6wks

Here are a couple of pictures of the girls looking obnoxiously adorable in their new outfits at the Simchat Banot (though I think in the second one Eliana is begging Bracha to get her the hell out of there!)

5wks, 6days

Enjoy!

5wks, 5days

Friday was awesome, pictures of that to come. Meanwhile here is our first photo taken with the new digital camera Shawn got as a holiday gift from work. Enjoy!

5wks

My parents have taken Bracha for the afternoon, leaving only Eliana for me to deal with. It's a nice arrangement, taking care of only one girl lets me rest, get stuff done, and spend some one-on-one time with my daughter.

Shawn is home and is napping with Eliana. I'm waiting for the water to heat so I can grab a shower (a rare luxury these days, it feels). I managed to do some cooking and have a large pan of baked mac and cheese in the oven which I'll divide up into freezable/microwavable containers.

Friday is our Simchat Banot. It would have been at the baby naming but we did that the weekend after the girls were born so we couldn't really have people out to the hospital on Shabbat, plus we were going to do it after my in-laws arrived since we did the naming before they got here. Unfortunately, Bracha didn't come home till after they left and seeing as we weren't going to have a party while she was still in the hospital, my in-laws are missing it.

Edit: Eliana is no longer in bed, she's now in my arms (well, arm) where I am feeding her with my chin (I've gotten really good at it!)

Since the girls already have names, I figure we'll share with people the reasons behind the names we chose and give a Dvar Torah, followed by a festive meal. We should have our new digital camera by then (courtesy of Hadassah Hospital - they have awesome holiday gifts for their employees!) so expect to see photo and video updates of the event.

4wks, 6days

It's 3:30am. I'm typing single handedly, of course. I have a sleepy Bracha in my arms. Shawn is in bed with another beautiful woman sleeping in his arms. The apartment smells like the fresh baked bread that just came out of the bread maker and fresh clean laundry, of which we currently average about two loads a day. Shawn and I are both exhausted but for the first time our shift system has seen some success and I just recently had a nearly uninterrupted four and a half stretch of sleep (huge!!)

All is right in the world.

3wks, 6days

Here are some updated pictures of both girls, home and together. Overall they're great, though they both love being held all the time and Ima ('mom' in Hebrew...aka, me!) only has one set of hands. But luckily Savta (grandma) and Saba (grandpa) spend plenty of time here and are a HUGE help. We had a rough night last night with no sleep for anyone, so Shawn and I are really trying to get some awareness of night and day into the girls. We're trying to start a bedtime routine and we'll see if that helps any.

Bracha had her first pediatrician appointment today. She's gaining weight at the desirable rate and her doctor said she looks fine, just small. Eliana will next get weighed on Wednesday, as well as receive her second hep B shot. My poor baby!

Tomorrow will be their one month birthday! My girls are so big...

3wks, 2days

Thank heavens for my mommy!!

After almost 3 1/2 hours of sleep total last night, she came over this morning to help me take care of the girls. Once Eliana fell asleep I managed to throw in a load of laundry (yes, Shawn, you read that correctly), have some breakfast, pump some milk and then sleep for almost two more hours. That brings me up to about five hours of sleep total, a number I've gotten used to and can deal with.

Mom has taken Eliana out running errands so now I'm alone with Bracha, who I'll put down soon then hang the laundry, eat another bite, pump some more, then, if I'm lucky, hit the hay again.

I have NO idea how I'd have managed this first day without her help. Maybe we were nuts, having kids before Shawn finishes school. Though we had no way of knowing it'd have been twins and one kid would have been easy to take care of; the last three weeks were a cinch compared to today! But nothing is as awesome as having both of my babies home with me.

This shabbat we're staying home, just the four of us. It'll be our first chance to really bond as a family, and an opportunity for Shawn to help more with the kid care (he's actually really great, it's just since he has school, the night duties fall on me so he can sleep enough to function and that leaves sleep deprived lil me at home all day with both babies).

But no matter what my complaints, I'm just so thrilled to have them both at home. My family is finally reunited.