Friday, December 9, 2011

Five Months

They are five months old now! (well, they were five months old, a long time ago. I'm a little behind schedule)
I'm not going to lie, this has been the hardest month for me so far. They are such good little girls and they still don't cry too much and still sleep through the night, but this month has been frustrating for them and for me. They want to go, they want to play, they want to be held (all day long), they want mommy to read to them, tickle them, and play with them the whole time they are awake. Which would not be a problem if there is just one of them. But there are two babies and only one mommy! This month I have looked at people with just one baby with envy. I wish that I could just sit with my baby and love on them all day, but I have to choose which one to play with. . . . which just sucks! There are a few things I have learned to do with both babies, but they want one on one time too, and I do love it when I am able to just pick up my Izzy and love on her, but it brake my heart then when Pepper looks up at me and starts crying because she wants one on one time, so then I pick her up and put Izzy down and then Izzy looks at me, so . . . you get the idea. Don't get me wrong, I love having twins and I feel so lucky. I can't imagine one baby without the other and they are such good girls, but where there are many pros there are bound to be few cons.
How could you not love this little Izzy. She is my sweet little girl. She has finally found something she likes to eat. Solids! Yay! Now maybe we can start putting on some weight and catch up to her sister. (ya, right!) She is such a happy baby and loves to smile. She is my little smile girl. She smiles all the time and loves to be around other people. I can hand her off to anyone and she will turn on her charm and before you know it, you are in love with this little girl.

She loves to read with her mommy and we are working on sitting nice. She is an archer. We call it planking. She will go stiff head to toe. It is funny but makes it hard when you are holding her on your lap or trying to change her diaper.

Pepper has been doing much better with the sitting but she still will need some work. She is the big talker! She ga-ga's and goo-goo's all day. We are having a few problems with stranger-danger and she does not like being handed off to anyone, but other then that she is a very happy baby. (Most of the time)

Her new thing is kicking her bed. While she lays in bed on her back she will lift her legs up in the air and slam them down onto the bed as hard as she can! You can hear it from anywhere in our house! I will put them down for their nap and start cleaning the house and every few seconds hear, bump, . . . . . bump, . . . . .bump. It makes me giggle. Oh, I love them so much!

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Eating of the solids

So everyone told me that the first time you feed solids to your babies you have to brake out the camera and take some pictures. So we did and I have to say, my girls eat like they are much older then just 5 months. First, they eat cleanly. No food on the face. They don't really spit it out and they don't make a mess with their hands in their faces. Second, they like the taste. They didn't make the sourpuss face! I was so looking forward to it too! :( Third, they eat whatever I give them and ALL I give them. I have finally figured out something that Izzy likes to eat!!! I am so happy! After fighting with her for 5 months 5 to 6 meals a day, trying to get her to drink her bottle, I now know that she will eat solids like it is going out of style!! In fact she lunges forward to the spoon. She just loves it!

Pepper
Pepper was trying to help daddy in this picture. Mom is usually the one to feed them so this was a learning experience for him too. I love her curled little toes!

Izzy
Full and done!

I am going to be making my own baby food and can't wait to try different foods. If we find something they don't like I will grab my camera and be sure to grab some cute pictures. (maybe just for the fun of it I'll have them try a lemon, he he he)

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

The Girls First Halloween


Tell me these aren't the cutest Halloween costumes you have ever seen!
My mom made the wigs, I made the tights, and we bought/had the oneies.
I can't believe they turned out so cute!

So, Halloween this year was fun. We went to two different church parties and even won a costume contest. Everyone kept telling me how cute their costumes were, which of course, I had to agree with!

I know that they are not old enough to go trick or treating but I just had to do it this year. I didn't want such cute outfits to go to waste. We only went down one street and then I few houses on the way back home. I had so much fun, even though a few houses looked at me funny for trick or treating with kids that were not going to be eating the candy. I even had one or two people say to me, "who is really going to be eating this?". Oh well, I had fun showing my cute girls off!

At 5 or 6 houses when we would get there the woman who answered the door would yell to her husband, "John, you have got to come see these costumes" that always made me feel so good. I had so much fun this Halloween and I can't wait to do it again next year. I thought it was fun to go trick or treating when I was a kid but I never knew how much fun it would be as an adult. Happy Halloween everyone!

