Out for a visit

Yesterday we took Ben and Maddie to Hastings to visit Marge, my Dad's girlfriend. Some of her family members and my Dad's sister were also there. This was the first time any of them had met the twins. This was also the longest car ride the babies have taken -- they slept the whole time, both ways. Of course, they were little angels the whole time we were there.

Here are some pics...

Marge with Ben:

From March 2009

Lois with Ben:

From March 2009

My aunt Bev with both of them:

From March 2009

Dan and Lois with Ben:

From March 2009

Casey with Maddie:

From March 2009

Also snapped these cute pics the last couple of days...

From March 2009

From March 2009

Sleep, glorious sleep!

Maddie and Ben shocked us last night by sleeping for 8 1/2 hours!!

I put them to bed at 8 pm, expecting they would wake up around midnight. I got up about that time to pump and watched them for a few minutes, but no sign that they would wake. So I laid back down, certain that I would be awoken shortly.

I woke up around 4 am and was stunned when I saw the clock. Still no crying babies. But a few minutes later Maddie was clearly waking up, so I woke Ben up too. (although I think he might have slept longer if I not disturbed him).

After eating, they went back to sleep until 7:45 am. Wow.

The funny part is this. There are a couple schools of thought out there about how to get kids this age to sleep through the night. One is to keep them awake during the day so they are tired. The other is "sleep begets sleep" -- the more naps they take during the day, the better they will sleep at night.

Well yesterday, Maddie slept pretty much non-stop from 1 pm on. Ben was awake almost the whole time. Yet both slept through the night!! Very weird.

I don't care the reason, I just hope this is a new trend. :-)

3 months!

Yesterday Maddie and Ben reached the 12-week old mark. Yep, that's 3 months! The time has flown by. We've definitely gotten past the really hard part.

I'm sure glad I have a long maternity leave. I can't imagine having to go back to work right now. Although, I think most of that is due to the fact that the newspaper industry -- and the PiPress -- are in the toilet and not doing the kind of work that I enjoy. UGH.

I watched a video we made of a nurse showing us how to swaddle the babies and the baby in the video was Ben, but I wouldn't have recognized him if not for the "Ben" written on his hospital hat! They have changed sooo much.

Right now they are sitting in their bouncy chairs watching the bubbles on one of the bouncer toy bars. It's see-through, so if I put the two chairs facing each other, both can enjoy the same toy bar. They get so excited by something so simple.

Yesterday they celebrated their 3-month birthday by sleeping pretty much all afternoon. It was sweet for mom! They slept the whole time my mother's helper was here and she didn't even get to hold one of them! She just kept on eye on them, while I worked out and got some things done around the house. We'll see how this afternoon goes. It's rare to get those long naps two days in a row, but I can certainly hope.

Our first cold

I took Maddie to the doctor last night cause she is very congested. When I called the pediatrician's office in the late afternoon they said I should take in her to be seen because there's always concern about pneumonia or bronchitis at this age, however the doctor we saw said it's certainly just a cold. She has a slight fever, is coughing and is congested, but otherwise is eating and sleeping normally. So now we just have to hope that Ben doesn't get it too!

Other news...my best friend Dani had her baby yesterday. It's a boy! His name is Ezra. This is her second child. Her daughter Eden just turned 2 years old. I'm hoping to go visit them in La Crosse sometime before my maternity leave ends.

OMG I'm almost 40!

Yesterday I turned 38 years old. It just doesn't seem possible. Where have all the years gone? This year is also my 20th high school reunion. How is that possible?

To celebrate my birthday, Jamey and I went to dinner. My aunt and a friend volunteered to babysit so we took them up on it.

My gift from Jamey was a digital photo frame -- his intention is that I'll take it to work with me when I return.

Speaking of that, I took the babies to my office on Wednesday for my co-workers to have a peak at them. They were pretty well behaved, although it kind of wrecked havoc with their usual afternoon nap. Oh well.

Here's the photo of the day...taken just a few minutes ago right after babies finished their lunch...

From March 2009

11 weeks

Amazing that the babies are almost 3 months old!

