some catch up

This is the longest I have ever gone without posting.  Man I really want to still document here but, as with everyone else, there just seems to be no time to sit down to actually do it.  But today I do have a little time so I thought a little catch up post was in order!  

Let's see.  What has been going on around here since my last post in mid-November? 

We took a little trip to Branson, MO.  It is about 4 hours away for us and we had never been.  Well, actually Lonnie and I have been to Big Cedar many times before (which is close by) but never ventured into Branson.  We wanted to take Blakely somewhere and do some fun  things just for her.  She has adjusted to being a big sister really well but she definitely needs some Mommy and Daddy attention sometimes.  We took Brenda with us so she could watch the twins while we took Blakely places.

We had a great time.  We went to a butterfly museum, 

had dinner at Dixie Stamp.ede where Blakely was enthralled...

went to the Titanic museum (Lonnie has a high school friend that works there and knows everything there is to know about it)

went to Silver Dollar City where Blakely rode her first roller coaster and loved it.  

and had lunch with all of us at Br.anson Landing.  

Lonnie and I went on a date one night and had one of the best steaks we have ever had.  It was fun to getaway and the babies did great.  (also...traveling with a babysitter is bomb)  

We had a good Thanksgiving...I took ZERO pictures.  At the last minute we decided to travel to see Lonnie's family a couple of hours away.  A few of them had not met the twins yet so I am glad that we went.  Of course we had to load up the van with what looked like a week's worth of stuff just to spend a few hours away from home.  Everyone did good.  I took a pack n play and Benton and Emery actually napped in there together.  I wasn't sure they would do that but they did and I was soooo thankful because it made for much happier babies!  

We had our twice yearly wine and gourmet dinner.  It was so wonderful and a great date night for us!  

In early December I hosted a Christmas pajama playdate for all my friends and their kids.  We bought them all matching jammies.  It was so much fun.  Chaotic, but super fun.  The big kids and medium kids played in the playroom most of the time and the mommies and the babies stayed upstairs.  We drew names for the kids to exchange gifts and the mama's played dirty santa.  I think we started a tradition!  

It was so hard to get a picture of all the kids.  We were like a bunch of crazy mamas trying to get the babies to look and the big kids to smile at the same time.  But we did it and I love this picture oh so much.  

December is always a busy month made harder this year by everyone being sick for what seems like forever.  First Blakely got a little cold with a cough.  Then Benton and Emery got it.  They all got better for a few days and Blakely's cough came back.  Then about a week after being well the twins woke up snotty one morning.  No big deal.  That night they began to run a low grade fever.  Emery woke up in the middle of the night screaming and would not calm down.  She would only fall asleep sitting up on Lonnie's chest for 30 minutes at a time. The next morning her fever was up and she was crying a lot.  We gave her Ty.lenol and her fever went down and she acted better.  Still didn't want to be put down but she wasn't crying.  Well a couple hours after that she just became so lethargic and wouldn't nurse.  I got really scared because she was just limp and I couldn't really rouse her.  She wasn't asleep she just had this really sick look.  I ran her up to our doctor's office.  Her fever was 103 when we got there and they could tell she was so sick.  Strep, flu and RSV were all negative.  So I was like well what the hell?  I just knew it was going to be strep or rsv.  Anyway, our doctor, who is so wonderful and we LOVE him, came in.  He looked in her hears and said well I have GREAT news.  She has a raging ear infection and her eardrum will probably rupture.  Great news?  Ha!  Anyway, he was so happy to see her ear like that because ears don't typically cause that high of a fever (it had risen to 104 at this point) so he was thinking she may need a spinal tap and cultures and hospital, etc.  So yay for ear infection!  They gave her a shot of antibiotics there and Mot.rin and she perked up a little bit.  We avoided the rupture thank goodness!  About 5 days later, Benton was still so so snotty and started running a low grade fever again.  I took them both in (so he could check on E's ear too) and Benton had an ear infection...not near as bad as Em's but still had one.  So on antibiotics he went.  Oh and I didn't even mention this but they both had thrush.  Fun.  Great.  Emery got another ear infection after being off the antibiotics for 4-5 days because she was STILL snotty.  So she got another round of antibiotics.  I took them in for an ear check this week and Emery's is getting better (still have 5 more days of meds) and Benton has fluid behind both ears but it is not infected so as long as he doesn't get a cold anything then that should go away. I am so ready for everyone to feel better!  Oh and Blakely still has a cough for which we have started her on an inhaler.  Blah winter

is that not the saddest face???

