Merry Christmas!

Just wanted to post a few quick pics of the girls' First Christmas! It's been such a special day, and we have all been so truly blessed! The girls have had a wonderful time celebrating with family over the past few days. They've gotten so many wonderful gifts...and they aren't even half way done yet!

There will be lots of additional pictures and details to follow, but, for now...

Christmas Blessings to all!!

Love, Macy, Makayla, Gary, and Mandy

It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas

Since Thanksgiving, the girls have watched as we prepare for their first Christmas. Of course, they're too young to understand what all the fuss is about, but they really are excited to have a lit up tree in their own home! :)

The girls are getting so interactive, and LOVE to coo and smile. Macy's even started laughing! (this isn't the best video, but Gary shot it with his phone while waiting on shots at the Dr's office!)They both want to put everything in their mouths, especially Makayla, and drool flows with abundance around our house! They love to grab things with their hands, including one another. It's not uncommon at all to find them holding hands...or feet! :) We've started sitting them in their bumbo seats for small increments of time, and it's pretty entertaining to watch their little heads sway and lean, but their control gets better each day. We've also started getting them used to their exersaucer and tried out their door bouncer for the first time this morning! Makayla seems to get the hang of it really well, and Macy's definitely intrigued, but not nearly as sturdy.

It's so amazing to watch the differences in the two girls...their personalities are so distinct, with Macy still being the little fire-ball with a temper like her mom's, but the one who's the first to laugh and giggle at any silly face or noise. Makayla's the more somber of the two, but still not short on smiles! She's less interested in rolling over or holding her head up during "tummy time", but the most interested in standing up whenever and however she can! Macy, on the other hand, is desparately focused on rolling over, anytime, day or night! She's very focused and concentrates very heavily on whatever she's working on...be it rolling over or just lining up her fingers and toes...and she can get so frustrated when she has trouble accomplishing whatever she's trying to do...I'm pretty sure she inherited at least some of her dad's OCD!!! :)

Naps can still be brief sometimes, but sleeping through the night is now consistent, so you won't hear us complaining! Unfortunately, we are still forced to swaddle the girls so that they will sleep, and many nights they wake up only because they've come un-swaddled. All it takes is a quick visit to thier room to re-swaddle and whoever's awake immediately goes back to sleep. I'm amazed at how proficient I've become with the miracle blanket in the pitch darkness!

December started with a week without Daddy as he went away for his last long trip for the year. It wasn't a fun week, but things are getting much easier than they once were! We got out of the house for a few quick errands, including a visit to see Mamaw Eunice, but besides that, we mostly just hung out around the house avoiding the cold, damp weather! After Daddy got home, we took a day trip up to Banner Elk and Blowing Rock. Unfortunately, it was pretty cold, so we didn't get any good pics, except for one landscape shot of the pretty blue color that gives our blue ridge mountains their name!

The girls have made it to church several times now, and so far, no loud breakdowns. Mom's been pretty nervous to take them by herself, but they're becoming experts at it, so I'm thinking we'll be able to make it more consistently from now on. We've missed going to church each week and the girls have a lot of new friends waiting for them there! :)

The girls were dedicated this past Sunday, along with their friends Taylor and Emma! Everyone was super cute in their adorable dresses, and they behaved so well for the service! (I'm hoping to get a lot more pictures, and I'll post them when I do, but these were all I had for now!) The girls got to meet thier great-aunt Sally who came to see them for the first time, and then we were fortunate to have Grandma and Papaw Childers, Mimi and Grandpa Jim, Sabrina, Clayton, Haley, and Aunt Sally all to attend the service with us. It was a great day!

We went to the doctor Monday for our 4 month checkup, and, again, the girls checked out perfectly! Macy's still a little heavier at 13.6 lbs, while Makayla is close behind at 13.3 lbs. They both fall at the 50th percentile, so they're right on track. Macy's head's still bigger, but both girls have big noggins, falling in the 75th percentile for head size :) Makayla's 1/2 inch taller at 24.5 inches, but, again, both girls fall in the 50th percentile for height as well! We're very happy with our "average" statistics! The girls recieved their 2nd round of immunizations, and that was no more fun than was expected, but we survived, and followed the doctor visit up with a quick trip to see Santa! It was a great time to see him, since we were able to just walk right up! From what I hear, doing this on a weekend can take hours, but we were done in minutes! One more benefit of mom not working the 9-5! :)

So Much for Which to be Thankful

The girls celebrated their first Thanksgiving this year in Georgia with Daddy's side of the family, and they had a really nice time!

