On Our Own

9-1/2 weeks (aka 2 months)

Kohlden - 11lbs 8.5oz (50%),Height 5%, Head 10% - our chunker, holding it all in the gut.

Madelyn - 10lbs 5.5oz (50%), Height 55%, Head 30% - definitely our tall one...for now.

Well, we were officially on our own this week. No overnight house guests for an entire week. We started getting into a routine. 8pm the twins go to bed (one in our room in the pack n play and the other in the bouncer in the guest room - both with static noise machine and separate so they don't wake each other up), 8:30 Braelyn goes down, and then mommy and daddy have a few peace and quiet hours to sit down for a bit and catch up on shows, laundry, dishes, bills, etc. We then wake them up to feed again between 11p-12a (formula this time - thanks Kimberly for the suggestion. Its been lasting longer), then Allen heads off to the nursery for some peaceful sleep while I have both of them in our room - with them waking up to feed from about 4:30-5:30a. Then Allen takes Braelyn to school at 7a and the twins are usually awaking, eating and falling back asleep around 7:30-9:30. One day we did the sleeping, eating, sleeping thing all morning and next thing I know its noon. It was good catching up on some sleep. They are still crying quite a bit. But..when held, they seem to be fine for the most part. So, probably not colic...just jealousy of the other one. They are starting to notice when you walk past them without picking them up and especially when you pick up the other baby instead of them....they cry louder. I wish I had 4 arms. Eventually they will be able to keep their passy's in.

Saturday we ended up trekking it out to cradle roll on our own. All the kids needed holding at some point during the program. Luckily the babies slept through most of it.

Saturday evening we had Stacy, Adam and Annette (who already made their way back from moving to Tennessee. Guess they missed us too much), and Jared, Marlissa, and Isabella over for roll your own sushi night. We even had the tempura batter going. It was a great treat...once we got the twins down.

Sunday was Father's Day so Allen and Braelyn had a date. They went to go see Toy Story 3. Although Braelyn thought she was going to Blockbuster when we said she was going to a movie. She enjoyed the first half, especially the popcorn. But...even though its G rated and with talking toys, it was a little too realistic and her sentimental side came out - she was scared for the toys that were in trouble and was crying out for Mommy for the last half of the movie. But Daddy enjoyed the show.

On Monday Braelyn started in her new classroom - advanced preschool. It's in a different building so she calls it a new school. She likes her new teacher, Miss Linda. When asked what she looked like, she replied "A grandma". Her best buddy Landon is in her class too, but Grace ended up going to the room next door - however they do have outdoor play together so she likes that. I dropped her off at school on Thursday and she didn't want me to leave. It was so cute that even Landon was trying everything he could think of to cheer her up - bringing her toys to look at, books, etc. It didn't work. Finally I had to hand her off to the teacher and skedaddle out of there. I haven't taken her to school in awhile so she wasn't used to it.

Tuesday we had our 2 month check up for the twins. They are doing great. See the stats above. They had a whole bunch of shots so were not very happy campers the rest of the afternoon - although they did have a good nap.

We had to move the straps in the car seats...getting bigger...

It has been really hot here and even at 7 pm when trying to take a walk, it's still 90 degrees. So much for all that exercise I need to be doing.

Braelyn has decided she wants to be a baby at times and gets in the stroller, and this time got in the pack n play with Madelyn. I'm glad she's only 30 lbs.

However, she also wants to be like mommy and help feed...

They are loving to pull hair now.

Mr. Mom/Daddy Duties (or Doodies)

8-1/2 wks
Kohlden - 10lbs 12 oz

Madelyn - 10 lbs 3 oz

Looks like we are too tired to post on Thursday nights, so its Tangie's turn again on Friday morning.

