6 month old beauties

The sweet babes are already half a year old (I am a little late to post), and are more fun with each passing day.  Their unique personalities are starting to become more evident, which is so much fun!  It is neat to have twins in that you get to see those little differences a little more amplified as you watch how their sibling compares.  It is hard to know if your baby is really laid back, fussy, happy, playful, etc. moreso than any average baby if you don't have one to compare it to. 

Elise is definitely our laid back easy baby.  Really both the girls are really easy babies.  I don't know if it is because we are getting better at knowing what babies need or if they are just awesome.  Probably a combination of both.  When the babies wake up, Erin is almost always the one to sound the alarm.  It is like she cries on both their behalf, and Elise just waits patiently, knowing we will come.  If Elise wakes up first, she will just lay quietly and play for a bit before she starts to get vocal.  Elise is usually just happy to be alive, and doesn't demand much attention.  As long as someone is near her, she is content.  They spend a lot of time sitting on their blanket just playing (with some boppy support in case they fall back), and Elise will just sit and play forever.  Erin usually starts to cry at some point and wants to be picked up.  I try to make sure I hold them both the same amount of time, but Erin probably gets held more just because she cries more often.  Erin seems more active and playful in general than Elise.  She was the first one to really take interest in toys and grab them and shake them.   She was also the first to master spoon feeding.  Elise just wasn't in a hurry to figure it out.  Actually, last night was the first time that Elise really ate well from a spoon.  They both laugh and smile a lot.  The pediatrician said that usually by now they are starting to say consonant sounds and babble, but we haven't heard much more than shrieking, squawking, laughing or grunting yet.  They can roll over from front to back, but not back to front yet.  They spend more time sitting than on their tummies, so I guess that is why.They are great sleepers, and rarely wake up at night (10-12 hrs usually).  They are now in their own room, which helps that a lot, I think.  They sleep in separate beds, and are no longer in the rock n plays.  They are getting to be such chunky babies.  Elise, at 17.8 lbs is 80th percentile for weight and 36th for height.  Erin, at 17.6 lbs is 77th percentile for weight and 55th for height.  I think the height was mismeasured a bit though because Elise's head wasn't touching the top as well as Erin's.  They LOVE their jumping seats, and have really learned how to use their legs to go up and down.  Elise especially loves to jump, and she will just go at it endlessly it seems.  They also love the car, and when we drove down to Dallas over spring break, they hardly made a peep!  Even if they are hungry, they will wait it out much longer if we are driving.  This was helpful when we were 45 minutes away and it was time for them to eat.  I didn't know if they would let us go the whole way, but they did!  We drove down one day and back the next, so I am thankful they are so cooperative. 

Their schedule is in somewhat of a transition as we are trying to go down to 4 feeding times a day, rather than five.  Now that they are starting to eat solids, it seems like that last feeding is just a little snack that keeps us up later than necessary.  I am still exclusively pumping except for breastfeeding them individually first thing in the morning.  Elise has lately started to not want to breastfeed at all, which makes me kinda sad.  It is also less convenient because I can't just lay in bed and feed them for a while before getting up to pump.   

So, here is the old schedule:

8am wake and eat (7-8 oz.)

9:30am nap

11:30 am wake and eat (7-8 oz.)

12:30 pm nap

2:30 pm wake and eat (7-8 oz.)

5:30 pm eat (7-8 oz.)

6:30-8ish nap

8:30 or 9 eat (4-8 oz., depending)

In bed for the night between 9:30 and 10:30, just depends on the night


Here is their new schedule (still a mix of both right now)

8am wake and eat (8 oz.)

10am nap

12pm wake and eat (8 oz.)

2 pm nap

4 pm wake and eat (8 oz.)

5:30 or 6 pm catnap (maybe)

7 or 7:30 pm wake and eat  (8 oz. milk and also feeding them solids after they eat their milk)

In bed for the night between 8:30 and 9:30


I will probably incorporate more solids into their eating routine as they become more skilled eaters.  Right now, I am just doing rice cereal at night and trying the fruits and veggies during the day.

I just LOVE taking care of these sweet babies.  I never used to be such a baby person, but boy do I love 'em now.  I just wanna bottle up their sweetness and innocence so I can remember it when they get bigger and start acting crazy like their big sisters (S and S are super sweet, but just pretty challenging right now).  It will be so fun (maybe not!) when they start crawling around and are able to have a little independence. 

