Thursday, December 3, 2009

9 months

At a doctor's visit yesterday she commented on how calm and relaxed the girls were, and how laid back I was about the mess they were making of themselves, and the doctor's desk, from the bread sticks they were happily gnawing away at. She was impressed at my parenting and figured Shawn and I must be doing something right if our daughters were so happy and pleasant and I was so easy going with them.

I wish I could say it's always like that, but it's not. But it feels good that there are moments like that and that they get noticed by others. But I also figure that our girls are really so wonderful, they spend far more time per day smiling that they do crying. They're healthy, growing, and happy. We're new at this, but we must be doing something right.

Oh, and Eliana kisses, sorta! She holds her open mouth against your lips/nose/forehead. It's cute, though I'm looking forward to the day that she really puckers up on demand.

9 months

A great pic from my camera phone (and for those who thought it was unfair for me to have Bracha as my facebook profile picture, this one is my phone's wallpaper, so it's even):

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

9 months

We got a baby gate for the living room! It's a pressure-mounted metal gate with a swing door by Dreambaby. It wasn't the cheapest option, due to the door, but since it's for our living room and not some relatively isolated play room, and we walk in and out of it five times an hour, the door was worth it to us.

So far it's a great gate. Easy to use and it does its job, so what more could I ask for? Thanks Joey for shlepping it up the stairs and installing it!

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Still 9 months

Nothing can prepare you for raising twins.

Not that I've raised a singleton, nor higher order multiples. I assume nothing can prepare a person for parenting in general, either. But there is something, there must be something, unique about twins, beyond the obvious.

It's not one baby, and it's not triplets etc. when there are so many babies crawling around you can lose track. It's just two. But it's twice the diapers, twice the giggles, twice the tears, twice the kisses...it seems to me, as hard as it is, that it is the perfect number. I have two arms for holding them, two hands for two simultanious tasks (because yes, it is possible to change one baby while preparing a bottle for the other), and enough going on that I am never, ever bored.

Today involved some reorganizing of the living room, aka play room, aka Twin Land. Eliana has learned how to open doors, drawers, and pull books off shelves, so our Judaica collection has exchanged places with the kids books. I have a picture of Eli playing with those I took on my phone that I'll post soon.

Shawn's Adam CalicoVision (does anyone want it? PLEASE!?) has finally be moved into storage in the girls' closet and our games have replaced it under the TV stand.

Now that the fish are both dead, and Eliana has already pulled Doug's old tank off the end table, cracking the tank and spilling the stones everywhwere, all olkd fish paraphenelia has been moved much, much higher till we can give the stuff away. So now the end table is lcean, clear, and kid-friendly.

The floor play mat and both bouncy seats have been washed and retired and now live wraped well in plastic bags above the girls' closet till next needed with future children. The swing will be joining them soon enough, though heaven knows where we'll find room for that. I can't WAIT for our building to finally build underground storage rooms, something we're hoping might happen in the next two or three years (probably just in time for us needed all the baby stuff again, but oh well).

Next up is something we've been holding off on but see we really need: a baby gate. The two giant duffle bags full of old clothes to doneate that we have been uisng to barracade off the living room have just about been conquered with their excellent climbing tecniques, so a real gate will be bought this week. They don't seem to have the old, basic wooden ones anymore, instead the basic cheapy ones have a door and everything, which is pretty cool.

Overall I'm glad it hasn't been all that difficult to make our home this kid-friendly. It's obvious there are children in this house, but it's a homey, comforting kind of obvious. The foam puzzle mat that occupies half the living room (BEST investment ever!!!! If you have kids, you really should have this. Not only is it fun, it cusions their falls and saves our asses, quite literally, when we spend the entire day sitting on the floor being crawled on by two very very very active babies) is faded and worn, covered in toys that I try to pack away each day though that doesn't always happen. The shelving unit has plastic bins overflowing with kids toys, unless I didn't, as often happens (see above) manage to get them put away for the day. The clean high chairs stacked by the porch door attest to our comfortable routine of regular feedings (well, it's scholing if any of the food manages to make it into their mouths, considering how much I sweep off the floor every day!). It's especially nice on shabbatm, when they just get whatevr we're having (last night we had minestrone soup and they rather enjoyed the carrots, some pita bread, potatoes, and Eli liked the olives Shawn was eating...and we got a kick out of the panicked face Bracha gave at tasting them. I guess she takes after her Ima in not liking olives). Today we have veggie chollent (yay two pot shabbat!) and they really liked the carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, beans and tofu.

Anyhow, this really got long. Basically what I wanted to try and share was the incredible feeling of watching two babies experince the world at the same time. Two reactions to every new expirience and taste and best of all, the very very best thing about having twins, is thre built in best friends.

People ask me if they interract. I guess this is what I wanted to get to in the begining of this long, rmabling post. I'm suprised at how often I get this question.

At first I think they didn't realize they were two seperate people. They'd reach out, grab the other's hand, and put it in their own mouth. They'd swipe at each other's faces and crawl over each other in their crib.

But now, wow!!! They'll look for each other and laugh when they found their sister. They'll crawl towards each other, pull on each other's hair/ear/clothing, and babble and screetch at one another. Their favorite game is "steal the plug," where Bracha pulls it out of Eliana's mouth and sucks and chews on it, Eliana grabs it back, and repeat ('plug' is our name for a pacifier. Only Eli uses one).

Being a monther of twins is incredible. Exhausting, frustrating, and exasperating, but absolutely wonderful.

ps-sorry for the typos, spell check isn't working and I'm a terrible speller. But I'm deamn good at making babies!

Sunday, November 22, 2009

9 months

Bracha is babbling!

Eli has been babbling for a while now. No words, just bababababa, mamamamama, dadadadada, nanananana (not mama or dada, though sometimes I think she's trying to say Eliana with the nanas). Bracha, meanwhile, has limited her verbal communication to vowels only. We knew speach delays are not uncommon in twins though I was slightly concerned considering we do have to watch our for neurological and developmental side effects to her PVL. But we have two major appointments coming up in December (the first with her neurologist, the second with the preemie clinic) and I figured we can ask them then if there's a need for concern.

Well, no more fears. Bracha now babababababas like a pro!

Saturday, November 21, 2009

9 months

These children are incredible, they really are.

Now that they're good at sleeping in their own cribs, I find myself taking them to my bed more and more often. It happens in the middle of the night, when they wake but aren't necessarily hungry (these days they'll each wake up maybe twice a night, but only one of those times are they very hungry. Since they're eating a lot less during the day, and are a lot more active than they used to be, and their weight gains have slowed, I don't want to deny them a feeding so they've stuck in the habit of needing a mid-night snack). Rather than stay awake myself as I help sooth them back to sleep (yeah, we're not really into that whole cry-it-out thing, it just doesn't work for us, so more often then not the girls fall asleep in our arms), I just take whomever if being cranky back to bed with me, where we sleep very soundly. I love love love looking at my sleeping daughter's face next to me, waking up to her small, warm body and milky smell. I love wrapping my arm and blanket around her and snuggling in close to her.

Eating is an entertaining daily adventure. They make such a mess but enjoy it so much. Last night we tried coconut sorbet (since these days I'll give them a chance with pretty much anything on my plate) and they both reacted with such frightened, unhappy looks in response to the coldness, it was adorable!

Today we had guests over all afternoon and they got along wonderful with them, but when everyone left I took the girls to my bed to snuggle and they had looks of such utter joy at having private play time with just Ima! They smiled and laughed as I kissed them and blew raspberries on their bellies and made faces and hugged them and rolled around the bed cuddling with them.

My daughters are the light and joy of my life.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

9 months and two days!

