Dropped A 1/2 Pump

I was at 2 pumps a day (every 12 hours).  On Christmas Day I dropped a 1/2 pump, so now I pump every 18 hours (approximately).  I'll gradually lengthen the time in between pumps so that I'm at 24 hours...only 1 pump a day.  

I've started using my frozen supply as I can't quite keep up with them anymore.  It will be nice to have more freezer space to stock up when there are sales!

9 Months Old!

I contemplated skipping a entry this month, due to lack of desire to go though all of the pictures and figure out which ones are 'blog-worthy', but I knew I would regret it if I didn't.

Seriously, Mom?  ANOTHER picture?

I absolutely cannot believe that they are nine months old now. Not because they're growing so quick (which they are), but because I'm running out of time being a stay-at-home mom. The greenhouses have asked if I would do some work for them from home, starting at the beginning of January, but before I could give them an answer I had to have a conversation with BackCheck to see if I could return part-time in March, and if I could continue to work from home. After countless e-mails back and forth, trying to find a compromise between what I wanted from them and what they wanted from me, I will be returning in March for 20 hours a week (the minimum in order to stay on their dental and extended health plans). I will be doing 15 hours a week from the office, and another 5 will either be done from home or will be taken out of my banked vacation time / banked time. I didn't want to return for 20 hours. I was hoping to return for 10 hours a week, and do it all from home. Oh well. It was important that I stay on their benefits plans because they pay all of the premiums (rather than us going with the Surrey School District plan and having to pay $2400 a year), so that's why it will be 20 hours. Between my mom babysitting and Jon and I sharing one vehicle still (yes, we are going to try to be a single-car family still), we're hoping to be able to save a little money. Hoping. Until the next expense comes up, right? I'm also going to do the greenhouse work, and my tax job in the spring. I'm concerned with the number of hours I will be working, but I'm hoping it will go okay. It's not necessarily all by choice, but by the thought of "how are we going to ever afford a house if I don't work?". I'm hoping now that my employment once my mat leave is up is all figured out, that my stress level will go down. I need to enjoy these next 2.5 months!

Enough of my rambling - here are the pictures!

Matthew:

Matthew weighs 16lb 14ozs and is such a joy. 

We started to see a little attitude this past month: fists pushed down to his side with an angry face, but that only lasted for about a week.  It was really difficult not laughing when he did it. 

We've started practicing with him how to pull himself up. He loves getting undressed, especially when you pull off his socks and say "Eww! Stinky socks!" He bursts out laughing. He loves it when you read him books with a lot of expression. His favourites are "Where's My Bear?" (still) and "Counting Peas". 

Matthew is a really good eater. He has a sensitive gag reflex, but that doesn't stop him from eating anything and everything.  He LOVES drinking water from his sippy cup during breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  Matthew is very much like me when it comes to sleeping: he doesn't need much of it (he's always the first awake in the morning), and he is happy when he wakes up.

Matthew doesn't quite understand what "no" means...but he hasn't had much opportunity to learn it yet because he can't move around himself.

All ready for Grey Cup!

Showing off his teeth.

Matthew had his first real sickness...for about a week he had a fever and was very whiny.  Needless to say he got a lot of cuddles!

Laying on the couch while fighting his fever.

Kayla got Matthew's sickness too...but hers only lasted for a couple days.  No, this picture was not posed!  Kayla just crawled up to Matthew and my Mom and joined in.

Wrestling with Daddy.

Kayla:
Kayla weighs 18lb 3ozs and is a little bundle of energy.

 

She knows what she wants, and isn't afraid to try to get it.

Since I last posted about her starting to stand on her own she has taken a few large falls, and hasn't done it since. (One fall happened while I was videotaping her standing...all of a sudden you see her falling straight as a board backwards...oops!). She's very confident with pulling herself up on anything and everything, and walks very well when being assisted. She's even able to walk holding on to only one of my hands. She just needs to gain her confidence with standing again.

Kayla loves playing with toys, and plays very well by herself.  She also loves to crawl, so when she wants to do both at once, she puts the toy in her mouth and goes on her way.


She listens really well, most of the time! 

Kayla is a little more difficult to feed. Every other dinner we have a battle over getting her to eat her vegetables. Once you bring out the prunes, she'll open her mouth no problem! You can always tell how smoothly (or not so smoothly) the meal went by the presence (or lack of presence) of food in her hair and on her clothes. Kayla is very much like Jon when it comes to sleeping: she needs quite a bit (I always have to wake her up in the morning) and she doesn't wake up nicely. It takes her a good five minutes from the time I wake her up to the time she is willing to open her mouth for breakfast.

Kayla has become quite a "Mommy's girl".  She hates when I'm not in the same room as her.  If we're at home, she crawls from the living room to the kitchen, and then to the computer to find me.  If we're at my parents, she'll cry/whine when I leave the room.  She seems to do fine in the church nursery though!

