Madelyn smiled!

Today is a big day - Madelyn smiled at mommy! It was quick, it was brief, but it was oh so adorable. The girls are becoming more and more tuned in to faces and watching you while you talk, and today as I was getting Madelyn ready for her afternoon nap she smiled! The right corner of her mouth goes up when she smiles. We've also noticed that Madelyn has a dimple in her left cheek, down low but just precious.

Keep Avery in your thoughts. On Wednesday morning she has to have a VCUG test (catheter, ultrasound, not fun) done and she is not looking forward to it. She's had 2 UTIs within the past month and the dr wants to make sure she's not refluxing urine. So please pray that it goes smoothly and that she is as cooperative as usual.

Happy 5th Birthday Avery Sue!!!

Today marks the 5th anniversary of the first time we met our little girl. Today has been a good day, filled with doing everything she wanted to do and getting to choose everything, etc. We've had a great day together as a family!

School went well I hear!

The note that came home with Caden said he was happy and had a good day. He also peed through his shorts - cute little plaid orange, white and brown shorts. Like a space cadet I decided I didn't need to send extra clothes already on the very first day, so of course he had to wear something from the office. I guess the best they could find was a pair of red shorts, which looked smashing with his orange polo shirt. Woo hoo! Leave it to me to give a crap, Gymbo fanatic that I am.

So yeah, it went well. I'm somewhat apathetic about the entire thing, but when your child is doing Kindergarten for the 2nd time you sort of feel like you're entitled to be snobbish. Or maybe that just comes naturally and I'm just now admitting it. HA!

I am sitting here on the bed willing Macey and Madelyn to go to sleep and stop the paci spitting out tricks. I hear one of them starting up again. James is apparently very tired (what's new?) and just rather grumpily tossed his head down on the mattress and his pillow over his head. Babies too noisy much? It was much more fun making these babies than getting woken up by them, that much we agree upon.

It was Macey bellering again. I think that's because she was James' baby tonight. We have this bizarre thing...maybe it's common for twin parents? Which ever baby each one of us has becomes "our baby" for the night. Like tonight at bedtime (I had them for most of the night after the other kids' bedtime because James ran out on a formula run) James swaddled Macey and got her snuggled into her carseat and I swaddled Madelyn and got her into her carseat. So therefore when one starts crying we'll ask "which one?" and the person who can see the babies will say "yours" or "mine". Apparently that is easier than saying their names?? I'm not sure why we started that. Probably to harrass the other person about their obvious lack of baby skills. Such as James' swaddling job tonight. She's crying again, and she isn't swaddled worth a toot. James' baby. 'Nuff said.

Alright, so I just stuck what was left of her bottle back in her mouth and she is taking that. Hopefully she'll be off to dreamland in a matter of minutes like her little sister Madelyn is already.

We could use a few prayers if I'm to be perfectly honest and I always think that is the best policy. James has been a little slower at work (economy, we think, but it's hard to tell for sure) and things are pretty tight for us. We aren't scared and we aren't hungry, but things are tighter than they've ever been for us and it's somewhat unsettling. We feel like it's a good lesson for tightening things up and perhaps forcing us to believe that we are finally done having kids (hahahahaha) but prayers for peace are always welcome.

My life is not my own.

This is not a new realization to me, especially as a Christian (and what a comfort it is as a Christian to know I am not in this life alone!) but it is somewhat of a stark realization when you have twins. I feel very much like I have no time to myself for much of anything. Even in the quiet moments, I'm always waiting for one to start crying. When do they self-entertain, even for just a little bit?? When do they let you eat a meal without hollering to be held? When do they...wait, I realize I am asking for them to grow up and that's truly not what I want, but I would like a little bit of a life back.

Quickly, because one is crying again...Caden went to meet his teacher today and what a sweetheart she seems to be! I think it's going to go well for him. He was thrilled to see so many familiar faces and he got lots of "Hi Caden!"'s in the hallways.

And now they are both crying. Bye!

