Giving Thanks

What am I thankful for this year? That's easy..
Lilly Kate Mr. Nate

I am thankful for four little hands to hold and two little brains to mold.

I am thankful for twenty chubby toesies and two runny nosies.

I am thankful for two drooling mouths that whine, and four beautiful bright eyes that shine.

I am thankful for the sleepless nights we bear and for the spit-up in my hair.

I am thankful for four ears that listen intently and for first sounds spoken so gently.

I am thankful for the diapers that don't stink, and for blue.. and for pink!

I am thankful for a husband who helps and a dog that yelps. (ohh.. poor Mattie)

I am thankful for unconditional love and for blessings from above.

I am thankful for pregnancy weight that won't go away and for the hairs in my head turning a lovely shade of gray.

(ok- those last two things I am really not thankful for)!!!!!!!!!!

For all the glorious disasters we feared may never get to experience, I am grateful to God for blessing us with our two sweet babies. This will be our first Thanksgiving as a family and it is truly a time to enjoy the long awaited and truly appreciated contentment in my life and tell our friends and family how very much we do love them. Happy Thanksgiving!

Baby shoes- yay or nay?

This morning as I was getting Nate and Lilly ready to go to the babysitter, I was wondering- am I a bad mom because I hardly ever put shoes on my five month old babies? I know they make teeny-tiny shoes that are very adorable, I even have some cute hand-me-down baby shoes from my sisters' kids, but they always fall off and I just don't see the point. ? It's not like they are just going to decide to hop out of their car seats and go for a jog! They can't even crawl yet! Maybe the shoes are supposed to help keep the socks on, because goodness knows those don't stay on either. I guess baby shoes are just cute accessories that help to "complete" an outfit, but I have enough trouble trying to complete my OWN outfit these days! Also, aren't babies more comfortable without shoes on? I know I would be!! Maybe I am just frustrated because Nate and Lilly have chubby feet and none of the shoes seem to fit them right (maybe that is why they always fall off)! haha. My poor barefooted kids..

Five months old!

It's hard to believe, but Nate and Lilly have been on this earth for five months! They have already developed their own personalities and we have fun noticing all the ways they are alike and different.

They are both very happy, smiley babies, but Lilly is more outgoing so far, and much easier to get a laugh or a smile out of. Nate smiles, but you have to work for it! We can usually only get the "stunned" look when we take his picture. Lilly loves to smile for the camera- she is such a girl! Nate is very aggressive and very active. He rolls over all the time and is ready to get up and run around. He gets very impatient when sitting in one spot for too long (he lets us know by squealing loudly in a pitch that should only be heard by dogs). Lilly is our social butterfly. She is usually content to sit in her bouncy seat or wherever we put her and talk up a storm to whoever will listen. She has just begun to think about rolling over-we think she will be there in another week or two.

We started on baby food but they are still learning, so they don't eat very much. So far we've only tried carrots (what a mess) and pears (went for something that won't stain as badly). Nate opens his mouth so BIG and grabs for the spoon with a death grip. He wants to be able to feed himself and he gets frustrated that he can't quite do it yet. Lilly, on the other hand, happily and contently sits back and lets you feed her (boy can she suck down a bottle in no time)!

As far as sleeping goes, we have some good nights and some bad nights. Nate is in the crib in the nursery, and he may actually be getting the hang of staying asleep all night. Sometimes he wakes up upset, but he is usually easily quieted by replacing his paci and a few pats on his back. Lilly is in the pack 'n' play in our room still, so we can keep an eye on her acid reflux/spit up issues. She does pretty good usually and fortunately has not made a bad habit of the few times I have put her in bed with me to stop her from screaming! Lilly makes a lot of noise in her sleep, but usually she is easily quieted as well. It seems like when one baby sleeps well, the other one keeps us up, so good nights of continual sleep are few and far between. It's funny how your body just learns to get by on an amount of sleep which would have horrified you before you had kids!!

Here are some pictures from this weekend:

Saturday, November 22- 5 months old today!!!

Hold my hand, sis!

Excuse me..hey you..

Don't I know you?

Happy Babies!

Uh-oh, Nate is starting to squirm. Hang on, Lilly!

Brrrr!!!

Today was one of our coldest mornings yet, and although I only walk the babies about five feet from my car to the babysitter's house, we had to bundle up! The strap on Lilly's hat won't fasten anymore because of her sweet chubby cheeks, so we just left it undone! Poor Nate needs a new winter hat. He is wearing a Texas Rangers hat they sent us home with from the hospital after he was born! I unfolded the cuff so it would cover his ears! These pictures were taken before they were fully "bundled"! By the end of it, they were just heads floating in blankets!!

Sleep- what's THAT?

This is probably not the best day for me to start blogging, as we had quite a horrendous night last night. Right now,everyone in the house has a never ending cold, which makes for fun times with two babies. Just when I was feeling confident Lilly could almost sleep through the night in her crib, she started a pattern a few nights ago of crying about ten minutes after we lie down to go to sleep until I put her in bed with me. She does have stomach issues, but I think she just wants to be held. As soon as I pick her up she usually stops. Now before you judge anyone for putting a baby in bed with them, you should go a few nights with no sleep or listen to a few hours of an ear-piercing shriek, or have one perfectly sleeping baby wake up because you are trying to let the other one "cry it out". Last night I let her cry for 3 hours (yes, that is not a typo), before I finally gave up at 4am and put her in bed with me (remember-DON'T JUDGE!), so I could get an hour and a half of sleep before first feeding and getting ready for work. Nate had been doing better in his crib as well (Nate in the nursery while Lilly is still in the bedroom with us), but of course Lilly's crying woke him up, so it turns out it doesn't matter how separated they are if one is screaming loud enough!! So dad was off with Nate to sleep in the recliner (recliner is Nate and Daddy's sleep spot).









OK, like I said, probably not the best day to start blogging !
Sleep deprivation aside, Nate and Lilly are becoming so much fun. They interact, laugh, smile, talk (kind of), and we are having so much fun watching them develop new skills like holding their heads up and rolling over (Nate is a little ahead of Lilly on this one).

They will be sitting up and crawling any day now! You would never guess they were five weeks premature as chunky as they have both turned out (especially Lilly)!! I was lucky enough to be able to stay at home with the babies for three months. When I came back to work in September, I was able to work out a temporary part time gig with my boss and babysitter to keep my sanity. Until January when I will go back full time, I am working Monday, Wednesday and Friday and have Tuesday and Thursday to spend at home with Nate and Lilly!

More blogs to come as I figure all of this out!

We're back- plus two!

Hello again! So, last time I blogged I was a few months pregnant and too tired to figure out exactly how this works. Now we have two beautiful (almost five month old) twins and I am a million times more tired, but I thought this would be a neat way to communicate with friends and family. I will try to be good about journaling our adventures with Nate and Lilly so that everyone can feel like they are right here with us (without having to stay up all night listening to two crying babies)!! HA! I look forward to blogging all of our ups and downs on this crazy roller coaster ride and I really hope it will be fun to read!! As all of our friends and family know, we prayed for Nate and Lilly for a long time and they are truly our miracles. Let the "twin tales" blogging begin!