5 Years and Our Family of 5

Five years ago today I became Mrs. Scott Connelly. We started dating in October 2003 after being fixed up by our friend Natalae. Scott proposed in March 2004. We closed on our house in June and focused on making it move-in ready. Everyone kept asking for a wedding date so on July 12th, we announced we would be getting married 2-1/2 weeks later on July 30th. We wanted a simple ceremony and on a lovely Friday evening we were joined by 30 of our closest friends and family for our wedding.

It was so simple back then, just the two of us in a house that seemed so big. We went to Italy for on our honeymoon that October and just one year later we welcomed Juliana Grace into our lives. And so began our journey as mommy and daddy.



We debated for years whether or not we would have another child. I talked to friends who are only children or only have one child and tried to convince myself that one chld was enough. Then last summer we made a snap decision to have another baby and before we knew it we were expecting. On Monday, September 29th we received the surprising news that we were going to have twins and in December we found out that they were both boys.

The boys were born in April and it has definitely taken me a while to get used to the idea that I am a mother of 3 children and 2 of them are boys. When I was growing up I thought that I would have 3 children, but then I got older and realized kids take a lot of work and money to raise so 1 or maybe 2 became the goal. Turns out my childhood dreams caught up with me afterall and we are so incredibly blessed to have 3 healthy, happy children.



I consider our anniversary the start date for our family. So each year during the week before or after July 30th, we take a family picture - casual in the front yard (our wedding picture and 1-yr pictures are in Scott's parent's front yard since that's where we were married). We haven't taken this year's photo yet, so I am including a picture from June. In last year's picture, I wasn't even pregnant and this year there are 2 more children in our picture.

Scott and I were both previously married and I think that we have learned from our mistakes. Sometimes marriage means compromise and other times you need to fight for what you think is best, and I think that we find that balance the majority of the time. Above all we love and respect each other and I wake up each day knowing that we will spend the rest of lives together. Even when we are incredibly sleep deprived and trying to coordinate schedules and figure out how we are going to make everything work...if I take a deep breath, I know that this is where we were meant to be.

Your Backyard Friends

Do you really need a reason for costumes? Especially when we are dressing up baby dolls and babies. On this occasion, Juliana had decided that it was Bitty Babies birthday and that Bitty and the Bitty Twins (Michael and Missy Missy Rose) should all dress-up in Halloween costumes. Then we remembered the Backyardigans costumes. Juliana was going through major Backyardigans love this spring. My mom was shopping online and found these Pablo and Tyrone costumes on clearance and they have been waiting for some dress-up fun every since. Wyatt is dressed as Pablo who is a penguin and Ruslan is dressed as Tyrone the moose.

Three Months Old

3 months old - time is passing so quickly. These are the babies who would not smile. Maybe it's because their sister was throwing a major fit at the time, or maybe they just didn't want to cooperate yesterday...all I know is we didn't get any smiles for the pictures this month. With Juliana's bear pictures and now with the boys' puppy pictures, I use what I get that day - no do-overs for them since they are designed to be one-month apart for the entire year. Ruslan was especially grumpy for some reason and I can usually always get a smile out of him. Anyway, here they are at 3 months old.

Hats

We went to a picnic last weekend and the boys were so cute in their hats, especially Ruslan with his round face :) Wyatt is very sceptical of the camera - generally has the same expression for pictures. Ruslan is good for some smiles, sticking out his tongue and other entertaining expressions. I love the pictures of Ruslan glaring at Wyatt - he seems to be thinking - who is that other baby and why is mommy talking to him... When I take pictures of them together on the floor like this, the tend to end up grabbing at each other's hand - they can't hold on yet, but they rest one on top of the other - it is really cute.

Baby Stuff

We have been to Natalae's house each of the past 2 weekends. That's a lot considering we really don't take all 3 kids many places without extra adults. Baby Sidney is just a few weeks younger than the boys and there are some very cool things about going to visit someone who a baby the same age as ours.

• They don't mind when your baby starts crying because they are used to it
• When a baby is crying, it isn't always your baby - that's really cool
• They have all of the standard baby stuff at their house already so you can pack lite - when Wyatt got fussy the last time we were there, we could just put in the swing to fall asleep
• When we were there on the 3rd, Ruslan was completely captivated by Sidney's bouncy seat. He was so intrigued that I searched for it online that night. After finding it was only available online, I ordered it that night.