 

budgeting for our family of six

The last time I wrote a blog post about budgeting was in 2012, shortly after Sally turned 1.  You can read about it here.  Frankly, I am amazed when I go back and read it that I was able to follow that budget.  It is VERY minimal.  I have to remind myself, though, that things have changed since then.  Now Sophie and Sally are 3 and 4, and they are eating way more than they did back then.  Also, we have made some changes in the kinds of food we buy.  We don't buy everything organic, but there are several things we buy a lot of now (organic) that we didn't used to buy.  We also have purchased a van since then (to fit our big family in!), so our budget now includes that car payment.  It also seems that there are just more random expenses these days, particularly medical ones. 

After the twins were born (and even a few months prior to), I was so overwhelmed by taking care of everyone that I stopped paying attention to our budget very closely.  I mean, I didn't spend crazy amounts of money or anything, but there was already enough stress in my life that I felt like I just needed to give myself a break and not worry about it for a little bit.  Well, now the twins are 6 months old and I am realizing I really need to get back on track.    I did learn from our old budget that, even then, $300 a month on groceries was pretty tight.  That was supposed to include other toiletry and paper product items, diapers, etc.  (We use cloth mostly, but still buy some disposables).  So, my new budget is going to put more money in that category.  Also, since I had things trimmed down so much, every time there was some unexpected expense or if we needed to get a babysitter, I would get so stressed out that we weren't "staying in the budget."  This time, I am going to create a few more categories so that we can accommodate normal expenses that are just going to happen.  Then, if we are under budget at all, I can use that money in other categories that are over the monthly norm.

The grocery category is the one I feel I have the most control over, but it is hard to keep it low!  I recently found a blog whose author claims to feed her family of 5 on $300 a month.  She even listed her expenses and meals for a month to show how they do it.  For one thing, they eat a lot of pancakes.  For another, I don't see tons of fruits and vegetables, which are really important to me to eat, even if it costs a little more.  She did have some good ideas though.  Some of them that I want to implement are:
-not eating boxed cereal for breakfast anymore (instead -- oatmeal, pancakes, homemade muffins)
-making more homemade breads, muffins, tortillas, etc. instead of buying them
-making more vegetarian meals/ using more lentils/beans as a source of protein
-not buying crackers, cookies, processed carbs in general
-buying more produce that is in season/on sale and utilizing our local farmer's market

So, these are my new monthly budget goals

Groceries and toiletries $450
Eating out: $40
Random: $200
Entertainment and babysitting: $50
Medical: $150
Gifts and Home Improvement: $75

Hoping this new budget will help us keep spending in line without causing me to fret over every last penny we spend!

Picture Post

all of us Lungwitz girls

Fun time tummy time!

Snow day!  This is their first real snowman they made.  They were so cute finding things to decorate it with.

sweet sisters!

The babies are learning to sit up now!  Erin is a lot stronger than Elise right now (on right).

Erin and Elise turn 4 months old

The babies are so so sweet these days!  They are just full of smiles and laughter.  Our favorite thing to do is to sit and look at them and laugh "back and forth" with them.  If you make a fake laugh, they will laugh back, and it gets louder and stronger until it is a full out belly laugh.  They love to sit and look at each other too.  They spend a lot of time in the jenny jump up or exersaucer when awake. They both drool a lot and are starting to gum things. Both are great tummy to back rollers, and they (esp Erin) try really hard to roll from back to front if you start to help them out a little.  Elise weighs 15 lb. 6 oz (82nd %ile) and is 24.5 inches long (55th %ile).  Erin weighs 15 lb. 3 oz. (79th %ile) and is 24.75 inches long (65th %ile). This is their routine on a daily basis (times are definitely not set in stone):

Between 7am and 8am: Feed them one at a time in bed with me (breastfed--the rest of the day is pumped milk in a bottle).  They hardly even wake up for this feed.

10am Wake and eat

11:30-1 naptime

1:00pm eat (they eat 6-7 oz. each feed)

2:30-4 naptime

4pm eat

 4-6pm awake time

6-7pm nap

7pm eat

Between 9 and 10 pm: Eat again.  Sometimes they take a little cat nap again before this feeding.  And the naps earlier in the day can last up to 3 hrs. sometimes, but not consistently

Between 10pm and 11pm: Asleep for the night (They have only woken up randomly maybe a handful of times at night where I had to feed them during month 3, which I attribute to a growth spurt.  Usually if they do wake up, a pacifier puts them back to sleep).

I am now almost exclusively pumping, which isn't what I had hoped for, but I guess it has its benefits too (being able to have others feed them, ease of feeding both in public places at the same time, etc.) It does take up a lot of my time though since I pump prior to each feeding for 20-30 minutes.  So far, my supply is still great, for which I am thankful.  Ryan complains that all I do is pump, and I feel the same way.  It does give me the opportunity to sit and relax for a bit though!

