Goodbye summer

Summer's coming to an end and I have mixed feelings about going back to work. This has definitely been the best summer of my life, with my two sweet little girls to be at home with. They have grown and changed so much the last few months! They are rolling all over the place, cooing and laughing, and they're almost sitting up on their own. Their little personalities are so precious! They've recently figured out how to do raspberries. It's so funny! I wonder what I'll miss when I'm at work. That's the hardest part! I think I have the best job for being a mom though. School ends at 2:15 and I have every holiday off, including extra days in the fall, winter, and spring, not to mention summers off! I really do love teaching. I'm excited to meet my new students. I spent all day at school Tuesday and my classroom is pretty much ready to go. The girls went to Mary's that day. When I went to pick them up, I heard one of the other kids say, "But I don't want the babies to go!" They already have friends there! I know it's so good for them socially and their immune systems will be stronger from being around more kids. It's such a great day care too. The kids are always playing in the backyard and are laughing and happy. Mary and Val are so sweet and take good care of the kids. I just need to remember that I can work and be a good mom! I have a great example...my mom! She worked full-time, and I can say all three of us sisters turned out alright!

At one of our favorite restaurants.

Working on those raspberries!

The Sandlot

I was able to get tickets to see The Sandlot at THE Sandlot! It really is a sandlot. They just mowed down the weeds and put up a big blow up movie screen. Luckily, we brought a few blankets to sit on. I didn't realize it's on private property, behind some houses on Navajo Street. You actually have to walk through someone's driveway to get to it. Most of the cast was there, as well as the director and producer. They did a little Q&A before the movie, which was a lot of fun! The actors are really funny, especially The Great Hambino! They were all happy to be back to Salt Lake after 20 years. Once the sun went down, we watched the "Making of" and then the movie with about 1500 other people! Some were standing in line for autographs the entire time! Even though it was way past the girls' bedtime, they did pretty good (Lily got a little fussy) and slept well that night too.

At the Sandlot! The cast is in front of the screen.

A coughing kitty

Sometimes when the girls are tired or hungry they get a little fussy. Violet’s fussy cry sounds like a cat meowing! Lily’s fussy cry includes little coughs! It’s actually quite funny to hear them both going! Reowww, cough, cough, reeeowww!

Snuggle buddies

The girls go to bed at 8:00 and have no problems going right to sleep. Ryan and I go in and check on them before we go to bed, usually around 10. Almost every night they are snuggled up together. Sometimes I'll move them apart a bit so they have plenty of room to stretch and so their faces don't get covered. Last night they were right next to each other and Lily was holding Violet's arm. I moved Violet to the other end of the crib, and she immediately rolled back to Lily! A few times Lily has been sleeping on her side and has her legs up on Violet. Other nights we go in and see they are in the exact same position; they have both arms up above their heads or straight out to the sides. Violet smiles a lot in her sleep, sleeps with her eyes half open (apparently I used to do this too), and will sleep on her knees with her bum in the air! Lily will sleep on her tummy with her head face down on the mattress. She's funny because she'll be fast asleep and then lift her head up like she's looking around, and then slam her head face down back to the mattress. She does this about three times before she's settled. We love going in to check on them every night. There's nothing like watching babies sleep. We could watch them all night!

 

 

Six month appointment

We took the girls to their six month well visit today! Violet weighs 10 lbs. 8 oz. and Lily weighs 10 lbs. 14 oz. They're getting taller too! Violet is 24 1/2 inches and Lily is 24 inches! They've gained weight since their last appointment, but apparently not enough. Their weight curves have leveled out a bit. So Dr. Cox said I need to supplement with formula or take some medicine to increase my milk supply. We decided to go with the meds because I worry my supply would drop even more if we gave them formula. She gave me a Rx for Domperidone which works better then Reglan, but isn't covered by insurance. One month supply is $90!!! At first I felt alright with the news that I'm not producing enough, but then I started to feel really guilty. Have they been hungry for two months? Was I taking them off too soon? No wonder I'd only get half of what I needed when I pumped at work. Luckily I had a stock in the freezer. Ryan talked to me and made me feel a lot better. I'm so glad I've been able to breast feed at all! It doesn't work out for some moms. We haven't had to buy formula either, so I really can't complain! The rest of their visit went well. They got their shots and cried just a little. They LOVE Sita and Dr. Cox. They smile, smile, smile for them. We talked a little bit about baby-proofing (ah!) and starting solids. Dr. Cox said to give them avocado every day because it has those healthy fats and should also help them gain weight. We've already had success with avocado and bananas so that should be fun!

Movies

I always make a summer to-do list, and this year is no exception, although my to-do's aren't as big of projects as they've been in the past! Our movies are in alphabetical order, but they've gotten a little mixed up lately and pretty dusty. "Dust and organize movies" was on my list! As I'm going along, I'm thinking, "Wow, we have a lot of great movies! We always end up watching the same ones." I had a brilliant idea to start at the beginning and watch from A to Z. We won't be going crazy watching a movie every night, but now and again if we feel like relaxing on the couch and don't know what to watch, it will be an easy choice! I'm thinking we can sort through them too. If there's a particularly boing one, out it goes! We'll have to go out of order sometimes though...holiday movies especially. Plus the 20th anniversary of The Sandlot is coming up! We hope we can get tickets for July 20th! We'll definitely watch that one soon. So far we've watched 12 Monkeys (#s at the beginning or put that one in the T's?) and Akeelah and the Bee. Next is Almost Famous! Love that movie!

Celebrating the Fourth

The last few days have been busy, busy! On Wednesday, the girls turned 6 months old! I took them to the zoo with my dad, Andrea and Addy, and Demi and Danny. Unfortunately, Ryan and Matt had to work. I haven't been to the zoo in a few years. It's nice to see all the changes they've made to the different animal habitats. The girls were really good! I think they like the different sights, sounds, and smells even though they don't really get what's going on yet. They fell asleep in the stroller after a while. It started to get pretty hot, so we left and went to lunch at Ruth's Diner. The girls were so tired later that afternoon that they napped for almost three hours! That's really long for them.

 

Thursday was the Fourth of July! In the morning, we went up to Park City to escape the heat. The girls love being outside and in their stroller. I have noticed we get a lot more attention when we're in the double-wide than the Snap-n-Go. In the Gap, three Asian girls stopped us and were totally freaking out over the girls! One asked Ryan if she could take a picture and he said she could stand behind the stroller for a picture. They kept telling me how lucky I am (I totally agree) and how cute they are. We also ran into a mom who was shopping with her twins, who are about 20. She said it gets better and better. The girls said they love being twins and are best friends. I love hearing nice things like that! Once in a while people say, "Oh, I'm sorry," when they see we have twins. Ugh! That really gets to me! Anyway, while in Park City, we had a yummy lunch that we ate outside on a picnic table. I fed Lily outside and Violet in the car (we parked in a nice shady, breezy spot). Later we went to my mom’s house for a barbeque. Yummy food and time with family; just what you need on the fourth! The girls were soooo tired! We put them down for a nap before we went to my mom’s, but they didn’t sleep. When we got home, I fed them and then we gave them a bath. We put on the ocean sounds and they went right to sleep! They even slept right through the super loud fireworks the people in the neighborhood set off! In a few years, we’ll be out doing our own! I hope the time doesn’t go too fast!!!

Ryan had to work a half a day on Friday. In the morning, the girls and I went on a nice long walk on the parkway with Sarah, Rob, and the girls. In the afternoon, we were out and about, running errands, when it was getting time to feed the girls. I suggested we go to Sugar House Park and find a shady spot, and then I could feed the girls one at a time. Luckily, I had our picnic blanket in my car. After I fed Lily, Ryan took her to get some dinner from Chipotle. I fed Violet while they were gone. It had been so hot lately and was kind of hot even there in the shade, but a storm was blowing in and it cooled right down for us! The breeze was perfect! While we ate, the girls were all smiles and talking and laughing! We were all so comfortable with that nice breeze! When we were ready to go, we got everything and everyone back in the car, and as soon as we started to pull out of the parking spot, it started raining! Talk about perfect timing! It was so much fun. We need to do more spontaneous stuff! After that, we stopped by Demi’s and Danny’s house for a minute. My dad was there too. It was a lovely evening all around!

Six months

I've been a mom for six months! My girls have grown so much since birth! They're huge to me, but they're still in 3 month clothing so I know they're small for their age! Violet is rolling, has a tooth coming in, and "talks" quite a bit. She's getting close to crawling too. She's got her back end going and snakes around with her head. Lily is a rolling machine! She rolls all over the place! She "talks" up a storm, reaches for your face, and is getting close to sitting on her own. Both girls' smiles will melt your heart!

It's fun to see how aware they are of each other. They reach for one another and smile wide when they see each other. They always look for each other's hands when I'm nursing them. It's so precious to look down and see them holding hands! (Not so great when they've gone for their sister's hair instead!) Ryan and I check on them every night before bed. They are often snuggled up together!

I didn't know that I would love being a mom so much! Violet and Lily have changed my life for the better. I can't imagine my life any other way now! Having two babies at once is definitely the way to do it!!