That's right. My babies are 3 months old today!!
And of course, try as we may, we couldn't get a photo of them smiling at the same time again.
An Abbey smile...
A Luke smile...
And here's a bit of what my sweet ones are up to these days...
Momma headed back to work this week, which was a little sad but we all handled it pretty well. You two are so blessed to get to have TONS of Daddytime this summer! He is so creative and is just loving all this one-on-two time with you guys. You three have been having daily music and dance time while I am at work...jealous! =) My work day is only four hours, so we all still have lots of time together. We have been SO blessed this summer with our schedules, and I am still in awe of it. I am just loving how much time we are getting to spend together as a family. We've taken lots of mid morning walks to the park down the street. You two each hitch a ride in your Baby Bjorn's, enjoying the fresh air. Sometimes you'll take a morning snooze this way. We walk all around the park and watch the kids play in the water features and talk about how this time next summer you two will be toddling around down there.
We've also been watching an insane amount of soccer around here, thanks to the World Cup. I will forever associate the background noise of vuvumzelas with your infancy.
It became apparent you two needed to be put in separate cribs recently =(. Both because you were getting too long to lay vertically together, and horizontal put your faces too close to the bumpers for Momma's comfort, and also because you too are becoming wiggle-worms in your sleep! We find you in the craziest positions sometimes! Neither of you seemed phased by this transition at all, so I suppose it's good we did it before you knew any better. You both have started to have about 4 naps a day, and they vary in length between 30 minutes to an hour and a half (only one time have you napped that long!)
You both are in 0-3 months clothes, and size 1 diapers. You guys nurse pretty much whenever you want during the morning, and each take a four ounce bottle while I am at work.
Abbeygirl, you are so funny. You have been cracking us up lately with your chatter! You are so serious when you talk, and sometimes your "words" surprise even you =). Your facial expressions are just priceless! Your smile is to die for, and it's so cute how lately you have a sheepish grin. You pull your hands up in front of your face and act all embarrassed when you smile. Melts us. You are finally starting to fill out that long, lean body of yours, and I am proud to tell the world that you officially have a double chin! Hooray! It makes this Momma proud! You are sleeping pretty good these days, and going down for bed and naps really well, and that has helped us learn some new things about you...first off, you need your sleep!! You are like your Momma in that you just get cranky when you are overtired. Your poor daddy... when both his girls are overtired we are a force to be reckoned with =). Another way we are alike is we need some time to wake up on our own before we interact with others. When you wake up either in the morning or from a nap, we have learned not to pick you up and talk to you right away...you just aren't ready! Instead we unswaddle you so you are free to move about and we touch your sweet face and say hello and then just let you be for a moment or two. Then when we come back to you, you are all smiles! I feel ya baby girl, I need my time to orient myself before I am really awake too. Although my "orienting" usually includes my one cup of coffee each day.
Sweet as you are, you aren't especially keen on cuddling. You like to interact just fine, but when you are fussy, it's the colic hold or no hold at all! Neither you nor your brother like to be held "like babies" in the traditional sense. You will tolerate the upright-over-the-shoulder hold for a bit, but usually are quick to make your request for the over-the-arm-tummy-down hold, and your daddy and I don't mind meeting your request =). You have been known to fall asleep in this position multiple times. Only problem is you have been known to seriously slime our arms in this position! You are a drooly little thing lately!
You probably aren't huge on cuddling because you love to wiggle so much =), you always are kicking your little legs and stretching and moving your long arms. Sometimes if you are fussy and we are holding you, all we have to do is put you down and you are like "thank God! I just wanted to be free to move on my own!" So funny.
You are showing tendencies of being a Daddy's girl, which bums me out a little (I wanted a Momma's girl!) but I just love how your Daddy loves you, and really I shouldn't be surprised because you come from a long line of Daddy's girls. Your Grandma Linda is a Daddy's girl, and so am I, so I guess it's in your genes =). We have some special times too Peanut, just me and you =). The last few nights your brother and you have been heading to bed about 8:00pm(ish), and you have been waking up anywhere between 1:30am-3:30am. I get up and bring you out to the couch and nurse you, and it's the only time that I nurse one-on-one, and it is special. I rub your hair and talk softly to you and pray over you and gently brush your sweet cheeks. You are just so darling I can't help but stare at you sometimes after you have fallen asleep.
Lucas, you are such a snugglesaurus. Seriously, if you are being held and have a binky in your mouth, we could take you anywhere. You are so content being up against someones chest, head over their shoulder. I am thrilled you are a cuddlebug, because I am too. You aren't as chatty as your little sister, but when you do have something to say, you say it! Your words are usually loud and long, and your eyes get all big and your smile wide once you have completed what you wanted to say. Your smile is just precious and you still have eyelashes for days. You have started to giggle, which just cracks us up! It's not quite a full on laugh yet, just the beginning of a nerdy (yet adorable!) little chuckle =). You make this one facial expression where you put your lips in a straight line and kind of purse them and it puffs up your cheeks and wow...never did a Momma want to kiss a baby boy more than those moments. Both your Daddy and I have been known to nibble on your precious little cheeks when they are at their best like that. You are not a fan of the nibbling though! Speaking of facial expressions, you have mastered the lower lip pout. It comes out shortly before crying starts, and to be honest it's so adorably pathetic that often we are so slayed by it we don't let the crying begin. Well played, son, well played.
