So, before the twins were born, I decided that I would chronicle the crazy and awesome journey of my life with the twins...you know, with the day-to-day minutiae that make everyone roll their eyes and think, "TMI".  Well, be thankful that I failed miserably!!!   Life is always crazy and sometimes awesome, but the awesome moments give me a glimpse of sanity and help me realize that I will survive the next couple of years.  As you can tell, my resolve to blog faded a millisecond after J & W arrived.  William and Jacob will be four months old this time next week!  I can't believe that!  They are rolling over, laughing, cooing up a storm, reaching for things (and grabbing them successfully) and sort of sleeping through the night (praise God!).  Life is fun again.  And, to top it off, Caleb is seriously in love with his little brothers, and we get to enjoy watching him shower them with slobbery kisses and clobber them with hugs.  My favorite things about my three boys right now:

• Caleb shares his bedtime snack (a guilty pleasure instituted by Daddy) with his brothers--if I don't actually put it in the baby's mouth, Caleb gets upset.
• Caleb hugs a crying baby to help comfort him or gets my attention if one of them is upset
• Caleb likes to show me his and the babies' bellies, ears, mouths, noses and toes (it's like watching the Three Stooges--lots of eye jabs and face grabs)
• Caleb will randomly hug and kiss the babies.  If he's sitting in his high-chair, and one of them is within his line of sight, he will reach for them until you bring the baby to him, then he will hold and hug said baby until it screams--picture Elmira from Tiny Toons.
• The babies are smiling and laughing at Caleb; I think he has realized that he can make them smile and laugh--the next few months should be a ton of fun
• Sometimes, when Caleb wants some extra attention, he will reach for the baby (like he wants a hug), then try to push him out of the way so I will pick him up.  We have a little talk when this happens, but it's nice to know he still wants his mommy!
• Caleb is walking up a storm, and, when we go for family walks, he will push the stroller.  Mind you, he is a foot and a half shorter than the stroller, but it's really cute (we help him keep the stroller on the road).
• Caleb will help, in his own little way, by bringing bottles or pacifiers (wanted or unwanted) and shoving them in the babies' mouths--cute!

As you can see, a lot of my favorite things revolve around Caleb's interactions with the babies...prior to thier birth, I was so stressed about how he would react to having the twins around and not having mommy and daddy all to his own self, but he has done remarkably well.  Having said all of this, Caleb can't wait to leave the house and go to pre-school most mornings:). 

Caleb is starting to use LOTS of new words.  Still no two word phrases, but his vocabulary is exploding.  He went from the standard ma-ma and da-da to those, plus, milk, "all-done", papa, car, cup, juice, please, yes, no, tasty (my favorite), moon, nanny, owl, pool, cookie, baby brother, book, bath, Jesus, eye, nose, bumble bee, cheese, potty and fish.  The first one he has used consistently is squirrel--go figure!  I think it's because he sits in the dining room at breakfast and dinner and stares at the tree and squirrels in the front lawn--he loves watching them.  He is walking pretty well, now, which most of you know is a huge praise!  He also starts swimming lessons next week (yay!), and I'm hoping that will help build leg and ab and back strength.  He LOVES the pool and playing at his water table.

Another fun Caleb fact--he has started to disrobe at school.  He's been doing it for a while at home (fortunately, without any majorly nasty messes).  We try to get him to keep his clothes on, but we frequently find him walking around without any pants (sometimes minus the diaper).

As for the babies, they started laughing the Sunday before Mothers' Day...I was changing William's diaper, and he let out this cute little laugh.  Why is it that my boys always have their first laugh during a diaper change?  That was a rhetorical question, if you were wondering :)  They are sleeping ok, but only on their tummies (they roll over well, so I'm not too concerned at this point)...they are now refusing to sleep swaddled; this presents a problem, because they still can't really control their arms very well...so when they roll over in the middle of the night, they get mad and wake up...very frustrating.  Fortunately, this usually happens around 5 am, so it's not the end of the world.

As for Travis and I, we have auditory hallucinations of babies crying :)  Caleb was quiet as a mouse until 12 months, and has gotten progressively more verbal.  The twins came out swinging and are finally starting to settle down (unless it's 5-8 pm).  We realized they just want to interact with the rest of us at dinner, instead of napping.  If we hold them in our laps, sitting up and facing the rest of the table, they are content and will coo and join in on the conversation--very social, these little ones are!  I think we may try reclining the high chair seats, and letting them sit in those while we eat.  Hopefully, it works, and we can enjoy mealtime with Caleb.  Soon, we will have to start purees and solids for the little ones, so dinner-time will become a little crazier (if it wasn't crazy enough, already).