Not great quality, I know, but these pictures are from my new camera phone:





Sunday, November 15, 2009

Just about 9 months

I write this as Bracha is asleep beside me in the car seat and Eli is asleep while strapped to my chest in the Ergo carrier. Happy awake babies rock, but so do sleeping ones!

This past Shabbat Shawn and I had two of the most peaceful meals imaginable. How did we do it, you ask? Easy, we let the girls in on the fun!

Both girls were in their high chairs and pulled right up to the table (we didn't even bother using the high chair trays). As we ate, so did they. Boy did they eat, and boy did they make a mess!!!

For dinner they each had puffed wheat crackers, a chunk of bagel each, and carrot kugel. For lunch they had the same plus vegetables from Friday night's soup and roasted sweet potatoes. I have no idea how much they actually ate because the food ended up everywhere! Eliana's eyelashes housed pieces of sweet potato, bread crumbs were stuck behind her ears, Bracha had kugel up her nose...I don't know if it was eating so much as finger painting with solids, really, but it was fun, entertaining, and kept them occupied long enough for Shawn and I to have two peaceful meals. Shame it was on Shabbat so there are no pictures. But rest assured, there will be more meals like that in the future.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Very nearly 9 months

Picture post! Enjoy!


Eliana the diva being her fabulous self.


Bracha and abba catching a little nap.


Eliana does her impression of a T-rex.


Bracha says, "I'm adorable, deal with it!"


Birthing class reunion.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Nearly 9 months

Here are a few pictures from the last couple of months. The first few are from some entertaining, and very messy, encounters with solids (well, the first picture is pre-mess, but they just looked so darn cute sitting naked in their Ikea high chairs):





Bracha actually happy in a car seat (a very rare occurrence indeed)looking freaking adorable in her Osh Kosh overalls:


And finally, a picture that unfortunately includes a semi-naked hair man, but also his adorable daughter, and they peacefully slept wrapped in each others arms:

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Almost 9 months

Okay, so I am sorry it's been so long since my last update. I have tons of pictures and videos to put up here and I will start loading them. Things have been crazy around here. First we took off to Canada for two weeks (the girls were angels on the 12:30 hour flight there, which was, thankfully, an overnight flight. We had bulkhead seats across the isle from each other, a spare seat next to Shawn and two really sweet helpful women next to me. The second flight was a short hour and a half jump from Toronto to NY, and the last was a 10:30 hour daytime flight back home, which was far less pleasant) then we had two weeks of madness as I came down sick and Shawn crammed for exams, and now he's back in school full-time and I'm adding days at work and the girls, well, the girls...

So Eli has her two bottom center teeth, Bracha has one but the other is working it's way out. Bracha full blown crawls while Eliana is very happy to continue doing the military crawl. Eliana sits on her own while Bracha isn't quite there yet, though Bracha has been pulling herself up to standing using the couch, her crib, laundry baskets, whatever is available, and Eli just started doing that last night. So now both of their cribs have been lowered to the lowest setting so they can stand up in there without being able to get out (yet).

Speaking of their cribs, bed time hasn't been easy with all these milestones so we decided to introduce transitional objects. Oh my what a blessing! They each have a "blankey" now (Bracha has a green head scarf and Eli has a small knitted blanket we got from the hospital) and when they're put in bed, assuming they're not dirty or hungry or very wide awake, they just snuggle their faces into their blankeys and go to sleep! Bracha has even, wonder of wonders, started being able to soothe herself with her blankey!!

They're both so amazing. They play together a ton (earlier tonight while Shawn and I were lowering Eliana's crib they were crawling around in the hallway and Eli was blabbering and that made Bracha laugh like crazy. It was incredible!!). Every morning after they've both woken up and been changed, dressed, and fed, I close all the doors in the house except for their bedroom door and let them loose. The kitchen, their bedroom, and the living room are baby proofed so they have free reign of the place. If needed we have two huge suitcases we use to blockade off the living room to keep them in there (pshaw, who needs baby gates) but mostly we let them run wild.

