February 2015

****I wrote this post in February and meant to just add the pictures. That never happened. I am adding them now but the information is a good month behind. :)
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Hi! Well I am finally able to sit down and type for a little bit. Kevin has the girls at church and I am home with Oliver who has been a little under the weather for the past two weeks. I feel like he is starting to turn a corner and I wanted to avoid the germs at church. So while he happens to be out cold right now, I am going to sit with a HOT cup of coffee and and update the blog.
The last couple of months have been hectic to say the least! I went back to work on December 29 and it has been going well so far. It is nice to be getting a routine going again. Our days look something like this....Wake up at 4:50 and either shower and get ready or feed Oliver if he happens to be awake. Each morning is a little different depending on if he woke up to eat during the night. If I fed him during the night (usually around 3) then I wake him up at 5:40 and feed him while I have breakfast. We wake up the girls at 6:10 and we are out the door by 6:30. Girls are dropped off at 6:50 and I am at work at 7. It's crazy how we have it down the minute --and we know if we leave our house just 2 minutes late we will hit every red light on the way to daycare.
Anyway, the kids are at Amy's until 4 when either Kevin or I pick them up. They usually watch an episode of Curious George when we get home while I put away everything that we had to take with us for the day. Tuesdays and Thursdays we are back out the door by 5 for swimming lessons. I usually find that I am always thinking ahead to what the next hour brings. I constantly have to remind myself to enjoy the moment that we are in or I am going to miss it because I am so worried about being prepared for what comes next. The girls are usually in bed between 7:30 and 8. Then Oliver gets a bath, lunches get made for the next day, laundry gets changed and maybe folded, and we are in bed by 10. Phew!

Oliver is doing well at daycare, although he needs to get used to not being held so much. He may have been spoiled while I was home on maternity leave. The girls are still in awe of him and ask about him immediately after waking up or coming upstairs...."Where OL..i..VER go? They love to give him hugs and kisses and are usually surprisingly gentle with him.
Oliver is 4 months old today and weighs 16 pounds. He has his appointment, with shots :(, tomorrow. He is starting to do well sitting in the bumbo and Kevin even had him in a jumper for a few minutes and he really liked it. It's amazing how fast their little heads get so strong. He is wearing 6 month clothes for the most part and has been for a month or so already.

The girls are doing well and are acting like typical 2.5 year olds. They have their moments of pure sweetness towards each other... "come downstairs with me sissy?", "hold my hand sissy?", "here's your baby sissy" and then the next minute we are having a meltdown. They like to play memory, babies, and hide and seek. When they hold their babies and their diaper bags, carseat, etc., they have started saying "I don't have enough hands mom"...hmm I wonder where they have heard that.
They know every word to "Oh Canada" and say "don't like that one" to the "Star Spangled Banner." I am sure you can see Kevin beaming now. They also know Jesus Loves Me, Baa Baa Black Sheep, ABC's, Twinkle Twinkle, and so many more. They like to mix two songs and then say "That's not right!!" and then laugh and laugh like they are hilarious!
They make us laugh constantly with a few moments of complete woostness mixed in. They feed off of eachother when they are tired and wild making it two times harder to settle them down. It's not uncommon for a scenario like this to happen: I just start feeding a screaming hungry Oliver.....Amelia will say she has to go potty and Quinn will ask me to play memory with her. All at the same time. So I take Oliver with me to the bathroom and help Amelia go. Quinn tags along still asking to play memory. Just a lot going on at one time. :) Talk about not having enough hands...

Speaking of going potty....the girls are half way potty trained. They will have days in a row with no accidents and can keep their underwear dry. However they will not go #2 on the toilet. They still wear pullups for naps and bed time so that is usually when that happens. I am going to wrap some presents for them to see and when they finally go, they can open a present. It's so crazy cause the minute they go in their pull up they are begging to be changed and get mad if it takes us more than a second to do so. Usually they will go get a new underwear and pull up for us--that's how badly they want to be changed. Come on girls!!

Here are some of the latest pics of the kiddos:

Happy New Year!

As I sign into my blog account to start this post I am thinking I should have made a New Year's resolution to blog more. I am not big on resolutions but I really want to do better because I don't want to forget any details. Having said that, our house is a little nuts right now so we will see! Considering it's been so long since my last post and so much has happened in the mean time, I think I will try to do separate posts for everything that we have done or is going on. This particular post is going to focus on our little moose, Oliver.

We prayed a lot while I was pregnant that we would have a healthy baby who was easy going and was a good sleeper....doesn't hurt to ask right? I would say so far our prayers have been answered tenfold.Oliver is such a happy baby who lets his sisters cuddle, poke, and prod him more than they should. So far he really only cries when he is hungry, needs his diaper changed, or is tired. If he is crying you know he needs something.

Oliver smiles all the time and it never gets old! He loves to be talked to and will try to talk back by cooing and giggling. He will go on and on like he is having a wonderful conversation with you. He laughs at the girls when they talk to him and I love it. His smile is adorable and sometimes you can see his dimples. I think he looks even more like his daddy when he is smiling.

Around Thanksgiving time Oliver started sleeping from about 10 pm until 4 am. A couple weeks after that he stretched it until 5 or 5:30!! I think he may be going through a growth spurt this week as he has been taking long naps during the day and has been waking up around 3 ready to eat! It's ok though, we will get back to where we were.

On New Year's Day Oliver rolled over for the first time. He rolled from his stomach to his back and did it 3 or 4 times in a row. He giggled after each time so it was pretty funny to watch.

Here are some pictures of our happy babe-some are a little old already.

