Saturday Fun in the Laundry Basket

The girls have been real fond of toys that aren't really toys. Anything that isn't really designated as an actual toy will work. On Saturday they had fun with the laundry basket. Here are the silly girls playing:











And a silly Riley picture to round out the day:



Then on Thursday night, Riley insisted upon playing with my pump valves when I was done pumping. She had a blast with them and wouldn't even share with her sister. After she played with them for an hour, she insisted upon bringing them with her to the bath to play with, and again she wouldn't share. I'm just glad Addie wasn't too upset about not being able with play with them. I finally had to pry them out of her hands after the bath to get her dressed for bed.

Big News - 14 months old

The girls are really making progress on their gross motor skills. Riley was the one that seemed to be more behind and she was going to need to make some major changes to the way she pulled up to furniture and the way she was standing in order to get closer to walking. After 3 visits to physical therapy, she graduated up to her adjusted age in her gross motor skills. She pulls up properly now, she crawls the right way with hardly any belly crawling, and lately she has been letting go of objects and just free standing.

Today she decided she didn't need an object to pull up on and she just stood up on her own in the middle of the kitchen. Now this isn't the most pretty stand as her legs are a bit stretched out but it was amazing to watch her do it and I was able to snap one picture.



Addison is a little behind Riley in her gross motor skills because she is doing things on her own Addie time. She pulls up very nicely but she doesn't have any desire to let go of objects but I know she won't be far behind. We will concentrate on Addie's development in physical therapy for the next few sessions and just bring Riley along to watch for a few sessions.

I decided to weigh the girls the other day because Riley was really starting to feel heavy. On their 12 month pediatrician visit, Riley was a few ounces heavier than Addie after Addie being the bigger twin since birth. Well now that difference is even bigger. Riley weighed 19.8 pounds and Addie was 19 pounds even. You can really tell that almost pound difference when you hold each girl. Addie seems to have a long lean body with longer legs and Riley has shorter legs with a longer torso. I love seeing the differences between the two girls as their individuality continues.

We have made some more progress on the lack of eating issue. It seems to work better if we give the girls some food on their trays but also help them eat off of the spoon or fork so they get help from us to focus on eating and they can still pick things off the trays and feed themselves. Since we started doing this, both girls are finishing their meals every time. We are still limiting the amount of milk they get during the day and that is also helping.

As for me, I am trying really hard to wean off of the pump. I started taking decongestants this week. Decongestants are known to decrease milk supply and nursing mothers are told to avoid them so they don't have a hit to their supply. I have seen a small decrease but not enough to even think about stopping completely. Apparently my supply is still pretty strong. I am getting 20-24oz a day. I am decreasing the amount of time for each of my two pumps by about 5 minutes each session and I hope to decrease by another 5 minutes next week. I hope to be completely done by the girls 15 month well baby visit.

I felt like it was just yesterday that the girls turned 1 and here they are, 14 months already. I love watching them grow and learn and they make me smile every day.

Independence Day Pictures

I tried to get a little 4th of July photo shoot with the girls but I had trouble getting them both to look at the camera. I only got a few shots where they were both looking at the camera. I did get a few good individual shots.

Things are going a little better with their eating habits. We introduced a few new foods and they have been eating fairly well on each meal compared to what they were doing the week before. I am trying to limit their milk intake so they will be hungry enough when it is time to eat. So far, so good. Let's hope it continues.

Trouble with Eating and Pumping

My girls who have been great eaters have now turned into horrible eaters over the last few weeks. Riley was my best eater girl and now she eats a bite or two of what we give her (and we give her several options) and then she just throws everything off her tray on the floor. I don't know what changed but both girls are eating less and refusing to eat the usual things that they normally love. Addison is eating a little better than Riley which is funny as the roles have changed. I don't know if this is a phase or they are looking for more food choices but I am worried that they are not getting enough food and just relying on being able to drink milk to fill up. The girls even love to eat what we are eating and I will give them a few bites and think we are on to something and as quickly as I turn around, the food is going on the floor again. Anyone have any advice for this, leave me a comment. We will try anything.

On to my next problem, I don't think I will make my 18 month pumping goal. I have suffered from a chronic thrush infection that comes and goes but it is usually around longer than it disappears. I have tried every remedy out there and I just can't give my nipples any relief. My left nipple is constantly cracked and bleeding. In an effort to shed my last 10 pounds, I joined the gym at work and started jogging on the treadmill. Now this is very uncomfortable when you are still lactating and even more uncomfortable when you have sore cracking nipples that rub on your sports bra when you run.

I feel like I have sacrificed a lot for my girls by pumping and giving them the best even though I wasn't able to breastfeed them much. I thought that dropping down to 2 pumps would make things easier and I would be able to coast to my 18 month goal, but now I realize that pumping just gets harder and harder each day. The pain is unreal and the time commitment takes its toll. I'm hoping I can start pumping for less time each session to mimic a baby that is weaning and I can stop pumping sooner rather than later.

I'm not 100% sure I am going to try to quit, but in my tired pain induced state, I can't see the reason to continue.

Baby Updates

I wanted to get a post in about the latest updates with the girls. If I don't blog about them, I might forget. Both girls can put their hands on their head if you ask them where their head is. They do the same with their toes and their bellies. Riley actually pats her chest when I say, "Where is your belly?" That is so cute. She doesn't seem to know her belly is a little further down.

Lately Addison noticed she can make the fish face where you squeeze your cheeks together. She does that over and over now. I need to get a picture of that.

Riley stood unassisted for about 6 seconds without wobbling or falling over yesterday. I was amazed at how quickly the physical therapy is working. She is also crawling properly about 90% of the time now. If she is on a rug or carpet she crawls properly but sometimes on the hardwood floor she crawls on her belly. I don't blame her because the hardwood hurts to crawl on - I tried when I was playing with them and my knees were in some serious pain. :(

The girls are making some progress on their sippy cups but I feel as though they have a death grip on their bottles. I don't think they are ready to give up the bottles. They don't quite get the idea of getting liquid through the sippies. I think it comes out too fast for them. We will keep trying though.

We are back in a teething mode for both girls. Addison has 4 teeth now 2 on top and 2 on the bottom and she may be working on more. Riley has 8 teeth. 4 on top, 4 on the bottom. Both girls have been on and off cranky so we have been back in a regimen of Tylenol, orajel, and teething tablets. At least so far their sleep is not interrupted too much. Addison woke up twice last night for the first time in a long time. Riley is sleeping pretty well but both of her latest teeth cut through so I'm sure she is feeling much better.

Those are the updates for now. Each day they seem to learn something new. I just love how their minds work and how much they pick up on.

My weekend...living like a single mommy

Jesse went away this weekend on a man vacation. He met up with all of his online friends for a meet-up in Cleveland. I was a tad jealous I can't wait for a big meet up like that with the ladies on my message boards, but I was also jealous since he was able to get away, baby free for 4 days. This left me at home with the girls by myself.

I asked my parents to help a little here and there. On Friday night we met my parents at Olive Garden for dinner. The girls had fun sitting in their travel booster seats in the high top chairs. My dad has an easier time getting up off the high top chairs so we thought we would try and strap the girls into the high chairs and they loved being up high and having their own trays for their food rather than sitting in the traditional high chairs. Riley enjoyed coning grandpa into giving her drinks of water out of his straw and she would not let up. Addison enjoyed bites of Nana's soup. Once food started going on the floor, we knew it was time to head home.
Linda helped me give the girls their bath and get them to bed. Night one was a success.

On Saturday I planned to meet up with my mom and Aunt Diane for her birthday at a Mexican restaurant. Because my Aunt lives on the West side of town, I decided to meet up with Brea for a few hours before our early dinner. I made the 1st mistake of leaving the house before the girls nap to give us a little more time at Brea's house. Normally the girls nap really well in the car and fall asleep very fast. Well this was not the case on Saturday. Both girls screamed for the first 20 minutes of the drive and didn't fall asleep until we only had about 20 minutes left in the ride.

My mistake number 2 consisted of me taking Tylenol PM for my cramps instead of regular Tylenol. I just grabbed the container and didn't really look at what I was taking. About 30 minutes into our drive I started getting really sleeping. I thought this was odd because I got an okay amount of sleep the night before. We did get up at 5:15am but I wasn't that tired. After a few minutes of feeling really funny. I realized I took the wrong pills and I could have kicked myself. I could not be super tired on a day of being busy with the girls. I thought I would have to take a nap at Brea's house, in order to make it. As it turns out, I started to feel better after and hour or so and the Tylenol started wearing off. The girls had fun playing with the Brea's boys. They were having so much fun that Brea and I decided to leave the kids with Brea's husband Chris and run down the street for a quick pedicure.

The girls didn't notice as I slipped out of the house but pretty soon after we left, the figured things out. Riley cried and cried the whole time we were gone. She was over-tired from not really getting a morning nap and didn't have mommy to comfort her or put her to sleep. When we got back form the pedicure. Riley was crying her sad, sad cry and jumped right into my arms. I took her into a quiet area of the house and sat down. She immediately wrapped her arms around me and fell asleep on my chest. She has not fallen asleep on me in a long time, probably since she was still nursing. It was sweet to have her all cuddled up on me. Eventually I moved her into the pack n' play and also got Addison to sleep in Cohen's crib for a little while before we had to leave to meet up with my Aunt and Mom for dinner.

The girls cried the whole way to the restaurant but quickly perked up when we got inside. They enjoyed rice and beans from our plates and a bunch of chicken. We enjoyed a nice dinner until the food started going on the floor again and we knew it was time to leave. I think Riley over ate and she was so full at the end. I felt bad about putting the girls back in the car seats for another 40 minute drive home. They had a big long day and I knew they just wanted to go home take a bath and go to bed. They were pretty good for the 1st 10 minutes into the drive, then the crying began again. Stereo crying for the 3rd time that day was really started to get to me. Then, I started to smell something like stomach acid coming from Riley. I look into my mirror and I see Riley completely covered in vomit. I had trouble telling if she was breathing properly after all that and I almost got off the freeway, but then she started crying again and I knew she was fine. We still had 15 minutes to get home and I kept on driving.

We got home and I had to figure out how to keep Addison occupied while I got Riley out of the car without making an even bigger mess. I felt so bad for my baby that had to sit in her own vomit for 15 minutes. I could tell that she was exhausted, not feeling well, and was ready for bed. I eventually got Riley out of her clothes and into the bath. I got both girls cleaned up and dressed for bed. Then, they decided that it was not bed time since we started the bath routine about an hour early. I had hoped that they would be tired enough to just go to bed, but no such luck.

After an hour of play, and exhausted mommy, and two tired babies, I finally got them to bed.

Sunday went a little better but Riley refused to nap except for a short 30 minute sleep in the car while we were running errands. Addison took great naps, but I didn't get a break or chance to relax because Riley refused to lie down. By the end of this weekend, I was ready to have a break. Coming back to work this morning has given me a chance to sit back and relax a little bit. I never thought that work would be relaxing for me, but after the weekend I had, this is peace and quiet.

Now I am looking forward to Jesse giving me a few breaks now to make up for his relaxing vacation and my nightmare.

Adventures in Pumping

I have finally managed to drop down from 3 pumps a day (Morning, Noon, and Night) to 2 pumps (Morning & Night). That was a hard process and my boobs didn't like it at first but now they are getting the hint that they need to start making less milk as the girls are needing less. I was making 30-35oz a day while the girls were only drinking 24oz total a day in their morning and night bottles. They drink cow's milk through out the day. After my drop, I am making 20-26oz and that is exactly what I need.

I still hope I can pump until they are 18 months but some days are a bigger struggle to sit down and pump. Some days I just want to turn the switch and shut off the milk factory (if only that were an option). And other days I am so attached to still providing them with my breast milk and helping them grow with all those great antibodies.

I'm almost to 14 months, then it will only be 4 more months. We can do anything for 4 months, right???

Anyway, Here are some funny pictures of the girls helping in the pumping process. The just love to play with my horns after I am done pumping. They stare at me and smile while I pump knowing they will get to play with the horns when I am done. They would cry and throw a fit if I didn't let them, so I have to give them this one great joy in life.

These girls just make me laugh. I did catch Riley doing her thing with the horns:




Addison is content to just play with her horn and carry it all around the house. She won't give it up. I just have to wait until she finally lets it go so I can go and wash it.

Fun at the Pool

This is the time of year where many Phoenix residents question why they live in Phoenix. When the temperature is 110 degrees outside, you have to find creative ways to navigate around and you often spend your time going from one air conditioned building to another and if you are outside, you are in a pool. In cold weather cities, people don't go out much in the winter and stay in doors and we do the same here in Phoenix during the summer. For the most part, Phoenix is beautiful for about 8-9 months out of the year but June, July, and August are just plain hot and exhausting.

When we were looking for our first house to buy as a couple, I told Jesse that I didn't care where the house was located, It just had to have a pool. We were lucky to find a house in my old neighborhood that is in one of the better school districts and it had a perfect play pool. We were sold.

So now that we have the girls, we plan on spending a lot of time in the pool to relax and teach them about water safety. We put a pool fence up a few months ago and now we feel a little safer although it is hard to feel 100% safe with a pool and children but we plan on keeping a close eye on the girls and keeping the pool gate locked at all times.

On Saturday we got the girls out in the pool for some fun. Before Addison hated to get into the pool. Now we know that she just didn't like cold water. We had been in the pool a few times this year but it hasn't been warm enough to get the temperature to refreshing state. Now the water temperature is perfect and Addie enjoyed every second of being in the pool.

Here are the pictures of our fun:
Me and the girls:

Daddy and Riley

Daddy and Riley sitting on the water fountain

Addie on the water fountain:

Addie floating in her toy:


We had a great time. We wore out the girls, they took a good nap afterwards and then slept for 12 hours that night. I think we might be on to something. :)

Trip Details Part III

We rounded out our trip to San Diego by meeting up with one of my Just Mommies Pumping buddies. Just Mommies is another message board that I frequent and on the members lives in Carlsbad which is right by where my grandmother lives. She has a wonderful 16 month old son named Alex. The girls had fun playing with another baby-toddler. Alex was definitely more experienced and was running all of the place showing us toys.

It was nice to talk to another mom about what we go through and be able to do it in person rather than online. Patty and I got along great.

Here are some pics from the fun.

All the kiddos


Riley taking a bottle break

Addie doing the same

Patty and Alex:

Alex having fun with my flip flop and one of the girls pink sandals. He was impressed with our shoes. LOL

The girls getting to know boy toys:

What is this pink shoe all about???

Riley and Alex:


On the last day of the trip, we met up with Grandma Barb, Uncle Jim, and Aunt Sandy. They came out to our condo and we had lunch from the Fish and Chips place in the harbor. We enjoyed talking and letting the girls meet more of the Haasis family. Here are some pics with Aunt Sandy:
Riley and Aunt Sandy

Addie and Aunt Sandy:

We were sad to see the trip come to a close but we were looking forward to getting back to all the comforts of home. The girls though the suitcases were fun toys to play on so we had to get some pictures:

Addie:

Addie again:


Next year we hope to go to the San Diego area later in the summer when the weather is better and maybe stay in a different location.

The Girls New Favorite Toy

I feel like I am a little late getting this toy for the girls but I found one on craigslist in perfect condition so we picked it up yesterday. The girls played with it up until they had to go to bed. I hope we get some good use out of the table over the next few months and the girls can strengthen their leg muscles by standing for longer periods of time. The table is also great for learning shapes, sounds, numbers, ABC's and colors. What a great fun education tool.

For those that read my blog and also follow me on facebook, you will start to see duplicate posts. It is so much easier to upload things to facebook, it takes me a while longer to get them up on the blog.

Here are the happy playing girls:

Monday Morning Weigh In

It is another good Monday. I think I might have gotten over my plateau and I am back to losing weight. Sometimes I think you need to give your body some fat and calories to trick it, and then go back to eating sensibly to get over a plateau. That is probably not true and I’m sure any nutritionist would tell you otherwise, but I think I am going to go with it.

Today I weighed in at 137 even. That is down 2.8 pounds from last week and 1.5 pounds of that was the weight I gained from the vacation. I’m only 8 pounds away from my goal of 129 but I think I would like to get to 125 if possible. That was what I weighed when I got married. Is it possible?, I don’t know.

Now more than ever I need to start exercising. I need to start toning up the areas that I have lost weight from. I look good in clothes but I want that firm look I used to have back in the day when I played volleyball. I know I will never have the body I had before kids but I would like to be as fit as possible. Now I just need to figure out how to fit working out into my already busy life. Maybe I will start small with 20 minutes a day with Jillian Michaels or swimming in the pool and go from there. Wish me luck!

Physical Therapy and Latest Developmental Assessment

The girls started physical therapy on Wednesday. They will go physical therapy every week until they make up the 25% delay in their gross motor skills. Some of the things that put them behind were lack of standing independently, not much squatting down to pick up toys from a standing position, proper stabilization when standing, and Riley was still army crawling rather than getting up on all fours to crawl.

The first session went well and the girls had fun playing with their therapist. They actually showed off a little bit and where pulling up to standing properly but each girl favors one leg when standing. Riley likes her left leg and Addison favors her right. The therapist wants to work on getting them to use both legs equally. The therapist helped Riley crawl on all fours by pulling up her belly while she crawled. Riley was not to happy about it but it already seems to be working. Riley is now crawling on all fours a majority of the time. She will still army crawl now and then but she knows how to crawl properly.

The therapist will also work on stabilizing the girls' core muscles to help them with standing and walking. We hope very soon they will master their goals and be on their way to walking.

Later that day the girls had another developmental specialist appointment and we received great news. We tested the girls at the 12 month adjusted age mark but they were only just over 11 months adjusted age. We though the girls may score a little low since we were doing the test a month early but they surprised us and scored very high in every category besides gross motor and we already knew they needed a little work in that area. Everything else is completely up to speed and the girls are closing the gap between their adjusted and chronological age. Way to go girls!!!!

Trip Details Part II

We had originally planned to take the girls to Disneyland with my parents but later decided that doing that may be a little too much change and disruption for the girls so we decided to stay back at the condo. My parents still went up to Disneyland to play - as we are a big Disneyland family. We stayed back at the Condo and decided to go to the beach on Wednesday with Sara and her boyfriend Alan. The weather was a little cooler than we had hoped the entire trip but Wednesday was sunny even though it was only around 70 degrees.

The girls had fun looking at all the people, seeing the waves, and playing in the sand. They even thought it would be fun to eat some of the sand and chew on their beach toys that were covered in sand. The sand didn't faze them one bit. Silly girls.


Sara and the girls,

Riley:

Addie:

Both girls:

Me and the girls:

Jesse and the girls:

Jesse and Addie:

Me and Riley:





Addie:

Riley:

Jesse and Addie:

Riley

Then Jesse had the idea to draw in the sand, "Addison and Riley 2010. I hope we can do this each year we go to see how much they grow:



Addie:


We had a great time at the beach and enjoyed all the festivities in the Harbor. I will post one more post with the end of our vacation. Thanks for reading.