7 months

Now that the babies are 7 1/2 months..I am finally doing their 7 month post! We've been busy with vacation, Steph and Adam's wedding, and summer activities!!!!

The babies are getting harder and harder to photograph now that they are getting a little more mobile! Plus sometimes when I put them next to eachother, Scout likes to torment Finley. This is the best I got this month...





Is it just me, or do they look annoyed?



The twins are growing into 2 very different little people. It is fun watching them develop their own little quirks and traits.

Scout plays with her ear when she's nursing and/or falling asleep. Finley likes to reach up and touch my face when he is nursing, and he usually holds on tight to your hand when he is going to sleep, otherwise he flails his arms all over the place! When they are both nursing together, they usually each put their far arms up over my breast and hold hands in the middle of my chest. It's so sweet.

Scout has started doing "So Big", while Finley just shakes his head "no" when you ask him "are you so big?". Funny thing is, he only does it when you ask him that.

Both are sitting up completely on their own now. Scout can get herself from sitting up, onto to her tummy. She'll lunge forward, usually bonking her nose, but she doesn't cry, and then she'll push herself up with her hands. She is scooting all over the place. She'll soon be crawling I think!

I left her for a quick moment to do something in the kitchen and when I came back, she had scooted herself under the couch on her tummy! She just had her little head poking out looking around! Guess I can't do that anymore!

Finley is pretty content to just hang out wherever we put him, and play with whatever is within his reach!

No teeth yet for either of them. Scout has a tooth that is almost ready to come through though. She's got a big bump and you can see the tooth near the surface!

They enjoyed their first vacation up to the cabin. They loved the pool, especially Scout. She even fell asleep in her floatie in the water a few times! Finley enjoys the water too, he's just more sensitive, and got cold in the water sooner.

Finley acquired a new nickname while on vacation: Finner Finner Chicken Dinnner.

This past month we've started taking to the chiropractor for constipation. It has helped them a ton! My poor babies have never been very regular in that department. But it looks like we are getting things on track.

The twins are definitely aware of each other. Scout likes to bother Finley, and he gets worked up so quickly, and I think she thinks it is funny. One time they were sitting face to face, and she was grabbing at him, and he started screaming in anger, and the little stinkerbell, she started giggling!!!!

Scout likes to spit out her nuk, and then take Finn's nuk out of his mouth and put it in her mouth. She loves to grab his ears and his hair too. Oh and shes started chomping on his arms and legs too! It's strange though because Finley is the one that can be so rough when he gets upset, like when he is nursing sometimes he'll pinch my boob or scratch my face. But when he is next to Scout he is so gentle, and he'll just put his hand on her head softly. He's always smiling at her, and looking at her so adoringly! My gentle little lion...(when he's not tired and angry anyway!)

They both love to play. On their play mats, in their exersaucers, in their bumbos with toys. It's baby central in our living room!





















These 2 babies are so lucky. They have the most wonderful big brother and sister too. Both Malichi and Kinzie absolutely adore Finley and Scout.

Kinzie came in while I was trying to get them both down for their nap the other day, and asked if she could help. She sang to scout and rubbed her arm in her crib, while I rocked Finley to sleep. Scout calmed right down, and just stared up at Kinzie while she sang. I think the hardest part for me right now, is that is is incredibly hard to get 2 babies down for a nap alone when they are both tired at the same time. Especially when they scream when they get tired!

Malichi is always wanting to hold the babies, and feed them, and he LOVES to make them laugh. Loves it. He thinks it is just great when he can act ridiculous and get them to giggle!

This pretty much sums it up.....

Life with 4 kids. It's crazy...but I love it.

Happy 4th!

Happy 4th of July from the 6 of us!!!



We went to the Delano parade with some old friends from Mom's club... it was so good to get together with that crowd again! Then we had a lazy afternoon at home (a little too lazy I think) .... and of course watched the Waconia fireworks as we do every year! It was a good day....and now it's time for bed!

Night!

so big...or not?

This made my day....

