The Babes got Baptized!

Finally, we did it. What a special, special day. They were both so freaking cute!!

Details

Outfits: Jules wore the gown I was christened in, as well as both of my sisters as well. She and Josh both had bonnets made by my cousin Melanie. They were made from a (Melanie's) bridesmaid dress from mine and Jake's wedding. Josh did not wear his due to protests from Jake, LOL, but Jules wore hers and was a cutie. We got Josh's outfit from a boutique here in Brentwood that we also got their "take-me-home" outfits. I also made little onsies for them to wear at home. They were white, with a blue/pink crown that said "Blessed" along with their monogram.

"Special" Baptism: My Aunt Clara brought back water from the River of Jordan 1998 specifically because she knew she would eventually have grandkids (and/or a great niece and nephew) that would love to have it for a baptism. It is literally water from the River of Jordan. You can read more about its significance here. While we didn't use it at the church (my church has a huge baptism pool of water, even though they only sprinkle it on their heads) we decided still to bless them with it when they got home. So, although it looks like we "did us a home baptism cause we'z frum the south" it's actually a very neat thing, LOL.

Family: Guests included my mom, dad, my sisters Leslie and Ginny, Ginny's husband Jason, my Aunt Clara, and my cousin Donna. Also there were Jake's mom and dad, sister Jennifer and boyfriend Scott, his Aunts Nancy and Bennie, and his cousins Lisa, Heath and their son Gabe.

Service: They were baptized at the 9:50 awakening service at Brentwood United Methodist Church

Party: We had a lunch afterwards at the house. It was catered by Swanky Taco in Cool Springs, and dessert was cupcakes made by me and mom, and a coconut cake made by Aunt Clara.

It was such a wonderful day!!!!!

32 Weeks-Update on the Babes

32 Weeks Old!!!

Ok, I have officially entered slacker territory. I have started back work full-time now that schools are back in session, and my time in front of my computer has come to a slowdown. So....what happened to the other weeks? Hmmmm...I guess I will just have to pick up where I left off. And, also while I am admitting things, I do believe now its the time where I have no idea how old they are. Seriously, the past few weeks I have had to get my calendar out and count out how many weeks old they are. I know in terms of months, obviously, but cannot tell you on a week-by-week basis how old they are. I had to look this one up! LOL! We have had lots of fun things happen the past few weeks. We have survived our first cold-yippee! one of us is mobile (Ms. Jules), we have moved out of the kitchen sinks for baths into our bathtub, we got baptized and had our first party, we are (unfortunately) sitting up in our crib (Jules again) and we have started finger foods!

Feedings: My milk is still just "ok". I have to use one-half of formula for one bottle per day, and the rest is just breastmilk, so I guess thats good for two babies! But, now I am trying, again, to build up some sort of supply for when I am traveling in October. Jake and I are going to New Orleans for a weekend for the UT/LSU game, and then I am going to Paris with my mom and sister later in October. So, I am now trying to build up my milk to have some to store in my freezer. Fenugreek just isn't working anymore. And I feel like I am taking a ton of it. So, now I am in the process of "power-pumping". This is my third day doing it, so I will let you know if it makes a difference. It is supposed to mimic cluster feeding, which signals the body to produce more milk. You are to pump for one hour each day 10min on, 10 min off, and its "supposed" to dramatically increase your supply. We'll see. Solids are still going well. We have started adding a protein to their dinner. So far they have eaten chicken (pureed) and.....TOFU! They ate tofu for the first time last night and did fine with it. Crazy, huh? In other news, we are officially on a 4-hour schedule, and they basically did it on their own. And crazy enough, it was during the week they were sick! They just naturally started sleeping a bit longer and extending their waketime and just weren't hungry until the 4-hour mark.

Waketime/Napping: I think (***hopefully**) we have this figured out. We start naps at the 2 hour mark, and they usually sleep for 1.5 hours, or sometimes 2 hours. Woohoo!! They are still taking three naps.

Nightime: Still doing great here. They go down at 7:30 and will usually get up at 7. Here's the weird thing - Jules will still sometimes get up really early, and 95% of the time its because she has a poopy diaper! What is this about? And is there anything I can do about it? Its not like I can stop feeding her solids before bed, but its the most bizarre thing. Who poops in the middle of the night in their sleep?

Our Schedule:

7:00- wake/feed 7.5 oz for Josh, 7 for Jules then solids: 2 cubes of fruit each, mixed with 2 T cereal each (Josh usually gets more - either more fruit or cereal)
9:00 - nap (hopefully at least 1.5 hours)
11:00 - feed 7 for Josh, 6.5 for Jules (this bottle is my half-formula bottle)
1:00 - nap (usually wake at 2:30)
3:00 - feed 7 oz for Josh, 6.5 for Jules, plus 2 ice cubes each veggie, 3 for Josh
4:30 - nap
6:30/6:45 - feed 7 oz for Josh, 6.5 for Jules, 1 cube protein, 2 cubes veggie, 1 T cereal, and 1 cube fruit for dessert :)(Jules usually doesn't finish it, but Josh does!)
7:00 - baths
7:30 - story/bedtime

Outing/Events: We had their baptism this past Sunday. I will post the pics and update about that in another post. We usually still take them out to dinner with us about once on the weekend. AND, big news here....I have finally agreed to let our nanny start taking them on outings outings during the week, like playdates, etc. I am a complete Nervous Nelly about my kiddos, so I have to put my big girl panties on and know that they will be ok! its just weird, b/c Jake and I are the only people who have really driven them anywhere. I know it will be fine, but I am just a worry wart!

Diet: Interesting development here. A friend of mine that had twins five days before me posted on facebook about being diagnosed with diastasis recti. This is where your stomach muscles separate during pregnancy,. Its very common with a multiple pregnancy. The left and right sides of this muscle separate, leaving a gap in between. Well, in fitness terms, this means that you still have a pudge that honestly, there is nothing you can do about it. I started thinking about, and did the "at-home test", and yep, there is definitely a gap there. NO WONDER I am still not where I want to be! Good grief. Its not big by any means, however I am just not "Gisele" yet (she is my inspiration, since she had Benjamin a month before I had mine). The bad news, is there is basically nothing you can do. You can get a tummy tuck, or do major-intense ab workouts every day, to try to get your muscles to re-attach to each other. Jeez......

Milestones: Jules is officially crawling and she is everywhere. We haven't started baby proofing yet,so I guess thats next. I walked in the nursery this morning to get them up, and Jules was sitting upright in her crib, just smiling. She had found her pacifier, and was sucking on it (this is big too, when they can pick up and put their own paci in) and get this - her sleep sack was completely unzipped!! She had somehow (I have no idea how) un zipped her sleep sack from the bottom all the way to the top and it was completely open. CRAZY!! - How did she do that? She doesn't know what a zipper is, or pinch, or know that it upzips from the bottom to the top. Josh is SO CONTENT just sitting and playing with toys. And he has become an expert-sitter-upper. You can probably leave him for an hour with toys and he will be sitting in the same spot when you return. Its so funny. They are so different. She wants to get away and get into everything, and he is just fine sitting where he is. They have started eating Gerber puffs. This is their first finger food, and it dissolves, so it doesn't worry me too much. They don't have the pinch figured out, so they just use their whole fist to get it in their mouth. We got their 7 month pictures taken this past weekend, so I'll post them when we get them back. They are honestly the cutest, sweetest, most well-behaved babies in America. And they get cuter every day!!

Milestone-We're mobile!

Well, my little Jules is finally mobile. She has been up on all-fours now for a while. She has been doing the 80's dance craze, "The Worm" for a week or so, and as of last Thursday we have officially graduated into crawling territory. YIKES! She can also go from up on all fours to sitting on up on her bottom all by herself! She is getting so big!! *



*In case you are wondering, Josh has no desire to ever learn to crawl. He has yet to try to get up on all fours, and just laughs hysterically at Jules when she does it. So, no, they are not both mobile-----yet.

We're 7 months old!

Holy Moly, these are getting HARDER and HARDER to get. Moms of twins, how do I do this? And honestly, I cry I am am laughing so hard by the time they are over that I actually really enjoy them. The actual "good" pictures are not great this month because my babies were sick when I took these. So, there were not many smiles to go around. Especially with Jules. I beg you to please look at the outtakes slideshow. They are seriously hysterical.

Sad Face....

I am a bad mother. I have given my precious babies their first cold. I thought it was allergies. My doctor said it was allergies. So, hmmmm, if it was allergies, how come my babies can't breathe, stupid doctor man?

I am supposed to just keep a watch on them to make sure there is no fever or wheezing. Right now they are just really sneezy and snotty. Bless their hearts. I am so sad for them. And sad for me because I did it to them. Lots of sad faces all around. I guess I should be happy because 1. they are 7 months old and have never been sick one day in their life, and 2. this will build up their immune system, and 3. it was bound to happen sometime.

6 Month Doctor Visit

I forgot to update everyone on our 6 month Dr. appointment. They were, of course, rock stars again with their vaccines. They each got the third and final round of diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, hepatitis B, polio, rotavirus, and pheumococcal disease. Whew! Jake, of course was with the babe getting shot at, while I was hovered in the corner covering the ears of the other baby, lol. I just can't do it!! But, its really not bad. They cry for just a second and then they are fine.

As for the other fun things..my babies are still so little...but so chunky!! *sigh* They are thriving, and healthy, and a wonderful size. They are right in line where they should be if we go by adjusted age, but I do understand that they just can't do that. I mean, when they are 12 and they are so much smaller than everyone, I can't rightly say, oh, but they are a month behind everyone! So, I DO understand the pedi's need to catch them up. So, we are eating, eating, eating. He mentioned the dreaded words "growth hormones" to talk about at the 9 month appt if they are still behind. So, hopefully, we won't have to even discuss that at our next appt.

I was shocked when they weighed them. I honestly thought they were so much bigger than this, since I've been using the 100% accurate way of weighing them at home (weigh myself, then hold them and weigh myself again) - HA!!

