Monday, March 31, 2008

"Sleeping like a baby"

It always amazes me how babies will just fall asleep anywhere. Here the girls are asleep in their high chairs after a big lunch. Thanks Namee and Papa for our VERY comfy high chairs!

The girls asleep in their high chairs

Gentlemen, start your engines!

Hannah is really getting ready to crawl. She is getting up on her knees and bouncing. She just is not coordinated enough to really go, but you can tell she really wants to!

Please forgive my crazy sister and I in this video... I cannot say that we are normal...


Gentlemen Start Your Engines from matthewmccay on Vimeo.

Leah rolls over!

Ok, she has been rolling over for a little while now, but she just decided that she was going to get good at it. Leah is not my performer, so it is harder to capture her doing things on video! But here she is, finally rolling over on the camera. I was not sure she would do it, but then she surprised me!


Leah Rolling Over from matthewmccay on Vimeo.

Saturday, March 29, 2008

How do we do it?

It seems like everyone was pregnant when I was pregnant, and so naturally everyone now has young babies. I hear people say a lot, "I don't know how you do it with two." Or just ask how we made it. So this is what I am going to say about that.

First off, Matt and I are far from perfect parents, and I am sure many books would criticize what we did/do. But we do our best. There are many people out there who have more than twins, and I do not know how they do it! I am thinking, "At least I have two hands and could feed them together!"

So with that being said this is how we survived. And I use the word survive because I feel that with newborns, no matter how many, that is what you have to do. Forget about being perfect parents and establishing the perfect routine. Do what you have to do to survive while caring for the needs of the baby. Between feedings and changings and trying to get some sleep and feed ourselves those early weeks are tough for anyone. I mean, I was never told how much moms worry about baby's weight and how much they are eating, or how hard breastfeeding can be. All these things just add to the stress. I remember those first few weeks being especially hard because of the postpartum things. I cried a lot, for reasons I did not even know. I loved those girls more than I ever thought possible and just looking at them made me cry. But they took every ounce of energy I had.

6 months later I can look back and realize that we made it. There were times I just did not think I would ever get to the point where they would sleep through the night. I did not think that there would be a time where I would even have a moment to myself.
(Even if it is from 9-11 at night). But we probably did not do anything "right". I got to the end of my pregnancy and realized that I had read all kinds of books about the actual pregnancy but did not have a clue what to do when the girls actually got here! Scary thought! But we figured it out. And we did a lot of things that are considered "bad" by many.

Pretty much every night I ended up with at least one baby in the bed with me, even for a few hours. Even if it was not my original intention, sometimes you just have to sleep. I would nurse them to sleep many times too. I heard that was bad, but I did not care. I was trying to survive. And now they go to bed at 8:30 and Leah wakes at 6:30 and Hannah sleeps until 8:30 many mornings. So I do not think it was detrimental.

When they cried I picked them up. I heard I was spoiling them but I had a really hard time listening to my children cry. I mean, I was emotional anyway and I couldnt bear to hear it. I wanted to try the "tough love" thing but never really did. Even now I still go in and pat them if they have a hard time falling asleep. But they sleep. So again I dont think I caused them any damage. (I do sometimes have to let them cry themselves to sleep but it is normally when they are so tired they are just fussy from it.)

We should have read some more books, but normally I just looked up things on the internet as the questions arose. Honestly, we did not have a clue but we did a pretty good job I think. We have been lucky so far. The girls grew well, they started sleeping 6 hours at a time around 3 months old, and we have not had any major sicknesses. We have not hit the teething age yet so I am sure we will be in for an interesting time, but so far so good.

So in short, how did we do it with two? We had a lot of help that was greatly appreciated (after I got over my postpartum 'I dont want help' phase) and we did what we had to do. I dont care if people think we were wrong. We did the best we could. And thats my advice for all you new moms out there. Do the best you can do and do what you have to do. There is plenty of time to teach your child to nap. We just started working on a nap routine at 5 months and now they are doing pretty well. There is plenty of time to teach them to sleep on their own. I really dont think you can spoil a little baby and I dont think they can be manipulative until 4-6 months. Just do not worry so much about whether what you are doing may cause the adverse in the future such as "If I nurse her to sleep, she will always have to be nursed". Not true, as I have found. God bless those who have more than 2 because that would be so much harder. But as I remember the days after they were born, I am glad I do not have to go back. Each stage is more fun with its own challenges. It's never easy and but it gets to the point where it is not just one sided, and that was a wonderful change.

