Tuesday, June 26, 2012

11 Weeks: Great-Grandparents, Piggy Banks, Firsts and Dedication

I am overlapping from week 10 some because I forgot some things. We have had so much going on the last couple of weeks. A week ago last Friday my grandparents came to meet the boys. My grandparents are so great and I am so happy that they were able to come and meet their newest great-grandchildren. We got to spend all last week with them. We didn't do a whole lot. We just hung out around my house or Amy's house for most of the week while grandma spoiled the kids. Mama and Papa got to experience a few firsts that the boys had last week. They bought them their first jungle gym and the boys absolutely love it. They will just there and look all around and smile. It is so cute. Mama got to see Jackson roll over on his own for the first time (from belly to back) and Jacob laugh out loud. I missed Jackson rolling over but was holding Jacob when he laughed. It was so cute. The boys have both started smiling a lot this week. It's not just aimless smiling anymore. They are actually smiling at you when you talk to them. It is the sweetest thing ever!!! They are getting so big and changing so much. I just can't hardly believe it! Mimi bought the boys their first piggy banks last week too. She had some change to divide out between all the kids and Trey was the only on with a piggy bank so she got one for Taryn and the boys. Trey put all of the money in each of the piggy banks. Wednesday we went up to the outlets with the family. We did some awesome shopping for the boys at Children's Place...thanks to Aunt Amy who found the great sale for us...we bought 20 shirts and 6 pairs of pants for $45. It was all 6-9 months and winter clothing which is perfect for us. I was very excited. On Sunday Pastor McGinnis dedicated the boy back to the Lord. It was such a special time. Mom, Dad, Kathy, Mama, Papa, Amy, Travis, Trey, Taryn, Tia, Wes, Micah, Sloane, Erin and Elaina were all there with us and we were so happy to share that time with them. Travis took pictures for us so I will post those later. It was extremely important to Justin and I to have Pastor dedicate them. We know that God gave us these two wonderful boys. What a day of rejoicing as we presented them to the Lord. It was an absolutely wonderful week. I will be having family withdrawals this week. Here are some pictures of my ever-growing little boys...

As soon as Mama and Papa got here they were holding the boys. So sweet!

Mama reading to two of her great grandchildren

Jackson was napping while Mama was reading


Jacob

Jacob smiling at me for the the first time that I felt like it was really at me because I was talking to him (6/18)

This is what happens when his daddy swaddles him. :)

Jacob was just chillin with his Grammy. He was OUT!

Jackson and Daddy
Cute little babies in their jammies

Jackson smiling...this was the first day that he really started smiling. (6/19)

Sweet baby boys sleeping on Aunt Amy's couch

Jacob with his piggy bank


Jackson with his piggy bank




The boys ready to go to Pigeon Forge for the day with the family in the first Polo outfits


Look at that sweet Jacob smile

Jackson

Jackson


Jackson watching us play Spinner

Playing Spinner with Mama and Papa...I was winning :)

The boys first time on the Jungle...They LOVED it!



Jackson

Jacob

The boys in their dedication outfits

Sunday afternoon nap with mom

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

2 Month Pictures

As I mentioned in one of my previous posts we took the boys to JC Penny to have their pictures taken. We just got the CD back last week. I still cannot believe how good the pictures turned out. Prepare to ooh and aaahhh. :) I cried when I saw them...they are just so precious.





Jacob

Jackson





Jackson

Jacob




Jackson

Jacob

2 Month Check-Up

We took the boys to the doctor last Thursday (June 14th) for their two month check-up. They have grown so much. Jackson is now 10 pounds 2 ounces and is 22 inches long. Jacob is 9 pounds 2 ounces and is 21 1/4 inches long. You can really tell that Jackson is getting a bit bigger. I can start to tell the difference in their clothes. I have told Jacob he needs to catch up because I have two of everything and my OCD can't handle them not wearing the same thing. :) I guess one of them will always have something a little too big or a little too small. The doctor was very happy with their growth. They both increased in the percentages on the growth chart. We don't go back for 2 more months. They are both eating 4 ounces at feedings and she was happy with that as well as the fact that they are sleeping through the night. I am one proud momma!!!!

