Fact: I don’t really like Halloween.
Fact: I really like dressing up babies.
Result: Babies dressed up not once, not twice, but thrice.
Costume #1: The Great Pumpkins
Costume #2: 80’s Prom
Costume #3: Mickey and Minnie Mouse
Now comes the gut-wrenching part — pick your favorite.
Filed under AwkWORD (Humor)
7:10AM I hear the alarm — how long has that been ringing? Did I already hit snooze? It was a coma-like sleep…did it wake the babies? Nope, babies are fast asleep next to our bed. Which stay-at-home-mom uniform should I wear today? Black leggings or gray? Colored nursing tank top or black? Let’s do black leggings, striped tank top, just to keep things mildly interesting. I’ve got to update their charts…they were up twice last night to eat. Do I have time to make Mike’s coffee and pump before the babies wake up?
7:20AM The babies are stirring…definitely no time to do anything else. I breastfeed Arden while Mike bottle feeds Henry. These babies! It’s like three hours of sleep has let me forget the precise perfection of their faces and seeing them again makes me swoon. Mike agrees; it’s such a grand injustice that dad should have to leave the house to make an income.
7:50AM It’s diaper time, and just LOOK at how they smile now that they’re really awake! It’s like the Mormon Tabernacle Choir bursting into song just for us. Oh! The best part…picking out their clothes for the day; it’s infinitely better than when I was six and picking out clothes for Cabbage Patch dolls.
8AM Babies are propped up in their infant seats and I’m pumping. Arden looks like she’s about to cry…here’s hoping rocking her with my only available appendage (my foot) will settle her. Fifteen minutes of pumping goes by terribly slowly when two babies are staring at you as if to say, “Why, Mommy? Why are you sitting in front of us but not holding us?” Must think of more songs, maybe Disney? Why not. “Look at this stuff! Isn’t it neat? Wouldn’t you think my collection’s complete? Wouldn’t you think of a girl, a girl who has…everything?” They’ll grow to love Ariel because their mother’s a redhead — I’m sure of it (though they may never understand why she doesn’t share her voice…).
8:15AM I distract the babies by talking to them while I wash all the pump parts and make a cup of decaf tea. While it steeps, it’s time for daily “twin time” on the blanket on the floor, along with tummy time (which I’m pretty sure they think of as torture time) and singing. They look so cute right now I could just about die. I take copious photos and email them to great-grandparents.
8:45AM Upstairs the babies go, another diaper check, then story time from their children’s Bible which is really more entertaining for me then them. But they humor me and listen.
9AM Babies go down for a nap. I realize my untouched tea is now cold and pop it in the microwave. What to do with the next uninterrupted 45 minutes? Be practical, I suppose. Balance the checkbook, update our calendar, answer emails. Eat something. That milk doesn’t come from nowhere.
I’ll thank myself later if I prep for when they’re awake. So — make Henry a bottle, clean the bottles in the sink that fed him all last night, get the vitamin D ready to give each of them. Is it laundry day? Probably…in go a load of whites.
10AM Somebody’s crying through the monitor, so like a shotgun has gone off I race upstairs in the hope of snatching one baby out of the room before the other one wakes up. Today: no dice. They’re both wimpering, and due to our house rule of not carrying both babies on the stairs, I have to make Sophie’s Choice and choose the most unhappy baby to take downstairs first. Right now it’s Arden so she goes into her seat downstairs and I race back up to get crying Henry.
10:05AM The Boppy pillow goes on the couch next to me with Henry propped inside it, then I pick up Arden and start breastfeeding her, and then grab the bottle and start feeding Henry with my free hand. It’s a circus act, but everybody’s happy. It’s fine to watch some TV while they’re both eating, right? Right. Netflix live-stream it is.
10:30AM Play time on the floor, more tummy time, more twin time, more singing and dancing, more diapers. Perhaps even a few workout moves that involve them. Pushups over babies, ole!
11AM When was the last time I drank water? Must drink 16oz immediately. Did I reply to that person’s text? How many days ago was that?
11:15AM The babies are getting fussy but they have fifteen more minutes of wake time before their naps. Time to get creative — one in the swing (please don’t fall asleep, Henry) and one with a rattle-accompanied version of the A, B, C’s.
11:30AM Down for naps. Move wet laundry to dryer. I haven’t combed my hair today, or brushed my teeth — must take care of those now. Time to eat again, maybe a bowl of cereal? OH and I have to pump!
12:10PM I hear someone stirring in the monitor; please stay asleep for ten more minutes…I haven’t even sat down since you went to sleep.
