Danny's Girls

L.O.V.E.

2012-02-14T09:16:00.000-08:00

When my sisters and I were little we were asked to sing at church and activities pretty often. Not because we were any good mind you, but usually because my mom was the leader of an organization and it was easier to make us sing during a program than ask someone else. I think we sang the same song at every baptism in 1993. Anyway, we were asked to sing for the adult session of stake conference one year. It was a spelling song. "H-U-G means time to go to bed, night-night. D-A-D says I love you and squeeze me tight" etc. etc. Well, I was never a good speller and it took some serious thought to figure that song out. The last line was "The most important is L-O-V-E that spells Family." Well, that was a very long intro to what love means to me. I love and adore Danny and each of my girls.

This year we celebrated Valentines with a Saturday family date. "Family" because we couldn't find a babysitter:) We drove to Provo and went to all of the places we have significant memories of while we were dating/engaged. First stop was the spot where Danny and Jared Collette serenaded me on the night we got engaged

then we walked over the the Maiser building where Danny proposed. Danny reenacted his proposal and I was swept off my feet for the second time:)

We drove up to Rock Canyon and went on a little hike. We used to hike up there a lot when we were engaged and newly married. On one occasion we picked a favorite spot and told ourselves we would come back to that spot whenever we visited Provo. We looked ahead and imagined what our future lives would hold...we were just as corny back then as we are now:) This is the first time we've been back-seven years and three children later.

After our reminicing we went to my favorite place for lunch-Bajios. Oh how I love Bajios!

We finished our day with a trip to The Chocolate. A cute dessert cafe Becca and Kyle introduced us to in Orem. Their salted carmel brownie is the best thing in the world. I dream about it...

Valentines day is not usually one to the holidays I care very much about, but this year we decorated about a month early so the anticipation has been building. Yesterday was Lucy's preschool party and we decorated sugar cookies with the Blodgetts, so we got the celebrating started early. Today we are celebrating by hanging out with Becca and Ruby-our favortie thing to do. Later we will go out to eat with Danny at our traditional Valentine's restaurant: Arby's. We ate there on our first Valentines day when everywhere else in Provo was packed and we hadn't gotten any reservations. It has been our place ever since:)

We're not sick of it yet...

2012-02-02T17:11:00.000-08:00

Like the rest of the country we are enjoying a warm winter. Thank heavens-it has really helped my weather adjustment. It frequently looks so nice outside that I don't think to bring hats/gloves or even jackets and then we all freeze in the car when it is actually only 20 degrees. (Don't worry, I have Bundlemes for the babies so they are at least warm. I'm not neglecting them:)

As a result of this nice "warm" weather we haven't had much snow. We get super excited when the snow actually does fall. We have a park across the street from our house and it is the perfect place to run around and get in snow ball fights. It snowed pretty hard the week we got here and we immediately went out to enjoy it:

Christmas 2011

2012-01-31T20:01:00.000-08:00

Every year I think I blog about Christmas over a month after the fact. Moving on New Years Eve is a pretty good excuse for this year though. I feel a need to document so here are the main events.

The week before Christmas we moved in with my parents so we weren't living in a moving-zone throughout the holiday. It was so nice to have a break from the move and just hang out with family. One day we went to the city with the Leinfam. We took the ferry in and went ice skating at the Embarcadero. We did this last year too and I hope it will continue to be a tradition because we had a great time. Lucy loved being with her cousins all day.

It was an Anderson Christmas this year so as is tradition on Christmas Eve we started the evening at my Grandma Joyce's house. We acted out the nativity with Lucy as Mary, Katy as Gabriel and me as a multitude of heavenly hosts (I just talked very loud:).

We also played the Toy Symphony, carols and the Christmas Concerto as a family. This is a big tradition and something Grandma loves. Lucy loved seeing me play my violin and I loved seeing my Dad play his viola. Lucy played the toy trumpet during the toy symphony, which is the same instrument I always played for that piece. She loved it. This year I played the water whistle during that piece and let me tell you-it was intense.

We went home to my parent's house to enjoy other traditions like singing "Hang up the Baby Stocking" and watching a Muppet's Christmas Carol. I wish I knew how to use my camera because this would have a been a super cute shot of Lydia:

On Christmas morning we all managed to stay asleep until 7 AM. We let Joyce stay asleep and went down to see what Santa brought us. Santa brought Lucy a new singing Rapunzel doll. Santa learned from his mistakes and braided Rapunzel's hair this year.

Lydia and Joyce got this new play stand from Santa and loved it.

We opened presents for awhile, had a wonderful breakfast with Grandma Joyce, and went to church. After church we continued opening and playing with our presents. This time Joyce got into the wrapping a bit.

I was very spoiled this year. I got a whole winter wardrobe from my parents, a new diaper bag from the Leiningers, two awesome shirts from Becca and a tripod from Danny. Katy gave me some increidbly thoughtful gifts: she made this plaque:

and she shadowboxed these jammies.

Isn't she thoughtful? I cried.
We had a fantastic Christmas. We loved spending quality time with our families, especially knowing we'd be leaving so soon. Okay, gonna cry if I keep typing. The end.

8/9 months

2012-01-27T20:49:00.000-08:00

I missed posting about the babies at eight months due to Christmas/moving and now they are nine months. I would skip it altogether, but they have changed a TON these last two months.

At eight months both girls started to crawl. Joyce was first and Lydia started shortly after. Joyce is a bit more coordinated about it, Lydia still has a, shall we say, unique crawl. Both girls have gotten very fast. Lydia was the first to pull herself up to stand and now they both stand and shuffle along the furniture. Their favorite thing is to pull themselves up on me or on each other. Pulling yourself up using an unstable baby as your base is never a good idea:) (sorry about all the iphone pictures, I haven't gotten out my camera ever since i got it)

This month I stopped nursing them. I'm a little sad about it but it was definitely time. Starting in December I started supplementing more and pumping for feedings because they were getting too big to tandem feed. I still tandem fed them at 5AM so they would sleep in, but with the move I often wasn't home/didn't have time to pump, so my supply slowly dwindled. By the time we got here I was pumping once at night and breastfeeding them in the morning. With the stairs I decided to finally drop that morning feeding and then stopped pumping when I just wasn't producing enough to make it worth it. I am amazed how much formula I go through now! Both girls can hold their own bottles which makes life a lot easier.

When we moved to UT I also started feeding them three meals a day. Joyce is definitely more picky and will refuse some foods, but Lydia will eat anything:) I haven't been making my own purees since we got here because we don't have a microwave yet. We left ours in CA because we thought there was one in the house already, but there isn't and I'm too lazy and cheap to go buy another one-so we're just doing without right now, which is surprisingly easy. Neither baby has mastered the pincer grip yet but they do eat some finger foods like graham crackers, puffs, yogurt melt and banana.
We went to the Dr for well checks yesterday and I learned that both babies are 50% for both head and length and only 5% for weight. The Dr wasn't worried because they were both light and had steady weight gain-but they both weigh only about 17 lbs! I thought they were tiny!

Joyce:
My Joyce is adorable. She is very adventurous and likes to explore. She shows her affection by crawling up to you and bumping her head against you. You know she loves you if you get a forehead bump. She has been sick lately and the Dr confirmed she has a double ear infection. This has made her pretty cranky for awhile so she usually gets held more than Lydia. When she is miserable and feeling sick she will put her head on my chest and shake it back and forth. It is sad but I frequently love it too. She laughs a lot more than Lyd, usually at something Lucy does. She has three teeth-- two bottom teeth and a canine on top. I hadn't noticed the canine until a nurse pointed it out yesterday-it has been their awhile too! Her smile is precious and we see it a lot more often then we used to. She is a momma's girl-she has a definite preference for me and gets very excited when I come to get her-either from bed or from her dad:)

Lydia:
My Lydia is adorable too. She has an incredibly cute groggy face when she first wakes up in the morning and it always reminds me of Katy. We have a picture of Katy as a baby with the exact same groggy look- I swear they could be twins:) Lydia is a bit more self sufficient then her sister-by which I mean she can go play without checking in with me and if I am sitting somewhere she doesn't need to be on top of me-although she frequently likes to be. She is a very good at pulling herself up and prefers to stand rather than sit or crawl. I love her grin. She loves her binkie. I typically only give them to the girls when they're in bed or in the stroller/car seat. She gets excited when she sees one and will grab it incredibly fast. She loves to steal one out of her sisters mouth as well. My favorite thing is when I catch her with a binkie in each hand and she alternates which one she sucks on.

groggy:)

Happy

2012-01-23T09:08:00.000-08:00

Right now Lucy is playing at a friend's house, both babies are asleep and I have a whole hour to myself. Life is good. Here is what I'm happy about at this moment:
*We are really liking our new house, ward and state ( not to stay though Mom).
*We had an awesome weekend visiting Matt and Lillian at their home, hanging out with Jared and Nisha, watching the 49er game with Blodgetts, and staying warm inside while we watched the snow fall.
*Our ward is incredibly nice and we really like walking one block over to our ward building.
*Lucy is loving preschool and I'm loving that it is three days a week.
*It feels so good to be fully moved in. I am on my computer less because its in the basement-which I like, but I have my new iPhone and Instagram and that keeps my tech needs satisfied.
*I love seeing Becca and Ruby once a week-if not more:)
* Lindsay gave me eyelash extensions which make me look like a whole other person-like someone who really tries! They kind of freak me out, but I like them.
*I am looking forward to our annual trip to Zions where we will see Grandma, Grandpa and Katy -February can't come fast enough!

A Long Month

2012-01-11T10:02:00.000-08:00

It has been exactly a month since I blogged last and today I finally have the internet again. December was crazy. We found out we were moving, the babies started teething and crawling, we celebrated Chrsitmas with out families, all got a horrible cold that lasted at least three weeks (and is still in Danny and Joycies' chests, moved 1/4 of our stuff to a storage unit, moved the rest to a moving van, said goodbye to our CA house and drove to Utah. We got here on New Years Eve and have been slowly settling in ever since. My parents and Katy drove with us up here and spent a fun week feeding and playing with us, so I am only barely getting in to real life.

Both Lucy and Danny started school on Monday. Danny at the U studying real estate development and Lucy at Ms. Wendy's preschool. Both really like it:)

Next posts need to document: babies at eight months, Christmas, Ruby (aka-the reason Lucy is happy in UT)

The Long Vacation

2011-12-11T16:35:00.001-08:00

Well, we're moving to Utah.

I know this is shocking (to me too:) Let me explain.

In early November Danny started talking about going back to school to get a masters degree in real estate development. At first he was talking about finding an online program so we could stay where we are and he could continue working for Walnut Creek. After some family encouragement and looking into some programs he decided to apply to the University of Utah's RED degree. The deadline had already passed for the "spring" term, but he called and they said they were accepting late applications if we got it in fast. He applied quickly and I tried to forget about it. He told me ge didn't have either of the pre-requisites reqired, so he would probably reapply for next fall. When I asked when Spring term started he looked it up--January 9th. Let me just say, January in Utah does not qualify as spring.

Well, you guessed it, he got in. He is really excited about the program and I am excited he's excited. The program is only a year which is wonderful. We've decided to think of it as a long vacation. We will love being in Utah where we'll see lots of family and eat Bajio as often as we can. Then, we can come home just as its getting really cold next winter. Sounds perfect right?

All this does mean I have to pack and move with two crawling babies. It is going to be wild-but I'm kind of excited too. We plan on bringing only the essentials with us and leaving lots of our stuff here-so it will be fun to sort everything out. I'm going to try and get as much as I can done this week so we can enjoy Christmas with our family. In the mean time we're trying to find a place to live and figuring out all the details of the move. Wish me luck!

PS: if you see either of our moms, give them a squeeze. They'll be lonely without their babies!

Seven Months

2011-12-09T10:33:00.000-08:00

Officially the girls are seven months and two weeks...I'm a bit late this month. Here is a quick update on the kiddos so I remember life at seven months.

This stage is pretty awesome. Both girls can sit up unassisted and can roll and army crawl around (until yesterday when Joyce started seriously crawling around). They eat solids twice a day and take two naps. I'm still breastfeeding them, but am pumping more and more often because they are so feisty! Joyce will nurse for about two minuted before rolling off the pillow and looking for something else to do. Today I had to put up a barrier with my hands while nursing because each girl was trying to scratch/grab the others' head. It was wild.
(these pics come from a two trips to the park over the last two weeks)

Joyce is adorable. She is a bit heavier then her sister and is a bit more mobile. She is incredibly active-she always wants to be on the move. She wakes up a bit more at night and has begun to want me ALL THE TIME. That said, she smiles at her Dad like he is the greatest thing in the world. She adores him. She is starting to get more hair and it is soft and sticks straight up. So cute:) She continues to have very dry, eczema-prone skin that I have to lotion constantly.