I started coming down with a sore throat last Friday and it took a turn for the worse on Saturday. Its amazing I lasted 8+ weeks of getting 2 hrs sleep at a time, max 6 hrs a night without getting sick before now. We all stayed home from church on saturday and Allen made me breakfast in bed (on a silver platter with a flower in a vase..how nice!). Lolo and Lala kept the babies occupied all day while I tried to sleep most the day. They then were gracious enough to take the babies ALL NIGHT in their room. I crossed their paths at 5:30a when I was delivering pumped milk to the fridge and they looked a little worn down. Thanks for taking them on! They left Sunday morning before I could give them my thanks. I don't think I've gotten worse during the week, but still the cold is lingering. Not enough sleep to be had at this point in time to nip it.

Allen and I have tried all week to put the twins to bed right when we are putting Braelyn down too - around 8:30p. That way we have a few hours of quiet and I can try to get to bed much earlier. Seems to be working better. He'd end up doing a bottle feeding around 11:30p while I was already asleep, then I got the night shift. This has given me an hour or two more of uninterrupted sleep a night.Sunday Braelyn got to do a painting project which she thoroughly enjoyed.

Also, they got to give Zoe a much needed bubble bath!

There was one point this week where she told us she had to go potty and ventured into our bathroom. Next thing we know is she's reaching for a magazine and said she needed to read something. Wonder where she got that from? :)

Kohlden was in the swing and all of the sudden started cooing/smiling at the hippo. I tried to capture the smile, but didn't get it entirely.

Allen was off Monday and helped me. I had Tuesday and Wednesday all to my self. Boy was I glad when Allen came home. Those were some long days...especially fighting this cold. Tuesday they cried basically all day long - one, the other one, or both. Wednesday, they were perfect. They slept in together, they cried really only when they needed something. We made an afternoon car ride to Steak n Shake drive through for happy hour for shakes/sodas. They enjoyed that too.

Thursday, Allen was off so I could go to an education seminar ALL DAY. It was my first day back to work. It was a little hard getting up to get there by 8a when I really didn't have much sleep the night before. I didn't fall asleep during the seminar though! That was a feat. It was good to see my coworkers...but I'm not quite ready to go back to work yet. I don't think my brain can function all there yet with the sleep factor setting in. I got to take Braelyn to school - which it was crazy hair day, so she got all curled up!

Allen had daddy duty all day for the first time ALONE. I was getting text updates as to their status as I was a little worried. I told them he shouldn't try to plan anything else to get done except to take care of the kids. 8am...Kohlden had a 4 alarm blow out. Maddy still sleeping. 12:59pm...driving around town Winter Garden has the best brick roads. Nice and bumpy. 1:50pm...We are all doing great!

After that, I think they cried the rest of the afternoon and evening.

Accolades to Lala

Tangie's turn again.

7-1/2 weeks
Kohlden - 10lbs-8oz
Madelyn - 9lbs-12oz

Communicating - Monday Kohlden decided to focus long enough to communicate. He has officially responded by cooing and smiling. It was great! Still trying to get Maddy there. She loves the ceiling fan, and just today Lala got a smile out of her, but the rest of us haven't seen it yet. Kohlden wants to always be held and he's content. He now has the nick names of cuddler and little chunker. Maddy on the other hand will just cry if she's put down or being held. Doesn't seem to be content for long - except when she locks eyes with a ceiling fan. Still seeing distant things better than close up objects. Her current nick name is drama queen.

Sleeping - Had good and bad nights this week. Maddy usually sleeps for longer periods of time (aka 4 hrs) and Kohlden is waking up more like 2-1/2 to 3 hrs (hence the reason he's gaining more weight). But last night we had the last feeding at 11p-12a then 4-5a and then again at 7a. One of the best nights. Its great when one decides to wake up just at the same time I'm putting the other one back down. When they both want food at the same time it makes for a long night - waking up Allen too.

This week Lola (or Lala as Braelyn calls her - much easier) decided to spend her vacation from work with us while Allen went back to work and Lolo went back home on Saturday night. What a blessing!! When I couldn't get one to stop crying, she would swoop right in and rock and cradle. And in the mornings, when one was done with feeding, she'd take him/her downstairs, then the other so I could get a couple more hours of sleep. I was given breakfast in bed and had fresh ice water. Awesome! It was like I was her patient at the hospital. One day I didn't wake up until noon when I heard some crying and I went downstairs and their bottles were being prepared. It was more like my vacation than hers (well...if you can call this a vacation - hardly. Let's just say it made it more like having 1 baby instead of 2). Although she did get to bring the first smile out of Kohlden and then Madelyn by having some "chats" with them and teaching them some songs. So...hopefully she enjoyed her visit too. Thanks Lolo for lending her to us for the week. In fact, thanks for all of the family help in the past 8 weeks! Nana, Deeda, Uncle Mike, Lolo, Auntie Esther....I don't think we'd be still sane without you all!



Saturday night I thought we were having the Z's and Johnsons over for some dinner so Amy & Karis could meet the twins, but come to find out Allen had planned an evening out for the girls for my birthday. It was great. Grodacks came over too. So the guys grilled hotdogs and had popcorn and watermelon for the kids and watched some movies while Amy, Kelli, Corey and I went to Bravo Italian down on Restaurant Row. It was fantastic! Forgot how nice it is to get out with the girls and forgot how we could talk for hours....stayed out as long as I could before having to pump for the little ones. We all decided we have to make this a regular event - maybe trade off monthly with the guys to be nice. I think the kids had fun too. We'll have to watch out for Zachary and Braelyn. I think they liked playing footsies a little too much.

Sunday the new Isidro clan + Lala in tow ventured to Mimi's for brunch for my birthday. It is definitely a requirement to have one adult per child when going out. They all needed attention at some point. Luckily they spread it out so not all needed it at the same time but a couple potty breaks for Braelyn and then feeding and changing the crying babes, makes the meal not quite as relaxing as eating out used to be.



Sunday evening we went to Adam and Annette's going away party. They are moving to Tennessee to teach at Southern University. Braelyn had fun with the balloons. I personally enjoyed the chocolate fountain!



Monday through Wednesday was a blur. It went so fast. Feeding, changing, and trying to get them to sleep consumes the day. Can't even check email on my computer for more than 5 minutes. Luckily I can multi task a little with the Blackberry. They did let me have a break for a bubble bath, but when Braelyn found out - she of course wanted to join...which required extra bubbles! We did get a nice package in the mail with cousin Callen's 0-6 mo clothes! That was exciting to go through and Kohlden is already sporting some of the wear!


Thursday we had a "play date" with Isabella Clark - she's 2 weeks old and still very preemie. It was great catching up with Marlissa and seeing how she is adjusting to motherhood and their new house just a couple miles up the road. I thought my babies were still small until they were right next to the 5lbs-10oz little one. Just think Kohlden...you were down to that weight your first week. Amazing how they can grow so much in less than 2 months.



Thursday evening we went out for sushi for Adam's birthday. We left Madelyn at home with Lala and took Kohlden and Braelyn. Kohlden has earned the right to go out to eat for if he's being held, he's pretty content. Madelyn on the other hand is not quite as predictable. Braelyn enjoyed sitting right next to Adam and bugging him almost all dinner. We'll all miss them a lot.



One more week down and one more week closer to when I have to go back to work. Time is flying. Next Thursday I'm planning on going to an continuing education seminar all day and Allen has the twins to himself. Anyone want to keep him company for part of the day so he doesn't lose his sanity?

Have a good weekend.

Accidents

Tangie’s turn at this –

I’m so excited. The twins had their best 2 nights (knock on wood). Probably because they were worn out from their afternoon and evening crying episodes. :) They slept for 4-5 hrs then another 3-4 hrs. Then they sleep off and on all morning. They even took their turns waking up so I could feed one without the other one crying not wanting to wait turns. (Dual feeding doesn’t quite work for me since they don’t tend to eat as much and then they have to feed more often then the 2-1/2 hrs they are usually going right now during the day.) I decided to feed them a pumped bottle in one of the last feedings of the night but not the final one so we know how much they are getting and don’t go to sleep at the wheel. They tend to burp and choke a lot on the bottle still which I think was preventing them from sleeping good when we tried it for last feeding of the night. Also, they were outgrowing their swaddle blankets from the hospital so we upgraded to the fleece Velcro swaddlers. They can’t get their arms out now!

This week I think we have officially outgrown the newborn size diapers. The labels say they go up to 10 lbs but I don’t believe it. Should be 8-9lbs. I vaguely remember this with Braelyn – when they start to blow out of them, we need to move up. My oh my did we have some blow outs! We decided this week was our first jaunt to Sabbath school. As we are all getting ready Madelyn had her blow out – luckily before we put her clothes on, but got Daddy dirty, then Kohlden had his blow out while eating – ruining his outfit that matched everyone else. (The stains come out if you put stain remover on right away. If you wait until the next morning like we did – well….so much for that outfit. We can’t wait to get Callen’s old clothes). We finally made it out of the house and actually got to Cradle Roll before it started. Amazing, although it was a half hour later than I had calculated. They decided to take their time eating. I need to plan for blow out time as well. Luckily we had Lolo and Lala helping us get the three kids out the door.

Later during the weekend, Lolo was feeding Madelyn and she had another blow out. Got all over his clothes. We were joking with him that it served him right that she got him as he always passes the baby off to someone else to change them or when they are too fussy. Uncle Mike – thanks for changing her.

The fun continues. I was holding Kohlden later in the week and he had a loud one that got all over my white pants and even on to the floor. In the mornings I put them on the bed with me after Allen gets up to take Braelyn to school and they sleep on his pillow. Madelyn decided her diaper was too full so she leaks out on the next blow out. Luckily I had them on a blanket too. Sorry Allen it was on your side of the bed. :) We are on our last box of NBs. Did pretty good at guestimating how many diapers we’d need. Braelyn lasted 6 wks in the newborn size. I think we are going through 20-30 diapers a day, although with 3 changing stations in the house, we aren’t really counting. Sometimes changing a diaper is the easiest thing we can do to see if that is the culprit of the crying bout.

Braelyn decided to join the accident fun. On memorial day we were so jam packed with activities that we didn’t get her down for her nap soon enough so we thought it best instead of fighting with her to take a nap in her room at 4 pm, to then interrupt night-night time just a couple hours later, that we would have her lay on the sofa watching some of her calmer shows. She ended up falling asleep a lot longer than we anticipated and of course when that happens, her potty training goes out the window. More things to wash.

Saturday we got to see Marlissa and Jared Clarke at the hospital with their new baby Isabella Grace born 5 weeks early. Welcome to the 2010 babies club. We are so excited to join you in this adventure!
Braelyn loves to be a helper. She always kisses the twins (even when they are sleeping and we beg her not to). Unfortunately she is learning to take her bench into the kitchen to get up on the counters and get things. Just last week she propped it right up and opened the fridge and got the milk out. Yikes. She does like to help us cook. French toast is currently her specialty. Sunday she helped me make some cookies.

Monday we went to the zoo – which was very HOT and we didn’t last very long. Hard to breast feed under a cape in 90+ degree weather. Although it was warm enough to just put the babies into a deep sleep.

In the afternoon we went to the Ottati’s for a wonderful time of grilling and swimming.

Wednesday night we had a whole slew of friends over for a pizza party to celebrate the Jessels being in town. Had lots of fun seeing everyone and catching up!

Uncle Mike got to stay with us another week and sadly he goes to the Dominican today. We’ll miss the extra set of hands and fun he shared with us. He babysat the twins while I had a doctor's appointment and Allen had fun hanging out with his bro. Brae will miss her dance partner.

Wish us luck on continuing to get more sleep and being able to accept that even though they are fed, burped, and changed, that they still may cry for no apparent reason – in unison like a hungry nest of robins…or make that screaming hyenas. We are sending them to time out in separate rooms. :) Have a good week.