A Curious George Birthday Party

 This past weekend we had a birthday party for all three boys since their birthdays are so close together. They are too young to care about themes are anything like that but my oldest loves watching Curious George so we picked that for this year. For some reason the party stores have discontinued Curious George stuff, but I was still able to find some things online. The other things I made myself.

It was a first birthday for my twins and a second birthday for my oldest.

He didn't really want to eat his cupcake. Not a big fan of cake I guess.

People were getting too close to him. He's at the stage where he only wants mommy and daddy around.

Yep, never did eat that cupcake either, silly boy :)

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We Survived the First Year!

At times it didn't seem like we would make it but we have actually survived the first year with our twins! They are now 12 months old. I think this next year might actually be harder than the first year. They are so much work to keep up with right now! They also like to get into trouble constantly and fight with each other all the time. Some days I feel like I'm literally going crazy and they haven't even started walking yet! 

They seem to be extra mischievous little boys, but maybe that's just because there is two of them plotting together. It's so much fun though, even with the craziness. They really are quite hilarious and even when they are naughty they are so cute I can't help but laugh. (This does not help the issue at all!) They are both little hams and love to have an audience. They crack me up every day but I am also very thankful for nap time and bed time!

As far as development, they seem to be right on track with everything. They aren't walking unassisted yet, but they prefer to cruise the furniture and walls and walk while pushing objects rather than crawling. They both crawl extremely fast. Nowadays when they follow me into a room they aren't supposed to be in, I have to bring one out and then hurry back to get he second one but even then the first one is usually back in the room again by that time. Usually I just have to sneak into the back rooms or run really fast and close the door or I have three little visitors in with me! 

Their favorite toys are pretend dishes and food which they really love, or anything their big brother is playing with at the time. They've learned how to throw toys through the stair railings so we usually end up with a lot fewer toys upstairs by the end of the day. They also enjoy this game during nap times when they throw their pacifiers and blankets out of the bed and then cry when they can't reach them anymore. 

They are starting to use sippy cups more often, but they still have their milk in a bottle for now because they don't seem to drink it otherwise. They are on regular whole milk and have refused to eat pureed baby food for awhile now. They pretty much eat whatever we are eating for three meals a day with one or two snacks in between. It's funny because there are some foods where one of them likes it and the other won't eat it. Batman is a bit more picky than his brother most of the time. When I feed them things like yogurt or apple sauce my oldest usually wants some too so I end up feeding all three from the same bowl. (We've always shared spoons and bowls with the twins, it's easier that way).

We are having a birthday party this weekend for all three boys! It's going to be Curious George themed and I'm very excited to put it all together. Next week I'll share some pictures of how it turned out! Our first year has been difficult and at times seemed completely insane, but we made it and I wouldn't trade any of it. I love these boys so much and I am so thankful every day that we get to experience this crazy adventure!

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Two Very Different C-Section Experiences

 Since tomorrow is my twins' first birthday (how did that happen so quickly?!?) today is the perfect time to share their birth story. It's actually quite uneventful and not very exciting at all. Basically I went in on my scheduled c-section day and had a great surgery. Nothing went wrong, I barely even felt like I had one. The boys ended up in the NICU for 17 days after they were born. Since they were sharing a placenta, towards the end all of the blood started going to one of the babies (Batman) and our other baby wasn't getting any. 

I am so thankful we moved our c-section date up one week because we had no idea this was going on. So Batman was our little reddish baby and Spiderman was anemic and pale for a few months. They thought he might need a blood transfusion but he ended up being okay without one. Our poor babies were poked and prodded and stuck full of needles for those 17 long days but we finally got to take them both home together with no major complications. They were born about one month early at 36 weeks and 3 days. 

I've had two c-sections in the last two years and they were completely opposite experiences. I thought I would share a little comparison of the two. Maybe it will give some idea of what kind of things you might expect if you are facing a scheduled c-section.

My First (Emergency) C-Section vs. My Second (Scheduled) C-Section

1. During my first I was having contractions of course, so I had an epidural put in during this time. During the surgery I was shaking so much I couldn't pay attention to anything else. My second, I had a spinal in the operating room right before the surgery. No shakes. I was able to pay attention and watch everything going on. 

2. The first one I was freezing the whole time and they kept putting warm blankets on my arms to warm me up. The second one, I didn't notice anything like that. It seemed like a normal temperature in the room.

3. With both of them I could feel lots and lots of tugging and pulling as they got the babies out. It doesn't hurt or anything, it just feels weird. And then you feel empty once they pull them out. 

4. With my first, we didn't have a camera and I didn't get to hold him before they took him away. With the twins, my husband took pictures of them being cleaned up and weighed and they let me hold the first one while they were still getting the second one out. With little Spiderman they had to put oxygen on him right away so I didn't get to hold him, but I was able to watch what was going on. I don't remember any of this with my first one. 

5. You can read more about it here, but with my first I had a major ileus afterwards and with my second I had nothing like that. Sure there's always some gas, but I was on top of that with stool softeners and gas-x that I asked for right away. I took these a few days before my surgery as well. I didn't eat for a couple of days because I was afraid of what happened the first time, but when I finally did, everything was perfect. 

6. With the first one, a few days after the surgery, the scar got infected and started leaking pus and blood everywhere. They had to open part of it back up again and stuff gauze inside it. I had to do this for a few weeks afterwards. With the second, the scar healed up very nicely. I think she even cut out some of the extra scar tissue because it's much flatter and smoother than it was after the first one.

7. I used an abdominal binder both times. The first time I couldn't put it on until I got home 9 days later because of the ileus and my swollen stomach, but with the second one I used it right away. It helps with the pain and to pull everything back together. The second day after my surgery (the second one) I felt pretty much back to normal and could walk and move around with no problems. 

8. With my first son I was able to start breastfeeding right away even with all the complications. I did that for two months until I had other complications and ended up with another surgery. I didn't know much about pumping at the time, so my milk pretty much dried up while I was there. With the twins they were in the NICU of course so I started pumping with the hospital pump as soon as possible. I kept pumping every two hours the whole time I was there and my milk came in just fine so they were able to have breastmilk. We tried to breastfeed but they were too sleepy and it tired them out. They never did figure that out. I exclusively pumped for them for the first six months and had an excess of milk, which I am thankful for. It was so much work though!

It's just so crazy to me how different the two of them were. I was so nervous for the second one after my first awful surgery but I didn't need to be, it all went very smoothly. If you have had a c-section, what kind of experience did you have?

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photo credit: Julie70 via photopin cc

My babies are 11 months old!

It's hard to believe but my babies are already 11 months old! One more month until the big party for all three of the boys. They are so much fun to watch and they love playing with each other more and more every day. They are getting to be so goofy sometimes, it's pretty hilarious. 

 My little Spiderman gets so excited that he jumps all over the place and crows. It's so cute! He crawls normally but when he is excited about something he looks like a little frog jumping along. He has 4 teeth on top and 2 on the bottom so far. He's been clingy lately and always wants me to hold him. It's so cute though because he will lay his head down on me. The other two boys aren't cuddly like that, so it's kinda nice. 

Little Batman is always smiling lately. He's also a little mischievous, which is probably why he's always smiling at me, the little stinker! He only has the two teeth on top and two on the bottom still. He likes to try to crawl up on chairs and boxes and scare me. These two boys are very adventurous already. He's still doing the army crawl instead of actual crawling. Both these babies are growing up too fast! In another month I won't really have "babies" anymore, just three toddlers! 

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My Boys are 10 Months Already!

Well technically it's not until tomorrow, but it's close enough for an update. These little boys are growing up so fast and changing every day, it's so fun to watch! And how did they get so cute anyways? 

Spiderman: At his 9 month checkup he weighed 16.11 pounds and was 27 inches tall. I don't think he has grown that much since then, maybe he's another pound or so heavier. He seems to be catching up to Batman in size though. He's always been about 1 pound behind him. He has 4 teeth now, two on bottom and two on top that just popped through.

Batman: Was 17.4 pounds and 27 inches tall at his 9 month checkup. He's probably about another pound heavier as well this month. He only has his two bottom teeth, though it looks like he is about to get his top two. They are both wearing 6 month clothing, especially their pants. Even the 6 month sizes tend to fall off of them when they crawl around (the waist is too big). They have 9 month jammies and some 9 month onesies but they are still fairly loose on them. 

They are both army crawling super fast. Spiderman has just started doing some actual crawling in the last couple of days. He usually resorts back to his normal way though, since it's faster for him. They will not stop pulling up on everything, which results in lots of bumps on the head when they lose their balance. Both are now cruising along the furniture and getting quite good at it. They can also walk along behind something that moves as long as it doesn't go too fast. 

Little Batman knows who daddy is and will yell out "dada" when he sees him. It's his favorite sound to make right now. Spiderman sometimes makes the same sound but mostly he is just copying his brother. They love playing together and are always right on top of each other. The other day I even saw Spiderman using his brother as a stepping stool to get up higher. They are quite the handful already and they aren't even walking yet! 

They are still having their formula bottles of course, but are now having 3 regular meals at the same time as their older brother. We've decided to stop feeding pureed baby food and just stick with whatever we are eating now. Except for breakfast when I mix some fruit in with their cereal. Otherwise they love eating black beans, cheese, crackers, peas, carrots, pasta, macaroni and cheese, waffles, pancakes, muffins, rice, cottage cheese, yogurt, applesauce, bananas...they are getting really good about eating pretty much everything now. They also love to rub their food into their hair and throw it on the floor when they aren't happy with it. 

It's so much fun to watch them play and be silly. They are almost always smiling and happy and excited about everything. I think it's going to get more difficult before it gets easier (at least I hope it gets easier), but I can't wait to watch all three of them grow!

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9 Months Old...and Getting into Trouble Already!

Oh these boys, they are so goofy. They crack me up everyday, all three of them! The twins just turned 9 months yesterday. Yes, it's been that long already. I can't believe it either...

I would say they are getting big so fast, but they aren't really all that big. They are actually pretty small. Still wearing 6 month clothes with ease. Wearing size 3 diapers for awhile now, but I found a few size 2's still in the diaper bag this past weekend and we used those up just fine. (Shows you how often we actually use the diaper bag, doesn't it?) The other day we were at the store and somebody guessed their age as 5 months old.

Spiderman has two bottom teeth and I don't see any new ones coming in anywhere. Batman has just one on the bottom. Perhaps he is working on his second one down there, I'm not sure, he really won't let me see. He has always been the bigger of the two by one pound since they were born. They have their 9 month appointment this afternoon so I don't have their measurements yet. He still seems larger though.

Spiderman is always smiling and being silly. He loves the camera it seems. Both of them are very talkative, but no real words yet. They are also very mobile but instead of an actual "crawl" they do a sort of inch-worm thing. Getting up on their hands and knees and pushing forward then getting up again, pushing forward, etc. It's very cute and it sounds slow but they are actually quite fast at it now. Now they just need to learn how to move their hands forward too!

Batman loves to climb. He climbs up on boxes. He climbs on his brother. He climbs on anything he can get to. They both really like to play with each other and are now starting to get interested in their older brother as well. Following him around and getting him cornered so he can't get out seems to entertain everyone. My poor Superman was a bit frightened of them at first, and would cry for help when he got cornered. Now I think he's getting used to them and even tries to get them to chase him.

The babies are eating formula now and have been since February. I stopped pumping at the end of January and I thought I had a ton frozen but that went really quickly... They also eat three solid meals a day and love snacking on puffs, crackers, muffins and pancakes. They have recently tried rice but I don't think they cared for the texture of it. They also had some black beans and mashed potatoes this week for the first time. I need to start feeding them more of what we are eating.

They are doing so great and are so much fun to have around. I can't believe how lucky we are to have such sweet and happy boys. Now if they would just work on sleeping a little better at night...

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