Our week (or so) in review

Last week it was back to work.  Could you tell based on the lack of blog posts?  Luckily it was a pretty good week and it's even nicer that the next three weeks are only 4 day work weeks (well, 4 days a week with students).  

Here are some updates from the past week and a half:

• We might have found a workable sippy cup.  We've bought 4 different sippy cups over the course of the past few months, trying each of them out.  Much to our dismay, they didn't seem to get how to use any of them.  We decided to try a couple of them over again and I think we've found a winner.  Of course its the biggest cup we have so it just seems too large for them, but Ellis was just chugging away on water yesterday.  Logan is a bit more skeptical, but he does keep a watchful eye on what Ellis is doing and takes a few sips here and there.

• Their three 1 hour naps have changed to one 2 to 3 hour nap.  During my Christmas break, their naps were all over the place, but I thought maybe it was because they were waking up a bit later, and possibly because of the various wakings at night since they were sick and popping teeth left and right.  Well, now they only take 1 nap (sometimes two if the first nap is short), and it actually lasts 2-3 hours!  Wow, the things I can do with a 2 hour chunk of time!  I've actually gone in their room a couple times during naps to make see that they were still sleeping.  Sure, we have the monitor on, but it's crazy how quickly their nap schedule changed.  They have also been sleeping well at night.  This weekend, they slept about 12 hours both nights (versus 11).  Quite exciting to not wake up until the 7 o'clock hour versus 6am!  

• Logan is up to 6 teeth now - he got another top one this past week.  I've been trying to get a picture of either of them smiling, with their teeth showing, but that's been kind of hard.  Today I got quite a cheesy smile of Logan, so it'll do for now!

Here are the bottom ones...

and here are the top...

• Looks like it might be time to disassemble their swings too!  We've had them napping in them off and on since they were born.  Sometimes it was just easier than taking them upstairs and they tended to sleep longer in there.  Well, the last few times we put them in there, they woke up after 40-50 minutes.  I don't think they liked not being able to move or get comfortable, like they can in their crib.  Troy said today, "looks like they are growing up!"  Obviously I knew that, but it's just such a bittersweet feeling.  They play so well independently (most of the time), whereas it seems like just a few months ago I felt like I had to always sit next to them to hold a toy in front of them because they couldn't hold onto the toy themselves.  I know I say it all the time, but how time flies!  

For me, I'm keeping busy with my class I'm taking at OCC.  It's definitely a refresher for me - I've literally taught my eighth graders some of the material that I'm reviewing in the first couple chapters, but I think it's a good way to get my feet wet for the higher levels of math I'll be getting into, in the next few years.  So far 100% on the Chapter 1 quiz and 100% on my first Chapter 2 assignment!

That's all for now.  I can't believe it is already mid-January!  I'm looking forward to a much needed scrapbook weekend with my mom and sister next weekend.  Going to put together my first couple weeks of Project Life, and maybe get a page or two done of the boys first year album.  Aside from that, I'm looking forward to another easy week!

9 month checkup

Aren't these the cutest boys ever?  Okay so maybe I'm a bit biased =)  Today was our 9 month check-up.  No vaccinations (although a small poke for a hemoglobin check) and a good review by the doctor, so it was a win-win appointment.

Logan weighed in at 18lbs 4oz.  (a 1lb 3oz gain in 3 months) and measured 27.75in long (1.75in longer).  His measurements keep him just above the 25%-ile in all measurements.

Ellis weighed in at 18lb 4oz too! (gaining 2lb. 12oz in 3 months) and is 28in long (an increase of 2.25in). He is also just above the 25%-ile in all measurements.  He has been a bottomless pit lately and eating EVERYTHING in site, so his larger increase doesn't surprise me! 

The only "concern" is that since both boys have colds right now, they also both have fluid in their ears.  Unfortunately there is nothing you can do about it and just hope their cold clears up soon so the fluid leaves their ears.  Also we are keeping our fingers crossed that it doesn't progress into an ear infection!  The doctor also mentioned continuing our adventure in finger foods and foods that aren't pureed smoothly - increase the "chunk" so to speak.  The only issue with some of the things we've introduced is that it is either too small or too slippery for them to pick up themselves.  Peaches - too slippery, Peas - too small, banana - too squishy, etc.  They eat them when we feed it to them on a spoon, but it doesn't help the "finger food" part of it.  She also confirmed that it wouldn't hurt to give them a snack before bed, besides their bottle.  Our boys are growing well, so keep the food coming!

