The worst of times and the best of times...

On Tuesday night, we had the worst night we have had since the babies were born. Taylor screamed bloody murder for LITERALLY the entire night. She screamed more when we tried to lay her down in her crib. Penny and I were going out of our minds, taking turns with her and switching every hour or so, while the other one tried to sleep. Taylor's screaming did not change whether we held her, rocked her, swaddled her, let her lay next to us, let her lay on us. She slept a few times during the night for about ten minutes. We tried feeding her. We tried changing her diaper. We took her pajamas off. We tried Tylenol. NOTHING worked. She has never been inconsolable like that for so long, so we knew something was wrong. Penny took her to the doctor yesterday. Diagnosis? DOUBLE EAR INFECTION! The doctor said the reason for the screaming was that her ear drums were swelling. OMG! Our poor baby! Now she is on antibiotics and is doing great. They seemed to start making a difference right away. Ah, the miracles of modern medicine!

Today being Thursday, I was home with the kids as I am every Thursday. The day started off well with the kids sleeping much better last night than the previous night from hell. And then the hits kept on coming by the kids taking a GLORIOUS THREE HOUR NAP! They both slept from 10:20 am to almost 1:30 pm! I got a ton of stuff done and had a really relazing time. Thank you, thank you, thank you! When the kids woke up, I fed them and they ate like they had been sleeping for 100 years. They both immensely enjoyed some plain bread. This was the first time they had plain bread. They also ate pears, chicken, goldfish, cheerios, and formula. Big lunch for 11 month olds, right?

It was a gorgeous day, so I loaded the kids into the mom mobile (yes, we drive a minivan now!) and took them into town. We took a lovely walk (oh how I love our double stroller! It makes taking the kids out alone SO EASY!), then went to the library where the kids played and crawled around. Mama Penny met us there, which was a nice afternoon surprise. Then we went to Ben and Jerry's for a little ice cream treat. We even let the kids have tiny tastes of the yummy creamy treat on such a hot day. Then Mama Penny had to head back to work for a bit, so the kids and I headed home.

This was the nicest Thursday I have spent with the kids thus far and I was so psyched to get out of the house and partake of a few activities. I look forward to more outings with them in the nice weather.

In other news of things that I am psyched about....I am headed out of town for the weekend tomorrow to have a girls weekend with my Smithies. I am so excited to see them and it promises to be a lovely weekend. Many thanks to Penny and Auntie Cindy for doing the kid thing together this weekend, so that I can get a little R&R.

Happy 11 Months, Jordan and Taylor!

Our babies are 11 months old today! Wow! In a month, it will be their 1st birthday. My babies have left the building and in their place are these amazing and crazy almost toddlers! Day care is talking about transitioning them from the infant room to the toddler room. Wah! The kids are on the verge of walking, teeth are popping up all over the place, and we are making the move from bottles to sippy cups. My god! Where has the time gone?

Thank you for changing our lives for the better, our lovely babies. We are so lucky that you found your way to us, after such a long journey. We are getting excited for your birthday party next month. Auntie Cindy is going to make you some fancy cakes!

A year ago today, I was 33 weeks pregnant and could not wait to meet you guys. We thought we knew what was in store for us. Of course, there was so much we were not ready for. But, we are all alive and thriving and, while exhausted, we are loving having you guys around and we are so glad you picked us to be your parents!

Love,
your moms

(Over the weekend, I will try to post pics of Jordan drinking from a big boy sippy cup and Taylor in her fancy Smith College t-shirt. I also want to write a post about the day care transition plan, and post pics/talk about our great family visit with my brother and his family and my mom last weekend.)