Life with Twins!

We have been home for just about two weeks already and having so much fun with our little girls! The days have been flying by and it's crazy that our life is now split up into 3-4 hour increments between the next feeding time. The girls continue to be pretty easy babies...knock on wood that this doesn't change. :) We feed them about 10 pm before we go to bed and then they wake up around 2 am and then again at 6 am. We usually go back to bed after that for a while and they sleep again until around 9.

The girls are also great eaters and are definately filling out! When they get hungry they start to chomp on their hands or try to find their thumbs to suck on if they dont have their pacifiers. They are pretty comical to watch when they get the first couple drinks of their bottle. And when they get full, they are both really good at pursing their lips shut to let you know that they don't want anymore.

At our appointment last week, Amelia was back up to her birth weight of 6.5 pounds, and Quinn was up to 6 pounds even. We are pretty sure that Quinn is at least her birth weight now too as they are both feeling more solid. We have another appointment next week so we will see where they are at.

Kevin and I continue to be so thankful for these little girls. We definately have a lot to be thankful for and are really enjoying our time at home together with them! Kevin's parents are coming this weekend so we are really looking forward to seeing them and introducing them to the girls in person, rather than just on skype.

And of course the fun part...here are some more pics:

I forgot to post this one last time. This was a day or two after we got home from the hospital. I guess you could say these are the "fruits of my labor" :)

Our super long looking babies...Kevin is seeing some middle hitters in the future :)

Sister love:

Our patriotic babes:

Amelia guzzling her bottle:

Cuddling with Quinn:

Amelia's bright eyes:

And Quinn's bright eyes:

Amelia & Quinn

Last week Saturday, July 7, our little girls, Amelia Rae and Quinn Mattie, came into this world and we could not be more in love with them! Here is a little bit of how our weekend went:

Friday morning I had my Centering group and my blood pressure was higher than normal. That mixed with the swelling I was experiencing, my doctor said it was time! I could not have agreed more! She said to go home and get Kevin and our stuff and to come back to the hospital. My doctor wasn't officially on until Saturday though so she said to figure that Friday would be a slow and relaxing day. It definately was. We watched movies and walked around and that was about it. Late Friday night they started inducing me and Saturday morning at 7 my doctor came and broke my water. The day went pretty fast and at 3 pm they hauled us into the Operating Room incase an emergency C-Section would be necessary. Less than an hour later Amelia arrived and just over a half hour after that, her sister Quinn arrived. We were happy it was only a half hour--they told us sometimes Baby B takes 2-3 more hours! Both girls were 6.5 pounds and right around 20 inches. I knew I had a lot of baby in my belly but I didn't think it would be that much!

We got to come home on Tuesday afternoon! The girls have been amazing babies so far. My mom has been staying with us to help us through the night, with feedings, an extra hand at laundry and dishes, and reminding us it was time to eat something. :) She went back to Rocky today, so tonight, on their 1 week birthday, we have our first night at home alone with the girls.

For the most part, the girls have been on a 4 hour eating schedule, which has been great at night. They eat around 10 pm, 2 am, and 6 am. Not too shabby for right away. Last night, my dad stayed with us too and mom and dad volunteered to take the whole night shift so that Kev and I could sleep. I think they had a bit of an interesting night with the girls awake more than just at 10, 2 and 6 but I dont think they care. :)

We had a doctor appointment with the girl's doctor on Thursday. After losing a few ounces in the hospital, Amelia is back up to 6.1 and Quinn is at 5.13. We are also watching Amelia's bilirubin levels. They were ok in the hospital but will get them checked again next week. Definately not fun watching her get poked and scream afterwards. Next week Kevin will be holding her for the poking!

A couple things that we know about the girls already:

• They LOVE to sleep by eachother. They are sleeping in the same crib for right now and its pretty adorable the way they cuddle with eachother.
• Amelia has all kinds of dark hair. We are not sure where this comes from but glad she has it!
• Quinn loves to be talked to. Her dark blue eyes try to find the voice that is talking to her and will just stare back at you while you talk.

Here are a bunch of pics:

Amelia & Quinn cuddling in their little bed in the hospital:

Both girls ready to head home:

How the girls sleep at night:

Twin cuddle time:

Finally home:

Daddy's bright eyed girls:

Quinn after her bath:

Amelia after her bath:

Both of our girls!!!

Thanks to everyone for your support, prayers, visits, etc. We are truly blessed to have you and these little gals in our lives!!!

Week 37!

Hi Everyone and Happy Fourth of July and Happy Canada Day!

I know we missed posting week 36 but not a lot happened last week. To those of you not from the Midwest, it has been HOT here. The temps have been in 90's and 100's with heat indexes of 105-110. This has made it very interesting for Kevin with his summer landscaping job. He and his crew have been starting about 6 am and getting finished around 5. Those are some long hot days. While I do feel bad for him and others that have to work in that heat and humidity, I am going to pull the pregnancy card and say I feel a little bad for myself too :) The last couple weeks my feet and legs have really started to swell. At my appointment last week the doctor said that I have three things going against me as far as the swelling goes: being this far in the pregnancy, being pregnant with multiples, and of course the heat. My blood pressure was good though so hopefully nothing to be concerned about and lots of sitting with my feet up.

Tomorrow I have Centering so I believe we will be scheduling a day for next week to get induced. Yay! We are pretty excited!! If that is the case, that will mean we will have made it to week 38! Definately incredible and lots to be thankful for.

As far as taking a picture with a fruit this week, we decided to take some advice from the girls' Uncle Dan. He suggested that rather than buying all these crazy fruits and veggies that we don't know how to use or eat, we should be true to our Dutch heritage and save money by taking a picture at the grocery store and then putting the fruit back down....to let someone else buy it. This advice actually went a step further and  turned into a bet. Could we take the picture at Walmart (not our favorite store) and include a Walmart associate? Of course we can! Here is the proof...please ignore the goofy smile on my face. I could not stop laughing. Also, these are just small watermelons....we could not find the other melons we were supposed to get.

 Our nursery is getting pretty close to being put together. Here is a little preview of what it looks like:

And here are a couple other random pictures that we took a couple weeks ago...we thought they were funny :)

Hope everyone is doing well and has a great weekend!