3 months!!

3 months ago today- I laid eyes on my little girls for the first time. They were born at 33 weeks and Layla weighed 5 lbs 1 oz and Bree weighed 4 lbs 10 oz. Those two little people forever changed my world. It's crazy that in just 3 short months they have changed so much. I can see each one developing her own personality and I can already tell they will have mommy and daddy wrapped around their little fingers.

How far we've come in 3 months:
1. Just a few days ago, I switched out their niples from level 1 to level 2.  (They started their first week of life alternating feedings between a bottle and a feeding tube so watching them eat makes me happy)
2. I packed away all their newborn size clothing and they are now in size 0 -3 months just teetering on the border of 3-6 which I am dying for them to wear because that's the size I bought all their cute clothes in. I only got onesies and like 6 going out outfits in the smaller sizes.  (They started life in premie clothing and even those were big on them. I had to role the sleeves almost halfway up for them to fit. It;s crazy to see how small those outfits look today)
3. A few weeks ago they moved into the size 1 diapers and they are getting very close to size 2. (Once again they started life in premie size and even those diapers were huge)
4. They both have pretty good head control and can roll from tummy to back.
5. They can focus on objects and smile constantly! (truly understand how a smile can melt your heart now)

And now because a picture is a worth a thousand words and these just scream CUTE!!!! over and over again: here are their first three months in pictures:

                                                        Welcome to the world :)

                 On day 12, we left the NICU (grateful for two healthy babies)

  3 weeks: Got our newborn shots done! (best decision ever made to get these done- worth every penny to have these documented- I'll have to post the rest soon- our photographer was AMAZING- feel free to
                          check her out: http://www.jessicavphotography.com/ )

                                  Two months: Watching Mickey Mouse ClubHouse

                                    Mommy couldn't wait to put bows in our hair!

                                                     Already Best Friends :)

                                                             3 months old!                                                         

SO WHAT! Wednesdays!

So one of my favorite mommy-bloggers Shannon (actually the first mommy blog I read after switching from fashion blogs) has a weekly series titled So What! Wednesdays and I'm doing my first link up:

• So what if I haven't started my diet and exercise program yet. I'm lucky if I get 5 free minutes to myself let alone the 45 minutes I need minimum to do any kind of real exercise. I may not be losing weight, but I'm not gaining :)
• I refuse to buy any clothes at my current size which is 2 sizes larger than all my pre-pregnancy clothes. I will fit into them again and I refuse to invest money in clothes I will only wear for a few months.
• I didn't leave the house yesterday. 12 week old twins plus rain equals no escape!
• I was upset I missed the TeenMom finale last night- Thank goodness for DVR! 
• I have the same thing for breakfast EVERYday. D-lights breakfast bowl and a cup of coffee. I can't help it- it's delicious and EASY. Mornings are rough enough- especially with two hungry babies with the lung capacity of Whitney Houston (in her pre-crack days)

The BabyWeight Battle

      When I first got pregnant, I thought no poblem. I am going to gain my 20lbs needed for a healthy baby and then most of that will melt away after I had the baby. Plus, any leftover weight after the birth would surely fade away once I started breastfeeding. Well, at 16 weeks I had gained 9lbs. Yay, I thought pretty much right on schedule. Fast forward, to week 18 and me lying on an ultrasound table. The lovely ultrasound lady begins and calmly states, "there are the two heads". My mouth drops and I keep waiting for her to say she is kidding. You see the military hospital doesn't do (as in they don't care if you cry and beg to do it earlier) ultrasounds before 22 weeks. So being the inpatient curious person I am, I opted for the private ultrasound done at those 3D places, so this poor woman thought we already knew we were having twins.  
     Long story short, we find out we were having twins and I start my research on twin pregnancies. Every book I read said mother's weight gain has the highest correlation to healthy birth, so 45lbs was the new magic number to ensure my babies would get here healthy. I had gained 50lbs when the girls were born at 33 weeks and although they spent 12 days in the NICU they were healthy. They breathed on their own and aside for a couple feeding tube feedings, there were no major issues.
     At my two week appointment, I had already lost 25lbs. By my 6 weeks appointment, I was down a total of 32lbs. I was only able to breastfeed for 3 weeks before I completely lost my supply after a terrible case of mastitus. So now at 12 weeks post partum, I am a mere 13lbs away from my pre-preggers weight. Though my stomach is nothing like it used to be, though with the help of a post-partum girdle it is slowly tightening up. It was my mistake not to purchase one until around 7 weeks post-partum. All you mommies-to-be. I highly recommmend investing in one of these.
     So Heidi Klum was back on the catwalk in 6weeks. Well, I don't have a trainer or a nanny to watch my kids, so my progress may be a little slower. But I can see the progress. My pre-pregnancy clothes still dont fit but my maternity clothes are too big, so I'm stuck somewhere in the middle. I refuse to buy any new clothes in this size, so hopefull that will be additional motivation to lost the weight. I know the baby weight battle is something ALMOST all new moms face, so wish me luck as I try to get back to the healthy lifestyle and body I once had :)

Schedule = Sleep

Well, I think the girls are finally on a night time schedule. Well, better said on their way to having a nighttime schedule. They are finally sleeping in their crib. We are still co-sleeping them as there is plenty of room for them both and well they just look so darn cute next to each other. Where were they sleeping before you ask? Well. basically wherever they happened to pass out- I was too scared to move them for fear they wouldnt go back to sleep. So they were usually downstairs in their pack and play or in a swing or bouncy seat. We spend our days downstairs, since their room is upstairs it keeps from constantly having to walk up and down the stairs of our two story house. Plus, all the main living areas are downstairs.

Well now they get their last bottle between 9 to 11 depending on when they get hungry and then they get put down in their crib. The past two nights both girls have slept from this last bottle up until 4:30am, which doesn't sound like much but believe me getting 5 hours of straight sleep is a God send. Before this they were getting up every 3 hours and since it takes at least an hour to feed, burp, and soothe them both back to bed I was only getting two hours at most at any given point. So they eat and then they sleep until 8ish when we all get up and start the day. I think Im going to start giving them their baths before their last bottle- they really love baths and I think it will help them relax in addition to really starting to create a TRUE schedule. Definitely a happy mommy right now :)

Ready, Here We Go...

I have been reading blogs for a few years now. It started with fashion blogs and then after I got pregnant, I moved over to Mommy blogs. I loved the sharing of information and the community feeling that was shared by all these awesome women on the net. I had thought of starting my own blog for some time, but figured it was a crazy idea. When my mom suggested it to me, I thought why not- afterall I would have atleast one follower :) I also like the fact that my little girls will have documentation of all their big (and little) moments. I am not sure how many people are really interested in what our life is like, but you never know. Besides, I had a hard time locating other blogs about twins, so hopefully I can offer a little glimpse into our world for other twin moms and twin moms-to-be.


So who am I? I am a mommy to 11 week old twin girls and a wife to a SSG in the Army. I am also a working mom- currently working part time, but come October, I'll be back to full time. This means I depend a great deal on my Mom and Mother-in-law to help with the girls so that we don't have to put them in daycare. I hope you all will follow along as I struggle to balance life as a mom and wife without losing myself or my mind.