Saturday, December 15, 2012

The One with The 3 Month Update...

Well, it looks like I'm only going to be updating every month. I'd like to do it more, but there isn't a whole lot going on over here besides eating, awake time, and napping. We are still on a 2.5 hour schedule which makes it a little tricky to go out and do a lot. Hopefully as they get older, I will have more to update about :)

Looking back at last months update, I can't believe how much they have changed already! 

Cole Matthew


Cole has lost a lot of hair since the last update and is rockin' an old man hairdo...no hair on the top, just around the sides :) He is our little talker, giving us the sweetest, high pitched coos all the time and he loves to give us lots of smiles. His favorite place to be is on the changing table where he smiles and talks non-stop. He is such a daddy's boy. He loves sitting propped up on Matt's knees staring at him with a big smile. It's the cutest thing. He has been wearing size 0-3 months for about a couple weeks now, but I'm sure at the rate he is growing he'll be in size 3-6 before we know it.  Bath time has gotten much better. I think he finally realized he likes it. We are still working on tummy time. He is not a big fan of exercising his neck...probably because he has quite a heavy load to hold up :) 


He is a great sleeper...once asleep. He goes to bed around 9:00pm and sleeps till about 5:30am every night. Getting to sleep is what can be a battle at times. Sometimes he goes to sleep without a peep, other times he throws a screaming fit. He is still getting breast milk (5oz) from a bottle since he's a fan of fast food :) Sometimes he gets formula when I can't get a pumping session in. He is definitely a growing boy, gaining 3lb in one month! 

Faith Olivia

Faith is our little mover. She moves CONSTANTLY! Her arms and legs are moving all the time. I think she will have to be swaddles for as long as possible or else she will keep her self up with all the wiggling she does. She is quite the smiler too. She is happiest after she eats. She also LOVES laying on the changing table and gives us tons of open mouthed grins. She makes great eye contact and follows me around ever where I go. She is going to kill me for saying this when she is older, but she farts all.the.time. It is so funny hearing these these big 'ol farts come out of such a petite little thing. She isn't as vocal Cole yet. I'm sure she is saving all that talking for when she is older, just like her mama :) Faith LOVES tummy time. Her favorite position is being propped up on our knees, facing out. She is quite the nosey little thing, also like mommy :) She just started fitting in size 0-3 months last week, but they are still a little big on her. Unlike Cole, Faith isn't as great of a sleeper, but she goes to bed like a champ. We swaddle her, put her to bed wide awake, and she is out without a peep,  but she usually wakes up a couple times between 2:30-4:30 crying because she wants her paci. I can hold her off till 5:30 though when I feed both of them. One up, both up is our motto! Faith is nursed every feeding, except she gets one 5oz bottle at the 8:30pm feeding and the 5:30am feeding. This way I can feed them quickly while I pump and go right back to bed. 


  • They both love laying in their cribs staring at their mobile. They can lay there for 10 plus minutes just staring and kicking away while listening to praise baby.
  • We have also turned on their praise baby DVD a couple times and let them watch all the fun colors and shapes on the screen and listen to the calm, soothing music. I know I've heard people say not to let babies watch TV but they absolutely love it! I figured it's made for babies so every once in awhile can't hurt...right?
  • Faith loves laying her head to the left and Cole loves laying his head to the right...so much that the sides of their heads are getting pretty flat. We are trying to work on rotating their heads to even it out, but they are pretty stubborn!
  • Matt and I have both come up with lots of silly songs and nicknames for the kids. Cole's most used nickname is Coley and Faith's is Faithy Girl :)
November Happenings...
On November, 18, we had Cole & Faith baptized. It was such a blessing to be surrounding by our family and church family on this special day. I am so thankful that our kids will grow up in a church surrounded by such godly, loving, and supportive friends & family. 



 I wish I would've taken more pictures of the kids with all the family and friends that came :/
The Anema Family

The Rollema Family


4 Genderations


With Uncle Ty Ty :)

We had a great first Thanksgiving with the babies...although it was mostly filled with feeding them every 2.5 hours, pumping & naps in between. We went to my Grandpa's on Thanksgiving day, and then to Matt's parent's house on Sunday. It was so nice to be able to celebrate with both families. 

I was bad at not taking pictures on Thanksgiving so the only one I got was in the onesies I made for them :/

My cousin, Heidi, came to visit from Visalia at the end of the month. She was so much help, even getting up to help me feed at night!
 Last year I went to visit her when she had her twin boys. I love that we having matching pictures :)

And I leave you with a video I took of them a few weeks ago. You are welcome to turn the volume way down so you don't have to listen to my obnoxious voice talking baby talk to them :)








Saturday, November 10, 2012

The One with 2 Months Old...


Yesterday we went to the doctors for their 2 month check up. Thankfully, Matt got off work so he could help me out, which I was especially glad about when it came to them getting their shots. They took them like champs though, and were their normal selves by the time we got back in the car. Their doctor was happy with their growth and said they are right on track for being 35 week premies. Here are their 2 month stats...

Cole Matthew
Height: 22 inches 
Head: 39 1/2 cm
  • Cole has started cooing and has the cutest little voice :) 
  • He does a great job at holding his head up and has super strong legs.
  • We are still working on his smiling. He makes us work hard to get a smile. 
  • He isn't sure about bath time yet. Sometimes he likes it, other times he's not a fan. 


 Faith Olivia
Height: 20 1/2 inches
Head: 37 cm
(I love how they continue to be exactly 1 pound apart)

  • We are still waiting to hear Faith's sweet little voice. 
  • Faith also has a strong neck and loves to look around while we burp her. 
  • Faith gives us lots of smiles. Both of them still don't smile in response us smiling, but the doctor said they should be doing that by the end of the month.
  • Faith loves her bath time, especially when she gets her hair washed. 


They are both barely on the growth chart for their age. Most babies (at least dutch babies :) are born the weight they are right now, but the doctor said by 9-10 months, they should be caught up to other kids their age. As much as I am enjoying the longevity of them being tiny, I'm looking forward to them getting chubby cheeks and fat rolls :)

Right now they are eating 4 ounces every 2.5 hours and our mornings start at 8:00am. After they eat, they have awake time and then take a 1 hour nap until we do it all over again. During awake time, they usually lay on their play mat or sit in their rock n' plays while I pump. At night, they eat at 8:30 and go to bed around 9:00. They are both becoming great sleepers. We turn their sound machine on, swaddle them, pop their paci's in and turn on each of their musical sea horse's and they are out. Their first stretch is always the best. One of them wakes up (usually Cole) around 2:00am and the next stretch they go (Faith usually wakes up first) about 6:00/6:30am. 

Here are a few pictures from this month...
Play time on their boppys

Their first election...they were very disappointed by the results.

My cousins, Morgan & Chandler, meeting them for the first time.

Pumpkin Patch with their friends, Molly, Lucas, Millie, & Ella

The slept through the whole things :)

Hopefully next year Faith and Cole will be able to join them on some rides!


For Halloween, they wore onesies that said Trick & Treat with a pumpking & candy corn, along with match beanies made by mommy :)
First holiday as a family.

Trick or Treating with their friends! We can't wait till next year when they can actually get candy :)

We are looking forward to all the fun things to come this month. Cole & Faith are getting baptized next week, my cousin and her family are coming down from Chico for Thanksgiving and get to meet Cole & Faith for the first time, and then my other cousin, Heidi, who has twins herself, is coming at the end of the month to spend a few days with us. 

Happy Thanksgiving :)

Thursday, November 8, 2012

The One with The Newborn Pictures...


Cole & Faith were 2 months old yesterday! I love seeing how much they have grown in such a short amount of time. Cole is feeling much more solid and it looks like all of Faith's weight is going to her cheeks :) We go to the doctor tomorrow for their 2 month check up, so I will post pictures and stats after that. In the mean time, I thought I'd post pictures of their newborn photo shoot! It's amazing how much they have already changed since these pictures were taken. Most of you have probably already seen some of them on Facebook, but there are many more where that came from. When the kiddos were just over 2 weeks old, we had their pictures by the extremely talented, patient, and oh so sweet, Shelly Young, of Shelly Young Photography. She spent four hours carefully positioning and propping them up...definitely a skill she has mastered. She used some of her super cute props, along with a few of my own, and I couldn't be happier with the results. Thank you Shelly for the fun experience and priceless memories that you captured of our little blessings! 

This was my Grandma's buggy. I have looked so forward to the day that I got to push my babies in it, just like she did with her kids and grandkids.



 These are antique scales my dad let us borrow. This was probably the hardest set up. I think Shelly only had time to snap one, maybe two pictures before we had to grab both babies so they wouldn't fall off!



















Stay tuned for their 2 month update tomorrow...or maybe Saturday :) 


Sunday, October 7, 2012

The One with The Birth Story & 1 Month Old...


I can't believe the kiddos are 1 month old...and I haven't updated this blog since I had them! :/ Last bump update I posted was the night before I had them. I spent that night updating my blog and watching my belly move around like crazy while watching TV. I finally captured it on video because they were both moving around non-stop. I went to bed around 10:00 feeling normal and got up the usual 4 to 5 times to go to the bathroom. Around 3:30 I couldn't fall back asleep so I laid in bed feeling both babies still moving. I remember thinking that it was weird for them to be moving around so much in the middle of the night. I decided to get up one more time to use the bathroom and right before I was about to get up, I felt Faith kick me and instantly it felt like I was starting to pee my pants. I stood up and more gushed out so I quickly woke Matt up and told him I was either peeing my pants or my water just broke lol. We were both I was pretty calm and went to the bathroom to shower while I told Matt to call the hospital. Luckily I had just finished packing everything they day before, including charging the camera batteries. On the way to the hospital, we called both our parent to let them know what was going on. Matt's parents were in Temecula for a mini-vacay, so they left immediately in hopes of getting to the hospital in time. On the way to the hospital we were excited, but also a little scared since I was only 35 weeks. We said a prayer thanking God for the priceless gifts He was about to give us and asking for His guidance for the doctors and safety for me & the babies. I will never forget that special car ride, just the two of us. 

Once at the hospital I sat in the waiting room where I got one last picture with my giant belly...

Then, I was brought to a room where I got changed, they hooked me and the babies up to a monitor and IV, and was asked a ton of questions. 


From there we just had to wait for my doctor to get to the hospital which only took about 45 minutes. At this point I did start having contractions, but nothing too bad. Since Baby A (Faith) was breech, I had to have a C-section, which had pretty much been the plan the entire pregnancy because of her positioning and size. 
Once my doctor got there everything happened pretty fast. I was wheeled to the OR and got the epidural. I got all prepped and ready to go but before they started I realized I could still feel and totally move my feet! The anesthesiologist had poked my stomach asking if it hurt and I could feel a little pinch. I don't think he believed me because he kept saying I shouldn't be able to feel anything because the epidural was in and done correctly. My doctor then tried with the scalpel and I could definitely feel that, so they had to sit me up again and give me another dose of medication. My nurses said they had never had that happen before lol. Thankfully, it worked the second time, so they prepped me again and Matt was finally let in and things got started!   

Faith was pulled out first and immediately peed on me :) They had a NICU team already in the room for her because of the size discrepancy between her and Cole. Since she was under the 4lb 6oz weight limit for going to the nursery, she was eventually brought to the NICU. Cole came out next and Matt was able to hold him while they closed me up. Cole was initially taken to the nursery, but soon after he started to struggle to breath so he joined his sister in the NICU.

And that's their birth story! 

We are 1 Month Old!

Out of many, many pictures, these were the best we could do.
Had to keep the chalkboard theme going :)

Here is how they are doing at 1 month:
They are both great eaters and gaining at least 1 ounce every day. Thanks to the NICU, they are on a 3 hour feeding schedule during the day and make it 4 hours at night. Here is what our day looks like...
We have a new use for the chalkboard :)

They both have slept in their own cribs since they day they've been home. Cole likes to fall asleep propped up so he falls asleep in his Rock n' play (which I highly recommend) and then we move him to his crib. 

I am currently taking turns nursing each baby every other feeding. The baby that isn't nursery gets a bottle of breast milk. At night they both get bottles of 1/2 breast milk & 1/2 formula with extra calories to give them a little help with gaining weight. During the weekends Matt & I each feed a baby at night, but during the week I'm on my own. How do I feed 2 babies at once and pump?? Well, I put them each in their Mamaroo (another great item) and prop their bottles up using a burp cloth. 
I have a hands free pumping bra I wear so I can pump while they eat. On average I can get them both fed, changed, and swaddled in bed in 45 minutes. 
     Love spending awake time in their Mamaroos!

Overall, it's not too hard having 2 babies. The hardest part is feeding them at the same time since they aren't proficient at tandem feeding yet...but we are practicing :) Thankfully Matt's mom comes to help on Mondays and my mom comes the other days till Matt gets home. We are so blessed to have family nice and close to help out.

Hopefully I will be better at updating each week or so, at least that's the plan. Sorry for the LONG post. I've been working on it for awhile now and wanted to get it all in :)