iPhone Photo Update

Donut boy

Daddy's boy

All 3 of my boys

Milk drunk

Bye Bye Bear

Coordinating binkies!

Yesterday was Bear's last day of work at Midwest Academy. My mom and dad were out for the night and when Bear came home, I lost it and cried and cried because we've never spent more than 1 week away from each other. We got to go to a little bit of a neighborhood softball picnic that we were invited to before I had to drop Bear off at the bus stop in Keokuk, IA. My parents watched the babies and we took Lachlan with us so he could see Bear get on the bus. 

I thought I got all my tears out last night, but Lachlan did this little whimper and  reached out for Bear as he disappeared onto the bus and I lost it again. I had to go to Walmart right after, and I kept my sunglasses on inside so nobody would see my messed up makeup. 

But now that I finally have all of my tears out, I'm excited for this adventure that Bear gets to have. And believe it or not, I will be able to keep in better contact with Bear now. With his old job, he worked 16 hour shifts (that usually went longer), and he wasn't allowed to have his phone on him. This caused a lot of anxiety for me when I was pregnant. Now his job revolves around his phone and he can call or text me anytime. 4 weeks sounds like forever, but my family will be here and the twins are over 3 weeks old even though it seems like they were just born so hopefully it will go fast, especially with my family here. 

Both Bear and I got priesthood blessings this morning and that helped a lot too. I believe that if we rely on the Lord, he can stretch us and compensate for our weaknesses if we really are trying our best. 

Suns Out, Guns Out

Party on the living room floor

Party on the living room floor

Bear's mom left early this morning. And he leaves tomorrow afternoon.

The twins are 3 weeks old. They are good little nursers and I can nurse them at the same time now, which significantly cuts my nursing time down. Making milk for two babies is no joke. I have to eat and drink all day and I feel like I have the metabolism of a teenage boy.

We still go down to Pageant preshow every night. Bear loves stick pulling.

I'm dreading saying goodbye to Bear tomorrow. 

Crazy Summer

We literally go and hang out at pageant every night.

I think I can honestly say this has been a crazy summer. Not only did I have a baby, but I had twins, (with a million doctor's appointments before and after the babies were born), Bear has been applying for grad school and new jobs, and he's getting ready to go sell pest control in California for the last 4 weeks that my parents are here. He leaves Saturday.

I've never spent this much time away from him. EVER. The truth of it still hasn't hit me all of the way. Luckily, I'll still have my parents and siblings here and they are all super helpful, but Bear won't be there to help me with babies in the night. I guess I just need to start going to bed earlier. I'm more worried about Lachlan who is such a daddy's boy. If he goes more than a day without seeing dad, he starts acting up. At least toddlers have no sense of time, but we may be in for a "fun" ride.

Why is my husband taking off for 4 weeks right after we had twins, you ask? Well, Bear's current job has given him a lot of experience in his field and is helping him apply for better jobs and for grad school, but it just wasn't paying enough. He loved his work, but we looked at it like a paid internship that would look good on his resume. But we need a little more cushion if Bear is going to start grad school and can't work full time for the next little while.

We're still waiting to hear back from the program he applied for at Quincy University because they just got his transcript from SVU (yes, I know we graduated in December. It's a long story on why it's taken this long). I keep thinking life will slow down. But a little relaxation doesn't look like it's in our immediate future ;)

Baby-wearing

My view this morning

I'm trying to get better at baby-wearing because I wanted to do it with Lachlan but never really did. My mom gave me her two ring slings when I was pregnant with Lachlan but because I was using them wrong I didn't like them. Now I'm trying to educate myself so that I'm not just leaving my babies in their bassinets all day. I love it because I can get things done because it's hands free, but I'm not feeling guilty for not holding them. 

I'm wearing Lennox right now as I'm typing actually. Good thing both babies are so light right now. Now I just need to look up how to wear both of them at the same time.

Pageants

We are loving going down to the Nauvoo and British Pageants almost every night. They started on July 8th, and it's such a happy atmosphere. Bear can't go when he works, but I go with my family and they help me with Lachlan and the babies. I was sad at first that we didn't get accepted into the Pageant this year, but there's no way we could have worked it out with 3 tiny boys. So I just enjoy it as an audience member. We sit on benches and watch Mia and Noah fiddle in the band, and I can nurse the babies while we sit and visit with church members from all over the country, and sometimes out of the country. I love meeting new people and getting out and about. Maybe I should be resting at home, but I'm always afraid of what I'm going to miss out on!

We love love love the British Pageant which is new this year. I relate to it because it tells the story of my ancestors.





Then Lachlan was Stitch for most of the day yesterday.

My life right now

My life consists of feeding babies right now. But I'm okay with that. Because the time is going by too fast. I have the babies on the same feeding schedule and they only woke up twice last night to eat and went right back to sleep. Lachlan is a really good sleeper too so I can't complain. Having my mom here to help has been such a blessing. I didn't realize how much I needed the help of my family until they got here. Family is so important.

The twins are so small right now that I feel like I'm going to break them and I can't imagine them big enough to roll over, sit up, and crawl. They have both finally learned to latch every time and I'm so grateful that I'm able to breastfeed them, even if I end up needing to supplement later. We blessed them in church yesterday because Bear's mom is in town. Both boys slept right through them. Lachlan screamed through his whole blessing and of course started screaming through his brothers' and my mom had to take him out of the chapel. Their blessing outfits were way too big for them!

Lachlan looks HUGE now. And he feels so heavy and his diapers are giant! He is a little jealous, but hasn't done anything to worry me yet. He likes to take the babies' binkies and blankets but gives them kisses, pats their heads, and tries to give them their binkies when they cry. He's going to have a lot of fun with them when they get older.

And...getting out the door literally takes 15 minutes. And that's just buckling carseats and loading up the car.