fall day

My hubby is the greatest!  He not only finished getting the boys ready in the morning and put them down for a nap while I met with a friend for coffee, but he had these waiting for me this morning :)

Stargazers because they're "our flower," sunflowers because he knows I love them and burgundy marigolds because they're fall-ish.  How thoughtful is he?!

I loved getting to drive out about 30 min. to se my friend Lisa at her home.  he had a homemade mocha waiting for me!  After lots of catching up and talking about parenting (she's raised 5 kids!) it was time for me to head back home.  

The boys actually slept longer than 45 minutes today (WOAH! exciting! totally didn't comprehend the grace of this until motherhood) during their nap.  Which meant we could go on a beautiful walk. 

the lake next to our place

it's fall!

And now I've started making these twice baked buttnernut squash for dinner.  The timers going off and now one of the boys is awake (and letting me clearly know it!) Thankfully I feel like I can handle whatever especially after all these graces today.  Thank you Lord. 

barefoot and ...in the kitchen

Over the past couple of months I've been able to get back to cooking.  I couldn't even think about cooking, remember what we even had in the fridge, or contemplate that I'd have energy or time to make a meal for the first few months of motherhood...but now some semblance of sanity has returned and I've been getting back in the swing of it.

Here are a few things we're been digging into lately:

• Flounder Fish Tacos- yummy and a good change up!
• Chicken Paprikash
• Chicken (or pork chops) with Balsamic Peppers- I used pork chops so break up the overload of chicken we'd been having and it turned out well. Next time I would just do this dish on the stove instead of in the oven...to bring more depth to the peppers and onions and make the sauce a bit thicker after cooking.  Still good. 
• Green Beans- I always change recipes and in this one I subbed bacon for pancetta and pecans for pine nuts; tasty

a visit from jacksonville-ians

Grayson and Jackson sure do attract a lot of visitors! We're thankful that our families are so willing to fly up to see us the boys.  This past weekend my sister Courtney and her husband Scott came up to stay with us.  They now live in Jacksonville and basically have the complete opposite climate.  We don't talk weather most of the year.  I would cry.   

They loved getting to see the little guys especially now that they're responsive, smiley, giggly and more interactive.  

Aunt Courtney and Uncle Scott with the boys

Jackson and Grayson also went to their very fist tailgate at the school we work with.  Thankfully Court and Scott helped me actually make it there with both kiddos. 

Sara loves hanging out with juniors Courtney and Ashley...and they love the boys!

Dad and Jackson

Here are some other pictures from the last week or so:

Here's Jackson looking so much more grown during tummy time...

and precious Grayson!

Here are the cutest little butts I've ever seen! Seriously, I love their teeny cheeks!

thank you and welcome.

Thank you Missouri.  Despite all the trash talking, you gave us a big "W" on Saturday.  Grayson and Jackson were again excited for game day and are happy the Dawgs are 2-0.   

And welcome to the SEC.

On another note, the twins are doing well and thankfully getting back on track with their daly schedule.    For the last 2 weeks life has been hecitc. At least for me.  Without a predictable day everything feels more draining and Grayson and Jackson were just out of their routine.  We think it has been a combo of growth spurts, colds, and my supply decreasing and not keeping them full.  So now we're supplementing them after several of their meals and adding in more and more formula.  We need to bulk these guys up!  That seems to have helped and along with the nasal bulb to clear their runny noses, we seem to be a little more back on track.  

But in the midst of the chaotic weeks, I was at a breaking point so my wonderful, amazing, selfless, husband send me out to dinner and then told me to check into a nearby hotel.  It. was. incredible.  Eight hours of sleep and no babies crying! That was Friday night.  Didn't I marry a good one?!  So thankful!

5 months

I wrote this 2 days ago:

Hard to believe today, 5 months ago we were waiting around at the hospital and I was till prego.  Grayson and Jackson are still doing great.  Here's what they're up to lately:

• giggling:: especially Andrew can get either one of them going with silly songs, but if you catch them at the right time they'll belly laugh!
• grasping:: toys, hair, their clothes, pacifiers and bibs...they love to grab whatever they can. they now even look at something and specifically grab it. lately their favorite thing to grab is their pacifiers- out of their mouths! we're working on them being able to put them back in!
• putting things in mouth:: this is the start
• smiling
• rolling over:: they both can do this from tummy to back either direction
• weight on legs:: both love to be held while they stand up
• almost sitting up:: Jackson especially is almost able to sit. lately he's demise is that he leans forward and thus falls over. Grayson's not as interested in sitting
• tummy time:: they now enjoy tummy time far more and are usually super focused/mesmerized by whatever pattern is on the blanket they lay on.  and we think they're heads aren't quite as flat :)
• napping:: they're changing up their routine lately...Jackson seems to be ready for 3 longer naps and Grayson's fine with 4 so we're trying to figure this one out! we're heading toward 3 and made their bed time now 7 instead of 8.  that also is because they've been waking up at 6:30 instead of 8!
• still no reflux anymore :)
• have strong necks
• love looking at books
• still love kicking
• making bubbles and razzing
• talking:: both seem to be getting more and more talkative. Grayson lately has been almost yelling but it totally content.
• love bath time
• jumping:: they love when you toss them up and they try to bend their knees and jump. gets a smile every time
• superman:: they LOVE to be flown around while being held like superman.  sometimes even gets giggles

Grayson

Jackson

littlest dawg fans

Grayson and Jackson got their very first glimpse of the Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday.  We love the fall in large part to college football season starting.  So I obviously was excited to put these cuties in their gameday gear. 

