Trimming the Tree

I love decorating for Christmas with a preschooler. Lucy has been so excited this year.  Last weekend we decorated Grandma and Grandpa's house.  Aunt Katy got home from Telluride just in time. Lucy set up the tree with grandpa and then put up all of Grandma's decorations with Katy and Grandma.

One week later we went and bought a Christmas tree.  We've never had a tree before-we always spend the weeks before Christmas with family-so we were excited to get a little tree for our little house. Danny wanted the experience of finding a tree in the lot-so we went for a real tree.  Danny and Lucy went around looking and smelling tree while the babies and I tried to stay warm. Eventually we left the big beautiful trees and found a perfect tree for us (I only had $18 in cash-lucky our tree was only $14:)

 After church we decorated it.  One of our Leininger traditions is to receive a new ornament every year.  This year Lucy's ornament is a beautiful Rapunzel. This afternoon she told me she  "wanted to cry she loved it so much". She caresses it constantly:)

The babies got ornaments this year too.

We decorated our house, put lights in the windows and listen to Christmas music constantly. I love December.

Grateful

Disclaimer: I was grateful last week when I was supposed to be, but I'm grateful now when I actually have time to blog too.

Danny and I started a new Thanksgiving tradition this year. This summer we started writing one thing we were grateful for on a thin post-it note before we went to bed. I like it because it forces me to look back on my day and I end up thinking of all the things that went well or I appreciated.  The night before Thanksgiving Danny and I decided to frame all of our little gratitude slips. We had a great time reading through them as we placed them in the frame. We plan on layering our slips on top of each other each year.  Many of the slips were about our girls, our extended family, health, date night, the Savior.  Several were about my camera:) On one I was grateful someone returned my wallet when I lost it at the grocery store. On one Danny was grateful for air (he must have been tired that night).

I have been reading letters Danny wrote to his family when he had cancer. I made them into a book when he went into remission and it has been good to look through. It is amazing that I sometimes forget that time. I hope I don't forget the lessons I learned throughout it--I don't want a reminder:)

This year we spent Thanksgiving day with both families. We had a terrific morning at the Leiningers where we watched the parade and ate delicious wassail (yes I took a pic of it because it was so good-there were raspberries in it=awesome!)

Lucy played with her cousins, we ate a wonderful dinner, talked and played cards.

That evening we went to my grandparents an enjoyed a second Thanksgiving feast. Lucy and Danny played outside until it got dark and the babies were admired by my Uncle Mark and Kevin. Grandma Kay made the best Turkey I have ever had (she brined it-that must have been the magic because it was SO GOOD). 

I think I have documented how much I dislike Thanksgiving as a holiday-but this year has changed my mind (it helped that I didn't have to do ANY cooking:)

Birth Story

My babies are seven months old this week. They still seem so little to me, but they are practicallycrawling-eatingrealfood-giggling babies now.  My friend Celia (that seems funny because she is my sisters' best friend, but I love you too Celia!) just had her identical twin boys yesterday. They are teeny tiny and perfect.  You can check out her amazing and miraculous birth story here.  Reading her story and seeing her little babes together reminded me of delivering my own babies and I realized I never posted about it! After reading Celia's story my own sounds like a walk in the park-and actually, it really was pretty great.  Here is a detailed account for posterity-read at your own risk:)


I was induced on Easter Sunday, April 24, 2011.  The day before we celebrated Lucy’s fourth birthday.  On Sunday we woke up, showered and finished packing our bags. We called in to labor and delivery and were told to come in at 8:30 AM.  I was able to eat a light breakfast, which turned out being Rice Chex, and Grandma Karen came over.  We had a fun easter egg hunt with Lucy and left her having fun with Grandma.  It was very exciting going to the hospital knowing that we would come home with two babies.  We parked, went in to the hospital and got through admitting-all of which was kinda of weird because we weren’t in labor!  It was a very different experience!
  

