Update

With the girls now in daycare and me working fulltime, it's hard to update our blog as often. This blog is a bit long, but it should get you all up to date on our family.

Grandma Karen
The week of March 24th was the last week the girls were at home, before starting daycare. Grandma Karen helped us out this week by taking care of the girls on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Sounds like all three had a GREAT time. On Wednesday, grandma’s aunt Pam came over to see the girls. They had the girls looking at each other, and I guess the smiles were non-stop between the little ones…I guess they do like one another!!! In the end grandma said they were easy girls to take care of, very content. I know the girls loved all the love they got from grandma as well…from what I hear there was a lot of cuddling, which was good for all! Thanks Grandma.

The First Dobbelaere Meeting
Kyle Vowel’s party, 3/29/08, was the girls’ first Dobbelaere family gathering they have been to since they were born. In order to keep the girls healthy, their doctors asked us to keep them away from sick people and kids. Up to this date they had not met any of their cousins. It was a great day and the girls did just fine. Kendall was a bit fussy, but that was to be expected…there were a lot of people there. Sydney was her typical self, checking out everyone and everything.

Great Grandpa and Great Grandma Dobbelaere




The girls got to meet their Great Grandparents on Chad’s side today, 3/30/08. I attached some pictures, which I just love. It’s always fun to see all the layers of these generations together.


And Daycare Starts
March 31st was the first day of daycare for the girls. I wasn’t really all that nerves or scarred. I’ve been working for 3 weeks by now and knew I could handle being away from them during the day. We have also formed a relationship with their caregiver and trusted her. With all of this, my mind was at ease. Chad and I decided to do the first day together, pick up and drop off, which also helped both of us out. The drop off went really good, no worries. And you would be very proud of me…I only called her once to check in. When we got there to pick them up, they looked good, happy and content. Amy, the daycare provider, said they were easy and content. No problems, which made me a very proud parent. They must have had a good time, as they were so exhausted that evening. Chad and I had a heck of a time keeping them awake. But the best part, they slept all night, we actually had to wake them up!

The girls will have a change next week as they move to Erin’s house, since Amy will no longer be doing daycare. I’m not too worried about this change. I’ve met Erin and see her since the girls have been in daycare. I believe they will be just has loved and cared for as they were at Amy’s.

Hey Are You My Sister???
I wish we would have gotten this on video camera, but of course the camera’s battery was dead. I had Sydney sitting in the boppy on the floor and I was holding Kendall. I had them facing each other, when all of a sudden Kendall started cooing at Sydney. First of all, Kendall just recently started cooing in the last week. Sydney has been cooing for some time now. Kendall kept cooing at Sydney, and then Sydney would coo back. They were actually having a conversation, going back and forth. Chad and I were in awe. It was the neatest thing ever!!! They really have not acknowledged one another too much, so this was amazing. It just makes me think of all the conversations the two will have as sisters. Who knows, maybe there were telling each other what was on their minds…like how totally cool their parents were!!!

The Week Comes To A Close...
It is Sunday, we are about to start a new week. The girls had a great week and seem to be adjusting to daycare well. Last night was a new goal for them as they slept 9 1/2 hours. We heard Kendall in there a couple times throughout the night...making a noise, but not a full cry. Each time she fell back to sleep. They went down just before 10pm and woke at 730am. What a nice treat for mom and dad to get some rest!

This week the girls have their last RSV shot and their 4 month checkup. Can you believe it, they are already 4 months old?!?!?!

Easter - March 2008

We spent Easter with my family this year, down in Faribault at my grandparents house. This was the girls' first major outting since they have been home, and they had a wonderful time. Grandma Shelley bought them their first Easter outfits, which were dresses...first time they have been in dresses. All in all it was a great day to spend with family.

I attached a picture of the girls in their Easter dresses. Kendall was a bit fussy, so we couldn't get one of her smiling, but we got her little Miss Sassy attitude. Sydney is just staring and most likely thinking "take the picture already, would ya." I also attached a 4 generation picture of my grandma, mom, me and the girls.

Time with Grandma Shelley

The week of March 17-21, 2008, the girls spent some time with Grandma Shelley. The girls were watched by Grandma and Sweetpea for the week. Well, I don’t think Sweetpea helped out too much. Matter of fact, I’m sure she was very ready to go home on Friday night…she ran for the door. The girls had a wonderful time with Grandma and even learned to play with some toys. We got home one day and found both girls holding on to little rattles. Kendall was even bringing it up to her face, to lick of course. Grandma Shelley got up each night as well to help us with the feedings…so Chad and I took turns. I don’t know what we will do when we have to get up each night without help. But the girls are slowly making it through the entire night…so hopefully we won’t have the mid-night feedings much longer.

Daycare Change

Last night I received a call from our daycare provider (Amy) asking if we could come by that same evening…she had some changes that she needed to go over with us. At first I thought this is weird, Chad and I had already planned to go over to her house on Thursday night so she could see the girls and go over stuff. So we bundled up the girls and headed over. At first I didn’t think anything of it, as she was holding Kendall and you could see she was enjoying every minute of it. Then she says, well I have bad but good news. I just sat there thinking, oh no. She then proceeds on with, given my husband and my financial situation…we have decided that I need to stop daycare and get a full time job. Then in the next breath, she says, but Erin (the girl who did daycare with her) is going to open her own daycare and wants to take on the twins. At first I didn’t know what to say, I felt so bad for her as she was crying and really having a hard time telling us. We’ve met Erin when we interviewed the 2 of them, but we’ve really formed the relationship with Amy. Chad and I have grown to really like Amy, her morals, the way she raised her daughters and even her religious beliefs. We only hope that we have the same type of relationship with Erin.

The girls will start off at Amy’s house and Amy will be there for the first week of daycare. Erin will be using Amy’s house until her house has been approved to do daycare (Erin only lives 2 blocks from Amy). So the girls will get to spend some time with Amy. Erin is keeping her daycare small: her son (just over 1), Amy’s 3 daughters (1 is in school full time, 1 in school part time and the other will be at the daycare full time), 1 little boy from their daycare (close to 2) and the girls. The nice thing about Erin is she does have an Early Childhood Education degree, so I’m hoping she will be able to set a preschool curriculum for the girls. Amy also informed us that Erin’s husband works part time from the home and loves the kids as well. Matter of fact, if they could afford it, they’d open a husband and wife daycare.

I’m sure we will enjoy Erin, it’s just we’ve gotten to know Amy and have really come to like her. We knew the girls would be in safe hands and with someone who would treat them very special. I believe we will have the same feelings with Erin as she worked with Amy and Amy highly recommends her, it will just take time.

Sweet Dreams

Not to jinx ourselves, but I had to share...the girls slept all night long, without waking up last night. They were fed at 830pm and went down at 9pm. I heard Kendall yell out at 3am then again at 330am, but both times she went right back to sleep. At 430am I woke up and had to make sure they were breathing...they were. Chad and I got up at 515am and about 2 minutes later the girls woke up as well. That's a full nights sleep...almost 9 hours. Man oh man, they are getting there!!! I'm sure it won't stay this way consistently, but it sure is a sign that it should happen soon!!!

Grandpa Mike and Grandma Elaine

The girls got to spend all of last week with Grandpa Mike and Grandma Elaine. I’m not sure who enjoyed it more…the girls or the grandparents. From what we’ve been told, they talked, played, danced and exercised. Since grandpa and grandma live in Seattle they don’t get to do too much of this, so I’m sure every minute was spent well. I’m pretty sure they all had a great time!!!

Chad and I on the other hand had a great week too. Grandpa and Grandma offered to get up in the middle of the night to feed the girls, so Chad and I could get some rest. Let me tell you, this was a gift on its own. I haven’t slept a full night since I was in my first trimester with the girls (had to use the bathroom quite often). Then when we got home from work, dinner was ready. It was GREAT!!!

On another note, Sydney’s RSV results came back negative. We did however bring her in again on Saturday as she still seemed to be very stuffed up. The doctor informed us that Sydney is fine, but told us to keep an eye on her. Some newborns have stuffed up noses for a few months and if they catch a mild cold, it sounds even worse. So poor Sydney gets saline drops about a million times a day. She sure is a trooper though…keeps smiling and talking through it all!!!

Kendall on the other hand, is still sassy and chubby. When she wants to eat, she wants to eat now. Then she typically falls asleep. But when she is awake, she is all smiles and HUGE smiles too!

Bigger and Bigger

As a mom you see your children grow each day, but there are times you really don't know how much they have grown. The girls had their RSV shot on Tuesday, 3/11/08. A nurse comes in to the house to give them the shot. While there she does a mini physical on them as well...checking their temperature, breathing and weight. Prior to the appointment I told Chad, I bet they are up to 9 pounds. Well...they ended up OVER 9 pounds. I could not believe it when the nurse called. Kendall weighed in at 10'6 and Sydney weighed in at 9'10!!!

Grandpa Mike and Grandma Elaine are helping us out this week, so they were at the house when the girls got the shots. You can really tell the personalities on the girls. As my dad said, Sydney took the shot like a champ and Kendall went down like a wimp. This is right on for the girls. Sydney is much more laid back and just goes with the flow. Kendall on the other hand is much more of a drama queen. She takes all the sympathy that she can. It's so much fun to see each of their personalities and how they have developed already.

Poor Sydney has always had a stuffed up nose. They say it's normal for newborns and especially preemies. We use a lot of saline drops on her each day to help clear it for her. Just recently she sounded a bit more stuffed up, more than usual. So we decided to bring her in, just to make sure she wasn't coming down with anything. While at the clinic, the doc. said she sounded fine, no temp. and maybe had a mild cold. To be safe they decided to do a RSV check on her. Now, if you have never had a RSV check done, it's horrible. They stick a swab up each nostril and take a sample. The poor girl had her RSV shot that morning and now she is getting her nose poked at. I have never seem my little girl cry so hard...she's my tuff child. That has got to be the worse test ever!!! We haven't received the results yet, but I'm not too concerned. The doctor didn't seem to think that she had it, it was more of a precaution to do the test.

11 Weeks Old

Kendall and Sydney...my little characters

Kendall

Sydney

Final Day

That's right, today is the last day of my maternity leave. It's a bitter/sweet kind of day. I am ready to return to work, but I will miss not seeing the girls as much. I will be perfectly honest...I am not a stay at home type of mom. I love my girls to death, but need that separation as well. I give credit to all those stay at home moms and daycare providers. They are very special people and have a special gift!

My leave has been interesting from the start. First, I deliver the girls at 33 weeks...so our first 3-4 weeks were spent in the hospital. Going back and forth each day worn on me quickly. I was very ready to bring both girls home and begin our life together. Then we were finally able to go home, but we were instructed to not go into public and to keep kids away. This started to get old as well, as we never left the house. I started to become sick of my house, but at least I had the girls there to brighten my days.

The girls have grown so much since the start and not just in size. They are both smiling more each day and starting to talk to us. It is amazing to see where they have gone, considering where they started. To think of how small they were, they fit in the palm of my hand and now my arms get tired when holding them. They have truly been miracles from the start.

My return to work should be a smooth transition. My first 3 days back will only be half days. After this, we have grandparents watching them for the rest of the month. We wanted to keep the girls out of daycare for as long as possible and our parents have graciously offered to help us out. We are truly blessed to have such wonderful parents!!! By having them there, we will not have to worry about bringing or picking the girls up from daycare until March 31st.

The girls have been doing pretty good at night as well. They were going 6 hours between feedings, getting up for a feeding, then going back to sleep for 4 hours. This week they have taken a slight step back. We feed them at 830pm, wake at 130am(ish) to eat, go back to sleep and wake at 530am(ish) to eat. This is really not all that bad, as Chad and I will be getting up at 5am anyhow. But, to be perfectly honest...I cannot wait for them to sleep through the night without waking up until morning. The mid-night feedings do wear on you, but I know it will not last forever.

All in all my leave has been great. I will miss not seeing every milestone the girls make, as they will have some of them at daycare. But I believe that I will cherish each moment I have with the girls even that much more, as my time will be less.

I will keep updating the blog as we have great things to share...they may not be as often, but they will happen.

Spit Happens

I was trying to get some pics of the girls and in the process caught Sydney in the act of "spitting up." I couldn't believe I caught it on film. I had to share with all of you. She will one day be very embarrassed of this pic!!!