Lydia is adorable. She is on the slighter side, so I'm trying to feed her as much as her sister (who eats a bit more). Lydia has great laugh and loves to laugh at Lucy. She still smiles at everything and everybody. She is a good sleeper and will take slightly longer naps then her sister. She has slightly darker hair than Joyce but it doesn't stick up in the same way.

There is way more to these babies-I'll have to be better at documenting:)

Fun Wednesday

2011-12-07T16:05:00.001-08:00

Wednesday is the hardest day of the week. It is smack in the middle of preschool days, which makes it lame because preschool days are the best days (in Lucy's opinion). There are no shows on the DVR because the good shows come on Wed. and Thurs. (especially sad without my guilty pleasure show Ringer on until mid January). It feels like days until the weekend, etc. etc. After some Wednesdays with nothing to look forward to I decided Wednesday would be our fun day. By fun I mean a trip to Target or maybe the park (those activities used to happen a lot more often before I had to haul two car seats in and out of the car).

Awhile ago I finally logged on to my local library website and signed up for Discover&Go-a long list of museums and activities that you can get free tickets for with your library card. Several weeks ago we went to the Lindsay Wildlife Museum and had an awesome time. Today we went to the Oakland Zoo. We haven't been to the zoo for ages and had a really fun time.

Looking for lions.

Here is Lucy with her preschool mascot, Eddie the Elephant. He is visiting our house for few days and was lucky enough to see his cousins at the zoo!

Grooming the goats. Lucy was pretty fearless! here is proof I was willing to try it too.

The best part was that Aunt Katy came with us, even when my free pass didn't cover her. Lucy has her wrapped around her little finger because she carried Lucy whenever Lucy asked.

see her touching Katy's hair?-another generation Bec:)

I realized in the bathroom there that I put on no makeup today. That is yesterday's mascara.

Next week we're off to the Discovery museum-Wednesdays are awesome!

Trimming the Tree

2011-11-30T19:55:00.001-08:00

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

2011-11-29T21:17:00.001-08:00

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

2011-11-29T20:49:00.001-08:00

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

2011-11-18T18:18:00.001-08:00

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

2011-11-18T18:13:00.001-08:00

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

2011-11-16T09:33:00.001-08:00

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...

2011-11-14T18:49:00.001-08:00

...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

2011-11-08T21:24:00.000-08:00

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.

Halloween!

2011-11-01T10:35:00.000-07:00

Halloween really gets fun when you turn four. At least at our house years 0-3 are pretty uneventful. You get to dress up, knock on maybe three doors with Mom and Dad pestering you to say "trick or treat" and "thank you" and then you go home and your parents confiscate your candy only to eat it all themselves. This year, however, Lucy is old enough to really appreciate the songs, books, costume choices and candy. We had a great day.
The day started with rice cereal. I am finally starting to feed these babies real food. It takes so long, but I'm trying to do it more reguarly.

Then Lucy painted a pumpkin. She cut out a jack-o-lantern with Grandma Marilyn only a couple of days ago, but it was rotting already so this was her last minute Halloween pumpkin.

That afternoon Lucy had her last ballet class for the fall. Parents are allowed to come watch the last class and Lucy's Grandma Karen and Great-Grandparents came as well! They usually aren't allowed to wear tutus-but Halloween was a special occasion.

Showing off her a move

Then we changed into our costumes and got a few pictures of Rapunzel and the skeleton sisters

We went trick or treating in Danville with our Leininger cousins. We were also able to meet our new nephew James-although unfortunately I didn't get a picture of his cute face.

The kids had a great time running around the neighborhood together. They are at such a cute age-they were sincere in their "Trick or Treats" and would yell "Happy Halloween" at every house as they ran on to the next one. Elizabeth was especially adorable. We carried the babies with us and they just enjoyed being outside. Lucy was content with one kitkat bar last night, but mom and Dad both snuck quite a bit when she'd gone to bed...

Skeletons

2011-10-31T22:02:00.000-07:00

So a Halloween post is forthcoming, but as I was uploading my pictures from earlier today I asked myself, "How do you take outdoor pictures of babies that can't quite sit up yet?

First you prop them up and hope that in a close up you wont be seen. Unfortunately your photographer doesn't read your mind (or think that through apparently) and puts you in the shot.

Then you realize that either way your hair is blocking a face. This pose is not working.

Your husband suggests letting them sit independently-which they can't quite manage yet. You have to be quick on the shutter because...

once he moves his hands...

they fall down.

So we ended up with the reliable laying down shots. Of course to get good smiles we have to stand above them while gesturing and smiling wildly.

Oh well. They are adorable little skeletons:)
Rapunzel pics to come.

Happy Half-Birthday!

2011-10-25T21:28:00.000-07:00

I have always been into celebrating half birthdays. Some years I even managed to convince my family that it was necessary and got them to buy me gifts:) Any excuse to celebrate right?! Yesterday we held a little party birthday party for Ruby (turned one in Sept.), Becca (birthday on the 14th), Lucy (1/2 birthday on 23rd) and Babies (1/2 birthday on 24th). I just snuck those 1/2 birthdays in:) My generous parents gave us the Lion King on DVD to celebrate. I have been singing The Circle of Life nonstop ever since. Anyway, the point of this post is that my babies are SIX MONTHS OLD. As usual I am in shock.

I am not exaggerating when I say that I adore these babies beyond reason. I am fortunate enough to just stare and smile at them most of the day. A lot of people tell me life will get easier after this first year, and I hope that is true because who doesn't want an easier life, but I think life with twins is pretty awesome right now. The girls have a regular sleeping and eating schedule and play and smile the rest of the time-I'm not sure how that could be improved upon! Here are some details that only my future self will appreciate:

Schedule: The girls go to sleep at about 8 PM after an evening feeding. They usually sleep straight until 7 AM. They rarely wake up and need their binkie back like they used to. Occasionally one baby will wake up around 5AM and look awake, so I'll wake up her sister and feed both of them a bit. At seven they usually wake up happy and just talk in the cribs until Danny or I get them up. If they had a snack at 5 then they play until I really wake up. If they didn't, then I get up and feed them immediately. They usually play after that for another hour and then take a nap around nine. I put one in her crib and one on my bed to sleep because I find they wake each other up more often during naps, they don't seem to sleep as deeply. I still swaddle them for naps too. They associate it with sleep so it helps them fall asleep more quickly. At night they go in a sleep blanket and do just fine though.

They wake up between one and two hours later, eat again then play. This is when we usually do our outing for the day/take Lucy to preschool. The girls are great on errands, I really like taking them out and about (except maybe to Costco. My stroller is too small for their goods. I had a traumatizing experience there recently. I don't think I'll go back until the girls can sit up together in the cart.) Then we go home for an afternoon nap. So far these girls nap a lot longer than Lucy (who would take two one hour naps-seriously one hour to the minute-it was weird.) Their afternoon nap is usually an hour and a half to three hours. Awesome huh. They eat, play and then are ready for an evening feeding (where I breastfeed them then supplement to get them completely full). This last feeding is fun because Danny helps me supplement. We usually catch up with a show on the DVR, it is just fun to get the babes ready for bed together. At bedtime we get the girls in their blankets then each of us hold a baby and sing them I'm a Child of God. It is their serious eye-contact time:) If Daddy isn't there then I sing to each one separately. It is a small amount of one on one time, but they love it. Each girl will just beam at you as you sing to her. I love it too:)

Tricks: Both babies are expert rollers. Lydia especially likes to push herself up while on her tummy-she is starting to poise herself for forward motion (heaven forbid). I have fed them rice cereal maybe twice, and neither of them are very interested-although they'd love to get their little hands on our food. They are getting better at sitting up and when laying propped up they try hard to pull themselves up, but neither can sit by themselves quite yet. Both girls like to jump in the jumperoo or door jumper-although Joycie is a bit more enthusiastic about it. They both have very strong legs-when I sit down I tend to hold them upright, standing on my lap. They are just starting to really notice and smile at each other-which is fun.

Now for stats:
Joyce: 14 lbs 4 oz, 26.6 ''

I was surprised by how low both my girls weights were. They are on track for their growth-but they are only in the 25% range for weight. Skinny girls. They are on the tall side too, which makes them look extra skinny. Anyway, Joyce is an angel. She still likes to scratch her face and head while eating-and has discovered that she can scratch her sister too. I think she looks a lot like me as a baby-I love her smile.

Lydia: 13 lbs 11 oz, 26.8"

Has a LONG tongue and she likes to stick it out. It is pretty cute. She licks everything-while pushing herself up on her play mat she will stick her tongue out and hope it comes in contact with one of the hanging toys. Pretty funny. She also has started shaking her head back and forth (like in a "no" gesture). I swear she does it to be funny. It is very cute.

Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-25T11:28:00.000-07:00

Last week we went to the Clayton Pumpkin patch with Grandma and Grandpa L and our cousins. Poor Elizabeth didn't have any shoes so she rode in the Bob and we held the babies because our snap n go wouldn't have made the rough terrain. It was a little wild, but we had a great time riding the train, eating incredibly good kettle corn and checking out the pumpkins.

Here we are waiting for the train. Not the best picture, but proof that I was there.

First train ride!

Lucy and Camille are 11 months apart and have so much fun together. We are so happy that our cousins moved close by!

Here they are running to go through the hay maze together again. I thought Lucy would be scared-but not going through with Camille:)

We had so much fun. I hope we get to go with Ruby and take some cute cousin pictures:)

The Plague

2011-10-23T20:33:00.000-07:00

We are sick...again. I swear, we have gotten more colds this summer than any winter. Danny had a terrible cold for about two weeks and just as he was getting over it Lucy got the flu. She has had a fever for three days and has thrown up twice. Joyce and Lydia have both had lots of eye-gunk for awhile so I knew they had something going on, but in the last couple days they have had horrible coughs. Last night Joyce started a fever and then threw up. Lucky thing Mom is the healthy one right? The bummer is that Becca and Ruby are in town and we are home sick instead of playing with them. Our goal is to get better tomorrow so Lucy can go back to school and start playing with Ruby. Lucy's school Halloween party is Thursday and she has to be better because I would never hear the end of it. She has been looking forward to this party for two months. Anyway, just an update to tell you we're alive...barely.

Lucy lay on me for hours on Friday with a high fever. Poor baby:(

Feeling a little better today

Home again home again

2011-10-09T22:41:00.000-07:00

One of the few pics I have of me and both babes:)

All the kids are finally in bed, my dishwasher and my washing machine are going and the Amazing Race is playing in the background. Whew. Danny is on the way home from the airport. He has been in Utah for three days and while I wish he was coming home rejuvenated and relaxed, but he is coming home tried and sick instead. Poor guy. Poor me too-I've been sleeping in the same room with all of my girls for the last two nights-so none of us have slept very well. It was worth it though because we spent two wonderful days in Yosemite this weekend with Katy and my parents. They had a fun trip planned and when they heard Danny would be gone they changed plans a bit and invited me along. Isn't that kind? We had a terrific time. We drove up Saturday morning and through Yosemite and across Tioga pass (my parents favorite Sierra crossing. Isn't it cute they have a favorite mountain crossing? They love exploring together:) There was a ton of snow up there after our wet week. We stopped at Lake Tanaya. Mom and Dad go up there every year to kayak and I've been hearing about its beauty for ages--it did not disappoint.

We tromped through the snow and took turns kayaking and watching babies. Lucy and Katy made a little snow man and there were several small snow ball fights (I was off limits because I had the camera-good excuse huh?) I also caught a couple cute pics of my babies in their winter gear:)

playing "blast off" with grandma (grandpa taught her the game though -I knew you'd want credit for it dad)

Afterwards we drove down the pass to Mono lake and went to Whoa Nellie Deli, another tradition I've heard about, and then to a cute ice cream stop. We stayed the night at the Yosemite Lodge. The night was interesting. The babies shared a travel crib which meant I had to constantly move them around so they wouldn't kick or suck on each other. I also jumped up every time they cried so that they wouldn't wake anyone up. They must cry and sooth themselves a lot more often then I hear at home because I was up at least once an hour. Usually it just meant putting in a binkie and they'd be back asleep but Joyce let out some piercing screams in one instance and had a hard time falling back to sleep. I shouldn't have worried about it because everyone woke up anyway:)

In the morning my saintly mother let Lucy climb in bed with her for awhile and then got the babies up when they started making noise while I slept a bit. I woke up to Lucy taking and narrating a video on mom's iphone. I think she took about 200 pictures and at least 30 minutes of video in that hotel room. After a leisurly morning Dad and Kate biked up to Muir Lake while Mom and I strolled the babies and Lucy up to Yosemite Falls. We had a fun little nature walk. After a walk into Yosemite Village we set off for home again.

at Yosemite Falls

Lydia was so smily and cute that e got a lot of attention on our walk. Weird to smile at strangers that are smiling at you...but are really just cooing at the baby on you.

Our car set-up. Katy usually ended up by the baby that was having a harder time...not sure how that happened!