10 Weeks: Spring Cleaning and Father's Day

We didn't do a whole lot last week except clean, clean and clean some more. My grandparents came to stay with us for a little while so we had to get the house in tip top shape. Things were starting to drive me crazy anyway because I hadn't done a deep cleaning since before I was pregnant. So I went through the whole house and organized things and cleaned top to bottom. Justin and I literally did something every evening. Justin is such an amazing husband and father. He helped me so much. He cleaned out our garage and painted the floor and helped me with things inside too. I am so proud of our home that we share together with our precious boys.

The boys are doing so good. They are pretty much sleeping all through the night now. We feed them between 8 and 10 and let them sit up for a little bit and then put them to bed. They will sleep at least until 6 or 6:30 and sometimes longer. I have discovered that even if they wake up in the night that they can be re-swaddled or given a pacifier and they will just go back to sleep. Then we get up around 6:30 or 7 to eat and are up for the day. They have definitely learned the difference between night and day. During the day I leave their blinds open and their door open so they are exposed to everything. At even given point of the day there are either two girls playing, the TV is on, music playing or something going on in the kitchen and it doesn't phase them if they are asleep. Then after their 8 or so feeding we snuggle with them for a bit and I put them in their bed and close the blinds and turn off all the lights. They are such good babies.

They are starting to interact more. I have been putting them in their bouncy seats with toys in the morning. You can get a smile here or there out of them. On Tuesday I gave them these little things I call a lovey. I think the technical name for them is security blankey. It is a really small little blanket like thing with a stuffed animal head on the top. Jacob absolutely loved his. It was the first time he seemed to really smile because he enjoyed something. He just cooed and rubbed his face all in it and snuggled with it. It was the cutest thing ever. Jackson didn't care as much for it. He was fine with it but just didn't seem to enjoy it as much as Jacob did.

We did take them to the doctor on Thursday but I will write about that separately.

Then Sunday was Father's Day. Justin's very first Father's Day. I will post the pictures from that later. Travis took them so I have to wait to get them from him. We were supposed to dedicate the boys (we originally planned it for the 24th, then had to change it) but Mom and Dad were delayed getting back from their trip to California so we had to postpone it. It is now back on schedule for the 24th.


Tummy Time

Trey went to the movie with us this week to see Happy Feet 2. Jacob and Jackson stayed at Aunt Amy's.

Jackson sleeping wit his lovey

Jacob napping with his lovey


I was trying to get a picture of his hair sticking up in the back but you can't see it too well.

9 Weeks: Stay at Home Mom Testimony and Two Month Old Twins

I know I am a couple weeks behind but here is the 9 week update...

Monday I officially resigned from my job. I have been praying since I got pregnant about what to do about my job. I loved my job but knew that my children were much more important. At first I thought I might try to find some work to do from home but I just prayed for God's will. I have found in my life that when you truly release things into God's hands and not try to make anything happen that He will take care of everything. For several months I just prayed and still worried a bit about losing my income. We would be totally fine on Justin's but that was a huge chunk of our income to just stop getting all of a sudden. Then one day while I was pregnant the Lord took me on a journey down memory lane and showed me how he had always provided for me. Every job I had ever had was handed to me. My first ever job was working a hot dog wagon at Neil Sandler Ford on Saturdays. My sister worked it first and when she was done they asked if I wanted to do it so I said yes. I made very good money doing that. I am not exactly sure how long I did that. Then I was a nanny for a little while. A friend of mine called me and said she knew someone who needed help with her children and asked if I would be willing to help her. I was very excited and was there with that family for about a year. (Side note...that job allowed me to buy my very first car which happened to be a dream car for me at the time...a red Mustang) While I was working as a nanny my mom called me one day and said her boss asked if I would be willing to come and work for him. I started working with Mom in March of 2004 and worked there until September 2010. In June 2009 my neighbor at the time started talking to me about what I was going to do since I graduated from UT and asked me to come work for him. That is where I was currently employed. God just reminded me that every job I had ever had came to me without me ever seeking a job. There are more stories within there of how God worked those individuals times out but that is the main point that God provided. So I did not feel released to search for a job to work from home even though I kind of wanted to. I knew that if God had something for me to do He would bring it to me. He always had so why not this time? So I just kept praying for God's will. Then there was a possible opportunity for me to stay with my same company and work from home. While that should seem really exciting I didn't feel right about it and wasn't sure why so I continued to pray and just asked the Lord to close the door if it was not His will because I didn't want to do anything that was not God's perfect will. I thought everything was coming together and then I got a call that they were not going to be able to give me that option. I was thankful for a clear answer and gave them my formal resignation. I am thankful for my time with URS but I always knew it was only for a season. God has given me the desires of my heart to be able to be home with my children. I know it is not for everyone but for me home is where I am to be. I will miss everyone at URS but we will go visit them often. I am so excited about the journey ahead with Jackson and Jacob.

Tuesday was June 5th and the boys were two months old. Where is the time going??? They are getting so big and so much more alert. They went to their very first movie at the movie theater. Regal has summer movies for kids that are only $1 so I told the girls I am keeping that I would take them. We saw an American Girl movie. They did really good.

Wednesday we all went to the pool in our subdivision. It was such a perfect day. It was cool with a breeze in the shade so the boys didn't get too hot but the sun was out and warm enough to be in the pool.

Thursday I went to clean out my office. I didn't realize until I walked in there that I would be emotional over cleaning it out. I am still not sure why that happened but it did none the less. I think it was just the fact that I wouldn't be with some of the close friends I had made over the years there every day. I will still get to see them of course because they won't stay away from these boys for very long. :) It is just a change in seasons and I am thankful for the different seasons in my life.

Friday we took the boys to JC Penny to have their 2 month pictures taken. They did absolutely amazing. They never cried and let us pose them however we wanted. They turned out so good. I was shocked. Therefore we will be spending lots of money there. :) Every picture was so good that there was no way for us to pick so we just bought the CD. That way we can buy whatever we want from Walgreens or somewhere like that. Then after the pictures we went over to Amy and Travis' house for dinner with them and Mom and Dad. Mom and Dad were leaving for vacation so they wanted to see all the kids before they left.

Saturday we took the boys to "Bark in the Park". It is an event they have downtown where dogs are welcome. So of course we had to take Bailey. We had dinner on a patio out on Market Square and just walked a little bit. It was a beautiful night.

Sunday we didn't do too much. We went to church and then lunch and then we came home and took a nap with the boys. After that we began our week long extravaganza of spring cleaning.
It's been another great week watching my boys grow. :)


Big boy Jackson just chillin with a full belly

Jacob aka Mr. Mittens

Their first trip to the movies. We ran into Karen and had to take a picture to make Bro. James mad. :)

Mr. Mittens chillin in his bed

Jackson...I don't think he was too happy

The boys all ready to go see everyone at URS

Jackson taking a nap in his car seat

My boys relaxin with their momma

Jackson loves to take over his Daddy's chair :) So precious

How sweet is my little Jacob?!



Wednesday, June 6, 2012

8 Weeks: Sleep, Sleep and More Sleep

Well last week the boys turned 8 weeks old. Time is just flying by. They are becoming more and more alert and it is so neat to look at them and them look right back at you. Jackson and Jacob are just the most precious boys in the world. Last week they started sleeping longer at night more consistently. They had been going 4-5 hours between feedings and I thought that was really great (compared to 3 hours between feedings) but they weren't consistent every night. Sunday night a week ago they went 6 hours between feedings and became more consistent with doing that every night. All last week they would do 5-8 hours between feedings once per night. So that sleep, sleep and more sleep in the title is referring to me. I can sometimes get 6 1/2 straight hours of sleep now at once. I can handle that. I also discovered last week that they were no longer wanting to eat and go right back to bed during the day. Now they like to sit up for a while, have some tummy time or cuddle time for an hour or so before they start getting really drowsy and then they will lay down and take a nap. We can still lay them right down after their late feeding in the evening though and they will go right to sleep. We didn't do a whole lot last week other than hang out around the house. Here are some pictures of my growing boys.

Dad's All-Star Kids

Jackson playing with his toys

Jacob playing with his toys

The boys hanging out in the kitchen with me while I wash bottles

Friday morning cuddle time with mom

Jacob 

This has got to be one of the cutest pictures yet!

Jackson in Daddy's chair