I think Spring has sprung

Hello to all! I know I've been neglecting my space here. Everyone is getting big and we are always doing something. The latest being E and myself going to Disney on Saturday. M will stay home with Peanut and Squeakers.
A special thank you to Photogrl @ Not the Path I Chose for sending me some yummy goodness. She found my cafe latte french vanilla and sent me some! Suzy @ Not a Fertile Myrtle for sending me happiness via snail mail. Thank you!!
I'm trying to lose weight. I got the whole set to Brazilian Butt Lift. Some workouts were ok but I felt like I wasn't doing enough. I found Bodyrock via P.interest and I really like it. The exercises are old school and it's HIIT (high intensity interval training). I am getting out more now with the babies in their jogging stroller for walks. I also reconnected with an old friend and we've been meeting to go for long walks. I've lost 7 lbs but I still have about 15 or more to go. I found out that with getting in shape it's 80% what you eat and 20% working out. I am doing better with eating but I need to knock off the bad snacks at nighttime. And also drink more water.
The weather here has been soooo nice! It's almost 70 degrees today. Unreal. I have to shave my legs more often! I keep checking the weather for Orlando and it's going to be in the mid 80's next week for our vacation. Shorts it is.
I have E almost all done with regards to her clothes. I bought some shorts for me. I hate clothes shopping. I do wish Gap would bring back the classic preppy look. I'm not much of a trendy clothes horse. I like my polo shirts, classic t's and regular pants/shorts. We each still need new sneakers and I have to get stuff here for the babies and odds and end for our trip. It's a lot to get me and E ready and the babies/M/house.
I started to read again because I find it relaxing right before I go to bed. I read "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"--excellent!! And now I'm almost done with "The Help"--very riveting.
I hope everyone is well!

Happy New Year, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, How are you?

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a good holiday season. Ours was crazy! E had a good time and did well in the gift department. Peanut and Squeakers were a little overwhelmed and cried when they saw Santa. The poor dears-so many people, all the presents, two different houses. They just really wanted to walk around.
We took E to NYC on Dec 26 for the day. The city is so magical all dressed up for the holidays. We packed a lot in one day: Rockefeller Center, American Girl store, FAO Shwartz, Central Park, handsome cab ride, Tiffany's to just name a few. We probably walked over 5 miles! E was mesmorized by the city. I did tell her about homeless people to give her a heads up. She kept asking me where they were--we really didn't see any. There was a guy sleeping on the steps at Port Authority but I don't think he was homeless.
The kids were sick over Christmas vacation. E had a cold and the babies had RSV. We had to get a nebulizer for the babies. They didn't like it at first but then after a few treatments they were alright.
E started ice skating lessons. Her first lesson was this past Monday. She fell and got a nice cut on her leg. But she got right back out there after I cleaned her up. I was very proud of her for doing that :-) Next lesson is bring a friend for free--I'm going!
I am going to start doing something for myself--working out. I ordered Brazil Butt Lift and I now have a beachbody coach. It's time to get back into shape. I believe working out first thing in the morning is the best time. However, I am not a morning person. I'll have to see how it works out. I'm also debating on whether or not to take before and after pictures. I have looked at myself in the mirror holding a little hand mirror and I don't like what I see.
We took down the gates in the living room. After baby proofing the downstairs the babies can walk around the kitchen and hallway now. I think I may have to order the magnets for the kitchen doors/drawers. I did give them a cabinet with plastic lids and containers. It's nice to open it and tell them they can play with the things inside.
M and E with Balto-the dog that saved Nome, Alaska

E read about him in one of her stories.

E, Me and M going for our handsome cab ride


Peanut and Squeakers with E's grocery cart. They loved pushing this around!




Peanut, Logan and Squeakers. I can't tell you how hard it is to take their picture! They are little whirlwinds! I couldn't even get one with all three kids for our holiday card. Hopefully next year!


That's me!


I'm not going to make any resolutions. I would like to lose weight, eat better, do more things with just E, see my friends more, organize the house and go to sleep a little earlier. That's not to much, is it?

