Twins and Sleep Training

This summer has been quite hectic to say the least. We have traveled a lot for various reasons since the end of May. We are even on the road now for pastor's meetings, staying in a hotel on a beautiful lake. No complaining here! However, the earlier traveling we did in May and June really threw the girls off of any consistent schedule. After our last trip up to Michigan, the girls had begun getting into the habit of waking for a middle of the night snack. And, because we were staying with others, I didn't want them to cry and wake everyone else up, so I would oblige the girls in their middle of the night snack.

I asked our pediatrician at their 6 month appointment how she felt about letting the girls cry it out in the middle of the night. She was very kind in her answer, telling us that yes, the girls were at the age now where it was not necessary to eat in the middle of the night. How liberating was that?!! But ouch...that just meant the feedings were more out of habit for them than necessity. Now Chris and I were left with figuring out how to fix this....in comes sleep training.

I was a bit hesitant to do sleep training with twins. Anytime that we would even begin to try it in the past, the girls would wake each other up and it would just be a nightmare....one loooong night after another. I had just concluded that sleep training would not work with twins. But, I think just getting the go ahead from the pediatrician gave me the nudge to try again. Well, that and the fact that I could sense they were ready...I mean it was a pure intuition thing, but I could just sense they were ready if I would just stop caving in to the middle of the night calls for snacks.

The first night was painless for me. Chris and I had decided just a week earlier that in order for us both to start getting some sort of sleep, we would each take one night a week to sleep in the guest room with the baby monitor and let the other get it a full night's sleep in our room. When it was Chris' turn, he decided to kick off the sleep training.

The girls woke up a couple of times that night and after making sure they were ok, he let them cry it out. He said they cried for maybe 20 minutes at most. Not bad! I never heard a thing as I was tucked away back in our room, so this is why the first night was painless for me.

The second night was not so painless. The girls woke up twice I think and only cried for a few minutes. I wanted so badly to go in, but did not. Finally, at 5:30 when one woke up crying, I immediately jumped up and fed her. Chris told me I should have held out a little longer...so we decided the next night we would do better.

The third night I heard one small cry at some point in the night. Chris thinks that night was considered full success - but he didn't hear that one small cry. I did. But it was small and did not last long...which I still considered success as well.

In three nights, they got it down! Now, for about the last 2 weeks, they sleep 11-12 hours, going down for bed at 7:30 or 8:00 PM and sleeping until 7 - 8 AM! There are mornings were they will still wake at 5:30, and sometimes I do feed them because I would consider 10 hours a huge success too, but all in all, they are now 11-12 hour girls!!

A very wise, very experienced mom of 13 - yes 13 kids told me that 3 nights will cure just about anything. She was right! In fact, their full night's sleeping has also really helped with their naps that are now extended to sometimes 2 1/2 hours! They also go right down with hardly a cry. It is truly amazing. I would give that 3 day advice to anyone out there. Try 3 nights of "tough love" and the rewards will be tremendous for ALL involved!!

Bath Time Together

Tonight the girls experienced their first real, FUN, bath time sitting up together! They can sit up for a very short amount of time with no help, then they kind of roll over. So, with both their daddy and I each holding one up, they each sat up and played and splashed and "talked" to each other at bath time tonight. It was absolutely precious and made me really excited about the day they can each sit up completely on their own...which won't be very long from now at all!

Here are a few fuzzy (because the picture taking part was a bit rushed!) pics of their first play date in the bathtub together tonight!

They were so excited to be sitting up across from each other in the bathtub!

Savannah "reading" her book out loud

Both girls moving so fast to grab their books and toys!

Table for Four

As I was cleaning the kitchen last night I looked over at our table, sitting quietly in the corner with a hint of elegance under the soft glow of the dimmed light at the end of a crazy day. The table is no longer easily ready to seat 4 adults like it has been for years. Now, two of the four chairs hold reclining feeding chairs for the babies, while only the other two are ready to seat adults. As silly as it may sound, this moment really captivated me as I stood back and thought of our growing family and the two special gifts we were given in December last year. I am so thankful for our table for four and the evolution that table has made in our home. The table was actually the very first table that I ever served my husband his first home cooked meal made by me at one of our very first dates. In fact, go back even further and my sister and I originally bought that table together when we were roommates in Nashville, both single and I didn't even know my husband at the time. Now I look at that table and I see the progression it has made to a table that now seats my husband and our two baby girls. How very blessed we are for the gifts God has given us and for the simple fact that we now have a family in need of a table for four.

7 Months

How thankful am I for each and every new month that comes as I watch our girls grow and make all sorts of new discoveries in this thing called life. Savannah and Madeline are now 7 months old. Yikes! I am a little afraid of this fact, but thankful that my girls continue to be "tiny tots" as I like to call them. This means I get to enjoy them in their infancy stage for an extra long time...and I relish in every moment I have with them! While they may look so small to the average person, they are such healthy girls who have more than tripled their birth weights and are getting stronger every day. They love to laugh, love to stand, love to "talk", and they love to eat. Madeline has become my laid back child when it comes to eating. She just lounges in her chair and slowly opens her mouth and takes her time. Savannah on the other hand, cries out for more! It is hard to get it to her fast enough, and when I do, she just makes the cutest sounds of pure delight! They've now added prunes and carrots to their taste buds, and love their hearts, they like the prunes! Madeline and carrots...not so much. I guess she's got her momma in her...I'm not big on cooked carrots either. I have yet to introduce a new food to Savannah that she doesn't like! As avid eaters of vegetables and fruits, the fact that they both are generally enjoying all of their new healthy foods makes Daddy and I very happy!

Besides their longer stretches of sitting up that they've started to do, another new thing that the girls have started doing is rolling around EVERYWHERE. Madeline is trying so very hard to crawl...she pushes forward with all her strength, then stops and rolls. Savannah has figured that rolling is just the way to go, so she will roll over and over and over until she gets to where she wants to be. It is the cutest thing ever. Just this evening I was feeding Savannah and looked over to check on Madeline and she was nowhere near where I'd left her. She had rolled all the way to our couch and was just looking at it like "um...you're in my way, Mr. Couch!"

Madeline has also started pulling herself up. Savannah was the first to stand - with help - and now Madeline looks to be the first to pull herself up to stand. They both flip flop on who experiences the "first" first! I love watching this as it just reminds me my two babies are two distinct people with two very distinct preferences for ways of doing things.

The girls have also really discovered Bailey this past month. They've always looked at him, but never really like they do now. They smile and watch him and want so badly to play with him! It is adorable. He's now their pillow at times, and lets them tug and pull on him however they like. He's such a great dog.

One big principal I maintain in our household when our baby girls are up and at it is that of laughter. We laugh every single day, all the time. There is always a big smile and a big laugh, and lots, I mean lots of kisses. It's just the way we do things in our house, and something I hope we never ever forget to do. Laughter, love, hugs and lots of kisses!

From Left to Right, Madeline and Savannah

Madeline

Savannah

The Lesson of Job

This past month has been filled with happiness and with sorrow, with the consistent theme of our baby girls being surrounded by a loving family and God. The girls took their first weekend trip to Gatlinburg, (a first of many they will soon find) where they finally met lots of extended family members on my dad's side. They had a ball and did so very well away from home! However, the weekend ended in saddness with the news of the unexpected and tragic death of my Uncle Larry, my mom's brother, up in Michigan. The girls proceeded to join us on their very first (and LONG) trip up to Berrien Springs MI for the funeral. This was of course the town that we lived in when I was pregnant, so they had definitely spent time their before, but it was a very dark and cozy time for them... :-)

Uncle Larry was such a great man who loved, I mean loved, to laugh. Every time I would speak with him on the phone, or get together face to face, he was always smiling and laughing or giggling at something! It was something I always remembered about my Uncle Larry from when I was a little girl, and was the first thing Chris noticed about him when they first met. He loved to laugh. He watched my belly grow with these two sweet angels, but never got to meet them face to face since we moved away right before their birth. It makes me sad that my girls will never get to meet him. However, the memory of him lives on through his wife (Aunt Tammy) and four children (my cousins Mindy, Missy, Larry Michael and Kenneth), and I see him in the laughter and smiles of my very own girls. I am comforted by the fact that through this blog and my Facebook, he was able to enjoy the girls through their pictures and videos...all the more motivation to keep posting. But for my Uncle Larry, this saddness just makes us all long for the coming of Jesus Christ even more when there will be no more death, no more sorrow, and no more tears. And the reunion that will take place up there in the clouds one day...wow...the reunion.

