Valentine's Day!

We hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day...our house was full of Love!

We started the morning off wonderfully by sleeping in til 8:30! ( me and the babies that is :) ) Then we had a fun photo shoot of our rockin outfits provided by Aunt Robin. All was going well until the twins decided to release all of their insides at once! Then, they decided to tag team me by waiting until I was finished changing them to unleash round 2. BOTH BABIES! So by 10:00 am I think I had changed 5 or 6 diapers. We had to bring the A.M. photo shoot to an early close.


I think Caden looks so different in this picture! What an adorable round head :)

My Jenna Girl and her big, beautiful eyes!

The closest thing we will get to a smile from Jenna....mouth still open :)

Jenna says "I'm tired of this, Mom." Caden just looks plain mad.

The carnage of Round 2! Yes, there was a Round 1 before this:

After a good nap and a full tummy, we tried again:

Here they are mesmerized by the Valentine Balloon I brought out.

Then, we had a special surprise....Daddy! Ryan got off work early and came home to spend the afternoon with us. It was so beautiful outside, we packed up and went to Lake Lynn for a walk / run. We had a wonderful time getting fresh air and sunshine! From here, things go downhill. Maybe the twins were too overstimulated? too tired? who knows...but Caden went bonkers first all during our Vday dinner. So our first Valentine's Day dinner with Kids was just that....with kids. Ryan had to hold Caden the whole time to keep him from wailing. I had Jenna in the bouncy seat on the floor bouncing her with my foot. Serious Romance folks. :) haha

After dinner, it was Cadens turn to try Rice Cereal (more about why he is on this in their 4month post). It was an epic disaster. We called it quits halfway through and will try again tomm. After Caden was calmed, Jenna ramped up to new levels we had not experienced before. What is going on babies!? Ryan theorizes there was battery acid in my milk or something!

Anyway, after we fed them their last feeding at 9pm they went out like dreams and didn't wake us up at all the entire night! Whew! In all seriousness, we had a wonderful VDay and wouldn't trade away our new normal for anything! The Valentine Celebration continues for me and Rhino tonight thanks to Gigi and Papa T. So we will get our quiet dinner after all :)

Sleep-over at GiGi's

This past weekend, Ryan went on the High School Ski Trip with our church...that meant I headed over to my parents house to help me with the twins! It had been such a hard week with the twins' colds, I was majorly over-tired from not getting much sleep, so off to GiGi and Papa T's house we went!

So excited to go to GiGi and Papa T's house!

I got to see my precious Snuggle - wuggle!

Caden was feeling back to normal by the weekend and Jenna was alot better, but still not 100%. Check out how we put our inchbug name bands to use...pretty sure inchbug didn't have this in mind :) hehe We got smart about a day into "the sickness" and figured it would be a good idea NOT to cross contaminate the snot-snatchers :) Many thanks to our friend Jenn H for providing these cool snot-snatching name bands :)

Friday night was fun time with Aunt Robin while my parents were gone. It took us a little over 4 hours to watch a movie because we had to stop and pause it so much tending to the twins! haha Saturday was cold and rainy so that meant a lazy day inside! It was soooo nice being at someone else's house because there was actually time to sit down and relax! I'm so thankful for all of our parents...both my parents and Ryan's. They are so helpful to us and have made this transition into parenthood much easier!

On Sunday, in exchange for all of the help my parents gave me this weekend, I agreed to take the twins to their church so they could show them off a bit. :) So many of the people in their Sunday school class had prayed for me and the babies, it was nice to go show them how the twins were doing and thank them for praying for us.Of course, I put the twins in their fancy matching outfits. Caden was extra squirmy so I picked him up to help soothe him down. We had not even reached the opening prayer and he blew it out. All over him, up his back, down his pants, on my dress and yes....all over my hand. We had to change in a little closet bathroom with no baby changer station, I ran out of wipes and Caden kept slipping into the circular trash hole on top of the sink counter top. Hilarious.

Jenna seemed to discover Brad for the first time...she was in love. She just stared and stared with huge big eyes and a gorgeous smile. Watch out Aunt Rob...

We went back to my parents house and rested up until it was time to head to our Superbowl Parties! What a great weekend! Now...its time for me to salvage our house after all the bags were thrown in last night. Laundry, Laundry, Laundry here we come.

Hangin' out with Gigi and Papa T:




Oops dont tell Dad...maybe Gigi and Papa T were delerious from not getting a full nights sleep, but somehow Caden ended up surrounded by pink :)

We had a great time with GiGi, Papa T, Aunt Rob and Uncle Brad...stay tuned for the adorable Valentine Day outfits from Aunt Rob :)

Twins 101 - Sleeping Arrangements

First...I think we have turned the corner and on the road to recovery! Praise the Lord...He sustained us to get through this tough week. We definitely got more sleep when they were newborns...who knew a simple head cold would cause so much chaos in poor little babies!

The next question I get asked all of the time is "do they sleep in the same room?" Answer: YES! Our house is only so big and there was NO WAY I was giving up my guest room...we had someone helping us every night for 5 weeks! There is no way we would have come out of the first month with twins as cordial and sane as we did without our awesome help. We had grandma's, aunts and uncles, great aunts, cousins, and a special guest aunt: CAITLIN!

The second part of that question is: "Do they sleep in the same crib?" Again a big time YES. From the first day they were born, we were encouraged to put them together in their little hospital bin. We actually witnessed them calm down when they were snuggled up to each other! I guess after 9 months of being in a small area bumping into each other and hearing each other's heartbeat, it is quite comforting for them in this crazy, bright, loud world.

I snuggle them up together on pillows for naps and play time. For bedtime, they are in the same crib...they used to be lengthwise but now they are too big and hit and roll all over each other. Now they are width wise on each end of the crib. We will keep them this way until they can roll over then they will go to their own crib. That will be kind of a sad day! I love having them right there together.

At the hospital:

At Home:

One-Two punch

Yikes. What a weekend. We are experiencing another first...both babies sick. Jenna has had some congestion on and off for weeks, but nothing to cause a trip to the Doctor or anything contatgious. Then, last Monday, Caden woke up with a cough. One thing led to another and Friday we had them at the Pediatrician where they were diagnosed with head colds. We are really trying to keep it at just that : colds! They are pitiful though. Our fabulous schedule we had developed is right out the door. Each night has become progressively worse leading up to last night where me and Ryan got up with one of them every hour. They tag-teamed us alternating when they would wake up and cry out b/c they were so congested. Somewhere around 4:30 am we realized we got more sleep when they were newborns !sheesh!

Anyway, pray for us. Pray for me. It breaks my heart trying to figure out how to hold and cuddle both of them...my prayers for a temporary set of 2nd arms has not been answered yet. hehe The Lord will sustain us. He has graciously allowed them to sleep for an hour...so far this morning! yea!

Until we are back to normal here, I will leave you with this "Twin Brain" moment to hold you. It proves our line between consciousness and REM sleep is devastatingly off. Enjoy :)

Setting: sometime in the middle of the night:

Ryan (in a slightly aggitated voice): Casey, what are you doing!?

Casey (sitting straight up in bed, pounding my right shoulder with my left hand): I'm burping Caden! (in a matter of fact, "duh" voice)

Ryan: No your not, He's not here, go back to bed! (and turns over and goes back to bed...does NOT help me wake up, just leaves me there burping myself.)

**The sad part of this story is that I was awake enough to know I was having that converstaion and felt me burping myself...but couldn't wake up enough to snap out of it.) oh, sleep deprivation...

Twins 101 - Identical or Fraternal?

So I thought the twins might enjoy reading some of the questions I commonly get when they get older. It seems to be the same set of questions over and over, so maybe we can answer some here. First, I will start with the most commonly asked...its shocking.

Are your twins identical or fraternal?


I have to pause in my head sometimes and think to myself, "really? one is a boy and one is a girl!" But then I think back to before my explosion of twin knowlege and cut some slack :).

Here's the answer: My boy/girl twins are FRATERNAL. All Boy/Girl twins are Fraternal...it's not the other way around though. Girl/Girl and Boy/Boy twins can be Fraternal or obviously Identical. Here's why:

The terms Fraternal and Identical have nothing to do with the way the twins look. The terms refer to how they were formed. Identical twins form from one single zygote (egg) which is either a female or male chromosome. It starts as one, then splits into two (i.e. it startes as male or female, and when it splits, it is still either male or female...there is just two of them now). Fraternal twins form from two different zygotes(eggs). So since they are totally different eggs, they can be either both male, both female or one of each!

So here is your cheat sheet:


Girl/Girl = identical or fraternal
Boy/Boy = identical or fraternal
Girl/ Boy - fraternal

For Girl/Girl or Boy/Boy twins, you can do a DNA test once they are born to determine if they are identical or fraternal if Doctors are not able to tell.

***now, here is my note...there have been cases reported of boy/girl identical twins. However, there have been less than 10 cases confirmed, and the female twin is born with genetic mutations. So.....I think it is still safe to say Boy/Girl twins = Fraternal :)


We also were fairly sure they were fraternal, even before we knew their genders b/c they were in two separate sacs (leading us to believe they were formed from two separate eggs :) ) Once they were confirmed boy / girl, we knew for sure. See?


From this:




To this:




So what is YOUR twin question? Post a comment below and we'll have fun answering questions. A few I have coming up : Do they sleep in the same crib together? Do they wake each other up when crying? How do you nurse two babies? (the better question is how do you burp two babies at the same time when they need to be burped! haha) I'm still looking for that answer...

For this Child I Prayed

Yes, I kept the title singular, because that is what I did! I prayed and prayed for a child for 2 years....little did I know I was asking God for something so much smaller than He had planned for us! I'm so thankful He did not answer my limited prayer, but instead chose to pour into my cup until it ran over in grace...with TWO children! He had so much more in store for us and could see these two little blessings every time I cried out to Him in fear, anger, hurt, desperation and confusion.

Last Sunday at Church, we dedicated (in public) Jenna and Caden to the Lord. I love how our Church conducts this service! The parents line up with the children and share publicly in front of family, friends and the Church body our desire to release our children to the Lord's will and plan for their lives. Then, after we have shared our intent, our Pastor addresses the Church body and asks for their support, encouragement and prayers for the children represented (and their parents!). The twins did great...we had no major spit up or poo to deal with. Jenna got a little vocal so I didn't hear half of what Pastor was saying, I just joined in when it was time for us to respond! So, for my sake and yours....below is what was said....it truly is a reflection of our desire for Jenna and Caden.

Pastor: In the presence of our heavenly Father, you parents have come today to present your children unto the Lord. The faith which you have placed in the promises of God must grow as you fully honor God by embracing His promises by faith for your child. The individual commitments you have made privately to the Lord, to your child, and to each other, you now proclaim publicly in an act of worship and dedication. Do you come today to commit yourselves to be godly parents whose lives will reflect the glorious joy of knowing the Lord God through Jesus Christ, His Son?

Parents: We do

Pastor: Do you come to place this child in the strong, loving, secure arms of your eternal Father, entrusting your child both to His car and His service?

Parents: We do

Pastor: The prayer of Hannah for her son, Samuel, gives us an illustration of the extent of this dedication: "I prayed for this child, and the Lord granted me what I asked of Him. So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord." (1 Samuel 1:27-28) Is this the commitment you are making in the dedication of your child unto the Lord?

Parents: It is

Pastor (to the congregation): Will you endeavor by the grace of God to pray for these parents and their children and to live your lives before God in such a way that these young ones will see the power and glory of the Lord in your walk with Him?

Congregation: We will

**We pray that you will join us in this prayer for Caden and Jenna. We pray that you will come alongside us and point their hearts and minds to glorify Jesus Christ as you take part in their lives. We are so thankful for you all...it is because of your prayers that our hearts were encouraged to wait patiently for God's plan for our lives.

Afterwards, in submitting to Ryan's wishes :)ha! we put the twins in the Nursery for the first time. ahhh! They did great and it shouldn't have been a big deal, but I'm still a bit in the "Mother Hen" mode. Preemie + Winter + Phobia of RSV + the number of germs in a church nursery = nervous mama. We had everyone over to our house for lunch after Church and had a great day celebrating our two gifts. Thank you, Thank you, Lord!

And of course, pictures of the Mr. and Miss.

Me and my Jenna Girl!

My two studs :)

Nana and Papa




Papa T and GiGi

Aunt Rob and Uncle Brad

Aunt Alice

Three Months!

Somebody make it stop...they are growing up way to fast. Can't believe it is time for a 3 month post! So much has happened in a month!

First, if you haven't looked through the previous posts...you must! We had an incredible Christmas / New Year Holiday. I prayed many a Christmas Holiday that we would have a baby by the next year and this was the year...times two!

The kiddos are growing so much, they have been interacting with us, smiling, cooing, laughing and bringing so much joy into our home! We didn't have a 3 month appt scheduled, but thanks to our awesome Pediatrician / Lactation Consultant...we do have a weight update :) About a week or two before Christmas, all of a sudden, the twins would only nurse for 7-8 minutes each feeding. No matter what I did, they would not eat anymore! I tried to observe to see if they were fussy before the next scheduled feeding so I could tell whether or not they were getting enough. With our reflux trouble, it made it hard to tell. So, my mind began to play tricks and I began to wonder about my milk supply. I called our Peds office and they were sooo understanding and said to come right on in and we would weigh the twins and look at their growth chart. So we took the twins in and...surprise! They are doing more than ok...praise God! Caden somehow has kept the heavyweight title coming in at 11lb 5oz (25%) with Jenna at 11 lb 2 oz (40%). Yep, Jenna, even using her actual-age scale (not adjusted to account for their prematurity) is coming in at 40%! My little chunky monkey :) They had both grown taller too which we were glad to see! Caden is now 22 inches (5%) and Jenna is 21.50 (8%). It is soo funny to me that Jenna, 3 months old, is finally the length of my friends newborn baby...straight out of the womb! Oh, I love my little Little's :) So the nurse told me not to worry for another second...I had plenty of milk and it was good milk...fattening these babies right up! She said to be thankful that they have become to efficient, it only makes my life easier! I'm so thankful the Lord has granted my desire to nurse both babies AND have enough to pump and store. The Lord is good.

Since my last 2 month post, Caden smiles all the time...he is such a ham! He can melt your heart right at the second you are most frustrated with him by flashing that adorable smile.




Jenna has slowly decided she likes the response she gets when she smiles :) Your key times to see her beautiful smile is in the morning and at night...on the changing table. She is such a little lady and blinks her long eye lashes and smiles with her eyes.

Caden must have heard us talking about him being our little drama. The twins have completely switched places! Somehow, overnight, Caden has turned into our textbook baby. He gets a good feeding in, is happy as can be talking and cooing, then soothes himself to sleep the last hour and a half of each cycle. At night, we put him down with his paci and he is out like a light!
Jenna? oh dear. She does great during the day with her schedule, she too eats well and has great happy awake time. She often fights sleep and will eventually fall asleep with about an hour to go in her cycle. She continues to have fussy time from 8 - 11pm each night. Once it is time for bed, the battle begins:) She has a hard time soothing herself to sleep. Our attempts to let her "cry it out" have ended 45 minutes later with her still crying on all cylinders. So, for now we still help sooth her to sleep....the good news is that once she is asleep, she is asleep and goes through the night.
If you remember, when I went into pre-term labor back in September, they gave me a series of steroid shots to help the babies' lungs develop in case they came too early. Well, I joke now that Caden must have soaked up all of the steroids and not left any for Jenna. He is strong as an ox! He has been holding his head up since 2 weeks old, but now he can basically sit up on his own...sure he tumbles every once in a while, but he holds his head straight up with great control, turns from side to side and even uses his stomach to crunch himself up when leaned back. He is doing so well, I broke out the bumbo seat for him and he LOVED it! We joke that he thinks he is 6 months old and just trapped in a newborn body :) Jenna? Bless her heart...her side-neck fetish doesn't help her at all. (Click here to read what I'm talking about if you dont remember.) She is doing better now...but is not close when compared to Caden. She has a hard time sitting up and holding her head upright. We work with her daily so I know she will catch up! Combine her side-head with her tongue fetish and you have some funny looking pictures:)



The medicine we got at our 2 month appt seems to be helping a little bit. We (me and Ryan) thought we knew best and stopped giving it to them over Christmas b/c we couldn't tell a difference. BIG MISTAKE. It was definitely keeping things from being worse...which we found out. Our first huge foul as parents. So we started them back on it and things have leveled out. Jenna still spits up every feeding, but Caden seems to be at peace after more feedings now.

How are they sleeping? Like angels! We are so blessed to have TWO good sleepers. They really could have made it hard on us by having different schedules or only having one who cared to sleep...but we are so thankful that is not the case! Right after the 2 month post...on December 15th to be exact...they BOTH slept through the night! It was amazing, I jumped out of bed...not b/c I was worried about them...I was so energized! They slept from the 11 pm feeding to 7am. It. was. awesome! For the most part, they have kept that schedule...both of them! We typically feed the last night feeding between 10:30 / 11:00 pm and have them down asleep by 11:30 pm / 12 :00 am. They consistently sleep until 5:30 when 90% of the time, Jenna has figured out she is on her back and cries. Once you go in and turn her on her side again, she is out so we can usually get another hour / hour and a half of sleep. Here lately, they have tag-teamed me in the mornings and taken turns needing to be soothed. So J will wake up around 5:30, then Caden around 6:00 , then J again at 6:30 and so on... While it would be easier to go ahead and get up and feed them, I fight it and do the up-and-down to get more sleep. We typically start our day between 7 and 7:30 am. They are still in the same crib for now although I rarely find them in the same place I left them. There is no better of God's grace and sovereignty than sleeping babies.




We are enjoying more "things" like play gyms, bumbo seats, mobiles, Baby Bjorn's and such. They are fun to interact with during their awake times. I still nurse them every 3 hours, play with them for about 30 -45 minutes, then they sleep the last hour and a half of each cycle. The 8 am / 11 am / 2 pm go quite smoothly...once we venture into the 5pm / 8 pm territory, all bets are off. Usually they just want to be awake and observe...they are happy, but they are awake! Jenna still has trouble from 8 -11 pm, but we have accepted that and try to work with her and comfort her during this fussy time. I can tell a HUGE difference in the random crying...8 weeks really was the peak. They are happy and content babies who like to kick, squeal, and snuggle up to each other.







Jenna is my little Mermaid - she loves bath time! Caden = not so much. Just hurry up and finish with Caden...Jenna likes to splash around and enjoy her baths. I see many a bubble bath in her future :)

They are out of most Newborn outfits. I almost cried when I had to start a bin of "outgrown" clothes. 0-3 month fits best while 3 month clothes are baggy ;) The newborns diapers are definitely gone so we are using our plethora of Size 1 diapers:)

I am gaining bravery by the day as far as my adventures with the twins by myself. I have taken them to the Pediatrician, by work office, and to friends' houses by myself. So far so good...who knows where we will go next!

Tummy Time: a family affair

Sometimes, Daddy helps with Tummy Time :)