Well, this took 24 hours to post.  I started this time yesterday.  I finished it last night, but my internet service was spotty, at best, and wouldn't cooperate.  So, I am now going to post this and try to move on with life--need to plan menus, budgets, read, file, pay bills, clean kitchen, do laundry, tackle bible study and PRAY...

Happy Birthday, Babies (and Mema!)

OK, we have had the best week ever!  We are now, officially, a family of five!  William Cambry and Jacob Glen made their entrance to this world on Sunday, February 5, 2012 at 2105 and 2106, respectively.  I was 36 weeks and 2 days with them, at the time.  I had been admitted on Saturday, the 4th, after my bloodwork and blood pressure took a slight turn for the worse.  The plan, per Dr. Izquerdo and Dr. Fox, was to keep me in house until Friday (tomorrow) for close observation, and deliver the little guys Friday, the 10th (my mom's birthday).  However, on Sunday, my water broke--the little guys were coming early!  We were happy, though, because we had reached the 36 week mark, and felt that the babies would have a good chance of doing well at that point.  I was wheeled back to the OR just as the Superbowl half-time show was coming to a close.  WC weighed in at 5'9" and was 19 inches, and JG was 5'6" and 18.5 inches.  Both had APGARS of 9 and 9, and they were allowed to skip the NICU and go to the term nursery and room-in with mommy and daddy.  We are all home, now, and doing well. 
I have quite a bit more post-operative pain after this c-section, which I attribute to being in bed an extra 24 hours post-delivery because of the mag sulfate drip (for pre-eclampsia).  That stuff is no joke and, certainly, no fun--but, we do what we have to do to stay healthy!
I will post more details later, as time allows.  Right now, I want to stare at my beautiful little boys!  We are so thankful for all the prayers, visitors, well-wishes, gifts and meals!  And, we can't wait to introduce you guys to the newest members of our family.  Caleb is taking to them well--he likes to give them kisses and hugs and pet their heads (and would really like to stick his fingers in their noses, but we generally discourage that behavior, at the moment :)
W

Soon to be Family of 5!!!

Christmas and the New Year have come and gone (sadly). Caleb had a great time visiting his extended family. He is especially fond of his cousin, Emma (who is 5 months his junior), and they love to play together! He also spent lots of quality time with both sets of grandparents and his great-grandmother "Gigi". I think the little guy will be walking soon--this will be a bittersweet moment. I know I'll be excited that I don't have to carry him absolutely everywhere (he has a little independent streak, this one, and, yes, I do pick up my almost 25 lb. 16 month old while I'm 8 months pregnant), but it also marks the end of babyhood.
This is Caleb playing with noise cancelling headphones during the fireworks. He would wear them and, then, try to put them on someone else's head. He thought they were hilarious.

But, not to be too dismayed, more little babies are coming soon!Check out the pics of my belly...it's growing daily. It's funny, though...the babies move so much, still, that the shape changes and I am much bigger some days than others. Last week, it looked like they were going to fall out, I was carrying so low. This week, they've moved up, and I'm not feeling quite so miserable and giant. Although, having them up higher made for an interesting trip to Ocala--driving for two hours with a head stuck under my ribs was a little uncomfortable, as you can imagine.

Please disregard the mess in the background...we are trying to reorganize the house before the babies arrive, and it's created quite the mess! (not that I am the neatest person in the world, in the first place.)
Well, gotta run...errands to attend. Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year.

pregnancy--26 weeks+1

My belly is HUGE...I went from looking a little full in the middle to beach ball size in three weeks! Crazy! Being pregnant across three seasons and with twins = frequent overages on the clothing budget! The babies are measuring a little ahead and are concordant in growth (for which I am very thankful, given the common complications associated with twin pregnancies). So far, everything is developing right on track. If you are wondering what it feels like to be pregnant with twins, picture yourself measuring 8 weeks ahead (like can barely bend over at 26 weeks), and feeling twice the movement in really weird places (intestines, bladder, back, kidneys--nothing is off limits).
We purchased the mom-mobile last weekend (Ford Flex), and now we are moving on to car seats and strollers. Hopefully, I will get around to the babies' registry in the next two weeks. If you are wondering what we need--we need DIAPERS and wipes, among other things spread throughout several baby registries (interpreted, no clothes, please!). We still have plenty of leftover clothes from Caleb (although we will probably need more, I prefer to buy those things myself, so spread the word!) I will most likely register at the typical baby stores, but feel free to buy something somewhere else if you find it cheaper--just make sure they accept returns, and that you get a gift receipt!

