What we're up to...10 MONTHS!!

I started this post already a few days behind, and since I didn't finish that day, I'm REALLY late!  Sorry for the delay!  I'm writing this from beautiful Napa, California, where Gary and I are on a little trip away from our babies.  We miss them like crazy, but know they're in good hands with their Aunt Miss and Mimi!  I'll be home late tomorrow, but, unfortunately, Gary won't get to see his girls until Friday!!  He's going to have a long week!!  More on our trip later...

Normal days are still busy, busy around the house, and I think the girls are having a pretty fun life! :)  Eating and sleeping schedules are still pretty much the same as my last detailed post, but I'm happy to say that it seems like we're finally getting the hang of our nap schedule...MOST days!!  (As I say this, I may be jinxing their care-takers back home, because it seems like that's how it works! :)

Makayla has finally started eating SMALL varieties of actual solid food, which gives me huge amounts of hope...for now, however, every meal is a gamble, and I feel kind of like I'm walking on egg shells to figure out what they WILL eat, what they might TASTE, and what will send them into an angry rage!  It's amazing how one extra bite of something they don't like can do that! :)  I'm bound and determined to keep plenty of fruits and veggies in their diet, and I'm doing my best to introduce protein as well, but it's a slow process!  So far, our new "go to" meals are turkey and cheese, egg salad, and peanut butter sandwiches, and the girls seem to do really well with Spaghetti and tomato and/or meat sauce!  We try to get dinner together for ourselves prior to the girls going to bed so that we can get them used to eating as a family...it's more difficult than it sounds, and only happens about half of the days, but when we do, we try to give them a little bit more of a taste test, and Macy does pretty well with most of the things we give her.  Makayla will usually give it a shot, but sticks to snacking on bread, puffs, and cheerios most consistently.

Last week was a short week at daycare, since Gary and I tried to spend a little bit of extra time with them while we were there, then Aunt Miss and Mimi kept them out for some serious play time on the days while they were in town...anyway, the girls spent their first few days in their new "Tumbling Turtles" classroom, and are seeming to handle the transition pretty well!  I'm sure they miss their old teachers, Ms Geneva and Ms Sharon, but they're finally reunited with a few of their old buddies who moved up before them, and they seem to be getting to know their new teachers pretty well too.  I'm hoping naps will go more smoothly in the new room too, but it's something we'll just have to wait to see!

Macy is very determined to stand on her own, and makes it for longer intervals every day!  She likes to get close to something (preferrably your leg or Marley's back) and push herself up with her hands straight up in the air, balance as long as she can, then fall back down.  She'll do it for quite a while, up and down, until she finally gives up!  It's really hard to get her to try to walk (holding your hands, of course), but I'm guessing she'll take off before we know it!

Makayla likes to attempt "free-standing" some too, but LOVES to walk around holding your hands.  Both navigate pretty well around furniture, and I know it's early, but it will be interesting to see who walks first!  Makayla's also the climber!  She will climb on anything, so you have to keep a CLOSE eye on her!  She loves to climb into her bouncy seat, her boppy seat, and anywhere else that she can manuever.

The girls seem to really enjoy water, they LOVE their baths, their pool, and the "big kid" pool, especially when there are actual big kids there to watch.  Makayla really likes to stick her face in the water, even in the bathtub!  You have to watch her close, but at least she has no fear of water!  After their baths, their FAVORITE time is to crawl around completely naked with their hooded towel "capes".  It's the funniest thing to watch...Makayla, especially, thinks the towel is so cool, and usually ends up in a game of peek-a-boo! 

After baths, the girls are more than willing to listen to a quick Bible story, say their prayers, and hit the crib.  Luckily, bed time is the one ritual that no one dreads, and we enjoy getting lots of hugs before tucking our babies in for a long night of sleep!

9 (and a half) month checkup

We took the girls for their 9 month checkup this week...we're a little late, doctor's fault, not ours, but close enough!  Here's our stats:

Macy -
Weight - 18 lbs 2 oz - 40th percentile
Height - 28.5 inches - 75th percentile
Head Circ - 47cm - 97th percentile (poor baby got her daddy's head...shape and everything!  :)

Makayla -
Weight - 18 lbs 2 oz - (.05 lbs more than her sister) - 45th percentile
Height - 29.5 inches - (a whole inch taller!) - 94th percentile
Head Circ - 45.5 cm - 84th percentile

The bad news is, both girls have double ear infections...we felt pretty bad for not picking up on this sooner, but they'd just started seeming sick enough to take them in, and we knew the appointment was coming, so we waited for that.  Hopefully the round of antibiotics we're on will clear that out, and maybe even help with our unending flow of snot!!  Besides that, we have 2 active, healthy little girls!

Happy Memorial Day!

The girls and I spent some time outside enjoying the PERFECT morning that we are having...I think the rain's moving in, but at 8am, the weather couldn't have been better!  Daddy had to sleep in a little, since he didn't get in bed until 3am after working his butt off all weekend.  I'm definitely no photographer, but I had fun taking a few closeups of the girls playing on their blanket in the yard...who needs to be a good photographer when you have such great models??  :)  (excuse the snot in a few of the shots...they are babies, after all!)

And here are a few shots of us hanging out at Grandma and Papaw's neighbor, Mrs. Frances' pool on Saturday...and one more of the girls "just a swingin" with their grandparents!

And, last, but not least, a couple of pictures after we got home from church on Sunday.  I was hoping to get a few good ones in their cute new dresses from Mamaw...the girls had a mind of their own...here's Macy's famous and heart-breaking pout...

And Makayla doing her favorite new trick...clapping and smiling...

And then, both girls getting into some mischief...

Happy Memorial Day...and a quick reminder to stop and remember those who gave us their all...we're forever grateful!

So I'm a little late...Happy 1st Birthday, Emmy Cate!

The girls and I headed to Atlanta last weekend to visit with family and celebrate their cousin, Emmy Cate's 1st Birthday!!  The party was fantastic, and Aunt Lauren pulled out all the stops!  Emmy Cate racked up on gifts, enjoyed every bite of her yummy cake, and did a fantastic job of entertaining her cousins!!  Macy and Makayla loved getting to play with Emmy Cate's toys...but they mostly couldn't take their eyes off of her...and that's not easy to do, with all of her energy!  :)  It was really great hanging out with Emmy, Aunt Lauren, and Uncle Nathan, since we don't get to see them nearly enough, and the girls got to spend time with BOTH sets of grandparents at once...plus Mamaw Eunice! 

We took advantage of the "proximity" of Mimi and Grandpa's house, as well (I say that lightly, since they're still an hour away!), and turned it into a full weekend, getting to visit with Mimi, Grandpa, Uncle Clayton, Aunt Sabrina, and cousin Haley...and, of course, all the "Duhs" and "Guhs"  (Macy calls dogs "Duh", Makayla calls them "Guhs"...or so we think!)  Those poor dogs didn't know what they were in for, and Macy and Makayla weren't quite sure what to think either!  Macy found out that not every dog likes to be tackled and have its hair pulled like Marley!  Thank goodness Slidell no longer has teeth, or Macy would likely be missing a chunck of skin from her arm after this bonding experience!  Unfortunately, we didn't take all that many pictures, but the girls really had fun hanging out, playing, and dancing with Haley, and she did so good letting them climb on her, pull her hair, and share her toys!  At the end, she even let them take home ALL of her pacis...what an awesome BIG cousin she is!!!

It was quite a nice weekend, and we were so glad to get to spend time with everyone.  We made it home Sunday afternoon, and were exhausted from our weekend, but managed to slip in just a little bit of playtime where Makayla somehow found her way into the laundry basket while I had taken Macy upstairs!  Unfortunately, Daddy missed the trip to Atlanta, since he had to hang out at home so that he could work all weekend, and boy did we miss him...he was out of town for a few days when we got back too, but he finally got home on Tuesday, and boy were our girls glad to see him!!!

A Day in the Life...