This week we had lots of adventures. Yesterday I took them to my office to visit my co-workers. They were very well behaved, although I disrupted their nap time so when they got home, and finished eating, they promptly fell asleep for several hours.

We've also been out for a stroller walk and an outing to the mall! Lots of time outside the house with new things to see and experience.

Today we're staying put for our usual day. Now it's almost time for eating again, so I've gotta run.

Here's an amazing picture of Ben from a couple days ago!

From March 2009

New adventures

Today I took Ben and Maddie out for their first walk in the stroller! They both stared up at me the whole time with this look on their faces that seemed to say, "what the heck are you doing to me now?!"

But they didn't cry at all. We only stayed out a few minutes, but it was a big adventure none the less.

Other news...
They are sleeping much longer stretches at a time -- sometimes as much as 5 hours at a time! Unfortunately for us that long stretch tends to be in the evening (from like 6 pm to midnight-ish) and they only do 3-4 hour stretch during the wee hours of the morning when I'd prefer to be sleeping. All in all, though, the whole sleep thing has gotten much better.

They are WAY more playful and social with every passing day. Ben loves to "talk" to anyone who will talk back with cooing sounds.

Yesterday I went to the semi-annual garage sale held by the St Paul Moms of Multiples club. I got to talk to all kinds of other twin moms and I bought tons of clothing and other things we're going to need in the next few months -- including swimming suits for when they take their first dip in Cyclone Lake!

I think that's about all for now. They are starting to get fussy and I think it's time for their "dinner" and then bedtime.

Latest pics

Here's a very serious Maddie....

From March 2009

And the many faces of Ben...

From March 2009

From March 2009

From March 2009

Finally found this picture

From March 2009

We finally found this picture of my dad's best friend, John Ozbun, holding the babies from several weeks ago. John has been a very big influence in my life -- pretty much family -- and a picture in my own baby album is of him holding me when I was just a few days old. So it means a lot to me that he came to visit us to hold my babies!

Photos March 13

Here are the latest pics. Nothing too exciting to report around here. Same old, same old.

From March 2009

Ben, foreground, with Caleb Umland, a friend's baby who is about a week older than Ben and Maddie. Caleb came over on Tuesday with his mom to hang out with us.

From March 2009

Ben this afternoon playing in his gym. We tried to catch him smiling but it was tough to get on camera, even though he does it quite a bit these days.

From March 2009

Maddie this afternoon giving us a smile!

From March 2009

Momma with Ben.

From March 2009

Momma with Maddie

Going through some changes

Maddie and Ben are spending more time awake during the day -- making it a bit tougher for Mom-- and we are having fussy time in the evening. The late afternoons tend to be rough for me, so I've made some changes.

The big one is that I've hired a 14-yr-old neighbor girl to be my "mother's helper" for the indefinite future. She babysits older kids but doesn't have experience with babies. So I'm going to train her -- on the job -- and eventually we hope she'd be up for actual babysitting. She's going to start working after school on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Just having a second pair of hands for a few hours a day makes a HUGE difference. And if there's a chance the babies go to sleep -- or at least one is sleeping -- perhaps I can sneak downstairs to the treadmill for a few minutes to work on shedding the remaining 15 pounds (I'd LOVE to be able to start wearing my regular clothes again!)

I've also recruited some help from other family and friends to fill in the other days. Luckily I've got some great women nearby who are eager to rock babies!

Maddie and Ben are starting to be a lot more social and showing their little personalities. Maddie is definitely the more laid-back one, although she can work up a pretty good wail when she's not getting what she wants. Ben, on the other hand, will wail at the drop of a hat. He seems very "sensitive" to just about anything.

Here's a new pic of Maddie...

From 2 months

2 months

From 2 months

From 2 months

From 2 months

We hit the 2-month mark last Wednesday. The babies got their immunizations on Tuesday and passed their doctor visit with flying colors. We are still battling reflux in both of them. They've started on a new medication so we're hoping it gets better soon.

Both seemed to have changed dramatically in the past week. They are more social -- including lots of smiles! -- and getting them to sleep is getting harder, especially during the day. They seem to alternate naps -- one naps after the first feeding, the other doesn't and vice versa the next time. It's quite a hassle for me!!