Jordyn
We started the month off by going to a baby shower in Springfield for Kelsie Morgan and her baby Aubree Rose. Before the shower we got to spend time with my grandparents, mom, Mike, Emily, and Damon. Kyle was able to get a few great pictures of the girls with my grandma and sister. Before I went back to work I decided to do an art project with the girls. I wanted to make sure I was with them for their first project. :-) I found this idea on Pinterest. It is no mess finger painting. I held up 2 colors and which ever the girls looked at, I decided they chose. They could really care less about it but I had fun! 😉 I went back to work on October 5th. It has been good but hard. I only cried once the first day. The good thing about school is I am so busy that the day goes really fast. The girls see Jenny on Mondays and a lady named Susan on Wednesdays. Kyle gets to stay home with them Fridays! The girls love going to Jenny's because they get to watch the big kids play. Jenny's boys adore the girls and even pray for them some nights! Our church had Baby Dedication Sunday this October. We do it twice a year and we were excited to be a part of it for the first time! We got to present the girls to the church and promise to do our part to raise the girls to love and know God. The church also promised to come alongside us to help us and partner with us. Kyle was super-busy that day because he got to preach! He preached on Ephesians 4 and how believers of all ages should come alongside the youth. Uncle Matt got to meet the girls! He was unable to get off work when Kyle's sisters came over the summer. We told him he kind of lucked out because they are so smiley and fun to interact with now! Jordyn was hilarious! She kept staring at him and going back and forth between a pouty face and a huge smile. She couldn't decide if she should cry or laugh! :-) The girls have really started noticing each other this month. We often find them staring at each other and even smiling and giggling! It is really nice when I am trying to get ready and need them entertained. I will put them both in bouncy seats and have them face each other. It gives me a good 10-15 minutes! ☺️ We have enjoyed the outdoors this month! The girls LOVE being outside! We took them to Waterfall Glen and walked 3 miles. Kyle and I walked them a mile and a half out then he walked them back while I ran. :-) We also took them to the park near our house one evening. They were both so smiley! They are still too tiny for the swing but enjoyed sitting in it. It will be fun to see how big they are when the weather is nice in the spring! We try and read to the girls often. They both really like it but for different reasons. Jordyn REALLY likes books. She stares at the pages and pictures like she understands what is going on. Adalyn rarely looks at the book for more than a few seconds but loves the cuddles! :-) My dad and Michelle came to visit so the girls got their Illini gear out. We are trying to teach them to say, "I-L-L...I-N-I" We had a lot of fun dressing the girls up on Halloween. They went through 3 wardrobe changes that day! They wore dresses my mom made, dresses from a friend, and their adorable Halloween costumes! My mom spent a lot of time making and putting together their costumes. She asked me over the summer what I wanted them to be and got right to work! The only thing Kyle and I had to do was to print the Thing 1 & Thing 2 labels and hot glue a bow. My dad and Michelle were in town and ended up helping us do that! The girls surprisingly did not mind the wigs! I know I have mentioned it before but the girls LOVE bath time! Adalyn will stare at Jordyn and smile and coo. I put Adalyn in the bath chair and fill the water up super low. Jordyn likes laying on her back and splashing the water with her legs and arms. I will leave this post with another month favorite! My Uncle Randy sent these hats and I think they are adorable!
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Jordyn
Not a lot has changed since last month other than they are adorable in sleeper pajamas! :-) Both of the girls are following their growth curve perfectly. They are on an adjusted chart since they were born 6 weeks early. They are compared to babies born on July 13 (their due date). The doctor said as long as they keep growing at the rate they are, then he is happy. I am still nursing and still able to do so without supplementing with formula. This is a huge answer to prayer! We give them 1 bottle of breastmilk at night with their vitamins mixed in it. I asked the doctor about cereal because a few people have asked me when we will start it. He said not until 6 months. He said developmentally they are 2 1/2 months, and he thinks it would be too soon. I was happy he thought that way because that is exactly how I felt about it! 😊 The biggest piece of news is they are BOTH sleeping through the night!!! They sleep anywhere between 8 and 11 hours which is SO nice for me...and Kyle...but really it's nice for me! They were sleeping 8 hours for 2 weeks and I was doing a "dream feed" before we went to bed. We would put them to bed around 8:30-9:00 and would wake them around 10:30-11:00 to get 1 more feeding in for the night. On Sunday, I decided to skip the dream feed and see what would happen. Much to my surprise, they slept 11 hours! I am going to have to adjust bed time a little because they will have to wake up around 6 when I go back to work next week. About going back to work...I don't want to!😪 No, it will be good. I am going back part time and will still be home with the girls 2 1/2 days during the work week. I am extremely fortunate to be able to work part time but I am glad I took some additional time off! I have been able to focus on establishing a good routine with the girls. We have followed an eat, wake, sleep routine from the beginning (I credit the NICU for that). I read the book Becoming Babywise and talked on the phone, a lot, with Jan Ewald. Jan co-teaches a parenting class at our old church in Lincoln. Because we were already doing an eat, wake, sleep routine, the Babywise book was perfect for us! I am so proud of the girls with how well they put themselves to sleep at naps and bedtime. Don't get me wrong, we have our days were naps and bedtime are challenging, but overall they do well! I guess you can say this is a result of having multiples. When I am by myself (often I am) I do not have the ability to rock and comfort them to sleep. They have had to learn to do it on their own 😉 I took the girls to the first night of youth group and Jordyn got to swing for the first time while Adalyn ate. Adalyn never got a shot at the swing because when she finished eating, high school girls were there and wanted to hold her. These girls are already LOVING the attention of so many high school students! ☺️ I am still helping out with high school youth group but stopped volunteering at junior high for now. We have another couple that volunteer in our high school ministry who have a daughter a month older than the girls. We have 2 babysitters come to the church and watch all 3 girls in the nursery. On Thursday nights, I stay home with the girls. The first night of BLAST (junior high youth group) I took the girls and walked them around the school where BLAST meets. The next week I had a friend, Melanie Derry, come over and help me. Last week, I was able to manage them on my own. There are some days that are hard and I have learned it is okay to call someone to come over and help. The hardest days are when they get off schedule from each other and 1 naps while the other is awake. One day, I could not get them to nap at the same time! When one went down, the other woke up! I think I eventually packed them up and just drove somewhere. Thankfully those days don't happen often! We went to Chick-fil-a one night when they were doing a discount for teachers. We were thinking we were going to have to get our food to go because the whole way there they were fussing. Once we got in the restaurant, they were perfect. We really haven't eaten out with them so it was nice they did so well. They also got A LOT of attention from others. Everyone in line commented on them being twins and how cute they are. One of the workers kept coming over and talking to us about them and about twins. He even went and got the store owner to come over and see them! It is funny to us because when we are out in public people always ask if they are twins. I always smile and say yes but I want to say, "No, we just carry around two random babies!" I don't blame them though. I guess it is a conversation starter because then they always have a twin story for us too. They know a neighbor or a friend with twins. We also meet parents who have older twins. They always tell us it gets easier! I am sure we will be guilty of the "Oh you have twins ..." conversation-starter in the future! 😉 We have been having fun at home learning to hold our heads up! Jordyn is not a fan of tummy time but I discovered she likes being propped up on the boppy pillow! I will put toys in front of her to try and get her to reach for them. She really isn't interested in the toys yet, even when I will move them and try putting them in her hands. Adalyn likes being on her tummy and she likes using the boppy too. She likes to rest her head on the pillow so I will take a toy that rattles or makes crinkly sounds and she will lift her head and turn towards the sound! 😊 Uncle Dan and Aunt Cyndi sent us an amazon gift card this month. We bought a jumperoo for the girls. They both really like it. They have not learned to jump in it but they both practice standing and moving a little in it. Adalyn was funny because she accidentally touched a toy on it and the whole thing lit up and made noise. It startled her but did not make her cry! I actually caught her reaction on video! The picture above is a little blurry because they were both moving! It has been so fun watching them explore and notice things around them! I already posted these pictures on Facebook but wanted to include some here too. Elly Johnson, one of our high school students and daughter of one of the ministers at our church, took pictures with our camera for us. We bought a nice camera before the girls were born so we could take pictures of them. Elly has a similar camera to ours (hers is nicer) so we asked her to help us take pictures of all 4 of us! She had some really creative ideas and captured the girls' expressions beautifully. Elly is great! She is a sophomore and has a business of her own! Riding Reins- check her out! One of our favorites! I will leave this month's post with a shout out to my husband! :) Kyle is a great husband and dad! He wakes up every morning and helps me with the girls. He goes in and changes their diapers and brings them to me to feed. He always walks by our bedroom door and jokingly tells me he needs to hold one longer and go do something. He sure does love snuggling with the girls! When he gets home from work he comes and finds us and wants to hold and kiss both girls. He cooks dinner and usually cleans it up! 😉 I am typically feeding them during both of those times so it has been wonderful having someone take care of the kitchen responsibilities! He also fills up my water bottle with ice water every morning and whenever he notices it is low. He even told me he would rub by shoulders 1 minute for every 32 oz bottle I drink a day! I say all of this because I would not be able to function without his help! Having 2 babies at once really calls for all hands on deck and Kyle makes caring for our 2 a joy!
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AuthorI am a wife, a mother of twins, a teacher, and most importantly a follower of Christ. I enjoy being active, running, and spending time with friends and family. Archives
November 2017
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