For MoMs by MoMs-Questions Answered

Today is another link up with my MoM (moms of multiples) friends (Heather, Amanda, Jennifer & Megan). This week is is answering some questions that fellow MoMs posted. I have picked a few to chime in on from our experience.

How to get babes this young not to bite?
This is a big issue we are dealing in our house right now too. I just did a post about this last week seeking advice. We are popping their mouth and telling them NO when we catch them, but sometimes they are just too sneaky. I have had many tell me they had to resort to biting their child so they would learn it was wrong. We are not to that point yet, but I won't say anything is off the table if this continues. Also a girl in my MoM group recommended a book Teeth are not for biting. Good luck and let me know if you have any good ideas about this.

Did you have any ideas on the personalities of your twins, and if so were you correct? Mine seem so different already.
I think they definitely seemed different on the inside and they have continued with that trend out here as well. Jackson is my easy going and Riggs was crazy from the get go. However about a year I felt like they had a shift and Riggs mellowed a lot. It is so fun to see their difference and love them for the individual they are!

Did you sleep train? If so, when did you start?
We did not do a specific sleep training system as they came home pretty trained from the NICU. However when things did get crazy and J was not sleeping well or through the night once he was able we finally did 2 nights of CIO around 6 or 8 months. I know that is a personal decision for everyone but it was worth it to us. It only lasted a night or two and we all have gotten a lot more sleep because of this decision. Babies are creatures of habit and I felt like by getting him up when he cried we were enabling him to continue this bad habit. Worked for us but I know it is not for everyone.

I've been crazy researching strollers. Which ones do you guys have and what are so me of the pros and cons?
 I love love my City Mini! We researched this subject a ton as well and knew it was something we wanted to invest in. We found many recommended the side by side for twins since they would both want the same view long term-I agree with this and I am so glad we went this route. We did have a double snap 'n go for the first few months and I would recommend starting their to any mom of twins, I could not imagine having to get them out of their carriers when they were little. The City Mini is super easy to use, very streamlined for a side by side and it folds like nothing you have ever seen and is so thin when folded. We acutally were thinking about selling our CM for a BOB so we had something more all terrain but after test driving the BOB yesterday, I know I could not use that as my dad to day after having the CM. I felt like the price was good for the quality, not cheap but not crazy expensive like some. Go to BuyBuyBaby and try some out you will know what you like best by seeing how they all work!


How do you balance treating your twins fairly with treating them as individuals with individual needs?
I think at this age it is not a huge issue but is definitely something I already think about as they get older. It is important to remember they are individuals and to treat them as such. They are special because they are twins but they are special because of the individual they are as well and it will be important for us to make them feel as such. I don't see this being a huge issue for us since I have boy/girl twins but could see it being a bigger challenge with same gender twins especially if they are identical!
 

Praise Baby Live

I am not sure I have ever talked about it on here but my kids LOVE Praise Baby. For those of you who are not familiar with it, it is like Baby Einstein but to praise and worship instead of classical. I am not sure what it is but they can be totally freaking out and we will turn this on and they are memorized, we affectionately refer to these videos as Jesus Crack. I am not ashamed to say we have even resorted to it in the middle of the night when a certain little guy would not sleep. I love that they love this. It makes them happy and they are learning great praise songs. I feel like music is such a great way to introduce them to God at their young age.

Last night we had ENGAGE at our church-it is a monthly event we have for a time of Praise and Worship-it was great! Since Jackson and Riggs are so mobile and it was informal we mostly let them wonder around or play on the floor. There were a few times I looked over at Jackson and he was dancing which made this mommy's heart melt. I think he thought he was watching Praise Baby Live!

I was able to catch a video of him, it is a little dark but one that I think will be so special for years to come. I hope he is always this excited about worshiping our Awesome God!

During one of his other dancing moments Jackson actually took a step that Aaron and I both got to see! Won't be long before we have two walkers.

8 Little Teeth

One thing I was so excited about with having twins was that they would have a built in playmate from day one. I love watching my babies chase each other around the room and laugh-it is such a special bond between them. As with any relationships there are giggles and tears. We have entered a new phase with the twins "play" and it is one that I was not ready for and really don't know how to handle. We have BITERS! It started a few weeks ago when we found 8 perfect teeth marks on Riggs' arm. They have nipped at us before but never left marks like this, we were hoping it was a one time thing but the next day Jackson had a matching mark from his sister. Since then we have not found any more marks on Riggs but Jackson has been his sister's victim more than once.

Yesterday I came home to what seemed to be the worst offense so far. Riggs bit Jackson twice on the face. It looked like he had old lady lipstick on his cheek.

We are trying everything we know to discipline, but it is so hard. I feel  like they are at an age where they really don't understand it is wrong. We try and catch them before it happens but they will be playing sweetly and then one is screaming with their arm hanging out of their sister's mouth. I feel like this is hitting earlier than with most because they are twins and they are always together, but maybe I am wrong.

So far they have not gone after anyone other than us and our Nanny Staci, but I am terrified they will bite a friend in nursery at church.

HELP! Have any of you gone through this? What did you do? How did you make them stop? I want to teach them it is wrong but not sure what to do since they are only 14 months.

Wordless Wednesday

Someone is smarter than the outlet covers!

Banana Hair!

All this for a cookout with some friends!

Wordless Wednesday-At the Park

For MoMs by MoMs-Feeding & Schedules

I am linking up once again with some of my favorite twins moms to talk about feeding and schedules with twins.

I feel being on a schedule was one of the biggest blessing that came with the twins being in the NICU. When Jackson and Riggs came home they were on a very strict feeding schedule and it was important to me to keep. As I mentioned in last weeks post I was called the Baby Nazi at one point by my mom, but until you have twins you don't understand how have a schedule is your sanity. The golden rule was when one eats they both eat if not you will never get a break and you will always be feeding.

We came home on a 3 hour feeding schedule of 3, 6, 9, 12 repeat. This worked well for us and gave us some predictability with the twins.

I had great desire and intentions of breast feeding the twins, but also knew we would do what worked best for us as a family. Since they were preemies we began with me pumping and them being bottle fed and in the long run this is what we stuck with. I know pumping like this to many this sounds horrible but for us it worked. I knew I was going to be going back to work so pumping was going to be a huge part no matter what. I found that I could put one on my lap the other in a boppy beside me while I was pumping with my hands free bra (lifesaver) and we could be done with the entire process in 20 minutes. When we did BF it would take about an hour by the time they fed, I pumped and then supplemented. While this is not how I had hoped it would go it is what worked best for our family and I was able to provide them some breast milk for 7 months.

For us the feeding was the most important thing for us to be on schedules with. We knew we wanted kids who slept well but also wanted flexibility to be able to be on the go with them as well. We felt this worked well for us-we even took pack 'n plays with us to friends houses so they could sleep and we could have fun.

Schedules are so important with twins, find one that works for your family and you will be able to breathe during those first crazy months!

Sunday Social

Today I am joining Ashley and Neeley's Sunday Social. Hopefully this will be a fun way to meet some other bloggers or learn some interesting facts about ones I already love.

How did you come up with your blog name? When I started my blog I had no idea what I was getting in to. Aaron and I we still newleyweds and I thought it would be fun to play off of our last name hence the beginning of the Galloway Way! I can't say I absolutely love it but I guess it works, I have toyed with the idea of changing it since the littles came around, but I wonder if that will cause more confusion than good.

What is your favorite thing about blogging? Being able to easily document my families life. While I am not super consistent I love being able to look back at the things that I do post and have a place for special memories for many years to come.

What is one thing you have discovered because of blogging and now can't live without? Instamgram and twitter, both which make blogging so much more fun!

Facebook or Twitter? and why? This is a hard one, can I have a little bit of both? I use them for two totally different reasons. Facebook is my IRL friends and family. It is a way to keep up with people that I would have no other way to. Twitter is  my virtual world where I have connected with others mostly in the same season of life as myself, without many of the constraints we feel with IRL friends. I feel I can be more vulnerable here because I don't have to see the people face to face.

If one celeb read your blog who would you want it to be? Oh wow! If a celebrity was going to read my blog, I think I would need to make it way more interesting. But if one was I think it would have to be a celebrity twin mom. That is one thing I have enjoyed so much is meeting other Moms of Multiples through the internet, so I guess maybe Julia Roberts! I think she is absolutely amazing and would be so honored.

What is something you want people to know about your blog?
This blog was created for me to document my families memories but has become so much more. I have been able to "meet" and connect with others that I would never have without it. It is a little slice of my life and I am glad you stopped by to visit!

Wordless Wednesday

Our Big One-Birthday Party!

It seems when there are big events I miss blogging about them. I think because there is so much going on and I get so behind and feel like it is too late to catch up. I didn't want this to be the case with the twins first birthday party. So even though this was over a month ago I want to share about this very special event in our family!

If you go back here you will see that the twins birthday didn't go quite as planned due to a little sickness but we were able to still have a fun family party that night. Two weeks later we finally had the party I had planned for for pretty much the last year. I am going to warn you there will probably be an overload of pictures. But I am sure they can tell the story of the day better than I.

Their party was pretty much DIY for me and Staci. If I could make it or design it I did. I wanted to have such a special day and by doing this I was able to afford more.

I went with more of a color scheme and polka dots than a theme. Having boy/girl twins limits what you can do somewhat, but I loved how it all turned out.

Birthday Banner!

Cupcakes!

Custom label water bottles!

Fence decorations!

Front Door Wreath!

Cupcake Topper!

Riggs' Birthday Book!

Jackson's Birthday Book!

As I look through these I notice there are a lot of things missing that I am hoping my dad got pictures of, however he is difficult to get pictures from, so maybe one day I will be able to share those!

We had lots of yummy finger food and what first birthday is not complete without smash cakes? The twins had fun making a mess and getting a rare treat of sugar!

My sweet birthday twins!

Happy JackJack!

Blue faced Riggs!

I love this one of Riggs in action!

We had lots of fun with family and friends. Our crowd ended up being a little smaller than we originally due to the change in date, but I think it was still a good time where we were able to celebrate such huge blessings in our life.

Granddaddy playing with his 4 grandkids!

Water table fun with our cousins and our friend George!

A few of our friends who came to celebrate!

For MoMs By MoMs-Bringing Home Babies

Today I am linking back up with some of my favorite twin moms about bringing home those little bundles.

After becoming pregnant this is the day that you have dreamed of for so long, when you get to be wheeled out of the hospital into the real world with your little bundle of joy.

However like with everything else, with twins this is totally different-well at least it was for me. The day I was discharged was filled with tears as it was the first time I had to leave my tiny Jackson and Riggs. I think with being a MoM it is important to have realistic expectations of the challenges you might encounter so you can try and prepare yourself mentally and emotionally. I was told the day we had our ultrasound that showed us two little heartbeats that with twins all of your risks are doubled. I knew throughout the entire pregnancy it was likely I would deliver early and the twins would have to stay in the NICU after I went home. While I knew all of this it was still very difficult and emotional. But I will tell you there are many MoMs that carry to full term and are able to have that magical moment of going home together.

Going home without the twins was extremely difficult, but you know it is what is best for them long term so you figure out how to manage. Looking back on this I have come to realize their NICU time was a huge blessing in the long run. When they came home they were healthy on a great schedule and this momma had had time to rest and recover from their delivery. Aaron and I had been able to ease into the every 3 hour feedings, we would get us when they were eating so I could pump. By the time they came home this was our schedule as well.

If your babies do end up in the NICU do the best you can to take some time for you. As one of my nurses told me, you are paying for some very expensive baby sitters-use them! Now don't get me wrong we were at the hospital a lot but not all the time. We decided to be there for their 9 am, 3 pm and 9 pm feedings everyday. Somedays we would be there more, but for the most part this worked well for us. The babies need to sleep and grow and being held a ton actually can hinder this since they are burning more calories and energy.

By giving ourselves sometime to adjust when we were finally able to bring them home things actually went really well. Riggs came home a day before Jackson, which once again brought on the water works. I was so sad to leave him all alone, this is the only night the two of them have ever spent apart and I felt like we were deserting him. But the next day our JackJack was discharged and our family of 4 was finally sleeping under one roof.

Riggs' homecoming!

Jackson's homecoming.

Home together!

 I think for everyone those first few days and weeks your needs are different. Since the twins had been in the NICU we did not have family here to "help". I think for me that was best. I know I am very independent person who does not need a ton of help. Actually when we had "help" it stressed me out. We had figured out our schedule that worked for our family and when others would try and enter it caused more stress for me than anything. Aaron and I are pretty laid back with the twins and life in general which is not a trait shared by our families. I know for others they want and need an army to help and that is great just not for me.

I think the biggest factor in having an easy transition was a SCHEDULE!!!!!! The twins ate every 3 hours no matter what, always at the same time. I was actually called a baby Nazi by my mom. But it worked and was how we had sanity in those first few weeks.

Bringing home multiples is fun and crazy. Everyone's experience is different but find what works for you and your family.