2 through 4 months!

Wow, so much has happened, I have to go back through my Facebook timeline to refresh my memory.

Soon after the boys turned 2 months old was my birthday.  HH and I are watching what we spend more than before due to being on one salary so I told him I didn't want any presents, just a great day and a trip to Florida.  One of HH's best friends Chris was in town and his cousin Warren is stationed here as well so they came with.  HH's mother was kind enough to help us get a good rate at the Four Points in Destin, FL where we got two adjoining rooms.  HH hooked me up with a massage and we spent the rest of day on the beach soaking up the sun and playing ladderball.  The boys were super cooperative for a wonderful dinner out for some yummy seafood, drinks and dessert.

The boys first trip to the ocean.  Me and a flaming cocktail.  Nursing at the beach.

The babies blinded by the sunlight.  The older boys and some ladderball.

The rest of January was spent just plain old hanging with the boys.  Lots of tummy time and walks and getting a hang on this whole being a mom thing.  The book Babywise was a god sent, I listened to it over Audible while we were in Colorado and implemented the tips when we got back and had great results.  The boys were on a 3 hour routine: feed, playtime for an hour, naptime for 2 hours and for the majority of the time they followed it!  I even got them sleeping 6-8 hour stretches at night more than half the time.

Left: Spencer (left) and Sam chilling post walk.  Right: Beautiful sunset on post.

Eating and tummy time can be hard work ;-)

The boys turned 3 months early February and we were supposed to head to NJ on 2/8 but on 2/7 our flight was cancelled and we went into a mad rush to get ourselves packed and on the road to the Atlanta airport 3.5 hours away.  HH got us switched onto a flight for that day which I insisted we couldn't make and once I reminded him of the time difference between AL and GA he agreed with me and could only get us listed as standby on a flight into LaGuardia in NY.  We were the last two people on the plane and everyone was so generous (HH was still in his uniform), people offered their seats so we could be near each other and when we couldn't find overhead space for our diaper bag the guy across the way offered to keep it at his feet!  My fabulous Dad picked us up and the boys temporarily hit their fifth state, NY.

 

The boys on their 3 month birthday.  And the airport "There's nothing you can't do, Now you're in New York".

The blizzard on Friday was pretty uneventful and on Saturday we took a trip to NYC with our friends for some sightseeing.  HH headed back to Alabama on Monday to prepare and attend his 3 week SERE training.  I kept myself plenty distracted in NJ.  Had lots of visits from wonderful friends and family (Janet, John, Carly, Megan, Aunt Pam, GG and Pop-pop, Bob, JoAnne, Brian & Bebe G., Jim & Sue M., Jeanine H., Antonia, Patty, Jane, Liz, Rocco, Melissa, Jeff, Dusty, Danielle and of course Beebah, Grandad, Julia, Eric, Steph and Kyle).  My parents helped me get some me time including a fabulous haircut.  Melissa came over for craft time.  Got to go bridesmaid dress shopping with Liz and wedding dress shopping with Steph.  Attended the engagement party for Steph and Kyle.  Lots of walks around Red Bank.  Got to meet Melissa and Jeff's beautiful baby girl.  Capped off the trip with an amazing weekend in Pennsylvania (7th state, 6th being NJ) at Woodloch to celebrate my sister's 21st birthday!

 

The freedom tower being constructed, you can see the hole to the left of it.  And a preggers Melis, Liz and me.

Janet and John visit and the boys getting ready for a walk in chilly NJ.

One of the crafts we did and my sister buying her first drink as a 21 year old, she's so cute!

As for the boys they hit quite a few milestones while Dad was away.  They truly mastered rolling from their stomach to back and then back to stomach.  They started getting their thumb in their mouth although it never quite took.  They began grasping things and being more chatty.  We got them laughing a few times a week, such an addicting sound (I have hours of video trying to capture them chatting or laughing, which today, 3 months later, is such a normal occurrence).  They love standing and spent lots of time propped up in activity centers.  They used to sleep swaddled in their Rock and Plays but given how strong they were getting and how good at rolling over they were I decided I needed to transition them into cribs unswaddled.  I started with just naps which immediately went from 2 hours to 20 minutes.  After a few days we went to nights also which was so rough.  They woke almost every hour for the remainder of the time I was in NJ.  Luckily they went back down after I rebinkied them.  When we got back to AL I started letting them cry it out and slowly they got back to sleeping well.

One of the talents Spencer picked up is a spin move accomplished by rocking his legs.

This is pretty much how I spent my whole trip to NJ, the boys really found their voice, and their laugh, and I couldn't get enough of it (neither could my mother ;-)

2 Months and First Trip

Statistics as of 1/7/13 2 Month Check-Up:

Sam

Weight: 11 lbs 5.5 oz, 25-50th percentile for age

Length: 23 in., 50-75th percentile for age

Head Circumference: 37.5 cm, 10-25th percentile for age

Spencer

Weight: 11 lbs 11.5 oz, 50-75th percentile for age

Length: 23 3/4 in., 75-90th percentile for age

Head Circumference: 38.5 cm, 25-50th percentile for age

Wow, between 1 and 2 months babies truly go from newborns to babies.  They start smiling at you and reacting to the things you do.  They become way more active, kicking and punching.  They seem to notice when you are around, so the downside is they know when you are leaving their side for naptime and watch you leave the room with their deploring eyes that makes you want to stay and cuddle all day.  They boys started developing head control during this month and looked like jerky bobble heads.  And they start cooing, they didn't start doing this until near the end of December but it is the cutest thing about the 2nd month.  Once again, my mom took a ton of amazing pictures, here are just a few:

12/9/12, Spencer on left, Sam on right a picture from early in the 2nd month.

Compare that to these from 1/3/13, late into the 2nd month.

Boys first trip to see Santa, super cute outfits courtesy of my sister, 12/13/12.

Lucas stealing the spot Spencer just vacated 12/15/12.  Boys in their jammies 12/18/12, Spencer on left Sam on right.

Boys 2nd bath time in the tub, Sam on the left and Spencer on the right.  Sam passed out post bath, both on 12/18/12.

Their First Trip

The boys took their first trip during their 2nd month.  After much pleading with my HH he agreed to spend the night in Atlanta the night before our flight (instead of doing a four hour drive at 3 AM the morning of).  So on 12/19 we loaded the boys in the car, realized it was feeding time, unloaded the boys, fed, and finally set off on what should have been a 3.5 hour drive to Atlanta.  We would soon start to realize EVERYTHING takes longer with babies, including driving, after a few stops including the boys first meal at a truck stop we made it to the Westin at the Atlanta Airport  in 5 hours.  We deposited our overnight bags in the room and headed to the bar with the boys strapped to our chest to unwind.  The boys hit their 2nd state, Georgia.

The boys slept reasonably well (up every 3-4 hours) and the next morning we headed to the airport.  Grabbed a spot right in front of curbside check-in and proceeded to wait in line to check our 11 bags for 3 people and 2 infants (in my mom's defense she only checked one of those and 2 of them were car seat bases).  Then my mom and I proceeded through security with the infants while HH parked the car.  We made it to the gate as they started boarding but HH was still nowhere in sight.  Finally as they were doing last call we see him running towards us and we settled into our first class seats.

We had heard that the biggest cause for crying with infants on planes is they can't pop their ears but if they nurse during take-off then the sucking guarantees they pop so I was going to try and nurse both during take off.  Once we were on the plane we were notified that you could have only 1 infant in arms per set of seats due to there be only one extra gas mask (I should have known this), luckily my mom was with us so we had 2 together and another seat across the aisle where we put HH with one of the babies and a bottle of formula that we lucked out to have on hand so both ate well during takeoff and didn't cry at all the whole flight.

HH gave the formula to Sam who I changed once we got in the air.  We flew on a 767-300 that had no lavs with a changing table (In my 2+ years as a lavatory DE I never delivered a plane without a changing table, craziness).  So I set up shop on top of the toilet seat lid, opting to not offend the passengers of first class by doing it at my seat or the floor.  As I was wrapping up a very precarious changing in the first class lav Sam turned his head towards the sink and proceeded to projectile vomit all over the sink cabinet, floor and my shoes.  After handing off the baby I sopped up all the puke and apologized to the line of people for the delay.  Other than that the flight was totally uneventful.  HH was quite the multitasker, cuddling with Spencer, eating his meal and cracking up to Ted the movie (highly recommend BTW).  And we all landed in the boys 3rd state, Colorado.

Left: HH holding Spencer, Middle: Sleeping Sam, Right: Smiling Spencer rocking his Boeing hat blinged out with some Delta wings.

HH took the boys and went to get the bags while my mom and I headed to get the rental car.  We were hooked up with a Ford Flex, good amount of room for our 11 bags but the seat between the two car seats was a little tight.  It handled well but definitely lacked some power, could have been a result of being loaded so heavy though.  HH accidentally went to the rental car pick-up spot instead of arrivals so there was some drama getting him, the boys and the 11 bags to an accessible place but we made it happen and hit the road for Carbondale, CO.

Before leaving Denver we stopped to refuel ourselves and the boys, did some good jerry rigging of jackets in windows so I could breast feed in a fast food parking lot, good times.  The road was pretty slick, had to go slower than the speed limit most of the way, and we got stopped at one of the tunnels for about 30 mins due to an accident but it allowed my mom to get some nice shots of the area.

 

 

We had to stop 45 mins from our destination to feed the babies again but we finally made to my in-laws amazing place.  They have a gorgeous house with a beautiful view of Mount Sopris and let their sons talk them into renting a hot tub for the 2 weeks we were there.  My mother in law works for a very nice hotel chain so needless to say all the rooms were very well appointed and beautiful.

 

Left: View from the backyard, Right: HH with his dad and bro soaking.

My whole family (minus Uncle Danger, my sister's boyfriend) arrived the next day and I don't think I touched the babies except to feed them for the rest of the time we were there.  We had a fun filled time.  Lots of eating, drinking, watching college football and exploring the area.  We took a horse drawn sled to a wonderful restaurant called Pine Creek Cookhouse, highly recommend this if you're in the Aspen area.

 

 

The boys hanging out with my family, 12/21 and 12/22.

Our trip to the Pine Creek Cookhouse, 12/22

We had a smorgasbord of appetizers on Christmas Eve and had a relaxing Christmas Day capped off with a lovely dinner.  One day the boys went skiing/snowboarding and the ladies went shopping for cowboy boots (along with the baby boys).  Another day we spent walking around Aspen.  We went out for pizza at the amazing White House Pizza and enjoyed relaxing in the hot tub.

 

Dinner at White House Pizza on 12/23 and the smorgasbord of apps on 12/24.

 

Boys first Christmas, HH has Spencer.

 

Boys first Christmas.

 

HH bro passed out with a sleeping baby.  Me and Sam.

Exploring Aspen.

After a week my family left and my HH's grandma arrived who also greatly enjoyed holding the baby.  It was great having four generations of my HH's family together.

HH's grandma with one of the babes.

On 1/1 we departed for Denver, spent the night in the hotel where the babies didn't sleep at all it seems, and flew out on 1/2 for an uneventful flight on another 767-300, the boys were once again angels.  We managed to convince one of the passengers to take my window seat so we could sit across the aisle from each other.  The man next to me was extremely impressed with how awesome our babies were.  The flight attendant was nice enough to heat up the baby bottle for us and bring it out with the pre-flight drink service.  We made it home safe and sound no problem.  And a few days later, on 1/6/13, the boys turned two months.

Left: Me and Spencer pre-flight, Middle: Bottle Service ;-), Right: Waiting for the stroller to be unloaded onto the jetway before we deplane.

Left: HH likes to rock the boys in VT gear 1/4/13 (Sam on left).  Right: the boys on the day they turned 2 months, 1/6/13 (Spencer on left).