Gotcha Day- A Year Later

Last year on June 25 we finally brought home our sweet Emma after 52 days in the NICU and Levi home after 53 days in the NICU.  I was nothing short of a mess walking our of the NICU carrying a tiny girl who barely weighed five pounds. She was just five short days out from her last apnea episode and I was beyond terrified of caring for this preemie girl.

I remember the ride home. I sat in the back with her while Clayton drove. The thirty minute drive felt like it took an hour. I was such a ball of nerves. I remember pulling up to our house where my sweet mom had decorated the front yard with a sign, balloons and new flowers in the garden. I'm still mad that I didn't take a picture but at the time I was so wrapped up in what was going on.

We had a pretty good day with Miss Emma. We were all running on adrenaline. The next morning we left Emma with mimi and went to get Levi! It was so surreal to be leaving a baby at home. 

We got to the hospital and our favorite nurse Jackie was Levi's nurse for the day. Such a huge blessing Miss Jackie is!  Her smile and laughter really helped us get through the NICU experience!

I really can't believe these babies have been home for a whole year.  So much has changed and more than anything I just feel happy that we survived! We did it.Sure there were bumps in the road and rough times but there were also really happy times and I have loved every minute of this past year! 

I feel like we can finally breathe a sigh of relief. I am so thankful to everyone who has helped us this past year. We couldn't have done it without you! 

So What Wednesday!

I'm linking up with Shannon for So What Wednesday!  If you are new here I hope you will stay awhile and enjoy! 

This week I am saying So What! to:

*if I ate three popsicles in like ten minutes. It's too hot outside

*if i still in my pajamas and it's 3 o'clock

*if i let my kids eat dinner in their diapers. I mean it is less to clean up!

*if I sleep late and miss Good Morning America my whole day is off

*if I love all ABC family shows. yes, I am 30 but who cares

*if I am stalling taking way the bottle

*if at any time I have like 46 things on my to do list
*if my child woke up at 5 am and I have had waaay too much coffee already



Alright friends! What are you saying So What! to this week?

For MOMs by MOMs- Answering Questions

Last week Megan, Heather, Jennifer and myself asked you to leave your questions or topic ideas for us. I am excited to answer and begin talking about the questions that you guys have. I just want to mention that I am in no way a parenting expert. I am just sharing my thoughts and experiences. Please take it for what it is worth. When you are done reading answer these questions on your own blog and then link up!  We would love to hear what you think too!  I hope you enjoy and I look forward to our future link ups and some exciting news in the MOM world!

1.Mary askes, "My twins are almost one year old and into everything. My main problem right now is biting! Any Advice on how to get babes this young not to bite."

We are having this same problem right now with Levi. Because he is still so young I know he doesn't fully understand the concept of no and I also know that he is not biting out of maliciousness. He is just exploring his new teeth. So what I do is tell him no firmly and redirect him away from whatever he is biting. Since we have been doing that it has gotten a lot better. My advice would be to stay consitent and try not to laugh when they do it! (because sometimes I have to hide my giggle)  good luck, stay consistent and let me know how it is going!

2.Brittany asks, "I'm 31 weeks with my twin boys.Did you have any ideas on the personalities of your twins, and if so were you correct? Mine seem so different already."

Yes!! Mine were completely different while in the womb and are comepletely different now. Levi is more headstrong but also the strong silent type. He can be quite shy and takes a while to warm up to people. While in my tummy he hardly moved, was always head down in the same spot!  Emma on the other hand is such a spitfire. When in my tummy she was always in a different position. She hated having her heartbeat checked and was always kicking. Now she is just as sassy.  Does what she wants and does not like to be told no. She is very smiley and doesn't mind new people!  I can't wait to hear how yours turn out!

3.Days of Serenity asks, " Did you sleep train? If so, when did you start?"

It depends on what you mean by sleep train! NO I did not let mine CIO. I am not a fan!  It is a personal decision and it just wasnt for me. But I do work on sleeping but keeping the same routine every day. When they were younger and were consistently waking up every night around 5 we slowly cut out that bottle giving them less and less at that feed!  I try to make their sleep enviroment very conducive to sleep. Their room is very dark with a LOUD sound machine and a fan. Every night we take a bath, read two books, have a bottle, and then go to bed.  Are mine perfect sleepers, no! But I'm content with where we are at this time.  Sorry if I didn't answer this question very well! Good luck and keep me posted!

