Breakfast in Bed

I have no real excuse for not writing, because my in-laws have been here and that has afforded me a lot of free time.  Meaning, I get to take a shower each morning without worrying about whether someone is crying and not being attended to.  And I have gotten naps, and Eric and I even made it out of the house to buy ice cream from Dairy Queen, just the two of us. It makes life so much easier to have extra hands around!  My mother-in-law, Pat, also changes dirty diapers all the time, saving me the effort.  Eric has really had a lot of time off from babies, and he and my father-in-law, Steve, have been out in the garden every day.  Our front yard looks beautiful, and we now have some herbs and vegetables in the back.

Things are in a pretty good "routine" around here.  We feed during the night when they wake up and ask for it.  This varies, some nights it's at about 1 am, 4 am, and then wake up around 8 am.  On two very lovely nights, they went to sleep by 11 and slept til 4 or 5!  The day after that I feel very alert.  We generally have our first feeding of the "day" around 8.  That's when the boys have their breakfast in bed-- I'll go get whoever is breastfeeding at that time and bring him back into the bed where I nurse and watch the Today show.  I really enjoy this slow start to the day.  I don't get my breakfast in bed anymore, but these guys do!  We then feed them throughout the day when they're hungry, which varies from between 2-4 hours.  In between feeds I try to do something-- shower, or take them for a walk, or go somewhere for an errand.  Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn't.

The boys get cuter by the minute.  I am in love with all their little parts and mannerisms.  Ben has a very expressive face, and I always laugh when he scrunches up his forehead or makes googly eyes at us.  He also clenches his hands into little fists while he eats and spreads them out when he's done.  Asher moves his arms a lot more, when you set him down on his back he waves his arms.  Both boys make little sounds when they eat that I think are just adorable.  Asher has this kind of moan/hum that I think of as his version of a purr.  Ben makes little squeaks.  I want to take video of it so that we can have it for posterity, but we can't find our video camera (this is typical of us).  Asher is getting more and more alert, he will spend time awake being held, or on his tummy.  Sometimes he is very agreeable to being put down awake, and will just wave his arms and legs until he falls asleep.  Other times, they both insist on being held.  Fortunately, with their grandparents here, there is usually someone who volunteers to hold them. 

I am glad that I am nursing, since I get time with each of them that I might not have otherwise.  I just hate that I often have to leap up and pump right afterward!  Right now I HATE my breasts.  They are enormous!  I am never comfortable with them, my nipples are sore from constantly feeding/pumping, and when I am full with milk I am literally busting out of whatever bra or top I have on.  I am constantly aware of how my breasts feel (full? empty? painful?).  Oh, and clothes... I can't wear the majority of my tops because my breasts don't fit into anything!  I have some nursing tank tops, and I wear those and my mom gave me some nice loose tops for my birthday, but I basically had to clear my drawers out of all my tops.  Right now I am planning to nurse/pump until they are 6 months old.  I have made it through almost 1 month now and although my life is constrained by our schedule, we are managing just fine. 

Here is a picture of Asher in his memere's arms:

And here is a picture of both boys on their pepere's chest: