Over the weekend, my SUPER talented sister, Kayla, captured some sweet pictures and took some posed shots of the babies. Please don't be surprised if one of these is your Christmas card photo from the Lee family. I just couldn't wait one more second before I posted them. Thank you so much, sister! We love you!
No, I didn't start making baby food because I am a super health-nut who doesn't want to feed my babies canned baby food. In fact, the first foods they ate were canned, and I have quite a large supply of canned baby food in my pantry right now! It's easy, quick, convenient... and expensive!
I stopped breastfeeding at 4 months when I started back on Humira for severe chronic ulcerative colitis I have battled since 9th grade. The scary "what-ifs" of the medicine made the decision for me, because if it was my personal choice I would still be breastfeeding. But, it is what it is, and after a lot of internal struggle I have accepted this fact! That being said... formula is dang expensive!! A couple awesome girlfriends collect the similac coupons for me, and I get some here and there in the mail. But a tub of similac sensitive for $23.99 lasts me three days. That's about $240 a month, or $1,920 for the 8 months Keegan and Noelle will take formula before transitioning to other milks.Yep. Babies are expensive. Two babies are really expensive. :)
Back to the homemade baby food.....
It relaxes me. Is that weird? I don't like to cook. Sorry, hubs. But, I have found I love to make baby food. There is something about watching my freezer fill up with fresh, organic (when possible), frozen cubes of perfection, that just makes me so happy!
In the past two weeks, I've made carrots, sweet potatoes, bananas and butternut squash. I plan to start making 'combo' flavored fruits and veggies sometime next week as the babies pallets grow. I am careful to only introduce a new food every couple of days so if they develop any sort of weird reaction I can catch it quickly. So far they haven't, and they love everything... except bananas!
I'm learning, and doing a ton of googling to find out tips & tricks of baby-food making! Fellow Dallas twin-mom, Amber, has done a terrific job of documenting baby food making on her blog and I have checked it several times!
Seven months. My babes are now closer to being one year olds than infants. Hands down, the past 4 weeks between 6-7 months have maybe been my favorite month. Although that's hard to say, because every month has those "favorite" things about it. This past month just totally rocked though. Personality-wise and developmentally, Keegan & Noelle are growing leaps and bounds. I think months 5 & 6 were a little hard because they were working so hard mentally, physically and emotionally to reach the huge milestones we've witnessed this month. The greatest blessing... they have both been sleeping through the night all month. From 7-7:30 pm to 6:45-7:00 am. Every night. It's absolutely amazing. Keegan started sleeping through the night about 2 weeks before Noelle, and after letting Noelle cry for about 45 minutes two nights in a row, she got the picture. And has been a sweet sleeping pie ever since. Keegan and Noelle also finished their doc-band treatment this month and are helmet-free! Yay! Their moderate plagiocephaly is a ton better, and will only continue to get better as they grow. We also said goodbye to our sweet nanny, Faith, as she is due any minute with a baby boy of her own! We miss her a ton already. She was the biggest blessing to our family over the past 4 months.
Keegan
Nicknames: Keegs, Bug, Munka, Keegan Lee. Our most used term, Bug, for sure.
No well-check, so I am just guessing, but Keegan probably weighs about 20 pounds. He takes a 6 oz bottle at 7, breakfast at 8, bottle at 10, lunch between 11-12, bottle at 1, bottle at 4, dinner at 6, bedtime bottle at 7. The babes started attending a Montessori Academy a couple weeks ago, so their nap schedules are still adjusting. They used to take two really long naps every day, and now its about 3 shorter naps. It seems to fit them just fine, as it hasn't affected their night-time sleeping. On the food front, Keegan has tried sweet potatoes, carrots, peas, green beans, squash, bananas, pears, and banana-strawberry. His favorite... peas! Least favorite.... bananas. Weird, right?
Keegan started sitting up un-assisted the week of October 21st. He is a pro and absolutely loves sitting and playing with his toys. He is also on the verge of crawling. He will get on his hands and knees and rock, rock, rock and then thrust himself forward to scoot to whatever he wants to get! While it may not be an official crawl just yet, there is no stopping him from getting from one side of the floor to the other. Keegs is also blabbing non-stop. We're working hard on 'mama' and I swear it sounds like it here and there... but it is mostly bla, ba, ma, da, ah, bla. You get the point...
This month, Keegan loves walks in the stroller, reading books, hitting toys that make a lot of noise, watching Noelle's every move, being held by his mama, holding his own bottle, dinner time, baths, his jumperoo and making friends at school. He doesn't like when Justin or I leave his sight, getting dressed or diaper changes and getting his snotty nose wiped.
He is the happiest, smiliest, laughiest baby boy in the entire world, and I can't help but smile every time I get him up in the morning. I'm greeted with a smile and a hug (yes, the kid gives hugs!) every single day.
Noelle
Nicknames: Noelley, Pie, Angel Pie, Noelley Bell. Our most used term, Pie, for sure.
Just a guess, but Noelle is probably 18 or so pounds. She's tall and skinny! She also takes a 6 oz bottle at 7, breakfast at 8, bottle at 10, lunch between 11-12, bottle at 1, sottle at 4, dinner at 6, bedtime bottle at 7. Noelle is a better eater than Keegan, and never lets a drop of food out of her mouth. She's such a priss, not a messy eater at all. She's tried all of the same foods as Keegan, and so far has the same favorite and least favorite! Maybe its a twin thing.
Noelle started sitting up un-assisted her second week of Montessori school, the week of Halloween. A little wobbly at first, she is now also a pro. She loves to grab toys and wave them around and laugh. No crawling yet - this angel pie knows all she has to do is make a peep and her daddy comes and grabs her to go wherever she wants. She already has him eating out of the palm of her hand... SUCH a daddy's girl. You should see the smiles she gives him. Noelle likes to hear herself... usually by screeching or 'singing' or saying ahhhhh really loud. She now just likes to make really loud noises and get our attention. It works.
This month Noelle loves bath time, playing with toys, reading stories, watching Keegan play, watching the other kids at school play, swinging in our new backyard swing, and eating. She does not like getting dressed, when we walk away from her and getting her nose wiped.
Noelle has grown a ton this month. She's outgrown her frequent spitting up from acid reflux (and colic - which I will now admit she had a really bad case of) :) - so she is just a much, much happier baby all around. Maybe it is partly to do with the fact she now has enough hair for a BOW! WOOO. hehe. She is our sweet angel pie girl and such a blessing.
We had a super fun month in Dallas. We had visits from Netta & Grandpa, Mamais & Pappa, Mimi and Papa and Aunt Kristin. We went to downtown McKinney, the park, a BlueGrass Festival, played with our friends at school, went to a church craft show, and out to dinner a few times as a family. Now, half-way through November with Thanksgiving and Christmas on the horizon... I am GIDDY as I can only imagine what the holidays will be like this year with kids. It's like a whole new world, and I can't wait for the new memories we'll build as a family.
If you follow me on Instagram, (@lee_erika)you've probably seen these, but here are a few favorites from this months!