Rather than driving in Thanksgiving traffic, the girls took their first plane rides! Mom was pretty worried about popping ears, loud noise, etc, but the girls handled the trip perfectly! Dad knew they'd be natural flyers, so he just popped in the pacis and expected the best!! :) Grandma and Papaw Childers and "Uncle" Todd met us at the airport to see us off and wish the girls a Happy Thanksgiving prior to our trip.

We arrived in Gainesville Wednesday afternoon and the girls had another first...lunch at Dad's favorite restaurant, Mellow Mushroom! I think the girls enjoyed the pizza! :)

After that, we headed to Mimi and Grandpa's house, where we stayed and mostly just hung out for the entire weekend. Thanksgiving Day was very nice, and we got to enjoy [over] eating the delicious Thanksgiving assortment of food and spending time with family. EARLY Friday morning, all of the other ladies of the house headed out for a little bit of Black Friday shopping...Haley and the Ernst girls (including Mom) decided to stay in bed! :) On Saturday, Gary and I, Sabrina, Clayton, Whit, and Melissa enjoyed a kid-free afternoon watching the Mountaineers progress to the second round of playoffs while Mimi and Grandpa hung out with the kids. Saturday night, we all took a trip to the "Magical Nights of Lights" on Lake Lanier Island. The girls slept through the lights, but will have something "new" to look forward to next year...and then we were able to get a few good Christmas photos with the girls and Haley before saying our goodbyes for the weekend.

As usual, this is a good time for us to think about and thank God for ALL of the amazing things that he's given us...We've had such blessed lives...And still, as much as we've had to be thankful for in the past, it's unbelievable how much richer our lives are now that we've had a chance to meet and begin sharing life with Macy and Makayla!

Spending time with Family

Unfortunately, Dad has been out of town quite a bit over the last few weeks. However, the girls have passed the time pretty well, getting to spend time with lots of family!

The first weekend, Uncle Nathan, Aunt Lauren, and Emmy Cate came to town from Atlanta.

Since the three girls haven't gotten a lot of play time, this was the first good chance to let them start "discovering" each other and getting ready for the serious play time to follow! Emmy Cate is quite the entertainer! She can wiggle and roll all over the place, so I'm really not sure how she felt having a couple of "road blocks" lying around her! She figured out, however, that at least the twins taste good, so that made the experience a little more positive! The girls don't mind for now, but I think Emmy Cate has started getting teeth, so they may have to watch their hands over Christmas! :) There are lots of good days to come, but for now, it's entertaining for the whole family just to watch them lay in the floor! We have to enjoy the "peaceful" play while it lasts, since we all know things will never be the same once we have three walkers and crawlers!

The following week, Aunt Sabrina and Mimi came to town for a visit. We were able to check out the mall, and otherwise, just hang out, and the girls enjoyed that attention as well!

We have been out and about taking walks, hanging out outside, and going to the park as much as we can while the beautiful fall weather is here. Marley can't get enough of this either!

The girls are smiling and cooing like crazy, and really seem to have a lot to say! We can't wait to know WHAT they're saying, but are just trying to enjoy the "back and forth conversation" for now! They've both started doing some serious sucking on their hands, and Macy's especially fond of her thumb. They have also started "grabbing" objects that we hang in front of them, and Macy's really getting the hang of holding on and pulling whatever it is into her mouth! Makayla loves to "stand up", and seems to have really strong legs already.

The biggest change that we've made is that the girls have finally decided to start sleeping through the night (knock on wood!) and wake up to their happiest times early morning, right at 7am...perfect for Mommy, but still a little early for Daddy! He's not complaining too loudly, though, since our days of being up at 1am, 4am, THEN 7am are over!! Daddy has spent a decent amount of time hanging out with the girls, but mommy's a little nervous about what kind of trouble they all might get in together! (This is how Macy ended up while hanging out while Daddy was "watching" her! She was hanging half way out of her bouncy seat with her headrest over her face! See her eye poking through? She thought it was hysterical!)

Our First Halloween!