6 months

We are half-way to ONE! Can you believe it?!







Fin and Scout had their 6 mo. appt. last week.

Finley weighed in at 15 lb. putting him at 10%. Our little peanut.





Scout weighed 16 lb. 10 oz. putting her at 70%.






They are both little shorties just like their mama! Fin was 24 1/4" and Scout was 24". Under 10% for both! Sorry babies, you got my short genes!

This past month the babies have seemed to grow up so much!

They both have the rolling over thing down well. Finley started first, and then a couple of weeks later Scout started. Scout will roll over in her crib at night all the time, and then she gets mad because she is on her tummy. But instead of rolling back over (which she does all the time during the day) she face plants into the mattress and cries. Sometimes she'll just stay sleeping, but instead of turning her head she'll just have her face flat into the mattress and sleep that way. It makes me so nervous! Finley rolls onto his side to sleep.

When we have her on the floor playing, Scout has started to scoot a little too. She'll put her butt up in the air, pushing herself up with her toes, and then she'll straighten her legs and push herself forward a little.

They are both sitting up now for the most part. Scout is able to balance herself pretty well for quite a while. Finley will get tired after a bit and put his head down on his feet!

Scout has started to grab her feet all the time! She always has her legs way up in the air and is grabbing at her little tooties! :)

They are now eating dinner with us every night. On their menu is some type of rice cereal along with a fruit or veggie. So far they have had peaches, pears, bananas, apples, carrots, sweet potatos, and peas. They don't seem to dislike any really. Finley does great, he just opens his mouth right up and waits for the food. And he'll get mad if we aren't quick enough too! Scout on the other hand, tries to suck the food off the spoon. She is a little more difficult to feed! I thought it would be the other way around. I thought she'd jump right in to eating solids!

The great thing too with them being on solids now, is that we don't really have to give them formula anymore at night! I think they get filled up at dinner and then are satisfied with just nursing at bedtime.

We have gotten into a bit more of a schedule this past month too, which for me is GREAT! They are taking 3 naps a day usually, and bedtime has gotten MUCH earlier! We are able to feed them dinner, play a little, do baths and get ready for bed, then I nurse them, and by about 8:00 they are ready for bed. We are able to put them down awake and they fall asleep on their own most nights now! They have made HUGE strides in the sleeping department this past month! Some nights I only have to feed them each once in the middle of the night. We do still have the nights where it is every 2 hours or so, but they aren't every night anymore!

The babies are really loving their toys. They've both got great eye hand coordination. They love their excersaucers, and have started turning themselves around in them to play with all the toys.They love their blankies and love having the silky part up by their face to go to sleep.

One of the things I LOVE to watch with the babies, is how they look at each other and reach for each other when we have them close. They are almost always holding hands when they are next to each other. Usually it is Finley reaching out and looking for Scouts hand. It is so sweet.

Fin has started biting when he is nursing! OUCH! I've been told to pull them off and stearnly say "no", so they understand right away that they can't do that. Well I tried that, and he looked up at me and grinned!!! And he's continued to do it.

Both of the babies are starting to get back some of the hair they lost, and their little bald spots on the back of their heads are finally filling in.

Grammy came last week and we worked on a few little projects.

We made this little reversible sundress for Scout:



And we did these little bloomers:


My funny little gentle boy.





My sweet...and loud...sassy girl.



Thing One and Thing Two:



I wish I would have started the monthly stuffed animal pictures when they were newborn, but I didn't think of it until they were 2 months old. Here is how much they've grown in the past 4 months!

Malichi Andrew.

Mr. Malichi. The next birthday we celebrate will be his eighth. 8! My baby is going to be 8! Where has the time gone?



As of now he's lost 5 teeth!! He just recently lost his top 2 and he looks so stinkin' cute with those 2 missing!!!! He had a little lisp at first too!



He is such a wonderful big brother! Everyday after school he is eager to get home to hold and play with the babies. He misses them when he is at school all day!

Malichi is so observant, and inquisitive. He is always listening to us, whether we think he is or not, and he is always asking why. He is curious about lots of things!

