Halloween

I didn't think I'd be able to enjoy Halloween at all this year with the twins being so new. But thanks to the good weather, we just took them along with us trick or treating.

 

Mckinley and a few of her cousins.

 

Cutest Snow White ever.

 

Mckinley, Kallie, and Tyler, ready to go out and get some candy.

 

Counting and lining up her candy as soon as she got home.

 

Look at Kallie sprawled out over Kristen's cute pregnant belly. Love this picture! 

 

I'm going to try to remember to take a picture of the twins with the same stuffed animals every month so we can watch them grow.

Cute pumpkin heads.

 

 

Kristen made these adorable hats.

 

Kallie saying hi. :)

 

Can't believe she fell asleep like this in the swing.

 

Kristen's awesome Halloween costume.

 

Kallie is so alert these days.

 

Trying to break out of her swaddle and her pajamas.

 

The twins are getting bigger! Gaining a lot of weight. Kallie is 7 lbs now and Tyler is 6 lbs 10 oz. The doctor was very happy with their weight gain so we don't have to take them in for weight checks anymore. We are still trying to figure out how to feed them though. They are not getting enough from nursing so we have to supplement after and it is killing me. I am an emotional basket case and am seriously considering giving up nursing. This is so hard!! But they are so cute and so fun to hold. I rarely have time to hold them though. I wish I could just sit and snuggle with them all day long.

Pictures

These are kind of in backwards order, but who cares.

 

I decided in honor of the first snowfall today, I would dress the babies up in cute jackets even though we have no intentions of leaving the house. :) Aren't they cute?

 

 

Love their hands.

 

And feet. 

 

I also wanted to take some pictures in the cute tutu Shellee made for Kallie. 

 

Tyler is smaller than her, not that much smaller, but it doesn't help when he curls up in a ball for the picture.

 

 

Mckinley is such a joy. Seriously love everything about this girl.

 

She has decided she is obsessed with her stuffed giraffe and elephant ("efelant"). She does everything with them. I love it! She put them in the bouncer chairs and tried to strap them in.

 

Here they are eating lunch with her.

 

She doesn't like to go to sleep without them anymore and always has to find her "aminals" before she goes to bed.



 

Doesn't this picture just scream "homeless?" We went to Macey's the other night to get ice cream cones with Brandon's parents. They wanted to bring Mckinley with them in their car. Ross asked me where her coat was and I said I forgot to bring a jacket for her. So Karen said "we might have something for her." Well Brandon and I got the twins in their car seats and didn't see Mckinley leave with Ross and Karen. We show up at Macey's and I saw them and they were with Ryan and Jessica's kids and I am looking around thinking um, where is Mckinley? She better not be lost. Then this little homeless kid turns around and I see that the child is mine! Ha ha ha, we laughed so hard at her in this little sweater. Seriously, I laugh out loud EVERY time I see the pictures of her in it.

 

First baths. Tyler. He was so mellow and just sat there.

 

Kallie. She screamed most of the time. Pretty typical of their personalities.

 

Mckinley kisses the babies all day long. She is so sweet to them.

 

 See the toilet paper? Mckinley thinks it's fun to pull it off and then she tries to roll it back on. This time she couldn't quite get it all back on.

 

Brandon and his babies.

 

Things have been pretty up and down. At the last weigh in, the twins had both gained weight, but not as much as the doctor wanted to see. So we are supposed to keep supplementing them after they nurse and go in for ANOTHER weight check. I am so done with this. I feel like I feed them all day long. I knew twins would be like that, but I have to nurse them, burp them, then give them bottles, pump if I have time, burp them again, clean the bottles and the pump parts. Taking care of Mckinley in between. And by then it's about time to feed them again. Can't wait till they can get everything they need from nursing!!!

 

They are also pretty darn fussy at night which is making for one tired set of parents. Good thing we have Mckinley around to remind us how awesome thing will be in the future.

3 Weeks Old

Oh my gosh, the twins are three weeks old today. That is so weird. It's weird that they are still under their birth weights. When Mckinley was three weeks old I took her over to my friend Cyleste's to see her new baby and Mckinley looked like a giant compared to her. It's weird to think that these babies are still smaller than when they were born. Well, Tyler might be back up to his birth weight by now but I doubt Kallie is. We'll find out on Monday at their next weigh in.

 

My mom has been over helping me and allowing me to take naps. It's been so awesome!!

 

I guess I haven't outgrown my love for dolls, I decided to play dress ups with my baies. Aren't they cute?

 

Mckinley and Dad. These two have done some major bonding lately. Not that they needed it. But Brandon has tried extra hard to give Mckinley lots of attention and she is loving it! They are so cute together.

 

My sister Kristen made these cute pumpkin hats for the babies for Halloween. Love them!

 

 

Mckinley's cousin Brynlee turned 4 today. Brynlee is pretty much Mckinley's favorite person in the world. She wanted to call her today and sing Happy Birthday to her. Then after the song she said, It's your birthday Brynlee! You're 4!! So cute. The other night in Walmart Mckinley randomly started singing Happy Birthday so I sang along with her and said Happy Birthday dear Mckinley... She cut me off and said no! It's not my birthday. It's Brynlee's!

 

Oh, how I love these babies.

 

My baby blues are gone. Yay! Yesterday I woke up and they had magically disappeared. Gotta love that. A whole week of crying was enough for me. I'm so glad it's over. And I bet Brandon is too. The twins still seem hungry sometimes right after I nurse them which is frustrating but I think we're making progress and I know before long we will be in a good routine and life will be awesome. It's pretty darn good right now. I still can't believe they are three weeks old.

Newborn Photo Shoot

Thanks to my sweet friend Karla Southern for taking these beautiful pictures of my babies. I love all of them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We took the babies in yesterday for a weight check. Kallie gained 5 oz and Tyler gained 4 oz. That was in 4 days. Yay! So supplementing some of their feedings worked, even though it is killing me off. We've had a few bad nights in a row and I am a basket case. I know things are going to get better, they just have to. I hope it happens sooner rather than later.

Baby Blues

I feel like I am having de ja vu from when Mckinley was born. We had a super easy first week, and then things got a little difficult. The same thing is happening now. Things were awesome in the beginning, and now I am on day 5 of having the baby blues. Wearing mascara is mostly pointless. So it all started last Wednesday when I upgraded my phone to IOS 6 (dumbest move ever....don't do it!) and lost all the contacts in my phone. That got me crying for hours and hours. Couldn't stop. I knew that part of why I was crying was just the hormones, but either way, I couldn't stop.

Then Thursday we took the twins in for their 2 week check up. Babies are supposed to be back up to their birth weight by 2 weeks. Well, both of our babies had lost weight instead of gained any. Which is of course concerning. So the doctor wants me to supplement them after their feedings, either with breast milk or formula. And then pump a little to increase my supply. I think I produce enough, but they fall asleep and stop eating before they are full. So anyway, ever since Thursday I have been bursting into tears at random times, sometimes for good reasons, sometimes for no reasons at all. But seriously, worrying about them getting enough food is so stressful and is kind of killing me.

Breastfeeding is not going well anymore. They're not latching very well so I have to use a shield, and even then, it is hurting pretty bad. I am so tempted to quit!!! But I pushed through with Mckinley and it was so worth it so I am praying (literally) for the strength to push through.

Kallie and Tyler themselves are awesome. They are super content babies and don't cry very much. They sleep pretty well at night. They start out a little fussy but then definitely give us some good hours of sleep. So there isn't too much to complain about. One good thing too is that since they're not gaining any weight, they also don't poop. I have only changed a handful of poopy diapers and they are two weeks old. Even though it's definitely not a good sign, I'm enjoying that part of it while it lasts.

Mckinley is totally awesome and so sweet with the babies. She is very good and patient and totally matured since they came home. She is so much more obedient, goes down so well for naps and bedtime, and is just a joy to have around. She asks multiple times a day to go to her cousin Brynlee's house, and I do feel bad that she is so home bound, so I'm going to try go get her out playing with other kids more, but we are so lucky that she has been so easy with this new adjustment.

A few things I want to remember because I don't have a journal for the twins yet. Their umbilical cords fell off at four days. Tyler has only peed once during a diaper change and he shot it straight into his own mouth (I felt so bad about it, but oh his expression was funny). They both rolled over from stomach to back at just 2 weeks old.

Sorry for the lack of pictures, I haven't made time to upload them to the computer yet.

Post #300

We sure have come a long way in 300 posts. I never would have guessed when I started this blog that post #300 would find me with the most adorable and fun little toddler ever, and two precious twin babies. I feel so blessed!

Mckinley cleaning the fingerprints off a DVD before she put it in the player. It's crazy how much she mimics what I do.

Mckinley giving Kallie kisses.

Gotta keep things even. Kisses for Tyler too.

We told Mckinley to fold her arms during the prayer while we were watching General Conference. She set the phone down and folded her arms, but leaned over to still watch her movie during the prayer. Ha ha ha.

We had so much fun snuggling our sleeping babies while watching General Conference this last weekend.

Babies finally got their first sponge bath. This is Tyler.

Kallie getting bathed.

 Since we didn't get a shot of them on the scale when they were born, I took pictures during their first check up at 5 days old. Tyler. 5 lbs 6 oz 

Kallie. 6 lbs even.

Brandon has done an amazing job of making sure Mckinley still gets the attention she needs. This guy seriously wins the  Dad of the century award.

These poor babies had to spend a lot of time in the sun until their jaundice levels went down. We are glad they didn't have to lay on the light tables though.

Our first little family walk down the street to the mailbox. Oh my heavens we have three kids.

Check out these adorable blankets my sister-in-law Tara sent to us. Mckinley immediately put the pink one on Kallie and the blue one on Tyler.

Just a cute shot of Kallie. It's so fun to put her in all of Mckinley's cute outfits.

Wow, I am a mother of twins. The first 11 days have gone so well. We have two very good babies (so far). Of course they have fussy times (usually at night) but overall I know we have it very easy and I am so grateful. I have been able to nurse both of them. They are pretty good eaters. They do seem to sleep peacefully all day and then at night they lay in the pack n play awake or fussing a little. But two nights ago they had two 5.5 hour stretches in between feedings and last night they went 7 hours, and then 5 after that. I consider myself to be very lucky!!!