One Year Later

One year ago today I wrote the following:

"It is still hard for me to believe that I am going to be coming home from the hospital with 2 babies; I guess it won't be a reality until they put them in my arms. I wonder what they will look like - will they look the same, will I have trouble telling them apart? What type of temperment will they have - calm, good sleepers :) Will their personalities be similar or completely different? How big will they be - my guess between 7 and 7.5 lbs. How will we adapt to the change in our household? How will we survive the sleep deprivation? How much will our daily lives change as we transition from a family of 3 to a family of 5?  Ready? I guess as much as we are going to get. I'm excited to finally see the boys and welcome them into our family!"

I was packed and ready to go to the hospital early the next morning for an amnio followed by a scheduled c-section later that day.

After a year...

• I have no trouble telling them apart and their personalities are completely different. 
• Overall they are calm and easy-going.  Everyone who spends time with them says they are such good babies, we are definitely blessed with babies who are quick to smile and easy to calm when they are upset.
• My guess on weight 7 - 7.5 lbs: 6-8 and 7-7 - not too bad
• The sleep deprivation - I still wake-up much earlier than I would like, but in general they sleep great.  The first 3 months were really, really, really bad - there were days that I didn't think it would ever get better.  But it did, sloooowly.  Gradually they started sleeping and eating at the same time and went longer periods at night.
• Daily life - what a change!  Getting 3 kids ready in the morning, managing dinner, baths and bedtime...it's a challenge making it all work and we continue to make improvements and work togther to keep everyone in our home happy and healthy.
• Adjustments - we have had plenty of those.  Juliana had a very tough time with the change.  She was mad a me for a long time and then eventually accepted it to a point.  She still complains about sharing me and will ask me to put the boys in their play area and play with her.  I do my best to spread my attention around and spend time with her after the boys have gone to bed at night having some special mommy time.

Ruslan woke up extra early this morning and fussed and just wouldn't go back to sleep.  I picked him up and snuggled him for a while tyring to appreciate the fact that he is still small enough for me to hold in my arms.  As all parents know they grow up so fast.