Also, I felt terrible for Emery because all of her crying with that first ear infection was because she was in pain.  I honestly never even thought about an ear infection.  Blakely never had one and it just didn't even cross my mind.  I thought she was crying because of her fever.  She's never had a fever before so I thought that was just how she was when feverish.  When it would go down she would stop crying.  And it all just happened so fast.  She became snotty and not 12 hours later she was completely inconsolable.  Anyway, every time they get snotty forever more I am going to worry about ear infections.  So Daddy got an otoscope for Christmas ;)

My grandmother turned 80 and her sister 92 on December 19.  We always go have lunch with them and give them their gifts on that day.  I loaded up all the kids and took them on a Saturday to a very popular restaurant here.  It was hard but I am glad I did it.  They were both so happy to see them and it went well.  

Well that seems like a good enough catch up post!  Babies are waking up and it is time to go get Blakely from school.  Christmas is next!  

6 months old!

Well my little sweet potatoes are half a year old.  Time is flying, as usual.  Even though I have help on some days, I constantly feel behind at life.  But that is okay.  I am learning to be okay with being behind on lots of things.  As long as my kids are taken care of and the bills are paid I guess we will be fine!  

Anyway, at six months Benton and Emery are so different.  It is amazing to already see how they have their own personalities.  I think it is time to split up their monthly updates!  

BENTON

Sleeping: He goes to sleep at night between 830-900 and sleeps until about 6-7 with one feeding in the middle of the night.  A good night he doesn't eat until 5 and then goes right back to sleep.  A bad night he eats at 2 and goes right back to sleep.  A REALLY bad night he eats at 2 and at 5.  We do have the occasional night where he sleeps right on through until 7 but those aren't the norm.  I know he is just hungry because he takes a full feeding and goes right back to sleep.  He doesn't just nurse for a minute or two and fall back asleep.  I have hope that one day I will get a full night's sleep!  

During the day he is a great napper.  I just give him the pacifier, his giraffe and a blanket and he goes right to sleep.  He takes about 4-5 naps a day but I can tell we are about to make the transition to 2 good naps (morning and afternoon) with a small catnap in the evening.  He also naps in the rock n play but we plan to move naps to the crib very soon.  

Feeding: Benton eats 7 times a day plus that one night feeding.  We are making the transition down to just 6 feedings per day because they are starting to nap longer during the day so it is hard to cram 7 feeding in.  My boy loves to nurse.  He just snuggles right in and when he is done gives me all kinds of milky grins.  Gah....the absolute best thing about nursing is those sweet milky grins.  He is very still when he nurses and likes to hold my hand or Emery's hand.  He stays on longer than she does and he would love to sleep right beside me while nursing all night long.  We don't do that because mama is already tired but he would probably sleep all night long if he slept with me.  :/

We haven't started any solid foods or rice cereal yet.  He had not shown any interest in our food until just the last few days so we will get that started soon.  The very first thing Blakely ever had was a little taste of gravy from our favorite breakfast place so we are planning to eat there soon and have the twins get a little taste of gravy too.  Not a lot but just a little off our finger.  Then I will get to making some baby food!  I can't wait!

Clothing: He wears 6 month clothing and can wear some 9 month stuff with his cloth diapers on.  When we took our weekend trip to Fayetteville I used disposable diapers and all his pants fell off him!  

Diapers: Cloth diapers except at night.  I am using a mix of prefolds/covers, Fuzzibunz one size, Bumgenius 4.0 and Bumgenius Freetimes.  I have about 20 or so diapers that I would like to sell and then buy more FB and BG.  I used a lot of different types with Blakely but with 2 in diapers and other people helping me change diapers on some days it is too hard to keep up with multiple different kinds of diapers.  I would like to streamline it down to just 2-3 types that I know I love.  

