So I know that no one gets out too much with a newborn...and it always takes a lot longer to get out the door than you expect. This is definitely more true as a mother of twins. I went to church on Sunday and it took almost two hours for me to feed, burp, change, pack up and throw some clothes on me (no shower, I had taken one the night before...I planned that!) without any help. Billy gets to church early for meetings and my mom was in D.C. for my cousin's wedding so it was just Christi, myself and the boys going to church together. Needless to say, we don't really go anywhere and so this is how we fill our days...

My mom was feeding James and he arches his back and has this funny face...he does it almost every feeding and it is priceless.

Here is a close up of that cute face he makes!

This morning I was feeding Marc and his shorts were low riding and when I looked closer, I noticed that his diaper was also riding a little low...This is a true mark of a Cunningham! Just after my mom took the picture...Marc had a huge blow out. Gotta love it!

Marc had his cute little feet crossed during feeding time this morning...so adorable, I couldn't resist a picture.

This week we took our first walk around the neighborhood! This is something I will be able to do once my mom leaves to get out of the house. The boys enjoyed it...cause they were sleeping!

In the evenings, I love holding both boys and having them sleep on me before I eat dinner. We were all so toasty and warm under the blanket. I am so lucky to have such sweet boys.

Aunt Christi helped out when my mom left this last weekend. She tickled the boys...that is her specialty!

She also helped feed...although that didn't last too long, it was nice to have her help for a minute.

So here are the little things that make my day, each and every day. Nothing too exciting or extraordinary to most people, but I love all these little moments. It makes the night feedings and sometimes cranky boys all worth it!

5 Week Stats

Since my boys were in the NICU for two weeks, we are about two weeks behind in their pediatrician appointments. This means I won't have their monthly stats for about another week or so. However, we are part of a program the state of Arizona has for premies that tracks their development and provides assistance if they fall behind at any time. a nurse came out on Thursday and measured the boys. Here is how they measured:

Marc

21 inches long
weighs 7 lbs 4 ounces
head is 35 inches

James

20.5 inches long
weighs 7 lbs
head is 34 inches

Both boys are growing fast and eating lots! They eat about 3 ounces every 3-4 hours and the nurse said most premies eat about 2 ounces at a time. Our boys are going to be solid boys!

Double Feeding

Having twins makes the feeding time twice as long. My goal has been to feed both boys at the same time. Since they are still so young and week, and their necks aren't strong enough yet (or so that's how I feel) so I have moved to other measures...I am finding ways to bottle feed them at the same time! It is so much fun feeding them both at the same time. I love my boys! :)

James is in my arms and Marc is in my legs

Eventually I plan on using car seats and/or my two boppies to help with the feedings, if I can't get the football hold under control. :)

It's Official

Well, it's official...three days ago I got my official transcripts in the mail and today I got my diploma in the mail! No more homework or papers for sure and the MBA is mine!

Last Wednesday, the boys had their newborn pictures taken. I have only seen a few of them, but they are absolutely adorable and Winter, the photographer, did an amazing job. (For those of you living in Phoenix, if you need pictures done, Winter is wonderful! Her blog is www.piperpix.blogspot.com). Here are a few of the pictures below...enjoy!

Cute Marc

Handsome James...gotta love the tie!

Marc and James...this is how they were in the womb...James was on top and Marc was squished for 8 months!

James and Marc...so comfy next to each other

Papa with his two boys...so cute!

James and me hanging out on the recliner

Our boys are so cute and we had so much fun taking pictures together! Thanks Winter! :)

A Month Old!

We are a month old!!!

Commentary from Marc and James...

Hi...This is our story of the past week or so in our lives...we hacked into our family blog and saw that our mom has been telling you all about our lives, so we thought we would tell part of our story while she was sleeping today!

Here I (James Cunningham) am during tummy time today. My mom and dad got a colorful play mat that we get to hang out on during tummy time each day. I was just chilling out today enjoying myself while my mom was finishing feeding Marc.

Here I am (Marc Cunningham) relaxing, almost in a sound sleep after my mom fed me today. After this picture, she wrapped me up all tight so I could take a nice long nap. She is so thoughtful!

Here we are together! We love hanging out together. Marc is sleeping and James is just about to doze off to sleep. We will have a lot more times like this in the future.

Here we are both sleeping...

Check it out everyone I have a sharp shooter aim, I nailed my mama with pee, that will teach her to be more careful changing my diaper!!!

I am dreaming of duckies right now.

Here we are playing together on the mat...we can't wait to be able to go outside and play with soccer balls, baseballs and footballs!

Here is our first time on the carpet doing tummy time...we love laying on our tummy since we used to sleep like that in the NICU, but our necks aren't that strong yet and we can't wait until we get stronger!

on one of our first outings we went to visit grandma Margaret because she just had foot surgery and we wanted to tell her to get better.

Whoa Grandpa has the shakes........earthquakes happen when he holds me.

Mom and Dad's friends came to visit, Julie must be a good mom.

Dude Marc get your head off me, Aunt Shelley was holding me first.

We always love it when Uncle Bob and Aunt Shelley come to visit. Aunt Shelley always protects us when Uncle Bob falls asleep....He is a Cunningham boy too.

Grandma we are on our way out, yup we are the Cunningham Boys!

Is that me or is that me.....wait...I am confused

I love this straight jacket business....then we wont scratch our faces....

We love our life and all the people who love us...we'll post again in the future...stay tuned for more news from James and Marc.