Congrats to all the new mommy's out there! Whenever you have a hard day, just remember it gets easier! And it is just amazing how much joy those little babies bring!

Prayers for our Friends

For the few of you that read this blog, we ask for your prayers for the Brobst Family. Mrs. Brobst has been basically like a second mother to Allyson, and their family are great friends of ours. She is struggling with cancer right now, and has had new complications while she and her husband were taking a needed vacation. The earliest MedJet can transport her will be Monday, and she might need surgery before then, so please pray for a miracle that a flight will open before then or that surgery is not emergent.

To follow this story, Dr. Brobst writes every night and has now for almost a year. Go to www.caringbridge.org/visit/gwenbrobst

The First Stolen Toy

Well back from a long lay off from blogging. Allyson sure has done a good job filling in for me :).

Ok, so a little history you need before I tell this story. The girls Gammy and Dandy got them a play-mat for Christmas. On the play-mat are the typical hanging toys that all do different things. Well Leah has taken to one of these toys in particular. It is a duck head with a round orange bell body. She eats the duck, shakes the duck, she will just hold it close to her like a stuffed animal. Bottom line, it is her favorite toy right now.

Lately the girls are becoming a lot more active and a lot more aware of one another. They will hold hands, touch each others face, laugh at one another...all really fun stuff for the parents.

On Thursday night, Allyson had to work late so I had to take care of the girls (luckily I have loving parents that came over around 7 to help me out with night time routine). I had both the girls on their play-mat, and I was playing with them with there toys. Leah of course had her bell, and Hannah had either the lion or the giraffe. About 10 minutes into play mat fun they both rolled to their sides to face one another, still shaking and eating their respective toys. Hannah at this point slowly and with purpose takes her free arm, reaches over to sister grabs the duck bell and snatches it away and persists to shake it violently :).

WOW!!!!!!!! LEAH'S WORLD HAS COME TO AN END!!!!!!!!!

Leah took great offense to this and started doing her really pitiful, horribly loud cry. It was truly sad, but I must admit I got a good chuckle out of the first stolen toy and temper tantrum. I mean I think if Leah could talk she would have been crying to me "SHE TOOK MY TOY DADDY, MAKE HER GIVE IT BACK!!!"

I am sure this is a glimpse of how it is going to be from now on. I want that, no I want that...but you both have one...but I want hers. Ah...I can't wait :).

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Checkup at the orthopoedic doctor

Today we went for Leah's checkup appointment to make sure her arm is still healing well. I am happy to say that she is doing great and it is healing just as it should. The angulation that was there at the last appointment 3 months ago is much better and she does not have to go back again until she is a year old. I want the XRay pictures, but the office cleaned out their computers so everything is on a CD somewhere that they have to find. So hopefully I will be able to post those someday. At least the beginning one, where the bone was completely separated, and this one where it almost looks normal. I know we were so lucky to have such healthy babies but that really was tough for me when her arm was in a little cast. And even though I rarely even think about it now, her little arm will always be in the back of my mind.

I also have to mention that I was actually ON TIME for this appointment! (First one yet.) Sure it is probably because i thought the appointment was at 1:20 when it was in fact at 1:40, but maybe that is my minds way of forcing me to be on time. The girls were troopers too. I laid them back down this morning at 9:30 to give them plenty of time to get a little nap in and also allow Laura and I to go to lunch and feed them at noon before the appointment. I actually had to wake Hannah at 11 in order to go but they were both very good. We even went to Matts work to say hello to everyone, but had to make it quick because they were so tired and getting hungry. I am always so proud when we have a day out and they "behave" so wonderfully.

Ill post the XRays as soon as they find them for me! But it is safe to say that Leah's arm is just like normal.

Monday, March 24, 2008

Hannah holds her bottle!

