Introducing…

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IMG_856112088561_10101480880465599_5880826435607904315_nIntroducing… our beautiful baby girls! Born Thursday, October 1, 2015.

Sloane Anne Harvey
10:05am, 5lb 5 oz, 19in long

Maisie Lynne Harvey
10:06am, 5lb 1oz, 18 in long

They were born via planned c-section (post coming soon on the ins and outs of c-sections). Sloane was “grunting” after she was born and so after a quick introduction she was taken to the “Transition Nursery” which is the level between being in the room with you but not serious enough to admit into the Special Care Nursery (NICU) of the hospital. KH followed her as Maisie and I headed to recovery. After being in recovery almost the full hour, our sweet Maisie started “grunting” as well and had a low glucose (blood sugar test) and so she too was taken to the Transition Nursery. It was quite a wild ride. I was wheeled up to my room, after delivering two babies, and found myself alone which was a completely heart breaking experience as I wanted nothing more than for our sweet family to be all together.

A lot of different things happened (many of which are hard to remember at this point) but eventually Maisie came to join us in our room later day followed by Sloane. I was overjoyed. We spent one night all together in our room until the next morning when Maisie failed a couple of her glucose tests and she was admitted to the Special Care Nursery.

We spent the next several days going back and forth between our room and taking care ofScreen Shot 2015-10-09 at 11.21.14 PM Sloane, and the Special Care Nursery where we could visit Maisie. I wanted nothing more than for our family to be together! One comfort was found in one of our friends and neighbors who is a nurse in the Special Care Nursery. She took care of Maisie all day on Saturday and kept us updated on how she was doing. Maisie was eating well but it was zapping all of her energy so she eventually was put on a feeding tube. Lauren was the first to get her to drink out a bottle but then the following feeding was completely by tube again.

KH, Sloane and I were discharged on Sunday and sadly had to leave Maisie behind. KH and I spent the next couple of days going back and forth visiting Maisie during the day and then heading back to the hospital after Sloane’s 9pm feeding and visiting with her until close to midnight. Each day she was getting stronger and stronger and was eating less and less from the feeding tube.

On Tuesday we went to the hospital to visit Maisie and to our surprise we found out that not only would Maisie be going home- she would be going home with us immediately! We were expecting later that week so it was a complete and wonderful surprise to be able to pack up and get her home so quickly.

Screen Shot 2015-10-09 at 11.18.22 PMAnd so we made it home and surprised my mom, who was there watching our little man, and we walked up with BOTH babies and finally got our picture of 5 (6 with Toby!)

It’s crazy how recent it all was but how quickly everything is meshing toward and becoming a blur. We feel overjoyed and blessed to have our sweet daughters home together with us. Let the fun begin!

 

 

30 Weeks

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Well in case you were wondering, life IMG_7535is certainly bigger with twins! Today marks 30 weeks
with our baby girls. Here’s a side by side from when I was pregnant with Jude (left) and now the girls (on the right). Today I also hit one of my milestones- I’ve been super anxious, excited and ready to make it to the 30s. Here’s to getting even closer to our delivery date and the arrival of what we are praying will be two healthy babies. Currently no major complaints- I’m getting more and more tired, heartburn is getting worse but i’m managing and moving/walking is slower and more uncomfortable (especially at night after a long day).  6 more weeks to go! Can’t wait!

15 Months!

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IMG_7606 Our sweet boy is 15 months today! He is growing and changing so much its hard to capture it all! He currently weighs 21 pounds and is about 30 inches tall. Despite his dad’s 6’3″ height our little man is hanging in right around the 25th percentile for his size. He is finally growing out of his 12 month clothes and now wears 12-18 month (Old Navy and Gap) and 18 month clothes (Carters).

Jude is running all over the place and prefers to walk into school instead of being carried. Still no definite words but the closest is when he holds a phone, remote or anything else up to his ear and says “hi!” 🙂 He can say please, more and all done in sign language and also waves bye and night night.

He still loves his paci and also enjoys playing outside with his Little Tikes car, as well as playing with balls, cars, trucks, books, Little People playsets and any boxes, bags or anything else random laying around the house.

This boy is keeping us running around and on our toys but we are loving every minute. He’s a handful and tons of fun all at the same time 🙂

His current schedule during the day is..

  • 7AM: Wake and Breakfast with Milk
  • 9:30AM: Snack at school
  • 12:00PM: Lunch and Milk at school
  • 1:30PM-3:30PM: NAP
  • 3:30PM: Snack at school
  • 6:00PM: Dinner and Milk
  • 6:30PM: Bath
  • 7:00PM: Bed

Showers for the Twins

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This month we were blessed by two wonderful showers for our baby girls. The first one was hosted by my mother-in-law and was a diaper and gift card shower and the second one was hosted by 6 dear friends from work. Both of them were so special and so thoughtfully planned and I thoroughly enjoyed them both so much. Kyle and I feel so blessed by the love and support of so many who are helping us prepare and celebrate as we await the arrival of our daughters!

Some favorite gifts for our twins if you’re looking for items to add to your own registry or give to someone having twins (remember these aren’t our first children so our needs are different than someone having twins as their first and second children as opposed to their second and third).

  • DIAPERS (its not fun for the person who buys it but its so so helpful!)
  • WIPES (same as above- the big boxes from Costco are awesome!)
  • More bottles, bibs, blankets, pacis and swaddles
  • A second bouncy seat, pack n play, carseat, and camera for our monitor
  • A double stroller and double snap n go with accessories
  • Another changing pad and cover
  • Sound machine for the bedroom and for travel
  • Sheets and bedding for two cribs
  • Bath sponges, towels and toys
  • Coordinating outfits (and/or matching outfits)
  • Lovies and toys
  • A git for the big brother! (My sis got our little man a Little People playset which he loves)

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First Day of Toddlers!

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Today marks Jude’s first day in his new Toddler’s class with his new teachers: Ms Luciane, Ms Amy and Miss Hannah. He will officially move to a more formal schedule with his classmates with no morning nap (only one longer afternoon nap now) as well as a set morning snack, lunch and afternoon snack time. We decided to celebrate the occasion by transitioning out of the diaper bag and into a book bag 🙂 I’m pretty sure our little man loves his new REI gear. 🙂

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First Haircut

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Days away from our little man’s 15 month birthday, we took Jude to get his first haircut. We opted for a place about 20 minutes away called Circus Cuts. Overall we were moderately happy with the experience- liked the hair dresser and loved the haircut itself yet the venue left much be desired (and cleaned!).. not sure the last time it saw a vacuum or a lysol wipe…but we made it! Next time I’ll probably research and ask around a little bit more to try and find a cleaner location that still caters toward young children. But, in the end our boy ended up with a great and much needed haircut just before school tomorrow. So handsome!

(Please excuse his blank stare in IMG_7287the picture on the left- he was distracted by an Elmo video during the entire experience!)

Peanut Butter Pie

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IMG_6850This is another great recipe from our friend and neighbor Jenny. She made it as a welcome home treat for her husband after he returned from a long work trip and now I’ve decided to try it on our family.  The end of summer is almost here and so the entire family is coming over this weekend for a BBQ and pool party. A cold and tasty treat sounds just perfect for our weekend festivities and should satisfy even our pickiest eaters. This pie is so easy and yummy- perfect to make ahead of time so have one less thing to think about when entertaining guests. I hope you enjoy it!

Ingredients:

  • 25 Oreos (a little less than one package)
  • 4 tablespoons butter, melted
  • 1 cup creamy peanut butter
  • One 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
  • 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
  • One 8-ounce package Cool Whip, thawed

Directions:

For the crust: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Crush the cookies until they’re fine crumbs. Pour the melted butter over the top and stir with a fork to combine. Press into a pie pan and bake until set, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.

For the filling: Beat the peanut butter with the cream cheese until smooth. Add the powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Add in the thawed Cool Whip and beat until smooth, scraping the sides as needed.

Pour the filling into the crust, evening out the top with a knife or spatula. Chill for at least an hour before serving (best if chilled overnight).

Original recipe available here.

Gift Ideas for 1 year old Boys

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We are headed to my friend Haleigh’s son’s 1st birthday party today! For the first time buying a gift for a child’s birthday party wasn’t an overwhelming task. For years as friends had birthday parties for their kids I was constantly faced with, “What is the world do I buy a “X” year old boy/girl that he/she will absolutely love?!” I was clueless. Now that we have a 1 year old boy (and am around other 1 year old as well) I finally have a grasp on what boys, at least, love to play with at this age and hope this helps out anyone else who might need a tip or toe on what to get a little one..

Gift ideas for 1 year old boys:

  • Fisher Price Little People playsets
  • Trucks/cars that he can push around- big chunky ones that are easy for him to crawl or walk and push as opposed to little cars
  • Balls
  • Board books
  • Water table
  • Little Tikes car
  • Swim suits and personalized and/or matching beach towels (more for the parents – but my bestie got our little guy this for his 1st and I absolutely love it)
  • If they are still learning to walk then anything they can stand and push to walk with like this.

Happy Shopping!

 

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Chocolate Chip Cookies

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I often visit my blog to recall past recipes and previous information- its the original reason I started blogging in the first place, to capture everything I want to remember and have it all in one place. So tonight I came to the blog looking for this recipe and I couldn’t believe I hadn’t posted it yet. This is one of my favorite recipes for traditional chocolate chip cookies that are anything but ordinary. Trust me….your taste buds will thank you! Served best warm with a tall glass of cold milk. 🙂 Enjoy!

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Ingredients: (see below before you start measuring! – this makes a TON- save this quantity for a bake sale or a neighborhood block party) 🙂

  • 1 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 2 cups brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
  • 6 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons baking soda
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 4-5 cups semisweet chocolate chips (4 cups is 2 bags)
Ingredients: (1/3 the recipe = 3 dozen cookies)
  • 1 stick and 3 tbsp butter
  • 2/3 cup packed brown super
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 1 egg
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1/2 tbs baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cream butter and sugars in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until smooth. Add in eggs and vanilla, and cream on medium high speed.

2. Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl and slowly add to mixture. Mix until fully incorporated, but do not over mix. Fold in chocolate chips with a wooden spoon.

3. Drop by heaping tablespoonfuls onto baking sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until starting to brown.

Original recipe available here.