3 months old

The newborn phase this time around has been different.   With Tyler, he was the first, and I was so excited for him to hit each new milestone--when will he roll over?  Sit?  Hurry--learn to crawl! (Ha Ha on that last one, you never wish for kids 2-4 to learn to crawl because you know how much life changes with a mobile child.)  The twins newborn phase was a kind of survival mode.  But with Jackson, I am treasuring him.  More than with any of the other kids, I want him to stay little.  While I would love to try for one more, realistically this will be our last child.  I might never get another newborn?  That makes me sad; I love the newborn stage.

But, no one has figured out how to stop time, and so Jackson turned 3 months old last week.

He is my angel baby.  God knew I could only handle so much craziness, and so he sent me this sweet, mild baby.  Jackson is not a fussy boy.  In fact if he is crying, you either need to pick him up and love on him or feed him.  He sleeps well, will sit in his swing, and loves when I wear him.  In fact, he is such a sweetie, that I sometimes feel bad.  I will realize at the end of the day that I haven't loved on him the way I wanted to, because (squeaky wheel and all) the twins take up so much of my time.

He gives us amazing smiles, and I so wish I could capture one on film.  He has also started "talking" to us.  He was always a bit of a grunter, but he now adds in coos.

I weaned him just after he was 2 months.  I wish I could have nursed longer--I loved it.  But my body wouldn't cooperate and breastfeeding and bottle feeding at every feeding was wearing me out.  He takes a bottle well and certainly shows it.

Tyler was a wonderful sleeper, and I thought it was because I was a bit of a schedule nazi.  I took more of an on-demand approach with Jackson, and while he wasn't sleeping through the night at 12 weeks like Tyler, he still sleeps pretty well.  He will go at least 6 hours every night, and the last few nights he has hit 8+ hours!

Sometimes I just find myself staring at him, or smelling his head, wrapping his fingers around mine.  I feel so blessed.  I didn't think we would ever have another, and then this miracle happened.  I love him.

Where to start?

It's funny how life can be both crazy busy and monotonously boring at the same time.  That is my life.  Each day feels like the same as the one before, but at the same time we are always so busy.  So, where do I start with all that has been going on lately?

I'll start here: Monday, March 19.

I went to bed the night before, thinking that I hadn't updated my blog in a long time, but there wasn't much to say--life was pretty routine.  So I decided that I would wake up and try to document with my camera all we did that day.  We were a little rushed in the morning, so I didn't pull out my point and shoot until just after Tyler left for school.


It snowed! When the twins saw Tyler getting on his snow gear, they had to as well.  As soon as Tyler left,  we put on our pants, coats, hats, and gloves, but still had on our jammies underneath.  (We used this gear exactly twice for this mild winter.)

At first they were a bit hesitant to venture off the back steps,

but it didn't take long to head for the trampoline.

They didn't want to come in, so I had to find Dan's boots, tuck in my pajama pants, and head out to round them up.

And here's the aftermath.

I was finally able to sit down for my own breakfast.  My favorite cereal: Wheat Chex with fresh strawberries.  I almost always read blogs while I eat breakfast.

And there is almost always a child who hangs on my leg and/or wants a bite.

Start laundry! Every Monday and Thursday, 4-6 loads.  Ugh.

I don't even remember why Brady was throwing this tantrum, but he is 2 and we see these every day.  Also, notice the pile of clothes behind him?  All clean and all pulled out of the dresser the day before instead of napping.

And another mischief maker.  They like to use these 5 gallon buckets as step stools.

We then headed into my room to feed Jackson.  He is still sleeping in there, but should be in his own room very soon.  And of course, let's pester him first.

Time to eat! 6-7 times a day.

I don't know why Carter is sad, but it seems like they always need me when I am in the middle of a feeding.

Sweet, sweet boy!

And about 20 pictures that look like this.

So by now it is about 10 am in our day.  And my point and shoot is broken.  I guess having it out so much was way too much temptation for the boys, and somehow Carter broke it.  I was in fact very lucky that I got it to turn on long enough to get the pics off the camera, but I wasn't ever able to get it working again.  (And totally off topic, I am giving a big thumbs down to Nikon point and shoots.  I had a Canon that lasted about 5 years, then two different Nikons that each lasted less than 4 months.)

I was going to give up on my documentation, but went ahead and got out the big camera to finish. However, my documentation really slowed down.

Leftover pizza for me for lunch.

Hot dogs and grapes for the boys.

Jackson, the best baby ever, chillin in his swing.

Tyler gets home!  While the twins were still napping, we played a game of Battleship.  I won.

Monday is a karate day.

And we rounded out our day with baths.

There you go.  Living my life one long day at a time.

Twins

I shared this picture on facebook awhile back:

We were almost home when I heard Brady call out, "Carter, hand."  When I pulled into the driveway and turned around, this is what I saw.

This is absolutely my favorite part of parenting twins--watching them interact with each other.  As they have gotten older, their relationship has grown more special.

For example:

The boys tend to get wound up at night, and their favorite activity is jumping on the couch.  They jump from one side of the sectional to the ottoman to the other side, or stand on the back and jump onto the seat.  And no, Mom and Dad do not approve this activity.  This night, they were doing all their usual jumping, but hand in hand.   Also, notice the lack of shirts.  Carter had spilled at dinner, so we took his off knowing we'd be getting pajamas on soon.  Well, of course Brady wanted his shirt off too.

They also tend to defend each other.  When one of them gets in trouble, the other stands up.  I've heard Carter call out, "Dad, mean" more than once when Brady was being disciplined by Dad.  And if Carter is getting taken to time out, he will reach out to Brady: "Brady, help me."

I love hearing them ask to hold hands, come play, or give hugs.

So while our life is crazy and chaotic with twins, it is also so fun to watch them together.