6 Months ♥

I genuinely cannot believe my boys are already 6 months old. I do not know where the time went!!! It feels like yesterday I was laying in bed praying for these boys to hold out until May.

Drake weighs 16 lbs 15 oz and 24.75 inches long

Hunter weighs 15 lbs 12 oz and is 24.25 inches long

These have been the best 6 months of my life. Drake and Hunter have brought a new chapter into our lives, and it is amazing. I look at Brandon in a whole new light. He is such an involved daddy. He is there for every diaper change, feed, lotion, and laying down to go to sleep. I have always known he would be great because of seeing him with my nieces and nephew, but seeing it with our own children brings tears to my eyes. Our relationship has grown so much in the past year. I completely fell in love with my husband again while on bedrest. He sat with me in that hospital every night. He made me laugh when I wanted to cry, he wiped my tears when I was scared, and he kept me sane. Watching him while our boys were in the NICU was beautiful. He jumped right in, and was not scared of our preemie boys! They were little, and he handled them with ease. Brandon is the type of dad I always wanted my children to have, and they are so blessed to have him.

Drake and Hunter are still in size 2 Pampers

We are in 3 months, 3 to 6 months, and 6 months outfits. Yes, we are in all three! lol. There are only some 3 months that still fit Drake. We did have to put away all the 3 month pajamas already. The 3 months will be put away in the next week.

They had their 6 month shots on Friday, so I stayed home to take them! :) It was so nice to spend the day with my boys.

They did great at their shots. They met every milestone a 6 month old should, except rolling over back to belly. They will lay on their side all day, but will not make the final kick over. Dr. Amy said it comes when they play with their feet, and that just started this week! She said Drake is going through a growth spurt right now.

So, I was very pleased with everything since they are actually 5 months old according to due date! Hunter cried after the 3 shots, but got over it pretty quickly. Drake was NOT happy at all. He could not even get a cry out, it was silent. Then, he cried for probably 8 minutes. Totally broke my heart.

The boys ran their first fever this weekend because of their Flu shot. Hunter woke up Saturday with a 100.2 fever, Drake with a 99.3. They had Advil all day, and were only a little fussy.

They have had cereal with fruit for breakfast this month.

They sat in the high chairs for the first time.

Drake learned to bounce in his bouncer!!

They both roll over belly to back often!

Hunter is IN LOVE with his tongue. It is constantly out of his mouth. Keeps us entertained.

They both started making the "click" noise with their mouths.

They are talking so much, well more like screaming ;)

Still love their swings!

They started to hold their bottle this month. They do not love to, and do not do it consistently.

The giggles have really come out this month, and melt mommy and daddy's hearts.

They love to rub the burp cloth on their face or just move it around with their hand while they eat.

They play on the floor and in their jumpers all day long.

They eat cereal and have a bottle in the morning. They drink a bottle for lunch. They have a bottle and eat cereal around 5. They drink a bottle with cereal at 8 and go to bed.

So, 4 bottles a day, spoon feeding cereal twice, cereal in the bottle for 1 bottle.

They are in bed at 8 PM, and up any time after 7 AM.

They typically take a morning nap and an afternoon nap.

I scratched Drake with my nail this week. He got quite a scab on his leg, and I felt horrible. He seems to be the baby that if something is going to happen, it happens to him. Poor baby!

They rode in their stroller without the carseats for the first time to watch Madison, Libby, and Grace perform at their TIFI game.

Their hair went through a growth spurt and got much longer. Stands straight up ... like mine did as a baby!

They like to sit on your lap facing out, so they can see what is happening.

When they are tired, or falling asleep they grunt and make noises. It is precious.

They love to play with their toys, especially noisy ones. They seemed to have really figured out their hands, and love to look at them. Actually, they will look at anyone's hands and be entertained :)

We have layed them in the bath tub with a little water in it for bath time instead of using their baby bath tubs. It is precious to watch them kick and play in the water.

I love my weekends with them. I get to be here when they wake up, and rock them to sleep during nap time. The weekend goes way too fast. I love every minute of it.

They saw two sets of their twin friends this month. They saw the Armstrong boys that are 5 months younger, and the Busey girls that are 1 month older. I love getting time with other twin parents!

