The Riggins Boys

Thursday, July 7, 2011

We're Back......

Ok, so I don’t know if anyone still cares to read about our crazy life with 3 little boys, but if I don’t keep a record of it I am afraid we will look back and just remember a blur. I haven’t posted in a loooong time and while I have wanted to several times, the OCD in me won’t let me get out of order. So the plan is to get all caught up this week. Right now Lane is playing quietly and poor Cole is screaming like someone pinching him. I may sound unsympathetic, but this is how my little Cole spends a good bit of his day. He can be one of the happiest, smiling babies you would ever meet and then 2 seconds later be screaming bloody murder. No build up, no transition- one extreme to the other. But he is so dang cute, you can’t help but forgive his ear piercing screams. Lane’s personality is God’s way of keeping a mommy of twins sane. He has a mild personality, doesn’t get real upset and may crack a smile for you if you’re lucky but mostly just hangs out and studies everything. Jace has developed a spunky little personality. He likes to refer to me as “on-isa” and daddy is now “dad” or “ste-wart”. He has become obsessed with music and dancing. I will admit, though someday he may be angry at me for telling, but he LOVES the Disney princess movies- especially Belle from Beauty and the Beast and Ariel in Little Mermaid. He has been so sweet to “his” babies. He always brings them toys and proudly shows them off to others, saying “that’s Lane and Cole” usually followed by “don’t touch my babies”. I would rather have an overprotective big brother though than a jealous one. Stuart is finishing up his summer session of nurse prac school and has gone back to work after being off 6 weeks after his umbilical hernia repair. He had a bit of infection and wound healing issues after surgery, but I think our family is now hernia free and healthy!! People like to ask me what life is like with 3 under 3, and I would love to tell them, but honestly I don’t have a realistic picture of it yet. So far it hasn’t been too difficult; it is busy but so much fun! However, I have cheated a bit and have had help most of the past 6 months. Either my mom or grandmother has been here or had Jace with them since November (for which we will be eternally grateful for) except about 3 weeks!! My mom is getting ready to head back to Arizona, by way of Ruidoso, and much to his excitement is taking Jace back with her to see Pops. In a few weeks, Stuart and I will load up the babies and drive out to get him. Our plane days are sadly over, I’m afraid. All this to say, if you see me in August wrestling three kids by myself, my hair a new shade of grey, just give me a hug and word of encouragement; real life will have begun. Luckily I have stopped feeling like I need to be super mom and have more frequently accepted help when offered. I have been so grateful for nice strangers out in public who have wanted to help me load up my car, held a crying baby so I could get organized, or caught Jace during an escape act. I guess pushing a shopping cart with a 2 year old while dragging a stroller with 2 babies draws a little attention. I must allow for “visiting” time when we go out in public, everyone seems to be a twin or knows some funny twin story. Ok now the good stuff… Here are a few pics:

Cole

Jace and Lane

Lane

Cole and Lane

Twins 4 month summary/ Jace 2 years 8 months

This month started with another medical adventure. Stuart had his umbilical hernia repaired and 2 days later my mom came and picked up grams to take her out to Ruidoso. Stuart felt pretty good, but wasn’t allowed to lift greater than 20 pounds. He loved going out in public carrying the diaper bag while I lugged around 2 heavy babies in carseats. It was nice having him at home more since school was out and he wasn’t allowed to work. We even got to take a trip to Ruidoso to pick up my mom and visit with my dad and grams. They were all shocked at how big the babies had gotten. My dad asked if I could find a way to produce 2% milk- haha! My cousins Wes and Leah and their kids got to come out there too. Jace exclaimed “Hunter, it’s Jace” the minute he saw him. We had so much fun watching the kids play. Jace had been carrying around a scrapbook (the “heavy book”) with a picture of Wes and Leah and talking about Hunter for the past several weeks and luckily the visit met all of his built up expectations! Our first trip with our multiplied family went wonderfully. I have been trying to get to the gym but it is so hard with the ice cream shop next door. One day I even started out in that direction but went to get cookies instead! I have also started working some longer days and that has helped me to have the utmost respect for full time working moms. Those evenings are such a fast whirlwind of activity and before you know it the kids are all in bed and mom is exhausted.

The little boys: Well, they are both now sleeping in their own cribs in their own room!! After several nights of re-pacifying one baby and then the other because they were kicking each other awake, I loaded a crying Cole up in his own crib and pushed it through our house and right into the nursery. Honestly I think they both enjoy the space and have slept so much better. They have both started cereal and LOVE it. We went to our 4 month checkup last week and Cole is 17 pounds 11 oz. Lane is 16 pounds 4 oz. They are big babies!!! Both can easily wear size 6-9 month clothes and I am still squeezing them into size 2 diapers just to finish off using what we have. They are only eating every 4-5 hours during the day and sleep from 8:30 to 7. I really feel like I am not feeding them often enough, I know I know, they are definitely not starving but I feel like other babies this age are eating much more frequently!! Everyone thinks Lane is the bigger baby when they are sitting in the carseats. Cole is built like a brick, he is thick and solid. Lane is a little shorter and fluffier and scrunches down like a little Buddha so he looks rounder. Well, his head shape is rounder too where Cole’s is more rectangular, but when you pick them up there is no question who is the heavier baby. They both still have bright blue eyes but completely different complexions. Cole is fairer with light brown, almost blond hair. Lane has darker features with olive skin and long brown eyelashes. They have been so interactive lately. They love to smile at each other and Lane is always grabbing onto his brother. Cole has even started to laugh out loud and moves constantly. Lane is still pretty laid back, happier to just hang out and watch the world. Both have gotten very good at manipulating toys and trying to help hold bottles. They still like to swing but have also enjoyed standing up in their exersaucers. I feel like we live in the middle of Babies r Us. Both have grown more hair after losing the newborn hair but needed to have had their mullets shaved off.

Jace: It is amazing how much more he is talking, and more and more clearly every day. He loves his movies and has almost burned up every DVD player in our house. I swear that kid is obsessed with buttons and electronics, he just can’t resist them. We try to put the movies up but somehow he finds a way to get them on. The other day he opened my computer, turned it on, loaded a DVD and started it!! I didn’t even know he knew you could watch a DVD on the computer. He will tell you “Ariel and Belle are my favorites.” Yes, my son likes the ladies already! I had been dreading taking away his paci (he just used it at nights and naps) but after prolonging it for a while we did it. Mommy broke it by “accidentally” cutting the tip off. He gave it one suck, said it was broken and hasn’t asked for it since!! Now if only breaking the other bad sleep habits were as easy! He is still getting out of bed about 10 times per night before finally giving up and falling asleep. The newest reasons for needing to get out of bed include, but are definitely not limited to: needing a sleepy toy- as poor horsey has been passed over, needing a Kleenex to get his boogers, needing to kiss the babies, and my all time favorite “I need nine spankings”. Yes, he comes out requesting a spanking just to get out of bed, so obviously that technique didn’t work so well. Currently we are trying the Super Nanny technique with varied success. He has really grasped the concept of friends and had a great finish to his year of PDO. They danced to the song “Dizzy” at the end of year performance and Jace loves to watch his friends on video. He still talks about Momma’s room when he sees the Covenant emblem but has pretty much recovered from his life upheaval. He absolutely loved having Grandma here and has really enjoyed learning. We often find him counting to 20 by himself or singing his ABCs.

Lane

The family

Silly boys

Best buds

Four generations

Cole's first cereal

Lane's first cereal

Cole- Lil heartbreaker

Lane- So serious

Aunt Rachie

Cole

Playing cars

Lane

Cole

Handsome big brother

Hunter and Jace

Twins 3 month summary (Jace 2 years 7 months)

Ok, I am writing this summary almost 2 months late so I have to think really hard to remember back that far. Life is flying by! I feel like with Jace we were so excited to take new steps such as starting cereal, bring out new toys, etc. With these boys I am a bit sad by new advances because it shows how fast time is going by. Well, I will admit, I dreaded starting solid food a little because of the mess and time it takes to feed them but mostly, it is just another milestone that is zooming by. I was also a little sad as I packed up their outgrown clothes, because I know it was the last time we will have used those items. I am trying hard to just enjoy every minute and continue to be so grateful to God for these amazing gifts. Often at work, I am caught off guard by how small and fragile they could have been. The babies hitting 3 months meant that I had been out of the hospital the same length of time I was on antepartum. Looking back, I know God had really prepared me for my “life vacation”. I had gotten in good shape in terms of baby needs and getting Jace moved into his big boy room the week before I was admitted. I did start back to work at the end of April, just part time. My grams was able to come out to keep the boys while Stuart finished up his spring semester and worked nights. Of course I missed being at home all day with my boys, but it was good to get back into normal life again. I am definitely a better NICU therapist now with a different perspective on things after being the patient for so long.

Jace’s personality really developed over this month as he was able to express himself better. He started playing with his toys again, after abandoning them for the new and interesting baby toys last month. He carried Elmo around with him, calling him his “son”. Elmo had to have a plate at the table, a bottle and a diaper change regularly. Elmo even got spankings when he was bad. Jace, with his 2 year old attitude, got many threats of spankings and was even introduced to the “spanking spoon”, although he really could have cared less about spankings so that didn’t work so well. He also got brave enough to get out of bed in the middle of the night and began sneaking up into our bed without us knowing. Stuart often wakes up with a foot in his back or face. We tried potty training but the best result of that was when Jace pooped about 6 inches from the potty. He just is really not interested so we are sticking with diapers. This month he did get very picky about diapers and would continue to go through a whole pack to pull out the Elmo diapers. He has used his improving verbal skills to tell us what he wants. Some of my favorites are: “Stuart, fix it”, “Be nice to Jace”, and when he laid down on the gym entry mat and said “change Jace now”. He still isn’t the clearest with his speech and calls a banana a “bach mana” and nine is more like “nowine”. He still talks about himself in the third person and loves to spell words on shirts or signs. He has an amazing sense of direction, definitely a skill he did not get from me. He points out landmarks like school, the gym, and our friend’s street. I am afraid he has borderline unintentional kleptomaniac tendencies when we are shopping. He is very good about hanging onto the stroller, but when I turn my back he starts stuffing things into the basket. My biggest fear is accidentally not paying for something. He is still very good with his babies and loves to help give them a bath or play with them. His lovie, Horsey, was looking pretty ragged so I bought him a new one, which he looked at and said “no like new horsey”. So we still drag around the old, dirty one. And I think I have the only kid in the world who brings you the nose sucker when he congested. We sure love that kid!!

In terms of the twins, first off, God bless Pampers Drymax diapers. They are amazing and have truly cut back on leaks and diaper changes!! The little boys have also been full of personality. They have both stared batting at toys and smiling (Cole with a big dimple on his right side). I think Cole may be teething because of his constant gnawing on things. He is always on the move, whereas Lane sits so still and sleeps a lot more. At this point they were both sleeping opposite lengthways on their tummies in a crib in our room, though they pretty much filled it up. But… at least they spend most nights in the crib versus our bed. We can’t really use the lack of sleep excuse anymore, as both babies are sleeping from 10pm to 6am. Cole loves to push up on his hands and we catch him raising up to watch TV- bad habits form so early!! We call Cole “the squeaky wheel” because he definitely tells you when he wants attention and thus seems to get it more often. However, he may also be left to fuss more than Lane because poor Lane rarely cries and when he does it is a softer, sadder cry versus Cole’s screaming. I usually call Lane “little Lane”, though he is by no means little. He is over 14 pounds and Cole is over 15 pounds. We also interchangeably call them “this one” or “that one”. Lane has been fascinated by his fist and will grab a hold of his monkey paci and play with it. Both boys did get to go to their first movie and did wonderfully, minus the slurping sounds they made when drinking a bottle. However, I think other guests would take that over crying!

Jace- big helper

The little boys- Cole and Lane

Cole- First Smiles

Lane and Cole

Lane

Cole- Major Chunk I mean Major Hunk!

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Birthday weekend

Well, Stuart and I are both officially one year older. We had a great birthday weekend, busy but a lot of fun. Aunt Summer came to visit the boys and brought them some beach shoes- maybe someday we will make it to the beach before the boys are 20. Saturday, my birthday, started off with a relaxing morning at home followed by cousin Coutney's wedding. She was a beautiful bride and the ceremony was so nice. It was great to see all of Stuart's family. Gigi and several aunts, uncles and cousins got to meet the boys also. Jace sure does love his Gigi and enjoyed sitting with her most of the reception. Sunday, Stuart's birthday, was spent in Amarillo to watch Caden's baseball game and have lunch with the whole family. Even though they lost the game, it was great to see Caden play. Jace got his first "skunt" knee, as Stuart calls it, and didn't shed a tear. Now he may have fussed over other silly things but I was proud he toughed it up after his fall! The little boys enjoyed the nice weather and so did this momma. It was wonderful to be outside after being indoors for so long. Lane was content to sit and look around and Cole was his active self but happy. I am proud to say that we made it to both events on time and didn't forget any children. We may have left the wedding gift, and run off without a paci, but we covered the main areas and the outings went off without a hitch. Planning and creativity have been the key to survival.
Tonight I gave all the boys a bath in the tub (the little ones one at a time of course). Jace loves to help wash their hair and scrub them down with a washcloth. I swear they are the cleanest little things after Jace gets ahold of them. After everyone went to bed I sat outside and rocked. I do believe that is the first quiet alone time I have had since being home! What a wonderful birthday, surrounded by people we love and with all our miracle boys to hold. Thank you to everyone for the wonderful birthday wishes!

I have to tell this funny, I hope you you don't mind Missy! My sister was explaining to her very intelligent, intuitive little guy that whales have blow holes and after thinking about it he replied "my penis has a blow hole too"! Gotta love a 2 year olds logic.

The wonderful Riggins clan!

Lane

Cole

First Family Pic!

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Picture Pages, Picture Pages

Ok, here is the good stuff!!! Tons of pictures from the second month.

Our photo shoot at 4.5 weeks on March 21st. It's hard to get 3 kids to all take a good picture at the same time!! The little boys cried the whole time and Jace wouldn't sit still.