Lullabye's for Jesus

Every night I sing to my kids.  Since the twins, Peanut and Melody all have different bedtimes, that means I sing three different times.  Peanut and the twins get rocked and sung to for several minutes before laying down to go to sleep (then they get more singing and rocking if they have trouble going to sleep for any reason).  Melody gets stories, a prayer, songs and a few minutes of snuggles before saying good night. 

Bedtime is one of the hardest most labor intensive times of the day at our house since everyone is still in the phase of needing so much love and care to help them drift off to sleep.  Even as I write this Melody is laying quietly in her bed with the door cracked (so she has some light) while she waits to fall asleep.  She will probably wind up with a few more hugs/kisses and snuggles before the night is over if she can't fall asleep on her own.

Tonight as I sang to each of my kids, I couldn't help but be thankful that every day, three or four or more times a day, I have a reason to sing and praise God for His goodness.  The songs of my childhood- camp songs, hymns and the like- flow out of me and I remember the connection I felt to God when I sang them growing up.   I am glad that my children will hear hymns and traditional songs and associate it with sweet memories of being tucked in bed by their parents, and I'm glad that I have a reason to sing. 

Crazy over Christmas

You can go ahead and hate me... I am one of those people this year.

Halloween is tomorrow and I am already ready for Christmas! (Emotionally ready, not prepared ready, ha!)

Having kids makes the holidays so much fun.  Melody is old enough to begin some real traditions with her and I am excited to incorporate the twins into a few of the traditions we already have.

Also I am actually looking forward to cooking for Thanksgiving.  The beauty of having Thanksgiving at your own house is that you get to be in charge of the menu.  This will come in handy since we have some food sensitivities to work around (Melody- no peanuts, no white flour, Me- no dairy, Criag- no bananas).

BUT crazy as it may seem, I (currently) feel UP to the challenge!  From somewhere deep inside of me the energy and enthusiasm is welling up to make a yummy Thanksgiving dinner and work around all of our food challenges.

If I can wrangle my time well, maybe I can get a few things posted this year about our menu and our holiday traditions- but no promises.  (Just being honest. :) )

Okay... off to be sure Melody's Halloween costume is ready for tomorrow!


In His Grace,
Rachel

Georgia and Craig

Georgia and Craig- 3 days old

We are a six person family now.

Yesterday was our first day at home without extra help.  No moms, no nannies... just us.

This morning I am sick with some kind of cold, but yesterday was... close to perfect.

Calm.

Peaceful.

Enjoyable.

One thing at a time.

No dishes were done, no laundry was folded.  Just playing with our kids.  Taking naps.  Nursing babies.  Husband and wife talks.  Dreaming dreams for our family's future.  Making plans.

I will be thankful when my sister arrives in town tonight or tomorrow morning and when our housekeeper comes to do the deep cleaning tomorrow, but yesterday told me that we can do it!  We will eventually (keyword- eventually!) go back to being a self-sufficient family.

In the meantime thank you to everyone who has given gifts, brought food, called to check in, watched Melody and prayed for us.  We wouldn't be feeling nearly as peaceful without you.  You have been God's provision for us.

Love,
Rachel

Preparing for twins continued...

A little while back I wrote this post about how my head was spinning a little trying to figure out how life is going to work when we have newborn twins, a special needs infant and a toddler.

I thought I would share how we're doing tackling the list I made of things left to do to prepare for Baby Boy and Baby Girl's arrival.  Here goes...

1. Plan an overnight for Christian and me away from the kids and chaos of life.
This idea has officially been nixed... by me... Somewhere around two days after I wrote this down, I began to feel so big that I wouldn't have been able to enjoy a week-end away if I wanted to. However, I did spend two days in bed last week-end from being sick while Christian took care of the kids.  In an odd way, laying in bed felt really good to my super-pregnant body.  We will have to do a special trip for the two of us another time when I can enjoy it more.  We will be having the baby go overnight away soon though, so Christian and I get a little extra rest before the twins come.

  2. Clean out the clutter from our house and make room for two more babies.
This is a work in progress, but I do feel like progress is being made.  So far Christian and his brother moved all of the big pieces of furniture we don't have room for anymore out of the house, general housework is being kept up with and just this morning, I sat down in our future playroom and spent an hour organzing things to go to the attic, to toss or to give away.  It is taking time, but we will get there.  My parents are also coming this week-end, so I look forward to having their extra hands around to make even greater progress toward getting the playroom and baby room ready.

  3. Tie up as many loose ends as possible before babies get here.
This one is hard.  I have loose ends hanging all around (it feels like).  Things to do for me, for the dance studio, for my business, for the kids doctor's appointments, for the twins... I am definitely trying to stay on top of things, but being tired ALL the time makes it difficult.  I will keep plugging along here.

  4. Pack a hospital bag and solidify plans for our kids in case of early delivery.
I am pretty sure we have a plan and a back-up plan for where our kids will be during delivery.  But I have still not packed anyone's bags... I feel like it's one of those things that still hangs in the loose ends category.   Gotta get on this one... It's kind of important!!

  5. Pre-register for birth at the hospital and sign up for birthing classes, making sure I know the hospitals policies about twin birth since I want to do it naturally.
I finally made the call yesterday to set up my pre-registration appointment at the hospital.  I have decided against birthing classes since a) we have a lot on our plate already and b) I still remember vividly a lot that we learned there and we have pretty much run out of time to sign up.  

And that's how we're doing getting ready for the twins to grace us with their grand entry into the world... We still have lots of things to order for the nursery (and 2nd crib, a dresser, etc) but like I said, we are slowly getting there.  I know that we are running out of time, but I also can still only move so fast!  I told my brother-in-law the other day that I feel like a manitee out of water... I wish I was kidding... 

But we are getting lots of help from friends and from a new part-time nanny/housekeeper that I have hired and so I have lots of faith that we will get everything ready in time.  

So here is the updated list of what we still have left to do...
1.  Clean out the clutter from our house and order what we still need for two more babies.
2. Tie up as many loose ends as possible before the twins get here.
3. Pack a hospital bag for myself and one for each of the kids.
4. Type a general birth plan for my pre-registration meeting at the hospital.

One step at a time!

Love,
Rachel

Big, Big Babies!

Yesterday, I went in for an ultrasound to see how the twins are doing... They are some big, big babies!

We are 32 weeks preggers now...

Baby Girl was estimated at 4 lbs 7oz.
Baby Boy was estimated at 5 lbs!

That is a WHOLE LOTTA baby goin' on!

Who wants to take guesses at how big these babies are going to be when they are born? (Remember, I will be induced before 39 weeks.)  Leave your guess in the comments! :)

Coordinating Diaper Bums

Won't these be so cute on a little baby boy and girl twins?!

Can't wait!

xo,
Rachel

Twins & Diapers & Super-Pregnant

You would not believe how many things are rolling around in my head (okay maybe you would) as I think about how on earth we will get prepared for these twins. 

Thoughts about childbirth for twins (want to try to attempt a natural delivery), wondering if I should re-take birth classes at our local hospital, thinking about all of the things to organize and clean, paint, etc... and diapers!

This is one thing I think I've finally made a decision about.  Right now my two kids are currently in disposable diapers.  Hopefully Melody will potty train sometime soon and there will be no more diapers for her (she is approaching three years old in March) and with my foster son, he has so many doctor's appointments and family visits, etc, I have just never found the motivation to switch him over to cloth.  I am also buying clothes for him as I go along and we all know (if you have done cloth) that clothes need to be bigger to fit cloth diapers and I haven't been able to coordinate buying bigger clothes with a time I can also do the necessary laundry to switch him over to cloth.

When I think about what is coming down the pipe with twins (3 kids for sure in diapers, possibly 4!) I just can't imagine cloth diapering all of them.

But the idea of PAYING for HUNDREDS of diapers per week has me shaking in my boots a little too.

So we are headed right down the middle.

I just got done ordering a dozen more prefolds, 2 cute coordinating Thirstie duo covers (they are my favorite!), and some snappies for the twins.

Yep, I am going to cloth diaper twins right from the beginning and let my other two kiddos continue on in disposables as we have been doing.  This way I am not overwhelmed by dirty diaper laundry (or the idea of changing 3-4 cloth diapers in a single outing) OR by the amounts of money we would be spending on disposable diapers for 4 kids.

Maybe I am overly optimistic, but I also hope to feel MUCH better after these twins are born, so that I am not intimidated by the laundry situation for four children and two in cloth diapers. 

I am chalking up my lack of laundry skills at the moment to being pregnant, having been VERY busy the last six months and still busy even now and being super-pregnant. 

In fact, that is what I think I'm going to refer to being pregnant with twins as from now on.  When you are pregnant with multiples, you aren't just pregnant.... you are SUPER pregnant.  :)  It's akin to having a super hero power.  In fact, I think handling pregnancy is a super power no matter who you are or how many babies you are having!   

Okay, off to be a super hero momma of the twin baking variety.  Donning my cape to handle some laundry for a family of four while Baby Peanut naps.  Here's hoping he stays asleep long enough for me to accomplish sorting and starting a load!

:)

Love,
Rachel

Thoughts about twins...

I'm just going to say at the outset of this post that I have no idea where it is going...

There have been so many thoughts rolling around in my head lately about how our life is going to change though that I really feel the need to get SOMETHING out on "paper".

I just finished directing part of a Christmas show at the local dance studio where I teach and now that the hustle and bustle of Christmas is over, my mind is practically exploding trying to take in all the ways our lives are about to change.  Going from two kids to four all of a sudden- and having those two additional be twins- is just something I am having a hard time grappling with.

I keep desparately searching the internet for someone who has been in our situation.  A family that has a special needs child and twins.   A family with four kids and the twins came last.  I wish there was someone who could say they've been exactly where I am and this is how you get through it.

I told my sister today that I am superwoman.  That I have to think of myself as a superwoman, otherwise I might crumble in this stage.  For a few weeks I will have FOUR KIDS AGE TWO AND UNDER.  Then when Melody turns three at the end of march I will have four kids age three and under and THREE KIDS AGE ONE AND UNDER.

I often ask myself "Am I insane?" and then I remember... I didn't chose this!  Yet even still, I don't mind being chosen for this challenge because each of these children is already the GREATEST GIFT I could ever have in my life.  They give me so much joy... I can't imagine life without them.

So I guess what worries me is the HOW of it all.  HOW am I going to manage a one year old's schedule (who will still be functioning like an 8 or 9 month old) and also manage two newborn's schedules?  HOW will I keep my daughter feeling loved, nurtured and special when I have SO MUCH else going on? 

And I guess now that I have felt so tired and so not like myself (from being pregnant) for SO long I wonder, will I ever TRULY feel back to normal?  Will I ever actually get my energy back?  Will breastfeeding twins completely deplete my energy?  Or will I bounce back and feel like everything is easier once I am no longer pregnant?  Will I have enough help?

The unknowns are getting to me.  Not knowing what life will be like is killing me.  It's like having "senior-itis" when you are pregnant.  It's not time for these babies to be here yet (and they can definitely stay cooking in there until 38 weeks if they like!) , but I am still anxious to meet them and begin meeting this challenge and making it happen.

*Insert Big Sigh Here*

Now I've gotten some worries off my chest, here are the things I can actually do something about...

1. Plan an overnight for Christian and me away from the kids and chaos of life.
2. Clean out the clutter from our house and make room for two more babies.
3. Tie up as many loose ends as possible before babies get here.
4. Pack a hospital bag and solidify plans for our kids in case of early delivery.
5. Pre-register for birth at the hospital and sign up for birthing classes, making sure I know the hospitals policies about twin birth since I want to do it naturally.

Wow.  I guess I have a lot to do before these twinsies get here! Surely it's enough to keep me occupied for the next nine weeks!

Just praying that I have the focus and energy (in spite of being exhausted because of being pregnant with twins) to get prepared for all of this.

*Insert another deep breath here*

I guess I will just need to change my thinking to match the little engine that could... "I think I can. I think I can!"  and pray for grace... lots and lots of grace.

Thanks for listening.

Love,
Rachel