You are totally out of your casts, and only have to wear your little "snowboard" 16 hours a day, which means for 8 hours a day you are free to kick and squirm as you please, and boy do you! You love to kick your little legs when they are free. But you also don't seem to mind your little special shoes very much. You handle them like a champ, and Daddy and I are so proud of you! You even seem to have some fun with them sometimes...you will lay in your crib and lift your legs and them slam them back down with a "thump!" on the mattress. It's like a whale flicking it's tail. You always have one arm up to your head too -just like in EVERY ultrasound we had- posing like a monkey =) You even kind of play with your hair sometimes, especially while you nurse. This just cracks me up because I totally play with my hair when I am reading, watching tv, etc, and I wonder if you inherited that trait from me.
You focus on things so intently now, and it cracks us up what fascinates you. The light fixture in the living room received your attention for a good 20 minutes the other day, and it wasn't even on! You love to look at the little frog hanging from your carseat, and will also hang out contently in your crib watching your friends on your mobile too. It's so fun to watch your eyebrows go up and down as you take things in. I get the feeling you are quite curious =)
You are a sleeper. I feel ya there, buddy. You could probably go down for the night around 5:00pm! But Momma doesn't get home until about 5:45pm and I gotta nurse you! That usually wakes you up and the four of us play for a bit, Daddy and I eat dinner, and then you guys usually eat again around 7:30pm (ish) and then head to bed about 8:00pm. You have made it all the way until 5:30am twice before! But last night I realized I was putting your sister back to bed at 4:15am after her feeding, and I didn't want to get back up again in 45 minutes, so I grabbed you out of your crib and fed you too. You went right back down after and both of you slept until almost 7:00am! Yahoo! Now Daddy and I just have to get on board and head to bed earlier! Ha.
Just like I wrote to your sister above, I loved our nursing session just me and you last night. You are growing so fast and I just can't believe how big my sweet boy is getting.
My sweet Luke and Abbey, you two are so dearly loved. And not just by your Daddy and I, but by so many. We are so grateful for you and the blessing that you are.
You are our joy.
I love you my sweet babies,
Momma
Momma headed back to work this week, which was a little sad but we all handled it pretty well. You two are so blessed to get to have TONS of Daddytime this summer! He is so creative and is just loving all this one-on-two time with you guys. You three have been having daily music and dance time while I am at work...jealous! =) My work day is only four hours, so we all still have lots of time together. We have been SO blessed this summer with our schedules, and I am still in awe of it. I am just loving how much time we are getting to spend together as a family. We've taken lots of mid morning walks to the park down the street. You two each hitch a ride in your Baby Bjorn's, enjoying the fresh air. Sometimes you'll take a morning snooze this way. We walk all around the park and watch the kids play in the water features and talk about how this time next summer you two will be toddling around down there.
We've also been watching an insane amount of soccer around here, thanks to the World Cup. I will forever associate the background noise of vuvumzelas with your infancy.
It became apparent you two needed to be put in separate cribs recently =(. Both because you were getting too long to lay vertically together, and horizontal put your faces too close to the bumpers for Momma's comfort, and also because you too are becoming wiggle-worms in your sleep! We find you in the craziest positions sometimes! Neither of you seemed phased by this transition at all, so I suppose it's good we did it before you knew any better. You both have started to have about 4 naps a day, and they vary in length between 30 minutes to an hour and a half (only one time have you napped that long!)
You both are in 0-3 months clothes, and size 1 diapers. You guys nurse pretty much whenever you want during the morning, and each take a four ounce bottle while I am at work.
Abbeygirl, you are so funny. You have been cracking us up lately with your chatter! You are so serious when you talk, and sometimes your "words" surprise even you =). Your facial expressions are just priceless! Your smile is to die for, and it's so cute how lately you have a sheepish grin. You pull your hands up in front of your face and act all embarrassed when you smile. Melts us. You are finally starting to fill out that long, lean body of yours, and I am proud to tell the world that you officially have a double chin! Hooray! It makes this Momma proud! You are sleeping pretty good these days, and going down for bed and naps really well, and that has helped us learn some new things about you...first off, you need your sleep!! You are like your Momma in that you just get cranky when you are overtired. Your poor daddy... when both his girls are overtired we are a force to be reckoned with =). Another way we are alike is we need some time to wake up on our own before we interact with others. When you wake up either in the morning or from a nap, we have learned not to pick you up and talk to you right away...you just aren't ready! Instead we unswaddle you so you are free to move about and we touch your sweet face and say hello and then just let you be for a moment or two. Then when we come back to you, you are all smiles! I feel ya baby girl, I need my time to orient myself before I am really awake too. Although my "orienting" usually includes my one cup of coffee each day.
