The First Few Weeks with Twins

I had promised a post about the issues we faced in the early days with the twins.  I've already written about the breastfeeding issues.  Which we were fortunate enough to overcome.  It is a lot different coming home with two babies instead of one.  And having a toddler at home as well! 

On sleeping:  although we initially had two bassinets, we put the twins in the same bassinet to sleep for the first 4 months (until they were too big to fit in there together - at the end they were crammed in like sardines).  After trying some different types of swaddles, we went with The Miracle Blanket on the recommendation of friends.  I was fortunate enough to have my friends Heather and Carolyn loan me some spares.  A lot of people claimed that their twins slept through the night early on.  This didn't happen for us.  At all.  At 5 months old we did cry it out and now the twins sleep from 8-5 am on most nights.  And I am SO thankful!

On eating:  the consensus is to feed twins at the same time.  This didn't work for us because Cort was so distractable.  So I fed them individually.  However, when one twin would wake up at night, we'd wake the other up to eat as well.  This kept them on the same sort of 'schedule'.  I use the term schedule in a very, very loose way.

On diapers:  I soooo admire people who do cloth diapers.  Paul mentioned it about 2 weeks after the twins were born and I started crying.  I was so overwhelmed by feeding two babies, loads of laundry for 3 children, etc. that I couldn't fathom dealing with one.more.thing.  So we use bulk Huggies from Sam's, and embrace our friends who are better at saving the environment than us.

On colic:  Around 3 weeks postpartum Reid started screaming.  And screaming and screaming and screaming.  It was obvious he was in pain.  I called the pediatrician and spoke to the nurse.  She said, "Have you tried swaddling?"  She's lucky she wasn't in the room.  I might've kicked her.  Instead, I said in a very firm (but nice) voice, "JUST ASK THE PEDI IF HE WILL CALL IN SOME ZANTAC".  Thankfully, she did.  Now I know there are a lot of people who object to giving a baby any medicine.  But let me say, it stopped Reid's colic.  He'd been screaming in pain and Zantac made him comfortable again.  It's one of those things where I feel the benefits outweigh the risks.

On Laundry:  Just buy a big thing of scent free All and wash the entire family's clothes in it.  It'll save you so much time.

On Sanity:  It'll be tough.  I cried a lot.  I felt overwhelmed.  I felt guilty, because I knew I was so blessed with having two healthy babies that it felt taboo not to be completely joyful.  My advice would be to join a multiples club if there is one in your area.  These women have been through it!  They know!  They came to my house bearing FOOD and lots of it.  And they held the babies and chatted and the whole thing brought such comfort to me. 

On the Body:  It takes time.  A long time.  At 6 months out I still have 5 pounds to lose and some definitely warping/flabbiness of the belly area.  No stretch marks except in my belly button.  Honestly, I'm not real worried about it right now.  I've got other things to focus on, and will reassess when the twins are weaned.

All that said, having twins will bring a lot of happiness too.  Seeing them smile at each other, reach out to touch one another's faces, having four hands grabbing and flinging baby food at once...it's all so fun.  We truly are blessed and hopefully, things will just get more enjoyable as they continue to grow and thrive!

The Leaning Tower of Yellow Book

This weekend I decided to undertake some decluttering and reorganizing.  Pierce's art supplies in the pantry had gotten out of control.  So I started by working on the cabinets to try to make more room.  And what did I find?  SEVENTEEN phone books.  Why yes, you did read that correctly.  Who has seventeen phone books???  Us, apparently.  I broke out in a sweat, thinking, this is it.  We've officially become hoarders.

But then as I was going through them, I realized something.  Sure, a few of them were out of date.  But the majority were current.  Therefore, I can default blame to the people at Yellow Book.  They are the ones with obsessive compulsive phone book making disorder.  Total OCD people, go take some Paxil!  So hooray, I'm off the hook!  I'm not really a hoarder after all. 

