(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

Can't I just bottle him up and keep him like this? 
You blink and you miss it....

Twin Tuesday: Would you do it over again???

I borrowed this question from Pam's blog, and the more I've thought about it the more I have decided it's a ridiculously loaded question!

You all know our story already; we worked really hard to get our girls here, and we couldn't possibly imagine life without them.

When they were born, to hear each of their individual cries while I was laying on the operating table was nothing short of breathtaking.

To hear them giggle at each other when they are playing together is priceless.

To hear them chatting back and forth in their very own "twin language" is amazing.
To see them play (and get into mischief) together and enjoy each others company makes my heart smile =).

They are so very different, yet somehow the same. I love watching them play and interact with each other, and its nice to know that they will always have each other, sisters, and best friends (and honestly, best enemies at the same time).  They learn something new every day and it is amazing to watch them learn and explore together.

On the flip side, I remember how HARD it was to raise infant twins! The seemingly constant nursing, the sleep deprivation, the fussing (especially when both were fussing at the same time), the poopy diapers (naturally), the laundry. I remember how much energy I used to have before we had twins.  I remember how much more of a social life I had before we had twins.  I remember how much more time Si and I had to spend with each other before we had twins.

SO...If we could choose to have twins over again (as opposed to a singleton, or perhaps all together), would we?

YUP.

In all honesty, I'm a bit sad that my little man isn't going to have a built in best friend (and enemy) like the girls do!

Now don't get me wrong - I am LOVING nursing one baby.  I am loving cuddling one baby.  I am loving caring for one baby. I feel SO bonded to him. Having one baby is significantly easier than having two. In fact, there isn't much for Si to do with Mr. Hudson because honestly, I can easily do it all.  And that makes me sad.  Si was so involved with the girls - we each took a girl - I took Brianna and he took Olivia.  If Bri got up in the night, I was on.  If Livvy got up in the night, he was on.  Livvy didn't enjoy breastfeeding much, so if she needed fed, Si fed her a breast milk bottle while I nursed Bri.  We nearly split everything 50/50.  I loved it.  We had a very distinct appreciation for each other. We shared the load.  And not that we don't appreciate each other now - we've been there, done that - but I almost feel like he's missing out on some of the parenting of little Hudson, simply because there is only one of him.  He has taken over most of the parenting of the girls over the last 7 weeks, and I have taken over everything with Hudson.  It's not a bad thing by any means, it's just different.  =)

And a side note - in case you were curious - I do not think that twins are twice as hard as a singleton. Twins are probably more like 1 &1/2 times the work of one baby.  I mean, you already have to nurse/feed one, so it isn't "twice as hard" to feed two.  Twice as time consuming perhaps (unless you are tandem feeding or double fisting it with bottle feedings), but not twice the work.  Same with laundry, baths, changing diapers....you already are having to do it, so having to do it for two kids isn't twice as hard....in my opinion anyway =).

So back to the question, YES, I definitely think we would do it over again.

Would we want to have twins again right now?  Um, NO.  I think we are good with 3 children under the age of 2 at this point!  But we are so thrilled that we were given the opportunity to parent twins.  Oh! And I almost forgot! I'm excited to welcome one of my bestest friends Lisa to the twins club as well - she is currently 14-ish weeks pregnant with fraternal twins - and I couldn't be more excited for her!!!  I can't wait to snuggle her little peanuts! She is due January 31st. I'm so excited to meet them!

So, now it's your turn to answer the question!
Would YOU do it over again?  Why or why not?
I'm excited to see what your thoughts are!!

Until next time -
Megan

Fun in the sun!

Or, more appropriately, fun in the shade!

We have been keeping cool in the mornings by watering mamma's plants and swimming in their pool in the shade in the front yard.  This is a typical morning at our house!
The girls lounge in the pool...

Hudson lounges in his bouncy chair and makes crazy faces at us....he's silly=)

Then the girls take an awesome nap.  Something about being outside during the day makes our girls sleep wonderfully both at night and at nap time.  I am dreading winter.  Seriously.

BUT, we are still in the thick of summer here in Nebraska.

It's been really really HOT in Omaha (as is true with most of the country I know), but that won't slow these girls down.  Nope! If they can't play in their pool outside, they will play with their pool inside! Who needs water?!
We will read books in our pool in the living room.  We are SO cool!

And of course playing dress up is at the top of our list of cool things to do too =)

So what are you guys doing now a days to beat the heat???

Until next time!
Megan

Just for laughs...

Si and I finally went out to dinner for my birthday and our anniversary.  Gramz was down for the weekend, and between Gramz, Papa, and Aunt Denise, they had no problem wrangling the three kiddos for a couple of hours.

So...out we went! First we went to Olive Garden for some sangria and fried calamari (so tasty!).  Then we proceeded to 801 Chophouse in the Old Market for our 8 PM dinner reservation.  The food was delish - truly it was.  I had a filet oscar, I think my favorite meal ever (a filet topped with crab meat, asparagus, and Bearnaise sauce), and Si had a seafood plate (1/2 lobster, king crab, shrimp, and scallops). We each had a glass of wine and we shared dessert.  After tip, it was $250.  WOW.  It was delish, but wow.  Probably won't be eating there again any time soon!

Anyway, to go with our crazy expensive meal, take a look at our "view".  And I kid you not, this was the direct view from my chair at our table. LOL!!!

(If you can't tell, that is a gold bull, and my direct view was of his booty and massive "package"!!!)

Hope you all are having a great weekend!

Until next time -
Megan

Ode to my amazing husband!

On July 17th, 2004 I married my best friend and partner in crime. =)

We are celebrating our 8th wedding anniversary today!  8 wonderful years of wedded bliss! I wouldn't trade it for the world.

It hasn't always been rainbows and cupcakes of course....a marriage is incredibly hard work!

The first year we were married Si was still in school, so I supported him while he finished his degree.  We lived on peanuts really, but still managed to have so much fun with each other.  How does that work?!

We bought our first house in 2007 - a 1920's home that always needs at least 10 things done to it at any given time (right now Si is working on finishing the basement so the girls can have a much needed family play room and he can have a better office space to work in).  The house keeps us busy and takes up any time and disposable income we have (or used to have - HA!).

From 2005-2010 we spent wishing and hoping and praying that we would be able to have a family. We had a lot of issues getting pregnant as many of you know, but finally after many years of trying, piles of fertility medications, 2 miscarriages (one ectopic pregnancy), 4 IUI's, and two IVF cycles, and a ridiculous amount of money, we had a successful pregnancy and gave birth to our twin girlies in October 2010. Infertility made us stronger as a couple than I could have ever imagined. It actually enriched our marriage; made us focus more on what we had, and more appreciative of each other.  Amazing that good that could come out of something so awful.  I wouldn't wish infertility on my worst enemy!

We then got quite the surprise in October 2011 when we found out we were expecting again (we were quoted such a LOW possibility of ever getting pregnant on our own we never thought we would be surprised by a pregnancy)! Our miracle baby Hudson was born last month - June 12, 2012.

I don't think either of us could have possibly imagined the life we have been given (and three children under the age of 2!) when we married, but I can't imagine our life being any other way. We are loving every minute of our crazy chaos!

So here's to my wonderful husband and amazing father to our three beautiful children - I love you more and more each day -- I can't imagine being in this chaos with anyone else but you -- and I look forward to growing old and gray with you =). (It will be quiet again eventually, right?!)

I love you more than words can say!!!!

--Megan

1 month old, and 21 months old!

Baby Hudson turned a month old on Thursday --A MONTH -- and man is he growing and changing!!  I had him weighed 10 days ago and he was already 10 lbs 8 oz.  I'm quite sure he is well over 11 lbs at this point.  He is one BIG boy. Already styling the 3 month and 3-6 month clothes. Geez!  I guess I just grow them big! The fact that he eats nearly constantly while awake probably helps too - lol!

Hudson is working on smiling (he's shot us a couple cute smiles so far), and he is mastering holding up his head.  He's doing well with sleeping - most nights anyway - he goes to bed around 11 PM and get up around 4-4:30 AM to eat, then back to sleep until around 9 AM.  He's made it 7 hours straight (so from 11 PM -6 AM) 3 times so far.  It's becoming a bit more consistent which is exciting.  Hard on a breastfeeding momma if he doesn't wake up (because by 6 AM I am engorged like nobody's business) but otherwise, the sleep is glorious, hence exciting =).

Shifting gears to the toddlers who run the household....Olivia and Brianna turned 21 months on Friday.  Only 3 short months until they are 2 years old - when did that happen!?  I guess I better start the party planning eh?  Just a guess, but the girls are obsessed with butterflies and anything Sesame Street, so I bet the theme will be one of those two things.  Makes the planning a bit easier if I already have a theme now doesn't it?

Anywho, the little ladies are growing and changing every day - although more in the intellectual sense than the physical sense - becoming entirely too smart for their own good.  What I've noticed most recently with the girls is their language/word acquisition.  Every day they are learning how to say at least one new word, so many that I can't keep track anymore.  So far this week: "spaghetti", "right there", "boob" (don't ask...but I'm a breast feeding momma...I kept telling them breast, but boob is obviously what stuck in their minds), "cantelope", "Aunt Denise", and "ack-y" have come out of their mouths clear as day.  I know there are more, but they come up with them so quickly that by the time I sit down to write them down I have already forgotten half of them.  Their language skills are growing by leaps and bounds these days...it's seriously amazing to watch.

Something that isn't progressing is potty training.  I suspect this is largely due to the addition of little Hudson who, in all fairness, is getting a massive amount of mommy attention.  The girls are still regressing with me and have no desire to work on something new.  We will come back to it shortly...it's just not in their best interest (or in the interest of my sanity) to try and push it at all right now. Sigh.

I am working on making their days more scheduled...instead of 8-12 hours of unstructured play time each day during the day I am trying to add a bit of structure and schedule.  Nothing too strict, but I know if they were at daycare they would be doing more structured activities then they are at home.  I have decided to do some Tot School activities (I will link to the blog where I got all of my information once I actually get up and going) and see how the girls do with those.  I had hoped to institute Tot School last week, but now I am hoping maybe this week will be the week.  Who knows...maybe it won't be until I go back to work! HA!

What else?  Hmm..the first things the girls ask for every day are "Dada", "Momma", and "Baby", and "Baby" is also the last thing they say/ask about every night before bed.  I think they like (or at least are very interested in) having a baby around. Whew.  At least they don't hate him!  What they do seem to "hate" these days is meat.  Weird, right?  The only meat that they seem interested in these days is ham.  Not hamburger, not chicken, not steak...ham...and the occasional piece of bacon.  They LOVE macaroni and cheese, yogurt, and spaghetti.  Oh, and Special K red berries.  Anything else is totally hit or miss.  Crazy toddlers!


So that's my 1 month and 21 month update! It's crazy chaos in our household...but we wouldn't have it any other way =).


Oh wait! I have 2 more pictures to share with you!
Here's a picture of Brianna reading to Hudson the other day - it was so cute!

And here is Livvy, posing with "her" baby! She is such a little momma!!

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend!
Until next time -
Megan

They know how to make me smile =)

Our girls are at such a fun age right now! Toddler-hood is a tricky thing, but luckily they have been able to make us smile just as much as they make us want to strangle them in any given day. HA!

We've been a little busy lately (duh, I know!), so while the laundry is definitely getting done, it isn't always making it into "put away" stage.  There has been a laundry basket of the girls clothes sitting on their bedroom floor since Tuesday.  We were playing with fire, I know. For the first couple of days the girls paid no attention to it - they just let it sit there uninterrupted.  Then yesterday Bri decided that she wanted to wear several layers of clothing (it was 102 degrees here), so she put on several dresses and a swimsuit from the clothes basket and paraded around the house like a fashion diva. I know, I know, just wait until she wants to leave the house like that!  Oye! Note Livvy with the camera - she was trying to capture everything on film as it was happening - just like mommy - she's my little shadow =).

Well today Bri decided not only to put on the dresses, but added in a skirt and shoes and gave a big goofy smile for the camera! Note that while the shoes themselves do not match, the colors that she chose actually do correspond with the colors of the clothes she is wearing! LOL! This girl cracks me up! Our little fashionista! (Note that while you may not be able to tell, she was actually wearing 4 different sun dresses, one skirt, and two mismatched shoes)

So that's my quick post for today.  I have several other posts brewing, including one on Tot School and providing more structure to our day, as well as a post on our potty training progress (or lack there of), so please stay tuned!

Oh, and of course I can't let you go without a picture of baby Hudson! So, here he is, sleeping soundly with his daddy. =).

Hope you all are enjoying your summer and are managing to stay cool in the midst of this heat wave that is affecting most of the country!

Until next time -
Megan