Happy Independence Day!!

A holiday weekend gives me the opportunity to catch up on things around here.  On Saturday, we returned from a whirlwind tour of McKinney - Norman - McKinney (with Daddy flying and driving back and forth from San Antonio).

On the positive side, the boys got to spend time with all their grandparents, their uncles, their second cousins, and many other "aunts" and "uncles" in Dallas.  On the down side, this was because Great Grandma Kaldahl passed away last Sunday.  Fortunately, Autumn and Jeff were able to spend time with Grandma the week before she passed, and she was able to see the boys several times over the previous six months.

Four Generations of Kaldahls!!

The trip to Norman was an exciting one for the boys.  Besides seeing Granddaddy Greg and Gigi, the boys had their first trip to the zoo.  They didn't really notice the animals too much but they did enjoy splashing around in the water.  It even managed to draw big smiles from the normally stoic Ezra.

The boys also go to run around outside Granddad and Gigi's backyard (a true honor).  They avoided the koi pond and instead, enjoyed bottomless plates of watermelon, cuties (procurred especially by Grandaddy Greg), and picking up sticks!

While the drive home to San Antonio was one of the toughest yet, everyone is happy to be home.  Baby Girl's nursery is painted, the front room was cleared out (at least for a day), and all of the boys' toys were waiting for them.  They have wasted little time getting back into their routine which includes waking up at 7am, milk, playtime, breakfast, playtime outside, nap, lunch, playtime inside, nap, dinner, playtime outside, fruit snack, baths, and bedtime around 8pm.  More importantly, daddy is happy to have his whole gang back together again for lots of wrestling, tickling, and the occasional reminder of discipline!!

Due Date!!

Good Morning...
We never really talked about it or mentioned it unless people asked, but yesterday, February 22nd was the boys official due date.  It doesn't have any real signifigant meaning at this point because they will be considered Preemies until at least 18 months.  By then they should be "caught up" with most developmental issues...Lord willing.

It has been a crazy few days...

After spending three weeks here, my parents went home to McKinney for a couple of weeks.  It was awesome having them here, and they really made things go a lot better.  My dad is a machine about day to day things...doing several loads of laundary a day...keeping bottles washed...taking the 8am feeding daily...I'm not sure how he does it.  My mom has continued her project helping to get us organized (she's been helping us since her first visit back in August when we realized we needed more oranization to keep ourselves / our house "sane.").  In between projects she enjoyed her favorite new past time...no...not Farmville (a close second!)...holding grand kids and helping with care time.  Their presence was missed within hours of leaving!!

Taking care of three babies is hard for four people.  I don't think any of us felt like we were getting the sleep / rest we wanted...but misery loves company.  If nothing else, there is a psychological advantage knowing we had them out numbered and if you really needed a break someone could take over.  Additionally...from my perspective...it was a lot easier pulling myself away to do (or try to do) research/writing while they were here because I knew Autumn had help.

Then came Saturday afternoon....

Two people taking care of the boys is not easy...but not terribly difficult.  The beauty of that extra person is having someone to respond to the babies not being fed at that moment.  Additionally, you can over lap feedings a little bit to get the care time under 2 hours...always the goal.  FYI...we never feed all of them at once...and we try to stagger feeding start times at least 15 min apart so when it is just one person doing the feedings they aren't all getting hungry/fussy at the exact same time (that's the goal at least).

I've made a committment to Autumn that Sat AM / early afternoon will be hers.  What she does is up to her...but the goal is to give her at least a few hours every week where she can get out of the house and just unwind for awhile.  I'd love for it to be more frequent, but for now...this is a good start.  Unfortunately, with my parents just having left...and the level of "fussiness" with the boys...she had to settle for a relaxing shower & time upstairs.

Feeding all three boys by yourself is a challenge to say the least.  It doesn't mean it can't be done...but as they mature they seem more willing to express dissatisfaction / discomfort.  That has its benefits..but when you are trying to feed one baby...the other two screaming every time they drop their binky (life savers) is tough.  Plus...we are both still working on holding just two babies at a time...but when feeding that isn't an option.  The hardest part about feeding the boys yourself is knowing you can't give each of them the attention they need / deserve.  The goal is simply to get each one done as quickly as possible...while maximizing milk/formula consumption and minimizing reflux/spitting up.  They each get 30 minutes...nothing more.  But like most babies...the best thing is to try and hold them for awhile when they are done.  When you are by yourself..that just isn't an option because there are two more hungry mouths to feed...and they make it clear they are only growing more and more hungry.

Fortunately, we do have some solutions we've developed the last couple of days.  It isn't that we haven't been doing single feedings...Autumn has been doing them since the boys got home...and the rest of us have had our share.  But over this weekend...to even get minimal sleep meant more frequent single care times...and it was like the boys knew they had us!!

The biggest thing we've learned is the benefit of close proximity.  Before starting a feeding...if any of them are semi-awake / fussy, we put those babies within an arms reach.  This is where the multiple bouncers / Boppy Pillows helps out.  When in the nursery, one of them sits on a boppy on a glider and the other one is in a bouncer on the floor.  The third gets fed.  From there...everyone rotates in/out of their respective spot until fed.  On the main level, during the day...I like to line the boys up in the boppies so all three are on the couch.  In either case, the ability to still hold one while addressing the "baby crisis" (aka dropping a binky) is a huge help.  Nothing frazzles the nerves more than a bunch of screaming infants!!

Anyways...that's about it for now.  By the time I am done writing this it will be a mere 45 minutes until the next care time.  This is the only thing I've done since the last care time.  That is just the way it works...

Have a great day!!

J

Belated Valentine's Day Post....

Greetings.

As a general sign to how busy we are / how "baby" centric we are...I am actually writing about what happened on Sunday.  For the first time since...gosh...at least September...Autumn and I went on a "date" by ourselves.  It was Valentine's Day and Grandma and Grandpa Kaldahl were more than insistent that we go out by ourselves.  We were so grateful and had a wonderful time together!!

It is funny how quickly kids change your mindset about these kinds of things.  When we lived in Arizona, one of the things I did every year...usually during the first week of the year...was make reservations for our favorite restaurant there...Rosa's Little Italy.  So when it came time to think about where we'd go out on this momentous occasion...it took lots of planning and preparing right!?!  Sure ;-)

I asked Autumn where she wanted to go...her answer was "Wherever the wait is the shortest!!"  For being the romantic, sentimental one in our family...that was definitely a victory for Practicality!!  :-)  We had at least planned on using some gift certificates we had...but when the wait at each of the places we wanted to go to was more than an hour long...we went to the last place we'd gone out to eat before she was put on bedrest...Outback Steakhouse!!  That isn't a complaint either...we both enjoy going there...I just find it ironic that that is where we ended up.

It was a great choice though.  They have "seat yourself" seating at the bar.  So after we checked in to start our 35-45 min wait we went to the bar for our first alcoholic beverages in...who knows when!?!  Lucky for us...right when we approached the bar a couple was just getting up to leave.  We sat down right behind them...total wait time = 2 minutes!!

Then...we ran into our next door neighbor, John who knew it was our first time out.  He kindly introduced the manager to us who gave us our appetizer complementary!!  It was so nice of both of them!

It was great just getting out together.  We sat in the same booth together...were able to cuddle and just be a couple for the first time in forever.  But...by the time we were done with dessert we already missed our little boys and worked through the "sleep" / "care" arrangements for the night.  I guess you never get "too" far away do ya!?!

Meet the family...

Greetings from snowy Alexandria, VA.  We've had more snow this week, but now that Autumn can see it from our house...as opposed to her previous snow experience from her hospital room...she says she is starting to enjoy this wintery weather.  For those of you who know Autumn, I am sure we can all share in our collective WHAT!?!  :-)

I write this watching the boys  sleep in their bouncers.  We are trying sleeping this way because of the past few days their acid reflux has gotten pretty bad.  It is really obvious how uncomfortable they are and it affects two of their three primary functions in life...sleeping and eating.  You can guess what the third function is and they continue to do that very well :-)  But we are trying to keep them more upright to try and use gravity to their advantage.  We'll see how it goes.  The pediatrician warned us about this, and we are likely to get them some medicine to at least get rid of the "Acid" part of the reflux.  Other than that, only time and growing will help them.

The boys had a great couple of days saying goodbye to Granddaddy Greg and hello to Uncle Ryan, Grandma Ruthie, and Grandpa Steve (my parents).  We were so blessed to have Greg here for our first week at home with the boys, and now we are fortunate to have two grandparents here for an extended stay.  More importantly, this means the boys have been held by all their grandparents now!!

 

Uncle Ryan holding Caleb

Ryan came over on Sunday night, resuming our weekly get together.  He got to hold all three of them in various stages.  He even helped feed Gideon and Ezra.  He has even stated that he'd be willing to work towards changing diapers... but we won't hold him to that until he asks to :-)

On Tuesday, Granddaddy Greg left, but because my parents arrived on Monday...he was able to "pass the Grandparent torch" to them.  Needless to say, Grandma Ruthie and Grandpa Steve were excited to meet the little guys. On Tuesday morning, they jumped right into care time!!

 

Grandma Ruthie holding Caleb

 

Grandpa Steve holding Gideon or Ezra (I can't tell!)

It is worth mentioning (after the caption above) that it is pretty easy to tell them apart in person...but quite difficult to tell in pictures.  Since I generally don't have the time to download pictures right away...I forget who we took pictures with.  So...unless I can figure it out...my identifications are "best guesses".  Maybe some day we'll figure it all out...or Autumn will go through and "fix" my identifications!

Speaking of Autumn...she continues to take to this Mommy thing very well.  Even when she tries to get her dedicated sleep...she is often up here within an hour or two checking on the boys or just wanting to see them.  She is most happy holding her little men and they are definitely most happy in her arms!!

 

Gideon whispering to Ezra: "We have such a pretty mommy!!"

That's about it.  Hopefully they will sleep for another 30 minutes or so.  Then it will be time to start our 1200 care time!!

Have a great day!

God Bless!

J