I love the things he comes up with to say:

About the twins: "They don't know much about life yet, They are just new learners."

And when Tiffany asked him what he wanted to be when he grows up he said " A parent".
She says, "Do you want to have a job outside the house too".
And he says, "No I want the stay home like my mom does and take care of my kids".

The other day he asks me, "Mom, what was your last name before you married dad?" and I replied "Dotson". He responds with "Well, shouldn't I be a Dotson then since you had me BEFORE you got married"?
I was so surprised by this question! But we have never hid the fact that we had him before we got married. He is IN our wedding pictures after all!

It seems the way home from school is when he really likes to talk to me. One day he was asking me a bunch of questions about alcohol. Can kids be in bars? What about restaurant bars? Does everything they sell at a bar have alcohol in it? What happens to you when you drink alcohol?

I try to be honest with him, without telling him more than is ready to hear.

Yesterday he says to me "My friend at school told me he saw a Daddy in the car with a baby in the backseat, and the Daddy was smoking, AND the windows were all rolled UP!" I said "oh?" and he says "yeah it's true. My friend saw it. I wish that the Dad wouldn't have done that. Is that baby going to die"?

He thinks about these things. He still gets very anxious about certain things. It breaks my heart that he has had to deal with anxiety at such a young age. We have him in a group at school once a week and that has seemed to help him quite a bit. We are working on teaching him how to identify his feelings, and how to handle situations.

He is still working hard at Karate and has earned another stripe. Soccer is just finishing up for the year and baseball starts soon. I think he is excited to do baseball this year instead of T-ball!

He is still our dawdler and I think he always will be! He somehow always seems to find something interesting to stop and look at our touch or climb on!!! He is quite easily distracted and can be so forgetful too! We constantly have to remind him to bring his lunch home, or his coat, or his homework. I don't know how many pairs of mittens we lost this winter at school!

Things Malichi loves:

Having his new room WAY upstairs!

Crossword puzzles, word finds, and his rubix cube.

Pencil buddies. Apparently these are the new CRAZE in school!

Playing quitar hero.

Wall ball.

Doing magic shows for us.

Reading. Especially his Star Wars, Shel Silverstein poem books and Magic Treehouse books. He's got some MAD reading skills!!! :) He is in an accelerated reading group in school and is reading at a 3rd grade level!

He loves math too, and it's another one of his strong points.

I am so proud of Malichi. He is such a good kid.

adjusting.

I feel like things are finally starting to get a little more "normal" around here(who cares about "normal" anyway right...)! We are getting more and more adjusted to life with twins, and life as a family of 6. Grammy has been an amazing help with all of this. Thanks Grammy!

The babies are getting older, and the weather is getting warmer. Which means I can take them places more and it's not such a hassle with all the bundling. Although now that they are getting heavier, it is getting way hard to carry them in their carseats at the same time. I better be buff soon from these babies! :P

One of the things I have found to be hard with twins is the logistics of getting them both where I need them to be when I am alone. When I am nursing them both, and then try to lift them both up to burp them, or get them off my lap so I can get up. Or like when they are both awake in the morning and wanting to be picked up, sometimes I can't pick just one of them to pick up so I'll try to pick them both up and sometimes they bonk heads. Sorry babies :( Or when I go to target and I forget the double stroller that the carseats snap into so I have to put each baby in their own cart and push 2 carts....and try to corral 2 other kids while doing the shopping as quickly as possible (ok that has only happened once but it sucked). Or when they are both needing some cuddle time and I can't fully give it to both when I try to rock them both.

Things like this get kinda tricky!

They are at the age that they are big enough that they are heavy and hard to carry 2 of them, but not old enough yet where they can grab on and kind of "help" when I am carrying them.

I read in one of my twin books "be prepared to be instant celebrities anytime you go somewhere" Oh my, is that ever true. I didn't realize twins was such an attention getter. Anytime we go somewhere I have to be prepared to stop and talk to people.

