The Duo- 3 Months

The twins turned 3 months old on 12/13/11. Yes, I am a little late. Not sure how that happened...oh wait. yes I do. It's called going back to work and Christmas craziness. I have not had time to set down to blog. We have been super Snyder busy as usual but I did take their pictures on their 3 month birthday and even remembered to call my dad that day since it was also his birthday, but blogging about it just did not happen until now.

This month has been so  much fun with these little ones. They are getting so big and smiling more and more each day. They are on a pretty good schedule and typically eat and sleep about around the same times. Right about their 3 month birthday they began to sleep longer stretches. SK will sleep all night  most nights and Shepard usually requires one late night or middle of the night feeding. I have stopped waking SK in the middle of the night when Shep eats because we have learned she does not need it and will sleep right through him eating and she will be able to last until morning or when he eats again. We are not worried about this because the girl does not look to be starving! :)

I did go back to work the first of December and they did great. My mom stayed with us the first week and that was so nice to just leave in the morning and go to work knowing she was here with them and they were being well taken care of. The second week a friend of ours came to our house each morning and kept them and that was great too. It made my transition back to work so much easier because I did not have to worry about getting them up, dressed and out the door in the morning. I could leave them sleeping and just get myself out the door since Stuart took Clark to the sitter. They were all usually sleeping as I made my 6:45 am exit. I have been off since the 16th for Christmas break and go back to work on January 2nd. Starting then they will be going to the sitter each day with Clark. This may be a transition that may take a week or so to adjust too, but I know we will manage. We love our sitter and I know they will adjust well, I am just going to have to get up much earlier to get all 3 of them fed, dressed and out the door by 6:45. ohmy!



Without further ado, here are their 3 month stats:

Weights: (as of 12/14/11)
Shepard-  12lbs. 4oz.   (up from 9lbs. 9oz on 11/11/11)
Sara Kate- 12lbs. 9 oz.  (up from 9lbs. 13oz. on 11/11/11)


Lengths: (as of 11/11/11- we have not been to the doctor since)
Shepard: 20.5 inches (up from 17 at birth)
Sara Kate: 20.5 inches (up from 18 at birth)

Diaper Size:
Shepard: Size 2
Sara Kate: Size 2

They moved to size two so fast that I have about 450 size one diapers left. I hope someone will let me exchange them or up size them. WalMart:? CVS? I am going to try this week, and I will be trading them for size 3.
Clothing Size:
Shepard: 3 months, and 3-6 months.
Sara Kate: 3-6 months and some 6 months.

I have sadly already packed up an entire tote of things they have outgrown. Today I am going to add all of their cute Christmas outfits to it. I honestly cannot believe how big they are getting.


Sleep:
They are great little sleepers. (knock on wood) They have learned to sleep longer stretches at night and take good naps during the day. We are still swaddling them and they are still sleeping in their Rock and Play Sleepers beside our bed. We have not made the transition to the cribs yet mostly because their cribs are upstairs and we are lazy. ha! We enjoy being able to feed, change and put them back in bed without getting out of ours. Also Shepard is such a little paci lover. If his paci falls out at night he loses his mind. I have slept many nights lately with my hand on his paci keeping it in his mouth. We usually feed them between 8:30-9:30 at night and Sara Kate will sleep until we wake her at 5:30 to eat before I get ready for work. Shepard on the other hand usually eats one extra time in between there at least 3 times a week. Sara Kate LOVES to nap in the swing and Shepard prefers to nap in his Rock and Play or anytime anyone hold him.


Eating:
They have still not had any formula. They are doing wonderfully nursing- much better than I ever thought we would do. I have been pumping two times during the day at work and feeding them as soon as I get home. Still eating on schedule every three hours. I am thinking they eat about 4-5 ounces each time, because that is what satisfies them when I pump and give them bottles. Everyday that we make it nursing I feel like it is a small victory.

