Mama Got a Brand New Job!

I just realized that I have not made a single post this month. This is a stressful, busy time of the year for teachers. It is the last weeks of school so kids are crazy, teachers are frazzled, papers needing graded are piled high, state testing is grueling, and so on. I signed on to teach a couple weeks of summer school which is always "fun" (not really, but good money).

For a couple of years, I have started to lose the passion for teaching. I was losing sight of why I loved teaching. I was becoming more and more burnt out. The babies are what finally pushed me to quit my job a couple months ago. I needed to find something I loved if I was going to spend time away from them...or the plan was to spend more time at home.

My plans are not in action here. HIS are! (Why haven't I learned from before??)

A couple months ago, a great district called me to set up a screening interview. I was surprised because I hadn't applied but they got my resume at an online database. I went. Loved the principal that interviewed me. She called me the next day for a second interview. I toured the building, met staff, and loved the idea of teaching again.

Two weeks later (I got really impatient!), I GOT THE JOB! I just know this will re-energize my love for teaching again. I am so excited for the new challenges, new outlook and other perks. Like the new school is only 5 miles from home. Right now, I drive 27 one way. So...more time with babies. It also doesn't hurt that I will be getting a considerable raise in salary. Like...a lot!

It is bittersweet though. I have spent my entire teaching career at South Middle. Those people are my family. They are why I stuck around and they made me sane. I will miss them more than they know. The last day of school is approaching which makes me excited...but I also am dreading those goodbyes.

Now... some babies to hold you over until Sunday...the babies will be 10 months old!

Max takes the phone and talks. We caught him saying "Hello". Harper waves. More adorable pics and videos later.

-Lisa-

Moms

If you haven't seen this video about moms...you must.

Enjoy!
-Lisa-

My Babies are Nine Months

Maxwell and Harper are 9 months old. I think this has been my favorite month so far! They are really becoming the funniest, little people. Real people! They are becoming so individual. One of the best part of having twins. When people have one baby, they worry about their baby meeting the developmental milestones and are constantly comparing their baby to other babies. Having two babies at the same time has really made it clear that babies are individuals. They each have their different strengths. I love seeing their different personalities.

The babies have their 9 month checkups on the 18th so I will update with their weights and heights later. Hopefully they are out of the 7th percentile for height! Ha!

Max is our whiny needy boy. Jeremy swears that I have created a monster. He just loves his mama! I have to admit that I don't hate this. I love that he wants to snuggle with me. However, the not being able to leave the room without him shouting for me is a tad inconvenient. When we go anywhere, he is a bit clingy...I think the separation anxiety is in full force.

Max is such a curious guy. He is into EVERYTHING! He easily is down the hall within a few seconds. Which means anything remotely at his level...will be investigated and destroyed. He can pull up to his feet on pretty much anything. (He has even tried the bare wall with some success.) He can get to his knees in the middle of the floor. I think he is close to at least standing on his own for a long period of time. For now, he can stand for a few seconds before he realizes and sits down.

Max has FOUR teeth. He is constantly feeling his top teeth with his tongue. He also loves to give us kisses. This is by far the BEST thing he has learned. He doesn't give open mouth, slobbery kisses. He really puckers and leans in. I have video from when he first started it but now he is a pro! Love it!

Max is a pickier eater than he used to be. He isn't a huge fan of veggies. Even his tried and true fav from "back in the day", green beans, is getting snubbed by the boy. But he loves to eat anything and everything else. If it is fruit or a dinner puree...he will "mmmmm" all throughout the meal. He is also really good at feeding himself. He loves the puffs, crackers, mangos, carrots, and bananas. We haven't incorporated too many other real foods yet. He has a bad gag reflux so I am being slower with him in starting Stage 3 foods. He is good with all Stage 3 fruits and veggies but the meals with pasta and larger chunks bugs him. He makes an awful face and pushes it out or chokes. Such a dramatic boy!

He wears size 3 diapers. Because of his short little legs, he can still wear 3-6 month pants and 6 month pants. But the majority of his clothes are 6-9 months. He can wear 9 month clothes too but they are a bit big. He is an awesome napper during the day! He takes a thirty minute to forty five minute nap in the morning and then an hour to two hour nap in the afternoon. But...night sleeping isn't his specialty. He is still a good sleeper but just not the same as his sis. He will sleep from about 7 or 8pm to 5 or 6am. But he wakes about 2-3 times at night for paci replacement or a little love pat.

Now for our sweet, happy baby girl. She is literally always happy. I am not exaggerating. This girl is always smiling even when she is so exhausted. She loves everyone and knows no stranger. She is so laid back. She just goes with the flow and is a free spirit. I love watching her explore her world. Everything is funny. She cracks up over anything.

