July in pictures ...

The babies went today for their six month check-ups.  Luke weighed in at 18 lbs, 10 oz (63%) and was 27 inches long (61%).  Amelia was 15lbs, 7oz (30%) and 25 inches long (31%).  Those numbers aren't adjusted for the fact that they were two months premature ... they are growing just wonderfully!  Both of their head circumferences were in the 99th percentile ... Considering that Scott had a huge head as a child and we all know that the Hayford family has large foreheads ... can't say I'm surprised by that :)  Luke and Amelia will fit right in!  I'm feeling so thankful today for two healthy babies.  Being back at work is a constant reminder to me that good health is not a guarantee and every time I come home from work I give my babies extra kisses.  It's been a good summer so far ... I saw an ad today for back to school supplies which made me sad because I seriously can't believe it's almost August.  Yikes.  But we've had fun taking the babies on lots of walks, to the pool, farmers markets and BBQs.  My niece Kylee has been here for a few weeks which has been a lot of fun.  Life feels very full and sometimes a bit on the chaotic side with two babies and two jobs ... I'm very very thankful to only be working the small amount that I am (10-15 hrs/week) because it feels like a good balance.  Here are a few recent pictures ...

Dad and Luke at the downtown farmers market

Cousin Kylee!!

My dear childhood friend Nina and her daughter ... Only in Portland is it too cold to add water to the pool in July!

BBQ at Auntie Michelle's in Eugene (plus Sam, of course!)

Take two!

I think I uploaded the bath video wrong last night ... oops!  Let's try again ...

6 months?!

I can't believe that Luke and Amelia turn SIX months old this week.  Holy cow!  Now I get why parents are always saying it goes by too quickly.  I'll post some recent pictures and also a video of Luke laughing ... so sweet!  I'm not the best with technology and I can't figure out how to edit the video either in iphoto or on youtube so ignore the fact that it's turned the wrong way ... sorry about that!  I'll figure it out one of these days (maybe when I'm not so tired :) )   Since I haven't had a chance to start their baby books I'll try to write down some of my favorite things about them right now.
Amelia:  Oh Amelia!  What a fun little girl you are!  In the mornings Amelia is all smiles.  She doesn't wake up often at night anymore (only once or twice to feed) so she wakes up happy and refreshed.  She is extremely social.  She loves when we have visitors or go to parties or out for adventures.  She just soaks it all in.  She can totally hold her head up now so she's loving being in the Jolly Jumper and bumbo chair.  She tracks Molly everywhere she goes and just giggles and laughs at the dog.  She tends to get over tired easily so I have to be careful to get her down for naps in time or she has a complete meltdown.  We try to avoid those!
Luke:  My sister calls Luke "the little professor" ... he does have a very wise look to him.  We joke that he always looks like he's contemplating serious world issues.  But when he laughs, boy does he laugh!  Luke has amazing eyes, they look right into your soul ... and the most beautiful eyelashes (his sister will be jealous one day).  He isn't totally able to hold his head up yet (maybe because it's on the big side?!) so he's a bit less independent.  I think he's working on his first tooth and he's definitely entered the phase where everything goes into his mouth.  He's quite a bit bigger than his little sister.  Someone at church today was like, "Oh, they're twins?!  But he's so much bigger!"  I think he might take after his dad.  Good thing we shop at Costco!  We haven't taken them for their six month appointment but I think he's about 18 pounds.
Now that the babes are six months old I've decided to stop pumping.  What a relief!  Since Luke never learned to breastfeed after his weeks in NICU I've been pumping 7-8times/day for the last six months.  Each time takes about 20 minutes so I don't even want to know how many hours that equals!  On the days I was alone with them it was so challenging to feed both babies and then pump.  But I really wanted them to get the benefits of breast milk for the first six months.  Now that I'm back at work and they're not sleeping through the night it just doesn't feel possible to keep pumping.  I need those nighttime hours to sleep!  While I feel a bit guilty about stopping, I mostly feel relieved and like I'll have a bit more time ... although since they're almost mobile that time will be used for running after two babies!
And now for the pics and video :)

The cousins!

Cousin Caroline was here this week for a visit!  My first attempt at doing a video :)

A wedding, a helmet and a working mama ...

Lukers meets Ashton

A family photo! Grandma Marsha picked out the babies' wedding outfits.  Cute, huh? :)

The girls!  Minus Allie and Kate who were busy helping out!

Congratulations Lara!