SHEPARD RANDALL

Aka: Shep, Shep Star, Sheperino, Little Brother, PeeWee and many more.
Shep has become our more dramatic child. He knows when he wants to eat and won't take no for an answer! ha! He is an every three hour on the dot kind of boy. He loves to eat, sleep and he LOVES his paci. He loves his paci so much that many nights he will not sleep without it. He is quite the charmer and has been flashing his big toothless grin all the time. It is so cute!!! He has also become very chatty and after he eats he coos and tells me all kinds of stories. Such a sweet boy.

SARA KATE

AKA: SK, Sugar Bean, Sister Bear, Sis, Sister Girl, Katie Sue, and many more.
Sara Kate has become our laid back child. She usually eats second because she is much more patient than her brother. She rarely cries unless she is starving, hurt or wayyyy tired. She loves to sleep in the swing and has become quite the little Bumbo lady. She loves to sit up (assisted of course) and look around. She is very interested in what is going on around her. She loves to dress up (okay, okay, I love to dress her up!) and wear bows. She has been sleeping all night and is usually all smiles in the morning when she wakes up. She has such a great disposition and like her brother she has a darling little smile. She does not talk quite as much as her little brother, but she will coo for us every now and then. She likes her paci, but can do without it too. She is such a sweetie pie.

They really are happy little babes and we are enjoying them more each day. It has been an adjustment going from a family of 3 to a family of 5, but I think we have done well so far!

SANTA!! I know him.

Yes, we are still here! Life around here has been moving at lightning speed. Lots of things have been going on and I have not had time to even look at this computer let alone sit down and blog. I went back to work two weeks ago and I will say that it has gone better than expected. The babies have adjusted well, and I have been enjoying my evenings with all my babies, they just go so fast. By the time I rush home to feed them, Clark and Stuart come home, time to make/eat dinner, feed babies again, baths all around, clean up mess from dinner, feed babies again, Clark to bed, then I CRASH. I am hoping I get better at it and that I can keep my eyes open past 9:30 in the near future. They are all napping now (for a few minutes anyway) so I thought I could share some pictures from our recent encounters with the big man himself...SANTA!!

Last weekend, we had the luxury of seeing Santa twice! Saturday our local MOPS group sponsored a cookies with Santa event that we have been to the past 4 years. This year it was a little hectic with three I must say and I did not do very well at the picture taking part. Clark talked about Santa ALL DAY and once we got there he would not smile and he did not speak. I was a little bummed only because he was so excited and then he acted so shy. (Shy is not usually something he knows much about) So we snapped a few pics and got to see some lovely friends that we had not seen in a while and followed it up with lunch of Clark's choosing...McDonald's.

Shepard & Sara Kate's 1st time to meet the BIG guy!
(Look how excited SK is! )

   

Clark = Not loving it.

 Of course Clark is all smiles AFTER he visits with Santa.
Pretty sure he is just excited to head to McD's for nuggets.

 My boys AFTER seeing Santa.

Our attempt at at least one good photo once we got home.

 All my sweeties.
  If I EVER get them all to smile in one photo I might have a party.

Good thing on Sunday we had invites to two Santa parties where we would be seeing the same Santa and Mrs. We were unsure which party we would be able to hit up due to naps and feeding times, but the later one worked and we headed out to try the whole Santa thing again. This time was MUCH BETTER!! Clark loved it and had plenty of time to warm up to Santa before it was his tum to talk to him. Santa and the Mrs. were at the home of some church friends of ours and it was a more intimate setting and he could actually hear the story being read and was not as overwhelmed. He told Santa he wanted a "Blast-off Sports Car". I do hope Santa knows what that is because we have NO IDEA. He has described it as "a sports car that can go to the moon"- oh jeez!

SANTA HAS ARRIVED!!

The read the kids a story first.

Shepard and Sara Kate visiting with Santa.
Again, SK is sound asleep! ha.



The Snyder party of five and The Mr. & Mrs.

 I cannot believe that that guy will be visiting our house in ONE WEEK!!! I am so excited to see Clark's reaction next Sunday morning. ( I do hope Santa figures out what that "Blast-off Sports Car" is before then though!) This year has been so much fun and he makes it so magical. I honestly do not need one thing this Christmas. I mean just look at the picture above. I think I have everything I could ever ask for!!

Double Blessing.

On Sunday December 4th, our sweet babies were baptized. It was such a special day and we were able to share it with our families. They were welcomed with open arms by our church family and we were reminded of our role as their parents to raise them to know and have a loving relationship with the Lord. It is my prayer that we are able to be the best parents we can be, set a good example, raise them in the church and help them know and understand the  unending love their heavenly Father has for them.

Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward."


Psalm 127:1

Christmas at Our House

I am in the process of decorating our house for Christmas. It is taking me longer than usual because I am just not sure where to put things and I have these sweet new babies and a three year old who need attention every now and then. :)We lived in our old house for 5 years and I always put things in the same place, just adding things each year. Well, this year our house is a little bigger than our old one and I have more space and I just have not figured out where I want things and what I need so I have just been doing a little at a time.  Megan at Blissfully Burton is hosting a Christmas decorations link up and I wanted to play along even though I am not done. Maybe seeing everyone else's decor will inspire me to finish- or at least get the mums off the porch and replace them with something Christmasy. :)

Here are some pictures of our home so far this season...

Our mantel in the great room.

I just love this picture! I cannot believe this Christmas we have 3 kids.

The little nativity in this picture is very special to me.
It was at my grandma's house and I have been told it is now mine because I used to call it MaryAnne & Joseph. :)

Our nativity.

A cute little sign in my kitchen.
I had it made this year and it makes me smile.

This candle smells divine!!
Christmas in Kentucky

A terrible picture but here is our tree.
Still lacking a few things but here is what we have so far.

Clark's addition to the decor- his "ginger house".
I also spy Walker- our elf.

A seasonal use for the trifle bowl.
(pic actually from last year- but in use this year too)

These two little stocking stuffers are new to the decor around here this year too!

I have high hopes to put wreaths on all the windows outside, garland on my banisters, and a few more trees up but I have a feeling if it does not get done this weekend it is not getting done. I go back to work on Monday and I think life around here might be a little more hectic and Christmas decor might be pushed to the bottom of the list...we shall see.

Happy December 1st!!!

I also encourage you to head over to Megan's blog and play along too or at least say hello. She is also a teacher and new mommy and has a super cute blog.

Walker, Not the Texas Ranger

Meet the newest member of the Snyder family... WALKER. No, not the Texas Ranger- our elf.

This year we began the fun tradition of using the Elf on a Shelf. If you are not familiar with it, he is a little elf that according to the story visits your house everyday to check on you and report back to Santa each night. So every morning we hunt for Walker to see if he is in the same place or if he really did leave to go see Santa. Walker is usually in a funny place, he is becoming quite a  naughty elf and Clark is loving it.

You get to name your elf and I suggested all kinds of fun names like Otis, Artie, Walter, Nolan but Clark chose Walker. We just spent some time in VA with Stuart's family and Clark LOVED Stuart's cousins Hunter and Walker. Walker was great with Clark and I guess it stuck. So Walker it is.

Walker was eyeballing Clark's gingerbread house!

Rub a Dub Dub. Marshmallow bath for Walker.

We remind Clark ALL.THE.TIME. that Walker is watching him in hopes that he will make good choices and I will say it works MOST of the time. We have even caught him talking to Walker and telling him what he wants for Christmas so Walker will tell Santa. So cute!

The number one elf rule is that you can't touch him or he will lose his magic. This was the hardest part the first few days because Clark was so curious about him. But now he tells us not to touch him. It is so much fun and I just love the idea that we get to do this every year! I just love that it is all so magical to Clark and know that Shepard and Sara Kate will love Walker one day too. (if the poor elf makes it that long!ha!)



We introduced Clark and Walker a few days before Thanksgiving in hopes it would curb a few 3 year old behavior issues we were having and I am glad we did. However, we still have quite a bit of time until Christmas Eve and I hope I can keep up with him and keep finding new spots for him. Thank goodness for Pinterest. I just pinned some good ideas tonight. If you don't have an elf and you have small children The Snyders recommend it. It is our newest tradition and one that I am hoping will produce many fun Christmas memories for our kiddos (and for us too!).

C was not too fond of this spot.
He was a little upset that Walker was playing with his toys.

Wonder where Walker will end up tomorrow?