Life is Busy

I never wanted to be one of those bloggers that dropped off the face of the planet after having my babies, but I guess that's what's happened.  Life is busy with twins.

Here's what's been going on:

The babies have been going to physical therapy once a week.  That is going really well.  I absolutely love our PT guy.  He is so good with the babies and gets them to do all sorts of things.  Ayden is turning his head so much better both directions and doing it a lot more often.  Rylee still only has 70% range of motion to the left, but she is much further along developmentally as far as her motor skills are concerned.  We will continue doing PT until both babies can roll front to back and back to front at will.

We've been making the hour long trip to see the Pediatric Dermatologist once a week for Rylee.  She is now ulcer free!  Woo Hoo!  Happy Dance!  Happy Rylee!  She is now on to a new medicine called Propanolol. This is a med that is designed to shrink the hemangiomas, but she wasn't able to take it until she got a little older and bigger because it can have a negative effect on her heart.  They did an EKG to make sure she had a healthy heart.  Then the following week they started her out with a low dose and had us stay for a few hours to monitor her heart rate and blood pressure periodically.  For the next two weeks, they had us return, increasing the dosage each time, and monitoring her for any negative side effects.  Now we don't return for another month.  Whew!

I was also busy doing our softball taxes for last year.  Our summer tournament team was a non profit organization which required us to fill out forms and do taxes.  The deadline was yesterday.  I finished them the day before.

I got my hair cut.  Chopped it all off and FINALLY got the grey covered.  Who has time to actually brush their hair when you've got two infants?  All I ever did was put it in a messy bun anyway.  And my hair has been shedding like no other.  I swear, I might be bald next week at the rate it is falling out.

Annnndddddd...... we are also trying to figure out how to pay our bills.  We are so far in debt and really struggling to keep up with the bills.  I know some people don't agree with going into debt for fertility treatments, but honestly, as stressful as it is, we wouldn't change a thing.  We are beyond blessed with our family.  We WILL find a way for it to work out.  Why don't I go back to work you ask?  It's simple.  How can I, when we have so many doctor appointments?  Besides that, we've done the math and it doesn't pay off for us.  The cost of daycare for the both of them would be at least half my paycheck.  I would make enough to cover their formula for the month.  It just doesn't hardly seem worth it.

We are also needing to move.  Hubby has an hour 20 minute commute to work and back.  He absolutely hates commuting and hates it even more because he gets home so late that he barely gets to see the babies before they go down for the night. So we are going to try getting our house ready to sell and move closer. We'd love to buy another house, but we are about 2 years away from being able to do that.  We will probably end up renting for a bit instead. Not ideal, but whatever works so Hubby is happy and we can pay our bills.

Oh yeah, and in between all that, I've got two babies to take care of.  We are still struggling with sleep, but not nearly as much as we were.  Now our issue is that Rylee sleeps part of the night in her crib, but then will only sleep if I am holding her, so we tend to finish the night on the couch together.  They do take pretty good morning naps and I am lucky enough that it's even at the same time.  I could blog then, but when would I take a shower, brush my teeth, do laundry, pay bills, or actually EAT?  In addition, I am usually trying to throw dinner in the crockpot, which is now the ONLY way I cook because it's quick and easy.  Even on days we don't have to go anywhere, it seems that there is always so much to do!

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I have had softball girls wishing me a happy Mother's Day for years.  In fact, last year my team even bought/made me a Mother's Day gift.  People have known for years that we wanted children.  Last year, I shared our infertility journey with my team during the infamous Prom Talk.  It always brought tears to my eyes, knowing that they considered me their "softball mom."  This year was no different, except for the fact that I really do have my own babies!  I am more than just a softball mom.

I still got a couple texts from a few of the girls wishing me happy Mother's Day.  I can't even begin to describe what it means to me that I got these texts first thing that morning.

From a girl that will be home soon from college: "Happy Mother's Day Amber!  I can't wait until I get to come snuggle those babies!"  

From a junior in high school that I have coached since she was 9 years old: "Happy Mother's Day!  Very thankful for you and your family.  Thank you for always being there for me.  You really are like my second mom!  I love you, Amber! :) " 

I received many other texts throughout the day as well, but these were the most special ones, because they were from my softball girls.

My sister hosted a Mother's Day brunch.  It was nice to be able to spend the day with her and the nieces and nephews.  Overall, it was a very nice day.

Extra special Mother's Day with these two loves of my life!

My sister with Ayden

Grandma NiNi (my mom) with Rylee

This Momma Duck had 17 (17!!) ducklings just two days before Mother's Day.  It was fun watching them follow her around my sister's yard.  She had a very special Mother's Day as well, chasing everyone away from her babies.  She was VERY protective!