Our Pod With 2 Peas

Monday, August 19, 2013

In to everything.

I timed it: the boys' attention span is exactly 12 seconds long (if we're lucky). This means they can: open and close the doors to our office, try to unplug the computer, stand on tippy toes to try to pull down our blinds cord, make music on our vents, climb up 5 or 6 stairs until Mommy catches them, shut the front door with or without Brother in the way, try to unplug the lamp, and eat receipts from Mommy's wallet. All in under 1 minute.

Saturday, August 10, 2013

Sleep.

One of the most common words of wisdom we would hear when I was pregnant was, "Sleep now, because when the babies come, you won't be sleeping much." The first few times we heard it, we would chuckle along with those veteran parents and nod like we knew what they were talking about. After about the 106th time of hearing it, we'd chuckle and then roll our eyes like ya, ya...we get it already. Sleep can't be that hard to come by once you have babies, right?

Well, little did we know, it would be almost 15 months before we got a full night's sleep once our twins were born. That is 414 nights of getting up in the middle of the night up to 10 times between both babies. Every. Single. Night.

The months would come and go, and our hopes of sleeping through the night seemed like a distant wish that no genie was granting. I would hear stories of friends and fellow moms with twins whose babies had slept through the night since they were 3 hours old. We'd read baby books that said we could expect babies to sleep through the night at 12 weeks old. And 12 weeks came, and our babies didn't sleep. "Once the weather gets nice, the boys will playing outside and all the fresh air will make them so sleepy. For sure, that will make them sleep through the night," other parents would tell us with pity in their eyes.

We tried swaddling, not swaddling, pacifiers, no pacifiers, noise machines, lullabies, white noise, no noise, a little warmer in the room, a little cooler in the room, ceiling fans, darkening blinds, having the boys share a room, separating the boys into different rooms, humidifiers, rocking to sleep, patting on the back to sleep, giving them a bottle in the middle of the night, warmer pajamas, cooler pajamas, bigger diapers, double diapers, changing the diaper in the middle of the night. Really. We feel like we tried EVERYTHING.

But what we did not try was letting them self-soothe themselves back to sleep when night waking. Ok, it's called crying. Good ol' Cry It Out (CIO).

I will be the first to admit that my threshold of listening to crying is about 5.5 seconds. I hate crying. It breaks my heart and it takes everything within me not to run to the rescue of one or both of my babies crying.

But it was time.

So I finally caved in to letting a little crying, not only so we could hopefully get some sleep one of these years, but so the boys could get some better sleep, too. While Mommy secretly loved the midnight (and 2am and 3:30am, and 5am...) snuggles, I was becoming a walking zombie and it wasn't pretty.

It wasn't nearly as bad as I had imagined. And after a couple nights we heard nothing but silence and crickets chirping (from the sound machine). All. Night. Long.

So, I'm happy to announce that we can finally jump on the "Our Babies Sleep Through The Night" train! Can I get a Choo Choo?!

Aaron sleeping through the night! August 2013

Owen sleeping through the night! August 2013

PS: The 2nd most common words of wisdom I would hear from well-wishers was "Sleep when the babies sleep." Can I just tell you that that phrase does NOT apply to twin moms? It just doesn't work that way.

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

We DIG being 1!

Turning 1, in the moms of multiples world, is nothing short of a major milestone. I couldn't let it pass without throwing a big party for our favorite little duo. I decided on a construction themed party, and with a ~~little~~ lot of help from Pinterest, the day was perfect. There was wrapping paper shredding, cake smashing, and plenty of love and laughter that filled our home as our friends and family shared in Owen and Aaron's 1st Birthday.
(More on their 1st year here.)

Construction Party Set-Up

Cakes for Owen and Aaron

Snack Food

"Nuts and Bolts"

Monthly Photos

Our Family

Generous Gifts

Owen showing off a new ball!

Is that for me?!

Owen ready for cake!

Happy Birthday!

Aaron wasted no time in digging in

He ate almost half the cake!!

Mmmm, chocolate...

Owen was a little hesitant at first, but then dug in, too.

Happy 1st Birthday to our favorite little boys!

Friday, June 14, 2013

Not Doll Clothes

To prepare for the babies' arrival, we had everything under the sun when it came to baby gear. Swing? Check. Bouncers? Check. Bumbo Chairs? Yep, 2 of those. We had onesies, sleepers, burp rags and blankets galore.

But we did not have preemie clothing.

So when the boys decided to join us a few weeks early, we were on a mad dash to find preemie clothing. Preemie clothes are itty bitty. Teeny tiny. And yes, they do look like doll clothes.

The day came when Owen and Aaron's nurses asked us if we wanted to dress them in real clothing, and let me tell you, I ran back to my (boarding) room as fast as I could and returned with the preemie clothing and dressed my boys in their cute little outfits. We had to choose outfits with snaps or open feet, so the many cords Owen and Aaron were hooked up to would have a place to go. Aaron was swimming in his preemie sleeper, and Owen's preemie outfit fit him just right.

May 2012
L: Aaron's 1st Outfit
R: Owen's 1st Outfit

Well, it's been one year from that momentous day, so I decided to see how much the boys have grown. I dug out their first outfits and had the boys lay next to them. The results: simply amazing! The preemie outfits really do look like doll clothing!

June 2013
L: Aaron next to his preemie sleeper.
R: Owen next to his preemie outfit.

Monday, May 27, 2013

1st Year in Photos and Video

I recently attended Video Production Class 101 in order to create this video to highlight the boys' first year. Okay, not really, (I probably should have attended a class) but I did slave over the computer for an ungodly amount of hours navigating unknown computer programs, reminiscing tiny babies, browsing the 4,372 photos we took in their first year (seriously!), and then uploading the bagillion photos in order to make this video come to fruition. I've still got lots of learning to do, but I couldn't have been happier with the results. We played this video at the boys' 1st birthday party, but for those of you who missed it, here it is:

Saturday, May 18, 2013

One.