Well, then I found these:

SIXTEEN waterbottles (and six never-used koozies)

Well, at least I'm willing to get rid of my stuff.  Ever read Ghosty Men?  Now those brothers...they were some professional hoarders! 

Muffin Tin Monday - Theme Red!

As you may know, last week I challenged myself with a week of Memes.  I decided to choose one of them to stick with weekly.  And the winner is....Muffin Tin Monday!  Just loved doing this Meme!



I also plan to continue doing my own Meme of Memory Lane Fridays.  I had fun doing this.  I hope some of you will come back on Friday to join in.  Each week I'll be writing on a childhood memory, to preserve them for my boys.  See this week's them on my sidebar!
 
In celebration of choosing Muffin Tin Monday, Pierce and I did some muffin cup art.

Pierce cut out leaves and I cut out petals.

Pierce used a glue stick on the back of muffin cup liners.

And we created this:

Wishful thinking that spring will come soon!

And now for our muffin tin this week with a theme of red:

Maraschino cherries, meatball in red sauce, pasta in red sauce, Elmo (as a friendly dining companion), a rice crispie treat iced with 'red', and red juice. 

Cort and Reid were impressed.

Okay, so Reid was way more impressed than Cort.  They can't wait to get their own muffin tins!

Frogs, frogs Everywhere on Valentine's

Have I mentioned Pierce is obsessed with frogs?  Yes, yes, I know I have.  Well last week I won a giveaway from Yikes Twins and I was so excited.  I found this giveaway through Etsy Giveaways.  Yikes Twins has the cutest hooded towels I've ever seen.  I really wanted Pierce to pick the monster towel when I found out he won.  But no.  Of course he went straight for Freddy Frog towel.  It came in the mail a couple of days ago.

Pierce tried it on right away.

And then Reid insisted on trying it on but it was a little big.

Reid is really good at making Froggy faces, don't you think?

Pierce and I also did a frog art project for Valentine's.  This is another goodie we picked up in the $1 bin at A.C. Moore.

This turned out to be an excellent toddler art project.  First off, it's simple (you just peel off the white parts which are stickers so then the sand will stick when you pour it on).  Secondly, it's slightly messy (but not TOO messy) and toddlers just love a good mess.

Happy Valentine's!  Paul and I had a $5 limit on Valentine's gifts this year because we're buying our train tickets to NYC for the marathon I'll be running in the fall.  I got him a book categorizing different beers at the B+N 75% off sale plus a bag of Reese's peanut butter hearts.  He got me an egg slicer and egg piercer for when we get our chickens and they hopefully start laying eggs. 

The Science Museum

After being housebound due to snow and sickies for so long, we decided to escape yesterday.  It was free day at the downtown museums, so off we went. 

Let me tell you...after being stuck in the house for so long getting out was absolutely divine.  It was like THE MOST FUN EVER.  Just because we were so stir crazy.  Even the twins were angelic for the entire TWO HOURS we spent at the science museum (including a MOVIE!)

Pierce liked the snakes.  The black one came right up to the glass to say hi.  And Pierce said, "I WANT IT!" and looked around for a place to open the glass.

We played in a tidal pool and touched horseshoe crabs and urchins.

And even picked up a hermit crab.

We played with a spinning disk

and went in a tunnel to see glowing minerals

We made some music

and some handprints (one of Pierce's favorite parts)

touched some fossils

and made the cyclist go

There were a ton of kids running around, because a school was there on field trip.  As a result, they did an unscheduled movie in the planetarium.  Pierce and the twins and I sat in.  It was quite possibly the LAMEST movie I've ever seen in my life. 

And Pierce was a little scared when the lights went off.  So we didn't quite make it through the whole film.

The science museum is on the 4th floor.  Looking out over downtown:

Before heading home we met Paul for lunch.  It was a very fun day, indeed.  And thank goodness we got out.  Because we woke up to more snow this morning.  Sigh.

