4.21.2011

April Is the Best Month



Happy One-Month Birthday, babies! I don't have a lot to say about this month being the most rewarding and challenging of my life {though it has been} -- my brain is still catching up with the fact that I'm the mother of two children. When did that happen? For that matter, when did I get pregnant? After I got married, you say? I'm still not entirely sure I even got married, or started dating Christian. Christian? Christian who? You mean the guy who walks around looking like he's angry all time?

Basically, everything after 18 seems like a dream. My head can't quite believe the wonderful life I've been given. I'm operating as if everything around me is real because I think it's wisest for now; I have yet to be convinced I'm not just going to wake up halfway through high school Physics, wondering what the heck we're supposed to be learning about.

For the record, I love my babies like crazy. I tell them all the time that being in a family together is my most favorite thing in the world. It's so much my favorite, I almost forgot that my birthday is next week. My birthday was my old favorite thing.

4.17.2011

Thoughts at Four Weeks Old


{Christian wanted me to make it clear that he was burping the babies in these pictures,
not choking them. Christian has proven to have excellent baby burping skills.}


If, four weeks ago, you told me that my babies would eventually be four weeks old, I don't think I would have believed you. While, looking back, those weeks seem to have gone by so quickly, another four weeks seems impossibly far away. I know I'm not the first person to have noticed this, but time is weird.

I have a love/hate relationship with how much the babies are growing. I love that they're healthy and getting stronger all the time, but I already miss how tiny they used to be. Max doesn't even fit into his preemie sleepers anymore. {The first time I put him into a newborn size, I imagined him saying "I'm a real boy!" just like Pinocchio.}

Our twins seem totally devoid of any psychic twin powers. They act indifferent to each other's cries, and oblivious to each other's existence in general. Mostly it's just like we got two kids at the same time. They are both very tricky, though. Often we'll hear them fussing and go in to check on them, only to find them fast asleep. Five minutes later, more fussing, we go up to check, fast asleep.

We've started reading books to the babies. They already have their favorite stories. Maggie loves "Guess How Much I Love You" and "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" {I think it's because she's also tiny and very hungry, and shaped not unlike a caterpillar still}. Max enjoys "Where The Wild Things Are" -- even though he thinks the Wild Things are a little bit scary, he likes how the boy in the book is named Max too.

Maggie has a tendency to go {you know, go} when her diaper comes off. If she goes number ones we call it a Maggie Special. Sometimes she goes numbers twos, and we call it a Maggie Super Special. The other day Alice got a Maggie Super Special all over her pants and on her foot. Kate and I thought it was hilarious. At least she can't say I didn't warn her -- I warn everyone who changes Maggie's diaper.

4.08.2011

I Can't Believe It's Been One Week

Somehow it's been almost one whole week since we brought the babies home. Honestly, it feels like much longer. Our lives have changed so much, it's crazy to think about. While we love our babies more than we could ever have imagined, we didn't realize how exhausting it would be to take care of them. We're so grateful for everyone around us -- friends and family -- who have made this week in any way easier.



P.S. We went to the doctor today and both Max and Maggie have gained a pound since they were born -- can't you tell? I have a hard time keeping myself from eating their cheeks.

4.07.2011

Why I Haven't Posted Thousands of Baby Pictures



I know I haven't posted in a while. Part of that is just the normal, I'm-a-new-mom busyness -- I don't have time most days to take a shower, so there's no way I have enough time to write a blog post. I've been walking around for the past two days in Christian's shirts and maternity leggings {which are the most comfortable things ever; seriously, it feels like I'm not wearing anything at all}, thinking that everyone around me smells like overcooked broccoli, until I realized that probably it was me who was stinky. Gross.

Another reason I haven't posted is that before Saturday, my babies were still in the hospital. Because they were born so early, they needed a little bit of help before they were ready to come home. For some reason, their hospital stay ignited this strong maternal instinct in me, and I didn't want to post pictures of them in isolettes, with their monitor cords and IVs trailing from their tiny little fragile bodies. I was so proud of them and how hard they were trying, and all of the progress they were making. I didn't want people to see their pictures and pity them, instead of seeing how amazing they are.

I know it might have been silly or misguided, but I really couldn't stand the thought of posting a lot of hospital pictures. Please forgive me. I'll work on doing better at taking pictures of their ever-fattening cheeks. Deal?