A picture post

Two little babes, sleep-sacked and binkied, ready for bed!



Buddies =)

ADORABLE outfits from my sweet friend Heather.

Hanging out in Luke's crib with blankies and lovies after a nap



The best Daddy there ever was =)




Melts my heart.

I heart blogging!

This was the scene on my kitchen table the other week...

One package received, two getting ready to be mailed out.

All in some way tied to blogging.

The package received was from my friend Heather.

I won a give away on her blog...hooray! I won a Scentsy package, and not only does my house smell yummy but now I have a new thing to be hooked on =)

The big package to be mailed out is for my friend Adrienne, and her baby boy Bennett.

It's packed with preemie boy clothes that I had stocked up on, and my little baby boy was born too big for.




And the little package to be mailed out is the one that made me smile the most.

Inside is a pregnancy devotional book that my sweet friend Julie gave to me when I went down to her baby shower for her daughter, when I was like a week pregnant. Julie and I met on this_blog, after realizing we had amazing-stunningly- similar life stories. Last week,with great joy, I sent that devotional book to my friend Lori, who is pregnant with her first baby after many years of infertility.

How beautifully circular, no?





I could go on and on about the reasons I love to blog, and say something special about each and every friend I have met through blogging, but instead I will just touch on a few highlights...


I am grateful for the journal it provides, as both a place to empty the thoughts from my head and clear some space, and as a make-shift baby book for my sweet children.

I am grateful for all the people who prayed for us and supported us during our long wait for our babies. I met some of the neatest women on that journey. Women who were currently waiting, and commiserated with me, and women who were on the other side of their journey, who offered me hope.

I am grateful for the friends in Bloggerland who were there for me when I was completely wigging out after we brought our babies home. I was more stressed and overwhelmed then than I have ever been in my entire life. I was feeling so incredibly inadequate, and dealing with so much, including what I have no doubt was a significant Spiritual Battle. And then one day, about a week and half after we had come home from the hospital, I sat on my couch with tears streaming down my face and drafted an email to a few women in my life. I wrote about what a hard time I was having, all my thoughts and fears -free form, with no editing,- for I knew I could trust these women not to judge all that I had to say. I wrote about the hives I had broken out in from all the stress, and the details of the wicked nightmares that were haunting what little sleep I was getting, and I humbly asked for them to pray for me. To intercede on my behalf when I was simply too weak to. I still smile when I think about the list of names I sent that email to, and how over half of them were friends I had met via blogging. Friends I had never actually met in person. Friends who had become dear women in my life. Friends whom I trusted my heart with at it's most vulnerable time.

And I am grateful for all of you who have encouraged me as I struggle to find my way through the waters of new motherhood. People who have left comments with suggestions of what worked for them, and stories of having been in similar situations. Friends who have traded emails with me, offering their advice and thoughts. Friends who have supported me through the toughest job I have had to date.

Yes, I am grateful for blogging.

5 Months!

I know I say this every month, but I just can't believe another month has already flown by...our babes are FIVE months old today!!


Our morning photo shoot:

I loved this one from after our shoot was over, Luke just reached over and put his hand on Abigail's leg. He's so sweet with her =)

My sweet babies,

Since I was so late in writing your 4 month post, I feel like I just wrote to you!
-You are both still wearing 3-6 month clothes, and some 6 month outfits.
-Both still in size 2 diaper
-Both eating rice cereal mixed with breast milk at dinner time.
-Both have rolled over (Abbey stomach to back, Luke back to stomach)
-Both giggling a lot!
-You guys have figured out that I am your food source for sure. When I get home from work, I can't come kiss on you until I am ready to feed! I have to change, wash my hands, and get all ready to nurse before I say my official "hello" or you guys start fussing =). Same thing if I walk passed you while you are hungry, if I don't pick you up and feed you, the whimpering starts!


Abbey, my sweet girl, you have become our super napper! You almost always nap for at least an hour, sometimes an hour and a half! You are waking up happier now, and although sometimes you still need some time when you first awake, we often here you just laying in your crib "talking" to yourself for a bit when you wake up...it's adorable! You have become much more of a cuddler this month, and I am SO happy about it! When you are being burped, you will often lay your head down on our shoulders and just rest it there for a bit. Or when you are standing up on our legs (which you still just love) you will lean in for an open mouthed kiss, or just to lean against us in a hug. When we carry you upright, you almost always curl one of your arms around our arm and back, in a half hug. So sweet. You are loving your rice cereal in the evening, and have become very good at opening your mouth and swallowing. You get so happy and start kicking your legs when we put you in your seat and put your bib on - cereal time! You are full of smiles and giggles lately, and we can't get enough of it. You are such a delightful little thing! You absolutely ADORE your daddy. You think he hung the moon. You will stare at him from across the room and just wait for him to look at you, and then you burst into a giant grin and a giggle. When I am nursing you two in the morning, he has to sit on whatever side you are facing while we talk, or you just won't focus because you pull off and turn to watch him and listen. You still love when I sing to you, especially songs with hand motions or finger plays. You LOVE the exersaucer, and you just go crazy in there sometimes! Your favorite toy on there is the apple, you play with that one piece intently...grabbing it, pulling it towards you, putting it in your mouth, chewing on it, releasing it, and beginning all over again! You have become a major spitter-upper lately, which is not so fun for your Daddy and I. We call you "The Silent Spitter", because we often don't even hear you spit up, we just all of a sudden realize our shoulder or the area around us is wet. You are becoming more and more ticklish, and beginning to enjoy games like peek-a-boo more, and you've been rewarding both with giggles for us! You make the most adorable squeal and squeaks, and we just love listening to you.

Lucas, my sweet little boy, what a cuddlebug you are! And Momma just loves it! I can't get enough of your sweet snuggles. You are so content to just sit on a lap or lay in someones arms. Lately when I rock you across my lap you reach up and put your hand gently on my face and just leave it there...and I just melt! You still are such a smiley boy. You smile all the time! You aren't as great at taking long naps like your sister, your naps average about 30-45 minutes, but you always wake up happy, so we don't push it =). You are GREAT at going down for naps and bed time most of the time, we just rock you through one round of "Amazing Grace", lay you in your crib with your binky in your mouth, hand you your blankie and your lovie, you turn into you blankie and put your lovie right next to -or directly on top of!- your face, and off to sleep you drift! You are still an early riser...which I am praying is something you grow out of =). You often wake between 5:00am-6:30am. You are wide awake, happy, and ready to start your day! This morning it was 5:10am. I tried to bring you back into our bed and nurse you back to sleep, but you nursed for about 15 minutes and then laid between us and talked. Adorable, but not conducive to sleep for us =). So I brought you into the family room so Daddy could sleep some more, and you and I just cuddled and played. You constantly have your fingers in your mouth these days, as many as you can get in there. Sometimes it seems like you are trying to fit both your hands all the way in there! You are getting to the point where we can "turn" you out of a fuss by just smiling at you or doing something silly to make you laugh. We love this =). Really, you are pretty easy to please almost all the time, unless you have to have your nose picked. Never are you so offended and your feelings so hurt as to when we have to clean out your nose for you. Oh the Alligator tears! You are still totally into your rice cereal, and just like your sister, you start kicking and flailing your arms when we put you in your chair and put your bib on, and then you smile and coo in between spoonfuls. You seem to be exploring what new noises you can make with your mouth every day, and you often sound like you are making bird calls, it's so cute! Your favorite toys lately seem to be your keys and teething rings, and you still love to play with the taggie blankets too. You have been doing the funniest thing lately, we call it Lucas Happy Time. You just all of a sudden get in the silliest of moods, and you will just start wiggling and shrieking and giggling and moving your legs back and forth quickly and just having a little party!! It's so fun to watch =)



We just love you, Lucas and Abigail, and we are so very proud to be your parents. So very grateful God chose US to get to raise you. Happy 5 months, my sweet babies.

Love- Momma

Happiness is...

...a Momma and her babies.

Just call me Betty Crocker...

...or perhaps more like Paula Deen, given the amount of butter, sour cream, and cream cheese that is in these recipes.

Does it count for anything that all the meat is organic?

Dinner time on weeknights has been a little challenging at our house lately. I get home about 6pm, and when I walk in the door the babies are usually very ready to eat. We each take a babe and feed them their cereal (which they are loving by the way!), then we do diaper changes and jammies and just have some quiet down time as a family, then I nurse the babies and when they start to drift off, we take them in and lay them down to go to sleep. This whole process usually takes about an hour.

It's been working really well for the most part. It feels great to have some sense of a routine, and the babies have been going down about 6:45pm-7:00pm easily. It seems to be their natural bedtime. It's also really nice for David and I to have those evening hours to ourselves, both to get things done and to spend time together.

The problem with this system is that it's about 7pm before we can get dinner for ourselves going. By this time I am usually FAMISHED (I still have a nursing Momma's appetite that is not to be reckoned with), and we are both tired so we usually end up just kind of throwing something easy together -like a Digorno Pizza, or just fending for ourselves and having a PB&J or a bowl of cereal. Not ideal, but we haven't really had much choice. The idea of starting to cook a meal at 7pm appeals to me about as much as sticking my finger in my eye. And the thought of David trying to get dinner going in the late afternoon/early evening only works out if nap time magically falls into place perfectly (i.e., both babies napping at the same time, for a long time, and late enough in the afternoon), which rarely happens. When both babies are up, he's got his hands full for sure, so cooking takes a back seat.

What's a family to do?

Cook ahead of time.

Sunday night I went to the store with a grocery list a mile long and picked up everything I would need to make 4 big meals and then freeze them. Last night after I got home from work and our bedtime routine with the twins was complete, we sat down and had a quick dinner of grilled chicken ceasar salad, and then I set to work.

I made and froze...

Creamy_Italian_Chicken

Poppyseed_Chicken

Chicken_Breast_Supreme

And then today I threw this in the crockpot for dinner tonight:

Beef_BBQ

I also made these for desert for the week =):

M&M_Cookies

The whole thing took just under two hours, which really isn't bad given that my cooking is done for about a week and a half (a week and a half because we will eat leftovers a few nights). Each frozen pan is labeled with what's inside, the cooking directions, and what else needs to be done to the dish to complete it...."Chicken Breast Supreme cook @350 for 1.5 hours. Make rice for side dish".

Voila.

So even a dish that will take 1.5 hours to cook will be available to us on a weeknight, as I can just pull it out to thaw before I leave for work, and David can pop it in the oven about 5:30pm. He can make the rice while I am nursing the babies before bed, and after we lay them down we can have a nice meal together.

I am really hoping this plan will work out for us, and every other Sunday I can set to work on cooking ahead and freezing meals for our family. Hopefully we will reap enough benefits of having yummy meals in the evenings, and fewer baking dishes to do (as most of the cooking is already done!) that my ambition for such a project will continue.
Fingers crossed!

I would love to know your favorite make-ahead-and-freeze meal if you have one...

Movie Monday

We captured some of little Luke's silly moments and busy moments recently...he got SO excited hanging out with Auntie Natalie, he could hardly contain his joy =)

One year ago today...

...our life changed forever.

I will never forget August 19th, 2009 as long as I live.

I will always remember sitting in the waiting room at the doctors office, my note card with Isaiah 41:13 written on it in my hand. I kept glancing at it and reciting it over and over again.

I will always remember walking into the exam room, and staring at the ultrasound machine next to the exam table I was about to climb up on...wondering what that screen would show us that day.

I will always remember the doctor coming in with a huge smile on his face and offering his genuine congratulations, before he had even done the ultrasound. I will always remember being grateful that he was so positive and hopeful for us.

I will always remember when the screen came to life, briefly -as in just a flash before he moved the wand- seeing two black, empty circles. I will always remember not panicking at that moment, and feeling God say "Wait", and feeling a rush of peace wash over me, even though everything logical told me what I was sure I had just seen meant this ultrasound was telling us that this pregnancy was just like our first one.

I will always remember laying there as he adjusted the wand and focused the picture, and all of a sudden a little bean with a flickering heart appeared in view.

"This is what a baby looks like..." the doctor said.

I will always remember the way my cheeks felt as the tears slipped down them. The way David squeezed my hand. The way my heart swelled with pride. A heartbeat.

I will always remember the way the doctor moved things again, and suddenly the image doubled. There was then two little beans, with two beautiful, flickering heartbeats.

"...and this is what TWO babies looks like..."

I will always remember the wonderful mix of emotions that washed over me. Excitement. Disbelief. Gratitude. Nervousness. Fear. Assurance.

Awe.

Wonder.

I will always remember how I just started laughing. The doctor asked me, with a strange look on his face, "are you ok?".

I will always remember how I answered, "Isn't that just like my God?" We were going to have two babies.



And today, one year later, we do. Two healthy, happy, beautiful little miracles.

Thanks be to God.

For the good of the order

-I started running again. Or shall I say, I have attempted running again. It wasn't pretty. I clopped along at the pace of a turtle and with the grace of a dump truck. Even in my "glory days" of running, I would never call myself a real runner, but I was still shocked at how far I had fallen. I LOVED being pregnant, and am very grateful for the experience of not only getting to be pregnant, but also carrying our twins to term, but it sure did a number on my body. Being on partial bed rest for 2 months and full for 1 made for some atrophied muscles. Not to mention my bones, joints and ligaments don't feel like my own after being stretched to magnificent measures during the pregnancy. I did not feel confident of my abilities as I trudged along, not quite trusting my legs and feet to carry me and land the way I intended them to. But, I gotta start somewhere.

-And on that same page, it took me only about 10 minutes into my run before I realized that my running shoes were too small for me. It appears pregnancy stretched out my feet, which I should not be surprised by, given to massive amount of swelling I had both during the end of my pregnancy and for weeks after. ( I really should have taken a picture of it. Apparently my blood pressure dropped dangerously during my c-section, and so they pumped me full of fluids. I was SO swollen for literally 2 weeks after delivery. To the point where I had welts on my feet because the fluid had no where else to go. I am surprised I don't have stretch marks on them!) Upon coming home from my run, I tried on several other pairs of shoes and came to the sad conclusion that it was not just my running shoes that are too small. Time to say good-bye to these dear friends....

-My son has taken on parrot-like tendencies when it comes to sleep time. In order to break him of the swaddle, and help "cue" sleep time, we have given the babies lovies to hold as they fall asleep. Luke insists on putting his directly over his face. That, apparently, signals "sleep" to him. It's the funnies thing to watch. He squirms and wiggles around, playing with his lovie, and then he will take part of it in each hand, pull it over his face, and instantly stop wiggling. When you reach over and gently pull it down, his eyes are closed. If he is not totally asleep yet, he will grimace and tug it back over his face. Silly boy. This of course FREAKED me out for the last few days, to the point where I would insist on checking on him multiple times. If I found him to be really asleep, I would pull the lovie away from his face and place it next to his face...only to find it back over his face the next time I came back in to check on him. At least it's relatively thin and small...

-Speaking of Lucas, he has started to become quite dangerous with his braces on. He has been lifting his legs and let them fall down with a triumphant "thump" for a long time now (kind of like how a whale flicks his tail), but lately there is much more force behind it, and he can wiggle all over the place now. Yesterday after the babies woke up from their nap, David laid them side by side in Luke's crib and turned on the mobile for them to watch for a bit. He left the room for a few minutes, and then heard Abbey starting to fuss. He came back in to find they both had shifted positions, and Abbey had some red marks on her legs...from her brother beating her with his weapon (AKA shoe braces.)