I also met a new twin mom! :) She works with a friend I graduated from SHSU with, and is expecting Fraternal twin girls! She is a fellow teacher, and we seem to have A LOT in common. She was recently put on bedrest, and we talk often. Her dr. was the on-call dr. that delivered my boys, and we have the same high risk specialist! It brings back memories of my pregnancy and the rollercoaster I went through. I am praying for her family daily because I know how hard it can be! Her girls are being troopers and hanging in there!! :)


Half a year. Wow. These boys are perfect.

Our Journey ...

October 6th... This day will always be special in my heart. It was my first ultrasound, and the day my life changed FOREVER. I would have never imagined the news I would receive that day.

I can remember the exact room at the Dr.'s office I was in. I can remember the entire conversation, word for word. I was terrified, shocked, excited, and so many more emotions. Twins are high risk. I knew that. Twins are EXPENSIVE. I knew that. I was scared, and for good reason! Brandon was so calm, it was amazing. Gosh, I really can remember looking at the screen and at the ceiling of the room in shock!

I think people were worried about me the first week because I was completely out of it! I planned to have A baby! We could afford A baby! We were ready for A baby! What if we weren't ready for two ?!?! It took time to sink in. The specialist made it very clear this was not going to be easy. I could come to an ultrasound and only have one baby. So, every two weeks I went in not knowing if the second baby would still be there. That is HARD! After the first trimester, the odds of losing only one baby go down drastically! Then I had to worry how far we were going to make it into this pregnancy! Fluid levels, shortening cervix, baby weights, etc.

I am a planner. I planned exactly how long it would take me to get my teaching degree at SHSU. I planned on getting married right out of college. I planned on teaching in LPISD, my alma mater. I planned on buying a house. I planned on having a baby after a year of marriage. So, God decided to throw me a curve ball. He made me realize you CANNOT plan everything. Life happens. Thank Goodness :)

In the ultrasound, we were measuring the right baby, which turned out to be Drake. The left baby popped in the screen after a couple minutes. That is our Hunter. I cannot imagine having one baby. My life has been changed forever. I still lay awake at night shocked by my life. I have two of EVERYTHING. When people walk in to my home, they laugh. You think of course she has two of everything, but seeing it is completely different.

They are great babies. I am surprised how easy it has been with two babies. I anticipated needing tons of help, and the truth is... I really don't. I am able to do it, and I really did not think I would be able to! Don't get me wrong, the help is AMAZING! Our families have been wonderful through all of this! I just thought I would probably need them to move in to the guest bedroom... haha ;)

 I know once they start walking I will be singing a different tune! Two toddlers running in different directions is going to be ... interesting! :)


I am so in love with my life. Amazing husband, and two beautiful babies!

5 Months ♥

This month has gone by quickly! I cannot believe the boys are already 5 months?!?! Where has the time gone?

Drake ~ 16 lbs 3 oz
Hunter ~ 15 lbs 2 oz

Going back to work has been a major transition. Being gone 9 to 10 hours a day is incredibly difficult. They typically take an hour afternoon nap when I get home. So, I see them for 3 to 4 hours, then it is bedtime. I have all the bottles prepared with water in them, and 2 travel formula cases for my mom to use each day. She still watches the boys at my house. It is such a blessing. I have taken them to her, Sandy, and Meme this month! WOW! It is tough getting out the door by 7 AM with 2 babies! Made me realize even more how lucky I am with my mom!

They are in size 3 months clothing.

Both boys wear size 2 Pampers.


We prefer Pampers diapers and Huggies wipes. I took back all the Diaper shower diapers and exchanged them for Pampers. The people at Wal Mart had to think I was crazy! It was an entire basket overflowing! $200 worth of diapers! We have yet to buy diapers or wipes for the boys! It has been so nice! Thank you to everyone who bought us diapers!
We had to move the straps in the carseat up because they needed to be above their shoulders.

We had to start strapping them into the swing! They were trying to escape ;)

They eat cereal with a spoon every morning. They eat Rice Cereal with Apples. I mix in Bananas to make it taste better! Hunter seems to do better than Drake.

Their hair has really grown and still stands straight up.

They still love their swings, and take their afternoon nap in them!

Hunter laughed for the first time! It was precious! The reason he laughed was hilarious! I said I was going to get Drake's baby acne, and Hunter thought it was funny!

Drake has small giggles, but has not had a laugh yet!

Drake can turn himself in the opposite direction you lay him. He scoots all the time now. He will move until he gets where he wants to be! He wraps the blanket around himself often.

They eat 6 to 8 ounces, only 4 to 5 bottles a day.

They both get loud, but Drake tends to be more expressive and louder. Too much mommy in him ;)

Drake likes to have the blanket up by his face when he goes to sleep. I think he will be like his Aunt Lacey and  rub a blanket on his face to fall asleep.

Hunter has liked to be rocked to sleep for naps lately. It is sweet and I love the time with him when I get home.

They like their jumperoo, but can barely touch the ground! I know the next month or two they will discover how fun it is!

They love to lay on the floor to talk and play. Hunter's favorite toy is a crinkly blue elephant! I have not noticed Drake favoring a certain one yet.

They love to be held facing out so they can see what is going on!

Bath time is becoming more difficult! Drake is such a wiggle worm he tries to scoot off the baby bath. He has kicked Hunter in the head a couple times!

They still sleep 10 to 12 hours at night. Bedtime is whichever feed falls between 8, 9, or 10! They wake up at different times in the morning, so their first feed of the day starts their schedule!

I was laying on the couch with both boys on my chest. They were interacting with each other and it was the most amazing thing I have ever seen in my entire life. They looked at each other and touched nose to nose! Hunter was giving kisses! It was one of the first times I saw Hunter very interested in Drake!

Hunter LOVES to give kisses! You get anywhere near his mouth, he is giving you a kiss :)

Hunter and Drake 

5 Months

Drake

5 Months

Hunter

5 Months

4 months has gone way too fast ...

I cannot believe they are already 4 months old! This has been such a huge month for the boys! I feel like they are much more aware that the other is there. You can just tell the way they interact and look at each other. It is so sweet, melts my heart!

Drake rolled over for the first time, belly to back!

Mommy went back to work! I cried the night before and that was it. I was worried I would miss all their firsts. After being with them for 16 weeks it was incredibly difficult to only start seeing them 4 to 5 hours a day! Of course, Drake rolled over the first time in the evening with me and daddy :)

Hunter started teething, and Drake was only a couple days later!

They got sick for the first time! Runny noses and cranky! I was sick first with a soar throat and runny nose! So, I am sure their throats hurt too! :(

They moved up to 6 to 8 ounces per feed!

They started sleeping COMPLETELY through the night! Typically 10 to 12 hours!

They started cereal in their morning bottle!

They started playing in their jumperoo and exersaucer!

Drake moved up to size 2 diapers!

Hunter had a reaction to something with a fragrance and got little bumps on his body! He could not have any lotion for a couple weeks. We are now using a sensitive lotion on him!

They had their 4 month shots! Drake puckered up watching Hunter cry while he got his shots. It was precious! I got teary-eyed at this round of shots. Drake was asleep before we were out of the office!

Nadi (my mom) started keeping them during the day while I teach! She is doing an amazing job! We are so blessed to have her for the boys this year! I do not know what I would do without her! I have happy babies and I do not have to load them up in the mornings and take them to a stranger! She picks up the house, and it makes my life so much easier! Thank you mom! We love you!

They only drink 5 bottles a day!

Hunter is IN LOVE with his tongue! It is constantly out of his mouth!

Hunter enjoys standing up, and gives lots of smiles when he is!

Drake has really found his voice! He gets so loud at times I cannot hear the T.V. :)

They still love their swings!

They love their activity mats!

They can FINALLY do tummy time!

They hold their heads up when on their belly!

Hunter has started straightening out his body when you try to sit him in his boppy! So, his but is in the air and he slides down!

They have both found their thumbs since they started teething! They don't typically suck on it, but will chew on it for a minute or two!

Drake always turns in his sleep with his feet towards me in his crib. So, we have had legs sticking out the slats of the crib!

Hunter always turns the opposite way, with his head towards me in his crib. He constantly ends up with his head against the slats and I scoot him over!

We are still in 3 months size clothing!

They LOVE their changing table! Anytime you lay them on it they are all smiles and ready to talk!

We have decided Hunter absolutely has this "sweet" quality about him. There is just something different about that baby boy! His smile, his demeanor, everything! Not that Drake is not sweet, there is just something about my Hunter Paul! Lots of his daddy in him! 

Drake is his mommy in so many ways! He is looking more and more like my baby pictures! He has my eyes, nose, and smile! He is so expressive like me! talk, talk talk, smile, smile, smile! He has a big smile like me! :)

Both boys wake up ALL SMILES, and it is the sweetest thing I have ever seen. Walking up to that crib to a smiling baby is the best feeling in the world.

Knowing all their little quirks makes me so happy! I know them better than anyone else in the world, and it makes me melt! I know when they need to bounce, how they want to be held, if they are tired, if they are in pain, etc. Being a mommy is the most amazing thing I have ever done!


Drake weighs 13 lbs 14 oz and 23.5 inches long!

Hunter weighs 12 lbs 15 oz and 23 inches long!

Raising Twins ...

I have found a couple things helpful to me and thought I would share! I wish someone had told me some of these things! You never think about some of these things until you see someone else do it.  This is what I have found during my pregnnancy and the first 3 months!

Join amazonmom on Amazon! You get 15% off diapers, wipes, lotions, diaper genie refills, formula, etc! Basically anything baby related!

If you choose to "subscribe" and have things delivered to your house on a schedule you save another 15% and free shipping! So, 30% off!! As often as you go through diapers and formula, this is amazing! It is NOT easy to get out and to the store!!

Bottles:

• Fill up your bottles with the desired amount of water.
• Fill up the travel formula containers with the amount of desired formula. We have 3 of the travel formula containers. Buy them with even numbers of spaces! I have one with 3 spaces, kind of pointless for twins! ;)
• This makes feedings much faster! You are drowsy in the middle of the night. Doing this leaves little room for error!
• Buy multiples gallons of water at a time! We buy anywhere from 3 to 6.
• Buy multiple containers of formula at a time! We would go through 4 regular sized formula cans in approximately a week!

I feed the boys at the same time. When they first came home, it would take an hour to change, feed, and burp. They eat every 3 hours. So, if I fed them seperately I would sleep at most an hour. Not happening! So, even though the saying is "Never wake a sleeping baby" This so does not apply to twins. If they are both sleeping! Absolutely let them sleep! BUT, when one wakes up and it is time to eat, you wake the other baby! After about 2 months, I stopped waking them together during the middle of the night feedings! So, some nights I was up at 3 AM & 4 AM. BUT, this lets you know when one baby starts sleeping through the night.

I would put the boys in the boppys, put a burp cloth under their chin, and use a blanket to prop up the bottle. I found a video of doing it with triplets! Always make sure you burp the babies! ;)





Diapers:

• Buy in bulk! We go through roughly 20 diapers a day.
• We have boys, and Huggies gave us major issues. They leak out the top everytime. I think they work better for girls that don't have anything pointing up ;) Pampers have never leaked for us!
• So, with the amazonmom subscription, we need approximately a box of Pampers every 4 days!
• Have a designated area to change the babies! Makes changes easier! Everything is right there! Wipes, diapers, cream, etc.

Formula:

There was no way we were going to use a name brand formula. We would have gone through 4 cans a week. We use the Target brand Up and Up. It is amazing! It has a comparison to The cans are dramatically larger and last a week with the boys. I buy 4 cans at a time and it is $80. This lasts us a month. If we were on name brand formula it would cost $100 a WEEK. I just want everyone to know don't beat yourself up if you do not use name brand. Not a big deal.

Zip-up pajamas work best! It is no fun snapping a wiggly baby in the middle of the night! I get mine at Target & Walmart! We have a couple Carter's, but most Carters are snaps!

The best socks for us to stay on their feet are the Faded Glory from Wal-Mart.

Walmart sells the exact same things as Target and Babies R Us, but for MUCH cheaper! Swings, diaper refills, tummy time mats, cribs, changers, etc. You can do site-to-store shipping for free! We were able to get Graco cribs that we adore from Wal-Mart for $100 cheaper than Babies R Us! We have the cribs, dresser, chest, and changing table! When you are having two babies and you walk into Babies R Us for furniture. The cost is ASTONISHING! That much for a nursery?!?! It is crazy! So, I researched other places! Burlington Coat Factory has an amazing baby department! Tons of furniture, gear, etc. Wal-Mart was the other place! They have much more online than in the store! With the free site-to-store shipping it is worth it!

Cribs: $139 each
Changing Table: $89
4 Drawer Chest Dresser: $249
Long Dresser: $271

This was all much more affordable compared to furniture at Babies R Us! We love the furniture!

Another important aspect of the nursery for me was personalizing it for my boys and not breaking the bank! I went to http://www.etsy.com/ and looked up "Nursery Wall Decals" WOW! They have so many different things! You can order names, quotes, trees, etc.

I also decided to do wooden letters above their cribs! I found a very reasonable person, and she does an amazing job! You pick the style letters you would like, tell her the theme of your nursery, and she goes from there! She has a shop on Facebook  here. It shows all of the work she has done! Girl names seem much more fun to do ;)

Before purchasing any gear, bedding, etc, I always enter the name of the item at http://www.google.com/ This brings up every store that carries that item. My bedding was $189 everywhere we looked. I found it at babysupermall.com for $129!

Join a community and talk to other people pregnant with twins! This helped so much. I loved this wesbite! I feel so close with the girls that were pregnant with twins at the same time! It has been a blessing! We still talk and keep up with each other!

Have your baby shower early! I was told before 28 weeks! I ended being put on bedrest at 27 weeks! Twin pregnancies are so unpredictable, so you want to have everything ready as early as possible.

These are the things I registered for that I could not live without!

2 boppys
2 sets of Boppy Covers
2 Fisher Price RocknPlay Sleepers
2 bumbos
2 high chairs
1 pack n play for any out of town trips especially
TummyTime mat
Activity Mat
2 swings
glider
6 bottles (could use more for sure!)
drying rack
lots of burp cloths (The thick Gerber ones not the thin ones!)
plenty of blankets (some plush to be able to prop bottles in boppy's)
diaper bag
2 carseats that go with a double stroller
double stroller (Only way I can leave the house!) I love my Graco Quattro Duo!
travel formula dispensers (2 or 3)
diapers
wipes
lotions
baby wash
bath tub ( I prefer this one! I like to bathe the twins at the same time. With this, you can fit two in the bath at the same time!)
8 baby towels
wash cloths
zip up pajamas
babybook
grooming kit

It is easy to forget which bottle goes with which baby. So, who left an ounce? Who left two? Someone bought my personalized inchbugs for their bottles! It has the name of the baby and you can order in different colors. So, Hunter has blue ones & Drake has green ones.

Here is a picture of one:

Routine:

Routine is key with infants. At 10 weeks we started to really stick to a routine. Bath time starts around 7:30. The boys take a bath, get lotion from head to toe, pajamas, night time bottle and we lay them down. They are groggy typically when we lay them down. Transitioning to this routine and sleeping in the crib at 10 weeks has helped us tremendously. This is when they started sleeping through the night. 

I am sure there are more things, but this is all I can think of right now!

I hope this helps someone even just a little to make life easier with the blessing of twins!

3 months ♥

The boys are 3 months old! I feel like the summer has flown by!

Drake weighs ~13 lb 6 oz
Hunter weighs ~12 lbs 3 oz

Drake 

Hunter 

They are eating 5 to 6 ounces. They eat every 3 hours during the day. We typically get anywhere from 4 to 6 hours at night. Almost always one 6 hour stretch.

We started cereal in their nighttime bottle.

They started sleeping in their cribs. They sleep like little men with their arms straight out in front of them! So sweet!

They like to talk in their cribs after a middle of the night feed.

They are wearing 0-3 and 3 months size outifts! We had to pack nearly all of their newborn outfits!

They smile and talk regularly.

They still absolutely love their swings & spend a couple hours a day in them.

They sit in their bumbos!

Their hair is definitely starting to grow!

They love bathtime! Of course, they pee every single bath ;)

They have had many playdates this month!

We are still in size 1 diapers.

They hate tummy time. They only do it for 5 minutes, then start to cry.

They are starting to look more & more alike! I took a picture of Hunter in his swing yesterday, and I took one of Drake a couple weeks ago. They look IDENTICAL in the pictures!

Here are the pictures...

Drake Brandon

Hunter Paul

2 months ♥

The boys had their 2 month pictures and doctors appointment.

Drake weighs 10 lbs 13 oz

Hunter weighs 10 lbs 3 oz

They were both on track for growth and doing well.

They got 2 shots each and had to drink one.

They did great! Cried for 10 seconds then went to sleep! That night around 6, Drake was in a lot of pain! So, I went and got medicine! He was fine after taking it.

Drake has formed a hemangioma on his shoulder blade and one on the back of his head. They are not as large as Hunter's.

They are going anywhere from 4 to 6 hours between feeds at night! Always 3 hours during the day!

They have attended two weddings! Lindsey and Kody on June 11th! Cirby and Ryan on July 3rd! Cirby bought them tuxedo onsies! I cannot wait to get the pictures from the photographers!

They started smiling at 9 weeks! We started sitting them in their bumbos! They like them, but still need a little more head control to stay in longer than 15 minutes.

They are wearing 0-3 months clothing!

Size 1 Pampers :)