The Rain forest bouncy seat arrived just a few days later and it has not disappointed. It is good for at least 15 minutes of busy baby when we need to be getting something else done. Ruslan loves it and Wyatt is becoming more of a fan each day. I try to only use it in small doses. The best part is the monkey and lizard at the top - the monkey swings side-to-side and the lizard bounces up and down. Ruslan stares, smiles and talks to them and his arms and legs are in constant motion - he gets so excited.

Updates

Hips - Since the boys were both breach for most of my pregnancy, the Dr sent us to have ultrasounds on their hips. Ruslan's results were normal, while there was a slight concern with Wyatt. The main angle for the hips should be 60 degrees or higher, Wyatt's was at 56 degrees. So we went to a specialist in early June for follow-up. He recommended a second ultrasound at 11 weeks. Yesterday we had the ultrasound and follow-up appointment and the hip is correcting itself - up to 60 degrees now so we don't expect to have any problems with it. We don't go back unil he is 18-months now, just to make sure everything is still developing normally.

Tear Ducts - Ruslan was born with the tear ducts on both eyes clogged. His eyes were glued shut when he would wake-up and we were constantly wiping both eyes so he could open them and see easily. The 2nd week of June we noticed that his right eye was suddenly better and this week the left eye cleared up! Now the skin around his eyes won't be red and irritated and everyone will stop rubbing his eyes.

Reflux - removing dairy from my diet has made a huge difference in the quantity of spit-up after Ruslan easts. He is still taking zantac 3 times/day and after a dosage increase last month, he is much less fussy after eating.

I was taking pictures of the boys together (a regular occurance) and caught Wyatt in the act of rolling over for the second time.

Little Men

Clothes for baby girls are the cutest...I still find myself looking at the new baby girl clothes when I am shopping for the boys. Basic baby clothes are primarily the same - same soft fabrics, t-shirts with or without snaps, sweat pants, one piece sleep-n-plays, etc. The difference is the patterns and colors and occasionally some extra darts in the clothes designed for girls.

But beyond the basics, there is a big difference. Baby girl clothes have their own styles - ruffles and other cuteness unique to the little outfits - how often do you see a size 6-month outfit that looks the same as something from the women's department? On the other hand, baby boy clothes are often miniature versions of men's clothing - polo shirts, button downs, cargo shorts... That's what I was thinking today when I dressed the boys and took their pictures and then Scott came home wearing a very similar outfit...

11 Weeks

At 11 weeks, the boys are:

• Going through ~9 diapers a day each (~125 total diapers each week)
• Eating 8 times a day
• Ruslan's reflux continues to improve as long as I avoid dairy.
• Still not sleeping through the night...but I keep hoping. Wyatt went 7 hours once weeks ago and then back to every 4 hours; Ruslan hasn't made it more than 5 hours yet.
• Starting to take better daytime naps, although one prefers to nap while the other one is awake.
• Spending lots of time on the floor stretching out, staring at toys, kicking and having tummy time.
• Listening to mommy read books and sing - Ruslan loves Old MacDonald and smiles, giggles and trys to sing along; Wyatt stares at me and his eyes get bigger and bigger the whole time.
• Wyatt still startles quite a bit, even if you do the same thing 3 times in a row - he startles each time.
• Ruslan is much quicker to smile and is really happy if you stick out your tongue when he does.
• Wyatt stares up at me when I am in his sight and is really excited when I look his direction and smile.
• Ruslan is wearing 3-6 month clothes (and some brands are getting tight); Wyatt is still comfortable in 0-3 month.
• Mostly happy babies, smiley and more giggles each day - they are growing up so fast.
  

Wyatt on the Move

This is the happy face of the little guy who had just rolled over for the first time! Obviously he was very pleased with himself.

Happy Independence Day

Yesterday we went to Aunt Natalae's Annual 3rd of July party. It is a huge party complete with a live band and fireworks. I think that this was my 7th year of the party. For those of you who don't know, Natalae is the person who introduced Scott and I and she is Juliana's godmother.

Juliana always has a new red, white and blue outfit for the party and this year the boys had coordinating outfits. I thought it was a bit cold for their little shorts outfits so I added a long-sleeve onesie and socks (the hats didn't make it out of the house since it was starting to warm up when we left).

The baby girl in the picture is Natalae's 7-wk old. Her name is Sydney Jordan - yeah, she had to name her baby after 2 Penguins instead of just one like us...