Saturday

We finished our first full week with the boys by ourselves and I think that it went pretty good. Greg had Monday off since it was a federal holiday, so the 3 day weekend and the 4 day work week helped out a lot. Greg was also able to get his hours at work changed to 6-2 which also makes things much easier on me. If the boys are fussy, it's in the late afternoon/early evening, so it's nice to have somebody else here during that time. I feel like we're having a lot of trial and error with getting into a routine that works for us and the boys. Everyday we figure out something new that either does or does not work for us, and everyday seems to be a little easier than the last. We have figured out that the boys love having bathtime at night. I thought it'd be easier to do it in the mornings, but they like it at night and it seems to help them sleep, so we are now doing bathtime as part of their nightime routine. I've also figured out that if I feed them at the same time, I have much more time during the day. I fought this for 8 weeks. Everything I read said that this was a neccesity for people who had twins, but I did not want to do it. First of all, I thought it was impossible to feed two babies at once and I also felt that my little babies needed special one on one feeding time and that I was not going to sacrifice that so I could have extra time during the day (oh, all the things that I've thought that I could/would never do because my boys are "special" and I'm not like other parents--the list grows every day). But, on Thursday both boys were screaming at the same time and I had no choice but to try and feed them both and it was not nearly as hard as I thought it would be, then I had so much more time. I fed them at the same time at their next feeding, which basically cut my feedings from 4 to 2. I had more time to play with the boys and take some pictures and videos of them. It was great. So, now we're trying to feed them at the same time during the day, but we let them sleep at night and feed them when they wake up and tell us they're hungry. Evan can go 4-5 hours some nights, while Carter will usually go 4 hours between his dinnertime bottle and the first feeding after putting him to bed, so we don't wake Evan up to feed him just to feed him at the same time. So, now that I've started doing this, next week will hopefully go even better than this week.

Today was a much smoother Saturday than last because of all the things that we've learned that work for us over the past week. Last Saturday we were exhausted and spent most of the day feeding the boys. We also tried to go to the pumpkin patch with the boys in the late afternoon close to a feeding time and it was a disaster. We got there and fed the boys in the parking lot, didn't even get out of the car and turned around and came home. This Satruday was much better. We've learned that the boys sleep more in the morning and since they're usually in great moods in the morning and if they're going to get fussy, it's in the afternoons--it works out much better if we run our errands in the morning and are at home in the afternoon. So, this morning when Carter wanted his bottle at 7:30, we woke Evan up and fed them at the same time. After we fed them, we had plenty of time to get ready since we didn't have to worry about another feeding for 3 hours, (seriously, feeding them at the same time has been the best thing ever). After their 10:30 feeding, we loaded them up in the car and ran some errands. We went to Target, Lowe's, and the boys were sleeping the whole time, so we decided to be brave and drive all the way down to Old Navy so I could look at some clothes. The weather is great, so Greg stayed in the car with the boys while they slept and I went into Old Navy by myself and got some new clothes. Greg used the time to catch up with some family on the phone and I didn't have to worry about pushing around a stroller in the store, it was a win/win situation. After Old Navy, we went home, fed the boys and all 4 of us took a much needed nap. Then Greg, Carter and Evan played while I fixed supper, washed bottles, made formula, etc. After dinner, we took advantage of the great, fall weather and went for a walk--we were feeling so great from our afternoon power nap (and I was on a high from getting so much accomplished while Greg was playing with the boys) we did two laps around the neighborhood. Ha! It may not seem like much, but with the double stroller combined with how lazy we've been since having babies, it was quite the accomplishment. We got home, bathed the boys, fed them and laid them down around 7:45 and it's 11:20 and they're still sleeping. Today was a really nice Saturday.

Another thing that has been helpful was advice from another mom of twins. I love reading blogs and stumbled upon this blog of a mom with twin boys that are 2 months older than our boys. This was when our boys were having some gas issues (which have since pretty much cleared up, thank goodness) and she mentioned that her boys had some tummy issues and ended up having to see some specialists and have surgery, etc. So, I e-mailed her to ask her how she knew that it was something beyond normal, baby gas, so I would know what to look out for. She was so sweet and wrote back a very detailed e-mail with what to look out for and then explained that she had several friends with twins older than hers and they were a great resource for her and that if I had any questions, she'd love to help me. So, we've been e-mailing back and forth ever since and she's been so much help! She has given me so much helpful advice, especially about the process her and her husband used when trying to get her boys to sleep through the night. I know how busy she is having twin boys and for her to take time from her day to e-mail somebody she's never met is the sweetest thing and I'm so grateful. You can check out her blog here. It's perfect that her boys are only 2 months ahead of ours, so everything is still fresh in her mind.

Well, I can't have a post without pictures. Here's some random pictures from our week and today.
Here's Carter in his shirt from Aunt Caroline.

Evan in his shirt from Aunt Caroline.
We tried to get some fall pictures today after getting home from running errands when the boys were due for the bottles. We thought we'd go ahead and get some pictures before they ate just in case they spit up on their shirts. Big mistake. When Carter is hungry, he wants his bottle right then and there and was not interested in getting his picture taken. Greg's trying to position Evan, but it just wasn't working. So, we'll try again on another day.
I can't belive how much the boys are smiling and cooing now. It seems like everyday they are smiling more and more.

I know this picture is blurry, but Evan's smile is just so big, I had to post it. I don't care how blurry it is, it's one of my favorite pictures of him.

The boys in their pajamas they got from Grandma Westover for easter (haha--you know they're spoiled rotten, they got easter gifts before they were even born) This was after their nighttime bath before going to bed.

We'll be staying busy tomorrow too, Greg has to cut the grass and I need to run to the mall and go grocery shopping. I will be leaving the boys at home with Greg while I go out and it'll be the first time that he's been home with them for more than 10-15 minutes by himself. I've run out to pick up take-out for dinner before and today I went to the gas station and right back, but tomorrow, I'll probably be gone a couple of hours, so we'll see how it goes. I'm sure they'll all enjoy the boys time.