Fort Donelson National Battleground

Before the twins came along, Ben and I did a lot of sightseeing and traveling... sometimes to the point that we were so busy going places, that we wouldn't always take advantage of the places that were close enough to us to make little day trips to.  There were a lot of places in TN that we didn't take the chance to visit when we lived here the last time, and we decided that we wanted to take the opportunity to get out and do those things with the twins before we move again!

So yesterday Ben and I decided to take the kids to Fort Donelson National Battleground.  We headed out after lunch and surprisingly the twins stayed awake in their car seats for almost the entire hour drive. We got out and put them in the stroller to tour around.  We walked around the "museum" together and then we sat and watched the fifteen minute video about the fort.  Josh quietly watched the entire video while Savannah seemed to think it was like church with the lights low and music playing... she decided to dance and laugh until I had to take her outside.

We ran into another couple with a nice outdoorsy stroller who told us that walking around the trails with a stroller was next to impossible and they were going to drive it... so we traded out the stroller for our backpack carrier and Ben volunteered to carry a baby so that we could still do some walking! We did about an hour of walking before it was time to feed the twins so we headed back to the Escape.  We fed them and finished the tour while driving around.  They slept most of the way back and even played quietly for us to eat Mexican food on the way home :-)

All in all, it was a great day and Ben and I are working on a list of other places that we want to visit the next few weekends.  We also decided to invest in another backpack carrier... maybe an Ergo that will make hiking and getting around with both babies a little easier!

Here are a few pictures of us from our trip!

While it's a little warm for these now... I got a great deal on some homemade hats from another multiples mom online and they arrived this week so I had to check them out on the babies to see how they look!

 

The importance of a name... or two!

I thought that my sweet babies deserved a post about their names.  Ben and I spent a lot of time coming up with names that we liked before we found out what we were having... and tried to chose names that had some significance to us or that we really liked.  We had a pretty nice sized list of girls names and boys names, although many of our favorites had been taken by close family and friends before the twins were born (that's what happens when you take so long to get pregnant!). On the day we came home from finding out what we were having Ben looked at the list and chose both of their names.

Ben made the decision that we should keep these two names to ourselves so that the day our babies were born, we could share these special names (and so no one could tell us what they thought of them...).  However, because of the circumstances (craziness) surrounding their birth, we never really explained where their special names came from... so here you go:

Ben had a really good friend named Joshua that he thought was a great Christian example, and we loved the meaning of the name- Jehovah is salvation (Also, God rescues).  The David on our list came from an interesting realization: Ben's mom's name, Amy; my mom's name, Darlene; and the name, David, all mean "beloved".  Since these children were loved and prayed for before they were ever conceived, we thought it was fitting!

As for Savannah's name, we really liked it.  Ben took me to Savannah for my 26th birthday and we had a wonderful weekend trip before I started teaching for the first time and before he started graduate school.  There were a lot of memories made that weekend and we both really loved the name.  I also was a nanny for a little girl named Savannah during college who went by her full name, Savannah Jane... so I knew I wanted a  middle name that I could use with her name as one.  That is where the easy part came in, even before Ben and I first started trying to have children, I knew I wanted a daughter with Grace in her name.  And after all we had been through, God's grace was obvious to us and we knew that it was God's amazing grace that gave us this double blessing.  No other name would have been so perfect for our little girl!

Our little Savannah Grace and Joshua David:

And just like that we have a schedule!!

I am afraid to even say that we have a schedule for fear that it will change... but the kiddos have stuck to the same routine the last few days and I think it might actually stick for a week or so!  It helps me to have a "schedule" to keep to and I am hoping that putting some fun things in there for us to do will actually help me to get them done (ahem, ahem... my own healthy routine)!   Also, Savannah is FINALLY eating food!  Hooray.  After those two teeth popped through she will finally eat, so we are slowly introducing her to all the foods on Josh's "approved list."

Ben leaves for work at 6 and I attempt to get a little more sleep (most days unsuccessfully).  I get up at 7:30 and pump before the babies are ready to get out of bed at 8.  I fix their bottles, and get their breakfast ready so that I don't have to do it after they come downstairs.

8:00- first 6oz bottle of the day
Then we go for a walk around the neighborhood and play on the playmat together. Our walks have been 30-40 minutes, but we are working up to being out for longer, and mommy is working up to using the jogging stroller for what it was created for!