Josh

13lb 9.5 oz (0%, not even to the 3rd, lol) However, if you go by milestone of doubling their birthweight at 4 months, we are golden there, and tripling by 12m, we are on track)
25.13" long (10%)
16" head (25%).

Jules
12lb12oz (3%)
25.25" long (25%, and yes, one quarter inch longer than Josh. My measley 5'1" frame has stunted the poor boy's growth,... I know it)
head of 16.5"(25%)

28 Weeks - Update on the Babes

28 Weeks Old!

WOW. All I can say is W.O.W. PLEASE time - slow down!!!!!!

Feedings: My milk has gotten up! Woohoo! Also, they are taking a bit less sometimes too, so that helps. Right now I only have to use 2-3 ounces of formula in one of their bottles, which is great. They are now eating solids three times per day, which they are loving too. (see schedule below) Every time they eat solids, they usually don't finish the entire next bottle. They usually leave a bit. Our pedi said that we should be feeding solids about an hour after their bottle, instead of directly after.I am now in the "YAY for me for breastfeeding this long!" and "when do I want to stop?" phase. Things are still going well and there really isn't a need for me to stop yet, so I am just going to keep on chugging along. I am thinking I may go to Paris, France in October with my mom and sister, so if I do, that may be a stopping point for me. We haven't started any finger foods or anything yet. We are still on homemade purees, which is awesome, and we start meats next month! Woohoo!

Waketime/Napping: We are now starting the nap process at 1:45, which puts them actually lying in their crib at the 2hr mark. We have been gong back and forth or good naps/bad naps. Bad naps make for VERY fussy afternoon babies - good naps make for really happy babies! usually if we get one good nap in, the rest are shorter, but boy, do I wish for consistency. Some of my friends have 2-3 hour napper babies. I am praying for 45min-1.5 hr!!

Nightime: Still doing ok here, but that dang Jules - she just demands to be an early riser. They are still going down at 7:30. Ideally, I would love them to sleep until 7:30, but they usually are up by 7. Jules has her good mornings and bad mornings. Sometimes she will wake at 6, then go back to sleep, sometimes not. However, we never get her up until Josh gets up. Again, thankfully, I have happy babies. She is quite content just hanging out in her crib until someone comes to get her.

Our Schedule:

7:00- wake/feed 7.5 oz for Josh, 7 for Jules
8:00 - solids, 1 cube of fruit each, mixed with 1T cereal each
9:00 - nap (hopefully at least 1.5 hours)
10:30 - feed 7 for Josh, 6.5 for Jules (they usually don't finish this one)
12:30 - nap
2:00 - feed 7 oz for Josh, 6.5 for Jules, plus 2 ice cubes each veggie
3:30 - nap
5:00 - feed 7 oz for Josh, 6.5 for Jules
6:30/6:45 - cluster feed 5 for Josh, 5 for Jules, 2 T cereal for each mixed with 2 ice cubes veggie,and 1 ice cube fruit each
7:00 - baths
7:30 - story/bedtime

Outing/Events: I did my first road trip with the babes, BY MYSELF. Whew-what a journey. some of my cousins were in town from Georgia, so I went to Knoxville to see them. Growing up, my Georgia cousins and my family would go to metcalf bottoms and picnic, grill out, and "tube" down the creek rapids. It's just what you did in "East Tennessee"(please say that with a southern accent, thanks ya'll). So, we went back there with our kiddos last weekend. Not everyone could make it, but it was still fun! Now...traveling with two babies in a Nissan Altima, however, not so much fun. They were CHAMPS on the way up there. They were the best babies in the whole world. Bless their hearts, not so much on the way back. I had to stop at least 4 times, and while I was trying to hold feeding them until i got home, I had to stop 45 minutes from my house to feed them. Now, you people with one baby could do this easily. Not so much with two. I can't just carry them in somewhere. I have to get out the stroller and all that jazz. So, we stopped at a Target, got the stroller out, got their bottles, and sat in the cafe there and I simultaneously feed them at the same time. Pure awesomeness. (Pics below from Metcalf bottoms)

Diet: (ummmm, still here from the last update, would love to walk outside with them, but its too damn hot!) *crickets*, LOL - I am now back to my pre-pregnancy wight! Woohoo! Now I would just like to lose about 10 more to look like my pre- "ttc" self.

Milestones: They are now really good at sitting up. They tip over a time or two, and you have to watch them, and be careful (I'm talking to you, Mandy, since I seem to let them bump their heads...alot...) We are still signing some when we eat. if I can remember I will other times during the day. Hmm, what else...I think Baby Einstein videos have subliminal crack messaging in them or something - those babies are MESMERIZED - its scary, lol! They are so funny together, constantly touching patting, laughing, etc at each other. They both love their toys. Josh cried for the first time the other day when i took one away from him. While bathtime is one of their favorite times per day, I am thinking we need to move it from the kitchen to an actual bathtub. The splashing is getting crazy!! They love patty cake and love hearing music, and singing songs. No crawling yet - but I do think Jules will be first! She is up on all fours constantly. She may win this one....