What We Do and How We Do It Part #1

People are forever asking us how we "do it" with twins. I'm always tempted to tell them there is no trick, you just do what you have to, but when it comes right down to it I have to admit we do have little tricks up our sleeves that we've developed over the last 3 months. (Lest I get too proud of myself I just think of all those moms out there with twins plus an older child, two sets of twins, or larger order multiples like triplets or quads!)
In the interest of keeping a good record of our twin journey here are a few things we do to keep ourselves sane:
1) Avoid "passing the buck" when it comes to a crying baby. Very frequently, after an hour and half or so of feeding, changing, playing, and rocking the babies, we finally get settled on the couch with both babes sleeping away in the nursery when suddenly the quiet is shattered with a wail. It would be really easy at this point to get into an arguement about who's "turn" it is to care for the crying baby based on who is the most tired, who was the most busy today, etc. But we've fallen into the patter of having "his and hers" babies. Basically, whoever held that baby last is responsible for getting it back to sleep and/or pacified. It's not like we ever sat down and discussed this, or that we even really acknowledge the rule in the heat of the moment, but if you were a fly on our wall at 6pm each night you would see this pattern play itself out pretty regularly. Usually a baby becomes your responsibility when you feed it, since the babies eat about every 3 hours during the day that means you are responsible for that baby for at least 3 hours (we also typically switch who we feed at each feeding though that also has never been discussed). It works well since we avoid arguments and by keeping eachother's sanity in mind the other person knows when to step in and give a break when it's needed.

Since I never have more than 15 minutes at a time to myself the next section will have to wait for next time...

Because I seem to be short on time lately:

Enjoy this little clip that all moms of multiples agree sums up our experience every time we leave the house with both (or all 3, or 4...) babies. Andy and I were LOL'ing:
http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/7767627/

For Your Viewing Pleasure:

How to gift wrap a cat for Christmas:
http://laughingsquid.com/how-to-gift-wrap-a-cat/?ref=nf

New Soundtrack and Some Favorite Moments

There's a new soundtrack in the Heemstra household. It consists of lots of baby crys, snorts, grunts, big sighs, toots, and burps. Every day we become better at interpreting the meanings behind all these little noises. For instance, was that a "wet" or a "dry" burp? (A wet burp necessitating a mad dash for a burp rag before whatever just came up goes all over baby and whatever he/she is laying on). The same is true for a toot, though I'm sure I don't have to explain.

Each baby has their own personal noises and meanings as well. For instance, both babies tend to grunt and make little noises in their sleep that aren't signs of fussiness. However the moment we hear Eli begin to pant we can be sure a cry is soon to follow. For Evelyn the warning sign is more of a snort, though the frequency of the snorting signals whether we're in for a real scream or just a bit of a fuss.

Sleeping peacefully.

It really is amazing how much they change from day to day. I can't locate my camera battery at the moment so these pictures are about a week old and I can't believe how much bigger and just plain different Elijah and Evelyn are from only a week ago!

Auntie Bradi, Raegan and Sydney picked out this fuzzy headband for Evelyn. Already it's getting a bit tight on her little head! However it's great for a laugh, especially when Samson decides to investigate the fluffy little thing that has suddenly appeared on "his" baby's head.

"Hi."

"Um...I guess you can sniff it, just don't lick my face, ok?"

Samson found the headband to be very tickly when inhaled, so after much snuffing and nervous dancing in place he decided she was better left alone.

Another favorite "Samson and Baby" moment from this week has been his new desire to somehow "help" the babies when they are crying. Twice today, when a baby was screaming for some reason or another Samson brought his favorite bone and placed it right next to them. This morning, as Evie cried, he brought the bone and placed it on her, to which she let out a little grunt, so he picked it up and set it next to her bouncy seat before giving her a little sniff and walking away. There isn't much a dog can do for a crying baby, but he seems to be doing his best to show them he cares...and provide an early lesson in sharing!

The old saying "sleep when baby sleeps?" Yeah, we got that.

Happy Halloween!

Our Halloween started off with a bath for the stinky babies. There had been lots of spitting up that day and everyone needed to be clean for their costumes:
A welcome change was that both Eli and Evie seemed to decide that baths are not meant to torture them and could be a rather warm and relaxing experience- no crying here!

"Ooh, so warm!"

After baths it was time to get in our costumes and pose for the camera!

"Why'd you have to dress the skinny kid in the skeleton suit??"

"I know I'm a little chubby but a Pumpkin-Ballerina? Really?! I'm going to need counselling."
Evie decided the best way to deal with the situation was to just go to sleep. Eli wasn't so sure...

Happy Halloween from the Heemstras!

We've had a lot of visits lately....

Samson really seems to love the babies, he "visits" them often between naps. Don't let this picture fool you though- he's actually begging for food which is right outside the picture.

My good friend Kim stopped by for a visit from Big Rapids. She brought us her steam cleaner so we can clean the carpets just in case there are any residual fleas (ew), and also held babies for awhile :)

"Auntie Rachel" helped a lot this weekend, during our scare with Evelyn (more later) and the night before Andy went on a longer trip so we could all get some sleep. Thanks Rachel!

Our neighbor Anna stops by often and even brings me coffee. What would I do without my friends on Belfast??

And then there are the wonderful cousins and family. RG and Syd LOVE holding babies. She, Syd, Bradi, and their friends stopped over after ballet last week to sniff babies. It's so nice to have people stop in and just enjoy them!

Here We Are!!

Elijah

Evelyn

Together at Last

Well, they are 2 weeks old already, but better late than never, right? Elijah Timothy Heemstra (5lbs. 8oz, 18" long) and Evelyn Hope Heemstra (5lbs. 14oz, 18 1/2" long) arrived on October 5th, 2010 after a 2-day induction. I'll post the full story sometime soon but for now I feel accomplished to have simply gotten their pictures and stats on the blog!

Mr. Eli is a challenge at breastfeeding but we're working through it, and Miss Evie is trying to show her brother what it means to eat like a little piggy (snorts and all!). Soon I'm sure I'll have 2 little chunkers on my hands :)