Opus 38 - Babies' First Football Game

Well, we took the babies to their first football game - BYU vs. University of Northern Iowa. You may be asking yourself, "Are they crazy?" My answer is yes, yes we are crazy :) We figured we should try it out and see how they handle it. Here's what we have learned:

Lissa does just fine at football games. She was a little startled by the noise at first and cried a bit, but quickly calmed down and slept through the majority of the game. One of my favorite moments came when she was crying a little after we scored a touchdown (I assume I don't need to mention that we won, right?), but calmed down as soon as she heard the band playing the fight song. That's my girl!

Joshua does not do well at football games. He's our sensitive kid. He's not too found of loud noises. We haven't figured out what causes this since he does fine with the noise sometimes... He was fine with the loud 24th of July fireworks a month ago, but sometimes bursts out crying when Jason sneezes :) He didn't nap well the morning of the game, so we were really nervous about how he'd handle the noise. Poor Jason spent most of the game underneath the stands watching the game on the video board. Many thanks to BYU for setting up the chairs under the stands with a great view of the video board! I felt bad for poor Jason, so Lissa & I joined he and Joshua during the fourth quarter.

We didn't really get to see much of the game, so we watched it on TV when we got home. We've decided to hire babysitters for the rest of the home game. (If anyone in our ward is reading this and can recommend some great babysitters, I'd appreciate it!)

I'm very proud of my kids though - the band was playing on the street in front of the stadium after the game, so we stopped to watch. We stood behind the band so the babies wouldn't get the full volume (I've heard that standing in front of a 225 piece marching band is louder than standing next to a jet engine). They seemed to enjoying listening. What great kiddos! They were just staring at the band. So cute!

We haven't figured out what we're going to do when we go to Seattle this week and attend the BYU vs. Washington game. We're very seriously considering ear muffs for Joshua. A friend also recommended we watch a lot of loud football games on tv this week to help him get used to the noise. Wish us luck!

Here's a picture of the babies in their cute BYU onsies:

Opus 37 - Medical Update

For those of you who are wondering: I recently had a HIDA Scan done to determine how my gallbladder is doing. In this test they inject a die into you and watch it go through your system. Apparently, the die was barely coming out of my gallbladder, so it's dead :) Since we're leaving on vacation next week, and since removing my gallbladder is not an emergency, my doctor and I decided to postpone surgery until I get back. I will be meeting with the surgeon on September 12th. In the meantime, I get to enjoy a very low-fat diet.

Opus 36 1/2 - Formula Clarification

After getting some responses about my earlier post, I guess I should clarify the formula thing so you guys don't think we're wasting our hard earned money on the expensive formula :) Never fear, we use the Walmart formula - Lissa uses the regular milk based, but for some reason Joshua can only handle the lactose free Walmart formula. Both babies do great on Similac (milk based and soy - they both throw up massively on Enfamil and Costco brands and only Joshua can do the Nestle) so whenever we can get free samples we love it... it is much more convenient when they use the same formula. We use the Similac samples when we feed them outside of the home, it helps to not have to pack two kinds of formula. Besides, every sample can saves us a little bit of money :)

Opus 36 - Six Month Check-up

The babies had their 6 month check up today. As usual, they are healthy, strong, and developing well. Joshua is now a whopping 17 pounds 3 ounces and 28 inches long. He is in the 50th percentile for both weight and height. He's going to outgrow his infant seat soon, oh no! :) Little Lissa is 13 pounds 7 ounces and 26 inches long. She is also in the 50th percentile in height (you go girl!), but is in the 5th percentile in weight :) Tall and skinny. It's just like the song I sing to her (to the tune of "I'm a Little Teapot") - "I'm a little Lissa tall and skinny. Here is my mouth, here is my tonguie. When I get all hungry I will shout, just give me my bottle and I'll drink it all out." We're really proud of our babies and how hard they have worked to catch up to the other babies their age. They really are working hard - they nap, on average, 6-7 hours a day and sleep 11 hours at night. Being a growing baby is hard work!

I've included some cute pictures we've taken recently. Enjoy!

P.S. This is for the mothers of babies living in Utah who don't use formula - If you feel comfortable asking your doctor for samples of formula and giving it us, we'd really appreciate it! The babies can take the regular Similac Advance (in the blue can) and also do fine on the Similac Soy (red can). We're happily take all the help we can get - formula gets expensive for two :)

Lissa after a satisfying meal of rice cereal and green beans

Lissa says, "What? You have got to be kidding!!"

Joshua is determined to get that toy where he wants it!

The grass is always greener on the other side!
(Hey! You're toy is cooler than mine!)