At the conclusion of our time in Michigan, we headed straight to Greeneville, Tennessee where the girls ended the week on a happy note with their baby dedication. They were once again surrounded by so many family members...they are so very blessed with such outpourings of love. We celebrated the gift God has given us through the double blessing of our twin baby girls. The contrast of the week made me appreciate even more the love of our God through the words of Job. "...the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." Job 1:21. No matter if it be sorrows or joys that we face, I want my girls to be raised knowing that no matter what, they too should say "Blessed be Your name oh God!" He never wills for these bad things to happen...it is the work of the fallen Satan doing this to God's people. And in a hard to understand way, it is God's love for us that allows sin to continue in this world - He is waiting for every last one of us to turn our hearts and lives over to Him before he puts a final end to all the sorrow! He doesn't want to come before every single one of His children have a chance to be saved forever in the clouds with Him who created us. When bad things happen, Chris always points out that "it wasn't in the Plan". These things are NOT the will of God. But the direct works of our Lord -things such as the amazing, beautiful, and perfect blessing of our two precious babies, Madeline and Savannah - these things, HIS works, are to be praised! And because of that, we will praise Him in the good and the bad, knowing that in the end, His good and perfect will for our lives and this world will prevail! Always remember that, Madeline and Savannah.

Uncle Ted Struntz dedicating Madeline and Savannah to God

Part 2 of the Pureeing Tip

I forgot to include this part. To put things in perspective, I was able to fill 10 of the plastic Gerber containers with the 1 bag of frozen peas that cost $0.88 total. Those 10 containers would have added up to $5.....so if I do that with 20 containers...we're talking $1.76 versus $10....huge savings for something that tastes better, healthier, and drastically cuts down on the waste of all those containers each and every time getting used and thrown away! Just had to add that part to my story.

Eating in Action

Food, Food and More Food

The girls have finally discovered a love for solids. They love it! Savannah is so funny when she eats - she will literally scream (the laughing scream kind) for more! Madeline gets so upset if you pause for just a few seconds before spooning her another bite. So far, they've had rice cereal, applesauce, peaches, sweet potatoes and peas. The peas were my first attempt at pureeing. I was terrified as to the time it would take, blah blah blah. What I discovered was that it really is fast and easy and so much tastier, and so much cheaper too! I have not a bad thing to say about it.

Best tip for any mom's out there interested in pureeing their own food. I took a frozen bag of peas, boiled them, dropped them into a blender. Added lots of water left over from the pan (with all the nutrients in it!) to make it very liquidy for my Stage 1 girls. Then - here's the best tip part - I poured them into old Gerber plastic containers I had saved from other baby food I had bought for them! Then, I dropped the containers into the freezer. Perfect serving size, and perfect re-use idea for those little plastic containers Gerber sells their baby food in!

Stacey's Pics

Our friend Stacey McDonald took some incredible pictures of the girls both at church on the day of their dedication and then came over to the house that afternoon and took several more. They are absolutely gorgeous...between my sister's love of photography and Stacey's, our girls will be blessed with incredibly special photos to treasure for all of their lives. Here are just a few of our favorites of Stacey's photography shots from that special dedication day:

The girls with their cousin McKenna

Madeline with her Aunt Lynsey

Not even half of the girl's family...missing SO many in this picture, but captured so many!

Babies Dedication

This fourth of July proved to be a very special one for Chris and I. We had the girls dedicated at our home church in Greeneville....this is the same church that I was baptized in, had my 8th grade graduation in, met Chris in, and then was married to Chris in just a few years ago. The church holds special memories for both Chris and I, and now we can add to the list the most special occasion of the baby dedication of Savannah and Madeline. Just as Jesus blessed the little children in the bible, we were honored to have Chris' Uncle Ted, a pastor from Michigan, conduct the service of dedicating our babies' lives to Christ. Here are a few pics from the service:

Uncle Ted who conducted the service, and Aunt Lisa

4 Generations
4 Generations with the girls' daddy, of course! :-)