The Park

Day ???

I have no idea what day of the blog this is. I have to apologize. The last thing I have been thinking about when the girls finally go to bed is blogging. All I want to do is veg out on the couch or collapse into bed. Being a mom of twins is tough work. Austin works so hard so that I can stay home with the girls, and there are so many perks to being a stay at home mom. One of those things is the ability to take random trips to the park. Austin some times gets to join us after work. We got to try the swing for the first time this last week. They loved it! 

Here are some pictures from our park adventure. 

Kate swinging for the first time!

Grace swinging for the first time!

The girls love to be outside!

We are full of treats for you today. Here are some videos. We know you all need your Kate and Grace fix!

Video of Grace at the park!

Video of Kate at the park!



In other news, we had our 6 month check up today. It is so hard to believe that the girls are almost 6 months old. They got excellent reports. Both are weighing 14 pounds! Austin and I are so blessed to have such wonderful girls. 

Mommy and The Girls

Day 13ish.

15 hours. 11 hours down, 4 to go. 

15 hours managing the girls on my own. I woke up dreading this day (shoot, things just got real here.) Not that I don't love being with my sweet girls, but taking care of twins on your own is TOUGH. It is overwhelming, frustrating, and the best job ever all in one. But, much to my surprise this day has gone incredibly well. I feel like the girls are finally getting on a schedule (I know, they are almost 6 months old, it's about time.) Also, Austin will be home in 4 hours. We can totally do 4 hours. 

We received our first shipment of Cloth Diapers in the mail today! So excited, it seems like Christmas morning. While I am excited, I am also a little nervous about this endeavor. At least they are really cute! 

For any cloth diapering mommas out there I found a great deal on BumGenius on the Cotton Babies website. You can buy 5 and get 2 free. As you all probably know, I'm a sucker for a good deal so we have bought 14 of them! We will probably buy 7 more before the deal is up (at the end of the month). 

The girls went to the chiropractor with me today. They are always a hit, but they were not having any of it today. 

In other news, this is what play time looked like today. Grace can not stay still for the life of her. 

Three hours until Austin's home. Not like I'm counting down or anything! 

How Do We Do It?

Day 12.

When we are out and about there are a number of things that happen on any given trip. We are always stared at, someone always comes to close and tries to talk to us way too long, and we are always asked the question, "How do you manage two babies? I can barley keep my head on straight with one." Well, we by no means have this figured out, but we have found a few tricks that keep us sane. 

1. The girls whiteboard. 

This is how we keep track of who ate what, who pooped when ,and who is excessively sleep deprived. I made this when we couldn't remember who's turn it was to eat, and since it has been a life saver! We don't always keep track, but for the most part it is a must in our house. This also allows anyone else who may be over to know what is going on without us having to recount every moment of the girls day. 

2. The Mommy and Daddy Calender. 

We bought a big desk calender and we have everything that is going on in our life in it. We have the times that Austin has work stuff going on, we have Dr. appointments, and play dates. This gives us the ability to make sure the girls always have someone available to watch them and mommy and daddy on the same page. We try to sync up at least once a week. 

3. Crock Pot!

I love my Crock Pot. This is pretty much the only way we get a decent dinner on the table before 10pm. I think a good Crock Pot cook book may be part of my shower go to gift because it has given me the ability to keep some constancy in our ever changing lives! 

4. Date Night. 

Since Austin and I started dating we always made date night a priority. It has gotten a little more challenging since we have had the girls. I am a little protective of them to say the least and I had a really hard time (and still do)  letting someone else watch them. We have been so blessed to have found a GREAT sitter for the girls. She is getting ready to move, and she will be very missed by us! But, Austin and I are dedicated to keeping our friendship a top priority and we are able to do that by our weekly date! 

So, that's how we do it. But, when in doubt we wing it. 

Grace wanted to say Hi!

Where have we been?

Day 11ish.

Where have we been? 

Sleeping. 

HA NOT. 

I typically blog every night as Austin is giving the girls baths. But the last few days it has been all I have been able to do to fall asleep in bed instead of on the couch. Grace and Kate have not been sleeping again. About every two hours they want to snuggle. We love snuggling, but at 2am it's a little challenging. Austin is such a champ with the girls. He wins daddy of the year award. The girls just LOVE their daddy, and I think he is just awesome as well. Kate, Grace and I are incredibly lucky girls!

Last night they slept 7 hours again. Austin and I were overjoyed to get a few solid hours of sleep. 

In other, more exciting news, Kate is full on giggling. She is so funny, and she thinks I'm funny (at least now, we will re evaluate this in about 15 years). Kate had giggled for me before, but yesterday Austin got to hear her sweet giggle for the first time. Such a sweet time to witness. 

While our hands are so full, you can only imagine how full our hearts are. We are so blessed with these sweet little girls. 

That's really all I have now, but hopefully this week will be filled with sleep for all of us. With sleep comes more blogs. 

This is what happens when we have two sleep deprived, teething babies.
Mommy and Daddy look about the same :) 

Kate.

Day 10.

I love my sweet girls so much. They are hysterical and both so different. Today, Kate and I made a video for you. She has been talking up a storm today. Without further ado, here is Mommy and Kate. 

Kate and Mommy!

Cloth Diapering Twins

Day 9. 

This is probably the first of many posts on this topic. So, prepare yourself for the saga/journey we are about to embark on. 

We ran out of diapers today. Well Sara, you do have two babies so it makes since that you would go through diapers like they are going out of style. We have been blessed. When I was pregnant there was a diaper shower thrown for us. Austin LOVED this because we have probably had to spend less then $50 on diapers since the girls were born. 

We are switching to cloth diapers. This was something I was TOTALLY against from the beginning, but after much research and number crunching we are making the plunge. We found that with cloth diapers we will save over $2000 a year. Seriously, that is a lot of cash money! This was what sent Austin over the edge on the cloth diapers. I just like how fashionable they are :) . 

We are going with the bumgenius 4.0. I love a lot of things about these diapers and I have only heard great reviews from everyone that has used them. One big thing I love about these diapers is the company. They have a program that they will send cloth diapers to missionaries to alleviate the cost of infant care!
Check it out here!

We are excited for this new adventure. And we are excited to share the journey with you !

Teething

Day 8.

Grace and Kate are very happy babies, and we are very blessed by this fact. But over the last week or so we have begun the teething phase. While I'm sure teething is horrible with one baby, with two going through it at the same time is just down right awful. It has turned my sweet little smiley babies into screaming babies, who don't want to sleep and only want to eat and be held. 

This last week we were very blessed that Austin had a light work load and was able to help out a lot, I would have lost my mind otherwise. We did give in and get Sophie the Giraffe.                                                    

Above is the bigger version, but we went with the one that doesn't squeak. We have enough noise in our lives :) 

I tried the baby Popsicles (made from formula) that I found on Pintrest and the girls didn't want anything to do with them. They just screamed bloody murder when I let them suck on them. I don't think they liked the fact that they were frozen. Last night, I was not sure what to do so I did what anyone would do and I called my mom. I mean she managed to get through teething with my brother, sister and I so I figured she had some good tips. She suggested that we wet a wash cloth and put it in the freezer and let them chew on that, I am planning on trying that as well. In addition, baby Tylenol  is our best friend right now :) ( In moderation, of course.)

So, here's to teething with twins :) 

We Love Sophie The Giraffe!