(I intended to make the last blog update last week, and did not include Halloween, since it hadn't happened yet! When I finished the original update, I didn't want to delay it any further, so I just decided to do a separate post, incase I wasn't able to get the Halloween updates made today...fortunately, I was able to get everything loaded so here's the next post!)

The girls enjoyed spending Halloween day with mom and dad, and seemed to think it was a pretty happy day!

When late afternoon came, they were good sports while we dressed them in their itchy bunny costumes. I think Macy actually liked the suit...or, at least the attention she got while wearing it! We didn't bother trick or treating, but we did make our way down to the clubhouse for a few minutes to attend the neighborhood Halloween party so we could see the other costumes and show off our own! The girls slept through the festivities, but we got to see a lot of cute kids and great ideas for next year! After the party, we came back home, took off the suits, and handed out candy! It was a fun night, but we look forward to next year when the girls can really start getting into the action!

Good Times and Sad Times

As usual, life has been pretty busy as we continue to work on routines and sleep schedules. I'm happy to say that we've had a successful week, sleeping until somewhere between 5 and 6 am almost every day! It's starting to feel like Mom and Dad are really fitting in an almost full night of rest! If we can make it to 7, we've reached our goal! For right now, when they do wake up at 5 or 6, they are starving, so we just need to figure out how to stretch that tummy a little more before and after!

The girls are doing fabulous. They're growing like weeds, and it's so incredible...it seems like they are literally changing right before our very eyes! Macy and Makayla love to smile, and, for the most part, are very happy babies! They enjoy spending time with various family members, including Mamaw Eunice, Grandma Pam , and Papaw Stanley.

Unfortunately, they had their first bout with a cold last week, and we all learned that was NO FUN! There are a little bit of sniffles left, but for the most part, everyone seems almost back to par.

Since the last post (I know, it's been a while) we've had a visit from Suzi, who came down to help Mommy while Daddy traveled to California and we went to an Appalachian State football game at Wofford (Spartanburg, SC), where we stayed in a hotel for the first time, and Haley spent time singing and playing with her cousins.

We also took a trip to Atlanta to meet and visit with Grandma and Grandpa Wibbenmeyer and Mommy's friend Erin, and to see Uncle Nathan, Aunt Lauren, and cousin Emmy Cate, and, of course, Mimi and Grandpa Reed, Aunt Sabrina, Aunt Sheryl, Aunt Melissa, Uncle Clayton, Uncle Ryan, and cousin Haley. Unfortunately, I didn't do a very good job of getting pictures of everyone...including Nathan, Lauren, and Emmy Cate, but hopefully we'll get some good ones of all 3 girls when they visit next weekend! We went to the party to help Haley celebrate her 2nd birthday and got to meet lots of new friends there as well!

As you can see, it's been busy, busy! We're learning lots of new things, including a lot of hand-eye coordination. It's amazing to watch the girls learn how to pull things into their mouths and to bat at the various objects hanging from their gym! Mommy and Daddy are constantly working on showing the girls how to grip their bottles! We've started using their "bottle slings" which suspend the bottles from their bouncy seat bar, and, it's not perfect, but the girls are getting better every time we try it! We have a ways to go before they can do it themselves, but we're more than excited for the day when they can hold their own during feedings! :)

On a sadder note, this week we said goodbye to our first "child". Max spent almost 12 amazing years with us, and we couldn't have asked for a better friend. We've known this time was coming for a while, and, unfortunately, have had to watch his health decline for almost 2 full years...he's gotten a lot worse over the last several months, but we've been reluctant to face the inevitable, and wanted to hang onto him for as long as we could! Unfortunately, over the weekend last week, he decided to quit fighting. We knew he was ready, but realized how "unready" we really were to say goodbye. Before Max, I could never have imagined the impact that a pet could have on our lives...but we are better people because of him. From college to graduation, marriage to babies, we've had a constant companion to show us more loyalty, friendship, and unconditional love than we could have ever imagined. He'll always be in our hearts...May he have plenty of treats to eat and rawhides to chew after his long daily walks in doggie heaven! :)

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Fall is Here!

Today Mommy and Daddy decided to take the girls to the pumpkin patch at Carrigan Farms to pick out our pumpkins that we will use for our Halloween Jack o' Lanterns! We tried to wake the girls up for pictures, but they were pretty content sleeping anywhere we put them!