Aside from that, all is good here.  It's my last few days off before returning to work Monday.  I'm glad I have all of my to-do's done so I can focus on relaxing and doing fun things the next few days!

How soon I forget...

...about growth spurts.

They had so many of them when they were first born, then around 3-4 months, then apparently there is one around 6 months although we were starting solids, so we might not have noticed it as much.  Well our 9 month growth spurt is in full force.  This past week, I have been up with at least one of the boys every night and Sunday night/Monday morning I was up with both of them - twice!  I literally got Logan back to sleep and 5 minutes later Ellis was up.  Then got Ellis to sleep and Logan woke up.  Logan was sleeping about 15 minutes that time before Ellis woke back up.  I was attributing it partly to teething (although Logan has only gotten one more tooth this week) and partly to the nasty cold that they have, until this morning.  Last night, we gave them a little bit of rice cereal with their bottle before bed to see if they'd sleep longer.  Lo and behold, they slept through the night again and didn't wake up until 6:30 this morning.  Maybe it was just luck, right?  Well, they usually take a nap around 8:30-9am, just for an hour.  I tried putting them down this morning and they were NOT having it.  Sometimes they'll cry a little bit, just until they get comfortable, but this was not just a normal cry.  This was a SCREAM.  Okay, so I'll wait a little bit to see if they stop and fall asleep.  I'm not so good with the "cry-it-out" method, mainly because if I do that, it could wake the other one up and then I have two unhappy babies.  Putting them to sleep is different though because they can't wake the other up if they aren't sleeping yet right?  10 minutes go by - no luck.  I go in there, try to give them their pacifier, no luck.  Wait 10 more minutes.  Nope.  Not gonna happen.

Usually once Troy or I pick them up, when this has happened in the past, they smile because they got their way.  This time though, Ellis was still screaming.  I grab the Orajel.  It looks as though both of them could be getting two more teeth on the top soon, so I feel inside Ellis's mouth and try to get some orajel on his gums.  Meanwhile, get Logan out of his crib, since he's still crying.  Take them both downstairs and let them play, thinking they just weren't ready for a nap.  They are still crying.  Okay, what gives?  At this point it is about 9:15 and they usually eat their "breakfast" between 9:30-10, depending on when they nap, so I grab the little container of cheerios we have, and Ellis just stops crying.  I give him a few, and he grabs them out of my hand like they are going out of style.  So you are hungry huh?  Put him in his highchair, grab Logan who has somewhat calmed down, and give them some cheerios while I go make their cereal and mash their banana.  Breakfast took literally 45 minutes!  They had their cereal, banana, bottle, and enough cheerios and apple cinnamon puffs to choke a horse.  Between cheerio after cheerio and an attempt at drinking water out of a sippy cup (I finally found one that they might like), I realize it is now 10am and both of my happy little babies are back.

I am glad that I finally realized what it was that was going on.  It is not a fun feeling when 2 babies are crying uncontrollably and everything you think of, isn't working.  If all else fails, try Cheerios!  =)  So here we are 1 hour later and they are still playing all around.  Hmmm...wonder if they are going to nap at all today?!?  Or if this momma is going to get a shower!

Welcome 2012

I hope everyone had a great night into the New Year last night.  Although I wasn't exactly "in bed" at midnight like I was afraid I would be, I will admit I was snoozing on the lounger and had to be woken up to watch the ball drop!

Today has been a great start to 2012 already.  I'm excited for what this year brings.  I have a few goals, but not necessarily "resolutions".  I feel like the word "resolution" is just one big taboo.  Things you do for the first few days, maybe a week, and are often forgotten by February.  Nicole did a One Little Word online workshop last year and will be completing it again this year that has you choose a word that you'd like to focus on, reflect on, throughout the year.  Although I would LOVE to do this class, the more I think about it, I have a few others that I am going to be doing and I don't want to totally overwhelm myself with too many year-long projects.  It has gotten me to think though about an overall goal/word that I'd like to focus on this year.  I think if I had to choose one word now, it would be balance.  Since I've gone back to work this past fall, I've always joked about wishing that there were more hours in the day to get things done.  Well, last I knew, more hours weren't going to be added into the day just for my benefit, so I have to figure out what to do to have more productive days so I can achieve this balance I am looking for.  When I think of this word, my mind just spins with the different aspects I think about, but here are some of them:

