Outside with the Boys

Wyatt loves being outside and when he is in the house somtimes he sits and stares out the window.  He will happily sit in the grass and look around.  Ruslan does not like being outside or at least he doesn't like being put down outside - the second he is set down on the ground he bursts into tears.

Last Saturday was such a beautiful day so I washed the winter grime away from the swings in the backyard and we took the boys outside for their first time on the swings.  They both loved it and had lots of fun - switching from laughing and kicking to relaxed.

After swing time we got out them in the stroller and went for a long walk.  Ruslan loved watching the people and the cars.  Wyatt just sat still and quiet and stared straight ahead.  Eventually they both fell asleep and we left them in the stroller when we got home and they slept another hour - all of that fresh air made the boys very sleepy.

Car Seats

We made the switch a few weeks ago - no more baby bucket car seats.  Wyatt was over the height limit and with their winter coats, the straps were getting too tight.  The seats were also getting very heavy, especially carrying both at the same time. 

But I could manage both seats and the diaper bag if necessary.  I could park next to the cart return, get the cart first and then load their seats in the cart.  If they fell asleep in the car there was no need to wake them up when we reached our destination - just carry the seats in the house and let them keep sleeping.

Last week I took them out for the first time alone since we switched car seats.  They had their ear check from our month of ear infections.  I picked them up from daycare and:

1 - Get coats on both babies
2 - Carry Wyatt to the van, buckle into car seat.  Lock van.
3 - Walk back into entrance where someone was waiting with Ruslan
4 - Buckle Ruslan into car seat
5 - Ruslan hadn't napped and immediately falls asleep
6 - Arrive at Drs office and unfold stroller
7 - Buckle Wyatt into stroller
8 - Get sleeping Ruslan out of carseat
9 - Buckle him into stroller while he cries
10 - Open building door and wrangle double-stroller through entrance, repeat with Drs office door as people in the waiting room just watch (answer questions in waiting room including are they twins?)
11 - Remove coats and leave them in stroller, try to keep them buckled and entertained while we wait and wait and wait
12 - Finally get back into room and they are both out of patience
13 - Hold both babies on my lap until Dr comes in the room and continue to hold them both while he checks their ears
14 - Put coats back on unhappy boys and buckle them in stroller
15 - Push screaming babies through the Drs office and again not one person in the waiting room gets up to help with the door
16 - Put Wyatt in car seat, walk around van and put Ruslan in car seat
17 - Unpack diaper bag, fold stroller and load in van
18 - Realize that their appt was so late that it is already time to pick up Juliana; call my mom to get her
19 - Both boys fall asleep and as much as I would have liked to leave the van out front with them sleeping, our road was so narrow from the snow that it wasn't safe (plus the whole leaving the babies alone in the van thing)
20 - Carry one sleeping baby in the house at a time and leave them both in the house crying while I park the van in the driveway
21 - Soothe babies and start the evening routine

Imagine if Juliana had been with us...

Weathering The Storm

Life goes on for the boys in this snow filled day.  Ruslan has a new favorite face that I half caught in this picture - the super cute fish face - and sometimes that fish face ends with a kiss :)

Wyatt has joined the backwards crawling fun, but he prefers to be standing if possible.

And a few pictures of the snow...

Bundled Up

Since we walk to daycare, the boys are bundled in their stroller when it is cold.  Here is what they look like for our short walk.

And under the blanket they are wearing their puffer coats.

The Morning Rush

**Note: I wrote this post 3 weeks ago. The week before the time change provided us with a week of extra early mornings. This new level of exhaustion prevented me from getting a picture of the boys in the stroller in the morning until a few days ago.**


On those HGTV shows when people are looking for a new house, they often point out a nice patio or deck off the master bedroom and make the following comment – “That would be such a nice place to sit and enjoy our morning coffee and read the paper.” Really? Are there people waking up extra early in the morning to allow time for this? And are they reading by lantern, because it is still dark when I get up.

Mornings at our house definitely don’t allow such a calming start to the day. Although I set my alarm clock each night, it rarely has the opportunity to wake me in the morning. My day starts earlier than I want when I am jolted awake by 1 or more little people demanding attention.

Depending on the time, I may feed the baby who is awake and get them to go back to sleep, or at least chill in a bouncy seat, so I can hop in the shower before anyone else wakes up. Then the other baby needs to eat, all 3 children need to be dressed and Juliana have breakfast – she doesn’t like to eat right after she wakes up, so breakfast is a struggle. Juliana – brush hair and teeth. We pick out Juliana’s clothes at night and if she wakes up in a good mood, she will get herself dressed. If she is tired or otherwise uncooperative, she decides to debate the clothing choice she made and insist that I get her dressed.

Bottles, breakfast, and extra clothes and bibs for the boys are packed in their bag. Miscellaneous forms/ permissions slips collected. Shoes, jacket, backpack for Juliana. At this point hopefully neither baby has spit-up all over their clothes or filled their diaper requiring a return to the changing table. Jackets and hats on boys, put them in the stroller, cover them with blanket(s) depending on the temperature. Push the stroller around the block, get the boys settled in their room, stuff put away for the day, take Juliana to her room and hope there isn’t any goodbye drama that morning. Walk home and sit down at my computer to work.

All of this before 8:00 am.

Wyatt - Holdin On

Wyatt prefers to have something in his hands at all times.  His favorite of late are his feet and it's no surprise that he doesn't like to keep his socks on - 3 days of temperatures cold enough to require socks and we haven't lost one yet - I consider that a major accomplishment.

If he falls asleep with a toy in his hand, he continues to clutch it.

And apparently the bumps on the walk to and from daycare are an issue since he likes to hang on to the side of the stroller while we walk.  Now that is is colder, he has a blanket to hold along the way instead.

8 Weeks

I was planning to write a bit about the boys at 8 weeks, but I squadered the boys nap time doing laundry, cleaning the kitchen and paying hospital bills...so just pictures today. There are 2 pictures of the boys in their stroller - one from Kennywood this week and one from Julaina's preschool room. Although the stoller is really big, I don't know how we would be managing these early months without it.