15 Months and Counting

Oh, my how the time flies! Eli and Ellie are 15 months old today. I think back to this time last year and they were between 8 and 9 pounds, I had just gotten Ellie back to the breast after having to pump for her for 2.5 months, and the babies had been switched to cloth diapers.

 Oh, how things have changed! They are now between 17-19 pounds, no longer nursing although they enjoyed 12 months of momma's best, and they are still cloth diapered.

We have gone from itty bitty babies who needed momma most and a lot of the time to little independent toddlers, whom I still refer to as my babies. I think they will forever be my babies. That I suppose is the right of the youngest child or children in our case and maybe one they don't appreciate as time goes on.

I often get to witness their growing social skills which demonstrate love, empathy, and independence. Eli is so boy and is often caught wondering the house with one of many toy tools Kehan has recieved over the years. Ellie can be seen trying to put on her shoes any time she finds them. Really, she has the girl-shoe thing down already! Slowly words are popping out of their little mouths and the great joy of discovery in their eyes when they realize that mom turns and says "What?" when the word "Mommy?" is uttered. As soon as Daddy leaves the house in the morning and the door closes often "Dadda." is heard as they wonder where he has gone.

Some of the sweetest moments and one of the great joys and priveldges of being a mom to twins is witness the bond they share. Just this morning I was able to watch Eli walk over to Ellie, put his arms around her, and then give her a kiss, in which he kept his lips pressed to her head until she pushed him away. It was so innocent that is brought a couple tears to my eyes.

I n looking back at the journey of bringing Eli and Ellie into this world which, began almost 2 years ago, I feel so completely blessed that our surprise baby turned out to be two babies. I wouldn't change a minute of it and I cannot wait to watch what God has in store for them and our family!

The Privilege and Blessing of Being a Parent

Today was just another day in the life of being a mom. For the last six days my children have been struggling with sickness. It all began with Kehan on Thursday, by Sunday the other four were not feeling well either. So, today being the sixth day Kehan has been running a fever over and around 102 degrees I decided a trip to the doctor was in order. Prognosis is Strep Throat and a cold along for the ride. Poor child no wonder he has been so terrible crabby!

So my trip into town today consisted of a stop at the clinic, post office, and grocery store with four children. The favorite quote of the day when others happen to glance upon and count the number of children with me was "You have your hands full, don't you?" or some varient of the sort. I find this is said from two different perspectives most often and it is dependent on the age of the commentor. If, the comment is of the younger generation it is usually said out of disbelief or a "better you than me" perspective. Especially when they find out that yes there is one more child to make a total of five children. On the other hand if you are of a grander generation it is said from a joyous perspective often followed by, "You are so blessed" or another phrase of the same meaning. I find I am inclined to enjoy the comments from the grander generations more because yes I am very blessed.

The Lord has blessed my family greatly and we are forever indebted to Him!  

So the post was inspired by this quote that was posted on Facebook.

Life affords no greater responsibility, no greater privilege, than the raising of the next generation. -C. Everet Koop, M.D.

So my goal is to ensure my children will look upon a young mother with many children and tell her how blessed she is because at the moment she may be feeling very overwhelmed and need a little reminder of how great a privilege God has bestowed upon her!

Better yet I hope my children are the ones with many children!



Mother of a Sale

O.K. I know that I have been MIA for the last couple of months but I think I am back on track to do some more posting! During these past months I have been writing guest posts for a couple of different blogs but I know that should not be an excuse! So I thought I would start by sharing with you one of my favorite "Deal" sites online.

Mother of a Sale is a great place to find a lot of good deals. You can sign up there for emails for their "Mother of a Daily Deal". You can also look through all the old daily deals and combine shipping between the two areas. I found a lot of Christmas gifts this year on that site. Right at this moment the Daily Deal is a Scratch and Dent FuziBunz cloth diaper sale! $9.99 for a mis labled diaper that says large but is between a medium and a large, 15-30 lbs. Last I checked there was only a couple colors left! MOAS also often has Agoo leggings for babies and children as well as Agoo appearl. I really like the Agoo brand items I have recieved from MOAS.

So here is one of the place I go to save money when I am in need of gifts and other items. You never know what you will find for 50% or more!

Bummis NEW Super Lite Wrap!

I have a new cover to love! I have been fortunate enough to be chosen to test new products for a cloth diaper company called Bummis. There are products in production that I have and then I was also sent one of the newly released, but not yet available for sale Bummis Super Lite. I can say that I really love this cover. I have the hardest time finding covers and other cloth diapers to fit my skinny little babies! Eli and Ellie both are at the very bottom of the growth chart for weight. It gets even harder when Eli is on the charts for height and not for his weight. So I have a average height baby boy with super skinny thighs and waist! This wrap is perfect for him and it fits Ellie great too, that is one thing that is a must when I am looking for a new diaper or diaper cover. It is easier to have one cover than having to have multiples to fit each child. So on to the details.

1) I absolutely LOVE the wide elastic around the back! It is about an inch tall and lays flat against the back and really keeps everything in, so no leaking.
2) Wider elastic around the legs, I need to say no more! The elastic is about a half inch wide verses the usually 1/4 inch elastic most diapers and covers have. It holds in anything thrown its way.
3) It has a super trim fit.
4) It is highly durable and it is at a great price. MSRP is to be $10.
5) 5 different colors!
6) No binding!
Here are pictures of my skinny little man in his white Super Lite. I have white because it was a tester cover but is the same great cover as those that will be available to purchase shortly. He has a Thirsties Duo Prefold trifolded inside the cover. I have to mention though that it also fits great over fitted diapers too! What more could you ask for? Eli is approx. 18 lbs and 29 inches tall in these pictures.

Blogging for Preemies

Ok so I know this post is LONG over due. With five children 7 and under life sometimes happens and things get put on the back burner. I said I would write a post and now I am doing just that.

Just over a year ago I gave birth to preemie twins. Eli and Ellie decided that at 36 weeks and 2 days they should join the outside world at 5 lbs 2 ounces and 4 lbs 3 ounces. It had taken nearly 3 months of bedrest to reach this point and so I was happy to have hit 36 weeks and not have micro preemie twins who would need a lot of care right at birth.

Eli and Ellie were born seemingly healthy. After I was back in my room from the recovery room following the c-section due to Eli presenting feet first both babies nursed well and were happily sleeping again. It was at about 7 hours after birth that Ellie developed severe medical issues. Ellie's blood glucose levels were at 17. At this point she was kept in the nursery and started on IVs to give her glucose to raise her sugar levels. By the time she was two days old they could  no longer keep her at the hospital she was born and she was transferred to a NICU just over an hour away in Grand Forks, ND. There she spent 22 days before being released to join her brother at home.

Ellie's NICU stay was especially hard on our family having to travel the distance to the hospital, caring for a newborn in addition to our 3 older children, none of which were allowed to come to the hospital due the "Swine Flu" outbreak that occurred last fall and last but not least trying to recover from a c-section after being on bedrest for 3 months. While Ellie was in the hospital she was giving blood platelets had her blood sugar checked before each feeding until she had stablized. She also developed jaundice, which is very common in preemie babies. She also had an NG tube for feeding because she was not strong enough to eat on her own or nurse well. They also did not want her to be using her energy to eat as they were trying to keep her sugars stable. After a couple weeks we pushed her to eat on her own and try to nurse or at least drink from a bottle. Even though she was released from the hospital it was still a struggle to get her to eat at least an ounce at every feeding for a very long time. It was nerve wrecking to say the least.

While Eli was at home we also had an issue with his weight loss. Eli had drop at least a pound in the first week. It was discovered that although he was nursing well he did not have the strength to suck hard enough for a long enough time period to get enough food to eat. Essentially he was using more calories to eat than he was getting while eating. I had to start alternating his feedings between nursing and getting breastmilk in a bottle. He started gaining weight and eventually no longer needed the bottle feedings.

Ellie came home December 10, 2010 only 6 days short of being one month old. I look back on this time and know I never want to repeat it again. I also remember thinking that once I hit 36 weeks the babies would be fine. However this was not the case. So when people start talking about wanting to have their babies early even by a few weeks I ask why. Because even though a large number of babies are born just fine a few weeks early there are always those who are not. Why would you want to chance the health of your baby. I would have wanted to stay pregnant longer so I could have skipped the NICU experience.

So if you are pregnant be sure you know the signs of preterm labor and take action if you begin to experience symptoms.  Check out the March of Dimes website and read up on how to have a healthy full term pregnancy. Even if you don't think it could happen to you it has been found that in about half of all premature births we simply do not know why the babies are born early so it is best to know the signs to help prevent your baby from being born prematurely.

Eli and Ellie are ONE!

One short year ago we first touch
20 little fingers and 20 little toes.
Today we celebrate one year of holding those
20 little fingers and tickling those 20 little toes.

Happy Birthday Eli and Ellie!

Here are our babies who are no longer infants. I guess I technically can call them babies until they start walking, but 1 seems to be the age that many consider a toddler until they are 3 years old. So you will now see posts regarding twin toddlerhood! What a fun adventure this is going to be!

Ellie is our bravest twin. She is constantly climbing on things and here we had them sitting on the second stair and she immediately had to stand up and give us the "look at what I can do" look. She thinks she is pretty darn cool! She is also our drama queen. The smallest fall can result in the most dramatic cries and throwing herself down on the floor trying to get more attention. Eli is still pretty laid back and just loves to laugh at you. He loves cars already and pushes them around on the floor while crawling.

God has blessed us greatly with these twins! We thank God for allowing us to have them for this first year. We pray that there are many more birthdays to come!

Come back tomorrow for a "Bloggers Unite" post on Preemies.

Hardest Parenting Moment Yet

Tonight I encountered the hardest thing I have had to do as a parent yet. You know you want to protect your children from the hurts they are bound to incurr but also know that you have to allow them to happen. Our daughter's horse died suddenly today without warning. I was notified during supper and had to sit with this knowledge while I watched her happily eat her meal and then play with her sibblings afterward. I had gone to the other room and called my husband and waited for him to return home before we told the kids what had happened. It was the most difficult thing I have ever had to do. Sitting and watching her be so happy when I knew how devistated she was going to be and how she would be sad for many days to come. I sit here and it still makes me tear up knowing how much she is hurting inside. I also know that she will be stronger from this experience but at the age of 7 it is a hard lesson to learn so young.

Kjerstin and Twiggy with Dad the day we brought Twiggy home. She was 8 months pregnant and gave birth to a colt "Blazing Rhodes" at the end of July.

We still have Rhodes but will miss Twiggy a lot she was a great horse.