one year ago

the twins looked like this...

now, they look like this!

holy MOLY what a difference a year makes. they are so "grown up" now!!

14 month update: austin is starting to become a pro walker and we're still working with reagan. reagan, however, will stand up in the middle of the room on her own, whereas austin will not. both kids LOVE to go outside (i can't blame them - stuck inside our house all winter is pretty boring) and LOVE swinging. they both throw tantrums, which is (not) awesome. we recently started taking them to church again...and i don't think i'll hear or learn a thing for the next 18 years. but they love to crawl around and look at everyone because, let's be honest, we don't get out much. other activities they think are fun include throwing anything and everything into the bathtub, pulling everything out of any open or open-able cupboard, climbing over/walking over each other, and tearing apart books. and they love music. you should see austin dance. it's hilarious! that should be my next blog post...

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.

i'm tired

big surprise, right? i think the definition of mom is tired. and i'm such a big baby. my parents laughed with me when i complained i hadn't had a nap of my own in over a week. some of us just need more sleep than others, ya know?

because i'm tired, my judgement is impaired and i'm going to share something with you i shouldn't. now, don't get worried, it's not anything private or anything. i just want it for myself, and sharing it with you decreases my chances (small as they are already).

savvy textbooks is sponsoring "the great provo-orem treasure hunt." no joke.

they've hidden $5000 somewhere in provo/orem, along with many other prizes. go to provotreasurehunt.com for more details. that's all i'm saying. at least i was kind enough to tell you about it.

if you do happen to win and you found out about the treasure hunt from me, can i pretty please have $100 for my contribution to your winning? thank you in advance. :) karen, if i win, i'll share some of it with you since you told me about it.

and because no one likes a blog post without a picture...

my two little treasures that are worth (and cost) far more than $5000.

:)

i didn't forget

we just haven't been home all day.

i was thinking i'd make it a goal to post everyday until the end of the year. sound good? good. not sure what i'll do after that. we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. :)

tyler picked out a really cute picture he wants me to post, but it will have to wait for another day because i picked these ones!

tyler is such a great daddy to our kiddos. he's really good at playing with them and can always get them to laugh and smile. and he's a huge help to me, too. for example, he's always helped me feed the kids (if he was home).

this includes the late night feedings we had in the beginning. back before i wizened up, i used to feed the kids and then pump. this took me f-o-r-e-v-e-r. i'd be up for 1.5-2 hours at night changing the kids, feeding them, and then pumping and cleaning up. not fun. tyler always helped me feed them (we'd each take one) and then would put them back down so that i could start pumping.

an even bigger shout-out to tyler for his help while the twins were in the hospital. during their NICU stay, i got up every 3-4 hours at night to pump. (and let me tell you, it is a lot easier to get up to feed a baby than to feed a pump.) anyhow, long story short, i had to sleep in our recliner in the nursery for the first week or so that i was home from the hospital.* tyler would set his alarm, get my pump stuff for me, and bring it to me so that i could pump. he said that if i had to be up, he had to be up, too. :)

and of course he always accompanied me to the hospital when he could (he was still in school when the twins were born). towards the end of our NICU experience, we were going to the hospital 4 times a day (which doesn't seem like much as i type it, but we were there 2-3 hours each time). if he wasn't in class, he was there with me.

he's awesome.

thanks, tyler, for all that you do!



*because i was on lovenox during my pregnancy and for 6 weeks following, i couldn't take ibuprofen/motrin, which is one of the main pain medications they give you after a c-section. i think my c-section recovery was more difficult because of this. percocet and additional tylenol just did not cut it. sleeping in the recliner was one thing i had to do as part of my recovery.

**i should blog more about our NICU experience. it seems like a distant memory now, but just six months ago we were at the hospital everyday for four weeks (not including the week i was recovering in the hospital myself). it was quite the experience and a very special time in our lives.

let's revisit

...just how little our babes were! they came home close to 7 pounds each. not bad, considering they were just over 4 1/2 pounds at birth. i can't believe how fast time flies and how much bigger they've gotten.

austin

reagan

austin upside down, reagan right side up