Rebels

The past 2 nights the little boys who have slept so soundly, decided to get up at 4:30 am. We were not expecting this and it has shocked us back into needing sleep! :) They are still our little darlings, but come on-what was that teaser about?

In the pictures we have
1-Chase's new open mouth smile
2-Owen
3-Chase and Owen-Owen sucking thumb
4-Chase modeling new knit hat by Mommy
5-Chase's wide eyes

Sleeping Through the Night and Thumbs

The boys are officially "sleeping through the night". We put them down between 8:30 and 9:00 and they get up about 6ish. It's amazing. They are such good little boys. We hear it all changes when teething starts, but for now it's great. Jeff and I are now having a hard time sleeping. I think our bodies have adjusted to less sleep and getting up at 4:00 am. We can't sleep very long and are awake on and off during the night. It's frustrating, but I'm sure we'll adjust.

Chase and Owen both like to suck their thumbs. They are so cute when they do it. They get really frustrated when they can't find their thumb. They also get frustrated when they are trying to fall asleep while sucking their thumb. Their little arms relax, the thumb falls out and they cry. They put the thumb back in and the whole thing starts again. They'll learn. The other day Chase had his thumb touching his chin and was sucking his lip-he must not have known it wasn't really his thumb! :) Owen is pretty efficient at finding his thumb. It's typically right in his mouth, fingers around his nose.

My aunt Mary visited the other day. My cousin Kristen and her daughter, Morgan babysat for me and Mary was in town from SD watching my cousin Kathryn's kids so she was able to meet C and O. It was so nice to see her. I've been so blessed by Kristen's willingness to take care of C and O for me.

Owen likes to talk to himself. He'll be in the pack-n-play just oohhing and ahhing. The minute you go look at him he stops and just smiles at you. Chase smiles a lot more now and is very into looking at toys and trying to grab them. It's amazing how different they are from each other. Sometimes it's difficult making sure they each get the attention they need, but Jeff and I constantly talk about it and make every effort to treat them as individuals. It's not easy though! I feel guilt about the time I have to divide between two babies. However, I know I'm talking to them not stop when they are awake, I sing dumb songs about poop and diapers, let them smell food while I'm cooking and read them books. I think I'm doing ok. Yesterday we all (the 3 of us) sat in the chair and read a book about little animals and Jesus loves me. They were pretty attentive through the first book and it was fun to be cozy together. It's always interesting getting them both on my lap at the same time. Good thing they are flexible!

Chase and Owen are starting to notice each other a little more. Chase notices Owen more than Owen notices Chase. Yesterday he looked at Owen and smiled and giggled. Owen just looked at me. They definetly know their Mommy! I love it!

THEY DID IT!!!

Owen and Chase slept through the night last night!!!! It's a miracle! We put them down about 9:15 and at 5:15 I awoke to Owen crying. I couldn't believe it. They were such good boys. I woke Jeff up to tell him and he was so out of it he kept asking me what day it was. He thought he was late for work. Last night was the first night we put them in their own cribs, so maybe that had something to do with it. Whatever it was, it was great to sleep 6 1/2 hours straight (that's what I got). yipee.

Mommy's big boys

Owen looks out the window. I got too much soap in the water! :)
Chase looks happy in the bath.

Go Cyclones!!!!

thanks for the gear grandpa!

Falling in Love

Who knew I could love Chase and Owen so much? Before having the babies I loved them and I knew once they came I would love them more, but I didn't realize it would be this much! They amaze me at each glance, each giggle, each smile and each kiss of their squishy cheeks. It's so fun to watch them grow, yet at the same time it's sad knowing they will not stay this little and cute.

Alcester

We had a great weekend visiting my parents on the farm. The babies got to meet Great Grandma Charlotte (my mom's mother), my aunt Amy and my cousins, Sara, Emily and Bobby. We took a walk to the creek where Katie and I used to play as children. They got to meet the farm cats, see the garden and be outside. We even went to the Steak House for dinner! :) It was a fun trip home to see Grandma and Grandpa, even though Grandpa's back was bad and he was in bed all weekend. The boys were great, once again. They slept right by me in their pack-n-play.

A New Addition

We finally received the crib my parents bought for us. I've been anxiously awaiting it's arrival. It's so fun to get things in the mail, assemble them and use them. Plus, it's really pretty and I couldn't wait to see it set up in the babies room.

Jeff assembled the crib and we put it into place and suddenly I felt tears welling up in my eyes. My little babies were going to have their own cribs! They weren't going to sleep together any more. The cute little snuggle bugs would have to sleep alone. It made me very sad. They aren't little tiny babies anymore.

Tomorrow we are leaving for my home town of Alcester, SD, home of 850 friendly people. I wonder if my parents will have invited all 850 people and the surrounding counties to meet the twins?! I'm really looking forward to coming "home". I'm excited for the babies to be on the farm, even though they really have no clue where they are. Alcester, here we come!

We're Excited to be 3 Months Old!