When we got home, we tried again...this round was much more successful! The girls had just eaten (their favorite thing to do) and were happy to be home!

Other than little adventures like that, most of our days are spent pretty much the same...wake up, eat, play, sleep, repeat. The girls are getting better every day at taking naps, sleeping at night (USUALLY up to about 5+ hours in a stretch) and have become SO MUCH more alert during their awake time. We get quite a few smiles from both girls these days...although "the experts" swear that it's nothing more than gas or some other strange coincidence, we can't help but take credit for making the girls happy and we ADORE their smiles!

Play time consists of various "rotations" including our still well-utilized bouncy seats, our play gym mat (on our tummies and on our backs), our swing, and now our new Baby Einstein "Baby Mozart" DVD. The girls have fallen in LOVE with this DVD! We have several more DVDs to watch, but haven't even switched up the show yet, since it seems to work to fascinate them every time we play it!

We also still go on daily walks...I still haven't figured out how to keep the girls awake for this adventure, but it's a good nap, nonetheless. We also made our first visit to Uncle Terry's farm, but it was muggy and the bugs were swarming! We'll have to get back out there when it cools off a little, since that may be the only way to see Daddy during hunting season! :)

Other than the usual routines, Mommy and Daddy are just having a blast watching the girls grow, change, and become more and more aware of their surroundings!

We weren't able to make it to the App State game last weekend due to the fact that it never stopped raining all day, but the girls still enjoyed a visit with Uncle Whit and Aunt Melissa, and a few quick visits with Uncle Todd! They even won Uncle Whit over for a feeding by the end of the weekend!

Mom spent the entire weekend this past week ALONE with the girls! We came through without a scratch, but mom has to admit it was a tough weekend! Not only was Daddy stuck in Kansas City, but ALL of our back up help was gone for the weekend too. Somehow we still managed to get out a little, and made a visit to the neighbors for Happy Hour on Friday, and made an appearance at Mom's Sunday School class bonfire at Carrigan Farms on Saturday (we had to skip the hayride this year, but we're excited to participate next year!) By Sunday, we were exhausted, and just decided to stay put! Boy were we glad to see Daddy come home Sunday night!

Unfortunately, Daddy's going to be gone this coming weekend too, which means he's even out of town for his birthday! We're all really bummed out about that, but we'll make up for it with celebration on Monday, and then we're holding him captive for a few weekends after that! Mommy's friend Suzi is coming to town for a visit, and she'll be able to provide valuable assistance, given her experience with her 1 year old twins, Weber and Capri! We can't wait to get the babies together for some serious play time once our girls are a little more "playful"!

Sunday, September 20, 2009

6 Weeks and GROWING

It's so hard to believe that our little girls are already SIX WEEKS OLD! Time is flying SO fast, and the girls seem to be growing like crazy! It is SO amazing to watch how they grow and change every single day from the size of their little hands and feet to their completely different personalities and actions!

The girls went yesterday for their 6 week checkup and the doctor was completely thrilled with their progress. Both babies checked out perfectly, and have gained appropriate amounts of weight and length. Amazingly enough, both Macy and Makayla are 8 lbs 12 oz and 21 inches long! We were expecting that they may be close to 8 lbs now, so we were completely surprised and excited to know that they had substantially exceeded that! Their height and weight falls at the 50th percentile for their age, so they're perfectly where they need to be! Other than that, there were no issues, except a little bit of baby acne on Macy's little face. We will return to the doctor next month for their 2 month checkup and first round of shots. We're already dreading putting them through that necessary evil!

We've gotten into a fairly stable routine around the house, with the girls still eating about every 3 hours. Mom and Dad are doing everything they can to "promote" longer sleep segments during the night, and, although it's not consistent yet, the girls have made it for four hour segments several times. Mom is amazed at how much of a difference 20 minutes can make, so we're very much looking forward to when 4 hours becomes the norm...or maybe 5 or 6 or 8! :)

The girls still love their play gym, and spend quite a bit of time staring at the lights and animals. We work on tummy time, which Macy likes and Makayla "tolerates", and they also spend a decent amount of time in their bouncy seats and swing, and still love to go for walks (although they still almost immediately fall asleep!) We've started taking some naps in their cribs upstairs, and actually spent the first full night there last night! It went very well and are proud of our progress!