Two days until school starts!

I know. You're tempted to think I must be a horrible mother if I am THIS excited about school starting. You're WAY wanting to laugh if you remember me saying I wanted to homeschool my brood. But the fact is Caden is bored. And I am bored of trying to come up with new, exciting voices for "Caden, go to time out!" It is such a good thing I take good meds. Serious.

Not much new to report. Sleep is going the same - 10pm-4am typically, then bottles for each and back to sleep until around 8. When school begins on Thursday I'm actually going to have to step it up and get out of bed before that 8am time. Not so much looking forward to that (if you know me at all you know I dislike mornings...greatly) but the routine of it all will be refreshing. It's funny - both of our older two kids are doing exactly what they did (school-wise) last year. It's like we're stuck, but yet they have grown so much. Avery (will be 5 on Sunday!!) will be doing preschool again in the regular program (there's also a step up program for older kids but her birthday is late enough that we chose the regular program once again) and Caden is repeating Kindergarten with a new teacher. I think we are going to see very different kids at the end of this school year, kids ready for Kindergarten and 1st grade!

Now I'm sad. Why do I always jump ahead of myself like that???

Declan took 3 steps!

I don't think he realized what he was doing and after the steps were done he was NOT interested in trying any more, but yesterday at the campground he took 3 steps while holding on to a book and trying to get to the walker/toy! I was so excited. We think that he is so close, he just lacks confidence. He went all over with his walker while camping, walking very long distances, so the stamina is there.

We really had a great time camping. It was fun to catch up with cousins and family. Even though we live close we never seem to take (or make, perhaps) time to really connect and talk so it was great to spend some time with everyone. The cousins had a really fun time playing together as well which was fun to see.

School starts on Thursday for Caden! Bring it on!!!

Six weeks old and how they've grown!

I took the girls today for weight checks as yesterday marked their 6 week birthday. Macey is now 7lbs 12oz and Madelyn is 7lbs 15oz! More than 2 pounds each of growth since birth. It's hard to believe. They are still fitting nicely into preemie clothing so I didn't figure they would be so close to 8lbs but they certainly are. I guess Similac agrees with them. :)

No smiles from the twins yet, but they seem so close. I said that last week, didn't I? Tonight James was holding Madelyn and I got into her line of sight. She locked eyes with mine and reacted so obviously and so strongly with pleasure, it was so precious and so good for my heart! Their sleeping is still about the same, though last night they went from 10pm - 4:30am and that was a very long stretch for them. Typically they wake between 2am - 4am for their feeding, but just once a night at 6 weeks old is better than I ever imagined for twins. Daytime is still pretty rough, admittedly. They don't seem to settle unless they are being held. It's honestly like a light switch - pick them up and they are quiet. Do you think they are playing us? I remember Declan at this age and he would be content to sit in his swing for hours. NOT M&M. They like to be held and that is that.

We're headed out camping again this weekend. We'll be going with James' folks and his sister and family. It's supposed to be a beautiful weekend, complete with overnight weather well-suited to campfires. Looking forward to it! I'm already more comfortable with everything this time around than I was camping just 3 weekends ago. Things are settling in.

Having twins means you can't get anything done.

I just said that to James, though it's not entirely true. I was trying to tackle some laundry and Macey just wouldn't be persuaded to be quiet and calm! Madelyn is sleeping soundly but Macey is fussy. James came home early (we have dental appointments for Caden and Avery in Des Moines this afternoon) and I was telling him that it's just so hard to get things done! Now that he's home I am able to blog and the laundry is still sitting there. Ha!

I have found that these girls do not sleep well unless they are swaddled. I think I am going to start swaddling them for naps in the morning and afternoon instead of just at night, otherwise I can't get much accomplished. Speaking of at night, last night was horrid. I thought I would try to swaddle them but put them down in the crib. Apparently they like sleeping in their car seats better, holy poo! I was up and down for most of the night. Even after putting them into their car seats in the middle of the night they didn't settle into a good sleep. I put some miles on my legs during the night, and they sleep in the same room with us. It was a jack-in-the-box kinda night for me.

