Look mom, I'm a book

I have been told that the enormous amount of climbing that my children do is genetic. My mother in law has no idea how she managed to survive raising my husband. When he was 9 months old she left the room for a minute only to return and find him at the top of a very large bookcase. When Alex was small we had a barricade blocking off the side ladder on his bunk bed because we didn't want our 1 yr old on the top bunk just yet...

The twins seem to have continued the proud tradition of little boys who know how to climb things far higher than is really safe. We have completely re-arranged the family room because I spent several exhausting days pulling one or the other of them off of the coffee table, off of the kitchen counter (which they reached from the coffee table) off of the back of the couch, off of Daddy's computer chair, off of Daddy's COMPUTER, and just about any other serface you can imagine. After re-aranging, the designated baby zone is almost completely free of all objects that are dangerous to climb on. They have discovered they can turn boxes upside down, or push their bike up to something to give themselves a nice handy step stool, but for the most part, there are no high places to fall from.

It appears, though, that climbing is a necessary part of the 1 yr old daily workout. Hyrum has claimed this small, empty (because they wouldn't leave anything in it!) bookshelf as his new hang out. I think maybe he thinks he's a book. Or maybe a monkey.

Dear world, our Mama is mean

Dear world, our mama is mean. We the twins (Hyrum and Quintin) have hijacked her blog to tell you just how mean she is.

She is trying to wean us. We have no idea why, but it is unacceptable. We LOVE that nursing thing. It's warm and nice there in mommy's lap. The food is warm, soothing, and good. There's that whole sucking thing which makes us happy. We don't know why. The binky isn't as good as mama. You all understand, we know. To top it all off, Mama has to pay attention to us and look into our eyes, and smile at us, and we feel loved and safe. Ya, that nursing thing is great.

But mama is taking that away. We are just now realizing what is happening. We only got to nurse 3 times yesterday, and there didn't seem to be enough milk. She keeps offering us a cup with cold milk in it, but we don't want that! We want our mama back. Now, we understand that mama has been nursing TWO of us for a little over a year now. She tells us that is pretty amazing. We don't get it. She tells daddy that she didn't nurse any of the other kids quite this long. That's sad. She should have nursed everyone longer. Did we mention how nice nursing is? We were so upset that we had to throw tantrums this morning. Quintin in particular did a great job. I think Mommy really got the picture. He was incolsolable for a good 15 minutes. He didn't want to be held, he didn't want the binky. He REALLY didn't want to be put down. True we had already nursed, but obviously it wasn't enough. Mama held out, though, and offered that stupid cup again. We took it. She held us close and looked into our eyes, and even though it was a cup of cold milk, it was still nice on mama's lap.

We plan to retaliate this afternoon, though, by not taking a nap AGAIN. We've discussed it, and we're pretty sure that will work. We hope you all understand and will tell mommy to stop this weaning thing.

Sincerely,
The Twins

The problem with twins

There are innumerable joys in being the mother of twins. Watching them interact with each other is amazing and wonderful. They have loved each other since before they were born and you can tell. They are a team, a duo, a pair. When they were first born they were happiest when I squashed them both close together, side by side in the bassinet. They follow each other around the room like a school of fish and investigate when one is crying. It is true that they are still babies and are disposed to steal each other's toys or binkies, but all in all, you know that they belong together.

There is an inherent problem, though. There are 2 of them.

It sounds so simple. Intellectually you know that there are 2 of them. You change both diapers each day, feed both little mouths each day, but it doesn't hit home until you can't seem to make both happy at the same time. If you pick up one, the other continues to scream, or begins to scream because "How DARE you pick up brother and not me!" or "Wait! Don't forget me!" When this doesn't happen, one will be happily sitting in your lap, or playing elsewhere and the other will find some mischief to get into. I just know that once they are toddlers we are going to have duel animals of destruction around here. 3 if Brendan hasn't grown out of it yet.

The twins have a cold. I always feel so bad for the little guys who have a cold. They just don't understand why they can't breathe through their nose, or why that cough keep happening. What is worst is when their little noses are plugged and they have to stop sucking (on binky or nursing) in order to breathe. Most of the time, they would hold out as long as they possibly can and then cry because they don't feel good, and want to suck on their binky because it makes them feel better, but they can't because they can't breathe. It's a sad little circle. The whole cold thing is amplified by the fact that there are 2 of them. It is impossible to keep the germs seperate. Once one starts to get it, I know that it is only a matter of time before the other one does. Once both of them are sick, I have 2 sad little lumps who just want to sit in mommy's lap. The problem is that while one can still accomplish some things while holding a baby, it is impossible to do ANYTHING while holding 2.

Last night was a rough night. I am no longer used to waking up 2 and 3 times a night, so I don't plan ahead... like going to bed at 8:30. Poor Hyrum woke up twice last night. I think maybe he had a sore throat from the sinus drainage. When I heard a baby screaming for the 3rd time since I went to bed, I couldn't help but think "Oh, come on! I nursed you, changed your diaper, gave you medicine, and you're still not happy?! I don't know what else I can do." I stumble into their room blurry eyed and realized that Hyrum was sound asleep (guess the Tylanol helped) and it was Quinn screaming at me. It was, in fact 6am and time for breakfast and a diaper change. "Oh, it's you" I thought. Well, I guess I can't blame him for wanting breakfast. He, had, in fact slept all night even if his brother hadn't.

Therein lies the problem, and the joy... They are 2 different people.

We made it a whole year!

Happy Birthday Baby Boys! Somehow we have all managed to survive an entire year. From what I can tell, we're all happy, and healthy too. I have gotten so used to them now that I forget that babies don't normally come in twos. It is just second nature to change 2 diapers, and dress 2 babies, and listen to 2 babies cry.

Having twins has been an amazing, joyful experience. Watching them together is unlike watching any of my other babies. Most babies don't really interact with other babies other than curiosity, or the occasional stealing of toys, but these 2 are a duo. We call them the carpet sharks and they move like a school of fish. Where one goes, the other is soon to follow. If one finds an interesting toy. the other is soon to come over and examine it too. I swear that they understand each other's cries. If one is in another room fussing, the other will go see what is wrong. If I am nursing one, the other will hear that pre-nursing fussing and come crawling in at full speed. They work in collusion. One will be screaming his head off in his crib, while the other is just chillin in his crib. It's almost like they are thinking "Hey, I don't need to scream. If brother is crying mom will come." Of course, once I pick up the screaming one, the other will let me kow that it is NOT acceptable to forget to pick him up too. If one gets tired of crying before I show up, they will trade off and the other one will scream for a bit.

We don't walk or talk yet, but we are REALLY close. I can't wait to see what the next year brings. Since these are my last little guys I am just lapping up every moment with them and enjoying every little quirk and milestone.

That's what big sisters are for

Look 3 kids entertained by a single bowl of oatmeal at the same time!
It's nice when the "helping" is actually more help than hindrance.

We're expecting TWINS!

I had my ultrasound today for the new pregnancy. I have been pretty complacent with this one. After all, after having 3 children, I should know what's going on, right?

Well, as the technician was measuring all of the body parts she moved over just slightly and went down along the spine. "See, here's a head" she said. I looked at the picture and said "But wasn't the baby's head up there?" I said pointing in the direction that she had just come down the spine. Sure enough, there were 2 heads there. And 2 spines, and 2 hearts, and 4 feet.... I can't believe it.

It's one of those fleeting thoughts that cross your mind as you go in. "I wonder if it's twins" but you never actually expect it to be!

I was feeling totally prepared before. I had done this 3 times before. I know how to handle a new baby, but I'm not sure how to handle 2 new babies... How exactly does one breastfeed 2 babies?

Both babies seem quite proud to be boys, since they flashed us a number of times and made it QUITE obvious that they are boys. This will bring our family from 3 kids to 5, with 4 boys and one girl. Poor Shaya is destined to be the only girl it appears.

I suppose on the bright side, DH really thought this should be the last one, but I had reservations. I felt that I might want 1 more and wasn't ready to take perminent action yet. I guess that the Lord can find compromise anywhere. We will end up with 5 kids and I won't have to worry about morning sickness again.. yea!