Finally We Put Two & Two Together

At 8 weeks (6 weeks ago) we transitioned the twins out of sleeping in Boppys on our bed (yes, I said OUR bed...I can see the horror on the hospital nurses faces now) to sleeping in their own bed. How quickly our jubilant elation turned on us in the very first week. We had grand ideas of our baby boys co-sleeping peacefully together in the same crib in their very own room. You would think that since this is not our first baby rodeo that we would have had a clue that this was not going to work. But I had read plenty of stories on-line (which are always researched based material right?) leading up to the birth that all suggested that twins LOVE to sleep with each other. Well it does make sense since technically they had been sleeping together for 8 months. However, the reality of it is this: once one baby wakes to eat the other one is soon to follow and if one baby makes a noise like a sneeze (which happens every 4 sec. in those early days) then the other one is wide awake too. So what I've learned so far on this whole twin co-sleeping theory is it might work for 'identical twins' who shared the same sac in the womb and are used to skin-to-skin contact, but for 'paternal twins' like ours, that were in different sacs, it has not worked for us so far.

Since our house only allows for 1 nursery somebody had to move to the crib in the nursery and somebody had to sleep in the pack-n-play in our room. Ryan proved to be the better sleeper early on so we decided he should be in our room and Jacob should sleep in the crib. Just as we thought, Ryan did great sleeping close by us without waking through the night. However, Jacob continued to wake up at exactly 3am every evening like clockwork! It didn't make sense...he's the bigger twin he should be sleeping longer. It had already been two weeks since I weened both babies off of that middle of the night nursing desire so why was he still waking? His pitiful little whine sounded like he just wanted to be held or just wanted his pacifier. But neither would keep him asleep for long. At this point it started to drive me crazy. Here we have one twin sleeping to 4:30-5:00am and the other one sleeping until 3:00am. I so badly wanted to get over this hump that I was ready to change things up to figure out what was waking Jacob.

MY SLEEP DEPRIVED PLAN:

*Swaddle them super tight...
*When in doubt "pump them full" at bedtime ...

*Add Rice Cereal to their bedtime bottle to make them feel REAL full...

*Turn the AC vent off in their room that was pumping in a lot of cold air...

*Move the pack-n-play into the nursery...
*Move the pack-n-play back out because Ryan started to not sleep well, arrgh...
*Replace the crib bumper to make it feel more closed in and cozy...
*Turn a night light on...

I feel like we've tried everything that we could possibly think of. Babies here and babies there, babies together, babies apart. Luckily, Taylor's sleep has not been affected by any of this craziness! So after this very long post here is where we stand now. Both babies are still sleeping apart (Ryan in our room in the pack-n-play and Jacob in the crib in the nursery). However, we finally have 2 babies sleeping through the night!!! Considering I haven't slept through the night in over 3 months, I couldn't be happier at this moment - whew, now they better just stay that way!

Awesome Summer Morning

Just about an hour west of Austin in the sleepy little hill country town of Spicewood there is a hidden jewel called Krause Springs. Privately owned and operated, Krause Springs is a natural spring fed pool with lots to offer our little family of five. We made the trek out there today with ALL the boys and were not disappointed. They have a natural spring 'real pool' on the top area that is constantly being spring fed, a cool 68 degrees on a hot Texas summer day. The actual natural spring is below amongst the most gorgeous greenery and massive trees with exposed roots to climb on. A rope swing was an added bonus for our curious and adventurous 5 year old and 40 year old. The large shady trees gave mommy and the twins a nice reprieve from the glaring sun. We can't wait to return with more family so even mommy can venture in to take a cool relaxing dip!  

Massive Trees

Waterfalls

Andrew has the rope swing and Taylor is in the float below.

Andrew on the rope swing.

Taylor on the rope swing.

The waterfalls

Upper deck spring pool.

My Boys

Jacob was asleep the entire time.

Wrap it up! Time to go - haha!

Butterfly Gardens for Taylor!

Baby Boot Camp

While our oldest boy has been gearing up for summer camps, we've been in the trenches of twin baby boot camp with our youngest boys. As any mother knows, the first 2-3 months of an infant's life are the hardest - rocking, swaying, walking, burping, wiping, diapering, sleeping, not sleeping, feeding, holding, swaddling, bathing, spit-up (my personal favorite), and crying... Since we have twins I think everything doubles so that means 4-6 months for us - oh great. I'm pretty sure that women purposely block this precious time out of our minds so that later in life we 'willingly' want to have more kids. The same goes for childbirth too! Rest assured that we are very "thankful at three" and don't plan on traveling this bumpy road again...until grandbabies which better be a long time from now!!!

Over the last 3 months, we literally have buckled down in our home, for the most part anyways, and have somehow made it to the other side...The other side mind you still has its new set of challenges, but let's face it we have twins and we're literally taking baby steps. I swear that everyday is a milestone of some sort. Just getting the bottles washed, the laundry done, or Taylor to bed with his teeth brushed can be a milestone in our house these days. It's been a whirlwind couple of months and everyone is still trying to figure out our new way of life. Just the other day at the fireworks store, I forgot that I was pushing both the shopping cart and the double stroller and just left the double stroller with babies inside behind while I continued to push the shopping cart down the aisle. I obviously am not use to having 3 kids now. I constantly look behind me in the car to double check that I have all 3 kids in the car. I'm scared out of my mind that I'm going to forget someone! 

Before I get to the current baby stats, I'd like to share some twin things that I've learned so far....  

• Poop and spit-up can both be projectile and funny enough can happen at the same time.
• Double strollers weigh a lot when you're hauling it in and out of the trunk of your car.
• Pampers swaddlers are still the best diapers around.
• The hospital baby blanket is still the best swaddling blanket ever - take as many as you can!
• Double breastfeeding can be done.
• Co-sleeping in the same crib early on is impossible - when one baby crys the other one crys and that means nobody in the house sleeps.
• Liquid formula is way better than powder formula for spit-up infants.
• Babies still hate "tummy time".
• The newer "Boppy Lounger Pillow" is awesome for the 1st month!

Here's what we've learned about Jacob thus far...



• Nicknames: Grumpy Gus, Biggy Smalls, Jake, Jakey, and Buddy
• Does not like to wake up hence the name "Grumpy Gus"
• Was the smaller one at birth and now is the larger of the two hence the name "Biggy Smalls"
• The quiet thinker of the two
• Crys louder than his brother
• Has BLUE eyes still - amazing since we all have brown
• Weighs 11 pounds, 2 ounces and is 24 inches long
• Just started to smile a lot and coo a little more
• Looks to the right most of the time because his neck tendon on the left is a little tight - baby neck exercises should help to correct it.

Here's what we've learned about Ryan thus far...





• Nicknames: Rye-Rye, Little Man, and Buddy
• Has a purplish/black birthmark on his right wrist
• LOVES to give smiles and coos a lot - probably going to be a talker like his daddy
• Was the larger one at birth but now is the smaller of the two
• Has brown eyes
• Weighs 9 pounds, 11 ounces and is 23 1/2 inches
• Playful personality...smiley
• Has a tiny white flat cyst on his bottom gum in his mouth. Should go away with age
• Just started sleeping through the night - hallelujah!! That's one down and one to go!