8 Months Old!

Two thirds of a year! My sweet little girls are getting so big!

• Crawling is imminent for Teagan. She is always on her hands and knees or feet, rocking back and forth. Quinn is starting to do the army crawl. She is an extremely proficient roller though so I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't do much crawling.

• The girls attended their first New Years Eve party! We debated on going at all because we're pretty strict about bedtime. On that night, we fed the girls and packed them in their car seats in their pjs. They were both asleep on the ride over. Quinn stayed asleep and slept through the entire party. Teagan, on the other hand, woke up just as we were arriving. We tried to get her back to sleep but she would have nothing of it. She wanted to party. 

• They've tried a ton of different fruits and veggies - butternut squash, sweet potato, apples, pears, banana, avocado, broccoli, cauliflower, mango, beets, green beans, carrots, peas, blueberries...I'm sure there are more. They both love food and are great eaters. They are currently eating two "meals" per day. They still nurse just as often. 

• Over the Christmas holidays, the girls went through what we believe was a teething period. Their sleep was very affected making for two very exhausted moms. They went from sleeping through the night to waking several times. We had been so good about establishing good sleep habits. All of that went out the window for a 10-day period. While they're back to their good sleeping ways, we still have NO TEETH to show for it all!

• They are talking and babbling like crazy. As I mentioned in a previous post, they often say, "dadadada." Also included in their repertoire is "bababa," "gaga," "ahhhhh," "mamama"

• Teagan has stranger anxiety. If people she doesn't know or those who she doesn't see often try to talk to her, she will usually get quite upset and sometimes cry. She is a big "mommy's girl" and will sometimes only want me. Fortunately, Quinn will almost always go with anyone. As a result, she is usually the guinea pig who gets passed around when someone wants to hold a baby :)

• They have graduated to their "big girl" bath tub. The Fisher Price infant whale tub has seen its last days. They were having far too much fun kicking water all over the bathroom which was hilarious to watch but not so fun to clean up. 

A little smile for Miss Q!

Teagan thinks picture time is hilarious

...apparently it got even funnier!

Twins

I don't normally like to post two things in one day, but I saw this tonight and thought it was too cute not to share.

There's two to wash, there's two to dry,

There's two who argue, there's two who cry.

One's in the mud having a ball,

The other holds a crayon, another marked wall.

Some days seem endless, my patience grows thin.

Why was I chosen to be a mother of twins?

The answer comes clear at the end of the day,

As I tuck them in bed and to myself I say,

There's two to kiss, there's two to hug,

And best of all, there's two to love.

Tis The Season...

...for colds and flus.

On Tuesday night, I started feeling a bit under the weather. I went to bed early in the hopes that a good night's sleep would fend off any potential sickness. Unfortunately, I woke up on Wednesday morning still feeling a bit rough. I wasn't sick. I was just not feeling 100%.

As with pregnancy, while breastfeeding, you need to be careful about what you take while sick. In general, I try to deal with illness as naturally as possible. This is what I did yesterday to try and prevent a real illness from coming on:

• I drank a TON of water - I'm talking a minimum of 3L, in order to flush out the bug.Id
• I downed 3 cloves of raw garlic (over the course of the day) - Yes, I know that sounds awful but raw garlic is amazing for your body. It is anti-bacterial, anti-microbial and immune-boosting, among other things. If the clove is small enough, down it whole. Otherwise, use a garlic press and crush it up. This is what I did. I threw it on the back of my tongue and downed a huge glass of water. 
• Homemade tea with fresh ginger and fresh lemon (and a touch of honey) - Like garlic, ginger has amazing anti-microbial and anti-bacterial properties. It is excellent at helping to kill cold viruses and eliminating congestion. Lemon gives your body a great hit of vitamin C when it needs it the most. 
• Mediherb Echinacea - This powerful herb stimulates the immune system to fight off viruses (and bacteria) naturally. Mediherb makes very high quality herbs. Always follow the dosage instructions on the bottle. 
• Vitamin C - We all know of vitamin C's ability to help fight infection. Since vitamin C is water-soluble, the body will only absorb about 500-1000mg at any given time. Therefore, taking tons of it is useless. I took 1000mg every two hours yesterday. 
• Probiotics - Since 80% of the immune system lives in the digestive tract, keeping our gut healthy should be a priority. I take probiotics regularly, as do my babies.
• Good ol sleep - Nothing beats a good night's sleep!

Fortunately, I woke this morning feeling a million times better. Hopefully my body has fought of the potential cold for the time being.