only my husband could hold a bottle with his chin, drink a beer and watch tv at the same time!! At least he is beginning to multi-task!
Sunday, August 23, 2009
DAD OF THE YEAR
This picture is worth 1,000 words.
only my husband could hold a bottle with his chin, drink a beer and watch tv at the same time!! At least he is beginning to multi-task!
only my husband could hold a bottle with his chin, drink a beer and watch tv at the same time!! At least he is beginning to multi-task!
The good, the bad and the ugly!
I have fallen so behind on my blogging. Things have gotten a lot more exciting and a lot more hectic over the last couple of weeks....some good, some bad! Where to begin? Now that we are officially past our due date we have started venturing out more. We have been to dinner several times(we have yet to try it with just the 4 of us because we are afraid)! We have introduced the girls to more of our family members. We even made our first trip to Sprinkles Cupcakes in Dallas.
The girls are 7 weeks old today...which really means 1 week old when you calculate in their corrective age. I can notice little things changing. Ashlyn is now more awake and alert. And both girls are beginning to stay up after their 9:30/10:00am feedings. I sing and dance and act like an idiot for about 30 minutes, until they doze back off. I have tried to start an afternoon nap routine, which only works about half the time.
On the down side...Addison has started to get colic. I'm not sure about Ashlyn, but she seems to have it from time to time as well. Addison begins to scream between 5pm and 6pm every day and usually doesn't stop until after bedtime. After talking to several friends, they all told me to get Gripe Water. I have heard that some pediatricians don't like it....but I HAD to give it a shot to see if it would calm her down. It did and I only use it once or twice a day and I only give her half of the recommended dose. So, now that we have semi-solved that problem things seem to be a lot better.
We are still working on our 4 hour feedings at night. We can usually make it about 3 1/2 hours until the whining begins. Ryan and I switch shifts nightly, between the 1:30/2am and 5:30/6am feedings. I am now sleeping about 6 hours total off and on. We go back to the doctor on September 10th and I am going to ask if we could possibly start 4 hour feedings all day. THAT WOULD BE HEAVEN!!!!! I just don't know if they would be getting enough to eat though, so thats why we have to ask!
Ryan left this morning for a business trip to Louisiana. He will be gone for 4 days. Quite frankly, I am scared to be alone with the babies...especially with these colic episodes we have been having. But I have my parents and his parents here. My cousin Rebecca is coming to see the girls for the first time this week as well, so I am sure I will have her around to help out!
My working out isn't going too well. I never seem to have the time to do it! By the time Ryan gets home at night, I am too tired and I have to go to bed in order to get up for the night feedings. It is very frustrating. I have about 12 pounds left to lose before I am back to my pre pregnancy weight. Aside from all this saggy baggy skin and gigantic milk jugs, I feel like I look pretty good. We have Ryan's 10 year class reunion next weekend and I am hoping to lose another 5 pounds by then....I'm not gonna hold my breath though!
Ok, now is the time for some pictures:
This is one of our first nights out with the babies. We went to Kobe Steaks in Addison. Ryan has been going there since he was a baby and we decided to take OUR babies. It was fun but the girls slept the entire time. The staff was excited to see the girls because Ryan has been a regular customer for his entire life!
Our first Kobe's visit!
We drove to Dallas to get some Sprinkles cupcakes. They are my absolute favorite! I had big intentions of this fun outing with the girls and strolling them through the shopping center while eating our cupcakes. Well in reality, this is how it turned out....it was 100 degrees so we couldn't stroll outside. The store was so crowded that we had to wait in a long line that was wrapped around the building. By the time we got our cupcakes it was feeding time, so we went to the car and gave them a bottle. Then we realized it was rush hour traffic so we drove home! OH WHAT FUN!?!?! It was good to get out of the house never-the-less. Since it was so crowded in the store I didn't get a chance to take their picture in front of the cupcake case, so we had a photo shoot in the to-go bag! It didn't go smooth at all and I also fell off the chair I was standing in and got a bruise on my knee while taking these pictures!!
This is Mary. She lives in Georgia. She is a very close family friend, that also works in the same business as Ryan and his dad. She came to visit and to see the girls for the first time. She doesn't have any grandkids yet, so our girls are her honorary grandchildren!! It was special to have her hold both girls and get their picture taken together.
The girls are 7 weeks old today...which really means 1 week old when you calculate in their corrective age. I can notice little things changing. Ashlyn is now more awake and alert. And both girls are beginning to stay up after their 9:30/10:00am feedings. I sing and dance and act like an idiot for about 30 minutes, until they doze back off. I have tried to start an afternoon nap routine, which only works about half the time.
On the down side...Addison has started to get colic. I'm not sure about Ashlyn, but she seems to have it from time to time as well. Addison begins to scream between 5pm and 6pm every day and usually doesn't stop until after bedtime. After talking to several friends, they all told me to get Gripe Water. I have heard that some pediatricians don't like it....but I HAD to give it a shot to see if it would calm her down. It did and I only use it once or twice a day and I only give her half of the recommended dose. So, now that we have semi-solved that problem things seem to be a lot better.
We are still working on our 4 hour feedings at night. We can usually make it about 3 1/2 hours until the whining begins. Ryan and I switch shifts nightly, between the 1:30/2am and 5:30/6am feedings. I am now sleeping about 6 hours total off and on. We go back to the doctor on September 10th and I am going to ask if we could possibly start 4 hour feedings all day. THAT WOULD BE HEAVEN!!!!! I just don't know if they would be getting enough to eat though, so thats why we have to ask!
Ryan left this morning for a business trip to Louisiana. He will be gone for 4 days. Quite frankly, I am scared to be alone with the babies...especially with these colic episodes we have been having. But I have my parents and his parents here. My cousin Rebecca is coming to see the girls for the first time this week as well, so I am sure I will have her around to help out!
My working out isn't going too well. I never seem to have the time to do it! By the time Ryan gets home at night, I am too tired and I have to go to bed in order to get up for the night feedings. It is very frustrating. I have about 12 pounds left to lose before I am back to my pre pregnancy weight. Aside from all this saggy baggy skin and gigantic milk jugs, I feel like I look pretty good. We have Ryan's 10 year class reunion next weekend and I am hoping to lose another 5 pounds by then....I'm not gonna hold my breath though!
Ok, now is the time for some pictures:
This is one of our first nights out with the babies. We went to Kobe Steaks in Addison. Ryan has been going there since he was a baby and we decided to take OUR babies. It was fun but the girls slept the entire time. The staff was excited to see the girls because Ryan has been a regular customer for his entire life!
Our first Kobe's visit!
We drove to Dallas to get some Sprinkles cupcakes. They are my absolute favorite! I had big intentions of this fun outing with the girls and strolling them through the shopping center while eating our cupcakes. Well in reality, this is how it turned out....it was 100 degrees so we couldn't stroll outside. The store was so crowded that we had to wait in a long line that was wrapped around the building. By the time we got our cupcakes it was feeding time, so we went to the car and gave them a bottle. Then we realized it was rush hour traffic so we drove home! OH WHAT FUN!?!?! It was good to get out of the house never-the-less. Since it was so crowded in the store I didn't get a chance to take their picture in front of the cupcake case, so we had a photo shoot in the to-go bag! It didn't go smooth at all and I also fell off the chair I was standing in and got a bruise on my knee while taking these pictures!!
This is Mary. She lives in Georgia. She is a very close family friend, that also works in the same business as Ryan and his dad. She came to visit and to see the girls for the first time. She doesn't have any grandkids yet, so our girls are her honorary grandchildren!! It was special to have her hold both girls and get their picture taken together.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
What would have been our first night out alone
For over a week now, Ryan and I had decided that a date night was long overdue. We made arrangements for Julie(Ryan's mom) to watch the girls on Saturday night. After many tears and a little screaming....date night is off! Let me tell you the story:
I had a small headache all day Friday that hadn't gone away. In the middle of the night, I woke up and it was BAD. I took several doses of Tylenol throughout the day, but now I had to bring in the big guns. I took 2 of the pills that the doctor had prescribed me during my pregnancy for my headaches. By 6:30 it still wasn't gone, so I took 2 more pills and got out the ice pack. It helped, but by the 9:30am feeding it was back with a vengeance. Somehow by noon, it had gone away finally.
