Family pictures

A little while ago, when Logan and Taylor were 2 1/2 months old, my friend Liz took some pictures of our family. It was a really cold day, and poor Logan and Taylor were shivering, but the pictures turned out even better than I had imagined.

Thankful

I love Thanksgiving! I think it is a great time to remind ourselves of our blessings. We often get so caught up in our busy lives that we forget what truly matters.

There are so many things I am thankful for that I could probably spend all day making up a list. And since I don't have all day, here'smy Top 5:

1. The Gospel. I am so thankful to know where I came from and where I am going. Knowing that our family is sealed for Eternity has brought so much peace to my mind.

2. My amazing husband. Billy is sacrificing so much so that we can have the life that many people can only dream of. Because he works so hard, I can stay at home to raise our children. Because he works so hard, we will soon be able to help those in need. And because he works so hard, we will have numerous opportunities to change lives.

3. My wonderful boys, Logan and Taylor. I never knew I could love anyone so much. They bring me so much happiness. I enjoy every minute I spend with them, whether we play, eat, or cuddle together. I feel so grateful that the Lord blessed me with two of his most special angels and that they are as healthy as can be.

4. Our health. Except for a few minor things here and there (like Taylor's ventricular spetum defect, Logan's misshaped head, Billy's poor eating and exercise habits, and my really bad skin), we are all fairly healthy.

5. Our friends and family members. They have stood by us through the best and the worst. We feel so grateful to be blessed with their friendship.

No matter how much debt we've been in these last couple of years, I don't feel like there is anything missing in my life. I have everything I have always wanted and needed.

Working out

Working out at the gym has pretty much been impossible these last 4 months. I am too tired in the morning to get myself up at 5, and I am too exhausted at night to take advantage of Billy being home. So I've tried to work out in whichever way I can.

"Reverse push-ups." I lay flat on my back, raise the baby, then lower him down. I do 4 sets of 25.

"Sit-ups." I set the baby on my legs, lay flat on my back, then sit up. I do 4 sets of 50.

"Toe raises." While I clean the bottles, I stand on my toes, then lower them. Again, I do 4 sets of 50.

I can't say that I lost all 43 lbs by doing this. I lost 20 lbs by just having Logan and Taylor. I think these exercises along with my good metabolism took care of the rest. Thanks, mom, for blessing me with your metabolism. I hope it lasts...

So different

Logan and Taylor are different in sooo many ways that I thought I should blog about just a few.

Every time Logan cries, it is such a sad cry. Sometimes he even curls his bottom lip down.
Every time Taylor cries, it sounds really angry. Sometimes I can even see his tonsils.

Logan is an early bird. He is such a happy baby in the morning. The morning feeding sometimes takes an hour because he just can't stop looking at me, smiling, laughing, and talking... which is totally okay.
It takes Taylor a little while to wake up in the morning. He is usually really sleepy all throughout the morning feeding, but by the time he is finished eating, he is wide awake and ready to play, smile, laugh, and talk.

After I put Logan to sleep, he can usually fall asleep on his own, and it doesn't take very long.
Taylor usually eats his fist or stares at his mobile for a while before he can fall asleep.

At night, when Logan is hungry, he wants to be fed right now, and he cannot wait. No binkie will do the trick and just holding him doesn't help either.
When Taylor is hungry, he can suck on his binkie or be happy in my arms until I finish getting his bottle ready. Sometimes he can even fall back to sleep.

Logan and Taylor might have the same DNA, but they have very different personalities, and I love that about them.

One, two, three

1. This morning, I was sitting down, with my knees up, Logan on my lap, and Taylor sitting on my belly. It was really cute because they were looking at each other and then started talking.

2. These last couple of nights, I have had to get up more often, but not as long, making me think that Logan and Taylor can handle one feeding a night. I still put them down around 9:00 p.m. and feed them around 2 or 3 a.m., and they are usually good until 7:30 a.m. I guess if I put them down later, I could say they are sleeping through the night. Like if I put them down at 11 p.m., they would probably wake up around 4 or 5 a.m. to be fed. And that would be their night -because they do sleep about 5 or 6 hours in a row - which is a whole lot better than it used to be. But the reason why I put them down so early is so that I can have some hubby-wifey-time, without the kiddos. Billy works and studies so hard that it is sometimes hard to find time to spend alone. So after 9 p.m. is our time! And yes, that also means that even though Logan and Taylor get 5 to 6 hours of sleep at a time, I don't. That's okay, though. What wouldn't I do for some hubby-wifey-time!

3. Diaper changes have gotten a lot trickier lately.

Here is Taylor. You can't tell by looking at the picture, but he is kicking his legs in all directions.

And here is Logan. He is rolling over to his side, making it not all that easy to change him.

Fall

The weather has been so nice lately (which probably means that there is something nasty coming up here soon), that I decided to take a few pictures outside. The color of the leaves are changing to yellow, orange, and red, and are just beautiful. I wish the weather would stay like this all year... then I wouldn't have to hate Iowa for its butt-freezing-cold winters.

