The first month with the babies was hard. I don't know how else to describe it. But don't get me wrong, I loved every minute of it. I am so thankful for the help of our families through this time. We seriously could not do it without them. Who knew feeding, holding, changing and bathing babies was so much work! :) Here's a few highlights of the first month:
I loved seeing Isak and Kira sleep. They shared a crib until they were about 3 months old.
Our first batch of help included my Mom, Dad and sister Jenny. They helped a ton with the babies. My Dad stayed two weeks and then flew back home and let Mom and Jenny stay for 3 more weeks. Then he flew back to Memphis and drove them back home to Idaho. Wow! What a trooper he was! My Dad was just awesome and I loved having him here. He stayed up late with the babies to feed them with my sister Jenny. He was always doing something from cleaning my kitchen floors to painting our dresser. The dresser he painted was Nels's old dresser that I hated. But my dad sanded it and painted it a pretty white. Now I love it. I'll have to post a before and after picture some day.
Grandpa holding Isak and Grandma holding Kira:
My Mom was an absolute rock through all of this. She was so amazing. She just rolled with the punches and made the best out of every day. She did it all; from catching poo in her hand to catching me when I almost passed out from showering. She fed the babies and taught me how to bathe them. She helped me come up with a way to feed both babies at the same time and gave me the confidence to do it. I loved our 3 a.m. conversations while feeding the babies. She even sewed cloth wipes to use while the babies recovered from diaper burn. Cooking, cleaning, washing bottles...I can't even list everything she did, but know she did it all with a smile. Oh and she pulled off a delicious Thanksgiving dinner and made the holiday special. What else can I say...my mom is wonderful!
My Mom snuggling Kira :
My dear sister Jenny came too. I'm so happy and grateful she came. I had not seen her for almost 2 years. She had just returned from her mission so I was so excited to hear all about it and get to know her again. She was that extra spice or sugar that I needed. She was wonderful with the babies and so patient. Isak and Jenny were pals, and Jenny doted on princess Kira. I was so impressed with my little sister. She may be shorter than me and younger than me, but I sure do look up to her. While she was here she went out with the sister missionaries, went to the temple and even went on a date. :) We learned how to play guitar together and belted out Away in a Manager a zillion times. She also crocheted the cute elf hat for the babies 1 month pictures. Thanks for coming Jenny!!!
Jenny showing off Kira in her elf hat.
How about Nels...What a DAD! He jumped in with both feet. He saved up all his vacation days so he could be with the babies as much as possible. But eventually he had to go back to work. He left the house with a smile and came home with a smile. Inevitably when he would walk in the door after work, one or both of the babies would be crying. I don't miss those evening fussy times! He'd almost always take the crying baby before he even changed his clothes. A saying of Nels's is "Eat your 2 ounces!" Kira lost a lot of her birth weight and went under 5 lbs. In an effort to help her gain weight, Nels would try so hard to get her to eat 2 ounces. He changed the movie quote from Better of Dead of "2 Dollars, Give me my 2 dollars." to "2 ounces, Eat your 2 ounces!"' :) Oh and he would make Kira and Isak do the Kira jig and the Isak jig to help them wake up and finish their feeding. Nels was always full of tricks and fun. I'm so glad to be doing this with him! :)
And then there was me...How did I handle the first month? I just tried to enjoy each moment, whether it was feeding one of the babies or changing another poopy diaper. I kept reminding myself that they would only be this little once and to keep things in perspective. I did a lot of healing those first few weeks. By the end of the month I was able to blow my nose without it hurting and to bend over to paint my toenails. Progress. Honestly, I just loved having my family around and learning about my babies.
Me and Isak:
Some Random Happenings the First Month:
3 Doctor Visits
2 Days for Newborn Photo Shoot
1 Holiday - Thanksgiving
~ 600 diaper changes
2 dates with Nels
Lots of baths and tummy time
Lots of snuggles
Isak and Kira doing tummy time. Kira loved it...Isak either cried or fell asleep.
One of their first outfits. If I remember right I put them on for Thanksgiving. But they only lasted a few hours in them...poo, spit up...who knows.
Nels "watching" the babies. He hated to leave them. Isak and Kira Loved to sleep in their bouncy seats. Now they love to eat in them.
Isak:
Jenny snuggling Kira:
Kira...so tiny!
Isak, oh so handsome!
Thanksgiving Dinner:
That about sums up the first 5 weeks or so. :)
Sneak Peak of the next post: 1 month photo shoot