4. Marianna asks," I'm having twins come November. I've been crazy researching strollers. Which ones do you guys have and what are so me of the pros and cons?"

Congrats on your twins! You are in for a fun adventure! I too researched strollers forever and what I found out was that you want to make it easy on yourself!  When my twins were young and still in infant carriers I had a double snap and go.  I liked it. It was not the easiest to maneouver but it was relatively light and did the job. As they got older and were able to sit up better on their own we decided to get a more everyday stroller. After much research we decided to get a baby jogger city mini double. I love it! I can't say it enough! It is really light and easy to fold!  I love that you can lay one baby down and don't have to lay both down.  The only con is that the basket is not very big or easily accesible. But overall we love this stroller!  Let me know which stroller you pick!

5. Holli asks, "Any tips on potty training? Were you able to train both twins at the same time?  My boys are 18 months and we hope to start around 2ish."

I wish I had some advice!  We are no where near potty training yet. But what I have heard is is it much easier if you wait until they are absolutley ready. Because mine are boy/girl I don't know that we will potty train at the same time! We will try our best but I know that they are different people who have different needs. Good luck and let me know how it goes!


6. Kathryn asks, "I have 6 month old twin girls and they are horrible nappers... any tips on getting them to take better/longer naps."

Mine too are not the best nappers. My advice is to try to have a routine everyday.  They should nap about two hourse after they wake up in the morning and again in the afternoon about three hourse after they wake up from their morning nap.  Be consistent!  Make their room as dark as possible and turn on a loud sound machine. I also about twenty mintues before their nap try to get them to do something quietly! Like read books or play puzzles so that they get calm before their nap.  I think it is also helpful to have them nap around the same time each day. That way their internal clock tells them that it is nap time! Good luck and I hope this helped! Let me know how it goes!


7. The Crunchy Twin Mom, asks "How do you balance treating your twins fairly with treating them as individuals with individual needs?"

Love this question. I have been thinking about this a lot lately!  It can be hard not to think of them as a pair but what you have to realize that fraternal twins are no more alike than regular siblings.  Just because they were born on the same day does not mean they are carbon copies of each other. This has come into play lately for us! Emma is ready to give up her morning nap! Levi is no where near ready. Even though it pains me to not have them napping at the same time I realize that they are different people with their own needs! 

I think as they get older we will defintley make it a priority to get one on one time with each baby.  I think it is also important to let them choose their own stuff! How do you balance this?


8. Blogfriend asks, "how did you name your twins and what were the runner ups?"

When we found out we were having twins we immediately picked out four names;. Two boy names and two girl names complete with middle names!  Our two girl names were Emma Gentry and Callie Jane.  Our two boy names were Levi William and Peyton Dale. We ultimately just felt like we were supposed to name them Levi and Emma. Its funny now because neither of our runner up names are names we would use in the future now! So funny how things can change!  Both of their first names are just names we like but both middle names are family names! I love family names as middle names!


*Ok friends! I can't wait to hear all of your answers to the 8 questions. Go write your blog post and link up!  Next week we will be talking about getting out and about with your twins!

*Please remember if you are linking up your post should be about the same topic as ours! Thank you!

Sunday Social- Week 3

Here we go again with another Sunday social! I am linking up with Neely and I hope you do too!  If you are new here, Welcome I hope you stay a while!

What is your all-time favorite song?

I have a few but I would say:

#41 By Dave Matthews Band

Somewhere Over The Rainbow (the ukulele version)

and

Colorblind by Counting Crows

are my top three!

What is your favorite singer/band?

Once again I have a few:

Dave Matthews Band

Goo Goo Dolls

Adele

Counting Crows

Lady Antebellum

What songs put you in a good mood?

Accidentally in love by Counting Crows

Ants Marching by DMB

Rolling in the Deep by Adele

What is your favorite road-trip music?

A mix of upbeat and fun music

What song are you embarrassed to admit you love?

NSync!  I mean who doesn't love them!

Alright Friends there you have it! Enjoy!



Friday Photos!

Here are some random photos that I wanted to post!These two have been quite adventurous lately!   Happy Friday Yall!

If you have any questions for me scroll down and leave them on the MOMs post!

So What Wednesday

I'm linking up with Shannon from Life After I Dew for So What Wednesday! If you are new here hope you stay a while and enjoy!

This week I am saying So what too:

• The babies had macaroni and cheese for dinner last night
• I haven't washed my hair in two days
• I really need to mop the floors but just can't make myself do it
• I'm debating watching two little girls come August
• I hate my new swimsuit I ordered!

So there you have it!  If you are a mom of mulitples scroll down and leave any questions or topic ideas you may have!  

For MoMs by MoMs- Q&A

This week we are doing something a little different! Heather, Jennifer, Megan and myself have been talking about For MoMs by MoMs a lot lately and how we could make it better. We have come up with some good topics for our link-up and it seems we are getting a few more friends that are spreading the word about For MoMs by MoMs. We would really love to keep doing this and we love reading everyone's posts each week.. We are thinking about changing the day of the linky because Monday’s just seem to be too hard for everyone so we would like to know which days you think would work better.


This week is Part 1 of a Q&A post where you will be asking us questions and we, the For MoMs hostesses will be answering them (as best we can) in next week’s post. Feel free to ask us anything! It can be about For MoMs by MoMs, taking care of multiples, questions about the For MoMs hostesses or anything else you can think of! Taking care of multiples is a full time job itself and we just want to be here for everyone! We are all learning day by day and being a new MoM comes with a LOT of questions! So, we encourage you to ask anything and everything! Also, if you find any question(s) in the linky list that you would like to answer, feel free to do an answer post of your own and link up with us next week!


*Don’t forget to let us know what day(s) you think would work better for our weekly link ups!

**We are not experts on “mommying”. No one is. We do all have multiples and different parenting styles so all the questions we plan on answering are coming from 4 mommies with 4 different parenting styles. We don’t know everything and we probably never will but we just want to help where help is needed and let you know what has worked for us! It will be up to you to decide what works best for you. Thanks Again!

Sunday Social - Week 2

I'm linking up once again with Neely from A complete Waste of Makeup for Sunday Social!  Enjoy and I hope you link up too!

Favorite movie of all time?

This one is hard! I love a lot of movies but I don't know if I could pick an all time favorite! So here are some that I love:

The American President

You've Got Mail

The Family Stone

Love Actually

Needless to say I love romantic comedies.

Favorite movie quote?

Hmmm, not sure! I guess, "Love Actually is all around" from Love, Actually!

Best movie to watch for a girls night in?

When Harry Met Sally

Grease

Best breakup movie?

He's Just Not That Into You!

Favorite celeb eye candy?

Brad Pitt

Which movie stars closet would you want to raid?

Reese Witherspoon or Rachel McAdams

Ok so there you go!  Hope you learned something new about me! 



Picture Dump

Here are a bunch of random pictures that I have had on my camera and phone that I wanted to share! Enjoy!

Wearing our cute PBK shirts!

Family photo and the twins bday party!

Levi at the doctor.

On our cute stools that our friend Casey gave us for our birthday!

Emma's favorite toy right now is this lipstick!

This is what happens when I leave the room for two seconds!

Playing in our water table!

 Happy Memorial Day!

Hope you enjoyed!

MOMs of Mulitples- Feeding Schedule

Hello All! It's that time again!  Another MOMs Monday! Today our topic is feeding schedules and our wonderful host is the fabulous Jennifer from The Vanzant Family! Hop on over here and link up to share your feeding schedule!


When my twins came home from the hospital they are were already on a schedule from being in the nicu. Their feeding was required every three hours because of their small size so we were advised to not let them sleep more than four hours tops at night. 

We tried our best to keep the environment quiet and calm since they were used to mainly sleeping in the NICU.  In the Nicu they ate at 8,11,2, and 5 around the clock. We tried to stick with this but once you let them sleep for 4 hours at night the times got off. We basically stuck to a three hour schedule during the day and then did one four hour stretch at night. 

Once they got a little bigger we were able to stretch to four hours during the day.  We basically did 8, 12, 4 then in the in evening we cluster fed them.  So we would feed every 2- 21/2 hours.  So if their last feeding for the day was at 4 we then fed them at 6,8, 10 and then tried to do a long stretch. They would typically wake up between 5-6 in the morning. We would feed them and put them back down until around 8.  Eventually they dropped the middle of the night feeding.  And once they got even bigger we dropped the 10 pm feeding. You can read more about cluster feeding here.

Once we introduced solid food I would feed them their solid about an hour after their bottle.  Here is what our schedule looks like now including naps*.  (we are working on dropping bottles and moving down to one nap so this schedule is very flexible)

8- Wake up change diaper, have morning bottle
9- Breakfast of solids
10- nap
11-change diaper and change clothes for the day
12- Lunch
12:30-2 Play time
2-nap
4- snack
5:30-dinner
7- Bath
7:30- bottle and bed


That's what our schedule looks like now. We are pretty flexible but we try to stay with in thirty minutes. I believe that babies thrive on knowing what is coming next.  It took us a while to get here and once you get used to a schedule of course they change it up on you! You got to just go with the flow!  I read many books about schedules and pulled from them all to create something that works for our family! Some of my favorites are The Baby Whisperer, Moms On Call, and Twins,Triplets and Quads!

Next week we will be answering any questions that you have. Please leave a comment with any questions that you may have so that we can answer them. Again, click on over here and link up! 

Sunday Social

I'm linking up with Neely from A Complete Waste of Makeup for Sunday Social. If you are new here I hope you take some time to look around and stay awhile! enjoy!

How did you come up with your blog name?

I wanted something catchy and that kinda went with our name.  It was fitting because when I came up with it I was pregnant and things were going differently then most pregnancies so I thought I guess we do things our own way!

What is your favorite thing about blogging?

Meeting new people and finding others who are going through the same things you are!  I also enjoy writing what goes on in our lives. It's kind of like a virtual scrapbook.

What is one thing you have discovered because of blogging and now cant live without?

I guess I would have to say my Erin Condren planner. Before blogging I never knew what it was but now I have one and love it!

Facebook or Twitter? and why? 

Twitter of course!  I love being able to ask a question and get an immediate response. It is also great to learn about things that are going on and I have met some awesome girls through twitter!

If one celeb read your blog who would you want it to be?

Hmm, this is hard.  Maybe the Pioneer Woman! 

What is something you want people to know about your blog?

I write from my heart and sometimes I write about things that are hard to hear but I hope you stay a while and enjoy it anyway!

Can't wait for next week!  

13 Months Old

I was going to just update at 15 months but they are changing so much right now that I want to be able to keep track of it all!  So anyway on June 4 Emma and Levi turned 13 months old, 10 and 1/2 months adjusted. I feel like yesterday it was their 12 month birthday.  Time sure does fly when you are having fun. I am constantly asking God to help me savor every second with them because I know before long they will be off to kindergarten! So let's get it on with it before I get all sappy!

During your 13 month we:

• had your first birthday party
• Nonny and Poppy visited
• Maureen and Miles visited
• we went to Ikea
• we went swimming for the first time
• we all survived our first family tummy bug
• we celebrated mothers day
• went to the dr
• switched to whole milk
• went to the Dallas World Aquarium

Emma:

Weight: if I had to guess I would say 18 pounds
Clothes: mostly 12 month
Diapers: size 3 during the day 4 at night
Milestones: pulling up and cruising, clapping, saying dada
Sleep: you take two naps a day and go to bed at 7:30 and wake up between 7-8 in the morning
Likes: little toys, books, things that spin, mickey mouse,
Dislikes: sleep, old people, when your brother takes your toys
Teeth: 2
Bottles: taking 3 a day. we are working on dropping our bottles
Hair: finally coming in. it is brown
Eyes: still blue, I hope they stay that way

Levi:

Weight: 22 pounds of love
Clothes: mostly 18 month
Diapers: size 4 during the day and 5 at night
Milestones: pulling up and cruising, walking with our fingers,  clapping
Sleep: take 2 naps a day and go to bed around 7:30 and get up between 7-8 in the morning
Likes: your mommy, walking with help, things that play music, your milk, the dogs, pushing your car
Dislikes: not seeing mommy,  being told no,
Teeth: 4
Bottles: taking 3 a day, working on dropping our bottles
Hair: long and dark brown
Eyes: brown

Prayer Request

Hi Friends,

I'm interrupting our normal posting to ask you to pray for this sweet family. Sweet Lucy has been battling cancer for a while and after being in remission they recently found out the cancer is back. Lucy does not have much time before she goes home to be with Jesus.  I ask that you cover them in prayer!

http://www.erikandkatekrull.blogspot.com/


I cannot imagine what they are going through and I hope to never know. I am hugging my babies closer today and constantly praying for this family! 

Thanks Friends!

For MOMs By MOMs- Bringing Home Twins

This week on For MOMs by MOMs we are talking about bringing home twins or multiples.  Our hostess this week is  Heather from Just Wait Until you have kids.  ! Please click on over here and link up and share your story! 

My bringing home story is a little different than most because my babies were in the NICU.  Leaving the hospital after they were born was one of the hardest things that I have ever done.  I hated driving away from there knowing my babies were still there. I knew in my head that they were in the best place possible but I still wanted them home with me.

I remember asking the doctors almost everyday when I could bring them home and as the time grew nearer I focused on making my house as ready as possible for them so that their transition home would be smooth. 

I was beyond elated when on June 23 the doctor on duty that day told me that Emma and Levi would both be coming home in a couple of days.  I was so nervous and overwhelmed with the amount of information that the nurses and doctors were giving us.  Advice on schedules, sleeping, breast feeding, etc was all thrown at us in a few minutes.  Clayton and I got everything ready and the night before Emma was set to come home we spent the night in the hospital with her.  They call this rooming in. The babies are without all wires and monitors and its up to the parents to provide their care for at least 12 hours.

To say I was nervous would be an understatement.  I hardly slept a wink and every little sound she made i jumped but overall it was successful.  We got to bring Emma home. I sat in the back with her while Clayton drove us home.  My mom was waiting at home for us and had decorated the front yard. I am so mad that I never took a picture but Mimi had done a wonderful job welcoming us home.  We brought Emma home and got her comfortable.  It was so surreal.

The next we left Emma with Mimi and went back to the hospital to get Levi.  I was so excited to bringing him home too. I loved having Emma home but I didn't feel complete until Levi was home with us.  It took us a while to get situated and to get into a routine.  I was so used to having the nurses there to tell us what to do and I felt like everything had to be done just right, it was a hard transition. Finally after some time I relaxed and we settled into a routine. 

I can't wait to hear about all the coming home stories! 

Emma the night before bringing her home!

 Emma settled in her car seat!

Mommy feeding Emma in the "Rooming In" room!

Levi snuggled in his car seat ready to come home!

First Family Picture at home.

First nap at home in their bed

My sister and nephew came to visit

Thanks for reading our coming home story! You can read the post I wrote when they came home here, here and here. I can't wait to read all the other ones. Click here to link up!

We never stop learning

This past year has been amazing. I've known all my life that I wanted to be a mom and it has been such a blessing to have these two sweet babies. I never expected to learn so much from two little bitty babies. 

Since becoming a mommy I believe:

• that you must follow your gut when it comes to parenting. There will always be fads and trends but stick with what you feel comfortable with and what you think is best for your family.
• that family time is the best time
• that forming traditions is something everyone should do
• that it is important to engage with your kids

Since becoming a mommy I've learned:

• that this little person will make your heart burst with joy and ache like it never has before
• that I can be fiercely protective of my babies
• that people will give you all kinds of advice but its up to you to decide what is best for your babies
• that you can function on very little sleep
• that being a parent is like wearing your heart on the outside of your body

Since becoming a mommy I know:

• that being a mommy is the best thing in the whole world
• that being a mom can be the hardest thing in the world
• that my family is the most important thing to me

I feel so blessed that these two little ones made me a mommy!  They have taught me so much and I hope I never stop learning from them!