Kayla's hair has really started to grow this past month.  She woke up from her nap and actually had 'bed-head'!  Her hair was also blowing in the wind the other day :)

Both Matthew and Kayla know our routine of going to my parents' house for coffee at night and start smiling and getting excited when they see me take out their blankets (to wrap them up in). They love having their snack dessert at my parents'. Even Jason has warmed up to them now that they aren't breakable anymore :) Kayla has a little crush on Jason (or on his iPhone?).

Bottles...it's a twin thing...

Kayla holds hers against her chest, Matthew holds his up.

I thought it was pretty cute that they both had their legs in the exact same position while drinking their bottle.

Didn't you know that boxes are the best toys?

Helping Daddy make stir fry.

Kayla's Second Tooth

Just so I don't forget when it came in :)

Dropping a Pump

Leading up to today I've pumped three times daily: morning (7am), afternoon (between 12pm and 4pm), and evening (9pm). Starting today I'm only going to be pumping twice: morning (7am) and early evening (6pm). In the next week or two I'll drop another pump.

I feel a bit sad doing it. I've always had an overabundance of milk (don't believe me? See my freezer...and my parents' freezer!), so it's sad that I'm choosing to stop it. However, if I don't stop, I'll never get my cycle back. And until my cycle is back, I can't even think about a future baby.

It will be nice to not have to worry about pumping during the day, though!

I probably have almost two months' worth of milk frozen (maybe more?), so Matthew and Kayla will continue to receive my milk for a while (in case you were worried that they were getting weaned too young!). :)

Kayla's First Tooth

...appeared on Thursday, December 8 :)

Oh Christmas Tree!

Jon and I decided last minute on December 4th to go and get a Christmas tree. This was the first time that we cut down our own tree.

Daddy cutting down the tree.

Matthew waiting patiently with Mommy.

Kayla waiting patiently with Grandma.

Decorating the tree.

The finished product, complete with presents!

Kayla is really good at not touching the tree (or the presents). I've only had to 'get mad' at her a couple times so far. Looking forward to seeing Matthew and Kayla open gifts for the first time :)

Noah's Ark

Nothing to say - just pictures!

Can you guess which belongs to Matthew and which belongs to Kayla?

Matthew's is on the left, Kayla's is on the right.

If you thought it was the other way around, you're not the only one! Jon was shocked that Kayla's was the neater one! Kayla quite enjoyed getting her hand squished in the green paint :)

Kayla's (Almost) Standing

This is pretty late...but better late than never!

Kayla started standing on November 15th. It started out with her standing for a few seconds...but now, well, she'll stand for 30 seconds to a minute, no problem! Only when she wants to though...she's still stubborn :)

This new feat has brought many bumps and bruises, but she's still alive!

8 Months Old!

Yes, they're eight months old already. 2/3 done my maternity/parental leave...this is going too quick!

We FINALLY got some pictures with smiles! Thank goodness for digital cameras and computers so you can take as many pictures as you want until you get the perfect (or almost-perfect) one!

And wait, MORE smiles?!?! Say it isnt' so!

Kayla has definitely become an easier child the past week. Because she can crawl, and has gained confidence in doing so, she is far less whiny. Yes, she has her moments, but doesn't every child?

She is into EVERYTHING! Have your back turned for a second and she off exploring somewhere else. In an open concept house, this isn't so bad. In a totally closed concept house like ours, this is quite a nuisance. I went to the kitchen for two minutes yesterday and came back to find a stack of developed pictures all crumpled up. I had left them on the highest shelf of our tv unit tucked away in the back corner...a shelf she hadn't even found yet. She's found it now!

Trying to open the diaper bag

Because she is into everything, we are teaching her the word "no". She definitely knows what it means, it's just whether or not she chooses to obey it! Kayla was grabbing the leaves of one of our plants, and Jon kept telling her "no". She kept doing it. So Jon decided to lightly slap her hand away when he said "no". The first time he did it she pulled her hand away from the plant, looked at him, and her lower lip started to stick out and quiver and tears welled up in her eyes. She was so sad. But she kept touching the plant so obviously she wasn't sad enough! Jon had to tell her "no" a few more times...and she hasn't touched it since! She also enjoys touching a wedding picture of Jon and I that we have on our fireplace hearth.

One of her favourite places to play is right in front of the toy shelf - that way she can pull out whatever toy she wants.

I moved our coffee table that was right beside the exersaucer because I was getting so worried that Kayla would fall into it as she played with Matthew. This has opened up the corner window, and so Kayla likes to stand by it and watch the traffic. Since this picture was taken, I have also moved the power cord for the lamp (see by her feet?) because she was always playing with it and I was getting worried she would trip over it.

Kayla is learning to stand on her own. She can stand for about 15 seconds now - if she wants to. It's quite amazing to see how they learn knew things. Standing seems so simple for us, but when she's standing you can see how much concentration she puts into making sure she maintains her balance.

Kayla is a great eater - when she likes the food. Because I've started introducing them to so many 'adult' foods, I find she is starting to dislike her pureed vegetables. Fruits are still fine, it's the vegetables that she's not so eager about (but really, do I blame her?). I often will allow her to have a bit of whatever I'm having...but if we're in the living room she has to sit on her butt before I'll let her eat.

