Present and accounted for

Mel made me think of when I took my life, death and dying class many moons ago. My teacher said too many of us live in the past and wonder about the future. He tried to get us to live right in the here and now. Enjoy our present time--as is. I was guilty of always thinking about my past and imagining how my life was going to be. My life was being lived without me being present. I try now to "live in the moment".
Time is going by so fast with the babies. Saturday they will be 3 months old! Holy crap! Now more than ever I take my time and enjoy my babies and family.

Let it snow (again)

It started a little bit ago, the snow. E has a 2 hour delay. Tuesday she had no school, Wednesday she had a 2 hour delay and the past two weeks each included a snow day. Gotta love Pa weather!
I am feeling much better. Thank you for all your well wishes.
The babies are starting to sleep a little longer. It happened the weekend I was sick-they couldn't have picked a better time! I'm hoping they will keep it up because I really want to move upstairs. We are still residing in the living room. We tried upstairs and it was just too hard with them being up every 1-1/2 hours.
We met our new cousin A today. She is gorgeous! A full head of dark hair, long legs, fingers and toes and dainty features. She was born Dec. 20. It was great to see her mom-my cousin S (we grew up together) and catch up. S was excited to have company. The babies and I picked up sandwiches from P.anera. The original plan was getting lunch from S.tarbucks through the drive thru but when they didn't have any sandwiches we went to plan b. I get so overwhelmed and nervous about doing things with two babies. It showed me that I can do things and we will be fine. I needed that push. Peanut and Squeakers were great the whole day. I'm so lucky ;-)

Saturday

I have been sick for the past two days. Sinus headache, chills and sore throat. I'm surprised I've lasted this long before going under. Today it's a slight headache and sore throat.
It sucks because there is so much I want to do: get new bottles (we've been using dr. browns because they are the only company I've found that makes preemie nipples) possibly tommee tippee or dr. browns wide neck bottles (so Squeakers can latch on better), look for a dressier cardigan for the baptism (jan 30) and new nursing bras. I just want to get out of the house. It's been over a week.
Watching the Dis.covery channel there is a new show called Flying Wild Alaska. Pretty cool show about the pilots who bring goods all over Alaska. I have an uncle who lives in Adak and he would talk about how cool the moose were. The moose were so big and beautiful. Sometimes they would come into town. I think it would be quite an adventure to travel to Alaska and see some moose. M and I do plan to travel, not for awhile of course. Ireland is definitely on the list. Taking a tour of the G.uiness plant is a must!

Delightful jewelry

While going through if I wanted something to wear that would symbolize our journey. So my friend got me a hand stamped necklace with the word hope. I wore it everyday. After I found out I was pregnant with two boys I wanted a necklace with all my children's names on it. Enter--The Vintage Pearl.





They are having a contest where you can win a bracelet with a secret message inside the metal band. Mine would be "I love you bigger than the sky" Head over and enter!

Owls

I thought I would freshen up my blog with a new background. I have always liked owls. I can remember learning about them in school. How big their wingspans were, how their eyes are fixed and they would have to rotate their heads to see, their keen eyesight and hearing and how silently they could fly. I also found owl's poop fascinating. Upon dissecting their pellets you can find skeletons and fur of the rodents they've eaten. I was very fortunate one night to see an owl. I had come home in the evening and was walking to my front door when I felt a presence. I looked around to see what it was and there in a tree by my drive way was a big brown owl. Seeing one in person was quite an experience. She was looking around I suppose for food. I very much wanted to get my camera but I thought by the time I did that she would be gone. I stood taking in the sight of such a beautiful creature. And before I knew it she was taking off. Her wings stretched without sound and she flew from the branch into the night. I was very lucky to grow up surrounded by the state game lands and all the beauty within.

2 month visit

Peanut, E and Squeakers taken Nov 18 by my Mom. Everyone's favorite picture.


Peanut and Squeakers had their appointment this afternoon. Peanut measured in at 22" in length and 11 lbs and 6 oz. Squeakers stats are: a hair under 22" and 10 lbs 9 oz. Dr. P was very pleased with their progress. It's hard to believe that they were once so tiny. I remember wiping their bums and there was no padding! Now they are chunking up nicely.
It snowed early this morning. I didn't think it was too bad but E's school went from a delay to a closing. Some side roads were snowy but the main highways were fine. E wants to go sledding badly but we need a good snow for that. We really don't get too many snows like that.

Chili today, hot tamale

We plan out our menu for the week on the weekend. It is easy now to have a game plan for dinner and to have all the ingredients on hand.
Today I made chili. It's very easy, delicious and it makes a lot.

