Alright, so let me start by saying I HATE to hear my babies cry. I actually have a "no cry rule". I'm serious, an absolute NO CRY rule, so much so that I will hold both kids at the same time to keep them from crying. My husband, along with everyone else, thinks I'm absolutely nuts. I don't care. I hate to hear the helpless cries of Olivia and Cole, it's like nails on a chalk board. With that being said, night times had become a complete shit show at our house. For the first three months it was the putting down of the kids that took forever, literally. We would be lucky if we were done in two hours. Then that finally got easy about three weeks ago and the middle of the nights became hell. The kids started waking up around 11 or 12 and again at 4:30. This would be hard with one child, let alone two children. They never coincided their wake ups, they would always stagger them one to two hours apart, so Bryce and I would literally be awake the entire night. On top of being up the entire night, when the kids woke up they would scream bloody murder and kick and throw their pacifiers (yes, at four months old). I kept making excuses until one night Cole did this for three hours. I had it. Bryce and I kept tossing him back and forth to each other because he wouldn't calm down for either of us. I'm not sure if he wanted to play or was just pissed in general that the sun wasn't up, but either way it was utter chaos. The next day Bryce and I sat down and I said "something has to change". I, like many other mothers out there, had not slept for more than a four hour span since I was three months pregnant. THREE. I felt like a walking zombie, but had learned to have that feel like the norm. It was pathetic really. Well, on Sunday after Mass, Bryce and I made the mutual decision to have the kids cry it out. This is a method that I swore I would never do, especially since I have a rule about no crying, even for one minute. Well, I threw that method out the window and we started with night one. I had been warned that some babies cry for up to three hours so I prepped myself for the absolute worse. Night one wasn't too bad, Cole cried for a solid eighteen minutes and Olivia cried for twenty minutes and then they both put themselves back to sleep. Some how some way, they can sleep through each other's wailing. I don't know how the hell they can do that, but they can. It's a true talent. Night two was a bit of a different story. Cole woke up first and cried for an hour and eight minutes. Longest hour of. my. life. Olivia woke up thirty minutes later and whimpered for ten minutes (not loud enough to keep Bryce or I from falling asleep, I know that's horrible). The next day Bryce had to leave to go to Houston for business. Super. I prepared myself that I was going to have to fend two crying babies by myself. I had my cat cuddled up in bed with me and gave him a pep talk that he would have to cuddle with me through the loud cries of my children. I woke up at 3 am to silence, I woke up at 4:30 am to silence and I woke up at 6 am to...silence. Both Olivia and Cole slept the entire night. 11.5 hours. Best 11.5 hours of my life. I'm probably jinxing myself by writing about this and telling everyone, but I don't care. Even if it was a one night thing, it was a glorious one night thing.
Big Recap
Thursday, February 20, 2014
Hello! Sorry I haven't written in a while, we have been super busy! We went to Houston three weeks ago and Bryce came back and forth from Pittsburgh and Houston for business and Olivia and Cole's baptism. The twins and I stayed with my parents for two amazing weeks and I was so sad to leave. While we were in Houston we took advantage of the warmer weather (warmer compared to the sub zero temperatures we are used to) when we could. The majority of the trip we spent trying to kick the colds we caught. First, Cole caught it, then I caught it, Olivia caught it, then my mom and dad got it. It was seriously like the walking dead for a while. Luckily, Tylenol did the trick and Olivia and Cole started feeling better in a few days. We did get to see all my friends that I haven't seen since July (my last trip home) and it was so good to see all of them. Unfortunately, during the time that Olivia was sick was one of my best friends bachelorette parties. I opted to go just for the lingerie shower and go home before the night started because I didn't want to leave Olivia her first time sick. I was so sad to miss the bachelorette party, but her wedding is in two weeks and we are going back to Houston for it and I absolutely can not wait! On our last day in Houston, my parents, Olivia, Cole and I went to walk at the bayou. The bayou is one of my favorite places back home. It is so peaceful and I absolutely love being outdoors.
The day after we got back to Pittsburgh, Olivia and Cole turned four months! They are growing so fast and every day they do something new...it is so fun! Everyone asks me "How do you do it? How do you handle twins practically by yourself with Bryce working and having no family close by?" Honestly, I just do it. I don't know anything different. I'm not going to lie, there have been a few days where I call my mom or Bryce crying because I am so stressed out because the kids just keep screaming or their nap schedules are COMPLETELY not on the same schedule (which makes for absolutely NO time to myself ). It will be so much easier when the weather is
warmer and we can spend our days outside instead of being cooped up with little to nothing to do. Warm weather makes everything better. :)
Speaking of warmer weather, I did a little Spring shopping (online) last night. I LOVE spring and summer clothes and there are so many cute clothes out there right now. I also got a new diaper bag! My old one was a Carters and I really liked it, but it just wasn't practical with two babies. It had to go on the shoulder and when I carry both babes, it would always fall off and hit one of them or just be a total pain in the ass. I have been wanting a new one for a while, but didn't know which one to get, until my friend Pam came over to my parents house in Houston! She had a Petunia Pickle Bottom bag and I fell in love with it. My mom and dad ended up buying it for me and it just came in the mail yesterday! The thing I love most about it (besides all the room it has) is that it can be used as a satchel or as a back pack. I am going to use it as a back pack because with two babies, you need both arms as much as possible.
Well, I think I've caught y'all up on what's been going on the past month or so. Hope y'all have a great Friday, tomorrow!
Cherish the Moment
Thursday, January 23, 2014
It's the little things. The little things in life that you rush through and don't take the time to think about how truly special they really are. I am constantly in a rush. Typically, one of the twins is always needing something; therefore, I don't ever get to just sit and enjoy the moment. Tonight, I did. My husband always helps put Olivia and Cole to bed. He puts one to sleep and I put the other to sleep. Usually, I am so ready to have "me time" that I rush through the bedtime routine. Tonight was different, tonight I felt a since of calmness surround me. Bryce was trying to find his birth certificate for his passport (we're going to the Dominican Republic in April!) and Olivia woke up. I was in the midst of writing this blog post (which was going to be on a completely different topic an hour ago). I picked her up and just rocked her. I didn't think she would actually fall asleep because she usually wants more formula, but she did. I sat there and rocked, just staring at sleeping beauty. I thought about how I need to slow down and enjoy the little things more often. Babies don't stay babies forever and I need to savor every minute of every day. Yes, it is true, I rarely have a minute to myself all day until both kids are asleep, but that in itself won't last forever. I need to realize I will never get these days back. Even if we have another baby, it won't be twins and it will be a completely different scenario. The doctor told us that twins are 1 in 70 births and it is a complete blessing that I want and need to take more time to enjoy. Yesterday, Olivia, Cole and I went to our friends house to meet her new baby girl. Olivia and Cole both started pitching fits and crying. My friend, Megan, took a video of it and all she could do was laugh. Laugh. That's what I need to do in those situations instead of stressing out because I was trying to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich that should take one minute, but it took me twenty. The thing that I loved more than anything in this situation was that as soon as I picked both of them up and placed each of them on my lap, they stopped crying immediately. I loved that. I loved that they both just wanted me.
This was a pretty sappy blog post and I'm by no means a sappy person, but watching a baby sleep soundly in your arms does something to you. Their innocence maybe? I don't know, but what I do know is that I am going to start taking a breath and reminding myself that these moments won't last forever and to take it all in.
Jess, over at www.sadieskyboutique.com teamed up with another blogger to start a campaign about "It's the Little Things Link Up". They want everyone to talk about their little things in life and also use #littlethingslinkup on Instagram when taking pictures so we can all remember that life isn't about rushing, it's about taking small things and reminding yourself that they are important.
Weekend Recap
Monday, January 20, 2014
I hope everyone's weekend was amazing like ours! I love weekends, it means I have help during the day because Bryce is off :). Friday morning started by Cole waking up at 6:00 and being wide away. It didn't bother me at all because he always smiles in the morning and is the happiest baby. If the twins wake up before 7:00, but after 5:00 I bring them in bed with us. There is a fine line because I don't want them to get spoiled and start a habit of sleeping in our bed, but I love snuggling with them. He eventually fell back asleep about an hour later, just in time for Liv to wake up. As soon as I opened the curtains in their room I found a beautiful sunrise. I hate the snow and cold weather in Pennsylvania, but I have to admit that it was beautiful.
Later that morning, I called Bryce and asked him if he wanted to skip the afternoon of work and come home to go to lunch and walk the mall with the twins and I and he said yes! I had a few errands at the mall I wanted to run and lunch is always a bonus. Our mall has a Red Robin attached to it and I hadn't eaten there since I was in high school so we decided to go there. I had forgotten how good their burgers were, holy cow. Olivia and Cole were great until about an hour and a half into shopping and then all hell broke loose. Olivia crapped her pants and I despise changing diapers in public. It's such an ordeal, I much rather having my changing table available and everything laid out for me instead of pulling things out of my diaper bag. I always seem to be in complete disarray, diapers falling on the ground, wipes flying in the air, and people staring at me because while one child is screaming on the changing table, the other is screaming in the stroller. It's fantastic. I did learn the hard way to always have an extra pair of clothes for each baby in my baby bag in case of an emergency. I learned this by being at a nice restaurant for brunch one Saturday with our friends and Liv exploded all the way up
her stomach and back and I had NO extra clothes for her. She spent the rest of brunch in her same outfit, sitting on a burp cloth. Real prepared, Rachel.
Saturday we had a pretty relaxed day and I went out with my friend for a "Mama's Night Out". It was a direct hit to the gut for me to realize I am definitely not in college anymore. Nothing like having a head ache from drinking too much and babies crying to make the pounding more intense. My mom told me that she did the same thing when I was a baby and quickly realized that those days were over and I have to agree.
Sunday afternoon we went over to our friends house to have some gumbo and it was delicious. It made me so excited about our upcoming trip home. We are going home for Olivia and Cole's baptism and I'm staying a while because I'm going to one of my best friends bachelorette party the following weekend. I haven't been home since July because I wasn't allowed to travel past that because I was pregnant and this is the first time I want to put the twins on a plane since they've been born. All the germs that are on a plane are just gross if you think about it. I will have plenty of hand sanitizer readily available!
Hope everyone has a great Monday!
What you need and what you want
Friday, January 17, 2014
There are certain things every mom should have and there are things every mom wants. The "should have" category is not nearly as fun as the "wants" category. I have compiled a list of top "should have" things and also a list of my "wants". Up first are the things I think you need (obviously having twins most things are multiplied by two).
First Years Sound Machine- twins wake each other up when they cry, super. So this sound machine is amazing. It has multiple white noises and classical music options to choose from. Bonus: you can hook your iPod up to it as well.
Fisher Price Rainforest Play Mat- Olivia and Cole love this. It has lights on top for them to stare at and multiple options to play with. Both kids fit on it so there is only a need for one. Over time, we have added a few more colorful things for them to grab.
Dr. Brown Bottles- our pediatrician says, and I quote, "that shit doesn't makes difference." I do agree with him with the gas aspect that the bottles are really sold for, but the speed in which the formula/milk comes out of them is perfect. We tried Avent bottles first and for some reason when the twins sucked on it, it came out faster (even with the size 0 nipple). This is purely my opinion, but these bottles have worked best for us.
Boon Lawn Drying Rack-we have two of these because the amount of bottles we wash daily is insane. Many of my friends with one baby get by with the Boon Grass Drying Rack, but the lawn is bigger and with twins, two is necessary.
Fisher Price Rock N Play- this is MY NUMBER ONE pick for any baby. It's a total God send. The twins slept in it for the first month before we transitioned them into their cribs. I now use it to lay them in while one is getting fed and the other is waiting. Something about the arch and the tightness of it makes the baby sleep all through the night ;).
Aiden and Anais Swaddle Blankets-I love how light and big they are. They are perfect for a tiny
baby to be swaddled in and also for a toddler to use as a blanket at night. They are a very light material so they would work perfect during the summer time as well!
Now onto the "wants". Who doesn't like to shop for their kid? I have decided and, unfortunately, have to admit that I have an addiction to online shopping. I was never a huge mall shopper to begin with and now I simply don't have the time with twins to do any kind of shopping except for online. The other day, I went to buy a dress for their baptism and also for one of my best friends rehearsal dinner and I took the twins with me into White House Black Market...it was awesome horrible. Olivia cried the entire time and who can blame her, it's not fun shopping for other people :). Anyways, onto the true topic, all of these stores except, for three, are small businesses. I shop around Etsy a lot and have found some awesome shops and also a lot of entrepreneurs.
Baby Gap- absolutely love this place. I typically am not a sales shopper, but for this store I have to make the exception. Their clothes are the absolute cutest on babies.
Zara- WHAT THE?! Yes, Zara has a baby store and I am in love. The shoes for the boys are so cute. I want to buy every single one for Cole. The only thing is their clothes tend to run a little big, but still...adorable.
Carter's- I know everybody shops for their baby here, it's kind of like the staple clothing store for kids, but their footed pajamas (which is a newborn essential) are so comfortable and soft. Olivia and Cole sleep in Carter pajamas every night.