• Find a better balance between all the roles I have in life: mother, wife, friend, teacher, etc.  Try to keep work at work more than I have in the past.  I need to better utilize my prep time so that I am bringing less work home.  This will allow me to spend more meaningful time with Troy and the boys when I'm at home.   This will also give me more time to talk to and hang out with friends and family that I don't talk to as often as I'd like.  And when I am in a specific role, be 100% there.  Not just physically there, but mentally there too.
• Balance time between things I do for others and things I do for myself.  I think many new mothers, especially working mothers, struggle with this because we want to spend as much time after work and on the weekends with our babies since we are away from them all day.  Although I am like this, I also feel that it is important to do things for myself.  Not in a selfish way, but life doesn't have to stop when you have kids.  Yes, I love my boys like you wouldn't believe, but I don't think I'm a bad mom for wanting to do things that don't include them.  I still want to have my monthly scrapbooking gatherings with my mom and sister, or go out for drinks with some co-workers, or meet up with a friend for dinner.  I have to remind myself that it is okay to take time for myself.  
• Realize that my day shouldn't revolve around my to-do list.  On the weekends when the boys are napping or at night when they are asleep, I feel like it is a constant race against the clock to see how much I can get done.  It isn't uncommon for me to be pumping, making baby food, and checking school papers all at the same time.  Yes, I frequently multi-task and that is fine, but I also have to remind myself that it is okay if I don't do it all in one day.  
• Fill my life with meaningful things.  If something isn't going to harmfully alter my life, I want to stop spending time worrying about it.  I have laid in bed thinking about things, but realize that thinking/worrying about whatever it is, isn't going to change the outcome.  I also want to spend less time complaining about things that I have no control over.  Sometimes I can get myself so worked up about something that irritates me, that aside from venting about it to get it off my chest, I am just wasting time and energy being upset.  I need to have more of a positive outlook on life and although things aren't perfect, know that there is only so much I can control.  

I feel like I could go on and on, because there are a few more things on my mind regarding this need to balance certain aspects of my life, but I want to focus on these parts first.  My hope by focusing on this, this year, is that I will really, truly enjoy life more.  Life goes by too fast to be in a constant whirlwind of things to do and the go-go-go mentality.  I need to take time for myself and those that I love and spend less time dwelling on things I don't agree with, that I have no control over.  We'll see how successful I am.  I may use this blog as a brain dump every so often to let you know of my progress so far, so stay tuned.

As far as the other projects that I am doing this year - thanks again to Nicole for introducing me to Project Life.  It appears that people have a variety of ways of completing this project, but I plan to take at least one photo every day and pair it with a journaling card that comes in the awesome kit you purchase.  There are a variety of page protectors to buy also, but the ones I am getting allows for one layout to consist of an entire week (spaces for 7 pictures and 7 journaling cards along with the title/date card and extra journaling card), and at the end of the year, you have a very simple, but cute scrapbook of your year.  

I also need to get moving on my other project, Don't Blink.  Yet another class Nicole (my eyes and ears for scrapbooking ideas!  Thanks sis!!), told me about.  This class provides different ways to scrapbook your child's first year.  There are many different layout ideas and topics to scrapbook for the first year of their life, instead of feeling overwhelmed by scrapbooking every milestone that was reached.  Especially since I will have two scrapbooks to do, I don't want them both to be too identical, so by using the checklist of different types of layouts you could do, it will allow me to really make two unique scrapbooks...not cookie cutter books with the typical milestones in it.  I'm really looking forward to trying out a few layouts later this week.

Here's to a crafty, yet balanced 2012! 