I just realized that I'm really late posting an update, but since my last post, the girls hit the big 9 month milestone, and I was able to share my first Mother's Day with my little girls!  It was a great day, which started with Daddy letting me sleep in (as much as possible), some QT with the family, a trip to church, and then a visit to Grandma's house to celebrate with her and Mamaw Eunice.  It was cool celebrating the day with 4 generations!!  Of course, Papaw had to sneak in a few photo ops for himself as well!  :)

As I've said before, the girls are now on the move, and they seem to get themselves into anything and everything they can find!  It's quite entertaining just watching them, but we have to keep a close eye, since they seem to be most attracted to dangerous places (i.e. the fireplace), dirty flip flops, and Marley toys!!  They spend their share of time looking at Marley through the window or playing with (or ON) her too...luckily, she's a pretty good sport!  Macy is famous for diving over things and landing on her head or face, and, unfortunately, ends up with plenty of bumps and bruises.  She's already had 2 "incident reports" from school as well!  She's pretty confident that she can stand without holding on to anything...unfortunately, she can't...so she falls doing that too.  Makayla probably moves around more than Macy, but she just seems to be a little more stable...I think she just moves farther, but more cautiously.  It's funny to watch their "styles"!  Fortunately, we haven't had any serious accidents yet, but we both realize that careful supervision is REQUIRED at all times!

We've gone on several adventures in the boat, but, unfortunately, we don't have any new pictures...mommy's hands are always FULL of squirmy babies, and daddy is busy with all of the usual boat "chores".  The girls seem to like it on the water, and, except for sometimes getting HOT, they seem to have fun!  Makayla even took her first LONG nap in the cabin on Saturday, and boy was that nice for all of us...unfortunately, Macy thought there was way too much going on to miss, and was having no part in it!  Thanks to Grandma, Friday, Mom and Dad were able to escape for an "Adult" afternoon on the lake with mom's friends from work as well.  It's fun taking the babies, but it's awfully relaxing to escape for an afternoon every now and then!

The girls both LOVE to listen to music, and it's SO cute to watch them dance.  This isn't the best video (and excuse the MESS!) but it was all I had.  They seem to prefer country or bluegrass, much to Papaw's pleasure, but they also break out into a good jig to the music that their toys make. 

Eating has turned into a sort of battle of wills at the moment, and everything I've read tells me I just need to keep the experience "pleasant" and have plenty of PATIENCE...for those of you who know me well, you know that's NOT my strong-suit, so I've just accepted this as my next challenge.  It complicates matters more since I decided from the start that I was going to provide the girls with fresh, homemade baby food.  I had NO IDEA what I was getting myself into!  It's been a LOT of fun, and I have no regrets, but it's required hours and hours...and hours...of scrapping, chopping, and steaming carrots, steaming peas, stringing, breaking, and cooking green beans, baking sweet potatoes and butternut squash, peeling, chopping and stewing pears, apples, and peaches (when I can get them), and even cooking up some delicious (??) chicken, then grinding and freezing all of it.  I've truly enjoyed doing it, and feel happy that I've been able to provide the girls with such good, wholesome food...however, I think my expectations were a little less than realistic on when this would end!!  I figured by the time teeth started coming in, they'd be eating a variety of finger foods and more solid consistency items...Makayla has proven me WRONG!!!  Ironically enough, the girl LOVES Cheerios, Puffs, and Bananas...but try to even slip her ANYTHING else and out it comes...IF you get it in her closed lips to start with!!  I've tried to give her more solid chunks of the same...carrots, pears, peas, etc...no dice...I've tried to give her new and exciting variety...turkey, cheese, bread, grapes...some days she eats it (but VERY rarely), some days she takes it into her mouth, holds it there for about 30 minutes, then it mysteriously "reappears" on the floor, and then other days she won't have any part.  Macy is much less picky, and has taken on various "true solids" into her daily diet...but you never know when she'll "strike" against a particular item and that will be the end of that...at least for a while.  It is SO frustrating.  I know I should just be happy that they both love the purees and eat those so well...and I am...it's just that both of them are entirely capable of eating the soft, chewy options that I offer...but I also know they'll eat it when THEY'RE ready...NOT when I'm ready.  I do say a regular prayer of thanks for my industrial size food processor provided by Uncle Jason (THANK YOU, JASON!), and am very happy that I didn't turn it away because of the size (Do I REALLY need something that purees 14 cups??)  I've filled that puppy up MANY times, and I never dreamed I'd be making such mass quantities of MUSH!!!  I know it's something I'll proudly look back on...one day.  That's why I decided to take all of the boring pictures of VEGETABLES and FRUIT.  Until then, say a quick prayer that Makayla's "gag reflex" will give me a break and we can move on to chopped, not mashed!!  :)

Mommy's Happy 31st Birthday!

