First, I'd like to thank everyone who sent us wonderful Christmas cards--we loved them all, and any with pictures are on our fridge (all others are on display around our house!). I obviously didn't get a family card out this year, but hey, one of these years I may surprise myself and do it! I always want to, but it seems like from Thanksgiving to Christmas ends up being a blur. Anyway, the above picture is Annie helping to decorate the tree, which she really enjoyed (she also enjoyed removing the ornaments and trying to hang them in her hair, unfortunately!).
Here are the kids decorating. This beautiful tree was a gift from some dear friends of ours, who actually got a tree cutting permit and drove about 30 minutes north of us to cut it. We have really enjoyed it.
More decorating...
This picture isn't obviously "Christmas-y", but cute none the less. We got about 1 1/2 feet of snow about a week before Christmas, and Annie and Simon had been out with the older kids playing in it, but had to come in to warm up by the wood stove. We are SO enjoying our wood stove!
The kids are very serious about decorating their gingerbread houses--we always do one for the boys and one for the girls...
More concentration--this is serious cowboy stuff!!
OK, these next two pictures are a little out of whack, as they were taken after all the presents had been opened, but I'm too tired and lazy to rearrange them, so here they are! Here's Jonathan helping Simon put his Bionicle together; he's such a nice big brother, very kind and helpful.
Lydia is opening her and Adrienne's new dollhouse furniture and family; they've had lots of fun playing with it!
Here's Elijah on Christmas morning, unwrapping the guitar strap he'd asked for...
And here I am with one of the nice gifts Elijah gave me--I know it's not great, but none of the other pictures were any better (besides, it's early and I was tired!).
Here's Adrienne opening a Crayola activity tub, while Lydia waits to open one of her gifts...
Annie LOVED her stocking full of candy!! And we used an old dog stocking because it was smaller than the others and we didn't give her much candy. However, what we did give her was too much, because by noon she was crying non-stop and had to lie down for a nap. Next year I am definitely waiting to give them their stockings until at least after breakfast, maybe even lunch!!
Here's Simon opening the present he wanted most, a Lego pirate ship...
Jonathan was really excited to get the ipod Nano he's asked for, but didn't think he'd get...
Here's Aaron with a gift from Jonathan...
And here's Annie with her activity doll. She loves to try to button shirts and snap anything she can find with snaps, so we got her this doll so she could practice ;).
Here's Simon unwrapping a gift from Jonathan (a Nerf gun)...
And here are Simon and Annie, before the present unwrapping frenzy began, whew!! We had lots of fun this holiday season, but I a little relieved that it's all over! I think I've felt more overwhelmed this holiday season than I usually do, because I am almost five months pregnant! We are very excited about welcoming our seventh baby in May, but in the mean time, I'm a little more tired than usual :). Anyway, I hope everyone's holidays were nice, and I am going to enjoy the heck out of this little one and a half week lull we have left before school and sports start up again!!
First, I'd like to thank everyone who sent us wonderful Christmas cards--we loved them all, and any with pictures are on our fridge (all others are on display around our house!). I obviously didn't get a family card out this year, but hey, one of these years I may surprise myself and do it! I always want to, but it seems like from Thanksgiving to Christmas ends up being a blur. Anyway, the above picture is Annie helping to decorate the tree, which she really enjoyed (she also enjoyed removing the ornaments and trying to hang them in her hair, unfortunately!).
Here are the kids decorating. This beautiful tree was a gift from some dear friends of ours, who actually got a tree cutting permit and drove about 30 minutes north of us to cut it. We have really enjoyed it.
More decorating... 
This picture isn't obviously "Christmas-y", but cute none the less. We got about 1 1/2 feet of snow about a week before Christmas, and Annie and Simon had been out with the older kids playing in it, but had to come in to warm up by the wood stove. We are SO enjoying our wood stove!
The kids are very serious about decorating their gingerbread houses--we always do one for the boys and one for the girls...
More concentration--this is serious cowboy stuff!!
OK, these next two pictures are a little out of whack, as they were taken after all the presents had been opened, but I'm too tired and lazy to rearrange them, so here they are! Here's Jonathan helping Simon put his Bionicle together; he's such a nice big brother, very kind and helpful.
Lydia is opening her and Adrienne's new dollhouse furniture and family; they've had lots of fun playing with it!
Here's Elijah on Christmas morning, unwrapping the guitar strap he'd asked for...
And here I am with one of the nice gifts Elijah gave me--I know it's not great, but none of the other pictures were any better (besides, it's early and I was tired!).
Here's Adrienne opening a Crayola activity tub, while Lydia waits to open one of her gifts...