Memory Lane Friday!

I hope some others will join in, because this is going to be fun.  Don't be intimidated...it's easier to do than you think (trust me, if I can figure this out, anyone can).  Today, the assignment is to write about a memory...any memory that you want!
First, you'll want to grab my button for your blog post.  You do this by copying the code that is in the box below the button.

<a href="http://twobearsfarm.blogspot.com"><img src="http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll311/varunner7/button_edited-3-1.jpg" /></a>

Then paste this code into your blog post.  When you post it will show up as the button.  After you write your blog, you will come back here and enter your info into Mr. Linky with a direct link to the actual post you've written.  Then check out the 3 blogs above yours and leave them a comment (always fun to get to know other bloggers) if you're first, just come back a little later in the day to share some comment love.  That's it!



Now for my posting.  My memory is from the Mill Mountain Zoo.  Located on the top of Mill Mountain, under the shadow of the famed star, is this little zoo.  It's been there since the 1950s.  Nothing was quite as exciting as a kid as a trip to the zoo.  Even this tiny little zoo. 

Hey Mom, what happened to my pants in this picture?  It looks like you forgot to finish getting me dressed.  This picture is from (gulp) 1977.  Note the little horse figure in my hand.  I was born wanting to ride horses. 

The entrance to Mill Mountain children's zoo used to be this boot you walked through. It felt absolutely magical paying at the window and walking through the tunnel.  Like going into a new land full of mystery.  I was so sad when I returned to the zoo as an adult only to find that the boot was gone.  BRING BACK THE BOOT!

 

  This picture is from 1978.  Must've been a blustery day, I was geared up in raingear in this picture.  AT LEAST I WASN'T JUST IN A DIAPER. 
 
Last picture is from 1979.  What I wouldn't give to have those golden curls back.
 

We just paid for a family membership at the zoo.  I can't wait to take the boys when the weather warms up.  I hope it'll bring them as much happiness as it did me.
 
Okay, now for next week's assignment.  Break out the scanners!  Next Friday will be a memory of the family pet.  Or pets.  Or if you didn't have a pet, a memory of how mean your parents were.  Oh come on, at least you must've had some Sea Monkeys at one time. 

Frog Masks and Snowmen

I've been so busy preparing my week of Memes that I haven't really done a proper post this week.  So I'll do a summary of our activities.

First off, some of my favorite recipes for the past week.  This one came from A Good American Wife.  Here's a direct link to the recipe:  A Good American Wife.  She posts some gorgeous recipes and this one was awesome!  I made a few substitutions, but it's basically the same.

I made some Dots of Chocolate bundt cakes:

Hot and Sour Soup from KERF:  Kath Eats Real Food

You have to scroll a bit to get to the recipe because it is a bit of a lengthy post.  I've been following KERF forever it seems, and she always has really great food ideas.  I did my version in the crockpot and added a few ingredients.

I also made some avocado and pears for the twins.  The pears I had to actually cook in a pot until soft.

Even though I didn't add any water, they were really juicy once pureed, so I added in some rice cereal before freezing them in ice cubes.  Reid just loves pears.  They are his new favorite thing ever.  Besides milk.  And sweet potatoes.  And rice cereal. And snuggles.

Pierce and I did some crafting activities.  We picked this up in the $1 bin at A.C. Moore.  Pierce just loves frogs.

We've been snowed in....more than once.

So we made some snacks for the birds.

Pierce and I hung these up on the old Christmas tree on our front porch.  The good news is that the pumpkins are now gone.  Well, I kinda miss their moldy old blobs on the front steps.

Not really.

Scooter scored a new bed.

And Pierce and I made rice crispie treat snowmen and painted them with edible colors.

And you could've guessed that Cort has been up to some trouble, right?  Even with an ear infection, he spends his time plotting how to do very bad things. Like taking off his clothes during nap time.  This could become an issue if he's still doing this come kindergarten.