Sunday morning we packed up the car and headed to Myrtle Beach for a few days with Grandma and Papaw.  As usual, after a long car trip, the girls were ecstatic to get out of the car and check out the accomodations.  Coincidentally, the beach trip spanned across my first birthday as a mommy, so we got to spend a fun day at the beach to celebrate...unfortunately, that also means I'm now another year older, and officially "in my 30's", instead of just the big 3-0!  Where do the years go??

Anyway, we started the morning off with the usual breakfast routine for the girls, some playtime, then a trip to one of the famous Myrtle Beach pancake houses for breakfast...after breakfast, it was time to suit up and check out the pool!  This was the girls' first time to try out swimming, and boy did they LOVE IT!!  It was a bit chilly outdoors, so luckily, our hotel has 3 heated pools inside, so we were able to comfortably enjoy the water!

We started with a dip in the baby pool, just to get the girls acclimated and to try out their floats.  This didn't take long, and soon we were on to the lazy river, where we all enjoyed a few laps around the pool.  Finally, we spent some time in the regular pool where we had the girls floating on their backs, dunking their faces, and jumping in the air!  They were little fish, and didn't seem to have a fear in the world!  We are so happy about that, and can't wait for a fun summer in the water!

We realized that nothing is more conducive to a nice long nap than some time in the water, so Gary and I hung out on the balcony while the girls took a nice long snooze, then we headed to the beach for some time in the sand.  We made it a little longer than last time, but it's still something to get used to...until someone invents a way to prevent sand from sticking to sunscreened babies...and to make it taste better :)...it's hard to make the sand a long term event for our pre-walking girls!  We took a final dip in the pool, then headed in for bath time. 

Later that evening, Grandma and Papaw were kind enough to take the girls for a relaxed dinner and let Mommy and Daddy have a calm dinner out.  As much as I love my babies, it's always nice to have a relaxed, peaceful dinner that doesn't require the "invention" of constant entertainment and a steady supply of Puffs!!  We took a quick walk on the beach, and then headed in to get some rest before our usual 6:40 wake-up call!!

Tuesday, the weather was pretty lousy, so we spent some time napping, enjoyed a rainy day lunch, and then managed to sneak in a quick walk on the beach in the drizzle.  Not the ideal beach weather, but considering that Macy and Makayla aren't the biggest fans of the bright sunlight just yet anyway, we all just used the day as a chance to relax and hang out.

Besides the beach, I had a few more pics to post, and realized I needed to catch up on some detail! Since the last post, Macy has taken flight, and is now a certified crawler. She is so much happier now that she's able to get around, and nothing in our house is unreachable with 2 babies going in opposite directions! The girls actually do pretty well keeping out of trouble (with lots of supervision, of course) and are slowly learning their boundaries! It's amazing to see how quickly their little minds work!! They're still loving their "gah" (Marley) and Makayla found a gold mine in the tupperware cabinet that she was eager to share with her sister...They still enjoy watching Baby Einstein as well, but their attention span for it has definitely shortened!

Bath time has also changed to be a little more easy for mom and dad and fun for the girls as well!  We've been reluctant to get rid of the baby tub, since it provides a little bit of extra security against slips and falls, but I decided it was time to give the girls a chance to bathe together...and they think splashing with each other is such a good time!  The general interaction between Macy and Makayla has become so much more frequent and engaged, and it is SO AWESOME to watch them speak their own language and laugh at each other!  All the HARD work of having twins has always felt "worth it", but every day it seems to turn more and more into this amazing thing that is so unique and special that we can't get enough!

Tonight I'm gonna party like it's 19....85!

Gary and I got all fixed up for a hot date night on Saturday...I couldn't help but post a pictures of this one!  :)  No, we don't dress that well every weekend, but you have to make exceptions when there's a rockin' 80's party at our clubhouse!  LOL!)

And, since you stopped by, a couple of smiles from our little cuties...

Yes, Makayla's still obsessed with chewing on carrots, and yes, there are sweet potatoes on her face.  You grab the smiles when you can get them!  :)