Thanksgiving 2011

Finally getting around to posting some pictures from Thanksgiving with the family!

Time Flies

I can’t believe my baby girls are 8 months old today. The last few weeks have been full of firsts.

· Both are starting to crawl. They have been rolling for quite awhile and are able to get where they want to go by rolling to their destination, but the crawling is about to take full force.
· Brylee was sitting up on her own (still a little wobbly but getting there)
· Brooklyn got her first two teeth! Brylee isn’t showing any yet but the amount of drool is ridiculous!
· Brooklyn and Brylee had their first fight. For awhile now, Brooklyn has been hogging the toys. We put all of them spread out on the floor next to the girls and when we come back five minutes later, Brooklyn has managed to grab them all and stuff them under her. Well, Brylee finally and enough. Brylee was playing with a book… Brooklyn grabbed it….and Brylee let her know that wasn’t nice.

Halloween

Halloween went well. The girls were ladybugs and actually kept their costumes on longer than expected. The pictures came out good and when Brylee actually smiles, she just lights up the room. We are working on making that happen more often.

On a separte note, a fellow MoM (Mom’s of Multiples) had this as her facebook status today…
“A mother asked me to watch her baby and 2 1/2 year-old because she couldn't fit the stroller inside the restroom. Not a problem. However, I am left wondering if I just look that trustworthy or if she just assumed there was no way that the woman with eight month old twins would be tempted to steal someone else's kids.”

I couldn’t quit laughing (Still grinning) and thought to myself, how true.

Sleeping... or lack of

The girls are finally getting on a little better schedule at night. During the day, the eat every three hours (or at least we try to feed them every three hours). Brooklyn has decided that she doesn't like to sleep, when we give her a bottle, she usually try to get her to nap afterward, so in perfect logic, if she refuses to eat, she won't have to go to sleep. Or at least that is what she thinks. So, there is usually a lot of screaming and flipping around to try to avoid eating. However, in the evenings, if they anytime after 9pm, they go to sleep for the night. They both start out in the crib but about 3:30am, the fussing starts and we move Brylee into the swing and Brooklyn into the bed. Then every hour or so "Flipper" does her thing and starts flipping around in the bed because she loses her pacifier. Once it is returned to her, she is happy and back asleep. This usually goes on till about 7:30am. So, in the gran scheme of things, I know we are pretty lucky.

So, yesterday Becky comes into the office and proceeds to announce that Liam sleeps from 7pm-7am. The best part is that she didn't just say it once. This was followed by me politely scratching my nose with my middle finger. This was followed by me thinking... I HATE her. (Not really because she is one of my best friends, but at the time, I definitely hated her.)

She proceeded to reiterate her perfect baby's great sleeping habits at Bunco last night, where again I had to scratch my nose as well as did Dusty, but, I was happy for her... really.

Then, this morning, I get this email from Becky...

In other news, I have to say that karma is a bitch. After 4 days of 12 hours of awesome sleep, little man woke up at 4:45 am with a poopy diaper that had exploded out the side, through his jammies and onto his sheet. He then proceeded to scream until 7am when I loaded him in the car and took him to grandmas…then he fell asleep. Never, ever will I mention how good he is sleeping again. I totally jinxed it so now it’s probably back to 4:30-5am wakeups each morning. Figures…

Love ya Becky!

Yum!

Hanging out together. Waiting on Dad to get home with a new DVD player. It's absolutely amazing how addicted they are to Baby Einstein and how miserable Mom and Dad's life is without it.




Brylee liked sweet potatoes!

5 months

Better late than never. Here are the girls 5 month photos with Mr. Bear.

We also found out the girls LOVE Rockband. It was so much fun Brooklyn passed out after the first song.

Well, it happened

Brylee rolled over today. I thought for sure it would be Brooklyn who rolls first as she is always sleeping next to me on the bed and rolls into me. Although, I guess that just gets blamed on gravity helping and Brylee did it all on her own. However, she didn’t seemed surprised when it happened which makes me think maybe it has happened before where she rolled over went “oh crap” and rolled back so we would never know. All I know is that this officially moves us into the next category, the “you can’t just leave them somewhere and expect them to be in the same place when you come back.”

She also has started smiling a lot more.

This is so going to be the girls in the very near future!

If only...

Liam, Brooklyn/Brylee's future boyfriend finally arrived and Becky is such a trooper. After being there with her, it made me appreciate how fairly simple (at least the actual birth part) I had it. From when my water broke to when I had my two bundles of joy was about an hour and a half. Most of which I don't remember thanks to the Ambein and never once felt a contraction. Since his arrival, Becky has been way to good at updating her blog so I decided "If Only" was an appropriate title for this post since if only, I was as good as Becky about updating my blog. I say that as I sit here in the dark (because Munchkin #1 is sleeping on the bed) typing with one finger (because Munchkin #2 is on my lap devouring her hand).

They are growing so fast. It is amazing. I look back at the pictures posted on the blog and it doesn't even look like them.

Some updated pics...

Chillin at the pool with the nice beer bottles in the background. Wish they had been mine. I still haven't had anything to drink (going on a year next week) and am actually afraid of how my first drink will go. I remember about 7 years ago when Jennifer had her first drink after having Jack and it was quite the scene. I have a feeling my friends wouldn't let me stop at just one and I would be the hit of the party when the time comes.

The twins meeting the twins.

The twins meeting Mike Coats, former astronaut and current JSC Center Director. I wasn't sure I was ever going to get my children back. He absolutely loves kids and is great with them. I am pretty sure he cleared off the entire afternoon to spend with the girls which makes for a pretty cool story.

Family picture at the lake house. I can't wait till they are big enough to take on the boat. Hopefully, that will be next summer.

Back at work and busy

Well, needless to say, it's been awhile. I went back to work on June 6 and it has been absolutely crazy. Since then we have:

• Spent Memorial Day at the lake where Brylee managed to poop all over Maria (and I do mean that literally) but she was a great sport about it; although, they have yet to come back over... hmmmm.


• Went shopping at the Outlet Mall. Who would have ever thought that was a good idea? But, the girls did great and we got a ton of good deals. We must be really lucky because we hit all the "Today Only!" sales. Strange how that is the day we always seem to go on? ;-)


• Went for a walk at the lake house and for anyone who has been there, just imagine me and Dusty pushing the double stroller up that hill right as you leave the driveway. It was quite the scene. Needless to say, the next night we went the other way down the street and avoided the hill. However, we did get chased by the Wild Ginney who apparently lives in the neighborhood. Wish I had a video of that.


• Went down to the beach house and hung out on the porch but never quite made it down to the water


• Had our first pool experience at Susie's. No swimsuits yet so our diaper had to do. Brooklyn had a blast since she got to wear Aunt Deb's sunglasses.


• Started sleeping through the night for the most part. On good nights, they both go to sleep around 11pm and sleep till about 6 or 7am. On bad nights, well... we won't talk about those


• Interviewed our first nanny. Her name is Susie. We really liked her and I feel it is a special angel's way of still watching over the girls. Sometimes I still find myself just staring at the girls thinking how blessed I am to be able to spend those moments with them and end up in tears because for some, those moments are gone.


• Dusty entered a picture of Brooklyn in the Gerber baby contest. You can vote once a day at http://apps.facebook.com/gerberphotosearch/entry/182325/brooklyn.aspx Of course, as usual, Dusty waited till the last minute and submitted the first picture he could find at 11:59pm since the deadline was that day at midnight. The cropping tool wasn't the best so her head is huge but still cute.
  

Photo Shoot Take 2

Here are some of the pictures Tracy took. I am working on posting all of them.

Rocking and the magic touch

Here is how the afternoon has gone...
Two crying babies
Dusty and I both take one, put them on our lap and start rocking
Mine quiets immediately and falls asleep within minutes
Dusty's continues crying
I volunteer to trade and hand off the sleeping baby to him in return for the screamer
And again, mine quiets immediately and falls asleep within minutes
Dusty's wakes up from the peaceful sleep and begins screaming
I again volunteer to trade and the cycle continues...

Dusty is devastated that his rockin' skills aren't up to par. What can I say to that?

Photo Shoot Take 1

David came over a few weeks ago and took some pictures of the girls. Of course, it didn't go quite as smooth as we had hoped. Hence, why I had Tracy come out and take some more. Here is a link to David's photos https://picasaweb.google.com/ddehoyos/TheCejkaGirls?authkey=Gv1sRgCO69-6nX34ffwwE but my favorite one by far (or at least the funniest one) is the one of the four grandkids.

Bathtime photos

Abby took some amazing photos of the girls after bath time. Bet you can't tell who is who? Scroll to the bottom to see.

Top two are Brooklyn and bottom two are Brylee.

Dating, anniversaries and fate

As I am running out of things to watch on television during the day, I found myself watching the Newlywed Game today. I stopped to think about what type of guy I want my girls to date. Kinda weird how the tables have turned. As I think back of all the guys I dated and knew my mom hated some (for good reason), I can't help but think I am in for a lot of trouble.

I believe in fate so I have to remind myself that no matter how hard I try to stop or encourage them to date certain guys, it will all work out in the end and they will end up with who they are meant to be with. I just know if they are anything like their mom, there will be a lot of heart-breaks and tears when they will think there life is over and then the next boy will come around and the cycle will start over again.

Luckily, I was smart enough to settle down with a good one (or at least I think so). Of course, Sunday was our 7 year anniversary and as most typical men, he forgot. I got a phone call from my mom telling me happy anniversary and Dusty's mom even sent a card. Yet, he forgot. At least, we were lucky to have Will and Abby babysit and we went to dinner by ourselves, the first time since the girls came home. It was nice to get out although there were some teenage girls running around the restaurant in very little clothing and I could just see the look of panic on Dusty's face as to what he will be dealing with in 13 years. I love Dusty more than words can describe and slightly feel bad for the girls because I know Dusty will be the most over-protective dad ever... and I love him for that.

The girls will find the perfect person for them. It is funny because everyone is meant to be with that one person and sometimes it just isn't obvious even to them. For example, I know two people who I know are going to end up together in life, but neither are ready to admit it quite yet. Call it stubborn or just circumstances, but it will happen. I am sure of it. In the meantime, I can't talk to either of them about it, but I know and someday, when they do end up together and decide to tell me, I will act surprised but I will go back to this post and tell them I knew all along because it was fate. Until then, I just wait quietly for them and wonder what fate has in store for my two angels.

Me and my phobia

Anyone who knows me, knows I am not a fan of any type of body fluids. Probably an understatement since I pass out at the site of blood and have since the 5th grade (apparently a tour of a hospital was a little too traumatic for me) At least that is the first time I can remember actually passing out. After that, it seemed to happen anytime, anywhere... at the doctor's office, health class, dentist, eye doctor, in the hall in high school when one of my "good" friends asked someone if they wanted to see something cool and proceeded to talk about needles and down I went, and even at the vet when they drew Simba's blood (talk about really freaking someone out. The vet tech didn't have any idea how to handle people.)

Before we decided to have kids, we talked about my "problem" and Dusty knew he would have to do some of the bad things like taking the girls to doctor's appointments for shots, but today I was on my own.

This morning was a day of seeing all kinds of "stuff" in all kinds of places. Both Brylee and Brooklyn had not poop'ed for a week. I had called the doctor yesterday and asked about it. They said it was normal (I find that a little hard to believe but she's the doctor). I figured I would give it another day or two before I took any drastic measures which involve... well, we won't go into details. So, anyway, this morning I went over to the crib and the smell was overwhelming. As much as I wanted to be excited because that meant someone was back to normal, I was dreading what I was about to find. The culprit... Brylee. (of course) It had not only gone through the diaper, the onesie, and even the blanket she was burritoed in and was on the bed. Guess that is what happens when you hold it for a week. I am terrified of what present Brooklyn will be leaving me if this lasts much longer.

At lunch time when both were crying, I had to pick the one who was crying less (at least at that time) and Brylee (for once) won. After feeding her, I went to pick up Brooklyn who had been crying the entire time and apparently she had cried so hard, there was snot all over her face.

Then came this afternoon. I was feeding them and attempting to take my time (as much as you can when there are two screaming babies). As most of you know, Brylee takes a little extra help during mealtime. She has not only earned the nickname Spew-a-potamus for spewing everywhere while eating, she also manages to spit-up anywhere and everywhere after the fact. After I had slowly fed both, they were laying on the bed next to me and when I looked down, Brylee had spit-up all over her head.. not face, head. As I sat pondering how that happened, I glanced at Brooklyn who had spit-up still coming out of her mouth and she had the biggest grin on her face. Apparently, throwing up on your sister's head is funny. Ahhh... the joys of twins.

A little too late...

Today I saw a commercial...

Do health issues limit your mobility?
Is it difficult to get to the bathroom on your own?
Do you feel like a bother to others due to your lack of mobility?
Have you fallen in the last 12 months?


It tells me I may have been eligible for a scooter at little to no cost. Why the hell didn't I see that commercial sooner?

Let's look back...

1. Do health issues limit your mobility? - Well, does Flat Jessica look like she is enjoying her drink as much as real Dusty???

We had scheduled a 2 week Caribbean cruise before I got pregnant and since Dusty's parents and Chris and Michelle were going, I thought it would be best Dusty go on the cruise without me... well, without the Real Jessica. Flat Jessica went along for the ride while Real Jessica was at home in bed hooked up to an IV yakking her guts out. I would say definitely limited mobility.

2. Is it difficult to go to the bathroom on your own? - I would say so since there were a few times I didn't make it in time... not that I think the scooter would have helped that problem. I probably would have ended up running over Simba and then still pee'ing on myself. (Sorry no picture for that one...)

3. Do you feel like a bother to others due to your lack of mobility? - Simba seemed to be bothered by the bump.



4. And lastly, have you fallen in the last 12 months? - Well, if they know me, they would know that doesn't take me being pregnant since I am the queen of klutziness, but I did have a pretty bad fall. While walking down some steps at work, one step jumped out at me and I tripped and fell. Embarrassed, I quickly got up and hobbled back to my building. By the time I got back, my ankle was huge. It took a few days for the swelling to go down and for most that saw it, they just thought my ankles were swollen from the pregnancy (although you have to wonder when one is 3 times bigger than the other)

Anyway, moral of the story, for all the pregnant women out there, will someone please call and and see they qualify for a scooter? Someone needs to have the fun I was too late for.

We see who does all the work

So Dusty and I had a long talk about responsibilities and who helps with what. I felt really good about how we ended the conversation and decided to put it to the test. We had just fed the girls and I went into the kitchen to get a snack leaving Dusty with the girls (who he was supposed to be putting in their crib) and a load of laundry on the bed. This is what I saw when I came back 30 minutes later.




So today, which was supposed to be their original arrival date, I am thankful for my two, I mean, three little ones. I can't even imagine if they had just arrived today. Brylee is 6lb 12 oz and Brooklyn is 7lb 5 oz, but Brylee is an inch longer than Brooklyn. I can't even imagine how miserable I would have been at 40 weeks if both of them were the size they are nowin my belly. They are still waking up and eating every four hours. Sadly, we postponed their party this Saturday. They still aren't quite ready to be around a lot of people. Even the times when just a few people are here and they just feed them and put them back to sleep, they keep us up all night long. Not sure why. So, for now they wake up (usually screaming). We change them; feed them, and then they fall back asleep. I have to admit, it is a little repetitive and that is what I spend my days doing. I wish they were awake a little longer and we could play with them more. Some day when they are running around the house screaming and getting in to everything, someone please remind me how peaceful they used to be.

Mother's Day

Wide-eyed Brylee and sleeping Brooklyn


Happy Mommie and girls


Thanks Aunt Debs for taking the pics!

I was a little upset when I didn't originally get a Mother's Day card from the girls. Dusty said it was because "they" didn't know they were supposed to get me one. The next morning when I went to get them out of their crib. They were holding a card. It said happy belated Mother's Day and the reason it was late was because they were learning to write. :-)

It's Takes Two

Yesterday was the first day Dusty had to go in to the office since the girls were born. Yes, I know. As much as he complains about his job, he has had it easy since March. They haven't made him travel (so much for racking up frequent flier miles) and he has been working from home (which has prevented me from buying too much $4 gas). But, yesterday, the cakewalk ended and I was left home alone.

Now I am sure there are a lot of stay-at-home mom's out there and they do just fine, but I am not one of them. It was complete chaos. Before this day, we were on a nice 4 hour schedule 4-8-12 meaning about 10 minutes prior to that time, the girls started stirring, then we got them up, changed diapers, fed them and then they went back to sleep. Well, they slept in a little so we didn't start the process until around 9am which was ok because they were previously on a 1-5-9 schedule. Then came noon and no one was getting up. I decided to wake Brylee up and as I did, I got yaked on. So, then me and my bright idea decided to go ahead and give her a bath which went well until Brooklyn decided she was hungry. Now, when Brylee wakes up, she moves around a little, maybe starts to cry and if you give her a pacifier, she forgets she is hungry and is happy as can be. Brooklyn a.k.a. Wild Banchi opens her eyes and then the screaming starts. Everyone on the block knows when Brooklyn is hungry. And apparently she decided she was hungry right about the time I sat Brylee in the bath. So, nice relaxing bath turned in to rinse, wipe, rinse again and get the hell outta the tub so we can stop the ear-piercing screaming coming from the bedroom. I laid Brylee down on the bed and went to pick up Brooklyn. As soon as I did, she stopped crying. So, again, me and my bright idea decided to go ahead and give her the speedy 2-minute bath as well. Of course, by the end of the two minutes, she remembered she was hungry. I got them both on the bed and was trying to get Brooklyn wrapped up. At this point it is already 2pm, no one has eaten (including mom) and I get a text message from my co-workers telling me to order more popcorn (see picture below... they are devouring my $40 Boy Scout popcorn which normally I could care less, but I hadn't eaten since 8am and was starving)

In return, I sent them a picture of my view. One baby who refused to put her clothes on while the other just starred and tried to figure out what was going on.

Once we got clothed and fed, I put them back in the crib (now 3pm) and where Brooklyn passed out and the starring match for Brylee began.

I finally got a break when Aunt Debs came over and brought chicken nuggets and fed Brylee because at this point, it was already time to eat again. Needless to say, even though the schedule was shot for the day, by that night they were back on their 4 hour schedule, Dusty and I were grateful and he stayed home the next day. :-)

My Future Aggies

Not that I am biased but these are my lil' future Aggies whether they like it or not. I mean, I am all about letting them make decisions on their own but this one is pretty much made for them. I am just letting them borrow my ring until they get their own. Hopefully, they will do better at dunking their ring than mom was.

Life Lessons Learned

The last two months have had their up's and down's and major life-changing events. On complete opposite ends of the spectrum of life, the beginning of life of our two beautiful daughters and the end of the life of an amazing friend. As completely different these events are, they have one thing in common. The lessons learned...

Sometimes I just sit and stare at the girls and it brings tears to my eyes. I actually made it 3 days in a row without crying, until yesterday that is. A few days after Suzy passed away Deborah got a phone call on her birthday and when she looked at the caller id, it showed Suzy was calling. At the time, it was quite upsetting as we were all still in shock but thought it was Suzy's way of telling everyone she was ok and wishing Deborah a happy birthday. We didn't ask John (Suzy's husband) about it because he was dealing with so much and it didn't seem important at the time. This week Deborah received another call from Suzy's phone. The next time she talked to John she decided to ask him about it. He laughed and told her the other night he woke up and went to check on Morgan. When he went into her room, the 2 1/2 yr old was not in her bed. He found her sitting in the living room holding the phone. When he asked her what she was doing, she said " Shhh. I'm on the phone Daddy."

So when someone tells you they grow up so quickly, believe it. At any moment, life can change... and it does. There is no slowing it down or speeding it up. If you don't stop and enjoy each moment, it will pass you by and there are no do-overs.

This Sunday was Easter and it is the first time Dusty and I haven't rushed from one family to the next to try to "fit" everyone in on the same weekend. It is the first time in as long as I can remember that after eating lunch with my family that everyone sat down in the living room and spent time together. Granted the conversations were far from normal. (As if anything with my family is ever normal). No, there were no Easter skits (maybe next time) but there was a lot of laughing and smiles in the room. Partially due to the two super cute babies or it could have been the fact that after the Easter egg hunt, the kids opened their eggs and most had gum and an Atomic Fire Ball in them. I think we spent almost an hour trying to figure out who in their right mind would put Atomic Fire Balls in kids Easter eggs. The kids were too scared to try them. Dusty needed a glass of water after only 5 minutes and I (surprisingly) won $20 from a bet with Jeremy that I couldn't finish one.

I don't know where we go on this journey from here, but we shouldn't wait for a life-changing event to realize the importance of family and friends. So don't let the moment pass you by, hug the ones you love and make sure you tell them.

One Month

Ok. So maybe they are a little more than one month but we are calling it good and here are there one month picture with the bear. These two pictures pretty much sum it up. Brylee (left) loves to be awake and Brooklyn (right) loves to sleep.

And then here is what mom and dad (and apparently Simba) have been doing during that first month.

Top 10 Things Learned from First Days at Home

1. Contrary to popular belief, Mom does fit in the back seat of the car. It's not the most comfortable but it works.

2. Had to tell Dusty "Even though it might have seemed like a good idea, you probably shouldn't have taken the hospital bracelets off." This was after we had fed Brylee... I mean Brooklyn.

3. The crib is big enough for both for a very long time.

4. A wise friend (Jenny) once told me, you can never have enough burp rags. She was so right.

5. Naps are always better when laying on mom vs the crib... especially when mom gets to nap too.

6. It is possible to feed two at one time.

7. Everyone fits on the boppy if they share.

8. Some times we like baths and some times we don't.

9. If Dusty has to ask which one should I feed first, he has learned he should just look at them. One (Brylee on the left) was sound asleep while the other (Brooklyn on the right) was wide-eyed and trying to chew her arm off.

10. Simba has done amazing with all the changes and just sits quietly in his box and watches the chaos.