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Another busy week for the Vokohtz family! Benjamin started off the week with a cold and a fever. Craig stayed home with him on Monday. I stayed home with both of them on Tuesday (Hadley started running a fever also). I noticed that Ben would scream if I touched his right ear, so I took him to the doctor to get it checked out. Sure enough, he had an ear infection. We started him on an antibiotic, and he is feeling much better now. On Wednesday they were feeling better, and they had their 6 month checkups (yes, back to the doctor again). Benny weighs 16.5 lbs and Hadley weighs 14 lbs. He is such a Bubba! They had to get vaccinations, and I got a call from daycare that Ben was running a fever that afternoon so I had to pick him up. I'm sure that it was because of the shots, but rules are rules. Thursday we were finally all well, and Craig and I both got a full day of work in. Whew! Another crazy week.

Hadley's second little tooth came in on Wednesday. Those suckers are razor sharp....I sure hope Benny doesn't fall victim to her bites! She is such a little stinker. She still hates to nap, but we are used to fighting through it now. She always screams and if I bounce her in my arms she falls asleep. Ben is so easy....he just lays in his crib and falls asleep on his own. At least one of them is low maintenance.

We are introducing new foods to them about every 3-4 days. So far they love carrots, they like butternut squash and sweet potatoes, and they hate broccoli. The last three days have been broccoli days, and they haven't eaten much at all. Ben will eat anything but he was gagging a little on that broccoli. I really can't say I blame them. I love broccoli, but it's a little strange in liquid form. Tonight they get mashed potatoes, so hopefully it's a meal they will like.

We got a bunch of snow this weekend. It's funny....my weekend was pretty much the same as always....I probably wouldn't have gotten out at all if it was 50 degrees outside! Sad but true. I'm really looking forward to warm weather so that we can go for walks in the stroller again. I'm getting a little stir crazy. Luckily Conner and Abby were here to keep us company this week. Craig has been busy working on a closet down in the basement, so Conner and Abby are always a big help! I'm sure Craig will post some pictures when he gets it finished. It's a closet under the staircase where we will put our games and a filing cabinet. It is really nice!

One other highlight of this week...our pediatrician told me to start trying a little dairy to see if the babies can tolerate it. Over the weekend I had a tiny wedge of frozen pizza, some naan bread with butter, and a little bit of sour cream in my chili. They seem to be handling it very well! It's promising. I'll still follow the diet for the most part, but it's nice to know I can have a slice of pizza or a little butter without bothering the babies. I'm about 10 pounds less than my pre-pregnancy weight, so I don't want to chow down on a bunch of cheese and balloon! It sure is nice fitting into all of my clothes!

Here are some pictures from this week. I just can't believe how fast the babies are changing. It really is amazing. They are just delightful!

Conner and Benjamin taking a nap together. What a good big brother!

Trekkie babies! Ensign Benny, leave Ensign Hadleys bow alone!

Our view of the snow (and Bowie)

The babies have taken over our house. See for yourself.

Another picture of our little Trekkies. Beam me up, Benny!

Wow...this has been a wild and crazy week! So much happened this week....I don't even know if I can remember everything. Last Sunday seems like it was SO long ago. This will probably be a long blog post, so bear with me!

We will start with Monday. It was the babies first day at daycare. Craig, Conner, Abby and I all went to the daycare at 7:15am to drop off the twins. I had lost a lot of sleep the previous week worrying about how I was going to carry them into daycare at the same time. They are getting too heavy to lug around in their infant carriers, but I can't carry both of them for fear I would drop them. For the first few days I lugged them in their carriers. It was hard. They did really well their first day, and the daycare teachers (Miss Katrina and Miss Karen) loved them!

Day 2. I took them by myself that day, and lugged them in their carriers again. It was still hard. Craig left for his business trip to Las Vegas, so I was solo that evening. They did well at daycare again, and we got home, ate some sweet potatoes, took baths and they were in bed asleep by 7:30. They slept until 5am and had bottles, and then they slept until I woke them at 6:45 to get ready for daycare. What a breeze! I could do this by myself easy-peasy! At least that's what I thought......

Day 3. We got to daycare okay, and this time I used our new Jeep Double Umbrella Stroller to wheel them in to daycare. So much easier! That will be our new system. I have to bundle them up a little more, but it works really slick. Well worth the $95 for the stroller. We had a good evening as well. Then came the night. I was up with various babies (I can't recall which at each timepoint) at 11:30, 1:30 until 3:30, then at 4. It was nuts and I was completely exhausted when my alarm went off at 5:30.

Day 4. I'm pooped. Daycare went fine again, and our evening went okay, but I'm starting to feel the stress. Mealtime is stressful....I would sit in between their high-chairs and alternate giving each baby a bite. The baby that wasn't getting the bite would cry for more, and then Hadley would usually end up so mad that she wouldn't eat at all. Bathtime was stressful as well. I sat one baby in a high chair while I bathed the other one. They went to bed fine, but I decided that I was going to find a friend to help me out on Friday night. I was exhausted. Hadley was up for several hours again that night. I had no idea what was wrong with her. She just cried and cried. I think I may have cried a little too out of sheer exhaustion!

Day 5. It's Friday! TGIF! Daddy finally comes home today....probably not until midnight but we are excited! By this time I was a pro at getting them in and out of daycare. They did so well for their first week! Hadley had 3 blowouts, but other than that it went very well. My friend Lori came over to help me get them fed and to bed, and I was SO appreciative of her help! Having another person makes it seem so much easier. We got them to bed by 7:15, and I went to bed at 9. Craig got home around midnight. He was very excited to see the babies, and he got to see them a lot that night! I think he finally got to bed around 4am at which time I took over. Hadley was up ALL night long! I was starting to fear that all of the sleep training was ruined. What was wrong with her?

Well the next morning we found out what was wrong with Miss Hadley. A new tooth! She had one tooth that had cut through, and another one almost ready to break the skin. Poor baby! We were glad to know there was a reason for her insomnia. No teeth yet for Benny. I think he is going to live his life being bossed and tormented by his sister. But he is so easy going, I don't think he will care! We checked to make sure he didn't have any teeth....he is such an easy baby he probably won't even fuss when his first tooth comes in.

And then to top it all off, this morning Benjamin woke up with a fever of 101.5! The poor little guy has a cold. He probably caught it from me...I was home sick the week before. They both had stuffy noses all week (on top of everything else) and now he has the fever. We will see what happens in the morning...I might have to stay home with him if he still has a temp.

Whew! What a week. I'm glad we all survived! Craig had a good time in Vegas....he has lots of stories about the debauchery that took place. Of course Craig wasn't involved, but there were stories of public urination, jail time, puking in trash cans, and getting kicked out of hotels. It was even alleged that some of Craig's co-workers (not the Lincoln ones) caused $4000 damage to their hotel room and there were pools of blood on the floor! Craig will have to verify that information.

And one last bit of information.....I got a new job! It's still with Pfizer, but I got a position in the Quality Assurance group as a Compliance Associate. My current job is supervising the microbiology Quality Control laboratory, where the vaccines are tested before they can be released. For my new job I will be working with the group that produces bacterial antigens. I will make sure that they follow all of the regulations required to produce vaccines, and I will be the person who releases the products. I start on March 16, and I have a lot to finish up with my current job before then. I'll be really busy!!

And here are some pictures from the week. Hadley's new tooth is still to little to see, but hopefully we can get her to show it off in a few weeks.

Benjamin in his big boy car seat! This will go in daddy's truck.

Hadley and Ben love their Jump-a-Roo!!

Hadley LOVES Bowie! He loves the babies too and it really good with them.

Little Hadley. If you look closely she has dog hair stuck to her face from kissing Bowie!

Ben is such a little teddy bear. I just want to hug him!

Just got the babies off to dreamland, so I thought I'd do a little blogging. It started snowing about an hour ago and it's really starting to accumulate. We haven't had much snow this year, so this will be a change for us in the morning.

