From Son Up to Son Down

It's been so crazy in this house since Mike's been gone, yet at the same time things have been rolling along smoothly. It's already been a week and I feel so confident that the next week will fly by and my other half will be home. If I have one word to describe what it's like taking care of four under 3, it would be movement. Constant movement. I've been wanting to do a post like this for a long time, and I figured now would be the perfect time. I have documented our entire day from "Son up to Son down".

7:15 am

 

 

Rise and shine sweet boys :)

After their bottles I put them in their swings and tried to close my eyes for

a bit longer. But they were too busy babbling away so I just

got up and got myself dressed & ready for the day.

 

 

8:00 am

I didn't even have one extra minute to take a picture because today was

a school day. I dressed M&T right away and served them french toast sticks for

breakfast. I packed their lunches and we were out of the

door by 8:30. I can't wait until they catch the bus and are gone all afternoon!!

 

9:15 am

 

Finishing up their morning nap. So while they did that,

I did this:

 

 

                               BEFORE                                                                    AFTER

 

 



Eh, not much of a difference but it makes me feel better. Someday my room

will be decorated beautifully and will be my lovely retreat.

 

 

9:30 am

Babies woke up= one on one playtime with mama <3

(and their new found love Sophie)

 

 

 

I changed the babies and fed them again and we headed out the door at 10:15

We left the gym at 11:30 and picked up M&T from school.

And this is when I recieved the sweetest gift ever!

I wish I looked better, but whatever, that's how it was!

 

 

12:15 pm

Lunch!

I'm a sucker for a little person asking "Mommy, can

we go to Mcdonalds and get a cheeseburger samwich and french fries

and chocolate milk and a tooooooy?!"

 

Yes, I prop my babies bottles. It needs to be done.

 

The kids all played for a bit and caught up on some of their important shows ;)

Coming up next is either my favorite part of the day, or my most hated.

Naps!

I have been a little off schedule with naps lately and putting everyone

down based on when the babies are ready for their afternoon rest.

Today was a good day for sure!

 

1:45 pm

 

 

 

3:30 pm

All my boys are up and sleeping beauty is still doing her thing.

So here they are playing, yet again.

you like that messy living room, huh?

 

The next few hours is usually when shit hits the fan, ha.

 

 

4:00 pm

Little Miss is awake & cranky....then......

...naked and still hungry? Hence the giant tub of animal crackers.

And my son WAY too close to the tv. Don't judge me;)

 {is this picture not the epitome of motherhood?}

 

And Mr CrankyPants (grayson) was super clingy so I took him on a quick walk to

the mailbox. Trust me, that was an adventure. But look how

freaking cute he is!

 

5:00 pm

Grubbin' on some carrots. It was really hard not to share this on Facebook!

 

5:30 pm

And this is how you bath twins.

{Madden}

 

 

6:00 pm

I gave the babies their bottles and put them to bed. Easy peasy.

By this time I was soaked from baths and ready to for bed myself.

But, the big kids needed to eat I guess.

 

7:00 pm

I have no more pictures from the evening because I didn't even want

to give the kids any signs of playing. It was BEDTIME. Period. I was

so done. I knew what was coming...

 

Crying. Kicking. Screaming. Get me a drink. Cover me up. Close my closet.

"Mom, Tenley's singing!!"  "Mommy, Michael's tapping!!"

I need to go pee-pee. I need Buzz. I need Ducky. I want my blue blanket.

Turn the hall light on. Close my drawer. Sing me a song.

Give me a hug & a kiss.

 

Someone please kill me now.

 

 

8:00 pm

I zone out watching tv and straighten up a bit. I then head to bed at 10 pm.

What an ending!

Totally different than the nights I throw back shots and dance on the

kitchen table ;)

 

Hope you enjoyed a glimpse into our day!

 

-Nicole

 



Here we gooo

**I wrote this on 2/1/13 but didn't realize it never posted.

I seriously just miss Mike so much! I felt like such a mess this morning and was on the verge of tears at just the thought of him being gone. Really? He leaves all the time, jeeze!

I haven't posted in so long. I mean, it's not like I am busy or anything ;) The past few months were super busy with the holidays. Traveling, packing/unpacking, guests, shopping, school parties ...I was glad to see the season end. Although, we do LOVE having our guests and traveling to see them too!!

I can NOT believe in just one week, the twins will be 6 months old. Again, tears come to my eyes at every mention of another month passing...I'm a mess. They are honest to God, the BEST babies!! They are just so full of smiles and they sleep well, eat well, and play well!! I honestly said to the twins before Mike left "bring it". Haha, because I was just rambling on and on about how much I love them and how EASY they have been (the older 2, a whole different story) and how I feel like such a pro. They are I believe on the same schedule they have been. Up from 6 am to 6:30 pm with 3 naps. They are eating solids only once a day, but I need to bump it up to 2x.

My 2 little big kids are FIERCE let me tell you. Damn, those kids can really kick my butt, bring me to tears (um, I'm sensing a theme here?), and make me question what on earth I am doing wrong. I guess this is where I should mention their how smart and sweet they can be too sometimes.

I'm going to try and post a few times while Mike's gone and fill Mike and the family in on what we have been up to.

Here's a look into our upcoming plans for the week-

• I want to get to the gym everyday! And stick with 1200 calorie a day diet!
• Friday night movie night- Frankenweenie!
• The bounce house on Saturday. Hopefully this will wear the kids out and make bedtime easier.
• Superbowl Sunday. Pizza, grilled hotdogs, snacks....Salads.
• Valentines day cards to send to family
• Playdates with our friends we haven't seen in awhile

That along with school days should get us through this first week. After that it will be a countdown to when dad gets home <3 which is on Valentines Day- how fitting!

3 Months

Well my darling little mansies are 3 months old TODAY! Why does it have to go so fast?! They are now full fledge babies- no longer newbies :/ On the bright side- they are on a schedule, eating one meal a day (tbsp of oatmeal) and SLEEPING! Halle-freaking-lujah! I'm sure I totally screwed up that spelling and I don't intend to figure it out at the moment. I've got about 20 minutes to throw this post together so bear with me....

Last month was pretty hectic. Mike spent 2 weeks in Alaska for work and I had more visitors in those 2 weeks than I do all year. It was great! Having our family come help me out was incredible and I am so SO SO appreciative. You all rocked the mission and even survived!! hah! But really, it did help the time go by and having extra hands was certainly needed. I also MUST mention what an awesome support group of girlfriends I have here! I love each and every one of you and will be sure to "pay you back" when the time comes. E.D.- As soon as you have a little tot of your own, I owe you a night of feedings! :) These ladies walked in with open arms ready to change diapers, give baths, and feed some mouths! So again, a huge Thank You to all of you who helped my four little ones get extra loving (and keep mom sane) while their daddy was away.


The twins have finally adapted to the schedule I put them on and Mike and I are getting sleep! It was my goal to have them sleeping by the time they were 3 months old, and I DID IT! Here is where they are at now..

6:30/7:00- wake up, bottle, followed by awake time

8:00- nap in swings

9:30- bottle, awake time

10:30- naps

12:00- bottle, awake time

2:00- bottle, hopefully a long nap bc this is when M&T take their naps

5:30- bottle, awake time (we eat dinner around 6 so the babies are fed and hopefully quiet while we eat)

6:30-  1 tbsp oatmeal/rice with pear juice

7:00- baths for everyone (I do babies, Mike the big kids who take a bath every other night)

7:30- 2 oz "night cap" followed by bed.

The babies rarely even cry at bedtime anymore and if they do it's about 5 minutes. People often ask what we do to get them to sleep so good. I have kept them on the exact same night routine since birth. Always has been bottle, awake, bath, bottle, bed. After the bath we put on a diaper with powder, nighttime lotion, fresh pajamas, and socks on their hands. We then give a 2-3 oz nighttime bottle (when they weren't eating cereal we gave a much bigger bottle). We then take them in the nursery, turn on the sound machine, tuck them in, put binkies in mouth, wind up the mobile, turn off the lights, and close the door! Same thing EVERY SINGLE NIGHT :) If they cry longer than 5-10 mins I go in and put the binky back in their mouth. If they still cry, I'll go in again and pick him up and try to burp him. This hasn't happened in about a week. They are such sweeties!

Stats-

Clothes- Size 3 months
Diapers- Finishing out our box of size 1's, and moving to 2

Sleep- lots of naps during the day and sleeping from 8 pm- 7 am with NO wake ups :) :) :)

Milestones- rolling onto their sides, eating cereal, sitting in bumbo/jumpers, talking and smiling non-stop. Have even gotten a little giggle!

Feeding- I cannot seem to get these boys to eat more than 4 ounces at a feeding. Even if I give them 5 they stop and fuss at 4! So therefore they still eat every 2 hours during the day.. But it works for now so...


K, I'm done for now. I'll try and post more often!!