It was such a nice getaway. Lucy and I were still excited to get home and see Daddy though:)

First Bites

2011-10-07T09:58:00.000-07:00

When Lucy was four months I got very excited to start feeding her solids. I have hardly thought about it with these babies. It mostly sounds like a lot of work. However, the girls have shown a lot of interest in our food lately. While I don't really plan on feeding them solids regularly quite yet, I decided to do a test run with some brown rice cereal and see how they liked it.

Joyce has been very curious about our food and she was excited to try some. Her tongue thrust is still in full force however and she hardly got any cereal in her mouth, although she certainly tried.

Lydia was anxious to get started...

...but was less interested once she got a tiny taste. She didn't hesitate to spit the rest out.

I was curious so I dared Katy to try a little cereal (curious, but not enough to try it myself!). She was willing until I told her I mixed it with some formula. I told her to be happy I didn't mix it with breast milk! Never one to turn down a dare she took the tiniest of tastes and promptly gagged.

Eat Real

2011-10-03T15:58:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we needed something fun to do and Danny's boss told him about a foodie gathering in Oakland called "Eat Real". It was a gathering of food trucks and outdoor classes about eating sustainable foods. We invited my parents and left Pleasant Hill in short sleeves because it was a very pleasant 75 degrees. We got to Oakland and it was a chilly, overcast 70 degrees. We were a bit cold-and worried about the babies being cold-but had a really great time. We found an awesome parking spot on the street with no meter, which pretty much made my day right there. There were a ton of people and we browsed all the food trucks and stalls before picking several to stand in line for. Part of the deal was that all the food had to be $5 or under-so that meant we were able to walk around and try lots of things. My favorite thing was a slider at Jim N Nicks BBQ.

Can you see some of the slogan in the background? It says "First we send them to heaven (the pig). Then we send you there". They did- it was wonderful. We waited at Joes sea food truck for probably 45 minutes. We tried one of everything and the sea food eaters amongst us (= everyone but me) loved it. We also tried some great tacos, a naanwich (a delicious Indian sandwich) and some great fresh sorbet.

Lobster roll and shrimp poboy=yum and worth the wait

The babies were wonderful and got a ton of attention. At one point a very nice family walked by and just cooed at the girls for several minutes. They didn't speak any English but that didn't stop them from asking me all kinds of questions! I answered the best I could (with smiles and "Two girls", "Very different", "Big sister".)

Conference Sunday in Instagrams

2011-10-02T17:45:00.000-07:00

So I've seen a lot of "my week in instagram" posts lately. Today I got on Danny's phone (I still have an old school flip phone) and played with it. It was so much fun! Like blogging, it is fun to share your life with others through pics (I think we have maybe three followers on instagram:) Anyway, I'm afraid taking pictures distracted me from a couple talks-but here is our day in instagrams:

Danny looks naked here-I promise he's not

It was so fun to try and get a pic with Danny. The last picture we took together was going into the OR when I was delivering the girls-not the best one for a profile pic. I took several before I got one with Danny's eyes open:)

5 months

2011-09-28T22:01:00.000-07:00

My babies are five months. Why is it that with each monthly update I say to myself, "Already?!". Seriously. Already. Well, we had no Dr. appointments this month so I can't record any stats but the girls seem a lot bigger lately. Bathing them tonight Danny predicted that Lydia is a bit bigger but honestly they both feel about the same. Their car seats are definitely getting harder to heft to and from the car. I'm getting too weak to carry both seats at the same time.

Both girls have been able to flip both ways for the last couple weeks but only this week did they start turning over onto their tummies CONSTANTLY. The problem is they often forget they can get back to their backs and after a minute they get really mad laying on their tummies. I hope they start remembering soon because I feel like all I do is flip babies:) Unfortunately with all this turning I have to stop swaddling them. Our only bedtime/naptime ritual thus far has been swaddling the girls, saying I love you and leaving them to sleep peacefully. The last two nights I have gone in when I heard Lydia crying and found her on her tummy while swaddled. I don't know how she does it but it makes me too nervous to leave them swaddled when they don't have their arms to help flip themselves back over. Does that make sense? So tonight I put Lydia in a wearable blanket, said I love you and left her. She cried. I let her cry for awhile, went back in and put her binkie it, more crying. Danny went in, held her arms close to her body for ten seconds and she was sound asleep. Shoot. We'll see how this transition goes, I hope our awesome bedtime doesn't end.

Poor Joycie got stuck. Can you see how much baby equipment I have in my little house! For the record that is two bouncers, one excersaucer/thing, one bumbo, one swing and one playmat. You can't take two steps without hitting a baby related item.

Joyce:
Joyce has been smiling a lot more this month. Most people have to earn it, but she loves to smile at me:) She is a bit wary of strangers and if someone freaks her out she will cry a really sad cry. Poor baby because she gets looked at a TON. I can't go places without nice people wanting to look at my babies. As long as they don't touch (which they often want to do) I love it-but poor Joycie does not. Joyce likes her exersaucer for small periods of time but does not enjoy sitting-she would much rather stand. She is very even tempered, but her sad face is adorable. We call her Joyce, Joycie, Re-Joyce (my dad), and Cute Girl (me).

mid chuckle

Lydia:
Lydia still constantly has a smile on her face. That baby will smile at the wall simply for existing. She likes to be thrown in the air by her Daddy, turn over and stuff toys in her mouth (Joyce likes those too but Lydia seems to do them ferociously-does that make sense?). Lydia wakes up happy. She is not afraid of strangers and will smile at anyone who walks by. When sad she has a wail that could wake the dead. We call her Lydia, Lydie, Wide Eyes and Beautiful Face (me).

I envy this child's lashes

(Yes I know my nicknames are weird and focused solely on their adorable features-but they are so cute that Cute One and Beautiful Face just come out! Those nicknames are used interchangeably too:)

Parenting

2011-09-26T19:49:00.000-07:00

There are some days where you feel like you are a failure as a parent and then some days you feel like you been okay. Rarely you feel awesome, like you taught your child important life lessons, fed them nutriosious meals and only spoke kind words. Today I have felt ALL of those feelings. No super nutritious meal were made and I definitly need to work on my patience, but two things made me feel good tday. First I saw this:

This picture usually sits on a Lucy's bureau. When I asked her why she moved it she said she wanted Jesus to be right by her bed so she could look and think about Him as she went to sleep. Cue the "Awwwwwwwws" . Later as we drove to Grandma's she said "The other week during quiet time, Jesus talked to me in my heart and I heard Him. He talked really quietly but I heard him." :) This all comes after our Primary prgram on Sunday where she gave her "talk" and sang the second verse of Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam as a solo (!). She did great-the fact that she was singing it in front of two wards and a microphone didn't phase her. Unfortuantely I forgot to instruct her not to constantly wave at us from the stand, but what can you do.

Then tonight Danny told me that while I was gone Lucy was impatiently pacing and saying, "Mom is taking so beeping long!" over and over. (Somehow it became a habit to say "beeping" instead f other four letter words:) I guess they hear the good and the bad huh?!

Cannibals

2011-09-25T09:53:00.000-07:00

We have reached that fun stage where the babies love gnawing on human flesh. No matter how many toys I hand them, they would rather grab and chew my fingers than anything else. The funniest thing is that they like to suck on each others hands/appendages. I'm not sure they even know it isn't their own-but when a hand comes out of nowhere, they usually seize the opportunity to grab and suck on it. Lets hope this is just a stage and not evidence that their teeth are coming in soon.

Big Kid

2011-09-22T10:38:00.000-07:00

I feel like this blog is all about babies lately! My big kid is doing great lately too. Here's a little update:
At this moment she is watching Tangled and quoting the dialogue verbatim. She is going to be Rapunzel for Halloween and is super excited about the long braid I'm going to make her. She is anxiously waiting for Halloween-especially the decorating, books, and parties that come with it. She LOVES preschool and her ballet class and I love that she has such fun outlets. Her favorite show lately is Yo Gabba Gabba. I think that is typically for younger kids, but she watches it on netflicks with Katy while I go to the gym so it is their special thing. She loves the babies. It is so fun to watch her with them because she is such a little mom. She perfectly mimics my mannerisms and vocab when it comes to the babies. I also love seeing how much they love her. If she is around and talking they won't eat because they just want to look at her. They both love to smile at her and she is the best at getting them to laugh. It is so much fun having a big kid.

She got a marshmallow for letting me take pictures of her. Once we were outside one marshmallow wasn't enough to get her to smile and look at the camera at the same time-so I mostly got funny faces-but turns out those are just as good:)

Crazy Labor Day

2011-09-21T15:46:00.000-07:00

We had a really fun Labor Day weekend so I want to belatedly document it. I stay home every day and Danny works from home, but somehow a vacation day is still so exciting! On Saturday we went to Bencia with Katy and my parents to kayak, eat at Frankenburgers (a cute place we'd tried) and explore. Well, it was WAY to windy to kayak, Frankenburgers was closed because they're relocating and it was freezing. I was worried, but fortunately it still turned out to be really fun.

Here is everyone freezing to death. Danny was determined to kayak so he went out on the water for ten minutes. The wind was so strong he was soaked when he came back in.

We found an adorable little cafe that made the best burgers and homemade chips I've ever had. It was one of those fun finds when you're exploring.


My dad can't take a normal smiling picture. He always mugs for the camera.

That afternoon we crashed at the Leiningers to watch the BYU game. The babies decided the game was more interesting than their toys.

Camille came to play and she and Lucy played upstairs the whole time. They came down for cookies and to occasionally cheer for our team.

That is the craziest dress-up dress ever. She is being a Minnie Mouse bride/cheerleader if you didn't know:)

On Monday we had several plans, but we ended up driving to Oakland to explore a park with Steve, Marilyn, Spencer, and Camille. The kids discovered an old "castle" and each had a different sense that detected the presence of dragons.

While walking on some cute trails we were directed to the annual antler ritual. I can't remember what they actually called it-but it was wild. Everyone brought their antlers (?!) and they did a special dance with them. A woman walked by us and asked me to dance with her. I was a bit surprised and being a party pooper I said I should really be watching all the kids and couldn't. Well Danny immediately said he would dance with her. Marilyn, Steve and I just all stared at each other in surprise while Danny ran off (with Joycie on his chest) to dance the ritualistic dance with this random woman. They borrowed some antlers and got their groove on. It was...memorable. So there you have it-our Labor Day.


During the promenade

Photo-Op

2011-09-15T10:30:00.000-07:00

The stars aligned yesterday. The babies woke up at 9 AM. They had eaten and were cooing happily by 9:30. I was already planning on going to the mall and aimlessly wondering around the Disney store as our fun activity for the day (does that sound pathetic? It is actually really fun for both of us:) I decided to put the babies in some cute outfits (courtesy of the Damianos) and if everyone was happy I'd take the babies in to take some quick pictures at the mall. I have a ton of cute pictures of them individually, but it is a lot harder to get them together-so it seemed easier for someone else to position them etc.

I purposely didn't get an appointment because I didn't want to feel rushed to make it-I did everything I could to trick myself into not caring/feeling stressed about this. Well, we ended up having to wait for quite awhile but the babies were cute and happy all morning= a miracle. Waiting there I realized I was a little crazy. I had TWO babies, a preschooler and only one of me. I always took at least one other person to these things when I took pics of Lucy-what was I thinking?! Well it worked, I just would position one baby, grab the other baby from the stroller and position her and just kept trading them off. Fortunately no one cried or needed much one on one attention! The pictures turned out as cute as you'd expect from one of those places-especially at this stage when they can't sit but are super squirmy. I was surprised that Joyce was the smiley girl that morning. It was definitely worth going and I was surprised how easy it was. Afterwards Lucy and I were exhausted and treated ourselves to a Mrs. Fields cookie and Disney store trip. Now I have a picture of the two of them up on the wall. I'm proud of myself.

One too many babies

2011-09-14T17:38:00.000-07:00

I think Lucy has just realized that she will never have as much attention as she used to. She has not taken this out on her sisters at all, she still adores them. However, she has decided that babies get a ton of attention, so she has decided to become a baby again. Today she has talked just enough to tell me what she needs: a bottle, her "paci", to play on the play mat etc. Unfortunately a talking baby is even harder to deal with than real ones. This baby wants learn how to walk, wants me to hold her bottle while she drinks it (it is her dolls bottle and paci), wants me to tickle her etc-and all RIGHT NOW. I guess she needs a bit more one on one attention wouldn't you say? Three babies are too much for me.