For some reason, with all this Nadya Suleman stuff in the news I get this one all the time.

"Oh, you have twins! Well aren't you glad it wasn't eight"?

um. ok.

and apparently Scout being all cutesy and usually in dresses or pink doesn't give away the fact that she's a girl.
People say all the time. "oh you have twins! Two boys huh?" Um. no.
Not sure why I get that one so often! Did you not see the headband? Or the pink dress? Or the pink blanket? Or the pink shoes? I just have to laugh.

this one floors me.
"Twins! A boy and a girl!?"
"yep" I say.
And then they follow with this... It never fails... "Are they identical"?
I politely say "no" and leave it at that.
But I am thinking "I sure as hell hope not or we might have some issues..."

And apparently 4 kids is like way too many to have!!! I didn't realize this.
If I am out with the 2 babies, people will often ask if they are my only 2. I say "no, I have 2 others at home", and then they drop their jaw, "Oh you have two MORE. Wow your a busy mom"!
I've even been asked if I do daycare! One time me and Kristie were at culver's together and we got asked if we were having a birthday party!!!! Nope just us and our 7 kids between the 2 of us!!!!!

Lots of people stop to ask about them, and it really is sweet, and if I am not in a hurry it doesn't bother me a bit.

Lots of people offer their help as well. I have been so surprised by the generousity of total strangers!
There have been many times I have been out in public with the four kids alone, and both babies will be crying, and I am sure I am looking frazzled, and someone will come up and ask "is there anything I can do to help you?" Most of the time there isn't anything because it's just that the babies need to eat or sleep, but I always appreciate that generosity.

One time I was in target, and the babies were both hungry at the same time. and I mean screaming hungry. So I had to try to nurse them both in the dressing room, with no pillow, or anything to put them on. They were screaming and I was having a hard time getting them to latch on. And a woman knocks on the door and says, "ma'am are you the one I saw in the store with twins? Is there anything I can do to help you"?
Obviously there wasn't much she could do, but so sweet to offer her help.

The one thing that really does surprise me is when people will come and put a nuk in my babies mouth! There have been many times that both are fussing, and I am tending to one, and someone will come over and stick the nuk in the other ones mouth. Not saying a word to me! Very nice gesture, (or maybe they can't stand to hear a baby cry?)....but you'd think they'd ask first!?

The babies are finally starting to sleep through the night. a little bit. Most of the time they do it on opposite nights so I don't get to enjoy it. But there have now been a few nights that I only have to get up maybe 2 to 3 times(compared to the hourly or ever other hour I have been doing for the past 5 1/2 months!)

Oh and not to mention the 11:00 to 12:00 bedtime they insisted on for so long! But they are finally getting to bed much earlier. Usually around 9 or 9:30 but sometimes even as early as 8! I am loving this!

I never imagined how hard nights would be with twins. Kinzie didn't sleep through the night until after a year, and she ate A LOT in the middle of the night, but still it was nothing like this. I don't know what it is. I know it's 2x the baby, but it's really taken a toll on me. Getting like a total of 3-4 hours a night just doesn't work for me!

They get up at opposite times and I am way to groggy to wake one when the other wakes up to try to get them on the same schedule. As hard as I try, I am just so tired and the thought of WAKING a baby in the middle of the night seems ridiculous at the time. So I feed one, fall asleep nursing, wake up an hour or so later to the other one crying, feed that one, fall asleep nursing, wake up an hour later to the first one again....and so on and so forth. Up until almost 5 months though, it wouldn't be where they would go back to sleep right away after eating either, I would have to rock them or walk around with them and try to get them back to sleep. So by the time I got one back to sleep the other was almost ready to eat.

I swear though, I think they lay in their cribs conspiring against me, and I think it goes something like this:
Scout: "Hey Fin, I am going to cry so she'll feed me and then afterwards I'll make Mommy rock me and walk around with me for a while and then finally I'll go to sleep. THEN let's give her like 20 minutes to fall back asleep....and then YOU wake up and cry! And then we'll reverse the roles! Won't that be a FUN GAME!!!!?

