Summer Fun

We were finally able to trade our winter coats for summer hats and swimsuits.

And it has been wonderful. There are a couple rosy-cheeked water babies around here that love to splash and shimmy all around the kiddie pool at Seven Peaks, our local water park.

Avery has too much to do to pose for pictures

We've gone almost everyday, and it has been refreshing. Most days we wait until the late afternoon so Andrew can come and watch the little fish with me. Our favorite activity at the water park is to sit in the shallows of the wave pool with babies in our laps. The babies think this is the bee's knees. They sit all slumped and relaxed as the warm sun wraps around them and the waves tickle their toes. They also like to yell at the big kids as they splash in and out of the pool.

Taking walks has also been on the agenda lately. During the day I'll take them out in the stroller for a long walk around the neighborhood across the street. The babies usually drift to sleep and I get some nice quiet time. I like to look at the houses and make mental notes to what I want someday in my future home. It's always fun to wish.

This summer is off to a good start.

Hair

Austin got his hair did! No, no, no, this is not his first haircut but his THIRD. The first two weren't dramatic enough to document, although I did save the snippings and took a bizillion pictures. Here's the proof from this time around:

Before

After

Austin still has a ton of hair but now his mop is manageable! We think he looks pretty darn cute.

Little Big Babies

Today we took Austin and Avery to get their seven month photos. I actually meant to take six month pictures but never got around to it (much like all the other things I've been meaning to do lately).

My sweet babies are learning and growing every day. We love watching the new things that they do. Austin is quite the talker. He is still our calm baby most of the time. He smiles and laughs at almost anyone.He's very observant and it seems like he will study things until he has it figured out. He lays on his back and scoots around. He's starting to sit up and he pats anything he can get his little mitts on. When he's on his tummy, he wiggles side to side until he gets to his destination.


Avery is always on the go. She is shy and timid and will let you know when she's not happy. But she will also let you know when she is happy and that's the best. She is sitting up and gets up on her knees but no crawling yet. She gets into everything so we need to be careful what we leave within her reach. She loves crinkly things and will find the tag on any item we give her. She also just started making this really gross noise with her mouth. It sounds like she's grinding teeth together but she only has bottom teeth...


Speaking of teeth, Austin has two and a half and Avery just has two little ones. It makes me laugh whenever they smile. They just seem too small to me to have teeth. It's goofy. Other than that, teething times two is no fun. They are eating so many different foods now. They love just about anything I give them, although Austin is a little more cautious of new foods than Avery. Whenever it is time to eat solids, they get so excited and pound on their highchairs. We're finally making the big transition to formula! I couldn't be more excited about this. Since they were born I've been pumping breastmilk, and all this pumping shenanigans is wearing me out! Once I can wean life will be wonderful! Full formula feedings is an adjustment, but the babies are doing better with it and I just imagine being comfortable and not worrying about pumping every 3-4 hours!


I know I've been posting a lot about babies lately, so here's a little update on the grown-ups in the family, if we can be called grown-ups:

Andrew is one busy guy. He works full time, goes to school full time, and is a full time husband and daddy. He just signed up for his last class that he'll take next semester. So, if all goes as planned he should graduate in December! We are all looking forward to this. Even though school is time consuming, he seems to enjoy his classes. He's majoring in Advertising and minoring in English. I think he rocks.

As for me, I stay home with the babies and am enjoying watching them grow up. I can fold laundry in record time and dishes have nothin' on me (haha...)! I've learned to balance two babies in my arms AND while holding two babies and two bottles at once I can still manage to talk on the phone or text or change the channel! I have other friends with babies (and one with a brand new beautiful baby girl) and we get together often to keep each other sane...not that staying home makes me insane, but it is nice to talk to an adult during the day every now and again!

(I wanted to post pictures of me and Andrew, but we really don't have any decent ones. These kids are hogging the spotlight! We'll have to work on that...)

Food!

We tried rice cereal for the first time a few weeks back. We did it mostly for our enjoyment. I don't think the babies really need it or want it quite yet. And after changing the first poopy diaper after eating solids, they aren't getting rice cereal again until they beg for it...But let me tell you, if you need some cheap entertainment on a Friday night, give a baby some solids for the first time. Austin wasn't so sure about it. He mostly made faces and spit it all out. Avery was a ravenous monster. After she first tasted it she couldn't grab the spoon fast enough to shove it in her mouth. Here are some gems from the night:

Unrelated question: Does anyone know of an easier way to create and format your blog posts? I think I'd like to blog more often if it was easier and I could make it more personalized (like a different font than blogger offers, where pictures go, etc), if that makes any sense...

Six Month Craziness!

First time out without the carseats

What the heck! Weren't my babies newborns like, yesterday? Austin and Avery are officially six months old today and had their well baby check. Here's their stats:

Austin weighs 18 lbs 5 oz, and is 26 inches long. He's in the 75th percentile for his weight and the 25th percentile for his height-what a chunk!

Avery is 15 lbs 11 oz and is 25.4 inches long. She's in the 25th percentile for her weight and height.

It's so fun to watch them learn and grow. They crack us up every day. I love having twins. They are starting to interact with each other and it is hilarious. We have to keep their nails pretty short or they'd gouge each others' eyes out! Their personalities also couldn't be more different. Austin is usually laid back and pretty chill about everything. He is such a happy boy. He smiles at everyone and laughs at everything, including himself. But trust me, he has his moments. Avery is turning out to be quite the drama queen. She is so sensitive and doesn't like when her brother invades her space. When she is tired or annoyed or uncomfortable in any way she pouts and cries until mom or dad pays attention. I think we have our hands full with her, but we think she's cute. We sure love having them in our family.

Here's some fun things that they do:

• Sleep through the night (more fun for me than them)
• Roll over and over and over
• Stick their tongues out and blow bubbles
• Reach for toys and shove them in their mouths
• Steal each others' binkies (I will occasionally find Austin sucking on a pink binky and Avery playing with a green one)
• Steal each others' toys
• Try to crawl and get frustrated when they face plant
  
• Austin loves his jumperoo. You should see this boy bounce! Avery thinks it's just ok.
  
• Avery pants with her tongue out like a puppy
• Austin loves to fake cough and make his mom think he's choking (it is annoying and so funny at the same time)

I'm sure there's more but this is all that comes to mind at the moment.

cuteness

enough said.

the birth story

we've been a family for almost two months now, and i'm just getting around to posting. the babies are getting so big so fast! i can't believe how time flies. now that the little details of their debut into the world are fading, i need to get their birth story recorded somewhere. so, here it goes...

on august 24th, literally just a few minutes after i blogged about how excited i was for my c-section that was to be in two weeks, and how thankful i was that i had no preterm labor, i sprung a leak (i'm sparing you the details here). since my doctor appointment was the next day i didn't think i needed to call or go in. after telling andrew what happened, he told me that i needed to call the doctor's office to speak with a nurse. after several attempts to convince him that i didn't need to he told me he was coming home. so, i called the nurse and she told me to go into labor and delivery just to get checked out and that they'll probably send me home.

we arrived to the hospital around 3:30 pm and the nurse checked me. she laughed a little and said that i was dilated to a 5 and 90% effaced. another nurse checked me for a second opinion and she said i was definitely dilated to a 6. she told us that we were going to have some babies that day, and i was so unprepared. i was supposed to have 2 more weeks to get ready! andrew was quickly trying to call our families and i was getting the IV inserted, which took several attempts. within minutes of finding out we were going to have our twins, the anesthesiologist came in to give me an epidural. note about epidurals: they are the greatest thing ever. i was so scared to get one but i didn't feel a thing when they inserted it. anywho, i asked the anesthesiologist if andrew could get one, too. andrew got into his space suit (i'm so bummed i didn't get pictures of him), and i was wheeled off to the operating room.

as i laid on the operating table, i was so nervous. i was worried that something might go wrong. the babies were going to be premature. a million things were going through my head. i was going to be a mom. i was going to meet these two little people who i shared a body with for the last eight months. in just a matter of minutes. i was shivering, sedated, and emotional - a very interesting combination of sensations! andrew was sitting up by my head, holding my hand. i think we were both just so nervous. there were four doctors and a bunch of nurses in the room. they let me know when they made the incision, just to be sure i didn't feel anything, which i didn't. all i felt was tugging and pulling. at 4:55 pm, after a few minutes into the surgery, i heard the sweetest little cry i have ever heard. just one little peep. austin. one minute later i heard avery. she cried so loud i could hear her when they brought her to the next room. i looked up at andrew, and his eyes were filled with tears and he had the biggest grin on his face. it was the face of a proud new daddy, and it warmed my heart. he followed them to the nursery while i got cleaned up. they brought the babies by so i could meet them. they were beautiful. i kissed each one on the cheek, and then away they went. andrew stayed behind for a minute to make sure i was ok. when i asked him if they each had ten fingers and ten toes, he said, "i don't know, i didn't count." either way, they were perfect (note: they do have the right amount of fingers and toes).

it was another few hours before i got to see them again. i was just so tired. i remember laying in my room waiting for andrew and the babies. i was excited to hold them, to love on them, and to tell them that i was their mama. when they finally got to the room, i got to hold avery. i held her for most of the night with austin right at my bedside. we had the nurses take them back to the nursery so i could get some rest. it was a beautiful day.

the next morning the nurse came in to tell us that the babies had to be taken to the NICU. i had prepared myself for this, knowing that they were born a month early. the babies had blood sugar problems, as well as problems with eating. i was in the hospital from tuesday-saturday, and every morning the pediatrician would come in and give us an update. i would always ask how long they had to be in the NICU, and they'd always tell me that it could be there until their due date, which was september 22nd. luckily, they were discharged the monday after i was discharged, so they spent only 6 days there. while in the NICU, they gained alot of weight and got better at eating and keeping their sugar levels stable. we were so excited to get the call sunday night telling us we could bring them home! however, they had to be on oxygen and apnea monitors. but the nurses and doctors throughout the whole experience were wonderful. i'm so so happy that i have two healthy babies :)

two happy healthy babies! austin on the left and avery on the right

austin james: 6 lbs 4 oz, 18 inches

avery claire: 5 lbs 14 oz, 18 inches

first time to hold avery

in the NICU

proud daddy

andrew's first diaper change!

grandma and auntie lauren with babies

i love him

austin learning how to eat

my boys

rooming in with the babies on their last day in the NICU

finally at home :)