Baby Girls' Room

2011-09-12T17:17:00.000-07:00

This post is for mainly for Becca. Since the babies were born we have had them in the same crib. For the first couple months they calmly slept side by side and didn't even wake each up when they'd cry. When they were about three months they got a bit more wiggly and even when we put them on opposite sides of the crib, they'd end up right next to each other. Well, around month four Lydia got especially squirmy and would often end up with her feet in Joyce's face/ribs. One night Danny and I jumped up when we heard Joyce screaming a pained scream. Lydia was actively kicking her in the face. Just like she did in the womb:)

looks crowded

We decided it was time to put up the second crib. They have a small little room so it was tricky but we put up the crib (we got for $15 at a garage sale. It was a steal because it is pretty nice one!)

trying some of the options...

you can see Lydia's toes there in the corner...but Joyce was still happy:)

Well, we tried the cribs in every position we could think of and finally found one we liked. Last week Becca sent me four more giant bags of clothes (Diana and Becca have really outfitted these babies!). The clothes ended up on the floor for a week because my little dresser wouldn't fit them all! I only put in what is their size too! I found another dresser on Craigslist, painted it pink (I couldn't help it:) and now their room is finally all put together. You can't get around the fact that a little room is stuffed with furniture-but I think it ended up pretty cute. Here are way too many pics:

I made this when Danny and I first got married

Thanks for this printable Bonnie. This is my theme with these girls. I don't want to miss a moment.

This painting was given to me by my Grandma Kay when I as a baby and hung in my room growing up. I love that its in the girls' room now.

both girls' footprints

those are all little jackets and hoodies in the door!

My helper this afternoon.

Vaughn Life Coaching

2011-09-12T10:52:00.000-07:00

Some of you may know but my younger sister Becca married a Vaughn. As a huge Alias fan I was supportive from the very beginning of their courtship on the chance Becca would have a little boy one day and name him Michael. They have an adorable Ruby so far and she is the cutest baby ever-she is a perfect mix of her parents.

Proof

Kyle works as a life coach. You'd think that would make him intimidating (because he could run my life better than I can), but Kyle is an incredibly fun guy. I love reading his blog. Once a week he posts a "Ten Minute Fix" tackling a chore/or issue and giving you tools to fix it in ten minutes. His ten minute fix "Honey I'm Home" about the first minutes after you/ your spouse arrives home in the evening made Danny and I discuss what we want in those first moments home. Kyle is also hilarious. His posts are always entertaining and he frequently posts really funny "Sticky Notes".

Life Coaching is a great way to figure out what you want in your daily life and set realistic goals to get there. A life coach is a great support to help you make decisions and clarify your goals. Kyle's rates are very affordable and make life coaching possible for anyone. Check out his website and blog for more info. If you go this week you can enter his Dinner and a Movie giveaway-I don't mind a little competition:)
http://blog.vaughnlifecoaching.com/

Preschooler

2011-09-08T11:06:00.000-07:00

This week Lucy started Mrs. Perona's Preschool. We have been looking forward and talking about it for months. At night before bed Lucy would ask to talk about it so it would give her good dreams. We talked about all the exciting things she would learn and she was very excited about playing on a play ground and riding scooters. The day finally arrived and she was not disappointed. When I picked her up she hopped in the car, told her sisters how much she missed them and looked so happy. When I asked her what she did in preschool she said "I don't remember". How cliche is that?! I remember saying that to my mom. After some probing and a nice email from Mrs. Perona telling us what they did, I got a bit more info out of her. She has also been singing several songs around the house that she didn't learn from me:) I can't believe I have such a big girl.

meeting Mrs. Perona's rabbits Poopsie and Sweet Pea

4 months!

2011-09-05T22:06:00.000-07:00

The girls are four months already. When Lucy was four months I thought she was huge! I was excited to start feeding her cereal and was worried she wasn't rolling over very often. It is funny what a different experience having a second (and third) child is. Yet again I am so happy that I have an older child before twins. I am so much more easy going with these girls. I think I can also savor this age a bit more, rather than looking forward to what is ahead. Four months is wonderful and like every age I would like to freeze them at this moment. Both girls smile and interact with us constantly. They love "talking" and smiling at Lucy too. They both spit up and drool pretty much constantly, laugh occasionally, and cry every once in a while:) I put them in bed about 9-10 PM and they fall asleep on their own then sleep until 4/5. After a quick feeding they sleep again until 7/8 AM. I couldn't be luckier. Their nap schedule is still a bit loose, mostly because we are out and about quite a bit, but I think they will start having a more regular nap time soon. Right now they sleep in their car seats, after nursing or whenever I swaddle and put them in bed. I'm still swaddling them at night and it has been wonderful because they associate it with bedtime and fall asleep easily. They both can roll from their tummies to their backs (beacsue they hate tummy time -which I hardly ever give them) and have started trying to turn from their backs to their tummies. They wiggle and move around constantly. Their favorite thing is to stand. When I hold them on my lap they straighten out their legs and arch their back so I'll let them stand.

I love how they usually end up finding each others hands/limbs.

Joyce
12lbs 3 oz, 25.3''

(As you can tell my beautiful Joyce likes to claw her face. No matter how short I cut her nails she finds a way to injure herself. I'm not editing her claw marks out so I can show her the damage she caused when she's older. )

Joyce is such a sweet baby. She has left her previous reputation(she was harder to sooth and cried a bit more) behind her. She smiles all the time, but still doesn't love smiling at strangers. She often looks serious and you can tell she is thinking and figuring things out. She loves grabbing toys above her and loves trying to get toys into her mouth. She has started soothing herself by sucking her index and middle finger on one hand and grabbing her ear with her other hand. It is really cute:)

Lydia
12 lbs 4 oz., 25.9''

Lydia has many different smiles. She has a general smile when she is happy, a special "your interacting with me" smile she gives to anyone who will look/talk to her, a grin when she thinks something is especially exciting, and and over-the-top thrilled smile that just shines with joy. Tyra would be proud because the girl can smize too;) Lydia is easy going, but when she is upset she really lets you know it. She loves grabbing toys and checking out new things. Today at the Dr.s she was trying to flip on to her tummy and found her toes! She was so excited! Then she worked on getting them into her mouth-it was adorable.

This whole twin thing is hard at times-- well most of the time--but it is also incredibly fun. I adore these babies. Next post-preschool!

Leinfam Reunion

2011-08-25T15:24:00.000-07:00

This year's Leininger Family Reunion was centered around Lindsay and Jason's wedding. We have been so excited about this event. Each night Lucy asks me to help her think good thoughts so she'll have good dreams and we've been using Lindsay's wedding as our good thought for months! (We've moved on to thinking about Car's land at Disneyland opening next year:) Lucy and her cousins were flower girls and Lucy was so excited that all the girls would have matching dresses and get to see Aunt Lindsay all dressed up.

Thanks Missy!

The wedding was beautiful and the reception was a ton of fun. Lindsay looked gorgeous! We loved being with all of our family for such an important event. After the party we let the couple go off on their honeymoon and the rest of us went up to Tahoe to relax (we are excited to have Jason join us next year:) We stayed in a nice house in the woods and let the kids run around and explore most of the time. Lucy played dress-up and dart guns with her cousins constantly. The babies (Miles, Joyce and Lydia) took turns in the swing, bumbo and everyone's arms. We went to the beach every day and Danny brought the stand up paddle board so everyone got a turn trying it out.

One of my favorite things was going out on the water. We rented two jet skis one afternoon and people were very generous and took the babies for me so I could go out with Danny. Afterward I was able to take out Lucy and then Camille. I was surprised how brave Lucy was-she LOVED it. It was so fun to whoop and holler on the jet ski with her. She wanted to go faster and loved taking the "bumps" as we went into the wind. Steve also rented a bat and water skiing instructor for the kids. When I initially heard about it I was skeptical-Lucy can't swim yet so I never thought I'd let her try water skiing. I never thought it would be an issue because I assumed she would never want to try! The instructor convinced me it was safe and that she'd likely never get wet about her knees. It turned into an awesome experience. Lucy was the first to try it (right off the back of the boat) and she loved it. She even took one hand off the leash and waved at us. I was so impressed by how brave she was. She ended up trying it twice and I'm so glad she had so much fun. (I only wish I got it on camera!)

Anther highlight was Danny and Lucy's TV debut. We were at Commons Beach in Tahoe city and parked next to an ABC news van. Steve talked to the reporter and was told when the segment would be filmed. Danny "happened" to be on the water at the right time with Lucy sitting on the paddle board and they made the 6 o'clock news! I called my mom and got her to DVR it-it was very fun to hear the screaming on the other end of the line as they came on screen. Lucy felt famous:) (stay tuned to the end-Danny just keeps coming back!)

Anderson Reunion Part 2

2011-08-23T12:13:00.000-07:00

Today I'm hanging out at home and watching The Sound of Music with Lucy for the first time. A milestone in any young girl's life:) These are a "few of my favorite things" about our Tahoe reunion:

The master suite. Danny and I took over the master because we have all these kids now! The master looks over the lake, has a giant bed (Danny and I still sleep in a double so anything seems giant:) and great light. We would frequently all end up there to watch movies or read books. I love this picture of Lucy and Becca enjoying some quiet time.

FHE. We played a minute to win it game I threw together and I loved seeing Kyle stack dice, Danny run around with cotton balls on his nose and everyone trying to get a cookie in their mouths. Katy ended up as our champion because she was able to get the cookie from her forehead to her mouth in a minute. The people on tv make it look so easy!

Paddle boarding with Becca. Paddle boarding alone was fun, but Becca and I had a great time going together. We tried to stand up and usually ended up like this pretty quick...

The pool. Lucy had so much fun. I especially love this picture of Grandma Joyce and Lydia.

My Family and family pictures. These are always an ordeal-and some people were a little anxious to get it over with (the kids and Dad), but I think they turned out okay.

Going down the river with these two.

This night (our last) and this sky.

This guy on the same night.

We had so much fun. I'm already looking forward to next year.

Birthday Recap

2011-08-21T17:33:00.000-07:00

I interrupt my reunion/wedding posts to recap the best birthday ever. Earlier this month I remembered that it was my birthday coming up. For some reason I had totally forgotten about it, but once I remembered it was happening (whether I want to get older or not) I got excited. 28 is my favorite number. Technically 2 and 8 are, but put them together and there is magic. (2 because it was the tv channel with my favorite cartoons/Saved by the Bell and 8 because I really looked forward to being baptized as a child. Yes, those random reasons have made these numbers dear to me). Anyway, I decided that this should be a fun birthday and told Danny straight out that I was excited and we'd have to do something fun. When he asked me what I wanted to do I said what I always say, "go to a movie". That is the height of fun to me.

Well, a week before my birthday we went to the temple with all of Danny's parents and siblings. It was the first time we were all there together and first time I went after having the babies. We had a great time and afterward Danny wanted to go on a walk around the temple. He had dragged a large backpack with him, which I made fun of him for, and we took a walk. I noticed Danny was feeling sentimental, (yes I am lucky enough to have married a very romantic man who gets in "sentimental moods" occasionally.) but I thought it was because he was reminiscing about our wedding lo those many years ago. Overlooking the city he asked me if I could have anything I wanted for my birthday, what it would be. I immediately replied that I would want portraits taken of all my girls (so many of you cute blog moms have these awesome cameras and are constantly posting beautiful pictures of your children! I've been jealous). Danny laughed at me because he knows I'm slightly obsessed with taking the perfect family picture too (which I know doesn't really exist.) Then he produced two boxes out of his backpack containing one of those fancy cameras previously mentioned. I almost died.

first picture taken with my Nikon

Because Danny knows me he immediately explained how we could afford it (because we can't). He sold his beloved iPad and used all of his birthday money (which he had been saving for something special) to buy me the camera. He was very proud that it hadn't actually cost him a cent. I cried. I couldn't help it. I have wanted a SLR forever, but it was all the sweeter because it was a total surprise and had been given with such incredible love and sacrifice. Anyway-best gift I've ever been given.

On my birthday Danny made me a terrific waffle breakfast and our moms took the babies so we could go see Harry potter in 3D. We had such a good time, I usually hate 3D but I really liked seeing Harry Potter a second time and the 3D was awesome. Afterward we met mom and Kate for a fun birthday lunch at Tomatina. Then we picked up babies and Danny/Katy watched the girls while I got to go to my favorite workout class. We then had a fun dinner and presents. Danny put together a list of 28 things my family appreciated about me (they really had to search for that many!) and he gave me my favorite treats in quantities of 28.

on my birthday-not doing my camera justice, but I need to learn how to use it!

People were so generous with their time and love all day. I have never had such a wonderful birthday. I'm quite sure it is a sign that 28 will be an awesome year for me (I know 27 was:)

3 months

2011-08-05T17:26:00.000-07:00

While out and about, we get a lot of attention. Mostly people just smile at me but the moms of twins or people that are twins themselves often talk to me as well. I really enjoy talking to them and hearing a few of their survival tricks. The general consensus is that things get easier at about three months and then again when the twins turn one. Well, my babies are officially three months! It felt like a little milestone to put them in their 3 month outfits-and the life with twins has definitely gotten easier. Part of it is that they're so much more...durable. Maybe that isn't the right word. What I mean is, I can pick them up with one hand if I really need to. I can wait to feed them until we get to a destination without being too worried that I'm starving them. Does that make sense? They also sleep really well. They have always put themselves to sleep in bed, but instead of waking up at one needing there binkies put in and then eating at 3 AM, I put their binkies back in at 3 and feed them at 5 AM. That is a HUGE difference. Then they sleep until 8AM or even later! I always feed both of them, even if only one wakes up hungry, to keep them on the same schedule. Yesterday I got too lazy and didn't wake Joyce up after feeding Lydia. Well, Joyce slept through until the 8 AM feeding! It was crazy! I may nt let her do it again, but hopefully both girls can start that soon:) Getting enough sleep has made a huge difference in our lives.

