Curious?!

I need y'all's help! I'm trying to find information or even personal stories of women who have had unexplained infertility, gotten pregnant with Ivf then had an IUD and gotten pregnant after its removal. I know it's a pretty specific subject and we aren't ready for another baby just yet but I've had my Mirena in for about a year, I was just curious if anyone has any information about this.

We Made it to One Year!!!

Long time no blog :-)  While I've been following along with everyone else's blogs pretty much on a daily basis, I just haven't felt like updating my own for some odd reason.  But now I definitely feel like I have something blog-worthy to write about....my babies are ONE YEAR OLD!!!!

It's so unbelievable to think that we have a whole year of twin parenting under our belts!!  I am so incredibly humbled by the fact that we are the parents to these two beautiful kiddos (if I do say so myself)!  What a crazy year it has been too!  While I am not a mushy, overly affectionate, overly emotional kind of gal, I have found myself brought to tears many times over my babies turning one.  It's such a strange feeling of happiness, sadness, joy, and relief.  Happy that I am able to call these babies my son and daughter.  Sad that slowly but surely these two are drifting away from being babies anymore.  Joy that we have two healthy and happy kids.  Relief that we have made it a whole year and everyone has survived :-)

It's amazing to look back to their hospital pictures and see how little they were.  I can't even remember them being that small. 

This was taken at just a few weeks old.

 

They are doing more and more each day.  Here are some of the current highlights:

 

Colton-Goofy is the word to describe this little guy.  He loves being the center of attention.  He loves laughing and making you laugh.  Colton is slightly taller than Audrey but very skinny.  Just recently his appetite has picked up big time and he is slowly starting to get a little tiny belly (which I love!)  Though he hasn't even ventured to try to walk on his own, we have a walk behind toy that he literally pushes all over the house.  He is so steady on that thing that I know if he just tried, walking on his own wouldn't be a problem at all.  Currently, he has 3 teeth on the bottom and 4 on the top.  He is obsessed with Mickey!  He dances to all the songs on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and will stop in his tracks if he hears Mickey's voice come on tv.



He has a pretty decent vocabulary so far.  He says Dada, Mama, Bye-Bye (accompanied by waving), Puppy and Bailey (our dog's name) but it actually sounds more like Bay-eee.  Colton is a pretty picky eater.  There is not a vegetable that you will eat more than a few bites of.  Guess the apple didn't fall from the Daddy Tree on this one :-)

 

Audrey-The girl is just like her momma through and through.  She is Miss Independent.  She will play by herself forever but when she wants your attention, you better give it to her.  Otherwise she will throw the world's biggest fit which usually includes her throwing her head down on the ground.  Thankfully she usually does this on our rug in the living room but last night she attempted it in the bathtub.  She came up spitting and sputtering water (I don't think she will attempt that again).  She loves her brother so much!  She will come up to him and put her head on his or give him a smooch.  She will blow kiss and say a loud "Muah" with it!  Too cute!  But she only does this when she's in the mood. Audrey also will give you a big open mouthed kiss if you get close to her face and ask her for a "smooch".  She is a fantastic eater.  There hasn't been too much that she will not eat.  She will say Dada and Mama but that's about it right now.  She can balance standing if you let go of hands but only for a second or two.  Walking with the walker is still somewhat new and she doesn't go too far but she likes to walk on her tip toes which could be part of the reason she's unsteady :-)  Her hair is getting pretty long and hangs in her eyes so its usually a Pebbles ponytail on top of her head or pigtails everyday.  Surprisingly, she doesn't put up much of a fight most days for me to do her hair.  I think she likes it when I tell her how pretty she is when I get done. Poor baby still only has two bottom teeth.  Not sure when the others will come in :-)

 

I am sure there are many other things I should comment on that I've forgotten but those are most of the major highlights right now.  I'll leave you with a few recent pictures of the kids and of their 1st Birthday Party which was Thing 1, Thing 2 themed.

 Audrey-12 months

Colton-12 months

Checking out his new DVD

Audrey had her eyes closed but this is the best pic I have of her outfit

Didn't do too bad :-)

This is supposed to be a picture of the decor but Jared(center), his dad(left) and his sister(right) posed.  Do not adjust your screens, yes his dad is wearing a giant cowboy hat. :-)

 

6 Months!

We are still here!  I've been keeping up with everyone's blogs daily but have just not had the energy to post something myself.  Basically I've just been lazy :-)  But now that our babies are 6 months old I felt this was a good time for an update.  First, let's start with the good stuff: pictures!

Things are starting to get to a really good place lately.  Not sure if that's due to their age or the Zoloft but either way, life is good. :-)  Seriously though, I did struggle for awhile with anxiety after I went back to work.  I constantly felt like I was drowning in everything I had to do.  And that was another problem, I felt like I spent each day just checking off things on a to do list as opposed to actually enjoying my children. It took awhile for me to realize that I just needed to talk to the doctor.  Reading a fellow blogger's post actually is what gave me the push to actually have the conversation.  Thanks Jessica!  Now I take time to just play and enjoy my kids and I feel WAY less stressed about everything.

