back to work :(

well...as of monday, june 1st, i am officially back at work. :( i had always said i'd take off six months, but given the current work environment and shortages of jobs, i had a good opportunity come my way, so i took it.
i'm easing my way back in, so was still home for the morning feeding this week, but will start going in earlier next week. i just love the morning with them....they're in the best moods and are so excited to see you!
i must say...i was very apprehensive about going back to work, but surprisingly, it's good to be back. the week was insanely busy so it flew by, but nice to be challenged again and learn something new. don't get me wrong...it was extrmely rough being away from my babies, but they are in very good hands and seem to be just fine without me (much to my dismay!) i don't know how many times i called lin (our nanny), but you can only ask so many times how things are going and the responses don't typically vary too much! they either ate, napped or played or they didn't!
i'm still attempting to nurse even though i've gone back to work and so far so good. we have a great mother's room at the office which has hospital grade pumps and they provide all the attachments, so they make it relatively easy to do. i've learned though time management is going to be critical between trying to learn a new job, pumping and getting home at a reasonable time!
welcome to motherhood!!

4 months!

well...we went for zach and zoe's four month check up yesterday and we got a big thumbs up! :)

zachary is now in the 95th (yes, that's right...95th!) percentile for both length and weight (27" and 17 lbs, 11 oz) and zoe is in the 90th for length (25.5") and 50th-75th for weight (13 lbs 15 oz). can you believe??

it just blows my mind that zach is almost 4 lbs heavier than zoe! they both eat four times a day, about 7 oz each meal. the only major difference between the two is that zoe is constantly moving (she's literally nonstop!) whereas zachary prefers lounging and laying! :) i guess exercise really does do the body good?!

our doctor has told us we can start them on rice cereal if we'd like, but i think we might wait just a little bit longer. while i am still not back to work, i'd like to take full advantage of my time with them nursing. i'm quite nervous about how things are going to change once i do go back, but am going to try and continue nursing. it's looking it may be sooner than i was originally anticipating, so i'm holding on to every moment i have with these babies!

what else?? both babies are smiling and laughing nonstop and love to talk and to be talked to! zoe is still our high maintenance princess as she loves to be held and isn't much of a napper, so requires constant attention. zachary loves his naps, swinging on his swing and is usually perfectly content. just as of late he seems to like a little more attention!

summer seems to be here already, so taking walks is a bit more of a challenge. unless we go early in the morning or right before bed time, it's tough! we've just had to be more creative around the house, but we occasionally get a little stir crazy cooped up inside!

latest pic of my little chunky monkeys...

our nanny lin is just loving these two and they really love her as well. as much as i am going to hate when i go back to work leaving these two, i know they're in good hands. we

happy mother's day!!

not only was today my very first mother's day, but zach and zoe also turned four months today! obviously mother's day has taken on a completely different meaning for me this year. i still find myself in disbelief that i am the mother of these two beautiful human beings! words just cannot express how much love and adoration i have for them...in good times and in bad! it also makes me realize how wonderful my mother is in all that she did and does for us and how much i love and appreciate her!

i had a wonderful mother's day...my sweet husband surprised me with breakfast in bed and then we lounged with the babies for a while until it was time to go to church. after church, we went over to jason's parents house for lunch. to top that off, the rockets won game 4 and to end the day, my mom called as she just arrived back in the states after a month of travel in asia!! so...i couldn't have asked for a better day! the only regret i have is that i didn't take a single picture today!

i hope all of you mommies had as wonderful a day as i had! happy mother's day everyone!!!

much needed update!

i've been very delinquent on posting anything new, so i thought i'd give a quick update. i've been doing the solo act for five weeks now which just blows my mind! to be honest, maybe because i expected the absolute worst, it's been much better than expected! what have we done or what do we do?

hmmm...well, we go on A LOT of walks, have been on numerous shopping expeditions, went to bp to visit, have a neighborhood playgroup that we visit every once in a while, have gone on many lunch dates and that's pretty much it! it's amazing how quickly the days go by when entertaining two little ones.