Interacting with the girls has also gotten so fun. They talk and smile at us all the time now. They LOVE any attention they can get from anyone. They are also getting very good at entertaining themselves. They play on their mat together, love the toys hanging over their bouncers and love our reading time. They are still good car seat sleepers and players so they make errands pretty easy as well. They love to be outside and observe all the things going on around them.

I am constantly surprised by how different these girls are. At this young you'd think they'd simply be babies-hitting the same milestones, eating, sleeping. I'm amazed by how early you see aspects of their different personalities.

In Tahoe with Grandma and Grandpa

Joyce

My Joycie is so cute. I feel like her face changes constantly. She is still not quite as ready to smile as her sister, but when she does it changes her whole face-her eyes light up. Joycie has a harder time sleeping during the day, but sleeps like a rock at night. She has very dry, eczema prone skin that requires tons of aquafor. She is a thoughtful baby. I can actually see her thinking and figuring things out. She is a big talker and an even bigger spitter. She is a perfect baby.

Lydia

My Lydie ( or Lyd, or Lydia Jane or wide eyes) is adorable. It looks like she is always smiling-but when she really smiles at you she radiates happiness. She has huge, beautiful eyes and incredibly long eyelashes. She takes her binkie a bit better than Joycie and is more easily soothed in general. She has started being a drooler (Lucy NEVER drooled. I'm hoping she grows out of this:) While both my girls are on the thin side, Lyd has started getting a little round tummy that I love. She is a perfect baby.

When things were especially tricky a couple months ago I remember telling Danny several times that life would get easier one day. That the girls would start smiling, playing and sleeping more. I tried to believe it but in our exhaustion I forgot it sometimes too. I am loving three months and want to really appreciate this fun stage.

On Jule 31st I happened to remember that a year ago to the day our first attempt at IVF had been unsuccessful. That was a horrible day I won't forget. At the time I was so hurt and mad. This has happened to me so many times before, but once again I am so grateful in retrospect. I can't imagine not having one of my babies. I feel so lucky I was blessed with two. We can't just pop them out anymore :) They are each so precious and I am so happy they were able to come to us together. Here they were one year ago:

and today:

Anderson Family Reunion Part 1

2011-07-31T13:25:00.000-07:00

The babies are asleep for the moment-so here is part one of our wonderful vacation. There may never be a part two, etc....but I'll try! Becca and I took so many great pictures I hate not to post them!

We just returned from the second annual Anderson Reunion and the second time we've stayed in a condo in Star Harbor. It is close to heaven on earth. We went swimming every day (most of us swam in the warm pool but Danny swam in the lake daily as well), a pier and dock for boating, safe area for scootering (just Lucy:), and a cute condo that fits us perfectly.

We had an incredible time. I think we get used to the hectic, every day life. I had forgotten what carefree Danny was like. For that matter, I forgot what carefree Christy was like too! Danny was in his element. This year my dad bought a stand up paddle board and Danny practically lived on it. He helped me with the babies, ate, slept and was on the water the rest of the time. Becca and I also loved the paddle board (but there will be no photo evidence of us in wet suits on this blog-or the internet in general I hope...). I shouldn't have been surprised but Lucy also LOVED the water. She loved swimming every day (Aunt Becca also loves swimming so they went together if no one else felt like it) and she really enjoyed kayaking. Danny and I took her kayaking down the river and she thought the little rapids were really exciting.

Joyce and Lydia had fun hanging out in the condo with whoever was willing to hold them, going on walks in the stroller and mobys and playing on their mat. I had resigned myself to the fact that this vacation would be a bit different for me. I expected to be stuck to my nursing pillow and sitting by the window watching all the acivity around me. Well, while I did nurse a large portion of the time, my family really went out of there way to give me a break. Danny let me sleep in every morning and took over the first feeding. My mom and dad played with babies while Bec and I played on the paddle board. Grandma Joyce and Bec held screaming babies while I kayaked down the river. I really appreciated the break from my normal duties-which are pretty consuming at the moment.

Yeah! I never catch Joyce smiling on camera!

We all had such a nice vacation-just relaxing and recharging. Now back to real life!

more to come: minute to win it FHE, family photos (with Danny looking homeless because if you swim in the lake you don't have to bath right?) and Danny SUPing in the dark.

The things we're reduced to...

2011-07-17T20:47:00.000-07:00

Yep. We've been reduced to propping bottles. Fortunately not too often-but sometimes what can you do?

Big Sister

2011-07-15T16:15:00.000-07:00

Lucy is a wonderful big sister. She has never been very jealous of the girls and she LOVES them. Every morning when a baby wakes up she rushes to them, gives them hugs and sings a verse of "Good Mornin'" from Singing in the Rain. She adopts a high pitched voice whenever she talks to them-she must have learned this from my mom because I've never been very good at the high pitched baby voice. Her favorite things to call them are: wide eyes, bright eyes, and bunny bun.

About a month ago I was worried about Lydia because she wasn't having many poopy diapers. Weird thing to worry about I know, but when I could compare with Joyce, I worried about it. Well, after several days she finally had a messy diaper and I told her I was proud of her. I guess Lucy heard me because for the last month whenever I change a messy diaper Lucy rushes in and begins congratulating her sister and telling her how excited/proud she is. They are already getting a ton of positive reinforcement:)

Lucy is also an incredible helper. I don't know how people have twins without a four year old helper. She does everything I ask her without complaint (although occasionally with a "why?") and is just so great to have around. When one baby is crying and I am stuck nursing the other baby she will talk, sing and read to the other baby. My favorite thing to overhear her say is "It's okay little one, I'm here. Your sister is here." All her hard work with these babies is paying off because now they know her voice and will smile at her whenever she comes near. That is all we want these days-smiles are so rewarding.

She adores them and I love it.

Monterey

2011-07-14T20:46:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Katy's birthday! To celebrate her birth we packed up my three kids (when did my little family get so big and hard to take around?!) and drove down to Monterey. It is one of our favorite places and we have spe ific things we do there. First we hit the wharf and Mom and Katy sample every restaurant's clam chowder. Lucy decided she didn't want to try it and I hate all sea foods so we just walked and got there takes on each soup. Once we picked a favorite we had a nice lunch. There were a ton of seals out and Lucy loved watching them.
Bringinig me along on this trip added hours of feeding and burping onto the itinerary. On the wharf was our first feeding. Fortunately I brought my pump, which can be battery operated, so we could bottle feed the girls as we walked/ate ourselves.

Afterward we went to this awesome park we'd passed on our way into town. We hadn't been before and Lucy loved it. Katy was super fun and did all the slides with Lucy. She even regulated and pushed the boys who were cutting to the back of the line-I love seeing justice observed! They had real train engine to explore that Lucy thought was awesome too.

After I finished pumping in the car (glad I did, my sunburn would have been a lot worse had I played outside:) we went to the little outlet mall in downtown. For sme reason we always go there-and Iwas glad because this year mom and I got lucky at Nine West. It was buy one get one half off-I felt bad using the 50% off on Katy's birthday but she didn't like anything! I LOVE my nude pumps:) While there Lucy rode this dolphin ride three times.

Little did she know she'd been on it before...


(November 2007)

My favorite thing to do is walk on the path on Asilomar state beach. It is my happy place. We strapped the babies in the mobys and walked a ways. Lucy's favorite thing was climbing on the rocks. She is a pretty cautious kid so I let her.

We had such a good time. we didn't get home until 10 PM and we were exhausted from all the fun/dragging two infants all over the place. Thanks for the excuse Katy!

2 Months!

2011-06-26T16:55:00.000-07:00

I can't believe the girls are already two months. At the same time, I feel like they've been here forever. Things are finally settling down here and we're getting the hang of things. Here is how it goes:

Sleeping/Eating (they definitely go together):
I am lucky that the girls are pretty good sleepers. In the last two weeks they have started sleeping more and more at night-I am thankful for any extra minute by now). I feed them both at about 9 PM then give them a couple extra ounces of expressed milk or formula so they are extra full. They go to sleep awake (I didn't manage that with Lucy until 9 months!) and usually don't fuss much. They wake up about 1:30 and if I put binkies back in they can stay asleep until about 2-2:30 AM. If only one baby wakes up, I feed her by myself, put her back to sleep and wake up and feed the other one. If they wake up at the same time then I feed them together and Danny burps and changes them while I keep feeding. I really like it when they wake up together-it speeds up the process a ton and ensures that both girls are hungry enough to eat well. The first scenario is much harder - I hate waking a baby up to eat when she just isn't ready. What inevitably happens is the first baby eats well because she was hungry, and she sleeps well until the next feeding. The second baby gets woken up, I try and make her eat, she eats only a little and then wakes up way earlier then her sister because she's starving. The advice to "keep them on the same schedule" is a lot harder than it sounds.

During the day the girls still eat every 2-3 hours, however, they only eat about 15 minutes total. I am hoping they start eating more each feeding and spacing them out a little more. All in all I have had a easy time breastfeeding them. They are good little eaters and great burpers. I feel very lucky that everything has worked out so well.

The girls still sleep a good portion of each day. During the day they sleep in their bouncers, swings, moby wrap and on their caregivers (me, Danny, grandmas, aunts). Lately Joyce wakes up whenever you put her down in a bouncer, so she gets held pretty often. At night they sleep together in their crib. Until this week they've been in a bassinet and by the end it was sagging in the middle and the girls were falling into each other. They seem to like the crib and it gives them a bit more space so no one is getting elbowed in the face/kicked in the ribs.

Socializing:
The girls are starting to be be awake more and more. They are barely starting to coo and smile at us too. I feel a bit bad because I think they'd smile more if we interacted more. When the girls are awake and happy they usually get thrown in a bouncer so I can shower/eat/etc. While I talk to them constantly, I am trying to stop and actually look at them while I talk to them more. I am excited for more and more smiles-they really transform their cute little faces.

Both girls are great to travel with. While they sleep less in the car I have still been able to take them out and about quite a bit. I can't stand staying home all day so it is really nice to be able to get out more than I expected.

Here are their two month stats:

Joyce

Weight: 9 lbs 12 oz (23%)

Height: 23 inches (76%)

Head: 15.5 in (69%)

Joyce is such a great baby. She is a little fussy but it is just because she loves to be held. She has slightly darker skin and hair then Lydia does and I feel like her face changes every day. She still loves to sleep with her hands right by her face. She has a very expressive forehead and it is usually furrowed:) She will take a binkie, but it takes bit of persuasion.

Lydia

Weight: 10 lbs (29%)

Height: 23.25 in (83%)

Head: 15.24 in (50%)

(So I guess we can't call Lydie "little head" anymore. I have no idea why Joyce's head looks so much bigger!)

Lydia has a cute little mouth that makes her look like she is always smiling. Her cry is much higher pitched (and dare I add more shrill) then Joyce's and once she decides to cry she really wails. Fortunately she is pretty mild most of the time and loves her binkie. She has beautiful pale skin with a very light pink hue. Unfortunately she has a temperamental digestive system and frequently has painful gas.

Fun with cousins

2011-06-14T11:58:00.000-07:00

As previously mentioned, we love playing with the Blodgetts. Danny was able to move work around so we spent two days hanging out at Grandma's together. The first day Danny and the kids played Wii, ping pong, baseball, played in the water and made us pizza. Lucy and Bennet are very good freiends and had a great time bossing each other around. Julie and I talked baby talk, fed babies and held each others babies most of the day.

Gma let the moms eat and cared for all three babies. We all agreed we have no idea how people survive with triplets. Doesn't Marilyn look way to young and cute to have TEN grandchildren?!

The next day we braved the beach with four kids and three babies. Fortunately there were six adults too. The babies were strapped into mobys and did fine. I'm happy to report only I got sunburned (isn't that always how it goes).

There were no waves for Danny, but perfect waves for the boys! Danny took both big boys out-it was a little scary, but fun.

Digging a hole to China


"What, you haven't seen a nursing grandpa before?" Steve bottle fed Lydia and protected her from the sun:) Marilyn had Miles on her lap.

I was nursing or I would have stood up and got their cute faces.

Danny at his favorite place.

Meeting Miles

2011-06-12T09:02:00.000-07:00

We have been looking forward to a visit from the Blodgetts for weeks. I have been especially anxious to meet baby Miles. Miles was born two weeks before my girls. I love that the three of them are so close in age. When they go to BYU together they can set each other up with roommates:) He is an adorable baby. He smiled at me several times-it was so cute! We love our new nephew.

