Busy Weekend With Family

This weekend Nina and Emily came to visit the girls.  I think everyone had a great time.  Plus, we found out the girls have brand new cousins...Emily's twins were born in India via surrogacy on Friday!

Sleeping & Therapy (or not)

So far, so good, on the sleeping front.  The girls have slept basically all night (9/10pm-ish through 6/6:30pm-ish) for three out of the last four nights (Sat, Sun, Mon, & Wed).  Tuesday night/Wednesday morning we reverted back to waking up at 1 am and 4 am, which was rough for me and even rougher for Matt, who took care of the 1 am feed (it was Abby) and ended up staying home from work on Wednesday (I went to work, but can't say I got much done).

Small rant about the state agency that provides the therapy for the girls.  We made an appointment for them to return today, which I thought entailed the therapists actually, you know, working with the girls.  Um, no.  Instead, the SAME people returned and we spent an additional 2-3 hours doing more paperwork.  This now has been the third visit (again, at least we don't have to go anywhere), and combined we've probably spent about 6-8 hours doing paperwork and about 20-30 minutes actually evaluating/working with the girls.  The cost/benefit analysis is a bit out of wack, I think, especially since the girls really aren't behind so far on any major issues, and probably would be okay without it.  But why turn down therapy?  Can't really get too much at this stage.

Ironically, one of the therapists we need was not present at this paperwork go-around, so we'll get another session of that.  Fortunately, though, I think we'll actually have a therapy appointment that involves THERAPY in two weeks.  Hopefully.

Hazel's binky slips out of her mouth while sleeping.

Hazelbear "rarrh" while sleeping.

Hazel:  I've almost got the bottle, Mom!

Back to the Grind

After four and a half months, I went back to the office today.  I was excited to see everyone and see how the new routine would go with the twins in the mix. It was also kinda fun to think about getting "dressed up" again, since my wardrobe had basically been shorts, sweats, and tee shirts since March (save the occasional dress up occasion, like weddings, parties, and showers).

A Scates Family Outing

Aside from doctor visits, therapy, and some occasional visits to the NICU, the girls have been generally isolated at home.  This is mainly due to two factors: (1) since they were premature, we were told to limit their contact with others; and (2) it is a major undertaking to get all of their gear packed up and be prepared to leave the house.  As a subset to (2), it is also so hot right now, even with the a/c blowing full blast it's got to be miserable in the carseats, and they've definitely sweated the few times we were out.

Sleeping?

Well, THAT was nice ... and unexpected.

According to one of the books we read, you can start trying to work on sleep training babies around six weeks of age.  Given that the girls were about six weeks old (corrected) this past week, I thought we could start the process.  Sadly, though, not much progress was made, so I assumed we'd have a ways to go.

Until last night.  We made a discovery that both girls settle down/go to bed with music.  Not nursery rhymes, or something like that.  Nope.  Hazel really enjoyed listening to Mumford & Sons!  It happened to be on my iPhone, which happened to start playing that song, and she quieted down.  How cool is that?

And it gets better...we put Hazel to bed around 9:30 pm and Abby down around 11:15 pm and they both slept until ... SIX THIRTY AM.  Talk about AWESOME.  I'd love to take credit for it, but I have to give all the credit to the girls for powering through the night.  :)

So...here's hoping that's not a one time occurrence, especially since I start work tomorrow!

Jacques (the Peacock)

One of the girls' favorite toys is a colorful bird named Jacques.  We (or maybe just I) joke he is so alluring due to his French accent.  :)

Yet Another Photo Shoot

I could probably take thousands of pictures of the girls, if I had the time and the inclination to go through all of them.  I try to temper it somewhat, but it is so much fun to take pictures and then be able to instantly send them to friends and family.  It is so nice to keep everyone connected this way.

Austin First Steps, plus My Last Week of Freedom!

Lots of things going on this past week.  Talk about time slipping away!

Since this blog is mostly supposed to be about the girls, and not me, I'll do the short recap of my activities: cat vet appointments, dog vet appointment, hair appointment, roof leak consult, insurance adjustor consult for said roof leak, and general prep/house maintenance.  Oh, and jury duty - how could I forget that?  I was selected as one of the six jurors for a municipal court case involving a speeding ticket.  The jurors picked me to be the foreman.  We definitely spent more time debating the amount of the fine than whether the defendant (an attorney) was guilty.  Anyway, definitely a fun experience for me!

Not So Fast, My Friend

Well...

We fed Abby at 9 pm and put her down.  She slept from then until 5 am.  EIGHT hours!!!

Hazel, on the other hand...we fed her at the same time and then tried to put her down.  She wouldn't have it, and basically cried/screamed/fussed off and on (mostly on) until about 1 am.  Mostly she calmed down when being held, and she finally went to sleep when I put her pacifier in and held her hand until she was super drowsy.  Ah...my current high maintenance twin.

Probably one of the more frustrating aspects of last night was seeing one twin sleep peacefully (and wishing you could do the same) while the other is crying and screaming incessantly.  Not to mention that figuring out WHY Hazel was so upset was an exercise in futility (mostly - at one point she had a pretty dirty diaper).

I'm now up a mere hour or so after going back to bed because I have jury duty today.  How funny is that?  This is only the third time ever I've gotten a summons and it happens during my maternity leave.  Fortunately, it is for municipal court, so on the really off chance I get selected the trial won't last more than a day or two.  I have several things I still want to do before going back to work, though, and am running out of time to get them done!

Breakthrough!!!

Last night was amazing!  

The girls were starting to get fussy around 8:00 pm, which seemed really early to be hungry.  I had been reading the sleep book, and wanted to get started with that, so after feeding both girls we put them down in their cosleepers between 9:30 and 10:00.  They woke up at 1:45 for food - we were back in bed by about 3:00 - and then they slept unti 8:00 am!!!!! Hopefully this continues!

Ah....naptime... (Abs left, Hazel right)

Cute sleeping pose by the Bear.

Check out my bling!

Grumpy looking Abimus.

What happens if meal service is delayed.