Bath Time and Ice Cream Dates-Motherhood Self Portrait project

I have still been working on this project. I just have not had time to blog. It still is a favorite. Sometimes they are quick snapshots, and sometimes I can put some time and thought into my set ups. Either way I am thoroughly enjoying doing it, and also enjoying putting together a photo book with them. Complete side note and a plug for photo book making from your phone. If you haven't heard about the the Project Life App I highly recommend it! If you are local my dear friend has actually been hosting a class on how to complete entire albums from your phone. She has a great system. Archiving Matters is her facebook page. She holds classes and they are filled with wonderful information. My shameless plug is done only to say because of this I have been able to get all of this year's photos into a photo book. It is ongoing through Blurb. This seems crazy, but lots of nursing hours and the fact that this makes it so quickly. I usually do the hard copy of project life and probably will go back to that when I am not busy with babies, but for this year I am thrilled I am not behind. 

We had to commemorate this moment. Admittedly the babies do not get baths as much as our other children did at this age. I feel kind of bad, but with 5 kids somethings just don't happen. It happens once a week. Needless to say Daphne has hated baths from the beginning. I have a theory. All my other kids have taken their first bath with me. We always did herbal baths. It was a relaxing and enjoyable time with them. Daphne had her first bath in the NICU to make sure she could regulate her temperature. I was not thrilled about it, but it was the only way I could get her out of there. Consequently since then she just screams and cries. I also did not get to do herbals with them because my incision was having issues for at least 6 weeks. So, I didn't actually take a bath with them until about 8 weeks.  I did still give them their first bath at home in the sink. Annalise loved it and Daphne screamed. My theory is she just never had a calm first bath and so since then she doesn't enjoy it. Finally after 5 months we had our first successful happy bath with her. She discovered kicking the water is so much fun.

July I took the older two kids on special dates with me. I wasn't able to get Ari's turn in so his turn was this month. He wanted to go out to ice cream and get a Trash Can at King Cone. His request was I take pictures first of him. I think he just knows I like to take photos so he was hoping I would do that with him along. I basically let him do the photos and choose what he wanted for them. We had a great time and he was thrilled with his green trash can.

He makes me crazy most days, but I love this kid so much!!

Queen Ann's Lace 2016

I look forward to these photos all year long with Lilliana. This year I gave her the option to conitnue the tradition just her, or add the babies to the mix. She chose to add the girls. Mentally getting out and doing them this year was a challenge. I had wanted to be in some with the girls. I also had wanted to take a couple self portraits. This all would have been fine and worked, but then the boys asked to come for pictures too. So at that point how could I say no. I couldn't! If the boys wanted to be in a picture, I was going to do it. That meant scrapping some ideas. Anthony was working on the house so I didn't want to involve his help. Thankfully I found help and we all managed to make it out the door at 7:00 a.m. and grab a few photos. They may not be my best work, but I am so glad we did them.

Considering this is the first "session" I have done with all five kids, I'll take this photo. They did great and it was very quick, because we didn't have a ton of time for light. Probably had I not been in such a rush I could have gotten everybody looking at me. At this point I don't care because I love it. 

These photos of me and the kids are thanks to my help! I set settings and handed the camera to them and then edited. All things considered they turned out wonderful!!

Since this will become an all girl's tradition, I did some of the babies. This is always a hard age to photograph. They are not sitting up, and they just do not want to make a ton of eye contact. Either way I am a bit bias because of mom goggles. They are the cutest!

Then of course we have Lilliana. She is in a weird cheese face stage. I just laughed and kind of went with it.

I can't wait until next year to do these. By then I hope to be on my feet a little better and have it together more, because let's be honest at this point I was winging it!

10 on 10 August 2016

When your day starts out with babies having slept through the night, you know it is going to be a good day. While they both sleep great and I usually only get up once to feed one or the other rarely both in a night, having to not get up at all is amazing! Consequently I was able to pump nine ounces after they both ate even. Normally I wouldn't document this, but through the  years I have learned how amazing breast milk really is. We were grateful and so blessed to be able to use donor milk for a day with Daphne in the NICU. If I have the choice of high fructose corn syrup or breastmilk that seems a no brainer to me. I realize formula has it's place at times, but hopefully I am changing that along with many other women and giving other options. Once again, this is not to shame anybody that uses formula, it is just to bring awareness to other options. If I can help just one mother breastfeed as long as she wants it is a wonderful thing for not only her baby but also for her.  Anthony and I discussed me possibly pumping enough to donate back to the NICU. Unfortunately the way it works is you have to commit to a certain amount. It was a high amount. I wasn't willing to do that. Instead I have been pumping what I could and been able to bless new mothers that just needed a little extra or have not responded to the pump. So far I have been able to at different times feed 5 other babies. Along the way I have been able to give them love, support, and somebody that gets it. Being a new mom plus breastfeeding even if you have done it before is hard. It is hard when Drs. and hospitals are obsessed with numbers and won't just let a mom and baby do their job those first two weeks. I am so thankful for our children's Dr. she was very helpful and did not even mention formula. She always wanted me to pump and supplement with that first. So here I have the beginning of another amount of milk to be given if needed. 

By the time breakfast was done our late sleeper Annalise was awake. I went up to the older kids cuddling her. As soon as she saw me she started fussing because she wanted to eat, hence her crazed look. 

This chair may be leaving our house soon as Daphne has begun pulling up almost to a seated position. When Eli did this with his we packed it away very quickly after that. 

After a morning nap greetings....

Then we hurried and got ready and headed to a new splash park with friends. 

We had a blast. Unfortunately somehow the babies faces got sunburned. I feel terrible. We were under canopies in shade the entire time. I still am not sure how it happened. Annalise didn't even see sun and still has a burned face. It is weird. I got sunburned, but I knew I was in the sun and didn't put sunblock on. The babies were not. So if you see my girls I promise I was careful. In case you can't tell I have a lot of guilt about this one. Either way we finished out our evening with hide and seek with dad and watching the Olympics. It was a wonderful day.

To see Shannon's 10 on 10 for August please follow the link http://shannondoherty8.blogspot.com/2016/08/august-10-on-10.html

5 months of Daphne and Annalise

I don't know how it is possible these two are ALMOST halfway to their 1st birthday. I just can't believe how fast time goes. It in some ways is a blur, but I am trying to treasure each day so much. I am enjoying this stage in life so much. I was so scared of 30, but in so many ways it may be the best year yet of my life. The shock of there being two at our ultrasound never would have prepared me for the joy, love, and blessings we would be getting with twins. In some ways it may have been the most life changing event in our married life. Anthony and I frequently lay in bed and just marvel at them. Each would be amazing on their own, but two in so many ways is mind blowing. Our hearts overflow with love and joy with these two. Seeing the older kid's connection with them and they dynamic they create in our house just melts our hearts. It makes us love our older kids even more. I read once that a baby blesses a mom and makes her appreciate her older children even more. It is so true. How more love can happen, I have no idea BUT it has happened. 

The girls are getting so big. A rough estimate of their weights are Annalise at 18 lb.s and Daphne at 17 lbs. My body is feeling all that weight carrying them.

Annalise

The rolls and chunk abound on this child. She is so squishy and solid it is unreal, but so cute. As posted in the pictures above she will push up all day long when on her tummy but still is not rolling over. She does have the addition of two teeth. She seems to be a great teether so far if that is possible. She is not terribly cranky. Her nickname these days is Missy Moo. I called her that in the hospital and it has stuck. She adores her Daddy, Eli, and her pink elephant blanket. 

Daphne

Daphne is long and while she has rolls seems more muscular. She is constantly kicking though. Her new nicknames include happy feet because they are always moving even in sleep. She also gets called Sweet Pea and Sissy-Roo. She adores Ari. They are good friends. He can make her belly giggle like nobody else. She has discovered her voice the past couple of weeks and giggles non stop even at nothing. She has two teeth on their way in, but they have not popped through. She does not handle teeth so well. We have spent the last couple nights up on the couch patting and nursing while watching the Olympics. She did sleep through the night last night so that is good. She is rolling all over and now prefers to sleep on her tummy since she rolls that way every night and crashes. She rubs her ears when she is tired and has begun doing the same to Annalise. She is still happy as ever. 

The biggest development we have noticed is between them. They have had moments where they would talk to each other or grab hands and it always melted my heart. In the past three weeks, we have noticed a intentional bond being formed. One will cry and the other will grab her hand. They also have been scooting themselves in bed to sleep with their heads touching. I usually lay them so there is space. We come back and they are together. It is the sweetest thing. 

Moments like above make you realize just how special having two really is.