12:30PM Babies are awake and ready to eat. Tiny circus act commences.
1PM It’s a nice day, how about a walk? First let’s change both diapers and run out to the car to get the stroller that we store in the back. I’m wheeling it inside when I hear a baby crying because I was out of sight for more than fifteen seconds. What will they need for the walk? Hats, blankets, a good attitude…check, check, fingers crossed.
1:15PM This walk is glorious. Both babies are thrilled to be somewhere other than the living room, and this mama is exhilarated by the presence of fresh air and walking in a straight line for more than ten steps.
1:35PM The bursting pride of walking the twins never, ever gets old.
1:40PM Arden is crying. This walk is getting old.
1:45PM We’re back at the house and the fussiness indicates it’s almost naptime.
2PM Nap time!!!
2:10PM …also means pump time. Sigh. And make Henry his next bottle time.
2:20PM I should really write thank you notes (for meals, gifts, acts of service) but the thought is a mental hurdle I can’t climb at the moment. Instead I will check Facebook.
2:30PM Oh yeah — I have laundry to fold. And it’s time to run the dishwasher after hand-washing the pump parts.
2:45PM Did I hear a baby wimper? Or was that a phantom baby wimper that my mind plays tricks on me with?
2:50PM It was real — Henry is awake. I snatch him up and carry him downstairs and start to feed him; please, Arden, sleep just ten minutes and then I’ll have finished feeding Henry.
3PM Thank you, Arden! Now I can focus on feeding you — see how brilliantly that works out for both of us?
3:20PM How many hours until Dad gets home?
3:30PM Floor time, play time, twin time. These babies are so cute I feel absurdly grateful, like I could just burst. Thank God I’m here! I tell them aloud: thank God we get the whole day together.
4PM When Mike gets home we’re definitely having an adult beverage.
4:30PM Nap time!!!!
4:35PM Pump time.
4:45PM What are we having for dinner? This freezer has chicken in it, why didn’t I think to defrost that earlier? I need a snack. When was the last time I drank water? Have I gone to the bathroom today?
5PM Must answer more emails. Falling behind on life.
5:30PM Both babies are up — shoot, I wish Mike had just gotten home so Henry could be held while eating.
5:40PM Mike’s home! Just in time to burp Henry.
6PM I scramble to make dinner while Mike does baby duty, joyfully reunited after eight hours apart.
6:30PM Please play idly in your little chairs, dear ones, so Mike and I can eat and talk at the same time.
6:45PM They are dream babies who inhabit the earth…they are just sucking on their hands and staring around the room.
7PM Nap/bed time…it could go either way…they could be asleep for a quick hour or for several. Regardless, it’s our version of Mardi Gras: we collapse on the couch, pour a glass of wine, and debate having an engaging conversation versus movie-watching. Movie watching wins.
8PM I better pump one more time, just for good measure.
8:20PM Henry is fussing; he wiggled out of his swaddle like the little Houdini he is. Luckily reswaddling him does the trick.
8:45PM I make three bottles for Henry for overnight, so we’re not running up and down the stairs at 3AM.
10:30PM We “dream feed” the babies, which means feeding them without really waking them up, then putting them right back to bed.
10:50PM Babies are sleeping, and with a kiss and an I love you, so are we.
2:45AM Arden is awake, so we wake Henry to keep them on the same schedule. It’s the midnight milk cafe.
6:50AM Henry wakes up — can we convince him it’s the middle of the night so he’ll resettle? Success.
7AM We look at each other, laugh, and snuggle in for five more minutes before the start of another day.
Filed under One WORD (Current Events)
Creating a nursery for twins is a unique challenge made even trickier when the babies are opposite sexes. We waited until we found out the babies were a girl and a boy before designing their nursery, and we quickly nixed the idea of trying to make the room half pink and half blue. It sounded like some sort of mish-mash nightmare.
After a little time on Pinterest, I decided the best approach would be a really clean, modern nursery, because of the need for two cribs (and double the clothes) and the fact that the room was fairly small.
Here is a picture of the room when it was a rarely used guest bedroom:
The furniture, thanks to my in-loves, was gorgeous, but oversized for the space, and the color on the walls was a garish Seahawks green. Incredibly, this room was used as a nursery for twin boys by the previous tenants, which is the only reason we can assume it was painted such a color (the photo doesn’t capture the brightness adequately).
I am not a designer by any means, and am often paralyzed when it comes to decorating, but I put my heart into making a room for the babies that conveys my love for them. It really was a joy to create.
I enlisted the help of my friend Meredith, who works as an interior designer, to map out a floor plan that would allow for two cribs, one changing table, and a rocking chair. I sent her the measurements of the room and the furniture we thought we were going to purchase and she created a floor plan to make it fit.
Then we got to work. When I say we, I mean Mike.
We purchased the paint (no VOC for baby breathing safety) and he painted the entire room white, including the ceiling, because we needed a fresh canvas. Then he, our dear friend Greg, and my father-in-love taped the walls with precision to ensure our stripes were going to be crisp and perfectly even. They did a fabulous job.
Our color scheme was yellow, gray and white. Gender neutral, baby friendly, and just happy. I wanted a really happy room for the babies, and I think we nailed it.
We chose simple, modern cribs in a soft gray color to contrast the bright wall and yellow and white chevron rug. They are from Wal-Mart, if you can believe it, and are highly rated and made from sustainable, non-toxic pine wood. After hours of searching, they were the best cribs at the best price — and they look exactly how I’d hoped.
After an extensive search, I found the rocking chair from a company called NurseryWorks, as it was the only rocking chair I could find that wasn’t frumpy, old-fashioned, or incredibly 90’s (think gliders with bad fabric). I could see using this chair in other areas of our home after we no longer need a nursery (but let’s not get ahead of ourselves as the thought of that makes this pregnant woman want to cry already).
The curtains were generously handmade by Meredith, who is phenomenally talented at sewing. She even added a layer of blackout fabric to the curtains so I can get the room as dark as possible for naps. She brought several gray swatches and we chose a shade that matched the cribs, but had lots of white detail to keep the room from becoming too dark.
The little pouf is from Restoration Hardware Baby and Child and is one of my favorite parts of the room. It’s both whimsical and highly practical as a footrest while sitting in the rocker.
My mom gave us these adorable switch plates for the outlets that she found on Etsy; it’s hard to see here, but they have giraffes and elephants on them.
And there’s a Jonathan Adler ceramic giraffe nightlight: to die for.
We found the changing table on Craigslist, and I’d still like to swap out the knobs on the doors for something a little more substantial. We’ll see if I get to that in the next couple of days before the babies arrive. If not, I don’t think they’ll mind.
I loved organizing the changing table supplies — little bins with diapers lined up, a bin with diaper cream, ointment, etc, and tons of wipes. The cabinet underneath has all the backup supplies and refills. It also has a healthy stock of something I’m super excited about: cloth diapers. YES — I am going to try to cloth diaper the babies. A fellow twin mom from EMOMs gave me hers which is why I have the confidence to go for it; she did it without a problem, and she saved me about $600 by giving me hers (they’re $25 a piece). Proof I’m not insane: we are not starting the cloth diapers until after at least a month (Mike maintains he’s not doing it at all, but we’ll see who wins that battle of the wills).
I love the giraffe changing pad cover. Giraffes are my animal association, meaning they’re the animal I most resemble. I also happen to like them more than any other animal, which helps.
Please note the space-age camera mounted to the wall. This takes baby monitoring to an entirely obsessive level, but it’s a level this new mom needs. We can watch the babies sleep on our iPad and can move the camera by touching the screen. It’s super Jetsons, and we owe Rach and Phil for the idea — they’ve been using theirs for over a year with Lillian.
My sister, Sam, graciously made the framed artwork of animals from an idea she found on Pinterest. Each animal is made up of the letters that spell its name. My in-loves gave us the beautiful gray piece of art that uses the alphabet to make a little poem about how much we love the babies.
You may be wondering where all of their clothes are hiding since we don’t have a dresser. That was intentional, due to the size of the room. Instead, I bought a unit with pink and blue drawers to keep inside the closet to organize all of their clothes. There’s a drawer each for jammies, sleepsacks, socks, hats, onesies, etc., and open cubbies for swaddle blankets and burp cloths.
The hanging storage on top keeps their day-to-day outfits, since I think it’s impractical to fold or hang tiny baby clothes when I’ll be doing laundry so frequently. This way I can just tuck them into their cubbies (based on size of clothes) and grab what I need.
The two bins on the shelf hold all of their carriers (Mobys, Ergos, Baby Bjorns) and the Boppy is stored up there as well.
The other side of the closet has their hamper and a few hanging outfits, as well as hanging storage for clothes that are six months and beyond. Up top, it also has the enormous My Breast Friend for Twins.
Confession: I often sit in the rocking chair and picture what it will be like when the babies are in their cribs, or in my arms. It’s such a delightful room, so full of the hope and anticipation of babies on the way.
Now there’s only two things the room is missing: the babies!
Filed under UpWORD (Beauty)
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