Hannah is really working hard on holding her bottle, which I am so ready for. She does better with the small bottle with a little water, or when her big bottle is almost empty. We really worked on it today with water and a small amount of apple juice. I figured it would entice her to hold it. Laura got upset that I did not give Leah any apple juice, but I just thought that she shouldnt get juice until she can hold it herself. (OK, we gave her a little) :)

Anyway, Hannah sat in her high chair today and did a GREAT job with the small bottle of juice. I just have to hold the bottle in front of her and she will take both her hands and pull the it to her mouth. She kept it there for a pretty long time too! I am just so proud. I have a few pics from the other day when she was attempting to hold her big bottle (though it was empty) but I will get some more as she gets better at it.

As many feedings as I have done holding two bottles at once, though I dont have to do as many now with my sisters help during the day, it will be a welcome change to just hold one until Leah takes some initiative! Leah, by the way, just enjoys being fed, and held, so right now she is not ready for any change! :)

Hannah holds her bottle

Its hard work!

I am getting good at it!

Mr. Manipulative

I will preface this blog by saying that I have the best husband in the world who is also an incredible father. Had to put that on the table.
Last night the girls went to bed at the usual time, and Matt and I both had to get up to go to work at the same time today. Hannah woke up around 1:30 crying pretty hard, so automatically I got up to see what the problem was. It took about 30 minutes of consoling from the side of the crib before she decided she was ok to sleep again and was not going to wake up her sister. I got back to bed around 2 and went to sleep. At 4:30 I heard crying again, and this time I nudged Matt so that he could get up and console Hannah (who I thought it was). I normally get up each time but I thought with both of us going to work we could share in the duties. Both girls normally do not get up at all in the middle of the night. Last night was the exception. This was the early morning conversation between my husband (who thought he was being clever) and me (who was unwittingly too tired to notice his antics until I got up this morning).

Me: Go get the crying baby
Matt- Huh?
Me: its your turn...
Matt - Why is it my turn???
Me: did you not hear Hannah crying a few hours ago?

...silence...then heavy breathing

Me: Matt!!
Matt: ...What?
Me: go get her before she wakes up the other
Matt: What do I do?
Me: What do you mean, "what do you do?" Get the baby back to sleep!
Matt: How?
Me: How? Pat her back, make sure she doesnt have limbs through the crib slats, give her the passi... come on now! (Baby continues crying)
Matt: What if that doesnt work???
Me: WHAT??? Then rock her! YOu know what to do!
Matt: Fine, but you are better at it than I am...

5 minutes later... I see Matt with a baby in his arms in our bedroom.

Me: Who is that?
Matt: Leah...
Me: Did you change her?
Matt: No, she isnt wet. (matt starts fixing pillows as if he is going to lay down with Leah in our bed until we all get up in the morning. Leah is still fussing)
Me: Matt, you will have to change her, she hates being wet.
Matt: She is fine
Me: Ok (Leah is crying)... Do you have a pacifier?
Matt: No, she is fine.
....minutes pass... Leah cries

Me: Ugh, give me Leah and I will lay with her. GO get a diaper and a pacifier. ...
(I then spend 10 minutes settling her back down after changing her diaper in the dark and Matt gets to go to sleep baby free)...

I did call Matt out on his manipulation today and he laughed. He was not innocent in the whole thing. He knew I was too tired to get up and try to get Leah back in the crib at that point and did not want to listen to her crying. He knows me too well. He did not get away with it completely though!


------------------------
Matt's Defense


First off it was not five minutes...Allyson must have fallen to sleep. But Leah was not falling to sleep and was crying rather loud and her sister started to make noise. Allyson does not admit it, but tends to do the same thing especially with Leah who is much harder to get back down. Lastly I really did not think she was that wet, Allyson and her sister tend to waste diapers (money) because they think they are dirty and end up not, but by the time they notice that, it is too late. So as bad as my wife wants to make me out to be, it was not that bad. Oh ya, and I was going to lay with her and it would have been fine, Allyson just did not want to listen to her cry, so she made a choice.

And in a pot calling the kettle black moment, I get my manipulative skills straight from the leader of the household, just check out our living room furniture that I did not intend to get.

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Eli's first birthday!

Today is cousin Elis birthday! I cannot even believe that it has been a whole year since he was born! They had his birthday party yesterday and I would say he did pretty good as far as gifts go! The funniest thing to watch was when he destroyed his smash cake! I have to post a picture of this because he did a great job! He was completely blue! Katy put him straight in the tub, and then the water was blue. (All I could think of was: I will have 2 of those at the same time!)

He is a big boy now! He and Walker are going to have a lot of fun together! Happy Birthday Eli!!!

Am I cookie Monster?

Successful naps!

I have been struggling with nap time for a while now. Hannah just fights it so much when she is tired that I end up with a screaming baby for about 30 minutes until she wears herself out. Lately though, she has decided that she likes sleeping on her belly. This is a great thing because I cannot keep her from rolling onto her belly, so the fact that she likes it now is very nice. When she starts acting tired, I lay her in her crib on her belly with her pasi (which she normally wouldnt take) and pat her back a little and she goes right to sleep! Leah still likes to be rocked some, but is pretty easy to get down. This weekend Hannah took a good hour nap around 10 (after getting up at 8:30) and then again around 2 for about an hour and a half. Today she took three naps. 2 for about 30 minutes and then one for an hour and a half. Leah sleeps about the same. This is so wonderful! The good thing is that we went to Eli's first birthday party on Saturday, and they slept on a palate on the floor in Walkers room. I really would like them to take naps and be flexible about it. I am very happy about this new occurance and I am sure Aunt Laura will be too since she watches them so much!

This is a picture of their little sleepover at Aunt Katy and Uncle Jasons!
The girls sleep on the floor

Naptime wherever

They have found their feet!

Both girls are now fascinated with their feet. They help out a lot with the diaper changes by pulling up their legs and holding their feet. Its really cute, especially since Hannah must grab her feet just before flipping over to her belly. Leah will be hanging out in her swing spread eagle. It really is amazing how flexible they are. Here are some pictures of them on the changing table since that is their main feet holding place...

Hannah found her feet!

Hannah found her feet

Leah found her feet!

Leah loves her feet

A changing table in the mens room?

I do not know how common it is, but Olive Garden actually has a changing table in the mens bathroom! It makes sense, since Mommy should not always be the one to change diapers when out and about. We went there on Friday night with Nathan and Lesley and I was holding Leah prior to dinner. Hannah of course had to be changed right before the meal came so Matt took her to the bathroom. All went well I am assuming, but it was funny when we all noticed the little onesie she was wearing was now flapping in the breeze instead of being snapped between her legs. Yet, her pants were pulled up in the proper place. Poor Hannah. So unfashionable. The onesie was unsnapped and hanging outside the pants. Is this why most places keep the changing tables in the womens bathroom?

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Trade day

This was actuallylast Sunday but with Hannah being sick I forgot to mention it. Laura and I took the girls to trade day at Tannehill state park Sunday. It was a beautiful day and I wanted to get them out into some fresh air. For any of you who do not know what Trade day is, think of a bif flea market type thing, with slightly nicer stuff to buy. It was a beautiful day, and so after their 8am feeding and we got ready, Laura and I packed the girls into the van. Jason, who I mentioned earlier, went with us also. After he climbed into the van through the back hatch, over the double stroller, off we went. By the time we got there we found a table and had to give the girls a bottle since it was noon. I went to find a bathroom and left Jason and Laura with the feeding, amongst the many onlookers oogling two babies. I returned to them laughing because apparently they claimed them momentarily. Jason has heard so much about them he could answer all questions from strangers: "How old are they, are they identical, etc." I guess it was easier to claim them then to say , I am actually dating the moms sister...

Anyway after they were fed and changed I put Hannah in the back of the stroller and Leah sat up front in her little sun bonnet just watching the world. Hannah wanted a nap and let the entire place know about it. After a little bit of screaming she fell asleep in her little rolling recliner and we all had a peaceful day. I bought some sheets and a carpet, which Jason so kindly lugged up to the car. It was a nice day to be outside and I think my girls enjoyed it as well.

We came back and fed them again, and then went with Matt to Stix. He loves him some Japanese food. They were very good there too. Hannah had to be held as I was finishing eating, but they had both been such troopers all day I did not mind.

Overall it was a successful outing and a good way to enjoy this warmer spring weather!

Oh what a day... Thank goodness for great neighbors!