7 1/2 weeks and a smile :)

**Madden smiled at me on purpose this morning!! Grayson will give a smile when you brush over his chin or lips, so he should give me one any day  :) **

Our sweet twinkies are 7 1/2 weeks now. In just the 2 weeks since my last post the babies have become so alert! They just stare and stare at me and melt my heart over and over again. I'm not gonna lie, the constant crying/eating and not giving a hoot about me trying to communicate with them were bumming me out. But now they seem to want the attention- being talked to, walking around, playing with rattles...It's nice knowing they are starting to appreciate my attempts at making them happy!

I'm happy to report that we are now getting 4-5 hours at night! We are still pretty close during the day only going 2-3 hours, but I'll take that. A schedule is falling into place and I am THRILLED!! In the books, sleeping through the night means sleeping 5-6 hours from the hours of midnight until early morning. So I can ALMOST make this claim :)

Currently, I consider my days starting at midnight since I am always up around that time anyway. Here's a peek into our day-

12:00/1:00 am- first night FEEDING and right back to bed

5:00 am (ish)- second night FEEDING and right back to bed

7:30 am M&T up and dressed and fed breakfast

7:45- FEEDING then nap

10:00 am- FEEDING,  awake time

12:00 pm- (12:30 on school days) FEEDING and lunch for the big kids.

12:30 pm- (1:00 on school days) naps for everyone

3:00 pm- FEEDING and awake time. Big kids wake up between 3-4.

5:30 pm- FEEDING, quiet time in swings or bed (in hopes of an evening nap).

6:00 pm- dinner

6:30 pm- big kids baths

7:00 babies bath; snack/story time for big kids

7:45 "big" FEEDINGS for babies (5 oz) immediately followed by bed

They are taking 4 oz bottles so that = about 32 ounces of formula a day

STATS-
Madden- 9 lbs 11 ounces (Madden has passed Grayson!)
Grayson- 9 lbs 9 ounces

Milestones- Lifting their head fully and moving it from side to side during tummy time. They are also "scooting" around. Grayson managed to get off the playmat and Madden almost made it out of the bouncer. Guess I need to start using the straps!

Clothes- 3 months!!! chunksters!!
Diapers- Size 1

As for mommy, here is my newest accomplishment- hands free feeding! Gotta do what I gotta do with all these tots ;)

Weekly Meals-

Monday- Tilapia, broccoli, rice http://www.food.com/recipe/mamas-supper-club-tilapia-parmesan-53914

Tuesday- Ham, mashed potatoes, peas

Wednesday- Split Pea Soup http://allrecipes.com/recipe/split-pea-soup/detail.aspx#

Thursday- leftovers

Friday- Chicken wraps http://pinterest.com/pin/233272455670165306/

Saturday- Stuffed shells, Caesar salad

Sunday- leftovers

XO

 

5 Weeks!

Just a quick little update :)

If you have seen my facebook posts you would know that it has been HELL pretty hard at home. We had a rough few first weeks, with losing two of our close family members, the traveling, adjusting to the twins, my recovery, lack of sleep, and Mike returning to work- which meant I was back on my own during the day. I'm not gonna lie, twins are serious work. So many people have said I don't know how you do it, and honestly, neither do I. It's pretty much constant moving. Days & nights are all the same, crying has become the background music in our house, and brushing my teeth has become almost non-existant (ew, I know!). Oh, and now that I stopped nursing, I actually wear clothes again!!! That was becoming an issue when the doorbell rang, lmao!! I can't even believe I'm attempting to write this blog! Feeding two babies & burping them takes forever, just to turn around and do it again one hour later. They are still eating every 2 hours, and if by chance they go longer, Mike and I definitely do a happy dance!! They have been pretty gassy on formula so we are working on finding something that works. They seem to be doing well on Enfamil newborn. We haven't been able to get them out of the house really because feeding them at the same time is difficult enough, so it's not like we can just pack bottles and feed them easily.

All that set aside, all the work is totally worth it. We have four happy, healthy, beautiful babies! I constantly remind myself this is all just a moment in time and will be over soon. Really, I'm just waiting for them to sleep through the night. I will be a much nicer mommy when I can get my 10 hour nights back...

Stats:
Grayson - 8 pounds 14 ounces
Madden - 8 pounds 10 ounces (I weighed myself then held them, so these may not be accurate)

Clothes- newborn
Diapers- Size 1

Milestones- they are lifting their heads when on their bellies and holding them for a few seconds while sitting. They "trail" with their eyes and have found the fan! My kids have always seemed to be fascinated by the spinning ceiling fan. They are also holding binkies in their mouths for longer periods of time.

