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