our thanksgiving

We made it!  We survived our first road trip with the boys!!

We went to Erie, PA, as we do every year, to celebrate Thanksgiving with Kara's side of the family.  But unlike all the previous years we had two extra special little boys on board.  And the boys did absolutely amazing!!

We packed up the car and headed out of town on Wednesday morning.  We dropped the dogs off at the kennel and hit the road.  The boys slept the first two hours of the trip.  We were experiencing exceptionally warm weather so we were able to stop at a rest stop and sit outside and feed the boys their 11 am bottle.  The boys loved to look at all the trees.  The boys then entertained themselves in the car for the next hour of the trip.  Of course we brought all our toys from home.  I was trying to decide which toys to bring when we were packing up the car that morning but I finally gave up and just handed the whole basket to Kara with the words, "You just never know!"  So it shouldn't have come as a surprise to me when I had a difficult time determining whether or not the boys were awake or asleep during different points of the trip.  I couldn't see them through all the toys we had hanging from their car seats.   Anyhow ... once the boys played for about an hour they slept the remaining hour of the trip.  We decided to stay in a hotel during the trip.  We just knew it would be much easy to have our "own space" to come back to at the end of each day.  But before we headed to the hotel we stopped by for a quick visit with the grandparents.  The boys did great in their new surroundings and soaked up every minute visiting with Grandma and Grandpa Russell.

We visited for a couple of hours before we headed to the hotel to check-in.  The boys took a quick nap in the car.  We got all checked-in at the hotel and Kara lugged all our luggage to our room without any problems.  Did you know that you need just as much luggage for six month old twins for three days as you do for two weeks?  The hotel staff put us at the very end of the hallway.  That probably happens when you make a reservation online for 2 adults and 2 children but only request 1 king bed.  Once we got all settled into our room we decided to head off to visit the boys Great Grandma Mimi.  But because things never go as planned the boys decided to have a major meltdown in the car.  I climbed into the backseat and gave them a bottle which seemed to help for all of 10 minutes.  By the time we got to Great Grandma's condo we were in full meltdown mode.  I thought for sure our visit we be all of 5 minutes long.  But then this magical thing happened ... Great Grandma Mimi appeared in the doorway and the boys were mesmerized by everything Mimi had to say to them.  This visit would end up being the highlight of our trip.  Kara and I are so thrilled that the boys were able to spend some time with their only living Great Grandparent.  I loved to sit back and watch the joy etched on Kara's face.  It was truly a magical visit.  We think Mimi was very proud to show off her great grandsons too.

We headed back to the hotel after the visit and we called it a night.  The boys were very tired and for the most part did an excellent job sleeping that night.  I actually think Kara and I had more problems sleeping.  We are not used to a king size bed and we are not accustomed to sleeping without our little dog Leo.  The lack of body heat in the bed made for some chilly sleeping!

There was a Cracker Barrel located right behind our hotel so we ordered carryout on Thanksgiving morning.   Kara and I have made it a tradition to eat Cracker Barrel each Thanksgiving morning and the only deviation from that tradition this year was getting our food to go.  It is much easier than bringing the boys to eat in the restaurant.  The food was a hit as always and next year the boys will be chowing down on eggs right along with us.  When I got back to the hotel I walked into the room and saw this ...

I think the boys like this whole hotel gig!!

We had picked out "cute" Thanksgiving day outfits for the boys.  But during a mini meltdown Kara and I decided to see if we could put the Dr. Brown nipples on the bottle of pre-made formula.  Guess what?  You can't do that!  The boys were covered in formula and thus required an outfit change before we even got out of the hotel.  I learned my lesson.  I'm new to this whole formula thing.  We finished our breakfast and headed off to Grandma and Grandpa Russell's to meet Uncle Bryan (Kara's brother) and Aunt Katie for the first time.  We were very excited for this meeting!!!  It was actually last year at Thanksgiving that we announced our pregnancy to Bryan and Katie (you can catch that video here).  Oh the memories!  We were so nervous.  You can tell that my hand was shaking as I was secretly recording the whole thing with my crummy camera phone.  The boys started to meltdown in the hotel room before we headed out but that was our fault as we kept them awake past their morning nap.  We wanted them to sleep in the car on the way Grandma and Grandpa Russell's.  And sleep they did.  So needless to say they were a bit cranky when we woke them up from their nap.  But within minutes the boys had taken a great interest in their Aunt and Uncle.  Uncle Bryan was a HIT!

