A new look

I decided it was time to make-over the look of my blog since I still had our family of three in my header. A quick word about that picture:


When we went to Florida in June, Kelsey suggested we take some family pics. "Great idea," I thought. "We can use those for Christmas cards, unless of course we happen to get a baby between now and Christmas." Well of course, we took those pictures on June 12 I believe. The twins were born June 20. So now I have these awesome pictures that are already outdated. Oh well, I love them, and I still printed off a few and have them displayed, and the one of Tyler is adorable.

I also have been thinking about my blog title. When I started my blog (almost 2 years ago, wow time flies) I thought, who would want to read about my life, it's so boring. That's when I came up with the idea that although my life is ordinary, it is still mine and therefore unique. But now I feel like, while I'm not suddenly special, my life isn't quite so ordinary anymore. I'm an adoptive parent, and a MoM (moms of multiples), and my blog title just doesn't seem to fit quite the way it used to. But then again when all you do pretty much all day is feed babies, change diapers, and read blogs, I guess your life is rather boring, and who would really want to read about that?

Finally, twin pics

I did it. I found a few spare moments to get organized with my photos, and here are some new pictures of the boys.

The boys at one month old

It is always fun to try and hold both boys at once.

Grandma wanted a picture with the boys before she left,
so we did this little photo shoot.

Tyler with his brothers

Brady always has his hands up by his face.

Snuggling in mom's bed

Tyler and grandma ready for church,
but not the babies, not yet.

Carter. I had this great idea to take a picture regularly, and use this adorable monkey as a point of reference as they grew over the course of the year. Umm, hasn't happened.

Brady's bum. He loves to be on his belly, and it makes for great little feet/bum pictures.

Sweet Carter.


And this is my solution for feeding two very hungry babies at the same time.


Just chillin'.

Kindergarten

It seems like there are two camps: one where mom is so sad to see her baby start kindergarten, and one where mom is excited. I am in the latter. He is just so ready, and I am ready to not be his sole entertainer. While we were walking in this morning, he said he was feeling a little nervous, but when we picked him up, we were informed that kindergarten is fun, and he will not be scared tomorrow.

(The nervous face)

(Showing me his kissing hand)

A day of firsts

Today I had my first:

blowout diaper.
Gross, I know, but since our guys have had the other problem due to their preemie formula, I just wasn't expecting to find that when I picked up Carter. It was one of those, what do I do? I can't set him down anywhere, I can't even get his clothes off. I actually carried him into my bathtub, undressed him there, rinsed him off, then took him out, gave him a sponge bath, and then disinfected my tub. Here's Tyler's proof:


venture out of the house myself with 3 children
Well, actually yesterday I carried two carseats into the peds office so Carter could get blood drawn, but today was our real first outing. We went to Back-to-school night for Tyler. Dan had a work meeting, so I packed up my double stroller and we were off. Tyler is thrilled to start school, and I can't believe it's happening.

And all these firsts have worn me out. I'm off to bed!! Dan has volunteered to take a long shift tonight. I love him!

My baby shower

I feel like I have been falling so far behind on everything happening in my life now, but when it comes down to upload pics to the computer, or clean my house because our caseworker is coming over for our supervisory visit, you know what I have to choose. It seems so hard to grab a moment for myself. But I have done it and wanted to post pictures from my shower. I have such awesome friends who put together a wonderful evening for me. We were able to do it before my mom left, which made it even better. Here are some of the pics:

The most adorable cakes by my friend Amanda

Just look at these super cute favors. I thought they were truffles, but when I got mine home and realized they were cake balls, I ate every last one I brought home. Okay, I left one for Dan and one for Tyler, but the rest were mine.

Dumb present of me opening a gift, but isn't the gift so cute?


I felt so loved. People were so generous--we got all the bedding for the nursery. We got gobs of diapers and tons of wipes. I seriously think I might not have to buy wipes for a year. We got some cute twin outfits, and several gift cards that I have put toward our formula costs. But the one gift that made me cry was this:
Tara has an amazing talent, and she made two of these quilts, each just a little different. She also reads my blog, and so when she saw the quote I put up a few weeks ago, she took that quote and embroidered it on each quilt. How awesome is that?

A big thank you to everyone who made that evening so wonderful. I love you all!

What do you think this means?

This picture has nothing to do with my post, but don't you love it?

Now remember, the twins just hit 8 weeks old. They also just reached their gestational age of 40 weeks last week. Four times Brady has rolled over from his tummy to his back, and even Carter has done the same thing once. I think it means one of the following:

1. My children are going to be exceptionally gifted
2. I have feisty kids who are going to give me trouble
or 3. Nothing

I'm kind of leaning to #3.

A whole new set of standards

It's been 6 days since my mom left. I knew she was a huge help, but I didn't realize just how much I was going to miss her. In the days since she has left we have battled influenza with Tyler and a sinus infection with Dan. (Please say a little prayer that the boys don't get sick. I really don't think I can handle another hospital stay. So far, so good.)

My biggest adjustment, in addition to just the daily care of twins by myself, is setting new standards for myself. Oh, let's just say it: I've had to lower my standards. See, pre-twin days I would make a daily to-do list, sometimes in my head, sometimes written down, and delight as I checked off each item. If I would attempt to complete one of those to-do lists now, I would be sorely disappointed. I've found that if I can keep bottles washed, some clean clothes in everyone's closet, and the main areas of my house picked up, I consider my day a success. If I can clean a bathroom or vacuum the floor--why I must be superwoman.

Because when you are spending about 5 hours a day feeding babies, you just don't quite get to downloading those adorable pics for you blog. And when you take to the time to cuddle a baby, you might not get the nursery put quite together.

In other words, I will try to do better at updating my blog. And I do think my mom might kill me if I don't get some new pictures up. But then again, if I don't she just might have to come back sooner.

A story of a car seat

So, here's my car seat story.

Last March I started researching infant car seats. I decided to go with the Chicco Key Fit 30. Here it is:
It is Consumer Reports number one rated car seat, and it had so many positive reviews on different websites.

Well, the adoption fell through, but we decided to keep it and use it when we finally did have a successful adoption. So come June, we took this seat, still in the box to Utah, and bought a second one there. I have used these 2 car seats for 3 weeks now, about 7 car trips. I have truly loved them. The LATCH system is amazing (at least compared to my previous car seat 5 years ago), they click in and out of the base so well, they go all the way down to 4 pounds and up to 30 pounds, and the boys seem to be so comfortable in them. And did I mention that they are Consumer Reports number one rated seat?

Anyway, after three weeks I decided to get a double stroller for these. I bought this:

I thought I was getting the best of both worlds, an awesome car seat and a double stroller. Well, turns out the Chicco isn't compatible with that stroller. Actually, it turns out that the Chicco is compatible with NO double stroller. I actually called the company, and while Shannon assured me that they are aware of the problem, and that a double stroller is in the works and will be out in 2010, that doesn't really help me. Don't worry, it is compatible with the single stroller above as well as several Chicco brand single strollers, just not a double.

So, I have had to choose: the seats that I love, or a double stroller. I have decided to sell the seats. Actually, we can return one of the seats, but the other we bought too long ago.

Long story short, does anyone need a new car seat? Do you know anyone that needs a new car seat? They sell for $180 at Babies R Us, but we would sell it for $100 if we could. If I haven't convinced you that this is a great seat, and not used because it has only been in my car 7 times, what else can I tell you?

What could be sweeter?

Thanks Kelsey! We just love them.

Thoughts on newborns

The twinkies are now 6 weeks old and have been out of the hospital for 2 weeks. In those two weeks of caring for them, here are a few things I've learned:

1. It is much easier to deal with exhaustion when you have not just gone through pregnancy, childbirth, and/or major abdominal surgery.

2. Sleeping in shifts helps too. Not every night, but we have tried shifts a few time, and it makes a huge difference. I go to bed with Tyler at 8 or 9 and sleep until 12. Then Dan gets to sleep from 12 until morning. Getting that chunk of 3-4 hours, and then another 3-4 broken up gives me enough sleep to function the next day.

3. I love realizing just how different the boys are. Brady is the feistier one who wants to be held and can eat his entire bottle in minutes. Carter is so laid back, eats when he wants to, and loves his binky.

4. This is my favorite just-discovered baby product:
These blankets are from Target; they are huge; make swaddling so easy; and keep the babies from getting too hot. Tyler was a winter baby, and so it was so easy to just wrap him up in any blanket. These are made of muslin so don't overheat the wee ones. They are a bit more expensive than other receiving blankets, but so worth it.

5. I know these boys were always meant for our family. I am amazed at how great the bond has been, that it was love at first sight, and how much more love we all have as we get to know them more and more. I sure do love all my boys.