Friday, June 26, 2015

Huggies and Chuggies

Back in January (I told you there were some things I needed to still write about..), Bobby threw Daniel a men's diaper shower.  Huggies and chuggies, if you will.  All of Daniel's closest guy friends got together to smoke cigars, booze it up, and shower us with lots of diapers.  We have incredible friends, and were thrilled that we received so many diapers.  We received so many, that Daniel made a throne out of all of the cases:
When you walk into our house, here is the view of our amazing tower of diapers in our dining room (because who needs a dining room when you have twin babes).
this is 12 weeks in, 1760 diapers less

Here's a fun twin fact for you: we go through approximately 20 diapers a day.  The girls have been in this world for 88 days, so we've gone through about 1,760 diapers to date.  Last week, we finally transitioned from newborn diapers to size 1.  Woo hoo for growing babies!

Another fun fact: even though we had a TON of diapers, we had to purchase them when we first came home from the hospital!  Why you ask?  We weren't prepared with preemie diapers.  Tiny-babies-parenting-fail.

Thursday, June 25, 2015

The #doublesinks first trip to The Bay!

We go to the Bay every summer, and love every second of sun and relaxation.  There's something about Bull's Bay that releases every single relaxation hormone in your body.  Last summer, we took my family for the first time and announced to them that we were having a baby.  Little did we all know, we were actually having TWO babies!  So much changed between now and that happy day that we told our families our good news, but from that moment - we knew we couldn't wait to bring our baby(ies) to The Bay.  My family made a last-minute decision on Monday (Memorial Day) to head to the Bay for a long weekend on Friday.  I had to do some scrambling with laundry and packing, and it was definitely a lot different trying to figure out traveling with two, but did all of that happily knowing where we were headed! 

Here was part of my packing list traveling with newborn babies:
75 diapers
42 bibs
15 burp cloths
12 bottles
10 outfits
8 pairs of pajamas
6 bathing suits
5 swaddles
3 cans of formula


Yep, those precious girls require lots of stuff.  But honestly, I think now is the "easy" stage.  They sleep a lot, don't require toys and entertainment, and are immobile.  We planned it all out - we packed the van entirely, fed the girls, put them into their car seats and off we went.  They did so well both there and back - they slept the entire time.  After a quick three-hour trip, and a visit through Dairy Queen's drive-thru vs. our normal bathroom/snack pit stop, we were finally at our happy place as a new family of four
After we fed the girls, had a few outfit changes (baby + momma) due to Ella's bathroom habits - we headed straight for the dock!

Sydney & Daniel in full relaxation mode

Ella & me

It's not a very good picture (it's hard when you have two babies + two adults), but here we all are - "sittin' on the dock of the bay"

Obviously Sydney loves it here

Here are the girls - all swaddled up for the night.  This is the first time they slept together (and next to momma and daddy), and did awesome!  Made it 6 hours :)
We woke up and after we fed the girls, all ate breakfast, and slathered on sunscreen - we headed down to the dock for a day filled with sun & water.  Well... kind of.  Things are a bit different with littles.  We spent a few hours down on the dock, and came back when it was "too hot" for naps, bottles, and air conditioning! 
morning nap!  I'm sure the set-up looks familiar, we brought their favorite spot to The Bay

sun-bathing beauties.  well, shade-bathing beauties.  They slept in their little pod and settled in nicely, in full relaxation mode.  Love that they always have to be touching each other


Sink Family of Four at Bull's Bay

Momma and Ella (I think??)

perfect afternoon - reading a book with a beautiful Ella in my lap

Nana & Sydney

perfect picture to sum up the cousins - Abby playing in her pool, the twins relaxing in their pod
I've been trying to find time when it's not sweltering and when I have thirty minutes sans babies to start working out/running again.  I had to stop cold-turkey when we found out we were having two instead of one.  I used to LOVE working out - the classes at the gym were my favorite, so it was a tough change I had to make to bake healthy babies.  I had an awesome "treadmill" at the Bay, so I made sure to wake up early and take full advantage (which is hard to do when all I want to do is sleep in!). 
perfect ending to my run :)

I peeked in our room when I came back from my run and saw this sight
Daniel still bundled up and the girls are snoozing away

sisters sleeping together <3
The second day was awfully similar to the first!  Sun, relaxation, and snoozing.  I saw a cute newborn summer picture on Pinterest, and thought it would be cute to recreate it.  Pinterest fail - the girls HATED me, and it shows :)

I know I've said it before that Ella loves to eat/lick anything near her face.  I caught her holding onto Sydney's leg for dear life, and trying so hard to eat it.  It was SO funny



all that cannibalism wore them out - so peaceful and relaxed together.
Ella is holding her bottle on her own!

The girls' first golf cart ride.  Ella is thrilled

D & E

S & K

snapped a quick selfie with my better half

the Sink family & a gorgeous sunset

Daddy & Sydney <3


there isn't much better than a sunset at the Bay... other than enjoying it with your newly expanded family :)


Two months

Month #2 went by as fast as the first.  Our girls are still tiny, but amazing.

Ella Grace Sink

Ella LOVES to lick things.  Literally, licks everything in front of her face, so I had to capture her going to town on the box!

Sydney Ann Sink

We are two months old!

Daddy & Ella

Sydney looking up at her dad :)

sweet girls!


At two months old, they still sleep.  Every 3.5-4 hours they eat.  They are starting to stay awake more.  We let them sleep as long as they want at night, but the most they've slept is 5 hours.  We always wake up the sleeping one, and they love to switch off who is sleeping hardest!  Sydney wakes up more-so than Ella, but hopefully that will get better as she gains weight.  Ella is 9 pounds 3 ounces, Sydney is 7 pounds 13 ounces.  Ella is in the 10th percentile for weight, Sydney is in the "less than third" percentile.

The theme for the second month? 
Full arms, even fuller heart.

The second month

The second month was an awful lot like the first - Groundhog Day, every day.  We were still in the feed-burp-change diapers-rock-smile stage.  The girls slowly started to wake up a little bit more each day - a much more dramatic difference closer to the end of the second month.  We aren't much on a schedule at all - basically when they eat (every 3.5 hours) is what our world revolves around.  We still watch Friends during feeds, and it's still one of my favorite memories.  We still try to hold them every day and soak them up.

tired dad and two tired babies - melts my heart

I love that Ella has reached out to "hold" Sydney's hand
Having spring-time babies is THE BEST.  We spend lots of time outside.  The fresh air is good for everyone, and we don't feel cooped up inside all day long.  We LOVE the pillow blankets from the Lehman's... and move their perch from indoors on that blanket to the great outdoors.
hanging around on the deck

cute little twin butts

Sydney has a question

loving on my girl Ella
 Five weeks has passed already??
5.4 - getting ready for our first trip to Boulevard Flowers

I walked into the room and captured this sweet moment for the first time - the girls "holding" hands.  They obviously can't hold each others hands, but they wrap their arms around each other and hold on tight <3

there isn't anything better than a sleeping baby on your chest - well, maybe two babies.  Ella loves to be nuzzled in your neck

Sydney decided she wanted to hold her bottle for the first time!


Sarah came to visit!  total natural, right??

ummm wrong.  here's a behind the scenes look at what it takes to get a good picture with two.  look at that face - and I mean Sarah's, not the girls.
Like I said, we love to be outside.  I decided to get some yard-work done, so what's a mom to do with her twins?  Put them in a laundry basket, of course!  I toted them around the yard - from shady spot to shady spot.  They loved it
Ella is wearing green, Sydney in blue.  They love being outside, close to each other, and sleeping - their version of a perfect afternoon!  And a momma's slice of heaven
Gorgeous Ella and Sydney's cute little toes

Precious Sydney

<3 <3

we worked on a fun Mother's Day craft!

my favorite new piece of art on our fridge

two amazing coworkers and a perfect evening to grill out

Sink, party of four <3
My very first [happy] Mother's Day was finally here!  Last year, I had a tough day because I was supposed to be pregnant with our first baby.  Well, as fate would have it, Mother's Day 2014 was a stark reminder of what could have been.  Fast forward one year and I would never have dreamed I would be a twin-momma.  Daniel made my special day absolutely perfect.  He had his mom spend the night so I could sleep ALL.NIGHT.LONG.  It was glorious.  We woke up and Daniel fixed us French toast.  I was showered with cards and a gorgeous necklace.  It's pearl + Aquamarine, the March birthstone.  I went upstairs to get myself ready, and came downstairs to this stud tandem-feeding the girls, so I didn't have to!
makes my heart smile!

A new momma and her new twin daughters

full arms, even fuller heart <3
 We headed to Daniel's mom for a family get-together
Ella said no more pictures, mom, and Sydney is holding onto Ella

Daniel & Ella

Grandma Stella and her Great-Grand-Girls.  As a shower gift, she gave me these beautiful smocked gowns.  They look adorable - like itty bitty baby dolls
Then we stopped by to see my momma.  I can't go a Mother's Day without giving my own mom a big hug and kiss.  I'm so thankful I'm learning how to be a momma from the very best.  She is teaching me patience and how to love fiercely.  She comes by on the days Daniel is at work, and I've loved our time together.  I'm so proud Sydney is named after her (well, halfway, since all three of us share the same middle name!).
Nana and Sydney

beautiful Ella Grace

beautiful Sydney Ann

Nana and her new twin grand-daughters on Mother's Day

three generations

5.11 - six weeks new.  Love their tiny legs in the air

Sydney asleep on Daniel - gripping on tight

sister-tummy-time
I think I've mentioned it before - but Sydney LOVES to hold onto things.  She grips onto anything near her so tight.  One day, Daniel was bathing her (and she doesn't enjoy a nice relaxing bath) and she was SCREAMING.  He flipped her over to wash her back, and she gripped onto the bath tub.  He lifted her and she lifted the tub.  Girlfriend was holding on for dear life.  But when she holds tightly onto your hands, and often does it when you're feeding her, it's the sweetest thing.
holding onto Momma's fingers tight


both girls were fussy.  I had to happily stop what I was doing and just love them


Sink-family selfie

hey sis!

perfect afternoon - reading a good book with a gorgeous view.  We moved from our blanket inside to the blanket outside

love having my hands full.  sometimes you just need to stop what you're doing and rock your babies

loved this view of my lap - four tiny feet, twenty cute toes

And we've broken free!  Sink sibling outing to see Pitch Perfect 2.  Our awesome neighbors watched/loved on the girls so we could go to the movies.  I love this handsome man

Daniel and his mini-me.  She loves him

and he loves her

two fussy babies again - I need more arms

and we even had an EXTRA SPECIAL visitor - all the way from Blacksburg!

precious Sydney - soak it up

The girls were thrilled to be 7 weeks old!
And when our itty bitty girls were 7 weeks old, they got sick for the first time.  We go outside a lot - and since it's peak springtime allergy/pollen season, the girls would occasionally get congested.  Their congestion turned into a terrible cough.  We took them to the doctor and started them on meds, and in a day or so they were back to new, but it caused some momma-anxiety on my part.  Hate seeing our tiny-twins sick.  So what do you do when you have sick babies?  You stay in your PJs all day, don't get a single thing done except rock and hold and rock.
I often feel like I don't have enough hands or lap space.  Here I am rocking Ella on my chest and rocking Sydney on my legs... you have to get creative when both babies fuss

am I cute, or what?

and sick babies means I had to learn how to wear one of them in the Moby Wrap for the first time
When Sydney was born, she had a heart murmur.  It wasn't a big deal, actually the type of murmur she had is very common and normally goes away.  Here she is at her six-week check-up with the cardiologist.
all hooked up to machines

such a trooper!  she received the all-clear

Cute Sydney visiting mom's work.  This is the first time I saw her INTENTIONALLY smile!!  But of course, it stopped when I pulled out the camera

Sydney had a super fussy night, but how can you get mad at this amazing smiling face??

snuggle buddies on momma's lap

enough with the pictures!
 We celebrated Memorial Day with our first trip to the pool!


Abby eating lunch and sitting with her favorite girls!
 ...speaking of favorites, she REALLY likes Ella right now.  "How's Ella?" (pronounced Ewwa).  "I like (wike) her"  She only wants to hold Ella and doesn't want to have much to do with Sydney.  Except, she love the color purple and if we have anything pink/purple, Ella gets pink and Sydney gets purple, which throws Abby for a loop.

And on a side note - she can't tell them apart.  She gets it wrong every.single.time.
"holding" hands

pool-side nap with Aunt Kelly and our cousin (still baking)

5.25 and eight weeks old

Daniel and his full lap!

Aren't these the cutest little ruffle butts?