Let me back track now to the middle of the night(while my head was pounding). Kohls was having one of their Friday midnight sales, so my mom and I went shopping from about 9:30 until 11:30. Ryan had the 9:30 feedings by himself and when I got home the girls were tucked in their beds. All was well, so far! I have the 1:30am feeding, so when I got up to change their diapers I noticed that Addison(who eats first)had peed and pooped all over herself--through the swaddle--and onto the sheets. WARDROBE CHANGE #1. After she is fed and back to bed, I go to Ashlyn and low and behold--same thing. WARDROBE CHANGE #2. Well, while we were gone, Ryan decided to put them in the Huggies Preemie diapers that we KNEW don't work. Why he didn't just put them in the diapers that I had laid out for him, I still don't know!! Ryan takes the 5:30am feedings, and as far as I know it went well. The 9:30am feeding also went well. I began to get laundry together from the night and start thinking about getting myself ready for the day. Then I remembered that I hadn't pumped since 2am....TIME TO PUMP! BUT...I had taken so much medicine, I didn't know if I could use the milk or if I needed to dump it! I go to the computer and google before I realized it was ok.
Along comes the 12:30pm feedings and in walks Ryan...GREAT(I thought). I will stick him with Addison and go take a shower. First he changes her diaper and she peed all over the piddle pad. GREAT, MORE LAUNDRY!! He cleans up and starts feeding her. She is almost finished with her bottle and right before I go into the bathroom, I hear Ryan cussing. I came running....Addison had blown beets all over him and the floor, the rocker and her outfit(that I already changed once today). So, I stop what I am doing and get Ryan's pants into the wash so they won't stain. I clean the carpet and the rocker. And I go make Addison another bottle, since she threw it up. By this time it is Ashlyn's turn to eat, so I make Ryan feed her and I take Addison. *still I have had no shower*. I feed Addison, everything is smooth. She burps and I put her back down. Ashlyn finishes up and Ryan(who has no patience) "burps" her and puts her down....all along I was saying, "you haven't burped her long enough, you need to do it longer". I am about to go into the nursery and gather up the new dirty laundry and I hear crying. I go to the bassinet and see vomit all over Ashlyn and the sheets and her outfit! ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!?!?!? WARDROBE CHANGE #3!! I obviously yell to Ryan, that "I TOLD YOU SO!!!!" -except I wasn't so nice and there were some cuss words added in. So now, it is past 2pm.....I have not showered, I have not done ANY laundry, both girls need a bath, I need to change the crib sheets(since there is pee and poop all over them), and I also need to change the bassinet sheets(since Ryan let her puke on them), and I am supposed to pack for the girls to go to my in laws house for the evening.
The more I think about it, the more angry I get. Then my hormones get in the way and I start crying. There is just no time to get all of this done by tonight. With another feeding in an hour and all of these things to do, we will be lucky to get out of here by 7 or 8pm. So, date night is off...maybe next time!!
DOES ANYONE SEE A COMMON DENOMINATOR IN ALL OF THESE OCCURRENCES? The answer: RYAN!! Don't get me wrong, he is a great daddy and he really does his best. But sometimes he just doesn't listen to me. I am the one who is here with them all day and knows the schedule and knows pretty much everything that needs to be done and how to do it. But yet, when I tell him something he still does his own thing!! These things very very rarely happen to me. I think 2 times someone peed on the piddle pad when I was in charge. Yes, sometimes they spit up....but I am always prepared with a burp cloth to catch it so it doesn't get on their clothes!!!
All I can say is........UGH, MEN!!!
Here is the picture of the laundry that I have to do. Keep in mind this all got dirty in just 1 night.
AND THIS IS WITHOUT 3 SETS OF SHEETS AND THE PANTS THAT ARE WASHING RIGHT NOW!!
OUR LIFE IS CRAZY, BUT I WOULDN'T CHANGE IT FOR THE WORLD....EXCEPT A LITTLE DATE NIGHT HERE AND THERE!!!
I had a small headache all day Friday that hadn't gone away. In the middle of the night, I woke up and it was BAD. I took several doses of Tylenol throughout the day, but now I had to bring in the big guns. I took 2 of the pills that the doctor had prescribed me during my pregnancy for my headaches. By 6:30 it still wasn't gone, so I took 2 more pills and got out the ice pack. It helped, but by the 9:30am feeding it was back with a vengeance. Somehow by noon, it had gone away finally.
Let me back track now to the middle of the night(while my head was pounding). Kohls was having one of their Friday midnight sales, so my mom and I went shopping from about 9:30 until 11:30. Ryan had the 9:30 feedings by himself and when I got home the girls were tucked in their beds. All was well, so far! I have the 1:30am feeding, so when I got up to change their diapers I noticed that Addison(who eats first)had peed and pooped all over herself--through the swaddle--and onto the sheets. WARDROBE CHANGE #1. After she is fed and back to bed, I go to Ashlyn and low and behold--same thing. WARDROBE CHANGE #2. Well, while we were gone, Ryan decided to put them in the Huggies Preemie diapers that we KNEW don't work. Why he didn't just put them in the diapers that I had laid out for him, I still don't know!! Ryan takes the 5:30am feedings, and as far as I know it went well. The 9:30am feeding also went well. I began to get laundry together from the night and start thinking about getting myself ready for the day. Then I remembered that I hadn't pumped since 2am....TIME TO PUMP! BUT...I had taken so much medicine, I didn't know if I could use the milk or if I needed to dump it! I go to the computer and google before I realized it was ok.
Along comes the 12:30pm feedings and in walks Ryan...GREAT(I thought). I will stick him with Addison and go take a shower. First he changes her diaper and she peed all over the piddle pad. GREAT, MORE LAUNDRY!! He cleans up and starts feeding her. She is almost finished with her bottle and right before I go into the bathroom, I hear Ryan cussing. I came running....Addison had blown beets all over him and the floor, the rocker and her outfit(that I already changed once today). So, I stop what I am doing and get Ryan's pants into the wash so they won't stain. I clean the carpet and the rocker. And I go make Addison another bottle, since she threw it up. By this time it is Ashlyn's turn to eat, so I make Ryan feed her and I take Addison. *still I have had no shower*. I feed Addison, everything is smooth. She burps and I put her back down. Ashlyn finishes up and Ryan(who has no patience) "burps" her and puts her down....all along I was saying, "you haven't burped her long enough, you need to do it longer". I am about to go into the nursery and gather up the new dirty laundry and I hear crying. I go to the bassinet and see vomit all over Ashlyn and the sheets and her outfit! ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!?!?!? WARDROBE CHANGE #3!! I obviously yell to Ryan, that "I TOLD YOU SO!!!!" -except I wasn't so nice and there were some cuss words added in. So now, it is past 2pm.....I have not showered, I have not done ANY laundry, both girls need a bath, I need to change the crib sheets(since there is pee and poop all over them), and I also need to change the bassinet sheets(since Ryan let her puke on them), and I am supposed to pack for the girls to go to my in laws house for the evening.
The more I think about it, the more angry I get. Then my hormones get in the way and I start crying. There is just no time to get all of this done by tonight. With another feeding in an hour and all of these things to do, we will be lucky to get out of here by 7 or 8pm. So, date night is off...maybe next time!!
DOES ANYONE SEE A COMMON DENOMINATOR IN ALL OF THESE OCCURRENCES? The answer: RYAN!! Don't get me wrong, he is a great daddy and he really does his best. But sometimes he just doesn't listen to me. I am the one who is here with them all day and knows the schedule and knows pretty much everything that needs to be done and how to do it. But yet, when I tell him something he still does his own thing!! These things very very rarely happen to me. I think 2 times someone peed on the piddle pad when I was in charge. Yes, sometimes they spit up....but I am always prepared with a burp cloth to catch it so it doesn't get on their clothes!!!
All I can say is........UGH, MEN!!!
Here is the picture of the laundry that I have to do. Keep in mind this all got dirty in just 1 night.
AND THIS IS WITHOUT 3 SETS OF SHEETS AND THE PANTS THAT ARE WASHING RIGHT NOW!!OUR LIFE IS CRAZY, BUT I WOULDN'T CHANGE IT FOR THE WORLD....EXCEPT A LITTLE DATE NIGHT HERE AND THERE!!!