It seems hard to measure one whole year in such a small word. Today Owen and Aaron are One Year Old boys. Not one day. Not one week. Not one month. But one YEAR.

One year ago today I had been on bedrest for just under a month. My doctor wanted me to save up my calories for Baby B, as he was measuring on the smaller side, and not growing at the same rate as his brother.

My only adventures out of the house included a bazillion doctor’s appointments and ultrasounds, which I looked forward to immensely. If the doctors would have told me I needed to have an ultrasound every day of my pregnancy, I would have been beyond giddy. I loved laying on the plastic bed in the dark room, my husband beside me, holding hands, watching the TV monitor at what appeared to be static, to slowly begin to hear the 2 healthy heartbeats of my babies and then see them kicking and squirming around inside of me. Those appointments were the assurance I needed and craved and I loved every second of them.

As much as I loved “seeing” my babies via sonogram, there wasn’t a day that went by towards the end of my pregnancy that I didn’t secretly hope that “this” would be the day. I wanted to hold my babies. I wanted to be a mommy.

On Friday, May 18, 2012, I woke up with some new symptoms and called my doctor. I was 35 weeks and 2 days pregnant with twins, a major feat in the twin-mommy-to-be world. As I had just seen the perinatologist the day before and everything looked good, I assumed my doctor would tell me to keep resting. My scheduled C-section was just 5 days away, and let me tell you, I was counting. I was surprised when my doctor told me to come in for a quick check-up. Little did I know, I wouldn’t be returning home until I brought my 2 babies with me.

Owen Andrew (Baby A) and Aaron Joseph (Baby B) arrived at 6:34pm that hot, sunny, Spring day. Hearing each baby cry for the first time, and then having my husband bring each baby over and place their tiny bodies next to my face are life-changing moments that surpassed my wildest dreams.

Welcome to this world!

This past year has been life’s biggest blessing. There was a long stretch of time that went by when the milestone of becoming parents seemed impossible. The journey of infertility was painfully stabbing, heartwrenching and real. I often questioned if maybe Motherhood might not be in God’s plan for me. I am forever thankful that it was, and I do not take any day of it for granted.

365 days is a long time to sum up in words. We have celebrated moving up to the next diaper size, sleeping for more than 2 ½ hours at a stretch, and pooping after a 5 day hiatus. We have applauded rolling over, first crawls, and climbing stairs. We have felt the warmth of not one, but two sleeping babies on our chests, the times you know your physical presence alone is powerful enough to soothe a crying soul. We have experienced the looks of strangers staring in awe as a sleep-deprived (but showered!) new mom tackles a double stroller from the trunk of the car, unfolds, clicks in 2 infant car seats (with sleeping babies tucked inside), attaches a diaper bag, bottles, purse, and water bottle in 95 degree weather and somehow manages to open the double doors and push the stroller-limo inside to arrive on-time to our babies’ first doctor appointment.

We have been overcome with joy as we see our boys light up and smile as we enter the room or return home from work knowing they recognize their momma and daddy. I have learned to eat breakfast, go to the bathroom, fold 2 baskets of laundry, and put my hair in a ponytail in under 30 seconds. We can no longer view our household furniture as anything but the latest and greatest climbing equipment. We have witnessed our boys become built-in playmates and best friends. We have cheered when peas and macaronis have made it safely into their mouths, instead of dropped onto the floor for Brady’s next treat. I have felt ragged, please-pass-the-toothpicks so I can prop my eyelids open, physical exhaustion, only to be followed by hearing my baby say “ma-ma” and feeling as though someone just refueled my gas tank.

In one year it’s been the highest of highs: two babies smiling, two babies giggling with that deep belly-roll laughter, two babies reaching up to you for some extra time on your lap. Two babies who find comfort in not only their parents, but in each other, too.

And while it hasn’t always been all peaches and cream: there have been two babies crying, twice the diapers and dishes. Two babies teething, the messier-than-you’d-like house, two babies to teach to sleep through the night (still learning…), two babies needing your undivided attention at the exact.same.minute. Many days are filled with constant chaos and things don’t always go as planned (eek!). There are times when you wonder if you should throw on your referee shirt and whistle. The constant demands that do not go away, just because the sun went down. It’s taking 45 minutes to get into the car for a field trip to the local coffee drive-through, to get there and order, and arriving back home to realize that you drove away without actually getting your coffee. Oops.

But, my friends. THIS is the life I have dreamed of and prayed for. All of it. We are so grateful for each moment this past year and cannot wait for what is to come! We are so beyond blessed with 2 healthy boys. Owen Andrew and Aaron Joseph, you have filled my year with more happiness that I ever imagined possible.

Happy 1st Birthday to my little loves.

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

1 Year = 12 Adorable Months

I will admit, monthly baby photos was the first idea I gleaned from Pinterest back when I was on bedrest last Spring. It seemed like the perfect way to a) make sure I was taking at least one photo of our babies each month (ha!) and b) capture their unique milestones that would undoubtably take place during the first year.

What I didn't realize is that documenting monthly photos would a) require a staff of 15 photo assistants to wrangle babies into position and b) force my husband and I to learn to stand on our heads while making funny faces and calling out our dear babies' names in hopes that they might just happen to look at the camera at the same time and smile.

While it was my goal to have Aaron on the left and Owen on the right in each photo, there were certain months where the stars just didn't align and Owen was on the left, and by the time I realized it, a major meltdown was about to occur, so the photo shoot was over and on the left he stayed.

1 Month June 18, 2012