The day started out with Laura coming upstairs at 7:20 with what we think is pink eye. I kind of expected this but was hoping it wasnt since I needed to go to work today. But I stayed home and told her to stay away! Hannah is still not feeling well and she took a 2 and a half hour nap this afternoon while Leah and I had some snuggle time. When they both woke up, Hannahs breathing was really fast and her wheezing was a lot worse. Laura left to go to the store since her eye was much better this afternoon and we needed groceries. I checked Hannah's respiratory rate and it was around 60, so I called the doctor. I actually did not think that they would want to see her since Leah had the same thing, but I felt obligated to try something since it just sounded so bad (worse than Leah).

With her breathing so fast they wanted me to bring her in, which honestly I wasnt prepared for. It was 4:15. I had taken a shower today but had not gotten ready, so my hair went in a pont tail, I grabbed my tennis shoes to wear with my pajama pants, and called Wendy down the street to see if she could watch Leah. She was not home so could not come over. I figured I would just take them both since I was in such a hurry but the girls were fussing and i realized that it had been 4.5 hours since they had eaten. I could handle one fussy hungry baby at the doctors, but not two. So I called Amanda across the street. Of course when I got on the computer to get her number my internet was out so I had to call Matt to get him to give it to me. Minutes ticked by as it neared closing time at the doctors office. Luckily her husband was home to watch their kids so she could come over and give Leah her bottle. Whew. I got the bottles made and diaper bag checked. When Amanda walked in she handed me her car keys and said "You may need to take my car and put Hannah in our pumpkin seat because your van has a flat". Seriousy? I dont think I have even had a flat tire before and I have one now? So I thanked her and took Hannah across the street to use their car. There would have been no way I could have driven the van at all since the car was basically sitting on the rim... When did that happen? I made it to the doctors office which I am SO happy is very very close and as I pulled into the parking lot the nurse there called to check on me and why I was so late. HA.

Hannah has bronchiolitis which is common but can easily go from ok to hospital bound in a matter of hours, but her oxygen saturation was in the mid 90s so there isnt much to do at this point but watch her. Her breathing had slowed down by then thank God, and though her wheezing is still bad she didnt seem so distressed. We are keeping a close watch on her and hopefully it will just run its course.

Hannah did not make a peep the whole time though it was well over 5 hours past the last time she ate. She fell asleep on the 10 minute car ride back. Poor thing. I am so thankful that Amanda was able to watch Leah. If I had decided to take them both I would not have gotten very far, and if Laura had been here I would not have even seen the tire because I would have just put Hannah in on my side, though I would have noticed it after I pulled out of the driveway. What luck to have a car across the street with the pumpkin seat installed for Hannah to ride in. So wonderful.

Laura and Jason, a really nice guy who has been hanging around a lot, made dinner tonight. Pork tenderloin, mashed potatoes, and asparagus. Mmmmm. That was a treat. And now American Idol has been watched, bills are paid, kitchen is cleaned, and laundry is done so that is my cue to go to bed! The girls are sleeping and I hope they will stay that way through the night since it will be a long day at work tomorrow. It will be hard to leave my little Hannah with her feeling so yucky. But I leave her in good hands. What a day! And I love my neighbors!

Monday, March 17, 2008

Hannahs turn

Hannah now has what Leah has been trying to get rid of. The cough is really bad with a little wheezing but otherwise she seems ok. She did take a 3 hour nap today in her crib, which she never does so I know she is not feeling well. We finally had to wake her to eat! But she is still eating well and so hopefully she will get over this quickly. I knew when one got something the other would soon follow. It just hurts my heart to hear that nasty cough. Thats my update for the day!

Saturday, March 15, 2008

New Bath Seats

I have been anxiously awaiting the day when we can put the girls in the bath together as to shorten the bathtime routine. Also, they know that they get their bottles and get to go to sleep after their baths so whoever gets first bath tends to freak out until the second one gets out of hers. Matt is normally busy making bottles and laying out pajamas and doing all the other nightly duties that is required before they go to sleep. So to bathe them together would be wonderful! Now that they are holding their heads up so well I thought a bath seat could be a good idea! I have to say that the first night did not go so well. They kept sliding forward and slipping down. It just did not work. They started off ok but ended up in a full blown meltdown. The second night it was much better. I laid some towels down in it so they would not slide and they played with their toys while they got washed. A momentous occasion!!! Here are some pictures of the first and second nights with their new tubs. For the record, I like these seats: Safety 1st tubside bath seats.

Starting to not like the bath seat anymore

Hannah in the bath

OH NO!!!!

(can you tell she was not very happy at this moment? It was better the next night...)

Leah is ok with her bath in night two

Hannah and her rattle

Bathtime is fun!!!

1 year anniversary

Ok its not normally a celebrated milestone, but March 15th was the day I went to the doctor last year and found out that I was not only pregnant, but I was having twins. The day that my world turned upside down. I cannot believe it has already been a year. I know when I was pregnant it seemed to pass so slowly. All the big appointments that we waited for (hearing the heartbeats, finding out the sex) and then waiting for the big day just never seemed to arrive. The first weeks after they were born were such a blur. And now they are 5 and a half months old. Has it been that long already? So one year ago our precious little angels became a part of our lives officially and that day is marked in my mind as one of the top moments to remember.

The girls have a night out! (And so does Mommy and Daddy!)

Matt and I went to the Comedy Club last night for the 9:45 show to see Henry Cho. It was a last minute plan since Laura got free tickets. Matts mom and dad came over to watch the girls since I was going to be working a little late. They agreed to have the girls spend the night with them because we would be getting home so late. I got home and packed up their bags and sent them with their wonderful grandparents. It was strange walking back in the house and they were not there. Matt and I got ready and left the house at 8:30. This was a miracle in itself. Matt made the joke that we should have just said we were going to comedy club and instead just crawled in bed. We were exhausted from being up at 5! We met Laura and a bunch of her friends at comedy club and really enjoyed the show! Henry Cho is part of the clean comedy group and was very funny. I think my sister was just proud that we were out so late! When we got home we literally dragged ourselves in bed only to be awoken around 3am with violent thunder and horrible hail. What a great night for Hannah and Leah to be out since I thought for sure they would be awake keeping their grandparents up! (They slept right through it of course). I went back to sleep and slept to a blissful 10am!! It was surreal being home and my babies not being here. Its like I cannot remember what my life was like without them. But we enjoyed our night out and our morning to sleep in no matter how much I missed them. Thank you Grammy and Dandy. They had a wonderful time!

Thursday, March 13, 2008

So cliche

I say it all the time, but it really is amazing how fast time flies. The girls are over 5 months and sometimes I forget what different babies they are now from when they came home from the hospital. I mean, are they really in size 3 "Pampers Cruisers" now? And 6 month clothes? What happened to my little newborns? I was reading my sister in laws blog posts from a while back and remembered that her youngest was 6 months old when mine were born. But I remember thinking he was so grown up by then! Mine arent really that old yet! Also, I held my next door neighbors 2 week old, who is a little over 6lbs and it was like I had never held something so tiny. Hannah and Leah were not even 5.5lbs at birth. I have almost even forgotten how miserable I was for a good part of the pregnancy. ( I said ALMOST ) It seems very surreal that we have made it this far and looking back I realize how precious each moment we have with them is. I am going to blink and they will be toddlers. I see that with my nephews. Its insane. I think every parent wishes that their children will reach that next stage (smiling, rolling over, crawling, talking, walking...) but then they reach it and the stage prior to that is over! Seems obvious when you write it out but oh well. I love those girls so much and cant believe how big they are getting. As cliche as it is, TIME FLIES!

Monday, March 10, 2008

Protective Momma

Its funny, because being a nurse I know just enough to be paranoid about some things and nonchalant about others. I am being over protective Mama right now over a little cold. Today Leah started wheezing, and based on the fact that I know how awful it is to feel like that since I have asthma, I worry. So since the doctor told me to call him if anything changed with her, I did. I listened to her lungs this morning and heard some wheezes in the lower areas, but I wasnt sure if it was residual noises from her nasal passages or not. I didnt think he would want to see her, and again we are doing all we can do but I feel so bad for her. It was another rough night getting her to sleep tonight. When she cries it makes her wheezing and congestion a lot worse. Good thing is she is not labored in her breathing, she is eating fine, and there has been no fever yet. For now she is actually fine and I am just feeling bad for her. It makes me want to hold her forever and make the discomfort go away. Well she is awake again... Duty calls. Hopefully she will finally go down for good because I have to be at work around 6 tomorrow.
Had something else to say but I will save it for later!

Saturday, March 8, 2008

Poor Leah

My little Leah is not feeling too well. She has been really congested all week which has now developed into a pitiful cough. I listened to her lungs this morning and they were clear, but I called the doctor anyway to see if he would want us to come in. He did just to rule out any possible ear infection. I must say that we got off the phone with the pediatrician at 8:45 and were showered and out the door with both girls in 45 minutes! Turned out Leah just has a bad cold, which is what I figured, but my peace of mind is worth 20 dollars and its always better safe than sorry. That cough is so sad though. I want to help her and I cant. She is a little trooper even though she doesnt feel well! I just hope she gets better soon. She has not been sleeping very well, so therefore I have not been sleeping very well!
They weighed her at the doctors office though and she is catching up with her sister! She is 15lbs 12oz and Hannah is 16lbs 5oz. Maybe Hannah is just finally slowing down. :)
They are in bed asleep now. Hopefully they will stay that way until 9am - with this lovely time change. Pray Leah gets better soon!

This isnt really related but we took these pictures the other day so I had to add them because I think they are adorable.

Smiles!!!  (I LOVE this pic!!!)

Fascinating!!!

Sunday, March 2, 2008

Hannah rolls over

Hannah has mastered the art of rolling over from her back to her tummy. Leah is able to do it but just isnt as interested. The second we lay Hannah on her back she rolls over but unfortunately she hates being on her belly... Let the fun begin.
Oh yeah, she also scoots backward when she is on her belly. So now when I lay her on her play mat looking at her toys above her and walk away for a second, I return to find her on her tummy somewhere way off the mat not happy about it at all...


Hannah rolls over from matthewmccay on Vimeo.

To Great Grandmothers house we go (Part 2 - the pizza story)

This is probably one of those stories that you had to be there in order for it to be funny, but my mom got a kick out of it and I am going to write it so my sister and I can remember it for a good laugh...

Once we got the girls to bed and we picked up the room, Laura and I got in this little bed with all 80 of her darn pillows to try to go to sleep. We were trying to be very quiet but we got in a silly mood since we were basically cuddling given the fact we had no room at all. Then Leah woke up and I put her in bed with us briefly to try to get her back to sleep. She was very happy now and just wanted to laugh and talk and coo so I put her in her favorite position to see if that would help. Laura and I are arm to arm and Leah is laying on me and Laura goes "I'm hungry!" Since neither of us really ate at grandmothers, it was 11:00 and we were starving. She searched the little kitchenette for some food someone may have left but had no luck. So I suggested we order a pizza. The good ole' iPhone came in handy again as our yellowpages. I didnt really think she would find a pizza place open, and we werent even familiar with where we were, but she did and called. By this point we were really laughing (no clue why other than exhaustion and hunger) but Laura asked "Are you still able to deliver?" We were surprised when he said yes at which point Laura tried to relate where we were. She had absoluely no clue where we were so she chunked the phone at unsuspecting me. I then proceed to say, "Yes, I dont really know where we are or you are, but can you deliver to Covenant Woods Assisted Living?" Probably not what he expected. Luckily he knew where we were and we actually had the right Dominos! So then he asked what we wanted, which we hadnt even thought about since we didnt think they would actually be open in the first place. I finally made it through the order though I was laughing pretty hard - I even had to tell the guy, with no sense of humor, that yes we really did want it delivered to the assisted living and no we had not been drinking... I had to meet the delivery guy in the lobby (wheeling one of my shopping carts back) at 11:45. He found it interesting to see a 20 something year old picking up the pizza. So Laura and I ate pizza out of plastic bowls and drank coke out of coffee cups at 11:45 in the old folks home on the kitchen floor by the light of the refrigerator propped open by a water bottle. Hey, you do what you gotta do. We found it funny anyway.