Kayla loves anything you wear that hangs...necklaces, zipper pulls, ends of belts, hoodie strings, etc.

Matthew continues to be such a loveable child. I think I have a soft spot for Matthew because Kayla often can steal the show because she's developmentally ahead of him. I'm really making sure that he isn't left behind, and I think he's developed a lot this past month. I've given special focus to making sure he has a lot of opportunity to 'walk' to the toys he wants to play with, a lot of opportunity to stand by toys, and a lot of practice with rolling over. It was my goal to have him rolling over before my parents returned from their vacation, and it looks like we have succeeded! Matthew is also a lot sturdier on his feet when standing - enough so that I will leave his side for brief moments, confident that he won't fall.

Matthew gives the best hugs. If he's really happy to see you when you pick him up he'll wrap his arms around your neck and squeeze. So cute.

Matthew LOVES my earrings. Whenever I'm holding him he'll push my head to the side so that my ears are in front of him, and then he'll try to grab my earrings. I have to make sure his nails are cut because all of the scratching hurts!

It's quite easy to make Matthew giggle. His upper-body is super ticklish (much more-so than Kayla), and so "Around the little garden..." is a huge hit with him.

Matthew likes stick his tongue out of his mouth. Jon's thinking that maybe he likes the feel of his teeth on his tongue? He is also quite the drooler. In a matter of one hour without a bib his shirt will be soaked halfway to his pants.

Matthew has become quite good at telling you what he wants. If I'm standing and holding him, and he wants to play with a toy he'll try to reach out of my arms for it. If he's sitting and wants to stand he'll reach for my hands.

He is also quite the talker. He loves to babble "dai, dai, dai", or he'll let out shrieks. He likes to shriek when he's angry about something. I call those shrieks "attitude". They're cute.

Matthew dislikes when Kayla crawls near him when he's laying on the floor. I don't blame him. She often will grab at his face or try to crawl over him. She also likes to grab at his privates when they're in the bath tub. Poor Matthew!

Matthew is very easy to please with food. He quite enjoys most foods - you can tell by the constant "mmm" sound he makes while eating. My sister, Candice, did the same thing when she was young.

Matthew was not a happy child last night when we put him to bed. Both him and Kayla have colds, but Matthew's nose is more stuffed, so I think his inability to breathe while sucking his soother was upsetting to him. Not to mention his teeth coming in. After trying to put him in his crib on several occasions, I finally let him lay in bed with me. His crying was so sad that I couldn't bear to listen to it anymore. Matthew so was excited! I didn't pay any attention to him laying beside me, and he was just smiling away. When Jon came to bed both Matthew and I were sleeping, so he transferred him back to his crib.

Both Matthew and Kayla wear mostly 6-9 month clothes (and some 3-6 and 9-12 month). They are also both in size 3 diapers. My 'small' cloth diapers are now too small for them, but I'm trying to get just a couple more weeks out of them. I'm going to order some new one-size-fits-all diapers...just have to get around to doing it!

Matthew weighs: 16lb 12 oz

Kayla weighs: 17 lb 14 oz

They like to eat:

Breakfast: Rice Cereal

Morning Snack: Mandarin Orange (they LOVE them!)

Lunch: Usually bread with jam, pieces of Cheese, and either Apples or Pears

Afternoon Snack: Yogourt and/or Mum-Mums

Dinner: A Vegetable and Prunes

Bedtime Snack: Gerber Graduates and/or a Muffin

It's great seeing their relationship. They always have a smile when they first see the other in the morning. They like to play at the exersaucer together, and they like hitting their high chair trays with their hands. The other day I was preparing their bottles and I heard Matthew laughing. I peeked around the corner into the living room and he was laughing at Kayla dumping out a toy. Kayla will also laugh at Matthew when he shakes his head back and forth. I haven't really witnessed a conversation between the two of them yet. Shouldn't be long though as they do talk to each other. I wonder what they're saying?!?

I continue to work one hour every day (on average). I love the flexibility I have with working from home...I can do it whenever I want, for however long I want. There are some deadlines I have, and sometimes that stresses me out a little, but for the most part I find work to be a de-stresser. I absolutely love my job. In an ideal world, BackCheck will allow me the exact same flexibility I have now - to set my own hours and work from home - but who knows? I guess once January is here I will start having conversations with them about it. They also pay for my full benefits plan, so I'm hoping they'll continue to do that - unless Jon has a full-time job by then? *Fingers crossed!*

Anyways, this is way longer than I intended it to be...although I'm sure I've forgotten half of the things I was trying to remember all week to say!

All-in-all, my life is pretty darn good right now! So much to be thankful for! Jon and I have definitely learned over the course of the past two years that God has a plan/timing for everything, and I'm sure we'll continue to be reminded of that as Jon continues to look for a teaching job and we start contemplating when/how baby #3 is going to be conceived. I wish we knew God's plan for that one! Not to mention the fact that we're still renting and not owning a house. But hey, at least we have each other and a place to call our own for now! Like I said, so much to be thankful for!

I just heard a baby stir...not too sure which...I should go!