weigh-in

Took Caleb and Logan to be weighed last night. They're gaining! Caleb is now 10lbs 13oz, and Logan is 11lbs 1oz. We'll take them in again in a couple weeks to make sure they're still headed in the right direction. As long as they're healthy, I'm fine if they stay a little on the light side until after they're walking. :)

comments

As I think I've mentioned before, going out in public with twins means getting quite a bit of attention - I think my favorite is when little kids notice and say something to their parent. I overheard this yesterday after passing a woman and her young daughter in the store: "Look, Mom, that girl has TWO babies!" I'm just glad she referred to me as a 'girl' and not a 'lady' - makes me feel young. :)

world travelers

Okay, so Caleb and Logan aren't exactly 'world' travelers, but they've now been in 5 states! Michigan (of course), Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and West Virginia.

Last Wednesday afternoon we embarked on our first family trip. Up to that point the farthest we've been from home with the four of us was Benton Harbor, about an hour away. It was just a tad stressful getting packed and out the door, but we did it! Thankfully I have a very helpful and understanding husband. :) Having never travelled with kids before it was a little hard to make sure we had everything we needed. It all worked out great - I don't feel we overpacked and we didn't forget anything either. We switched vehicles with my parents so that we'd have enough room to pack what we needed - our Escape just doesn't have the necessary space to pack all the paraphanelia that two little babies need for 5 days away from home.


We drove until about 11pm Wednesday and made it to Youngstown, OH. That included two stops to feed the boys - and us. :) We had one funny moment at a service plaza along the toll road in Ohio. Of course going out in public with two babies you get lots of comments and looks from people. Well, Mike had Caleb in line with him to get some food and I had Logan with me to change his diaper. There were a couple ladies admiring Caleb and trying to get him to smile when I walked up with Logan and switched babies with Mike so I could then go change Caleb's diaper - you should have seen the look on the ladies' faces! We got attention from some other people then too - and Mike just eats it up. :)


We made good time driving on Thursday and made it to my sister's house by early afternoon. Actually, I saw that we were going to arrive right when she had a piano student coming, so we did a little scenic driving and stopped at a park to kill some time.
I showed Mike where some friends of the family used to live (a beautiful old farmhouse), and then also the teeny-tiny apartment in a cute little town where my sister and her husband lived when they were first married. Later on Thursday my sister's three oldest (Katie, Jenna, and Claire) got home from school, and boy were they excited to see Caleb and Logan! And Mike and I too, I hope. :) Really, we should have had triplets so that there would be plenty of babies to go around - I'd hate to see what it would be like if we only had one baby that they had to take turns holding!


Friday afternoon Mike and I and the boys, Michelle and her youngest (Micah) went to City Park in Hagerstown. It's a beautiful park, and we went on a tour of the Hager House which is in the park. It was the house that Jonathan Hager built when he settled in the area in the 1700's. I'm not sure that Micah, Caleb, and Logan got much out of the tour, but Michelle, Mike, and I sure found it interesting. We also walked around the park a little looking for potential photo spots. We then visited the girls at school at the end of the day - I think they enjoyed showing their twin cousins to their teachers. :) Then it was back to the park for our photo session. And afterwards we all went to Cici's Pizza for supper - Mike and I were rather excited about this because we've seen commercials for Cici's, but don't have them around here. It was good!


Saturday I did a photo session for a friend of Michelle's and her daughter in Chad and Michelle's backyard. It was closer for her to come there, and the weather was iffy, so we didn't want to drive all the way to the park only to be rained out. I photographed this mother and daughter a year and a half ago - it was nice to see them again! Chad's parents came for lunch so they could meet the boys. It's always a pleasure to see them, and Anita just finished jury duty on a very interesting case, so that was fun to hear about.


Sunday morning we hit the road to head back home! On the way out we were in a hurry to get there, so we wanted to leave with enough time to make it more enjoyable on the way back. We took more scenic routes, and stopped by early evening in Cleveland. We had a nice evening with the boys swimming, having supper, and just taking it easy in the hotel. Monday we again made good time - until we stopped at the outlets near Lansing. :) Okay, so we didn't do that much shopping, it was a good place to stop to feed the boys, have lunch, and there were just a few things we wanted to look for. So, we made it home by 3pm and then came the fun of unpacking, switching back vehicles, picking up the dogs...


Caleb and Logan did SO good in the car the whole time! We are very thankful for that. There were just a few fussy times, but nothing major and I never had to sit in the back with them. They usually either slept or played quietly with their toys. I certainly don't expect it to be that good as they get older, but I'll enjoy it for now. :)

4 months

Caleb and Logan had their 4 month check-up tonight. Here's the stats: Caleb is 23 3/4 inches long (5th percentile) and 10lbs 4oz (1st percentile). Logan is 23 1/2 inches long (3rd percentile) and 10lbs 8oz (1st percentile).

So I've still got a couple of little guys! I could tell they hadn't put on much weight since last time. The doctor isn't super concerned yet because in all other regards they are healthy and happy. They are content and not hungry all the time, they aren't sickly at all, and they are developing like they should (rolling, head control, eye contact, grabbing for things...). He does want us to get some extra calories in them though and try to get them gaining. We'll be going in for a weight check in a couple weeks and maybe a couple more before their 6 month check-up.

Sooooo we'll be starting them on cereal. Ugh. I was really hoping it would be awhile before we had to start that. Feeding is relatively 'simple' right now (as simple as it can be with two babies...) and adding solids just makes things more complicated. Oh well! My boys need to pack on the pounds! For those of you who are weirded out by nursing, skip the rest of this paragraph. :) I've done quite a bit of pumping and have tons of milk in the freezer - it's come in handy here and there, but now I'm really glad I have that all stockpiled! I'm going to need it to give these boys some extra.

Caleb has a spot in his mouth that looked like thrush, so we'll have to give him some medication for that. We still have some problems with his eye gooping up a little, but it doesn't appear to be infected so it's probably just a blocked tear duct.

They got shots again at this appointment. They didn't do too bad!

I think that's it, hope I'm not forgetting anything...

old

My dear husband and two sons :) got me this pretty necklace for my birthday. This is the boys' birthstone - Citrine. Yes, just one birthstone for both of them rather than one for each - gotta be able to buy diapers for them! :)

So, yes, it is my birthday. I am 30. I have no problem sharing my age, what's the point in trying to keep it a secret? I'm not thrilled about my age, but there's no reason to hide it. I am having a very nice day so far. Mike brought me breakfast from McDonald's, the boys and I visited Mike at work and then took a walk, and it's such a gorgeous day that we sat outside on a blanket for a bit - I think the boys enjoyed that. Now they are taking a nap and I am enjoying that. :) I am remembering that last year the weather was beautiful on my birthday as well, and I got to spend the day with my hubby planting celery. We had just found out about a week before that we were pregnant, and still didn't know at that point that it was twins! My how things can change in a year.

I am so thankful for the wonderful pregnancy that I had. It was so great that I actually miss it now. :) I'm indescribably thankful for my two beautiful sons and loving husband. I am grateful for all our family and friends that have supported us through this major life event. I could go on and on about what I am thankful for... I guess I'll just sum it up by thanking the Lord for blessing me in so many ways - most importantly, His gift of salvation.

Yesterday I took Macy in to the groomers for a spring haircut. I really should have taken before and after pics, she looks like a completely different dog! They put a bow in her hair, which totally does not fit her personality and it didn't last long, but I managed to get a pic nonetheless.

wrong

Well, either I was wrong in last night's post about the boys' rolling abilities, or there were new developments overnight. And I'm sure you all are on the edge of your seat just waiting to see what move they'll make next... Just so you know, this blog is just as much for my record keeping as it is to keep our family and friends up to date. So, YOU may not care about some of the details, but I do. :)

Anyways, Logan ended up on his tummy in the crib this morning. Mind you, this is while wrapped up in his swaddle with his arms constrained. And we're suspicious of Caleb rolling all the way over as well, but it hasn't been confirmed.

It's a beautiful day today and we were able to visit Mike at lunchtime for a few minutes. He's going in too early now to be able to see the boys before work, and he doesn't have much time in the evenings before they need to go to bed, so it's nice that we can see him a little during the day.

Monday's are generally my house cleaning day, BUT it's so nice out... It's more important to take the boys out for a walk than to worry about a clean house, right?? I probably have almost an hour while they're still napping, so maybe I should get off the computer and go see what I can get done...

swim

Yesterday was the boys' first swim! Mike's niece and nephew had their birthday party at the YMCA. They're not twins, they just have close birthdays. :) We were so excited to take Caleb and Logan swimming. They enjoy bath time, and Mike has high hopes of them being water rats. Caleb fussed just a little right at the beginning, but really didn't cry. The water felt slighty cool when first getting in and I think it was just a little shocking on his boy parts. :) Logan didn't cry until Mike was on his way out with him and he got a little splash in the face from some other kids that were playing nearby. I'm sure we could have stayed in the water a long time with them except they were starting to get cold - Caleb's lips were turning purple and Logan started to shiver. So, the first swim was definitely a success! I think they enjoyed it, or at least didn't hate it...

The boys have been doing great sleeping upstairs in the nursery. They are still in the same crib, but we may split them up soon - even in his swaddle, Logan manages to scoot all over. It's only a problem if he scoots into a position to kick Caleb. :)

Logan is still the more vocal one, but the last few days Caleb has been rather talkative. They both smile so easily and that's just tons of fun. They both roll from their tummy to their back, although Caleb seems to do it more than Logan. I've also seen them both go from back to side, but not all the way over yet. I'm not ready for more mobility yet. :) Logan is Mr. Grabby - if anything comes within reach he'll grab for it. Caleb tends more to keep his hands to himself.

I was able to run twice last week. Thanks to my brothers for letting me tag along, and to my honey for watching the boys so I can get out! I still have a long ways to go, but I've already seen improvement and that's fun.

This weekend was busy and just flew by, and tomorrow it's right into another busy week. Phew! I need to stop and catch my breath...