The Weekend

This past weekend I played Bunko on Friday night. Our Bunko group is comprised of mostly Christian ladies from our area and I always feel refreshed after getting to hang out with these women. I enjoy the conversations and the different stages of life we are all in. Eric encourages me to go and obviously stays with our little munchkins so that I can participate. He is wonderful :-)

Saturday morning we slept in. Eric brought by some visitors:



Once I got going after I made some coffee, I made the boys enough yams to get them through high school I believe.



And I still had three ice cube trays besides the thirteen cups I made here:



And here is our new family photo hanging up in our living room:



Just enjoying our little moments and feeling very content.

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Random Friday

First off, Happy First Day of Fall and Happy Friday! That's a great combination, isn't it?

-The boys are the biggest bundle of sweetness in the morning. After they wake up and I nurse them, they coo and smile and touch my face while cuddling with me. It's awesome.
-They also slept 9.5 hours straight last night without so much as a peep. Enough said.
-I love my husband. Marriage gets better and better.
-I have been thinking about doing a post on post-partum health and fitness as a way of motivating myself to get serious about getting those last pounds and inches off. Hmmm, I guess I have to now that I wrote that. Hold me to it.
-Our little photo shoot last week actually went pretty well and the prints were better than I expected. We have some family photos to hang up now and that makes me happy.

And because photos always make a post more interesting and because I am ridiculously proud of my boys:



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A to Z

So my blogger friend Krystle from Three Little Men and the Mommy posted this list and I thought I would give it a go.  You should follow Krystle because she has a great blog and I think she is only a couple followers away from doing a give away.  Woot!

So here is my A to Z:

A. Age: 29.  Yep, I am nearing the end of an era. 


B. Bed size: Cal King.  I insisted right after we got home from our honeymoon.  I had been hanging on to the edge of the Queen sized bed trying not to fall off because Eric is a belly sleeper.

C. Chore that you hate: Folding and putting away laundry.  Doing the laundry, not a problem, but my follow through is lacking. 

D. Dogs: Two little rescue dogs named Suzie and Scooter.

E. Essential start to your day: Hmmm, coffee?  (sheepish look)

F. Favorite color: To wear?  For decorating?  To wear, a cyan or turquoise. 

G. Gold or Silver: Silver

H. Height: 5' 8 or so I thought.  My recent physical says 5'7.

I. Instruments you play: I can read some music.  Played baritone and piano when I was younger. 

J. Job title: Mama, Wife and Environmental Scientist

K. Kids: Two baby boys who are 6 months.

L. Live: Northern NV

M. Mother’s name: Joanna

N. Nicknames: Most commonly used are Jo, JoJo, Mama JoJo,  and Joleencha, Joey (the last two are said with a 'ya' sound for the 'j' in Dutch phonetics).  Eric either calls me pet names or my first name.  He never shortens it.

O. Overnight hospital stays: Extensive jaw surgery when I was a teenager and for my boys' delivery. 

P. Pet peeves: Green grocers' apostrophes (people using apostrophes to make words plural), cussing, people who drive way slower than the speed limit, parents that yell at their kids in public, people that don't wash their hands and waiters that eavesdrop and join conversations uninvited.

Q. Quote from a movie: "May your first child be a masculine child."

R. Right or left handed: Right

S. Siblings: A little brother (half) that is eight years younger than me. 

T. Time to wake up: In the 5:30 to 6 am range. 

U. Underwear: Yes

V. Vegetable you hate: I am not huge on cauliflower when it's raw. 

W. What makes you run late: An exploded diaper or major spit up that necessitates a clothing change and throws my 'getting out the door' schedule off. 

X. X-Rays you’ve had: My jaw, neck and lower back.

Y. Yummy food that you make: Any baked good, spinach artichoke dip, chicken curry and enchiladas.

Z. Zoo animal: orangutans

Mr. Mom

This last year when I was pregnant with the boys, Eric and I watched the movie Mr. Mom starring Michael Keaton through our Netflix streaming account.  It’s a silly 80’s movie in which the protagonist gets laid off and his savvy wife goes back to work full time while he stays home with the children.  We got a chuckle out of it.  We asked one another, “Could you imagine?”  Well, the reality is that  is indeed our current reality.  I wrote a post a little while back about having a different kind of day.  In that day Eric got an unexpected phone call in which he was offered a job.  A good job.  A great job.  Prayers of thanks and tears followed from both of us.  There was no pressure or rush so we were going to pray on it and make the big decision.  Eric had been with his company for nearly thirteen years and wanted to give advance notice if he were to leave.  Less than four hours later Eric was called into an office at work and was terminated from his position. There was no warning, just fired.  Talk about the decision being made for us, huh?  It was a lot to process. 

There’s a lot that can be said about Eric having to come to terms with what happened in getting fired.  Eric is incredibly loyal so the circumstances were hard to take.  He had gone to work at the same place each weekday for so many years and I was encouraging him that it would be like a grieving process.  The next workday rolled around and it was disorienting to both of us for him to not go in to work.  I am so proud of him however for being motivated and not letting despondency overtake him.  He has been home with the boys the last couple of weeks and takes such good care of them.  He has managed to get some ‘honey do’ items checked off the household list.  He is doing an on-line course in working towards his bachelor’s degree.  He landed a consulting job doing the safety classes for a local public utilities district.  The man is keeping himself busy. 

A lot of blessings have been happening in all of this and I would love to testify to God’s faithfulness:

• The order of the job offer and subsequent firing prevented us from despair.  It revealed God’s will and let us know that He was with us.  It could have been different and so much more discouraging but God was gracious to us.
• Eric will be going back to work, Lord willing, but for now gets to spend lots of quality time with our boys.  There is lots of bonding going on there.  I love to come home and see our boys look at their papa with such love and affection.  Plus, Eric is getting them on a good schedule.
•  Money started showing up seemingly from nowhere.  After three plus years of working to settle an injury claim after my car accident, we finally reached a settlement with the insurance company and the check came in the mail the same day Eric lost his job.  Then a week later we got a check from our mortgage company reimbursing us for overpayment into our escrow account and reimbursement from our insurance company for a deductible we had paid for a car repair after their subrogation committee determined we were not at fault.  Amazing.
•  I have never been so grateful to be a working mom!  I feel privileged I get to help provide for my family.  A&W will also continue to have health insurance through my work.  Thankfully we decided to dually insure the boys through both our jobs.  If we had not done so, our children would be without health insurance until my work’s next open enrollment period.  

All in all, so much that God has been showing us and teaching us.  We are definitely learning patience and trust at the moment.  So please pray for us that Eric’s job offer will continue to go forward and that he interviews well in the coming week.  The man is itching to work again but has been doing really well with seeking contentment in the here and now. 

And here is Mr. Beef, a.k.a  Papa, with his dear boys

Adam and Alisha's Wedding

Last weekend it was Adam and Alisha's big day; they are now man and wife!  It was a big day for the whole family as Eric was best man and Alicia was the maid of honor.  I got the boys little dress outfits with clip on ties for the wedding.  I love dressing my boys up!  They looked like such little men.  I actually spent more on their little outfits than I did my own.  Anyone that knows me knows that I love scoring a deal.  I got my vintage cut pink linen dress on clearance at Marshall's for $20.  Holla! I figured I could splurge on the boys.  And due to the generousity of our family and friends with gift clothes and hand-me-downs, it was the first clothing I ever purchased for them.  A&W did really well the whole day considering how greatly their schedule got thrown out of whack.  I did pretty well towing them around in three inch heels for the day.  Can we say work out?

The wedding was beautiful and the bride was of course...beautiful.  I love weddings.  I love seeing two people so obviously in love and just the joy that exudes from them on their special day.  The ceremony was Christ-centered and there was no doubt what those two young people are basing their marriage on. 

It was also a very exciting weekend because Abraham and Winston got to meet their great grandma Guddat, their great great uncle and aunt (Eric's grandfather's brother and wife), their great uncle and aunt and lots of Eric's cousins. 

Without further ado, some pictures in no apparent order (because Blogger likes to drive me crazy sometimes):

 The family with the bride and groom

 Winston with great aunt Cindy and great grandma Guddat

 Grandpa and Grammy with their grandsons

 A proud mama with her boys

 The boys with Uncle Jason and Auntie Rachel (Eric's cousin and his wife)

 The best man- Mr. Beef

 Great grandma Guddat and Auntie Alicia deep in conversation

 Abraham found a good place to nap

 Speeches and toasts

Alicia's turn

Random Friday

-This past week was pretty difficult on the sleep front. The boys were both waking up to eat every three hours. Pretty sure it was the standard six month growth spurt. Last night was so much better. They each slept over eight hours before waking up to eat again--thank you Jesus! I was getting a bit frazzled there but am seeing strong hope for more sleep.
-Made a ton of pureed carrots for the boys last night. So much more economical than jarred baby food and it does not have all the preservatives and added junk. Think I might have to post about making baby food as I do more of it.
-The boys are picking up eating with a spoon pretty quickly. Hopefully the cereal and vegetables in their diet will help with the spitting up. We gave Abraham the first dose of his reflux medicine today. He has been more irritable the last couple weeks so maybe the meds will help.
-Tomorrow we are going to try to do photos of the boys again. Hopefully it will go better than last time.
-I am hoping to post about Adam and Alisha's wedding this weekend. I just have not had the energy this past week.
-Starting to see hints of fall. The mornings have been cool enough that I use my heater on the way to work. Then afternoon comes and it's hot again. Today had a cool breeze though. Looking forward to sweaters and scarves and pumpkin, lots of pumpkin.

Happy Friday everyone!

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Doctor's Appointment

Thought I would share some phone pics from yesterday's doctor's appointment.

The nurse gets these boys measured very quickly. She obviously has a lot of experience with squirmy babies. Winston gets his giant noggin measured:



Two naked and wiggly babies:



Papa and Abraham:



Mama and Winston:



Abraham finds his feet more interesting:



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Six Month Well Baby(ies)

The little guys saw their pediatrician for their well baby checks.  We really like our pediatrician because he presents information in a way that is really laid back and does not make stuff a big deal if it is not.  Fortunately Eric was able to go with me today so the parent/baby ratio was even.  The current stats are at the end of the list:

Abraham

Birth-5 lbs. 15 ozs.; 18.75 inches

One Month- 7 lbs. 1 oz.; 21 inches

Two Months-10 lbs. 8 ozs.; 21.75 inches
Four Months- 13 lbs. 13.5 ozs.; 25 inches
Six Months- 15 lbs. 14 ozs.; 26.75 inches

Winston

Birth- 7 lbs. 9 ozs.; 20 inches

One Month- 7 lbs. 10 ozs.; 21 inches
Two Months-11 lbs. 13 ozs.; 23 inches
Four Months- 13 lbs. 13 ozs.; 25.5 inches
Six Months- 15 lbs. 13 ozs.; 26.25 inches

As you can see, Winston is now slightly smaller than Abraham.  Interesting development to have our "Little Man" outpace "Big Man."  Abraham's weight was in the 51st percentile, his height was in the 16th percentile and his head was in the 97th percentile.  Winston's weight was in the 30th percentile, his height was in the 17th percentile and his head was also in the 97th percentile.  Big heads, hands and feet and small bodies!

The doc was happy with the boys' progress.  He has a pretty set idea of how to introduce solids--three separate meals comprised of three different things a day.  We have already introduced rice and oatmeal cereal so another meal would have a vegetable.  Eventually fruits would be added.  I understand his rationale of adding vegetables first so that they don't prefer only sweet fruits.  It just makes it rigid for us or whomever is caring for the boys.  I think I am going to try to follow the general guidelines of veggies first but always doing three different types of food a day will most likely not happen.  We have twins therefore we will have repeats in a day for simplicity's sake.

Another interesting development was Abraham spit up several times in front of the doc.  He asked if this was normal and we confirmed it was.  The last couple weeks, the spitting up was getting bad and we were going to ask the doc anyways but Abraham helped by giving a visual demonstration. He indicated that it looked like reflux due to the volume and how easily it came up.  This was an hour after he had eaten so it was more than would be expected.  The boys' pediatrician prescribed a Ranitidine suspension for Abraham .  Any mamas out there whose children use reflux meds?  What are your experiences in it helping alleviate some of the symptoms for your baby? 

Six Months!

Our little Abraham and Winston are hitting the half year mark tomorrow.  A&W get to celebrate by going to their Uncle Adam's wedding.  That is why I am actually early with my monthly post for once.  Fun fact: One September 9, 2010, we found out we were expecting twins!  And here we are September 9, 2011, and our little boys have been with us for nearly six months already.  That first OB appointment gave us some very unexpected news but I see where we are now, as a family of four, and I could not imagine it any other way.  Having multiples has been the most stressful and sanctifying experience of our lives but at this point the joy has surpassed all of that by leaps and bounds.

Hey, who are you?  (Winston, left; Abraham right)

Our 'Thing One' and 'Thing Two.' (Abraham, left; Winston, right.)

