Irish Twins

Seeing as I might as well be having Irish twins, and depending on whose definition you use I could actually have them, I decided to do some research from my favorite avenues - blogs. After all, what better things to read then real life experiences? To begin, let us define Irish twins - and by the way, might I add, the phrase "Irish twins" comes from the fact that Catholics, stereotypically Irish Catholics, do not use birth control and therefor end up with children closer in succession. Ah, gotta love stereotypes, and gotta laugh at the fact that I am one! ha!

Irish Twins:
1) Children, born in succession within one year
2) Siblings born within 12 months of each other.

So, whether you believe they are in the same calendar year (which was my original thinking) or just within one year, there you have it! If little Miss Reagan decides to show up early (let's hope not) then we could have Irish Twins! ;-)

I found this on a photographer's blog that I love. She had so many good points so I just copied them all!

1. Recovery Time – Don’t pick up your older baby for at least a week. It is very hard and you will feel guilty but a quick recovery is important. Just try to have help until you are healed. I’ve was overdoing it and it my stomach started to hurt.


2. Bottle Weaning – Don’t worry too much about weaning your older baby off the bottle if you are planning to use a bottle for your newborn. Mia was doing pretty well in her switch to a sippy cup before the baby came but as soon as we got home and she saw Ausha’s bottle she wanted one. Don’t beat yourself up if your older baby isn’t off the bottle by the time she is one.


3. Gated Play Area – This is the most important thing to have prepared before your newborn arrives. Since your older baby is on the move and can’t understand the word no, you need a gated or blocked off area for her to play in while you feed your newborn. We gated off our dining area and it is working perfectly (so far). It’s a perfect spot because we can see her from the kitchen and living room and it is large enough for her to walk around and keep lots of toys in. I also put a chair next to the gate so I can sit close to Mia while feeding the newborn. I imagine this play area will come in most handy when I have a crawler and an 18 month old at the same time. Both will be going in two different directions, so chasing them both around at the same time will be tough!


4. Bouncer / Mobile Carrier – Keep your newborn in one of these in a high place so your older child can’t get to her. Mia has already slapped her a twice accidentally while waving her hands around (in between sweet kisses of course). Plus you can move it around with you from room to room. I put my newborn in her bouncer and place it in Mia’s crib when we are playing in her room. I put it on the dining table when we are in the living room.


5. Pack n Play – Put one of these in the living room to change your newborn’s diapers. It’s high up so your older baby can’t get to her. She can also sleep here too. I have an attachment that goes on the top to put her in that allows me to see her better. We have a mini crib in our room too so we don’t have to move the pack n play from our room to the living room daily. The more places you have for your newborn to sleep the better.


6. First Few Weeks – These have been pretty easy because our newborn sleeps 3-4 hour stretches during the day. This allows me a lot of time to care for and play with our older child.


7. Hormones – In the first 4 days, I was more hormonal than last time. Maybe being pregnant for two years gives you a double dose of hormones? Haha. I cried randomly a few times. Mainly at the thought of my mom leaving! A week has gone by and now I’m fine


8. Baby Bjorn – In case you want to chase your older baby around without leaving your newborn in another room unattended, this comes in handy to put your newborn in.


9. Overwhelming – The first few days (combination of hormones and lack of sleep) are overwhelming. I only felt sad that I couldn’t care for Mia as much as I was before our newborn arrived. 11 months is such a cute stage and I didn’t want to miss one thing. Just being away from her for the 3 days we were in the hospital was hard. When we got home she had gained weight and was standing. We felt like she was a different baby!!


10. Switch Off – Switch off with whoever is helping you with your older baby. Care for your older baby every other day while your helper cares for your newborn. Sometimes I feel like Mia might forget I’m the mom. Silly but true. (I’m sure that goes for any age gapped kids).


11. The Walker – Before I had my newborn I was overwhelmed at the thought of chasing a newly walking toddler around, but now I realize it will be easy for a couple months. Since our newborn sleeps so much it will be easy to chase older baby around. When I need to feed our newborn then it’s baby gate play time!


12. Birthday Party - This tip might seem silly but I have found to be a good one. Try to have everything for your one year old’s birthday party prepared before you have your newborn. Because I am breast feeding and pumping I don’t have time to get out and go shoping for supplies, decorations, etc. for her party. I have had it prepared now for a month and my stress level is lower than it would be if I were having to send people out to pick things up for the party without me.


13. Doctor Visits – Ask your doctor to combine your babies’ check ups if possible so you don’t have to go as often. The less you have to get out of the house in the first month the better.


