HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

we didn't do much in the way of festivities tonight, but we sure had a fun week leading up to halloween.

on friday, we had a jeffs family party where we carved the pumpkins we picked from jaker's in springville.

tyler's was a transformer before his pumpkin pooped out on him. my owl only lived a day or two longer. we didn't bother to carve the kids' pumpkins but it was fun to get a little green one for austin and a little white one for reagan!

on saturday we had our ward halloween party. austin and reagan helped us give out candy during trunk-or-treating. remember how i sneakily kept secret what the twins were going to be for halloween? well, here you have it. (i realize it's not the best picture in the world...we were going to take more tonight but didn't get around to it. we'll take some "official" pictures tomorrow or friday, then share them with you.) may the force be with you, luke and leia skywalker! (they're twins...get it?)

and i couldn't let the actual day of halloween go by without taking any pictures. i tried and tried to get them to look at me and smile. all to no avail. :) "my first halloween" and "mommy's little witch."

we hope you had a great halloween too!!

oh my

...they have come a long way.

i was thinking today about how quickly the twins are changing and learning new things. while we were out on a walk this morning, i thought about how weird it will be when they're walking. they're growing up so fast! i wish i had taken more time to appreciate them when they were little, but i suppose everyone says that about their babies. and it's hard with twins. caring for two newborns can be quite exhausting. in some ways i'm grateful for their time in the NICU because it helped us better prepare for when they came home. but i can learn from the past and try to appreciate now more.

(i.e. i'm sure in about a month or so i'll wish i'd appreciated it more when they weren't crawling...)

:)

smorgashbord

* i was so proud of myself this morning! i packed up the twins and walked over to the county health department to get everyone flu vaccines. (look at me, being all responsible and motherly.) i had been told that underinsured people can get flu vaccines for $15. i suppose i should have called to verify that. turns out that because i have insurance (doesn't matter how good or bad it is, or the fact that my insurance will not cover it), they have to bill my insurance and if the insurance doesn't pay, i get to pay $45. for EACH flu shot. no, thank you. i'll research it and find somewhere cheaper, thank you very much. proudness shot down. all that hard work of packing up and getting to the county building for nothing!

this picture isn't from this morning, but you get the idea. except the twins were more excited to be out walking this morning than in this picture.

* i maaaaaaaaaaay be embarrassed by the fact that in my twins' almost 10 months of life, i've only cleaned their carseats thoroughly twice. and that second time may or may not be going on right now. but on a brighter note, aren't their carseats cute? having boy/girl twins is so much fun because i get to buy boy and girl stuff...nothing neutral for fear of not knowing what the next baby will be!

* new toys! i love that kids are so easy to entertain.

let's dissect these pictures: 1) i LOVE that reagan sits like that (crossing her cute little feet). she does it all on her own and i think it is darling. 2) austin was more interested in something behind the fridge than me in the middle picture. 3) both austin and reagan tried sticking their tiny fingers through the hole on the handle of the measuring cups. 4) austin's crossed eyes in the first one make me smile. 5) the reason the measuring cup is in austin's mouth in that last picture is because he's tapping his teeth on it. *goosebumps* at least it's not a metal measuring cup, right?

* sorry to use the word cute obsessively, but my kids have recently started playing together more and it's so CUTE! it's a work in progress, really, because they like to grab each other's faces and they're not very gentle about it. but i think my two ultimate favorites are these: 1) when austin or reagan shakes their head "no, no, no" and the other one follows suit, and 2) when they laugh at/with each other! oh, it melts my heart.

 

* lastly, austin is SO SO funny! my mil gave me a halloween banner that i hung in the doorway between our kitchen and dining room. every time we carry austin through that doorway, or get him close to it, he stares at it! and he will do everything within his power to keep staring at it. it doesn't matter what we do, he will work hard to keep staring! oh my, is it funny. we took a video of it, so i'll share it with you tomorrow. along with another funny video of the little tyke.

happy monday!

a day in the life: updated

oh my, our schedule has most definitely changed since the last time i shared my "day in the life of christine." but that's how kids go...you think you've got it all figured out and they're ready for a change! or mom's ready for a much-needed change.

without further ado, here's our current daily routine (i'm going to round my times for sake of ease):

6:00-6:30: austin and reagan wake up. aaaand so does mom, grudgingly. the twins are back on their reflux medication, so i give austin his. (reagan's is only once a day, whereas austin's is twice a day.)
7:00: bottle #1. because i'm not pumping anymore, i can feed both of the twins at the same time. it's pretty slick. feeding them has gotten sooooo much easier as they've gotten older. i just wish they'd hold their own bottles.
7:30: we get dressed for the day and play for a while. and work on things like kneeling, standing, and being on our hands and knees, per the nurse that visits us.
8:15: solids #1. i usually give them cereal and fruit for breakfast (mostly because i can't bring myself to give them veggies for breakfast. doesn't that just seem gross?). they also enjoy cheerios or puffs or bread. most of the time we practice drinking from a cup after they're finished eating. they used to drink from a cup really well...until they decided it was more fun to tap their teeth on the cup instead of drink from it. as for actually feeding them, i typically feed one at a time. the other twin snacks on cheerios while they wait. i also give them their fluoride before this solids feeding.
9:00: nap #1. if i'm lucky, i get one hour out of them. (we're trying to work on this because half-hour naps make for cranky kids AND a cranky mom.) some mornings, i've changed three poopy diapers EACH by this time. (i swear, i go through twice as many diapers now that they eat solids. whewee.)
11:00: bottle #2. if it's warm enough outside, i sometimes take them for walks after their bottle. otherwise, they play for a while.
12:15: solids #2. usually a cereal and a fruit again. or cereal and a fruit-and-veggie mix. or, i give them what i'm eating (i.e. bread, turkey, and cheese. reagan likes mozzarella cheese and austin likes cheddar. kinda funny.)
12:45: on mondays, wednesdays, and fridays, the twins get a bath after they eat and before they go down for their nap. now that they're older, it doesn't take me as much time. (think back to my bathtime post! much easier now than then.)
1:15: nap #2. once again, if i'm lucky, i get one hour out of them. they sleep anywhere from thirty minutes to two hours.
4:00: bottle #3. i guess i should explain that i feed them at the same time initially. both twins take a break while eating, so i feed both until they're ready for their break, then i let them play for a few minutes. then i finish them individually.
4:30: usually tyler's home around this time, so he takes the twins and i have a break!
5:15: solids #3. for "dinner" solids, i try to give the twins cereal, meat, and a veggie.
6:00: we start getting ready for bed, using our usual bedtime routine (lotion, jammies, reading). we also give both twins their reflux medication.
6:15: bottle #4.
6:30: bedtime! the twins usually take only 10 minutes to fall asleep, or less. whew!

then we do it all again!

the foot hold

austin may be king of the hanging leg, but reagan is queen of the foot hold.

p.s. com'on - i KNOW more than 4 of you read my blog. read the previous post and comment!! :)

thank you!

ya know, sometimes keeping up a blog is hard work! there are nights where i almost forget, days where i have to think long and hard about what to write about, and times where i have to delegate to tyler to write for me.

but you make it all worth it!

thank you so much for reading my blog!!

i'm always surprised by how many people comment to me about my blog. i guess i didn't realize how far-reaching it is. or how many people really do take the time to read it. it makes me feel good!

that being said...i want to do a roll-call. if you read my blog, will you simply comment "i do!" or "i read it!" i'm super curious to see who is reading it! don't be shy, i promise i don't bite. :)

in return, i will make a bigger effort to comment on your blogs, if you have one. getting comments on my blog is like christmas (almost) - very exciting for me! ...i must be a stay-at-home mom, huh?

swinging

who doesn't love swinging? it's fun, right? well, the twins sure liked it.

austin's is first, then reagan's.

the hanging leg

remember how i told you about austin's sleeping "dance move?" the sprinkler? well, he has a new one. i may have made it up, but that's okay. i call it the hanging leg. he's getting pretty good at it. i find him like this all the time now.

great in 8

oh yes, i've jumped on that bandwagon.

i thought more people knew about great in 8, but i guess not, so i will explain it to you!

great in 8 is an eight-week program program designed to promote healthy living. a big part of it is nutrition, but it incorporates other healthy habits, too. you get points for completing healthy tasks/eating healthy. each great in 8 is slightly different, but generally speaking, this is how it works:

it is set up as a competition. the one i'm doing has everyone put in $5 and the winners get the cash prize. in our particular competition, we're dividing into teams of four and each person has a partner.

you get points for:
- eating healthy foods (there is a list of "good foods" and "bad foods." if you eat from the good food list, you get points.)
- eating 5 or more fruits and veggies a day
- drinking 64oz of water a day
- not eating after 8:00pm
- exercising
- performing a daily task (such as sweeping your porch or calling a sibling)
- personal prayer/meditation
- scriptures study/uplifting reading
- losing weight

you lose points for eating unhealthy foods. these foods come from the "bad foods" list.

thanksgiving is a free day, where we can eat whatever we want, not workout, etc., and give ourselves the maximum number of points for the day. we also get two free "bad foods" and two "rest days" a week where we can skip exercise and give ourselves the points.

there are other, smaller details that play into the program, but you get the idea! i'm excited to do it. i've decided to throw out myfitnesspal for the time being and focus just on this program. (it was too confusing to try and follow this program and count the calories. plus, you can't eat anything terrible with this program, so i'm sure my calories are just fine!!)

we take a before picture to compare with an after picture...if mine is THAT good, i'll show you when it's done! (we just started yesterday and finish on december 16.)

wish me luck!!

what NOT to say to a woman pregnant with multiples

a few months ago, my visiting teaching companion and teachee got onto the topic of what not to say to a woman pregnant with multiples. thus, the idea for this post!

i'm sad to say that yes, most of these were asked of me or said to me during my pregnancy. i know most people are well-meaning and sometimes things just come out wrong...

but luckily you have me to teach you what not to say!!

sentiment
- good luck.
- you poor thing!
- i'm glad it's you, not me. better you than me.
- i feel so sorry for you.

yes, it's true. you may truly feel sorry for that person, but let's not rub salt in the wound. everyone who ends up pregnant with multiples was surprised to find out they were carrying multiple (except maybe in the case of in-vitro because the odds of multiples increase). and everyone who finds out they're pregnant with multiples is well aware of the fact that it's going to be hard/expensive/exhausting. one more person telling them this is not going to help the situation. so congratulate them and tell them they are going to be doubly or triply (more) blessed!

fertility
- are they natural twins? or were you on fertility drugs? did you do in-vitro?

i got asked about the...beginnings of my twins all the time. i didn't mind answering because my twins were spontaneous (natural) twins, but the question does bother me. the finer details of a woman's fertility are NO one else's business. imagine how you would feel if you had gone through many years of fertility treatments and finally found out you were pregnant with multiples, only to have people care about HOW it happened rather than the fact that it DID happen. how one ends up pregnant doesn't matter. what does matter is that they are likely thrilled to be pregnant!

- did you have sex twice?

i have to admit, i never got asked this question, but it does get asked. and, for your information, in very RARE cases, it is possible to get pregnant with twins from having sex twice. instead of going into the details, i think i'll leave it for you to think about. :)

planned parenthood
- did you want twins?

it doesn't matter if someone wanted multiples or not. fact is, they're pregnant with them now and nothing can change that. some people do have a very hard time when find out they're having multiples. it's a huge undertaking! plus, hardly anyone is going to tell you "no, i didn't want twins." at this point it's not about what you want, it's about loving what you've got.

- twins, perfect!! now you're done! so, are you done having children?

um, thanks for asking, but how many children someone has is not something women pregnant with multiples want to discuss with anyone. it's no one's business! maybe they only wanted one and now they have two. or maybe they're well on their way to the ten they wanted to have. in any case, who cares? i got asked this question a lot and it bothered me because it honestly wasn't something i wanted to think about WHILE i was pregnant with TWINS.

- at least they're your first...

i sometimes think it would have been better if they were my last! i would have known much more about taking care of children instead of being thrown head first into an instant family. plus, depending on the ages of older siblings, having multiples last means you would have more help. on the flip side, however, having twins first means i'll probably think one baby is easier. PLEASE don't get mad at me for saying this. i'm NOT saying one baby is EASY, just easier than two. don't believe me? i'll gladly let you take my twins for a weekend. :P

plus, saying this to someone is suggesting that it's going to be hard. we know already! a better thing to say: "how exciting you get to start out with twins!"

downers
- you're going to be huge. you're going to be so uncomfortable.

this is exactly what every pregnant woman doesn't want to hear. yes, having more than one baby crammed in an uterus is going to be quite uncomfortable, thanks for pointing it out. multiples = even less room to breath, less room for pee, and more back pain. let's not dwell on it. instead, encourage the mom to get lots of rest!! 

- plan on your twins going to the nicu.

as a mother who's been through the nicu experience, i would never, ever wish it on anyone. and my twins weren't as early as some babies. having said that...i hated this statement. i did NOT want my babies to end up in the nicu. yes, having multiples increases the likelihood of prematurity, but no one wants to plan on the nicu. it is smart to be educated on the fact that it may happen, but instead, plan on doing everything you can to keep your multiples out of the nicu!

- do NOT share stories about other women who lost one or more (or all) of their multiples!

this goes without saying. why would anyone want to hear that someone else lost one of their multiples? once they hear the story, that is all they'll be able to think about, and that's not healthy. keep the positive stories rolling and leave the downer ones behind.
 

shapely heads

i think i've mentioned this before, but when the twins were in the nicu, the roundness of their heads was closely monitored. in order to ensure their heads did not form incorrectly, a careful log was kept of which side of their heads they laid on. the nurses made sure they rotated between right, left, back, and tummy. i know this probably sounds somewhat silly, but we saw pictures of what happens if you don't carefully mold premies heads, and it's really sad.

we were told to make sure we continued to watch and mold the shape of our twins' heads when we got home. tyler's mom helped us out by making long, skinny bean bags very similar to what they used in the hospital to gently hold the twins' heads in place. you can see them around the twins' heads in this picture:

i used them mostly for keeping the twins' heads looking straight up. they naturally wanted to turn their heads to the side, and this prevented them for doing so, at least long enough to keep their heads nice and round. :)

now that i think back on it, austin and reagan each favored a side they liked to turn their head towards. i wish i could remember which side they favored, but i'm drawing a blank right now. i'll have to look back through my pictures to see if i can remember. i do remember, however, that they liked to turn their heads in opposite directions. so funny.

tired much?

on monday night, tyler and i made a late(r) night run to target and the orem library to pick up a few things - namely, babyproofing items and baby food. and baby sleep books.

austin and reagan had fallen asleep in the car during our drive, so by the time we got to target (our last stop), they were pretty tired. instead of carrying them or trying to cram two of them into a one-baby cart (i was sure target "security" would stop us if we tried), we tried out this beauty.

i was mortified as we pushed them around in this. the-add on that allowed us to put the twins in one cart was HUGE. it nearly doubled the size of the cart, and i felt like we were begging people "look at us! we have twins!" as if we don't get enough stares already. (i don't mind, i just don't like to draw attention to the fact that we have twins when i'm in public.) i tried to make tyler push the cart, but he made ME do it to overcome my "fear." thanks, dear.

but that's besides the point.

the kiddos were pretty tired as we took them out at about 6:30pm on monday night. enter:

 

this book is changing our lives. (mary - you were right!!) we had no idea that the bedtime range for babies the twins' age is between 6:00-8:00pm. we had no idea that the normal wake-up time for our twins' age is between 6:00 and 7:00am, and that trying to make them go back to sleep after 6:00am is futile. we certainly had no idea that naps over 2 hours could affect nighttime sleep. and we had no idea that nighttime sleep affects nap time sleep and vice versa. so much we didn't know!

we're subscribing to the "extinction" method the book offers: ignoring your children once you put them to bed. NO going in to put pacifiers back in, NO going in to soothe, NO ferberizing (where you gradually increase the interval at which you go in and soothe your crying baby). it pretty much took the author/doctor telling me that it's a-okay to let your kids cry it out. it doesn't affect them in the long run.

we're currently on day two. it's been hard, trying to ignore the twins as they cry (sometimes i go outside so i can't hear them), but it's sloooowly getting easier. the book says it takes 4-9 days to note improvement, so we're keeping our fingers crossed. something must be working, however, because the twins went to sleep at 7:00pm with zero crying. *knock on wood*

now, back to the picture of the twins. we kept them up too late! i think i would look like that if i was exhausted, too. tyler and i are working really hard to keep to the twins' sleeping schedule. no more nighttime target runs with the twins.

so...if you have any questions about babies and sleep, i would definitely recommend this book!

i'm loosing my marbles

...because i thought this was entertaining enough to blog about. oh dear. we may have to have tyler take over for a while. at least i can thank my mom-brain for being easily entertained!

the other night i made chocolate milk for tyler and myself. he likes whole milk and i've been drinking skim to cut out some calories. (i know, you're probably thinking "but you used it to make chocolate milk. not exactly dietetic." long story short, i had some calories left at the end of the day - according to myfitnesspal - and i chose to use them on a small glass of chocolate milk.)

anyways, i found it very amusing that the color of our respective chocolate milks was so different. therefore...i took pictures to share with you. seriously.

(not sure why this picture is sideways, but i don't care enough to fix it.)

so there you have it. tyler's is the lighter chocolate milk because his milk is...denser, thicker, whiter. mine is the darker chocolate milk because my milk is thinner and more opaque, letting the chocolate show through.

lol.

- - -

in light of this blog post, maybe i need to start asking for ideas for blogs. i do have a list of future post ideas, but ideas are welcomed!

things i swore i'd never do #2

remember my first things i swore i'd never do? putting kids in bed with me.

well, here's things i swore i'd never do #2: pawn the kids off on tyler the second he walks in the door.

oh. my. goodness.

i am SO ready for a break by the time tyler gets home. my kiddos have not been the greatest of sleepers lately, so i'm with them pretty much all day. half hour cat naps don't really give me any time to myself, or to get anything done. and with the stomach bug and teething (aka cranky kids) going on around here, i NEED a break when tyler gets home.

now, i know there are some mothers out there who can handle anything motherhood throws at them. i am definitely not one of them. i am FAR too ocd for that. (shocker, i know.) i need a moment to just relax and not worry about the 100 things i've been worrying about all day long. soooo...tyler gets the twins at 4:30 every afternoon.

sigh.

before i had kids, i swore to myself that i'd never pawn them off on tyler because i'm sure that's just what he wants to do the second he walks in the door after his commute from salt lake. he claims that he likes it (he IS really good at playing with the twins), so i suppose i better take advantage of it while he's so willing.

but i should also be mindful of all he does and give him the break that HE needs. as tyler put it today: "man, being a parent is hard sometimes."

couldn't have said it better myself.

round two

yeah yeah yeah

i know, we all saw this coming, right? poor austin is now sick with what reagan had. according to my doctor's office, there's a stomach bug going around and it's been going around my house for almost 2 weeks now. i hope it's ready to move on.

this is how austin was this morning.

and this is how he was for his first nap. poor guy.

here's to hoping that he recovers faster than reagan did. she threw up for 5 days. we're on day 2 with austin. :(

(and yes, these pictures were taken the same day...i changed him 3 times in 2 hours this morning. thanks, mr. stomach bug.)

it's official

tyler is a lawyer! you can now call him tyler jeffs, esquire. (he had to sell his soul to the utah bar to do so, but at least patent law isn't terribly dirty work.)

:P

his swearing-in was today, up in slc at abravanel hall. i didn't take any pictures (it's hard to with two babies around), so you'll have to take my word for it. i'll try to get pictures from those who took pictures and share them with you.

pictures or no pictures, it's still so exciting. we're so excited! tyler starts as an associate with the firm he works for (austin, rapp, and hardman) on november first. wahoo! and with that comes big changes around the jeffs household. namely, the "house" part. we're hoping to move within the next six months! so scary but so fun at the same time.

congrats tyler! i'm so proud of you!!

austin is a funny, funny little boy

the carpet in our house is...commercial. that's probably the best way to describe it. the pile is extremely low. scratch that. it's basically non-existant.

which makes grandma's carpet soooooo much fun. her carpet has a high pile, making it easy for the twins to grab it and run their fingers through it...

and to suck on it and bite it and pull on it with their teeth/gums.

oh, austin.

it may be hard to hear in this video, but he would pull it as high as he could, then it would pop! out of his mouth and he'd do it all over again. it's so funny because he lays there with his head flat on the ground so he can suck on the carpet or bite it and pull it up.

the small joys in life. :)

ode to reagan

here are some of my favorite pictures of my sweetheart!