"How could there be a day in your whole life that doesn't have its splash of happiness?"--Mary Oliver

Hope your day had one too....Jen

Papa Papa show the way, I am learning everyday*...

*Another great line (and truth) brought to you by the little book Mama Mama, Papa Papa.

Things are about to get interesting....

We thought Amelia was busy when she started grabbing,pulling, and chewing on everything in sight. The diving,scooting,starting to crawl stage takes things to a whole different level:)

It figures.

I remember when my mom-in-luv Shari sang the praises of Crock pots and told me "you just can't mess up a roast in the slow cooker." So, despite my numerous failings in the kitchen department, I gave it a whirl. I have news for you....you CAN mess up a pot roast in the slow cooker. Or at least, I can! It was soggy and disgusting and I haven't tried again since. See, that's my problem. I just don't try, try again when it comes to cooking. So, we live on take-out, cereal, pasta, yummy stew that Joel makes, and a few other staples. It is also why our babies have been eating mostly baby take-out (jars of baby food). "Oh, it's sooooo easy to make your own baby food Jenny. It is really fun, too, " they say. "Mmmm hmmmm". I say back and continue to search the shelves of Wild Oats for the most appealing combos of fruit and veggies.

Well, lately I have been having a change of heart. I mean I do cook a sweet potatoe occasionally and mash it up for them, or an avacado or some whole grains...what could be much harder about following a little recipe? It would be so much cheaper and healthier too. So, I whipped up a little brown rice/apple/pear concoction and was so excited to try it out on Sammy (Amelia was asleep). I did notice the rice was a bit hard and so I made sure to grind it up well. Then I got the video camera to document the first feeding of a homemade, wholesome little meal. If this went well, I might could join the, "Oh no, I make all of my baby's food. It is so cheap and healthy and really easy" club. Well, take a look folks(click on the picture to see the video). Looks like I won't be joining anytime soon:)

Yum,yum!

This one's for you Joelie.

Joel loves music videos. LOVES them. I find this so....curious and cute. It always takes me by surprise when we are somewhere that has television (we don't) and I find him glued to the music video channels. Anyway,Joel, I found this one and knew you'd love it. Everyone else out there may already know about it. Apparently she sings this song on the new Mac Air commercials. It is lovely.

And with tired smiles, we close this day.....

Joel was home most of today. When he is home it usually means a good day for us all. Today was no exception. It is 8:14pm and I am going to snuggle up next to my Sammy and get some extra zzzzzzzs. Happy weekend! Jen

"A trip to see our dad and our doctor." A post by Samuel James Hunt

Today we went to see our dad at our doctor's office. See, dad is doing his pediatrics rotation with our Dr. D and so we got to see them both today at our 9 month well baby check up.

Here are sister and I ready to go. We were excited to get out of the house!


I started the visit out with a bang. Mom was taking off my clothes to get me weighed when she smelled something fishy. Let me back up and say that Amelia and I ate prunes yesterday in order to help with our constipation issues. WOW! Let's just say that constipation is no longer the issue. So, back to the story. She laid me down on the table with the wonderful crinkly paper on it and learned that I had poop smeared up to my shoulders. Literally. So she stood me up to wipe me down and that is when the cold air got to me and I just started to pee pee all over that crinkly paper. Right about this time the nurse walked in and said, "How's it going in here? Oh, oh my! " Poop was all over the table, me, mama,my clothes and pee pee was still streaming out of me onto the table. Oops.

The rest of the visit was pretty uneventful. Dr. D said that we both looked great and were developing just fine and that we are really cute. He always gives mom a hard time about not doing the "Ferber method" at night so that she and dad can get some sleep. He tells her "horror" stories of co-sleeping babies who still want to sleep with their parents at age 5. Mama says that there are worse things in the world and that we are all doing fine. I heard her tell dad that she gets frustrated about having this conversation at every well baby visit and so dad had to remind her that a majority of babies don't sleep in family beds and hammocks and that when you do things differently you have to expect some critisism. All of this was a little over my head, but I tried to keep my eyes open and listen because I could tell it was important stuff. Mama tells me that I'm a good listener.

