Breakfast

I feel like I could talk about breakfast forever. There's a lot to say about my love for breakfast and my morning. You can imagine my morning is pretty busy with all that needs to be done...feed each baby, get ready (including a bath bc I've inevitably been puked on in the night), pack lunch, pump parts, prep bottles, make coffee, and of course, breakfast. That's where this post comes in :)

I always eat second breakfast at school. First breakfast usually happens while feeding the babies and is something simple like pop tarts! Yummmmmmm. I always eat as I'm greeting the kids because my next break isn't until 11 and four hours is a long time to go without food when nursing two babies!! Lately I've been craving a big, hot breakfast. Unfortunately I don't have time to make one and buying one daily isn't so kind on the pocketbook. I finally decided to do something I saw on Pinterest - make oatmeal packs. I figured oatmeal would be pretty filling and is supposed to be good for my milk supply. Last Sunday I made my first set of packs and I loved it so much all week! I made another set of 5 packs tonight and it took me about 10 minutes. Here's what's in each pack:

-3/4 cup oats
-about 1/4 cup brown sugar
-a couple sprinkles of cinnamon
-chopped walnuts
-dried cranberries
-dried raisin/fruit mix

I found the last three things at Walgreens today for about $4 total. This reminds me of the fruit and nut oatmeal from mcdonalds except I get WAY more! I keep a measuring cup, plastic bowls, and plastic spoons at school. When I get there, I heat up the water and then let the oatmeal sit. If we have bananas, I add slices to my oatmeal. It's amazingly delicious, relatively healthy, and very filling. And like I enjoy saying - if I can find the time to do this, you can too :)

Oh, how are the babies you ask? Well, I'm working on this post from my phone and this is my current view...

My sweet sweet Major man has been quite the drama king lately. My baby boy who used to drift off to sleep completely on his own has become so difficult to get to sleep and keep asleep! It takes lots of bouncing, rocking, holding to get him down and he usually wakes up after 45 minutes or less. His poor napping has led to some difficulty with him sleeping at night which is no fun for anyone! At about 3:00 today when he had only had two very short naps today, I decided to throw in the towel and do whatever it took to get him to sleep. We rocked and rocked and rocked. He fell into a deep sleep and I put him down for a good nap. His bedroom ( aka guest bathroom) is currently being used to bathe big sis, so I am taking the opportunity to snuggle with him again. It has been a long long time since I've snuggled my sleeping babies like this!!! He's snoring ;)

Harper conveniently has taken on Major's role. She's such an angel. She smiles, cooes, and talks all day long. When it's time to sleep, she cries for about a minute and falls into a beautiful, long sleep. She slept 8 hours last night. I sure do love that girl!!!

The babies are filling up their 3 month clothes and in size 2 diapers. We'll be headed in for their 4 month visit soon! So hard to believe!!

And Maddex is so big! Here she is jumping in a spacewalk! I was surprised by her willingness to get in and do this alone!

Maddex's 2 year check-up & birthday party

Mitch took Maddex to see Dr. Barrient at The Pediatric Place yesterday (we loooooooove Dr. Barrient!!). I was thankful to not be a part of this trip because Maddex would be getting a shot :(. Mitch said she did SO great during the whole doctor visit! She let Dr. B look in all of the openings on her face and listen to her. When they gave her the shot, she whimpered, then sat up and said "I got a bobo leg." That's my sweet girl! Daddy took her to Cane's afterwards as a treat - where I hear she was a dancing fool!

Here's the info from her check-up...

-27 pounds (75th percentile)
-34 inches (50th percentile)
-Maddex is charting to be about 5'3" or 5'4" as an adult
-She had a little fluid behind one of her tubes, so we are trying her on some nose spray (this is also a result of her seemingly constant runny nose/cough) and go back in a month
-We are planning to get her allergy tested
-She'll go to the dentist this year
-I was concerned about her protein intake because the child does not like meat. We are going to try to be better about giving her beans - she usually likes those.


I think that's the main info that Mitch relayed. He did a great job asking all of my questions and reporting back to me :)

Now - for the fun stuff! We celebrated Maddex's birthday on Saturday with a "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" party. One of my goals for this year was to plan a fantastic party for Maddex and to actually enjoy it - and I think I was successful. My only regret is that I wasn't able to talk to more of our guests - but following the 2 year old around and checking on the babies kept me pretty busy!!!

Maddex got a perfect spread of gifts: a couple toys, some things for outside and for the bathtub, lots of books, and a couple of dolls. We have such fantastic friends and family!! Maddex really seemed to love her party. She loved playing with all of her friends and sliding on her new slide from CeCe and Poppy. What she did not love was her cake & singing happy birthday!! I'm not sure what happened...I put the cake in front of her and she immediately grabbed at it. I told her "No! Not yet!" and I may have ruined it. We lit the candle, started singing, and she flipped out! I'm not sure if we even finished singing the song. She never touched that cake!!!

I was completely exhausted the day of the party...I went to bed around 11:00 the night before & got up in the 1:00 hour with the babies and then again around 4:30. A few minutes after I climbed back in bed, Maddex started screaming. I eventually went in there, hoping she'd lay with me in the rocker and go back to sleep, but that never happened. So, we were up for the day. I hoped for a nap that day, but it didn't happen! Fortunately, the babies slept for 7 hours straight Saturday night!!! Hallelujah! I'm very thankful for these days off of work to catch up from the exhaustion of the party! Anyway...back to the party. It was fantastic - full of stars, treats, and fun!

Here are some pictures from the event!

Major man was so sweet during the party

our cousins Keaten & Mynde

this girl loves pockets!

BFF Carly

sweet girls Olivia & Emmy

Birthday girl!!!

her new slide from CeCe & Poppy was a big hit!

precious boy

we loved Isaac's cape :)

BFF Audra

This girl freaked out! I ate the cake a couple days later :)

MawMaw & Major Man

PawPaw pushing Maddex in her car

Big Nasty (aka Asa)

I love me some nekkid Harper!!

this girl was a mess during the party! 

Proof that Mitch was there - I think this might be the only picture he's in!

Abram doing a little P90X core exercise

Happy Birthday to my sweet, big two-year-old girl!!!

3 months

I'm a couple days late, but you understand - right? Baby twins are three months old!!! They are so big and so sweet!!

There probably isn't much to say that isn't on their 12 week post. They are still mostly on an eat-wake-sleep cycle. They sleep probably about 6 hours during the day and about 11 at night (with waking to eat). They are still sleeping, on average, for about 5 hours at the start of the night and then up every 3 hours after that. Saturday night they slept for SEVEN hours straight! Talk about heaven...even if just for a night :)

I am trying to get better about tummy time, but neither of them love it. Harper especially hates it - she has trouble keeping that big noggin up! Today Major rolled from belly to back during tummy time! Go boy!

We haven't weighed them in a while, but I'd guess they're both around the 13 lb mark. We will be moving into size 2 diapers very soon! They are in 3 month clothes and are filing them up nicely! I could have moved them up in clothes a couple of weeks ago. I just changed out their drawers and it looks like Major has more 3 month clothes than Harper!! We are so blessed to have friends and family pass down clothes to us!

I'm currently enjoying Mardi Gras break with my sweet babes. So thankful to have these extra days off to love on them (and get a little extra rest)!!!

Here are a few 3 month pictures...

love these babies!!!

Harper the doll ready for a stroll

Sweet, smiley boy

Be. still. my. heart.

TWO!!

I can't believe my baby girl is two years old today. She brings more joy to our lives than I could have ever imagined. I'll post my letter to her today. I decided to get a yearly picture book made for all of my children. This letter will go in the front...

Precious Maddex,

       You capture my heart anew every day. You are the most vibrant, expressive, yet sweet and loving two year old! You are so full of tricks and I adore each one! Whether it's your Elvis, seizure, Elvis seizure, Stevie wonder, zombie impressions, baby mimicking, or silly faces - you are always making us crack up laughing. Your ability to catch on to something new is amazing! Recently we were watching tv and a commercial came on where the little boy said, "You could tape a cheetah to her back." You immediately repeated, "Tape a cheetah to back." This happens all. the. time. Your "parrot" phase is so cute! I love to see how your abilities are growing each day. Speaking of your verbal abilities, this would be a great time to record the words you say...but it's entirely too many to count! You speak in complete sentences and have such a strong grasp of word usage. You have been dubbed "the informer" because you constantly tell the adults in the room what other kids are doing. I love your sweet voice and the way you pronounce words. There is just something so precious about the way you speak. Apparently your current behavior is to be quiet & subdued at church, but everyone else knows better! We know that chatterbox begins and hardly ever shuts off - even if there's no one to listen! You get that honestly from your mama :)
       You are learning so much every day. You know most of your colors, you count (last night you were counting up to six!), and you know some of your alphabet. You love to sing songs - Twinkle being your favorite (for a while), hence your twinkle birthday party. You follow instructions wonderfully and love to throw things away (including a twenty dollar bill) in the trash. You are my sweet little helper. You are fantastic at associating one thing with another. For example, you know that you'll see Jude & Tristin at church. Or if Mrs. Kerri comes over, you immediately know that means baby Asa. You associate CeCe with Poppy and PawPaw with Nana. Mrs. Vickie's means Maggie & Mitch. Speaking of your twin friends, every day we ask about your day and every day your first response is "Maggie Mitch". It never gets old to hear you tell me about your friends! You eventually name everyone else too, but Maggie and Mitch get top billing.
     You are the BEST big sister to your baby twins. You have gone through so much change the last few months. I'll be honest, it hasn't always been easy, but you pushed through! Today, you love those babies so much. You come home asking to see them daily and love, love, love kissing them. Those kisses are always on the mouth :) I am so excited to watch the babies become more aware of you and begin to respond to your silliness. I know you are going to have a sweet bond with each one of them.
     Your daddy and I love you so very much. We love getting kisses (regular, butterfly, and eskimo) and hugs from you. We love to snuggle with you when you'll let us. We love your bright, silly, and sweet personality. Maddex, I can't wait to see you grow older (Ok, I can wait because you're growing to fast). I pray you continue to develop your sweet, silly personality. I hope you grow into a young lady who is compassionate toward others. I am so thankful that you are my biggest girl!

With all my heart,
Mama

I could write to her and about her for days. She is so spunky & fun that there's just so much to say! Each day brings a fun new trick, word, or lesson. Here are a few of my pictures of this sweet girl over the past year...

Happy birthday sweet girl!!!!