-Abbey has started up a new habit of exclaiming. That's really the only word I can find that begins to describe this new habit. It's like she is trying to figure out how to laugh...or probably more accurately just seeing what her voice can do. She does this shriek/cough thing, then looks confused, as if to say "that's not what I wanted to do..." but then a rye smile creeps across her face as if to say "but it was close!". She is too cute.


-I bought the babies Halloween costumes last week. Yes, you read that sentence correctly. I bought Halloween costumes. For my infants. In August. Ridiculous? Possibly. But I don't care. Costco had baby costumes for $12.99 and even though our budget is so tight this month it squeaks, I couldn't resist!!

Some pics & a ramble

These are actually from earlier this week, but I finally downloaded them off the camera.

On Sunday I dressed Abbey in an outfit I had been eyeing at Target forever. It finally made it's way to the clearance rack, and then into my cart.

She was as pleased to be wearing it as I was to be dressing her in it...


Both the babes dressed and ready to go...complete with footwear...

It took me longer than I had planned to get myself and both babies ready that morning, and when I glanced at the clock as I got ready to load us all up, I realized we were set to be pulling into the Church parking lot about 5 minutes after the service started. This meant if I texted Dave "we're here" to come help me unload the babies, I would be pulling him away from his duties in the sound booth right as the worship songs were starting. Not the ideal time for the sound man to disappear.

So, I got creative. And in a rare moment of maternal confidence, I grabbed the sling and loaded us up in the van. Upon arriving at Church, I got Abbey out of her car seat and put her in the sling. Then I threw my purse over my shoulder. Then I went around to the other side of the van, unhooked Luke's car seat from it's base (complete with a sleeping Luke inside of said car seat) and carried it in the crook of my right arm.
As I walked into the building, I realized it was one of the first moments I actually felt like I was doing this Twin Mom Thing. Most of the time I feel like a poser.

It felt good.

I know there are plenty of you out there that have no qualms about loading up your infant twins, or your four children under the age of five and heading out and about by yourself. I am not one of you. The idea of having two babies out in public by myself makes me nervous. One baby, sure. I often will take one of the babes with me to run errands and feel totally fine about it. But two babies...and just me...eek, makes my palms sweat. I am just not confident enough in my ability to calm them (while keeping myself calm) if they both meltdown at the same time. And nursing both at the same time in public is not an option-for logistical reasons. So I haven't really attempted to take them anywhere by myself except for a quick mostly-in-the-car errand or two. For the first few months of life with my twins, I felt bad about this. Now I just accept it. Someday, I may be brave enough to attempt a trip to the grocery store, just me and the Littles, but not yet. And honestly probably not anytime soon. And that's ok. I have realized it doesn't make me an unfit mother, just a bit of a chicken =), Or, perhaps a very wise mother who just knows her limits...Yes, I will choose to stick with that one.

4 Months-Part 2 (AKA the longest post ever)

THANK YOU all SO much for all your helpful suggestions to my questions about the 4 month wakeful period and swaddling. I love blogging for about 100 reasons, and one of the main ones is situations like that. I love hearing what worked for different people, and also hearing that I am not alone in dealing with certain situations. So thanks for sharing with me! =)


Wednesday the babies had their 4 month check up. Their doctor declared them healthy and happy. What more could two parents hope for??

Luke is weighing in at 12.6 pounds (7th percentile), length: 25 inches (47th) and head circumference of 17 inches (70th!)

Abbey is weighing in at 11.8 pounds (11th percentile), length: 24 inches (33rd), and head circumference 16.3 inches (61st!)

Looks like we may have some smart babies on our hands =)

It was surprising to find out Lucas weighs less than a pound more than his sister. He feels like he weighs 3 pounds more! He is not necessarily chubby, he just is solid. Abbey still seems so petite to me, I still call her Peanut =).


