7 months of mommyhood!

Oh man this months photo was a little difficult. Tayla seriously wont lay still these days. She is constantly kicking her feet, moving her arms and her new thing now, shaking her head. And she loves being on her tummy. That definitely made the picture a little more difficult. Looks like she is taking tips from daddy when it comes to taking pictures...

At least I was able to get one good one!
I feel like so much has happened since the last time I wrote a blog. Both the girls roll all over the place, they have started noticing and playing with each other. The interacting really doesn't last long but when it does it is the cutest thing ever! Tayla has started to scoot herself backwards! Rather it be on purpose or not, I've seen her stick her butt up in the air while on her elbows and then lay back down. Sleeping was going great and had sleep training down but then this started happening so I'm wondering if this is causing her not to sleep. I've come into their room a couple of times and see her feet sticking out. Ivy scoots in her sleep, while on her back or stomach and gets herself stuck in the corner. I also think these girls are going through a small separation anxiety phase so naps have been hard. Really hoping this is just a phase and that it passes soon

I've noticed they love watching Tyrel and I eat. Now if I hold them they try to grab what we are eating. I don't know if this is sign they are interested in food or if they just like to grab things. They can't quite sit up on their own yet but I've been sitting them in their high chairs as practice with some toys. For the fun of it I gave them each a cracker to see how they would do. They weren't sure at first and kind of just sucked on it. I'm more interested in baby led weaning, so I can skip baby food all together. They are good about picking up the cracker and putting them in their mouth but once a piece breaks off they don't know what do and they spit it out. We still have a long ways to go. For the fun of it, I've been giving them baby food so we can practice swallowing instead of just sticking their tongues out. Not really in any hurry to push baby food, its all really for fun and just trying to change things up a bit

Tyrel and I are in the process of rearranging our living room and start thinking about baby proofing because I have a feeling with the progress Tayla is doing, she is just going to take off! Happy 7 months girls

6 months: half way through my pumping goal!!

This is honestly the best picture I get get of them without it being all blurry.

It has been 6 months since these girls came into my life. 6 months of pumping, 6 months of supplementing, and 6 months of dealing with a low supply. It's been a hard road, but I'm so happy that I've made it this far. My long term goal was one year, but at the beginning of this journey that seemed forever so I started making short term goals. Well I'm happy to say 6 months was one of my short term goals, and I feel like I can keep going so that's what I'm going to go. Of course realizing how much formula we would go through (about $100 a week) has motivated me too. 6 more months of pumping!

I feel like they have changed so much since I wrote my last blog. They both have become so active. I'm happy to say that Ivy had her last PT appointment! When she originally started, the goal for her was to be able to roll over on her own. That goal seemed so far away considering how much of a struggle it was for her to even lift her head. Before the appointment she seemed to have no interest in rolling at all and then I swear the next day she started rolling over. She now rolls all over the place and likes to get herself stuck under the coffee table and in the corner of her crib.

Sleeping is going pretty good so far. Bedtime is between 7-8pm and they wake around 5am. Sometime it's not until 6:30! Naps were going good until they hit a growth spurt and went from eating every 3 hours to 1.5 hours. That was exhausting.

Tyrel and I did something different this year. I actually was away from my babies for a day while we went to comic con in Portland. It was really hard for me at first, and I may have cried a little bit but it was so worth the trip. We didn't dress up this year but there were lots of other people dressed up. And some of the costumes were really impressive

Next time it would be fun to dress up a bit

The girls went to their first beaver game yesterday. They did really good, even with not napping. Too much to look at and too many people to talk to. Although the drive home was awful... Happy 6 months girls! And lets just be happy that I'm actually writing this on the day they are actually 6 months

5 months old

You remember my last post I had mentioned about the lovely 4 month sleep regression they are going through. Well I'm happy to say that sleeping is becoming a little easier. We are in the process of sleep training and getting a nap routine going which is making my life much easier. We also been transitioning them to their cribs for nap time too. I've been doing some reading and soon learned that I was waiting too long to put them down for naps which is why they fought it so hard. I discover this sleeping chart below to help with napping during the day and it has helped so much!!

The transition was hard because they weren't use to sleeping in their cribs but it's slowly getting easier. Now all I have to do wrap them up and lay them down and they go to sleep to sleep on their own. Although I do like to hold them before hand sometimes. Either way this chart has been super helpful and is making nap time so much easier. Even if naps sometimes only last 20 or 30 minutes.

I love how active these girls are getting. Tayla likes to roll all over the place and is not being swaddled anymore because she rolls around even when she is sleeping. She is the main reason her Ivy don't share beds anymore, especially since Ivy has no interest in rolling over at all. I'm starting to think that the reason she learned to roll over on to her back was because she hates being on her tummy so much. She is just now starting to be on her tummy more and when we were at her therapy appointment she even rolled over to her tummy! With some assistance of course. 

My mom came over one night and helped rearrange their room so I could put the 2nd crib in their room. It's a tight fight but we made it work. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

No we didn't stick with just one theme and I like it that way. We took a trip to Opa's who lives in Southern Oregon. It's about 3 hours to get there and the girls slept pretty much the entire way. Either that or they were really quiet. (With the exception of stopping to let them stretch out and feed them.) That made me really happy because that's the longest they have gone in the car.  