75% of the way there

Yes, I'm the lame math teacher.  The boys are 75% of the way to 1 year old today.  As much as I enjoy watching them at each phase they've gone through already, I really really enjoyed watching them grow this month.  Here are some highlights:

• Some of their new foods include pureed black beans, pureed and small pieces of ground turkey, cheerios, pieces of kiwi, melon, and peaches.  We've tried giving them peas and carrots without pureeing it but they look at me like I'm crazy.  No, I take that back, they start screaming at me and if I don't put something more enticing on their tray, they will scream their bloody head off.  And if they are that wound up, they won't accept anything besides cheerios to calm them down.  I don't know if it is the texture or what because they LOVE pureed peas and carrots.  They also enjoy Gerber yogurt melts and mild cheddar lil' crunchies (aka cheese poofs).  

• At the beginning of the month, they enjoyed climbing all over anyone and could stand as long as they were holding onto something sturdy.  Well now they pull themselves up on anything that is taller than them, and will stand their confidently as long as they want to.  I'm even impressed that they can get back down without freaking out or going head first.  They are pretty careful with that transition, surprisingly. 

• They now enjoy standing in their cribs when they wake up from a nap, which is pretty cute if you ask me.  

• What is pretty scary though, is turning your head for maybe 15 seconds in the basement and looking back to see them climbing the stairs.  Okay, so they only made it to the second step, but that is still too many steps for a 9 month old if you ask me!

• Both boys have started crawling on all fours, although Ellis is more content army crawling because he is so fast with it.  

• Logan has started playing peek-a-boo - He absolutely loves the play silks he got for Christmas (thanks Aunt Nicole!!)

• Ellis waved, although I'm not sure if he really meant to do it.  He only did it once, so I'm not sure if it was just a fluke.

• Logan has gained 3 teeth this month for a total of 4, and Ellis has 3 so far confirmed.  Sometimes when he opens his mouth, it looks like he might have another on the bottom, but he hasn't allowed me to put my finger in his mouth to see if it has actually come through yet.

• They crack me up so much.  Between their laughs, snorts, wide gummy (with a few teeth poking through) smiles - they are just so funny.  I have yet to get a picture with their cute little teeth showing because they are still pretty short, but hopefully I'll get a chance to do that soon.

• Ellis likes to growl like a lion ever since Troy showed him a youtube video of lions.  I have been making animal sounds too and Logan has been making a piggy sound.  I don't know if he is copying me or if it is just ironic that he is making the oink/snorty sound.

• Ellis clearly and repeatedly says "da da da da" while Logan has just started saying "ma ma ma", but usually he does that when he is tired.  As Nicole said, why is it that when they say "dada" they are so excited, but when they say "mama" they sound so sad?!?  

Their 9 month appointment (with NO vaccinations!!) is next week, so I will have weight and length/height updates then.  

We have had an amazing 2011 and we are so excited to see what 2012 brings us.  Tonight we plan to stay in and visit with Val and Derek.  Neither Val nor I are sure we will make it until midnight, but hey, that's what motherhood brings, right?!?  Happy New Year everyone!

1 month scrapbooks

I have finally finished Ellis and Logan's 1 month scrapbooks that my mom prepped for me.  It's crazy to look back just 8 short months ago and see how much they have changed already.  Here are a few of my favorite layouts/pictures for each of them (feel free to click on any picture to enlarge it):

Ellis's album -- 

 Logan's album --

Thanks again mom for giving me these albums.  It was a big help for putting together such great memories of their first month.  Now that we are closing in on 9 months in the next 2 days, I must start looking at their 1st year album! I better get a move on it!

Music lover

Yesterday the boys went to Grandma's so I could have some "me" time.  I had a scrapbook project I've been wanting to get done, and one that I've been wanting to start, but I just haven't had the time to do either.  Finishing their 1 month scrapbook that my mom gave me back in May, was my goal (which I plan to take a few pictures of my favorite pages and blog them in the days to come).  One of the elements of the scrapbook was a note for me to write to each one of them, to put at the end of their scrapbook.  I was re-writing Logan's letter and it was interesting to see what I noticed about him after only one month.  I stated in it that I noticed that he was interested in music (Troy played his guitar around them quite a bit back then), and how much he calmed down when music was around.  Well, last night was proof that he still enjoys music.  While we were eating dinner, he was crawling by us and was a little fussy (probably because we wouldn't pick him up -- not easy to eat with a little one trying to grab your food!).  Troy grabbed my iPad and put on James Blunt and instantly he stopped fussing and he was 100% engaged in the video.  So crazy...