Christmas 2011

Merry Christmas from the Jordan's!  

(Yes- I'm know I'm behind.  But I have 3 kids so I'm allowed)

With the twins being so young and little we decided to stay at the house this Christmas and invite our immediate families over for Christmas festivities.

On Friday Dec. 23rd Nick's family came over for dinner and presents.  It was so much fun to see the older girls opening presents and playing together.

Maw Maw and Hannah

Leigha

Uncle Andy and Cali

Saturday Dec. 24th we had my family less my mom, she was sick, over.  The three big kids had a great time playing.

Michael, Kimmie, and Cali

Kimmie and Cali

Aunt Mary and Hannah

Kimmie enjoying Nick's present

Sunday Dec. 25th our family of five did Christmas.  The twins slept through the gift opening.  Cali loved opening her presents and the babies presents.  This year it was clear that the opening of presents was very exciting for her!

Opening Cali's stocking

Presents!

Her favorite Dora and Boots!

How Hannah and Henry celebrated their first Christmas

Friday Dec. 30th my family came back for a second Christmas dinner this time with my mom!  More fun, food and presents!
We also celebrated my sister's birthday.

Decorating Mary's birthday cupcakes

Michael, Henry, Cali, Hannah, Kimmie

Who do they look like?

Who do you think the twins look like?

Henry 1 month

Nick 3.5 weeks

Hannah

Pam 2 months

Cali 1 month

Vote now!

One Month Old - Twins

The twins were one month old on Wednesday!  We survived!  Henry and Hannah are doing great.  They are eating, sleeping, peeing and pooping like champs.

Hannah and Henry in their Little Sister/Brother shirts

MONTHLY UPDATE:
Food - 100% breast milk on a 3 hour schedule.  We will wake them up to feed during the day but let them sleep at night until they are hungry. We are nursing and giving them bottles.  This is wonderful because Nick can play a big roll in the feedings and can give me a break at night.
Sleep - They sleep a lot!  Maybe 16-20 hours a day.  They do not always sleep at the same time which decreases my productivity.  They are sleeping better at night.  Nick and I are getting 4 to 6 hours a night.
Clothes - Newborn size onsies and pants.  Henry is just now able to fit into some of his outfits, Hannah is still small so clothes just kind of hang on her.
Weight -  Hannah 5lbs 12oz  Henry we find out 12/19
Height - Hannah 19 inches Henry we find out 12/19
Diapers - Pampers Newborn size (If you are wondering what the twins want for Christmas the answer is diapers!  We go through a pack every 2 days!)
Health - You may notice a red mark just above Hannah's lip.  This is called a Hemangioma or benign blood tumor.  We saw a pediatric dermatologist this week about it.  Due to its location we are going to start a treatment plan.  Hannah will take medicine two times a day for the first year of her life to make the Hemangioma go away and prevent longterm issues.  We think she is beautiful!
Fun Facts - Henry sneezes in fours, Hannah is a very easy, laid back baby - hopefully this won't change :)

Henry

Hannah

Big sister wanted to get in on the photo shoot!  Our THREE kids!

Two weeks in

Our family of five has survived the first 2 weeks!  It has been a fun ride so far.  Sometimes it is hard, sometimes we get peed on, sometimes we cry, sometimes we laugh and sometimes we all nap!

Hannah and Henry napping in their crib.  I love that Henry is smiling - what could he be dreaming about?

Cali has been amazing!  She has been such a big helper and loves her babies!  As she leaves for school in the morning she tells me to "Be careful with my babies, momma!"  I love how she loves them and has accepted them.  She is still the fastest to tell them apart.

Cali feeding Henry his "mommy milk" 

Nick is back working full time at church so I have had helpers here at the house with me.  It is super nice to have an extra set of hands with two babies and a toddler!  Another huge blessing is our wonderful church family has been brining meals.  This is something that really has a huge impact on me!  Trying to plan dinner in the midst of making sure babies are feed, clean, the toddler is happy and the house isn't a disaster is just one thing that I don't have time for.

The twins are back to their birth weights and eating only breast milk.  We are doing a mix of nursing and bottles.  They eat every 3 hours during the day and every 3-4 hours at night (whenever they wake up).  They sleep well but not always when we want them to.  Henry had his nights and days off a few days this week.  It is amazing that Nick and I can function on so little sleep.

Henry sporting a mohawk after a bath

Hannah relaxing in the bouncer

For Thanksgiving we stayed home and had a small meal with just the 5 of us.  Nick's side came over Saturday for lunch.

Cali, Maw Maw, Leigha, and Henry

Hannah, Uncle Andy and Leigha

Friday we even managed to get our Christmas tree up.  Cali did a great job of decorating the bottom half.

Today is my first full day home by myself with the kids.  Luckily Cali is at play school this morning and Nick will be home to help for a little while at lunch.  Off to get some laundry folded before the twins wake up!  Wait - Henry's crying.  I almost got something done!

The Twins are Here!

The twins arrived safely on Monday November 14th via c-section.  Henry Allen was born at 10:39am and Hannah Bailey at 10:40am.  Both babies were 17 inches long.  Henry was 5 lb 9 oz and Hannah was 4 lb 6 oz.  Both babies are healthy and we had no complications.  Even though the babies were so small we were able to keep them in the room with us.  We were even able to take them home on my birthday, Thursday November 17th.

Hannah and Henry

Since home the babies have been eating well and sleeping like champs!  Nick and I have been able to share the feeding responsibility (the twins take bottles great!) and keep the babies on breast milk.  We are blessed with help from the Grandmas and friends bringing food.  We are on a 3 hour feeding schedule so we are pretty tired but try to nap when we can.

Cali holding Hannah

Cali hugging Henry

Big sister Cali is overjoyed with the new arrivals and has been super helpful!  She likes to help hold the babies, feed the babies and change the babies.  It is amazing that she can tell the babies apart better than the rest of us.

Our family of FIVE!

36 Weeks

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 36 Weeks

Size of baby: Boy is 5 lbs 12 ozs 27%, girl is 4 lbs 12 oz 3%

Maternity Clothes: Maternity clothes and Nick's clothes

Gender: One boy, one girl!

Movement: The babies move a lot.  The little boy gets hiccups at least once a day. 

Sleep: Sleeping is getting uncomfortable and I wake up a lot.  

What I miss: Energy, being comfortable, and the ability not to waddle.

Cravings: Sweets and fried food

Symptoms: I'm big and I itch!
Best Moment this week: I got a pedicure and we finally got the nursery ready for the twins!

I had them paint my toys pink and blue!  And yes that is a tattoo on my toe.  It is the Ichthys or "Jesus Fish". 

Little girl has gained a pound in the last 3 weeks but the doctors are not happy about her size.  Her heart rate is good, her activity is good, and the flow in her umbilical cord is good - the problem is she is just small.  We had a very long Dr. visit today with lots of scans and tests.  Basically they don't think it would be good to wait 2 more weeks to have the babies.   So we have our bags packed and the infant seats in the van ready to go whenever the Dr. decides its time.  

Changes

We have had a big change here in the Jordan family.  Nick started a full time job in November and I went part-time.  This meant a switch in roles for both of us.  Nick has been home with Cali full time for the past 1.5 years and working at church part time.  While I've been working full time.  It was a big and difficult decision for us but we know that we are where we are supposed to be.

Last week's Dr. visit has moved up the arrival of the twins from 3 weeks to 1 or 2.  So we have been scrambling to get all the final details taken care.   The nursery is ready for twins and we only have a few more things to get.

Monday's are my full day to be home.  So Cali and I made the most of what may be our last full day as just the two of us!  After breakfast we headed to meet my sister for some baby shopping and lunch.

Cali was super excited to hang out with Aunt Mary.  They rarely get time to hang out together because there are always cousins and other family members around for distractions.

After nap time we played and hung around the house.

Cali was showing Jack her pluto dog and explaining to Jack that they were both dogs.  You can tell Jack was super excited.

Our afternoon activity was a haircut!  Cali's beautiful curls where getting out of control so we needed to get the hair trimmed.  She doesn't love getting a haircut but she will sit still for it.

The shorter and more controlled curly Cali.

We ended our day together with dinner at home and a frosty run.