It all started with a crib....

A few months ago I posted about the furniture we were re-doing for the nursery.  Here is the semi, finished room :)

The crib on the left is the one we redid, on the right is one we are borrowing and still need to get a mattress for.  Right now because the boys still sleep together, it holds their car seats.  I made the bumpers because the left crib is an odd shape so I couldn't order matching ones,  I think they turned out good and it was nice to make them because I was able to make curtains to match.

The curtains are my favorite,  not only because they are cute but because they keep out quite a bit of light and also because I got the fabric for half the price it would have cost to buy cheep-o curtains.  I love saving money!!!

This is the wall above the cribs.  My sister Donna made the initial pictures for their baby shower.  I painted shadow boxes that I already had and filled it with cute little things people gave us.

The right side of the room,  used most often.  The changing table Donna and Jared built for us and the dresser I re-did.  I put up their calendars but I still need to put up pictures and other stuff on the wall.... the room is slowly coming together.  (Oh and PS, since it's in this picture can I just say how much I LOVE my diaper Jeanie!!!!)



I still need to sand, stain, and make cushions for the rocking chair and put pictures up on the wall and maybe sometime get a rug but other than that it's pretty much done.  :)  I will post pictures of the rocker when I get around to working on it.

When my parents come to visit.

Last week my parents came to visit.  It was the first time they were able to meet the babies, I think they instantly fell in love.  And I'm pretty sure Kollin and Kleyton did too!  The way my boys looked at my parents was priceless,  they loved to cuddle with my mom and they just staired at my dad when he would talk.  My parents are awesome,  they spent so much time helping us with the babies.  I've never seen my dad change so many diapers... seriously every time there was a wet or poopy diaper he offered and I loved the help, especially when Kole was at work. 

(meeting the boys)

It was a fun busy week.  Hannah, Bryce, and Ava came over a lot and even spent one of the nights at our house.  And when Mary and Trinity got back form their California vacation they came over a lot too.

We watched lots of movies (oldies were our movies of choice,  and I'm not talking 80's old...I'm talking late 30's early 40's  :) )  We played lots of  card games, and spent lots of time talking and taking care of all the kids.  One morning my Mom made me and my dad her gluten free muffins (which were super yummy!!!) and eggs, while my Dad told us lots of stories.  He told me a lot of stories about my Grandpa and Great Grandpa.  I love times like these, it is so much fun to spend time with my parents especially because they live 5 and 1/2 hours away and normally when I see them it's a holiday, or birthday, or special event and It's loud and crazy (seeing as how there are ten kids in my family and I'm the youngest, so you can only imagine how many nieces and nephews I have).  It was so nice to have their undevided attention.  I need that special time with them every once in a while.

(Kollin playing cards.. he's been super needy lately and wants to sit up and see everything.  I don't mind, i love to hold these little guys!!)

We spent most of the time at my house, I think my parents enjoyed the break from the normal and the cold weather.  The sun was shining the whole time they were here.  And I really enjoyed help with poopy diapers and bottle feeds...  My Dad kept saying how amazed he was at how often they ate and how many diapers we went through..  He always wanted twin boys,  this trip he told my mom that he was relieved that they didn't have the twin boys, that someone else did and he can just visit.  LOL  I love you Mom and Dad!  Thanks for all the talks, good times, and help with the kids.  :)  Come back soon!!!

Blogging

I started this blog a couple of years ago, so I could work on my writing and show my family and friends what we've been up to.  My first post had a lot of writing in it and soon after all my posts consisted of just a bunch of pictures and "this is what we did". I think I made it more of a picture blog because I was affraid to write my true feelings and random thoughts and I want to do more.  I want to write my feelings and ideas, so I created another blog and did some writing and it felt good, but having another blog on top of this one and my recipe blog is honestly a lot of work and stupid. So I deleted it.  But from now on expect more writing and sorry if what I write bugs you or makes you think I'm crazy but I'm doing this blog for me anyway and I shouldn't be worried about what others think about me.  So here is one of the posts I had wrote a little over a week ago...

Be Kind to Tabi... She's a good girl....

Those are the words of my mother, to me...  I've been really down on myself lately.  Mostly because I've been breast feeding my boys and now I'm not producing much.  It is strange how it works, when they were in the NICU and all I did was pump, I was making anywhere from 3 oz to 12 oz, every 3 hours!!  But then as soon as I switched to just feeding them, my milk went away!  I'm making less than an oz... unless I wait all night and then I make about 2 (which is barely enough to feed one baby, one time).  I'm trying to do everything people have been telling me to do,  pump more, eat more protein, drink more water,.. and so far nothing.  There has been no change and I'm at my wits end!!  I just want to be able to give the best to my babies and even though I really don't like breast feeding, I really want to be able to provide that for them so they can get the best nutrients as possible, especially because they are preemies.  I feel like a failure even though I know that in my family it's normal to stop producing earlier than you planed.  One of my sisters stopped being able to at around 2 months, another sister couldn't at all, and my mom said that some kids she was able to feed and others she wasn't.  I really hope my body can realize that I have two little ones that I really need to feed but if it doesn't I need to realize that things just happen and it's not my fault and I need to: 'Be kind to Tabi... She's a good girl.'

Changes

This post is a little late, but so have my last two posts.  Oh well!  at least I'm getting them on here right?  We've had a few changes in the past couple of weeks.  I cut 18 1/2 inches off my hair.  No i did not donate,  I really wish I could have but there were split ends throughout all of it and I've died my hair so many times that it's totally fried!!!  There is no die in it now, so maybe next time I have a wild streak and cut off crazy amounts of hair I will be able donate it.

Kleyton got his oxygen taken off.. yay!!!  This picture was the day after and you can tell how happy he is about it.  He is awake more and seems so much more comfortable.

Lately......

We are trying to get the boys on a schedule.  Nap in the morning, nap in the afternoon, to bed before midnight, etc, etc....  So far it's been tough.  Not the napping part, but keeping them awake in between naps!!  These boys love to sleep during the day and love to be up during the night.  I swear, every night we turn off the lights, everyone is asleep and as soon as I get comfortable one or both of them wake up and think they need another bottle, or two!  Kollin is starting to be a chunky boy!  well, compared to Kleyton anyway:) Since we've been working on their schedule though, they have been getting more tummy/play time because noises and raddles and making them uncomfortable is the only thing that keeps them up sometimes.  And with having lots of play time both of them are starting to hold their heads up a lot more on their own and Kollin even rolled over for the first time a couple days ago :) Now every time I put him on his tummy and he doesn't want to be, he just rolls onto his back.  Smart boy!  They also have been going to sleep earlier and staying asleep longer.  They only get up once during the night.  It's been so wonderful to only get up once instead of feeding them for an hour and sleeping for two then feeding for and hour then sleeping for two.  Hopefully we can keep having good progress and hitting all the milestones.  I worry about my boys sometime because they were born so premature but then all I have to do is think of them being as old as their due date and it makes them seen crazy smart!  They should fully catch up in body and mind by two years of age. 
 This week we've had a lot of help with the babies.  My parents came to visit and it's been so much fun!  I will write more and have pictures in my next post but it's time to go back and hang out with my family.

XOXO Tabitha

baby's 2 month pictures!!!

 Thanks so much for taking all of these picture Donna!!  You are amazing!

New Years!

For new years Donna and her family came to visit.  It was their first time seeing the babies.  It was a lot of fun just watching movies, eating food, and playing games.  Here are a few pictures of the weekend.

2 months and a sneak peak!

@ 2 months:

Kollin- Height: 19 3/4in 

Weight: 6lbs 7oz

Head: 35 1/2cm

less than the 5th percentile

Kleyton- Height: 18 3/4in

Weight: 6lbs

Head: 35cm

less than the 5th percentile

While my sister Doona was here for New years she took baby and family pictures for us.  This is just a preview and I love it so far!!!! I'll put more up when I get them. 

Christmas Finally!!!..

Here are some pictures from Christmas eve at our house!

Christmas Day!!

We had a great one and hope all of you did too!!!