The Spraggins: 8 Month Update (over a month late…oops)

8 Months Old

Wow, where to begin. The last few months have been a bit of a whirlwind. We have had good times, bad times, happy times, sad times, tough times, but we have so much to be thankful for. 8 months ago we welcomed the two most precious, amazing little boys into our world. I have always known I wanted to be a mom but I didn't know just how much I would love it. Since I can remember, when someone asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, the first thing that always came to my mind was "I want to be a mom!". I went through phases where I wanted to be a veterinarian, or a teacher, or a nurse, but the yearning to be a mother has never changed. I honestly feel like it is my calling in life. Don't get me wrong, even in these few short months of my life as a stay at home mom, there have been many times when I was ready to just say "I'm done! I can't do this anymore!" or "Can I please at least get a part time job?!" But then again, I don't even like leaving the boys at home for a few hours so that I can go do something for myself. Its not that I worry about them or am scared to leave. I simply just enjoy their company. It's sad really. They have in a way become part of my identity. When I go to the store without them, no one gives me crazy looks. I actually blend in with the rest of society. It is nice but I'm so used to getting all kinds of weird looks and questions that when I go alone, I feel like I am forgetting something. Plus, I just miss them so much when I'm away from them. I can't imagine leaving them all day to go to work. To all of you working moms, I applaud you but I do not envy you. What you do takes strength and guts.

A couple of months ago, when the boys were about 5 1/2-6 months old, I started feeling very strange. I noticed myself wanting to sleep all the time. I would literally get angry seeing my breast pump sitting next to the bed and knowing I needed to pump so the boys could eat. I went from pumping every 3 hours during the day (after every time they ate) to pumping 2-3 times a day, and then to once or twice a day. I was barely producing enough milk to give them enough. I ended up having to delve into my stash of frozen milk that I was saving for when I stopped pumping altogether. I was feeling very emotional but yet foggy too. I wanted to stay in bed all day and it even got to the point to where I wasn't all that interested in taking care of my babies which is NOT like me. I LOVE taking care of them and doing things for them. I take joy in changing dirty diapers and picking up after them. I love to watch them giggle at their puppies and taking cute pictures of them to post on Instagram and Facebook. I noticed myself doing less and less of those things and quite frankly it scared me a little. After talking to Zach, my mom, and a few close friends, I decided to see a doctor. I made an appointment with a primary physician here in Houston who is linked with my OB/GYN here. They wanted to see me the following day. When I went in they had me fill out a questionnaire to assess the extent of my anxiety and/or depression. The doctor came in, looked over the form and immediately told me that she felt like I had a severe case of Postpartum Depression (PPD). I knew I was depressed but I didn't realize it was "severe". She gave me a prescription but I wasn't convinced that I wanted to take it. If I decided to take the med, I would have to stop breastfeeding the boys and I just wasn't sure I was ready for that. Breastfeeding is such an emotional thing for mothers. It creates such a bond between mother and child and unless you've experienced it, its likely you don't understand it. I can't even explain it. I wrestled with the decision whether to take the medication or not for a couple of weeks but ultimately I decided to get on it. I was desperate to get back to enjoying my life with my little family again and I didn't know if I could climb out of the hole I was in on my own. Since starting the medication I am a new woman. I am excited to start my day again and yes, I even enjoy changing those poopy diapers lol. Although it was pretty devastating at first to stop breastfeeding, I don't regret it for a minute. I am all about "breast is best" but I'm also all about keeping your sanity. Ideally I would have liked to breastfeed the boys for a year but it was not worth being miserable for the next 6 months. They say that mothers of multiples are at a lot higher risk for PPD and now I can say that I am a statistic lol.

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My babies aren't babies anymore!!!!! Not only has a lot been going on over the last couple of months, but I also haven't been very good about posting which makes it seem like even more has happened. The boys are literally growing like weeds and changing so much. I am amazed at how much they absorb and learn with every day that passes. Here are just a few things that have happened in the last month.