Here's to hoping I can still bend over in two weeks (looking pretty unlikely at this point!) I will try to post some pics soon.

Caleb's Antics

So, for those of you who are interested, I thought I would update you on Caleb's gross motor development at 15 months (previously known as "lack thereof"). It seems we have a fairly laid-back (aka "lazy") baby on our hands. Until now, Caleb's preferred method of self-transportation has been rolling...literally. He would not crawl, although he gets up on all fours perfectly well, and he really hasn't been interested in climbing or cruising activities. All of this has changed over the last few weeks. He can, all of the sudden, go from rolling to sitting to crawling to pulling up. He can even stand on his own for a few seconds. He walks with his little push-walker, and will let go one hand at a time, and then look at us for approval (he waits for the applause, then smiles--what a ham!). He hasn't really tried walking, yet, but I think he's really close. He is still scared to move from standing to sitting (that's pretty funny to watch--it looks like he's try to make a giant dirty diaper), but he's getting better at it.
He is very fond of waving...at himself and us, simultaneously. He waves with one hand facing forward and one hand facing himself...sort of a hello/goodbye (ie: aloha). Very entertaining. He really enjoys patting himself on the head and face. I think this may be him trying to do the "head, shoulders, knees, toes..." thing. It's cute. It's amazing to watch him change from a pet rock sort-of baby into a little mover and shaker!

TWINS!!!

OK, so I am REALLY bad at updating my blog, lately. I finally had a few minutes free of interruption--I am home (took a day off, yay!), a yummy dinner is simmering on the stove, and Travis is going to pick Caleb up from pre-school. If you know that we have a 15 month old and are expecting twins and that both of us work full-time, then you can sympathize with our lack of free time for blogging. As most of you know, we found out in July that we are expecting twins. September brought tidings of identical boys (as in, boy will we have our hands full!). As of tomorrow, we will be 25 weeks along, and we are doing well. We had the babies' echocardiograms today--each has four chambers and good outflow tracts (My medical friends will understand the significance of this great news. For the rest of you, just know that the hearts work well, have all the necessary parts, and the major blood vessels leaving the heart and entering the heart look good). We have been super-busy shopping for a car big enough to haul three car seats--hopefully, that search will end VERY soon! Next up is the babies' registries, getting the kids' play room (formerly known as the sun room) ready, buying car seats and strollers...ok, I've worn myself out, so let's talk about something else for a bit.
Caleb is doing well...he's getting taller by the minute (and skinnier--wish it was me, instead). He just got put on a high-calorie, high-fat diet today, so we will all be a little envious of Caleb's plate! He still hasn't decided to walk. We are hoping he will walk before his brothers, at this point.
Alright, I'm goint to call it quits for now. I'll upload some pics soon (family pictures being taken Sunday afternoon between work and call). I may not get back to the blog before Thanksgiving, so I will wish you all a wonderful, family and turkey-filled Thanksgiving now.
Love you all.
Wendy

Food, Family, and Fun!

Travis has been begging for these green chili cheeseburgers. Since the weather is so nice, I decided we could try the recipe during the Camp family's annual pre-summer grill initiation. He wanted onion rings on the side, so we headed to our favorite recipe collection (www.foodtv.com) to hunt down the appropriate Bobby Flay burger recipe (one of the many green chili cheeseburger recipes by said chef...this is the one with "Green Chili Sauce and provolone cheese) and Guy Fieri onion ring recipe (Rajun Cajun Onion Rings). I changed up the seasoning for the burger itself and the flour for the onion rings...they were AWESOME!!! I don't want to brag (well, maybe a little), but the onion rings have been compared to Mojo's. They're not quite as crunchy, and MAYBE a tad bit more greasy (need to use hotter oil), but I think they'll come along nicely with a little practice. Caleb even wanted to give them a try...but had to settle for the pureed version (just the burger and the chili sauce pureed in the food pro with a little water). Caleb's version wasn't quite as appealing, visually (as you can see from the pic of the pureed version below), but he didn't seem to mind. Sarah took some pics, so you guys can enjoy the deliciousness along with us. Bon appetit!