Friday, May 27, 2011

Changes

It's so crazy how much the boys have changed in the short 7 weeks of their life.  I keep thinking, I can't believe they're 7 weeks old already!  But at the same time I feel like, they're only 7 weeks old???  The past 7 weeks have kind of felt like one very long day :)  But a good day. 

The boys have changed a LOT.  Riley went from screaming for hours at a time to yelling when he wants held or fed.  Such a nice change.  His little personality cracks us up all the time.  He is definitely a spunky little bugger.  Noah was our calm, laid back child.  While he's still calmer than his brother, he's definitely found his voice and he's not afraid to use it.  His cry breaks my heart.  It is the saddest sound to me for some reason.  Probably because he didn't really cry at first and so now when he does it makes me sad. 

I've seen them both smile now.  Nothing long enough to get pictures of, but it was the cutest thing.  The first 5 times or so I saw them smile, I cried.  Not the reaction I expected to have, but I was so overwhelmed with joy and how absolutely adorable it was I just started crying.  I'm better now, but it still melts my heart every time. 

I don't want to say much about their night time routine because I'm afraid I'll jinx myself.  But I will say that I like how it is.  From the first day we have forced them to be on the same routine.  When Riley woke up to eat, we woke up Noah.  Every. Single. Time.  We also forced Riley to wait 3 hours between feedings.  He would start screaming at 2-2 1/2 at the beginning, but Noah wasn't ready to eat yet, so we just had to listen to him yell.  But it paid off and now they go between 3 and 5 hours when they eat.  And now normally at night it's Noah waking up first to eat.  I'm also sooooooooooo lucky that I have the best husband ever.  He takes the first night time feeding around 11 so I get to sleep from 9-3.  That makes my day so much better.  A lot of days I don't fall back to sleep much after the 3am feeding, but I still got a solid 6 hours of sleep before that so I'm ok.  Best hubby ever. 

I'm definitely starting to mellow out.  When they would both cry at the same time I would get so tense and frustrated and usually end up crying myself.  It's still a little overwhelming, but I can handle it a lot better.  I've also learned when Riley starts fussing because he doesn't want to sleep (he really fights it.  He doesn't want to miss anything) to just hold him in his tight swaddle and wait it out.  Way better than at first when I would give it a few minutes then pass him off to Brent, who's like the freaking Baby Whisperer with that child. 

I love my life. I can't say that enough.  Every day is exhausting, but it's the best thing I've ever done.  I could say that on every single one of my posts, but it's true.  No matter how hard the day was, all it takes is a little smile or some happy kicks when we're listening to the new Lady Gaga cd to make it all worth it. 

Alycia took the boys newborn pictures back when they were 11 days old.  Here are some of them!

One of our children was more cooperative.  And we have a ton of awesome pictures of him.  The other one wasn't as cooperative, but Alycia is good at what she does and we still got some awesome shots.

Sweet Noah






 If you didn't know who the cooperative one was, you do now.
 The green picture is the picture we got when they did our embryo transfer.  So it's their first real picture.  Then our first ultrasound picture when we found out we were having twins.  Then the real deal :)










 The face we got the first month of his life :)
 This picture cracks me up because he still makes the face all the time when he's trying to bust out of his swaddle like Baby Hulk.

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Pictures!

 I take so many pictures of the boys, but I realized most of them are on my phone.  So I've been trying to take more with our camera (what's the point of getting a nice camera if I'm not going to use it...that's what Brent told me tonight).  Here are some of the ones we have.  It's amazing to see how much they've changed from they were born! 
Riley and Noah at 2 weeks
 One of their Easter presents.  Riley wanted a taste.



 Peek a boo!
 Riley tonight (6 weeks 2 days)
 Noah tonight (6 weeks 2 days)
 This picture cracks me up.  The flash went off and this is what happened.
 Lately they LOVE to lay on blankets or their play mat and kick.  It cracks me up so much when their little legs are going so fast.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Busy, busy life

Life has been crazy lately!  Brent had a week of paternity after the boys were born.  Then my mom came and helped for a week.  Then my Grandma was here for 2 weeks.  Now Brent has his second week of paternity leave. That means next week is my first week alone with the little buggers.  We'll see how that goes :)

In the last few weeks we've celebrated my birthday and Easter (April 24), Chip's birthday (April 25), our 6th anniversary (May 6) and my first Mother's Day.  Mother's Day was by far the best Mother's Day of my life.  The babies reminded me that I'm a mommy and woke me up for their 12, 3, and 6am feedings.  Brent made me chocolate chip muffins for breakfast and they gave me my Mother's Day present.  The boys each got me a pearl earring and Brent got me a matching necklace :)  I've never had real pearls so I'm excited to be able to wear them for nicer occasions!  Brent (and the boys) did a great job with my present.  My mom and sister came up in the afternoon for dinner and we all just hung out and relaxed.  Even though I still helped with all the bottles, I didn't have to change a single diaper.  That part was awesome, too.

Mother's Day was very overwhelming for me.  For the past 4 Mother's Days all I wanted was to be a mom.  The 2 before this one I actually skipped church because I didn't want to sit in the congregation and listen to the importance of being a mom when I wasn't able to be one myself.  To be able to walk into our boys room and to see the two cutest little guys lying in their crib... words can't explain how blessed I feel.  I will never be able to explain how lucky I am to be able to be their mother.  They melt my heart and make me laugh every day.  Mother's Day was also the day their turned a month old so that was pretty special.  No matter how exhausted, frustrated or overwhelmed I might be, once I saw Riley and Noah and held them in my arms, I knew that this is what I was supposed to do with my life.  I am meant to be a mother.  I've had many jobs, but nothing has even come close to this.  This is the reason I am here.  And I feel so blessed to have two amazing children that I get to teach and who will teach me as well.

Noah doesn't cry.  He just lets out little yells.  And even then it's not often.  But here is proof that it does actually happen.
 Noah's first roll.  Keep 'em coming kid!
 My cute boys!
 Riley after his bottle
 Noah's look of determination
 I LOVE the poses he does when he sleeps
The boys also had their one month check up today.  Since they were born they've both gained 1 lb 14 oz.  So Riley is 8lbs 10oz and Noah is 9lbs 6oz.  I feel like they're both getting so big!  But Riley is still only in the 18th percentile for weight and Noah is in the 35th.  So they're still pretty little :)  I could NOT imagine what a baby looked like in the 75th percentile if Noah seems big!

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Sweet Little Riley Guy

Even though he likes to yell a lot, this kid melts my heart when he's calm and relaxed.  So sweet!  Love this boy!