living fairy tales

A Whole Lot of Love Here

Adali Grace Antisdel was born at 10:19 on March 8, 2008 to her mommy and daddy, Jamie and Jastin Antisdel. She weighed 1 lb 15 oz, 13.5 inches long. She was born by C-section at 28 weeks due to complications of pre-eclampsia.

This is a blog that will keep us all updated on how she and her family are doing.

When she was in the NICU the afternoon of her birth, the nurses put her right by the viewing window. There were at least 10 family and friends in the hall watching her. One of the nurses came out the door and remarked, "There is a Whole Lot of Love in this hallway."

So, there is a Whole Lot of Love on this blog as well.

Please pray for Adali, Jamie and Jastin.

the babes {1 month}

thursday, january 19

oh my dear adali

wednesday, january 18

oh my dear adali, 

you just told me as i ushered you back to bed for the fifth (we're up to seven now) time tonight that "you don't like it when i have to be mean."  well, my child, i don't like it when i have to be mean either but for the love of all that is holy, please keep your butt in bed.  

oh my dear adali,

if there was one word i could use to describe you these last few months it would be intense.  you have struggles with tactile issues, specifcally clothing.  as in you don't want to wear any...at all.  you asked if you could go to target with me one day and when i told you you needed to get dressed if you wanted to come you came out wearing the same plain black shirt you want to wear every day (because it's soft) with your boots.  and that's it.  no pants.  you could not understand why in the world your mean mama was making you put on pants to go.  it's gotten so bad that we needed to start a bit of sensory therapy with you.  so far it's seems to be doing some good as you have worn pants on your own without any complaint for several days now.  i can't even remember the last time that has happened...last september maybe.  who knew a prickly brush could give some much needed peace to our mornings.  up next we need to figre out how to get you to wear socks, shoes and coats.    

oh my dear adali,

i am so so so sorry i didn't take you to the doctor sooner for what turned out to be a bladder infection.  i chalked your complaints up to part of your sensory issues.  bad, bad mama.  to say i feel guilty would be a huge understatement.  however, you are on the mend and in a much better mood now that you are feeling better.     

oh my dear adali,

your intensity also comes in such sweet packages as well.  you love your brothers so intensly.  you want to hold them all day long and give them kisses every time you walk past them.  you can often be heard yelling from your payroom to "bring you a baby brudder."  the way you say their names is so dang cute and when we ask you which one we are holding you always say ames.  don't worry though there are lots of people that still can't tell them apart...ahem...bapa.      

{these are some of the few pictures i have i can actually post of you because, well, you don't have pants on in any of the others} 

oh my dear adali,

you are fierce and stubborn and set in your ways.  you are bound for great things.  keep loving life and learning new things.  just remember to put on your pants before you leave the house.  

i love you to the moon and back my sweet, sweet adali.  love, your mean, mean mama.

nursery tour

tuesday, january 10

i wanted to make sure and document the boys nursery.  it's something that jastin and i worked really hard on and had a lot of fun putting together.  i am beyond thrilled with how it turned out and i'm excited to share it.

i had a vision of what i wanted and jastin did such a good job of helping me pull it off...lord knows i would never have been able to build barn doors.  

i listed where i got all of the specifics at the bottom of the post.

 

i knew the barn doors were going to be the biggest obstacle for the nursery but it's something i really wanted and jastin knew it.  he found some wood for sale on craigslist (the boards were old fence boards)across the river in illions for a good price.  we went one afternoon to check them out and they happened to be perfect for what we were trying to accomplish.  i think it only took jastin one afternoon to build them.  they turned out so perfect.  we then added the lights that can be turned on individually to be able to check on one baby during the night witout waking the other one.  love, love, love.

we used wooden wine boxes as the storage bins in the bookase.  we have great friends that own a wine business and we had a few left over from a different project that i thought would work perfect for the changing table.  they were too long so jastin took them apart shortened them and now they fit pefectly.  

i also have to give a special shout out to the etsy shop sirBUBBADOO.  she made the blankets you see over the crib in one of the above pictures.  She went out of her way to make the best baby blankets.  again, i had a specific vision of what i wanted and even though she didn't have exactly what i was looking for, she found it and made them exactly as i wanted.  they are modern and soft and turned out perfectly.  if you are ever looking for a great shop for fun and modern baby gifts, i suggest you check her out!   