Andrew's parents originally got us the red onesie when we told them we were pregnant.  And then they sent us the black one after we revealed there were two kiddos on the way.  I seriously can't get enough of our little guys! And they actually got to watch kick off. We do Georgia cheers every once in a while so they were ready for the game!

Jackson is in black and Grayson in red

Watching kick off in our red and black! ...And yes they are actually watching the game on TV!

And thankfully the Dawgs won too! We love that! 

baby must haves

Now that we're out of the first few months of babyhood, I feel like we're experts on newborn gear.  Some of this may be more geared toward twin-mom needs, but here are some of our favorites:

1) pacifier. Yes, yes, yes.  Especially for twins! Our kiddos must learn to wait their turn and since they haven't learned the virtue of patience, we've settled for me to keep my sanity and that means pacifiers! The NICU nurses popped them in before we even had a chance to say no, but now I couldn't live without them! And let me tell you, there's no nipple confusion.

Our hospital gave these. Avent Soothies. Lots of different kinds though.

2) pumping bra. Ridiculous? Yes.  Worth it? More than I can even imagine! This is the ultimate multitasking gift! In the early days I had to pump after every feeding so that meant I spent near 5-6 hours a day pumping away.  With this bra I could also check email, give bottles, change diapers, or relax (as much as you can while being pumped!) But seriously, every mom thinking of nursing, pumping or ever giving bottles this is a must since you may need to pump for supply, bottles, infections, etc.

She really looks like she just had a kid.  Not.

3) swaddle blankets. Life savers! These little things are great because they're breathable and stretch so you can get a nice tight swaddle...which is the key to calm little ones and puts them to sleep since it reminds them of the womb.  Now we often just swaddle the boys arms if we need to put them in the car seats during nap time.  Though we don't use them for full on swaddling now, they're great blankets and pack well.

Aden + Anais brand is what we've got.

4) swaddlers. Love those swaddle blankets, but once our boys started to grow, they quickly began to kick out of the blankets during sleep times.  But velcro comes to the rescue! These are still tight and make it harder for G and J to break loose!

The Halo Sleepsack Swaddle is great, especially the fleece ones in the winter.  And the zipper is great if your baby is in the NICU because of all the wires, etc.

Summer Infant SwaddleMes are great for the summer and are lighter weight. Love them too.

5) bouncy seats. These may be more of a luxury for one baby, but are totally essential for twins.  How do you entertain (while being contained), or feed 2 babies simultaneously?  Bouncy seats.  Plus since our boys were preemies and had terrible acid reflux + indigestion, they slept in these (while swaddled) for the first couple of months because the incline helped.  And we traveled with them...bed + feeding place + entertainment in one!

This is the model we have. We got both at a Moms of Multiples consignment sale.

6) baby carrier. With 2 kids I couldn't just plan to carry one if they got a little fussy so Dad had to be able to get in on the action too.  When car carriers aren't the most practical things these are awesome...think quick walks around the park, baseball games, even church!  Plus these are instant nap creators.  And our boys are starting to have flat heads and are facing the possibility of having to wear helmets (yes, hilarious and sad at the same time!) these help keep them off the backs of their heads.  Don't worry helmet heads are more associated with preemies...and therefore also more common among twins.

This is ours: FreeHand baby carrier. Bought one, borrowed one.

7) better bibs.  Gray and Jacks spit up a lot so we've started opting for these with cloth on one side to absorb and waterproof on the back to keep their clothes from getting soaked. You could also just get super thick ones.

These are the ones we got from Babies R Us. Also love that the velcro is on the side.

Other more basic necessities:
1) burp cloths. (just get what you think you might need...then a few more)
2) bibs.
3) hats. No matter the season you'll need somethings since they can't be in the sun and can't wear sunscreen until 6 mo.
4) onesies. Some people like gowns, but for us they were a pain to get on and the guys would scream. So we opted for onesies but we especially liked things that snapped or zipped and we didn't have to pull over their heads.
5) socks. You'll need them no matter the season

Basic needs for you:
1) sleep. ha.
2) patience. ha.
3) if nursing, LOTS of food and water. that I can do.
4) awesome husband. check!