So close

Last night, Billy and I watched Skylie so that Matt and Erin could enjoy some time off and go on a date. I love this pictures because Taylor is looking at her as if to say,
"Logan, what's wrong with you! How could you let mom put a purple flower in your hair?", or maybe, "Logan, is that you? No, wait a minute, you're not Logan!"

Logan and Taylor have both been sleeping much better at night. I put them down around 9 p.m. and they usually don't wake up until 1 or 2 a.m. and then again around 4 or 5 a.m. and 7 a.m.

I think they might sleep through at least one of those feeding in the next month or so. These last 2 weeks, I decided to focus on the 4 to 5 a.m. feeding. They have been very poopy eaters during that feeding, eating only about 1 to 1 1/2 oz., so I have been breastfeeding them only (no bottle) and decreasing how much time I spend feeding them (to 10 minutes). It's been nice because I don't have to get bottles ready, and I can go back to bed after 20 minutes. We'll see how it goes.

The Climb

I discovered Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus when I was doing a practicum in first grade. I am not a huge fan of hers, but I gotta admit that I love her song "The Climb" and find the lyrics very inspiring. So here they are:

I can almost see it
That dream I am dreaming
But there's a voice inside my head saying
"You'll never reach it"
Every step I'm taking
Every move I make feels
Lost with no direction
My faith is shaking
But I gotta keep trying
Gotta keep my head held high
There's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be a uphill battle
Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose
Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb
The struggles I'm facing
The chances I'm takingS
ometimes might knock me down
But no, I'm not breaking
I may not know it
But these are the moments that
I'm gonna remember most, yeah
Just gotta keep going
And I, I got to be strong
Just keep pushing on
'Cause there's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be a uphill battle
Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose
Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb, yeah!
There's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be an uphill battle
Somebody's gonna have to lose
Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb, yeah!
Keep on moving, keep climbing
Keep the faith, baby
It's all about, it's all about the climb
Keep the faith, keep your faith, whoa

Halloween

This year, Billy and I haven't been able to do all the things we normally do around this time of the year. We didn't carve pumpkins, we didn't make caramel apples, and we didn't bake sugar cookies shaped like pumpkins and bats. Thanks to Matt and Erin, who watched Logan and Taylor on a Saturday night, Billy and I were able to go to a Haunted House, and that was a lot of fun. I am hoping that by next year, Logan and Taylor will be into Halloween, and all four of us will be able to restart our Halloween traditions.

For various reasons (I waited until the last week to look for costumes, original costumes were overpriced, and it was hard to find cute costumes for babies as little as Logan and Taylor), we had to improvise and try to be creative.

Friday, October 30, was Beggar's Night at the Valley West Mall. I am glad I finally got the chance to check it out, but it wasn't as fun as I imagined it would be. The line for candies was ridiculously long and slow. Maybe next year I'll do what other parents did that night and send Logan and Taylor to cut the line to get their candies. No one could yell at these cute little guys... (who by the way slept through the whole thing!)

Taylor was a cute little pumpkin that night.

And Logan was an adorable little ghost.

On Halloween night was the ward's Trunk or Treat. This time I think we were a little more creative in our costumes. We dressed Logan and Taylor as missionary companions! They looked so stinkin' cute!

Taylor looks exhausted from all this hard work.

But Logan looks excited and ready to convert tons of people.

Logan & Taylor are 3 months!

Logan and Taylor are 3 months old (and 2 days)! I can't believe how much they've grown! They've almost tripled their birth weight!

Logan weighs approximately 11 lbs, according to our not-so-accurate scale.

At 3 months, he can:
- lift up his head for a few seconds while laying on his tummy.
- smile, especially when he sees mommy and daddy.
- laugh out loud, and sometimes even in his sleep.
- talk a bunch, with "ooo", "aaa", "agoo", and "arooo".
- follow objects and focus on faces.
- sleep as long as 5 1/2 hours at night, but usually more like 4 1/2 hours.
- stand on his feet while we hold his hands.
- almost roll over (he stays stuck on his side).

This month, Logan also:
- discovered his toes.
- started eating his fists.
- started wearing some 3/6 months clothes.
- started wearing 1/2 size diapers.
- started really enjoying bath time.
- discovered what rain feels like on his feet.

Taylor weighs approximately 10 lbs.

At 3 months, he can:
- lift up his head for a long as a full minute while laying on his tummy.
- smile, especially when I say "Hi!" in a high pitched voice.
- laugh out loud.
- talk a bunch, with "aooo", "ooo", "aaa", and "arooo".
- follow objects and focus on faces.
- sleep as long as 5 hours a night, but usually more like 4 hours.
- stand on his feet while we hold his hands.
- almost roll over, but is not as close to it as Logan.

This month, Taylor also:
- put his hands together.
- started eating his fists.
- started wearing some 3/6 months clothes, but they still look big on him.
- started wearing 1/2 size diapers.
- started really enjoying bath time.
- does not pee on me as much as he used to during diaper changes.

What I'm looking forward to this upcoming month: better eating, especially for Taylor!