as i mentioned here, the pictures hanging in the nursery were taken by jastin's mom while the babies were still in the hospital.  his mom gave us the frames as a christmas gift.  they happen to sell reclaimed wood frames in their studio and they look as if they were made specifically for the nursery.  as you can see, his mom is a very talented photographer (as is his sister), so if you are in the kansas city area, check them out.

here are links to everything else in the nursery.

cribs - wal-mart

crib sheets - target (they don't seem to carry it anymore)

sheepskin rug - sam's club

curtains - ikea

pendant light - originally came from overstock and was repurposed from another part of the house

bookshelf/changing table (we added electrical conduit pipes to this to raise it off the ground some) - ikea

lights on barn doors - lowe's

coffee pillow - homegoods

cayenne colored pillow - crate and barrel (no longer available)

bunny and elephant lovies - land of nod (no longer available)

paper mache gazelle - anthropologie

elephant - his name is patrick (adali names him) and he came from homegoods

wooden letters (we stained and painted them) - etsy shop

chevron and polka dot blankets - etsy shop

 

really?

thursday, january 5

1 month ago right about now i was starting to get really anxious and really excited all at the same time.  i am going to leave the way ames and emry entered ino the world for it's own post but i had to stop in and post something today to celebrate their first month of life.  so i thought it would be fun to share some of the pics jastin's mom took of the boys while they were still in the hospital.  

a special thank you to my very talented grandmother who crocheted these special hats and diaper covers just for them.  thank you grandma...they were everything i had hoped for and more.  

is it bad when you have to label your babies so you don't forget which on is which in the pictures?

i cannot believe they have already been with us for a month!  i have been walking around the for the past 4 weeks in a daze but i try to stop as often as i can to remember this point.  as a very wise person reminded me..."make sure you really look at them each day because they will never be this small again."

truer words have never been spoken.  

to my boys...happy 1 month!

holiday wrap up

tuesday, january 3

our christmas and new years was a bit more low key this year but no less special.  we decided last christmas that this year we would spend christmas eve and christmas morning at our house and other family gatherings would have to fall around those days.  

adali drank up the magic of the season.  if she wasn't carting the nativity set all over the house and making up her own stories about mary, joseph and the baby jesus she was searching for what trouble the elf managed to get in the night before or thinking about what cookies were best to give santa and where the best place was to put the reindeer food for rudolph and his pals.  it was fun to watch her and at times hard to manage.  there were certainly days where her magic-o-meter runeth over which inevitably leads to meltdowns and tantrums.  couple that with her adjusting to 2 new beings sharing space with her and i also found my holiday-o-meter running over which also lead to a few metdowns and tantrums of my own.  what?  i'm only human and exteremly hormonal...cut me some slack.    

but we managed to fit it all in and survive.  here are some of my favorite snapshots from the season.

adali loves her earmuffs.  and for some reason the morning went from this sweet innocent moment...

to this!  if there is one picture that fully emobies the attitude of adali as of late it's this one.   

she got a bike for christmas and when she wanted to ride it she simply took her socks off and put her boots on.  quite a sight for sure. 

we rang in 2012 quietly at home...complete with champaign for everyone.

adali thought she was pretty special with her "bubbly."

slow down girl...

i think we had to "cheers" at least 2 dozen times.

and then we started a new tradition.  we had been gifted a wish lantern and adali had beencounting down the days to let it off.  the condition were far from ideal since it was blustery but jastin was determined to get it to take off.

it briefly caught itself on fire and bounced around the yard in a few futile attempts to take off and then...

up...up...up it went.  the look on her face was priceless.  i was shocked with how high and how far it went and wondered if we should have taken the directions more seriously and notified the airport we were doing this.  it took off directly over the interstate and i'm sure there were a few "wtf's" and "is that a ufo" quotes going on in cars along 270.  

our wish was made and all we can do is hope that 2012 provides as with half us many blessings as 2011 did.  

it's safe to say that our holiday's were celebrated a little bit differently this year than in the past but we spent them together, as a family of five and i get all choked up just thinking about what that means now and for the future.  swoon.

scenes

thursday, december 22

it's tough to find time for memory snapshots right now but i so desperatly want to document as much as i can about this time in our lives because it is a special one and it won't last much longer.  i usually have at least one baby attached to me the majority of the day and if i don't i'm trying to catch up on sleep so most memories have been captured by the camera phone which i'm fine with.  

here are a few scenes around the antisdel home as of late.  

1 ~ late night baby snuggles with daddy

2 ~ she wears the big sister title with honor (and wears the shirt proclaiming said title every chance she can)

3 ~ baby prayers

4 ~ candlelight dinner prepared by hubby

 

5 ~ my boys side by side

6 ~ my girl with sugar plums dancing in her head

7 ~ ames {aka old bright eyes}

8 ~ daddy's newborn survial kit including hand sanitizer, good bottles and a glass of wine

 

9 ~ adali giving love to one of the boys {she gives "love" every chance she can get}

10 ~ elf taking a bubble bath in adali's sink...oh the girl lives and dies for finding the elf every morning. magic

11 ~ one of my fav pics from the hospital.  nap time for the boys.

12 ~ smother love

 

adali is soaking up all things holiday this year.  she gets it, she loves it she deserves it.  i can't wait to see the magic unfold in a few days.  dear christmas, ready or not, here we come!

seeing double

thursday, december 15

 

sleepless nights have me seeing double but i wouldn't change it for anything right now.  we are still trying to work a few kinks out with night feedings but overall ames and emry are really good babies...aka they like to sleep a lot.

several people have asked how to pronounce ames' names.  it's easy...ames like james.  oh and if you think they look alike, you aren't alone.  i got them mixed up in the hospital at least once a day.  we even decided to keep their hospital bracelets on them for a few days after they came home just to make sure we could tell them apart before we took them off and mixed them up for life.   seriously, what would happen if you actually did that?  

ok, time for some baby cuddles and then maybe a nap.  

  

so this is what it feels like...

monday, december 12

while i had some free time i wanted to get a few things down so that i can look back and remember how special this first week has been.

first of all who knew you could have so much love left in your heart for two more little beings.  i turn to mush when i see my boys.  it's safe to say i'm smitten.

and holy cow...moms to be out there never take for granted the process of leaving the hospital with your baby.  talk about a special!  we weren't sure going into last monday what the situation would hold as far as the babies being able to leave when i would be discharged.  and as the week went on and we encountered some issues like low blood sugar levels and ames being coombs positive that it probably wasn't going to happen i would be lying if i wasn't a bit sad.  but to find out on friday morning that they would be able to leave with us was beyond describable.  of course i was emotional...but they were happy tears i promise.  

we are adjusting well at home.  adali is happy to have jastin and i back home and is loving her "baby brudders".  she's finally gotten over the fact that their names aren't really buckle and strap (there were a few tears shed over that one) and is happy to use those names as just nicknames now.  she's had her "moments" over the last few days but both jastin and i agree that she has been great about all of the changes.

i'm not going to sugar coat anything about the first night...it was rough but it was all part of the learning process of getting to know what works best for each baby.  we did manage to get them on the same schedule and have a good system going now to be as efficient as possible with everything.  

i am nursing which, when people find out you are nursing twins think oye ve but honestly nursing these guys is 100% easier than the feeding process that was necessary with adali.  really, it's a piece of cake.  i realize it's early and this could change but right now i'm counting my blessings and enjoying it.  

we had our first check in with the pediatrician today and they were given an a+.  they had only lost a few ounces each in the hospital and since being home had each gained an ounce a day putting ames at 5 lbs. 6 oz. and emry at 5 lbs. 5 oz.  each 1 ounce up from their birth weight.  we will go back in a week to do another weight check and i'm optimistic it will go just as well as today's did.  

so as you can see, we're all running on a high and despite slight sleep deprivation seem to be doing a decent job so far at this whole parenting of twins thing.  should i be afraid the wheels are going to fall off at any moment?  i hope not, i'm having too much fun.      

thank you all again for all of your kind comments and congratulations.  we feel so blessed to have so many people care about our family and sharing in our happiness.  

much love,

mama a

welcome to the world...

thursday, december 8

ames edward antisdel
5 lbs. 5 oz.
18 inches

emry charles antisdel
5 lbs. 4 oz.
19 inches

thank you for all of the congratulations and well wishes. we have been soaking them all up.

they are pure perfection.

today is the day...

monday, december 5