I just love their pediatrician. She is actually my primary care physician too. She is just a perfect balance of modern medicine and statistics, but also very encouraging of us to follow our instincts and not take those statistics too seriously. She encourages our goal of attachment style parenting, which we are so grateful for. She's big on holding your babies often, and meeting their needs pretty much unconditionally while they are young to promote security and confidence.

It was a very informative visit, and we got a lot of our questions answered. Before we had even started on my questions about sleep expectations at this stage, she brought up the subject of rice cereal. I came to the visit very interested in what she would have to say on the subject, as from everything I had read the American Academy of Pediatrics was recommending exclusively breast milk for the first 6 months, yet so many of you commented that your pediatrician's recommended earlier. I wondered if it was a weight thing, or an age thing, or what.

Turns out it's neither. At least according to our doctor. She said it's more of a developmental thing. As soon as baby is able to hold their head up while in a sitting position (supported sitting position), and able to tolerate a spoon being inserted in their mouth without instantly spitting it out, then they are considered "ready" to start cereal. When we got home from their appointment, I tried putting one of the spoons Grandma Donna bought us in their mouths, and both did look a little confused, but then sucked on it with interest. Success! Dr. M said to mix 1 tablespoon of cereal with 4-5 tablespoons of breast milk or formula. She did warn it could lead to constipation (which one of our babes struggles with once in awhile) so she said if that becomes a problem just mix in a little prune juice.

She said that by 4 months they should be able to go 6-8 hours at night without eating, and that if they were waking more often than that, and not able to settle back into sleep -even with our help-, then it sounded like they were indeed hungrier. She gave us a few tips to help this. One of them was to nurse them less during the day. This panicked me at first, since I have worked SO hard to build my milk supply to where it is, and because the school of thought I operated under to get to this point had been to nurse the babies often. Like, whenever-they-showed-any-interest, often. But she made a compelling argument... First, I would not be reducing the amount that they are eating, in fact I would be encouraging them to eat more milk at each feeding. Also, since I had been nursing them when they woke up each time and before they went down (for naps and bed), she pointed out that I could make them reliant upon eating to fall asleep. Second, more frequent day feedings can easily transfer over to more frequent night feedings. Makes sense. So while I am not on board with ever holding out on a hungry baby (nor was that at all what she was suggesting), I was willing to give this a try. Since the appointment I have only been nursing upon waking, and at their bed time, and it hasn't been a problem at all! In fact, I really see a difference in their overall efficiency of eating too. Win-win =)


SO....Friday night when I got home from work, we tried rice cereal for the first time. It was clear within the first few bites that Lucas was more than ready to try cereal. He was opening his mouth as soon as the spoon came near, closing his mouth around the spoon once inside his mouth, and swallowing the cereal. Our big boy =). Abbey was...less ready. She spit more out than she took in, but she seemed to get the general concept.

We put the babies down at 6:45pm that night, as they seemed very tired. That night Luke woke up around 11pm and started fussing. We waited 10 minutes, then David went in and gave him back his binky and handed him his lovie, and he went back to sleep! Abbey woke up around 1am, and since this had been more than 6 hours since she last ate (7 to be exact), I just waited a few minutes and listened to her fuss to see if she would settle back in. When the fussing turned into crying, I went in and got her and nursed her. She nursed really well, so she was indeed hungry. She went right back down after that. Luke didn't get up again until 3:10am!!! He fussed for a few minutes, and I went in and got him. He power nursed as well, then went right back down. They both slept until almost 6:30am! It was a good night =).

I woke up the next morning feeling sooooo rested. We had been having so many rough nights in a row, where I was averaging about 3.5 hours sleep. I just don't do well on that little sleep. It makes everything so much harder. I think my friend Stephanie put it best when she said "sleep deprivation makes everything feel so desperate. It is so hard to think clearly - and make rational decisions - when you are chronically exhausted."
It's so interesting what sleep deprivation does to a person. It makes me so dramatic (and those who raised me might right now be saying to themselves that I have always already had a flair for the dramatic). One night last week, when Dave and I were in the middle of a to-swaddle-or-not-to-swaddle discussion, I said the words "I just want to raise happy, secure kids..." and then I started laughing at myself when I realized how dramatic I was being and followed up that statement by saying "and I am sure when we start unswaddling them will make or break this goal". Seriously.

For the record they are both broken of the swaddle now. We had two rough nights as they didn't seem to know what to do with their arms, but we just kept going in there and handing them their little lovies to hold in their hands. I had kept them (the lovies) close to me most the day so they smelled like me, and also positioned them in between the babies and I while I nursed. Now they cuddle with them as they fall asleep...so cute =)


So...what else are the babies up to at 4 months old?

-Both are in size 2 diapers. They probably could still be in a size 1, but Grandma Linda bought us 500+ size 2 diapers (THANK YOU!!), so once we ran out of size 1's, we just moved on to the ones already stacked up in our utility room!

-Officially now in 3-6 months clothes

-Abbey has rolled from her stomach to her back, and Luke has done some side rolling, but has yet to fully roll over. Seems it's only a matter of time though...

-Currently going to bed about 6:30pm-6:45pm.

-Both giggle and smile so much! We have gotten a round of true chuckles out of Lucas a handful of times, which just melts us.

-Both babies seem to be tolerating about 2 hours of awake time before they need to go back down for a nap. Naps have been lasting anywhere from 40 minutes - 2 hours. (The 2 hours is rare.) Abbey seems to need longer naps than Lucas does. He can be wide awake and happy as a clam after only a 40 minute nap. We made a judgement call this last month and decided to quit trying to force them to be on the same schedule. It just wasn't working anymore. They are two separate babies, with two different needs. Just because they are twins, does not mean they are alike in all areas. Especially since they are fraternal twins, they are as different as any other two siblings. So we are trying our best to meet each of their needs individually. It's been inconvenient in some areas, such as often having days where one baby is always awake, but on that same line it's been nice to have alone time with each baby.

-We have finally retired the Twin Nursing Pillow. The babies are just too big for it. So now when I tandem nurse, I just arrange a bunch of throw pillows and a bed pillow...it's a bit of a circus, but it works!

-EVERYTHING goes in their mouths.





And to you, my sweet babies...

Lucas, you are just the sweetest, smiliest baby boy there ever was. You smile All. The. Time. You always meet our smiles and "hi's!" with a sweet grin and sometimes a partial giggle, and you always react so excited to see us...

You are becoming more ticklish, and you indulge your Daddy and I over and over again as we attempt to tickle you.

You are such a sensitive little guy. Loud noises -even one of Daddy's sneezes!- can catch you off guard and cause a look of concern to cross your face. And oh, if your little sister is upset, you are sure to be right behind her. You HATE it when she cries! As soon as you hear her cry, your bottom lip comes out and you look at us like your little heart is breaking.

You have incredible hearing. If I am nursing you in the living room, I can always tell when Daddy is about to come out, because you pull off and turn your head towards the hall way as soon as you hear the master bedroom door open...a sound I don't always hear!

You seem to be a morning baby, almost always ready to start your day between 5:30am-6:30am. This would bug me more (I am not a morning person) but you are SO HAPPY when we go in there to get you. You just smile wide and start kicking your legs with excitement and happiness to see us.

Your hair is getting much longer, and remains pretty dark. Your eyes are still blue, but have gotten lighter, they also seem to have a hint of green in them now.

You love to be on your tummy and play with your toys. Your head/neck control is excellent. You love the exersaucer, the play mat, your bouncy chair...you love it all. You really are such a happy little boy.

You still love your binky, and you have gotten much better about being able to keep it in on your own. Unless of course you want to smile, then you spit it out and showcase that adorable grin of yours =)

You love being sung to, and will often join in with some coos and howls of your own.

You had your first real fever this month =(. It stayed around 101 degrees for most the day, despite our staying on top of Tylenol doses. Like most things, you handled it like a champ though, and hardly seemed fussy.

You are becoming quite the charmer. You have charmed me from the beginning, and you have now gone to work on pretty much everyone else you meet. The ladies love you, Little Man. When we were at the wedding reception last weekend you spent most of the evening in a stranger's (to you, not a stranger to me) arms and you just stared up at her and smiled...and batted those incredibly long eyelashes of yours. We are in trouble!! =)



And little miss Abbey Mae...what a joyous little daughter you are! If there was ever a baby to prove Dr Harvey Karp's 4th trimester theory, it would be you, sweet girl. How you have grown up over the last month! Your first 3 months you seemed most content when swaddled and held, and you became overstimulated so easily. Now you love to be free of all constraints and kick your legs wildly and flail your arms in excitement. You can often be found bouncing up and down in the exersaucer with exclamations of joy coming from your sweet little lips. You get so crazy and wild in there your feet look like they are channeling a RiverDancer!

You love people and return smiles to anyone who sends one your way. You love to talk and have become quite the story teller...

You found your toes this month, and they are your new favorite thing. You've gotten them into your mouth a few times, and you seemed quite pleased with yourself at this new accomplishment.

You love to stand. Once you feel a solid surface beneath your feet, you lock your knees in place and could stand for days if we let you.

Your eyes are turning a different shade of blue, and are just beautiful. Your hair is slowly growing, and is totally blond now. We think you are getting a dimple on your left cheek!

You still need some time to yourself when you first wake up in the morning or from your naps. When we hear you are awake, we just go in to your room, position you towards your little Fisher Price Aquarium, pat you gently, and walk out. Soon after you can be heard cooing away and we know you are ready for us, and we are greeted with a huge smile when we come back to you. Oh sweet girl, you are your mother's daughter.

You love when I sing songs to you, especially ones with hand motions, such as "If you're happy and you know it" or "I'm bringing home a baby bumble bee", and you especially love my made-up song "You're my baby peanut" that I sing to you as I bounce you up and down.

You LOVE to be involved in any conversation your Daddy and I are having. In the mornings, I can hardly get you to nurse if we are talking because you pull off and stare at him while he talks, and then turn back to me as I talk. Your eyes are wide and intent as you attempt to take in what we are saying. Every once in awhile you chime in with your opinion as well =)

I love you, my darling babies. This last month has been my favorite by far. You two have just blossomed in personality, and I am loving getting to know you each even better. I am having so much fun with you! I couldn't have hand picked a more perfect son and daughter, and I thank God He picked me to be your Momma.

Pictures

Last weekend we took the babies to a wedding reception for a coworker/friend of mine. They were soooo good! And David and I got to enjoy our delicious dinner while other people held/fawned all over our sweet babies. It was great!! We had to leave early on in the evening in order to get the little ones home and to bed, but it was still so nice to get out and have a nice dinner with some friends.

Here is a family pic at the reception. It cracks me up trying to get a picture of the four of us! Basically Dave and I just always smile and look directly at the camera while people wave and make silly faces and noises in an attempt to get the babies to smile...and this is what we get...

Daddy and Abbeygirl

The babies have become much more mobile these days, and although they haven't fully rolled over just yet, we get tons of half rolls and lots of scooting...

Here Lukey wiggled himself under the pack-n-play in a complete 180 degree turn from where I had laid him...

They both have sure warmed up to the exersaucer...



Ab's and I before a family walk...she still just loves the sling...



One of the doctors I work for bought these adorable matching Gymboree outfits for the babies when I was pregnant, and I have been waiting forever for them to fit! Abbey's outfit is a giraffe motif and Luke's is alligator.


Complete with alligator socks...


Our sweet, smiley boy... this face gets smothered in kisses all.day.long.


And somebody get me a spoon big enough, because I could just eat this sweet little girl up...

...couldn't you??