The Sink Family!: January: RSV & SNOW!

Our January started off with the never-ending RSV Chronicles. Once we got home from the hospital, they kept going and going and going. Ella kept improving - she started to smile and giggle more, which was better for our souls than you would ever know. She would laugh, and we would say how happy it made us to hear that sweet sound. Now Sydney on the other hand was hanging tough fighting her own RSV battle. This is what's funny about my two - they are completely different. Night and day... in every way, shape, and form. Even when it comes to fighting off RSV. Ella started off bad, got worse, and ended up in the hospital. Sydney started out slow, became mediocre, and stayed mediocre... and stayed there, and stayed there. Hers dragged on f-o-r-e-v-e-r. Each day we expected her to turn it around and to go to daycare, but her fever hung on. She never quit eating completely like Ella, but ate about so-so. She didn't sleep great and managed okay in the rock-and-sleep most nights. We eventually put Ella back in her crib (when she came home from the hospital, she was so hoarse, we couldn't hear her when she cried, so out of paranoia, I kept her next to me for a few nights). On Thursday, Sydney's fever spiked up to 104, we went to the doctor, and they basically gave her 24 hours to turn it around. While she didn't turn it around completely, she made enough of an improvement that we were able to stay at home, and not visit Ella's old stomping grounds. But then she pulled it on through, and after missing 9 days of daycare (she must have loved hanging out with Nana every day), she was back at it with her sis! Though, by the time they were both back in daycare, Daniel and I were starting to lose it. We were beyond tired and grumpy, anxiously waiting for things to get healthy and back to normal. We wanted to sleep through the night without rocking a sad and unwell babe. We wanted to eat dinner in peace and together, alone, married. We survived it, a little worse for the wear, but we did it.

this looks all-too familiar but with babies and not newborns: rocking one in my arms and the other with my foot

finally - both are asleep and momma gets a break!

this is what our weekend morning looked like - napping babies and lazy parents

we had a Saturday night rager - all we wanted to do was sit down and relax and watch Netflix - that's too much to ask, so we had a party in the family room

A few days after coming home from the hospital, we had a check-up at the doctor - would you look at this happy and healthy girl!? Weighing in at 15 lbs (I think she lost some weight while she was sick), she left with a good report!

another one bites the dust... her fuzzy blonde hair is hilarious, but her face is so pitiful!

Sydney sleepover

getting humidified

happy Ella loving on her favorite Daddy

hey girl

finally - this was the first day we didn't wake up to a fever in over two weeks!

The day we came home from the hospital with Ella, Matthew took Daniel's dad to the ER for serious vomiting. Honestly - this is real horrible - but I just couldn't go back to that place. I needed a break for at least 24 hours, and so did Daniel. There are 3 other siblings that could handle it while we took a small break and helped get our babies healthy. Long story short - he ended up having part of his colon removed, and spent 8 days in the hospital. We did the best we could to visit and check on him, but we were still in survival and recovery mode. He's doing better now, and we are hoping that by having his "dead" colon out, he'll get healthy and feel better and be more motivated to want to get out and do things.

We had a three-day weekend to recuperate... thanks Martin Luther King. I made a fabulous pot roast in the crock-pot, we had the Malady's over for Sunday dinner and puzzles, and the girls witnessed their first snow fall. And you know I'm a freak, so we bundled those babies up and took them outside for about 3 minutes. They were HILARIOUS. They couldn't move in their snow suits, and were less than thrilled with their situation. Daniel and I laughed so hard.

I can't even..

not sumo wrestlers, snow angels :)

Going..

...going...

...gone!

happy momma with her arms full of HEALTHY babes! (can handle those outfits??)

Then on our MLK holiday, we had a 9-month well-check-up! Weeks and weeks of RSV pushed our appointment back a few times, but we finally made it. We have two super petite, super healthy girls. Ella weighed 15 lbs 9 oz (making up for being sick!) and Sydney weighed 13 lbs even. They are both < 3 % on the growth chart. They had to re-measure Sydney's head because it dropped off quite a bit, but the re-measure put her exact with Ella, and yet again - < 3 %. Tiny heads for tiny bodies! It's kind of funny, since we wanted big huge round heads for so long. We have round, but not big or huge :) They're just perfect! So much stress involving those sweet heads of theirs. They are an inch apart in length, and 40-50%, so average skinny minies.

I can't get enough of these three... and those girls just adore their daddy!

After their appointment, we treated ourselves to lunch out to celebrate surviving 9+ months, in sickness and in health! Ella didn't sleep for long, so she enjoyed some one-on-one time with Momma and Daddy and some cheerios.

haha, Sydney can not only pull up on the toy crate, but she can fall in

I love being covered in beautiful, sleeping, and healthy babies! Our girls may be tiny, but I love that they can both still fit in my arms.

these two crack us up!

And then... PB&J... back in action! Daycare, here we come!

we go together like PB&J

haha.. they were cracking up at each other

Daddy & Ella selfie.. look at her gorgeous smile!

I'm a horrible mom... Ella slowly slipped lower and lower into a split and was unhappy that she couldn't move, so naturally I laughed and photographed it.

So 95% of the time when you live in central VA and the meteorologists call for snow, they're wrong. Or the totals start at 10" and you end up with 2". And everyone goes to the store for milk, eggs, and bread for no reason at all. Well, this time when they were calling for a "big snow fall", their totals kept increasing instead of decreasing for our neck of the woods, so I figured it was probably legit. Since the snow was supposed to start on Friday morning after we'd already be at work, they closed the office on Thursday. So we got to cut off our alarms (woo hoo!), and our alarm clocks were two beautiful baby girls. We made a big breakfast (because that's what you do on snow days!), cut on the weather, and waited for the snow to start.

look at that happy, never-sitting-still, Sydney!

I put the girls down for their nap around 9:30, and told them when they woke up they'd be able to look outside and see white. Happy to say I didn't disappoint.

Whispering to each other about why everything looks so pretty outside

The girls watched Daddy shovel the driveway. Mom of the year right here - right after I snapped this photo (which they hated because the glass was so cold on their hands... pictures are deceiving), the front door popped open and they both went face-first into the snow. it was hilarious and sad at the same time, they were PISSED at me... sorry girls, all for a cute photo :)

Sydney helped me do some laundry

and Daddy was covered in cute babies!

After the girls went to bed, Daniel and I got to enjoy our newly screened-in porch and awesome gas firepit. I made a mug of cider, we bundled up, and listened to the sleet (yep... it snowed all day and turned to sleet, because we are Virginia and weird weather things happen). It was nice and quiet and I really, really, really love our new porch. And our firepit that turns on and off with just the turn of a knob.

love him, no matter the weather

We woke up to more snow. After sleeting for several hours, it turned back over to snow. So what did we do? We cooked a big breakfast, and kept sneaking in episodes of Making a Murderer on Netflix where we could - during naps, while the girls were quietly playing, or even when they were snuggled up with us!

poor Ella wasn't feeling great, so I didn't mind extra snuggles with my girl, a fire, and Netflix

Sydney

The craziness of being solo sometimes - Baby A eating a bottle in Momma's lap, Baby B playing in Momma's lap

insane how much snow we got - and it was still coming down!

they're both on the move! Ella hasn't perfected crawling on all 4's quite yet, but she's close!

Ella clapping - her favorite thing to do!

this was the scene when we opened up the garage door for Daniel to shovel... it's hard to tell, but there's a car on the left

this is what I live for - two happy parents snuggling with their twin girls, watching Netflix

Ella is too cute - look at all that snow outside!

sorry guys, that's not a petite Santa Clause, that's Sydney! She looks just like the jolly old man when we put magic cream on her face to try to clear up her eczema

Sydney is such a nut... she loves socks and chewing on them like an animal

It snowed for 36 hours straight. That's unheard of for us. When we went to bed that night, it was still snowing, but woke up to sunshine the next day! We couldn't hang out on our porch because we had at least one inch of snow INSIDE the porch from the wind... so crazy!

gorgeous view outside of our front door

11302 Pintail Landing Pl - looking pretty!

After being cooped up for a few days, we decided to venture out, and took the girls sledding! I mean, what parent's DON'T take their almost-10 month old babies out sledding?

oftentimes this is our situation: Ella is unhappy and Sydney is thrilled.

Side-note: sometimes Ella wakes up from a nap grumpy.
Lesson learned: don't take a grumpy baby outside in the freezing cold and expect them to love being in mountains of snow

Sydney measured 14"! They are 26.5" and 27.5" - so it was over half their height

the amazing Kim helped us sled - it takes a village to take two babies out sledding!

Sydney is making snow angels and Ella is coming to grips with her situation

haha I love how Syd is looking at Ella

we had meatballs for the very first time!

coming out to visit Daddy while he helped the neighbors shovel the STREET

there's the animal again... eating a burp cloth

On the 4th day of the great snow-mageddon, we went sledding again! Ella smiled a few times, and only cried a little. Progress, people. Sydney on the other hand is such a dare-devil. I see many stitches, broken bones, and "hey mom watch this!" in our future.

look at Elle - I see a smile and that pretty dimple!

#doublesinks go #doublesledding - look at Sydney's face!

at the bottom of the hill

selfies with my girl while Sydney and Daddy zoom down the hill

haha, Daniel coming back up the hill with what looks like a fake doll

Sydney wanted to get Ella's hat so bad, but couldn't because her hands were covered up

snow angels

me and my girls - everyone is smiling!

Sydney needed some loving, so we snuggled for a while :)

After we dug out of over a foot of snow, life returned back to normal.

pretty proud of myself for getting so many chocolate & sprinkle covered desserts done for Andrea's baby sprinkle at work

Hold the phone - we have some celebrities in the house!

Two adorable Hokies, Ella & Sydney, made it into the Winter edition of the Virginia Tech Magazine. Twins in a laundry basket.

We made it to the weekend, and this is what lazy Saturdays are made up of:

two happy girls taking over our bed

holding hands

breakfast wasn't served quick enough for Ella

stealing pacifiers, and momma's heart!

Bath time has turned hilarious. We no longer try to keep the babies from drowning and they splash around and play. Sydney splashes like a crazy baby and gets everything wet.

Sydney found her reflection, and Ella-the-animal eats a washcloth

Ella has perfected crawling on all fours, and this is what our lives look like: babies escaping! It's cute, though, they don't move too fast, and they don't get into TOO much stuff.

stay out of my craft room! come back babies!!

getting ready to transition babies from carseat-to-cribs... the key is in the preparation

Remember just a few days before when we had 14 INCHES of snow on the ground? Well, just like that, it was 60 degrees and we enjoyed a little bit of time on the porch.