Skipping Ahead to our vacation

I decided to skip the rest of the buying of the house. It was frustrating and aggravating but it's finally over. We now have our house and we are all settled in. Our friends Todd and Anna came from California to visit last week. We spent three days down in Savannah. It was hot and humid but so much fun!

We went to Tybee Island to play at the beach. I was amazed at how fearless the kids were. They are so much more confident in the water. (Which can scare mommy!) They loved finding sea shells. I found a crab in a shell, which everyone had a blast watching. Will found a crab claw and he thought it was AWESOME!! We saw jellyfish and made sure to not touch them! I didn't get a picture of them while we were there. :(
We ate lunch on the beach and while we were there we got to see dolphins swimming in the water pretty close to the shore.

They spent so much time in the water. It was so much fun. Jim and Ellie got pretty sunburned :( (Mom apparently isn't so good at applying sunscreen) 

There was an amazing thunderstorm that night while we were in the hotel room. Lightening and thunder right overhead. Pouring Rain. I love the thunderstorms here! They are so fun to watch. 

Strengths and Weaknesses

Turns out children are individuals. They are TOTALLY different. Even twins are completely different.

Back Story:
We've had a long last couple of days. Saturday night we went to a friends house and the kids didn't go to bed until almost 10:30 which is way past bed time. Then yesterday we went to my parents house and they played with a bunch of their cousins. We got home about 7 which is pretty much bed time. Needless to say the kids were EXHAUSTED.

All of them needed showers before they went to bed so we were preparing for that. I told Ellie to pick out jammies and get ready to take a shower. She didn't want to pick out jammies. Then she wanted someone to be with her. This turned into a full blown tantrum. Ellie tantrums are exhausting and frustrating (as most of them are.) But this little girl is determined, smart, stubborn, and persistent. She will continue to cry/ask for the same thing over and over during a tantrum. You can ask her a question and she refuses to answer it. She will continue to repeat the same statement over and over. I know this sounds like a regular tantrum, but and Ellie tantrum is worse than a Ben tantrum or a Will tantrum. An Ellie tantrum is a battle of wills. And hers is STRONG. Which is something that I love about her. I want her to always have that determination and strong will. We have had to learn how to deal with it. She needs to know there are boundaries. She needs to know that she is being heard and is allowed to be angry but she has to learn to control it. She needs consistency. She's like a wild mare. She has so much strength and power in her she just needs to know how to reign it in when needed. She needs to know who is in control and how far she is allowed to push things. If you give into her tantrums she is ten times worse the next time. When she learns to control her determination, strong will, persistence and stubbornness she will go far in life. Jim is amazing dealing with her. He is patient and strong. He knows how to calm her down and he's able to help her to control her anger. I learn so much from watching him with her.

Will is totally different than her. He gets overwhelmed easily. He is super sensitive and super smart. He is surprisingly smart. When he gets upset he freaks out. His isn't because he wants to control the situation like his sister. He does want things to go his way but not because he wants to control things. In dealing with Will you have to remove him from the situation. When he gets upset its like his senses have gone on overload. Even if you gave him what he wanted he'd still have a hard time calming down. He needs to completely leave the room. Sometimes you have to sit with him and have him take big deep breaths. We have to help him refocus his frustration.

Ben is very emotional. He is very caring and loving. Trust is very big with him. If you tell him something is going to happen it NEEDS to happen. He has a hard time understanding when you tell him "no" its for a reason it's not just because you don't love him. He takes every "no" personally. With Ben you have to explain to him the reason you are telling him no and let him know that you still love him he just can't do x, y or z. He wants to please everyone. He is very concerned about people liking him - whether its us, his friends, his teachers, etc. With him we need to help him gain more self confidence.

Our kids are so unique. They are all so much fun and we love them each so much. Its quite a learning experience in handling each one of them. What works with one doesn't work with another. In fact sometimes what is the right thing to do with one of them is complete wrong thing to do for the other. I'm so grateful that I have such a wonderful husband who is so patient with them (and me).