Eliana loved glasses and cell phones (thanks, Doda Esther, thanks a lot. Eli sucked on mine one day and now it will only work with the ear piece attached. And yes, I blame you) so I found old ones of mine of each and now they have them as toys (battery removed, of course).

Bracha finally fits into 3 month old clothing. Eliana fits, but just barely, into 9 month stuff. We can use some 12 month winter stuff for anyone who is looking to buy us gifts, hint hint. And we don't have much of anything at all beyond 12 month, though I have no idea how quickly kids grow at that age since the next size of anything is 18 months.

Let's see, what else. Both girls are just terrific. They have real personalities. They know each other, and Shawn and I, and get very attached at times. They also sometimes have clear preference for one parent or the other. Eating is still a work in progress though we have the most luck with handing them stuff to gum like pita, bread sticks, or baby biscuits. We've tried other soft things for them to gum like boiled carrot sticks but since those don't disintegrate they don't work as well. We have little to no luck with pureed food, they're just not interested in being spoon fed (nor very good at spoon feeding themselves, unless they're trying to feed each other's ears). I think I'm going to try and bake them some sort of veggie bar or just give them something soft like kugel and see how they do with that.

That's about it for now. I'm home all day Monday so assuming they give me a chance I will update with pictures.

Monday, September 21, 2009

7 months

Bracha laying the smackdown. Eliana taking it rather well.





Playtime, with Bracha the piano prodigy:

7 months

Eliana picture post!


I'm gonna getcha!!!


Toes: it's what's for dinner


Baby toes: it's the other OTHER white meat!


Thanks Aunty Leah! I love my Johnny JumpUp!

Friday, September 11, 2009

6 months

Babies!


Bracha stealing the show


Poor Eliana when she had her nasty rash...ever the smiling baby, though!


Bracha curling up for a snooze in the car seat


More smiles from miss gummygrin

6 months

Eliana's video post!



And now for a public service announcement from the day's star herself:

Monday, August 31, 2009

6 months

Here are a couple more, shot without the flash so they're a little blurry, but cute nonetheless:



6 months

Due to camera and then computer trouble, I was unable to update as promised. But we are back in business!





Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Five and a half months

Sorry I've been absent, we've been busy with my parents leaving town :( Fortunately, they left us in charge of their camera so we are once again able to take and post videos and pictures! So I will try really really hard to upload some new images by this weekend, we have some really great ones of the girls!

Eating is going alright. They seems to enjoy the cornmeal cereal they had recently and now we've got a grain cereal for them to try (the Health Ministry suggests introducing grains to try and deter a gluten allergy.) One gluten-tard in our family is enough, thank you very much!

Bracha weight just about 4.5 kilo (almost 10 lbs!) and Eliana weighs a whopping 6.5 kilo (a little over 14lbs). Bracha is almost triple her birth weight despite her stubborn insistence to continue wearing newborn clothing. But we've started putting her in 3-month sizes in the hopes that the extra room will convince her body to grow and fill up all the wasted space. Meanwhile Eliana is wearing a size larger which she is swimming in as well, but she was clearly outgrowing her 3-month stuff (oddly enough the 9-month Carter stuff fits her pretty well. The sizes had always been accurate on her with the newborn and 3-month, but we don't have Carter 6-month onsies so we tried the 9-month and they're about the same size as her other 6-month onesies. Aunty Barbara, I guess it's a good thing you got those for them, thanks!!! Today she wore the blue Cape Cod onesie...it's adorable on her!!!)

So, pictures soon!

Monday, August 3, 2009

Five and a half months

Enough with this week/day nonsense!

The girls now sleep in separate cribs. It's very sad to not see them cuddling up next to each other. Bracha looks so forlorn when she's all curled up in the corner of a big crib all on her own. But it's also nice to see Eliana have the freedom to stretch out, and for both girls to be able to roll around without kicking one another.

Bracha, because of how she sleeps on her tummy, wakes up every morning and from every nap with cute red cheeks (face cheeks, not tush cheeks). Though speaking of red tush cheeks, Eliana has had a nasty diaper rash for a while now so we're going to Dr. Yael on Thursday to have it checked out.

I ordered another batch of formula (we belong to the Twins and Triplets Club at Materna and I can order formula and baby cereal at a 20% discount, home delivered for free). Six containers of Phase 1, six of Phase 2, and six more of Bracha's special preemie food (extra calories to help her grow). The solids thing has been going well enough, when we remember/get around to doing it. So far they've had baby oatmeal, zucchini, and sweet potato.

Speaking off food (a little off-topic since it has nothing to do with the babies, but it does have to do with our family) Shawn has started his celiac diet (yes, I know it might have something to do with the babies, since there's a chance they may have it, too. We'll be asking the doctor about it at our upcoming appointment). But we're working on it. I went to the store today to stock up on potato and corn starches, as well as hummus, rice, tapioca, and soy flours, gluten-free pretzels, lemon and cracked pepper corn thins (since he hates rice crackers), corn pasta, and I splurged on boxed pancake and bread mixes. He's been feeling down so I made him a raspberry pancake lunch and he'll get bread and mac 'n cheese for dinner tonight (shh, it's a surprise!) All gluten-free, so I hope he enjoys.

The girls are *finally* down, so I had better go clean and bake.

Oh, some bad news: juice spilled on our camera and it's kaput. The good news is we got it as a Pessach gift from Shawn's employer so we didn't lose any money on it...the bad news is without it we have no way of updating this blog with pictures and videos and a new camera is not exactly in the budget right now so you'll all just have to be patient till we can get the money together to buy one. Sorry!

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

23wks, 1day

I am very sad because Shawn and I think it's time to start separating the girls at night. They're both rolling over in their sleep and tend to sleep on their stomachs and in the process they roll around quite a lot in the crib, often ending up right on top of each other. Amazingly enough they don't really seemed bothered by it, but I suppose it can be a bit of a suffocation hazard when your sister's torso is wrapped around your head.

They shared a family bed with me and Shawn for their first few months, transitioned relatively smoothly to their crib some time between 3-4 months, and have not spent a night apart since (Eliana moved to the crib before Bracha, who was not yet ready to part with co-sleeping. But by four months or so they were both in the crib). We have two cribs of course, we've just been using one for storage while they share the other. But with the way they move around at night...

It feels sad to me because I love peeking in on them at night and watching them together, often touching (holding hands, sucking each other's appendages, kicking each other in the head...) They're very good together; they're very tolerant of the unintentioned kicks, punches, and bites, and when one cries it doesn't wake the other.

But really, how can be sad that my babies are growing and developing and moving around. They already have individual personalities, it's time they get individual space.

On a similar note, they outgrew the bassinets we got from Yad Sarah (as beds for them while at my parents') not because of size (they always slept separately in those), rather because when Eliana rotated around in her sleep she's get herself stuck...quite literally. Poor girl. Now they have roomy "camping playpens" (ie, pack 'n plays, though not the technical term since they're not Graco) at Saba and Svata's. Pictures of that coming soon.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

22wks, 1day

Yesterday we gave the girls their first "tastings" of solid food. At their last Well-Baby clinic visit, we were told that around 4 months we could start giving the girls small amounts of solid food, like a teaspoon a day. The new guidelines from the Ministry of Health go with recent research that shows that these tastings actually help prevent food allergies. We only got around to starting yesterday, and here are the videos:



Monday, July 6, 2009

19wks, 6days

As promised, Eliana giggling.

19wks, 6days

Both girls had reactions to the shot, which they've never had before. They had their first taste of Acamoli (baby Tylenol) which Bracha quite enjoyed. Unfortunately I can't say the same for Eliana. But we're five days past and all is back to normal.

They're really been quite awesome lately. They're on very much the same schedule but neither demand an instant feeding unless they're really hungry which means, while they'd be happy to eat at the same time if Shawn and I are both home or if I do a double feeding, they're also fine waiting their turns. I really prefer feeding one at a time to get more cuddle time in with her, but I've also been known to simultaneously feed two daughters and myself while reading a book, so that's no biggie.

It's kinda frustrating to have gotten this whole parent-of-multiples+homemaker thing down so close to the end of my maternity leave. Right now I've got two wide awake happy-as-clams daughters, a load of laundry in the machine and dinner in mid-preparation. I wonder if it'll be any harder to manage all this when back at work. Thankfully I'm only going back two days a week. I wonder if the reason I have not yet really found myself professionally is that perhaps I am meant to be a SAHM. I love being with my children. When I have the energy, I even love taking care of the house (yes, even cleaning...sometimes). I doubt we could ever afford me to stay at home full-time, but I'm grateful that for now at least don't have to worry about working more than part-time.

Video of Eliana laughing soon to come!!

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

19wks, 1day

We had a Tipat Chalav (Well-Baby) visit today. The girls are growing magnificently! Eliana weights 6 kilo and Bracha weighs 4. Both have more than doubled their birth weight and are on track height and head circumference-wise (on track for them that is...they don't quite match the clinic's charts but that's to be expected since they're twins.)

I think we must be very lucky. People have told me horror stories about their experiences at Tipat Chalav. The nurse we see is really sweet, non-judgmental at all, she remembers the girls very well each visit and is really glad to see their achievements and progress. She thinks it's great we cloth diaper, which, by the way, is going really well. Both girls are entirely on cloth at home though we use disposables when we leave the house and while at my parents'. Eliana is usually in BumGenius and Bracha wears pre-folds, just folded, no Snappi, in a newborn-size cover. We've got a stock of small (which Eliana fits in to but we hardly ever have her in) and medium covers. Our collection will have to grow as the girls do, but we'll probably stick mostly to the BG.

Anyhow, my TC visits are always pleasant...other than the part where they shove needles into my poor babies. Ina, our nurse, is always very sweet and gentle with it, but it makes me cry. The girls however are fine with it. Each lets out one good wail then stops. But they are fussy for the day after their shots, though so far thank God never any swelling, inflammation, fever, or signs of physical discomfort. Anyhow, they both seem to finally be down. Shawn's been in bed for a bit, poor guy is really tired after not getting much sleep last night due to a double crying session at 4am and his early morning start at work. I'm going to grab some supper, do some more straitening up, then join him, assuming the girls let me. I want to be "on duty" for the first half of the night, let Shawn get some sleep, and, if they wake up, comfort my babies the way only an Ima knows how.

19wks, 1day

Announcement: Bracha can now fully roll over back to front.

Oh, and both girls have started laughing!!

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Friday, June 19, 2009

17wks, 3days

So it's been a couple of (incredibly busy, crazy, hectic) weeks since my last post, and for that I am sorry. The girls are now four months old!! They're growing so much, it's incredible. Eliana is starting to outgrow some of her 3-month-old outfits while Bracha is finally beginning to outgrow some of the newborn clothing (and finally fitting in to others...there's such a huge size discrepancy even in what is labeled supposedly the same size!)

We're settling in to a bit of a routine. Eliana usually sleeps through the night and Bracha will often sleep a good seven hours strait (she slept ten strait last Friday!), unfortunately we still have the timing off so she might fall asleep at 9pm but then wake up at 4am and be up for the day. She's never been a great napper, she's either down for the count or only for 10-20 minutes at a time, so she keeps us on her toes all day. But the best news with them in regards to their sleeping habits is that they are both finally sleeping in their crib!

