Happy Memorial Day!

This weekend we introduced the boys to the summer by spending every day in the pool and they LOVED it! The weather has been great and last year we didn't get out at all, so we are making up for lost time and getting some color back on our skin!

We were invited over to our friends' place for swimming and some BBQ to celebrate Memorial Day. As part of my initiative to start taking the boys out more, I said yes. We weren't sure how they would be, since they hadn't ever been in a pool, so Saturday and Sunday we made it our mission to "practice" with them. We took them to our own pool first to see if they would like it and, as expected they loved every minute.

Once we lathered them up with sunscreen (their least favorite part) and got their suits on, into their floaties they went. We got them these floaties with canopies over them which worked wonderfully and kept them out of the direct sun. We were also working on keeping their hats on as practice for our mini vacation later this month. With their light skin, and the big guy's light hair (and lack thereof), we really want them to start wearing hats when they go out. They usually leave them on for all of 5 seconds and them throw them off, but we learned that if we distract them quickly after putting it on, they'll leave it alone.

I loved being able to relax in the pool watching the boys enjoy the water. My wife and I have such a good system going that we were both able to swim, eat, and enjoy being out with the babies and our friends. The boys are so much easier now and were really good babies. They ate, played, swam and went down for their mid-afternoon naps on a blanket on the grass. Ah the life of a baby... I wish I remember what it was like!

Happy Valentines Day!

(I know, this post is sooo late!)

Valentines Day with the boys was great! We took them to the park and let them sit on and touch the grass for the second time in their lives! The big guy loved it and was trying to pluck it out! The little guy wasn't so excited about it. He would crawl to the end of the blanket and put one hand on the grass, then quickly pull it back and make the "yucky" face like he was eating green beans! It was the funniest thing! He would go to every end of the blanket like "damn its on all sides!"

We planned to spend as much time as the boys could tolerate there. It ended up being ALL DAY LONG! We left because WE were tired! We got there at 10:30am and left at 4:30pm. The boys had their breakfast and lunch there, along with 2 milk feedings. My wife bottlefed the lil guy while I nursed the big guy under a light blanket and they both took 2 pretty good naps. I was able to rock them while sitting on the ground (which worked my abs at the same time!) and then lay them to sleep on the blanket or just hold them in my arms. The weather was great, which is probably why they slept for so long.

They are getting so much easier to take out and we are really enjoying it so much more. It helps that they are really easy babies, so long as they are fed they are happy! They are also really easy to put to sleep. As soon as I see the sleepy signs, I start rocking and within minutes they are out!

The hardest part about outings is packing. They have so much stuff! We are currently in the market for a new vehicle, a much bigger vehicle, so hopefully that will make trips out a little less chaotic. We have a smaller SUV now, and its just not cutting it. The double stroller alone takes up most of our cargo space! I usually nurse while sitting in the back seat between the carseats and its very cramped to say the least. Soon we will be getting the bigger carseats, and while I can probably squeeze my butt back there, it won't be roomy enough to try and nurse the big guy!

Happy New Year!

In 2009 I became a mom to two beautiful little boys. It can easily be described as the best year of my life. Tonight, as we say goodbye to the year that brought us so many wonderful moments, I will hold them close and be thankful. Thankful that we've made it through all the craziness that is pregnany, childbirth, and preemie twins! Thankful that despite all the difficulties, I now have two happy, healthy babies and can sleep easier at night knowing they will be ok. While I am looking forward to the many milestones that 2010 will bring, I am still living in each moment and trying my best not to rush into the next one.

Tonight I celebrate the close of this year with a happy heart and a full house and for that I am most thankful.

To my boys: You are the best little babies a Mama could ask for and I wish you both a happy and healthy 2010. May you each feel how special you are to me. I love you both so much and though I will miss spending every waking hour with you, I promise to make the time we do have together even sweeter.

Happy New Year!

Our first Christmas...

...as a family of FOUR! I still can't believe it. Its like the new toy that never gets old.

Christmas morning my wife brought the boys, all decked out in their new Christmas jammies, to our bed while I slept. I got to wake up to two smiling, laughing, toe sucking, babbling faces! This alone was the best gift I could ever get. After several rounds of "good morning" kisses, we made our way to the opening of the Christmas stockings. My wife recorded while I helped the little guy with his stocking and then we switched so she could help the big guy. It is times like this, where having TWO babies comes in handy! As expected, the boys could care less about the gifts, and spent their entire time trying to eat every last piece of wrapping paper.

When we were done, we went over to the living room so I could pump (yup, even on Christmas), while my wife and I opened our gifts to eachother as the babies played and watched from their saucers. My favorite gifts from my wife were two web cams (one to set up at home and one to set up at work) so I can see the babies and they could see me once I'm back at work, a digital photo keychain with 50 photos of us and the boys loaded up on it, and a portable DVD player to take with me to work so that I can watch videos of the boys while I am in the lactation room pumping. Needless to say, I cried. Not just at the thoughtfulness of her gifts, but the fact that I will need all these things to stay and feel close to my babies, since I will no longer be just an arms length away. *sigh* I miss them already.

After we opened our gifts we fed the boys and got ready to go. Our first stop was my moms house. We didn't actually go in because they are all sick with colds and the flu, but we wanted to drop off their gifts and my mom wanted to come out so she could look through the car window and see the boys in their Christmas jammies. Poor grandma!

We then headed off to my mother-in-law's house and had a delicious breakfast followed by the opening of 200 gifts. Yes, there were over 200 gifts under the tree! and its not like they have a big family. Its only my wife and her brother and they have 2 kids and we have our boys. Its just that my MIL loves to shop and likes for everyone to open a ton of gifts, so she goes nuts during the holidays. If we didn't pay attention, we could have lost one of the boys in the mountains of paper and boxes that soon took over the living room. It took several hours for everybody to get through all their gifts, we even took a break to feed the boys and put them down for a short nap!

My favorite part of the day was watching our nieces and nephews play with the boys. Our nephew is 17 and niece is 13 and the boys just love them! It really is amazing that the boys don't have any problems going with them considering they don't see them that often. They are very sweet to them, and its funny to watch their whole family argue over whose turn it is to hold/play with them.

The boys had a great time and by the end of the day, they were exhausted! We tried to get them down for naps but with everything going on, they wouldn't stay asleep for long. They fell asleep in the car and when we got home, they ate and went straight to bed.

My wife and I took some time to process the events of the day and how lucky we are to have such beautiful boys. Christmas with our babies was everything I hoped it would be and more. I love being their Mama more than anything in the world and I hope they always feel how much I love them, even when they stop letting me shower them with kisses every second.