Joshua says, "Hi Mom! Look at me eat my green beans!"

Joshua is such a good eater!

Isn't Lissa a cutie?

This is how Lissa felt about green beans at first. (Can't blame her!)

Lissa says, "You aren't going to get me to eat those! Ew!"

Joshua says, "Look Mom! I found my toes!"

Isn't Joshua a cutie?

Opus 35 - Olympic Fun

We have thoroughly enjoyed watching the Olympics at our house and are so sad they are over. Even Lissa & Joshua got into things - they loved it when we chanted, "USA! USA! USA!" Here are some pictures of the babies watching the Olympics:

Lissa says, "Go Nastia, Go!"

Joshua listening to Bob Costas.

Opus 34 - Vacation Help

I know I've done a lot of posting today, but I need your help :) We're going on a vacation to Seattle in two weeks. I'm so excited! I've never been to the Pacific Northwest and I hear it's just beautiful. Here's my dilemma: Our flight leaves at 7:30 p.m.; Jason gets home from work at 4:00 p.m. I know we need to get to the airport early, especially since we're traveling with two infants and we need to leave our car in long term parking. It usually only takes about 45 minutes to get to the airport, but I'm worried that we'll hit bad traffic, especially if we leave at 5:00 or later. Therefore, I'd like to leave as soon as Jason gets home.

This doesn't sound like much of a problem, right? Well here it is... The babies are on a strict feeding schedule (this is the only way to survive twins!) - they have bottles at 4:00 p.m., cereal at 6:00 p.m., and bottles at 8:00 p.m. I can't decide how to alter the schedule to make it work with our flight plans. If I feed them at 3:00 and have everything else ready to go, then we can be out of the door as soon as Jason gets home. But that means they'll be ready for cereal as soon as we get to the airport (or while we're driving there). I can just imagine us feeding the babies cereal while waiting in the security line! LOL! And that means they'll be ready for bottles at the exact time we'll be getting ready to load the plane. It would be great to have them drink their last bottles at 8:00 p.m. so they'll be eating most of the flight (and they tend to fall asleep while eating the last bottles if we hold them for awhile). Oh, and I hear drinking a bottle helps babies' ears when in a plane. We might be able to feed them at 3:00, give them a little snack (meaning a small amount of formula) while waiting in the security line, feed them cereal as soon as we get to the gate, then give them their full formula feeding at 8:00 p.m.

What do you think? I'd love any ideas and/or suggestions! Any other words of advice about traveling with infants would be great too!

Opus 33 - Bumbo Fun

This is a cute video of Joshua and Lissa in their Bumbos. It's fun to watch Joshua try to get his toy of the tray - he goes from frustration to excitement. Lissa seems more interested in what Joshua is doing than in playing with her own toy. Such cute babies :)

Opus 32 - Lissa & Joshua's Latest Noisemaking Skills

The babies are having a great time discovering what noises they can make with their mouths. Here are some cute videos of them demonstrating their new found abilities...

Opus 31 - Emily's Medical Adventures

You know how they say pregnancy can wreak havoc on your body? I have found that to be completely accurate. Over the past couple of months there have been about six different times where I have been awakened in the middle of the night by intense pain in my upper abdomen, upper back, and right shoulder. Not knowing what it was, I just "rode" it out the first few times. It usually only lasts 2-3 hours and then it goes away. About two weeks ago it was so painful that I gave in to Jason's request and went to the emergency room (after finding someone to come be with the babies of course). After sitting in the waiting room for two hours, the pain finally went away so we went home without seeing a doctor.

I decided it was time to see my doctor about this so I finally made an appointment. She scheduled me for an ultrasound the next week. After checking me out the ultrasound tech told me my gallbladder is "diseased" and needs to be removed right away. I don't know about you, but to me, right away means fast, soon, quickly, immediately. Apparently, this is not the case. The tech told me that I would hear from the doctor by Friday (two days ago) and if I didn't to call the doctor's office. I called Friday afternoon and was told that the radiologist hadn't finished reading the information. (Isn't the radiologist and ultrasound tech the same person?? I just don't know.) This means I'll have to wait until Monday, at least.

Of course, Saturday at around three or four in the morning, I wake up with that horrible pain again. It was REALLY bad this time. You know how the nurses ask you to rate your pain on a scale of 1-10? This was a 10, no joke. I don't even want to wait to find someone to watch the babies, so I just drive myself to the emergency room. Jason later asked me how my drive went, my reply was, "I made it." I really don't remember much of it :)

Fortunately, they were able to get me back within 15-20. Jason had called his parents and they very kindly came over to be with the babies and feed them breakfast so Jason could come be with me. The doctor came in and talked to me, chewed me out for eating some ice cream the night before (no one told me dairy was a big no-no for someone in my condition! A little information would have been helpful!), and had the nurse give me some great pain meds through an IV. Although the pain meds started worked immediately, my stomach, unfortunately, did not take to them very well. They gave me medicine for that twice, but I still had a horribly upset stomach. I slept for 2 1/2 hours after getting home. I woke up long enough to help feed the babies, then took some more medicine and slept for another 2 1/2 hours.

Thank goodness the pain is now gone and the E.R. doctor gave me some good advice on what foods to avoid (NO DAIRY!), so I should survive the rest of the weekend. The doctor told me to call my family doctor right away on Monday and tell them that I need to have this surgery ASAP. I hope to be able to have it this week so I can get it over with (and so I can recover before the first BYU game and our upcoming vacation to Seattle). It'll be a challenge to find enough people to help with the babies while I recover, since I won't be able to pick them up for 4-5 days, but we have great family and friends around so it would work out.

I look forward to no more middle of the night pains!

Opus 30 - Going Out With Twins

As you can imagine, going out with the twins is quite an adventure. But what makes it an adventure is not getting everything together, packing the babies up, driving to the location with babies crying, getting the stroller out, putting the babies in the stroller, and getting the diaper bag attached to the stroller correctly... no, that has all become easy over time. The real adventure begins when we enter the store.

I've read several books about raising twins and I remember one mother of twins talking about how her twins are like celebrities while she and her husband are their assistants. Jason & I have found that to be right on the money. I feel a bit awkward walking around the store hearing people whisper (or sometimes just talk really loud as if we can't hear them!) about the babies... "Oh, look! It's twins!" or something similar.

Then there are the people who come up and talk to us. We always get the same questions/comments... "Are they twins?" (DUH!!) "Double trouble!" "What a blessing!" "I always wanted twins." "Is it fun?" "Are you tired?" (DUH!!) "Are they boys or girls?" - that's one of my personal favorites. I totally dress Lissa like a girl and Joshua like a boy, yet I still get that question. It's like people forget that you can have a boy and a girl.

But that's not my ultimate favorite - my very favorite question comes immediately after I explain that they are a boy and a girl... "Are they identical?" Seriously? Did you not take biology? I usually smile and explain that they can't be identical. Sometimes I get blank stares after that, but more often I get an embarrassed grin. I have to admit that sometimes I don't even answer the question, I just look at them and wait for them to figure it out on their own. Don't worry, I only do this with people I actually know, I wouldn't do that to a stranger :)

Here's the question I really don't like and just don't understand why people ask it... "What are their names?" To me, that is not something you ask a stranger about their baby. I think it's inappropriate. That's getting too personal. I don't want to tell the whole world my babies' names. So I've decided that I should start giving fake names when I get that question. I'm thinking it would be fun to give names that would get a good reaction. Some that Jason and I have thought of are - Joseph & Emma, Luke & Leia, Jack & Jill... Does anyone have any other ideas? We get this question a lot so we're going to need a lot of names to keep us entertained!

I know that we'll always get a reaction when we go out with Lissa and Joshua. It's something we'll have to get accustomed to. It's like the one mother said - they're celebrities and we're their assistants. It's just one price we pay for having our adorable babies. They're worth it!

Opus 29 - We're Big Kids Now

Today was "We're Big Kids" day for Lissa and Joshua. The first "Big Kid" thing they did was eat rice cereal for the first time. I didn't really expect them to do very well their first try, but I was pleasantly surprised. Both seemed to enjoy the taste of the cereal and did a pretty good job of getting it down. Joshua didn't nap well today - he had a hard time keeping his head up and after eating about 1/4 of his cereal he decided he was exhausted (shocker), so I had to stop feeding him and put him down for an evening nap. Lissa, who napped beautifully today, LOVED her cereal. She chomped all of it down, constantly opening her mouth for more. I'm so proud of my little kids!

The second "Big Kid" thing the babies did today was take a bath in big bathtub for the first time. It was a challenge since they don't sit up independently yet, but are too big for their infant tub. However, we all survived and the babies are beautifully clean :) I don't have any pictures of this adventure, but I'm sure you can understand why - there is no way I could have taken a picture while holding on to their squirmy bodies!

Enjoy the pictures of them eating cereal for the first time!

Lissa eating away

Joshua attempting to keep his head up despite his exhaustion

Go Lissa go!

Opus 28 - We Made It!