Halloween

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. (I even decorate my BATHROOM lol) I couldn't skip doing a Halloween post. I didn't take as many pictures as I would have liked but I am working on it. Here is Ben carving his pumpkin. 

Ellie was content to watch. She thought scooping out the pumpkin guts was "disgusting"

 Will was having fun running around the driveway. 

 The closest thing I got to a picture of all of them. 

My ninja checking out his jack o lantern. He said "Mom I don't want to get to close to it because my costume says its flammable." Safety first! :)

Here are my trick or treaters. :) We had a ninja, an Angry Bird and Captain America. (She was Captain America last year as well. But we had to break down and buy her a new costume because her old one was ripped.) I also had to go to three different stores for the Angry Bird costume and after I finally found it and bought it our friend told me he found it at Baby's R Us for 40% off. GRRRR!!! Oh Well. Will Loved it. Once Halloween was over I throw all the costumes into their costume box and they get to play with them all year. It makes it worth the money in my book. 

Happy Halloween!!!

Help!!!

How do I get them out of my bed?! They all go to sleep in their own rooms. (Well, Ben in one room, Will and Ellie in the other.) They all have the same bedtime routine:

Bath(or shower)
Teeth brushed
Potty
Drink
Story
Song
Prayer
Then Mommy or Daddy leave the room and they fall asleep on their owns. Everything is great until about 2 in the morning. They are like ninja's. Some nights we have no idea when they come in our room until the inevitable happens - they get too hot and want to sleep in between us on TOP of the blankets, meaning we dont get any blankets. or they start squirming and kicking and wanting to sleep on top of mommy.

We have a queen sized bed which is WAY to small for two overweight (but working on it!! :) ) adults, a 6 year old who hates covers, a 4 year old who loves sleeping at the middle of the bed - usually in between my knees with his head on my thigh, and a 4 year old who has to sleep on the edge of the bed but you have to hold her so she doesn't feel like she's falling off.

I'm tired People!!! I don't get enough sleep because of the circus in my bed and neither does Jim which makes him grumpy. That in turn puts me in a bad mood.

They have always slept in their own rooms. (Well Ben shared our room when the twins were born but he had his own area). Come to think of it that's around the time he started coming into our bed. He was about 2. The twins didn't start coming to our bed until they were about 3. Its not because of nightmares or bad dreams or anything like that, they just wake up and waltz on into our room.

Help!!! Any ideas, suggestions, therapy, etc, would be greatly appreciated!!! I want my bed back!!

(Disclaimer - I have no issue with people who choose to cosleep. It can be a wonderful thing and if it is what works for your family - more power to you. This is not working for our family.)

Does it get easier?

One of my main questions when the twins were born was always "Does it get easier?" I remember people would stop me when I was out with all of the kids and they would say "I have twins too! But mine are XX age now" I would always ask them my most pressing question (especially when the twins were under a year) "Does it ever get easier?" They would always give me that knowing look and say "it gets easier in some ways and harder in others"

You know what? They were right. I have to say that first year was the hardest. When the twins were babies it took everything out of me just to make it through each day. Especially with Will's reflux. When he had a bad day I wasn't sure how I was going to survive. Lack of sleep, three kids needing their mom, a house that needed cleaning, a husband working two jobs, hoping to shower at least every once in awhile, etc. Saying it was hard is an understatement.

Years two and three were easier but hard in their own ways. Terrible twos x two was not fun. Potty training x two - an adventure (although Ellie only took about a week. Will still has issues at times)

The twins are now 4 and Ben is 6. I have to say it really is a lot easier now. We still have temper tantrums and learning to share issues. But over all I have to say IT DOES GET EASIER!!!

They are now (not that they weren't always) very opinionated. Now they can voice them and they do - Loudly at times. But they are so much fun! It's been awesome to see their personalities develop. All three of them are so different. They all have a great sense of humor and make me laugh every day. I love how much they love each other. With three there does seem to be one left out alot of the time. Usually it's Will but he's pretty content to play with his Thomas Trains alone. He loves trains and waterfalls.  Ben and Ellie are usually off playing Avengers. (She is quite the tomboy. She HATES all things girly and is convinced she is someday going to marry Captain America lol) Ben is in first grade and loves Math and science. He doesn't love writing but likes to read.

If I could give a new twin parent any advice it would be

• Remember this too shall pass. The first year is hard.
• Recruit as much help as possible.
• Find time for yourself to rejuvinate you. It will benefit your children as much as yourself.
• You are not alone in this.
• Dont try to do it all.
• Take as many pictures as you can - the time really does fly quickly and you will forget how tiny they used to be.
• Hug your babies often.
• Encourage your children to grow up to be whatever THEY want to be. Not whatever YOU want them to be. Everyone will be much happier.

I am no way an expert on raising twins but I did survive the first four years and you will too!!

3 Year Check Up

Will and Ellie had their 3 year check up on Wednesday. I've been trying to get this post up since then but I couldn't get the pic from my phone to blogger and then something would come up and I would have to walk away from the computer and I'd forget about it until I sat down again but then I didn't have time to work on it so it just kept getting put off. Until now!!!!

Their appointment went well. It was the first well baby appointment for the twins that I've ever done by myself. I usually bring my mom so she can help with one and I deal with the other especially if they are getting shots. But my mom just got over being sick and had tons of work to catch up on. I didn't want to have to make her fit one more thing in to her schedule. (I know she would have if there was any way she could have. She has been so helpful with the twins since day 1, But I knew she had a lot going on and didn't want to add to that)

I was a little nervous because I wasn't sure how to handle both of them and shots but I figured we'd just have to make it work lol. 

Their stats:

Will:

Birth

Weight: 5lbs 2 oz - 3rd percentile

Height - 17 inches - 1st percentile

Now:

Weight - 32lbs 6oz - 58th percentile 

Height - 37 1/2 inches - 53rd percentile

Ellie:

Birth:

Weight: 4lbs 10 oz - 1st percentile

Height - 16 inches  - >1st percentile

Now:

Weight - 29lbs 4 oz - 35th percentile

Height - 37 inches - 49th percentile

They sure are growing quick!!!!

We all survived the shots. Will got his first and I leaned over him and put my face right next to his to calm him and comfort him (since we took the paci's away a couple weeks ago. Planning Fail!!) He got the shot (thankfully it was only one) and I rocked him for a sec. Then I laid him back on table and laid Ellie next to him on the other side. I leaned over both of them, comforting them both. After she got her shot I picked them both up with their blankets and held them for a little while. Then we went out and got stickers and suckers and all was good. 

It wasn't ideal but it worked and we all survived. It's interesting the way having twins changes things. 

Birthday party #2

Birthday party #2 was a big hit as well. This one was with Jim's side of the family. We went for an easier cake this time and since the theme was Captain America (do you know how HARD it is to find Captain America decorations?) we just went with a red white and blue theme. 

 We couldn't decide what to get the twins for their birthday. We didn't want to get them MORE toys. We are being slowly devoured by the amount of toys we already have. We have a really great sized backyard but there hasn't been anything for them to do in it. So we decided on a trampoline with a cage net.
Jim was still putting it together when people started arriving. Here is Jim, his dad, his cousin Eric and wife Amber helping put it together. (Thank you guys soo much!!!)

 All finished!!!! Will and Ellie were the first on it and they LOVED it!! They had so much fun.

 Grandpa bought them a climbing toy. It has a telescope, steering wheel, slide and a rock wall. Grandpa and Uncle Scott putting it together.

 Will decided he needed to check things out.

 Ellie couldn't let him be the only one. (Notice she's actually in a skirt!!! She has shorts underneath it lol) They call this their "Pirate ship"

 Auntie Kate showed everyone how to do flips. I love this picture.

