Sleepyhead and Cutie Pie

When a friend gave us these shirts, no one knew how appropriate they'd be...

Grandpa Pat, the pumpkin and a bunny:

Grandpa Jerry (Boppa) and the little cherubs:

Babies are Smiling

Emmitt is such a stud.

Oh yeah, I know who's da man.
And my pretty girl is so subtle. She wouldn't want to let her face give it all away.
I am darling though? Don't you think?

I've Learned that Babies Actually do Sleep

Well, we've begun a journey in learning how to "schedule" a baby's eating and sleeping patterns. As you've seen on a previous post, the babies have been characterized by crankiness. We are beginning to see that turn around however.

I am not a person who feels comfortable just trying something out with my babies. I want facts, a well written book to describe a detailed plan and some positive testimonies attributing credence to the theory.

Diving into "Babywise" was a little drastic for me, but I needed to do something. The babies were tired and fussy, and required being held constantly. What I've found in the week and a half that we've been keeping the schedule is that my babies can be content and well rested.

I know that as an infant, Silas never slept as much as these two. I'm sure that's because I just let him decide how and when he wanted to eat and sleep. If he wasn't in a front pack, then he was in my arms sleeping. And there was never a chance that he'd fall asleep on his own in his own crib. It wasn't until he was six months old that I finally decided something needed to be done to make him a more independent sleeper. His colic had passed and he was "old enough", I thought to learn a few new tricks. The following six months were not easy. A co-sleeping six month old has his own ideas about what should or should not be happening. Finally at a year he could resettle himself after he woke up from a 20 min. power nap (the only kind he took before).

I'm sure I would have walked that same path with these two, had they not been too much for me to handle. Severe lack of sleep and growing psychosis forced me to be the parent in this case. Anyway, it seems to be working...for all involved.

Mommy and Silas playing!

L to R: Elise, Emmitt, & Lydia
Auntie Mim has both of them!
Silas loves Josiah. They are playing at Chewelah park.
Lilly and Silas are very concerned about the dangers in the park...

At Priest Lake

Our most common view of the babies lately:

We're not sure why God gave us twins and then chose them to be fuss buckets, but this seems to be the case...they love to eat (Emmitt recently had to go through some blood tests because his liver wasn't processing the huge amount of food he was eating!), and then want to be bounced and held at all times after that.

Auntie Angie, Lilly, and Emmitt. Auntie Angie seems to be able to always calm Emmitt down when he's crying.
Si and the Big Bike.
Grandparents and their offspring (minus Silas).
On he left is Lydia, born to JD & Kara on the same night as the twins! On the right is Elise.

Kalispell for a Spell

My lovely grandma...she finally got to see the babies.

In just a couple days we have sufficiently worn out all the Kalispell family members. It was great to visit!

Here is a four generation shot- Grandma, Dad, Me, and the kids.
Silas likes to hold his siblings.
He is very confidently climbing the steep slide back in Hunters.
Suddenly he's at the top of the very steep slide and realizes that there is no more hand holds.

Double Time

Here is a "out of the womb" picture that we've seen before in the womb. Elise is sucking and licking Emmitt's head! During one of our last few ultrasounds, we saw Emmitt licking Elise's head, and now she seems to be excited that the roles have reversed. She was quite certain that she could get at least a little milk from that round head.

Back in the hospital.

Everyone seems to wonder if you can nurse two at the same time. Sure. Just attach like so.

Emmitt Gunnar

Elise Claire

Babies, Babies, Babies

The Warren family is a trifle indisposed at the moment, so I'll be stepping in to provide some pics and stats about the incredible new additions to the family.

First things first. Everyone is doing really well. Mama Tif was able to hold out against a barrage of C-section fantatical medical professionals and delivered both of her babies the good old-fashioned way late last night.

Meet Emmitt Gunnar (aka Baby "A")

This little guy weighed in at 6 pounds, 10 ounces and 21 inches long. He was born at 9:57 pm. He is either narcoleptic or a night owl, because in the entirety of my hour-long visit, Emmitt did not once open his eyes.

Meet Elise Claire (aka Baby "B")

Elise was born a mere 9 minutes after her brother. A bit daintier than Emmitt, she weighed in at 5 pounds, 12 ounces and 19 inches in length. As you can tell, she was quite alert for the duration of my stay (she was still very well behaved; both of these kids appear to be extremely mellow).

Silas is holding up well. Mama Tif says he is everything a big brother should be, giving kisses and patting heads as a demonstration of his love. He was even able to differentiate between the baby's cries, claiming, "That's my sister," when little Elise gave a short wail. Like his parents, though, he was a bit tired.

Congrats to the entire Warren-Claridge clan! This is one beautiful family.

Silas has been having lots of fun lately!

Silas, Daddy and Boppa went fishing on Saturday at my parent's neighbor's pond. No bites, but you know what they say about a bad day of fishing.

Si has also been swimming at Aunt Mimi's pool lately. He LOVES to just kick and play by himself with no one holding on to him. I'm glad that not touching doesn't seem to be a problem. He is occasionally put in the shallow water without his life jacket on so that he knows that you don't always float. :)

Here Daddy and Silas are playing in his cousin Kylen's creek. All the boys and men made a dam to create a pool, but it eventually had to break and when it did the little guys liked that part the best.

Scheduled for 2:45 on Monday

The babies will most likely be born tomorrow. The C-Section is scheduled for 2:45. The surgery may be delayed because hospitals typically over-book themselves, and following the hour of surgery the babies will have to be taken to the nursery (hospital policy) for about an hour for a routine check. So, the earliest they will be given back to mommy will be about 5:00pm.

I won't be online to post pictures of the babies, but perhaps a blog savvy friend will take on the duty. Still, the earliest you may see babies on this site would be Tuesday.

I just wanted everyone to know the plan. I'm not overly excited about the C-Section and if the baby girl decides to turn head down, I may still opt for an induction. This would put the delivery off a couple days because of my doctor's schedule, but I like the traditional method of labor best...

Here are a couple recent photos of me and the belly.

The Babies are Still in the Tummy

Sorry there are no pictures, but the public library computer does not seem to allow them. The babes are still cooking, although if they don't decide to show themselves soon, the doctor will C- Section them (possibly early next week). I'll be 38 weeks by then and the two babies will probably weigh about 14 lbs together, not counting double placentas and double the fluid. Baby B (the second in delivery position, the girl) has turned to breech, if she turns back to vertex we'll probably induce rather than C-Section. So, we should have these babies out soon one way or another. We miss everyone still and hope that we'll be able to talk and/or see you when the twins come. Our home in Hunters has an extra bedroom, so if you are a friend, consider yourself invited. :)

Ok, Ok... here are the baby belly shots...

I really haven't been in the mood to post baby belly shots. It's not exactly as glamorous as my first pregnancy I suppose. I suppose that everyone wants to see what two 4 lb babies look like in a tummy. They'll still get bigger, I'm at 32 weeks. I'm on partial restriction because of a slight growth disconcordance between the babies (the girl is smaller) and because my cervix seems to be thinning out a little early. So, I don't watch my friend's boy anymore. I just sit at home and keep the house from being a pit and make sure we have something to eat... very exciting, but it's a nice rest.

Here are some recent "Claridge family" gathering pictures. The old picture is one we found of my parents and siblings about 28 years ago. I guess I'm in the belly.