5 months

Already.
The babies are well over 1/3 of a year old.
OMG.
They're 21 weeks old. That's older outside babies than they were gestationally when we came clean about them being girls (since we knew from 13w).
Crazy talk.

They're really freaking cute these days. Lots of coos and giggles. They're within the developmental norms for actual age (being 5 weeks early, its expected they'd catch up by 5 mo), especially Avery. Quinn is a couple of weeks behind her, but (my non-medical opinion is she is) on track for somewhere between her physical age at birth (being IUGR and the size of a 30/31 weeker) and adjusted age.  At this point we have no reason to be concerned about her, but it is noticeable if you're around them a lot that she's not quite as physically advanced as Avery. Or maybe she's just destined to be more cuddly and less physical? Time will tell I guess.

oohhh hi. I guess I can not cry for the camera for a second.

I want to roll over soooo badly...

we wish you a merry christmas

and happy holidays and all that jazz.

next year, buy outfits before Christmas Eve if you want them to match or coordinate beyond "both have snowmen on them" (They were an awesome deal for Gymboree though)

personality

gah, I almost want to use the word adorbs. Except it isn't a word.

4 months!

It's incredible that the babies are 4 months old now! (Actually, 4 months, 1 week, and 2 days)

Yesterday they had their 4 month check up and were perfect by all counts. The doctor is happy with their physical development, even for Quinn who is still somewhat squishier than Avery. Quinn is definitely a few weeks behind Avery physically, but she's just fine for her adjusted age and is a bit ahead of her IUGR-weight age (that's totally not an official term, but someone told me IUGR babies develop somewhere between their 'size age' and their gestational age, and she was 31/32w 'size' at birth). Even though they'd both fall asleep prior to their shots - it was 7 pm and bedtime - they did quite well and only fussed for a few minutes.

I was worried we'd get yelled at for their being so thin still, but all is well and they're perfectly on the curves they've established! Since last month, Avery has gained 1 lb 9 oz and Quinn has gained a pound. Its crazy to think Quinn at 4 months is less than half a pound larger than my brother was at birth!

They've only gained a 1/4 in and a 1/2 in, so I guess they've spent this month porking up. Avery's thighs look all chubby now :) And they have giant heads for their skinny little bodies, given that 39 cm is over 25th percentile. I think even I can give up adjusted age on stats now and just go with actual.

Quinn

Poor baby is just dangling. She's a lb too light and an inch too short I think!

(percentiles from this site for actual age. It uses the CDC and not WHO charts, but whatever, good for scanning curves at least.  Quinn's really more like 2nd percentile in weight, but it only goes from 5-95th)
Birth: 3 lbs 8 oz & 16 inches
1 month (40w gestational): 5 lbs 13 oz (5th) & 19 inches (5th)
2 months: 7 lbs 13 oz (5th) & 20.5 inches (5th)
3 months: 9 lbs 9 oz (5th) & 22.5 inches (29th)
4 months: 10 lbs 9 oz (5th) and 23 inches (16th)

Avery

much more fun for Avery I think, since she can get one foot on the ground at a time.

Birth: 5 lbs 0 oz (5th) & 17 3/4 inches (5th)
1 month (40w gestational): 7 lbs 13 oz (7th) and 20 inches (38th)
2 months: 8 lbs 14 oz (9th) and 22 inches (46th)
3 months: 10 lbs 4 oz (10th) and 24 inches (80th)
4 months: 11 lbs 13 oz (12th) and 24 1/4 inches (60th)

singleton

Sunday morning I had some things to return to the store, so I decided to take Quinn with me for the trip since she was up and chipper (Avery of course woke up as I walked out of the door...). This is the first time I've taken just one baby anyplace (excepting the early days when Quinn was in the NICU and we went out to eat with Avery, which doesn't really count anyway, especially since newborns are uber easy to leave the house with).

Omg.

Easiest thing ever. 

Quinn around 8 weeks old in a 0-3 sleep gown. 9 weeks later and her feet almost reach the bottom

Now, I admit,

in anticipation of only having to anticipate the needs of one baby, I decided to live on the edge...and I wanted to get to the store ASAP before it got crowded and I needed to leave the house before anyone else (see above) woke up and threatened my plans. I really lived on the edge. Quinn had eaten and been changed literally minutes before I decided to take her along, so I threw an extra diaper and a small bottle in a wet bag, stuck a bib on her just in case the car didn't agree with her breakfast, and popped her in the carseat. Since our single stroller doesn't recline, I opted for a carrier since she's not nearly stable enough to be upright and I didn't have time to move the snuggler.  When I got to the store, I really lived on the edge. I left the bag in the car.

With Quinn strapped into the Ergo, off we treked into Kohls to make a return. It was empty and I had some Kohls Cash to spend, so we walked around for a while getting gifts for my cousins' kids for Christmas. It was pretty awesome. She fussed here and there, but as soon as I started moving again she stopped. The only thing I would change is I'd get a cart next time - she's way too small to sit in one at this point, but I could have used it for my stuff! It was hard to carry my purchases with the carrier, and then paying...my purse was strapped down under her! oops. 

We're pretty good at getting out with both kids, but it was much easier to get one baby in and out of the store without the stroller, supplies for the inevitable, and trying to perfect the timing so no one is hungry or poopy. I think it'll be a nice habit to get out with one at a time on occasion for both peace and quality time!

Cloth diaper reviews, part B

disclaimer: these were all purchased with my own money and I receive no compensation for reviews.


One Sized

Bum Genius 4.0.So far so good. We started using these around 9 and 10 lbs and they fit just fine. Both babies are still quite skinny (though their thighs seems darn chunky compared to their newborn legs), and we haven't had any leaks except one from user error (a NB insert for 6 hrs isn't a good idea even at 16 weeks and 11ish lbs).

We also have a couple of Flip covers and some stay dry inserts which are made by the makers of the BGs. The fit is the same, they're just more trim since its less fabric. I like them, especially since its fast and simple and less volume in the laundry and less to hang dry. They also held in a giant 3-days-worth of EBF poo this weekend (just imagine the mess that could have been. it took 4 wipes to clean up. my life is exciting, isn't it?). That said, these are kind of "my" diapers. I love using them because they're faster in the laundry - no stuffing etc - and smaller in the diaper bag, but everyone else seems to throw the whole shabang in the pail regardless of if the shell is soiled. Granted, I haven't really explained  the AI2 concept to anyone. I am always a little wary of scaring folks with my diaper chatter, especially since these are more "complicated" than your basic pocket from the diaper-changer's perspective.

BumGenius Elementals
These fit pretty much the same at the 4.0s, but are not pockets and are somewhat trimmer in the bottom. So far so good. We haven't given these a run for their money yet, but I have a feeling they'll be a good choice for outings and such due to the organic cotton which I've found to be nice and absorbent.    I kind of want more, but I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of BG's new "freestyle" - the AIO with a stay dry inner AND flap construction - so I'm holding off.


Oh Katy These are OK. They're a little trimmer than the BGs, and I like the snap-over waist. However, it never seems to lie flat (seeing as we are no where near the outside snaps). The hip snap is good though, and they work fine. The colors are awesome too.

Avery's first OS diaper (around 10 w and 8.5 or so lbs)

Rumparooz These are my favs. If they weren't $$$ I'd get a full stash of them (I think 5 of our 6 were bought used). The aplix and snaps fit equally well, even on our skinny babies. I like the fleece more than suedecloth too, and they're easy to stuff (some of our more well loved BGs seems a little sticky inside). They're a little more fluffy than the BGs, but I love them. The leg gussets - inside and out - are also nicer to me.

Quinn's first OS diaper (probably around 10w and 7.5 or so lbs)

Kawaii
We have three (bought used, I think they're One Size Minkys). They fit similarly to the BGs, and the minky fabric truely is soft. The inside is sort of rough though, and I'm not sure if its from age or just lower quality than the other diapers (given the cost and all). But, so far so good in terms of diaper-duty. The pocket is GIANT (deep/roomy - the opening itself is sort of narrow) on these and I think I might like them a lot for overnight.


BottomBumpers
I only have one of these - the snap down inside is a cool way to adjust the fit, and its pretty trim for a OS. The soaker is super soft too. Its perfectly fine, but I'm not smitten - for the money, I'd rather stick to more utilitarian pocket diapers and splurge on some sized AIOs for trimmer clothes.

Grovia
We have several of these AIOs. I love the side snaps and trimness - even with them snapped down  - and how narrow they are between the thighs. We have long skinny girls, so this is a bonus.  You do have to be sure the soaker is tucked in when you put them on, and tuck the sides in behind it/on top of each other (this issue would go away with a larger baby), but so far so good. My only beef is the leg holes are still too big on our peanut baby, even with the second soaker snapped out, so I can't leave these out for grandmas (or, well, anyone but me since I clearly have a PROBLEM with diaper obsession...)

Avery in a Grovia and Quinn in an Oh Katy, 16 weeks (probably pushing 12 and 11 lbs, respectively)

We also have several grovia shells. LOVE these. They're lined with a mesh, so there's no PUL on baby, and the fit is trim. NB and small prefolds fit nicely inside, but I also love their snap in soakers because they are a) absorbent and b) don't move around. I'm itching to get more, as I have more shells than soakers (though plenty of prefolds...). But, see commentary on Flips about them being "mine".

Fuzzibunz
We have two OS Fuzzinbunz, and I have to be honest, I only used one twice before putting them both in the to sell pile. It worked fine, and it wasn't that hard to adjust down to fit, and was relatively trim on our then 9.5 lb baby.  BUT....we have two in diapers. Due to the elastic, this is just NOT an adjust-on-the-go diaper...so...I will be selling them.


I think that's it in our current sized and one size pocket/AIO stash...I have a couple of other things to review in another post.  We do also have a couple of beyond adorable Blueberries, but they will need to wait a bit - they look bigger than our BGs, so I'm holding off on those until the babies are more like 13/14 lbs.

Cloth diaper reviews, part A

Its been a while...
At this point, we've mostly moved into one sized diapers, but I admit I have a soft spot for a nice, trim sized diaper. So...a few reviews to date...

disclaimer: these were all purchased with my own money and I receive no compensation for reviews.

Sized

Bum Genius AIOs (discontinued except XS). Love. Love. Love. Trim, sturdy, excellent fit. Our XSs are in the to-sell pile now. The Ss are favorites of my mom, who is anti-cloth just because, well, she is (she admits she doesn't have a reason, she just thinks disposables are "normal"). I just bought half a dozen used Ms because I love these so much and am bizarrely worried I won't be able to find them in 3 months when we need them. Considering about 70% of my stash of these was used, the aplix is in great shape, and the smalls work just fine overnight with a hemp doubler inside.

babies in Extra Smalls, around 8 weeks old.

Bottom Bumpers
I just got a S one of these used and it is awesome. It seems to be a little shorter in the rise than our other smalls, but it has 4 snaps on each side. The insert is super soft and it dries pretty fast. I'm thinking about getting more, but will probably look for Mediums since I'm concerned about the rise.

Fuzzibunz
We have a couple of these in S that I bought used. The inserts seems weirdly small for the size of the pocket, but they work fine. There is NO way these would fit a 7 lb baby - we started using them around 10 and they just fit - but I like them, they're trim-ish, and we haven't had any leaks. I'm also considering more of these since they're pretty affordable for sized diapers.

Swaddlebees Simplex
We have 3 of these in the old version. These were my first sized diaper, and omg. So crazy trim, they feel like a disposable under clothes. They're a little taller than the bottombumper, and shockingly absorbent. These actually lead me to think the cotton holds more than microfiber.  Supposedly these run small, and I just picked up 2 used Ms I told will fit more like 10 than 12 lbs (which is what's marked), but we're still on the tightest snaps of the Ss, so I think we have some room in them.

Thirsties Duo
We have several of these in Size 1.  They were our first pockets and I really liked them. We used them with just half of the soaker for a while, then both when our then 7 and 8 lb babies started sleeping 4 hours at a time. When we moved into other pockets though, I kind of lost the love. The pocket is awkward and they're really bulky for a (semi) sized diaper - no trimmer than our OS pockets. Also, the aplix is not very sticky. Granted, ours were secondhand, but I bought them in good shape and they seemed to wear quickly. They're in the sell pile now.

outtakes

Our first photo card ever is in the works.
One photo session down, and no clear winner....but for your viewing pleasure, a couple of outtakes!

whyyyyy am i not being held?

dude I've been awake almost 2 hours.

Most of the time they weren't crying...but they weren't smiling either, and most of the photos are just, well, blah.

our tiny little nuggets

I'm late with this, but how are our 3.5 and 5 lb babies over 3 months old! And over 9 and 10 lbs!? They're rockstars, seriously. They're on track (for the later end) for milestones for their actual age, and they're huge.

Quinn
Birth: 3 lbs 8 oz (wayyyy below the bottom of the growth chart, even for 35w gestation) & 16 inches (slightly less far below but still at least an inch below the lines)
3 months: 9 lbs 9 oz (scraping the 1st percentile line for actual age, and around 10th for adjusted) & 22.5 inches (around 15th percentile actual and 55th adjusted). This is our IUGR baby, and I'm very proud.

Avery
Birth: 5 lbs 0 oz (
around 1st percentile) & 17 3/4 inches (2nd?)
3 months: 10 lbs 4 oz (3rd-ish (totally estimating off my handy graph here, in case you haven't figured this out) actual and 25 adjusted) and 24 inches (about 50th percentile actual and 95th adjusted).

Now, we don't technically need to be adjusting their age since they're on the charts and their growth curves have basically be exponential, but it entertains me and I think it illustrates how these babies are sort of huge now.  At least in height...Avery is about to pop herself into 6 mo clothes thanks to her long legs!  That said, as much as I gush about their chubby thighs, they ARE skinny babies.  According to WHO, Quinn is just under the 5th percentile in weight-for-length and Avery is not even on the chart. (Hey, Quinn won something! She's chubbier!!)

They're really remarkable babies, and already reminding us all babies will develop at their own pace. Avery likes to "stand" when you're playing with her...or if she's mad. She was upset last weekend and refused to bend her legs and basically stood in the Ergo screaming (of course, once I got her into it, she passed right out). Quinn does baby pushups for minutes at a time (amusingly, neither will do the other's big skill for more than a few seconds).

They're even big enough to ride in the umbrella stroller (well, with snugglers!)

Happy Halloween

I can't believe they're already over two months old!

Rolling rolling

Ok we're not that advanced. But we are flying in style.

development

Look how giant they are. Seriously. I know they're still small (8 and 9 lbs at this photo), but they've nearly doubled in size since they came home and they don't look nearly as silly in their car seats.

also, can we discuss how "boy's" Carter's sleepers seem to be an inch longer than "girls"? wtf?

But, being 5 weeks early (and gestationaly disadvantaged in Quinn's case, thanks to IUGR), they're not quite up with their 2 month old peers. I know all babies develop differently, blah blah blah, and we're no where near 2 mo adjusted, but its still a bit of a drag to have them be tiny newborns for what feels like forever (they ARE damned cute though).

And I was pretty bummed when a facebook friend from HS posted a picture of her daughter - who is three days younger- with a big gummy grin. I know it'll come in time.

They are getting cuter by the day though  :)

exhaustion, part 2

My disclaimer is the babies are not bad sleepers for their adjusted age.  And I do not spend 3 hrs a day pumping like my poor wife.

But I am tired.

We half abandoned the shift schedule. Sort of. We try to get Chris to bed by 9 and I take the babies, then she's the primary overnight since I have to go to work. When they're both up, we both feed them (then - or before- she pumps, oye). Its not a bad deal most nights since we can do the whole thing in 30ish minutes....most nights anyway. Sometimes one (::coughusuallyaverycough::) is up and screaming or insisting on being held for a few hours. Then it doesn't work so well. But it is improving.

I am crossing my fingers though that they're sleeping through the night (at least 11-5) by the time Chris goes back to work in 4 weeks.

Debut

At 22 inches, Avery was really pushing the limits of NB clothes.  As an aside, we have mostly Carters and Target stuff...a quick browse online of holiday stuff shows the recommended lengths on these clothes to be bigger than those at Gymboree, which limits 0-3 to 23". wtf? Avery is below 50% for actual age in length...

But I digress.

The little dolls in their first
big girl sleepers.

2 months old!

I'm undecided if I'm going to keep a separate blog for the babies. I was thinking I would use it for family/milestones etc, but really, I am making them photo albums and such as baby books and I have a shutterfly site...so...for now, its on hold. Besides, they're still newborns so we don't really have any fun activities to write about yet.

In the meanwhile...

The babies are 2 months old now (4w adjusted). At their last appointment, they were both officially on the charts!  Quinn weighed in at 7lbs 13 oz and 20.5 inches (that's 2 lbs in 3 weeks) and Avery was 8lbs 14 oz and 22 inches. They're both on the chart now (just barely for Quinn, and around 10-15th percentile for Avery). For their adjusted age, they're around 25th percentile (with Avery being 75th or so for length). So far so good!

And the little dolls are getting big so freaking fast. Here they are in BumGenius XS AIOs (with the lil'joeys, BG Ss (which fit), and a BG 4.0 pocket (which we haven't tried, though Avery is starting to fit into some of the smaller One Size pockets now).

on exhaustion

Don't get my wrong, the babies are adorable. They're even starting to sleep more (more on that another day), but for most of the last 7 weeks (5 home in Quinn's case), they've been up every 2-3 hours over night. I often think how easy a single baby would be - after all, it WAS easier before Quinn came home, logistically anyway - but I know that's (somewhat) unfair since our girls ARE fairly good sleepers for their gestational age. I don't know how people with bad sleepers (I'm looking at you Katy!) survive (and am hoping I am not jinxing myself with this post).

Our nighttime plan (which sorta kinda works out, as we haven't really worked out Bedtime yet, though I suppose the girls are a little young) is basically for me to be on duty until midnight or so, then Chris takes over until 5 am. I get 5-6, then she's got the babies from when I get into the shower until I get home. The upside of living with my parents right now (between houses and all) is my mom is sometimes around to help.  We've been able to make this work since (something finally went right and) Chris has been very productive in the milk department (again, fingers crossed) and is usually a feeding ahead. Neither baby loves to breastfeed, and Avery in particular doesn't latch well, so they're mostly on pumped milk. I think this is awesome for so many reasons:

• I can feed them
• breastmilk has such great antibodies formula can't replicate
• I'm pretty sure what we've spent on a pump + bags for the last 7 weeks is just over what formula would have cost us, so we'll be ahead financially soon
  and
• breastmilk (and breastmilk poo and spit up) doesn't smell that bad. I had a few wiffs of formula in the hospital and it freaking reeks. I don't want to think about the out-of-baby stuff until I am forced to!

But, before I am too sunshine and roses, here is what we get a lot of in the evenings:

yes, it is almost always Avery.

When I'm really tired and woken up in the middle of the night (if there's two babies awake, all bets are off), I've been known to go searching the bed for a baby. In pillows, under blankets...the irony - we never take the babies to bed with us! (Thank goodness, since it seems I'd lose one). I frequently can't recall who I fed or changed in the middle of the night either, so its probably good we almost always do them both back to back!

But they are cute:

"I'm bigger and will take you!"

And still so crazy small:

Quinn in a 0-3 Carters gown

they're growing so fast

I just can't keep up.

5 weeks (I think), in a lil' joey (Quinn) and a Thirsties XS (Avery)

Post bath darlings...

tummy time is often a failure....and becomes naptime...

Due

Our babies estimated date of delivery was Thursday, September 1. Now, granted, no OB in their right mind (in the american environment of lawsuits especially) would let twins go to 40w (there's plenty if research to support that), but it is still a big milestone.

I think our (5 week old) babies are pretty advanced for just hitting where they'd be born if they were singletons!  Avery is kind of out of the squishy newborn stage and both lift their heads off our chests and have LUNGS.

One month old

Bedtime #1 (evening nap...let's be serious, at one month and 39w gestational age, bedtime is a mommy concept...or dream...)

Newborn diapering

Size conundrum I mentioned in my previous post aside, I've been pretty happy with cloth diapering so far.

First, they're pretty darn cute. 
Second, Bailey has, um, snacked on a couple of used disposables. Have you ever seen pee soaked disposable diaper gel? It reminds me of that silica gel stuff used to keep new shoes and such moisture free. Everyone in our house looks at me a little weird when I talk about it, but having that stuff next to our little newborn's bottoms 24/7 kind of skeeves me out.

Anyway, Avery is in cloth about 50% now, and Quinn will be soon (eg, when I make diapering decisions).

So, a rundown of my reviews to date on our newborn diapers:

Prefolds: nice and soft, love how fast they wash/dry, cheap and absorbant. I don't love changing them since, well, they're wet, but they go on fast and I love them for when I know I'll be changing a diaper again asap (eg, before a feeding). They're also a million times better than bibs as, well, bibs. Maybe we have crappy bibs but spitup seems to roll right off of them.

Workhouse fitteds: So far s
o good. I feel like the elastic in these is a tiny bit tight but maybe her little legs are just sensitive? They are on the thinner side and I find the snaps a little difficult, but I love how these fit under covers.

Thirsties fitteds:  We have some XSs (discontinued, I bought them used) and size 1s, both in velcro. LOVE these. easy on, and so plush and soft. Pretty fluffy though on our 6lb-ish baby, about the same size as a snappied prefold.

Covers: We have some Thirsties XS, Thristies Duo size 1, Rumparooz NB and Bummis Super Bright NB. The Bummies are 7-10 lbs and huge on her, so no review there. My favor on the others is the order I listed them in. I find the rumparooz are sort of wide.  The Duo is a trimmer cover, which must be why it doesn't feel as bulky despite similar snaps.  The XS is a nice fit though, even on our little baby.

Lil Joeys: freaking adorable and work just fine for us! These also dry suprisingly fast.

Bum Genius XS AIO: I think these are also discontinued, but we have a few in the xs and s sizes. The XS is supposed to be 6-12 lbs, and I like how trim they are, but we keep getting leg leaks. I think Avery's thighs are still too skinny.

Thirsties Duo (Size 1): Love. We've been using just one insert (it snaps together) and so far so good. LOVE the gussets.


As a sidebar, I got Luvs for our "extra" disposables and I hate them. We have 300 and they're working fine, so we'll use them. But I'm thankful the 300ish Size 1s we were given are Pampers. The Luvs smell TERRIBLE when peed in. Maybe it is on purpose to be sure you change the baby?

models

ok, not really, but the girls had their first photo shoot on Saturday for their newborn photos. We went with a new local photographer, and I'm really excited to get the pictures!

Here's a sneak peek!

Tiny

If you're never held a 5 lbs baby, here's a little bit of assistance in seeing how tiny they are...

This is Avery at about 5 lbs 4 oz in a lil'joey newborn diaper. Next to her is a XS Bumgenius (6-12 lbs), a S Bumgenius (8-16lbs) and a One Size Bumgenius (10ish-35 lbs).

Cloth diapers

We're slowly starting to use them, but I had to order another box of disposable newborn diapers today. Extra painful since besides all of our diapers, we have about 250 size 1 disposables awaiting little bums! Our little Quinn is just hitting 4.5 lbs now, so it'll be a good while until she fits will even in the newborn stash I got us.

fitting into a lil'joey...but not quite into the BumGenius XS yet!

Avery wears them when I put them on her, but they're still a little big as she's not quite 6 lbs yet - she can't even wear the bum genius XSs yet (and grandmas' aren't interested in prefolds).

so...new Newborn 7-10 lbs cover might not be working yet...

So more review to come. Eventually.

adorable

Introductions to the babies - Avery & Quinn - at our mommy/ies blog.  I figure people interested in the babies probably aren't interested in my fitness issues or house remodeling.

Quinn, 1 week old

Avery, 1 week old

Update your reader to include our babies, if you're so inclined!

Avery

Our other little doll is Avery Claire.  She was born at 5 lbs even and 17 3/4 inches long.

Avery & her first hair do after her first bath in the nursery

She had APGARS of 8 and 9 (her mini sister beat her) and went to the regular nursery. 

Quinn

Our little Quinn Ainsley...born at just 3 lbs 8 oz and 16 inches.

While she came out screaming and had APGARS of 9 and 9, Quinn was sent to the NICU since she was too small to keep up her temperature on her own.

Fresh from the OR and being checked into the NICU

At 3 and a half pounds, she was the size of an average 31 or so week preemie.  Its really hard to picture how SMALL a baby of that size is until you see them next to a 7 or 10 pounder in the next isolette. (Those kids who stopped by could have eaten her, I swear).

Quinn is the reason the babies were delivered early at 35 weeks.

babies!

Introducing....

Our babies came at 35w1d due to a diagnosis of IUGR in Baby A (I'll go into the details some other time, but this turned out to be an excellent clinical decision).

They're little but perfect.

smitten

Our babies came at 35w1d due to a diagnosis of IUGR in Baby A (I'll go into the details some other time, but this turned out to be an excellent clinical decision).

They're little but perfect.

Quinn Ainsley, 3 lbs 8 oz, 16 inches

Avery Claire, 5 lbs 0 oz, 17 3/4 inches

radio silence

I haven't posted in a while. No workout updates (and I'm deferring my NYC entry to 2012, but that's other post).

Here's why:

Off to start my new job. #badtiming

Honeydew Melon

Thanks BabyCenter.  And we're having babies Friday - 35w1d - so place your bets.

http://www.expectnet.com/games/dilbatotini

pineapples.

Today my baby mama is 33 weeks pregnant! Just one more milestone to go!
I get weekly emails from a baby site, and word on the street is she is carrying around two PINEAPPLE sized kiddos. Unreal. Tough cookie, my wife is, considering she's going to be pregnant for 4 more weeks!

What's that? 4 weeks? Yup folks, that's right. The babies will be evicted from their uterine condos just past 37 weeks. Twins pretty much never make it to 40 (due date), and 37 weeks is full term for any baby, and our MFM said in his experience the outcomes are best for deliveries in the 37th week. So...

1 month to go.



Eek.

name games.

We picked out first names for the babies long ago. No debate really. We have similar taste. Easy peasy.

But middle names.
Ugh.

Now, keep in mind, neither of us use our middle names. I kind of want to skip them since we're having issues and the babies will have a massive last name, but have been vetoed. We like the idea the kids could choose to go by their first or middle name later, or even both (ala Bobby Jo?). There is some merit though, to this since my brother uses his first name professionally (its kind of awful) and his middle at school/socially.
So help me out. What criteria did you use to pick middle names?
The grandmother's names are out. If it was a boy, the middle names would probably be our moms' maiden names, but they're both really ethnic (Polish and Slavic) and I can't do it with the girls.

We've been tossing around using names beginning w/ our initials (C&E) or our moms (M&E), but nothing has stuck. The first names are pretty Irish and kind of neutral. We have some ideas, but they're also pretty Irish/Gaelic (ironically, only one of us is Irish, and only 1/4) and I feel like middle names should have some meaning.

Sigh. any ideas/input?

showered

We've been so lucky to have such generous friends and family.

First, the team we (used to, sob) coach threw us a shower...

Then my "internet friends" threw us an INCREDIBLELY generous virtual shower!

just one of the awesome gifts!

Then our families threw one!

We still need a bunch of little things, but we have some duplicate items so I think its all pretty much covered....now to find a house for our babies to grow up in...

babies babies babies.

I'm super obsessed. Like I have little else to talk about besides diapers and babies. And my workout schedule but that's nothing new. Maybe if my job was more...engaging I'd talk about that too. But mostly, its all babies, all the time.

we promised one of our players we wouldn't call them Double Trouble. But the ultrasound tech missed the memo.

crazy flexible gymnast baby

So what do we name them? Here's our list so far:

Neveah

Margarita

Evangelique

none of those go too well together though.

some of our twin options:

Olive & Olivia

Ava & Ada

Paris & London

Brooklyn & Queens

Jean & Gina

Emma & Amelia

Kara & Kiera

Maddie & Maggie

kidding, kidding. But we have told my mom these names as covers...and sometimes she believes us....

so why cloth?

ok, in all honestly, I'm nesting. Except we're moving. And living, weekdays, in my parents' attic. So....no nursery for us and this is the best I can do.

But besides that, here's some reasons I am cloth obsessed:

1) Cost. Discussed previously. In short, I think we'll save upwards of $1500 (probably more like $2000+) with cloth diapers.
2) Waste.

That's a lot of diapers. Check out this link for some more detail. I know its biased blah blah blah, but you can't dispute that's a lot of plastic.
3) Freaky chemicals. Dry max and that gel stuff and the stuff that changes color when wet isn't exactly au-natural. And they smell funny.
4) Everything I read indicates babies in cloth are less prone to blow outs. I'm on board with something less likely to get poop all over my house.

All that said, we won't be purists - I'm sure we'll need disposables for airplanes and such, and we'll be using disposable wipes for poo at minimum.  We may even end up in disposable diapers for daycare, but that is a huge unknown (and point of stress that isn't addressable given our residence situation). But at least at home, we're going to try to be green & cheap about diapers!