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!

Work

First of all, I love my job! I love who I work for and who I work with. I love what I do and I feel like I am good at it too. Since I had my babies I went back and only work three days a week and I also feel like I am able to juggle twins and working part time.

But, . . . . .

I HATE leaving them in the morning!

I have to quit. I think it will be weird for me because I have never not had a job and although Cory has a great job and can support us, it is always nice knowing that we have a couple hundred extra dollars in cause we need it that month. But, the plain and simple truth is that I just can't leave them in the morning. It brakes my heart. Not only are they so cute, but they are such good girls too. They aren't too whiney and they smile everyday. They are starting to make the cutest sounds and when I am at work, my mind is always home with them. It's just not fair, for any of us. I really don't like quitting my job and I wish I had started working for these doctors sooner. They really are the best people I have ever worked for. It is going to be hard to say goodbye, but I think it is the right thing to do.

Okay girls, Mommy is coming home!

This is why Daddy doesn't dress us!

Bloomers on the head! Daddy! This is why we like when mom dresses us.

(maybe dad does this so he doesn't have to dress us everyday)

Either way, dad your silly!

Three Months!!!

Three Months! I can't believe it!

K, I'm not going to lie, sometimes life just gets in the way and messes things up. And sometimes mom has too big of a plan and too prefect of a plan that I just set myself up for failure. I had this three month picture all planned out. I knew what outfits I wanted and I bought bows to match! I knew how I wanted it to look and had it all figured out. However, after an hour and a half of fighting these girls and trying to make everything look prefect, I gave up . . . I would just do it tomorrow and say it was their three month picture. No one would know!

So I gave them their bath and got them into their jammies. And of course, NOW they were happy! So . . . this is why their three month picture is in jammies. Now that I look back on it, I think it's prefect. It is what happened anyway, and now I will always remember how happy they were after, not how mad they were before.

(Pepper)

(Izzy)

Sometimes these girls can drive me crazy, but I can always remember how grateful I am to have them. They warm my heart and I am so thankful everyday for them. I love being a mom. Now if only I can figure out how to stop them from growing up so fast.

The First Time Swimming (out of the belly)

I took the girls swimming last week for the first time ever. When I was pregnant I went swimming almost every other day, and in the last month I went to the pool everyday. It was the only thing that helped the pain in my back. Maybe they would like going swimming outside the belly. I knew that they liked their bath in the evenings and thought that maybe they would like to go swimming in a pool too. I have a friend with a really nice pool so she said we could use it.

But first we had to get dressed in our swimming suits.

(Pepper)

Why are babies so cute in two-piece swimming suits?

(Izzy and Aunt Jordan)

Oh no, Izzy! Where did you go? We got to have those big hats to help protect our heads from the sun.

(Pepper)

Now it's time to get our sunscreen on.

Jordan was being silly with Izzy and her sunscreen! Jordan you are supposed to rub it in, not just put dots all over my face.

Okay, I think we are all ready!

What a nice looking pool!

(Izzy)

Just hanging out in the pool. They loved it, once they got over the shock of the cold water they really just enjoyed themselves.

In fact,

Pepper fell asleep.

What a fun time at the pool. And because we live in AZ and summer sticks around until October we can enjoy swimming for another month! I have so much fun with these little girls!

How are the dogs doing with the babies?

I get asked a lot how my dogs are handling the two new babies and if they are acting jealous of them, or showing any dislike toward them. What do you think?

I really do have the best dogs. In fact, I think by now they understand English because when I ask them to do things now I don't even give them commands. I just tell them what I want them to do as if I were asking a person. As the girls get older it will be so cute to watch them crawl all over the dogs. I know they will pull their ears and tails. I know they will draw all over them with markers. I know I will go outside to find all four of them covered in mud, looking as happy as can be. And I know that my dogs will not only let them do all those things to them, they will be happy to have two more little people to lick and love on.

So no, my dogs don't show any signs that they don't like the girls. They love having them in the family too.

Cory

I have the best husband in the world! I hope every other wife thinks that about their husbands too, but truly mine is the best. I love him so much and for so many reasons. He is my rock and he keeps me sane when things get out of hand. He makes me laugh everyday. He calms me down when I am mad. He keeps me in line when I start acting up. He is on all levels my better half. And over the last three months I have learned that he is the best daddy ever!

I mean really, how many dads would stay home all day Friday and Saturday and take care of two, twin, newborn, girls while mommy went to work? Not many! And he does; and he is so good at it. He doesn't think so, but he is.

I can't believe how lucky I am to have such a great husband. He warms my heart every time he comes home from work and comes running into our room saying "where are my girls? I've missed them so much". He does so much for them everyday, and he is such a big help to me. I have no clue how I would be able to do any of this without him.

His girls love him so much and they light up when he comes into the room. They love to snuggle with him and fall asleep on him. They are daddy's girls and I fear the day they start asking daddy for money and cars, because they have Cory wrapped around their little fingers so tight already. He is going to have a very hard time saying no.

I Love you Cory. You are the best husband and Father to my sweet little girls I could ever ask for.