So let's see. The Open House was great, it was wonderful to see so many people we haven't seen in a while and to share conversation and food with them! We also made it to church and saw people there on Sunday morning, but if it weren't for a family member's baptism that morning we wouldn't have gone - things went haywire as we were trying to get ready! (No, not the twins' baptism yet, that's coming soon.)

My rash has spread to my arms mostly but is starting also on my back and tummy. It's mostly gone from my face but has left my face horribly dry and itchy. Oh the joys never end!

Forgot to add - Happy 19months today Declan! May your walking come SOON!!!

Holy house blitz!

Days like today are truly humbling. These are the kinds of days when you know you love your family and friends, but you don't realize how blessed you really are. To make a long story very short, we had TONS of help over here today to blitz the house, both inside and out, and we are simply stunned at how everything is coming together! Dirt has been hauled in the blistering heat, windows have been washed that haven't been touched in YEARS up in dormers, floors have been vacuumed, porch ceilings have been painted and all the while babies were fed and rocked while older kids had a blast with cousins. We're really excited for this Open House tomorrow! James and I have several things to do still in the morning but then at 1pm we'll throw our doors as wide open as we can without air conditioning the outside and welcome our dear ones in to see what we've worked so hard at! But we truly can't thank all of those who've worked so hard all the while, today and all days previous.

Twins are doing great. Madelyn is pukey today but her thrush is also back, so we're back on Diflucan. I don't think I gave it for enough days last time, oops! Hopefully this kicks it for good. Last night Macey tried to wake up at 2am, I offered the paci, she tried again at 2:20am, I wouldn't be deterred and offered the paci again and they both made it until nearly 5! That was nice.

OK, I must work on a possible picture slideshow for tomorrow's festivities. Ni-night!

Happy 5 weeks Macey and Madelyn!

I just hopped on here to update quick and of course one of the girls has started screaming....more later.

Yesterday morning I woke up and guess what was back? The PUPPS rash of pregnancy. NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was on my face and through the day it started spreading, so I called and yes, it can come back and yes, he would give me steroids. I started those already and my face is slightly better this morning but now it has spread to my ear and fingers. I HATED this rash with the twins and never thought it would come back after pregnancy, but here it is. I look just lovely, ugh. Plus it's really itchy and it's just making me grumpy.

In other news, the girls are 5 weeks today. I can hardly believe it but a calendar never lies (unless you're really sleep deprived or you're 4 years old and insist you're always right). I'm not certain if they adjust age for being born at 37 weeks but when you think that they should only be 2 weeks after their due date they are doing so so so so so well. No smiles as of yet but they are starting to really lock eyes with you when you hold them and it looks like they are SO close to smiling! They have different personalities, but neither one is SUPER strong in one direction. I would have been able to tell you in utero and it's holding true now - Macey (baby A) is more laid back and easy going (cries softer, cries less) and Madelyn (baby B, the one hogging all the room always) is more demanding (cries louder, more often, needs to be held). They both have amazing head control. Madelyn really likes to be held under her armpits, looking into your eyes and just hang down, sometimes not even resting in you in any way, just hanging loose. I tried Macey in the sling last night and that was a BIG hit! She came outside with me and James while we cleaned up toys out there and just looked around, loved it. Madelyn was wide awake on the changing table that whole time (it has sides all around it and they love to lay there and look at our ceiling fan). Sleeping is going very well. They go down for the night around 10pm and normally don't wake until 4am, so 6 hours. Then they eat quickly (we actually prop their bottles and go back to bed and rest/sleep...when they're done they spit them out! Easy peasy!) and we're all back asleep for another 3 hours or so. At this point they are regularly taking 3oz bottles and sometimes moving toward 4oz, just depending. We haven't done a super great job of working to schedule them together but they are somewhat doing it on their own. Daytime isn't as scheduled but I am certainly not a scheduled person so we're all doing just fine with that. I don't know what they weigh but preemie clothes are still fitting them just fine.

