Today I'm thankful for my friends ...#4

I literally could not do the full time grad student/mom of twins thing without them. They were so helpful and supportive to both me and Marcus while I was on bedrest, and when the babies were in the NICU and now that the babies are here they have all been amazing.

They watch my babies for free (and actually fight over who gets to do so I have never had to miss a class since I have many backups), they follow my crazy, strict, hand-washing and sanitizing requests without blinking an eye, and they truly love my babies and I trust them all with the care of my babies. They also bring me food, stop by to visit, stay away when they're sick, offer to watch the babies so Marcus and I can go on dates, and are just really amazing incredible people. I am blessed. They are my grad school family (since our families live a few thousand miles away) and without them I could not have survived the last year (my pregnancy, bedrest, NICU, parenting preemie twins, being a student/intern combo).

The babies love to nap on D & his husband J, the babies pretty much napped on them the whole time we were in Cape Cod and they've offered to watch the babies for a day so marcus and I can go into the city sometime this winter.

Just some of my other friends at my baby shower.

I am blessed and so very thankful.

Success!!

For the first 6 months we basically let the babies nap where ever they wanted. They wouldn't nap in their cribs so we didn't force the issue, and we quickly found that they napped best in the swing. The problem with this discovery is that we only have one swing. Which resulted in the babies having opposite napping schedules, so I always had a baby awake, and no break ever.

These past few days I've been putting them down for naps in their cribs at the same time, and they are finally figuring it out. As I write they're both asleep, at the same time in their cribs. It's a miracle. I don't even know what to do with myself. Maybe I'll go shower, or do the dishes, or laundry... oh the possibilities.

Today I'm thankful for hand sanitizer ...#3

Yes, I realize this is a completely absurd thing to be thankful for, but I love the stuff. I've always been a big fan of it, but while the babies were in the NICU it became second nature to us to scrub in right as we walked into the NICU, with soap and water, and then use hand sanitizer any time we touched anything, or switched babies.

We continue this ritual at home with constant hand washing and hand sanitizing and have bottles everywhere. I'm especially grateful for it now that it's cold and flu season and I attend a University where people like to cough and sneeze all over everything. (Which just grosses me out to no end).

It's the simple things in life I suppose, but my hand washing and sanitizing efforts have paid off and I haven't been sick since January.

Plus I have one of these...

In my home which us just an added presence for the babies' care providers to wash and sanitize often.

Random I know. I promise I do have deeper and more in depth things that I'm thankful for and I'll get to those, but I really do love the stuff. Especially since caring for my little preemie babies (who also have remained healthy). Plus, I've had kind of a weird, emotionally exhausting day and it was easier to just write about a simple matter.

Round #3- Top 20 Vote for the babies again!!

Yay! Thanks for all your help these last two rounds we successfully made it to the top 20. Now it's time to vote again.

1.) Go to this link http://multiplesandmore.blogspot.com/2009/11/halloween-photo-contest-top-20.html

2.) Vote for #3 Our little Nun & Priest

3.) One vote per computer/phone so if you have more than one vote.

Feel free to pass this on. Thanks again for all your help!!

Voting ends Monday the 16th so vote ASAP if you're so inclined!

Thanks!

Today I'm thankful for Music ...#2

I love to sing. I'm not the best singer and I'm not the worst singer, I don't sing in public solo, but I really love to sing. And my days with the babies are often filled with songs. Songs I make up, for example I have a song I sing when I dress them:

"Put your feet in your pants and do the happy dance, do the happy dance." repeat (with some happy dancing and wiggling of their feet)
"Put your arms in the sleeves and wiggle for me please" repeat (with some wiggling of the baby's arms)

Obviously I'm a lyrical genius :~) but the babies seem to like it.

I also just sing whatever song happens to be stuck in my head. Because of the nature of the service and sermon I've been working on the songs have been hymns, "Pass me not o gentle savior" and "We'll understand it better by and by"(And don't tell Marcus but I might have also starting singing christmas music, he already has it on at work so he's not a fan of hearing it at home already).

Or Mandy Moore or Michael Jackson (which makes Eli laugh) and country music of all kinds. I'm glad the babies are not yet old enough to protest.

I would also like to add that Marcus creates many of his own songs for the babies, oddly enough they almost all have to do with pickles. Neither of us is really sure where that theme came from.

Sleep habits...

The babies haven't shared a crib for several months now and that's mostly because of Eli.

When we lay Emerson down for bed where ever we lay her is where she falls asleep and stays for the duration of the sleep period. No movement at all.

Eli on the other hand literally turns in circles all night long, twists his neck and body in all sorts of shapes. Every-time we go in and check he's in a new position. As Marcus and I like to say Eli sleeps like a wack-a-doodle, and this is said with the love and affection from his mother, who also sleeps in strange positions and moves a lot while she sleeps. Eli takes after me in this sense, and Emerson like her dad goes to bed, falls asleep and stays there.

So because of Eli's movement, which resulted in Emerson getting kicked in the head on more than one occasion they now are tucked into their own cribs each night.

Today I'm thankful for Marcus...#1

On facebook there's a challenge to post in your status what you're thankful for everyday until thanksgiving. I happen to think that's a fantastic idea and lends itself well to blogging. So starting today until thanksgiving one post a day about what I'm thankful for. It's good for ones mental health I think to sometimes focus on the positive.

Today and everyday I am thankful for Marcus. I don't know what I would do without him. He's supportive in all of my goals, dreams and aspirations and even when I don't think I can do it, he pushes me to keep going. He's an amazing dad just like I always knew he would be and I love listening to him talk to and sing to the babies.

 He has the best sense of humor that many don't get to see because he's so shy.

 I admire how hard he works to support us while going to school full time, and he seems to have never ending patience with just about everything and everybody.

(He was doing homework at the hospital while I was there on bedrest).

 He tells me I'm beautiful everyday, he prays on a daily basis (something I just learned about him) and he smiles all the time everyday. He also writes notes in my notebooks for school, so when I open them there's a surprise message from him. He understands my sense of humor, goes along with my many crazy ideas, and laughs all the time. I am eternally and forever grateful and thankful to have him in my life.

(High school homecoming our senior year. It was crazy hair and dress up day or something).

We've already been through so much together and I look forward to the many coming years.