What can I say I have some pretty happy babies, and I am really grateful for that. Although they have been pretty cranky lately. Tayla has been chewing on her fingers like crazy and I'm beginning to wonder if she is teething. Ivy had a low grade fever on Monday. Neither of them are eating very well which concerns me a little bit. I also have a list of things I want to get done but can't because of the short naps. Oh well

Opa, uncle Brad, and aunt Bernadette

They look so big in their cribs compared to when they were little

4 months: the road to exclusively pumping

The blurry feet and hands show just how active these little girls are! Constantly kicking and moving, and talking non stop. Ivy recently learned how to roll from her stomach to her back! After all the issues she had with her neck, this made me really happy. And she did something before Tayla. Usually Tayla is one that hits the milestones first. There were a couple of times Tayla acted like she was going to roll over, but nothing has happened yet. These girls keep on growing and have reached 10 pounds which means 3 month clothes are getting a little snug for them

I'm going to be honest with you, being a stay at home is harder then I thought it would be. Trying to take care of two babies plus trying to stay on top of the housework is so hard. I seriously had this vision of having a nice clean house with dinner made as Tyrel was coming home, and I thought to myself, "yeah, I can do this." Boy was I wrong. I've been struggling trying to keep the house the clean but then I look at at these two beautiful girls and they are being fed and getting the attention they need and I think that is what's most important.

And just look how much progress they have made, so clearly I must be doing something right

I've come to the decision that I'm going ti give up on nursing and just continue to pump.  They weren't very good nursers. It was a lot of work to re-position and re-latch them every couple of minutes. I wanted to do tandem nursing with them so that way it cut down feeding time but they hated it. I've been on a pumping schedule since they were born because of them being in NICU so really pumping isn't all that different for me. It is extra work? Yes. Does that mean more dishes? Yes. But it's what I decided to do. Even though I don't really make enough and have to supplement with formula. I still feel it's good that they are getting some breast milk in their bottles. And thanks to my hands free pumping bra I'm able to multitask, which means pumping and eating at the same time!

Sleeping is not going well. They have been waking a little more often at night, and becoming quite restless and during the day they are living off of 20 minute naps! They have better things to do then sleep these days, which includes talking, and smiling at everything and everyone. Unfortunately it makes for a very tired mama. I've been told by multiple people and the wonderful baby books, that this is phase and this too shall pass. I really hope so because I actually had a pretty good routine going for them.

I will say though that I've survived two road trips with these guys. We traveled to the beach with my family and went to the family reunion over in blue River. Both times they slept in the car pretty much the entire time

3 months!

It's been 3 months since these adorable girls came into our lives, and boy have our lives change. Life feels like a juggling act sometimes. One starts crying so I pick her up. Before long the other one will start crying so I have to put the other one down, to pick up her sister. This goes back and forth sometimes which then will lead me to being stuck on the couch holding two babies at once. I really don't mind at all when it come down to this but it just means nothing around the house is getting done. It's crazy how it makes the day go by really fast. One minute it's morning time, next thing you know Tyrel is walking through the door coming home from work.

They are still on a pretty consistent 3 hour eating schedule. I'm able to feed them a the same time which cuts down on feeding time. They are still struggling with the breastfeeding. I almost feel like they have a lazy suck so they don't get much milk from the breast.. I've been told this is because they are getting use to the bottle. Nursing sessions still take a long time. It usually involves a lot of readjusting and fixing their latches. And even after feeding them at the breast both of them start screaming at me and sucking away at their binkies acting like they are still hungry! I don't really look forward to breastfeeding anymore because I feel it's so much work, but I keep trying. For now I'm just stuck to my pumping. I'm still having supply issues. I think of it has to do with my hypothyroidism. I bought some mother's milk tea and and on the look out for fenugreek. Currently trying a prescription called Reglan to help increase supply. I'm not really really a fan of the side effects so it may just be a temporary thing.

Sleeping is going really well so far! They are sleeping longer stretches at night! Generally I put them to bed at around 8 and then don't wake up to eat until 2! After that it's back to 3 hours, but they extra stretch is still nice. Sleeping during the day is kind of random. I was keeping them up a little bit because they love to smile and coo at you which is just the cutest thing ever. But I've noticed that makes them really cranky at the end of the day so now it's only for about an hour before I wrap them back up and then they are off to dream land. They still need a lot of head support, although Tayla is doing really well with tummy time and holding her head up! We are still working on head holding with Ivy because of her Tortacollis. She is seeing a physical therapist and I do regular stretches with her to help ease the muscle tension on the one side of her neck. Everyday seems to be a little better. Oh and did I mention these girls do really well sleeping in their crib? A lot of time times we can just wrap them up and lay them in their cribs and they will go to sleep on their own. It's pretty nice

These girls continue to grow. They were last weighed on May 31st and Tayla was at 8 lbs and Ivy was 8 lbs 2 oz. They go back in on Friday to be weighed again. I recently went through all their clothes and packed up all their newborn clothes and transitioned them to 0-3 month clothes as well as size 1 diapers!

Twin life is hard, but I just try to take it one day at a time. Also Tyrel helped me with the photo shoot, if you can tell by the pictures

Tayla is not a fan

 This is what happens when daddy helps with pictures haha

Oh I forgot to mention there have been a couple of times where the girls are laying on the floor and they they start smiling and talking to each other. It is just the cutest thing ever!! Trying really hard to get a video of it

Telling stories