To add to this, the next night after the girls went down, Laura went out with a guy friend of hers from Columbus. After dinner and visiting some other friends I guess they felt bad that I was bored to tears and came back. It was so late though that they had to ring the doorbell to the building and have some security guy let them back in. I guess you cant bring dates back at 12am when you live in an assisted living. Curfew... So we then played pool a couple rooms down (in "Clara's Corner") using our cell phones on speaker as the baby monitor. What a fun thing to do on a friday night isnt it???

Trips with my sister are always interesting, and now with twins they are even more so. We did get some quality time with my grandparents and it was good that they got to see the babies since they grow up so fast. Saturday morning it took me 3 hours to get my shower and stuff packed, find the shopping carts, move my car, get both carts upstairs, get everything loaded, and go back downstairs to load into the car... Grandmother wanted to know what took us so long... Again, haha.

Though they were so good on the trip to Columbus, Hannah screamed from Phenix City to Montgomery and then from Clanton to Alabaster on the way back. Leah thought it was hilarious. That was enjoyable.

Needless to say, I am glad I went but there is no way I could do it alone. Thanks to my sis for all her help!!!

To Great Grandmothers house we go! (part 1)

Laura would be a better person to write this blog but I doubt she would ever get around to it, so I will try to have her add what I miss if it is not up to her standards....

She and I took the girls to Columbus Ga to visit Grandmother and Granddad once again. They had not seen their great grandparents, which we have named Nina and Da since Thanksgiving, and although it is difficult traveling with two 5 month olds, we survived the trip. (barely)

We thought we timed it well and left shortly after their noon feeding. Unfortunately after getting my oil changed and lunch, we were going through Auburn around 4 and decided to stop for another feeding/changing. (We were not in the mood for screaming during the last hour of the trip.) So we were back on the road at 5pm and did not arrive at the assisted living until 7 their time. The girls were tired, but since grandmother had laid out food about 3 hours before I figured we had better drop off the things in the room we rented for us and make our way to their place. Before I go any farther I must say that it took 2 shopping carts, plus our double stroller to get everything up to the room, and I still rolled a suit case. We had 2 pack n plays, 2 bouncy seats (for feedings), 2 cameras, a computer, a play mat, 4 pillows (thats all Laura), a blanket, a suitcase for the girls clothes, bibs and burpcloths, another for their diapers, wipes and bottled water, and their every day diaper bag, plus my sisters toiletry bag and her suitcase, and my suitcase. We looked like we were moving in instead of staying there for 2 nights. We threw the stuff in the room and went down the big hall, down the elevator, and down the other really big hall to Nina and Da's. And I have to say that old people kind of flock to babies like seagulls to crackers... so this trip took a while.

When we finally arrived at our destination I knew we only had about 30 minutes before we hit meltdown mode. But grandmother and granddad were just so excited (though they didnt know why it just took so long for us to get there- agh). The look on granddad's face as he watched the girls play on the floor was one of pure joy and grandmother got a kick out of kissing their faces and seeing the girls laugh.

Da and Hannah

Nina and Hannah

Da, Laura and Leah

Nina and Leah

Once the crying started I knew it was time to return to our room for the night. We made it back down the halls rather successfully but when we hit the room all heck broke loose. Both girls started screaming. I mean blood curdling. Laura described it as 18 pigs squealing in terror in a tiny little room. In the midst of the screaming, Laura and I are throwing things out of the shopping carts we had yet to unload, trying to move furniture into the closet to give us some room, find their stuff for their baths (which we should have just nixed the bath thing given the severity of the situation), put the pack and plays together - and one of those was not cooperating... I was calling Matt making sure I was doing it right as the babies screamed. Laura started bathing one of them in the sink since we had no bathtub, just throwing their wet diapers anywhere. I was trying to find the bath soap, sheets, and sleep sacks for them, get their bottles made... It was mass chaos. Hannah and Leah were just so tired even their make shift bath didn't calm them down. After 30 minutes of uncontrollable screaming we finally got the bottles in their mouths and they fell asleep. Laura told my dad on the phone later that night that he had best enjoy these 2 grandchildren because he wasnt getting anymore! I took a video of the mess we made in the first 10 minutes of being there.


Untitled from matthewmccay on Vimeo.

We took a deep breath after they went down and picked up the room by the light of the small tv. They slept well that night though, even though Laura and I were laughing pretty hard AFTER they fell asleep! (see part 2)