SadieSkyBoutique on Etsy- she makes bows for the little ladies and I almost die every time I look at her shop. Olivia has almost all of her bows and head wraps.
ALittleLadyShop on Etsy- also love her bows and we have a ton.
IvoryKate.com- cutest Mary Jane shoes for girls. They are to die for. I want them in every color for Liv.
Crewandlu.bigcartel.com- Okay, obsessed. Such cute shoes for the little man or little lady in your life.
There you have it. Those are the stores that I shop at for the twins constantly. Like I said, it has begun
to become a problem. I can sit on these sites for forever and I don't feel bad about it. Now that I have been writing about these stores and the kids are asleep, I might have to go find them some new outfits...
Hope y'all have a great weekend!
Three Months later....
Thursday, January 16, 2014
So I'm not starting this blog when people typically start a blog, right when they find out they're pregnant or heck, when their children or born. No, I'm starting it three months after my children are born. We move a lot and we meet friends every place we live; therefore, I figured instead of bombarding facebook with a bajillion photos of Olivia and Cole I would start a blog so people could see them and keep up with our life, if they wanted.
Our schedule is pretty strict. The kids wake up once a night to be fed and usually go back to bed right after they finish their bottle. They usually wake up around 7 am and eat breakfast. Breakfast consists of cereal and a bottle. After both kids are fed, we play for about two hours then it's nap time. Naps are about 30-45 minutes long, just long enough for me to make our bed and get dressed. After they wake up they hang out until 11, then they eat lunch. Lunch is now consisting of baby food and a bottle. Here is one thing I bet you don't know, my kids are hungry, they love to eat. We started them on baby food a week before they turned three months. I know what the general public says about giving baby food before 5-6 months, but don't judge until you are a mother of two very hungry twins. Moving on, after lunch they play and typically go down for another nap around 12:30. When they wake up they usually lay on their blanket and smile at the ceiling fan (I have yet to find out what is funny about that fan). Snack time is at 3:00, which is just a bottle. They play again after their bottle. I am a huge advocate of playtime. I do not want my kids laying in a Rock N Play all day or in front of the tv. So we usually are keeping busy on their play mat, having a dance party (thanks to Pandora) or laughing/smiling at the ceiling fan. They take another nap between 4:00 and 5:00 and this is when I take a quick shower, staring at the monitor while I wash my hair making sure I don't hear screaming. Daddy usually gets home around 5:30 and dinner (bottle and more vegetables) are at 6:00. Bath time is at 6:30 and the it's bedtime at 7:00. I know our day is extremely structured, but it works for us.
Olivia and Cole's birth story
I went 38 weeks. 38 long weeks. I am not the girl who loves being pregnant, actually, I hated it. I think being pregnant with twins is a whole different at story than being pregnant with a singleton. Regardless, the 38 tretruous weeks were completely worth it. I had a scheduled C Section for October 14 at 10:30 am. My husband, parents and in laws arrived at the hospital at 9 am. I was called back to get prepped. Now, I had been told by my mom and other friends that a C Section was not bad at all. I called bullshit. I was scared out of my mind. Eventually after getting my gown on I was taken back to the operating room. Bryce was not allowed in there with me while I was getting my spinal in. This process terrified me. I entered the room with nurses and a PA and was completely taken back. I entered what I thought was a joke. It was identical to the room you see on Greys Anatomy. After getting my spinal in (which didn't hurt in the least bit) they told me to hurry up and scoot to the bottom of the bed, I did as I was told. At this point, I was asking for Bryce to be let into the room. I started feeling dizzy and my blood pressure began to drop. They put some reversal medicine in my IV and we were good to go. Bryce came into the room and the process began. 10 minutes after starting my doctor pulls Olivia out and shows us to her over the blue curtain. She was beautiful. I started crying because I was so happy. One minute later, Cole is shown to us over the curtain. Both babies were gorgeous. After Olivia and Cole were out, they weighed them and handed them to Bryce so we could take the pictures we had asked for. Bryce eventually had to leave the room so they could sew me back up, but they let the twins stay with me.
We went back into the recovery room for about three hours, until I could lift my butt up off the table. Our parents visited us in the recovery room and then we were off to our actual hospital room, where we stayed Monday thru Thursday. My recovery was beyond perfect and I was back to working out in 4 weeks and back to my pre pregnancy weight ten days after the twins were born. I honestly can say that I had the most amazing experience with my C Section and I would do it again in a heart beat.
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