So that is that! My FIL is here this week working to finish up our front porch which will be wonderful to have done before the open house. I worked like mad yesterday with the help of Grandma Jean (our respite provider for Caden) to clean this place and am happy with the work I got done. I have to be ok with the fact it's not going to be perfect, but I doubt ANYONE expects this place to be perfect with our family dynamics, right??

Totally fun weekend!

James and I have had a blast this weekend, and truly we haven't done much of anything! We have finally found a couple friendship and we are all smitten, LOL! Heather and I have known of each other for years, but it wasn't until Facebook brought us back together that we really started talking about one year ago. That was surfacy until early this past winter when we actually started hanging out some. And truly, the rest is history. We call, we text, we shop, we eat, we hang, we watch kids, we are sisters by heart, best friends by choice. And then we realized that our husbands are a LOT alike. So we hung out as the 4 of us a few times. And our husbands hit it off! So this weekend, we have been together a ridiculous amount of time and it just makes our days go by so fast with newborn twins. I was very concerned about being "stuck at home" with no one to talk to and all of that, but having a true best friend and just being so comfortable with another young family is truly an amazing gift from God. I have never had a super close friend as a married mom and I never realized what I was missing out on! And we never had couple friends save for our sibs and their spouses...I don't mean to go on and on but truly, my heart is lighter, my days are shorter, the sun shines brighter and I feel so blessed that I just have to share it. And the icing? Dan and Heather have a 5 year old with special needs. You know you "click" when you have that commonality.

And again, my parents took the twins overnight on Friday night for us! It is always a huge gift to us to have that continuous sleep. They went down for the night around 10 and woke up just after 3am, then they were pretty restless for the rest of the early morning for them. I know it wasn't a wonderful night of sleep for you guys but THANK YOU from the bottoms of our hearts for that!

Last night the twins FINALLY got it together. And for those of you insinuating that I am complaining about their sleep, I am NOT, I am simply trying to keep a running tab on how they were sleeping at each time in their life. That kind of stuff intruiges me and I didn't keep a record with any other child. I want to with them! Last night they slept from 10pm-5am straight, BOTH of them!! That's 7 hours. We were so impressed at how smart they obviously are, LOL!

This week we'll be gearing up for an Open House we're having out here on Saturday. If you think I'm insane for having an Open House with 5 week old twins and 4 other kids you're somewhat correct, but we wanted a way for people to come meet the twins (we haven't made it to church yet, imagine that?) and to see our house in its (mostly) finished state. Over 4 years ago we started a rennovation project to our existing tiny house and now it is quite a big house that we are proud of and have done a lot of work to - with the help of MANY dedicated family members (mainly my FIL) and friends. So now, we want to let people see the house and snuggle a baby or two. Oh, and friends from church are doing all the food for it so again, I'm not entirely off my rocker! You are all SO welcome to come, and how I wish I could gather everyone who reads together to have a chat fest. But seriously, if you read this and you want to come you probably know where we live or you can contact me and I'll see if I want to give you directions. HA!

Caden's registered for school again!

I went this morning to register Caden for Kindergarten. Yes, he's already done K but he's repeating it because the goals and skills he's working toward are very K appropriate. His teacher is brand new to the school this year, though she has taught K for 5 years already. He will have the same wonderful 1:1 associate he had last year and that is a big relief for me. I worry some about a teacher who might not know him, etc, but I'm sure things will work out. I know he'll have a great time no matter WHAT the rest of us do/say/think!

Declan will go in an hour to have his lala checked out. I have a feeling we'll be going to an antibiotic for it. My guess? Cephalexin. Will update once I know.

Avery and I are working on her bedroom lately. She got new bedsheets thanks to Grandma Sue and she loves them...but last night was the first night she would have slept in them and she decided she wanted to sleep on the top bunk instead. Figures. Also last night she slept with 8 little braids all over her head and today has (frizzy) wavy hair! She likes it. The jury's still out for me.