   

And so was Aunt Katie ...

We celebrate Christmas with Kara's side of the family each year at Thanksgiving.  The boys were rolling in all sorts of new stuff.  They received several new outfits and several new toys.  You can see Alex testing out some of the new toys in the above picture.  They loved them!!  And Grandma and Grandpa did a great job picking out toys to fit the boys unique personalities.  Perfection.

We went to Thanksgiving dinner around 1:00 pm at Aunt Nancy and Uncle Ray's house.  The boys got the chance to meet their Great Aunt and Great Uncle along with some cousins for the first time.  They did wonderful!  I was worried that a lack of a nap would cause some problems.  We let the boys sit with us during Thanksgiving dinner.  It was hard to eat but it was worth it to be able to eat with the family.  Alex decided that he wanted some of what we were all eating so he took a big handful of coleslaw off of Kara's plate.  It was too cute.  The family once again spoiled the boys with a lot of new clothes!  We are so grateful for a loving and supportive family.  We stuffed ourselves silly with a lot of good food.  The boys started to get very tired and both of them took about a 30 minute nap ...

Can you say too much turkey?

We headed back to town about 4:30 pm.  We decided to drive down to the lake while the boys took a nap in the car.  The city didn't have a lot of traffic so it was a nice drive.  By the time we arrived back to the hotel the boys had slept for another hour.  We got them into their pajamas and then we all hung out on the bed and watched football together.  It was a great time!  They boys are now at an age where they just love to play with their toys.  I love when you put a toy next to them and their entire face lights up.  They just get so excited about everything.  They love it even more when we play with them.  

We headed back to Columbus the next day.  The weather had turned a bit crappy but we still survived the trip home.  The boys did a great job entertaining themselves in the car.    

The trip was short but we managed to pack away many memories!  

Mary  

6 month stats

Jakob

Weight: 14 lbs 6 oz (less than 3rd percentile)
Height: 24.75 inches (less than 3rd percentile)

Alex

Weight: 14 lbs 0 oz (less than 3rd percentile)
Height: 25 inches (3rd percentile)

Mary

things that go bump in the night

Let's set the scene ...

It is 2:15am.  I have just stumbled back up the stairs after a super exciting middle of the night pumping session.  It is my job to give Jakob a "dream feed" at 2:30am in order to guarantee that Kara can sleep until at least 6:30am.  I enter the dark bedroom and all is quiet.  I walk over to the dresser and pick-up Jakob's bottle.  It is empty.  Crap.  That means Jakob woke-up while I was downstairs pumping and Kara had to feed him.  That means less sleep for Kara.  So I crawl back to bed and Kara stirs ...

Me: "Sorry."
Kara: "That's okay."
Me: "Was he really hungry?"
Kara: "Yes."
Me: "Weird."

We both promptly fall back to sleep.

It is now 4:00am and Jakob is starting to fuss.  Or as we like to say in our household, "The beast is stirring."  I kind of ignore his noises for a few minutes.  And then I just get plain frustrated.  Jakob just ate.  How in the world is he hungry? The following conversation takes place ...

Me (to Kara): "Are his eyes open?"
Kara: "Yeah.  He's probably hungry."
Me: "He just ate."
Kara: "You fed him?"
Me: "Um? No.  You told me you fed him."
Kara: "No I didn't.  When did I tell you that?"
Me: "An hour ago.  And the bottle is empty. Who did you feed?"
Kara: "I didn't feed anyone.  That was the bottle you gave Jakob before you went to bed."
Me: "Crap.  Why do we have a baby that eats so much?"

So it is back downstairs I go to make another bottle for Jakob.  And how did I forget to bring the two bottles upstairs before bed?  What makes the story even funnier is that as I was climbing the stairs to go to bed that night I had even thought to myself, "I'm missing something" ... yep ...  I was missing Jakob's other bottle.

But again the most important question ... Why do I go upstairs each night with 2 bottles for Jakob and 0 bottles for Alex??

Mary

Happy 1/2 Birthday!

Age: The boys are 6 months old.

Weight / Length: The boys have their 6 month appointment a week from today.  So stay tuned ...

Clothes: The boys are in 3-6 months at Old Navy, 4-6 months at H&M and 6 month at Carters.  And some of the 6 month Carters are starting to get a bit snug.  I just bought a cute outfit at Carters for Alex and the pants are a bit tight so Alex officially has his first pair of "skinny jeans" ... my little boy is so trendy!

What are we eating?:  Our boys can EAT, EAT, EAT!!! The boys take between 6 oz - 7 oz at 7:00 am, 10:00 am, 1:00 pm, 4:00 pm and 7:00 pm.  And then Jakob usually takes an extra 4 oz at 2:30 am.  This means the boys eat anywhere between 30 oz - 38 oz per day.  We have officially started weaning the boys from breast milk.  It will be a slow process.  I hope to be done pumping by the time the boys are 8 or 9 months old.  They currently get 2 oz of formula at the 1:00 pm and 7:00 pm bottle.  I am only pumping about 58 oz per day so this helps keep up with the demand for milk that can reach 70 oz per day!!  I'm not sure what happened as I was averaging about 60 oz per day until a week ago when my supply suddenly took a nose dive.  It is almost like my body knows that we are transitioning the boys to formula.  The boys are also eating solids 2x per day.  We are sticking to the fruit and vegetable purees at the moment.  The boys have tried sweet potatoes, peas, squash, bananas, and apples.  We have green beans and peaches in the line-up to try in the next couple of weeks.  Jakob suddenly got the whole "eating off of a spoon" thing last week.  He now opens his mouth really wide whenever he sees the spoon.  My favorite is to see his face after the first bite of each meal.  You can tell that he is anticipating a certain food and then when he gets a different taste he lets you automatically know how he feels about it.  We are still waiting for Alex to get on the "solids train" but we do try to get him to take at least a few bites at each meal.  The favorites at the moment are sweet potatoes and bananas.

How are we sleeping?:  Alex is a world champion sleeper!!!  The boys go to bed around 7:30 pm each night.  Alex will always sleep straight through the night until about 7:00 am the next morning.  Not only that but Alex will fall asleep without any problems.  You just give good night kisses and off to sleep he will go.  But Jakob?  Oh my handsome little boy!  Jakob needs his nightlight and lullabies to go to sleep each night.  It's like a disco party on Jakob's side of the room!  And Jakob is always up at least one time during the night (or two times or three times).  He has such a convincing cry.  And when we finally get up and go over to his Rock N Play all we see is .... A smiling Jakob.  Oye!!  Such a little squirt!

What's going on?: The boys are doing so much!

Jakob is a rolling machine.  He can roll back to belly and belly to back with no problems.  We put Jakob on the playmat and within minutes he has managed to roll himself over to the other playmat.  Jakob still has the most contagious laugh.  His entire face can light up a room.  Jakob loves to play with toys.  Well actually Jakob loves to chew on toys.  They are both becoming fans of Sophie the Giraffe.  Jakob also loves to blow bubbles and make as many noises as possible.  Jakob is doing better with sitting up unassisted.  He has almost mastered the tripod sit and he can usually remain upright for about 15 seconds.  Jakob is also starting to try to pull himself up to a sitting position.  Jakob can get super crazy when you try to give him his bottle.  He is so interested in everything that is going on around him that giving him a bottle can become a sport in itself.  Often times Jakob will end up with more milk on his face than milk in his belly.  I think Jakob will be a snuggle bug as he gets older.  He loves to bury his face into your shoulder.  There is no greater joy in life than snuggling with my little boy.  Both boys love to grab at their feet.  It's even better when they get to wear socks.  They pull on their socks so much that the get stretched to three times their original size!

My little Alex.  He is still a very serious little boy.  He has recently discovered the joy of being held and as such most of the evenings are spent with Alex in my arms.  Alex will very rarely cry.  But he can whimper with the best of them.  If you put Alex down in the evening you will hear a little whimper until you pick him up again.  Alex can roll from his belly to his back.  He is just content with life and therefore I think he is a bit slower to accomplish his milestones.  There just really isn't a reason.  Alex does not laugh a whole lot.  And mostly it is a silent laugh.  But I treasure each laugh I get as they are a rarity in our house.  Alex still loves his Jumperoo.  He could sit in that thing all day.  We have named his jumping pattern to "The Alex" as he often crosses his arms and moves his legs in the same pattern each time you put him in the Jumperoo.  I know Alex is always thinking.  You can just tell.  Alex is still working on sitting unassisted.  We do get a few seconds of tripod sitting.  Alex loves his Scout doll.  I think it must be the lights.  Alex also loves to grab at his feet.
   
How are the mommies doing?:  We are doing good.  We still find ourselves exhausted at the end of the day.  But it is a good exhausted.  We are actually beginning the home buying process!  This is very exciting and very overwhelming all at the same time.  We are excited to think that in just a few short months we will hopefully have a home for the boys to grow-up in.  We hope to move to the town where I grew-up.  It will still be centrally located to both of our jobs.  We like the school district and we would be close to the grandparents.  I am extremely nervous about the move but I know it will be a wonderful thing in the long run.  I also recently started in a new position at work.  It is a good move career wise and it has been a long time coming.  It will also help our family financially.  At the same time my workload will also increase and so will the stress.  I'm trying to remain optimistic!!  Kara is doing a wonderful job with the boys during the day.  She is truly amazing!!!!  I'm not sure how she manages to remain sane.  But each day I get home from work she has a smile on her face.  And more often than not so do the boys!

Mary

election day

Today was election day.  And being a lifelong resident of Ohio I have grown-up to know the importance of our state.  We have been looking forward to taking the boys to vote for the first time.  We got to our polling location at 11:00 am and finally walked out the door at 12:15 pm and 12:35 pm.  I got to stand in a shorter line because of my last name.  The boys were wonderful!!  They loved watching all the people.  But my arm was about to fall off from holding Alex for over an hour.  Of course Alex wanted nothing to do with being in the carrier so that meant I got to hold him.  It was amazing to vote with my boys today.  I know they won't remember this day.  But I want to be able to tell them about it some day.  We are so blessed to live in a country where everyone has the right to vote.  I hope as they grow up they remember to "Be the change you want to see in the world."

Mary

they didn't spontaneously combust

I gave the boys formula last night.  And there was no spontaneous combustion.  Now granted each boy only got an ounce of formula.  But still.  It was hard.  But it has to happen.  I just cannot keep up with the demand.  We can go through 70 oz of breast milk a day.  Thanks Jakob!  And on a really good day I can only pump 62 oz.  Needless to say that is not going to cover our needs.  Our freezer supply is slowly being depleted and so it was time to rip off the band-aid.  The boys definitely noticed the change in taste.  We got a couple of funny faces.  But because I gave the formula to the boys before the breast milk it seemed to be no problem.  We shall see what happens today.  I have also suddenly got this irrational fear that something is going to happen to me and the boys will be forced to suddenly drink a lot of formula.  And that worries me.  So again it was time.  The boys will still get a bulk of their milk from breast milk.  So there is that at least.  My fears are SO irrational.  Before I was pregnant I had zero expectation of providing them with breast milk.  I thought for sure they would both be formula fed.  But then this amazing thing happened.  I was able to meet all their nutritional needs.  My body actually did something right!  And then I just got plain stinking competitive.  What can I say?  I'm a Heitzman.  We are a competitive group by nature!!!  But last night I threw in the towel.  I realized that my stubbornness is a bit ridiculous.  What is important is meeting the needs of my boys.  My very, very hungry boys!!!

And now a picture for Grandpa Park ...

 
And not to be outdone by Mr. Jakob.  Here is Alex ... SMILING!!

I will be back in the next few days for a proper post.  The boys are changing so much!  It needs to be documented.

Mary