I think about all of these things, and I get overhwhelmed at times. I get stressed over the fact that I can't keep my house clean like I used to, or keep up on the finances like I used to (in our 7 1/2 years of marriage I have never overdrafted our account or had a late bill, which I have now done twice!)and forget about keeping up on the laundry! I think the hormones have made me a little depressed, and the lack of sleep makes me crazy at times.

But then I think about how amazing this experience has been. Absolutely amazing. I never realized how hard it would be, but I never realized how AWESOME it would be either. I think about how rewarding this has been, and all those other things seem so small in comparison.

Words cannot even describe the joy of having 2 little smiling faces looking up at you from their cribs in the morning. 2 little tiny people giggling as you play "I'm gonna get you". 2 little personalities forming. 2 babies holding hands, cooing and smiling at each other. It melts me.

I can't imagine life without both of them. I can't imagine what it would have been like with just one now. Obviously I know what it's like since I've had 2 singletons. But I just can't imagine only one of them being here.

I count my blessings with all four of my babes being happy, healthy, growing children. I have to stop and think of this when I am overwhelmed and stressed.

5 months.

The babies were 5 months old a week ago today. They are growing way too fast for me.



Finley rolled over last week for the first time. From his tummy to his back. It was so fun to watch. He was having some tummy time and all the sudden he just flipped over, like he'd been doing it all his life, no problem! I put him back on his tummy and he did it again!

Scout isn't rolling over yet. But she will, in her own time. She gets halfway from her back to her tummy, but that darn tummy, so hard to get over!!! :P

Scout has been so content lately. Just way more laid back. The other night she slept from midnight until probably like 7:45 am. I had checked on her at 7:30 and she was still sleeping. I was in shock. I went back in at 8 and there she was laying wide eyed looking around and smiling. I couldn't believe she wasn't screaming to eat!!! Especially when there used to be times she would have eaten an hour before, but the way she'd scream to eat, you'd think I hadn't fed her in days! That night was the longest stretch of sleep by far for her. Most nights I am still up every 2 hours or so.

Finley has been the more fussy one still. I think he is going through a little growth spurt (and I think he is teething too). He's been eating way more than Scout lately, and when they do get a formula bottle at night, he eats way more of it than she does. Maybe he's sick of us calling him the peanut.

Neither of the babies are consistently sleeping through the night. They'll each do it once in a while, but they never seem to coordinate it on the same nights!!!

They have developed all these cute little personality traits of their own.

Scout has this new little trick of pursing her lips and making a kissing noise, and Fin does this cute thing where he smacks his lips together and them blows raspberries. He'll entertain himself with that for a while.

Scout has this fake little cough that she does too, and she shrugs her shoulders when she "talks".

Oh and I love this one, Scout puts her hand on the back of her head when she nurses. It is so cute. She'll have her fingers all spread out and have her hand flat to the back of her head. She does it a lot when she sleeps too. I don't know what it is about it, but I love it.

Finley has this cute, but pathetic little cry he does when he's hungry and I have him in my lap and he knows the food is coming but he just can't wait any longer. He gets all frantic and flails his arms all around and has this whimper. I have got to get it on tape, it's so funny.

Scout, on the other hand, as soon as I take her, she opens her mouth wide getting ready. Hey if there is food anywhere near her mouth, I guess she figures she better be ready for it!!! So I'll be trying to undo the nursing bra and she's got her mouth all wide and she's desperately trying to pull herself close enough to latch on....through my shirt half the time if I've not got the boob out quick enough!!!!

Fin has really started sucking his thumb. Scout does too, but not as much as Fin. Sometimes she sucks her 2 fingers. But Finley is always trying to get that thumb in his mouth. He does a good job, he just doesn't know what to do with the rest of the fingers and pokes himself in the eyes a lot!!

Both of them are so easy to get to smile. Finley is a little giggler and Scout always has her mouth wide open with a big smile on her face. Finley loves to play "I'm gonna getcha", he giggles in anticipation even before you "get him". Scout loves to be talked to and she'll squeal and coo back at you.

Both of the babies have really started grabbing for their toys and playing with them. They are much better at entertaining themselves for a little while. I bought these new exersaucers for them that they are really liking. They love hanging out on the butterfly mat and grabbing at the toys on there too.

Both of them are trying to sit up. They don't like to be cradled anymore unless they are tired. They want to be sitting up seeing whats going on, so whenever we lay them back they try their hardest to pull themselves up. And when we sit them on the floor, they can sit for a few seconds, and they definitly try to balance themselves! They are loving their bumbo chairs. Sometimes if I am sitting at the table working on something I'll put them in the bumbo chairs in the middle of the table so they are right at my level and they'll just hang out at watch me!

We've started giving them cereal again. They are much more interested in it now. We tried at 4 months, and they did ok, but it didn't really help them start sleeping through the night better, which the pediatrician said it wouldn't anyway. So we decided to wait a while and try again. All they really need until 6 month is breast milk, and I am in no hurry for them to grow up. So we waited, but now that they are 5 months I thought we'd start again and do cereal about 1x/day.

Finley and Scout are such different little babies. We could tell from day one how different they are. It's so strange, because it's like having Malichi all over again, and Kinzie all over again but at the same time. Finley is so much like Malichi was and Scout is so much like Kinzie was. From the way they look, their personalities, to the way they eat, and they way they cry. It's so strange!





We still call them Frantic Finley and Screaming Scout. Finley is definitly still frantic, but Scout doesn't scream quite so much anymore (although when she does, it is still the piercing 'I AM PISSED' scream she's always had). Some of their other nicknames; the angry monkey and the gentle lion. Scoutsy boo and Finley foo. Mr. Finley. Finners. Ms. bossy boss. Stinkerbell.







I can't believe the next monthly post I do for them will be 6 months!! Half a year already?! It's gone by much to fast.

relief.

Over 125,000 files on my hard drive were recovered. Only 71 were unrecoverable. here we are almost $1000.00 later...but I have my files.

ahh. I am happy.

off to back up my videos.

4 Months.

The babies turned 4 months old last week! They are growing and changing. Fin is still the peanut. He is 12 lb. 7 oz. Scout is 14 lbs. It is amazing to me that they are so different in size! They are both healthy and thriving and that makes me a happy mama.

my precious little sugar.


my sweet boy.


This age is so much fun!

Finley is so ticklish. His feet, his tummy, under his chin...he giggles. I love it. Silly boy.

I love how easy it is to get Fin to smile. Sometimes I'll look over at him and he is watching me and smiling for no apparent reason.

Scout loves to hear herself squeal. She has become very loud over the past few days. She does this cute little shoulder shrug when she "talks" to us.

They are interacting with each other more and more. Fin looks at his sister so adoringly with a little grin on his face, and then she'll just look at him like "yeah whatever".

Scout has been a lot less....... angry. No more angry little monkey. The tables have turned actually. Finley has been the fussy one lately, and Scout has been pretty content. Don't get me wrong...she still has her fits, just not as often. A few nights ago she even pulled a Finley and slept until 4:30 am! I was shocked. But Fin however, did not. He was up a lot to eat. He no longer does his midnight to 5 am thing. I can't wait for the day I can get more than an hour or two of sleep at a time! They do still have their fussy time at night after dinner, but I think it is starting to get better. They are going to bed about 10 now, instead of like midnight!

Fin has been eating more than his sister too! I think he is trying to catch up to his "little" sister!

There have been lots of firsts. First time in the exersaucers, first cereal, first trip to the park. They loved being outside! I loved being able to take them outside!!!! They weren't so sure about this whole cereal thing though. It didn't help them sleep through the night either, and our pediatrician said most likely it wouldn't make a difference. So, I am going to hold of on giving them cereal for a bit longer. All they really need until 6 months is breast milk, plus I am in no hurry for them to grow up!!!



I love baby rolls.


Fin has this new face he loves to make.