Anyway, that was our exciting day. Hope you had one too! Love, Sammy

Evening Entertainment....

Reintroducing the Moby Wrap...

I got the Moby wrap out while Sammy was napping and tried it out with Amelia--she LOVED it! We hadn't worn it in a while because the pouch slings just seemed quicker and easier, but Amelia loved being able to kick,kick,kick and it was totally worth the time it took to get it tied on. I just had to give her something to keep her hands occupied so that she didn't try to grab everything in sight (like she was in these pictures. She was trying SO hard to grab the camera strap, which is why I was making goofy faces to try and keep her distracted while I took the pictures. It didn't work:) It is basically just a very long piece of fabric that you can tie in lots of different ways to do different holds. It is great for preemies as it is very secure and keeps them snug as a bug. Sammy was a whopping 4 pounds in these pictures of us catching up on our e-mails the day he came home from the NICU...


Amelia is about 17lbs right now and she didn't feel heavy at all today so I think we'll get lots more use out of it. Yay! Okay, I guess this ends the commercial for our Moby wraps:) I have some more pictures and video that I hope to share soon! Jen

"All I want is a room somewhere...

....Far away from the cold night air




....with one enormous chair,



...oh, wouldn't it be loverly? "

Loverly indeed Eliza Doolittle!

Our family troubador...

I just got off the phone with my little brother who just returned from a whirlwind tour of Europe with this (click to go to Ryan Binhgam's website) band. I loved hearing his thoughts on all of the places that he saw. He said that the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam "shook him" in ways that he didn't expect and that the countryside of Scotland " was one of the most beautiful sights his eyes have ever seen." I love the way he words things. I really just adore him in general. So, thought I might share a bit of him with you through this music video. He is playing here with his childhood friend Andy Anderson. Every time I see them together I have flashbacks of them at about age 3....Andy and his chubby cheeks and John Mike's sweet little face. Anyway, enjoy!


P.S. For those of you who don't know my family, John Mike is the long haired boy:) Oh, and did you spy pregnant Tara at the end of the video when all of the hippy kids are dancing? Love it.

Bittersweet slumber...

"She's sleeping better. She's sleeping better. She's sleeping better", I tell myself for the third time as i walk into the nursery for a 10pm feeding. I sit down in the rocking chair and scoop her up, hammock and all, to quiet her cries for milk. While I'm holding her and feeding her I get a little teary. Happy that her transition to sleep has improved(like Marilee said in her comment, it just makes sense for babes to sleep well in hammocks,especially for babes so used to sleeping in slings and on porch swings and in their mama and papas' arms), but missing her so in our family bed. Joel even mentioned that maybe he, Sam and I could sleep on the futon mattress underneath her! I miss the way she eats and eats and then suddenly unlatches and throws her head back, sound asleep. I miss kissing her chubby little hands deep in the night as we shift bodies for feedings. As I hold her in the rocker and watch her fall asleep I think to myself, " This must be what it feels like to have child leave home for college or to travel or work." Then I realize with dread that it doesn't even come close as she is literally only about 15 feet from our bed! Still, as I look down at her little face , I can't help but kiss all over her little cheeks in a rush of love. A rush of love that I imagine comes with each little piece of letting go.

You may say, "Come on Jenny. Most (American) babes sleep in a crib from day one. Get over it." Or, maybe this is just what I tell myself:) I must say that I suspected long before our babes were conceived that we would be a co-sleeping family. It just seemed like it would be a fit. When Joel fell in love with sleeping with the babes, it was like someone giving me a gift of the most precious nature. I believe it not only provided me with much,much more sleep in the early months than I would have ever received running back and forth to a nursery to feed two babies, but I also believe it was healing for us as a family. The babes slept in a busy, noisy NICU for the first two months of their lives. Though Joel was able to bond with them pretty quickly, it took longer for me. I believe that together with breastfeeding and babywearing, co-sleeping healed the attachment gap that the surgical birth and prolonged seperation left in it's wake. So, now, as we have to make some changes in order to help the babes learn that night time is for sleeping( or at least sleeping for longer than 2 hour spurts) and daytime for eating, it is bittersweet (and not without it's challenges. Amelia still wants my face smushed up against hers when she is falling asleep and she panicks a bit when she wakes up and it isn't there. I think she misses us too.) .