I feel like I spend more time caring for the babies than for the older girls (which is natural, given that they are babies), but it makes me feel like I am neglecting the older girls.  If I do spend time with the older girls, then I am inevitably neglecting cooking or cleaning, which are also important for survival!  I know everyone says to not worry about cleaning and just enjoy your kids, but realistically, you can only do that to a certain extent or else you might find yourself on an episode of Hoarders.

If you remember my post about what my day looks like, it has smoothed out a lot since them.  Things feel less anxiety-inducing (for the most part).  I have learned to multitask a little better to meet everyone's needs at once, and the babies eating/sleeping is a lot more predictable than it used to be.  Ryan and I feel overwhelmed a lot by the piling up of responsibilities around the house, but I guess that is just our season of life right now.  My dear friend Sarah helps alleviate that load on a weekly basis.  She has been the greatest gift to our family.  She comes on Mondays and Wednesdays for the better part of the day and helps with anything and everything.  All out of the love of her heart!  She also keeps me from going crazy by providing me with friendship and fellowship during the week when I would otherwise be with children only.  Things are hard sometimes, but I have to remind myself to look around and be thankful for all the wonderful blessings around me.

Happy Birthday to Sophie and Sally!

On December 2nd, Sophie turned four, and on the 28th, Sally turned 3!  The are so big and sweet.  They have become such wonderful big sisters to Erin and Elise.  They love to talk to them, entertain them, bring them things and help me in little ways too.

Sophie at age 4

Sophie is sweet sweet sweet.  She is wearing one of my dresses from when I was little in this picture.  She has a very gentle and quiet disposition.  She loves to do calm quiet activities, and is super easy to have around if she is by herself (otherwise the screaming and fighting may ensue).  She still is a big reader, and her favorite thing to do is to have us read her a book and then immediately read it back to herself on her own.  She is great at communicating with us, but sometimes chooses not to if her emotions are running high.  She sometimes will just cry and cry without wanting to explain what is wrong.  As far as potty training, she is fully trained!  However, sometimes at naptime, she will randomly go #2 in her panties and come tell us.  I can't figure it out, because a lot of time she will actually use the potty without any problem.  She will be starting preschool next week which I think will be great for her.  She is still a little hesitant in social settings and doesn't speak up much (very different from Sally!), so I think this new environment will help her spread her wings a bit.  She will go on Monday and Wednesdays from 8-11:30.  We are very blessed to have access to FREE preschool through Ryan's school district since he is a teacher.  Even though she is four, she still loves her mommy and daddy and will take you up on any offer to cuddle with her.  She is not very independent, and prefers to have us do things for her or help her whenever we are willing.  She has recently taken an interest in all things Jesus/God.  She has lots of questions and sometimes it is hard to give her answers she can understand.  One day she asked if she could go see Jesus, and I told her yes, one day, in heaven after we die.  She then asked, "How do I dive mom?  I want to dive and go see Jesus!"  She loves to read her "Jesus book," which is just a children's Bible.  When my sister was talking to her one day about Jesus, Sophie told my sister, "Jesus is a book."  She is actually sort of right when you think about the Word made flesh!  I am just amazed at Sophie when I look at how far she has come.  Sometimes we forget that she had such a rough start and that it is truly a miracle she is even here!  And doing so well at that!  I was reminded of that miracle the other day when I heard of a couple whose baby was born at 25 weeks, weighing 1 lb. 7 oz., but did not survive.  That is almost the exact same place we found ourselves with Sophie, 25 weeks and 1 lb. 12 oz.  What a blessing that God has allowed Sophie to be a part of our lives!

Sally at age 3

Sally looks just as old or older than Sophie to me in this picture!  Actually, when we are out, people often ask if we have two sets of twins just because S and S look so close in age.  Sally has a bigger than life personality.  She is always on the go and comes up with the cutest things to say.  She loves to introduce herself to strangers and usually proceeds to tell them about something she is wearing as well as introduce her baby sisters.  The other day she said to someone, "They're Erin and Elise, and their my sisters.  They're gonna be best friends!"  She is so outgoing and will make friends with anyone she meets.  She always remember other kids' names really well too.  We met a little girl named Riley over Christmas, and she STILL asks to go see her again even though they only spent a few hours together.  She is very independent and insists on doing everything on her own without any sort of assistance.  She throws fits a lot, and it seems like the smallest things can set her off.  She is very sensitive when people other than Ryan or I reprimand her, and usually runs off crying to find a hiding place if this happens.  She is very affectionate and sweet with all of us.  No one can ever leave the house without getting a hug and kiss from Sally or she has a meltdown.  She loves to play with Sophie, and lately they have been getting along better than they used to.  The other day, she melted my heart when she asked me to play with her.  She followed the question with, "because, you can play with us too mom because you're my best friend too!"  How can you say no to that!?  She is a challenge because she is so strong-willed and defiant, but more than anything she is a bundle of joy and laughter!