It's been a crazy month!  Last weekend we packed up the babes and headed north of Spokane for the wedding of a dear friend and college roommate.  Dan and Lara's wedding was a blast!  I was blessed to get to live with some pretty wonderful girls during college and it was so fun to be together for a reunion and to have everyone meet Luke and Amelia.  The babies honestly did really well (they slept through the whole wedding ... I was afraid they'd start screaming, but they behaved :) ) and they both love to be around people so they had a great time!  The trip itself was hard on Scott and I.  It's just an incredible amount of work to travel with two babies under 6 months (or over 6 months for that matter!) and they got really off schedule after sleeping for 8 hrs in the car each way.  So that meant not nearly enough sleep for us (I don't function so well on 3 hrs/night!)  The sleep thing has been, by far, been the hardest part about raising twins, but I'll save that for another post!  I'm really thankful we were able to celebrate Dan and Lara's new marriage and it was well worth the sleep deprivation :)
The helmet ... At Luke's two month check-up the pediatrician noticed the left side of his head was getting a bit flat.  we spent the next 3 months trying to get him to lay on the right side of his head.  We re-positioned him constantly and made sure that toys and interesting things/people were on his right.  But his head kept getting more lopsided and his ears started to become uneven.  So, it was time for the helmet!  He really doesn't seem to mind it too much which I'm thankful for.  The only things that I don't like are that it's harder to snuggle with him.  I didn't realize how much I kissed his little head until there was a cold piece of plastic in the way!  And also it's getting hot out (some days anyway) so he gets overheated easily and super sweaty ... poor love!  Hopefully he'll only need it for three months.  And then when he's a teenager he can't blame us for his uneven head :)
This week I started work.  I have mixed emotions about it but overall I'm thankful for my job.  I really like what I'm doing right now.  I'm working 1 or 2 days/week as a discharge nurse which means that I help educate families to take care of their kiddo at home.  Teaching them how to care for IV lines, feeding tubes, new medications, etc.  I help the floor nurses get that patients out the door on the day of discharge (doing paperwork, etc.) and I call families after they go home to check on them and answer questions.  It's a good fit for me because it includes all of my favorite parts about being a nurse.  It was hard to leave the babies but they're in the best possible hands (Scott and my mom!) and honestly it felt like a bit of a break to be doing something else.  I actually got to sit down for 20 minutes and eat lunch!  That rarely happens here unless they both nap at the same time which is definitely a rare occasion.  The hardest part right now about working is just the logistics of working out scheduling.  We decided not to do daycare and thankfully that's an option for us because Scott works 3-4 shifts/week which means that I can work on days he's home and my mom can fill in too (thanks mom!) so that Scott and I can have at least two days a week off together.   A good friend of ours works as a nanny so she'll be with the babes a bit as well (thanks Ally!).  We'll see how it goes!
And one more picture ...

Yes, Dad picked out the helmet, can you tell?!

Sweet dreams

Evenings have become my favorite time of the day.  It's consistently the time that Scott and I get to parent together which makes things much easier and makes for a sweet family time.  Scott does the baths and then we feed them together.  We've been loving the CD of lullabies that Plumb recorded (thanks Elizabeth for the suggestion!) and play it every evening during the bedtime routine.  Just beautiful.  I love singing to the babies and snuggling them to sleep.  No matter how chaotic the day gets (and it often does!), I want their bedtime routine to be a peaceful time, at least until they hit the terrible twos :)  Here are the lyrics to "My Child" ... one of my favorite songs on the CD ...  It brings tears to my eyes.


Peacefully you are sleeping
Silently you dream
And I cannot help but feeling blessed
While watching you

Your eyes
My eyes
Your smile
My smile
Your love
My gain
Your hurt
My pain
Your laugh
My joy
Every time, it's mine
You are my child

I will always protect you
Oh and I will even let you go
I'll spend the sweetest time holding you
And will let you grow

Your eyes
My eyes
Your smile
My smile
Your love
My gain
Your hurt
My pain
Your laugh
My joy
Every time, it's mine
You are my child

Don't ever be afraid
Don't ever be afraid
Cause I am here
And if you start to fear
Just close your eyes
And hear me say

Your love
My gain
Your hurt
My pain
Your laugh
My joy
Every time, it's mine
You are my child

Road trip #1

Amelia and Caroline

Three peas in a pod!

Luke looks absolutely huge!

Cousin Kristy

Mama and Amelia

Uncle Joe with Luke

We all survived our first road trip!  ...  And had a lot of fun.  The babes did amazingly well.  The trip over, which normally takes 6.5 hours, took us 10.  Luke loves to eat :)  We had to stop three times to feed him.  It was so fun to meet Caroline and have the babies all together.  Well, it was fun for the grown-ups, the babes didn't notice one another all that much.  It's so convenient for us that Scott's Grandma, aunt, uncle and cousins all live within 5 minutes of my sister so we got in some good visits.  Getting pictures of the all the babies together was nearly impossible (someone was always either eating or sleeping) but we got a few!  The ride home went really well and only took us 8 hrs ... Thanks Luke and Amelia for being such cooperative travelers!  Now gearing up for road trip #2 ...