Breast Cancer Walk

A couple of Saturday ago we (Cory, my Dad, Jordan, Kaylee, the Girls, and I) went on a breast cancer walk. It was really cool and nice and short; only three miles. We had a lot of fun and enjoyed being with one another.
There were a lot of people there and lots of families walking together too. I saw youth groups and even young kids too. (3 and 4 year old)
I thought this was really cute.
I walked for my Grandma on my mom's side. She died from breast cancer before I was born. I wish I had had the chance to get to know her while here on earth.

It was a beautiful walk. I loved looking at the mountains and seeing the blue sky. Luckily it had cooled down a little and the temp outside was nice.

Yeah! We made it to the finish. We had a great time and I loved spending time with my family.

Friday, November 4, 2011

Pepper

Pepper Whittaker
Oh, Pepper, what a cutie!
When I was pregnant and the girls were big enough to start kicking around in there and have me feel them, Pepper took the cake! She was the biggest kicker ever. In fact, I called her a spaz because she could go for hours. She would kick me every which way and as soon as she got tired of one spot she would flip her whole body and start up again. Something she still loves to do today. Due to her sister's need to take up most of the belly, Pepper was pushed down into the corner of my belly. Try as she might she could never get her sister to share, however, she was able to get her back another way. Food. Pepper was taking all the nutrients and not sharing with her sister. With twin-to twin-syndrome one takes all the nutrients and the other doesn't get any. You would think the baby that was not getting anything would be the weaker baby but it is not true. It is the baby that is getting too much that is at a greater risk. Pepper and I had a talk and I told her she needed to share.

When Pepper was born she was too blue and had a hard time breathing on her own the first day. It was so scary and luckily she was able to fight through it and within a few hours was doing much better. The next day she was breathing on her own and doing great. In the NICU she did wonderful. She was taken off the warming bed, taken off the IVs, and taken off the monitor faster then they thought she would be. In fact, they let me take her home the day I went home. It was a dream come true to be able to take a baby home. I had spent that day crying because they told me I would have to go home without my babies. I remember bringing my Pepper home and putting her in her crib. She was so small. I remember thinking the crib was way too big for her. My dad even said that I could fit like eight more babies in the crib with her. (no way, two is enough for this momma)

She cracks me up all the time. She is a very happy baby and smiles a lot. She is also my big noise maker. She talks (baby gabble) more, screams louder, and cries longer. We have started to reach the age where they can hear themselves, and I love to wake up in the morning and hear her talking softly to herself in the crib. She ga-gas and goo-goos all morning long and when I go into get her out of the crib I am met with the biggest smile. She loves to smile and sometimes it's a little smirk and others times she smiles so big that her whole mouth opens. Her smile warms my heart and she could be crying all day long and in one moment smile at me and all my frustrations fall away. I love her smile.

She loves to look at the world around her. She looks at her hands and looks at her binki. She looks at her toys and loves to hold and look at moms hands too. She likes to be read to and I love how I can tell she is learning everything she can. She loves her baths and loves to watch me pour the water on her belly. She watches me so closely when I am feeding her and looks around for daddy when she hears his voice enter the room. When I dress her now she wants to hold onto the next item of clothing until I need it. So I'll give her her pants to hold, then her socks, then her hat or bow, then her bracelet or binki. She studies each item until I need it, then I give her the next one. I love how much she loves to learn and I can't wait until the next step of learning.

I love my Pepper so much, and I am so thankful that God sent her to me.
I love you Pepper!

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Grandma's purple blanket


(Pepper)

So, my mom has this purple blanket that she knitted out of the softest yarn ever. It is the best and everyone loves to snuggle up into it, especially the girls. Almost as soon as it touches their skin they start to get heavy eyed and they will stay asleep for hours as long as they are rapped up in it. They love it so much that they snuggle up into it bringing it over their faces and gripping it with their hands and toes. Sometimes their toes even stick through the weaves, so you see this lump of purple blanket and then baby toes sticking out of the side. (So cute!)

The only downside to the blanket is, sometimes the "fluff" from the yarn comes off.

I find it in their toes and fingers all the time!

The other day Cory was playing with Pepper and he noticed some "purple fluff" in her toes. As he pulled it out he turned to me and said, "So, I see Pepper was snuggling in the blanket today."

Yes, she sure was!

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Four months

We are four months!

Can you believe it?
It seems like in the last month the girls have really grown out of the "Newborn" stage and are finally babies. They follow us better and interact with us so much better now. They also have found their hands, which I love to watch. They are still a lot of work, but it seems like they are becoming so much more fun.