9:30- Breakfast of 2-3 oz of fruit mixed with 1-2 Tbsp of Oatmeal (lately I have been whipping up fresh fruit to mix in using the baby bullet, but am hoping to attempt making it in advance soon).
After that they are ready to go down for a nap (1-2 hours).  While they are napping, I do laundry and clean up the house. 

Between 11-12- They wake up and are ready for another 6oz bottle.
Then we play some more on the playmat. Lately Josh has been trying very hard to crawl, he works at it so hard, I am sure it won't be long.  Savannah uses her upper body strength to pull herself around just as quickly, but refuses to lift her belly up off the floor.

Around 12:30-1:00 I lay them down for another short nap.  I have been kind of flexible with this nap and sometimes keep up the baby that is least fussy to play one on one with for a little bit before laying them down.

2:00- They wake up and are ready for another 5-6 oz bottle. After that we play in the bouncers/jumpers and occasionally run errands that need to be done.

Around 3:30-4 they are ready for a 3rd nap.  I lay them down and prep Ben and my dinner and decide what they are going to eat for their dinner.

5:00- Another 6oz bottle and then daddy comes home!

6:30- Dinner- Usually one and a half baby bullet servings (vegetables)

7:30- Bedtime routine starts. We do baths, and then put on Snuzas and SleepSacks, then daddy reads them a story.

8:00- Last 5-6 oz bottle of the day and then we lay them down.

I have had several people ask me about nap times.  Since we moved to TN, the twins always nap in their cribs.  After Beka left, I thought they might expect to be rocked some (which I wouldn't mind in the least) in order to go to sleep, but within 2-3 minutes of me laying them down (for naps or bed), they go straight to sleep.  I  keep waiting for them to stop being so easy to manage, but so far, they are angels... I think they have definitely spoiled us (we aren't going to know what to do if we have a high maintenance child next!).



Here is a video of Josh a few days ago trying to crawl. It was right before nap time so Savannah is a little fussy, and Josh is a little tired, but he continues to be persistent!

Savannah figured out how to turn the pages in her Bible.

I love the look that Josh is giving daddy here.

7 Months Old and another Milestone!!!!

The twins turned seven months old yesterday (which also happened to be my birthday :-)!!! Hooray for sharing a special day!

As a celebration of being 7 months old, Josh cut his first tooth... we are interested to see whether tooth number two quickly follows as it did with Savannah.  It seems to be bothering him a little more than it did her, so we will see how he handles the whole process.

This is the first month we have not had an appointment for growth check, but we did take some special pictures with Aunt Beka before she left to go back to Ohio!





"They're worth it!"

So, I was thinking today that I don't write about my husband and his role as a dad nearly enough.  One of the first things that attracted me to my husband was how good he is with kids and how much he loves being around them. Early in our relationship he told me that he wanted a large family and that he wanted to marry someone who wanted a large family as well. 

Throughout the several years that it took us to get pregnant, Benalways reminded me that no matter what the cost financially it would be worth it. 

Now that I am not working full-time, I worry occasionally about the cost of diapers (we still go through 20+ a day) and formula. Right now the formula we use (recommended by the NICU) runs about $100 a week.  I am thinking about stopping pumping next month and when that happens the price will go up even more.  Ben always reminds me, they aren't going to be in diapers forever and what's a few more months of formula?  "They are so worth it!" 

Our date nights the last few weeks have been spent finding everything those little babies could possibly need in our new house.  We have two highchairs now, a bouncer, a jumperoo, rubber tiles for their play floor and so much more.  Ben gets such joy from putting together new little things for them and watching their excitement when playing with them. 

Playing in the living room

He also says he loves how organized I am (though I don't feel it)!  He let me get a baby bullet and steamer so that I could continue making the kids food.  I am able to spend a few minutes a week whipping up a batch of goodies for them and right now we have enough in the freezer to last the whole month!  I have not attempted to freeze any fruits yet, but that comes next :-)!

My new toys... :-) So far I have made zucchini, squash, sweet potatos, carrots, peas and green beans... I love making my babies food for them!

Ben tries to come home a couple of days a week to help with the kids and see them at lunch time.  In the evenings he comes home and plays with them and helps with baths and storytime.  He prays over them every night and takes care of whatever we need... because they are worth it :-)

Full of smiles while playing with daddy... and pulling his hair out...

People ask me all the time if we are finished having kids and my answer is always a resounding NO... We want more children for sure, and I look forward to seeing what an amazing dad he continues to be to all of them!