Evan's First Feature Film

Self Titled: Evan Walking :-)

Evan's First Haircut

Seems like this first year is full of first and we have another one...Evan's first haircut. He did great. He loved his 'airplane' seat but wasn't too crazy about the woman w/ the scissors :-). He fussed a bit when she was trying to cut his hair but amazingly stayed still enough for her to actually cut it. Evan and Taryn both had their first animal crackers today. They have a jar of them the help 'distract' the children. Didn't quite do the job w/Evan but Taryn enjoyed hers as she watched her brothers get his hair cut :-)

Coming Soon to a Blog Near You

Featuring Evan's First Steps...yep our little man took his first steps on St. Patricks Day and has been taking more and more every day since. He doesn't quite like to practice as much as his sister. As a matter of fact whenever Taryn sees me playing "walk to mommy" w/Evan she gets upset and wants her turn and Evan is all to happy to accommodated his sisters request...ahhh such a gentleman. We will definitely be posting video in the next day or so...stay tuned :-)

..Hershees is Good..But Pleez HerrY GranDpa

so Wee diddint Wayst anYee Tyme lookIng For Chokalit...dUring oUr serch wE fowned Sum Hershees...Ittt was ohKay. PleEz herEEE to Jorjuh GrAndpa...wee RealLy wunt sum miLk.

HookED Upp^*(&!

iT seemz LykE our reekwEst ffor sum heLP frum A doKtur wurKed. thEE furst ReesPonder was Dr MyLow who praktisses medasin in Idahoh. thee fakt tHat hee EEven ekspanDid ouR preesrkipshen tu nklood Awl things chokulit makes hiM a Favorit of ours.

But it Gott eeVen beddeR...beekuz Doktur Chocolaticowi, frum PeNsulVaynea, sentt uS an uproovaL messidge too^!=,;'. sorree for The ekstra kerikters tHere...E-MaN just stardeD banGing on the Keebored.

Good afternoon! I am writing today to let you know the latest research shows that CHOCOLATE milk is excellent for growing little boys and girls and should be given upon their asking.

Dr. Chocolaticowi

weE stilL waNt moRe preeSkripshEns for Chokalut...so Keeap em coMing. Annd thanks tu DoktUrs MyLow anD ChocolaticoWi for hooKinG sum Twinz up!

Welcome back Caffeine

Oh it has been a long 2 years w/o my friend caffeine but as of this week I am officially off my caffeine restriction as the babies are weaned. I am actually not all that happy about them being weaned but it wasn't up to me...they both decided they were done and my supply decided it was done so I guess that means we are done and like w/any other situation, when things don't quite go how you wish, you have to look at the bright side. The bright side for me is caffeinated coffee :-).

Sunday morning I went to nurse Evan and he laid against me and put his thumb in his mouth I tried to remove his thumb and help him latch but just fussed, so we gave him a bottle. I tried again on Monday morning and was met w/the same results so I figured that meant he was done. Taryn would latch but would only nurse for a few minuets on one side so I figured she was done too. I am kind of sad that it is over but I knew the end was coming. I have been fighting supply issues for the past few months and Taryn had dropped all her day time feedings in the past 6 weeks or so which just exacerbated the issue w/my supply. Some ways I feel like I failed as I was short of my goal by 2 weeks...it feels kind of like running 25 miles of a marathon and not finishing. The other side of me says I did good to make it 11.5 months. I learned a lot and if I ever get the chance to nurse again, I think I will do so much better and be more confident in my ability to nurse.

Nursing was such a struggle for me. I have since learned that a lot of women struggle w/it in the beginning...it just doesn't seem that anyone talks about it. The hardest part in the beginning is Evan wouldn't latch. We finally tried a nipple shield and voila he latched. Taryn latched immediately at the hospital, I was thinking "yay, I have at least one child who will nurse". But then they put a pacifier in her mouth at the hospital, and all of a sudden she wouldn't latch anymore :-(. We tried the nipple shield w/her as well and it did the trick. So thus, began our journey. Having to use the shield was extremely frustrating, it affected the milk transfer, which I wasn't aware of at the time, so Evan would nurse 45-60 min each time and still seemed to be hungry afterwards. I couldn't figure it out. I thought I must not have enough milk. Taryn seemed to do a little better, nursed for shorter periods of time and seemed satisfied afterwards. I tried to start weaning from the shield at about 6-7 weeks but then I got Thrush and Evan got Thrush and then Taryn got Thrush, so I re-introduced the shield so we didn't keep giving it back to each other. That was very painful for all of us. I think both babies were finally weaned from the shield by 10 weeks but the damage had been done...my supply though adequate wasn't really enough to exclusively breast feed both babies all day. So we kept them on formula for their bedtime feedings. I wanted to quit nursing every single day for the first 3 months. I just didn't feel like I was doing a very good job w/it and Evan always seemed hungry. I felt very defeated. But we kept truckin along and then finally after about 3-4 months things seemed to get easier. The feeding lengths got shorter and by 5 months we were on a great schedule. I am so glad we stuck it out and even though I didn't quite make my goal, I know I did the best I could for my little ones. And I am proud of myself for not quitting when I so desperately wanted to. I am going to miss that part of our relationship but this is just part of them growing up, I can hardly believe they are almost 1 year old. The time has gone by so fast. I love my little angels and cherish every moment I have w/them.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Doktur...pLeaze heLlp uss...

weee aRe So klose tu sum CHOkolutt meulk weee KAn tayste iT! Thanx Granndpa SUTt for oUR permisShin kard! Now alL weee Nead is foR a DoktUr (and we wIll axcEpt n-E DOktur that will sine for uS!)...sO if yu R reEdinG this anD yu R a Doktur, pLeez prinT out theee Kard, chEk YES (its tHe onlee opTioun :-), aNd send it Bak to us oN eeemale too: tuttletwins@gmail.com. And if yu R nnot a dokTur, pleeez Kall your Doktur and ask dem too Hook-a-twin-up! Shur wish yu had Gone to Medikal Skool GranDpa...keeep yor ffingers krossed for uS! Weee luv you and hope wee Kan put a pikture on heer soon Of us and our cHokolate mUstaChes. Luv...E-mAn anD SwEEt Pea

First MOPS meeting = Rough Week

Last Wednesday I went to my first MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) meeting. I was excited and nervous to go...I always hate being the new girl but the isolation of my new found life as a SAHM has been getting to me. I need an outlet so one of the girls on one of the forms suggested attending a MOPS meeting. Though it sounded like it was just what I needed I was a little hesitant. The meetings are twice a month from 0930-1130 which happens to be right in the middle of Evan and Taryn's nap time (1000-1130). I had no idea how they would handle missing a nap as they never miss a nap. One of the ladies from MOPS reassured me that I would have a pager so that if they did get out of control I could come rescue them and take them home to nap. So I thought about it for a month or so and then decided I just needed to go. The babies have been doing better and seem to be able to handle longer stretches of wake time so we went. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the group is very Faith centered, another plus as now do I not only get to hang out w/other moms but I get to have fellowship w/other moms. They do other things besides the monthly meeting as well. Including play dates and mom's night out. I was really looking forward to Evan and Taryn being able to interact w/other children as well. However, this first meeting there was only one other little boy in their room w/them, maybe next time there will be more kids for them to play w/or when the move into the next age group. The only bummer is that my little pumpkins have been sick this week, and I am not sure if they caught their colds from our MOPS meeting or somewhere else :-(.

Being sick is something new for us because w/the exception of one little cold that only lasted a few days and really wasn't all that bad at 5 months they haven't been sick. So this new territory for all of us. It has been really hard to see them not feeling well and not be able to breath normally. I have just felt so helpless wishing there was something I could do for them. They haven't really been eating well and completely rejected all food for a couple of days and each has lost about 1/2 pound :-(. Evan has had so much drainage in his chest which he swallows and then ends up in his tummy that he cant keep anything down. He vomits it right back up. We called the pedi on Sunday and they pretty much said let it run its course but 2 days ago Taryn had an awful diaper rash that I had never seen before and she also seemed to have a rash around her mouth so I called the pedi again, this time they wanted to see her. I am glad we went, they ended up prescribing amox and DM drops for both Evan and Taryn as well 2 different ointments for Taryn's 2 rashes. Apparently her diaper rash is an yeast infection :-(. My poor babies have had a rough week. But I think they are finally starting to feel better. Evan kept his lunch down and they both ate some finger foods for the first time in a week. Because they cant breathe through their little noses they really haven't wanted anything they have to chew. Now I just need to get Taryn to start drinking (milk) again and we will be good.

What's new @ 11 months for Evan and Taryn?
-Even when not sick Evan seems to prefer to throw his food on the floor than eat it :-(
-Taryn took her first steps (besides what is in the video below) she stood in the middle of the room all by herself took 3 steps and sat back down...she was trying to get to her sippy
-They both sign 'more' but I don't think they realize what it means it
-They vigorously shake their head 'no' when they don't want something, kind of cute, kind of frustrating LOL

We finally bought a real camcorder so now I hope to be able to take more fun video of them instead of having to use my digital camera. And we are making progress on their playroom. We sold just about every piece of furniture that was in here on Craig's List we were pleasantly surprised to see how fast everything went and to think we almost gave it all away.

We are having fun planning the twins first birthday party...I cant believe they will be 1 in just a few weeks. I am a big crying mush, I cant even think of my little ones and their first birthday w/o sobbing. I am not sad about them being 1, I am really excited for them. I don't know where this is coming from and why I am so sentimental about it but, whatever I am obviously not in control of tear ducts LOL.

I dont have any new pictures to post of the cutie pies but I promise to rectify this oversight very soon...in the mean time here is the invitation I made for their birthday party :-) (I know so not the same thing but it is the best I could do at the moment)