(my girls haven't hit the photogenic age yet-every time I snap a picture, they do something weird. I don't know how people take cute pictures of newborns)

the girls didn't cooperate here-but look how cute Miles is! I love his little milky drool:)

I just love their little bodies

PS: Excuse any typos-I am typing with one hand, rocking a baby in the other and bouncing another baby with my foot. Takes coordination.

At LAST!

2011-06-10T20:02:00.000-07:00

Summer is finally here. Like everyone else, we have been impatient for it to begin around here. Every morning Lucy asks me if she can wear short sleeves and for the last two days I've been able to say yes. Today she did her happy dance and yelled "Summer at last!". We are so excited for this summer. Here's why:
*Last day of kindergarten. All the kids ( and their moms) cry when they leave my mom's classroom for the last time. I am super excited to have her back. Today we had a fun lunch, did errands and I was able to take a nap. Thank heavens school is out!
*Baby smiles. The girls are just starting to half-smile. I'm looking forward to big grins coming soon:)
*Swimming. Lucy loves the water and can't wait to hop in Gma's pool in her new princess suit.
*Anderson Family reunion. We are staying in our favorite place right on Lake Tahoe. Danny is counting down the days and frequently updates the fam on the count. Danny will spend the whole time on the stand up paddle board and everyone else will kayak, read books, play games and eat. It is heaven.
* Harry Potter finale. Can't wait. Enough said.
*Luke, Emily & Co moving to Danville! It will be so much fun to have cousins living nearby! Seriously, this will change life as we know it for the better. (We're excited to see their parents more often too).
* Lindsay and Jason= together forever. We're so excited to welcome Jason into the Leinfam. He is awesome and their wedding will be gorgeous. (Can't wait to dress our cute flowergirls:)

So many exciting things! Life is good.

All the girls

2011-05-28T20:02:00.000-07:00

My blog looks so black and white now. I need to show off my girls just to add a little color. I haven't taken many pics lately mostly because I don't think of it-but also because the pics I do take of the girls don't really look like them somehow. I took a bunch of pictures this morning when all of my girls were hanging out on the bed. They are kind of cute, but Joyce and Lydie still don't really look like themselves. Anyway-better than nothing!

Lydia

Joyce

Lucy loves brushing the girls' hair and adding "accessories"

Mom guilt

2011-05-28T19:43:00.000-07:00

I know all moms have mom guilt. I used to be pretty good at putting aside the "I don't do enough " thoughts because I'd look at my cute Lucy and realize that she hadn't really suffered because I do all the important things. With twins, I worry about getting the important things done too. Juggling two of them, I worry that I treat them more like a to do list rather than people.

Feed them,

change them,

clothe them,

replace binkie,

keep them from crying if possible

x 2

I remember nursing being a bonding time with Lucy. With these girls-I feed them as fast as I can and pass them back and forth with Danny to burp/change them. If I'm alone it is worse-I nurse both of them and when one needs to burp I hoist her over my shoulder, usually de-latching the other one. Someone always ends up crying.
I don't think I talk to them as much.
I know I don't hold either one as much.

It all really comes down to attention. Each one of my girls needs my full attention and it is hard to spread it out evenly-especially when everyone is crying at once.
Well, this is whiny-but I'm tired. I feel better having just written my worries out-they are only one month old, I'll get the hang of it.

Stats

2011-05-23T16:23:00.000-07:00

26 -how many diapers I went through today. Why do babies pee/poop right after you change them?
5 - how many Disney Junior shows Lucy watched today. I don't even feel bad.
2 - how many Super Pretzels I ate
8 - how many feedings-each
3 - how many hours of TV I've watched. I watch TV while feeding the girls so I stay awake.
3 - how many times I've changed clothes today. I can't leave my house in sweats, but I refuse to wear anything but sweats at home
23 - how many times I've asked Lucy for a "little favor" like grabbing a binkie, grabbing a burp cloth, throwing away diapers, or talking to a baby. She is so helpful.
100 - how many times I worried about my babies. My only negative postpartum symptom has been anxiety. I'm not normally a very anxious person/worrier-but I worry about these girls a lot.
7 - how many chocolate cookies I ate. With Lucy I craved snickerdoodles, with these babies I crave devil's food cake mix cookies. Somehow I am still losing weight.
1202848494 - how many times I put binkies back in mouths.

and I can't count the number of times I've stared adoringly at my girls. We are exhausted around here-but we are having so much fun.

Survival

2011-05-17T14:39:00.000-07:00

Having a newborn reminds you that all you really need is sleep, food and love. In the last three weeks I have found that is all I need too, and like the babies, I cry when I don't get enough of each. Today is my first day completely alone with all my girls. My mom went home a week ago, Marilyn is out of town and Becca left yesterday. Surprisingly everything has been great. I even managed to breastfeed both girls at the same time without someone there to hand me a baby and burp one (although now I say that I'm not sure I even tried to burp Joyce...). I'm hoping I can sneak a nap in sometime today. For the first two weeks of my current schedule I was fine. Tired, but managing okay. Last week the cumulative lack of sleep really hit me (and Danny who gets up with me for every feeding each night) and we have had a hard time functioning ever since. My mom came one night over the weekend and Danny was able to sleep through the night. When I asked him how he felt the next morning he smiled and said, "Less bad". I guess that is the best we can hope for for the next little while!

I'm feeling good because we had a Dr. appointment this morning to check the girls' weight (they were not up to birth weight at their two weeks checkup). Both girls gained 10 ounces in a week. I am very proud of myself. Until now I have been feeding each of them and then giving them bottles of expressed breastmilk or formula. My Dr. said I should stop that now and exclusively breastfeed them. I am so excited because I think that should knock up to twenty minutes off our feeding time. I think the next day or so could be tricky because they are used to half heartedly eating on me as they doze and then sucking down a bottle afterward-so I expect I'll be feeding them every two hours for awhile, but hopefully they'll get the idea soon.

I need to get out my camera. If you saw Becca's blog you know that we tried to have a little photoshoot with the girls (and in a whole week we could only work up the energy to try once) and it didn't turn out the way we thought. You see all those adorable pictures of twins cuddling and spooning. Not my girls-they turn into cannibals and try to eat each other. The photos were actually really funny-each was more awkward than the last. Maybe I can get some cute ones one day. Lydia doesn't have jaundice anymore so that will help-her skin is so cute and pink now! Poor Joyce is still a little yellow and is starting to get some baby acne too. I'm glad she is too young to be jealous of her sister:) Anyway-I'll try and post some pics soon!

Holding Hands

2011-05-11T14:35:00.000-07:00

Joyce smiling

Lydia smiling

Squished! this is what the womb must have been like.

Haircut!

2011-05-06T21:39:00.000-07:00

You may remember from previous posts that Lucy has always LOVED having long hair. She equates long hair with princesses and lately with Rapunzel. After her last haircut (which took several bribes to happen at all) she was hysterical and for weeks she told me how much she hated it. Well, two days ago as she was walking to bed she casually says, "Oh, I want a haircut Mommy" and then shut her bedroom door. We were shocked and thrilled. Her hair has been hard for me. No matter how cute we do it in the morning, it feels like after twenty minutes it is limp and ratty looking. When I mentioned the haircut idea the next day Lucy said she'd like to get it cut tomorrow-so my mom instantly made an appointment and we all kind of waited for her to want to back out. This morning she was really excited about it and so we put the babies in the stroller and went out! I had it cut pretty short (because who knows when I'll get her back in to cut it again) and think she looks so grown up! She did mention that she didn't love the cut-but she has also loved the attention from everyone telling her how great she looks. Hmmmm. As I read this post over, it really sounds like Lucy has us wrapped around her little finger and calls the shots. While that is partially true, I just want to clarify that to me haircuts are just not worth a fight. Dentist, doctor appointments, veggies, washing hands, brushing hair-all worth it, but haircuts just don't seem worth the struggle. Anyway-here are the before and afters:

long and scraggly

On our way to cut it!

Watching Dora while her hair is cut-she would sneak glances at the mirror to check out the progress.

Cute and short! It is stacked a little in the back-doesn't she look mature?!

Thoughts on the Newborn Phase

2011-05-05T16:56:00.000-07:00

When I was a new mom to baby Lucy, I remember thinking that after ten days she was OLD. Each month I wanted to freeze her because I thought each phase was more fun than the last. At the same time, I was super excited for her to hit each new milestone-smiling, rolling over, crawling, walking, etc. This time around I am determined to appreciate each stage for the unique joys that come with each.

The newborn phase has been incredibly fun so far. The girls still sleep pretty much constantly. I swear I didn't see Joyce's eyes open for maybe three days-they are loving their sleep right now. They are on a good schedule so far-they eat every three hours except at night when they sometimes lengthen it to four. I breastfeed one baby for thirty minutes (or as long as I can keep her awake and eating), then hand her off to my helper (I have always had a helper so far...a littler nervous about letting that go one day...) for burping and feed the next baby on the other side for thirty minutes. Meanwhile the first baby gets burped, changed and supplemented with expressed milk. When the first baby is done she gets cuddled or put to bed and the second baby starts the second half of the routine. Feeding them both takes between an hour and an hour and a half. I try to sleep for the next hour and a half along with them before everyone eats again. With my body clock going crazy I hardly know what day it is and I am constantly hungry. Tonight I'm going to start trying to breastfeed them at the same time in hopes of cutting the feeding time in half-wish me luck!

One thing I love about this stage is how cuddly newborns are. I hug babies all day long and they snuggle in and crave being cuddled back. Lucy loves hugging, patting and helping with the babies. She is an expert at throwing diapers away, putting binkies in and holding the babies (as well as sanitizing:)

One thing I didn't expect with these girls is how very different they'd be. I knew they were fraternal-but I guess I expected that babies were pretty similar at this stage-especially since they're just eating and sleeping at this point! My girls both look and act very different. For example, Joyce HATES being changed or naked, loves her hands tucked right up by her face and will sleep easily anywhere. She eats quickly and then loves to fall asleep against me-and once asleep she is unlikely to wake up and eat again. Lydia loves to be held and cuddled. She likes being changed and feeling clean. When she needs something she doesn't just cry- she screams and while rare-I always know when it is Lydia. She has always been a good eater, but isn't the best sleeper unless she sleeps with someone (right now Joyce is sound asleep in her bed-Lydia was in bed for about 30 minutes and after fidgeting and crying is now resting on my knees as I type:). Physically they look very different, and while Joyce looks bigger they are actually the same length. Lucy has always been very good at telling them apart and likes to make sure they have their own little bunnies and binkies.

Well, that was as clear as my tired mind can make it-but I have been feeling bad about not posting because I really want to remember these days. I can't wait until Becca comes this weekend so I can actually take some pictures of these girls. Why do I need Becca? 1) I am awake enough to feel bad I have no pics but too tired to do anything about it 2) Becca has a nice camera and is naturally gifted at such things. Okay now for some of the few pictures I have taken.

Joyce

Lydia

Joyce

Lydia

See? Always sleeping!

If I had another hand...

2011-05-02T17:11:00.000-07:00

I'd:

*blog the girls' birth story
*take pictures and video of my beautiful babies (who only have a couple iPhone shots of them so far)
*eat
*eat seconds
*get out of my jammies
*put on mascara (I don't recognize myself right now with blond eyelashes)

Hopefully I'll get the hang of this soon!

Our Girls

2011-04-28T11:35:00.000-07:00

They are finally here!

Joyce Aline
Born Easter Sunday 11:14 PM
7 lbs 7 oz.

Lydia Jane
11:27 PM
7 lbs 3 oz.

We are having so much fun. They are easy to differentiate, which makes life easier:) They are good eaters, good sleepers (during the day of course) and absolutely adorable. We got home Tuesday and this is the first minute I have not been feeding either them or myself. I can't wait to write out their birth story and tell you all about them. We are so happy.

The Birthdays begin

2011-04-23T20:29:00.000-07:00

Today is Lucy's 4th birthday. I know that if I don't post about it now, I never will. Tomorrow morning we go in to have another birth...day, so here is a report on Lucy's.

Lucy on her birthday

She woke up with a pretty gross cold. Horrible timing right? She told Danny that she was sick, but that she still wanted to turn four today-he said that was okay:) We decorated the house a but last night and she was thrilled to see the streamers, balloons and posters that were arranged around the house. We started the morning by going out for donuts and then jamba juice and then met up with Gma Karen at the farmers market to buy some veggies for our birthday dinner tonight.

Afterward Danny left for a bit and Lucy, Gma and I went shopping for a new Easter dress. My child can shop. She loves picking out clothes and we tried on about 10 dresses. I looked at my mom and asked how we could possibly choose with so many options-she has tried things on with Lucy before and assured me we wouldn't have a problem. Turns out we didn't! Lucy knows exactly what she likes and wants. She twirled in each outfit-that is a big factor all by itself-and told us when she liked certain hemlines and ruffles. Color seemed to make a big difference too. Anyway, we easily chose two dresses and she had a great time trying everything on. After shopping and a little lunch we decided to go to Pixie Playland-a little amusement park in Concord. It has maybe five rides and is perfect for Lucy's age group. We stayed only about 45 minutes but Lucy loved the plane ride, carousel and tea cups and did all of them twice.

