Summer Adventures of 2010

This summer the girls have had the opportunity to bask in the sun with their Mama and Daddy. They have also spent many hours at Daddy's school helping Mama keep busy. The past two days, Juliana and Olivia had a fantastic treat. Oma and Opa came to visit and help Mama take care of them while Daddy went away to meetings in Georgia. Although we missed Daddy very much, we had a blast spending the time with Oma and Opa.

 We missed our Daddy!

The day started with waking Mama at 7Am. After J and O's feedings, we took a quick nap and then off to the swimming pool. We wished Daddy could have joined us, but our girls couldn't help but to smile and coo at anyone who would pay attention to them. Once we arrived to the pool, Oma and Opa swam with us.

 We love our Oma!

Olivia and Opa!

Opa feeding Olivia at the pool.

Our fun in the sun soon ended when Olivia started crying to go home. Once home, the girls nursed a little and fell asleep. Olivia was put in her bed and Juliana took her nap with Mama and Precious. Our nap lasted all of 30 minutes. Which means actually 15 minutes of sleep time for Mama. Mama has not been sleeping very well since Daddy is gone, and the girls had upset tummies.


For our bedtime routine, Mama starts by giving one of the girls a bath and then passes her to Daddy, but in this case, Oma. She then fed one and rocked her to sleep while Mama bathed the other girl. Once she was done Mama reads a story and the girls fall asleep by the second book. 5-7 ounces later, the girls are down in bed sleeping for the night. This routine has been going on since the girls turned 3 months.

Mama reading Juliana a book.

Oma rocking at Olivia while Mama reads a story.

The girls are near 4 months now and Juliana weighs 12 1/4 pounds and Olivia weighs 12 1/2 pounds. They are beautifully made and given to us by God. What special angels we are blessed with.

Beautiful Girls and Beautiful Sleep!

We have been blessed the past two days with beautiful sleep. Our beautiful girls have slept through the night the past two days. The first night, we thought the girls were just overly tired from not napping all day. We fed them and put them down at 9:30PM and they didn't wake until 5:30AM. When this happened, I woke at 5AM, thinking the girls had just slept through the night! Wait! "Are they alright?" So I crept into their room and peeked over their crib, they were sound asleep and beautiful little angels. Both Mike and I felt energized after being able to sleep for so long.


Yesterday, we decided as a family to visit some friends and swim in their pool. This was very exciting for our girls, as this was their first time in a swimming pool. After we put their sun block on we decided to get in. As soon as their little feet hit the water, they started crying. It was a heated pool, but obviously it wasn't bath water. Daddy had Juliana and her entry was not as graceful as Olivia's. Juliana was dipped in and Olivia was eased in with Mama.

 Daddy with Juliana after her dip in the pool.

Eventually, Olivia was used to the water and I could help her float around the pool. I put her in front of a pool jet, where it was warm. When, I did this, Olivia's diaper expanded way beyond the normal size. Needless to say, we need some swim diapers. After the girls were done swimming they took a nice nap in the shade. A few errands and a walk later it was time to go to bed.

 Mama with Olivia

I drew a bath for Juliana, who was wide awake, put her in the tub and washed all of the sun block off. Once she was dressed, we sat down in the glider with a bottle and book. By the time we had read the first book, Juliana downed 4 ounces and was out. Mike finished rocking her as I proceeded to wake Olivia. She had been sleeping for about 30 minutes in her swing. Once I had the bath drawn, my sweet baby had fallen asleep again on her changing pad. I picked her up and set her in the tub. She woke up for about a minute and then her eyes got droopy and my baby was sleeping again in the tub. We decided to skip the book for the night and just feed her what we could. She took down 4 1/2 ounces and fell into a deep sleep. I put her in the crib with Juliana and looked at the clock. It was 10:00PM. The next time I saw our little ones was at 6:00AM this morning. I walked into their room and peeked in the crib, Olivia was awake. I looked at her and said "hi". She greeted me with a huge smile and a coo. What an awesome feeling. My baby was excited to see her Mama.

 Olivia sleeping in the tub.

Now, we will see if they will continue to sleep through the night. God has not only blessed us with beautiful girls, but has blessed us with beautiful sleep as well. Hallelujah!

Our family having fun in the sun!

14 Week Review of Juliana and Olivia

Allergies-
 - This past week Mike and I found out that our girls have allergies. As mentioned before in previous blogs, the girls were put on soy formula for supplementing in addition to breastfeeding.Right at three months, we saw a change in our girls. They started breaking out around the mouth and Olivia had a light rash all over her body. Their noses were plugged with clear mucus and we were concerned. We did some research and decided to try a few things. 1) We first tried taking them off of soy and putting them back on the milk base formula. This cleared up the rash on Olivia and around their mouths. The only problem with this that that they were still congested and spitting up. 2) We then tried taking them off of the milk and soy formula and try giving them Alimentum by Similac. This was a hypoallergenic formula that cost $25.00 for 12.9 ounces! Needless to say, the girls did not take it and spit it up more than the milk formula. The taste was awful and it smelled really bad. 3) We took them off of the Alimentum and thought that we were going to be in trouble, but then a friend suggested the cheap Walmart brand for sensitivity. It was lactose free and soy free. So we gave it a try. This was a much better price, $14.00 for about 30 ounces. The girls did really well. They took it down with no problem and did not spit up one bit. They have been on it for about three days now. They have not had as much gas and drink a lot more.

Reflux-
Since we put the girls on the Walmart formula, we had actually forgotten to give the girls their medicine. So far it has been three days and the girls have not spit up once. They have been doing well and we hope that this was the answer for their reflux. 

Hands-
This week the girls have found new toys...their hands. They have been putting them together and gripping things, like daddy's hair. They have found that their hands will fit into their mouths really easily. This makes trying to nurse a battle between the hands and Mama. Mama always wins. We look forward to seeing what other body parts will be found next. 


Swing-
Yesterday as we were getting ready for church, Mike put the girls in their swings so we could practice our special music at the piano. I happened to be in another room when I heard this wailing cry followed by a quick stop of the piano and Mike rushing over to the girls. When I came out into the living room, Mike had told me that Juliana had pushed herself almost completely off the back of the swing and her head was hanging. OH! my poor baby!  

Juliana in the swing

Bubbles-
The girls are staring to blow bubbles in their spit. Whenever they get excited, they move their arms and legs all over the place and blow bubbles and coo. They are becoming more active everyday.

Pets-
Since the girls were born, the cats have nothing to do with the girls. They really stay away and avoid any contact. Precious, our toy rat terrier loves the girls. She already wants to play with them, sleep with them and in general likes to be around the girls. I have caught her, on occasion, licking the girls' ears.

 Precious sleeping with the girls.

So the past 14 weeks has been exciting and a blessing. There has never been a dull moment with Juliana and Olivia. We are proud of them and we can't wait to see what they have in store these next few months.

Freedom!

Playtime!

Here are the girls playing for the first time together! I love it.

Growing FAST!

I have been impressed with my girls and how fast they are growing. This morning Mike and I went to get our babies and feed them. To my surprise, Olivia was turned sideways in her crib and near her sister. She was so cute. She started hitting her sister in the face, which woke Juliana up. After feeding both girls, we put them back into their sleep positioners in their crib. At the next feeding I went back into their room. Olivia again was pushed out of her sleep positioner and next to her sister. I grabbed the camera and snapped the picture below. Needless to say, we will need to get another crib by next month. They are growing so quickly. I love my girls so much.