We've also been getting better and better at bath time, and can make it through a complete bath for each baby without a tear! (sometimes! :)) Every day, I find that mommy seems to learn more than both babies put together, and bathing techniques are just one of those many things to learn!

We've had quite a busy last few weeks, where the girls made a trip to mom's office and the infamous "FQ01", met up with Joe, Christy, and Owen for lunch, and have had quite a few visitors at home. David and Sevena Gagnon came over with their "brood of boys"! Turns out, they're working on a couple of new playmates for the girls too! Congratulations to David and Sevena on their expected twin boys who will be here in a few months!

One of their favorite visitors is their "Uncle Todd", who is getting quite good at feeding and holding the girls...now we're working on his diaper changing skills, but, for some reason, his interest isn't that high for developing that skill set!

The girls attended their first wedding last weekend for "Auntie Melissa", and enjoyed the live music, (especially Makayla, our music buff!) being outside with Mom, Dad, Grandma and Papaw Childers, and seeing and HEARING their first trains...boy were they loud!

After the wedding, the girls made their second trip to Mimi and Grandpa's house in Georgia, where they were able to visit with their Aunt Sheryl, Aunt Sabrina, Uncle Clayton, cousin Haley, and even Uncle Nathan for a short time...and, of course, they spent time with Mimi and Grandpa!

Football season is underway, and the girls are doing their best to support their Mountaineers...even though the season hasn't gotten off to such a good start. We're all headed to the game this coming weekend, along with Aunt Melissa and Uncle Whit. Hopefully our attendance will bring some luck to ASU!

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Going on Week 3!

Macy and Makayla have been busy girls, meeting and visiting their family both here in NC and in Georgia!! The girls first went to meet their Great Grandma Eunice for dinner, where they also got to meet their Great Uncle Chuck, Great Aunt Nan, Great Uncle Terry, and visited once again with Great Aunt Crystal and Cousin Shawnna. They had a great time, and enjoyed the ribs and chicken that Mamaw served for dinner!! :)

A few days later, the girls got to meet their Uncle Nathan, Aunt Lauren, and 3 month older cousin Emmy Cate. Over the weekend, the girls also went to Grandma and Grandpa Childers' house, where they met an assortment of family and friends from Papaw Childers' side of the family. They also got to meet "Uncle Jimmy"!

On top of all of their family, the girls were able to meet their dogs, Max and Marley! Max doesn't seem to concerned about sharing his house with the new babies, but Marley is very intrigued! We've been amazed at her "pet instinct", as she's done an EXCELLENT job adapting to the new additions. She loves to walk by and sniff the girls, but is managing her temptation to give them a big lick better each day!

The girls traveled with Mom and Dad so dad could do some business in Cumming, Georgia...coincidentally, nearby Grandma and Grandpa Reed's house! The girls were pampered and spoiled by their grandma and grandpa and thier aunts for a few days, and mommy and daddy enjoyed the help, even taking a quick break to grab dinner alone for their 8th anniversary! During thier stay, the girls were also able to meet Uncle Clayton, Uncle Ryan, and Cousin Haley!

After getting back home, Uncle Clayton, Aunt Sabrina, and Haley came to visit for the weekend. It was awesome having some help around the house (Sabrina even helped out with all of the middle of the night feedings!) Haley had a blast watching the girls

and playing with her new best friend, Marley! We spent some time at the pool, where Grandma Childers met us as well, went for a walk, and had our first sushi dinner! The girls seem to have fairly open taste buds at this point, so mom's making sure to introduce them early to all of her favorite foods!

Besides all of the visits, the girls are just enjoying hanging out with each other and mom and dad. We are doing our best to savor every moment! Dad is slowly getting back in the habit of leaving to go to work (he has his first overnight trip this coming week), and mom is learning how to manage with two babies on her own while he is gone (although Aunt Melissa is coming to visit for the first overnight)! Overall, everything is going perfectly (although sleep is still scarce)!! We've started back on our walks, which makes for an excellent nap time for babies and a happy time for Marley and Mom!

The girls are gaining weight like champs, and Macy

has passed her birth weight and is still gaining (as of Friday, she weighed 6 lbs 9 oz), while Makayla

is creeping close also, now weighing in at 6 lbs 11.9 oz. Once the girls both reach this milestone, Mom and Dad are hoping to sleep a little more and let the girls get their rest at night!!

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