I think by having two babies at the same time, the Lord is helping me to hold them with more of an open hand. Though we will continue attachment parenting these babes, Amelia's little hammock is a reminder that we there will be always be little growing pains. Little areas that we have to learn to let go.

And so, as I thought through all of this while rocking and ended up with a more resolute feeling, I kissed her little nose one last time and let her go to swing peacefully through the air in her new, big girl hammock.

Here is a little video of it in action for you followed by more of the giggling babes. Jen

The sweetest sound...

The babies first giggles together. They both think that playing with the new hammock (more on that soon) is just so funny. It is music to my ears to hear them laughing together~

"In the evenings"...A post by Amelia Brooks Hunt

In the evenings I like to check my e-mail and catch up on blogging....

I also like to laugh at my Papa's antics...he's really, really funny!

Sometimes I like to pull mama's hair...she laughs and screams so I do it again.

Hard.

Then there is my brother Sam. He's pretty cute, isn't he? He's really laid back too, and I like to take advantage of that and "borrow" his toys quite often. Sometimes, though, I take a good look at him and we smile at each other and agree that life is pretty good these days.



Anyway, I guess that's enough for now. I'm pretty busy these days, but I just wanted to say hi to you all and let you see what an evening in my life is like.Sam and I will try to guest blog for mama every now and then. Apparently she gets pretty tired in the evenings, so I thought I'd give her a break from trying to think of clever things to say. Bye bye for now, and as mom always says....much,much love to you ! Amelia

Going, Going, Gone...

Lately.

Loving
Feeling the electric energy that comes when I run outside in the freezing cold to feed Willow in the mornings.
Getting our basement in order.
Hearing Sam giggle when we play peek-a-boo with a blanket.
Hearing Amelia giggle when I kiss her chubby, little thighs.
Having rich, needed conversations with Joel.
Finally using our bread maker!
Reading encouraging books and articles and scriptures.
That we got to see brother Joel--AKA Bub--last night. The band he works for had a show in SLC so he got to come over for a couple of hours and eat take-out with us and chat and watch us try to stay awake past 9pm.
Coming back to bed at night after getting a drink of water and seeing babies and husband sprawled all over our bed. It is one of my favorite sights in the world.

Reading
Dr. Sears --My go to guy for all things baby.
Each New Day --To feed my soul each morning.
A Wife After God's Own Heart--I have a lot of learning to do!
Beyond the Rainbow Bridge--To educate myself about Waldorf philosophy and how to incorporate it into daily life with the babes. Interesting stuff.
The thing about books is that you don't have to go anywhere and yet you can be in so many places. I'm thankful for that.

All for now, Jen

"Mama mama make me clean, everyday the same routine..."

Thought I'd share with you our little routine and some more of my "favorite things".
So, since returning from Texas the babes have been waking up bright and bushy-tailed between 4:45-5:00am (which would be an hour later in TX). Joelie and I have been taking turns getting up and getting them changed and dressed and play a bit and then they are ready for nap numero uno. We really start our day after that first nap. We select Elizabeth Mitchell (that is the music from the video Abbe--you'll LOVE her) on the ipod in the nursery and sing through all of the songs while the babes play and I eat breakfast and hopefully read for a few minutes. Here is the "music/reading/rocking station":)

Sammy smiles when he hears the first song come on, like he recognizes the music. I love that.
After this we go from room to room and I straighten up, usually with one in the sling and one (usually Amelia) playing on a blanket. It is such a nice change as they are getting older that they are content for longer and longer periods of time playing on their own. After this I usually try to feed Amelia some solid food(Must get video of this!). Sam is not at all interested yet. Confession: I don't make my own baby food. There, I said it. They are Earth's Best babes, and I'm okay with that.


Then we start our second nap routine of "reading" two books, nursing, and (in a perfect world) falling asleep. Our two favorite books right now are Mama Mama, Papa Papa and The Napping House . How can you not love Mama Mama, Papa Papa with lines like, "Papa,Papa your so wise, I love to watch your shining eyes." Awwww.
This is where we move into afternoon and things can get crazy if we don't watch it. All three of us are prone to crankiness, especially if naps were not long enough. So, we always try to get a walk in. Thank the Lord for the Chariot bike trailor/stroller that Joel bought! They stay toasty warm and it glides over snow and ice like it's nothing!
Then it's more play time and if things get desperate, we take stroller rides aournd the kitchen and living room. Oh yes, we do.

Sometimes, on great days like today, we have visitors! First, Anne and Vera came and played for a while and then Kelly came and helped me with bath and bedtime as Joel will be home late. Ahhh, that was wonderful. Every night the babes take a bath and they love it. Especially Sam. He just kicks and kicks and then he likes to turn his head to the side and put his ear under water. I guess it makes things sound really funny and he gets this really cute smile on his face. Then they nurse and, in a perfect world, everyone falls asleep. First they sleep in the nursery on the futon mattress on the floor. Then, when they wake up around 9 or 9:30 to eat, we move them into our bed and we all go to sleep.

Anyway, hope you got a little glimpse into a day in the Hunt abode. Really, things are pretty fluid around here. Seems like someone is always nursing or sleeping or trying to go to sleep. Again, I am slowly gaining confidence that I am okay with that. Sometimes I think we should be on a stricter schedule, but then my palms start sweating and I feel like a failure without even trying it! I'm just not a strict schedule kinda mama, or person really, and I need to just accept that. Embrace it even. A routine, I'm all about it. Keeping a baby awake until a quarter hour mark or something. Um, no. But you know us mamas, it is hard, hard, hard not to compare.

So, come by if you're in the area. Have a cup of hot chocolate. Wash your hands really well and then hold a baby.We are probably just hanging out, making faces in mirrors...you know, things like that:)

Much,much love to all of you, Jen

The north wind doth blow....

I have been dreading this winter for a long time. One, because winter equals RSV season and because the babes were so premature, that means keeping them out of the public as much as possible to avoid the risks that come with premature babies contracting RSV. That means hibernation for mama and babies. Of course, since we are in Utah and it is snowy and cold, winter also means much less time outdoors.

I know I have mentioned this all before, and I'm sure this won't be the last, but I have come to some conclusions.

1. This is going to be a challenging few months (RSV season ends in April) and there will be days that don't go smoothly at all and where I feel overwhelmed, lonely,like a human pacifier that gets no sleep, and like a shut in. See yesterday's post.

2. I can look at things in two ways. Accept that #1 is true and feel very grumpy about it and bitter and eat lots and lots of ice cream, muffins, chocolate, and other sundries to make myself feel better. Or, accept that #1 is true, but make this time as sweet as it can possibly be. There are many good sides to this coin. See #3.

3. The positive. I don't have to feel obligated to make ANY commitments other than caring for these two babies. I like that. I have an excuse to take massive amounts of pictures of the two cutest subjects I could ever ask for. What else are we to do? I get concentrated, no distractions time with my babies to watch them grow and nurture them and parent them the way I want to. Lots of women don't have that. I realize this and am thankful.So, see? There are indeed two sides to every coin.

4.Thus, the perfectness of the music on the little video I am sharing with you. The first is a sad song about the poor little robin who has to hide under its wings because of the snow, and then comes the joy....

We shall have snow...

Mama said there'd be days like this....

There'd be days like this my mama said.

Every photo has a story....

If only I had time to tell them all. I have updated the sidebar and the December photos are ready for viewing.Enjoy! Jen