14. Nipple Confusion – If you are using the same brand of nipples for both babies, have two different areas for these in the kitchen so you don’t confuse them. You don’t want your newborn choking on milk because she swallowed some through a level 3 nipple accidentally!

I'm still not sure if that eases my mind any, haha! It's going to be quite the adventure around our house for the next few years... I'm just hoping and praying Reagan will be a good sleeper! ;-)

New year, new (and some old) worries..

Well, I'm into my third trimester now. It seems as if all of a sudden my body said "Oh hey! It's the third trimester! Time to start making you feel miserable!". I hate to complain but I am so tired! Tired from just sheer exhaustion, tired of not being able to bend down easily (yes, already), and tired of heartburn... although it is relatively mild so far and can be remedied with a glass of milk. I fear the next couple of months. It will only get more and more difficult to pick up my son as he grows and my belly grows. It will only get harder and harder to get out of bed in the morning to go feed him. Oye..... My poor husband is probably ready for our little girl to be here just so that he can have his wife back! I haven't felt like myself the last week. Last night I thought I could go to bed at 7pm, and I nearly did. I made it to 9:30 and that was all. To make matters worse Clayton has been waking up at 6am.... not because he's hungry but because he wants to be snuggled. I've tried to let him talk/whine himself back to sleep but I just can't. The second I go get him and snuggle with him he's back asleep. Yesterday morning I fell asleep in his nursery with him, but sleeping in a glider sure does wreak havoc on your back! It is hard to keep up with Clayton too. He's always on the go, always moving, always wanting to play with something new and different. I find myself having to just sit back and watch instead of getting down on the floor and playing with him. I hate that but I don't know what else to do! This to me is one of the biggest drawbacks to our babies being so close together - one baby is going to constantly miss out I feel. I worry that when Reagan is here Clayton won't get the attention from me that he needs. I worry that he will need me and I will be busy feeding her, or who knows what. I just hope that it doesn't cause problems with him behaviorally. He is such a good baby.... I just want to be the best mommy that I can be - to BOTH of my babies. I'm not sure how to accomplish that, but I am going to try my best! Even if that means I don't sleep for the next 18 years! haha!

So, there were some of my new worries.... my old worries that carried over from last year - mostly just finances and babysitters. I'd love to say that we were so wonderful with our money and that we already had a huge savings account for both our kiddos, yada yada... Yeah right!!! Our income comes in and goes out in a FLASH. Doesn't help that formula costs $28 for roughly a week and a half's worth! Or that diapers are 25 cents each! haha! I do bargain shop for everything I can, and use coupons whenever I'm able to, but it's still hard to pay for one - I can't imagine paying for two! I also worry because we still don't have a place for Clayton to go. He goes to daycare once, maybe twice a week, and the rest of the time he comes to work with us. It is getting so difficult since he is, like I said, always on the go! He's into everything. It's hard to keep an eye on him, and it's hard to please him. When he wants to be held, I can't always hold him. I would love to find someone to keep him and Reagan at our house but we just don't know of anyone right now. It's frustrating to live in the middle of nowhere when your options are so limited!!

I've always been a worry-wart, and I am sure I will be one until I am no longer on this earth! I just pray that God will continue to guide us and bless us in the ways he deems necessary. I know that God provides and I just have to trust in His plan and His works. It's just difficult at times!

Ok, sorry for the vent... just had to get some of that off of my chest! Thanks for listening! ;-)

Entering the third!!!!

I'm entering the third trimester of pregnancy #2. That is NUTS! My best friend, who is also preggers, said in her last blog that her current pregnancy is flying by. I have to agree! It seems like with Clayton time just crawled by. Maybe it was the whole anxiety of the first pregnancy, and wanting our baby boy to be here so badly. Not that we don't want our little girl here, it's just that I'm still getting used to the fact that we have one baby! ;-) Haha!

The third trimester for me is bringing on all of those pesky symptoms again. The second trimester was a total breeze.... I think I am a baby machine! haha! So far I have already started the waking up once or twice a night to get up and go to the bathroom and my heartburn is back. It was a pesky symptom with Clayton but was an easy fix. I'm not ready for the leg cramps and not being able to get comfy at night though! I haven't had to bust out the big maternity pillow yet though, so that is an improvement! The other day I weighed myself and I weighed the exact same amount now as I did this same time with Clayton, so that is good news! I started out heavier, of course, so have not gained a lot of pounds.

Next week we go back to Midland for another big ultrasound and I can't wait! We can't wait to see our baby girl again! Now we need to start working on her nursery! So far the only thing I've done is pick out the fabric for the bedding and buy the crib. Guess we should get a move on!

27 weeks along!

A great year coming to an end..

2011 was an amazing year for us. We were so blessed to welcome our son into this world, and then find out that we would be blessed with a daughter in 2012! God was oh so gracious to our family. He protected us, guided us, and helped us to grow in love for Him and love for each other. We can't wait to see what 2012 has in store for us. We can only hope and pray that it will be as great of a year as 2011 was! Here's to the future! =)

Nine Months!

Happy Nine Month Birthday, Clayton Scott!

This month you have been on the move, non-stop! Crawling, pulling up, and even walking with assistance are your new favorite activities! You are always going-going-going! We are having to use all of our energy to keep up with you, silly boy! You took your first steps behind your push car on December 10th. Since then you have started cruising around the coffee table and you will walk when we hold your hands or arms. For Christmas Pop & Gia got you a dinosaur that you can either walk behind or sit on and ride. This is your new favorite toy as you can really get to moving behind it! You will walk and walk until you get stuck and we have to turn you around. You also love to sit on the dinosaur and be pulled around. hehe... It's really funny and you look like such a big boy!

This month held your first Christmas! You received so many great presents! You love all of your toys and have played with them all non-stop. You love your rocking horse that Santa brought you and you love your music entertainment table from Nana and Papa! You also received a lot of super cute clothes - but I'm sure you don't care about that right now! Mommy loves it though! hehe! You love dancing to all of the Christmas decorations that play music. Pop & Gia have a low-rider car that plays the low-rider song and bounces... you think that thing is amazing! It is so funny to watch you dance to it!

You finally were able to meet your first cousin this month! Little baby Charley is so tiny and you aren't quite sure what to think of her yet! You wish that you were able to touch her and play with her already, but you're just too big and she's too small! At all of our family Christmas events you were able to play with all of your other second cousins, and that was lots of fun for you! You were an absolute ANGEL at all of our family Christmases. We didn't know what you would do around the large crowds, but you were just so good! You never cease to amaze us with how wonderful you are!

Somehow you were lucky enough to experience your first snow this month! It snowed twice this month, and you even had a white Christmas! You weren't quite sure about the snow... after all, it was pretty cold! But you didn't cry or anything! You loved to look out the window and watch it snow! With the cold weather came your first real illness. We had to take you to the pediatrician because you had some sort of sinus infection. Luckily the antibiotics worked wonders, as well as having Nana here as your personal nurse! ;-) You still have not ever been super fussy while you were sick.... we're so lucky yet again!

There is a song called "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth", and you were sure singing it this month! Ok, not really, but Mommy sang it for you! For over two weeks now your top two teeth have been coming in! One is poking through the gum and the other is nearly all the way out. You look so cute with your little snaggle tooth! We can tell that you've been teething because if your toy is not in your mouth then your hands are! Also, your cheeks get red and chapped when you teethe. Hopefully they'll come in soon and stop bugging you so much!

The day you turned nine months old was New Years Eve. You came with Mommy & Daddy to the St. Lawrence New Years dance! You liked the music and liked getting lots of attention from all of our family! Around 10pm you finally gave up and fell asleep so Pop took you home so that Mommy & Daddy could stay and enjoy the dance! We sure missed you when the ball dropped and it changed to 2012 though!

You haven't grown much since last month, but your hair sure has! It is really filling in and is so pretty, I mean, handsome! ;-) You are still wearing 6-9mo onesies and 9-12mo pants. You barely fit into any of your shoes though - not like you really need them though! You are still in a size 3 diaper but we just moved you to a size 4 at nighttime. At your doctors appointment you were 19 pounds, so by now you should be about 20lbs. You're still perfectly average!

You have been eating your cereal puffs so great, and now eat a bunch of other table foods... mostly just breads though. We haven't tried any meats yet because you just don't have teeth for it! We tried a new baby food called turkey and rice and you really liked it! So now you will eat sweet potatoes, squash, and turkey and rice. Picky boy! At least you still take your bottles like a champ!

We say it every month but we are so blessed to have you in our lives. You are seriously the best baby ever!!!! Everyone who meets you tells us how good you are, and how cute you are! ;-) We love you so much! In less than 4 months your baby sister will be here, and we can only hope that she will be half as good as you are! You are the light of our lives and we love you so much!

Happy Birthday my sweet boy!

Love,
Mommy