Annie LOVED her stocking full of candy!! And we used an old dog stocking because it was smaller than the others and we didn't give her much candy. However, what we did give her was too much, because by noon she was crying non-stop and had to lie down for a nap. Next year I am definitely waiting to give them their stockings until at least after breakfast, maybe even lunch!!
Here's Simon opening the present he wanted most, a Lego pirate ship...
Jonathan was really excited to get the ipod Nano he's asked for, but didn't think he'd get...
Here's Aaron with a gift from Jonathan...
And here's Annie with her activity doll. She loves to try to button shirts and snap anything she can find with snaps, so we got her this doll so she could practice ;).
Here's Simon unwrapping a gift from Jonathan (a Nerf gun)...
And here are Simon and Annie, before the present unwrapping frenzy began, whew!! We had lots of fun this holiday season, but I a little relieved that it's all over! I think I've felt more overwhelmed this holiday season than I usually do, because I am almost five months pregnant! We are very excited about welcoming our seventh baby in May, but in the mean time, I'm a little more tired than usual :). Anyway, I hope everyone's holidays were nice, and I am going to enjoy the heck out of this little one and a half week lull we have left before school and sports start up again!!
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26 comments:
Wow, what a great blog entry! It looks like you guys had a nice Christmas. Melissa, you should do a Christmas card with a picture of all the kids. That would be awesome! By next year, you will have seven little faces for your card. Once you have a picture, it's fast and easy to do on-line.
I LOVE the wood stove. Do you have an older home? You don't see those as much these days, but it's very cozy.
Looking at the kids' gingerbread houses, I'm afraid they would find ours appalling. Ha ha! Yours did a nice job. Poor little Annie. Let her put some candy on too! If she's anything like Philip, she'll remove more than she places.
It looks like everyone got a lot of nice gifts and had a good time. Congrats on the new baby, and Merry Christmas!
Maybe next year will be the year I get it together enough to get a Christmas card out!
Actually our house is just 7 years old, but many people use wood stoves out here. We just bought ours and had it installed this summer; we were SO tired of paying for propane heat and still not being warm enough! With the wood stove, we're warm enough to wear t-shirts inside AND it costs 75% less than propane heat. Well anyway, so much for my little wood stove advertisement!
Hey, if Annie had done a gingerbread house, it would've had *way* less candy than your boys' house did!! She is a candy bandit...we did try to let her do some decorating, but like you said, she was way more interested in removing the candy!
Thanks for the congrats, we are excited about seeing this new baby--have you been able to keep up with your boys OK with your pregnancy? I gotta confess to being a bit tired and mean at times...
So your house is fairly new. I just assumed with the wood burning stove, that it was a little older like ours. Love the look of the stove - very charming! How do you keep the kids away from it?
I was surprised that the boys removed any candy to eat it. I know that sounds crazy, but they had never had candy until then, so I didn't think they would know what it was. Philip decided that gum drops were pretty good!
I'm doing pretty well over all. So far the pregnancy has been easier than with the twins - tired, but still functional. I just hope that having one newborn is A LOT easier than having two. That was SO, SO hard. Praying for no feeding or sleeping issues this time!
Hope you are feeling well too and can get some rest!
That's awesome that they'd never had candy before--I'm seriously considering a ban on it here. It's hard because the older kids go out and buy it with their own money, and of course the little kids find it sooner or later...But I was able to keep it away before I had teenagers, and I'm about to get strict about it!
I'm so glad your pregnancy is easier this time, how merciful with two year olds to take care of! I've never had twins, so I don't have any point of comparison, but every time I have a newborn, I think, "this one baby is so much work, I can't imagine having two!" So my guess is that you'll find one a lot easier ;). Either way, I always remind myself that no matter what, the time just flies--I feel like I blink and my baby is two, then starting school!
Oh, and thankfully I'm able to get enough rest and keep up with the kids, although I don't always get as much done as I'd like!
William didnt' really like the candy, but Philip enjoyed it. I do let them have cookies, but that's about it. For some reason, they don't seem to like cake or ice cream, but they LOVE falafel, pakoras and fruit & nut bars.
Melissa, time did NOT fly our first year, especially the first six months. We really needed help, but it was difficult to find in Hattiesburg. There were many nights that I slept less than an hour. I was exhausted, so much so, that I had to take Zofran to keep from being sick. I wish I had better memories of their infancy, but they were not easy babies, and I had two of them. Sharon is convinced that my next one will be easier. I HOPE so! I've learned a few things that will help - I hope!
Glad you are doing well. You should be a pro at this by now. :)
I don't want to sound like I'm complaining ALL the time. The first six months were traumatic, and Pat worked 1/2 night shifts. Rough, but I'm grateful to have them!
Oh my goodness, I am ashamed. When I think of difficulties with newborns, I think of fussy babies who need to be walked and rocked but do eventually go to sleep (even though sometimes later than I want them to!). But less than 1 hour of sleep per night?! That's a new level of difficult. I agree with Sharon that this new baby can't help but be easier than the first two; I am so hoping you will be able to enjoy this baby's infancy.
I guess I've learned a few things over the years, but every baby is different, so I honestly never feel like a pro. And even if I did, I have teenagers to remind me that I certainly haven't arrived (or am even close!).
I would never have thought you were complaining. Some things are just plain hard, and the first year with twins has to be one of them! But I know it doesn't mean you weren't grateful--but heck, if I was going on that little sleep, I doubt if I'd know what my address was, much less be excited about motherhood! I think for this next baby, you deserve to hire a good housekeeper starting in your third trimester, and if possible, a good babysitter who can come over at least 2-3 times per week, so you know that at least you'll be able to rest then!
Melissa, for the first several months ( maybe 5 months), we got a 15 minute break every 2 hours. The rest of the time was spent diapering, feeding etc... That was the schedule 24 hours a day, so there wasn't time to sleep. We had to switch off to let each other sleep a couple hours. When Pat was working night shift, we really couldn't switch off, so it was just me. "Sleep while they sleep" is a fantasy with twin infants, at least with ours. Once the feedings were farther apart, we realized they were waking up so much at night, that sleep still wasn't possible. When each woke 3 to 4 times per night, well, you can do the math. It was tough, and there were a lot of tears. I really considering moving to another city with the boys where I could find someone to help us. We were exhausted. When the boys were about ten months old, we found Jessica, Clay Charbonneau's girlfriend, and she helped on the nights Pat worked. HUGE relief. I'm sorry to say that mine STILL don't really sleep through the night, but we have them in our room now (gave up on having them in their own room), so it isn't as hard. They also don't get fed during the night or poop in the middle of the night now. Those were tough times, for sure!
Sleep was our main issue, but we also had feeding problems with them, especially William. We survived it, and we love them, BUT I hope the next baby is easier. Sharon says he/she can't be harder. I hope she's right!
I'm sure that after six kids, you have all kinds of skills that you don't even realize. I hope that the things I learned the first time around will help me. I know they are all different, but there should be some overlap - right? Say, "yes."
Help with the house and the boys would be wonderful, and we're looking into it. We need to find someone we can trust, and that's not easy, but at least there are more people available here than there were in Hattiesburg.
I didn't want sound like I was just complaining. The boys are wonderful and we love them, but wow, the first year nearly killed me. I'm sure having so many kids presents challenges as well!
Will you find out the gender in advance or be surprised?
We'll be surprised--although just going on general superstitious predictions, I've never had a girl in the spring, and never had a boy in the fall (the boys were born in April, May, and July, and the girls were born in September and November). So, I'll be really surprised if this baby is a girl, but happy either way!
Kids are all different re: sleeping, and honestly, I wouldn't really worry if two year olds still woke up some at night. One thing we do is let our babies sleep with us until they are about 2 1/2-3 years old, and it really has worked well for us. I don't volunteer that info a lot, as people think we're "spoiling" our babies or want to tell us horror stories about how "once you let them in your bed, you'll never get them out". I know everyone has differing opinions on it, and some babies are just good sleepers anywhere, but I've actually enjoyed having them with me at night when it's quiet (sometimes the only quiet part of the day!), and never had trouble moving them to their own rooms when they are older. In fact, now I have to bug Aaron & Jonathan to leave their bedroom door open sometimes, so they're not just holed up in their room! I dunno, I just think it's important to find some way to get a reasonable amount of sleep when you have an infant (or infants!). And I can imagine that the "sleep when the baby sleeps" thing wouldn't work with twins, as they most likely wake up at different times. Isn't it amazing the things we mothers can survive for our children?!
BTW, will you be finding out the sex of your baby? If so, let us know! I always think it's fun when friends do that and share!
Interesting means of prediction. I'm sure you'll be happy whether it's a girl or boy. I know we will. We should know the gender in a few weeks.
We worried a lot for a while. Everyone kept telling us that babies sleep through the night at about 3 months. Three months came and went, and ours were still waking three to four per night each! I thought - maybe by six month. No. What about 9 months? No. 12? No! Finally at 18 months, I told Pat that while he was out of town, I was putting them in bed with me. I FINALLY got some sleep. Now we have a mattress on the floor in our room for them. I lie down when them at naptime and bedtime. Lately I've been so tired that I don't always make it back to my bed. Still, it's so much better than not sleeping at night!
As for what people say, I don't even care anymore. Initially the criticism was hurtful and irritating, but I've learned to deal with it. I will say that it required a lot of restraint listening to people harass me about what poor sleepers I had, as if I had caused it. It's easy to stop by and offer criticism when you can go home and sleep eight hours!
I'm sorry you had to endure people's comments about kids and sleeping. I honestly believe that sometimes (most of the time!) people take credit for their baby's or kid's behavior when it's what the baby/kid would've done anyway! I've had friends who were so confident that their superior parenting skills were what got their first baby to sleep so well at night, only to have a second baby who was completely resistant to their parenting "techniques"! Parenting is certainly humbling...I'm just glad you have been able to figure out what works best for you and your kids, and not worry about what anyone else (who doesn't live with your kids!) thinks. And you may have already experienced it in other areas, but lots of people are "instant experts" on your children when it comes to potty training, too ;). FWIW, none of my boys potty trained before the age of 3, and I've heard all kinds of stories about toddlers who potty trained at 18 months, but mine didn't.
I guess the comments are to be expected. Sometimes I have a hard time believing that the person making the suggestion would do so, given her track record. I've tended to avoid those who were the most intolerable.
There have been a few comments and questions about potty training, but not too much yet. Sharon and Meg both said the same thing you did - their boys didn't start using the toilet before age 3. As much as I'd like to be finished with changing their diapers, I don't think mine are ready. I'm still trying to get them to tell me when they have poop!
I don't know how long ours will sleep in our room, and really I don't care. I can be a much better mom when I'm not exhausted all the time. I wasn't able to function getting 1 to 3 hours sleep per night. Even though they still wake up, I can usually get them right back to sleep because I'm there. They don't have time to stand up and get really upset like they did in their cribs.
Funny, because we've noticed the same. I shouldn't take pleasure seeing others have a difficult time with a second baby, but sometimes after all the boasting, it's hard not to smile a little on the inside. :)
Oh my goodness, we are also trying to get Annie to tell us when she poops; so far she only does about 50% of the time. The worst is when she takes off her poop diaper and runs away--it all happens in about 5 seconds, but I have to go *screaming* after her and catch her before she sits down on anything, yikes!! This parenting stuff is a lot harder than it looks, isn't it?!!
At least Annie tells you 1/2 the time. Mine don't even do that. So far ours haven't removed their diapers. Yay for that! Philip does have the tendency to push down on his, so I try not to allow either of them to walk around in just a diaper. Too dangerous. If I ask William if he has poo poo. He just repeats, "poo poo." He doesn't want me to change his diaper, so there isn't much incentive for him to tell me. I guess it will happen eventually.
My boys were like Philip re: not wanting to have their diapers changed. And sometimes, if they suspected I was going to change their diapers, they'd run away from me (and I'd chase them thinking all the while about how much effort had to be put into one of life's more unpleasant tasks!). My girls, on the other hand, have been a little easier, just because none of them has liked sitting in poop; the older two girls wouldn't sit down and would tell me immediately when they pooped (after about age 2), and Annie sometimes just takes care of it herself like I mentioned before...still, they weren't fully potty trained till they were around 2 years, 9 months.
Philip just had one of the grossest diapers ever! Neither one tells me. I figure it out from the aroma. EW. William has started running away when I tell him that I'm about to change his diaper. AH! I guess we aren't even close to potty training time. I've heard that boys are a little more difficult in this area. It sounds like that has been the case for you. I've also been told that kids who wear cloth diapers (mine don't) train earlier. Are yours in cloth?
I've used cloth off and on, but by the time they potty trained, none of the kids were still in cloth diapers. I've used cloth diapers the most with Annie (just use disposables when we're out), but honestly, I think it makes no difference in potty training. I mainly use cloth because my other babies got bad rashes from disposables, plus it saves money. But anyway, with my kids at least, potty training wasn't a matter of not knowing they needed to go, or even not being able to hold it, they (my boys) just simply did NOT want to poop in the toilet! Not physical, psychological...With Aaron & Jonathan, I racked my brains to figure out a painless way to get them to go in the toilet (which was finally accomplished when they were both 3 1/2 years old!), and with Simon, we were very nice, but when he was 3 yrs & 3 mo., after lots of help and trying different things, we just quit giving him diapers to poop in and after throwing an hour long screaming fit (during which we calmly reminded him that he could poop in the potty), he calmed and went and pooped in the toilet. I felt bad for letting him cry for so long, but I was desperate, plus he'd been potty training for a while and had total control of his bodily functions, just didn't like the idea of using the toilet. He's been potty trained ever since (only a couple of pee accidents), which is nice, *however*, he still sleeps in a pull-up because he wets the bed a lot. (sigh) Oh well, I don't want to complain about it, because at least I don't have deal with his poop diapers any more!!
I've always admired those who used cloth diapers. It seems like a better environmental option, but I didn't do it. My "to do" list always seemed too long to add washing dirty diapers to it.
It's funny that you say that about Simon. Chris and Angela had a similar experience with their daughter, Zona. (she was a little over 3 at the time). Zona was using the potty for #1, but insisted on having a diaper for #2. This went on for a while. One day they spoke with Zona's teacher who told them that Zona did #2 in the potty at school. Hmmm. No more diapers to poop in at home!
As for the pull-ups, Sharon's little boy still wears them at night too. I think he's about 3.5.
I'm hoping for easy potty training. I can hope, right? Little else has been easy with these two, so I figure it's my turn! ha ha!
I've actually enjoyed using cloth diapers, but don't know if I'd try it if I had twins! HA, I've never had twins, and Annie was my first baby that I used cloth diapers for 100% her first year, then 80% since...it took me a little while to get the hang of it.
It sounds like Zona was like my boys in the potty training area (and I thought it was only boys!). I think you can hope for an easy potty training time with your boys--I actually felt a little guilty after dreading potty training Simon, and talking about it (not to him, just friends). Other than his screaming fit, it wasn't so bad!
Do they wear plastic pants over the cloth? How do you keep it from making a mess?
I was wondering with so many kids, how are you able to get the younger ones to nap?
I started using chinese diaper service quality prefolds, pins, and nylon covers when Annie was born, and they did *great* containing leaks (especially poop leaks, way better than disposables), but now I use a combination of those and pocket style cloth diapers (the pocket style diapers are pretty neat, they have a layer made of water proof material, so it keeps the wetness from being right against their skin). Of course the cloth diapers have to be changed more frequently than disposables, which doesn't bother me.
As for naps, ever since Aaron was born, we've slept with a box fan on for white noise (even in winter, we just point it towards the closet), so that helps. Of course with babies and younger toddlers, they just fall asleep when they get tired (either nursing, in the baby carrier, or in the car!), and now that Annie's older, I lie down with her in the afternoons to get her to sleep (and sometimes stay in the bed with her!), but sometimes we're out and she just sleeps in the car. On days when she has just a short nap, I put her to bed earlier. Oh, and the other kids just play (hopefully quietly) and for the most part, it's not a problem.
We have white noise too. It was a necessity because ours were VERY light sleepers in the beginning. If someone knocked on the door or the phone rang, they were awake. I couldn't even open a can of soda! Not kidding.
I think we just got really unlucky with bad sleepers. Ours do NOT just fall asleep when they get tired - NEVER, EVER. I guess William has started to in the last six months, but not Philip. We can drive from Houston to Hattiesburg and he doesn't sleep. So obviously the car doesn't help either. We used to rock him for an hour or more to get him to sleep. Sharon helped a few times and couldn't believe how difficult he was. When she was here recently, it took me TWO HOURS to get him to sleep. Exhausting.
After reading lots of books and trying everything I could think of, I finally gave up and now lie down with them for naps and bedtime. That is the only thing that FINALLY works, and now I'm wondering how I'll manage Philip's sleep with a newborn around.
Most parents like for their kids to nap. I'll be glad when Philip doesn't need naps anymore!
Oh wow, I can't believe little William doesn't even sleep on long car rides!! But it sounds like you've figured out what works, and actually I've never had a baby/toddler that I didn't have to lie down with to get to sleep (although mine haven't taken two hours to go to sleep before). You know, after most of my kids turned two years old, they could go without naps more than half the time. Actually Aaron & Simon were *very* resistant to napping after age two, so I just gave up on trying to make them and put them to bed early, which worked great. I do know what you mean about naps being more trouble than they're worth sometimes--it can be hard to stop what you're doing and spend bunches of time getting them to sleep (even if it means a few quiet moments!).
Oh sorry, I just realized that you said that William does sleep better now, but not his brother. Anyway, here's hoping the new baby will be easy going when it comes to sleep, and I was thinking that since the boys will be almost three when he/she comes, maybe they won't need to nap any more?
Thank you for the well wishes. Philip not needing a nap would be a miracle. A gift. Better than Christmas! I just have to remember that the day will come...eventually.
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