8 Months Old!

Last week, my girls turned 8 months old.  It's amazing how much "stuff" happens in 8 months. Recently, the girls have really blossomed and I feel as if the last month has brought the most monumental milestones to date.  The girls are now:

...Sleeping through the ENTIRE night! That's right, its no typo, both babies are sleeping all night without a single interruption!  Maybe most of you mommies have had the pleasure of reaching this milestone quicker, but at times, I felt as if this day was never going to come. Heck, who am I kidding, I spent many restless nights crying with my girls wondering if I'd EVER sleep again. It's only been a week that both girls have slept all night, but I gotta admit two babies going down at 7:30 at night without a single fuss and sleeping 10-12 hours straight sure is heavenly. I guess consistency, patience, and a few (heartbreaking) "cry it out" moments were all worth it. Now if only this paranoid mama could stop with the middle of the night check ins, maybe I can get a solid 5 hour stretch of sleep for myself!

...Talking up a storm! Lola's first word was 'Coco'.   Of course she would pick our dog's name and not Mama or Dada, right? She is quite the character, our little Lola. She loves to mimic me and gets a kick out of all the funny sounds that seem to escape her tiny little mouth. Stella is not too far behind. She can listen to herself squeal all day long and loves blowing bubbles with her lips. This is cute until I'm trying to nurse her and she decides to take a dozen or so breaks from feeding to blow her bubbles while I have a hungry sister screaming in the background impatiently waiting her turn to nurse. (I stopped tandem nursing a few weeks ago, because the girls couldn't keep their hands off of each other and now timing and patience is the challenge I'm faced with.) Stellie's favorite sounds seem to be 'mamamama' and 'dadadada' so I'm predicting an intentional 'mama' is just around the corner!

...Grabbing everything in sight! A couple of weeks ago, I had Lola in my arms and was prepping some last minute items for dinner. I open the fridge and before I could even blink, a bottle of A1 sauce went from on the shelf, to in her hands, to on the floor. SPLAT! A1 all over the kitchen floor. Thankfully, the dogs were nearby and clean up wasn't as bad as it could have been. Her sister is just as bad. We went shopping a few days later and since they have graduated from their "snap-n-go" stroller to their "duoglider" stroller they are experiencing a new level of freedom on our trips out. Stella will just sit back with both arms stretched all the way out grabbing everything within reach. This was cute for a minute, then she managed to get her little grubby hands tangled in a clothing rack that nearly collapsed on all of us as she refused to let her tiny but tight grip go.  At least my daughter has good taste, she ended up clinging onto a cute pair of True Religion jeans that I just couldn't resist buying. It was a sign. Afterall, I  NEEDED a cute new pair of jeans. Plus, the sales clerk looked at me as if I had put my daughter up to swiping the denim so I sort of HAD to buy them.

These are just a few of the new things my girls are up to. I see so much on the horizon and I'm excited for my little critters to get moving! Crawling is just around the corner....

Now excuse me while I go nag my husband (again) to get moving on "Child Proofing" our house.

Nothing like coming home from a hard day of work to a nagging wife.

Wordless Wednesday

Oh, these two. They know EXACTLY what to do to put a smile on my face. 

Happy Hump Day!

Rise and Shine

My girls used to sleep in until 9:00 am.  Yes, you read correctly 9:00 am! I don't know how or why but for the first 7 months of their lives they loved to wake for their 6 am nurse session, snuggle, coo and then snooze until 9. Perhaps they knew how exhausted and sleep deprived their mama was. Maybe they wanted to give me some extra ZZZ's to rev up for the long day ahead. Heck, maybe they needed the extra relaxation before they wreaked havoc on the household. Who knows why, but I was incredibly grateful and dreading the day things would change.

Recently, they have discovered that sleeping in is so last week and being awake and ready to tackle the day by 6 a.m. is totally in.  They are cool like that. Already following the latest baby trends.

This morning, me and my bed head self, tip toed downstairs before they woke up and began to prepare the downstairs to be dominated by the girls.

I run through the following checklist:

Jumparoo in place, check.
Excersaucer in position, check.
Dora the Explorer on the big screen (that's right, my 7 month olds watch cartoons.... don't judge), check.
Coffee brewing, check.
Ipad within reach, check.

Just as I finished preparing the battle zone, I heard the faint call of duty.

That coffee better kick in soon.

It's time to get this party started.

I can't think of a better way to start my day than with these two. 

