The Nap Saga Continues!

Starting today we are trying to get back on a routine for naps. Over spring break we were very inconsistent with naps and bedtimes. I am using this opportunity to try to transition them to three naps, instead of four. I have read the HIGHLY recommended sleep book, "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" at least a dozen times. The pediatrician who wrote it is supposedly a "sleep expert" and he suggests that at the girls' age they should be waking around 7 am and napping at approximately 9 and 1, with an optional third nap around 4, and a bedtime between 6 and 8 pm. He is also an advocate of letting them cry, if need be, so they can learn to self-soothe. I never would have thought I could let my child cry... but then I had twins!

So we will use his methods for a few days and see how it goes. My problem has always been consistency, but the next few days I will follow his method faithfully come h*** or high water! I'm still going to hold off on any type of night sleep training for now because they genuinely seem hungry when they wake in the middle of the night. Also, it is just easier to get up and feed them since they go right back to sleep than to let them cry and keep me up!

We tried the three naps today and they did surprisingly well. I put them down at 9, 12:30 and 3:30 and they slept for approximately 45 minutes each time, with only about 15 minutes of crying from one or the other. As for bedtime, I put them down at 6:15. Candace went right to sleep with no crying, woke at 7 and cried for about 15 minutes, and is now back to sleep. Cassidy cried for about 30 minutes before falling asleep, woke at 7:15 (I'm sure from Candace's crying)and didn't go back to sleep until 8. She is a stubborn little thing! Part of her problem is that she rolls onto her tummy and can't get back over, but according to the "rules" I am not supposed to go in and roll her over, in fact, I am not supposed to go in AT ALL!

It is SOOO hard listening to them cry, but after TONS of research on the topic and other's success stories, I am convinced that I am NOT traumatizing them for life and that I am helping them develop good sleep habits. If I had a singleton I may feel very differently about it, but when you have TWO babies, it is hard to use any "gentler" strategy and if I just "go with the flow" I will never sleep and never get a break during the day!

This is how I find Cassidy now after most naps! It is nearly impossible to keep her on her back in the crib and on the floor.




Cassidy is SO yummy!

Back to School Soon.. for ALL of Us!

With all the boys being home, Sean included, it has been hard for me to find the time to sit and write a blog. Even when they aren't here, I am cleaning up after them and trying to get the girls back on schedule from all the disruptions! I have also been using my few spare moments to update my resume and portfolio. I found out that Aidan's school, which is literally in our backyard, has four open positions for next year!

I had been on the fence about whether or not I wanted to return to work or stay home another year, and I was actually leaning more towards staying home. However, lately I have really started missing teaching. As much as I adore my girls and love that I can spend so much time with them as a SAHM, I miss the fulfillment and feelings of purpose and accomplishment I get from teaching. I will still have plenty of time to spend with them if I work so close to home because I will be home by 3:00 and have all holidays and breaks off!

We were a little worried about the daycare costs for two infants and finding openings with a high-quality, certified center, but the waiting list at our first choice is much shorter than I anticipated. It is only a couple minutes from our house, if that, and it is much less expensive than we thought it would be. It seems that everything is falling into place so perfectly! Hopefully I will get one of the four positions. If not, I also plan on applying at a couple of the other schools that are nearby. I refuse to have a long commute like I did last year!

Here's a very brief recap of our week so far:

Monday - Sean took Chase to Busch Gardens to ride the roller coasters. They are both dare devils and LOVE fast, heart-pounding rides. However, Aidan is a chicken just like his mama, lol, so he opted not to go. I took him to the park with the girls instead. Both boys had a great day!

Tuesday - The boys played outside most of the day and we had a few errands to run. Not a super exciting day, just a busy day!

Wednesday - My friend Kelly and her kids came over. Her son Ethan is the same age as Aidan and Chase. There was a little jealousy about who was who's friend, but overall they all played really well together. She also has an 8 month old and a 3 year old. Her littlest one, Kara, has just started sitting and crawling. It is crazy to think the girls will be getting around like that in just a couple months!

Thursday - Sean took the boys to the beach. They had a lot of fun splashing in the waves! I really wish I could have taken the girls along, but they have been very cranky this week with all the noise and disruption to their normal schedule. We stayed home and I worked on my teaching portfolio.

Friday - Sean and the boys were on the road all day. Sean met Andy, Aidan's biological father, at the FL/GA border. Aidan will be staying with his dad all weekend. I already miss him, but it is good for him to spend time with his father. I used the day alone as an opportunity to clean the house and run a few errands.

Today Sean took Chase out to lunch and then to pick out a new game for his Nintendo DS. I am looking forward to the quiet afternoon! Unfortunately I don't have many pictures from this week. Sean has been taking the boys places, but never takes the camera and the girls have been so cranky they haven't given me many photo opps!

Sean's New Do... lol!



Candace in the Bumbo



Daddy Playing with the Girls



Aidan's Oddly Shaped Sunburn After the Beach Excursion - He was NOT happy about having his picture taken! (Sean claims to have slathered him in sunscreen, but the pattern on his face tells a different story!)



I also managed to get this cute video! We bought Cassidy a Bumbo seat after seeing how much she liked Jake & Ryan's. So, she was wearing these cute pjs with animal faces on the feet and sitting in the Bumbo where she could see them. She was enthralled with them and kept trying to grab at them, lol!

Animal Feet

Day at the Park

Yesterday we had a wonderful day at the park near our house. Sean played football with the boys and the girls got to try out the swing. It was overcast, but that made for perfect not-too-hot weather. Although we fortunately timed it well because just minutes after we got home the rain started pouring down!

Last night was a rough night. I was up every half hour with Cassidy because she kept rolling over onto her tummy and couldn't get back over. She was like a turtle in reverse, lol! It was kind of cute and funny the first time, but got really old at 2 am after the third or fourth time! I finally had to bring her into bed with us so I could keep her from rolling over. Oh what a glorious day it will be when they finally sleep through the night!

Here are some of the pics we took at the park. We finally got the required twin swing pic! They actually seemed to enjoy it, but as usual, I couldn't get Cassidy to look at the camera.


















Finally, a pic of ALL of our beautiful kiddos! Aidan is holding Cassidy and Chase is holding Candace. Chase looks a lot taller than Aidan, but it is just the way he is sitting, he is really only about an inch taller. They are like Bert and Ernie though, Aidan shorter and plumper with a round head, Chase taller and skinny with an oval head, lol!

Double the Doubles :)

Yesterday Sean & Aidan drove halfway to Augusta to pick up his son Chase so he can spend spring break with us! We were fortunate that Aidan & Chase have the same spring break this year. He is only 6 months older than Aidan, and they get along just like brothers and best friends. We are so happy to have him here! In a very small way, it is like having TWO sets of twins :). This is the first time he has met the girls, and they are very intrigued by him. I hope to get some good pics of all 4 kiddos together soon!

The girls and I just relaxed and enjoyed the quiet yesterday since we had the house to ourselves. Candace finally rolled from her tummy to her back! Now they finally both can roll in both directions! Cassidy is also working on sitting unassisted. She can hold herself as long as ten seconds and then topples over. We're still a ways away from crawling, but I'm in no hurry to have to chase them around, lol!

Out of boredom yesterday, and a discussion I had about internet privacy/safety, I decided to "google" the girls names together to see if our blog or anything else came up. This is all I found: http://www.playboy.com/girls/cybergirls/week/20060702/
Funny, huh? Now look at the birthday on the left... eerie! It's hopefully not a sign of things to come, lol!

Here's a few pics of the girls playing with their new toy, the Fisher Price Sing & Go Choo-Choo. It plays cute songs and moves across the floor when you press the smokestack or put an animal in the train. They are very impressed with it! Thanks for the lead Megan!

Burglars, Babies, and Poop... What a Day!!

I was awoken yesterday morning around 5 am to the sound of someone or something on our back patio. We have a screened-in porch in the backyard, kind of like an Arizona room (here they are called Florida rooms.) We would like to eventually get some patio furniture for out there, but as of now the only thing out there is a few boxes that need to be moved to storage and our recycle bin. So anyway, I hear the sounds of something rifling through our things, so I wake Sean and he goes to investigate. It was a raccoon sifting through our recycle bin! It had broken the bottom part of the screen door and was helping itself to our empty cans and bottles. Sean chased it off, but it was still quite the rude awakening! I've never had to deal with so many critters! We have a squirrel infestation in the 2 large oak trees in the front and back yards, Aidan has encountered a possum in the back yard, and now raccoons, not to mention all the lizards, spiders, ants and dreaded mosquitos! Just another reason to move to Alaska, nothing but moose there!

After the early morning visit from our beady-eyed garbage thief, we had a wonderful afternoon! I hosted our very first "Mom's Lunch In" Luncheon. It is our alternative to a "Girl's Night Out." Since it is very difficult for new moms to get out and socialize in the evenings without their babies, I figured it would make more sense to try to socialize during the day WITH our babies. It is like a playgroup for both moms and babies. We plan to meet once a month for lunch at somebody's home and we each bring something to eat, like a potluck. Yesterday there were four moms and a total of six babies ranging in age from 5 months to 8 months. We were amazed at how well all six babies behaved! They were very calm and interactive, and seemed quite content to roll around on the floor together or observe from the exersaucer, jumperoo or bumbos. The moms were all able to leisurely enjoy our lunch AND carry on a conversation. We are already looking forward to next month, at which we expect to have even more moms and babies!

Our great day ended with the poop fiasco to end all poop fiascos (Warning: not for those with weak stomachs!) Despite frequent diaper changes and me diligently slathering on Aquaphor at every diaper change, Candace has had a mild diaper rash on and off for the past couple weeks. She just has very sensitive skin. So in my infinite wisdom, last night I decided to let her have naked tummy time before bed to let her bottom air out. I set her on an old comforter, anticipating any minor pee-pee accidents, but .... Can you tell where this is going? Long story short, she pooped all over the blanket and rolled in it before I could rush over and scoop her up. Her entire bottom half was covered in runny poo. On the optimistic side, at least it was JUST her bottom half! We are all clean and sanitized now, but it was not quite how I planned on spending my evening. Lesson learned, from now on naked tummy time will be saved for those periods of time immediately after a stinky diaper!

Babies, babies everywhere!


Jake, Kara, Candace, Evangeline, Candace, Ryan, Cassidy


Cuties! Cassidy is missing from this pic because she is in the Bumbo seat at my feet.


Cassidy trying out Jake & Ryan's Bumbo seat, she was quite happy to sit there and sift through her toy basket! I may need to invest in one of these seats because she LOVED being upright to see everything!

Thrifty Threads

The girls are already outgrowing most of their 3-6 months clothes and I recently got an e-mail from one of the children's re-sale stores here in town that for the month of April you get 30% off if you buy 10 items or more. So, today I loaded up the girls, along with some of the clothes they've outgrown and we went shopping! I love stores like this because I can trade in their used clothing for store credit and I can get nice, gently used, name-brand clothing for VERY reasonable prices. When you have twinfants and a one-income budget, you have to find ways to save! Also, it is hard to justify spending tons of money on clothes they will outgrow so quickly. I do buy them some new things when I catch a good sale, but for the most part their wardrobe consists of second-hand clothing. In fact most of the adorable clothes you see in the pics are from the store we went to today! It's also part of my "going green" goal to not buy things new that I can get in good condition used. So, today with the trade-ins and the 30% discount, I bought ten nice outfits for the girls and spent only $18!

We didn't take any new pics today, but here's a few of my favorites from this past week of Aidan playing with the girls. They LOVE the puppets he's playing with. They squeal and kick their feet when you get them out, lol! Of course, they like to try to grab them and eat them!

Happy Birthday Sean!

Yesterday was Sean's 36th birthday! We did not do anything elaborate, but I think Sean still enjoyed his day. He genuinely loved his present, a DVD video montage, and we got take out for dinner from his favorite BBQ restaurant. I like to joke with him about being so much older than me, but I'm the one who's going gray, lol!

Candace's gift to him was to finally let him sleep in our bed. For various reasons, she has been co-sleeping with me at night. Sean can't sleep with her in our bed because she fusses when she wakes to eat and she is so loud when she nurses. SO he has been sleeping on the couch for the past few months, and last night she finally went back to sleep in her crib after each nursing, so Sean has re-claimed his bed. It was nice to snuggle with him again :)!

Here's the video montage we gave Sean for his birthday for those who haven't seen it. It starts with pics of our boys (Aidan and Sean's son Chase) set to a goofy American Idol audition song that was kind of an inside joke, the next segment is pics of the girls set to a WONDERFUL song, and the last segment is pics of Sean with the kids set to a cute country song. Enjoy!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com