I can't believe how much they have grown and changed in 6 months.  Colton now weighs 14 lbs. 6 oz. and Audrey weighs 14 lbs. 12 oz.  They both have a long list of nicknames.  Colton's are Dude, Dude Bug, Bug Man, and Bubba.  Audrey's are Chunky Monkey, Sis, Rose, Rosie, and Rosa.  No idea where all the Rose nicknames came from but they stuck.  Colton is a wild man!  He is trying so hard to crawl but can roll or scoot to wherever he needs to be.  It's already time to baby proof the house because this little guy is trying to get into everything.  Audrey on the other hand is much more laid back and always has been.  She's content to just lay there and play with a toy or her hand most of the time.  They are both obsessed with the jumperoo!  They will play in that thing forever.  Audrey also has a little walker (I say it's Audrey's because I could only find a pink one and she enjoys it more but they both play in it) which they both have figured out how to move but only in reverse :-)

We are still waiting on them to be able to sit up and for their teeth to come through.  It seems like they have been teething since 3 1/2 months but still nothing yet.  Mommy's life has been made a ton easier since they both have learned how to hold their own bottles!  They started experimenting with solid foods here and there at about 4 1/2 months.  We are now giving them a fruit in the morning and a vegetable each evening.  They both do so well with the spoon.

They are still not sleeping through the night consistently.  Audrey is much better about this and generally sleeps through the night unless she has a cough or an ear infection.  Colton will wake up 2-3 times per night just flopping around in his crib.  Generally his eyes are closed but he is fussing and rolling all around.  Usually we just pat his tush a few times and he will calm back down.  He did have a 3 night stretch of sleeping through the night but unfortunately, Audrey took her turn of waking up those nights :-(  Oh well, it will happen eventually.

Those are the main highlights for now.  I can't wait to see what the next 6 months has in store for our little family!

Happy St. Patricks Day!!

Not sure why I couldn't rotate the individual pics :-(

Y'all are amazing!

I just wanted to say thank you to all of the amazing support and encouraging words I received on my last post.  It was truly overwhelming to have such great advice and positive feedback from so many of you!!

Thankfully last night was better and I felt like I got to spend time enjoying my kiddos.  Audrey is starting to do a lot of talking and smiling and it truly melts my heart! Thanks to some of your advice, I left the bottle washing and making up to the hubby.  Both babies also took about a 45 min. nap which allowed me to make dinner and do a bunch of other little things around the house.  My biggest problem is asking for help and y'all helped me to realize that sometimes I just have to suck it up and ask hubby's family to help when I'm feeling overwhelmed.  I'm even getting a night out tomorrow for dinner with a friend and baby shopping!

It's reassuring to know that I'm not alone in feeling overwhelmed and that it just happens from time to time.  No one ever said this would be easy but after last night's quality time with my little man and baby girl plus all of your kind words, I'm feeling like I can do this.  Just need to take it one day at a time. :-)

Mommy Guilt x 2!

I hesistated about posting this.  I wasn't sure how it would be taken or if it would be misconstrued. But I have to be honest and get this off my chest.  So here goes:

I'm struggling here.  Taking care of two babies and working full time and keeping up a household and paying all the bills is hard work and I feel like I'm barely surviving.  There was no transition period of learning to take care of a child, making mistakes and learning from them, learning the best ways to do things, what works and what doesn't so you have these tools for your second child.  It was just, BAM, mom of two overnight.  Going from zero to two when your husband works basically every day of the week including weekend days and evenings during the week is taking its toll on me.  Especially when both babies need attention and there is only one parent available.  I want to sit as a family and enjoy each other but with two babies to take care of and get everything ready for the following day has me literally running from the second I get home at night until the second my head hits the pillow.  My fears are that my children won't develop skills like sitting up and grasping things when they should but most importantly, I worry that they aren't getting enough love and attention.  It already worries me that they don't get enough attention all day long at day care but then I have to spend almost half of the evenings just getting things ready for the next day.

Now I hope no one reads this and thinks I'm complaining about my children and the amount of work.  It is actually because of my love for them that I am feeling guilty that I can't do everything perfectly and spend more time with them and as a family.  Any suggestions from those who have been here are definitely welcomed.

The Best Things About Being a Mommy

Inspired by a fellow blogger's post, I decided to make a list of my favorite things that the babies are doing right now.  Plus the last few days have been "those" kind of days.  All moms, especially moms of multiples, can relate to the feeling of being utterly and completely overwhelmed.  So I figured there is no better time to document the things that I love about these two sweet babies.

Colton
-The way he talks and talks and talks.  He doesn't care if you talk back because he has that much to say. 
-His smile is so stinking cute and I have a feeling he is going to use that down the road to get out of trouble.  It is seriously the most adorable grin in the world but its almost a mischievious one :-)
-How he fights his sleep but once I get him calmed down, he snuggles up into you.
-He is the most peaceful sleeper that almost always has his arms up above his head. 
-He has started batting at his toys and it amuses him when he makes contact with them.

Audrey
-My little serious baby.  She takes everything in and watches all that is going on around her.
-She loves to watch the tv.  We will have it on in the background and it just fascinates her.
-Her smile lights up her whole face.  She has the biggest grin in the world.
-She's so laid back.  She could hang out in the swing or bouncer all day if you let her just looking around.
-There are some seriously pudgy cheeks on this girl.  When she sleeps, she sleeps hard and they just poof out :-)
-She also has started batting at her toys but she seems to think deeply about what she is doing.  It cracks me up.

I cannot believe they are already 3 months old!  They are changing every day and getting so big.  Man, I love these two!!