Jason & I accomplished a great feat yesterday - we made it through all three hours of church with the twins! For those of you who may be wondering how this is a great accomplishment, my first question for you is... Have you ever tried to go through three hours of church with two five month old babies?... during their nap time?? Most of the time we both end up in the hallway with crying babies, so we leave after Sacrament Meeting and put the babies to bed. But this time was so much better than usual.

Typically, Joshua begins screaming about 1/3 of the way through Sacrament and Jason spends the rest of the time in halls with a screaming boy while I stay with Lissa (who is sleeping peacefully). I've learned that Joshua will go to sleep quite well, as long as he doesn't hit his exhaustion limit - he has to be put to bed before that or it's not pretty. Armed with this knowledge, I was determined to get him to sleep before he hit his limit so he wouldn't scream. The second he started to act the tiniest fussy, I took him to the back of the chapel and held him. He stayed calm for about five minutes, then he made one fussy noise and I immediately took him to the hallway. I was able to get him to sleep in five minutes. I was then able to go back into the chapel and enjoy the rest of the meeting while the babies slept.

We were then able to go to the rest of our meetings fairly successfully (okay, one of us was in the hall most of the time, but at least one of us was in class!).

We feel we put a few more tools in our "Keeping the Babies Happy During Church" toolbox and hope to have many more successful Sundays. But, when the inevitable unsuccessful ones do come, we know we can learn from those days, put more in our toolbox, and move on.

Opus 27 - Wireless Joshua

Here are some pictures of Joshua's cute face...

Opus 26 - Good News!

We got great news yesterday afternoon! Joshua is finally wireless! ...and there was much rejoicing in the Smith household! He has the cutest little wireless face. As soon as he's up and going I'll try to get some pictures and post them. He tends to clam up for the camera so I can't guarantee a smile, but you'll still get to see his cutie face. We are so happy to have our little boy off of the monitors! Two wireless babies... wow!! We can't wait to have all of that junk out of our house for good :)

We did get some interesting news at the same time though. The NICU doctor said Joshua's heart rate is a little lower than normal. We have scheduled an appointment with the cardiologist (again) to see what's going on. When our doctor told me, she didn't seem especially worried, like it's something I need to stay up nights fretting about, so that's good. I'm going to try to not let it worry me. The next available appointment was Sept. 29th, so it'll be awhile before we figure this thing out. I'll keep you posted.

We have two wireless babies! We're so proud of our babies!

Opus 25 - Beethoven

The babies woke up a little early from their nap this morning (they seem to be doing this a lot lately), so I took them downstairs to play in their bouncers. I decided that, being the music educator I am, I should play the piano for them. I thought about playing Mozart since so many people say it's good for babies to hear Mozart, but I'm not completely sold on the whole "Mozart Effect" thing since the study wasn't all that comprehensive (it only should that the kids who listened to Mozart did better on one specific type of test, so you have to be careful when touting Mozart). Don't get me wrong, I love Mozart and have played it many times for the kids simply because I enjoy the music. And of course I know that music is good for the development of the brain. I just feel there are many other studies out there that are more comprehensive than the Mozart one.

But I digress. I was talking about my decision to play the piano for the babies. I decided Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata would be great - maybe it would help keep the babies calm. I began playing. At first Joshua whined a little, but soon calmed down and focused on his toys. When I was about 3/4 of the way down the 2nd of 3 pages Lissa decided it was time to express herself. She started to do her little yell thing she does when she wants her pacifier. As usual, in the beginning there was just a yell here and there that wasn't too loud. So on I went with Beethoven. By the time I got to the last three or four lines of the song, Lissa's yells were much closer together, higher in pitch, and higher in volume. Determined to finish the song (I didn't want the song stuck in my head the rest of the day due to it's lack of an ending), I picked up the pace a little. Then Joshua kicked in. He figured he should express himself too, since his sister was doing it. So the last two lines were a bit hurried, with a few mistakes as I kept turning to talk to the babies and calm them while I played, and had the addition of my babies' voices. Poor Beethoven, I don't think this was how he intended his beautiful Moonlight Sonata to be.

I think I'll pick a shorter song from now on... But at least I'm trying to expose my kids to great music! :)

Opus 24 - Joshua and His Tummy

So Joshua has decided that he is a tummy sleeper. He first rolled from his back to his tummy on July 30th and perfected on July 31st (a present for my Dad). Ever since that night, as soon as we put him in his crib on his back he quickly rolls over to his tummy. I know that the chances of SIDS reduces drastically when the baby can roll over, but it still makes me a little nervous that he sleeps on his tummy... especially since he can't roll from his tummy to his back yet. Now it's time for everyone to write in with stories about their kids that were back to tummy rollers first who liked to sleep on their tummies and how everything turned out fine and that I don't need to worry (which I realize is the case, but still)...