Reasons why I love being a mom of twins
A little background first....When we first found out we were expecting twins I laughed. And laughed. And...well you get the point. I adored being mom to our oldest son, Levi and got that "itch" to expand our brood when he was quite young. It took much longer than I would have liked and so when I found out I was growing not just one but two babies I couldn't have been happier!!
I have a few friends with twins though and I never envied them. A friend of mine and I were due at the same time when I was pregnant with Levi. She was due with identical twin girls and they came a month before Levi. I marveled at how she juggled (figuratively...) two babies while I held my one little precious baby. I had heard horror stories about parents of twins and how, "You'll be fine if you can just survive the first year...". A year!! That is a long time!
All of this was swirling in my head and I worried about how I would handle 3 little ones at home. Well my sweet girls must have been quite traumatized by their entrance into this world because they basically slept for the first 2 months. We woke them to feed them and I remember wishing they would stay awake for more than 15 minutes at a time!
Then they started waking up. The next two months were .... hard. Little Sydney just wanted to sleep. She was so tired when she was awake that she didn't even know what to do. And Harper thought that if she wasn't sleeping she was supposed to be crying. Oh how she cried. Months 3 & 4 consisted of a lot of tears (from babies & mama), a lot of doubt in my ability to handle being a twin-mama, and a lot of make-up to mask my weary paleness if we ever ventured out of the house.
BUT then came months 5, 6, 7, .... again you get the picture. The girls started smiling at each other and at us. They took turns crying and babbling and even pooping! I can't even begin to describe how much fun they were becoming. There were plenty of times they both needed comforting and I would have my arms full of my two sweet daughters and just marvel at how blessed I was.
At first it was a lot to juggle (again, figuratively, I have no circus-type ability whatsoever) but then I started to notice the fun things about twins!
They are never alone. Seriously, almost never. They have someone to lie in bed with. Someone to read books with. Bathe with. They are used to a lot of noise and have learned from the beginning that they have to share mama. Not only do they have a big brother but mama always has at least one baby in her arms.
You have someone to weigh down the other side of the laundry basket so it doesn't tip over.
And something squishy to jump on.
And someone to share your birthday cake with. Well that one might not be too fun later but that's why mom made two cakes!
And someone else who has to take a bath in the sink so you're not the only one.
The girls follow each other around the house now and even though they don't always play together, they usually want to be close while they play with their own toys. When they wake up from their nap I usually walk in to find them standing in the corners of their cribs that are closest to each other and just babbling back and forth. (Not too unlike that adorable video making it's round on the internet).
I love folding two pairs of the same little pants and hunting for 4 shoes instead of two and I am amazed at how much baby food (used to be formula) we go through!
Even though they were born on the same day they are as different as can be. I am so excited to see them grow and change and discover who they are and I am so grateful they will have each other through all of it.
A little background first....When we first found out we were expecting twins I laughed. And laughed. And...well you get the point. I adored being mom to our oldest son, Levi and got that "itch" to expand our brood when he was quite young. It took much longer than I would have liked and so when I found out I was growing not just one but two babies I couldn't have been happier!!
I have a few friends with twins though and I never envied them. A friend of mine and I were due at the same time when I was pregnant with Levi. She was due with identical twin girls and they came a month before Levi. I marveled at how she juggled (figuratively...) two babies while I held my one little precious baby. I had heard horror stories about parents of twins and how, "You'll be fine if you can just survive the first year...". A year!! That is a long time!
All of this was swirling in my head and I worried about how I would handle 3 little ones at home. Well my sweet girls must have been quite traumatized by their entrance into this world because they basically slept for the first 2 months. We woke them to feed them and I remember wishing they would stay awake for more than 15 minutes at a time!
Then they started waking up. The next two months were .... hard. Little Sydney just wanted to sleep. She was so tired when she was awake that she didn't even know what to do. And Harper thought that if she wasn't sleeping she was supposed to be crying. Oh how she cried. Months 3 & 4 consisted of a lot of tears (from babies & mama), a lot of doubt in my ability to handle being a twin-mama, and a lot of make-up to mask my weary paleness if we ever ventured out of the house.
BUT then came months 5, 6, 7, .... again you get the picture. The girls started smiling at each other and at us. They took turns crying and babbling and even pooping! I can't even begin to describe how much fun they were becoming. There were plenty of times they both needed comforting and I would have my arms full of my two sweet daughters and just marvel at how blessed I was.
At first it was a lot to juggle (again, figuratively, I have no circus-type ability whatsoever) but then I started to notice the fun things about twins!
They are never alone. Seriously, almost never. They have someone to lie in bed with. Someone to read books with. Bathe with. They are used to a lot of noise and have learned from the beginning that they have to share mama. Not only do they have a big brother but mama always has at least one baby in her arms.
You have someone to weigh down the other side of the laundry basket so it doesn't tip over.
And something squishy to jump on.
And someone to share your birthday cake with. Well that one might not be too fun later but that's why mom made two cakes!
And someone else who has to take a bath in the sink so you're not the only one.
The girls follow each other around the house now and even though they don't always play together, they usually want to be close while they play with their own toys. When they wake up from their nap I usually walk in to find them standing in the corners of their cribs that are closest to each other and just babbling back and forth. (Not too unlike that adorable video making it's round on the internet).
I love folding two pairs of the same little pants and hunting for 4 shoes instead of two and I am amazed at how much baby food (used to be formula) we go through!
Even though they were born on the same day they are as different as can be. I am so excited to see them grow and change and discover who they are and I am so grateful they will have each other through all of it.
Thanks for sharing this Kendra. I cant believe you little girls are a year old already. I remember way back when you and I were at Hilltop together how much you wanted a baby and how exciting it was to hear that you were finally pregnant only to hear a bit later that you had lost that baby. It makes me so happy to hear about your cute little family and how happy you are. You and your husband are so blessed. Tom and I are too. We are so proud of our 4 kids and our grandkids are such a joy. We have 3 granddaughters now. They are 13, 7, and 2 1/2 and one on the way. We just found out that its a boy. We are so excited!! Enjoy this season with your little ones. Im sure that you have heard this a million times but once more wont hurt. The years go by sooooo very fast. I can tell that you are enjoying every minute though.
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