We were taken to a very comfy delivery room and got settled in.  I was in bed ready to go by 9:30-but forgot how long the process takes to get started. It took several hours to get my IV put in and my heartbeat monitors and contraction monitor in place.  Fortunately I had a tv and I began watching a “Say Yes to the Dress” marathon and Legally Blond (alternating during commercials:) After the first hour my first nurse went home and Jennifer came in. She was super nice and really looked after me.  By eleven I was already starving but had been told I couldn’t eat anything-Jennifer made sure I got lunch which really saved me. Isn’t it weird how hospital food always tastes great? At least for me. I’m normally quite picky, but I LOVED all the hospital food I had during my stay, Just shows you how starving I was:)

We waited most of the morning for a doctor to be available to check the position of the babies and my dilation. Dr. Riggs, a really nice younger woman, came in and checked me about 11:45 AM. I was still dilated to a 3 (same as in my last Dr. appt the previous Thursday).  She stripped my membranes and started me on the smallest amount (2 something) of pitocin at about noon (they didn’t know how my body would react because everyone is different).  By about 1:30 I started feeling some contractions, they weren’t very painful, but I could definitely feel them. Jennifer came in every once and awhile and increased my pitocin drip, although at the time I didn’t know she was doing that.
  
While we waited I continued to watch my marathon while Danny alternated between trying to rest, trying to read and taking walks around the building. The time dragged on-we both felt silly we didn’t have any fun movies or shows on the iPad. We prepare more entertainment for plane rides than our hospital stay! It was nice to know that things would progress eventually, however. I don’t remember being overly anxious about the wait.
  
At around 3 PM Jennifer came in and introduced me to my new nurse Michael. I confess I was somewhat disappointed to get a male nurse. I’m not sure why it isn’t weird to have a male Dr. checking things down there, but to have a male nurse poking around was a little weird. He was very nice, but also very chatty and I was a little annoyed with him most of the time. He mostly regaled me with stories of his adventures with his twin brother-they made me very grateful I was having girls:)
  
At 6:50 Dr. Riggs came back in to check on me. My contractions had progressed, but weren’t awful yet. They had given me quite a bit of pitocin (thats when I figured out they had been increasing my drip the whole time) and she decided to break my water to get things moving a little faster. She also installed (thats a gross word choice) the heart rate monitor on Baby A’s head to get a more accurate reading. They kept baby B’s heart rate belt on me. After my water was broken I started feeling more painful contraptions almost immediately. They told me I could get the epidural whenever I wanted and I told them to get it started (it always takes so long and why wait:).  I was surprised how fast the anesthesiologist made it to me. She was incredibly nice and who doesn’t love the Dr. who takes away all the pain? The one thing I remember about getting the epidural is that while I was leaning over getting it Michael tried to relax me by rubbing my shoulders. He had the opposite effect-I think I tightened right up. I’m not sexist I swear, but this guy was just a bit weird. Anyway, by 8 PM the epidural was in and I was relieved.  I had a harder time with this epidural than when I had Lucy. I had sone random pain down there and would get a shooting pain down on thigh. Fortunately it all got worked out without too much pain or hassle.
  
 For the next little bit Danny and I were able to rest.  I fell sound asleep but had to wake up every little bit because Baby B kept moving and messing up her heart rate monitor.  I felt so tired and resented poor Michael for coming in and messing with the belt.  At 10:30 Michael checked my dilation and I was at a ten. I was surprised I had finished dilating so fast.  My Ob Dr. Lee was just coming on duty, so I was pleased my body had waited for her.  Danny got in his scrubs (twin births happen in the OR in case anything goes wrong) and by 10:45 he nurses were taking me to the OR with all of my monitors etc. At this point I just felt excited. I wasn’t hurting and I was just so glad to get pushing.  Delivering in the OR was definitely different that my experience with Lucy.The main difference was the number of people involved. My anesthesiologist  stood behind me, my Dr. stood in front of me in her full gear, I had another Dr. doing an ultrasound on my tummy and two nursing standing by the Dr. and two pediatric nurses standing by the baby bassinet things.  It was tricky finding a spot for Danny! (He ended up sitting behind my left shoulder holding my arm.)
   