Sweet as you are, you aren't especially keen on cuddling. You like to interact just fine, but when you are fussy, it's the colic hold or no hold at all! Neither you nor your brother like to be held "like babies" in the traditional sense. You will tolerate the upright-over-the-shoulder hold for a bit, but usually are quick to make your request for the over-the-arm-tummy-down hold, and your daddy and I don't mind meeting your request =). You have been known to fall asleep in this position multiple times. Only problem is you have been known to seriously slime our arms in this position! You are a drooly little thing lately!
You probably aren't huge on cuddling because you love to wiggle so much =), you always are kicking your little legs and stretching and moving your long arms. Sometimes if you are fussy and we are holding you, all we have to do is put you down and you are like "thank God! I just wanted to be free to move on my own!" So funny.
You are showing tendencies of being a Daddy's girl, which bums me out a little (I wanted a Momma's girl!) but I just love how your Daddy loves you, and really I shouldn't be surprised because you come from a long line of Daddy's girls. Your Grandma Linda is a Daddy's girl, and so am I, so I guess it's in your genes =). We have some special times too Peanut, just me and you =). The last few nights your brother and you have been heading to bed about 8:00pm(ish), and you have been waking up anywhere between 1:30am-3:30am. I get up and bring you out to the couch and nurse you, and it's the only time that I nurse one-on-one, and it is special. I rub your hair and talk softly to you and pray over you and gently brush your sweet cheeks. You are just so darling I can't help but stare at you sometimes after you have fallen asleep.
Lucas, you are such a snugglesaurus. Seriously, if you are being held and have a binky in your mouth, we could take you anywhere. You are so content being up against someones chest, head over their shoulder. I am thrilled you are a cuddlebug, because I am too. You aren't as chatty as your little sister, but when you do have something to say, you say it! Your words are usually loud and long, and your eyes get all big and your smile wide once you have completed what you wanted to say. Your smile is just precious and you still have eyelashes for days. You have started to giggle, which just cracks us up! It's not quite a full on laugh yet, just the beginning of a nerdy (yet adorable!) little chuckle =). You make this one facial expression where you put your lips in a straight line and kind of purse them and it puffs up your cheeks and wow...never did a Momma want to kiss a baby boy more than those moments. Both your Daddy and I have been known to nibble on your precious little cheeks when they are at their best like that. You are not a fan of the nibbling though! Speaking of facial expressions, you have mastered the lower lip pout. It comes out shortly before crying starts, and to be honest it's so adorably pathetic that often we are so slayed by it we don't let the crying begin. Well played, son, well played.
You are totally out of your casts, and only have to wear your little "snowboard" 16 hours a day, which means for 8 hours a day you are free to kick and squirm as you please, and boy do you! You love to kick your little legs when they are free. But you also don't seem to mind your little special shoes very much. You handle them like a champ, and Daddy and I are so proud of you! You even seem to have some fun with them sometimes...you will lay in your crib and lift your legs and them slam them back down with a "thump!" on the mattress. It's like a whale flicking it's tail. You always have one arm up to your head too -just like in EVERY ultrasound we had- posing like a monkey =) You even kind of play with your hair sometimes, especially while you nurse. This just cracks me up because I totally play with my hair when I am reading, watching tv, etc, and I wonder if you inherited that trait from me.
You focus on things so intently now, and it cracks us up what fascinates you. The light fixture in the living room received your attention for a good 20 minutes the other day, and it wasn't even on! You love to look at the little frog hanging from your carseat, and will also hang out contently in your crib watching your friends on your mobile too. It's so fun to watch your eyebrows go up and down as you take things in. I get the feeling you are quite curious =)
You are a sleeper. I feel ya there, buddy. You could probably go down for the night around 5:00pm! But Momma doesn't get home until about 5:45pm and I gotta nurse you! That usually wakes you up and the four of us play for a bit, Daddy and I eat dinner, and then you guys usually eat again around 7:30pm (ish) and then head to bed about 8:00pm. You have made it all the way until 5:30am twice before! But last night I realized I was putting your sister back to bed at 4:15am after her feeding, and I didn't want to get back up again in 45 minutes, so I grabbed you out of your crib and fed you too. You went right back down after and both of you slept until almost 7:00am! Yahoo! Now Daddy and I just have to get on board and head to bed earlier! Ha.
Just like I wrote to your sister above, I loved our nursing session just me and you last night. You are growing so fast and I just can't believe how big my sweet boy is getting.
My sweet Luke and Abbey, you two are so dearly loved. And not just by your Daddy and I, but by so many. We are so grateful for you and the blessing that you are.
You are our joy.
I love you my sweet babies,
Momma
