Evelyn & Olivia, 10 and 11

September 4, 2015 By Leave a Comment

I failed epically and just never wrote about month 10. It turns out, just when I thought my life couldn’t get more hectic.. it could!

I am a teacher. I teach 11th grade US History and AP US History, APUSH for those in the know. I am a first year teacher with twin babies. I wish people wouldn’t look at me like I’m insane when I say that. Some days, I am barely staying afloat. Some days, I am kicking ass and taking names. Today has been more of the former than the latter. All of the printers were down at work and I was supposed to give a quiz to my APUSH kids. womp womp. I love teaching. I love my school. The kids are amazing. The other teachers are so supportive. I love it. Gaaaahhhh.

Evie and Liv are just fucking awesome. I mean, they don’t sleep through the night, but I have pretty much given up on that. In every other way they are beautiful, perfect, little people. They are little grinning maniacs that I love fiercely.

Liv has spent the last 6 weeks or so being “the quiet” one. Then in the last couple days she went insane and started yelling all. the. time. And swinging her arms very enthusiastically. Yesterday she swung her arm into her sister’s eye. Good job, Liv. On the other hand, Evie crawls so enthusiastically that she managed to tear off one of her toenails.

Evie is a toy stealer. At first, she didn’t act aware that she was doing it, but now she steals her sister’s toys and then mocks her. Cool Evie, cool. Olivia used to just roll with it, but now she is realizing she can steal back. Get that toy, Liv! I foresee a lot of lessons on sharing. Evie also likes to grin with a little scrunchy nose. She looks like a jack o’ lantern.

For the most part, the girls are only minimally aware of each other. They don’t have a secret “twin” language and they don’t play with each other very regularly. Every once and awhile I catch them laughing at each other. I am happy that it seems to be happening more in just the last couple week. I was starting to worry. These will be our only children, I would prefer they like each other.

For the past several weeks we have been doing baby swim lessons. The girls love water and splashing and kicking. We really only decided to do swim as a way to encourage water safety, but seeing how much fun they are having has been so rewarding. We did have one scare where Evie threw up a major amount of water, but it turned out to just be a fluke, weirdo, Evie thing. The evening in the hospital was a barrel of laughs. Other than that teeny thing.. it’s been a blast.

I am off to hyperventilate about inputting grades and planning my first and last First Birthday Party. You really only get one change to get that right…

 
Favorites - 3 of 18

Favorites - 4 of 18We don’t feed them ice cream regularly. Please don’t send me hate mail. 

Favorites - 5 of 18Liv | Evie 

Favorites - 6 of 18Liv

Favorites - 7 of 18Evie

Favorites - 8 of 18Liv

Favorites - 9 of 18Evie and Daddy

Favorites - 10 of 18Evie, not tired at all. 

Favorites - 11 of 18Evie, very sad to be at the hospital. 

Favorites - 12 of 18Evie

Favorites - 13 of 18Liv | Evie
Favorites - 14 of 18Evie | Liv

Favorites - 15 of 18Livvy with a cucumber roll. 

Favorites - 16 of 18Evie, with what was once a cucumber roll. 

Favorites - 17 of 18Evie | Liv

Favorites - 18 of 18Liv

IMG_7438Liv | Evie

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Evelyn & Olivia, Six Months

April 4, 2015 By Leave a Comment

We found out that we were having twins on April 3 of last year. Today, April 4, Evie and Liv are six months.

What a difference a year makes…

Evie and Liv have been growing in leaps and bounds over the last month. I actually had to look back on my five month update to see how far we have come in the last month. They are continually growing, but they haven’t gone up much in the weight department since month five. I blame the stomach flu. It took down our entire house. I have never seen babies vomit like that. It was inhuman. It took them almost a week to get over it.

The flu really interrupted them getting established on solid foods. We are just now getting back into the swing of it. Rob spent the day peeling, dicing, and cooking fruits and vegetables. Evie and Liv are champs when it comes to fruit but not so much on the vegetable front. We just started baby yogurt and they went bananas for it. Current food favorites include pears, peaches, and prunes. Green beans are not very popular. I am working on mixing fruits and vegetables so they are at least exposed to the flavors. They are very insistent on helping feed themselves which leads to food everywhere, but they have both mastered getting the spoon in their mouth.

I was hoping that once we introduced food they would magically start sleeping through the night. Haaaaa. We are usually up at 11, 2, and 5.  Evie is getting closer to only needing one overnight feed but Olivia is like, give me all the food. now. 

