Full FUN

Where did September go? It seems like this month absolutely flew by and I can't believe I'm already posting that the babies are 10 months old. We have had a full month here starting with birthday celebrations for Jared, Papa Dolph, and Dan. Papa Dolph turned 80 this year! What a blessing he is to us all and we are so thankful that God has given him to us! Thanks Papa for all the laughter and prayers and love you send our way!

Papa & Nana Dolph and the babies celebrating at Arnies in Rockford.

It's daddy's B-Day and we're ready to party! 

Then on to the middle of the month and we've been busy getting adjusted to cooler temps, prep for fall, getting to know our Nanny- Esther, and enjoying the fun of almost walking! These kiddos are everywhere! They pull themselves up onto every piece of furniture and walk along all the walls and cabinets to get to whatever it is they want. They pull their diapers out of the basket and have them all over the place. Playing with the drawers that don't have child latches on them (mommy needs these!) are a big hit right now. Oh and Teeth, we've gotten more teeth of course. Anders has 2 on bottom and 3 on top now and Joline has 2 on bottom and 2 on top. They both love brushing their teeth which makes mommy very happy!
Then we turned 10 months! Wow! I can't believe it.

Bright eyed and Bushy Tailed on the morning of their 10 month B-day! :) 

Big A. 

Miss Joline. 

This past week has been a busy one. I went to ArtPrize with my mom & dad while Jared stayed home with the kids because he has a deep fear of people. ;) lol Just kidding. Actually Anders wasn't feeling all that well so we let Jared stay home. Big crowds and cities aren't really his thing so he wasn't disappointed. :) We didn't get to see much because we went pretty late in the evening and by the time we made our way around the Ford museum, Rosa Parks Circle and The BOB areas we were hungry and it was dark so we stopped for a bite and then after tried to see a few indoor things but most of the venues were closing so we only got to see a few. Oh well. Maybe next year!

Dad & mom. Aren't they cute!?

Mom & me

lol my Fav. Just kidding! I think it was just fun. 

Fire breathing dragons oooh! :) It was super hot under that thing. Not really art as much as it was mechanics but that's just me thinking out loud. ;)

Live statue. He was kinda creepy but fun. The kids in the audience were having a blast with his ability to go long periods without blinking. This dude was a pro for sure. Fun! 

Wall of words. Loved this one. But I'm a word girl!

This one's for JW. His kind of art; it's made of grass, straw, mud, sticks...outdoor stuff. To top it all off he was propped up next to the river fishing. That's the kind of art Jared can appreciate! :) 

Then last night we celebrated my cousin Kevin's big day as he married his best friend and beautiful bride Emily! It was a beautiful ceremony and reception over looking Lake MI. Congrats to you both!

As we wrap up September and head into October we have much to look forward to. We are awaiting the arrival of another little one very soon. In the coming weeks we look forward to welcoming baby girl Vanderson to the family! Jared's sister, Abby is due very soon and we hope that she will not have to wait much longer! :) We are also looking forward to harvest parties and fall weather, pumpkins and all that comes with October.

Jared and I are hoping to get away for a quick trip to the U.P. just the two of us in the coming weeks to see the colors so we will see if that happens and when/if it does I will share pictures!

God Bless, Sleep Well,
-CW

Breaking Your Own Rules

Well the time has come for me to break my own rules.... Don't freak, it's nothing serious! ;) Over the past (almost) 10 months with the twins I have been stuck to a schedule and a routine like no other. In my opinion, this is a necessity when raising infant twins. I do not know how we would have survived the first half of the year without set feeding times, or the whole of these past 10 months without set naps and consistent bedtimes and sleeping through the night. I am not a person who can run, run, run and then not sleep; I would be a monster!

But the time has come that one twin has started to pull away from 2 naps and while the other twin would be content to sleep as much as you let him, we are still trying to keep somewhat of a similar schedule for them both. SO how do you remedy this conundrum? I don't know. Honestly, I'm so clueless. I don't go to Mothers of Twins Clubs or chat online with other moms of multiples who have been where I am now and can tell me exactly what to do. The reality is that I have to learn to be flexible. I have to bend the rules and find what works. My rules. :)

So today instead of laying them down at their usual nap time around 10:15 I kept them up and fed them lunch around 11:15 and then their bottles at 11:30 (they normally get bottles at noon and then lunch right after) and laid them down right after bottles. They were falling apart eating their lunch and both were rubbing their eyes as they took their bottle but both went down good. My hope is that eventually we will be able to push lunch to a more normal time and then lay them down right after for a long afternoon nap. I don't expect that today's nap will be 3 hours, that would be awesome, but I have no idea if they will catch on right away to the one nap thing or not. How did you transition your kiddos to one nap?

We are also currently working on weaning the bedtime bottle so that they don't get 'attached' to that. They are doing awesome so far. We're down to 4oz and then we read books and then lay them down. So far so good. I think we will try next week to cut that 4oz and just give them their sippy cups to hold on to and suck on a little bit of liquid while we read books. Our pediatrician recommended that we replace the bottle with something familiar so we've chosen to do baths and books (not one specifically but all kinds) because these activities can, for the most part, be done at anyone's house and allow us to stay flexible with laying them down wherever we happen to be at bedtime. So far they are doing great going down at other houses in a pack n' play. We are very thankful for that. What do you do with your kiddos at bedtime?

So I will keep you posted on how this transition is going. I think more than anything I am learning so much and this process is teaching me so many things. Parenting has a way of showing you the most ugly things about yourself and then giving you the most beautiful gifts along the way. I recently saw a magazine cover that read "The life of Having It All Means Being Childless". I'm so glad that I don't "Have it All".