Life lately in pictures

Abuela, Abuelo, and Aunt Betsy came!

Sally loves the new easel.

The whole fam! No time to get dressed and ready, but it still turned out well.

These girls love to smile!

"Sophie is my BEST friend!!" said Sally the other night.

They are getting along so much better these days.

Makeup session with the girls.  They LOVED it.  I didn't put much on them, but just the idea of it was fun.

Sally looks so grown up here to me!

Sophie on a horse swing at the pumpkin patch. 

Sally on the seesaw.  This pumpkin patch was awesome.  If you are in the Wichita area, check out Applejack's.

Cute Soph trying on an apron of mine.

How can it be? The twins are 2 months old already!

Erin and Elise are getting to be such big girls!  They turned 2 months old on the 16th.  We are so busy every day that the time is just flying by.  They had their 2 month checkup today, and both are perfectly healthy!  Elise no longer has a hip click, which is great news.  They weighed and measured EXACTLY the same, which is just crazy to me.  Last doctor visit, they also were the exact same.  They weigh 12 lb. 3 oz. (83rd percentile) and are 65th percentile for height.  As you can see from the pictures below, they are definitely fattening up!  Seems like all our babies are chunky--even Sophie, though it took her a while to catch up.  Sally was a GIANT baby (always in the 90's percentile wise for height and weight).  I am so thankful to be producing plenty of breastmilk to feed them both.   They are kind of picky eaters though, in terms of position.  Most of the time I feed them on the twin nursing pillow for 5-10 minutes before they are screaming at me (because they want to eat, and because when I feed them, they don't like it in that position). Then, I just have to pump and bottle feed the rest.  It takes a long time to feed them this way!  I had thought it was reflux, but meds were not making a difference, and they take bottles (or eat in other positions) just fine, so we have ruled that out.  The reason I want to use the nursing pillow is because it is really the only way to feed them simultaneously.  Other twin positions require more neck control on their part. It is kind of frustrating, but I guess I am hoping they grow out of it soon.

They eat about every 2-4 hours during the day and usually sleep at some point in between feedings.  They definitely don't have a "schedule" at this point, but at least I can kind of predict how long it will be before they need to eat again.

They eat sometime around 8:30pm for their last feeding of the day, and then I do a "dream feed" around 11.  That just means I feed them when they are sleeping or half awake, depending.  Then, they sleep until around 6:30-8am.  It all depends.   I actually kind of like that their eating and sleeping is more based on a routine than a schedule, because I can kind of tune each day to what I need it to be in terms of what else is going on.  I am so glad they are both sleeping for a stretch at night instead of waking me up in the middle of it!  

The girls tolerate tummy time pretty well for their age. Elise does a lot better job of holding her head up than Erin does.  They are both smiling all the time (real smiles) and cooing and making sounds back at us.  I LOVE getting to see them develop and change.   I wouldn't say they have strong differences in personality yet.  Erin is a little more impatient when it comes to waiting for food.They have almost outgrown size 1 diapers.

Overall, the babies seem like a piece of cake when compared to caring for Sophie and Sally.  I remember when our first two were really little and I thought I couldn't wait for them to be bigger and solve all the issues they had as babies.  I thought there was no way it could be any harder.  Well, it is folks.  Toddlers/pre-schoolers are a whole different ball game.  Less demanding and more independent in ways, but overall, way more frustrating to me.  Maybe this is because I have 2 so close in age.  It does seem so much easier when one of the older girls is off with Ryan or grandparents.   I think what makes it so hard is the defiance, disobedience, and tantrums.  Oh, and fighting.  I hate it when they fight!  If you only have a baby, the only way I can convey the sentiment is like this:  think of the thing your baby does that frustrates you/wears on you the most.  Then, imagine that they are doing it on purpose, just to defy you.  That is what it feels like to deal with a preschooler when they are being difficult.  They just lose all sense of what seems so completely logical to you!  But then, they turn around and do the sweetest/most loving thing and you completely forget your frustration.  We are trying to spend lots of one on one time with the older girls which rejuvenates both them and us as we remember that it can actually be enjoyable to be a parent!

Sally and Elise

Erin

Erin right

Erin right

Elise

Elise

Erin