Newborn Photos

A good friend of mine, Heidi Davenport (from Blink Photography) did a newborn photography session of the boys. 

She did an incredible job! She is so SO talented and captures the most precious pictures. 

She was living in Wyoming, but luckily moved back to idaho just in time to do this session.

Here are some of the incredible pics she took.

Another friend also did a photo session, which includes some family pics. I should have those by this weekend, so I will post them soon.

Tender Mercies

Life right now is full of adjustments, smiles, laughs, and tears.

I am adjusting to having 3 kids. I am adjusting to having twins. 

At times it is difficult and overwhelming, and I cry and wonder how I will make it through the day.

Other times, I just sit and laugh at my silly 2 year old, and smile at my adorable babies and feel so incredibly happy. 

I feel such an indescribable amount of love for my kids. I know it is a feeling only a mom can ever know. 

I feel so blessed to have them. Even when it is hard, I simply would never ever trade it for anything else. 

The last 2 weeks has been the hardest...Devry's first two weeks away. My first two weeks as a single mom of 3 kids. But we made it! In large part to the wonderful, kind, generous friends and family who have helped us out in so many ways! 

I also have felt incredibly blessed lately. I have had such amazing feelings that we are doing what is best for our family. I need to be home with these kiddos, and right now the only way that is possible is with Devry working away. So we do what we have to! I know we are being looked after. 

I have come to realize I have amazing babies!! Payton was such a good newborn. Slept through the night from day one, content, happy, and sweet. I knew I was spoiled getting such a wonderful baby. I also knew that chances of it happening again were slim. When I found out I was having twins, I just knew that even if one was like Payton, there was no way they both would be. I prepared myself to be up multiple times a night for months and months..especially after they came early, and I figured feeding them would be much more work then it actually was!

The first few weeks, they woke up every 3 hours to eat. They were on the same schedule, and woke up at the same time...and if they didn't, I woke up the other one to keep them on the same schedule. I was grateful it was only every 3 hours, and that they ate pretty quickly so I was only up with them for 40 minutes or so. I also was grateful that from working nights, I have become VERY good at functioning well on very little sleep, or broken up sleep. So I did great! I would be tired in the mornings, but once I got up and going I was fine. I never really napped, and still felt great!

Then the last 2 weeks, their feedings have gotten a little bit farther apart each night. I have done all of the things I did with Payton that seemed to work helping him sleep great at night...I really try to separate day and night. At night I swaddle them, lay them down in the pack n play, and keep the lights out. During the day I don't do any of these things. They sleep in bouncers during the day, and I don't ever try to keep things silent or dark. They have a bit of a "fussy" time between 7-10 pm....They take a little more work during this time, but boy do they sleep great after fussing a bit for 3 hours. At first they had one 4 hour stretch between feedings...then gradually it has increased. The last 3 nights they have gone 6-7 hours between one feeding, then around 4 between the next. Typically I have fed them at 10, they wake up between 4 and 5, then sleep again till 8 or 9. We have gotten faster during feeding time. They eat in 15 minutes, then I burp and change them, and we are usually back to bed within 30 minutes.  I really can't believe that at 5 weeks old they are both sleeping the same 6-7 hour stretch!!

During the day, they eat every 3 hours, and are so content. Both of them are happy, sweet, GOOD babies.  It has been such an incredible tender mercy to have such amazing babies!! I knew having twins would be hard, especially with Devry gone. I am so grateful they have been so good. It has made everything so much easier.  Like I said, I know we are being looked after, and blessed with these two sweet, content, adorable little boys!!

A Challenging 2 year old

I am writing this post in hopes to get some advice and suggestions from other moms out there!

Payton has really done very well adjusting to having 2 new brothers. 

He is so loving and kind to them, and loves to help out in any way he can. 

The first 3 weeks was especially good, since Devry was home to devote a pretty much unlimited amount of time to Payton. They played and played, and Payton was in Heaven having his dad around 24/7. I really was able to focus on Cohen and Kayson, and establish a good routine and become comfortable breastfeeding them both. It was such a great transition for us all to have Devry home. 

The couple days after Devry left were actually very smooth. Our neighbor (and Devry's cousin) has 4 kids (ages 5-15) that Payton LOVES to play with. They were out of school on spring break last monday-wednesday. They came and took Payton for hours at a time and he had a blast with them..plus I got a bit of a break. Then My SIL Rachelle took him for a morning for me, and grandma came and played with Payton  too. Even with all the fun things Payton was doing, he started become much more defiant then normal when he was home with me. 

Then this week it has gotten worse...much worse. I am sure he is reacting to having new brothers, and to Devry leaving...but it is a very very difficult thing for me to deal with. 

He will not listen to me. At all. I tell him to stop something, he looks at me and continues doing it. I ask him to do something, he refuses. I make him do something and he throws a HUGE tantrum.

I have tried so many things and nothing is working. Counting to 3, time outs, taking away things he loves, rewarding him for good behavior, praising him for everything he does good. etc

I make sure to spend as much time as I can with him, playing, reading, singing, etc. I make sure he gets my undivided attention every single day doing something fun.

I only let him watch TV when I am nursing, since that is the most challenging time. At first this worked great, but lately he has discovered he can go do whatever he wants during that time, and I can't go get him. 2 days ago he smeared handfuls of conditioner on the walls and windows. Yesterday he was putting all his bath toys in the toilet. He just finds things he knows he is not allowed to do, and does them while I'm nursing. I try giving him snacks, tv, puzzles, books to get him to sit and be good, but it doesn't work for long.
All he wants to do is go play outside. He asks over and over and over again. The weather just hasn't been warm enough to take the twins out, and I can't leave them inside to take him. He gets so upset when I say no. Grandma comes and takes him out some, but he doesn't understand why I can't.

So to all those moms who have had a challenging 2 year old, especially with the adjustment of a new baby..what worked for you?? Any suggestions? 

Life with twins

The last 3 weeks have flown by! I can't believe the boys are 3 1/2 weeks already! It's even crazier that I am still a week and a half away from my due date.

Things have been going really well.

We've had to make lots of adjustments and changes, but luckily everything has been smooth.

Devry was home until this past Sunday. It was wonderful to have him here for so long. He was of course extremely helpful, especially with helping Payton to adjust. It was so hard to say goodbye to him after having him here for so long.

I have been so spoiled with tons of help since he left. Carissa is still living here until this weekend (that will be a sad thing too..to see her move out!) She of course has been a lifesaver and helps me a ton!

Devry's mom has helped me, My SIL Rachelle, and the kids who live down the street have been off for spring break and come and take Payton for several hours at a time. It is so wonderful to have such kind and willing friends and family.

Twins is definitely more work then one...but not as much as I expected. I have been so blessed to have such great eaters. Because they were so good, I learned very quickly to tandem feed them (feed them at the same time). It makes it so much faster..especially becau

se they both eat in 15 minutes or less. Cohen eats in like 8 minutes! Kayson takes about 15...but then I burp them both, change them and I'm good for 3 hours. The biggest challenge has been that they both have acid reflux, and seem to take turns fussing, gagging and choking between feedings. It has made it more difficult to get sleep at night. I am really hoping their Dr. will give me medication for them at their next appointment. They actually have been going longer stretches at night. Last night they went from 12:30..to 4:45. Cohen woke up at 4:15, but took his pacifier for another 30 minutes until Kayson woke up. I wish it was 4 hours of sleep straight for me..but they woke up a few times each, gagging and so I did too. Hopefully the reflux gets better, because they are doing good about having a 4-5 hour stretch between feedings at night.

I have really been able to tell the little personality differences between them. They really are so different!

Cohen is a lot more active then Kayson. He lets me know as soon as he needs anything! He is still a great baby, just likes to be comfy and tells me when something isn't right. He is so sweet, and absolutely loves being next to me. When I hold him, he just cuddles into me and is the most content baby ever.

Kayson is SO calm and quiet. He eats then sleeps soundly anywhere till its time to eat again. Even when he gags and chokes he doesn't fuss or cry. He will be awake for a while before letting me know he wants to eat. I will randomly look over at him close to feeding time and he is wide awake trying to find something to latch on to...but is completely silent.

I adore them both so much. I LOVE having newborns. So many people ask if I am surviving, and I think they usually expect me to say I'm not, or barely, or something about how hard it is. Sure it has been challenging, but I would not trade it for anything in the world. Some nights I don't get much sleep, but I love every single moment I have to hold them, feed them, and love them. They are the sweetest boys, and I am so incredibly happy to have them!

Payton has been doing great! He is so soft and gentle with the babies. Th

e biggest problem is that he forgets he also has to be careful whenever he is close to them. No major incidents yet...I think Kayson took a little toy car to the head one time, but it barely hit him..and thats about it. He loves his brothers, and tells everyone all about them. He constantly tells them he loves them, and gives them kisses. If they are in their bouncer and start fussing, Payton will very gently rock them. It is so cute to watch. I love just sitting and listening to him talk to them when he doesn't know I'm listening. It is the sweetest thing to hear him tell him "you my baby brothers and I LOVE you!!"

I'm doing fantastic! I feel a million times better then I did a couple weeks ago. My bp is slowly coming down. My swelling is completely gone (I lost 30 lbs of water w

eight in a week!) I feel almost back to normal! It took probably 8-10 weeks after having Payton before I felt this great. At my 3 week post partum mark I fit back into my preprego clothes, and I'm only 5-6 lbs away from my pre pre go weight. That took me 2.5 or 3 months after Payton! Losing all the water helped so much...plus I've lost even more so quickly. I burn so many calories nursing twins! I go for another echocardiogram in a couple weeks, and hopefully everything will be normal!

And here are some pictures of the past few weeks. Mostly of Payton wit

h his brothers!

Here is Payton holding Cohen with "his" pillow. I have a twin nursing pillow (I totally recommend it as a must have for twins!! It is huge and straps around me and makes it so much easier to feed them...Devry jokes and says it looks like I'm wearing a floaty to go into a pool) Since I use that to nurse, my boppy is mostly for propping babies, but has been taken over by Payton. He holds babies in it...then lays down on it to watch tv. Silly guy.

Here he is with Kayson. Such a good big brother!

This next picture makes me laugh. We swaddle the babies a lot. After swaddling them one day, Payton brings his blanket and says "me too!" So here he is swaddled like the babies.

The next 3 pics are some AMAZING ones my friend Heidi took. She is so incredibly talented and I am so glad we snuck in a photo shoot on monday before they were out of the "newborn" stage.

Kayson

Cohen

We did a couple different sets of pictures. My friend Whitney, who also does photography took some newborn ones when they were only a week old, then did some family ones for us last week. Then Heidi got into town on the weekend, so she did some monday. I love both of their work and I am so excited to have so many amazing pictures of the boys and our family. I will post more when I get them!