Eloise at 2 years

Eloise, our little baby Elo is going to beTWO years old tomorrow! The past few months have been a whirlwind of celebrations, sleepiness & laughter. Eloise has definitely transitioned well into her new role as big sister #2 & continues to draw much attention to herself on a daily basis with her crazy stunts & non stop action. I know, those of you with boys are laughing right now thinking "oh you just wait till the twins are on the brink of two!" For now, Eloise is just about the craziest kid we know & we couldn't love her any more!

STATS: 28 pounds- 75th percentile 

             34.5 inches- 50th percentile 

             Size 2t clothing & size 8 shoes

A day in the life of sweet Eloise...in random order. 

• Elo got upgraded to a big girl bed a few weeks ago.  This deserves a post of its own & it will get one in due time but long story short. I sold her crib while she was asleep in it via Craigslist all in the matter of a couple hours. Poor girl ended up on a mattress on the floor in her room that evening. I thought she would be really sad but instead she started jumping up & down shouting "BOUNCE HOUSE!!" She did awesome staying in her bed & has since been promoted to the blue toddler bed Char was sleeping in. 
• She is on sissy's tail when they come to our room in the morning. She repeats exactly what Charlotte says with the exact same inflections. She crawls into my bed & says "me, snuggle? me, snuggle you?" Who could resist that? Definitely not anyone who sleeps in that bed ; ) 
• Every morning we hear the chant "I wah eat potcakes! (pancakes)" She really wants pancakes every single day & requests them for each meal. We do make sure she gets her fill of them at least once every couple weeks...and I never correct her "potcakes" pronunciation.
• To say she loves O & A would be a vast understatement. She cannot get enough of them (I wish the feeling was mutual between the boys & Elo but sadly, it is not). She tries to lay on top of them, poke their eyes out & jab their pacifiers really far down their throats...all in love of course. When it is a bit more calm, she will play so sweetly with them singing songs & patting gently but she is unpredictable and can turn on them in a second. Sometimes when she is laying on top of them saying "shh shh shh" it looks like she is doing chest compressions. If they are crying, Eloise is stuck on repeat saying "baby soi-ing & soi-ing & soi-ing!"

Eloise & Owen

• She says "10 minutes" about everything. You say "Eloise, let's go outside" she says "I comin!" as she walks toward you & then adds "10 minutes!"  or you say "Eloise, you can hold Owen for just a minute then he is going night night" to which she replies "No, I hold'em 10 minutes." SO cute. 
• She sings all the time. You can say at any moment "Eloise, sing me a song!" & she will come up with some rendition of Jesus Loves Me mixed with all sorts of other words. 
• This girl values sleep & still happily naps twice a day a few days a week & sticking with an afternoon nap the rest of the days. Night time sleep is usually about 7:30-6:30 but some days lately the girls have been up & ready for the day at 5am!! She is currently only requesting her "baby you-see (Lucy)" to snuggle with. She still likes to have her bottom patted & sometimes requests that I pat "you-see's" as well. I usually do & then Eloise & Charlotte both giggle when I tell Lucy that she better be a good girl & stay in her bed all night. 

She must have rubbed her belly button just right & fell asleep while watching a show...in a crown. 