The rest of the afternoon we leisurely opened up presents, read the new books she received and relaxed (well, except for Gma who made us cake and dinner:) Gma Marilyn, Babba Steve, Aunt Lindsay and Uncle Bryce all came over to party with us that evening. Danny, Mom and I collaborated on a Rapunzel cake that turned out pretty cute (except for the random splotches that arent frosted in the front....don't know how that happened.

We had a seriously fun day and it really was all about Lucy. I'm glad we had a nice busy day when I could focus on my cute girl and also be distracted so I had no time to think about tomorrow!

I'll post with pics of our new arrivals as soon as I can. I can't believe it.

Three Birthdays

2011-04-21T21:08:00.000-07:00

Since my last post I have walked and walked, scrubbed and cleaned, fretted and freaked. I've had constant painless contractions and assumed that the painful ones were coming right behind them. The couple painful ones I've had have gotten me totally excited and pretty much each day I assumed I'd be having babies. It was frustrating. Then Wednesday I gave up and accepted that these babies just want to stay in me. I have felt SO much better ever since. I don't expect it to happen anymore-so I can just go on. I went to the Dr. this morning and everything is great. I can't feel the girls move as much, which I have been a bit worried about, but they just don't have any more space so they can only make subtle movements. I am currently only dilated to 3 cm but both babies are head down, which makes things much easier for a vaginal delivery. Everything looked good so there was no excuse to keep me. I have all day tomorrow to clean and prep, then all day Saturday to celebrate Lucy's birthday (at which point I will be 38 weeks). Sunday morning we'll have an early Easter egg hunt, then I'll go in and deliver two babies. Crazy huh. It is weird but now that that I don't feel like labor is imminent, I am actually happy to have the last couple days, however uncomfortable I am. I'm going to play with Lucy and sleep as much as I can. I'm excited to have a last meal and leave my clean house knowing that I'll come home again with babies. I find it pretty wild that all three of my children will have their birthdays in two days, but what can you do?! I'm sure we'll get used to it.

37 Weeks

2011-04-17T11:14:00.000-07:00

My original goal was to make it to 37 weeks-and I have. That said, these last couple days I had really hoped I wouldn't have to type out that title. When I got my cerclage out (it was NOT comfortable) my doctor told me I was at 2 cm and Baby A was right there ready to go. He asked how close we lived to the hospital and to come in after I felt 2-3 labor pains. He said he didn't think I'd last the weekend and that he thought due to baby A's position it would be short. Well, here I am lasting the weekend. I should never underestimate my body's desire to keep babies in. I also shouldn't have gotten my hopes up just because he said all of that. The next day I was incredibly active in the hopes of getting my labor going. Danny and I went on a long walk (well, for me it was long, I'm still sore-I guess I lost all of my leg muscle), I vacuumed the house, did the floor boards on my hands and knees, vacuumed out the car, installed the car seats etc. I was very relieved I didn't go into labor that night-I was exhausted. Anyway, since then I have walked around all day to no avail. I have had a few labor pains here and there-but nothing that felt real. Every morning I hope I'll go into labor and every night I hope that I won't so I can just sleep. I know that they will come when they're ready-and I am incredibly glad that every day they're inside they are getting nice and fat. Selfishly, however, I want to be able to breath again:) I can't really express how uncomfortable I am at this point. The nice thing is that if the girls don't come on their own, I know I only have one more week to go.

My attempt this week-fuzzy and eye-less.

Anxious

2011-04-13T09:52:00.000-07:00

Today I get my cerclage out. When this happened with Lucy I had a paper chain going to weeks and we brought our hospital bags expecting to have a baby. When they took out the stitches and I was only at a one, they had me walk around for a few hours. When I stayed at a one they told me I was officially a normal pregnant woman and would go into labor like one. I waited for four weeks. The doctors had given me expectations of an early baby-so to wait for 39 weeks was torture!

This time around I am trying not to get my hopes up. With two six pound babies that are very close to the 37 week mark, I hope I start dilating quick and get these girls out. Danny is all excited because he thinks it will happen soon. I am trying to manage my hopes and say it won't happen until my induction date instead-otherwise I may go crazy! This weekend really is the most convenient time to have the girls (taking into account my mother in law still being in town, my mom's school schedule, me being totally uncomfortable:) so I am crossing my fingers a bit.

My bags are packed, my car seats are in the car ( if not secured yet), the room is ready. Just waiting for babies!

35/36 Weeks

2011-04-09T20:00:00.000-07:00

Week 35 in the baby room

I have made it to my 35th week. Actually, I just realized that I'm barely 36 weeks-but I had my Dr appointments in week 35 so I'll report on that. I have been looking forward to my sonogram to see how much these girls weigh. As of Thursday:

Baby A: 5 lbs 11 oz

Baby B: 5 lbs 13 oz

I could hardly believe it. That seems really big for this week! So yeah, I'm carrying over 11 lbs of baby! Good girls, at almost 6 pounds each I feel quite comfortable with them coming any time. In fact, when I get my stitches out next week I may just start running and whatever else it takes to go into labor. Right now Baby A is head down and baby B is...sort of head down. I'm not sure how she has enough space but she is still managing to squirm around in there. I have an induction date set when I am 38 weeks (can you imagine how big we'll all be by then?!) It is set for Easter Sunday-the day after Lucy's birthday. I hope I don't make it that far, but we'll see.

Today I am sending Danny off the Utah for Jared Collette's wedding. I am so glad he won't miss it. He has been a bit nervous about leaving me given the late stage of this pregnancy. I have been pretty confident that nothing will happen. I am not having tons of contractions and it is only two days...but at night when I'm pretty incoherent (but awake because I use the bathroom every two hours) I panic slightly that I'll go into labor and he'll miss it. I know it won't happen...but cross your fingers just in case:)

Update: Danny is on his way home from the airport right now! We made it. I didn't really have time to worry about anything because I was having too much fun with Katy who was visiting for the weekend. We showed her Tangled for the first time, read books together (well she and Lucy did) and went to the Disney store's Minnie Mouse Masquerade party. Here I am at 36 weeks:

Showered

2011-04-06T08:51:00.000-07:00

We have been looking forward to this past weekend for awhile. On Thursday I was thrown a shower by my mother in law with all the lovely ladies from our home ward in attendance. We really had a wonderful time eating delicious food and chatting. I loved just talking about my girls. I was completely spoiled with adorable matching outfits and whole cases of diapers. I was really shocked by everyone's generosity. I expected gifts: some blankets, onesies and maybe a sleeve of diapers-typical baby shower gifts. Instead those that gave me diapers brought whole cases from Costco or large bags filled with sleeves of diapers. Those that brought me outfits (I didn't have any matching things before and it really is fun to imagine my little girls matching:) brought me really beautiful dresses and accessories. I was just overwhelmed.

Me with about half the food in one of the four shirts that still fit me.

Mom and I like to model our baby clothes!


Lucy got to reopen everything the next morning-a very important big sister job.

Someone even remembered Lucy and got her and her sisters matching dollies-Lucy is thrilled.

Everyone had so much fun chatting we didn't get home until pretty late-I was exhausted. The next day was an exciting one for the Leininger fam-Lindsay got engaged to Jason! We are so excited to welcome him to the family. They'll be getting married in August so we are lucky enough to see them often and get to watch the wedding prep (I can't wait to dress up my three girls for a wedding-although I think I'll still look like a whale in August:) On Friday we were able to attend the temple together for Lindsay's endowment. We had a great time being there together for such an important event.

34

2011-03-29T09:03:00.000-07:00

I've hit the 34 weeks mark! That is considered a milestone because the babies could come and be relatively safe after this. I had an appointment last week and all is well. They plan on taking out my stitches at 36 weeks-it is weird to see that appointment on my calendar because it means babies will likely come relatively soon after! I have watched other twin pregnancies through blogs and it seems that week 34 is the week when most women feel like they want to be done. I hit that point about two days ago:) I'm lucky that I've had no heartburn, no varicose veins, no serious swelling (yet), but I am officially ready to not be pregnant anymore. I have to grunt and groan to stand from a seated position (laying is even worse), if I move I am instantly out of breath, when I sit I have to cradle my tummy just to take some of the weight off my sides, I can't cross my legs or I cut off all blood circulation, I can't sleep with Danny anymore because our little double bed has officially outgrown the two (or four:) of us, and I have just gotten my first serious stretch marks(and no I'm not the type to post a tummy pic). It will only get worse:)

More then all that, however, I am just excited to see these babies! We have been toying with names since we found out they were girls and are almost set. Picking names has been way hard for us this time around-I just don't like many girl names. I could name triplet boys on the spot-but girls are hard! We'll see if the names stick when we see their cute faces.

I have set a deadline of April 4 to get my to do list finished. I'm trying to finish editing and burning our family videos, finish the babies' room, pack my hospital bag and other assorted chores. I really want to take it easy in April (meaning-lay around and read my book, watch the masterpiece shows on my dvr, play pretty princess with Lucy) in hopes that the babies will stay put as long as possible. My goal is to deliver the week of the 17th. Do I actually have any control over that? No. But positive visualization has to help right? By that time I'll be 37 weeks and the girls should be pretty big (I will also be pretty big I expect:)

Well, that was a random jumble of thoughts. I tried to take a tummy pic yesterday-unfortunately I was not very talented at it. In most of them I cut off either my head or my tummy-kind of defeats the purpose:)

My favorite number

2011-03-28T09:21:00.000-07:00

Friday was Danny's birthday! He turned 28, one of my favorite numbers (it makes this age feel special). Danny treats his birthday pretty casually, but we still managed to have an exciting day. He started it by letting me sleep in and going to work-wonderful man. Lucy and I met him for lunch at Tomatina. We love celebrating things there-even though it is a pretty casual dining spot.

We had a great lunch then headed over to the Borders by our house which is going out of business. Everything was up to 40% off-so it was like heaven. Danny picked a book for himself and somehow we ended up getting Lucy several things-I'll have to save them for her birthday:) After a leisurely afternoon we met our parents in Walnut Creek for dinner and opened gifts there. We had Naia (we gave you a mental shout out Kate) for dessert and sang only the Happy Birthday song-it was pretty cold and the Anderson tradition of three songs just wasn't going to happen.
Unfortunately I was persuaded to rely on the iphone for birthday pics this year-which means we have no good pics and hardly any of the birthday boy himself.

I'm grateful for fish

2011-03-22T11:16:00.000-07:00

The above title was the message Lucy brought home from Sunbeams this week. Lucy LOVES Sunbeams and her teacher. She always comes home with a little paper bag filled with coloring pages and cute projects they do in class. This week she came home with a fishing game she was very excited to play with us. Each time you catch a magnetic fish you say something you're grateful for. I have been consistently fishing since she brought this game home, and I am grateful I can hear all the things Lucy is grateful for. It has also been a fun to try and think of new things to be grateful for myself. It's way harder then a gratitude journal:)

Real

2011-03-20T19:13:00.000-07:00

So, I'm going to have twins, and soon. I know everyone knows that, and that technically I've been pregnant for about eight months, but every once in awhile it actually hits me and I'm always surprised. I really can't believe it, maybe because it has been along time since I had a baby, maybe because there are two of them, maybe because having a baby always feels like this.

I know Danny is in for a shock when it actually happens. Sometimes just looking at me he looks surprised to see my tummy-I'm sure he will be shocked when the time actually comes and they put two little babies in his arms. Anyway, just wanted you to know that this is actually going to happen and that according to the calendar it will happen pretty soon. This month is FLYING by and I don't doubt April will fly by too.

This is what made me embrace the reality today

I bought this today. I can't believe it.

PS: Does anyone have a camcorder they really like? I hate researching these things-there will be ten reviews saying the product is awesome and then five that give really good reasons why it stinks. We're looking for an HD one and don't want to spend a ton of cash. We have been using the one my parents in law gave us for our wedding. It still uses little tapes! Unfortunately it won't work without being plugged in and has officially stopped downloading to my computer (there goes Christmas morning! Oh well). Anyway, I want to be able to film these girls in all there glory-so any suggestions are appreciated:)

Beach Trip

2011-03-19T15:07:00.000-07:00

We have been spoiled with awesome weather, so the week of rain we've just had was rather depressing. Next week is supposed to rain too, so when we noticed that Thursday was the one clear day for a while, we hopped in the car and drove to Santa Cruz. Lately I haven't accompanied Danny on his surfing trips, but this time I realized that I may not get the chance again! Danny surfed, Lucy played in the sand and I sat on my beach chair with my tummy propped up by towels and my special back pillow in place:) It was a beautiful day and so fun to have a little holiday mid-week. (Unfortunately my camera ran out of battery within two minutes)

Lucy got some new shades from Gma L and sported them the whole trip.

Welcome babies!

2011-03-17T15:54:00.000-07:00

I expect that title freaked you out when you read it on your google reader-but today we are only announcing the birth of Lucy's twin girls. Lucy went to her great-grandma Leininger's house yesterday and GG gave her two baby dolls. She instantly looked at her dad and said "Wow! Twins are so hard to hold!" She carried them around and took care of them the rest of the day. Their names are Lucy and Katy. That is her preference for our babies as well, but I've explained that having two daughters named Lucy could be kind of confusing. She still disagrees. Here she is doing outdoor chores with her babies:

Big girl

2011-03-16T08:39:00.000-07:00

There are lots of awesome things about having a big girl who is almost four:
*She can get in and out of the car by herself
*She can entertain herself for long periods of time reading, coloring or doing other quiet activities
*She is a big helper-she gets me things when I don't want to stand up (which is pretty often these days!), sets the table, sorts the socks, waters the plants and is an awesome weed puller
*She is an awesome shopper and always tells me her opinions
*She sings to me, tells me stories and puts on ballet shows for me
*She is in all ways SUPER FUN

But one of my favorite things about having a big girl, is sharing my favorite things with her.

Today we watched Anne of Avonlea together. I had some projects to do while we watched and I thought she'd get bored and just play around me. Nope. She sat next to me and watched every minute (yes, I know that is a lot of tv for one day!) Every once and a while she'd turn to me and say very seriously, "Mom, I don't know who she is going to marry. Who does she love?"
I know Lucy, that always tortures me to. Thank heavens she marries Gil, who is second only to Danny in my heart.


"I just want you." Sigh.

Twin Sale!

2011-03-15T10:00:00.000-07:00

On Friday night I had anxiety dreams about the twin sale I was attending the next day. I kept seeing these girls pushing my giant-pregnant self out of the way, or arriving really late and everything was gone-they were intense dreams. You can tell I have been excited to attend the annual sale in Pleasanton. My Mom and Dad woke up early on Saturday morning to take me-they even brought me a bagel and donut. We fueled up and got to the sale about 40 minutes early. At first we felt like we were surprisingly far back in the line-but by the time they let us in I was feeling great-the line behind us was incredible! There were hundreds of people waiting to be let in! Ladies had brought large bags and even laundry hampers to carry home their loot. We went straight to the equipment section where unfortunately I didn't find the double snap-n-go I wanted, but I did find two cute changing pad covers, an awesome door-hanging jumperoo and mom got a bunch of puzzles for Lucy. We felt relatively successful, left Dad with our first haul and went in to the clothing building. They had nothing cute for Lucy, but I wandered to the newborn girl section and we ended up with some adorable outfits, preemie onesies and sleepers. Most new moms say they get a ton of newborn things and then don't have much for the other ages-I'm the opposite. I think I'm set for clothes (although I have no idea really, I've only ever clothed one baby at a time!) but I didn't have very many newborn clothes-so this was perfect. We left feeling very successful-not to mention exhausted and sore- I had tons of contractions all day after all the activity:)

Just some of my cute newborn outfits. There is nothing cuter then mini-clothes.

My preemie onsies-this pic doesn't show off how tiny tiny they are!

...so I had to show you. They are so dang small!

Every three months...

2011-03-14T08:18:00.000-07:00

Every three months for the next four years Danny will go in to his oncologist, have some blood work and occasionally a scan done and make sure that he is healthy and cancer-free. We've had these appointments throughout the last year. Sometimes they have been really hard to go to-hard to just sit in the building again, hard to remember. As time has gone by they have gotten a bit easier I think. Yesterday when Danny had an appointment-I didn't even go with him. Shocking I know! I wish I had actually, Danny saw our favorite nurse who is pregnant with her first baby-I'm so excited for her. It's amazing how connected you feel to the people there ( and they to you-all the nurses tell Danny how sexy/handsome he is now. I thought he was cute bald-but technically he is in much better shape these days:)

Anyway, without these appointments sometimes we are able to forget about that time. Then little things remind you-Danny has been feeling kind of sick after eating for the last while now. Chemo made him lactose-intolerant so I was thinking that he would have to be even more vigilant about staying away from dairy (he has been able to eat butter on things) or maybe he had just caught an annoying stomach bug. He asked the NP about it and she told him that the amount of chemo they gave him had pretty much stripped his GI tract and he would likely feel this way the rest of his life. Shoot. Doesn't that stink? He is going to start taking prescription strength probiotics in an effort to help, but that is about all we can do. It is annoying, but probably a good reminder of how lucky we are he is generally healthy, not to mention alive. (Be proud of my awesome attitude-it took awhile for me to get there, and I still don't totally buy it. Danny does though-he has had a very good attitude about it from the start.)

Hopefully it is another three months until we have to think about cancer again.

31 weeks

2011-03-11T09:20:00.000-08:00

To document this week:

Excuse the horrible pic. I asked Danny to take it for me, then somehow got mad at him (hormones) and just wanted to take the darn thing-so we took it in an awkward place. I added Lucy so it would be less weird-then she told me she stuck out her tongue. It was randomly a very awkward experience.

Last week I had my monthly sonogram that checks the babies' weights. At 30 weeks they were weighing in at:
Baby A: 3 lbs 9 oz.
Baby B: 3 lbs 10 oz.

Baby A has consistently been head down and Baby B seems to go back and forth. Last week she was head down, but today she was breech again, so who knows. She is definitely a little squirmer. I've gained a total of 37 lbs, but don't really see it anywhere but my tummy yet. I'm just waiting for the day when my face and ankles start swelling-but I hope its later rather than sooner:) Today my tummy measures at 40 weeks, so no wonder I feel kind of big:) Danny tells me I'm huge, but most people say I look small for twins--anyway, with several weeks to go I'm only getting bigger. Fortunately I'm only really uncomfortable at night, and most of the time I'm tired enough I hardly notice even then. The weeks are flying and before I know it I'll have babies so I'm appreciating this fun time (although we'll see how long that lasts! I may be whining for the end to come by next week!)

Obsessed

2011-03-10T08:35:00.000-08:00

My stroller finally arrived in the mail yesterday. I scared the UPS man because I threw open the door and yelped with excitement when I saw him pull up (it was embarrassing). I was worried it would be hard to put together but it was incredibly easy-I just snapped on some wheels, attached the canopies and was done! Here are way too many pictures of it.

Lucy mugging for the camera

Here the single seat is in the highest position-shows off the big basket underneath

Lucy has freakishly long limbs-so maybe most kids can ride in here at three and 35 lbs, but it doesn't look like it would be too comfy for Lucy.

The canopies go pretty far down! I like that both kids can see out when the canopies are up-one isn't sitting way beneath the other.

Looks awesome-but has very little leg room-they'll just be kicking each other, but maybe I can do this when they're younger:)

I love the color and it is a very smooth ride. I like that I can have both babies face me and then face out when they're a bit older. The seats click in and out of place very easily and I love how narrow and short the stroller is-I don't feel like I'm pushing a boat around. Anyway, just wanted to share:)

Twins

2011-03-09T13:16:00.000-08:00

Can you see where my mind has gone these last couple weeks?

This pregnancy my emotions have been all over the place. Most of all I have been thrilled and felt blessed beyond belief. However, occasionally other emotions have crept up as well. The last bit I have been increasingly frightened. Twins seem so exciting, and for someone like me who can't get pregnant without help, they literally are "two for the price of one". I finally decided to confront the fear and read up on what this will really take for the first little while (I'll face all the other issues and intricacies that come with twins after the first year:) Well, the books have freaked me out even more! Just feeding these girls is going to take a lot of organization! Sleeping too, I just can't keep all the rules straight in my head! Let me tell you-each of these books suggests getting a "night nurse". Come on! Who can actually afford to get a night nurse?!

I just need to take some cleansing breaths and know that of course we will survive. I mostly want to be able to enjoy these girls baby-hood and appreciate it while it lasts-I know how freakishly quickly time flies at that stage (and in general really).

So to sum up: super excited, a bit freaked out that I'll mess everything up, confident in the end it will all be fine (which is to say, we'll survive:) I'll have to post the babies' stats tomorrow after my appt. I feel like this is actually going to happen soon! Most mornings Danny looks at me with wide eyes and tells me I've grown overnight. I think he is actually realizing there are TWO babies in here!

Baby Ruby II

2011-03-07T16:10:00.000-08:00

I can't remember if I've written about this on the blog before, but Lucy has never been very into dolls. She LOVES dress up clothes, her barbie-sized Princesses and everything else Princess themed. After seeing baby Ruby (Becca's adorable child) at Christmas she found the one baby doll we own and named her Ruby. Well, in the last couple of months Lucy has been pregnant and given birth to Ruby abut ten times. Lucy loves pregnancy-it is all about eating delicious food that her baby wants until her baby is full, and asking me to feel her stomach so I can feel her baby kick. Sometimes the baby in her tummy will even make her feel sick or uncomfortable (but not nearly as often as reality:) Labor usually consists of Lucy yelling, "My baby's ready to come out", running to her room and bringing back baby Ruby for me (the proud grandma) to hold. I have to babysit fairly often because the new mom is so tired. Lucy kisses her baby and whispers sweet endearments to her and has stolen a pair of baby shoes from my baby wardrobe for her own baby. We'll see what happens to baby Ruby once our house is filled with new babies, but for now I'm glad she is getting some good experience.

(yes it is warmer here in CA then in most places in March. Is it bathing suit weather? No. Lucy has decided her new swimming suit from Gma can also serve as a ballet dress until the pools open. She insists she is not freezing. Crazy.)

By Hand or Cheap

2011-02-27T15:26:00.000-08:00

I have been really good about not buying anything for my baby girls so far. It has taken some restraint and I'm very proud of myself. Of course, a lot of things have come out since Lucy was born. When Becca and Katy were here I decided to make a couple things myself. Unfortunately I haven't sewn much since my quarter of Sewing 101 in sixth grade. I'm still about as good as a sixth grader too (no offense to sixth graders I guess). Here are my first sewing projects- a car seat blanket/shield thing

and a nursing cover. I'm very excited about the nursing cover-I just used a blanket with Lucy-but these seem so convenient! I made mine a little extra wide in case I have multiple babies under there.

Here are my latest craigslist finds. I am not a big craigslister because I don't usually want to go to someone's home, barter etc all for one little thing. I got super lucky to search for a changing pad and find a Moby as well! I have been about to buy a Moby several times-all for full price. I got this moss green one for $10 and the changing pad for $3. Sweet!

I also just sold a stroller on craigslist so I'm feeling rich. All this saving is handy because I have expensive tastes when it comes to strollers. I'm going to buy this one today:

I have become obsessed with it. It is such a large purchase-it has to be the perfect thing-but how can I know if it is as wonderful as it seems until I really try it with two babes? I have fretted and agonized over this purchase-but I'm doing it. I'm buying last years model that everyone is trying to get rid of-so the price tag is much cheaper then it could have been. We'll see how it works!

Zions '11

2011-02-26T07:59:00.000-08:00

I just got back my camera from my mom and have loved reliving our mini-vacation to Zions last weekend. For the last couple years we have traveled to Zions and met Becca, Kyle and Katy on Presidents day weekend. For us in California it is a chance to see the snow and feel like we've experienced winter. For those in Utah it is a chance to wear only long sleeve shirts and get a break from the freezing weather up north. All of us love lounging around our hotel room, eating at the Pizza &Pasta place, going in all the cute shops in Springdale and driving through the park-maybe attempting a tiny hike if we feel like it. This year Danny and Dad enjoyed hiking Angel's Landing in the snow. They looked happy at the end, if a bit cold:) This year was definitely colder then past years. It snowed/rained much of the trip-but we still had an awesome time playing with Ruby, reading books and going exploring. We'll see if I attempt the trip next year-it was an uncomfortable drive for me, but I can't quite imagine it with two babies!
Proof we had fun:

Showing off her snowman which she promptly jumped on.

Showing off their one armed snow man.

Katy-I like this pose.

29 Week Update

2011-02-25T08:01:00.000-08:00

I often forget what this pregnancy might have been. My first perinatologist wanted me on partial bedrest that included staying at home 90% of the time and lying down 80%. I feel so lucky that everything is perfect-without those kind of restrictions! Yesterday I saw my perinatologist and he said that everything is great and to keep it up-just what I want to hear. Baby A is head down (yeah!) and Baby B is breech. I'm not sure how likely it is that they can still change positions -but at this rate I can still deliver vaginally. I also found out that they will try not to take out my cerclage until 36 weeks. That sounds so late to me-but he said he fully predicts me going to 38 weeks (!) and we want them to keep growing as long as possible. Lucy was born at 39 weeks and was 8 lbs 14 oz. I hope I don't have two eight pound babies at 38 weeks:) That said, I do want them to stay put as long as possible, so we'll just see how big I can get! That's all the news, I'm looking forward to my sonogram on the 2nd that tells me how big the girls are getting. I never actually get around to doing a tummy shot-but here is a family pic Becca took of us last week in Zions: