Sleep Training...Again??

So the story goes...the girls had a somewhat rough adjustment to sleeping when we moved in with the in-laws.  This only lasted about a week or two and they were back on track.  But for the past month Seren has woken up and grumped in the middle of the night.  We mostly let her go and if she fussed for more then 10 minutes or so we would go get her, usually out of worry for Kendall waking up.  Sometimes Kendall would sleep through this but generally the moment we went to get Seren, Kendall was up as well.  We started stretching out the time we'd wait to get them which seemed to stretch the days between getting them up.  But for the last week Seren has screamed bloody murder.  Her arm getting cut off type of bloody murder.  The first time she did it I literally jumped out of bed and nearly ran to their room.  Scared the crap out of me.  But nothing was wrong beyond a little girl who wanted to get attention and maybe a midnight snack before going back to bed.  She didn't cry after we got her up and she acted perfectly happy and healthy the next morning and day.  No concerns.  The next night it happened again and again after that.  By the end of the week we wondered if there was something wrong or if she was just teething or having nightmares.  We contacted our doctor.  And the recommendation was to sleep train her again...let her cry for up to an hour.  Train her to go back to sleep on her own.  Possibly move Kendall to another room if possible.  Lovely.

Sleep training...this worked like a charm when they were 5 or 6 months old.  But the thought of letting her scream bloody murder night after night doesn't appeal to me.  Their ped. did say we could ease her back into it (checking on her, etc) but that could take several weeks to get her back on track.   I figure I will check on her a little this week and then wean and stretch the time between checks again.  No picking up.  No cuddles.  Lay her back down and comfort her and then leave.  I'm not against children "crying it out" to a point...I just hope we don't reach that point after a week or two.  So here we go again...wish us luck (oh and tips or tricks if you have any).

Redefining Goals

For those of you stopping in or new I started a list of 101 goals to accomplish in 1,001 days a couple years ago.  Surprisingly time has gone by so quickly with this.  I started on this list before we were officially starting our donor IVF cycle that resulted in Kendall and Seren.  I remember that I started it because I wanted to have other things to work towards besides starting our family...especially if things didn't work.  But they did and now I am very behind in getting these goals accomplished.  I have accomplished others but ones I can't check off of a list.

We are still living with Jeff's parents for the time being.  We have an offer on a short sale for a home that I love but it has taken months to go anywhere.  We keep hoping we'll get a contract any day now...that is the supposed next step as we've been told everything is verbally accepted.  But living here feels like a wrench in my plans to accomplish more of these goals sometimes.  I guess I could get creative.

But in the meantime I'm considering an extension or a re-writing of the list.  Adding in new goals possibly and focusing energy on things I've discovered that I really enjoy (sewing, home decor, DIY projects, etc).  Anyway just a random rambling and reminder to myself to get back on the horse with this idea because I really do like it. 

19 Months

Foods They Like:  They love almost all fruit.  They love cheese, ham fried rice, minestrone soup, pizza, zucchini bread, pancakes, chicken nuggets, etc.  They are getting better with vegetables (especially if it's mixed in with other things) mostly corn, tomatoes and carrots. 

Foods They Don't:  Avocado, olives, and a lot of vegetables still.  

Favorite Things:   They love splashing in puddles, going on walks (stroller or on foot), dogs of all sizes.  They like bath time and stories.  Playing in the back yard and with bugs and dirt.  They love playing with cousins.  Seren is especially interested in Abby (4 months older than the girls) and will stare at her and follow her around when they come visiting.
Favorite toy:  Tunnel from ikea.  Water with buckets and toys.
Dislikes:  Being hungry and tired.  Helping them eat...they very much want to do it all on their own.
Their Accomplishments:  Walking and running.  Stairs up and down although we still leave the gate up on the big stairs.  Understanding and talking more.  We're working on body parts and they are learning more of those.

Verbal:  They are talking and imitating more.  New words: juice, up, doggie and yes.  Seren seems to talk more but Kendall can really get going as well. 

Teeth:  Seren has four on top, four on bottom and four molars.  Kendall has four on bottom, four on top and two molars.  

Sleep:  They fight sleeping a little more but have each other for company or the other will usually sleep through if a fit is being thrown. 
Looking forward to:  Looking forward to more words and verbal skills.  They understand so much and are starting to catch onto speaking better.  Still looking forward to being on our own again, especially so I can have more control over diet, groceries and freezer meals. 

Sunny Days...

We are enjoying our share of sunny days here recently.  It is better than winter and snow and being cooped up inside.  Although some really hot days have kept us inside anyway.  There isn't much going on here.  I have been flying solo with the girls the last few days as Grandparents D have been watching other grandkids.  Jeff is also out of town for the same few days + one and the girls have been sick for the last week or two (just the sniffles and improving) so it hasn't been the best timing.  I was up with Seren from 3:30 am to 7 am one night/morning with Kendall joining in around 6 am.  Thank goodness they slept in until 11 am that day.  After that it has been all uphill though.  And we have partial word on the short sale being good news soon so that doesn't hurt the optimism.  Generally speaking though this summer has been full of sunny days, smiles and moments like these.

Kendall playing in the background while mom plays with her camera settings to capture the cuteness

(reminds me of pictures my dad took when we were little)

Seren loves to corner Thor at the front door when he's looking outside.  He actually didn't mind this time and started licking her hand (they are going to be good buddies when she's a little bigger)

Kind of Solution

After I purchased some plastic stroller type buckles on eBay...I found a perfectly fine solution at the thrift store.  I thrift my girls clothes.  I love it!  It's like a bargain hunt to find a cute (basically new looking) shirt for $1 or $2 and pants for $3.  I figure until they are old enough to take better care of their clothes (or at least not stain them over and over with spaghetti and strawberries, etc) then it is perfectly fine, great even, to get used clothes.  Goodness sounds like I could do a whole post on that.

Anyway I found a cargo type belt (1 1/2" wide with a double ring closure).  It was $0.69 and booyah also the 50% off color tag of the day.  So I bought it as a temporary fix.  We even took it for a practice run to the store.  I sat Seren in the basket again and looped the belt around her snugged it up on the outside so she couldn't mess with it.  She didn't like it.  In fact I think she was darn near pissed off about it.  At first she was really trying to fight it and stand up (not a chance).  Then she gave up and just whined about it a little.  I got a few sideways glances while she was freaking out but hey I prevented a concussion so who cares.

I am hoping the next trip to try it out won't be so troublesome.  It was the middle of nap time today and we had a super rough night as well.  Seren is not always the twin in the basket either but Kendall was half-asleep when we got to the store so I didn't want to chance her cranking out.

**Update:  The buckles I ordered never came.  I checked on tracking and the stupid company sent them to my old address...despite me updating the address with them and them sending me an email saying they'd send it to my current address.  Grrrrrrrr!  The belt has worked fine though despite the fact if the girl in the basket gets fussy that people notice more.  Come on people...I dare you to ask me why I use something to belt them in! Bring it!

Shopping Cart Rant...

I am on a mission to make shopping safer for my girls.  Shopping goes something like this for me:  one girl goes in the basket seat (always belted in) and one girl is placed in the cart and reminded repeatedly to sit down and forced to sit down and reminded again.  Sometimes if they are restless enough I will hold this one on my hip and steer with one hand.  Fun shopping trip let me tell ya.  Yep some stores have double seated carts and I can tell you that I haven't had the luxury of shopping at one recently.  And the stores that have them often don't have enough and they are used up (sometimes by single child shoppers...grrrrrrr!!)  No offense to anyone who shops with one child and throws them in the "fun" cart with the car on the front or such but come on people some of us actually need a cart that fits two kiddos.  Grrrrrr I say again.  And some two seaters aren't even fit or meant for smaller toddlers.  Case in point Target store two seaters in our area have a basic box that you can strap two kids into and I've used one and felt like my girls were going to fall out.  Not to mention the dang cart is a royal pain to maneuver.  Ughhhh!  And this doesn't even bring up the fact sooooo many have broken or missing seat belts.  Seriously?!

Today was my last straw though.  The girls and I went to Target to get my prescriptions and due to my above stated hatred of their two seaters I opted to put them in a cart.  Kendall sat belted in the basket seat and Seren in the cart.  Seren loves to stand up and I repeatedly placed her on her bum and told her to sit.  And she would almost immediately stand up again and grin at me.  She knew I didn't want her to stand but she didn't understand why.  Not until it was too late.  We were at the prescription pick up counter and Seren was standing in the cart that wasn't moving, the pharmacy tech asked me a question and I moved the cart to hear her and out toppled Seren.  Flat on her back on the hard tile of the store.  I dropped everything in my hands and picked her up in an instant.  I couldn't have felt more guilty.  I was beyond grateful and a little embarrassed when she clutched me and started wailing.  I looked her over for injuries and apologized to her over and over for being a moron of a  mother.  Things happen.  I am so grateful she wasn't seriously hurt.  And now, researching an idea to make a seatbelt for the cart, and reading about the number of children who end up in emergency rooms from similar falls (from the cart or basket seat) I am even more grateful she is okay and also embarrassed that I let it happen. 

Yes I'm the moron who let it happen.  But I'm still pissed off at stores for having very little or poor solutions to the problem (especially when twins are so much more prevalent these days).

Don't let kids stand up in carts...ever (moving or not).  Find a better way.  When I find or invent my better way I will let you know.  Until then I will be shopping with our stroller or in the hours that hubby can keep one or both girls at home.

July 4th, The Zoo and Our Monkeys...

Just wanted to share some recent stories with the girls (mostly for my own good).  We enjoyed a great 4th of July this year.  We are still living with my in-laws (hoping for a resolution on this short sale in the next month or so and closing the month after...we'll see).  So anyway we walked to the park near their home about a mile or so away and enjoyed some accapella performers...okay somewhat.  The girls got restless and didn't want to sit still.  On one occasion at picking up and redirecting Seren she must have gotten frustrated because she bit my shoulder...hard, leaving a bruise as of today.  She felt bad afterwords and starting bawling when I handed her off to Jeff.  But after that we decided it was best to leave Jeff's family and let the girls roam around on the grass.  When it got darker we attempted to rejoin the family but it wasn't to be.  We threw Kendall and Seren into the stroller and walked them around the park, actually ending up in the perfect spot for the fireworks by accident.  They enjoyed them.  Seren was a little nervous of the cherry bomb type and clung to me a few times.  But eventually they both loved them.  They stared at the sky with wonder and pointed to them and babbled.  It was adorable.

Seren sitting on Grandma D

Patriotic Kendall - I LOVE this picture

4th of July Firework watching (poor camera = poor picture)

Also we recently took Seren and Kendall to the zoo with the grandparents.  They also enjoyed this much more than they did last year, as you would expect.  They stared at animals and laughed when we could find one close enough to a window to watch (orangutan and polar bear).  We even tried to get them to talk to the monkeys by imitating a monkey.  Seren didn't care but Kendall caught right on and copied us with some higher pitched "ooohhh ahhhh ahhhh" sound making.  It was so funny.  I wish we would have gotten it on video. 

At the zoo...enjoying themselves despite the heat (can you tell I don't bring my good camera on outtings haha)

I think they are starting to catch onto verbalizing a little better.  I still worry they are behind but hopefully they will be talking our ears off soon.  You can definitely hear them trying to imitate what we say to them though so that is a great jumping off point I'm sure.