Nine Month Update and Summer is Finally Here!

Once again I am running a little behind updating and since this is serving as a memory book for the kids I better get on it!

Summer has finally arrived in Minnesota and we are taking full advantage of the warm weather. This includes near nightly sprinkler runs and water balloon fights. With Ben, not the babies (yet). Bennie officially graduated from preschool and is getting ready to be a big kindergartner in the fall. He is still pretty much the best big brother we could ever ask for and is enjoying being able to play a bit more with his brother and sister.

Harper and Sam are busy crawling all over the place and into and out of everything they can. They are also enjoying lots of new foods and like big brother are very good eaters. They had a great nine month check up (no shots, yay!) The Harpster came in at 16 lbs 4 oz and not so little brother Sammie weighs 17 lbs 5 oz. They both are growing so well, you could never tell what little peanuts they were when they were born. Harper is definitely more weary of new faces than Sam. She likes having mom near by. She also makes her presence known, she is the more talkative of the two. I often wonder if Sam gets tired of her squawking but so far he seems to be handling her chatter quite well. Speaking of Sam, he has mastered the art of clapping and does it every chance he can get. His claps are accompanied by a great big dimpled, two baby teeth smile that is quite adorable. Harper is trying to keep up with her brother and almost has the clap mastered, but mostly smacks her fists together in a self fist bump sort of fashion.

We had lots of fun during the spring months and took a trip to beautiful Costa Rica for Jason and Kathryn's wedding. This was such a wonderful time and in order to do it justice, will get it's very own post.

Our last couple months looked like this:

twin love

first time in the swing

moustache ben at school carninval

brother love

tiger ben, courtesy of our wonderful baby-sitter, Hannah

happy girl

sibs

last day of preschool

this girl loves her crackers

Morning after sleeping through the night!!

super soaker battle

bath time babies

sweet sammie

mom and dad, don't look half bad for 10 months of sleepless nights!

look at that face!

Spring (or winter, take your pick) updates!

If my frequency (or lack) of updates is a barometer for how busy our household has become, I would say it is pretty darn accurate! The last couple months have brought lots of changes for our three little ones (unfortunately for mom and dad one of those changes does not include more sleep!)

Harper and Sam are becoming more mobile by the day. Sam is the busier of the duo. The old jump-a-roo is taking a beating from our little guy. You can hear him banging around in that thing from all over the house. He seems to understand what he is doing as well. I can ask him to jump and he gets a big smile on his face and proudly takes on my challenge. He can quickly cover the living room by rolling and scooting around in a matter of seconds. He is not crawling quite yet but I predict that will happen any day now. In the last week or so he has started to push himself up onto hands and knees. If he catches me watching him he gives me one of his signature bashful smiles and then quickly splays back out onto his belly. Harper is starting to do a lot more rolling but is more content to hang out on her back and hold toys above her face. I think she is realizing that she needs to act quickly if she wants to get first dibs on the favorite toys, so she is starting to scooch herself around to keep up with little brother. Both babies are sitting up proud and strong, although they aren't that great at bracing themselves from the inevitable falls that happen when they become captivated by the previously mentioned favorite toys. The increased mobility is making my job as paparazzi more difficult to catch them both in the same shot, but I do my best.

For how active these guys are during the day you would think they would need a bit more sleep (or maybe that's me...yup, pretty sure it's me who needs more sleep). Harper and Sam treated us to the coveted "sleeping through the night" at around four months or so. We aren't sure what happened (maybe it's because she thinks I am so awesome that she needs to just check in a couple times each night) but that whole sleeping through the night thing just isn't happening for Harper anymore (which means it isn't happening for her brother either). Napping has also been a struggle for the last couple months, making for one worn out mama. I am hoping some fresh air will help encourage more restful sleep (once spring finally decides to make an appearance in MN).

Our little pair had their six month check up mid March. My mom accompanied me to the visit (because hey, two times the shots means two times the crying, means two times the snuggles, right?) My mom and I saw a very "twin moment" at this visit. Harper had her immunizations first. My mom had her pretty well settled down when Sam let out his own shot induced blood curdling scream. As soon as Sam started crying, Harper started up again almost worse than when she received her own shots. It was almost as though she felt the pain all over again when Sam started crying. Very sweet but hard on mom and grandma.

The babies pediatrician is thrilled with their development (by the way Sam graduated from his helmet around this time as well and has a beautiful round little head!), as well as their weight gain. While the babies weren't born all that early for multiples, they were quite small for their gestational age. I'm proud to say they are both now on the regular growth curve (the one that is not adjusted for premies). Sammie clocked in at 15 lbs 12 oz and 26.2 inches, which is right around the 12th percentile. Harper came in at 14 lbs 8 oz and 25.2 inches long, which is about the 13th percentile. Both babies still love the mama milk. And for having as many issues as I did getting started breastfeeding two tiny babies while recovering from quite the birth, I am proud to say we're still going strong seven months in. Sam is digging the baby food and Harper is coming around to it as well.

Bennie continues to be a favorite for both Harper and Sam. In fact I am pretty sure he is their favorite person in the world. Harper will sometimes just look at Ben and start cracking up. If they are fussy he can cheer them up in no time. Our oldest Beetle is currently fascinated with all things pirates and ninjas. We took a trip to the Wild Rumpus bookstore this week and he walked right up to the clerk and asked where her pirates books were located (after checking out the free roaming chicken and caged chinchillas, of course). My little animal lover had quite the story to tell after a mallard pair came back to visit us. Last year at this time they were walking right up to our front stoop for their morning breakfast of Chex cereal and water. Unfortunately this year they came back and Mother Nature has been a little crazy. The mama duck laid an egg in our back yard but a snow storm came shortly after and the duck parents haven't been back. Ben still thought it was pretty neat and we're all hoping they come back for a visit once it warms up. He's getting ready to wrap up his last year in preschool and was so proud of his graduation announcement that came home in his binder. He's starting to share a little bit of worries about heading off to kindergarten in the fall, but I know he'll settle in well, especially since one of his neighbor buddies will be at the same school. I should also note that Ben has encouraged us to get our basement cleared out (for some reason this has been pretty low on the priority list lately). One night he selected "cleaning the basement" as his bedtime activity...I think he is ready for another home improvement project. His other favorite activities include living room dance parties with mom and dad (I think we might provide some pretty good entertainment for the cars driving by our home around 7:30 or so) and painting his lemonade stand (our little entrepreneur in the making is already contemplating what other drinks he can sell "in case all the peoples don't like lemonade"). Oh and how can I forget that the entire month of March was dedicated to designing and setting leprechaun traps (which included a fair amount of YouTube research). I am pretty sure St. Patrick's day is Ben's new favorite holiday (which meant Chris and I spent St. Patrick's eve dying our backyard snow green and leaving little green hats near the many traps that were set up in our kitchen and living room!)

And it wouldn't be an update without some new pictures. I think I need to get my hands on one of those fancy cameras that can take like 60 pictures in a minute or I might never catch these busy kiddos of mine in action!

My MN Twins!

Harper all dressed up

Reading Hello Magazine from Cousin Helen

Another favorite activity, picture taking!

Harper and her newly discovered "cheese face"

Brothers hanging out

A little snow can't stop us!

Sporting the adorable copy + paste onesies from my friend Nicole

Sweet crocheted hats (also from Nicole!)

Checking out the Mill City Museum

Happy babies with their tired mama!

Getting out and about!

Six Months In (and we're still standing!)

We are six months into this parents x 3 gig. The last couple months have been full of lots of changes. Harper and Sam are on the move and Benj is turning into a big(ger) boy right before our eyes. Sometimes I think about how different things are today compared to just one short year ago. Last year at this time Chris, Jim, Carol and I were in the full throes of tiling our bathroom. It was a learning curve for all of us, but a time I remember vividly. All four of us (well, six if you count the two little ones that were busy growing in my belly...seven if you count four year old Ben who often participated fully in our remodeling project) were in what is now our master bathroom working together (somewhat furiously) to complete the attic remodel so we would have a space of our own (and more importantly move out of the space our two little ones would soon occupy). Now, one year later, we use that space every single night bathing our three little beetles. While we were sorting out how to use a wet saw and buttering subway tile it was hard to picture what life would be like in a year and now here we are...a family of five, sorting out how to raise our growing family.

A year ago today, there were a lot of things I didn't realize...

-Like how going to a grocery store would mean I'd be stopped several times and asked if the babies were twins and how many kind eyes would reach mine followed by "you are so blessed". And how my heart would swell when I would say "yes, yes I am."

