6 Months: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Here is Take 2 on this post...somehow I lost it when I first tried last night. 6 Months today!

THE GOOD:
-I am still breastfeeding both babies successfully (and still loving my appetite...I've officially hit pre-pregnancy weight...it took a while to drop 60-plus pounds, but I did it!)
-Both babies keep smiling and laughing more and more! Peter's laugh is loud, sounds like a goat, and he sticks his tongue out when he does it. Joy's laugh was very quiet and sometimes would sound like she was hyperventilating, up until a couple days ago, when she had her first "real" out-loud laugh.
-It's garage sale season! I plan to clothe my children in all secondhand clothing with very few exceptions. And I don't think their clothes are any less cute than new ones!
-No allergic reactions to the solids we've been giving them
-Peter finally started to roll over a few weeks ago. Joy's still working on it.
-Peter can sit in the exersaucer for a LONG time and entertain himself
-Joy continues to break her own records for the longest amount of time without fussiness
-When the twins wake up from their nap, they don't cry for me to come get them very often anymore. Instead, they coo and make cute noises, and have great big smiles for me when I come get them. :)

THE BAD:
-Peter got his second double ear infection. I guess when he starts to act grumpy all the time, we now know that's our first clue (the kid doesn't complain much otherwise...)
-Only 1 day after I took Peter into the dr. (which also happened to be a Saturday), Joy began acting the same as Peter when he had his ear infection. The dr. recommended we take her to Urgent Care to check it out. And guess what? NOTHING! So much for our otherwise-free Saturday morning.
-We've stumbled upon one of those "periods of wakefulness" that they talk about in the baby books. More waking up during the night=no energy for mommy and daddy during the day. What happened to our 8 pm-7 am nights??

THE UGLY:
-The smell of poopy diapers now that the babies are into solids...
-Cleaning off poopy cloth diapers in the toilet. (But not for long! My handy dandy husband is adding a diaper sprayer to our toilet, so it will be a piece of cake!)
-My red bloodshot eyes after one of those "wakeful" nights.
-Snapping at each other when we haven't gotten enough sleep. It's amazing how everything is suddenly better in the morning again though...
-TWO babies crying at once--if I actually thought of it, I'd make a sound recording and play it back for them someday...(By the way, they don't both cry simultaneously very often, which is a GOOD thing).

THE IN-BETWEEN
-Whenever we go out in public, we've just learned to expect attention, questions from strangers, and stares. One thing that never ceases to amaze me, though, is the number of people who ask if our BOY/GIRL twins are identical! I am always patient when I answer, but if people would just think about the difference in equipment between boys and girls, they would be able to figure out the answer themselves...
-I hate to be unfriendly, but sometimes I just have to avoid eye contact when I'm in public if I want to get anything accomplished.
-Another question people ask is "Did you have to use fertility drugs?" or "Were the twins a surprise?" (which is basically an indirect way of asking the first question). Even though our twins were au naturel, I still get a little squeamish when people ask that. It's a highly personal question...a little like going up to a stranger and asking them if they take birth control. All that aside though, I always try to use that question as an opportunity to share our miraculous story and how God worked in our lives. So perhaps the people who ask that question are the people who God wants to hear about our story.

That's it for now. Below are some pictures from the last month or so.











Above: The Easter Bunnies are here!