Our little men are becoming more expressive and are finally taking notice of one another.  They look at one another and touch each other's faces and smile.  They notice our little dogs now and watch their movements with curiousity.  They notice when mama or papa leave or enter a room.  In general, a lot more aware of their environment and the people in it.

Playing nicely together. (Winston in the green, Abraham in the blue).

Winston shows off his bouncing skills.

Abraham shows how intense concentration and
vigorous hitting will make his toy play music. 

They love to be outside and do really well in the stroller while taking walks.  They added some length to their legs and now love the jumper and the exersaucer.  The only problem now is that they both want the jumper a.k.a. "bouncy bounce" and start crying when they see the other baby using it.  They like using their toys and grasp for things really well.  They are beginning to hold their bottles. They still enjoy playing on the flloor but we have to watch out because they will roll or scooch away.  They are gaining more strength in their core but are not ready to sit up.  They are pretty top heavy so they need to lean on something in order to stay upright. 

They are still in size 3 diapers and are mostly in 6-9 month clothing.  I think their weight gain may have plateaued a bit because they look longer and leaner.  They will get weighed next week at their six month well baby appointment. The boys go down for bed at 7:30 and will sleep anywhere from 7-10 hours before waking up to eat again.  This means we get some full nights of sleep but the last week has been a bit more spotty because suspected teething.  The boys have been wearing their Baltic amber teething necklace for about 3 weeks and we noticed a substantial difference within a couple days.  They drooled less, stopped chewing on things as much and cut way back on the meds.  Now Abraham looks really close to cutting a tooth (inflamed and hard bump on his lower gum) and we have been medicating again.  Who knows though, it could be another month before it pokes through.  They both suck their fingers or thumbs for self soothing but we try to limit it to bed time. The boys are still nursing and only take formula at most for one feeding a day.  We have only progressed to rice cereal in their bottles but now that they are six months will probably start with more solids. They both do this cute thing where they cover their eyes with their hands when they are eating and ready to go to sleep. 

Abraham loves his feet and hands.  He holds his feet above him or he clasps his hands and studies them.  He is more flirty and is pretty easy to give a smile.  He has a temper, no joke.  Both babies will cry if they want to or don't want to do something because, well, they're babies. But little A brings it to a whole new level.  The child looks you right in the eye, takes a deep breath and starts to scream at the highest pitch imaginable without a single tear in his eye.  Sigh.  Trying to work with him on that one.  He makes up for it however by giving the best little hugs after he clasps his hands around our necks.  He gives this hard squeeze while burying his head on our chests.  Abraham is also getting to be a little wiggle worm and starts doing flexes and head bobs when he is eating.

This is Abraham's latest face he likes to make.

Abraham is all jumped out. 

Winston gives the biggest smiles that take up his whole face and has become a lot more mellow.  In their ever flip flopping tendencies, I would say Winston is the easier baby now.  He also naps great and has been consistently sleeping through the night.  He is a mover and when he on his belly is trying to figure out how he can get moving forward.  Winston moves his arms and legs like he is swimming and gets frustrated that he is not going anywhere.  He is a champion raspberry blower and can really get the bubbles going.  Winston tends to do this either when he is in a really good mood or when he is tired and winding down. He is also learning to use his voice and can make an 'ah, ah' sound that I am hoping will turn into a mama. 

Winston thinks his fingers are tasty. 

Hey mom, I have bubble blowing skills. 

We are crazy about these little boys.  Each day with them becomes more fun.  There are new challenges to be sure but watching them become their own little people is the most gratifying experience I have ever had.  Parenthood is awesome...now.  Those first months were really hard but God got us through it and it feels like ancient history.  Six months seems so long ago yet it seems like A&W were just born.  Isn't it a wonderful thing to be excited about the future?  These little boys make me excited. 

The Carson City IHOP Shooting

As many are aware, we had a violent event happen in Carson City yesterday morning. A man outfitted with an AK-47 went into the local IHOP and killed four people, including three National Guard members, a civilian and also wounded several others. It has been disconcerting because our area is not known for violent crime. It's one of those circumstances where you hear about stuff like that happening in metropolitan areas and think that it wouldn't happen in your own backyard. We live in a sinful world however and there is no insulating one's self from those influences.

Driving past the IHOP this morning on my way to work, a large area around it was cordoned off. Bullet holes were visible in the windows of the local businesses in the strip mall. It's surreal seeing our local stores and restaurants in photographs on national news services. I think about those Guardsmen who enlisted in the military knowing that their lives could be endangered and made it through their tours abroad only to be shot while eating their morning breakfast.