Friday, August 7, 2009
My girls have a bald spot
Last night I was feeding Addison and I happened to look at the back of her head and I noticed a little bald spot, where she rubs her head on the bed. NOOOOOOO! Everyone has told me that they will probably lose their hair, but I really didn't want it to happen! Addi's hair is already a little on the thin side and now she is gonna look like a little old man! Ashlyn has more hair, but I noticed a little spot starting to form on her head too! I guess we will be wearing big fat head bands to cover these baldies up!
I took a couple of pictures that I thought I would share....I think they are cute!!
This is us trying to kiss each other(or so mommy says!) Ashlyn is a big cuddler and you can see how much she is enjoying it by the smile on her face!!
Uncle Bub came over after a long day at work. This is his first time to hold us!
I took a couple of pictures that I thought I would share....I think they are cute!!
This is us trying to kiss each other(or so mommy says!) Ashlyn is a big cuddler and you can see how much she is enjoying it by the smile on her face!!
Uncle Bub came over after a long day at work. This is his first time to hold us!
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Chaos and no sleep
It has been a couple of weeks since I last blogged....mostly because I have had non stop screaming babies! For example, right now as I sit here typing I can hear Addison throwing a fit in the living room. No reason of course, she is fed, clean and comfy. She's just crying because she wants to be held and she wants to hear the sound of her own voice(which might I add is one of the most annoying cries I have ever heard in my life). She makes this buzzing bee sound and it is SO loud. Ashlyn just quietly squeaks when she cries and it is much more pleasant. Anyway, back to my story. When we went for our 3 week check up the doctor told me that he wants us to start pushing for 4 hour feedings during the night. So, we did....that night we fed at 9:30/10pm and didn't do it again until 1:30/2am. It was a little hectic....Ryan slept on the couch. The next couple of nights actually went pretty smooth and I thought it might be the beginning of them sleeping longer through the night. WAS I WRONG!! Now every night they both wake up at least 30 to 45 minutes early, wanting to eat. I am such a stickler for the schedule and I won't feed them, so I try to make them cry it out. LETS REGRESS BACK TO THE ANNOYING CRY.....I have learned to just turn off the baby monitor and try to sleep. Addison just gets louder and louder though. Most of our house is tile and it echos down the hallway and all the way to our room(which is the complete opposite side of the house). I am seriously afraid the neighbors can hear her. I have now started feeding them half formula and half breast milk for EVERY feeding. The doctor told me that formula doesn't digest as quickly, so they don't get hungry as fast. The other night they both woke up crying. It was about an hour and a half before they were scheduled to feed. There is nothing worse than when they BOTH wake up at the same time...they were crying, I was crying, and we all fell asleep on the couch. I have only been averaging between 2 and 3 hours of sleep a night since that doctor made us change this schedule....they were doing so well before then. DAMN HIM!!
What is more frustrating is that they still are too little to really play with. I guess because they were premature?? They eat and fall right back asleep. I got out one of our swings and one play mat to try to get their attention. They do look at it and seem to enjoy it for about 5 minutes but then they go right back to sleep. The frustrating part is that I talk to other moms who sit around and interact with their kids and it makes me feel lazy and like I do nothing to stimulate them and help them learn.
We still can't take them out anywhere...I guess the most we have done was spend the day at my parents house. Ryan changed electric companies the other day and TXU turned off our power before the other company took over our account. So I packed up and took the girls to Grandad and Mom Mom's house for the day. It was nice actually...they pretty much took all the feedings(16 of them to be exact). I had the day off to just sit there...what I should have done is caught up on sleep!
So far, being a mom is great though. It is WAAAAY harder than I ever imagined. I don't know what it is like to have only 1 baby...but I no longer have sympathy for moms who say they are tired(when they have only 1 baby). THEY HAVE NO IDEA WHAT TIRED IS!! I still cry a lot because I am so stressed and tired and overwhelmed. I get upset sometimes that Ryan goes to work all day and leaves me alone...it makes me feel like a single mom. But at the same time, I know he has to work to make money to support us! I appreciate how determined he is to build his business and make a life for us....I just wish he could sometimes do it from home!!! But now that we got our final bill in from the hospital, he needs to go work!! I had mentioned before that our health insurance doesn't cover maternity costs. SO, our final bill that we have to pay is over $22,000. SO WORK WORK WORK, Ryan....all you need to!!
On another note, I have started to work out again. I have about 15 pounds left to lose before I am back to my pre pregnancy weight. I go to a boot camp 3 days a week and I have started going back to my personal trainer 2 days a week. Now if I could only get rid of all this extra skin....WHEN DOES IT GO AWAY? I totally thought that a month later it should be tightening back up but it isn't!! I guess we will have to start a tummy tuck fund! I have a funny story about all this skin...no one told me that even though you lose the weight, it doesn't mean you will fit back into your pants!! Reality hit me SMACK in the face the other day when I thought I could put them on....I couldn't even get them over my ass!! My maternity pants are too big, but my old pants are too small....it made for a quick shopping trip with my mom. I am now sad to say that I went from a size 2 to a size 8. I guess it will get better, but that number just blows my mind. UGH, it makes me want to go jogging right now!! So now I've been told....DON'T TRY ON YOUR PRE PREGNANCY PANTS FOR AT LEAST 3 MONTHS, NO MATTER HOW MUCH WEIGHT YOU'VE LOST OR HOW GOOD YOU THINK YOU LOOK!! *Thanks Hayley for the wisdom!!
Ok, enough of my complaining. I just needed to vent my frustrations and since everyone that reads this blog is a mom, I figured you all would understand. OH, one last question...I've heard that you can start giving a little bit of rice cereal at about 2 months old, to help them sleep better. IS THAT TRUE? I need your advice...
What is more frustrating is that they still are too little to really play with. I guess because they were premature?? They eat and fall right back asleep. I got out one of our swings and one play mat to try to get their attention. They do look at it and seem to enjoy it for about 5 minutes but then they go right back to sleep. The frustrating part is that I talk to other moms who sit around and interact with their kids and it makes me feel lazy and like I do nothing to stimulate them and help them learn.
We still can't take them out anywhere...I guess the most we have done was spend the day at my parents house. Ryan changed electric companies the other day and TXU turned off our power before the other company took over our account. So I packed up and took the girls to Grandad and Mom Mom's house for the day. It was nice actually...they pretty much took all the feedings(16 of them to be exact). I had the day off to just sit there...what I should have done is caught up on sleep!
So far, being a mom is great though. It is WAAAAY harder than I ever imagined. I don't know what it is like to have only 1 baby...but I no longer have sympathy for moms who say they are tired(when they have only 1 baby). THEY HAVE NO IDEA WHAT TIRED IS!! I still cry a lot because I am so stressed and tired and overwhelmed. I get upset sometimes that Ryan goes to work all day and leaves me alone...it makes me feel like a single mom. But at the same time, I know he has to work to make money to support us! I appreciate how determined he is to build his business and make a life for us....I just wish he could sometimes do it from home!!! But now that we got our final bill in from the hospital, he needs to go work!! I had mentioned before that our health insurance doesn't cover maternity costs. SO, our final bill that we have to pay is over $22,000. SO WORK WORK WORK, Ryan....all you need to!!
On another note, I have started to work out again. I have about 15 pounds left to lose before I am back to my pre pregnancy weight. I go to a boot camp 3 days a week and I have started going back to my personal trainer 2 days a week. Now if I could only get rid of all this extra skin....WHEN DOES IT GO AWAY? I totally thought that a month later it should be tightening back up but it isn't!! I guess we will have to start a tummy tuck fund! I have a funny story about all this skin...no one told me that even though you lose the weight, it doesn't mean you will fit back into your pants!! Reality hit me SMACK in the face the other day when I thought I could put them on....I couldn't even get them over my ass!! My maternity pants are too big, but my old pants are too small....it made for a quick shopping trip with my mom. I am now sad to say that I went from a size 2 to a size 8. I guess it will get better, but that number just blows my mind. UGH, it makes me want to go jogging right now!! So now I've been told....DON'T TRY ON YOUR PRE PREGNANCY PANTS FOR AT LEAST 3 MONTHS, NO MATTER HOW MUCH WEIGHT YOU'VE LOST OR HOW GOOD YOU THINK YOU LOOK!! *Thanks Hayley for the wisdom!!
Ok, enough of my complaining. I just needed to vent my frustrations and since everyone that reads this blog is a mom, I figured you all would understand. OH, one last question...I've heard that you can start giving a little bit of rice cereal at about 2 months old, to help them sleep better. IS THAT TRUE? I need your advice...
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