• She loves to sit at the table & draw. She draws squiggles & says "sake sake!" for snake & then she draws anything else & says "Yook! I draw "E"! Yea Eloise!" cute part is....it never looks like an "E." She has a really hard time keeping her drawing utensil on paper & has been found coloring on the table, chairs, plastic bins & on the wall behind the clothes in her closet.  I will chalk that up to a little less supervision at the current life stage than the eldest child had. She loves to roll out play doh & use cookie cutters to make shapes. Basically anything she makes out of play doh she calls a "potcake" & happily serves it to us. She is really good at pouring from one container to another especially water from a teapot or flour into a bowl when we are cooking. 
• Mondays & Thursdays are her favorite days of the week. Any guesses why? I will just say it since NO one would ever guess. It is when the trash man comes! For months Eloise has enjoyed sitting outside & watching the trash man empty the bins on our street. We have done this so many times that we know one man on our route by name. They always honk & wave at the girls. A few weeks ago when Uncle Scott was in town we were sitting in the grass when the truck went down our street. They go down the other side, around the cul de sac & then make their last stop at our driveway. Our friend Frankie dumped out our bin & then rolled it towards us while crouching down to talk to the girls. Eloise immediately jumped up, ran as fast as she could & threw her arms around the man's neck for a huge hug. She TOTALLY caught him off guard & he kind of hugged her while laughing & saying "I'm sorry, I'm so dirty" to me who was completely amused & could care less about the garbage that had touched him. It was hilarious. Also, this girl will sleep through a barking dog, a lawn mower & two screaming babies but if she hears the faint sound of the garbage man coming down the road, she jolts out of bed screaming "chashman!" as she runs to the front door.  I wish I had a picture of her with her friend Frankie!
• She can be heard saying "hol me hol me hol me" about a million times a day as she reaches up.  This is hard. My hands are usually full of babies so I do try to free them up to hold Eloise too. She is still my baby even though there are two more around these days. 
• Eloise is motherly. We went to Chuy's & the waitress gave each of the girls a tortilla dough ball to play with like play doh. Eloise rolled hers up & said "See mommy, it's my baby. Pat my baby." So I did for a moment & then she made me roll on the floor in a fit of laughter when she said "baby hungee" as she lifted her shirt & proceeded to feed her dough baby from her belly button. At least she is consistent...that's where she "pump milk baby" too!

• Eloise is a chatterbox & we are amazed with how well she is talking. Don't tell her sister but she can pronounce "Charlotte" better than Charlotte can pronounce Charlotte : ) She says things like "Mommy, I angry. Charlotte not share me." The other things she says all the time is "That scare me." For awhile she really hated if Charlotte did any animal sounds that were growls.  Charlotte found this funny so she would randomly growl at Eloise. Poor Eloise would come tell us "Sissy scare me!" So we would get on Charlotte about treating her sister kindly. My my, we could now call Eloise "the girl who cried wolf" because she says "sissy scare me" all the time to get out of being disciplined for whatever offense she committed! She also says "ayone me" when she wants you to go away so she can 1. be independent or 2. be naughty. 
• She calls Gaga on her "phone" all the time. She has full out conversations so much that Charlotte asked me the other day in the car if Eloise was really talking to Gaga! Haha! Speaking of Gaga, after 4 months together, this girl LOVES her Gaga. She talks about her all the time. Just a few examples: When I tell her I can't hold her that very moment she says "Gaga hol me all time" & she did which is why Eloise says "hol me" all day long ; ) If you tell her to not go potty in her panties she says "Gaga funny" which is hilarious. We have no clue why she says this! One more, she frequently says that Gaga lives at the airport & the cutest thing she says is "Gaga yuve me, Gaga miss me!"
• Discipline- a firm tone still goes a long way with Eloise but she is choosing to disobey much more frequently. She does really well when hearing what the consequence of her action will be & will say "I sorry for ____, please give me" for "forgive me." She always hugs & kisses to make up with Charlotte after an altercation. 
• Elo loves to be outside, loves to chase lizards & look at worms. She & Charlotte had a straw outside on the back porch while they looked at a worm.  Long story short, the straw became a murder weapon...I felt so awful for not paying closer attention! Those two are quite the pair & Charlotte thinks Eloise is pretty darn funny!
  
• When it's time to do business in the bathroom she says "out please" & will not go #2 until you exit the premises. This is all well & good until you leave, she closes & locks the door then empties an entire wipes container into the toilet. 
• Her absolute favorite thing to eat are "foodies" known to the general public as "smoothies." Anytime we are in the kitchen & I am preparing something, she immediately says "I help you" as she slides a chair over to the counter. She has a COMPLETE melt down if you tell her you don't need help. 
• She is getting the hang of identifying colors & shapes, can do most any animal sound.
• Elo climbs, jumps, dives & crashes to the ground with much force every day & rarely gets hurt.
• She enjoys helping to clean house with her favorite tasks being dusting with a rag & sorting silverware although she doesn't really have the hang of sorting yet ; )  

Eloise is a ham!

Eloise is a mess!

Eloise is stylish!

Eloise is precious!

Our dear Eloise, 

Two years have passed since the moment you were placed on my chest & I fell in love with a brand new baby girl all over again. You my precious girl have brought your mommy much joy & laughter over the past two years. Your sweetness is immeasurable & I feel like I will always remember you at age two with your devious little grin & your eyes cut to the side while you wait for me to giggle with you about how funny you are. It never fails, I always giggle.

You are growing & changing so fast. We love your personality Eloise! You are confident & fearless which is sometimes scary for us when we are near the street ; ) You are compassionate & loving with your family & friends. You are energetic & snuggly at the same time which can be dangerous when your baby brothers are in mommy's lap. You are happy almost every minute of every day which is one reason our home is filled with joy & laughter.

We are thankful that you are ours. We love you, we treasure our time with you & we look forward to seeing how God will shape that little heart of yours as you grow.

Love,

Mommy

Turning 30

It happened! I turned the big 3-0! It was quite the week of celebrating with Mother's Day on the front end & my birthday at the end. We have always been a fan of "birthday week" so this was a great set up!  As I struggle to keep up with blogging with my new found responsibilities, this may be more on the short & sweet side ; ) 

I think I did something special everyday between Mother's Day & my birthday thanks to those who love me. On Monday, I spent the afternoon at the Ritz Cartlon Spa using up the rest of a gift card I had from turning 29. It was the perfect amount to get a pedicure. I showed up just after 4, got changed into my pool attire & settled into a comfy chair overlooking a beautiful pool. I had two bottles of water (nursing these boys makes me SO thirsty), a cup of chocolate covered pretzels *the real reason I go to the spa* & a book. Within 5 minutes an employee walked up to me & said "excuse me ma'am, are you Mrs. Valentine?" I confirmed my identity & he asked if I would like to change my appointment from 6pm to 10 minutes after our conversation. I laughed out loud & said "no way! I want to sit here and stare at the pool for 2 hours...I am actually alone which is rare these days." So that is precisely what I did. I almost got bored sitting quietly for so long. I lasted an hour by the pool, showered & got started with the pedicure. Sweet Rose, the one who did my toes said in the kindest way possible that the bottom of my feet were extremely rough. I was well aware of this & clued her in on the many months of being unable to reach my feet followed by two more months of taking care of my little brood. She scrubbed & scraped & got my tootsies into shape. Look! I can still rhyme on 2 hours of sleep last night! It was an amazing four hours away while Rob took care of the kiddos. I was planning on going out to dinner alone but I called him when I left & could hear two babies screaming. He encouraged me to stay gone but I just couldn't so I headed home.  He rolled out me homemade tortillas that Scott made while he was here & fixed me some steak fajitas while I nursed the boys. Lovely end to a lovely day!

Wednesday was a relaxing day thanks to my neighbor Alex who offered to kidnap my girls for a few hours. I got a nap in & ran an errand with the boys. Once the girls got back home we had some family playtime which is always full of silliness & laughter. One other fun thing from this day is that Alex was getting rid of a twin mattress so I loaded it up & brought it home.  Char is now sleeping on that mattress on the floor & Elo got promoted from a crib mattress on the floor to the toddler bed. Building bunk beds are on the list for June...it is a time of transition in our little nest!

This picture made me laugh after the fact because it looks like Elo's head could be connected to Bella's body!

Wednesday night a few girlfriends of mine hosted a special evening with visiting & dessert. I took my camera but didn't take any pictures..bummer! They served cookies & cream ice cream with Birthday Cake Oreo crumbles (new to me & delicious!) & various other toppings. We also had peanut butter chocolate bars which were amazing.  They were sweet to make a girl feel so special. Jenny went shopping for a new bottle of summer nail polish for me & settled on a bright green called "Entourage." She said she knew it was not really my color but couldn't pass up such an appropriate name ; ) The other part of my gift from them was the offer to take the girls for a sleepover! We have that on the calendar for this coming Sunday night! Yipeee for all!  Amanda put together a handwritten book called "30 Fabulous, Faithful & Fun things we love about Lauren" It was funny, heartwarming & most of all humbling.  I came home full & happy that evening & went to bed. That night, O & A went a 6.5 hour stretch between feedings! They haven't done it since but at least we know they are capable ; )

On Thursday, Alex took the girls again for a good chunk of time allowing for another nap & uninterrupted snuggles with my favorite little guys. That night the Lent's came over for "The Office" series finale. We ate Chili's for dinner, put kids to bed & cozied up on the couch. It has been fun to have friends that enjoy that show as much as we have...they were the perfect couple to enjoy the finale with!

Friday morning, on the big day, I had fed the boys around 5, Rob let me go back to sleep while he got up with the girls & cooked breakfast.  The girls were dressed so cutely & were excited to wish me a happy birthday when I came out of my room around 7:30. I enjoyed a delicious cup of coffee & some yummy breakfast. He headed into his office while the kids & I played. Jenny, Karis & Isaac came over just before lunch for a visit. Shortly after their arrival, our beloved Edie knocked on our door. She was coming over to help with the kids & arrived decked out with a party hat! The girls were excited to see that she brought some for them too!

Owen & Anson, who look so much alike in this picture I did a double take before writing this caption....
they were so excited to see Edie they even gave a little grin : )  For the record, O is on the left & A is on the right.

Edie insisted that I rest for a bit. I honestly did not feel very tired but I laid down in the guest room anyway around 1. Nearly FOUR HOURS later, Robby woke me up out of a dead sleep to tell me dinner was just about ready! Haha! I'm not sleep deprived! It was the best nap I have had since the boys were born...thank you Edie!

While I was asleep Charlotte & Edie worked on some artwork. Charlotte said it was my birthday spider..I love it!

 

Robby cooked another of my favorite meals, Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo with mushrooms & Caesar salad. I requested to have my picture taken with my little ones in the front yard by the flowers we planted on Mother's Day. He must have taken 50 & this is the best we got! I do like that all us girls were laughing so they are true smiles. Anson looks like he is attempting to smile ; ) 

Speaking of flowers, my mom & dad sent me a beautiful bouquet...

Charlotte was SO excited that it was my birthday! It was impossible for her to keep a secret. After dinner she kept saying "We can't tell you we got you a cake because it's a secret" or asking Rob repeatedly (very loudly "Can we eat Mommy's cake?"  When it was finally time for cake, an Oreo Cheesecake magically appeared on the table....oh my! It was delicious! Eloise licked her plate clean!

What an appropriate card since we are constantly reminding people to remove their fingers from their noses!
The inside said "it's time to boogie!"

Okay, so this is far from short & sweet but there are too many parts & I don't want to leave any out! Saturday, we did the big move & got our little buckaroos out of our room & into their own! That will be a post of it's own at some point. I do love rearranging and organizing so I consider that a birthday gift in itself. 

Saturday evening, our friends Lindsay & Jasmine watched all four kids while Robby took me out to dinner. Here were are before leaving...

 

He gave me four options for restaurants including Fogo de Chao. As much as I enjoy that place, Chuy's won because after our recent discovery of it's Orlando opening, I dream about it. Other plus, it is WAY cheaper than Fogo! So, we sat down to enjoy our Tex Mex feast & I requested a hotter salsa. Our waiter asked if we would like to sample all their salsas/sauces. We said sure & he came back with about 12 bowls! We ate about 4 baskets of chips to finish them all : ) The best part of dinner was when our college age waiter asked "Are you two thinking about having kids anytime soon?"  That question could not have EVER been any funnier than it was that very moment. We burst out laughing & filled him in on our recent additions. The answer is no, we are not thinking about having kids anytime soon ; ) It was wonderful to enjoy a meal with my husband minus four children. Dinners are about the least enjoyable meal of the day right now with everyone's grumpiness so dinner out was fabulous!

Robby blew me away this year with the gifts he chose.  He spoiled me, he really did! I have been looking at a website called The Vintage Pearl for about two years on & off thinking how it would be nice to have a necklace representing our little nest. There were too many to choose from & many that I liked. I had found one that I showed to Rob one time that had four birdies & then all four kids names around the outside of the oval. Instead, he decided to surprise me with this one...

I love it!! He said he thought about getting the other one but could not bring himself to do it because there was only room for four birdies & four names.  We are feeling like our nest is full but it was too final for him to have a necklace that said so...hahaha! I did tell him that if we added one more initial charm that we would have to add two since it would make it asymmetrical ; ) He said he chose hearts since I am Mrs. Valentine & have four little Valentines. Love him!

The other gift that I am SO excited about is that he is in process turning my blog into printed books! He thought it would take him a few hours but quickly found out that all the posts combines equaled about 850+ pages & crashed the program he was working on.  Haha! He decided to split it into years & is now almost done with 2010. That will be a most treasured thing to have in our home for many years.

So far, my thirties are great! I am more tired than I have ever been before & my heart is more full than ever before. What a great way to kick off the next decade!

Celebrating Mother's Day

If there is anything I have learned in the past two months, it is to be flexible.  Not only in a physical sense (ie being able to nurse two babies simultaneously while making sure their eyes don't get poked out...simultaneously) but just plain flexible. Things do not always go as planned in fact it seems they usually do not go as planned. Hmmm, maybe I need to reconsider my "planning." Anyway, we became recluses for the first 6-7 weeks of O & A's life & decided to re-enter society a week prior to Mother's Day with our first trip to Sunday Worship at CCC. What do you know, within a few days Charlotte was sick, two days later Eloise was not feeling well & a day after that Owen & Anson were getting their nostrils sucked out by Nosefrida every couple hours.  Proves the point as to why we avoided interaction with others for so long ; ) 

Back to that planning thing.....we were hoping to go to early service on Sunday then head out to Tampa for the day to celebrate. We have done this every year since I have been a mommy & we love it! We did discuss the probability of it not being as enjoyable this year for multiple reasons (no pun intended). Just to name a few- 1. Anson HATES the car & screams until he is hoarse. 2. Nursing two babies in public could create quite a bit of attention ; ) in fact, I have no desire to attempt this feat so I would have been pumping in the car a few times & giving bottles to one baby while I nursed the other. 3. 4 under 4 is just a lot to manage especially outside your own home.  All that to say we were still bummed that all were a bit sicky Sunday morning....too sicky to enjoy their class & we weren't up for having all four sitting with us for an hour & a half.  Enter flexibility! Rob & the girls picked up some bagels & breakfast sandwiches from Panera while me & the boys hit the snooze button. It's amazing what 30 minutes of uninterrupted sleep can do after a long night!  We enjoyed our breakfast as a family then loaded up for a trip to Lowe's.  Somewhere around Mother's Day in previous years, we have also spent a day planting flowers. This year Rob thought it would be fun to combine the two since we decided to spend the day at home. 

My gift was that I got to drive the truck with no car seats in it on the way there. We couldn't fit into one vehicle & still have room for what we were purchasing so we took both. My ride was quiet....I don't think Rob's was ; )  We were in & out in a matter of minutes without drawing too much attention to ourselves.  The longest conversation any of us had with a worker was when Eloise stopped a man to tell him about the bee she saw by the flowers.  I don't think he understood any other word than "bee" but was so kind to make her feel special. 

We got home, I fed the boys then we set up camp in the front yard....

the boys were comfy on their Boppy Pillows in the 5x5 foot area of shade....it's the only shady spot :) 

Eloise & Owen

Eloise was soooo excited about the tools Daddy pulled out to get the job done.  She had a hard time remembering which were his & which were hers.

Elo & the shovel I put back in her hands about 30 times

Charlotte was happy to get dirty using her shovel & bucket. She got right to work helping Daddy dig some holes. It made me laugh that after about 30 minutes she was SO done being dirty....to the point that she was freaking out that there was so much dirt on her. I stuck her in the utility room sink & cleaned her off.

The boys took a quick snooze before they awoke fussy & got moved inside. I wanted to lay down too!

Owen & Anson

My favorite of the flowers

little helpers

the man in charge

So, you could look at these pictures & think "what a perfect day...those two have it all together & plan lovely days of celebration with their perfect children." HAHAHAHAHA! I tell you what, Mother's Day was quite the day of dealing with reality! Quick Summary: Coming off of little to no sleep for many weeks but especially the three nights leading up to Sunday we were a little edgy.  The girls seemed to have put imaginary earplugs in their ears & were unable to hear/obey anything we were asking of them causing much frustration for Rob & me.  Due to the runny noses & sore throats coupled with us letting them exert too much energy for a sick person, there were complete melt downs on more than one occasion.  Those sweet boys who really can do no wrong at this point in their life were just being babies : ) They needed extra cuddles & feedings which can be expected with runny noses, it just feels like a LOT more cuddles & feedings when there are two of them.  I had to laugh when I got a text from my friend Freddi who had twin girls in early April bringing her total number of children to five. It read "More than any other prior year, Happy, Happy Mother's Day!! ; D Here's to the countless hours you've been putting in lately!" Haha! She knows all about the countless hours!

So, to remedy the low morale, I got the boys to sleep in their crib, fixed some lunch for the ladies & we headed back outside. They ate & morale improved for all. Then it just kept getting better.  It came time to water all that had been planted so out came the water hose & two little girls faces lit up with smiles!

Due to Eloise putting her face in the water coming from the hose "Bella Style," she quickly lost the shirt.  I could just eat her up...

The running began....

Hugs for Daddy who redeemed the flower planting/bad attitude extravaganza with some good ol' fashioned fun with the water hose! 

I do love that man pictured above.  He helped the girls attempt to treat me special but really he was the one who made me feel like a queen. A queen with babies attached to me all hours of the day & night.  The afternoon consisted of long naps for all the kids while we ate leftover Indian food & caught up on a few episodes of White Collar. We ended the day with some snuggles with the little ones at bedtime then a steak dinner for the two of us complete with baked potatoes, mushrooms & spinach. That is my favorite meal....always. Rob asked me lots of questions at dinner ranging from what is the best part about being a mother, what has been most challenging & what do I love about mothering each of our children individually. He was so encouraging to talk to as he is the one who sees me in great mothering moments & in those moments where I completely fail. He is reminding me often of the importance of my role to love & care for these children.  We had some good laughs looking back at what parenting has consisted of thus far.....and there are soooo many more laughs ahead!

I could just cry (& I have) as I consider how our little nest we built went from a mommy & a daddy to include four children in a matter of three & a half years!  I am so thankful to be mommy to these four.  Words cannot express how much love a mother feels for her children. I would venture to say that actions show this love in ways I would have never known until the past four months that we experienced my own mother caring for me & my bunch.  She kept telling me that I would do the same for my own children & she is right. There is a commitment there to love & continue to serve even when it hurts & you feel like you only want to care about yourself.  God is working in my heart on a daily basis (now more than ever) showing me my selfishness & reminding me of his selflessness, showing me my impatience & reminding me of his unending patience, showing me how easy it is to speak harshly & reminding me of his gentleness, showing me my inability to be perfect yet reminding me of his perfection.  There is much to be celebrated in all stages of life whether you are a mother, had the opportunity to be one & chose otherwise, or are yearning to be one right now. God knows you, he knows what delights you, he knows your hurt & your struggles, he knows your deepest desires. He longs to be the one to satisfy your heart & cause you to overflow with joy in whatever He is leading you through. Trust Him & celebrate His faithfulness. 

Owen & Anson at 2 months

I know, I know, I said I would split these two little cowboys up for their monthly posts but I changed my mind.  It seems the two of them do all things together right now so I will share a bit about the similarities & differences between my two favorite boys & split to two posts when I deem appropriate. 

TWO months, where has the time gone? In some ways it feels like they came home from the NICU last week but more so it feels like we have had all night parties in our bedroom for much longer than two months.  Owen & Anson are more precious than words can express but I will make every attempt to prove otherwise. 

