Twins: Two Months

 

Carter is 9 lbs 4 oz and 21 3/4 inches

That is about the 10th percentile!  Pretty good for one of my preemie babies.

He is my little smiley guy and he is starting to talk to me a lot.  I've even caught him cooing at Isaac when he gets close enough.  He is very easy going and strong.  He is holding his head up and putting weight on his legs.  His hair is still pretty thick although I think it's getting lighter.  I enjoy styling it after bath time.

Cooper is 8 lbs 13 oz and 21.2 inches.  He is quickly closing the gap in size between his brother and himself.  He is a pretty content baby but he'll work himself into a pretty good tantrum if his demands aren't met right away.  He smiles and coos at us and holds his head up.  He really enjoys tummy time and has fallen asleep several times on his belly.  Sadly, he is experiencing some baby balding.  I'm sure he will have old man hair very soon.  Isaac did the same thing.

Isaac adores these babies.  He says "uh-oh" anytime they don't have pacifiers in their mouths and then proceeds to shove place the binkies in the babies' eyes and noses.  Occasionally he'll even hit his mark and the binky will go in a baby's mouth, although this is rare.  He loves to help rock the babies, sing to them, feed them, burp them and change their diapers.  He gets really upset with me when I use the bulb syringe on them to extract boogers.  I guess he can relate to their discomfort and he will push me away whenever I try to use it.  What a good big brother!

Firsts

We have had a lot of firsts at our home during the past few weeks.  Here are some pictures to share:

First Christmas and New Years for the babies:

First outing in the Joovy Big Caboose Stand-On Tandem Triple Stroller: (PS this stroller is awesome as was the outing)

First baby smiles (okay so I couldn't quite capture them on camera yet...):

First hair cut (this is also Mom's first attempt at cutting hair... let's just say it's less than professional):

More first words: please, juice, sock and lots more animal sounds (bee, cow, horse, elephant)  Of course Mom and Dad still have to translate as most of the words sound the same... but he knows (and we know) what he's saying:

We look forward to more firsts this month, some of which (like the first round of shots) we aren't so much looking forward to...

 

 

Cute boys in their blue pjs

Christmas

                                  Cooper and Carter                                             

Christmas was very different for us this year.  It was the first time we had our "own" Christmas morning at our house.  After opening a few presents with Isaac we went to Springville to go to church with my family.  I LOVE when Christmas is on a Sunday.  What a perfect way to begin the day that we celebrate our Savior's birth.  We spent Christmas day with the Carters and the next two days with the Christensens.  

Isaac had a lot of fun opening presents.  I wasn't sure if he would get into it or not but by the end of the day he had it down.  As soon as we got home from all of the festivities, he started unwrapping all of the presents that we still had left under the tree.  He had never bothered them before!

Here he is clapping after opening a book from Grandma Joanne. 

And I just love this picture.  The cute beanies were made by Auntie Jacquie. 

Twins: One Month

Time goes by so fast doesn't it?   These two guys have been around for a month now and been at home for over two weeks.  I am super happy to be at home with all of my boys.  I literally spend every minute of my day changing diapers and feeding babies, leaving little room for housework or even showering.  If I'm lucky, I get about a 45 minute rest when all three are napping.  My days are full but I am having a lot of fun. 

Isaac is getting more and more used to the idea of his brothers.  He likes to "help" with changing their diapers and burping them.  He loves to point out their belly buttons and to tickle their feet.  My favorite is when he goes back and forth between the two giving them kisses.  I wish I had more pictures of him interacting with the babies but I'm usually trying to make sure he's not trampling them or flinging them out of their bouncy chair at the same time that he's "helping."

The babies are eating and growing and sleeping well.  They each weigh around 7 lbs.

I love this picture!  Brotherly love..

***Isaac's words: Ma ma, Da da, Uh-oh, fish, shoes

He also makes the doggy sound

Two Weeks

We're home!  On day 12 of our hospital stay, we were able to bring Carter and Cooper home.  It feels so good to have them here.  Carter weighed 5 lbs 10 oz and Cooper weighed 5 lbs 2 oz when we left the hospital.  They have done so well.

Isaac doesn't quite know what to think of his brothers.  He likes to look at them and touch their hair with one finger.  But mostly he just goes on playing like nothing is different.  We'll see how he does in the next few weeks.

King of the Car Seats

 

He is walking more on his own.  He'll go between furniture short distances and sometimes he'll walk between Mom and Dad longer distances.  Those first wobbly steps are so cute!

We are very grateful to be home together.  I still look at these babies everyday and can't believe that we got to bring home TWO!  How did we get so lucky? :)

One Week Update

Carter and Cooper are still in the Level II Nursery (basically the NICU) at AF hospital.  This week they have been getting lots of sleep and learning how to eat enough to gain weight.  It's basically the same story as with Isaac a year ago.  We can go home when they figure out the eating thing.  They are progressing much quicker than their older brother did though. 

Here's a little bit about my boys:

Carter is definitely the more laid back of the two.  He prefers sleeping to eating most of the time.  Cooper is feisty and was looking for food from the first hour he was born.  Usually he is the first one awake at feeding times and is looking around for his momma.

Carter smiles a lot in his sleep so I discovered his dimples quicker than Coopers'.  Cooper is much more serious... especially when eating.  His little eyebrows are always furrowed in concentration.  I did catch a glimpse of his cute dimples the other day though when he was making faces.  So all three of my boys have dimples on their right cheek.  Super cute.

Carter has a full head of dark hair.  Cooper's hair is a little lighter and shorter.  Cooper has very red skin while Carter is a lot paler.  That's how you can tell them apart as you look at their pictures, in case you were wondering.  :)

Becoming a mom the second (and third) time around feels a lot different than the first time.  It feels more natural to love these little guys.  It's easier to believe that they are actually MINE (although I don't think I will fully understand what that means until we are home).  It has been a very emotionally and spiritually strengthening experience for me in ways that I can't really explain.  I'm grateful to be a mom and for all I am learning.

It has been a wonderful week.  We have so much to be thankful for with the arrival of these two babies.  They are healthy and progressing quickly.  They have great nurses and doctors taking care of them.  We have awesome families who have helped us all week.  Grandmas and grandpas have traded off tending Isaac overnight so that Derek and I can give all of our attention to the twins.  How appropriate for the boys to come the week of Thanksgiving!  We are truly blessed. 

Here is one last prego picture of me.  This is almost week 36.  We took this picture after my doctor's appointment last Friday.  He had just told me that he didn't expect me to make it to my next appointment which was only four days away.  He was right!

P.S. Isaac has been taking his first few steps this week!  He has 3 teeth and is working on two more.  And I swear he's gained like 10 pounds in 5 days.  At least that's what it seems like after cuddling little 5 pound babies.  He really does seem to have grown up though.  It's crazy.  I can't wait to have all of us home together so that Isaac can meet the babies.  I am excited to see him in his new role as big brother.

Double the fun!

They're here! Yes, that's right, the twins have arrived. We knew it was coming, I kept telling BriAnn she had to wait just a few more days, but she wouldn't listen, and those boys wouldn't listen either.

We got to spend Saturday afternoon with the Carter's celebrating Bryce's birthday, which was very nice, but by the end of the night BriAnn was feeling contractions pretty consistently, so we left Isaac with Grandma and Grandpa and headed home. When we got home we decided the contractions were close enough we had better head to the hospital, so we got our stuff together and headed down the hill to the hospital.

BriAnn did great all the way through the labor and delivery. She was a little worried about the Epidural, but she braved the big needle and I think it really helped her get through the twelve hours of labor. At about 9:30 am on Sunday we got moved into the operating room where she would have the twins. Here I am all dressed up for the OR:



BriAnn had a bit of pushing to do before they were ready to come, but she pushed a little to quickly. At 10:13 Carter Curtis Christensen was born. The doctor was off finishing up another delivery, so the charge nurse got to deliver him. The doctor walked in shortly after and Cooper Keith Christensen was born just 7 minutes later at 10:20.





Both babies have had a few minor complications so they've been in the NICU at AF hospital, but they're doing very well and we're hoping we get to take them home soon. We're so excited and happy to have them here and can't wait to get them at home with the rest of our family.