Sanford Tate

(I had the flu but was being a trooper)

Nickname: Sannnnn-foh-idddddddddd (this nickname is pretty much the same as usual but it has slowly evolved into a very silly adaptation of his actual name. He seems to find it just as comical as we do), Brother/Brudder, Wild Man
Weight: 20lbs when I went to the doctor a week and a half ago and found out I had the flu.
Height/Length: Not sure. I don't look as chunky as I did a month or so ago so I've probably grown an inch or two.

What have I been up to lately?
- I am on the move!!! I started crawling about 2 weeks ago while we were in Alabama for Christmas with our families. I have been getting up on all fours and rocking back and forth for weeks but when I finally figured out how to get those arms and legs to work together, I can't be stopped. Mommy is still getting used to having to watch me even more closely because I can get into more things these days and a lot quicker too.
- I am starting to pull up. Mommy and Daddy even had to lower my crib because I am getting very close to standing up on my own.
- I got the flu. We went to Alabama to do Christmas with our families and the day we were supposed to leave I started having a pretty high fever. I even had a fever rash all over my face. My entire body was on fire and I slept for the majority of the day Sunday. Then, we had to drive all the way home to Texas that night (12+ hours) and I wasn't too happy about that. I was a trooper though and was the whole time. It ended up taking me almost a week to get over it.
- I am a goof ball.
- I am constantly smiling and laughing.
- I am a dare devil and love to be scared.
- Mommy started making our baby food last month (I think) and even though I wasn't too keen on eating anything other than my bottle, now I LOVE food. Sometimes I get so excited I can't stop kicking my feet and grunting until Mommy feeds me faster. Sometimes I wonder if she gives Smith more than me.
- I LOVE to eat now. When Mommy first started giving up food, I wasn't too into it. Now, she can't feed me fast enough. Brother and I take turns grunting between bites rushing Mommy to feed us faster.
- When I eat big boy food, I usually end up with as much all over me as I do in my tummy. I am most likely going to be Mommy's messy eater.
- I love to sleep. I get my sleeping genes from my mommy because she still has to wake me up most of the time when Smith wakes up first. I'm a hard sleeper too.

Smith Taylor

(Being my typical goofy self)

Nickname: Smiffy, Miffy, Miff, Smiffy-Smiff, Tub-a-Tub, Brother/Brudder,
Weight: Mommy and Daddy weighed me when Brother had to go to the doctor for the flu the other day but there wasn't a digital scale. They were trying to hurry and had to use an old fashioned scale which looked like it read 22-23 lbs. Either way, I'm solid.
Length/Height: Not sure. Haven't measured in a while.

What have I been up to lately?
- I am a happy, goofy boy.
- Stilllllll a momma's boy.
- Stilllllll love my puppies.
- I'm a cuddler.
- I'm not quite crawling yet but I am getting close. I get up on all fours and rock back and forth. A lot of times I even scoot backwards. I prefer to roll to wherever I want to go. Its working out pretty well for me so far.
- I still love to eat. I am a very neat eater unlike my brother.
- I'm a good sleeper but I don't sleep very hard. I am a lot more likely to wake up from hearing the dogs bark or something than Sanford is. Mommy says I get that from Daddy.
- I love to make noise. If I have something in my hand chances are I am beating it on something.
- I am a chatterbox.
- I don't mind entertaining myself while Mommy gets other things done around the house.

What have we been up to lately?
- We love to feed ourselves. We are both getting really good at it.
- We love each other. We like to steal toys from each other and giggle. Sometimes it makes us mad when the other takes our toy but usually we find it comical.
- We swap toys when in our stroller. Sanford (who won't take a Wubbanub) takes Smith's Wubbanub out of his mouth and chews on its legs while Smith takes Sanford's teething toy to chew on.
- We both love to hear someone talk on the phone. Not only do we perk up and smile/giggle when we hear someone on the other end of the call talking, we also think its funny when we hear Mommy or Daddy talk on the phone. (I'm still not sure how they know us talking on the phone is different than us just talking to each other.)
- We get really excited when we see ourselves in the mirror. It usually involves jumping up and down, smiling, laughing, and squealing.
- We are both pros at sitting up.
- We can feed ourselves our bottles by ourselves now (actually been doing this for at least a couple of months). We have some little bottle holder pillows that helps us hold our bottles and not drop them. Mommy puts us in our bouncers and we do the rest.

Here's some pictures from the last month: