Last month I went to Florida for my good friend Rachel’s 40th birthday girls’ trip. By myself. It was pretty awesome.
I was gone for 5 days, and nobody came with me. Zero children. Zero traveling partners. A couple of the girls flew on the same flight, but then the rest of us all just met down there. We went to Anna Maria Island, so most of us flew into Sarasota then took an Uber to the island.
It was the first time I’ve traveled alone since any of the kids were born. Actually, I think it’s the first time I’ve traveled alone since I lived out east. Almost 16 years ago. Crazy.
It was really fun. There were 10 of us in the house we rented, which was right on a little lagoon. It had its own private pool, which was all I was looking forward to. It was a shared townhouse, but we never heard the family on the other side at all. They had their own pool, too, and it was on the opposite side of the house from ours.
We stayed just blocks from the beach, so we walked over there each night to watch the sunset and grab a cocktail. Unfortunately there was really only one beachfront restaurant near us, but we found some other fun places for dinners. We grabbed coffee and breakfast each morning at a little local place, then we either walked to other close-by sandwich or burrito shops for lunches or just snacked by the pool.
I got some sun. I got some sleep. I made new friends. I read 1 entire book! And, surprisingly, I missed everyone back here terribly. I couldn’t help but think the whole time how perfect the place we stayed would be for a family vacation with Ryan and the kids, because it really was.
I couldn’t believe I actually made a solo vacation work! It was a great time with some fantastic people, and I’m so glad I went. It’ll probably happen again in about 20 years. 😀
On the day you were born, first Nat then little A,
The fear I’d been carrying just melted away.
Watching you grow every day, your eyes filled with wonder,
Makes it clear that our headcount of children is simply a number.
You’re both cautious at times, then other times brave;
You have filled to overflowing the love that my mama heart craves.
The last first birthday we’ll celebrate here,
And these moments with you two I’ll forever hold dear.
Nat and Avit are 1!! And yes, that happened a month and a half ago, but you know full well how this blog works. And actually, we just had their 12 month well check last week, so I do always like to put those stats in the update posts when we have them. So there you go, not so late after all.
To start, here are the twins’ official 12 month stats:
Nat
Weight: 22 lbs. (53%)
Height: 30.5″ (56%)
Head: 46.6 cm (57%)
BMI: 16.6 kg/m2 (48%)
Avit
Weight: 24 lbs. 6 oz. (84%)
Height: 31″ (75%)
Head: 47.2 cm (74%)
BMI: 17.8 kg/m2 (79%)
Ok, so a couple things here. Avit is obviously heavier than Nat when we pick them up, so it was fun to finally see by exactly how much. Also, Avit is definitely not taller than Nat – they were squirming around on the table when the nurse tried to stretch them out to measure height, so that is wrong. When they stand next to each other, Nat is clearly taller, and I even told the doctor those measurements are off. I was instructed to take their daily milk amount down from 30-32 oz. to 24 oz. (they still have 4 bottles of whole milk daily mixed in with their 3 meals of real food, so i’ve just knocked them down from 8 oz. to 6 oz. each). The doctor said this might help with Avit’s terrible dry skin and maybe even out their weights a little. Nat’s head still has its obvious flat spot on the back right side, but I read that kids’ heads have years to round out before they’re permanently fused. The pediatrician has never been worried about it or instructed us to do anything about it, so hopefully it will round. I can’t help but worry about it, but it hasn’t impeded his development at all so far.
Otherwise everything looked great! Avit ran around the exam room in his diaper, which the doctor loved to see, and Nat crawled right on over to the little chairs, pulled himself up instantly, and started walking along the furniture just like he does here, which made her very happy also. She said he’s so close to walking she has no worries at all.
It’s still hard to believe that we have 2 one year olds in the house! These little guys are crazy, hilarious, adorable, and so full of love that I can’t stand it. They both chatter all day long. No real words yet – lots of da-das, ba-bas, little melodic songs, but of course no mama (the only time one of them even came close to something that sounded like mama was after they got their shots at the doctor last week, ha!) – and like I said with the others, I can’t wait to hear what they’re actually saying once they do talk. They both love to snuggle into you when they’re sad or sleepy, and sometimes they just come over, want to be picked up, and just be with you. They both bob up and down dancing; Nat claps; they wave; they play peek-a-boo; they love to blow spits and raspberries; they’re getting good at signing “all done,” “eat,” “milk,” and “more”; they play with their toys all day long; they wake up full of smiles in the morning eager to see you and give you hugs. I love them to pieces.
The onesies I had made for their birthday could not have been more perfect. Avit was “Wild 1” and Nat was “Mild 1.” Any more fitting would have been impossible. I loved it!
Within the past week I’ve replaced the dueling jumpers with the big playpen, which they actually enjoy. I think they like being able to play together when they have to be contained instead of just hanging separately with nothing really to do. I’ve also swapped out the infant bucket car seats and put in the rear-facing convertible seats, so they’re really getting to be big boys! It’s so crazy to watch the daily progression.
Last night as I was getting them ready for bed, I was thinking about how this time around all the baby milestones don’t seem nearly as bittersweet as the others did. Probably because we’re doing it twice at once this time. Probably because I know for sure it’s the last time we’ll be hitting them all, whereas with Morrison I always had the “hmm, I wonder if…” in the back of my mind. Either way, I like not really having that pit of “awww… we’ll never do that again…” in my stomach each time we hit one of their milestones or leave a certain baby phase. It’s nice for a change, instead of feeling a longing for not being able to turn back time. Don’t get me wrong – I absolutely love the baby stage and it is kind of weird knowing there will never be babies born in this house again, but that’s ok. I have no doubt that is how it’s supposed to be, and I feel it with my entire being this time. I’m good. We’re full.
Otherwise, they’re just getting more and more into the groove of being part of a 5-kid family every day. They absolutely adore their big brother and sisters, and hearing the big kids make the babies laugh is the sweetest music ever. They still take 2 naps a day, morning and afternoon, and really neither seems close to dropping either of those. They’re into mostly size 18 month clothes, wear size 4 diapers and size 5 overnights, have finally been sleeping through the night since around 11 months (they still wake for the occasional pacifier replacement, but nothing like it used to be since i stopped nursing them), and generally entertain us daily. They both hate sippy cups and are just now starting to drink their bottles cold, which is driving me nuts. I know I never warmed a bottle of whole milk before for any of the other 3, so these guys aren’t getting warm milk anymore either. Sorry, charlies, cold milk is where it’s at now. They’re getting better at drinking it unheated, but they don’t guzzle it down nearly as quickly as when it was warm.
Twins. One-year-old twins! Definitely never someone I pictured walking and crawling through this house, that’s for sure. But it’s pretty great having them here. And now that we’ve made it through the first year, I think we’ll keep them. These little guys have totally captured my heart and, along with their big siblings, make it overflow every single day.
Happy 1st birthday, Nat Jennings and Avit Jerome!! We love you guys so very, very much, and we can’t wait to celebrate with you two every step of the way!
Here are the big 1 year comparison posts and pictures. I still don’t think any of these 5 look alike. Some resemble each other, yes, but there aren’t 2 who I’d say oh yes, you’re definitely related.
The countdown is on until their big 0-1, so this post will be just their 11 month pictures. To find out what’s happening in the life of these soon-to-be 1 YEAR OLDS…stay tuned!
And now the usual comparisons. Here are 11 month posts for the other 3:
We are in the final hours of 2018, and it has truly been a magnificent year. Some of you might be thinking, how in the world is that possible?? You have 5 kids!! But that’s just it. They make my life magical and give me the most important purpose there is. I’m their Mama.
Let’s review, shall we?
We had twins.
I’m not usually one to brag, but I think I’m doing a pretty great job with 5 kids.
I figured out the logistics of getting us all to/from school all year, whether it was walking, driving, or carpooling.
Summer vacation was awesome with everyone home. Lots of playing with friends on the block (kids and parents!), walks and runs, library visits, collecting sea glass.
We learned what a vacation as a family of 7 is when we went up to Iron River this summer. It’s doable, and it was fun!
We got to watch a Brewers playoff game from a suite. It’s kinda nice when your cousin is the manager. 😉
We bought a second house.
The twins went on their first flight out to Tucson to meet their great-grandparents, which was so very, very important. The logistics of that one were a little torturous, but the family time spent together was priceless and worth every single second.
We took another family vacation up north to Eagle River. It gets easier and better every time.
We’ve been enjoying our first holiday season with 5 children. That does not sound normal to me – we have 5 children. Maybe someday it will, but still not yet. Both of my parents are 1 of 4 children, and I always thought man, that’s a lot of kids. Ha, silly me. The universe heard that and remembered it.
Ryan got a big and extremely well-deserved promotion at work.
I finished my sea turtles tattoo for the kids. Very important, I know!
We watched all our children grow every day, and my heart gets more and more full by the second with all of them. It was a year full of firsts for the twins, and it’s so amazing to get to experience all these baby firsts over again in double. Each day is something new and wondrous for them.
And now here we are, the very end of 2018. I think the sign of a good year isn’t completely dependent upon what you’ve accomplished, what you’ve done, where you’ve gone, but how you feel at the end of it. And just like the title of one of my favorite Christmas movies, it’s a wonderful life. I’m happier than I’ve ever been, our family is complete, and we are heading into the new year on a high note.
Cheers, 2018, and thank you so much for everything you gave us. Here we come, 2019, all 7 of us!
This was a great Christmas. It was the twins’ first Christmas, and I realized that they are the first out of all our children to spend their first Christmas here at home. For all the others’ first Christmases, we were down at my mom’s house. As much as I love spending the Christmas holiday down there when everyone is back, being at home and not having to go anywhere or really do anything at all is very, very nice. Especially now that there are so many of us!
On Christmas Eve, the big 3 got everything ready for Santa and the reindeer – cookies, egg nog, a carrot, and reindeer food in the front yard. Then Della read us The Night Before Christmas, a tradition that we started last year. Lana was able to read some, too, this year. She’s been working on that little book for the past month to try to be able to read it for us on Christmas Eve, so I know she was very happy and proud to be able to do her part.
When I woke up on Christmas morning, I saw there was a weather alert on my phone – snow had supposedly started overnight, which was not in the forecast at all. In fact, on the late news on Christmas Eve, they even said we were going to have a brown Christmas. I honestly felt like a kid when I peeked out the window and saw a white Christmas! I couldn’t believe it. It was the perfect way to start the day.
I made sure to get up early when the twins did so I didn’t miss a second of the kids’ excitement, and it was awesome from the start. They all got a nice little haul from Santa this year, and Daddy even got each of the big 3 a good book. The babies watched the unwrapping madness from their jumpers so they didn’t get trampled or do any trampling (Avit, ahem), and all they wanted was to get in their highchairs for some Cheerios. They were both too big to wear the little Baby’s 1st Christmas hats that we had, but they did wear matching Santa bibs for all the meals. That counts, right?
Then the day was spent playing with the new goods, watching Christmas movies, generally relaxing, then hosting Ryan’s parents for Christmas dinner. It was a wonderful day, and I hope all the Christmases out there were just as great.
The twins turned 10 months old at the end of November, and Houston, we have 2 crawlers! So there are now babies ALL OVER THE PLACE!
I finally stopped being lazy and actually feed them now, starting around Thanksgiving, and they’re doing great! Maybe they honestly just didn’t want to eat the past couple months when I tried, because now it’s like they can’t get enough. And so far they’ve liked and not had any bad reaction to everything I’ve given them – all varieties of baby food fruits and veggies (but baby food meat in a jar is so horribly disgusting, i refuse to make them eat that. yuck!) in both jars and pouches, Cheerios, puffs, cheese, blueberries, bananas, apples, pasta, meatballs (their new favorite!), oranges, crackers, rice, green beans, sweet potatoes, cooked carrots, stuffing, mashed potatoes. I want to try to introduce peanuts to them to make sure there are no allergies, but I’m not quite sure how to do that yet. They still love their bottles, though, and come crawling when they see me making them. I’m just now getting Nat to hold his own bottle, too, which is fantastic!
Their sleep at night is still horrendous, so we’re working on that. I just stopped nursing them overnight last night, and there was all the crying. I finally left our bedroom and slept on the couch since I don’t have to feed them in the middle of the night and boy, oh boy, do their lungs work. They’ve gotta figure this shit out, though. Almost 11 months is ridiculous. I even read a bunch of articles yesterday about getting older babies to sleep through, and I kept seeing that if it isn’t happening by 12 months to talk to your pediatrician. Even the internet runs out of answers by then. Awesome.
But otherwise, they’re great. These are 2 hilarious little guys to watch, and I love seeing them just playing all day, chattering away and making noises the whole time. They each know their name, too, and they actually respond when you call them. They’re so content to dig into their toy pile and play with stuff, it’s amazing. I really only have to put them in their jumpers for containment when I need to get something out of sight done like shower, laundry in the basement, etc. The rest of the time they’re totally fine crawling around and playing. I just shut the bedroom and bathroom doors, and they’re good. We actually took 2 real babyproofing steps, too, which, if you know us well, you know we don’t babyproof. They just figure it out. 😉 I put a gate up in the kitchen to block access to the back door area and basement stairs, and I put clear rubber protectors on the corners of our new coffee table in the living room because that thing is brutal!
Now that Nat is mobile, too, he’s testing out his strength against Avit. More than once I’ve seen him literally climb up on Avit’s head and try to knock him down. Payback for all those nights Avit slept on top of him in their shared crib. Avit still likes to take every toy Nat plays with away from him, which causes Nat to scream, so we’re trying to teach Avit to stop that. Their interactions are so funny.
Seeing 2 little bodies crawling around the house at the same time is pretty crazy. This morning I was vacuuming, came around the corner from our bedroom, and both of them were sitting right next to each other in the middle of the bathroom just looking at me with wide eyes. Plotting my future demise, I’m sure, hahaha!
They could not be more different, both in looks and personality. Nat is still the much calmer of the 2, except, of course, for his high-pitched screams and wails at night. Avit crawls at the speed of light and must figure out a way to investigate or get into every single thing he sees. And he 100% knows when he’s doing something naughty, because when he sees you coming to stop him, he looks at you, smiles, usually squinks up his face and giggles, then crawls away as fast as he possibly can. He’s also probably days away from walking. He takes a tentative step or two on his own, but no actual walking across rooms yet. Nat is much happier to just grab a toy and sit and play with it. Except Nat is the one who’s more prone to make a bee-line across the living room rug to the Christmas tree area. Stinker. Nat falls asleep for naps much better still, whereas Avit likes to flop around in his pack n play as much as possible and grab anything within reach to bring it in with him. Avit shovels his food in from his high chair tray, whereas Nat is happy eating one thing at a time, actually chewing and swallowing his food like a normal person. Nat has the most delicate little pixie face, and Avit is much more Gerber-baby cute. Both perfect for eating baby faces, though!
The big 3 always tell me that my tummy picked the right babies with the twins, and they’re exactly right. They’ve also asked if my tummy had picked only one, which one would it be, Nat or Avit. I have no idea, but it’s hard to picture life with only one of these two. I love them so much, and I can’t believe they’re almost 1!
I took the kids to Peoria with my mom for Thanksgiving this year, and it was a most excellent visit. We got to spend time with both sides of my family, which is always so much fun. The kids got to see relatives they know well and those they only see a couple times a year, and they loved playing with them all again.
Ryan didn’t have as many days off as the girls so he couldn’t join us again, but hopefully he can make it next year.
Thanksgiving has long been my favorite holiday, but now with kids, I can’t help but feel the Christmas spirit get stronger again every year. And this Thanksgiving celebration, full of laughs and the love of family, was the perfect way to kick off this most magical season of the year.
