CHEEKS! Sunday - February 24, 2008

Hey, look mom - we've got cheeks!

Friend turned make-up artist. Sunday - February 24, 2008

Gabby had a few friends over for dinner last night...

Tables were danced on, pretend food was cooked, strollers were pushed, chocolate cake was eaten... and well, Livi decided to take a shot at being a make-up artist... on Gabby's face. Good times. Gooooooooooooooood times.

Gabby was clearly a happy client, running around to the adults saying "I look PRETTY!" Livi was well compensated for her work with LOTS of hugs.

CoOkIe CrAzE!!! Tuesday – February 19, 2008

Since Gabriella missed the cookie making festivities over the holidays in Minnesota with all of her cousins, Gammy decided to teach Gabby how to do cut-out and sugar cookies while she stayed with us.

Quick summary of the cookie bake-a-thon:
* Gabby probably ate more cookie dough than was baked. The child was crazy… not only was she stealing dough from the bowl and eating it, she’d transfer the cut-out cookies to her mouth instead of the pan for baking. True hints of her daddy living in her…

* Gabby must have been wearing a ½ pound of flour by the time the cookie cut-outs were finished. See photo.

* When making the sugar cookies… Gabby had more fun squishing the balls of dough in her hands than rolling them in the sugar like she was supposed to do.

* The REAL kicker to the cookie making was a true sugar-high. We discovered she had been eating handfuls of sugar. She kept running over to papa licking her fingers and saying “This is REALLY good, papa!” Papa thought she was pretending and not really licking anything… until Gammy busted her eating a handful of sugar. I then had the wonderful pleasure of being kept awake until 2am by a child on a 100% genuine SUGAR HIGH. Silly me… here I thought sugar highs were an old wives tale.

Growing strong! Thursday - February 14, 2008

We took the boys in for their 1 month pediatrician appointment today. Both are growing strong and are now on the growth percentile charts (they weren't big enough at birth). They are now in the 30th %ile for weight and 8th %ile for height. We're proud of the little guys for all the growing they've been doing!

One month stats are:
Rocco: 8lbs 14oz and 20"
Matteo: 9lbs 2oz and 20"

Rocco was the larger baby by 4oz at birth... but now is the smaller baby by 4oz.

Twins are 1 month old! Sunday – February 10, 2008

The twins are 1 month old! The past month flew by... and I'm still trying to remind myself it's 2008, let alone mid-February. Oh well... I guess it’s all about survival (parental survival, that is).

First month in review:
* 25 diapers per day, minimum, for the twins alone.
* 8-10 diapers per day for Gabby (although, she’s beginning to potty train).
* 3 eye infections (Rocco, both eyes; Matteo, 1 eye).
* 3 nasty diaper rashes (Matteo – 2, Rocco – 1).
* 2 colds (Gabby & Rocco).
* 8 planned feedings for the twins per day (16 bottles).
* 2-4 unplanned feedings (snack sessions) per baby, per day (4-8 bottles).
* 3-4 meals to prepare for Gabby per day (2 of which she may actually eat).
* 2-3 loads of laundry per day.
* 2-3 dishwasher loads run daily; consequently also needing to be emptied (LOVE the dishwasher… but good lord, I’m so not a fan of emptying it!)
* 1 trip to the pediatrician (2nd trip is 2/14 for the 1 month appt).
* 2 calls to page the pediatrician on a 2 separate weekends.
* 6 times daily I sit down and do what I hate most… pump milk.
* 0-2 times I’ll nurse the babies per day. I have little to no time to be a snack bar on top of everything else.
* 38 days we were blessed with having Gammy live with us. She provided the twins with love and the family with much needed support… not to mention endless hours of help. THANK YOU, MOM!!
* Endless = amount of time papa spent entertaining Gabby with puzzles, games of “hide & go seek” and “get you”, etc., and most importantly, his love and attention.
* 3 Dan, Gabby & Jodi dinner date night while Gammy babysat the twins.
* 1 Dan & Jodi dinner date night while Gammy & Papa babysat all 3 little monkeys.

In addition to all of the above chaos, Gabby decided that it’s cool to start mimicking the babies’ cries… WHILE they’re both crying, mind you. So, just as you begin to lose sanity because two babies’ screams are echoing in your ears… the 2 year old chimes in with her version of it. Lovely. However, I can't complain... the boys are GREAT babies. Again, much easier than a baby with colic.

Oh - and daddy started a new job in 2008 that keeps him VERY, VERY busy. Honestly... the timing of moving back into our house, the arrival of the babies and the new VERY BUSY job for daddy couldn't have been more perfectly timed to coincide!

Welcome to our life.

But... we've got it EASY compared to "Jon & Kate plus Ei8ht"! Ever watch that show? Good humor...

It’s funny to think... Sunday – February 3, 2008

Three weeks ago today I sat down on our bed to take a nap by myself for the first time in 36 weeks. And by myself—I mean without babies in my belly. It was so quiet in the bedroom. My mom was watching the twins downstairs, and Dan had taken Gabby to the park. Instead of immediately falling asleep… as soon as my head hit the pillow I couldn’t help but start crying. I felt so incredibly lonely without those two babies in my belly.

It’s funny to think that I can pinpoint two of the loneliest times in my life to exactly 3 days after the birth of the twins and exactly 3 days after the birth of Gabriella. It sounds crazy—I know. And, it’s also crazy to think that before each child was born I was so incredibly uncomfortable and excited to get my body back that I could hardly wait for labor to begin.

Once again, I find this to be just the start of letting go and letting the little ones grow. They’re doing a fine job of it. Sometimes – it’s not fast enough. Especially in sleep deprived moments… or when I have 3 kids crying at me simultaneously. And, sometimes it’s too fast… like when I see the twins starting to fit into newborn clothes and cheeks filling out, or when the two year old is playing dress-up and getting into my make-up.

Life sure is sweet, short and crazy, isn’t it?