4 Months of Awesome

Max & Harper are four months old!!!

They are growing and changing everyday. Here are some random happenings of the last month:

• They giggle out loud and on purpose. Max loves when we hold him in the air. Harper loves when we blow raspberries on her tummy. 
• They talk A LOT. I crack up at their babbles. I swear they talk to each other. One will wake up in the night and chatter to wake the other one (not so awesome!) and it is so cute.
• They eat like champs. We went through a bout of stomach bugs in our house but when healthy they eat 7 ounces every 3-4 hours. 
• At night they sleep a pretty consistent 10 hours. They are asleep in bed around 7pm each night. This is great for getting grading and things done around the house...but sad that I lose cuddle time, especially when I have to stay late at school. 
• They are teething. In fact, Harper has her first tooth barely poking through. We got them the Baltic amber necklaces. They are great! So far, it has really cut down on their drooling. They were drooling so much that they would puke up clear fluid. Gross!
• They love play time. Tummy time doesn't last too long anymore since they roll everywhere. Max has even mastered the scoot. He will spin and turn until he gets where he wants, which usually means to see the TV to watch sports (just like his dad!). Max is super close to being able to roll from back to tummy. 
• They pull out their pacifiers to smile and talk and then put them back in! So cute. 
• They notice their hands and are completely mesmerized by them. Max laid in his crib for a good 30 minutes watching his hands. He didn't cry but I stood out of sight watching him. Hilarious!
• Max holds his own bottle. We don't quite trust them to hold them completely but we are getting there. 
• They love to be in the sitting position but can't quite do it with their awkward balance. The Bumbos are their favorites right now. 
• They love their daycare teachers and their teachers love them too. I have to say picking them up in the evening is my all time favorite part of the day!
• They are starting to realize that Bella, our beagle, is there now. They reach to touch her or stare at her. I have to wonder what they think she is. 
• They wear mostly 3-6 month clothing. I packed away all 0-3 and some 3 month too. Max is even wearing some 6  month clothes. So sad how fast they are growing!

Now for some pictures. Sorry for the rushed post but baby snuggles await me...

Sitting pretty

The tongue is always out!

Tiny beauty

Near rolling to tummy from back...

You did what?!

I love you, Mom!

Using the Bumbo so they could take a bath together for the first time

Notice our pretty Amber necklaces to help with teething

Loving the tummy time

Our favorite boy cousin!

We have lots of cousins to help us!

No way!

That's hilarious!

I was loving the camera!

They woke me up for this?!

Muscles!

Tired baby

Four months old!

Daddy is doing funny things but we aren't amused

-Lisa-

The Best IUI Ever!! (Oh and some Dirty Thirty)

I know that I keep reminiscing about the last year. I have had quite a few "OMG" moments lately. I can't help but be in complete and utter awe of God.

On Friday, November 9, 2012, I was feeling uncomfortable all day. After my follicle check at Dr. Kim's office, I was cleared to trigger the next night and have our IUI the next Monday. However, with my IVF debacle of early ovulation...I knew that the uncomfortable crampiness meant that I was ovulating. So, I peed on ovulation sticks with every pee that day. I soon found out that I was right. Here is my post from that night (I was devastated!): click here. 

I thought for sure our chance of parenting was over for a bit longer. I then got a little more positive when I focused on God's plan here. Then here is the post from the actual day of the IUI.

We had our IUI on Sunday, November 11, 2012. The IUI that brought us Max and Harper. The IUI that wasn't supposed to work. The IUI the doctors thought wasn't possible. The IUI that was "ruined" by natural ovulation. 

I love that the day our babies were "conceived" is also their FOUR MONTH birthday! Eight seemingly long months after the IUI, my babies were born. 

I plan on posting about the babies four month birthday next week. I can't believe they are four months old! 

By the way...my 30th birthday was a blast! I quickly realized that I am old. Skating was fun but a lot more painful than I remember. We lasted about an hour before we ready to move on. Still a great time reliving my childhood. (Yes, I need to lose the baby weight which is seen in the pictures but I am so TIRED that I don't even have the energy to try and work out. I will eventually get my crap together.)

My brother is funny (or funny looking!)

Praising God that I made it through Limbo

I fell after making it through Limbo bar...I'm old!

My gorgeous sis

One of my Best friends!

-Lisa-

First Halloween & Holy Cow I am 30!

Halloween...for many a time of scary masks, too much candy, fall leaves, and for teachers...hyperactive students!

Well, for me growing up, it meant my birthday was tomorrow! So, I looked forward to November 1, not October 31. Today, I am thirty. 3-0! It was a marker of being officially "old" for so long and now that I am officially 30, it is so YOUNG! But seriously, how did this happen?

Tomorrow, I am having an old fashioned roller skating party. For my tween years of 11-13, I had a roller skating party. So I figured it would be the best chance to recapture my childhood. I am hoping I don't break an arm or throw out a hip. It also means that I am going to be out without the babies.

My mom is going to watch the babies for us while we party like it's 1995. I was going to initially leave them overnight but I just can't. We are going to pick them up after the festivities but leaving them on a weekend is a big step for me. Weekends are sacred time for a working mom!

Speaking of babies...Max and Harper celebrated their first big holiday. They had two costumes because that's how they roll. They were adorable glow in the dark skeletons at daycare yesterday for their "school" party. Then they changed into adorable tree creatures...a monkey and koala. They seemed to enjoy their day and costumes. Seeing all of the adorable toddlers trick or treating made me so excited for next Halloween when they may actually have a clue about what is going on!

They were also 16 weeks old yesterday. More craziness! Time seriously needs to slow down. I feel like I blink...then they look older and are more mobile. (Max now rolls both ways! They are starting to teeth. And they both laugh out loud which is by far the most adorable thing they have done so far. And that's a tall order considering they ooze cuteness!)

Enjoy the pictures and will post about my 30th birthday party soon.

We love tummy time!

My cute bags of bones

Seriously cute

Looking stylish for church

Love pats and fat bellies

My tree creatures

Sweet Koala Harper

Monkey Max

My MIL doesn't mess around when it comes to Halloween!

Gosh I love these two so much!

-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-

No Hair Part Deux

Ok...Mr. Bigglesworth Take Two!

Around this time last year, I was experiencing hair loss due to the IVF drugs and bout with OHSS. Here is that post here. I was shocked at the inconvenience. I don't know how long it would have lasted but I lost quite a bit of hair before I got pregnant and my hair started growing back.

Now...pregnancy has done the same thing to my long locks. I am losing hair by the hand full. My poor house has long, blond hairs everywhere. My poor babies have hair stuck to their clothes, in their hands, and, strangely, in their diaper!

I keep wondering if it is going to slow down at all. It started falling out a small bit at around 6 weeks postpartum. But here we are, now 15 weeks and still happening.

When is it going to stop?!

No hair is better than no babies but I really would like both please.



-Lisa-

Working Mom Blues

I never thought I would be THAT woman that would be a stay at home mom. I always have loved working and loved teaching. I still love being a teacher (most days!) and love the people I work with. BUT...I would absolutely love to stay with my beautiful babies.

I am glad I started back to work a couple weeks before they started daycare. I had time to adjust to being away from them. I knew they were in good, loving hands when they were their daddy.

Tuesday, our world and their world changed. They are attending a Christian based school three whole blocks from our house. The women there are amazing and so caring. Although that makes it easier, it is still so hard to accept the fact that they are essentially being raised by other people.

Tuesday, Jeremy got them dressed and ready for their first day of "school". As he set them down in the infant room. He handed over the last of the supplies we needed to bring. He kissed them and started to prepare to leave. Harper gave him the frowniest frown and let one tear drip down her cheek. This act, of course, left Jeremy feeling awful. Although, he swears he didn't cry-cry...he did leave in a hurry. Luckily, I will hardly ever be the one dropping them off in the morning.

I get the pleasure of picking them up and seeing their sweet faces. I swear they look at me like they are SO happy to see me. They seem to love daycare and they have them on a pretty strict schedule. We thought we did but they take scheduling to a whole other level.

I can't get over that they are "teaching" 3 month old babies. They have done all kinds of activities this week. Here are their day sheets we get each day:

Colors in Spanish! What?! We are going to have genius babies!

They are still sleeping through the night and going down for bed with no issues. They are just awesome babies!

More twin spam for you. Have a great weekend!

-Lisa-

3 Months with a Full Heart

Three months ago, Max and Harper came into our lives! How crazy is that?!

We get a lot of comments about how hard it must be...we either don't know any different or our babies are rockstars. It isn't difficult. They are the happiest and easiest babies. I know that at any milestone this could quickly change but they are amazing.

We have been battling a stint of stomach bugs between the two of them, but they are still cooing and smiling even though I know they must not feel well. What champs!

They are on a pretty consistent schedule now. Just in time for them to start daycare on Tuesday! I know we are leaving them in very capable hands but I still worry daycare will disturb our flow. Here is a good run down of their day (granted I am back to work but Jeremy has done awesome at adhering to a consistent schedule):

Go to bed between 7:30-8:00pm (This is after our bedtime routine which I have posted about before)
Wake around 4:00-5:00am
They eat and go right back to sleep.
Wake for the day around 7:30am.
They play until late morning and eat around noon.
After they eat, they have been going down for a 1-2 hour nap.
They will play a couple of hours and eat again around 4:30pm.
They will sometimes nap another 1 to 2 hours or have another play session. Then they are ready to eat and do it all again.

They are still rocking the whole sleeping in their cribs thing. We are also getting great sleep because of this. I know some babies have a hard time transitioning to the cribs but we have really just been lucky. They LOVE their cribs. I love hearing them when they wake in the middle of the night. Yes, I just said that! But they don't cry. They just squeal or yell to get our attention. When we go in the nursery, they are kicking and cooing. It is the best part of having to wake up in the middle of the night!

They have upgraded to the larger bottles. Max eats 6 ounces consistently at every feeding. We probably need to up this because he is getting to where he acts hungry still. They only have around 5 feedings in 24 hours. The doctor says to figure 2.5 ounces for every pound of baby when figuring the amount of formula in 24 hours. I think he is close to 13.5 pounds so he could easily have 6.5 ounces at each feeding. Harper hasn't been eating as well as Max. In fact, we took her to the doctor on Tuesday and she only weighed 10 pounds 15 ounces. This is only a couple ounce gain since her two month check up. We think she lost a pound during this sickness she has had. She is on the mend so she should be packing on the pounds now. She eats anywhere from 4-5 ounces. We are hoping she will start eating more when she is feeling 100% again.

They both roll all over the place now. It is almost instant to placing them down for tummy time. Max is close to rolling from tummy to back. Either way, they can maneuver themselves all over their cribs during the night. We never know where they will end up in the morning!

Going back to work has been difficult but is getting easier. I miss them terribly during the day but cherish our weekends and evenings a lot more. I still have great hopes that I won't have to teach next year and I can stay home with them. Just praying that it is possible for our finances. I hate the thought that "strangers" will be spending more time with them than I do!

Here are a few recent pictures. I also included a couple pictures from our family session nearly a month ago now. Our friend, Rachel, did an amazing job and we love them!

-Lisa-