She is also quite the explorer, like her brother. She can pull to her knees but isn't quite as brave to pull herself to her feet. She does love standing at their activity table. Her favorite toy is her baby doll. She immediately grabs it pulls it in for a hug and a kiss. The cutest thing! She likes to help her brother get into trouble. She usually plays lookout or giggles at his attempts for crazy stunts. The other day, she was racing after her brother crawling down the hall. She could hardly crawl because she was giggling all the way. I love those moments!

She still only has her two teeth. She has been licking all around her mouth lately. It has created this awful dry skin rash around her mouth. It will be better in morning and then by the end of the day the rash is back. If you have any remedies besides Vaseline...I am all ears! She also gives the best open mouthed, slobbery, nearly licking kisses! Although messy, just as sweet.

Harper loves all foods. She isn't picky. She is also really good at eating the chunkier foods. She does not gag or make strange faces. She loves feeding herself. She tries to grab the spoon to feed herself. She is also a pro at the sippy cup now and this is new. I have been trying to train them on all sippy cup types and she has finally been successful with one kind. Max is still trying.

Harper wears size 3 diapers and is mainly in 9 month clothing. She still wears quite a bit of 6-9 month clothing too. Her chunky little legs prevent her from wearing some of the 6-9 month pants though. I love those thunder thighs. She is also an amazing sleeper! She is not a big fan of napping...always afraid she will miss something. But at night...she crashes! She could probably sleep longer but we usually wake her up with Max in the morning. She doesn't need comforting at night. She also has given up the pacifier and never uses it anymore.

9 months!!!

The outtakes

Daddy loves to dress us in the morning!

Ready for school, Dad!

Celebrating St. Patty's Day

Love that table!

Our first swing at the park

Swinging at the park

It was fun!

Harper kept wanting to look at the ground. 

We got to ride in the cart for the first time!

We also got to eat in highchairs at the restaurant for the first time!

We love to read!

We are just too cute!

Harper on lookout for Max's shenangians

I love my Grampa!

More adventures

First wagon ride. I love how Max is holding on and Harper is relaxing like a lady.

Bounce house fun at our friend, Penny's 3rd birthday party.

We are beyond blessed to get the opportunity to watch these angels grow and learn. I sometimes feel unworthy of them. My heart could explode from all of the love they have brought into our lives. Gosh! I will stop gushing.

I have started to plan their first birthday party! WHAT?!!!! Yep. In three months. Crazy. Talk.

-Lisa-

Half a year old! What?!

Max and Harper are half a year old. It is so true when people say you blink and they are grown.

The last six months have disappeared and they are growing like weeds.

Max: He has been sick with ear infections. He was on one round of antibiotics but it didn't work and now we are on our second round. So...he has lost some weight. At the doctor yesterday, he weighed 15 pounds, 9 ounces. He wears size 3 diapers and 3-6 month or 6 month clothing. He drools like crazy. He loves his jumper. He can pull himself up to standing and loves to stand at the activity table. He laughs and giggles like crazy (see video below!) Max loves our dog, Bella. He pulls her ears and grabs her nose. He just wants her all the time. He will shout at her to come to him...she isn't so sure about it yet. He is an awesome eater of green beans and pears. He really isn't a fan of bananas. He can't sit still enough to sit up. He can for a brief time but then wants to start his backwards "crawl" to get some place with new toys and surroundings. He is seriously going to be into EVERYTHING very soon.

Harper: She has for the mean time outgrown her big brother. She has always been the little one. Not anymore! She weighed 16 pounds, 4 ounces...but that is just be weighing her at home so it may be off. She wears size 3 diapers and 3-6 month or 6 month clothing. She loves to sit up. She can actually sit up and play for quite awhile. She also backwards scoots but prefers to play on her tummy or sit up instead of moving around so much. Harper is obsessed with her feet. Seriously...the girl has never seen things so amazing in her life. She loves carrots! She will turn her nose up to pretty much anything else although green beans she seems indifferent to. She loves her brother so much! She wants to grab him, poke him, eat him, etc. I love to hear them talk to each other. It is by far the cutest thing ever.

We don't have our 6 month shot appointment until February 4. They will nearly be 7 months old but with Max's illnesses and scheduling issues...we have to wait a bit.

They seem to do something new everyday. It is amazing to watch them learn and grow. I can't believe how much they have learned.

I posted this video to my Facebook page last week. It is the cutest giggle ever, I swear. It will brighten even my darkest day.

Here are their six month pictures...we could hardly get them to stay still--let alone get a smile! We gave up.

-Lisa-

One Year Ago!!

One year ago on October 28...I started the cycle that would bring Max and Harper to us.

It literally blows my mind!

We weren't even sure we wanted to keep doing fertility treatments. We considered exploring adoption or doing another round of IVF. But on day 1 (10/28/12) of the cycle, we spontaneously decided that we might as well do an IUI while we figured out our plans. I am SO glad that we made this decision.

We never would have guessed in a million years that this is the AWESOME plan that God had for us. A year ago Monday, it all started. Our life is significantly better because of that miraculous cycle.

God is good.

I think I have posted it before but here is my statement of God's goodness. This was when I was 10 weeks pregnant and we knew we were having twins.

Watch Video Here






-Lisa-

Sad, sad day!!

This will be brief since it is my LAST DAY of maternity leave. I have snuggled Max and Harper most of the day knowing I will be in baby snuggle withdrawals the next 8 months of my life. Jeremy and I are in talks and plans to see if this will be my last year teaching for awhile. I would love to be a stay at home mama until they are in school or much older.

Tomorrow morning will be a tough one. But Jeremy is home with them (BY HIMSELF!) for the next two weeks. They start daycare October 15. We took all of their "stuff" to daycare today and met some of the teachers. It is a great place and they will be in great hands...but I am SO SAD.

Here is a bit of what I will be missing!

Max loves to talk and coo!

So serious

They love their Bumbo seats!

Sleeping in

This is a common expression from Harper when she isn't smiling!

-Lisa-

What Does the Fox Say??

**Max does not have a hernia. Woo-hoo!! Instead it is fluid that they expect to dissipate in a few months and isn't dangerous. Prayers answered for sure!**

Some milestones for the babies this weekend...(all a tad sad for Mommy).

1. We started transitioning them to their cribs on Friday night.

I was not ready. However, Dr. C said it is best to do this when I am off of work. He also recommended doing this before they were 3 months old. I felt so far away from them. I wanted to sleep but a part of me also wanted them to NEED me so I could go snuggle them. But they slept! Wonderfully. And...we slept. Wonderfully. We use our same bedtime rituals and so that made it easy on all of us. Here is our bedtime ritual:

• Wipe down or bath time (We give baths on Wednesdays and Saturdays.)
• Lotion them up with calming, lavender lotion
• Dress in their jammies
• Feed them in low lit nursery
• Storytime (We read together as a family. I got lots of books as gifts but we also have made trips to the library for more variety.)
• Turn on their "Baby go to Sleep" music. (It is lullabies with heartbeat sounds in the background.)
• Lay them down when they are drowsy.
• Sometimes Max takes his paci but not always.

2. We both went out without Max and Harper.

Jeremy and I are huge baseball fans, especially our home team-the Kansas City Royals. We usually go to several games a season. We didn't pre-purchase our tickets this year because of the twins. I was hugely pregnant for the first half of the season and even on bedrest. So we didn't go. Then we weren't going to take newborn babies to a baseball stadium. So...we decided since this past Sunday was the last home game, we needed to go. My sister, brother-in-law, nephew, and niece kept them while we went. I felt much better leaving them because they were in great hands. They love those babies so much! It was odd for both of us to be together without them. By the end of the 8th inning, I started staring at pictures of them on my phone. And wouldn't you know...it went into extra innings! I was ready to abandon the game at 0-0. But I am glad that Jeremy convinced us to see the amazing bottom of the 10th inning to see the game winning homerun. The babies were fine and Mom and Dad survived too!

I forgot how much I missed one on one time with Jeremy.

3. This next one has nothing to do with a milestone but the title. I am so obsessed with this ridiculous fox song. If you haven't heard it, you must. Jeremy is fed up with me singing it or humming it constantly. Last night, I sang it to the babies. I think it is a great way for them to learn the animal sounds--ha! You must know what the fox says!

-Lisa-

Max update and some really cute videos!

I took Max for his ultrasound on his (for lack of a better term) balls! I made sure the ultrasound tech covered him with a wash cloth. And of course, he peed through the wash cloth and another one. By the end of the ultrasound, he started giving me his "I am going to poop" face. I asked her to hurry because it was coming. As soon as she finished, I had a diaper ready and he filled it before I had his shorts back on! 

The ultrasound tech couldn't share the findings since a doctor and radiologist are the only ones that can. However, listening to her conversation with the radiologist...I think he has a double hernia. This will most likely require surgery. Poor guy! I am just waiting to get the call from Dr. C's office to confirm. 

Here are some videos of my darlings. Harper dancing on her two month birthday. She loves music and it calms her instantly. She was just in a crying fit of rage about 5 minutes before the video. Max rolling over. I finally got it on camera. He has been doing this for a couple weeks now. 

-Lisa-

Happy 2013!!

I have been working on this infertility journey video for months. I stopped working on it because I hated that we didn't have a happy ending yet. So shortly after finding out about the twins, I finished it. Here it is: