Sure looks like they had fun, despite the low-profile party! I guess you add chocolate cake to anything and you have a good time!
As I begin this blog, I have been the mom of five children for exactly one year, one day, one hour and one minute. Today was the twins' first birthday and I can't believe we have made it through one year. It's funny as I write the word "twin" because I never call them that. To me, they are just babies who happen to be the same age so I call them "the babies". It's weird when I hear people refer to them as "the twins" because it is just not a word we use very often.
I don't think we are too extraordinary in the infrequent use of the word. One of my friends has a set of twins who are in kindergarten now. It wasn't until this year they came home asking what a twin was. That story shocked me this summer when I heard it, but not so much anymore. I don't think it will be that extreme with Kate and Luke, but the word just isn't used that often. I think it would probably be used even less frequently if they were the same gender.
Anyway, we made it. The celebration wasn't all glitz and glamor as I had planned. When they were born, I had heard a story of a friend of a friend who had an adult cocktail party to celebrate their twins' birthday. I thought this was a fabulous idea! As the time got closer (and our basement wasn't done), I realized I really didn't have the energy. The children birthdays in our family are all crammed into three months. Honestly, I'm kind of birthday-ed out. This is the only year I will be able to get away with not having a party for them, so I'm taking advantage!
As I reflect on the last year, it wasn't as terrible as I thought it would be. I still wouldn't wish twins upon my worst enemy, because it is certainly not an easy task. The divorce rate of parents with twins is super-high and I can understand why. Thankfully Steve and I seem to have weathered the storm pretty well, but we had our moments of complete frustration and exasperation.
In the beginning the hardest part was the sleep deprivation. Kate and Luke were up every two hours wanting to nurse. I tried to tandem-nurse them but I felt much more like a machine than any kind of nurturing mother. We tried me feeding one baby and then another, which worked out better but had me up twice as long. Steve tried helping, but he had to work the next day and also had the biological advantage of not lactating. By some stroke of luck, and the introduction of bottles, we had babies who slept through the night earlier than the other boys. Luke slept through at 2 1/2 months and Kate at 4 months. Things got much better after we were able to sleep.
These days the hardest part is transporting them. Luke is clocking in at about 27 lbs. and Kate is a much more petite 22 lbs. Together I am lugging around almost 50 lbs. of baby! I don't carry them at the same time very often, mainly because I am afraid of falling, but there are times when I must. When I am out running errands or taking Lance to school, they are usually in their stroller. I am especially envious of parents of single babies on days when it's raining and they are running in with their baby on their hip and I am hunkered down underneath the semi-dry hatchback of my minivan trying to wrestle a baby into his and her stroller seat. Isn't it appropriate for the babies' birthday, Momma got them a new stroller?
So happy birthday Kate and Luke! We are so, so blessed to have you in our family. We love you both to the moon and back and I can't imagine my life without you in it.
I don't think we are too extraordinary in the infrequent use of the word. One of my friends has a set of twins who are in kindergarten now. It wasn't until this year they came home asking what a twin was. That story shocked me this summer when I heard it, but not so much anymore. I don't think it will be that extreme with Kate and Luke, but the word just isn't used that often. I think it would probably be used even less frequently if they were the same gender.
Anyway, we made it. The celebration wasn't all glitz and glamor as I had planned. When they were born, I had heard a story of a friend of a friend who had an adult cocktail party to celebrate their twins' birthday. I thought this was a fabulous idea! As the time got closer (and our basement wasn't done), I realized I really didn't have the energy. The children birthdays in our family are all crammed into three months. Honestly, I'm kind of birthday-ed out. This is the only year I will be able to get away with not having a party for them, so I'm taking advantage!
As I reflect on the last year, it wasn't as terrible as I thought it would be. I still wouldn't wish twins upon my worst enemy, because it is certainly not an easy task. The divorce rate of parents with twins is super-high and I can understand why. Thankfully Steve and I seem to have weathered the storm pretty well, but we had our moments of complete frustration and exasperation.
In the beginning the hardest part was the sleep deprivation. Kate and Luke were up every two hours wanting to nurse. I tried to tandem-nurse them but I felt much more like a machine than any kind of nurturing mother. We tried me feeding one baby and then another, which worked out better but had me up twice as long. Steve tried helping, but he had to work the next day and also had the biological advantage of not lactating. By some stroke of luck, and the introduction of bottles, we had babies who slept through the night earlier than the other boys. Luke slept through at 2 1/2 months and Kate at 4 months. Things got much better after we were able to sleep.
These days the hardest part is transporting them. Luke is clocking in at about 27 lbs. and Kate is a much more petite 22 lbs. Together I am lugging around almost 50 lbs. of baby! I don't carry them at the same time very often, mainly because I am afraid of falling, but there are times when I must. When I am out running errands or taking Lance to school, they are usually in their stroller. I am especially envious of parents of single babies on days when it's raining and they are running in with their baby on their hip and I am hunkered down underneath the semi-dry hatchback of my minivan trying to wrestle a baby into his and her stroller seat. Isn't it appropriate for the babies' birthday, Momma got them a new stroller?
So happy birthday Kate and Luke! We are so, so blessed to have you in our family. We love you both to the moon and back and I can't imagine my life without you in it.
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