Life

Hello! I haven't been blogging because I've been ordering Christmas presents online and trying to declutter the house so we can start decorating. M put up all the outside lights and hung wreaths on the windows. I just have to get started on the inside. We have to put the tree in the basement this year. We only have one living area on the main floor and that is Squeaker and Peanut's domain. I can only imagine what would happen to the tree if we put it in there.
I'm pretty much done shopping. Yay for T.arget and E.tsy online. I had everything shipped to my parents house as to keep the goods from being found. The only items left to get are some gift cards. I'm way ahead of the game this year. Last year I did everything in a scrambled sleep induced haze.
I'm hoping to get back into the swing of working out. I asked for Z.umba for the W.ii and E asked for J.ust Dance 1 & 2. My good friend is going to be taking pole dancing classes in Philly. I would love to take those! They look like so much fun and it tones/strengthens your whole body. In my neck of the woods we aren't up to speed on the latest fitness trends.
We are doing better eating. We have added more fruits/veggies to our meals. Plus lowfat yogurt and jello are now in our snacks. Trying to be good eggs. It would be easier if the babies slept through the night. Now we are in the throws of teething. They are each getting three teeth in the front. Broken sleep makes it hard to do the regular house/taking care of kids, etc. let alone adding regular workouts. Working out would increase my energy. But I have no energy to get started.
Here's a picture from this week:
It was so nice out we walked around the neighborhood for an hour. These hats I bought last year on E.tsy. I call them their baby bear hats.

Happy first birthday

Today Peanut & Squeakers are one year old! I am amazed that this year has gone by so quickly. We had a party with family and friends and they were so good. We've been practicing singing "Happy Birthday" and I think that helped. M made all the food yesterday and I got all my cleaning done too. So today it was put food in crock pots and vacuum (just because of our dogs). My Dad came up early to help watch the boys so we could get cleaned up ourselves. We had a beautiful party and they got so many wonderful presents. A good time was had by all.

Squeakers & Peanut


Squeakers

Peanut


Peanut




Squeakers

In the last two pictures the boys are wearing t shirts I purchased from E.tsy. I had Peanut's done with a monkey and his name. Squeakers has a giraffe with his name. I am so happy with how they turned out.

So lucky

Peanut & Squeakers--more please!

I am blessed to have a beautiful and healthy family. I have a wonderful job teaching reading to first graders and I have my health. I am so lucky :-)
Today the babies and I went for a walk for about an hour. We walked all over town taking in the reds, yellows and oranges that mark my favorite season. The air is so crisp peppered with someone burning leaves or doing laundry. It was a good time.
Peanut and Squeakers are eating so much now. For lunch they had: 1 banana, half of an acorn squash, tortellinis and chicken. I think when they get older we will have to get some cows and chickens. It's amazing what they can pack away.

Catching up

Squeakers

Peanut

Peanut & Squeakers


Peanut and Squeakers turned 11 months on Sept 29. Walking along furniture, standing for a few seconds at a time, pointing to things, doing sign language (for light and ball) and letting you know what they want. They both loving feeding themselves (Peanut loves drinking from a bottle--so different when he only wanted to nurse). Squeakers will play by himself for a while. He will sit and intently look at a toy, take it apart and play with it. Peanut meanwhile is scaling the gates and falling into the toy chest. They are so different. Not that I expected them to be exactly alike because they are twins. I really try hard not to dress them alike because they are two separate people. I took them to school last week to pick E up and one of the moms asked me if they are alike and I said no. That they are both their own person. Peanut is more outgoing and quickly warms up to people. Squeakers is my cuddle bug and takes some time to check things/people out before he lets loose.
E started karate about 2-3 weeks ago and now she wants to quit. M told her to think about it. It seems like she likes it but she told me she wants to play with her friends. The neighborhood kids aren't involved in anything now. So she sees them playing. I think it would be good for her. I let her play with them when we get home from karate. M told her she has to decide by Monday. We'll see.
We are currently planning a trip to D.isney for the end of March with M's sister and her family. I must be out of my mind to travel with two babies that will be almost 1 1/2 years old. We met with the travel agent today. We want a separate bedroom so that the babies could sleep in there without being disturbed. They call it a suite. None of the moderate resorts have it. So we have to go with the value resort or spend a lot of money on a villa. I think it's so silly that they can't make suites on all resort levels. When M gets home from the gym we're going to look at the rooms together. Do you have tips/suggestions for D.isney?
I was doing p90x but I stopped. I wasn't happy with the cardio and other workouts. I thought I would see changes but not so much. I'm still at my pre-pregnancy weight but I'm not where I would like to be with my body. I take the babies for a walk almost everyday. I know to lose weight I have to workout for about an 1 1./2. All in due time I guess. I wish I had a magic wand ;-)

Ten

Happy 10 months to Squeakers and Peanut! Big changes this month: standing up on their own, walking along furniture, each getting their first teeth (bottom two) and waving hello. They really notice each other now--they chase each other around the living room and stand up in their cribs and "talk" to each other. It's hard to believe their first birthday is just around the corner.
E is starting 3rd grade tomorrow. Holy smokes! She's getting so big too. Another good note--her cast comes off this Friday. Hooray!
I've also been working on getting back into shape. I started week 3 of P90x. It is hard but not as bad as I thought. I'm starting out slowly and taking my time.
The house is getting organized. One day at a time I take a room and organize and clean it. I do this during their afternoon nap. It feels good to see the house coming together.

The kids

Today is the babies 9 month birthday! Time is flying by and so are they. Peanut is super fast with pulling himself/crawling and Squeaker rolls around. The dogs even know to get out of the way!
Last Friday was E's 8th birthday. We celebrated with friends, cake and swimming. This year I finally got on the ball and had games. We used water balloons to have relay races, volleyball & squish the balloon on the metal chair-my personal favorite. E has a surprise guest-her teacher for the past two years-Mrs. M. E really enjoyed her party.
We will be leaving for the campground for two weeks this Sunday for Vacation Bible School. The campground is a throw back to days of yore. It really is a dream if you are a young. Tons of other kids to play with, VBS, a pond to swim in and a boarding hall where you can get three square meals a day. I'm a little intimidated to have the babies by myself for two weeks but my Dad will come out and I believe my friend who owns the cottage will take some vacation days to spend with us. Crossing my fingers that I maintain my sanity ;-) The only downside is no internet. We read and watch plenty of Seinfeld on dvd.

Peanut


Squeakers




Miss E 8 yrs old

There's a birthday in the house!

E and Kristie at the Furry Tails Reading Program
Don't you just love the book she picked out?

Today is Miss E's 8th birthday! We are celebrating with ice cream cake and plenty of pool time (temps to go well over 95). She is super excited for her special day. Me too. I love birthdays because it's a day to celebrate the person. She has basketball camp and then we are having Chinese food and cake. Tomorrow is her party. People will either be in the pool or in the house because it's going to be another hot one.
I am very excited to say I started working out again. The babies are going down for somewhat regular naps. I did the 30 day shred yesterday. I was comfortable with doing just 30 mins of exercise to: a. get back into the swing of things and b. I could shower after I was done. Gradually I would like to increase my work out time to one hour. My legs and arms are a little sore ;-)
The babies are doing well. Peanut is pulling himself and getting ready to crawl--he pulls himself through the bottom of the exersaucer. Squeakers is in love with Kona. He squeals when he sees her. It's the cutest thing. And they both like her one toy.
I am going to start breakfast. I have a special request for chocolate chip pancakes.
Stay cool!