Chase Smiles
Owen smiles


Hello! We are so excited to be 3 months old today! We are learning so much each and every day. Owen sucked on his thumb for the first time, I've been doing that for days now. Yeah, and Chase giggled at the Fisher Price mobile as it moved and lit up. We love to laugh at Mommy and Daddy and move our limbs around. We have found our hands and like to play with our fingers and put them in our mouths. Sometimes it is soothing, other times it frustrates us if we can't figure it out. Mommy and Daddy keep talking to us about "sleeping through the night." We don't get it. We love to see them in the middle of the night-don't they want to see us too? Sometimes Mommy walks around in a daze until we make her laugh with our smiles. I wonder why she is so sleepy. We still like our pacis and music. We are rolling onto our sides and continue to stretch our bodies out. We think we are still wearing 0-3 month clothing as the Dr. called us 'short'. Mommy doesn't think we are short, though. We don't care just as long as we are growing.

Fall

Isn't fall fun?! We have just had beautiful weather and Chase and Owen really appear to enjoy being out in it. Yesterday we had our first outing to an apple orchard near Waconia. It was a beautiful drive through the corn fields (those of you from SD are very used to this). The orchard was way back in on a gravel road with trees lining the road and forming a canopy over it. (this is where Jeff had his senior picture taken in his blue jeans with his car in high school-how dorky.)

We took the babies in our Bjorn's and got lots of stares, oohs, ahhhs, and oh mys. We had pictures taken with the pumpkins right before the battery on our camera died-oops, we didn't think to check the battery. It was a fun adventure. We got to try some new apples, found a variety we really liked, and got out into the sunshine.

We then went out for my first sushi since being pregnant. We went to downtown Excelsior and were the first and only customers in Yumi's. We were in and out in 34 mintues. Ha ha. How things change when you have two babies who are due to eat in 30 minutes. It was great sushi

Lots of Babies

Last night we had our friends Molly and Ben and their twin boys, Parker and Brayden, over for dinner. Talk about lots of babies! We met Molly and Ben at our Multiples birthing class. We've enjoyed getting to know them and enjoy sharing stories of twindom. Their boys are about 7 weeks older than ours. All 4 babies behaved pretty well-ours had a little trouble because night is their fussy time. I was going to take a picture to post, but of course forgot. It was fun to talk about being parents and having comradarie with other parents of twins. We oohed and aahhed over their mini van, which we all commented that a year ago we would never have done. Boy do children change you! :)

The picture posted here is of our friend Isaac (4) and Owen. He is the son of Shannon and Mike. We went to Shannon's house for a little play date and Isaac took to the boys right away. He wanted to know which baby was mine and which was Jeff's. One of the boys was sleeping on his bed and Isaac kept watch of him. It was very sweet.

Visitors

We had a few visitors this past week. Jason Bjork, college friend of mine, visited from VA. He was in town cleaning out his house so it could be rented. Grandma Sandy was also in town helping me out while Jeff was in Atlanta.

The last picture is how Sandy found me Wed. night. Both babies had been doing the death cry. I had no choice but to try to console both of them. I got them both on the couch, hoisted one baby up and pulled the other up my legs onto my chest. They calmed and fell asleep. We cuddled for a couple nice hours. :)

Sleeping Arrangements

Like I've mentioned before, the boys like to cozy up to each other in the night. We put them at opposite ends of the crib and this picture shows how they end up.

smiles

Chase and Owen laughing at me.

Chase and Owen in bed this morning with their new cozy sleep sacks on.

Chase (top), Owen (bottom) in new outfits from Kings

Owen looks like me?

So I've been hearing from relatives and my mom that many people from Alcester think Owen looks like me! This is so funny because all along we've thought Owen looks just like Jeff. I can see how he might look like my baby pics because of the chubby cheeks. I guess I don't mind that people think he looks like me, it's kind of fun.

The boys continue to be a constant delight to me. I love to watch Chase play with his fingers as he brings his hands to the midline of his body. He loves to suck on his fingers, attempting to get his entire fist in his mouth. He loves "Little Round House" and giggles at it. His smile is just beautiful and his little eyes light up. He enjoys laying on his play mat listening to music and looking at himself in the mirror. He's quite the pumpkin.

Owen is just as sweet. He smiles and his mouth drops open and he coos. He is a big talker and makes lots of loud noises. He is the master of faces and you never know what kind of face he'll make next. He loves his pacifier and likes to watch Mommy talk to him, over playing with toys. His eyes get really big as he observes all that goes on around him. He's our little O-Baby.

Both boys are just amazing babies. They really don't cry that often and love adult interaction. They eat pretty well-although a lot of it ends up on their shirts. They continue to share a crib and always end up very close to each other-most of the time touching. Even if we put them at total opposite ends of the crib, they are together by 3:00 am. I try not to compare Chase and Owen, but right now Chase is the more easy going baby. Owen has some lungs on him and has been known to perform the "death cry". Poor guy.

Jeff is in Atlanta for a few days. He left Sunday morning and gets back Wed. night. His mom is here helping me with the babies, praise the Lord. She is amazing and gets up to help me feed them in the night. Last night the top of the bottle didn't get screwed on quite tight enough and 5 ounces of milk ended up on Owen's sleeper! oops! We had a good laugh about that. I had some anxiety about Jeff leaving for a few days, but it's going rather well. I'm not saying he can stay longer in Atlanta, just that God is giving me the grace to get through this time without him. Last night I experienced my first duo baby breakdown. They both screamed for about 1 hour as I was trying to feed them. It was just lovely. Luckily I didn't start screaming or lock myself in the bathroom. I guess I figured at some point they would stop and would be fine. Owen finally stopped when I gave up and put him in the swing. His little face was all puffy and red from crying so hard. Chase stopped when I put him on his tummy. He always calms down on his tummy. Then I took a deep breath and prayed it would never happen again! :)

I've gotten to the point where getting up in the night is automatic. I don't even know I'm putting their pacifiers in-it just happens. In the morning Jeff asks me what time I was up and I have no idea. He and I live in a constant state of exhaustion followed by complete forgetfulness. People ask us how much the boys weighed at their appointment just a few weeks ago. We both look at each other and shrug our shoulders. Holding that much information in our brains is just not possible at this point. I can hardly remember my name. I was bottles and pumping supplies all day and that's all I can handle. :) We've given each other permission to not remember anything the other says. It's just too difficult right now.

Goodness

I was reflecting today on how good God has been to Jeff and I. He has given us two wonderfully healthy and beautiful young boys to care for and lead in life. What a blessing! What an amazing gift! Other blessings . . .I was put on a wait list to be in an early childhood family education class (ECFE). When the instructor heard I had twins she called me to ask if I wanted to join the class. She felt it was important for a mom of twins to have connections and support-boy is she right. So, I'm now in a class with other moms of babies! I'm so happy and excited and just felt God using this as a blessing to me. We start Wednesday and can't wait. I also start MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) on Thursday. It's another program where I get to hear a speaker, talk with moms in simliar life stages and the babies go to a child care program! It's at church and I'm really looking forward to that as well. God is good, man!
**Pictures are Chase on the left, Owen the right. Sleeping Baby in green is Owen, sleeping baby in stripes is Chase.

Owen giggles for Grandma and Grandpa

Owen Talks a little for Grandma and Grandpa

Chase smiles and coos

Remembering

I was reminiscing about pregnancy last night. I went to a sale of baby things and there were so many pregnant moms there. I saw their cute little tummies and remembered back to that time when I had a little tummy-that was about 24 weeks! :) Anytime after that I was not little. Boy am I glad I'm not pregnant anymore. What a load on my back it was. I miss feeling the babies kick around and wondering what they were doing and who was kicking. But I much prefer to watch them kick and see their smiles. Here's a pic. of pre-Chase and Owen.

Update

The boys are smiling lots more, cooing a lot, even doing some sounds that sound like Giggles. They both roll to their sides sometimes. We had to put them head to head in their crib because they would end up snuggled really really close together, which concerned me regarding their breathing. Chase is still really easy going. He is content most of the time. Owen is really good, he just requires a bit more attention as he is fussy a little more often. I got a sling that I wear them in, it's pretty cute. They are all cozy inside of it. I think they notice each other, but don't giggle or coo at each other. Still good nappers for the most part. They love their swings. Still cute as ever, long eye lashes, still have wrinkles at the back of their heads. Outgrowing some outfits. . . :( eating about 3-5 ounces.

Giggles

I believe we've witnessed what are the beginning of little giggles from Chase and Owen. Jeff heard Chase giggle at him and yesterday I had Owen giggle at me. What a delightful sound. It is just amazing that they are smiling and giggling already. I think it's God's way of rewarding us for the hard work early on. I'm amazed at how quickly they develop. They are going to be sitting up and getting teeth before we know it! They are eating about 4 ounces of milk now-sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less. We had a better night last night-they woke at 2:30, rather than 12:30 and every 15 minutes from there on out. :) Makes for a much happier and more alert Mommy during the day.

Update: My mastitis is finally getting better thanks to the medication I was prescribed. My Bell's Palsy is also getting much better. I feel good about it and the way my face looks, although it's not 100%. I can smile, blink and look "normal" for the most part. Jeff and I were looking at my pregnancy pictures last night-the progression from week 15 - 36. He said, "Boy you look different now." I asked him what he meant by that and he thought I looked older now. Great-I've aged that much already.

Hard Work

Boy, having twins is hard work! Jeff and I are exhausted after a weekend of feeding the babies, washing bottles, changing diapers and well . . . feeding the babies. It's all we really do. We tried church again-that didn't go very well. As soon as the sermon started Owen was done, Chase followed soon after. We did have a chance to get registered for the nursery downstairs, though. They took our pictures and the boys pictures so we can't leave with someone's baby and no one can take ours. I love that! Well, time for bed and then in a few hours we'll feed the boys again. It's a good thing I love them so much! This picture is of Owen cashed out from hard core eating.

No Little Peeps

You won't believe it, because I still don't! I had 4 straight hours of sleep last night. I feel like a new woman! The babies fell asleep around 10:15 and I didn't wake up until 3:00 when I heard Chase fussing a little. That's amazing for them!!!! I'm sooooo happy and feel so much better having gotten some sleep. At that feeding I was talking to Jeff, smiling, having a good time-it's amazing what sleep will do for you. Praise the Lord!