Izzy
Oh, Izzy! I love her so much. She is still my cute "little" girl and we still are having a hard time getting her to eat, but she is putting on good weight. As of today she is 11.9 lbs. Good going Izzy! Although we are still doing our tummy time and even practice our sitting, Izzy loves to stand up! She does not try walking yet, just loves to stand on your legs, the floor, the bed, anything you will let her stand on. I'm sure that she will be the first to walk! It is almost like she can't wait to get going and experimenting (aka, tear the house apart) so she can learn everything.

She is becoming a thumb sucker. In fact, she is starting to bring everything to her mouth. Just the other day I put her binki in her hand and she put it right in her mouth!, all by herself! I can't believe they are growing up so fast. It makes me so sad. Slow down!!

Her new thing is sticking out her tongue. Oh, she is so cute! I could just eat her up! She smiles all the time now and has even laughed a few times. She is such a happy baby. When Cory and I took them up to Joe City, she sat with a group of people at one of the tables they had there and laughed, smiled, and entertained them for a hour or two. What a social butterfly. She has even started to talk, not really, just ga ga's and goo goo's.

Izzy, you are such a good girl! I love you so much and I am thankful everyday that you are my daughter.

Pepper
I love her so much! Pepper is also doing really good. She weights 14.2lbs today. She is such a little chubby girl and I love it. Why is it that this is the only time in a girls life where they can have rolls and it be cute? I say bring them on! She is still my big eater, and I think I can count on one hand the times she has not finished her bottle. She is so funny about it too. It is like a work out for her when she eats! She sucks so hard and so fast that she has to stop every few minutes or so and breath. She will huff and puff for a few seconds and attack the bottle again.

She loves tummy time and now whenever we put her down for it she get up on her elbows and looks around at everything. She is so funny. She crosses her little hands and looks all prissy about it, like she is all that and a bag of wigs. Oh, she makes me laugh.

She is such a big talker. She talks cute, loud, learns, yells, and even sighs. (Like I embarrass her already or something) I swear she has said mum, daddy, i love you, hungry, and ninja. I know she is so smart and is going to love ninjas or something. Although I can't wait for them to talk, I think I can wait. I think we are going to have some chatter boxes on our hands. I'll be sure to post their "twin" conversations.

How did I get so lucky to have such a wonderful little girl? I love you, Pepper.

This has been the best four months of my life! I can't wait to see what comes next.

OMG, We made it!!!



So, Cory and I decided to take the girls on their very first car trip.

(Izzy)

(Pepper)

I know, what were we thinking?
I spent the day before packing, and packing the day of, (babies have a lot of stuff!) and we left 45 minutes late!
It gets better,
We went up state about a 4 hour drive, and when we set off I didn't know if we were going to make it. The girls cried for the first hour, and feedings and changing diapers is not easy when you travel, but we did make it! When we finally got there Pepper cried, . . . LOUD!!! . . . .for an hour. Cory and I had no clue what was wrong, and she didn't want to eat!!! K, if you know Pepper you know that there is one thing that Pepper knows how to do almost as good as her mommy and that is, eat. So, I did the only thing that I knew would work . . . I got her blanket and swaddled her as tight as I could. She fell asleep five minutes later.
Only after we had put them down for the night did we realise she had been asleep during the time we drove up to the top of the rim and have not popped her ears. I would be crying too. Poor thing. :(

I did not pack their baby bath tub, I figured I could just give them a bath in the tub there. They loved it! I splashed the water up on them and they squealed in delight. And putting them down was easy. I had no clue how they were going to sleep, and they truly surprised me.

(Izzy and Pepper at night)


(morning)
They really didn't bother each other much either.

On the ride home they slept almost the whole time. (Thank goodness) And when we got home I think I finally took my first breath.

OMG, we made it, and for now that is all I can ask for.

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Sleeping habits

I have been very lucky to have girls that sleep through the night. They really didn't take too long to teach them to sleep well either. At 9pm I get their milk ready and take turns putting each one down. They fall asleep around 9:30 and 10:00 and then don't wake back up until 5:30 and 6:00. I know! I am so lucky!

This morning after their first feeding of the day, I put them back down and then got myself ready for the day. I came back in to find this:

Izzy sleeps on her back with her hands up by her face just like her daddy. She is so precious and I always want to kiss her hands when she opens them up like that. She kicks her blanket off and sometimes can move from one side of the crib to the other. To most people she sleeps "normal".

Pepper on the other hand,
sleeps just like her momma. I know to some people, it does not look comfortable, but really I understand her.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Longing

To my friends, I love you.