Weight: 14 pounds 12 ounces.  This is a little less than the 10th percentile.  He has been fluctuating from the 5th to the 10th the last few months.  I guess he is small but he is so much chunkier than his sister so he seems BIG!

Height: 26 1/2 inches.  

Hair:  not much of it there!  It looked really light when he was born but what he does have now seems like a dark brown.  

Eyes: BLUE!

A few things about Benton:

He has a few nicknames.  It seems we rarely call him his actual name.  Benny is the most common one.  Ben-man, Benny Boy, Ben Boo, Biggie.

He rolled from back to front for the first time on 10-19.  I put him on the floor while I took Emery outside to the blanket.  I came right back in and he was on his tummy so I missed it!  He has done it multiple more times since then but he doesn't do it on purpose to get to stuff. He is just happy where you put him.  

He does SO GOOD in the car seat.  Thank goodness.  He plays with his toys and then eventually falls asleep with no fuss.  

He does like his pacifier.  He only gets it when sleeping or sometimes in the car for a long drive.  During the day he doesn't really care about it but good lord at night that boy wants it. I have to get up and put it back in for him at least twice every single night...and that is a really good night.  I hate the pacifier.  

He is so freaking happy.  He smiles all the time.  Most of the time all you have to do is look at him and he smiles a huge smile.  

He takes toys from his sister.  If they are close together on the blanket and he can see her toy then he automatically goes for it.  He doesn't care that she cries after because her toy is now gone he is just happy because he found a new toy to play with.  

He is ticklish.  Mainly right under his chin and under his arms.  Baby laughs are so good.  

He loves the bath.  He has learned how to kick all the water out and makes a total mess every single time.  

He looks adordable in hats.  Gimme all the hats.  

My Benny man.  He is just the sweetest.  He smiles all the time.  He rarely fusses unless he is hungry.  During the day he is a perfect angel.  I joke that he does what he is told.  He is plenty happy playing on the floor with whatever toy you give him.  He can roll over both ways and has multiple times.  He just doesn't do it all the time on purpose...he is happy where you put him.  It you put him in the bouncer he is plenty happy.  When it is time for a nap he goes right to sleep.  He is just easy.  At night he is a little more difficult..ha!  I mean honestly he goes to sleep great.  He just requires more attention at night than Emery does.  He wants his pacifier put back in more than once usually and then he gets hungry too.  He makes up for taking away my sleep during the day though.  The sweetest boy.  It makes me tear up just thinking about his gummy smiles and snuggles.  I love him so very much and I am so thankful for this boy. 


EMERY

Sleeping: Oh my girl is a great night time sleeper.  She goes to bed between 830-9 and sleeps until 7-730.  She would sleep longer but usually Benton wakes up and is hungry so I have to wake her up to eat.  There has been one time she slept until 830 and so did he!  She now sleeps on her tummy at night since she learned how to roll over.  She has to have her arms/hands over her face and eyes when she sleeps.  

She naps great for the first part of the day.  The last part of the day she fights sleep like you would not believe.  This is one of the reasons we are trying to move down to the 2 longer naps plus an evening catnap for them.  I think she is wanting longer naps instead of more frequent naps.  There are many nights when she skips the catnap around 630 and we have to keep her awake until 9 and she is not happy about it.  But she sleeps great at night so I don't even care!  

Feeding: She nurses 7 times a day and like I said, we are gradually moving down to 6 feedings a day.  She loves to nurse too but is a little more wiggly when nursing.  Her arms are always moving around and she ends up hitting Benton in the head and making him mad.  I usually have to hold her hand out of the way so it doesn't bother him.  

She is now interested in our food and we plan to start solids very soon.  I can't wait to make baby food again.  It was so much fun with Blakely and I am hoping doing it will get me back into cooking for the whole family!

Clothing:  She wears 6 month but can still fit into some 3 month dresses.  

Diapers: cloth diapers.  My BG don't fit her as good as I would like.  Mainly it is just the older ones where the elastic has worn out a little.  The FB fit her perfect so I would like to get a few more of those.  I am mainly still using prefolds/covers for her.  

Weight: 13 pounds.  My tiny girl.  She is growing along the growth curve fine she is just small.  Or "petite".  

Height: 25 1/2 inches

Hair: I can't tell if it is a light brown or a darker blonde.  But I can tell you that it stands straight up off the top of her head!  I call her Fuzz.  

Eyes: BLUE!

A few things about Emery:

She has a LOT of nicknames.  We call her Sue a lot and I have no idea how this got started.  It was Sister Sue and now it is just Sue.  Blakely calls the twins Benny and Sue.  The child is going to think her name is Sue.  Others are Sue girl, Sue Sue, Suz, Em, Emmy, Em-doodle, Em-Bo, Fuzz, Remy, Rem-doodle, Rem-turkey, Rem-a-lem.  Are we the only ones that have super weird nicknames for their kids?!

She rolled over from back to front the first time on 10-22 and she hasn't looked back since.  She rolls all over the place and I can't keep her on her back.  She rolls to get to whatever it is that she wants.  

She wants to be in on the action.  If we are all in the kitchen and she is in the living room she fusses until we bring her to where we are.  She just wants to know what is going on at all times.  We joke because the first 2 1/2 months Emery was the super easy baby and Benton was the one who required so much attention and now it is completely the opposite.  When she is awake she wants to be into things.  

She loves when you talk to her.  She would be perfectly happy sitting and watching someone talk to her.  

She is so smiley.  She will have a really concerned look on her face and if you smile at her then she breaks out the big smile.  She goes from super unamused face to super grin in no time flat.  

Just like Blakely, she loves hearing Lonnie sing.  

She does crunches all the time.  If you do lay her on her back then she does crunches trying to sit up.  Then she rolls to her tummy.  

This girl is a lover of the pacifier.  She takes it out and looks at it and then puts it back in.  She gets it for naps and bed time but also a lot of the time in the car because she does not enjoy the car seat.  Usually if we are just going somewhere across town she is okay but any longer than that and she is ticked.  The issue is that, unlike Benton, when she gets tired in the car she doesn't get lulled to sleep.  She fights it big time.  Which means screaming but most of the time the pacifier can help her get to sleep.  

She chews on her toes!

Emery is quite ticklish on her neck and under her arms.  You can really get her laughing by trying to kiss her neck.  

Oh Emery girl.  I love you so much.  You are such a spunky girl already and you want what you want.  I know you get frustrated because you can't just jump up and run around to check everything out but soon enough my girl.  Your smile lights up a room.  You smile with your entire face.  You want nothing more than to have your Daddy hold you all the time.  It is really sweet.  You can be unhappy and if he comes to pick you up you just smile so big.  You have definitely figured this out because the second you see him make a move for you, you giggle.  We had a few nights this month when you were having trouble getting comfortable in your crib.  It was right when you figured out how to roll over so it disrupted your sleep some.  Anyway, I put you in bed with me and you snuggled right up and slept wonderful.  I loved that so much.  I am so thankful to be your Mommy, Em!  

Halloween!

We had a great Halloween.  This was actually the first year Blakely went trick or treating.  Usually we have just gone to Lonnie's office, my Dad's office and then my grandmother's house.  But since it was on a Saturday the offices were out.  My friend Tina had a little party outside at her house and the kids trick or treated in her neighborhood.  It went so well we are going to make a tradition out of it!  

Anyway, at first Blakely told me she wanted to be a princess.  Then she changed her mind to Batgirl.  She makes a pretty darn cute Batgirl if you ask me!  

The twins were Biggie and Tupac!  I started calling Emery Tupac a long time ago because her knot headbands reminded me of how he would wear the bandana on his head.  Then one day when Benton finally started getting chubby I called him Biggie after calling her Tupac and it hit me that would be the perfect Halloween costume for them!  They are super cute little gangsta rappers :)

Razorback Weekend

We took Blakely to her first Razorback game this past weekend.  Lonnie and I haven't been in a few years and we have always looked forward to taking Blakely.  The only way this happened was that Brenda (who helps me around the house and with the babies 2 days a week) came up to babysit the twins while we took Blakely to the game.  

My Dad has a condo there (and season tickets) so it all worked out perfectly!  Fayetteville is about 3 hours away from us so we packed up and headed that way when Lonnie got off work Friday.  The drive was not fun at all.  For some reason Emery decided to absolutely hate the car seat so I had to sit on the floor beside her for most of the ride.  Blech.  

But once we got to the condo it was great.  There are about 8 food trucks across the parking lot from the condo so Lonnie and I picked up dinner there and headed to bed pretty early.  

The game was at 11 the next day.  We got dressed and I even dressed the babes in their gear and Brenda took a pic of all of us.  I know this made my Dad so very happy.  All of his grandkids together in Fayetteville and taking his first grand baby to her first game.  So fun! 

We got to the stadium early and walked around, chatted with people and then headed in side early.  Or they headed inside early and I went to the car to pump.  

Her favorite part was calling the Hogs!

The game was AMAZING.  Our Hogs have been known to let us down but they played great and the game went into FOUR OVERTIMES.  Blakely did great even though she was definitely over being in one place for so long.  She ate the entire time we were there.  We ended up pulling out the victory and it was super fun.  So loud and everyone jumping around and freaking after the game.  I basically sprinted to the car to pump again.  

She's not asleep but just didn't want her picture taken.

When we got back to the condo the babies were getting sleepy.  We let Brenda go and Lonnie and I strapped the Benton and Emery into the stroller and took off to walk around campus.  Blakely was excited to see "Daddy's college".  The babies napped for the hour and a half while we walked around.  We showed her Lonnie's fraternity house and he took her inside.  I wasn't about to stroll 2 infants in there!  We took her picture in front of Old Main....just in case she decided to go to school there one day I thought it would be a neat picture to have. We showed her Lonnie's name in the sidewalk and she thought that was pretty cool.  

I had to take a picture of him by the Kap.pa S.ig house (even though you can't really see the house for the trees...we didn't want to walk back!  But those cars are the parking lot for members) with all his babies.  Crazy how things change!  

When we got back to the condo Blakely was worn out.  She passed out on the couch and we put the babes to bed early and enjoyed a bottle of wine.  It was a great way to spend the weekend and I can't wait to do it again!  

Friends and Kids

I mentioned a while back that a couple of my friends were pregnant at the same time as I was with the twins.  Well this past weekend we all got together with all of our kids for the first time in a very long time.  First time with the babies, of course, but first time in a long time with all the big kids too.  

We were celebrating Keisha who had Kollyns 2 months ago.  We never got to do a sprinkle for her because she was on modified bed rest, I was knee deep in zero sleep and we all just had crazy busy things going on.  

Anyway, it is too hard for us to all get together without kids so we decided to bring the kids and let them play while we hung out, tended to babies and maybe had a little wine!  

It was so fun.  It was hectic for sure.  Between 5 of us (Sarah and Jenny don't have kids....yet!) we have 12 kids.  Tina has 3, Courtney has 2, Katie has 2, Keisha has 2 and I have 3.  The good part is that Tina has 2 older kids (11 and 9) and Courtney has one older (12) so they were able to entertain and play with the medium kids (4 of them....a 5 year old, a 4 year old and two 3 year olds) while the all the mama's took care of the five itty bitties!  

The babies screamed, the medium kids ran around the entire time and also screamed some and the older kids were a little over it.  We calmed each other's babies, we made plates and got drinks for each other's medium babies and we all told the big kids what to do!  I don't think I held my own babies much that night!  Like one big crazy family.  

My Sarah and Jenny were doing this at one point during the chaos.  

Anyway, it was special.  I am so lucky to be able to do this mom thing with these people.  We have all been friends since high school and those girls are my family.  We laugh together and we cry together.  We get advice from each other and we share the struggles.  We help each other through the hard times and we lift each other up always.   These girls are my rock, my ride or dies, my squad.  THANKFUL FOR THEM.