6 Months

It’s time for a proper post about the boys and 6 months seems an appropriate time to do it.

I had a hard time getting a decent 6 month photo of the boys….so we’ll just go with what we’ve got.

We’ll start with Rhys-a-roo. At 6 months, Rhys was 13lbs 3oz and 24.25in long.

O-dub was 13lbs and 24in at his 6 month check up.

Neither of them was having it the first time we tried to get a six month pic. O always on left; R always on right.

The boys are sleeping good!! They go to bed between 6 and 6:30pm and wake up between 6:30 and 7am. I still wake them to feed them at 10pm before I go to bed. I know they could probably go longer at night but its my favorite time of the day. They are all sleepy and snuggly and I always feed them one at a time. I enjoy it and it works for us so…I’m hanging on to it. They nurse six times a day (most days!) and we’ll be starting solid food soon. They consistently take a 1.5-2 hour nap together in the morning but the rest of the day is still unorganized for their naps. I can usually get them to sleep for at least one hour during the girls nap which is nice.

Rhys would not take his thumb out of his mouth! They both suck their thumbs to go to sleep although Rhys has rediscovered his paci during awake times. They go to sleep easily sucking their thumbs and holding on to their loveys. Rhys is in a crib but we still have Owen in the pack-n-play. If anyone knows of a white crib for sale, let us know. 

Owen said, “No way!” The boys are both talking; Rhys is especially loud. They have been rolling from front to back for a while but still can’t get quite back to front. Owen is really really close though. I’ve packed up the bouncy seats and swings; they are enjoying the exersaucer and jumperoo for short periods of time. They can’t sit by themselves yet but can sit with support.

The best one. No smiles but they are holding hands which makes ME smile. Owen is a little bit stronger physically; Rhys tends to hit social milestones first. They both spit up like crazy now. They are both really happy babies (really!) although not quite as laid back as they used to be. They adore their sisters- craning their necks to follow them and grinning any time they get attention. The girls are equally as smitten with the boys.

These six months have gone by extremely quickly. I love being a mommy to twins but two babies are harder than one baby. This past month has been the hardest by far but I still wouldn’t trade it. Double smiles, double laughs, a full lap. It more than makes up for the frustrating parts. Way more.

Big Girl Bed

Per tradition, we took Big Girl Sienna to Target to pick out her Big Girl sheets all by herself. We talked it up and made sure to tell everyone that we encountered that we were there getting Big Girl Sheets. We made it to the bedsheet aisle where the differences in daughter #1 and daughter #2 showed themselves clearly. When Kiran needs to make a decision, she hems and haws and thinks and decides and then undecides and finally decides again. Sienna rode through the aisle and pointed to the pink sheets with small flowers on them. Done. We walked around Target a bit longer because we had free babysitting and that was a little too quick.

  

We came home and put those pink sheets on her trundle bed (I did strip the bed and wash the sheets the next day but she was just SO excited about sleeping in her Big Girl Bed) and put those two big girls to bed.

And just like that Sienna grew up. She seems older now that she can get out of bed by herself (don’t tell her that though- she hasn’t figured it out yet!) and is more like her older sister than her baby brothers. This whole week I’ve found myself looking at her quizzically- who is this preschooler and what did she do with my baby girl??? She seems so capable and willing and mature.

 

Once again, transition was easier than I imagined. I did find her like this one night before heading to bed:

I think she must have prayed extra hard that night.

Caskey Miis

My Mops Twins Story

Have I told you about the first time I went to Mops?

I found the group on the internet soon after we moved here. I went by myself- I knew no one there. The leaders assigned me a table and off I went for my first Mops meeting. At that table that morning were Annie, Elizabeth, Hope and Keri. As we got to know each, I slowly realized that each of them had 4 kids. Then I realized that each one of them had a set of spontaneous twins. Hello. They had never realized it before that day. Three of them had boy/boy twins; one had boy/girl twins. Three of them had the twins as their 3rd and 4th children; one had them as her 2nd and 3rd.

Well the next week I got a positive pregnancy test. I was convinced that the Lord had put me at that table at Mops because I was going to have twins. I had never ever ever ever thought before then that I could possibly have twins and I was a little freaked out about having three kids under two. I couldn’t rest until I had an early ultrasound and….one baby. Sweet Sienna.

So when this third pregnancy rolled around and I was bigger and more exhausted and I would have these random thoughts about “my twins”, I told myself that I was crazy and there was no way I’d have twins. Every dr’s appt I would think, ok if there’s more than one baby, I’ll measure bigger and they will send me for an ultrasound. I didn’t measure bigger early on. I convinced myself that I was crazy- just pure crazy and told very few people about these random thoughts I’d been having. Even the day of my big ultrasound, I was greeting for Mops. I opened a door for a mom who had two kids then twins. I remember thinking as I held the door for her, “I wonder if I’ll be like her.” What??

Early on in the pregnancy, I was so exhausted I told Merritt that if someone could guarantee me that it would be twin boys, I’d sign up for that. Imagine Merritt’s shock when I called her with the news.

All of this led up to a really stunned momma when there actually really were two little heartbeats on that screen last October. And one of the first things I thought of was that Mops table. The Lord really did have a purpose for putting me there with those women at that  Mops group at that church.

My big twins!

Rhys left and Owen right- 6 months old!

Post Vacation Blues

We are home recovering from our vacation. Not vacation. It would be erroneous to call that a vacation. It was extended family bonding time. Seven kids under six years old, two of them babies, and a stomach virus that took out all the adults and one of the kids.

And yet, we still had a whole lot of fun.

But now we are eating our traditional post-vacation lunch and trying to get back into something like a routine.

I do miss blogging. I miss having time to blog. But that is a whole ‘nother post. That I don’t have time to write.

The Big 2

While we were vacationing at Litchfield Beach, Sienna turned 2! Incredible. We celebrated with some cake and presents. The birthday girl on her birthday in her new birthday dress! (Thanks J,B,W&J)

 

I made these cakes because I could use a frozen pound cake and because Sienna likes Legos. Unfortunately, I’m not a very good cake decorator. They were supposed to look like this. Anyhow, they tasted delicious.

 

Sienna thoroughly enjoyed hers.

We also had a little backyard birthday party. Chief, K & S decorated the back drive for the party. Its upside down.

S had two of her little friends over for the party…

…and I had two of my big (not as in fat- as in bigger than S’s friends) friends come by too.

(Can you see Jilly’s cue baby bump???)

And….we celebrated S’s birthday with the Fitz side of the fam (along with Uncle Brooks and Cousin Brody’s bdays) but I didn’t get any pictures.

That. my friends, is how you turn two.

Greenville Drive

Dad hooked us up with some free tickets to the Greenville Drive on Friday night so we loaded up the girls, kissed the boys good night (thanks Mimi and Papa) and met up with the Fitz fam at the game. The girls were entertained by their cousins and the soft pretzels, graham crackers and ice cream in a baseball cap that they ate. In the first five innings. 

Our seats were down the first base line and we talked about having someone keep an eye out for foul balls. Eventually one was hit towards us and everyone was yelling so its not like we could have missed it. All of the sudden I realized it was coming right at me. I had Sienna sitting in my lap and was sharing an ice cream with Kiran right beside me. So I blocked Sienna and put my hand up to protect my children… and deflected the ball right on. With my right hand. I got a lot of “Way to protect your kids!” and “Go get some ice!” yelled at me.

It hurt. There may or may not have been tears. The paramedics came and checked it out. They took me back to First Aid to keep an eye on the swelling. I declined an X-ray (and trip to the hospital in an ambulance! Now that I think about it- I should have gone- we’ve already hit our deductible and out of pocket max on our insurance for the year- it may have been my only chance to ride in an ambulance). We felt that it wasn’t broken- just bruised and swollen.

We were given two foul balls by the nice policeman and I got to take home a huge bag of ice on my hand. For free.

Aw. It looked a lot worse in person. I promise. The top part of my palm and my pinky were bruised and my ring finger and pinky finger were swollen. Seriously.

Hey Dad- I kept my eye on the ball.