Merry Christmas!

Just wanted to share a few of our snap shots from this holiday season!!! The girls had a great time tearing into packages, snooping in their stockings and eating all the yummy meals. It seems so strange that last year at this time they were sleeping thru the festivities in their pack n play. HA HA! What a difference a year makes!

This year's Christmas dresses:


Just for comparison-- this is last year's cheesy Sear's portrait:


Our Christmas jammies- they are the 'big kid' kind with two piece flannel. SO cute!


Parker with her stocking:


Addisen with her stocking:


Again, for comparison-- them with their stockings last year:


Just proves that the first year of life is a time of incredible growth and development. I can't believe how lucky we are and how blessed we are to have healthy and happy girls that are thriving and loving life!


Parker waving bye-bye (or, "hi" as its become her new favorite word..."hi mama", "hi dada", "hi doggie", "hi baby"...)


Addisen blowing kisses (because she oozes love and kisses...seriously!)


Lastly, the girls were 'relaxing' on their new pillows (they have an obsession, don't ask!) after everyone had left. Addisen on the left with her new Little People toy in her hands and Parker with her Mickey Mouse toy from the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse toy...they were resting up for the next round at Grammys!

Dear Santa...

This is a letter to Santa from a mother...I got it in my email and had to pass it along to my fellow mom's out there that are 'in the trenches' day in and day out. Good for a holiday laugh!


Dear Santa,

I've been a good mom all year. I've fed, cleaned and cuddled my children on demand, visited their doctor's office more than the doctor and sold sixty-two cases of candy bars to raise money to plant a shade tree on the school playground.


I was hoping you could spread my list out over several Christmases, since I had to write this letter with my son's red crayon, on the back of a receipt in the laundry room between cycles, and who knows when I'll find anymore free time in the next 18 years.

Here are my Christmas wishes:

I'd like a pair of legs that don't ache (in any color, except purple, which I already have) and arms that don't hurt or flap in the breeze,but are strong enough to pull my screaming child out of the candy aisle in the grocery store.

I'd also like a waist, since I lost mine somewhere in the seventh month of my last pregnancy.

If you're hauling big ticket items this year I'd like fingerprint resistant windows and a radio that only plays adult music, a television that doesn't broadcast any programs containing talking animals, and a refrigerator with a secret compartment behind the crisper where I can hide to talk on the phone.

On the practical side, I could use a talking doll that says, "Yes, Mommy" to boost my parental confidence, along with two kids who don't fight and three pairs of jeans that will zip all the way up without the use of power tools.

I could also use a recording of Tibetan monks chanting "Don't eat in the living room" and "Take your hands off your sister," because my voice seems to be just out of my children's hearing
range and can only be heard by the dog.

If it's too late to find any of these products, I'd settle for enough time to brush my teeth and comb my hair in the same morning, or the luxury of eating food warmer than room temperature without it being served in a Styrofoam container.

If you don't mind, I could also use a few Christmas miracles to brighten the holiday season.

Would it be too much trouble to declare ketchup a vegetable? It will clear my conscience immensely.

It would be helpful if you could coerce my children to help around the house without demanding payment as if they were the bosses of an organized crime family.

Well, Santa, the buzzer on the dryer is calling and my son saw my feet under the laundry room door.I think he wants his crayon back.

Have a safe trip and remember to leave your wet boots by the door and come in and dry off so you don't catch cold.


Help yourself to cookies on the table but don't eat too many or leave crumbs on the carpet.

Yours Always,

MOM...

P.S. One more thing...you can cancel all my requests if you can keep my children young enough to believe in Santa.

New pics!

I have been slacking on the blog a lot lately...like many other aspects in my life (don't ask to see my laundry room!!!). I feel like I am constantly running behind and chasing my tail. Anyway, my new business partner and I set up the mini-studio the other night and used the girls as models for some fun shots...check 'em out! They are growing up too fast...I think I say that everytime I do a new post...sigh.

(No, one is not taller-- Addisen kept ducking down and hiding in the basket. They are the exact same height).

Stepping, walking, falling and more!

The girls have been push walking with their push toys for awhile now and Parker has taken up to 3 steps totally unassisted but Addisen took the lead the other night and did 4 steps in a row 3 time (12 total) then she totally shocked me and did 7 steps in a row before planting her butt right on the floor. Its the cutest thing in the world! Scary for me, for sure because they are already into everything 24-7 but also really cute. She even walked into Nanny's house on Thanksgivin just holding one of my hands. What big girls we have now!!!

Entering toddler-hood...boo!

So many changes and updates and so little time... the girls are into EVERYTHING lately. Addisen is my climber and will climb onto and into anything she can. She scales walls, counters, baby gates, coffee tables, toy boxes, ottomans...you name it and its meant for her to climb. She is also progressing on her 'walking'. Neither girl can take more than 1-3 steps by herself yet but Addisen can go for a walk just holding my hand like a big kid. Totally normal walking-- not like a baby walking in front of you. I will try and snap a picture over the holiday and share.

Parker is push RUNNING now with the grocery cart toy and can now climb into and out of her rocking horse by herself. Jason also caught her half way over the top of her crib!!! AND the mattress is all the way down! AHHHHH!

Lastly, we have ANOTHER new schedule/routine. We took advantage of the 'no milk' order from the 'poo day'...let me back up in the story. Over the last couple weeks we have tapered the girls onto whole organic cow's milk. Technically, they should still be on formula even now but they are doing so great that we just used up what we had and moved them over a little bit at a time. Also, we have been decreasing the amount of time we warm the bottles to get them onto cold milk. So, when they had the flu bug, we substituted Pedialyte for milk for a couple of days. I was trying to move 2 bottles to sippy cups of cold milk anyway so this worked perfectly. Now, this is our new routine and I have to say...the girls are loving it!

7:45- warm-ish milk in a bottle
8:30- breakfast with water (or 100% apple juice and water) in a sippy
9:30-10:45- naps/rest
11:00- snack and cold milk in a sippy (snack is something light like Cheerios or puffs with their milk)
12:00- lunch with water in a sippy (finger foods like cheddar cheese, left over meat from dinner, Gerber 'lil Crunchies, pieces of dehydrated apples, yogurt melts and still some baby food vegetables. Always graham crackers and a fruit item at the end of the meal.
1:00-3:00- afternoon naps (sometimes 1:30-4:00...its give or take but this is the LONG one)
3:30/4:00- snack and cold milk in a sippy (crunchies, graham crackers, etc with their milk)
5:00- dinner with water in a sippy (meat like steak/stew meat/chicken cut up into Cheerio-sized bites, a jar of babyfood vegetables, a starch item like rice or pasta and always a fruit...if they eat well, they get a graham cracker or some 'treat' at the end)
7:00- warm bottles at bedtime

I swear, just LOOKING at that laid out in print wears me out...no wonder I am tired all the time. On Jon & Kate Plus 8 once Kate said "I cook a meal, serve a meal, clean up a meal...and start again"...I feel the same way and all I am doing is a family of 4! :O

I am thinking just doing the 4 bottles each was easier than trying to come up with ways to get calories, calcium, iron, protein, fats and carbs into their day with finger foods and snacks while trying to stay mostly organic and home made. I have resorted to a lot of the Gerber toddler foods though to help me out. Addisen LOVES the Pasta pick-up raviolis but Parker won't eat them. They can't make it easy on me, can they?

Anyway, just wanted to share that and let you all know how we are doing on the sippy cup transition. They love the Nuby with the soft spout and can even tip/tilt it now on their own. We keep the water cups in their high chairs and have the milk cups poured ahead of time so I can just pull the cup out of the fridge when we need them (like we did with formula-- we made a whole pitcher full and then poured out our bottles ahead of time).

Tomorrow will be really fun to give the girls turkey, taters, veggies and PIE! Last Thanksgiving they were barely 6lbs each and slept thru the whole thing. It goes WAAAAAAAAAY too fast.

HAPPY TURKEY DAY EVERYONE!!!!!!!

Confession time

I have had a lot on my plate lately. New photography business happenings, the girls are INSANE busy all the time not to mention keeping up with the house, laundry and cooking. We are going thru MORE laundry now with the girls than we did when they were newborns. Never thought that would happen. Anyway, I have some confessions.

When I see people pregnant with twins, I am JEALOUS. ME?! JEALOUS?! I love my girls more than life itself but I DESPISED carrying them...let me make that clear for you--- DESPISED my pregnancy. Yes, it was neat to know who was who and see them move and all that jazz but it was not neat to throw up for 24 weeks, feel great for 1 week then end up on bedrest for the rest of your pregnancy only to gain 80+lbs, swell to unrecognizable proportions, have an extremely dangerous BP and then leave your babies in NICU. So, I keep asking myself...why am I jealous? Why? Because I know what I would do differently now? Because I wish I had a better experience? I guess so. So, I have to ask then...why am I jealous when I see other moms of twins online? I HAVE twins! I'm part of their 'club'...no reason to be jealous. Is it because I want more? I'm not sure. I have no idea what all this is about. I get so jealous or weird feeling that sometimes I just have to close the browser and go watch TV with Jason or something. What is up with that??? Maybe if I was struggling with infertility or was trying to conceive I would know why I feel that way but I am a MOTHER already...of TWINS. Strange.

Which brings me to my last confession. This one is probably the hardest one. I need to gather myself for it...I don't feel like I can relate to my friends that have one child. I mean, I can relate to them in that we are both mothers and understand each other but for some reason, I feel a little disconnect there. I'm wondering if its just because there is NO comparison to our different circumstances or what...I even have friends that know people with twins or have family members with multiples and its like they STILL don't understand or relate. I guess it just goes to show that you never understand until you have lived thru it yourself.

Ok, those are my confessions for the night. =)

Poo update...

We are doing better. I changed 4 diapers in 5 minutes today but that's ok...they are doing better. The ped (we ended up getting to see OUR doctor so YAH! about that) thinks it is a mild case of rotavirus...mild in that we had the vaccinations for it so its not as severe. Well, let me tell you, if THIS is mild then I am GLAD we vaccinated for it...I would not want the real deal.

Parker seems to have caught the worst of it but her spirits are improving so that's a great improvement.

Thanks for the prayers and well wishes!

A house full of poo

Please please pray for our little ones...they are miserable sick with a stomach bug of some kind. They are pooping (diarrhea) and vomitting and running fevers. Its so bad that I have run OUT of Desitin in a day and am verging on running out of diapers. I feel so horrible for them and so helpless. They are living on rice cereal and Pedialyte right now and anyone that knows us knows that these peanuts cannot afford to lose any weight.

We see the on-call (i.e. not our favorite) pediatrician at 2:30 today. I will update later. Thanks for the prayers!

Send some thoughts out please...

If you are reading this tonight, please send out prayers or thoughts for a cyber-friend of mine. After years of trying for a baby of their own, this wonderful woman and her husband finally conceived twins thru IVF (in-vitro fertilization). Unfortunately, her Baby B stopped growing about 2 weeks ago and had a quiet heart today. Circumstances are that she could carry that baby until baby A is delivered or she can pass it...either way, its a difficult time for her and I ask for thoughts and prayers for this family now.

Thanks & God bless!

Our daytime

7:30-7:45 AM: girls wake up
7:50-8:00 AM: bottles (side by side in a large Boppy)
Diapers
8:40 AM: breakfast time!
9:30 AM: get dressed for they wild day ahead
10:00 AM: down for morning naps
11:30 AM: wake up and have bottles again
Diapers
12:00 PM: lunch time!
1:30 PM: down for afternoon naps
3:30 PM-4:00 PM: wake and have bottles again
Diapers
5:00 PM: dinner time!
6:30 PM: baths
7:00 PM: bottles and bedtime

Unless they are sick or teething, we don't hear a peep from them til around 7:30 the next morning...thank GOD!

P.S. There are more diaper changes in there than what I listed...we go thru about 12 diapers per day right now.

Need a bridal shower game idea???

Or just a good laugh? Well, I was laughing so hard that I had actual tears running down my face...check this out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pt9lErsLafw

Look at us go!

So, the day the girls turn 1 and they decide to start push walking with their new toy! Addisen is now RUNNING with it from one end of the house to the next. Of course, she hits a baby gate on the far end of the dining room and we have to turn her around and go the other direction. Needless to say, we are going to wear a path from front door to the den. HA HA!





We also let the girls play in the pumpkin goo when we carved pumpkins on Halloween morning. It was not a good idea. I highly recommend against it. We at least got them to sit with their pumpkins though before we cut them.



Lastly, we caught them holding hands on their ponies last night while watching Baby Einstein before bed...too cute!

BUSTED!

Mmmm...cake!

Here are some cute snaps from their cake and gifts tonight...the big party is on Saturday!

Tomorrow...

My little baby girls will be a whole year old! :( I have been crying all evening.
Pathetic, I know, but isn't that what mommy's do?

I can't believe that a year ago tomorrow I was still pregnant with them. I was crying in pain, not sadness. I was LARGE (I won't even TELL you how much I weighed). I was swollen. I was seriously ill and had no clue that before 6:00 PM my peanuts would arrive. It goes so fast, doesn't it fellow moms?

At the end of year 1, I have to ask myself...did I do it right? Did I hold them enough? Did I nurse them long enough? Did I do all I could? Did I soak up every second that I could? The answer...probably not. Does it matter now? Probably not.
They love me unconditionally and have grown into stunning little TODDLERS! What a wonderful thing.

Pray for me tomorrow as I embark on an emotional roller coaster.

Making Strides & the punkin' patch

We had a busy weekend this weekend. We went to the Pumpkin Patch on Saturday with our friends that also have twins. We had a great time even though we don't really get to talk or visit...we just deal with our kids and try to talk between snacks, whining, photos, meltdowns and playing.



Today, we got up really early to walk in the Making Stides Against Breast Cancer walk in downtown Sacramento. We met with two other families from my local multiples group and we walked the entire 5K with only minor meltdowns. YEAH!



It's very cold that early in the morning! HA HA!

Mommy cheated!

And Daddy did too! Jason built the girls' birthday presents yesterday- the ones from us. And, we could NOT resist a little sneak preview.



They LOVE their cars from us and take driving VERY seriously. Its hilarious! Jason and I were laughing and smiling so much that our cheeks hurt.

Poor Addisen has ANOTHER fever. This time is pretty low-grade though and hasn't gone over 101.5 as of yet. I think its teething. Did I mention lately that teething BITES! ;) So, we let them have orange popcicles at my mom's house for their teething/fever and just for fun. What a mess...but a fun one!

Addisen


Parker


Parker with mommy:

Am I the only one...

that cries during Jon & Kate + 8? Ha ha! In all serious-ness...is that a word?...it is now...anyway. I do. I cry when the little kids get older and I cry when they show footage of the twins as babies. Its sad to me. I cried tonight. I had two episodes on Tivo and I cried when the kids made a video journal for Kate and I cried when the sextuplets, Joel especially, learned to ride his bike without training wheels. I swear, motherhood has turned me into a SAP. Ha ha! I think it has a LOT to do with the fact that my girls are on the verge of turning 1. :( Oh...what a basketcase I will be that day. I have been really nostalgic lately and talking a lot about the day they were born, my pregnancy, how fast it goes...it makes my heart just ache for kangaroo care and breastfeeding again. That's my advice to ALL new twin moms...no matter HOW tired you are, how sick you are, how stressed you are or how deep in the trenches of post partum depression you are...SOAK UP THESE MOMENTS. They soon won't let you kangaroo care with them or rock them all night. Soon they will be too busy furniture cruising or even- gasp! -standing 100% alone to let you sit and stroke their hair while you nurse them. Soak it up. Its fleeting and short lived. Sadly enough.

I leave you with new photos of the monkeys!


Addisen HAD to have my sunglasses...stunning little one. Just stunning!


Having dinner at Jason's parents. We forgot bibs so Grams used kitchen towels...we are the "Grahm Cracker Bandits!"

Fun playtime photos!

Snuggle time!

Today was rainy and cool here in 'sunny' California...a good time for snuggling up with my favorite twins and a good book!





Believe it or not, they love to read so much that we read every book they had in the pile in that one sitting tonight. We read together like this 3 times a day! They love it-- and so do I!!!

Fun with food!

Tonight the girls had fun, Parker especially! I made them some 'baby stew' with home raised beef/cooked stew meat, some Gerber Organic pasta & veggie dinner with some carrots...Addisen gobbled it up and Parker...well, Parker had pears for dinner. HA HA!



"Yeah, I made this mess...whatcha gonna do about it?"


Addisen was quite happy to be semi-clean at the end of this meal-time adventure.

Today we rode a horse!!!

Tonight I took some photos of my mom's horses for her and we just *had* to let the girls ride on Doc. He is 'their' horse for when they get older and tonight they got to meet him for the first time. Riding the horse (i.e. bouncing on my leg) is one of their FAVORITE games to play and they kick and rock to get the 'horse' going again when I stop. Its so cute! Here are some snapshots of them on Doc tonight-- despite the look on Parker's face in some of these, she really did love it and was giggling most of the time.