Both girls can now roll from back to belly and belly to back. This is adorable and dangerous. I don’t know if it is intentional or accidental, but no matter how far apart I lay them, they roll on top of each other. And not usually in a cute, they love each other sort of way. More like, how long is it going to take before one of them has a black eye? They are aware of each other but they don’t interact, per se. They mainly just stare. I am anxiously waiting for them to start babbling to each other.

They have discovered their feet. There is nothing cuter than Evie gnawing on her toes. Except, perhaps, Evie gnawing on Liv’s toes. Evie started occupational therapy today (finally). The therapist believes she is no longer delayed. However, she has been approved to visit Evie once a week so we are going to work on developmental play and hitting more milestones. She was impressed with both girls and thinks both are very close to sitting up!

Their personalities continue to emerge and I find so much joy in them. When I was pregnant I said I was most looking forward to baby laughs. We are there. They love being startled. They laugh and laugh when I scare them. They both like being thrown in the air and laugh hysterically. They laugh when I kiss their necks and when I sing Uptown Funk. They recognize faces and voices and turn their heads to look for someone talking to them. Arrrrghhh it kills me.

And now, lets move on to pictures before I turn into a puddle of mush.

IMG_5440Rob and I were able to attend the 125 year celebration of my university. Tad was one of my advisors in college and he is one of my favorite people in the world. I wanted to hug him 500 times. What you can’t tell in this picture is that Olivia just had a massive blowout and my hand is full of poop. Jen – 0, Olivia – 1.

Processed with VSCOcam with c1 presetHolding hands. Evie | Liv

IMG_5439Evie | Liv

IMG_5444Mom, get this crazy child off of me!! Evie | Liv

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Nothing to see here.. Evie | Liv

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Liv | Evie

IMG_5429Bedtime with Daddy.

IMG_5383New bows for Easter. Evie | Liv

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Evie | Liv

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Livvy was laughing at me.

IMG_5438Evie

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Evelyn & Olivia, Five Months

March 9, 2015 By Leave a Comment

Five months and they are babies, not newborns. Evie rolls over like a maniac and continues to kick Olivia in the head. Olivia has yet to roll over, content to just stare at her sister in wonderment. They have truly figured out that there are two of them and they grab for each other and stare at each other. It’s adorable and amazing, but I have already had to say don’t hit your sister!! Welcome to my life.

So where are we?? Evie is 14 lbs, 2 oz. She is 24.5 inches long and has a 16 inch head. Livvy is 14 lbs 6 oz. 24 inches long and a 16 inch head. They are both in the low 20s in their percentiles but are climbing at a quick rate and their pediatrician is pleased.

We had them assessed for any developmental delays and I wasn’t surprised with the results. Evie is slightly delayed in her fine motor skills and eye contact. Olivia is right on target. The day they were assessed was the first day of whooping cough (great scheduling, Mama) and Evie was just not going to be assessed no matter what. She was about a week behind Olivia in grasping and eye contact, which she has more than made up for now. I am continually learning, do not compare them. Just don’t. Evie made eye contact after Olivia, but Olivia hasn’t rolled over yet and shows no interest in it. Evelyn also learned how to throw a full body temper tantrum before Olivia. My quiet Evelyn is long gone. We now have to strap her down anywhere before we turn our backs. Milestones are so fun! I have had some wise twin moms remind me, they are sisters, not the same person. This is my mantra when I get worried.

We’ve entered the world of baby food which can be a minefield of opinions. Rice cereal? Oatmeal? Homemade? Organic? Baby Led Weaning? Start at 4 months? 6 months? Excuse me while I bury my head in the sand. Luckily, the mom group I belong to is judgment free and we have moms trying tons of different options. Further, my older sister has paved the way for me. She made all of Ainsley’s baby food and has been a fountain of information. All I have to do is text, sweet potatoes? She’ll text me back directions for cooking, good vegetables and fruit to mix it with, and spices that go well.

In case you were wondering, sweet potatoes, prunes, and bananas are a big hit. Zucchini is not. We are mixing oatmeal in with their purees, which they love. They did not love rice cereal and both looked at me like I had offered them poison. Note taken, girls.

We started them at 4.5 months because, just because. One Saturday I decided to give them sweet potatoes because I know them and it was time. I was very nervous that it would be a battle to have them figure out purees but they ate the whole container. So, I guess I know my children. Yay for parental validation!

Rob’s mom came all the way from England to see the girls last week. It was a lovely visit, but the end was hard for everyone. We took the girls to the zoo and the aquarium and the park and it was beautiful to have Rob home and his mum here. Unfortunately this visit coincided with their 4 month.. WTF?! For those of you not in parenting-land, month four is growth spurt month and sleep regression month. Fun times for all involved. Praise God for grandmas and afternoon naps. And Starbucks. I go too often and will not be judged.

As they get bigger I think they are getting more identical. They are getting closer in weight and their subtle differences are shifting. Evie continues to have a bit of a rounder head and narrower eyes, but these aren’t differences I would expect anyone but family to pick up on.

And without further ado, my little peanuts.
IMG_4362

IMG_4405Evie | Liv

IMG_4411Evie | Liv

IMG_4450Evie trying sweet potatoes for the first time.

IMG_4465Liv | Evie

IMG_4665The girls at the zoo with Grandma.

IMG_4670Livvy and Dad at the zoo.

IMG_4693Evie loving her bubblebath.

IMG_4694She kills me.

IMG_4705Livvy is a big fan of sweet potatoes, she just hasn’t gotten the whole spoon thing down yet.

IMG_4755Livvy and Aunt Jilli at the aquarium.

IMG_0832

IMG_4815Evie would like Rob’s dinner.

IMG_4823Evie | Liv

IMG_4825Evie | Liv

IMG_4828Evie | Liv

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EvieIMG_4851Liv

IMG_4857Livvy and Aunt Jilli at the park.

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IMG_4888

IMG_4898I always feel bad if I don’t post an even amount of pics of the girls, but Evie was dead asleep during this little photoshoot.

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note: most of these photos were taken by Jillian, official twin photographer.  

Filed Under: E & O, Family, twins Tagged With: , , , , , ,

whoop whoop

February 17, 2015 By 2 Comments

This post is long. The last couple days have been long.

Evie and Liv got their first real cold two Fridays ago. Runny noses, low fevers, lethargic, fussy babies. They just started daycare so I was pretty prepared for them to have colds. It was a rough week. We decided to head to the pediatrician last Friday because they didn’t seem to be getting any better. It sounded like the cold was starting to settle in their chests. I thought I was just being an overly cautious new mom, but the pediatrician surprised me by telling me she suspected whooping cough. Great. The girls were swabbed to find out if it was actually whooping cough or just a bad cold.

Saturday and Sunday the girls stayed pretty much the same but on Sunday night they started to sound a bit wheezy. I called the on-call pediatrician and guess what? She had just gotten the results. Positive for whooping cough. wtf. Since the girls were wheezing she wanted us to take them to the ER.

The ER on a Sunday night of a three day weekend is exactly what you would expect. It was insanely full of coughing kids and vomiting adults. And, for some reason, a lot of people weren’t wearing shoes. On top of this, the measles is going around southern California. Needless to say, the ER was really the last place I wanted to be. Luckily the intake nurse was understanding and let us wait in a little side room. I think this was mainly so we didn’t give people whooping cough, but I was still grateful. We were taken back pretty quickly but things went downhill from there. Though the girls seemed to have relatively minor symptoms, because of the positive test, they were going to be admitted. But there were no beds available in the pediatric wing. We sat in the ER for 14 hours.

I can safely say it was the worst experience of my life . Evie and Liv were sick and uncomfortable and had no real place to sleep. They decided to start IVs on both girls. It took four tries and a NICU nurse to find a vein on Olivia. I thought she was going to burst a blood vessel from screaming so much. The emergency room staff as helpful as they could be, but babies just don’t do well in that kind of environment.

At 10:30, Monday morning, we finally were admitted to the pediatric wing. We were able to feed the girls and they passed out in their little hospital cribs. Eventually we met with the pediatrician on duty and he told us,  based on the girls’ symptoms,  he doubted they had whooping cough. To say I was frustrated would be an understatement. The main reason we were there was that positive whooping cough test. Rob and I finally decided we needed to get home and get some sleep and take showers. We had been up for 36 hours. We slept for 3, showered, went back.

No change in Evie and Liv, but they were going to keep them overnight for observation. So Rob and I decided to.. just do it. We went home and slept for nine hours. A huge part of me felt guilty for leaving the girls, but a huge part of me felt like.. OMG I JUST SLEPT FOR NINE HOURS. Each of the girls had their own nurse over night so really, they wanted for nothing. It was only mom guilt that had me worried.

This morning we went back and the girls looked great. They had received breathing treatments throughout the night and were breathing well. All of the nurses kept commenting on how healthy and chunky they were. I was like, I know. 13 lbs each, thankyouverymuch. After a few hours of hanging out the new pediatrician arrived and declared them free to go.

So. What now? We are still waiting on the secondary test to determine whether or not they actually had whooping cough. However, since there was a documented positive, everyone in the house has to do a round of antibiotics even though we have all been vaccinated. In itself, that isn’t bad, but getting 6 adults into the doctor during flu season is going to be fun. The girls have now completed a full round of antibiotics and are no longer contagious. We have to follow up with our pediatrician to ensure they continue to get better.

I declare whooping cough weekend over.

IMG_4249Evie, headed to the hospital.

IMG_4253Finally in the pediatric ward, passed out.

IMG_4257Look at that little bruise she got when they were putting her IV in! Grrrr…

IMG_4254This face says, sleep? I don’t even remember what that is like.

IMG_425613 lbs of solid baby belly.

IMG_4270Hi guys!

IMG_4274Dad needs some sleep too.

IMG_4277Liv is happy! Even with an IV.

IMG_4279Evie learned to roll over on Friday and has declared sleeping on her back to be the worst.

IMG_4285On the way home!

Filed Under: E & O, Family, twins Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Evelyn & Olivia, Four Months

February 3, 2015 By Leave a Comment

Man oh man, our babies are four months old. In some ways it seems like it has gone by in the blink of an eye, in other ways it seems time has crawled by ever so slowly.

First, let’s remember this..

IMG_2882Two weeks old, not even five pounds. I thought they were cute then. But looking at them now.. they are cute. But more in a starved sort of way.

So, where are we? They are on either side of 12 lbs. Evie is 11 lbs 13 oz and Liv 12 lbs 6 oz. They smile like crazy and are both just starting to laugh. Sometimes they try to laugh and start choking. It’s adorable and terrifying. They have just started picking up toys and attempting to put them in their mouths. They chew on their hands constantly which means I bathe them constantly. Liv is seriously starting to drool which makes me think teething and then,  Dear God no.  Evie is very close to rolling over, she gets halfway there and then just stares at me like, how did this happen?  

Even though the girls are getting closer in weight, I don’t have any trouble telling them apart. Evie’s head continues to be rounder. She also has a higher pitched cry and laugh. Liv has wider eyes and has a deeper cry. She sounds like she is yelling at you. She’s also more willing to smile at everyone. Evie smiles plenty but she is easily distracted by shiny objects and clocks.

About a week after my last post, we turned the corner and it just.. got easier. Don’t get me wrong, some days it still feels like I am running a marathon in quicksand, but some days are okay, some days are good. Some days I end up covered in poop and I forget to brush my teeth and I don’t eat breakfast. Other days the girls are in great moods and just want to play and see the world. We go to the park and Starbucks and have a damn good time.

Sleep is about what you would expect. Most nights they want to be fed every three hours on the dot. When does that stop? Please stop. Just sleep girls. Sleep. My parents still do the first feed of the morning, without which Rob and I might actually be dead. I am hoping that when we start adding food into their diet they will start sleeping for longer stretches. Pray for me. There is much debate in Momland about when to add in food. Some pediatricians say 4 months is fine but I don’t think they are ready yet. We sit them at the dinner table with us and they watch us eat like we are weirdos. I think I am going to hold off until they show interest or are 6 months… That may change when we have their next checkup at the end of the month. Stay tuned.

Everyone tells you motherhood fundamentally changes you. So far, not the case. Yes, I love Evie and Liv fiercely and they are mine. I miss them when I am not around them and their smiles make me melt. But, I am still me. I still listen to my music too loud and swear too much. I still like pictures of cats and I still like surfing the internet for hours on end, I just have less time to do it.

Rob is still Rob. He still likes video games and going to Target with me. Seeing an engineer be a parent is a truly amazing and hilarious thing. Their brains just work differently. I will never have to worry about building a bicycle or a Barbie Dream House. Amen.

We are still us. Except now we have two tiny humans that complete our family.

And now, what you have all been waiting for…

IMG_3973Bath time is a huge hit in our house. They still take baths with me most of the time. I get peed on regularly. Whatever. (Liv | Evie)

IMG_3898Liv is very sleepy. Look at those cheeks.

IMG_3918Evie rolls and gets stuck here.

IMG_3327_2Evie is out..

IMG_3893Happy Liv.

IMG_3673Smiley Evie.

IMG_3984Working on tummy time. Look at those blue eyes. I assumed that the girls would have brown eyes because I have brown eyes, but they are still blue as blue.

IMG_3707Look at that head lift! Go Evie go!

IMG_3912(Liv | Evie)

IMG_3925See, we read to them. Making them smart. (Evie | Liv)

IMG_4013Dressed and ready for church. I rarely put clothes on them, pajamas are the way to go. I buy cute ones. That makes it okay. (Evie | Liv)

IMG_6248Out at the park with Grandma and Grandpa. (Liv | Evie)

Processed with VSCOcam with m5 presetSnuggles from Aunt Jilli. (Evie | Liv)

IMG_3935(Evie | Liv)

Filed Under: E & O, Family, Marriage, twins Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,
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