Mama (finally)

Guess who is finally saying mama?!?  Little Miss Vivian!!!  And it only took until she was 21 months old!

She has said it a couple of random times, so we knew that she could say it, but for whatever reason she was choosing not to say it~ and it was driving me nuts!!!  Then randomly, the day after she broke her leg (I will post pictures of that soon) she starting saying mama and hasn't stop.  I LOVE IT!!!

Here is a list of all the words she could say before saying mama (at least all the ones I can remember at the moment)~

Daddy
Tanner
Grandpa
Kitty
Fishy
Cracker
Buckle
Shoe
Jacket
Ball
Love you
Where are you
Elmo
Drink
Treat
Cookie
Cake
Uh oh
Carry
Cereal
Apple
Banana
Color

Silly girl :)

Pictures~Pictures~Pictures

We found the camera!!!!  

YAHOO!

Now be prepared for an obnoxious amount of pictures from the last couple of months :)

Vivian in the bathtub

Such a silly little girl :)

My 3 older kids love to watch her splash and play in the bath. 

Korby with his 2 little girls.

For one of his Christmas presents we signed up Jackson for a Chess class.  He has LOVED it!  His last class was last night.  Here he is playing with dad while enjoying a bowl of ice cream.  

Tanner got to participate in the Scout's Pinewood Derby race this year.  I had never been to one before~ it was so much more official than I thought it would be.  

Here is Korby and Tanner making some last minute adjustments to his car before the racing started.

Here is Tanner with his finished car. I was impressed with how much work had to go into making his car and Korby had Tanner do most of the work himself!

Tanner with his car and his trophy!  He got the award for Best Craftsmanship!

Waiting at the end of the track for his race to begin.  Tanner LOVED the Pinewood Derby!!!

Here is what Jackson did during the Pinewood Derby~ wrestle on the floor with one of his friends.  

Vivian LOVES to be included with the big kids!  Here she is brushing her teeth with everyone else!

Here are the kids Valentine's Day boxes that they made.  If you click on the picture you can see more of the detail.  They all did monsters, but in their own unique way.

Here was our pink Valentine's Day dinner.  As tradition~ we ate by candle light.  We had pink heart shaped french toast with strawberries and whipped cream with bacon and pink eggs and cherry limeade soda!

The girls love bath time!  They are just learning/ figuring out how to kick their legs and splash in the tub~ it is so cute!!!  

(Naomi on the right, Colette on the left)

Jackson doesn't really like to "hold" the babies.  He mostly just likes them to sit on his lap.  I absolutely love this picture of them smiling and looking at each other. 

(Colette)

Tanner had an 80's party and school and Korby was loving every second of it!  It was a way to relive his glory days~ we were listening to 80's music for 3 days straight and all Korby could talk about was all the cool things about the 80's. 

 My kids were all pretty confused about what a walk-man was :)    

For Red Ribbon Week one of the days was "Crazy Hair" day.  Jackson did some crazy side mohawks and random spikes, Tanner had an afro, and Shayden did side braids with balloons on the ends (Thank you Pinterest!) 

BOO!!!  Who ever said you shouldn't cry over spilled milk never had to dump out over 1,000 ounces of breastmilk because your garage freezer went out without you knowing it and it all spoiled :(  

A random picture from Christmas (I think~ I wasn't there). I'm still not sure what the whole fascination with mustaches is, but my girls look pretty silly/cute with them :)

Jackson LOVES to read!  But for some reason, this is how he prefers to do it~ silly kid!

This was taken at some point in the last couple of months, not sure when or why.

Naomi's 5 month picture with her doll!

Colette's 5 month picture with her doll!

Here are the girls practicing tummy time with their boppys.

Same picture from the front~ they are getting so good at holding their heads up!

Here is Vivian playing Peek-a-Boo with the camera.

Tanner got the Go For The Gold Award last week in his class for working so hard on his multiplication facts!

Last night Shayden and I went to New Beginnings for her!  YIKES!!! When did I get that old?!?  If you were to ask me I would say~ "yea, it wasn't so long ago that I was in Young Women's"  

Apparently I need a reality check because it was quite a while ago and I now have a daughter almost old enough to be in the program!

Here is Shayden at New Beginnings with 2 of her best friends that will also be Beehives this year!

A last (finally) picture of what I worked on for the last 2 days.  If any of you were curious what a week and a half's worth of laundry for 8 people looked like~ here it is! 

11 extra large loads~ and I didn't even do the bedding :)

Phew~ that was a LOT of pictures!!!  

Things are very gradually and very slowly getting back to a new normal around here.  

But overall things are actually (and kind of surprisingly) going pretty well!

For the first time in almost 12 years I am being a literal "stay at home" kind of stay at home mom and I am really loving it!

5 Month Update

Note to self~ before someone goes on a trip and takes the camera, make sure to download all off the existing pictures off the memory card... just in case

I wish I would have thought of that before Korby, Shayden, Tanner and Vivian left for the weekend on a jeep trip with my dad.
I now do not have their 5 month pictures with their dolls.  Oh well~ it was a good lesson to learn the hard way.

Naomi is now 10 pounds 2 ounces and Colette is 9 pounds 14 ounces.
When put on their tummy, they both know how to roll to their back.  (This doesn't mean that they always do it, but they can).
Naomi has rolled from her back to her tummy 2 times now.
Colette is close, but hasn't done it yet.
They still fit into their Newborn jammies~ but not for much longer!
They are drinking 100 mls with each bottle (just over 3 ounces).
They are now drinking 3 bottles of formula a day (even though the demand is there, my body has decided it doesn't want to keep the supply up).
They have found their hands and like to suck on them occasionally.
No real changes on sleep~ they can go for up to 6 hours at night, but nothing consistent yet.
They are starting to find their voice a little more~ their little coos are so gentle and sweet.
They are starting to get ticklish and laugh!  They are ticklish under their necks, but they don't always laugh when you do tickle them.  Their laughs are adorable!
My favorite is how much they are smiling!!!
It makes is so fun to walk into their room and see them looking up at me with their big bright eyes and a beautiful smile on their faces :)

I love being their mommy!!!!

Hopefully the camera will magically appear in some bag that has already been unpacked, or in the dirty laundry~ I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

4 Month Update

It is so hard to believe that the girls are already 4 months old!

This really is going to go by so fast.

I am trying to enjoy each little phase the girls are in.  Knowing that I will never be doing this again is helping me to cherish almost all of it :)

Here is the update of the girls at 4 months old:

Naomi is 9 pounds 3 ounces 22 inches

Colette is 9 pounds 1/2 ounce and 21.75 inches

They have started to sleep for a 6 hour stretch~ cutting out one of the middle of the night feedings!

YAHOO!!!!

They have (finally) out grown all of their preemie outfits and are starting to fit into some of the 0-3 month jammies.

They are now in Size 1 diapers (no more newborn).

They are still eating every 3 hours and they are still using the preemie Dr. Brown nipple, but they are now drinking 90 mls (3 ounces) at each feeding.

The best of all~ they have started smiling and cooing!!!

It is adorable!!!

I LOVE IT!

My favorite is when I am putting them to bed or getting them up and they are both right next to each other and both will look up at me with big bright eyes and smile at me!

It makes everything all worth it!

Naomi smiling with her doll.

Colette smiling with her doll.

This is how the girls sleep the best~ I absolutely LOVE it!!!!

Both girls working on tummy time and holding their heads up.

Smiling while getting bundled up to go the the doctors~ I have no idea who this is :)

And just to remind everyone that I have 4 other kids~

Here is Shayden getting her last Go for the Gold Award at Altara (sorry it's sideways).

I can't believe my baby girl is going to be in middle school next year!!!

How did she get so old?!?

How did I get so old?!?

Here is Vivian eating her toes (totally random) while watching the boys play on the computer.  She definitely thinks of herself as one of the "big kids." 

Proverbs

I am working on this project that I got off of Pinterest.  

Yes! 

I am actually doing some of the fun things that I pin!

So, I am organizing all of the kids paperwork/ memories into file folder boxes like these and I came across a paper that Shayden did in 2nd grade.  It was a worksheet with the first half of well known proverbs and the kids had to fill in the second half.  

1. Don't bite the hand that will hurt the leg.

2. If you lie down with the dogs, you'll get licked and bit.

3. Don't put off tomorrow what you want to do today.

4. When the blind lead the blind you crash. 

5. After a storm comes the sun does.

6. The bigger they are the better.

7. Don't wash your dirty laundry in the tub.

8. A bird in the hand is quiet.

9. People who live in glass houses get hurt.

10. Don't cut off your nose, that would hurt.

11. Keep your mouth shut and your eyes open.

12. When the cat's away the mice can play.

13. You can't get blood out of your nail (and by nail I mean your finger nail or toe nail).

14. Don't wear white, you'll get dirty.

I think #10 is my favorite :)  

What is your favorite?!?

I love looking back through my kids work.  It is making me realize how quickly they are growing up and how fast this time of having young children in the house is going to go by.

Shayden is in that in between space of too mature to be a kid but not quite mature enough to be a teenager. 

I am not ready for her to grow up!

I am not ready for her to become more independent.  It is making me question if I have done enough to prepare her for the tough years ahead.  