I haven't skipped town

I've just been really busy. The babies will be 7 months old on Sunday and have started rolling over. E joined Little League and there are games 2 nights a week and 2 practices a week. Trying to keep up with cleaning and laundry is a struggle. We had some rainy weather but now it's looking up. As long as it the radar is clear we go for long walks all over town. Squeakers and Peanut love being in the jogging stroller and usually fall asleep.
We moved them to their cribs in their nursery. Peanut does really well--he can sleep pretty much anywhere. But Squeakers gets up so many times during the night. Plus he's usually up for good between 5:30 am -6:30 am. M has been getting up with him because I was getting no sleep (Peanut is good for getting up at least once). I know this too shall pass but the lack of sleep makes me (and M) crazy.
They're both sleeping on the couch. That's where they nap. I believe because it's soft and their head is touching something. The naps can last for up to two hours! (I am always right by them)
I took them today to E's school to help paint their t shirts for her assembly. She got most of her hibiscus painted on the front of her shirt. She wanted to paint onesies for the babies but they got hungry and tired so we came home.
I'll post pictures later ;-)

Catching up

I haven't posted in almost a month! I'm here ((waves))
The babies are growing like weeds. We weighed them on Sunday: Squeakers is 16 lbs and Peanut is 17. No wonder why they feel so heavy in their car seats. Sleep sometimes alludes us. Peanut gets up anywhere from 1-3x a night and Squeakers 2-3x. I'm so tired. They take one good nap around 9 am no matter what time they wake up and the rest of the day they cat nap. Peanut rolled over 3x in March and hasn't rolled over since despite getting tummy time almost everyday. Squeakers has not rolled over yet. I'm not worried about this and other mile stones. They'll get there.
We went out for walk on Monday--it was almost 80 degrees!--for about 40 minutes and picked up E at her bus stop. Pushing the double jogger was quite a work out. I'm dying to do P90x but I really don't know when I would squeeze in an hour because their sleeping and waking aren't consistent. I want my belly gone.
The babies are now 5 1/2 months:

Squeakers riding in Daddy's truck



E and Peanut

Squeakers turn

Peanut is doing well in the bassinet. So well in fact that I have started to put Squeakers in the bassinet. He had two naps yesterday and did just fine. I will do one more day of naps and then start putting him in there for the night. My goal is to move upstairs this weekend.
I had to get out of the house so E and I took both babies to w.almart and babies r us. If I do say so myself we did ok. Peanut doesn't mind his car seat so he slept most of the time. Squeakers started to cry towards the end of our trip. Next time I'm going to bring my M.oby wrap and put him in there. I really want to take them out during the day but I'm not brave enough to do that by myself. I think it will be easier when they start eating solid foods. That's the only thing I worry about is how would I feed them if they get hungry at the same time.
I'm ready for the warmer weather. It's supposed to rain today and it's cool out.
A year ago today we transferred two embryos that were Peanut and Squeakers. I can't believe it's been a year!!

Cabin fever

Fall is my favorite season. I love the cool and crisp weather, the changing of the leaves and of course, my birthday. I thought it would be very special to have a baby during this time. Who knew that it meant being cooped up for months with two babies?
Squeakers and Peanut are becoming more awake and alert. They still sleep a lot but we spend a couple hours a day playing. Well, they look at stuff in their play gym really. And tummy time is still spent either crying or falling asleep. Lol.
We went out last Sunday to Weggies and T.arget. E, Peanut and myself. Squeakers stayed home with M because he takes a bottle more willingly. It was very nice to get out. Even though we had a baby--it was way easier to get one ready than two!
The weather here has been very cold and we've had a couple of snow/ice storms. E has already had 5 snow days and a couple of 2 hour delays. I look forward to warmer weather when I can put the babies in their double jogger-finally!-and head out for a stroll.
We are still residing in the living room. We attempted to sleep upstairs last Friday. Squeakers was up every 2 hours while Peanut slept pretty much the whole night. It was just to hard upstairs. We'll try again when Squeakers can sleep for longer periods of time.

Peanut and Squeakers


Peanut, Squeakers and E

Logan and the B.oppy. Who doesn't love a good B.oppy?

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!

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.

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!

It's beginning to look a lot like Halloween

E spent the weekend at my parents. She loves going down there. They went to a pumpkin patch and carved pumpkins. She's going to another pumpkin patch today. One where they will have activities and animals. I would love to go but I can't walk around like that, plus I have my cousin's shower to go to. I told her we would make pumpkin seeds. Yum!

They look great all lit up!