The twins did well last night, and they weren't overly cranky all evening for once! It seems the hours between 6-10pm are prime fussy time and boy it's a workout to have them then. Last night wasn't nearly as bad that way. They finally went down to sleep at 11pm and then both woke at 4am and again around 7:30am. I can't complain!

Hooray for more independence - Declan!

No, not walking yet, but he JUST went DOWN our front porch steps all by himself! Maybe it's one less thing where I'll have to carry him!

And now Madelyn proves to us she can also do it.

Sleep a super long stretch, that is. She went from 9:30pm - 5am, so 7.5 hours! Why is it that they never do it together? Macey was more fitful all night, just not totally settling in. She went from 10pm - 2:30, then again around 7am. Someday, I'm not even going to remember this, right?

Today my oldest 2 are shipped out to random places. Caden is with Charon, his awesome 1:1 aide from school! She called and offered to take him and I of course said yes so he was picked up at 10 and won't be home until 6pm! Avery is at her friend Gretchen's house for the day. Gretchen and Avery are only 4 days apart and will both be 5 years old at the end of this month! I'm sure they will have loads of fun. Gretchen was going to introduce Avery to the world of Polly Pockets - big fun! I'm always looking for things that Avery can self-entertain with as she is VERY poor at that. She is always wanting to hang around me or have me entertain her in some way and I get VERY tired of it, especially with 2 newborns in the mix.

Avery's test results -

all normal! Thank you God!

Last night was a more decent night of sleep. Macey and Madelyn went from 11pm-4am, so a 5 hour stretch they did together, which was nice. Then they went again until nearly 7am.

A big thank you today goes out to Leslie and her sister for the huge respite for me - they watched all 5 of my kids plus Leslie's own 3 month old for several hours while I did a whole lot of nothing at Wal-Mart and Goodwill. It was so fun and SO needed, so thank you!!

All taken today - enjoy!

A few days have passed...

because there's really not that much to say. It's been a lot of the same thing. The sleeping is going the same pretty much - we get 4-5 hour stretches but not necessarily at the same time and never from the same baby two nights in a row! It's actually kind of hilarious. They'll take turns sleeping well it seems. We were waking the sleeping baby to feed her when the first baby woke up, but we're not always doing that anymore since they've proved to be able to do up to 8 hour stretches...in other words, if Madelyn is screaming for a bottle and it's been 4 hours and Macey is sleeping peacefully, we'll leave Macey alone until she wakes on her own. Sometimes it makes for an extra time we wake up, but typically it works out. We started the "shift" routine a few nights ago - I take the bedtime - 3:00am shift and James takes from 3:01 on, meaning that I have them again by 6:30, but I can usually sleep until around 8am with this schedule, off and on of course.

Declan's bottom seems to be better. We switched to Lotrimin instead of Nystatin and it seems better. So far, no drs visits for it.

Avery's bladder and kidney ultrasound went super today, she was so cooperative and did so well. We don't have results from that back yet but her repeat pee-in-a-cup test was negative, so at the very least we know the antibiotics did their thing.

Camping is over...we survived!

But very glad to be home. The weather was UNNNNNNNNNNNNbelieveable. I've never seen such mild temps in July and August. Loved that!

Last night I was the only one who got up with Macey and Madelyn (James is getting cranky over how often he has to get up, and it is admittedly more often than I get up...but that's a rant for another day by me) and they aren't doing so well. It's back to every 3-4 hours again. Madelyn actually did much better than Macey Friday night but last night neither one did super. I'm hoping that being at home will do them good.

Their thrush is nearly all gone however! Yay for Diflucan!

Declan's la-la is very very sore again. I have a feeling we'll be seeing the dr in the morning sometime. Also, Avery's UTI results came back. She needs to have an ultrasound of her kidneys and bladder on Tuesday at 11:30. It's more just as a precaution rather than there being something "really wrong", but it's always tough to juggle all these appointments with so many kids!