At this point I didn’t expect to deliver soon. I pushed for two hours with Lucy and thought it would take awhile-the girls had proved they liked it in there already! Dr. Lee had me try one practice push and then told me it would only take one good push to get Joyce out.  I was so excited! I gave that push all my strength and there she was (11:15 PM) ! I remember feeling completely hollow after she came out. I wouldn't have minded keeping Lydia inside for awhile more!  Joyce was taken immediately to the bassinet and her waiting nurse. She was covered in meconium (poop) because she had pooped on her way out of the birth canal (poor baby). The nurse gave her a vigorous toweling off and Joyce screamed reassuringly. I heard the nurse give her an Apgar score of 8. There was a collective gasp when they announced her weight: 7 lbs 7 ounces. No wonder I felt hollow! I couldn’t really get a good look at her, but Danny was able to go over and take a look at her while I focused on what the Dr. was saying.  I heard her mention giving me more pitocin to make sure I continued laboring and my cervix didn’t start shrinking.  Fortunately Lydia was wiling to leave and once I started pushing again she was on her way. I think I pushed four times and she was born (11:24PM). She was whisked away to her station and got an Apgar of 9. She weighed in at 7 lbs 3 ounces.  Yes-that means there was almost 15 lbs of baby in me. I was astonished. Guess I didn't need those preemie clothes:)

Joyce

Lydia

    While I was pushing with Lydia, Danny stayed with Joyce who was having a little problem. The nurse was worried about her lungs so she was put on oxygen and got ready to be moved to the NICU.  The whole time they worked on her she screamed bloody murder. Lydia yelled for a minute and then promptly spread out as much as she could and fell asleep (she must have been really cramped in there:)

  The Dr.s were very optimistic about Joyce and so I don’t remember being overly worried-but I was very glad Danny could go with her and stay with her.  By midnight I was ready to leave the OR and took Lydia with me. My mom and Marilyn had come to the hospital when we went to the OR and were there to meet me when I got back to my room. I was so happy to have them there to talk and be with. They were able to hold Lydia immediately see her get her first bath.  Danny came back after about thirty minutes and took each grandma to visit Joyce too. I was very excited to see a picture of Joyce Marilyn took in the NICU because I hadn’t seen her yet!

At around 2 AM Lydia and I were taken to the mother and baby unit. The grandmas came with me and kept me company while we waited for Danny and news. He came soon thereafter to tell me Joyce was doing great and would be with us soon and by 4 AM she was released from the NICU and was with us. The poor baby had been poked and prodded (they had a really hard time getting an IV in her poor girl) and needed some calming down. We put both babies in the same bassinet and that seemed to really help.  We had an awesome hospital stay and I didn’t want to leave.

Well, those are the details  of my twin delivery.  What I can’t really express is all the emotions associated. I had a great delivery and felt incredibly grateful to the Dr.s and nurses for making it such a great experience.  I was blessed that I had two seven pound babies and could take them home with me immediately.

 

baby Nemo

I think there is nothing cuter than baby Nemo. Yesterday I put away these jammies:

I bought them the winter of 2010 when I didn't have any babies, and wasn't sure I would ever have any babies.

I spoiled Lucy while Danny had cancer. We used to go to the Disney store almost every week just to look at the princess things and play around. On one trip I saw the jammies and I must have been feeling particularly hopeless because I lost it.  I looked at the tiny 0-3 month size every time we went. I jokingly hugged the baby mannequin wearing it once and sent a pic to Danny (not funny, just depressing:)

On a more hopeful visit I just decided to buy them.

During IVF I hung them in my room.

When I eventually found out I was pregnant with twins I kicked myself for not buying two.

Being a sap I cried when I put them on a baby for the first time. I love these little jammies. I boxed them up today with the other 3-6 month clothes, but I plan on getting them out when Danny and I start our second family in ten years (they'd work on a boy don't you think?)

the CARD

You may remember that I am obsessed with Christmas cards and getting family pictures taken (I documented it at length here.) Believe it or not I had briefly forgotten about these obsessions, it not being the Christmas season quite yet.  Lucky for me Danny hadn't.

While Becca was here we had her take some pictures of us. We tried not to make it a big deal-but that didn't work.  I obsessed about it-enough that we actually did it when many things stood in the way. We didn't have anyone to watch Ruby while we took them, so we brought her with us. The poor baby wasn't feeling very good and was unhappy ( read: screaming) the whole time. We had to wake the babies up and neither of them woke up feeling very smiley. Last but not least, no amount of bribery can get Lucy to do a normal smile while looking at a camera lately.  Seriously, when she smiles her eyes are unable to focus and when she focuses she is unable to smile.  Fortunately we all survived the experience and we actually got a couple of cute shots:)
It proved difficult to pose two babies who can't sit up yet, but here are some of my favorite shots- some edited, some not. We'll surprise you with which one we choose:)

Worth a thousand words:

Feeding Twins

I have officially hit my goal of breastfeeding twins for six months.  While I was pregnant I was really freaked out about feeding twins. I had a easy time breastfeeding Lucy. It was a bonding experience, it never hurt me at all = it was great. I could not imagine how I could do it with two babies.  I really wanted to breastfeed the babies, and lets be honest, how could I afford not to? I HAD to breastfeed these babies.  I just didn't see how that was really possible.

While pregnant I read some blogs from moms who had recently had twins and tried to see how they managed it.  My sister in law gave me an awesome book that gave great advice on it, and showed way too many pictures of it:)  I read that it was hard but doable and that I should set a breastfeeding goal. That way when things got hard, I had a goal in mind and wouldn't let fatigue and stress make me stop. Well, this post is to announce that I made my goal.  It has not been easy. It was not really the bonding experience I had with Lucy. It was a necessity, it was efficient and it was good for my babies.

Here is how it worked for me:
I have seen girls feed their twins in lots of different ways, but tandem feeding worked the best for me. It is a ton faster to feed them at the same time with no hassle of a bottle.  I bought this pillow and it saved me. I held each baby in the football hold (I looked like one of those pictures that so grossed me out in that book:). It was hard when they were small and needed to burp or fell asleep because moving one baby around often unlatched the second baby, but by 3/4 months it was efficient and relatively easy. I also bought a great Medela electric pump and it really helped when I was worried about my production. I never pumped after every feeding like I've heard some people do, only when I missed a feeding.

I'm still going strong, but the babies are getting a bit more distracted while breastfeeding lately.  They are just so much more active! They look at Lucy whenever they hear her, go for my remote/book if they see it out of the corner of their eye/ just look at me and smile. Joyce has taken to just rolling off the pillow when she's done. I feel like they might drink more if I bottle fed them, but we'll see.

I'm glad I hit my goal. It wasn't easy,and it was actually pretty stressful at times, but looking back it has been fun. I hope I remember the cute view I have while nursing-their little heads together with their hands clasped together in the middle. It is adorable, but for obvious reasons I haven't taken a picture:)

"It's a beautiful day...

...To kill some ants!"

That is what Rapunzel said to me as she headed out the front door with her windex.

We've had ants invading our house lately.  Lucy is our main ant killer, she loves spraying the trails she finds going under the house. Luckily they have not found the kitchen, or any food really. Why do they keep coming in if not for food?

Gross story: I sat at my computer the other day and felt an ant on my arm. Gross. Killed it and kept typing. Found another on my other arm. Looked down at my feet and-the floor was moving. It was the most disgusting thing-ants were everywhere. I screamed and ran yelling for Danny. I had been sitting with my shoes in ants. There were ants crawling up my pants. I immediately jumped in the shower-but it was awful.

Today the kids and I spent our afternoon at the park. I put the babies in a swing for the first time.  They loved it.

I LOVE this picture

Who doesn't love twins in a swing? We had a little crowd of people around us just wanting to watch them:) Man, I adore them.

October Recap

I feel like I neglected to blog some exciting and photo worthy events in October and because I forgot about daylight savings time and have an extra hour before church, I'll blog them.

Towards the end of October Becca and Ruby came to visit! They came right when our family got the flu and bad colds, so we missed out on a couple days of fun, but fortunately they stayed a whole week and we did get to see them a bit.  I hardly took any pictures, but before preschool one day we took Lucy and Ruby to the pumpkin patch.  Ruby made a very cute little dinosaur.

Becca was a great help making Rapunzel's braid. She and Katy helped me with the actually braiding (there was a lot of yarn holding one day) and then Becca and Lucy decided where to put the flowers and glued them on. Lucy LOVES her braid and wears it every day.

Here is Lucy and Mrs. Perona the day of her Preschool Party. Lucy looked forward to that party all month long and it did not disappoint. I still hear about the fun games they played:)

The reason for Becca's visit and our general excitement this month was that Katy (my cute sister) went through the temple.  It was our first time going through together as a family and we had a great time.  Kaity and Alan (Katy's great friends) came out for the occasion as well. Everyone humored me and took pictures.

 Don't we look happy? We were.

 This is my dad's Harrison Ford face. Awesome huh.