Being at home will these little girls is helping me to realize that the whole reason I am here on this earth is to be a mother to these children I have been blessed with. It is helping me realize that I will find the greatest joy in my life through my kids~ and I only get the privilege of having them with me at home for a short time. 

All the other things that I want to do or accomplish personally I will have plenty of time for later.  Right now my biggest responsibility and joy will come from raising these kids to the very best of my ability and then hope and pray that they turn out okay! 

Photo Shoot of Girls

A friend from Oceanside (who now lives in the Salt Lake area) who has a photography business offered to take the girls pictures once they got out of the NICU.  

She came over the 1st week they were home and took some of the most beautiful pictures ever!!!!  

She came to my home, had so many adorable props and even had a heater to keep the girls warm.  Her work is exceptional!!!!

Here is a link to her website~ 

http://www.cocobeephotography.com

Naomi

Colette

Naomi

Colette

Naomi in pink and Colette in purple

My two angels!

A Day in the Life of Twins

I figured I would start by stating the obvious~

Having twins is a LOT of work!

Having twins plus an 18 month old is even more work!

Having twins plus an 18 month old plus 3 other kids in school is a ridiculous amount of work!

But having these little girls in our lives is such a miracle and blessing~ I can't imagine my life without them.

Everyone I have talked to that has had twins has told me that the first year or two are a complete blur and they don't remember anything about it.  It hasn't even been 4 months yet, and I already can't remember a lot of what has been going on the last couple of months.  So, I figured I would write about what a "typical" day has been like with these girls since being home from the NICU.

One advantage of the girls being in the NICU (yes there is a good thing to come from it) is that the nurses got the girls on a wonderful schedule.  Here is what our day looks like~ 

7 am: Girls get up to eat, burp, diaper change and then go back to sleep (takes the full hour), Korby and kids up and getting ready for the day

8 am: I pump, Korby off to work, kids off to school and Vivian off to daycare

9 am: Girls still asleep, I am either back asleep or trying to get some things done around the house and pump again

10 am: Girls get up to eat, burp, diaper change and then stay awake

11 am: Girls still awake and just hanging out

12 pm: Girls go back to sleep,  I pump and then go pick up Vivian from daycare

1 pm: Girls up to eat, burp, diaper change and go back to sleep while I play with Vivian

2 pm: Play with Vivian and try to get some things done around the house

3 pm: Vivian goes down for a nap, kids come home from school, I pump

4 pm: Girls up to eat, burp, diaper change and stay awake, Vivian wakes up and I help kids with homework and try to get dinner ready

5 pm: Korby home from work, I am still trying to get dinner ready, help kids finish homework, keeping Vivian entertained and taking care of the girls

6 pm: Girls go back to sleep, clean up dinner and I pump

7 pm: Girls get up to eat, burp, diaper change and stay awake, get kids ready for bed

8 pm: Older kids all in bed, hang out with Korby and the girls

9 pm: Girls go back to sleep, and I pump

10 pm: Girls get up to eat, burp, diaper change and go to sleep

11 pm: I get things ready for their night bottles and go to bed

12 am: Everyone asleep

1 am: Girls up to eat, burp, diaper change and go back to sleep

2 am: Everyone asleep

3 am: Everyone asleep

4 am: Girls up to eat, burp, diaper change and go back to sleep

5 am: Everyone asleep

6 am: Everyone asleep

7 am: Start everything over again!

Some other tidbits that go into my day~

*The girls came home from the NICU using Dr. Brown bottles 7 times a day which have 5 parts (x 2 girls) and I pump 6 times a day and that has 4 parts (x 2 sides), plus the containers that I store the pumped milk it to mix their bottles (they have to have a little bit of formula mixed in with their bottles for extra calories)~ that is about 125 pieces that I am hand washing every single day!

*We go through 15-20 diapers a day (between both girls and Vivian)!

*The girls go through enough pjs, blankets, burp clothes that I have to do a full load of laundry for them every other day.

I can't tell if that looks like a lot or not to someone just reading it, but trust me~ it is a LOT!

There are definitely times when I get completely overwhelmed, but for the most part I love my life! I am so blessed to be able to stay home with these beautiful girls and do nothing but care for them. They are so good-natured and easy going babies. 

I haven't taken many pictures since bringing the girls home~ mainly because we do the same thing day after day.  So here are some pictures of what our normal day looks like~

The girls sleeping in their bouncer chairs

The girls sleeping on a blanket

The girls awake and laying on burp cloths

The girls on Halloween sleeping on a blanket

The girls sleeping on a blanket

The girls sitting in their boppys

The rare occasion of the girls in their car seats, going to the doctors  

The girls drinking bottles

The girls helping keep each other's pacifiers in 

They have their 4 month check up next week, so I will have more to update then.