Rough roads...

There are so many challenges that come with being twin mama, and each stage or milestone brings a new one.  In the year that I have been talking and getting to know all you twin mamas,  and other twin mamas of Got Twins, I have heard many stories on how and when it gets easier.  Well I have a theory parenting and easy are like oil and water, no matter how hard you try they are not going together.  I thought the challenges of them being infants were hard, NO WAY do they even compare to the challenges of today!!!  Really the biggest challenge of the "survival year" was lack of sleep, now with them being toddlers (really did I just call them toddlers??? WOW time flies) things are just rough.  I get sleep, but they are all over getting into everything and destroying everything in their path.  The biggest challenge now is how to deal with it, how to make them be well behaved little cuties.  Frustration has been the emotion of the day, well the past few days, they are hitting, pinching, and just being a bit naughty, and I have no idea how to deal with it.  I do not want to spank them, and time outs are not even phasing them. *sigh*  I have no idea how they even learned to be such monsters and mean to each other, it just makes me sad to see them act so badly.  They can be sweet boys too, they do snuggle and love each other and mama too, and those are the moments that keep this mama going.  I know I can get through these phases just as I did when I was running on coffee and mama love when they were infants, I just see with my 11-year-old there are still such hard struggles to deal with and there is only one of him.  There have been long rough roads behind me and there are even rougher roads ahead, but the journey will be amazing and in the end I will always look back and say it was the hardest and most amazing trip of my life.  I can and will be the best mama I can possibly be!  This mama has three wonderful boys who try her patience and run her until she nearly drops, but she loves them with everything she has!

Paci for Dada

After a long night of breast pumping, I was out cold. Nothing could possibly wake me up but a genuine burst of laughter made me wonder what happened. Now my husband, Chad, and I co-sleep (we have a few reasons but we cannot wait to get them into their own room which I am working on) and it has been quite an adventure to say the least. Well I hear Chad laugh and I slowly open my eyes and see that Elijah is awake and smiling.

Apparently Elijah woke Chad up by touching his face and blowing raspberries at him. Chad wakes up and greets him. Elijah puts both hands on his Dada's face, turns back and sees his brother sleeping, rolls over an. d plucks the pacifier out of Liam's mouth, rolls back and shoves it into his Dada's mouth. Chad takes the pacifier out and Elijah grabs it again and puts it back into his mouth and hold his hands over it so his father could not spit it out.

It amazes me how funny these boys are and how this is only the beginning. What a great way to start the day!

Brotherly Love

Today David fell down and cut his lip open. While I was holding him, Erik came over and brought him a blanket. When David stopped crying, Erik gave him one of the trucks he was playing with, and they played together so happily. It's moments like these that make me feel so blessed to be a mother of twins.

I think it's just been one of those weeks...

It's just been one of those weeks I think most of us could have done without some extra stress... We had our first trip to the ER with Dexter. We found out he's allergic to zucchini. Who's allergic to zucchini?! Well besides Dex I guess LOL Well now we know. I had to get one of my wisdom teeth pulled which meant I had to miss work one day, which means a smaller paycheck than what I already get. It's been super crappy on my days off too. I just want to be outside with my babies! I can't help but feel these are trivial to what some you of mamas are facing right now. Just sending the BIGGEST gosh darn group hug all your ways! {{{HUGS}}}

Y Nora

P.S. This is how we hug in the Eiring family...

You All Are My Inspiration

To my wonderful and amazing twin moms,
I want to thank you for your support and friendship. Finding out that I was having twins was a complete shock to me and my husband. After being told by doctors and specialists that we would not be able to have children and then being blessed with two amazing boys was surreal.
Before I became pregnant, I was slowly distancing myself from old friends. Once I became pregnant, all my "friendships" were gone. No one understood that having children meant to raise them and not allow them to be in daycare 24/7. No one understood what it meant to raise multiple children at the same time not even family, and then I met you wonderful women.
You understand the struggles with twin infants, the stress, the joys, the fears, everything. I am so grateful to be given the chance to blog with all of you and have you get a peek into my life as I will with yours.
I pray that we will meet soon.
-Cecia

Why I Love You Ladies!

Dear Twin Mamas,

I simply adore you! I cannot even really imagine where I would be with out finding my new peer group, the toughest women I know, all of you! One of the wonderful things about us is that despite our diversity as a group, we have these unique and shared experiences as Mothers. I know that you get me, and I get you too! That very fact has brought me a multitude of comfort in the most challenging time of my life. It is hard to become a Mother, and it is damn hard to become a Mother to two at once, but since connecting with you, I have never felt alone in my journey. Not only are we a dynamic group of women, but our children are going to rock the world someday. I have always loved children and getting to know your beautiful twins just brings joy to my days. I love watching all of them grow up and I often feel like they are missing out on the benefit of knowing each other too. I wish that we were a way for our twins to interact and become the best of friends, just as we are doing. Thank you for everything!

I love you ladies,
Heather

I would like to thank all of my fellow twin mamas for the support for the last (almost) 8 months... without you ladies I would prolly spend most of my time at home being scare/terrified to leave the house with twinfants. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Today we all took a nice little day trip to Door County. It's the peninsula of Wisconsin. Famous for cherries and apples and cutesy little harbor towns. It was a long drive about 2 hours one way but we made it. We got lots of people that stared at us and lots that asked questions... you know the same 'ol routine you get when you're out. It was fun though because today I didn't mind the questions because it was a relaxing day and we had 2 VERY happy babies. I love looking in the mirrors to see my happy little ones. We have been very lucky that the twinners travel well. I think that has to do to the fact once we were able to leave the house (damn RSV season!) we did. They enjoy the time in their car seats and rock out with my husband and me.

We didn't spend as much time in Door County as we would have liked but it was worth it. Nothing can beat having purple stained lips and fingers from freshly picked sweet cherries :) While we were driving my husband, Dusty, and I were talking about what we would like to do with the twinners as they get older. I told him that I think it is important for them to get out and see the world around them. I've told him of my many travels as a kid as well as adult and how much I LOVED it, his family didn't travel at all and he wished they had. We decided that day trips around our beautiful state are a good start. I'm very excited and I know Dusty is as well! We never know what's going to happen to the nature around us (ie. like the oil that was gushing into the gulf) and our children need to see the true beauty of Mother Nature before it's too late. So Wisconsin State Parks here we come! Thank you mamas for getting our butts out there!

Y Nora

You Get Me Through The Tough Days

Hey twin momma blogging friends! This week has been a challenging one with the boys. I’ve had one of those days about four times in a row. I think we’re cutting molars and my great nappers have been anything but great sleepers and have been refusing to take their afternoon naps – which we all know makes for loooong evenings. I just wanted to tell all of you that, while it’s fun to share our wonderful experiences of the twin journey and each new milestone our little ones master, it is YOU amazing mommas that get me through the tough days too! Even if we don’t “talk” or see each other on Facebook and BabyCenter everyday it just helps to have you all in mind and know that I’m not alone. Knowing that we are all doing our very best everyday with our twin joys – and, for some, even fuller homes – makes it easier to overcome these rough weeks. Thank you for that and thank you all for your friendship, support and compassion.

♥ Jenn