The girls like to lay down by Oliver and then they say "take our picture"

#sisters

Oliver loves the Big 10

Twinsies

I have lots more to share about our Thanksgiving and Christmas, what it's like to have three kids under three. Amelia & Quinn, being back at work, etc. Hopefully I can do those posts soon! Hope you are all doing well and we wish you a Happy 2015!

Oliver Lee

On Wednesday, October 15, 2014, we welcomed a little BOY into this world. Oliver Lee Vanderwal arrived at 3:52 pm and weighed 7 pounds- 7 ounces, and was 20 inches long. We are so in love with him already.
Here is a summary of what happened. On Tuesday, the 14th, I had my weekly appointment with Dr. McKay and although there had not been much progress she thought it would be best if we went in that night to be induced. That threw us for a little loop since Kevin was planning on coaching his volleyball game that night. So I went back to work for a few last minute things and left about noon to come home and finish packing, doing laundry, and other nesting. Kevin picked up the girls from daycare after school and then we waited for my parents to arrive so we could head to the hospital. We stopped at Qdoba on our way and then got checked in and settled into our room.

Tuesday night was pretty calm but I was having contractions every 1-3 minutes although I could not feel them. Over the night and the next morning they gave me some drugs to kick things up and around noon I got an epidural. There ended up being a couple C-sections that the doctor had to do before she could deliver our baby--so by the time she came we were ready to go. It seemed like I only had to push a few times and out he came.

Although we did not find out ahead of time whether it was a boy or a girl, we were both a little surprised that it was a boy. This pregnancy seemed so similar to when I was pregnant with the girls and since we really only know girls, we kinda just assumed this would also be a girl. It was so fun to have the doctor flip him over and say "OK dad, what do we have?" Kevin then said, "It's a boy!" Good thing he got it right ;) We knew if it was a boy we would name him Oliver. We love the meaning--faithfulness, fruitfulness, and a symbol of peace. My middle name is Lee and my mom's middle name is Lee so we really wanted to use that for this child as well because it didn't work with the first names we chose for the girls. Lee means "healer" so maybe he will be a doctor some day. :)

We got up to our postpartum room about 7:00 pm and my parents brought the girls with to meet little Oliver. They think he is pretty neat and love to give him kisses and any squeak or noise he makes they rush to bring him a blanket or paci. We had a quick stay at Avera and were able to come home late Friday morning.

I actually started this blog post the Sunday after we got home and it's now 3 weeks later. :) We are all adjusting well and my days at home are flying by. Oliver's room is right across the hall from ours so we wanted him to get used to his crib right away. After 2 or 3 rough nights Oliver is starting to sleep great. He goes to sleep about 10:30 pm and wakes up around 2 am to eat and then again between 5 and 6 am. I can't complain about that at all. It actually works out great because then I can quick see the girls and help Kevin get them ready for daycare (although his pigtail skills have improved greatly). They have gone to daycare all but one day so far--they love it there and I feel it's important for them to keep a routine. Because Kevin has volleyball practice after school, I head into town about 3:30 to pick the girls up. It's nice to get out a bit each day and gives me a reason to shower ;)

A lot of people have asked if it's a lot different having one this time. It really is! Everything from the labor and delivery to getting out of the house is just a lot easier.

Here are some pictures of our new little buddy.and their big sisters.

Just waiting :)

Daddy checking out his new mini me

 

Auntie Heather happened to be on our floor for clinicals.

Singleton vs Twins

Our fall is in full swing and flying by. I am now 37 weeks with Baby V so technically I am full term. I am actually farther along this time than I was with the twins and I think this pregnancy has gone by faster. I wanted to take a moment to record some of the other differences and similarities between these pregnancies. Last time I started swelling in my legs (and everywhere else now that I look back at pictures) really bad the last month or so. I would come home from work and put my feet up and chill on the couch for most of the night. This time I am not swelling and I do not have the luxury of sitting on the couch until about 8:30 or so. We are in the thick of volleyball right now so I drop off and pick up the girls each day from daycare and we get home and play outside and then go in and make supper. Kevin usually gets home just in time to eat with us. After that there are dishes, baths, and laundry to do, followed by bedtime routines, more cleanup, etc., and then I can sit. :)

Having two babies inside of you there is always a lot of movement, but you can't always tell if it was Baby A's arm or Baby B's leg. With just one, I feel like the kicks are almost harder and more defined, I am guessing because there is more room. I can feel the baby stretch all the way out and find it fascinating to watch my belly. Baby V gets the hiccups 2-3 times a day, which the twins also did.

People ask me quite often if it's different carrying just one. Of course it is. With 2 my belly felt so heavy--that's what  happens when you have 13 pounds of baby + everything else in there. With one I can say that my belly doesn't feel quite as heavy. When I carried twins I just had myself to look after. With carrying one, I also have the twins to look after.  I would say I am equally if not more tired this time than last. I am not complaining at all, just trying to remember exactly how I am feeling.
I don't think many people say this but I would be just fine if I go a week or two overdue this time. I like being pregnant and feel like it went a little too fast. Ask me again in 3 weeks and I could be saying something totally different ;)

My sister-in-law Kristen had twins in May and also has a two year old. We are anxious to compare stories as our kids get older and see what is easier.....having a newborn singleton with twin toddlers or having twin newborns with a singleton toddler.

Here are the latest two pics of Baby V.

We ask that you continue to pray for Baby V and his or her growth. I did have an ultrasound last week and a couple of the measurements are still on the small side. So prayers for a growth spurt and that we last til 40 weeks would be appreciated. Overall though the estimate was that Baby V weighed just under 6 pounds so that is encouraging!

And here are a couple of our twin lovelies:

Love having picnics on the deck!

Q Bear

Love Miss A's smile

Trying out the curlers