Chili

1 qt tomato juice
2 lbs beef
2 cans kidney beans
1 large onion
2 cans stewed tomatoes
2 green peppers
1/2 cup butter
3 stalks celery
pepper
cumin

Brown meat in large pot. Drain. Add rest of ingredients. Bring to a boil. Simmer (usually I simmer for 2-3 hours). Add pepper and cumin to taste.

We usually have bread or biscuits with it. I have made corn bread and that's a good choice too.

I'm listening....

I do watch a lot of tv being home now. One of my favorite channels is HGTV. I especially like Property Virgins and House Hunters. I think it's very sweet of them to wish viewers Sweet Dreams when their regular broadcasting is done and infomercials begin. The Food Network is also a groovy channel with Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, Ace of Cakes, and Challenge. They also offer a good night to viewers. Ahhh, the things you learn at 4 am.
I love Frasier. I do appreciate the show's sense of humour. Did you know that you can also watch full episodes on youtube? I tried to get the theme song for my ringtone but it was not available.
I discovered a new show-The new adventures of old Christine. I was feeding both babies at the same time and was not available to change the channel after Frasier. It's now part of my viewing repertoire.

Feeding

For reasons I don't understand I did not see my babies after delivery for hours after I had them. I saw them briefly after delivery. I was told that they were taken to the nursery for observation and evaluation. Both did very well with their Apgar exams and were healthy upon delivery.
I first saw Peanut around 2:30 am (he had been born first at 12:37am). I nursed him and then he was taken back to the nursery. I did not see Squeakers until 5:30 am (he was born at 12:50am).
Looking back I wish I would have asked to have them both with me until our room was ready (the hospital was doing a makeover of the entire ob dept). I'm reading information now that says the first hours are so important to breastfeeding and setting up your supply. They told us to supplement because their birth weights were so low. I did. I have such mixed emotions about that. I wanted them to gain weight and I knew that wouldn't happen with bf because my milk hadn't come in yet. (I did pump a few times during my stay and with nursing both of them my milk came in quicker with them than with E). I wanted them to gain weight so they could come home.
I wrote in the last post that M took care of Squeakers because he was taking the bottle more. I wish I had nursed him more. After the babymoon he is doing better. I do hope that by nursing him more he'll get better at it.
It's still early and I'm hoping nursing with Squeakers will get better. I still feel guilty and bad about not being more on the ball with nursing. Hindsight is 20/20.

Busy as a bee

I knew it would get crazy here but I just had no idea. My days are filled to the brim for the loving and caring of E and the babies. As a matter of fact I'm pumping while writing this. I've always been a pretty good multi tasker and now it's gone to extreme multi tasking.
I hope everyone had a good Christmas. Ours was wonderful. Finally having the babies made it even more special. We had Christmas Eve dinner at my parents with M being Santa and E playing the part of Elf. She loved being Santa's special helper and passing our presents. I enjoyed spending it with my good friend J and her family--my goddaughter N! My Dad made the traditional Wigilia dinner--mushroom soup, sauerkraut with peas, pierogies, coleslaw and desserts (my Mom made me anise cookies--soooo good!) It's my favorite holiday of the year. I like the food and I love spending it with my family.
Squeakers and Peanut are doing well. We just weighed them and Squeakers is 10 lbs (bw-4.3 lbs) and Peanut is 10 lbs 14 oz (bw-5 lbs 6 oz). I am trying to get Squeakers to nurse more. We just got done doing a "babymoon". I nursed Squeakers for 24 hours. No bottles. He ate quite frequently. I'm hoping after this he will be better with nursing (he loves the bottle. its easier. he does get breast milk and formula in the bottle.) and it will up my milk supply. I've started taking fenugreek hoping to increase my supply also. It's my fault he likes the bottle so much. I supplemented with both in the hospital to help with weight gain. I knew it was a necessary evil. When we got home I continued to supplement. M had taken two weeks off after they were born and he took care of Squeakers and hence bottles were given. It was easier to tag team the babies like that. Now I'm trying to make up for a poor start.
New Years Eve we had my Dad over for seafood. I went to Cooper's Restaurant for our dinner and they threw in free cole slaw because I told them I had twins! I thought that was funny. I was the only one up at midnight. I was nursing Squeakers and they say that whatever you do on New Years day you spend doing for the rest of the year. I hope it's true with the nursing part!
Our dreams came true in 2010. I keep everyone in my prayers that yours do too.
I wish you all a happy and healthy new year!