Here they are at 2 months old....

Anson & Owen

OWEN

Stats:

7 pounds 5.5 ounces

19 3/4 inches long

Newborn diapers & clothes

*Compared to full term 2 month old babies, he is around the 3-5%*

*With the 5 weeks premature delivery taken into consideration, he is around 10-12%*

Owee-O is so very sweet & small but he is one tough little guy!  One of his NICU nurses called him "Mighty O" when she commented on a picture last week. We love that nickname & he has been going by it ever since. Thanks Denise! It definitely sounds tougher than "Little O" & I'm sure that Owen will like sounding as tough as Big A when they get a little older ; ) 

Mighty O is content for about 3.5 minutes after eating & then is ready to go back to sleep.  He is not like this constantly but many times he gets fussy, we lay him down & he falls asleep with no crying in about 2 minutes.  Sometimes he likes to look around for longer but mostly if he is being held with mommy or daddy in view (ie no big sissies around).  In the last few days he has been tracking with his eyes as we move in front of him or hold a toy.  He is getting better at holding his head up every day but still does plenty of wobbling that makes us laugh. He absolutely hates riding in the stroller so on walks, he usually gets moved to the sling on me when it is time for Eloise to be restrained. 

Owen sat in his Bumbo chair last week for the first time just long enough to snap a picture before spitting up ALL over himself...guess he is not quite ready to be that upright! He rolls from his tummy to his back very easily.  He is smiling at us & has made cooing sounds just a couple of times along with that precious grin. We know that 7 pounds is still small but he has almost doubled his birth weight which makes him seem SO big to us! I also like to call him "Growin' Owen" when I'm giving him a pep talk about packing on the pounds. We swear Mighty O has some muscles he likes to show off on his upper arms. He flexes them when he grabs the bull by its horns (the bull wubbanub paci that is).  I can't get enough cuddles from this sweet boy! 

ANSON

Stats:

9 pounds 14.5 ounces

21 inches long

Size 1 diapers & mostly 0-3 clothes with a few newborn ones that I squeeze him into so they can match ; ) 

*Compared to full term 2 month old babies, he is around the 12-14%*

*With the 5 weeks premature delivery taken into consideration, he is around 40% for weight*

Big A, oh how we love his chubbiness & his extra chin.  He is definitely a bit easier to hold as he is seemingly sturdier than his older yet littler brother.  He is a bruiser for sure & can withstand a lot of man handling by his older sisters. In fact, our pediatrician commented on how much stronger the boys were than typical preemies at this age.  I laughed out loud & said that it was probably because we let a 3 year old & an almost 2 year old hold them multiple times every day. It's like strength training for their little necks.  Please note that they are always supervised but there is only so much you can do to prevent those quick movements ; ) He also rolls himself from tummy to back with little effort. He does this so well that he even showed off his skills & rolled himself right over the side of the Boppy pillow off of the couch & onto the floor in a dead sleep last night! When Robby picked him up Anson let out a huge burp. Haha! Glad he was okay!

One nickname for this kiddo is Antsy Pants which sometimes gets switched to Fancy Pants which I know he would hate when he is old enough to realize it but if we are being honest here, this boy is pretty needy. 9 times out of 10 when you hear crying from the crib, it is Anson who is requesting in his own little way to be put in the sling or Ergo on mommy.  It makes me grin just thinking about his fussiness & how calm he gets when close to me. I LOVE IT! So, he is usually my buddy while I am doing housework or cooking.  He really enjoys a ride in the stroller & unlike his brother, he can stay awake for a good 30 minutes after a feeding. He likes to lay on the play mat while Charlotte "reads" to him. He doesn't even mind if Eloise holds him. Anson gives some huge grins & is cooing often. He watches us closely when we are within view. He shows of a mad skydiving pose when held up in the air by his Daddy. 

This may be a bit much but I have to include this lovely story.  Today Robby & I dropped the girls off with a friend before taking the boys to their check up.  Anson was screaming the whole way while Owen was asleep...imagine that ; ) When we got there Rob asked me which baby I wanted to grab & I said Anson so I hopped into the backseat, unbuckled him & held him up to my chest. I immediately felt something wet on my arm & pulled him away to see poop smeared across my arm & shirt. I walked around to the back of the car & Rob said "oh no, there is poop everywhere!" Boy was he right! We had to do a wipee bath in the backseat for the both of us. I was smart enough to keep a change of clothes for the boys in the diaper bag but didn't think I needed one for myself. I will surely take care of that for the future. We smelled like poop for the entire appointment...gross! So all that to say, Anson is a once a week pooper & believes in the motto "go big or go home!" 

Another boy who I love cuddling.....

Eating: Breastfeeding has really taken off with these two hungry boys! I was so frustrated in the NICU as they struggled to latch on & take a full feeding from me. We came home following up every breastfeeding session with a bottle of 2oz of breast milk fortified with a formula for preemies to increase the calorie count. The process for the first month home was nurse, nurse, bottle, bottle & pump totaling 1 hour & 10 minutes with an assistant or about an hour & a half when alone. When you take into consideration that they go somewhere between 2.5-3 hours between feedings, that feeding plan did not leave much time for anything else. It became my ultimate goal to be DONE with following up every feeding with a bottle ASAP! Once the boys were over 6 pounds, we stopped fortifying the breast milk so that was one step closer. I started to decrease the amount in the bottles & then about a week ago, I stopped cold turkey.  They nursed more frequently for a couple days then settled back into the usual routine of about every 3 hours. I borrowed a scale from a friend that is a doula & lactation consultant & found that each baby was capable of taking 3oz from me in a very short period of time so I knew they could do it. Our great routine that I loved was starting the morning at 6:30. They ate around 6:30, 9:30,12:30,3:30,6:30,9:30, 1:30 & 4. They were super consistent with this schedule until last Saturday when they decided to have a 24 hour feeding frenzy with lots of screaming in between. That day wiped me out &I was so exhausted! Since then, they have added in a extra feeding in the evening pushing the last couple feeds before bed to 2 hours apart then they go a 4 hour stretch from about 8 to midnight.  I pump, go to bed around 9:30 or 10 & Robby feeds them bottles at 12. We try to each get that 4-5 stretch of sleep in....just to survive! In the past week we have mostly mastered tandem feeding with LOTS of work & LOTS of frustration for me & the boys.  I really feel like it is the only way that I can continue breastfeeding.  It takes 20-30 minutes & they are both done. The only problem is that I am pretty tied up & can't block Char & Elo from jumping onto me ; ) I do believe I am past the really hard part of establishing a good milk supply to feed these buckaroos & I am thankful & excited to be at that point.

Sleeping: There is not a lot to say here other than they sleep a lot most of the time & scream a lot the rest of the time. They sleep between every feeding, sometimes they go down without a fight & other times I find myself letting them scream until I can get back in there to assess the situation. At that point, I attempt to calm them down one more time. If they are still screaming after that, someone goes in the swing or Ergo & we keep moving. Last night was the first time that they were both screaming bloody murder whether I was holding them or letting them lay in the crib.  I ended up walking out of the room & they screamed for 10 minutes then fell asleep.  I have lots of thoughts on baby sleep/routines & am finding that I combine books & advice to get these two and us four sleeping well.  We are FAR away from having great sleepers but when you consider that they are only 3-4 weeks past their due date...what do you expect? We are definitely exhausted but finding that we can survive on less sleep than we have ever had before!

One thing that we have found works for O & A is putting them on their tummies....

Owen

Anson

Hanging out on the playmat....

Spending time with these two uninterrupted is rare & SO very sweet. We had about 20 minutes one afternoon where I put them on their Boppy pillows so they could look outside. I just sat and sang & talked to them which is what I remember doing ALL the time when I had just Charlotte. They were content as they smiled & cooed at me.  I love watching their little arms move erratically....

At some moments, they look very different & at others, they look just the same minus a little chub!

Two months down & Lord willing MANY MORE to go. We love you O & A! Thanks for keeping us on our toes ; )