 Time for the cake!!

Happy Birthday Will and Ellie! We are so blessed to have you as a part of our family.

Goodbye Paci's!!!

I have another post to write about the 2nd birthday party but I felt this was blog worthy :)

We have gotten rid of the paci's!! I know they are 3 now and probably should have given them up a year or two ago (or in some people's opinions 3 years ago) but Paci's were such a comfort to them that I couldn't bear to take them away.

Will has pretty much used one from day one. It helped a lot when the reflux was really bad. In the beginning the paci was almost bigger than his head. lol

 Ellie used hers more as something to chew on. We got to a point during the first year that we rarely even gave her one.

Then at about a year she decided to see what the fuss was about and started stealing them from Will. From that point on she was hooked!

 Fast forward - now they are three and its time to get rid of them.

Although Will started out way more dependent on them Ellie quickly caught up in dependence. I built it up for awhile. Telling them that on their birthday we were going to give them to Captain America so he could give them to babies who needed them. They were really excited about this. So bedtime comes on their birthday and we put them to bed without the paci's. they cried for about 15 minutes and fell asleep. I thought "that was easy!"

Then 1:00am comes around. Ellie wakes up screaming/crying for her paci. She's not a big girl. She doesn't care if big girl's get to go on the trampoline. She doesn't care that big girls get to color and play outside. She's a baby and wants her paci. We are up for an hour and a half and she finally falls asleep.

Next evening she loses her mind every time something offends her. She just wants her paci. We hold strong. They fall asleep within 15 minutes again. This time they sleep through the night. (although at 5:30am I wake up to Will in our bed. No thank you! Our bed is full. We are still trying to get Ben out of it. - Another post all together.)

Tonight it has been a week since we took them. They are doing pretty well. Anytime she gets upset she still wants her paci. But we've been able to distract her for the most part. They even found two paci's around the house and I was able to take them away without too much drama. I know they will continue to find them. (There are probably 50 paci's lost around our house. There seems to be a paci black hole that they would get sucked into so we would constantly be buying more.)

Next up: Potty training!!! Any tips/tricks would be totally appreciated!! :)

Birthday Party Number 1

Since both our families live so close to each other, have so many people and I get overwhelmed easily, we decided to do two separate parties for the twins. One with my family and one with Jim's family. Last year we had everyone at our house and ended up with 52 people!! Needless to say I was quite overwhelmed.

Will and Ellie's (I'm trying to not call them "the Babies" or "the Twins" but that is another post entirely) birthday was actually on Sunday. We decided to do the first party on Friday night at my parents house. My older sister and her family were in town so we got to celebrate with them as well which was really nice. We had a BBQ and then cake and ice cream.

I decided to do a different theme for each party since Will and Ellie are SOOO DIFFERENT! I (moronically) thought this would be easier. (I have NO idea why I thought this would be easier. Nor do I have any idea why I thought two parties would be any less overwhelming than one giant party) So Friday's theme was Thomas the Train. I found a really cute Thomas the Train cake that didn't look tooo hard. Here is my attempt at it.

Will was so excited about his cake that he sang himself "Happy Birthday" then wanted me to give it to him lol.

The kids had tons of fun playing in Grandma and Grandpa's backyard. They have an acre so there is tons of room to play. They got to jump on the trampoline and play on the playhouse. They also did races and generally just chased each other around. There were a total of 12 cousins there. Ranging in age from 7 months to 15 years. They all get along really well which makes it so much easier :) Here's some pictures from the party.



Will on one of the play toys in the backyard

Big Brother. I just love this picture

Birthday girl waiting for cake!!

 Both waiting for cake. (apparently we couldn't get them to look at our camera. Not one picture had them both lookingat ours. My dad was on that side so I'm hoping he got a ton lol)

Blowing out the candles! They did great. They blew them out on their own! So big!!

 Daddy playing with his new Itouch.