Back at it

It's been a while since I've written. Ok, longer than that, but I think I have a pretty good excuse for being away, right? One day, I'm bored and very pregnant praying for my little babes to make their debut and the next day I'm holding them in my arms not quite sure what to do with them. I can't help but think It's ONLY been 7 months, but at the same time it's ALREADY been 7 months? The past months have been the best but also one of the most difficult times in my life . Raising two newborns at the same time is quite the task and with very little help, I've had my work cut out for me. Don't get me wrong, my husband has been a tremendous help when he is home, but for the most part my weekdays are spent with just me and the girls. He is busy providing for his family, something we are eternally grateful for. We are lucky if he is home in time to take our evening stroll and prepare for our bedtime routines. He tries so hard to be here to help tuck them into bed.  If they only knew how much he yearned to hold them and kiss them each day.

As hard and stressful as it has been raising these two little girls, not a day passes that I don't thank God for the opportunity that I get to be home and take care of them daily. With that being said, being their sole means of entertainment is draining and cumbersome. Until now, I never knew how fun and hysterical I really am, even if it's just through the eyes of two 7 month old babies. Throughout these past months, I've learned a great deal about what tactics work and don't work in entertaining and training two babies at once. I've made lots of mistakes, but trust me, I have learned from my mistakes real quickly. These girls are sharp and have not problem letting me know when I've crossed the line. I've got a tough audience and they never cease to let me know when something I do is NOT working. We've got a pretty great system and reliable schedule that Bella and Stella depend on and for that I am grateful and proud of myself.

Without boring everybody with too much of the past, I'd like to reignite this blog and begin sharing where we are now.  Obviously, I will reflect on much of what I've learned since they've been born, but I really want to capture who they are now and who they are becoming. I hope that other moms can relate to some of what I share and that family and friends can connect and see what our family is up to. Most of all, I hope that one day my daughters can read this family journal and get a glimpse at how much they were loved and cared for.

And now, for the fun stuff...Pictures!!

Here they are at their first Pumpkin Patch visit.  There is something so special about the bond they already have.  I wish I knew what they were thinking in this moment.

These two miracles are such a sight to behold. Their sweetness is heartwarming and contagious. I'm so lucky they are mine.

Mixed Feelings

This is me at 36 weeks. Hard to imagine that I've been prego for a whole 36 weeks! Feels like just yesterday that Mark and I were reading our 50 pregnancy tests!!! As excited as I am, I am beginning to have mixed feelings about these little babes relocating.

Today I met with my Dr. to discuss what to expect on the day of my c-section. I went from being terrified of parenting twins, to being more terrified of delivering them. Prior to today, I didn't even think twice about the surgery...in fact, I actually never thought about the c-section at all. I know that C-sections are pretty standard these days, especially with twins, but for some reason the idea of getting a spinal and having NO control of my lower body gives me anxiety. How weird to think that I will be awake and alert the entire time they are opening me up and pulling my babies out? What if the spinal doesn't work?? Or worse, what if it wears off right in the middle of surgery??

In addition to this being my very first surgery EVER, I've never even suffered a severe painful injury that requires recovery time. How in the world will I be able to take care of 2 newborns after recovering from major abdominal surgery? Geez, the more I think about this all, I'm beginning to wonder HOW I'm going to pull this off. I think I'm gonna have to milk it in the hospital and extend my stay as long as I possibly can! Luckily I have a wonderful husband who will be there every step of the way.

So at a time when I should be anxious and excited to meet my little miracles, I am now petrified and having second thoughts. Maybe these little girls can stay nestled inside me a little longer??

Let the countdown begin!

These past couple of days have been pretty rough. Physically I am exhausted, uncomfortable, swollen, and achy all over. Emotionally, I am terrified, excited, anxious, thrilled and apprehensive at the idea of finally meeting my twin girls. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining, really. I have had a wonderful, text book pregnancy considering I am carrying twins. I have almost made it to 37 weeks and will be delivering in 10 days via c-section at exactly 38 weeks. Apparantly, this is not very common in the twin world. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd make it this far. Mark and I were told we'd be lucky if I lasted 32 weeks. Little did they know, my girls are in no hurry to relocate. It feels great knowing that my girls have been snuggled in safely for this long and I'm praying that this will mean less time (if any) in the NICU.

So with this being said, I thought I'd start a blog for all of our friends and family to follow as the countdown to Isabella and Stella's arrival begins. In 10 days, at the very most, our lives will be turned upside down and we will embark on the best ride of our lives. For all of you who don't know us or who don't live nearby, I hope to give you a glimpse at how crazy life is when you're raising twins.