Diapers

***WARNING*** THE FOLLOWING POST REFERS TO A LOT OF POOP!

As a new mom, there are things that come up and you aren't sure what to do. For example, what do you do when you kid stops pooping? And what happens after not pooping for 4 days? Marc and James were circumcised this week (both did great), but after Marc was circumcised, he didn't poop for about 4 days. I was getting really worried day 3, after James had been circumcised and he had pooped plenty of times. At first I thought maybe it was because of the circumsicison and it was his body just keeping itself clean, but once James proved to be pooping, I started to get worried. I planned to call the doctor today if he hadn't pooped. Last night, I heard him grunting and thought that he was doing the deed. However, this morning at 7:30 he still hadn't pooped. I was seriously starting to freak out. However, from about 8AM this morning until 4:30PM, Marc had 5 poopy diapers and right after I took the picture above, he pooped one more time! Six poopy diapers in 8 1/2 hours...pretty good huh! That is what happens after not pooping for 4 days!

Coming Home!

Well, we have had an eventful week...and it has been amazing! On Tuesday after my last post, James pulled out his feeding tube twice in the same day and Billy bargained with the nurses and used his sales skills to keep James off the feeding tube. The night nurse, Peggy, who was our favorite, said that James could keep the tub out if he was able to eat all his feedings. James did well and ate all his feedings! Between Tuesday night and Thursday morning James caught up with Marc and on Thursday morning, two weeks after they were born, Marc and James were released to come home! We were so excited to have them both come home on the same day so we wouldn't have to share time between our boys and we could be with them both all the time.

Things have gone overall very well since Marc and James came home. They sleep about 4 hours at a time at night, which allows me to get some sleep. Having twins makes the feeding time twice as long, and I think that is the most challenging part. We love having them home and with us all the time. They are wonderful boys and I love them so much! When we left the hospital, James weighed 5 lbs 2 ounces and Marc weighed 5 lbs 3 ounces. They are growing and are such a joy to have!

Here is our family of FOUR! From two to four...it has been amazing and Billy teases a lot of our friends because for so long we were behind them in the children department and suddenly we have caught up or past most of them.

Here we are outside the NICU. It was such a great experience and we were glad our kids were taken care of!

Here is Dad and his boys!

Here I am getting Marc ready to come home in his matching outfit.

Here is Marc all ready to go home!

Here is James all ready to go home...his pointer finger is his signature move...he does it all the time!

Here I am holding my precious boys...They are adorable and we love them so much!

Bath's and Feeding Tubes

Over the past two days, Billy and I were able to bathe both of our boys. What we learned is that they love baths and love to be in the water! The only part they didn't like is being taken out of the water.

Yesterday morning when the day nurse went in to check on Marc, she saw that he had had enough of his feeding tube and that he had ripped it out. The nurse and doctor decided that since he had been consistently taking his feedings with the bottle and not the feeding tube, they would leave it out and let him take his food all by bottle. This is very exciting because it is the last step before they release Marc to come home. The nurse warned me to be ready because within the next couple days he could be coming home assuming he continues to gain weight or maintain his weight. We are so excited for him to come home, but I am sad to leave James behind. I know it is in his best interest to stay in the NICU and it will be easier to adjust to having one baby at home at a time. However, it will be sad for them to be apart! Hopefully James is not too far behind Marc and hopefully he will be able to come home soon. It is amazing how well both are doing considering they are only 35 weeks gestation.

Here is James after his bath. We got the camera a little too late and didn't get pictures of the actual bath! :( He was so content and loves sucking on the binky.

Here is Marc during his first bath...just chillin in the water. It is interesting because when they bathe babies at such a young age, they use receiving blankets to keep them warm in the bath tub.

Here James and I are after I had breast fed both him and his brother. Both boys are getting a hang of the whole breast feeding thing which is a relief to me because I do not love pumping...not fun or comfortable at all!

Here is dad holding both babies...it was the first and only time we have had them both in the same room. The lactation specialist let us bring them both in at the same time. It was wonderful to have them together.

Here is the little family of four!

Here is a close up shot of James that was taken yesterday. He kept having his mouth open and I couldn't get him to shut it...oh well. He is adorable!

Here is a close up of Marc after he ripped out the feeding tube. You can see where the adhesive was on his cheek and the nurse said it wouldn't be like that if he hadn't ripped it out. But he was definitely done with the feeding tube. :)

I'm Finished!!!

Well, the last paper is turned in and I am all done with my MBA!!! I am so excited to be finished and excited that I don't have to write anymore papers or take anymore tests! I have been going straight through the program without any summer breaks, or breaks at all and it will be nice not to have to write a paper every week...they are overrated! :)

It is interesting because I don't really ever plan on really using the MBA, but because I had tuition benefits, it would have been silly to not use them. I am just grateful that after working at the University of Phoenix for almost 5 years, I am glad I got it done. I would have regret ed not getting a degree if I didn't get one.

I can't wait to walk in graduation in about two months and have my two little boys there. Silly I know, but I wanted to wear the masters gown cause it's different than the bachelors. It's the little things that kept me motivated to finish, especially the last four months or so when I was burned out and pregnant and not able to go to the campus anymore. I have to say I like to attend classes over doing them online. Online is not for me...but it helped me finish in time before the boys come home!

For all of you who have started a degree but not finished...go back and get it done. It's not fun, but it is one of the best feelings to have accomplished a degree and to be done!