Big Adventures

I survived my first week alone all day with Bennett & Kendyll (or should I say they survived their first week alone with me!). All in all it wasn't too bad and I think we are pretty much on a good schedule. It was also a good weekend for all of us -- this was the first weekend that our family of four was alone all weekend. And no offense to all of our VERY helpful and supportive families -- it was actually quite nice to be alone just the four of us. We had a little social time on Friday -- Bennett met his future girlfriend and Kendyll met her future best friend, Avery Hoge. The adults had a fun time with pizza, beer and basketball and it was a pretty good Friday night. Saturday we ventured "out" with the twins -- we attended the annual April Fools Free Pancake Breakfast at the plaza by our house (and met a very nice fellow mom of twins -- she gave us hope for the future as her boys are now 3 1/2). We then ran a few errands with B & K and found that although it is a bit of a hassle to get them ready to leave, it is actually pretty easy to shop with them because all they really do is sleep. We also had two very good nights of sleep -- B & K cooperated and slept solid between their nighttime feedings (I can't say the same for last night, but I'm not going to complain . . . the two good nights were golden!).

I actually ventured out with the twins alone today -- quite a big adventure. It took me an hour to leave the house, but we made it to Babies R Us and Target and then back home without any major meltdowns. Having a list and being prepared at each store helped! Because it is still flu & RSV season, we pretty much keep the kids bundled up in their carseats when we go out so that well meaning gawkers don't get too close. It is funny how much attention B & K attract when we go out.

We are preparing for a busy two weeks as Tim is traveling to Georgia this week (Tues - Friday) and then will be in Chicago all next week for a class (Sunday - Friday). Thankfully the grandpas are coming to town for a conference this week, so I'll have a little help in the evenings. We're excited for our new nanny Becca to start next week (my last week at home!) and I'm sure I'll be VERY excited to see her each morning after my nights on my own! :-)

I've finally updated a few pictures -- enjoy! I'll try to write more later this week.

Mom is SO boring during the day . . . (p.s. -- they technically aren't supposed to sleep in these boppy pillows, so there I go winning the mom of the year award again!). :- )


Bennett & Kendyll getting ready to meet their new friend, Avery:



Exhausted after a busy Friday night (chilling with Daddy on the couch):


All bundled up (and worn out) after a day shopping with Mommy:



Picture from today . . . they both seem to be saying "who the heck are you and what are you doing in MY space?"

Sleep Deprivation . . .

Every time I think we have Bennett & Kendyll "trained" to sleep between their feedings at night, they end up becoming party night-owls and we get no sleep. Those people who say "sleep when your baby sleeps" must never have had twins . . . although they are napping together right now, I know the moment I lay my head on the couch to catch a few zzzs one of them will wake up. Figures! And at night we have had a few good nights where they both go right to sleep after their feedings and pretty much stay asleep until their next feeding 4 hours later, but those nights seem rare. Kendyll is still having some stomach issues (especially at night) and Bennett seems to enjoy sleeping all day (even though we try VERY hard to keep him awake). So normally one will be wide awake between the 11p & 3a feedings and the other one likes to be awake between 3a & 7a. ARG!! I know this will get better at some point, but I figured I'd just share why there haven't been very many new pictures, etc. this week. We're just trying to adjust to our new schedule, life, etc.

Us as parents . . .

I am on Day Three of being on my own during the day (well, technically I wasn't alone yesterday -- Tim worked from home -- but he was in another area of the house all day working while I took care of the kids, so I'm still going to count it). All Grandparents and Daddy are back to the day-to-day of their work lives and I'm here as a stay-at-home mom for three weeks. The 2nd most popular question / statement when I was pregnant was "you're going to stay at home with the twins, right?!?". And my response was always a very polite "H-E-DOUBLE-HOCKEY-STICKS no! I will be a better mom because I work". Um yeah, I'm sticking by that statement (job security for our nanny, Becca, if you are reading this). I love my kids, don't get me wrong, and I'm sure this will be a LOT more fun when they are older and do more than eat/sleep/poop, but I'm just not cut out to be stay-at-home mom material. So to all of those peeps who thought I would change my mind once B & K arrived -- ha! I win and was right! :-)


Those of you who have known us for a while know that Tim & I are not "kids people". We are not really a fan of babies or other kids and we hoped that we would at least come to like our own children (which is the case, thank goodness). If I hear one of our parents say one more time that they thought we would NEVER have children I may actually develop a complex about it (just kidding). Seriously, we were not planning this and certainly did not expect the twins part (even though they run in my family), so we are slowly coming to terms with the idea of being parents and having these two as our responsibly for life (I know, most people deal with this WAY before they become parents -- or at least while they are pregnant!). I don't want to sound ungrateful for our blessings -- I know that there are many people out there who would give their right pinkie to be up all night with a screaming baby (let alone TWO) and we are very thankful for our two healthy and for the most part easy babies. It just wasn't our plan and so we're still working through that. With that said, to those of you who have asked if we had any "magical" AHHHH moments with the kids, my answer to that is no. They do make us laugh and it still feels like we are watching someone else's kids for a while, but we're sure it will all click with us some day. :-)


We are not your typical parents and are already probably scarring our children for life. For example, our new bedtime routine involves listening to Alternative Rock station 106.7 while we feed the babies their 11 pm bottle in their room. Last night they were rocked to sleep by the Killers song "Somebody Told Me". Today we are jamming to DMX and Snoop Dogg on the rap music channel on TV. And yes, we took up the Grandparent's offer to babysit the first weekend both B & K were home and we went shopping both Saturday AND Sunday all day. And yes, we went to a Riverboat Casino last weekend to gamble while our 5 week old twins spent the night in the care of Nana & Papa. We're already planning a trip to Chicago this summer without them (heads up IL folks!) and we will probably take a trip in October for our anniversary without them. We are not the kind of people who go two years without taking a trip (or even a night) to ourselves. No offense to those of you who are that way -- I admire you, for sure! -- but we are trying to keep some shred of our old lives while we incorporate our little blessings into our new lives. Our family vacations will probably consist of trips to St. Martin and all-inclusive hotels in Mexico (I'm sure we'll fit Disney in there at some point, too) -- I guess what I'm trying to say is that I wasn't your typical gushy pregnant lady and we aren't your typical parents.


Ok, sorry for the ramble. It occurred to me last night while I was up with both babies in the middle of the night that I had mentioned a while back I would discuss how unqualified we are to be parents (and how we're winging it, not your typical parents, etc.). I need to run because Kendyll is stirring and when the girl wants her food she WANTS her food NOW (I swear I'm going to try to catch this on video some day . . . she literally YELLS at you until you feed her). Here is a picture of what our lives are now . . . hanging on the couch in our boppies with my co-babysitter Tabasco (that's another thing . . . our kids are covered in dog hair and Tabasco loves to give them kisses . . . we can't help it!). B & K are also into checking out the swing - Bennett likes it more than Kendyll . . . but they are just now big enough per the weight requirement to hang out it them so hopefully they both start to enjoy it soon.

Happy Easter!!

Bennett & Kendyll hope that everyone had a nice Easter! We celebrated with Grandma Angie, Grandpa Mike, Nana Debbie and Papa Sam. Enjoy the pictures!

Growing Up!

Just a quick update . . . we took B & K in to the pediatrician for a weight check this afternoon. Bennett is weighing in at 5 lbs 13.5 oz and Kendyll is at 6 lbs 5 oz (she LOVES to eat!). Both are growing according to where they should be and we can expect them to add a half ounce to an ounce a day.

Mommy & Daddy are actually going out of town tomorrow night and leaving the kids with Nana Debbie and Papa Sam. We're looking forward to a good night's sleep -- woo-hoo!!

Nana Debbie picked up some new headgear for the kids today. Kendyll isn't too sure about hers . . . I told her she only has to wear it when Nana comes to town. :-) Enjoy the pictures!

Five weeks old

Today is Bennett & Kendyll's five week birthday. My how time flies! I can remember thinking how awesome it was going to be to have help with the twins the first few weeks they are home and now my time has almost run out!! First of all, I have to give a major shout-out to our families again! Everyone has been so great and helpful . . . both sets of grandparents were here last weekend and Tim & I were able to get out and about to shop and do our normal weekend routine. My mom was here all last week and worked the "night shift" with us; this week it is Tim's mom's turn. We're actually trying to change up the routine a little bit. It occurred to me late last week that once my help is gone I'm going to be the one feeding them all day long -- and it will probably be a little difficult to feed them both at once (let me throw in here that I will really only be "alone" for two weeks . . . I am going back to work full-time on 4/14 and our new nanny, Becca, will be starting the week before. I can't wait!). So we're trying to get them on a bit of scattered schedule. We've also increased their feeding amounts and have been able to stretch their feedings from every three hours to every four. This has allowed us to get a little more sleep at night, too -- I've actually slept six hours each night for the past two nights (although not consecutive hours, I'll take them!). Woo-hoo! Both babies seem to still have their days / nights mixed up a bit (and are still getting used to quiet and darkness at night -- one of the drawbacks to the NICU is that they are used to light and noise at all times). We'll see if we can make tonight a third good night in a row (I probably just jinxed myself there).

Nana Debbie and I are going to venture out tomorrow with both babies at the same time for the first time since they came home. Since they are preemies (and technically not supposed to be born yet) we are not allowed to take them out or have very many visitors for at least another month -- until after flu & RSV season is over. So we're taking them to the pediatrician office tomorrow for a weight check, which will be very exciting I'm sure. We think we've found the source of Bennett's lack of eating -- a slight case of reflux. His doctor recommended adding in Maalox to his bottles (he must have inherited the horrible heartburn I had during my pregnancy!) and since we've spiked his bottles he has been eating much better. He still isn't the best at burping and he still LOVES his sleep, but at least we're on our way to getting him to be the same size as his sister. I'll be sure to post their weight updates tomorrow.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

When I was pregnant people would obviously ask me all of the time about my due date. Because we were expecting twins -- and assumed they would come early -- I would always say "sometime in mid-March . . . momma wants a beer on St. Patrick's Day, so hopefully by then". :-) St. Patrick's Day is one of our FAVORITE holidays (I guess because it involves one of our favorite things -- social drinking. We have issues, we know!). Two years ago, when Tim & I were living it up large in Chicago, we planned in advanced and persuaded a group of our friends to take the day off of work (it was a Friday) to go into the city to celebrate in style. We started in the morning and bar hopped all day. We boarded Tabasco at the Doggie Bed & Breakfast and stayed all night in the city (thanks to our good friends Kevin & Sandy!!) -- we had a blast and it was one of the best St. Patrick's Days ever!


What a difference two years makes! We now live back in Ohio and have two little babies -- who would have thought that!?!? Although our plans today do not involve multiple Irish Car Bombs or non-stop Guinness beer drinking, we are still celebrating in style with Bennett & Kendyll. Much like all of their Notre Dame gear, we have decked them out in head-to-toe St. Patrick's Day attire -- just in case you weren't aware that this is their first one! Big thanks to Nana & Papa for the outfits and to Aunt Cindy, Uncle Eddie, Rachel & the boys for the bibs (they are adorable!!). :-)

Maybe we'll spike their formula with green food coloring (and I WILL have at least have one beer today!) . . .