See, early on Bracha was such a poor sleeper the only way we could get her to sleep was if she was in bed with us. This was also true with Eliana for a while, but less so. I know, I know, sleeping in the family bed is supposedly a greater risk for SIDS. But then again, the real issue is sleeping with soft blankets, pillows, etc...things that can easily suffocate a sleeping infant. But there comes a point where you don't give a flying you-know-what where your kid sleeps, as long as they DO sleep. So we were always super careful and all enjoyed cuddling up in bed together, Shawn and I thanking the heavens that we bought the queen-size bed.

But as they got bigger the bed got more crowded, and we missed our privacy. Eliana was fairly easy to get to sleep in the crib and by two months she was in there for the first half of the night and by three she was there all night. Bracha was a lot harder to get out of our bed but once we realized that what she really liked was sleeping in closed, confined spaces we started doing some experimenting. She's sleep really well if she sunk her deep into a poofy blanket, but thast's only practical for naps where we can watch her since it's not the most practical thing in the world if she were to roll over and bury her face in the blanket.

Thus started a series of experiments. We tried Shawn's bit poofy winter jacket. Again, good for naps, impractical for bed time. We tried the stroller, which she sleeps in well while out and about and which we bring up to the apartment every Friday when the neighbor boy cleans the stairwell (normally we keep it locked up on the ground floor). It worked, but we can't lug that thing up every night plus it's not a totally flat surface. Then we tried the bouncy chairs, which worked especially well when lined with the infant insert from the stroller. It didn't take long to realize we could just put the insert in the crib. She's had extra padding around her head and arms and lo and behold, it was enough! Ever since we made that amazing discovery last week she's been spending every night, all night, in her crib! She's back to getting up every few hours but that's really no biggie. It's amazing how wonderful it feels to (warning: prudes cover your eyes here) be able to sleep next to my husband again. I haven't been able to do this in nearly a year! Before the babies there was my enormous stomach between us. It's very nice to have at least that aspect of our marriage back to normal.

Otherwise they're doing wonderfully. Bracha, as you know, sucks her thumb, and Eliana sucks her whole fist. Both girls smile like crazy so much of the time and, oh! Speaking of the devil, I hear Bracha stirring. Ima to the rescue!

Thursday, June 4, 2009

15wks, 2days

I have a bunch of new pictures and videos to upload, unfortunately the computer loads them so slowly they're a pain to post. But today I took a video of Bracha trying to suck her thumb and it's irresistible:

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

14wks

I started this blog when I was 13 weeks and 2 days pregnant. I titled each post according to how far along I was. Once I gave birth, I continued using the same format, but now in order to document how old the girls are. So when I started writing in this blog I was just about as pregnant as the girls are now old. That's pretty cool.

You know what else is cool? Having a follow-up with a pediatric neurologist after a NICU doctor tell you there's a major problem with your baby, just to have the neurologist say that. nope, your baby rocks, is totally fine and there's nothing to worry about (as with previous medical issues mentioned here, were I to want to go into greater detail I would, so since I din';t you can assume I don't want to and thus don't even bother asking questions).

Oh, and you know what else is cool, too? Leaving your husband to babysit (especially since he needs a chance to get used to being alone with both girls since yours truly has to go back to work in not too long) while you catch a movie with your awesome brother. I don't even remember the last tine I saw a movie and this was the first tine I left the kids with Shawn to do anything longer than run errands to the supermarket or the hardware store. It was so nice to feel normal again! It made me want to go out drinking and dancing. It reminded me that I am an individual, not JUST a mommy, and I think having a reminder of that every now and then works to remind me that I love being a mommy, that there's nothing I want to do more, that I choose this role. It makes me a better ima.

Now, if you don't mind, I have an Eliana in serious need of some quality cuddling.

Monday, May 25, 2009

13wks, 6days

Eliana's photo shoot:




13wks, 6days

Bracha's Sunday morning photo shoot: