Got Milk?

I typically don't post the same thing on both blogs, but I have difficulty deciding which things belong where. This seems to belong in both. I get a little 'crazy' excited when I see all the milk I've been able to freeze. It keeps me very optimistic that there will be enough to get the babies through their first year.

I forgot to take the before picture. This is my empty freezer that had 22 days worth of milk in it this morning. Each shelf holds about 40lbs of milk. I believe there are about 112, 16 oz bottles. I'm filling 4.5-5 bottles per day.

The bottom two pictures are the chest freezer my mom brought over this afternoon so I can store the milk easier. I'm a little surprised that it's almost full already. I can probably fit 4-5 more days worth of milk in it. I should have enough room to store the milk until mid to late June. Hopefully by then STE has more room in her freezers.

Sister Loves

Big Sister L giving loves to V & B

Spilt milk!

I didn't cry over it, but I felt it was worth mentioning. I had my first episode of spilt milk this go around. I sadly spilled milk quite a few times while pumping for P&L, so I'm pretty proud of myself that it took over 12 weeks to have a good spill while pumping for V&B. Don't get me wrong, I've had little 'baby' spills, but I actually lost a good 3 oz on Wednesday night.

I didn't even cry, I just quickly threw my shirt on the pile of milk as if it were a fire and then went to get a wet cloth to wipe up the sticky milk. The worst part was worrying if I was going to stain my shirt and if my milk covered mouse pad would ever work again.

The shirt went straight into the washer and I immediately rinsed off the mouse pad. I haven't gotten a chance yet to see if either one survived the spill.

Final boarding call...

I returned home on a 7:30 flight, so that meant dealing with Friday night traffic to get to the airport. SDE (D, not T) made great time getting me to the airport. I arrived at 6, so I had plenty of time. I was instructed to be at the gate by 7:10. It seemed like plenty of time to pump and do a bit of airport shopping. So I did what any sensible woman would do, shopped first.

I finally found a comfortable bench, with an outlet, and some privacy, so I set up shop to pump. In my head I decided that although I was told to be at the gate at 7:10, really I could just show up at 7:20 since it was a 7:30 flight (do you see where this is going?). I stop pumping and start packing up my things around 7:15. I'm at the sink cleaning up when I hear "final boarding call for x@*^". I can't hear the final bit, so I hustle out of the bathroom and head toward my gate since it's 7:20. That's when I hear, "Would passengers, X & Y," please get your butts to the plane!Crud! I just got paged in an airport! I've always wondered how that happens or how they know who to page. Now I understand a bit. I was the last passenger to board a very full flight headed to Sacramento and San Diego. Yep, I was the late passenger that had to look through every overhead compartment for somewhere to shove her bag and then ask a perfectly comfortable stranger to please become uncomfortable as we wedge 3 bodies into a row that is only comfortable with 2 bodies. How do you decide which stranger to make uncomfortable? I went with the dad and his 8 year old. I figured 2 adults and 1 child would fit better than 3 adults. Well dad didn't seem to want to get squishy with his kiddo, so we shared leg body heat for the whole 1 1/2 hours while silently hoping that the other wasn't spreading the Swine Flu.

But we eventually made it home and only a few minutes late. I'm sure that wasn't my fault!

Oops

I've already thought of things that I didn't mention.

P&L are so dang cute with V&B. It was so sweet to see them give kisses or belly pats. I think my heart about melted when I heard them say their names! L loves to help out with the babies. She'll put pacifiers in or take them out, she'll bring a bottle even if they're not hungry. She'll pat their little bellies whether they're asleep or awake. There are just so many more things to notice when you have more than just a couple of hours to visit. I love that I am so welcome to come and really 'observe' every aspect of their family.

I will say this, bath time for everyone seems MUCH shorter now that the family is bigger! I was amazed at how much of their routine they've been able to keep. I probably would've thrown nightly baths for everyone out the window, but the routine works so well for her family.

A great trip, but...

not so many pictures. It's really hard to take pictures while holding babies. I do have some that I will eventually get uploaded. I'm thinking it may be what I ask for on Mother's Day.

I arrived Wednesday morning. STE picked me up with all 4 kiddos. Usually it takes L some time to warm up to me, but this trip she immediately greeted me and interacted in the car. It was a ton of fun to hear P&L singing and talking the whole ride. They had been talking in December when I last visited, but nothing compared to all the chatter now. They are unbelievably imaginative and were a blast to watch play and interact together. They have grown up so much!

We headed to STE's mother's house to drop off 100lbs of frozen milk and have some lunch. They have a beautiful yard and P&L played and played. I pumped near the window so I could watch them play and I could see B in his car seat napping.

It was amazing to see the babies again. They have really gotten so big, but 9 week olds are still quite little. I had forgotten that. I didn't have too much trouble getting back into baby care mode though. I didn't have any diaper changing accidents, nor did I drop a baby!

I was only there for 3 days, but the days have started to blur together a bit. I did a lot of baby snuggling, feeding and holding of sleeping babies (hopefully they were able to go back to sleeping on their own after I left). I found it very hard to carve time out to pump, there was always something to do or someone to hold. I'm not sure how STE gets so much done, but she does. The house was still running smoothly and the kids were still being fed, plus she still has time for her twins group projects.

I started out doing so well and I'm afraid I've now gone all rambly on you! Perhaps this is why I waited to blog, all the thoughts are jumbled in my head and I just don't know where to start. I got to see P&L's preschool-very cute little place. We had dinner at the Lunchbox Laboratory the first night (my favorite pregnancy burger place). It was still very good, but I didn't need to live there this time.

On Friday P poked his head into my room at 6am. I had just finished up pumping, so he came on in and played on the bed with me. A few minutes later L peeked in and was a bit hesitant, but she finally came and joined us. It was wonderful to spend that time with them and to really get a chance to see them blossom into little people. It really helps to visualize the stories STE shares with me. They really are very funny kids, and oh so bright. On my second day, during lunch prayers, P included 'that lady over there' and pointed at me. Imagine my joy at being included in his prayers in only 2 days!

I definitely got my baby fix. Caring for two babies is absolutely hard work. My legs and arms were both a bit sore from so much holding, rocking, bouncing and juggling. Thank goodness they were both lite enough to pick up easily while holding the other one. Although I didn't take many pictures, I spent a lot of time in front of the mirror while holding both babies just staring at their perfect little faces.

Can you believe that neither baby is a spitter? In 3 days not one baby spit up on me! How lucky can one mom get! They really are just wonderful babies. V loves to be held, but as a visitor I was OK with that. Both babies are smiling and gave up lots of smiles and 'chats'. It really was an amazing visit.

I thought STE was brave to even want 4 kids. I thought it was amazing that she can even keep the house running with 4 kids. But she really blew my mind when she showed me that she actually takes them out of the house for outings! I'm pretty sure I would stay indoors until the babies were no longer babies, but that's why I have 2 kids I guess. Friday morning STE planned to head out to the zoo at 9:30. Dad stayed home in the morning to help out and allow mom to sleep a bit (which was very sweet). We really did end up in the car around 9:30 and on our way to the zoo. There was a new exhibit opening and she thought P&L would really enjoy it, which they did. I'm pretty sure there was no way I would've even dreamt of taking all 4 kids to the zoo, but STE made it look so easy! We had a great time, the kids were fantastic and the zoo had some great exhibits.

With all my gushing over the babies and P&L, I almost forgot to mention what a great dad they all have. It is so much fun to watch him with his kids. He's a funny guy, but he's a great dad! I love seeing them both evolve as parents. They absolutely were meant to have children and I'm so thankful to have been able to help and to have the pleasure of watching them grow as a family!

I could go on and on, but eventually I start repeating myself. I had a great time. The weather was BEAUTIFUL! The food was good and the family was AMAZING!!

Pictures to come eventually, after my lesson on how to upload them myself.