they're still sleeping through the night brilliantly! their naps, on the otherhand are still all over the place, but since it hasn't affected their sleep in the evening, i haven't been too stressed about it. i'm hoping that will come in time (fingers crossed!)

they're like little people now...it actually saddens me how quickly they're growing! zoe is definitely a morning person, whereas zach is all about the afternoon. they smile, they laugh, they react...it's crazy!

easter was a lot of fun last weekend at jason's parents house. the five cousins (jenn's 3 (lucas, knox and elaina) and our 2) finally all got to meet. zach and zoe attended church for the first time last weekend as well. jason and i just knew that buzzer was going to go off, but it didn't...in fact, the ladies in the nursery said they were just great! who knew?! :)

we don't go back to the doc until four months, but our best guess is that zach is about 16 lbs now and zoe 13 lbs!

and finally, i think we've found our nanny! she's going to be coming three days a week to start and then will be full-time once i go back to work. i'm nervous but excited at the same time. we're keeping our fingers crossed, but jason and i really like her so far. we'll keep you posted!

we have success!!

hopefully this doesn't jinx us, but after a week of sleep training, zoe has now slept two nights in a row from 7pm to 6am and zach's slept from 7pm to 4am!! it sure wasn't an easy road getting to this point, but it's amazing what a week can do! i so hope i am not setting myself up for trouble by celebrating prematurely!
we're still struggling a bit with getting our naps down pat during the day, but i think once we've got our nightime routine established, that will soon follow (with a little coercing of course!)
this has obviously made a world of difference for jason and i...it's nice to be able to enjoy a meal together once again without having to constantly tend to babies.
i'll keep you posted, but so far, so good!!

8 week checkup

yesterday was a big day for the lawless household. not only did my mom desert us after staying with us for two months, but we also had zach and zoe's two month checkup. (i was kidding about the deserting part...we sure do miss her already!!)

the doctor's appt went very well with the exception of having to watch my little angels endure three injections a piece and a yucky oral vaccine! luckily though, not even fifteen minutes post shots, they were both back in good spirits again. even mommy forgot about them until she saw the big ol bandaids on their thighs as a reminder!

so here's the latest...

zach is now 13 lbs 5 oz (50th percentile), 23 inches long (50th) and his head is measuring 15 1/2 inches (25 - 50th percentile).

zoe is 10 lbs 15 oz (50th), 23 inches as well (75th) and her head is 15 inches long (25 -50th).

so...as you can see...they're doing quite well! can't knock the breast milk!

other than that, we're just chugging along. like i said, it's only the first day since my mom has left, so we'll be faces some new challenges, but are also in the process of looking for a nanny. we're actually "trying out" a few first since i'm here and hopefully we'll find someone we really trust and the children really like. i don't go back to work for a few months yet, so at least we have some time.

we were fortunate enough last week to have jason's aunt betty and aunt linda spend some time with the kiddos and with us last week. not only that, but they cooked up a storm and filled up our freezer with lots of meals that we can't wait to try! thank you aunt betty, aunt linda and mrs. lawless!

zoe is just smiling up a storm these days and is definitely a morning person. as long a night as we may have had, she wipes the slate clean for both her and her brother once we see her precious smile bright and early! zach is a little more reserved with his smiles, but he does like to spread his throughout the day!

the goal is to try and start sleep training them this weekend. i'm nervous...i think it's going to be torture, but hopefully it will make for happier children and parents at the end of the day! i quizzed the doc yesterday on the matter, and she was a big advocate of starting it now, so we've gotten the green light...wish us luck! thanks erin for sending me the book...that will be my bible for this sleep training!

otherwise...keep referring to the picasa website for picture updates. i'm trying to be good about it, but forgive me if i'm delinquent at times! but since this week's haven't been posted yet, here's a couple...zoe with my mom and zach this morning with two of his three bandaids still intact.

picasa website

i've been meaning to put this link out here for quite some time now. it's the tool i'm using to post updated pictures of zachary and zoe.

hopefully you have no problems accessing.

http://picasaweb.google.com/chiangkvc