Visiting

Last weekend was the first time we traveled with the girls. We went to Albany to visit my dad and sister and celebrate Christmas with them. The drive was a little over 3 hours each way. 

On Friday during the day my in-laws came over to visit with the girls. This allowed me to do laundry and get most everything packed while they watched them. After they left my mom stopped by briefly, allowing me to take a shower before W got home. I fed the girls around 4:00 and pumped while W packed the car. 

The drive out was great. The girls slept until about 7:30 when we pulled over and woke them up to feed them. I was able to use my double nursing pillow in the front seat and tandem nurse at a rest area in the front seat of the car. Yay for our giant SUV. 

The weekend went pretty well. On Saturday afternoon we went to my step-mom's house to hang out and eventually have dinner. My step-sister, her boyfriend, and their combined 3 kids out of 5 came over. At that point things got pretty chaotic. About mid-way through dinner the girls decided they wanted to eat. Since Clara was awake and crying first I figured I'd nurse her first and then do Lucy after. Feeding one at a time is much lower profile and its what i usially do when I am out. I tried at the table first but it was just too much so I went to the computer room. Clara did great, but Lucy woke up mid-way through and also wanted to eat. I didn't bring the pillow or bottles so W tried to hold her off a bit. 

I guess with all the chaos this made her upset. When it finally came time for her to ear she was just screaming when I tried to get her to. This lasted over an hour of calming her down and then trying again to get her to eat. Finally she did, but it was super stressful getting her to that point. I know W only wanted to help, but he definitely added more stress to the situation. 

Most of the other feedings this weekend went well. I learned there are times when it's better to draw attention to tandem nursing than hold off your daughter from eating amid chaos. 

On Sunday my sister's house was like grand central station. My mom, step-dad, and brother stopped by first on their way back from Massachusetts. Later my dad and other step sister stopped by, followed by my sister's in laws, and then some of her friends also came by. It was nice that everyone got to see the girls, but it was super busy. 

I also got to spend a lot of time with my nephew. Baby proofing is not my sisters forte. He was into everything! At 10 months he's crawling everywhere. He took quite a few independent steps as well. My sister doesn't really have him on a schedule so he's up around 8 or 9 am, and then doesn't go to sleep until about 10 pm. It's exhausting just watching him. He was so good with the girls. When he first saw them he spontaneously gave them hugs. It was so sweet. He's so cute and turns into a total ham when the camera comes out. He really liked the activity table I bought him for Christmas but I think he also thought it was a walker as he pushed it around the whole house. It's hard to believe how much the girls are going to be doing in a few months. I'm happy to stick with smiling and cooing for now. I'm not ready for mobile babies. 

We left Sunday evening around 4 and got home about 8:30. The drive home was pretty good. For about the last half hour Lucy decided she had enough of her car seat and complained, not cried, until we got home. It's so interesting to me that they are really starting to differentiate their cries. 

Overall, our first weekend away was hugely successful. The girls slept great in a foreign environment, traveled well in the car, and handled all the many people like champs (for the most part.) 

Traveling with babies is exhausting. Everything is so much more work when you are out of your home environment. It was a real reminder of exactly how exhausting infant twins are. As tiring as it was, I wouldn't change it for the world.