept this time to look at their little faces and say Thank you God for giving them to us.
Happy Tuesday!

3 week Update

Yes, this post is very very late! Sorrrrry! Since the last time I posted, our twins arrived ( which all of you already know)!
They arrived very unexpectedly on Saturday, December 27, 2008. We had a normal day, and about 4pm, my water broke. For no reason, it just broke, and my 9 pm, they were here!
I still think we are in a bit of shock, lol...
I will post about the actual birth, and leading up to it another day, but here are a few recent pictures of the babies.