Please pray for the victims and their families. A man from our church is a chaplain with the National Guard. I am sure he has been overwhelmed in the last 24 hours trying to counsel and console the victims and their families. It's occurrences like this that make me sad and long for Jesus' return. In the end, my hope is in the belief that evil will not reign and it will not win.
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Labor Day

We had such a nice Labor Day. The boys have not been in the best mood the last couple days so we did not get to sleep in however. I am pretty sure it's teething because their gums are so hard and bony (and I know this because they have begun biting). We stayed in our pajamas for a while this morning and the boys played in their jumper and exersaucer. A&W are enjoying this new way of playing and it is so cute to watch them intently working on the gadgets on their respective activity centers. Midday we headed to our church's annual Labor Day picnic. It was warm but we tried to stay in the shade as much as possible. I also made sure the boys got plenty of sunscreen (they are fair like their mama). The boys did great and each took decent naps. Winston slept in the carrier facing towards me with his head on my chest and Abraham slept while cradled in Eric's arms. We ended up getting to stay quite a bit longer than we thought we would. It was nice getting to fellowship with our church family. On Sundays I get so busy baby wrangling that I don't get to have lengthy or meaningful conversations with people.

Once we got home and Winston woke up from a shorter nap, we had a nice walk around the neighborhood. It was great getting to take advantage of the weather. A cloud cover came in and it was just perfect outside. A couple from our childbirth class lives two streets down from us and they had identical twin girls. They were outside with their little munchkins so we stopped and talked for a while. We totally need to have a reunion with the three sets of twins that came from that class. Then it was bath, bottles and bed. We are heading into a busy week with Adam and Ali's wedding so it was nice having a low key family day. It's gonna be an exciting week with lots of family in town; the boys will meet their great grandma Guddat for the first time!

From today:


The Guddat twins tend to have groupies at church events. People love babies and two babies get twice the attention.


Happy Winston hamming it up for the camera. Abraham was absorbed with his hands and feet.


Sleepy Abraham in his papa's arms.


It felt so great when the cloud cover came in.

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Different Kind of Day

I was planning on doing a little chirpy 'Random Friday' post yesterday and giving some brief updates on the boys' teething, new things they are learning and some things about Eric and me as well (because the blog originally had stuff about us and not just babies).  Yesterday was a weird day however and it took the wind out of my sails.  The good news is that I did get out of the funk I was in earlier in the week and was able to end the week well.  Our babysitter's daughter had a virus so we had to get creative with our work schedules for the week to cover child care.  Fortunately their grammy Guddat covered a day, I worked from home on Thurs. and we each took a half day yesterday so that A&W were well taken care of.  I got home at lunch time so that Eric was able to go in for the afternoon.  He had great news for me and I was a happy little camper for the afternoon.  The boys were pretty fussy after their naps. Let's just be honest, they were screaming at moments but I was not deterred because I was determined to be in a good mood.  Then Eric called me at the end of his work day and he told me bad news.  It was like a sucker punch.  I am not trying to be cryptic and will happily share when it's time but to do so now would be acting on emotion rather than rationality. Proverbs says that a woman without discretion is like a gold ring in a pig's snout (11:22).  Fantastic imagery right? And I don't want to be that woman so I am going to process stuff for a while longer.  I can say that I am immensely proud of my husband and the type of person that he is--loyal and hard working. 

It was the oddest day of our married life.  It was not the worst day, not the hardest day just...confusing.  A high to low to asking the Lord what is happening to us right now.  God is faithful and we are all well.  Our marriage is strong. Babies are healthy.  Eric and I are healthy.  We need to just keep truckin' along.  We would appreciate your prayers right now.  We really need wisdom in helping raise our little family. 

On a funnier note, we tried to take A&W in to take some photos today.  A co-worker had a daughter that got hired by a local studio and she needed babies as models.  It was free for the sitting so we thought it would be fun.  Not.fun.at.all.  The boys did not nap well this a.m. and they were really fussy (read screaming at times).  I think we lasted ten minutes at the studio and told the sweet high schooled age photographer that it was not going to work and headed home. So with getting ready and the drive it was a waste of three hours.  And that is life with two babies, totally unpredictable. Maybe it was not funny per se but in a situation like that it's necessary to keep one's humor.  I could just see the proofs of the few pictures they took in my head--smiling mom and dad and two crying babies. 

Hope you all are having a fantastic weekend!