-Or on the other hand, how going to the grocery store would involve speeding through the aisles with one or two crying babies and meeting a sympathetic mom with her own fussing babes and having her greet me with "Twins? I don't know how you do it," which most days I respond honestly by saying "you know what, me neither!"

-I didn't realize how close having twins would bring Chris and I. There is nothing like realizing it's just the two of us in the middle of the night waking up a time or two (or five or six) to strengthen a marital partnership.
 
-A year ago today I had no idea (I mean really no clue!) how much laundry two refluxy spitty infants could make in one day. Or how we would come to simply pulling clean, unfolded clothes out of the laundry basket because getting them folded and put away was pretty low on the priority list of getting through the day.

-I pictured Ben's relationship with his siblings but I never could have fully grasped the emotion that would wash over me when I watch him run past his sister just to get her to laugh and squeal with delight. I also couldn't have dreamed how it would make me feel when I watch my two sons lay side my side on the living room rug, Sam cooing at Ben, Ben telling Sam how much he loves his little brother.

-I didn't know I would become so crazy about schedules. Or maybe more importantly how other people would come to think of me as someone who is crazy about scheduling. But I sure know now that at the end of the day what works for the little people living under my roof is all that matters.

-I remember eating in shifts when Ben was a newborn...but I couldn't comprehend what being outnumbered really feels like at the dinner hour, especially with two young babies. Or how dinner now (even if it's just spaghetti and frozen peas) requires the coordination of a five course meal.

-A year ago I knew I wanted to breastfeed, but I sure didn't realize how quickly I would be able to soothe my babies in a way no one else can (or how many bottles and cans of formula we would end up saving because of it). 

-Diapers, ah diapers. Yep, there is absolutely no way to prepare yourself for how many diapers you will change (or buy) when you are expecting twins.


Above all, a year ago today, I had no idea the love I would feel for my husband and my children. Of course there are days when it seems like chaos is the name of the game, but when it all comes down to it, that chaotic life, the one filled with little people and schedules and dirty diapers is the only one I want.

One year, part two

One year ago today I found out that we were adding not one, but two more little beetles to our family. After finding out our prayers had been answered and we were going to make Ben a big brother (One year, part One), I spent the next two weeks anxiously awaiting our ultrasound where we would hopefully hear one sweet heartbeat. While I was blissfully happy after finding out I was pregnant, I was also a bit of a nervous wreck. Even though my doctor and nurses did their best to reassure me that this looked like a healthy pregnancy, part of me was so worried that our dreams could collapse at any second.

I anxiously awaited the big day. It helped that we spent the week before the ultrasound in Canada on vacation with Chris' family. We shared our happy news with Grammie C, Grampie J, Auntie Kathryn and Uncy J and let them know that they were going for round two in their grandparent and aunt/uncle duties. As the trip went on the fam (I think it was Chris's dad and brother in particular) started wondering if perhaps I was baking more than one bun in the oven because they had never seen me pack away so much food! I assured everyone that I just "knew" there was only one sweet little babe in there (shows how much I know!).

The day of the ultrasound, Chris and I headed into the appointment. I was so nervous and wanted nothing more than to see a healthy little heartbeat flickering away on the screen. The nurse came in first and explained what the doctor would be looking for (I think she said the baby would like like a grain of rice). She left and it felt like forever before the doctor arrived. He spent the first hour few minutes checking things out, not saying much. This also felt like forever and I finally asked him if the baby was ok. After a few seconds, he replied "well, there they are. You've got twins in there." I started crying immediately. I had hoped and prayed to see one little heartbeat and could hardly believe it when there were two. Chris had the biggest smile and was definitely the calmer of the two of us. We met with the doctor afterwards, he gave us a bit of information on twins, said congratulations and released me to my regular OB. After spending so much time in and out of that office it felt strange to say good bye.

We started our list of phone calls as soon as we got back to the car. Our closest family and a couple friends knew we were having the ultrasound that morning and everyone was waiting for an update to hear how the baby looked. We called my mom first...I think the first words out of my mouth were: "We just got a really good buy one get one special, we're having twins!" She started crying and then I started crying and so it went. Chris' parents were next, Carol said "we knew it!" My dad had been in a meeting and when I finally was able to tell him he was going to be a papa x2 he was very quiet and said "where are you going to find room to put all those babies?" I thought he meant in our house, but he was worried about me and how my belly would carry two babies. Our siblings were next on the list, it was so much fun to share the news with them. Finally, I called my dearest friend Katie, who has twins herself. I could tell she was waiting for my call and when she answered, I told her "well, looks like I am going to be needing A LOT of advice from you!" She knew right away what that meant and of course lots of happy screaming, laughing and crying followed (Chris still isn't sure how either of us understood what the other said during that conversation, but we did!)

We spent the next days so incredibly happy. We contemplated when we would tell Ben that not only was he going to be a big brother, but he was going to be a big brother to TWO babies. We ended up telling him the following week. I will never forget when he got to make his OWN twin announcement. Our good friends the Smiths came over for dinner. They also happened to be expecting their first baby and knew we had been hoping to add to our family for some time. Chris told them we had very good news to share and that I was expecting. I leaned down and whispered to Ben to tell them how many babies we were having. He held up two little fingers and yelled "TWO BABIES!" If you can't guess, more tears followed!

One year ago today, I fell in love with my sweet babies. My only hope was to give Ben the gift of a sibling, to give him two was an amazing blessing. February 6th, 2012 will always be remembered...I think my heart swelled to twice it's size when I "saw" my sweet Sammie and Harper "rice" for the first time.

Little Girl

First she was serenaded by her dad's ukulele and then she fell fast asleep in his arms. I think this one's got him wrapped around her tiny little finger:)

Hello February (or goodbye January)

January has come and gone. We had a busy end to the month with Ben's fifth birthday party, lots of school tours (can you believe Ben will start kindergarten in the fall? I can't!), doctor appointments and scurrying about in frigid temps!

We've toured three elementary schools so far. Elementary school enrollment is different in St. Paul compared to what Chris and I remember as children. We basically had two options, your public neighborhood school or the local private school. We are blessed to have many wonderful options in St. Paul. At the tender age of five, Ben could begin a foreign language in a Mandarin, French or Spanish immersion school, start studying "aerospace," global studies or begin a classical education. We have been impressed by all of the schools we've toured so far. We have a couple more to go, but are confident our oldest Beetle will thrive wherever he ends up. It helps that at this age kids are like sponges and our little sponge has been busy soaking up whatever he can in preschool. In fact this week he was telling us all about "Adusa" (Medusa, as in the Greek mythological monster with snakes for hair). I kid you not this child had the whole story down. Right down to the ahem, severed head and turning the king into stone by her gaze. It was pretty hilarious to hear his rendition!

Speaking of schools, apparently college has been a topic for the preschoolers this week. On Fridays his teachers send home a note, recapping the week. Today his teacher wrote that one of Ben's classmates told him he would have to live at the college, he apparently doesn't like that idea too much and said "I am definitely living at home!" I tried to explain that mom and dad met some of their best friends at college and that we lived with them in the dorms, he didn't understand and kept insisting that Chris always lived with Grampie J and Grammie C and I always lived with Grammie and Papa K.

Ben had his five year old well child check and kindergarten appointment this week as well. He was quite shy at the appointment. His pediatrician was trying to ask him what his favorite foods were, to which he responded with a shrug and glance my way. She then tried a different approach and asked him "what would you say if your mom told you that you could have anything you want to eat?" My sweet boy responded with a simple "Please." I don't think that is what she was looking for, but it was pretty adorable. Our big guy weighed in at 39 pounds and was 41 inches tall. He pretty much seems like a giant, given I can look at him and still see him as a newborn. He is healthy as a horse and has come a long way since all of his ear, sinus and allergy troubles.

Last weekend we had quite the adventure with a celebration of Ben's fifth birthday. A number of his classmates and neighbor friends joined in for some jumping at a local indoor bouncy house park. The kids had a blast. It was so fun to see them all interact together, there is just something about kids talking to each other that shows off their little personalities.

Our littlest beetles are changing by the day. They seem to be getting bigger by the minute. Harper is up to 12 lbs 13 ounces. Her weight gain has always been a little bit slower than Sam's, so I asked to have her weighed while we were at the clinic for Ben's appointment. We didn't weight the Sam-Cake because there is NO WORRY at all about him packing on the pounds ;)  

The babies are five months old now and speaking of personalities we are really seeing them develop more and more. Harper is such a happy little thing. We can look at her from across the room and that is enough to elicit a little giggle. She is also QUITE the little talker. When she gets going, watch out! I have started to see the babies interact with each other a little more as well. For the most part they have just sort of co-existed next to each other but never really paid much attention to the other little being who always happened to be at their side. But just the other day, Harper started on one of her squawking streaks while laying next to Sam. It was almost as though she was trying to tell him something SO important, she just kept carrying on and on and in typical Sam fashion he just stared at her with a furrowed brow as though he was thinking "wow, really?" (or on the other hand, maybe he was thinking "am I going to have to put up with this for the rest of my life?") I have started to get the hang of tandem nursing (sort of) and it is pretty sweet to look down and see them holding hands while they eat! They also hold onto whatever is available to them while getting ready for bath. Tonight Sam had Harper's knee in his little hand and he wasn't letting go for anything! Sam is still the serious of the two, he prefers to sit back and take things in. I joke that Harper does enough talking for the two of them. His babbles are low and quiet where Harper's are high pitched and loud. His laughter is that of an old man chuckle.

Sam is adjusting to life in his helmet. The first few days were a little rough going, but he now tolerates it pretty well. We had our first follow-up appointment and they adjusted it a bit so it doesn't fall down his forehead as much which helps. It has gotten so I am more used to seeing him with the helmet on, so that when it is off something seems to be amiss. We're still hoping this will be a short lived time for our little guy. 

And last but not least, it is very cold here in MN. I don't really have much else to say about that except I am {very} ready for warmer temps to find us again. 

Ben and his goofy gumball playdough machine.

Cousins and best pals at the pirate party.

"Ah yes, I have solved the mystery of the jump-a-roo!"

Harper, perpetually surprised by life.

Goofy girl.

How about those chins?!

Helmet free for a bit! Feels so good!

 

Baby blues.

Nothing better than a thumb.

H&S - five months.

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Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'

Sammie boy decided to start rolling yesterday! He goes from tummy to back and gets vey close to making it from his back to his tummy. It is so funny watching him on the video monitor because he is all over the place in his crib.

All this rolling is very good for Sam because it means he will probably spend less time on his back and hopefully will give up his preference for looking to the left. Big sister Harper made her self comfy during the pregnancy which left little room for baby brother. We noticed Sam's head shape looked somewhat off shortly after birth, but figured he had been through a lot and babies heads aren't always so perfect immediately after arrival. During his hospital stay the nurse started noticing his head shape as well as a preference for turning his head to his left side. We've been diligent about providing lots of tummy time and worked on enticing him to look towards the right since he's been home. Despite all of this, his head shape has worsened and he has a fairly noticeable flat area on his left side along with some facial asymmetry. Our pediatrician sent us to a craniofacial surgeon at one of the Children's hospitals here in the cities. He confirmed that Sam has torticollis as well as deformational plagiocephaly. The torticollis means that the muscles in his neck are very tight on one side and the plagiocephaly means he has a flat area on one side of his head. The surgeon feels both the torticollis and plagiocephaly are on the severe end of the spectrum. The remedy is some physical therapy to work on stretching his neck and a small helmet called a cranio cap. He will need to wear the helmet 23 hours/day for 3-5 months. We'll go in and have it adjusted every week or two. Both torticollis and plagiocephaly are more common in babies born early as well as in multiples. Sam was also growth restricted during the pregnancy, so these issues probably started in utero. I really dislike the idea of him having to wear the helmet and hope he tolerates it ok, but in the grand scheme of things it really is such a minor issue. Bennie already has big plans to decorate it for Sam!

And, so as not to let little brother steal the show, Harper decided TODAY was her day to start rolling! She wasn't going to let her twin get too far ahead of her! It's funny because yesterday when Sam started rolling I remember thinking that Harper probably would not for at least a few more weeks because she just wasn't showing that much indication of doing so. Well this afternoon I had both babies on their play mat while we were working on dinner and out of nowhere Chris asked me if Harper just rolled over. I turned around and sure enough she was laying on her stomach, happy as a clam. I rolled her on her back (mostly because she was on a thin play pad on the wood floor and I didn't want her to face plant!), well it wasn't more than a few seconds and she rolled right back over on to her tummy! She did it over and over again, showing off her new trick!

It was so fun watching Ben take it all in, he was so cute, saying "I'm so proud of you Harper, you're such a big girl!" and "I'm so proud of you, Sam, you are such a big guy!" It won't be long and these two will be chasing to keep up with their big brother!

 

 

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