Aunts

Happy Birthday, Aunt Pat!!
Aunt ReeRee sent some Christmas outfits and ornaments for the boys. We love them!

3 Months Old!

How have 3 months passed already?! Really, a quarter of a year!

We love these little guys so much and can't remember life without them. They keep us hoppin', but they are such a blessing!

Nathan and Logan have been a little under the weather today and yesterday. That may be why they look a little out of it in the picture. They have little stuffy noses and lots of sneezes. I'm sure they will feel better soon. In the mean time, we are sucking out lots of boogers with the bulb syringes... good times! ;-)

Nathan, Smile!

What have you been up to, Nathan?

I've been sitting while I wait on my mommy to make my bottle...

Eating...

SMILING... (Mommy needs to get a better picture of my smiles.)

Cooing and talking...

Sleeping...

Sleeping some more...

Loving on Daddy and scratching my head...

And reaching to touch things and playing.

Shopping

Our grocery shopping went well today. I carried Logan in the Baby Bjorn and Nathan stayed in his infant carrier on the shopping cart. Logan eventually fell asleep. Nathan stayed awake and was pretty content most of the time. We got a lot of intrigued looks, I overheard several comments about "2 babies/twins!", and I had a few conversations with interested shoppers. Silly me, I thought these looks, comments, and conversations from when I was GIGANTO pregnant with them would stop after the were born. Wrong! We had a good day! :-)

This is a Baby Bjorn.

Must Be Santa

I'm sure Nathan and Logan are on Santa's nice list this year.

*I wanted to say a big "THANK YOU" to our friend that sent the nice gift for the boys by way of Dad today. That was very sweet and completely unexpected. :-)

*I was able to fix the comments section of the blog to where most people should be able to leave a message, even if you are not a follower of my blog. I still have a way of filtering the comments so we don't have to see inappropriate links by accident anymore.

*I am going to try (ever notice that I usually don't use definitive words when talking about the babies?) to go grocery shopping alone with the boys tomorrow. We're not going to pick up just a few things like we have done alone before where I was able to use the double stroller and just hold the items in my hands. This time it will be real grocery shopping with a list. My plan is to "wear" one baby and keep the other in his infant seat to push on the shopping cart. Should be fun.

Let's Walk

Nathan likes to be walked to sleep. This is us on our walk through the house last night. I love how he kind of hangs there.

Flowers

Todd brought these flowers home to me the other day. It's not a holiday, not my birthday, not our anniversary. I have the best husband ever! :-)

Growing

The boys are 11 weeks old today. They are asleep for the moment, so I thought I would steal some time away from doing the laundry to share some random thoughts.

The past few days have gone really well. "Really well" means that they stayed on a good eat & sleep schedule with little fussing and I showered, dressed, ate lunch before 1:00 and have been able to do some chores. Nathan and Logan seem to have settled into a good routine that is manageable for me alone during the day.

I have a couple of blogs I read that are written by mothers of multiples. I love reading them, but I often wonder how everyday life with their babies seems to be so pleasant and easy. I hope it is easy for them, and I really enjoy their blogs, but I started to feel a little inadequate because our experience with twin infants has been much more difficult than what I have been reading. Don't get me wrong, we absolutely love Nathan and Logan, but juggling them is a challenge. I have difficulty sharing my life unless I share what's good along with what's not-so-good. If I'm overwhelmed, frustrated, exhausted, messy, etc., I share that part of me along will all the nice things that happen around here. Maybe I tell too much, but I only know how to "keep it real" as Pioneer Woman would say. So, to keep it real, here is a picture of right now.
Here are some things going on with each baby:

Logan

• He loves to smile and laugh when he has a full tummy.
• He studies faces, lights, and the TV.
• He does not like to be left alone. He would much rather be held than put in a bouncy or swing. He's a cuddle bug and spoiled!
• His eyes are deep blue.
• He has dark brown hair and still has the bald look, but I think his hair is growing in more on top.
• He's a chubby baby! He has to be at least 13 pounds!
• He's wearing 0-3 month clothes, but will be out of them soon.
• He wears Pampers size 1-2 diapers from Sam's (The actual size is "1-2"), but sleeps in size 2 at night.
• He eats 6+ ounces at each feeding.
• He eats every 3 1/2 to 4 hours during the day (start to start) and about 7 or more hours at night.
• He is gassy.
  
• He can roll from his tummy to back.
• He is hard to burp.
• He fusses when he is in his car seat for long, which makes shopping and traveling hard.
• He is PRECIOUS!

Nathan

• He is serious and harder to get to smile and laugh, but he "coos".
• He likes to watch everything that is going on around him.
• He is more content to be put down in a bouncy or swing than Logan, but he loves to cuddle, too.
• His eyes are deep blue/gray.
• He has long eyelashes.
• He has a little reflux problem and his face has reacted to so much spit-up; it is a little red.
• He has not had any colic symptoms in a long time.
• He requires Nutramigen, an extremely expensive, hypoallergenic formula because of his sensitive tummy.
• He weighs 12 pounds, 5 3/4 ounces!!
• He will be out of his 0-3 months clothes soon, too.
• He is in size 1-2 diapers and size 2 at night.
• He has been eating a full 7 ounces at almost every feeding.
• He is on the same feeding schedule as his brother.
• He can roll from his tummy to his back.
• He is easy to burp, but he spits up quite a lot.
• His hair is light brown, long, and requires frequent washing. His hair easily looks disheveled.
  
• He is SO CUTE!!

I am going to try to do shorter, more frequent blogs as things happen.

Follow Me

As I said before, I had to change my settings to where only members of my blog can leave a comment. I like comments. If you want to be a member, I think all you have to do is follow my blog. There is a Google button on the right sidebar that says "Follow" so you can sign up and leave comments if you want to.

Stealing Wordless Wednesday

"Wordless Wednesday" is obviously not my idea, but it is a good one, so I'm doing what any good {currently unemployed by choice} teacher would do: I'm stealing it! Makes for a quick, easy blog. Oops... those were words. Sorry to break the rules... Oh, I have to label pictures. I'm making my own rules!! Enjoy!

2 Months Old!

Out to eat at Chuy's with Timpa.

Getting immunization shots.
We traveled to the Ft. Worth area to visit Grandma Pat and Granddad Dan.
We're super-human, so after returning home from Ft. Worth, we decided to visit Great Granny and Great Grandpa in East Texas!
Cousin K1 prayed for cousins, so now she gets to feed them! :-)
Uncle Steven with Logan and Timpa with Nathan.
Nathan meeting and loving cousin Lyndsi! (Who happens to be a senior and the top of her graduating class! So proud of her!)

No Comment

I have had to delete several comments left on my blog recently. Some nasty people have left links to inappropriate sites. So, instead of having to constantly delete these horrible links, I have shut down the ability to leave comments unless you are a member of this blog. And now I have to learn how to have "members of this blog".

I have lots of pictures and catching up to do, but that will have to come later. Keep checking back!

SMILE!!

Logan's first big smile (that I have witnessed), perfectly accompanied by a happy sigh, all while sitting in his new Bumbo seat and amazingly caught on camera!

Want another thing to smile big about?

Dad's most recent report is that his tumors are still SHRINKING! God is good!(Dad & Steven last Christmas at Grandma & Grandpa's 65th wedding anniversary celebration.)

I hope you have something wonderful to smile about today!

Halloween

Here we are in our Halloween gear. We look forward to costumes & trick-or-treating next year, but this year we kept things low key.

This is Lucas, one of Todd's dear friends. He drove in from the Fort Worth area to attend a conference. He was kind enough to come by to meet the boys and hang out for the evening. We went out to eat at Los Cucso; the first time out to eat with the babies. We had a great time. It's always nice to see Lucas. Come back soon, Lucas!

I CAN do this!

First of all, thank you to everyone that offered to help these past few days. I was feeling very overwhelmed at the prospect of keeping my kids fed and safe by myself, if you couldn't tell. Fortunately, I have found that I CAN be a mom to my children without help during the day! What a relief!

My dad came by the past 2 mornings to listen for the boys while I got dressed, washed & prepared bottles, did some housekeeping, etc. Dad even helped me fold a few loads of laundry! I do much better, psychologically, if I can be showered & dressed - even if I'm not going anywhere. So thanks, Dad!

I had a friend that was "on call" to help during feedings. It was very nice of her to be available for me, but I found that I can manage feedings on my own. I feel very proud of that! Sheila, thank you for being available and supportive to me!

Thanks to all of you that offered to help. Also, I just want to say that I completely understand all of you that left comments about how you would love to help, but can't for various reasons. I appreciate your desire... There have been so many times that I have wanted to help others, teach a class at church, deliver a meal, etc., but can't because of work or other obligations and time restrictions. Time is a precious commodity and being willing to give it up for the benefit of others is an admirable thing. This is something I need to improve in my life. It's showing God's love for others through service.

Today, feeling more confident, I took the boys out to run some errands. I made a delivery to Todd at his school, then went by my school to do some paperwork. The outing went very well, except for the rain. It took a little longer than expected, but we got back just before they broke out in protest for making them wait a little too long for their milk.

The boys are up to about 5oz. per feeding. I have started Logan in size 1 diapers. He weighs about 9 pounds. He slept 6 hours last night! Nathan is still in Newborn diapers and clothes, but not for long. He weighs about 7 pounds. He still wakes about every 3-3 1/2 hours.

Okay, I'm really rambling. Sorry. I really just wanted to let everyone know that we are okay. Prayer helps, for sure. And, thank you, again, for all of the offers to help! More updates later.

I hate asking for help, but...

I need it!!
The hard truth is that I am not superwoman and I cannot care for 2 babies at once yet. So, a lot of people have offered and now I really need help to hold, feed, burp, and change babies during the day Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Any takers?
If you are willing and available, please email me at natjoacu(at)hotmail(dot)com or call if you have my number.

1 Month (tomorrow)

The boys will be 1 month old tomorrow. It's amazing how time flies! It's also amazing that we're still alive! Ha! I could have never been prepared for what being a parent of twins really means. We definitely love the babies all the time, but we have learned how hard having babies really is; especially twins, and particularly one with colic. We go through a lot of trial and error, we don't get much sleep (Daddy sleeps a little more than Mamaw & Mommy), we worry if we're doing the right things for them, but we wouldn't trade them for anything!

I don't have recent weights, but I assure you, they are growing a lot! Logan is fitting into some 0-3 month outfits and Nathan is out of preemies and some newborns are getting tight.

We went shopping 2 days this week. It seems that they really like being in their car seats and getting out of the house. Pushing them around in their double stroller is a sight. I have found that shopping is another thing I can't do without help. Of course, Mamaw was there to help, thank goodness.

Logan & Nathan in their natural state: Logan's laid back, Nathan's not happy. :-( He does have happy times, I promise.

Our sweet friend, Geran, and her little boy, Garrett, came for a visit and brought us supper. So nice! Geran explained to Garrett that they were coming over to hold babies. He took this job very seriously. He asked to hold the babies; both of them! When they were taken away, he asked to hold them again & again. It was precious!!

Here are some "in the life" pictures. Yes, I got pooped on. It was gross.
This is Nathan's first bath. He has a nickname now, by the way. It's Little Red Man. Poor fella!
More visitors! Uncle Steven, K1 & K2, Uncle Ron, Patsy, & Ken

Getting To Know Them

Logan

Mamaw & Logan

Logan's First Spit-bath

Logan
Baby "B", born first.
Nickname: "Pirate Eye" - Coined by a nurse because he likes to open just one eye. Todd calls him Pirate Eye a lot.
I knew my baby B was going to be laid back, easy going, cool, and calm before I met him. He didn't move much while I was pregnant with him. Boy, was I right! Not much bothers this kid! He is quiet, but alert. He generally doesn't make a peep when I change his clothes or diaper. He eats well, sleeps well, poops well, and burps quietly. Although we try often, he is not good at nursing. He doesn't seem interested, even if he's clearly hungry. I guess the other hard thing about him is waking him up to eat so he can stay on the same feeding schedule as his brother. He doesn't sleep all the time... He often is wide awake just looking around, taking it all in. His face is tomato-shaped, according to his dad. He's my big boy, weighing in at 6lb 8oz at birth. At 2 weeks old today, his stats are: 6lb 11 1/4oz, 19 1/4 inches long. (10th percentile for both measurements.) Logan is a joy. We are so in love with him.

Nathan

Nathan
Baby "A", born second.
No nickname yet.
I knew my baby A's personality before I met him, too. He is active, strong, and a hard worker. Nathan is my little guy, but I wouldn't be surprised if he out-eats, out-gains, and ends up bigger than his brother. He's so sweet. I love to just hold him and watch his facial expressions. Oh, that cute face and how his little puckering lips just melt my heart. There is never a doubt about how Nathan feels about things. His cry is easy to come and hard to miss. It's piercing! Little dude has a hard time with his digestive system. He suffers with so much painful gas and poopies. His face grimaces so hard and turns beat red while he works so hard to get things moving. It breaks my heart that I know he's hurting; and it hurts my ears to hear his cry. His hardest time is during the night, usually around his 3am feeding. He seems to find the most comfort when he is laid chest to chest with his mommy or Mamaw. He looks like a little frog. He's my smaller baby weighing 5lb 4oz at birth. As of today, at 2 weeks, his stats are: 5lb 13 3/4oz (5th %ile), 19 1/2 inches long (25th %ile). We are so in love with him!

Brothers Together! Nathan & Logan

Todd's mom, grandma, and aunt drove in from Ft. Worth to visit the boys for a few hours, then went back the same day. It's very admirable that they would make that long of a trip to visit us. We were glad to see them.

Grandma Alicia, Great Aunt Dena, Great Grandma

Great Aunt Pat came for a visit, too!
Our neighbor kids came to peek at the babies. We have the sweetest neighbors!

More Pictures

Not much time to blog. Actually, not much time to even walk in the computer room and turn the computer on! We're very busy loving on our Nathan & Logan.

Here are more pictures for your viewing pleasure...
Just click on the collage to enlarge, then arrow back to return to the blog.

From top left, clockwise: Logan & Nathan together; Nathan; Logan, Mommy, Daddy & Logan; Me waiting for the Pitocin to work; Dad, my sister, Mom & Me waiting. My sister flew in and surprised me!

Family of 4! Bottom right: Aunt Cary & Great Aunt Paula love on the boys...
In the hospital from Tuesday to Friday... Finally going home! Top right: The best, happiest, most gracious nurses on the planet! We were well cared for.Home. Top Right: Timpa feeding Nathan.
We are doing really well at home. The boys are on a good schedule and sleep pretty well between feedings. We went to the doctor today and she said they are just perfect!!
Our hands are VERY full. We could not survive this without help right now. My mom has been staying with us and has been an amazing support to us.
This week, some church members have been supplying us with food. We are so lucky to have a church full of servant hearts. It's a great feeling to be blessed by their Christian love.

And now... Off to sleep... For about 1 hour, until the next feed.

Pictures!