Speaking of changes, Friday was Grandma Anne's last day babysitting the twins. She said it's amazing how much easier they are now. It was pretty hard to get through the day back when they were 14 weeks old! We have come a long way, baby (or babies)! I'm so glad that she was able to come help us out for a few months, and I'm sure it will be an experience she will never forget. Grandpa Kent was on his way home from Cleveland and got stuck in a Chicago snowstorm, so we had a really nice dinner on Friday night (sans Grandpa). Craig cooked beef tenderloin and shrimp. It was absolutely delicious....a perfect meal to celebrate Grandma Anne's time with us. Thank you Grandma Anne....we all love you!

So tomorrow is a big day for us....our first day at daycare. We are going to a place called Kelly's Kids. It's a small daycare center very close to our house and to work. It will be very convenient for us. We visited several times, and I think I'll feel okay dropping them off in the morning, but we will see how it goes! Craig and I will both go tomorrow morning for the first day. Then on Tuesday, Craig leaves for Las Vegas and I will be flying solo with the twins until Friday. Holy crap....I hope I make it! I've never had to get them to bed by myself or get them ready in the morning (and get myself ready!). Since we are just starting daycare we don't have an established routine. This week will be very interesting and I'm sure it will be exhausting! We met a couple this weekend at our neighbor's birthday party who take their daughter there. She was born 5 days before Ben and Hadley...so they already got to meet a little friend! Wish me luck. I'll post an update next weekend and let you know how everything went. I'm sure we will be fine. :)

And for this week's milestone report....Ben and Hadley turned 6 months old on January 20! We made it half a year. Whew! Ben decided to roll over that day as well, but apparently he only wanted Grandma to see it. We are still waiting for him to show us how he rolls (ha ha)! Hadley is sitting up by herself pretty well now. It's so nice to just sit them down and play. It keeps them much more entertained. This week they ate carrots and sweet potatoes. Ben LOVES his food now...he eats big spoon-fulls and always wants more! Hadley is a little more fussy and doesn't eat a whole lot yet. She will get the hang of it.

And here are a few pictures from the week.

We will miss Grandma Anne, but we will see her very soon!

Abby and I went shopping....pretty new dress!

Little Randy (Christmas Story reference)

Playing together...so cute! In outfits from Aunt Haley and Uncle Thomas :)

Ben always has his tongue out!

Hadley is SO pretty....just like her big sister!

Another week, a few more milestones in the lives of Benjamin and Hadley. I am amazed every day by these babies, and how COMPLETELY different they are from each other! If you didn't know they were twins, you would never guess it. They are definitely not two peas in a pod! They sure do love each other, though.

This week Benjamin mastered his sitting. He can sit up on his own very well now, and this really makes life a lot easier for mom and dad (and grandma). He will sit and play with his abundance of toys for long periods of time. He very rarely falls over now....sometimes Bowie will run by and he will get excited and go headfirst into the carpet. He takes it pretty well. Hadley can sit up also, but she chooses to roll around all over the place. She is much too busy to remain stationary for any amount of time. I think she is going to be our little "trouble". She has a mind of her own, and she lets everyone know it! She can roll across the entire living room now....time for daddy to put up those safety gates! We don't want the babies to follow in mommy's footsteps and go head-first down the stairs. (That story can remain untold for the time-being).

Last night (January 13) was their first meal of solid food! Grandma Anne prepared a butternut squash by baking it in the oven and then putting it in the food processor. It is really delicious! I put it into some little containers and froze most of it, and kept some in the fridge for the next few days. We are going to try to prepare most of their baby food (saves a lot of $$). They seemed to like the taste...a few funny faces but nothing too crazy. They each ate about a tablespoon and they were done. Pretty good for the first real meal! We will try it again tonight. It's so much fun to use their high chairs and feed them. They are growing up so fast! It seems like yesterday that they were born. Time flies when you are crazy busy with twins!

They are sleeping pretty well now. They usually wake up and cry at least once before midnight (for some reason), but they are sleeping until at least 3-5 am before they want a bottle. Not bad! They are usually asleep by 7pm, so mom and dad get some time to get things done (or just relax!). They are such good babies.

Here are some pictures of the cuties over the past week. We sure love these babies!!

Bowie has two new besties! They all love each other.

Benny is such a big boy...sitting up all by himself!

Crawling is just around the corner for little Hadley. SCARY!

Ready for some dinner!

I guess this squash tastes okay.....

So far, so good. What's all the fuss about?

This isn't my milk!!! I'm mad!

Mommy has to work full time now. :o(

Well with the New Year brings another milestone for the Vokohtz family....Craig's 40th birthday! We celebrated the big 4-Oh on Saturday, January 7 with all of his friends and family. I surprised him with a party at our neighborhood restaurant, Toast. Somehow, I actually managed to keep it a secret and I think he really was surprised! I told him that we were meeting our neighbors Katie and Drew for a few drinks to get him to the restaurant. It was a lot of fun...I think about 50 of our friends and family were there! Afterward we went out to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants (Dish) with some of our favorite friends (Doug and Marci). It was a really good day. We even got to stay at a hotel so that we could sleep in, thanks to my mom and dad who stayed with Ben and Hadley.

I thought I was ready for a night away, but I got really emotional this morning and I kept crying! I really missed the babies. I was glad to get home.

Here are a few pictures from the birthday festivities.

Conner was celebrating!

So was Abby.

There were plenty of grandmas to hold the babies!

So many friends with so many babies!

Craig with our friends Doug and Marci.

Daddy and Hadley, with her strange wig on. She looks like a little doll!

Wow...it's been a while! The last blog post was when we had the babies in July. We really haven't had much down time since then. Boy, two babies are a lot of work! But twice the work = twice the joy. Here are the highlights of the past 6 months:

On July 20, Benjamin Steele and Hadley Mae were born! Since we had them the old fashioned way (plus a good epideural) we only stayed in the hospital for a few days. I think we went home on the following Saturday.

Things were a huge blur for the first two months. The babies slept in our room until they were 2 months old. We found that they slept the best in their *removable* swing seat and bouncy seat. They would wake up every 2-3 hours to eat, and Craig and I would just take turns. I tried breast-feeding for about 4 days...needless to say I couldn't handle all of the feedings by myself! After those first 4 painful days, the breastfeeding consultant at our pediatrician's office suggested that I try pumping to let myself heal. Over 5 months later, I'm still exclusively pumping and bottle feeding them the breast milk. It's a little more work, but this way I get some help with the feedings!

At 7 weeks I had my first nervous breakdown. Ben and Hadley were SO fussy and wouldn't nap during the day. We noticed that their poop looked funny also. We called the doctor and took in some poop samples....there was blood in their stools. They both had MSPI (milk-soy protein intolerance). We had two choices: (1) put them on hideously expensive formula or (2) Jamie goes on a special diet absent of soy protein and dairy. We chose the second option. It took about 6 weeks for them to get better, but it finally happened. Jamie was back in her pre-pregnancy jeans in no time at all without all of that cheese! I guess that was a good thing....but it's been tough!

After we got the MSPI thing figured out, life was a lot easier and happier! We now have two very happy and healthy babies. It is such a joy to watch them grow and learn. Ben is our flirt. He smiles at everyone and shows off his cute little dimples. He loves to snuggle and EAT! He is about 2 or 3 pounds bigger than Hadley...I'm figuring he weighs about 15 or 16 pounds now. Hadley is a very cute and VERY stubborn little girl! She is always alert and looking around her, but she hates to take naps during the day! She will fight it with every bit of determination she has. She screams, pinches, squirms, and swings her arms...while yawning and rubbing her eyes because she is so exhausted. We aren't really sure what to do with her.....she is sleeping right now after fighting and crying for about an hour. Hopefully this nap lasts a little while longer! What a little stinker! She is such a good baby otherwise. They are both sleeping really well at night. I guess I'd rather have them sleep at night and stay awake during the day. It's nice to get a little break, though!

My mom has been staying with us during the week to take care of the babies while we are at work. I went back to work on November 2nd part-time. I start back full time this week. Mom will stay for another 3 weeks, and then the babies will go to day-care at a center called Kelly's Kids starting on January 23. It's a really nice place and it's close to where we live. I'm very thankful for my mom, and that we didn't have to take them to day care until they were 6 months old. Thanks, mom!

Conner and Abby have been taking it all in stride. They are always willing to help hold a baby or get something for us when we are busy. They help clean up the house and whatever else we need. We appreciate both of them so much....I know it's a lot to ask of two teenagers! They are the best kids in the world, and we are so blessed to have them. Ben and Hadley are so lucky to have such an amazing big brother and sister! We love you Conner and Abby!

Well there you have it. The last 6 months in a nutshell. Here are some pictures that help tell the story. Enjoy!

I look pretty good after having two babies!

Proud daddy

Big sister and brother

This is how we could feed both babies at the same time!

Oops...somebody wake her up! Common sight for the first few months.

Three months old!

So tired of bottles.....

Pretty Hadley Mae

Benny!

First Christmas with Santa!

Five months old. So cute!

If you haven't been following along on Facebook, the babies are here! Welcome Hadley Mae and Benjamin Steele Kohtz. They were born yesterday at 5:22 pm and 5:24 pm and weighed 5 lbs 9 oz and 5 lbs 13 oz respectively.

We seemed to wait all day but when the time came, things happened fast. They took us into the OR (just in case, since the boy was breach) and about 15 minutes later Hadley came out head first, followed by Benjamine feet first only two minutes later.

We'll be able to post some pictures tomorrow when we get home.

Jamie and I are at the hospital. The doctor said it would be good to induce since Jamie is having twins, so today is the day. The babies are at 38 weeks today. We checked in at 7:15 am, they hooked Jamie up to an IV (SHE almost passed out, not me) and broke her water. So now we wait. The doctor will be in again at noon. Apparently it's unusual to have twins without a c-section so everyone at the hospital is excited.

One thing we realized we forgot to bring... our baby bag! Good thing for grandparents.

Well we are working on the 38th week now....I never thought I would make it this far! I just have to keep in mind that every week that they stay in there the healthier they will be! I'm glad I didn't buy any preemie clothes or diapers. At this point we may not have preemie-sized babies! I've been posting a lot more lately....probably due to my boredom! Everyone tells me to enjoy the boredom, but I don't think anyone really understands how uncomfortable I am. I know I don't look huge for twins, but try strapping a 50 lb. weight to your front and walking around with it all day. It's tough!! Not to mention the havoc this is wreaking on my digestive system. It's hard to do anything at this point....even laying on the couch watching TV is a struggle. I can't wait until this is over and we have babies!!

We have the nursery almost completely ready! The cribs turned out so cute (thanks mom) and Craig and Conner put the dresser together this morning. I finally was able to put all of the baby clothes away! We commissioned a local artist to do some collages for the walls, and hopefully those will be ready in a few weeks. I have a bag packed for me and the babies, and Craig even has a bag ready. We just need these babies to decide to come out!

Well hopefully these are the last pregnant pictures I have to post on here and we can start posting pictures of actual babies! I go to the doctor again on Monday, and hopefully I've started to dilate so that they can induce labor. I am preparing myself to consider a c-section if I'm not showing any signs....I'm really not sure if I can take being pregnant for another week. At least Conner and Abby have been here to keep me company lately. They have been good helpers (servants) lately! Here are pictures of everyone!

Is is almost over? I sure hope so. Today my discomfort has increased by a factor of 10! I woke up and felt okay, but as the morning went on my back pain became almost unbearable. I called the Dr., and they asked me to come in right away. Craig and I thought, "Maybe this is it!" They looked at the babies on the ultrasound, and the boy has completely turned around! His head is now down closer to the girls head, which puts him in a better position for birth. But, it is making my back very, very sore! They also put both babies on heart monitors and they are both doing very well and aren't stressed at all. So now I am almost completely bed-ridden and can hardly walk. My last day of work was Tuesday, so at least I don't have to worry about that! We are hoping that since the boy is moving his head down we will have good news very soon!