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Over the past few weeks I have had many of my close friends share with me their desire to have children and their hardship of that either not being able to come true or it being very difficult for them to have children. I feel for them. I want so badly to change things for them and make it better, different, joyful, peaceful, whatever it is that they need. I wish that things were easier for them.

I wish that I knew what to say to make them feel better. Sometimes when they say things that brake my heart I am lost for words. I don't want to say or do the wrong thing and make things worst, but I want to help how I can. Sometimes the only thing I can say is: I'm sorry.

I am so sorry.

I want so badly for you to be happy. I want you to have what you want, and I hope that you will. Maybe not now, maybe not here, but someday you will be a mom. You will be a mom to a beautiful little child. One that is waiting for you. Now you just have to wait for them.


I love you, please hold on.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Sisters

Don't worry everyone. I will do a blog about Pepper, but this isn't it.
This blog is about sisters.
Sometimes I wonder where I would be if I didn't have my sisters. Disneyland wouldn't be as much fun, and I wouldn't know as much about coyotes as I do. I would have no one to walk around the zoo with and there would be too much ice cream in the fridge. Sometimes us girls just need a girl friend who we can share our up most secrets with that wont ever judge us and will love us no matter what. Sisters can be the best for that, and I know that if I didn't have my sisters not only would I not be who I am today, but life just wouldn't be as fun.

Sometimes I sit and think about how my girls will play with each other when they are older. Will they have tea parties together and talk in their own language? Will they fight to be the first at everything? Will they hold hands as they walk to nursery and class? Will they pretend to be one another for people who don't know them as well? Will they share clothes and shoes, or have different looks? I don't know, but what I do know is, they will have a sister.

Even now, when they are still so young and don't even understand, I think they know they have a sister. I find them all the time holding hands. When I do put them to sleep together they turn towards one another to snuggle up to their sister. It is so sweet to see and I hope that it never stops. They are beginning to talk right now and sometimes we sit them up facing each other. They ga ga and goo goo to one another, like they really understand what the other is saying. Sometimes they even smile at one another. It is so fun to watch.

I am so lucky to have such wonderful little girls. And I am so grateful that they will always have their sister.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Izzy

Isabelle Whittaker

I love her so much!
When I was pregnant by the time the girls were big enough to feel moving around in my belly, I could tell them apart. Izzy was always stubborn and strong. She sat in the middle of my belly and held her ground. When her sister would kick and try to move into her space, Izzy pushed back and NEVER gave up her spot. She would push against my belly so hard! Sometimes I swear she would plant her feet against my spine and her hands against my belly and push, and push, for hours! I would joke that she was going to come out with a body builders body because she was using those muscles like crazy! At 30 weeks, Izzy stopped gaining weight and I was put on bed rest at 32 weeks. My girls had Twin-to-twin syndrome. Which means one baby was taking all the nutrients and the other was not getting anything. I remember having a serious talk with my girls one day. (yes, while they were still in there) I told Izzy to start fighting and to not let her sister push her around. After all, she was Izzy, stubborn and strong!
She came out at 4 pounds and as far as I could see was strong and healthy. They did take her in to the NICU anyway, just to be safe, but within a day or two she was taken off the warming bed and iv's. The nurses told me all the time that she was so strong and was doing great. One time during a feeding in the NICU I was burping her and she lifted her head with complete control, just then a nurse walked by and stopped looked at her and said "holy cow, what do you think your 4 months or something".
Since we have brought her home, she has proved to us that nothing has changed. She is still stubborn and she is still strong. Whenever we feed her she always reaches a point where she is done eating. She clamps her lips shut and arches her back. There is no point fighting it. She is done! I never knew a baby could be so stubborn.
She is the biggest daddy's girl. She loves her daddy, and they love to snuggle together. She falls asleep on his chest all the time. I think the two of them have a special bond because Izzy is just like Cory. She doesn't like the blanket on her feet when she sleeps, just like daddy. She likes to watch baseball, just like daddy. She is not a big eater, just like daddy. She smiles just like daddy. She sleeps with her hands by her face, just like daddy. She has the biggest dumps, . . we will stop there.
She really is a joy to have as a daughter. She makes me laugh and I can't believe that my Heavenly Father blessed me with such a prefect little girl. I hope that I can be the mom I want to be for her. She makes me want to be better and I know that the next 18+ years are going to be the best, because I have the best girls.
Thank you Izzy for being you!