Sleeping- I had them sleeping in their boppy pillows since birth with their feet touching. But now they wiggle around a bit so I took the pillows out. They actually enjoy sleeping side by side, although they are only sleeping 2 hours at a time. We have started the cry it out method also this week. We only let them cry 10 minutes at a time before going in. I do not take them out I just lean in and put my cheek next to theirs and put their binky back in. If they cry to 30 minutes, I take them out- but by then it's almost time for them to eat again anyway.

Schedules- I don't have them on a 24 hour schedule yet because their eating habits aren't very routine yet. Yes, they do go every 2 hours, sometimes less, rarely more. I do have in place naptimes and bedtime routines. I put on dry diapers and put them down for naps in their crib at 9:30 am, 1 pm, and 5:30 pm. They do sleep in between these hours but usually on the couch or in their swings. I do this so they get used to these nap hours for the future. They do late bedtimes right now just in case they decide to do a long sleep stretch. We have been giving baths at around 8:30 followed by a "baby massage" and fresh, warm pajamas. They then get a 4 ounce bottle, a long burp session, swaddled, and to bed around 9:30-10.

As for myself, I'm feeling great as far as recovery. I stopped nursing last week, so that pain has subsided. Although I'm kind of sad about losing my double d's, haha!! I gained 29 pounds during pregnancy abd have dropped 40 pounds since giving birth! I've been stuck at 140 pounds now so I will really need to watch my diet and start an excersize routine. I've only gotten as far as buying new running shoes, a double jogging stroller, and downloading the couch to 5k app! hahaha I'll get there....!

My "big" kids (sad face) are pretty much wild animals that would tear down these walls if they could. Their behavior has slightly improved as they have stopped pegging me with toys while I was feeding the babies. Actually, bottle feeding has seemed to have helped, since I can prop the bottle if needed to help them if they need something. Mike and I have become more constitant with time outs so they know now not to mess around! Michael and Tenley both enjoy school, but it takes tenley a little while to settle down. They already remember little songs and have brought me home special crafts :) Michael has also started soccer and I'm really excited for him. He was a bit shy at the first practice, but on the way back to the car he was dribbling the ball and hasn't stopped talking about how he is a "soccer man" now. So cute!

Ok, that was a little more than an update but people have been asking so I delivered!

We are back to home cooking again, ordering out was getting expensive!

Sunday- Cheesy sausage penne...which was simply delish! http://cassiecraves.blogspot.com/2012/02/cheesy-sausage-penne.html

Monday- leftovers

Tuesday- potroast

Wed- leftovers

Thursday- turkey tacos and spanish rice

Friday- takeout of some sort

Saturday- chicken wraps

Sunday- pork loin, mashed, veg


XO

Summmaaaa Time!

We are taking full advantage of this early warm weather! I plan on grilling EVERY night (which won't start until this weekend) :) It's so easy and the clean up is so minimal!

Saturday- BBQ Ribs, asparagus, cheesy rice

Sunday-  Turkey Burgers, pasta salad, garden salad

Monday- Ny Strips, roasted red potatoes (http://www.browneyedbaker.com/2007/12/13/roasted-red-potatoes/ , corn

Tuesday- Teryaki shrimp kabobs (shrimp, peppers, onions, pineapples), white rice (I highly doubt my kids will eat this, so I'll be using the leftovers from another night for them)

Wednesday- OMG Chicken (http://pinterest.com/pin/233272455669113994/), green beans, buttered egg noodles

Thursday- Sausage & Spinach Pasta ( a FAVORITE here)

Friday- Leftovers

Sat- CRABBBS, Mikes famous macaroni salad, broccoli


AND- We have all our flowers put in!

I could NOT resist this hanging basket. It might sound weird, but it

makes me smile :) Isn't it beautiful?!

Coreopsis Moonbeam. Hopefully they grow the full 2-3 ft as

the tag said!

Mailbox garden. Hard to see but the Clematis is up to the "4" already!

Just another pretty basket.

A SPRING schedule- yayy!!

Ok, I came up with our new daily routines. It's pretty similar to how we have always done things, just a few tweeks. I keep this up 24/7 on a sticky note on my desktop so I can stay on track.

7:30- I wake up. Coffee,shower, or quiet time. Sometimes the kids are up around this time, but I make them stay in their room. (They share a room now, so they can learn to entertain each other)

8:00- Kids up and pick out clothes. Breakfast. Get dressed.

8:30- Take a walk.

9:00- TV time. I get ready if going out.

9:30- Free play, tv off.

10:00- Morning Snack. Errands, chores, playdates, etc.

12:15- Lunch

1:00- Naps

3:30- Afternoon snack

4:30- Start dinner accordingly

5:30- Dinner

6:30 Baths

7:00- Stories and light snack.

7:30- BED!