Catchup: Christmas 2015!

For no reason other than my own record keeping I wanted to document our first Christmas with Henry and William...even though I'm six months late!  We had a truly wonderful Christmas with our little ones and spent Christmas Day opening gifts, juggling babies, eating delicious food, and hosting our families.  I am so grateful for holidays spent with all the people we love.  The twins loved the holiday and like all six month olds, were completely enamored with the wrapping paper!  We didn't get a "real" tree this year, just a three foot artificial tree that we already had. While those goes against every feeling I have about Christmas, we were honestly just too tired and too busy to make the effort.  Next year we will do it up for sure!

W&H// Months 5-10!

Month 5:  

Month 6:

Month 7:

Month 8:

Month 9:

Halloween 2015

We had a fantastic Halloween!  This was Reese's first time trick or treating and she had a blast.  I was skeptical she would get into it but after the first one or two houses she was off! Our neighbors arranged a block party and we all had a great time.

 

Unfortunately it was a little too chilly to take the twins out so they snoozed inside with my parents.  I was so proud of myself for buying their costumes ahead of time, but it just didn't work out.  After a treacherous bed time (sugar, late naps, general crabiness) we stole some of Reese's candy and hit the hay in anticipation of my least favorite time of  year...DST.  We had a fantastic time with our little Curious George and can't wait to trick or treat with all three kiddos next year!  

That's A Wrap: Summer 2015

I think it is safe to say we will never have another summer like the summer of 2015.  We rang in the new year knowing that this summer would mark the birth of two more children as well as Reese turning two, but nothing really could have prepared us for all the monumental shifts we experienced in our family. Since my brain exists in a fog these days, I want to recap this for my own records as I will likely never remember it otherwise.

May:  I know May isn't technically summer but in my head it always marks the beginning of summer for me so I'm going with it.  My third trimester was in full swing and I was feeling rough.  This month brought about a slew of contractions and "maybe babies" trips to triage that left us scrambling to get coverage for Reese just in case the babies came. Not fun.  I cut back on work significantly and we celebrated several birthdays in the family. Tom completed his fourth Flying Pig Half Marathon and we were in major twin prep mode.  I didn't know it at the time but my last day of work was May 29th, our fifth wedding anniversary, as I would go into premature labor just a few days later. 

June:  I kicked off the month of June by promptly going into labor at 33 weeks on June 1st.  This earned me a week in the hospital where labor was thankfully stopped and I was sent home on bed rest.  That week was terrible for a myriad of reasons I won't go into but suffice to say the first half of June was brutal waiting for our boys to arrive.  Any mom who has experienced a twin pregnancy knows what I'm talking about!  

On the evening of June 15th I went into labor again and we dutifully headed to triage hoping this was it.  A few hours later in the wee hours of June 16th our sweet little men were born and our family was complete.  Hands down the highlight of the summer!

July:  July marked Tom's return to work and us settling into our new normal.  This month was a blur of the newborn life x2 and if I didn't have the pictures to prove it I'm not sure I would even remember it. This month also marked my first outing with all three children (music class for Reese) and looking back I have no idea what I was thinking taking that on three weeks post-partum! We got by with a lot of help from family (hi mom!) and if it weren't for them I'm not sure I'd be standing today.  Three children under the age of two is no joke and not for the faint of heart. 

We wrapped up the month with our very best girl's second birthday and celebrated with family. 

August:  Things got a little tough this month thanks to some unwelcome colic and other difficult transitions. We powered through and found joy where we could.  I had my first outing away from the babies (a friend's bachelorette) and Tom held down the fort like the champ he is. I became a lot more confident in taking all three children out by myself and we frequented the park, the library, and made our usual Target runs.  I figured out a configuration of baby wearing/toddler hand holding that works for brief trips to the store which I'm pretty proud of :). Overall we enjoyed our time together and just took it one day at a time. 

That's a wrap on an epic and most life changing summer!

W & H// Months 2 & 3!

Months two and three were a bit of a doozy, with some soaring highs and difficult lows. While its been wonderful watching each boy grow and develop their own personalities, it has come with new challenges.  Right around six weeks Henry seemed to develop colicky behavior and things got a little hairy.  There is no worse feeling than seeing your child upset and not being able to fix it.  On most days 3pm seemed to be the magical hour where things would shift and Henry would become upset for seemingly no reason at all.  He would cry on and off (mainly on) until about 9pm when he'd give in and fall asleep.  We tried everything from swaddling, pacifiers, gas drops, swing, probiotics, white noise, lights on, lights off, rocking/swaying...you name it we tried it.  It was frustrating and completely heart breaking and overall hard on everyone.  Mom guilt was the central theme for these months, feeling like I couldn't help Henry and that I wasn't giving William and Reese the attention they needed and deserved.  I spent a lot of energy hoping and praying my little Henry would return to his happy and chill little self, and around 3.5 months he did.  Alas, everyone survived this challenging period and we're all doing just fine!

                         

          

These months were hard but certainly not all bad.  Both boys started really smiling and cooing and interacting with the world around them.  It goes without saying that having twins means a ton more work, but it also means a ton more awesomeness when they are both cooing and laughing at the same time.  It's crazy adorable.  Schedule wise, the boys started going to bed around 9, woke up once overnight to eat and then again around 6/7am before going right back down until their 9am feeding.  There have been a few nights when the boys slept from about 9:30 to 5:00, but those aren't common place.  Since I still have to get up to pump anyway, the overnight feeding(s) really aren't too big of a deal {thank you coffee}Henry and William have been troopers traipsing all over town taking Reese to various activities and continue to be the sweetest little guys. I'm glad I took a lot of pictures during these months because they are proving to be a total blur!