Last Day

Ok guys, it is the last day to win and I am at the edge of my seat waiting for tomorrow. What an awesome Christmas present(s) this would be to me!! Wish me luck and go check it out at http://www.babyguygearguide.com/day-12-of-12daysofbabyguy

Awesome Giveaway

Ok, so I really love the stroller from Day 11, but I also love the City Mini as well. What an awesome giveaway from TheBabyGuyNYC! Who wouldn't want to win Day 12. Maybe I could win both? Nah... I would be happy with just one day, so here I am entering to win yet another incredibly awesome contest! If you want to check it out he has a great website and here is the link to Day 12's BIG giveaway: http://www.babyguygearguide.com/day-12-of-12daysofbabyguy#comment-9886

Dylan's Candybar Volo

I SOOO want to win this stroller. I almost bought a Maclaren Volo before I saw this one come out and I fell completely in love with it, but alas... I can't talk John into spending over $100 for an umbrella stroller so I am left scrambling to win it. So there it is. Lots of strollers that I have attempted to win, but this is the one folks, this is the one that I REALLY want.

So, wish me luck and if you are interested, hop on over to http://www.babyguygearguide.com/day-11-of-12daysofbabyguy to check it out for yourself!!

Bumbleride Flite

Trying to win the awesome Bumbleride Flite over at Trekaroo!

If you are interested go check their contest out at http://blog.trekaroo.com/2011/08/15/monday-madness-win-a-bumbleride-stroller/comment-page-4/#comment-27120

Britax Stroller

Hey guys... keep rooting me on. I am trying hard to win a stroller and car seat for the new little one. All we have around here is double strollers and toddler car seats for the girls. This is an awesome stroller that will work with lots of infant carriers. It is perfect for what I am looking for and of course it is a brand that we love!

You can go check out the contest over at "Busy Mommy Media." The link is: Britax Chaperone Stroller. Wish me luck!!

Britax Advocate CS giveaway

Hey guys... just letting everyone know that Baby Goodbuys is giving away a Britax Advocate CS car seat.

We have the Britax Roundabouts and love them, but are going to be needing a new car seat for Bethany soon when she outgrows her Roundabout which will be just in time to pass that down to the new baby!! This would be a great car seat to win so go check it out at www.babygoodbuys.com.

Win a Bumbleride Indie Stroller

Feisty Frugal and Fabulous is giving away this awesome stroller! I would LOVE to win for new baby P3!! Go check it out at http://www.feistyfrugalandfabulous.com

Bumbleride Indie Giveaway

Ok guys... I am entering to win this awesome stroller and Jam Pack at Baby Goodbuys.

Go check it out at http://www.babygoodbuys.com and wish me luck. The contest ends on 1/22/2010. With the new baby coming, I would love to have a single stroller for those days when I get to get out with her by herself or don't need the stroller for the girls!

Sick again...

So, I took the girls to the doctor today.  I don't typically do this unless I think they are really sick and might need antibiotics, etc.  I will start with the last couple of days leading up to today so that you can understand why I decided this warranted a doctor's visit.  

Bethany had a runny nose for about two days and had started acting like she didn't feel well yesterday.  Emily got the runny nose yesterday, but acted like she was fine.  Fast forward to yesterday evening when it all REALLY got crazy.  The girls took a LONG nap, about 3 1/2 hours and Bethany felt really hot to me when I picked her up from her nap (not to mention her pink flushed cheeks).  Checked their temps and Bethany was running 103 at 5:00 in the evening.  Emily is only at 100.  So I am thinking... oh boy, this is going to be a long night.  Give Bethany Tylenol and call the doctor's office.  I am advised to rotate Tylenol and Motrin every three hours and to watch her fever through the night.  Check her again before bed and she is still at 102.4 with Tylenol, give her (and Emily) Motrin and pray that we don't have to visit Urgent Care in the middle of the night.  Set the alarm for every three hours and get up to give her Tylenol or Motrin.  Her fever stays high, but does not get any higher than it was.  This was done by feeling her forehead, I thought it was just cruel to take her temp in the middle of the night unless I noticed a change.  We take it rectally and I wouldn't want someone to wake me up that way if I felt that bad.  So, not that bad right?  Oh, it gets better.

I checked Emily each time I went in to give Bethany medicine, just in case her temp. went up as well.  She was fine until 6:00a.m.  John got up that time (to give me a break, God bless him) and immediately came back in our room to inform me that Emily had vomited and it was all over her, all in her bed, on her blanket, on Pooh, etc.  So much for a little extra sleep.  I should mention that I also wasn't feeling well when we went to bed last night.  I had the runny nose and the scratchy throat that wouldn't let me sleep anyway.  Looking back I think I should have just done an "all nighter" and stayed up to watch movies or something instead of trying to sleep in 30 minute intervals.  So we get her cleaned back up, she throws up one more time before we put her back down to sleep and we both go back to bed exhausted to try to get even a few more minutes.  

Well, John goes to work and gets us an appointment for 10:30a.m. and I let the girls sleep as long as they will.  At 9:00a.m. I go into their room only to see that Emily has vomited everywhere again.  I strip her down and put her in the bathroom to wait for Bethany and I.  Well, Emily tee-tee's in the bathroom floor while I am getting Bethany undressed.  Clean that up (all the while talking about how tee-tee goes in the potty since we are beginning to start potty training) and put them in the bathtub.  I am excited because I have clean babies to take to the doctor and we are still on schedule.  I grab a towel and reach to let the water out only to realize that Emily has pooped in the water.  I give up... will it ever end?  Again, talk about how poo-poo goes in the potty, not in the bathtub.  Ok, get everyone dressed and get the diaper bag ready with breakfast snacks, sippy cups, blankies (clean vomit off of the least nasty blanket of Emily's so that she has a blankie to take with us) tissues, extra clothes, diapers, Tylenol/Motrin, and wipes.  Forgot pacifiers, but gave up at 10:25 trying to find anything else.  Get jackets and hats on the girls and off we go.

Get to the doctor's office and they got us in almost immediately.  I am thinking this is awesome, the day is actually shaping up to get better.  Get temps taken, both are still running fever.  Bethany gives us the 2-year-old screaming tantrum when we try to weigh her while I try to shrink as small as I can get and want to pretend like she belongs to someone else for the moment.  Ok, that is over with, in the room to wait.  No big deal, the girls have snacks and cups and can get out of the stroller to run around.  All is good until Emily looks at me, turns red in the face and says "bo bo?"  Then the most horrible gurgling sound came from the depths of her belly and out her rear end.  It kept going and going and going.  I didn't know exactly what to do.  I knew she had to be approaching diaper breach, but I couldn't try to change her yet because she was still going.  Finally it was over.  I VERY gently laid her back on the table and tried to carefully change her diaper.  I was right, we had a breach through the onesie and needed a new shirt, but it was not as bad as I had thought until I opened the diaper.  All I can say is that I am now a STRONG supporter of Pampers.  Someone who works there knows what they are doing.  Maybe they actually have kids themselves because this diaper worked a miracle today.  

I manage to get the diaper off without making a super mess, but now the room smells so bad that I can hardly sit in there without gagging uncontrollably.  Kids are amazing, they don't even care.  Perhaps it is because they have a river of snot running out their noses, but nonetheless... it didn't bother them at all.  Thankfully the nurse heard me talking about how stinky it was (or maybe they could smell it out in the hall when they walked by), but she brought me a bag to put it in and then sprayed the room with something that actually worked to take away the smell.  

After all this, the doctor comes in and looks at the girls and orders a Flu test.  He is almost positive that is what they have.  More waiting... test comes back negative.  Next is a Strep test.  Negative again.  Now... I love our doctor, but no mother after all that has happened in the last 16 hours wants to hear... "well, if it is not the Flu or Strep, the only thing it can be is a cold and it will just have to take it's course."  I really felt like giving the girls to him and saying "then you take them home with you and give them back to me when they are well."  So, we leave the office with no meds and the prospect of about another week of this.  I still have to go home and clean the rest of the poop out of the tub and change another set of Emily's sheets.  YUCK!!  So that is it guys.  The story of my day.             

What a year already!!

Obviously I have NOT kept up with my blogging.  Hopefully with this being a new year, I will get a little better.  As most of you know, we had a loss in our family recently.  We lost the girls' baby brother Michael John at 17 weeks and 6 days into my pregnancy.  We are very sad and are trying to figure out how to help the girls to understand what is going on.  Maybe someday they will understand how he is in Heaven watching over them, but for now they just know something is different with Mommy and Daddy.

The girls are starting to look less like babies and more like little girls now.  I love watching them grow up, but I wish time would move just a little slower!  It seems like it was just a few months ago when they were tiny little babies and now they are beginning to be independent and showing much more of  their own little personalities.  Bethany is ALWAYS busy (unless she is sleeping or eating).  She is my "go" baby (Imagine the Energizer bunny with her face on it!).  Emily is much more laid back.  She likes to sit and read or play with one toy for a little while.  They are both starting to say lots more words now.  I feel like I was gone for a week and I came back home to new kids.  They are both putting together two and three words at a time now.  Our favorite of course is "My Mommy" and "My Daddy," although "Elmo all done?" while pointing at the TV almost always trumps anything else.

We got them their very own "beep beep" while we were visiting Gramma and Papa because they kept trying to take everyone else's phone or cell phone away to try to talk.  They are both too cute because they put the phone to their ear and say "hi" with a great Texas hick accent, but then just get quiet and breath into the phone like Darth Vader.  The only way that we can get them to talk is to ask them questions that we know they will answer... What does the bunny do?  What does the horse say?  Where is Sissy?  My personal favorite for the moment is the horse because of the facial expression it takes to make the sound.  

They have learned to "love, love" each other.  I think we say lots of things in twice like that after reviewing our "baby" vocabulary.  We change "bo bos," bunnies go "hop hop," we get into our "eat eat" chairs, we give "pat pats," etc.  Oh well, I think I am losing brain cells and then re-growing them on a daily basis so that makes sense.

The girls love to dance and we have got some really cute videos of their dancing techniques which consist of bobbing up and down with lots of "round and rounds."  Although, one of the funniest things that they do is "happy feet," which looks very much like the movie or something out of "Flashdance."  They are also very proficient at "all fall down" which is pretty comical as well.  

Ok guys, that is all I have for today.  I want to save some for the next couple of posts that I will continue to try to do MUCH more often than I have been.  For now, I better get back in their room to see what they are into.     

July 29th, 2008

The girls are all over the place now.  They have learned how to climb and love to climb up and slide down their new slide.  We had to do a little work on the sitting instead of standing at the top and which way to turn to be able to slide down.  They also love their "playhouse" that they can climb through the tunnels and play in the tent houses.  They have been chasing each other in circles round and round through the tunnels.  

I also thought it was interesting to watch them a few days ago.  After watching the special that aired on the National Geographic channel about multiples in the womb, it is neat to watch the girls do some of the things that they said they would probably do.  They have played through the mesh on the playhouse (one on the outside and one inside) touching each others hands, feet, heads, etc. while giggling the whole time.  How cool would it be if they could actually remember what it was like to be in the womb touching each other.  

They are saying so many words now.  Words that only John and I understand, but hey... they are still words.  Bethany is still saying "puppy," but she also says "meow" now when she sees Boo Kitty.  Emily will "tweet" like one of the squeaky bird toys and can say "fishy" and "cup."  Both girls know where their bellies are and will pat them when you ask.  They also know (and can say) what a "shoe" is and have gotten to where they get excited about putting shoes and socks on because that means they are going somewhere.  They LOVE music and will dance just about any time they hear music.  Bethany claps her hands and turns circles, Emily stomps her feet and squats up and down.  They automatically go to their high chairs when I ask them if they are hungry, or if it is time to eat.  They amaze me on a daily basis how much they understand of what we are saying.  I told Emily that she had a "shoowee" diaper yesterday and asked if she needed a diaper change.  She patted the diaper and then pulled on the top of it to let me know that she was ready.  Amazing... simply amazing.

They are getting so big and tall now.  I was watching John when he picked up Bethany this morning and couldn't believe how far her legs stretched down.  They are both pretty much running now and have learned how to "love" each other.  It is actually really cute, they will pat each other on the head and lean in toward each other for a head-butt with big huge smiles on their faces.  

Well, I better get going, but I wanted to post a few videos.  One is of the girls playing round and round in the playhouse, one is of Emily sliding, and one is of both of them dancing.  Enjoy.  

July 9th, 2008

Well, they are one-year-old and all over the place.  They got baptized on their first birthday so that will be a date that we/they will never forget!  I still can't believe it has been that long.  I was looking back at last year and where we were at this time and things have changed drastically in our lives over the past year!  They are walking/beginning to run everywhere and LOVE their new-found independence.  I think that a little bit of attitude has come along with this, but hey... I would want to be able to do what I wanted too if I had finally found a good way to get around.  It is very cute to watch them now because they are beginning to test their walking and climbing skills as often as they can.  Both of the girls worked hard on their stepping up and down a small step this past weekend at the reunion in Fredericksburg.  By the end of the weekend both of them were fairly good at it and could do this without falling down every time.  They also got the opportunity to walk on different (unlevel) surfaces and actually did pretty good.  So far they don't seem to have a problem with walking in the grass or on rocks, they just don't like the feeling on their hands when they fall down and have to push themselves back up to standing.  

They are both just now beginning to actually stop and watch the TV so I put on one of the Sesame Street DVDs that they got for their birthday and pulled out their little chairs.  This once again showed me the complete differences in their personalities.  Emily sat quietly in her chair and watched the show while Bethany found a way to climb up on the couch from her chair and proceeded to watch from there.  Well, at least she finally sat down and didn't fall off this time.  We are also working on that.  They are getting good enough at climbing that we are having to teach them how to get down from things.  Oh, what fun!  We have had a few bumped heads and one busted mouth, but so far... they are both still all in one piece.  

They are learning SO much right now.  No wonder they don't want to sleep sometimes.  Both of the girls have learned how to ask what things are.  Emily points her finger (in a really weird way that none of the rest of us can figure out how to do) and will say "got" or "sdat?"  Bethany will also point, but would rather bring us things and have us tell her what they are.  She can say "puppy," but says it "pup-ah."  She is also saying "bite" as "bi."  Both of the girls can say "Mama" and pretty much use that as often as they can when they want something.  Neither have really figured out how to say "Dada," although we think that Emily might have said it a few times and we work on it constantly.  Both of them get angry because they want to be able to tell us something but they don't know the words and we can't understand their needs.  They have taken to dragging us around by our fingers so that they can show us whatever it is that they need or want us to see.  

It is interesting to watch how they interact together now.  For starters, they fight... all the time.  Both of them have learned how to push the other out of the way or just scream as loud as they can when the other takes their toy.  Although they fight lots of the time, they also play together and that is when it is fun.  I was watching them in the living room a few days ago and figured out that they were playing the "get you" game.  Daddy plays this with them when he gets home and they love it when he "gets" them, but I have never seen them play it together.  In this case, Emily was running from Bethany and Bethany would chase her until she "got" her, then Bethany would try to tickle Emily and they would start all over.  It was SO funny to watch because they were both just giggling and laughing and rolling all over each other.  Most of the time they play in the same room together and like to stay near each other, but some of the time they will split up and I will find one in the playroom and one in their bedroom, etc.  They even like to touch each other when they are in their highchairs eating.  I almost feel like I am interrupting their bonding at mealtime.    

I am amazed daily at what they know how to do.  I watched them play with their activity table yesterday and realized that they were fitting the shapes into their correct holes in the table.  I was shocked.  I had no idea that they could do that.  They can stack things and are getting really good at some of the nesting blocks that they have.  They are also learning that certain buttons, etc. on the toys will do certain things.  They are really enjoying reading their books now and love to point at things in them and ask what they are.  They both also love to dance.  I checked on them in the playroom a few days ago (which has finally become a fun place to hang out again... YIPPEE!!) and both of them were making one of the toys play music so that they could stand up and dance to it.  I need to get that on video for everyone to see because it is really precious.      

Well guys, I better get going, I hear some babies talking in their room so they must be up from their nap!  I really should try harder to update a little more often... it just gets SO busy around here.  I can't leave them alone for a minute or two anymore because who knows where they will be or what they will be into.  Oh, by the way, they have finally figured out how to open our kitchen cabinets and drawers (we don't have handles on ours) so it is finally time to finish some of our "baby-proofing!"

May 14, 2008

Oh my goodness, it has been awhile since I wrote on here.  The girls have been sick with snotty noses and ear infections since about a week after Easter so we have been exhausted.  We are on our third round of antibiotics and it looks like it might actually be working (after 8 days of taking it).  It is a good night when we make it all the way through with no crying.  We have had two good nights in a row (knock on wood) so we hope that signifies an end to them being sick.

On a side note, the girls have a new cousin for those of you who don't know.  James Edward Marlowe was born on the 28th of April and is absolutely adorable.  As another side note, the girls got to go to their second Texas A&M graduation last week.  We laughed about that since they are not yet a year old and have already been to two graduations.  Congratulations to Aunt JeanMarie for graduating from Vet School!!  

Well, what is new right now?  Bethany has learned to literally "throw" fits.  If we put her down on the floor and she doesn't want to be put down, she will throw her head forward or backward toward the floor.  She has had a few hard bumps this way, so she seems to be learning to at least put her head down a little more gently now.  It is really tough to watch her bump her head pretty hard and not go pick her up immediately just because she hurt herself.  Emily has learned a new cry... nope, I would call it more of a "squeal."  She uses this when she doesn't get her way now.  It is hard not to laugh and try to ignore her since it is so funny to watch her face.  It is such a fake cry.  Other than that, they are just all over the house and into everything.  I feel like I spend the majority of the day saying "no ma'am" or redirecting their attention to something that is okay for them to play with.  

Bethany will test things to see if they are ok.  If we tell her no, she will just stand her ground until we move her away most of the time (this is usually when she bumps her head on the floor!).  Emily is a little bit sneakier.  She will get into things then try to run and hide.  For example, she likes the rocks that are in the bottom of the water fountain.  She will get a rock and put it in her mouth and then crawl away as quickly as she possibly can so that she is nowhere near where she knows she is not supposed to be.  John noticed this the best when they got a container of Gerber "stars" open and spilled them out on the floor so that they could eat them.  When John found them, Bethany was sitting in the middle of the floor shoveling them in her mouth as fast as she could and Emily was crawling away as fast as she could go so that she would not get in trouble.

They have both learned how to head-butt things.  I think this is a trait that John taught them.  They seem to do this to things that they really like.  The first time we really saw them do this was to Boo Kitty, but now they will do it to toys, stuffed animals, and especially their Daddy's forehead.  It is really sweet because they will do it really softly and just lean their head down if they want to be loved on or cuddled with.  

Well, on to the bigger things.  As of yesterday... they both decided that they should start walking.  We have been letting them take a few steps between us, but most of the time they will lean forward toward us and the other person will have to help hold them up.  For some reason, yesterday it just clicked and both of them were experimenting between our coffee table and the couch.  We think that it might be because there was a 13 month old little boy that came to our house yesterday that was walking.  John noticed the girls "testing out their legs" much more yesterday while he was here.  

Oh yeah... just to let everyone know, the little boy was here with his mom who was taking pictures of the girls to put in Twins Magazine as an advertisement for their company Chewable Jewels (www.chewablejewels.com).  We thought it was pretty cool that she picked us for their pictures.  She saw us in a restaurant and then saw us again a few weeks later and asked us if we would be interested.  We said yes.  I got some free product and believe it or not... the girls actually loved it and chewed on them all day yesterday.  I figure they will be great to wear to church or anytime we go out with the girls as they kept them quiet and content while we shopped yesterday also. 

Well, I can't think of anything more right now, but I do want to post the videos of the girls walking yesterday so that you guys can see.  I was looking at them and saying that I can't believe that they are getting so big.  So here they are.  The first is Emily going for a Cheerio and the second starts with Bethany but then they both walk a few more steps to get to their Daddy and the Cheerios.

April 7, 2008

Emily has said her first word and we are hoping that it won't be an omen of things to come.  It is... drumroll please... "uh oh!"  She is SO cute when she says it.  She makes a really big "O" with her mouth and really accents the sounds.  At first she was almost growling when she said the "oh" part.  She really watched us when we were saying it at first to try to get it right.  Now whenever she hears us or anyone else say "uh oh" she will repeat it and she will use it sometimes on her own if she falls down or drops a toy.  I think that we might say that Bethany's first word was "ma ma," although I am still debating whether or not that is the case.  She uses that when she wants me, but she also uses it for lots of other things.  She doesn't repeat it yet when you say it so I think we might wait and see whether or not she will pick another word as her "first" real word.   

Bethany can stand for a fairly long time now without holding on to anything and she can pick up toys with both hands and hold them while standing (with no other hand holds).  She will also use the push/walk toys to walk across the playroom.  She is beginning to cruise around furniture and can bend her knees to sit down.  Emily can pull up to stand and let go to sit on her rear end, but she hasn't figure out how to let go and still stand yet or bend her knees.  She will also cruise around the furniture and will try to walk across the room if you give her your fingers to hold.

I put shoes on them for the first time on Sunday and they were really funny about it.  Bethany would not stand up in the shoes.  She would lean way back on her feet if you helped her to stand and she tried to eat the shoes off.  Emily didn't seem to care at first, but later on in the day she was in her car seat banging them together or tapping her foot on the wood in the booth at lunch.  She also tried to get them off after awhile.  We haven't put shoes on them in the past because they were not up and standing so they didn't really need shoes and they actually seem to hinder the process of crawling.  Well anyway, it was pretty cute, but it is always interesting to watch them try new things.    

Both girls love the game "peek-a-boo," and Emily will even hold her blanket over her face herself if she wants to play.  She has also learned to clap her hands when we sing "pat-a-cake."  They love to play with each other and it seems like one of their favorite games to play together is "chase," although it is always Bethany chasing Emily.  Again, they are so different.  Bethany loves to be with people and wants to be held and loved.  Emily will play alone and also likes to be held sometimes, but really wants to learn new things right now.  They both really listen when we read books or work on things like putting shapes "in" the cookie jar and taking them back "out."  It seems like Bethany is really working on her mobility right now and Emily is busier learning words and speech.  Things are changing so quickly with each of them that I am just amazed.  It seems like you get a few months in the beginning where everything moves slowly, then all of the sudden they are up and mobile and into everything.  They are all over our house now and finding more and more things that we forgot or didn't even know needed to be "baby proofed."  Even under the beds are not safe anymore.  Boo is just out of luck because they are getting faster and faster and they can actually get close to her now before she knows it.  

Emily decided that she didn't want to be fed anymore and she needed to feed herself about a week ago so I gave her the bowl and a spoon and let her go at it.  She had it from head to toe, but she hasn't fought me again about feeding her.  I think she decided that she was still hungry after her encounter with trying to feed herself and that maybe it wasn't so bad for now for mama to feed her.  Bethany is a great eater and doesn't care how she gets to eat as long as it is there, is enough, and is on time!    

Bethany has been sick for about a week now with a stuffy/runny nose and Emily has finally gotten it so I have two sick babies for the moment, although I have to say it has been a little bit easier this time.  They are not running fevers and they play and act like they still feel fine.  They just can't breathe as well and will get choked sometimes since they don't know how to blow their noses.  Speaking of sick babies, they are waking up from their morning nap so I better get going.  I will post again when there are more interesting things to tell!  

March 21, 2008

Ok, so right after I wrote the post on Wednesday, Emily decided to crawl.  She is already crawling like she has known how to do it all along.  Too funny again how different they are.  Bethany just went for it no matter how sloppy it looked or felt and then perfected it.  Emily did the wounded soldier crawl, to the commando belly crawl, to a combination of commando and actual hands and knees, to full on crawl.  I have to say it is really fun to have two of them the same age and to watch how completely different each child can be.

  

Bethany is loud and tests everything.  She screams all the time, whether that is playing or if she is hungry, tired, just wants some attention, etc.  They are making the same types of sounds, Bethany just makes them louder.  Emily is so quiet... she coos and babbles to herself and will lay in her bed and play quietly, but when she actually cries she means business.  Something is seriously wrong or needed.

It looks like both of my girls are going to be pacifier babies again.  Emily is actually taking a pacifer ALL day long while she is cutting teeth.  I haven't seen her suck her thumb in weeks.  I finally had to break down and go get more pacifiers so that we would have plenty between the two of them.  Bethany seems to like the ones that Emily takes also (better than her Soothies most of the time).  I am not sure if that is really the case or if she just wants what sister has?

Well, the girls are all over the house now when we don't have them confined to the playroom.  They found the dishwasher fascinating yesterday and Bethany managed to escape from the nursery while I was feeding Emily and decided to share a meal with Boo kitty.  By the look on her face, Boo was not happy to share her cat food at all, but Bethany really seemed to think it was tasty!!  I didn't have my camera in easy reach, otherwise I would have taken a picture.  They also REALLY like the water fountain because it has rocks in the bottom so I have to constantly move them away from it.  I have a feeling it will get moved to another (less accessible) room in the next week or so.  When they are confined it is pretty funny because they stand behind the bars, shake them, and yell "ma, ma, ma, ma, ma, ma!!"

Oh yeah, you need to check out the picture website because I updated it with LOTS of new photos.  We were a few months behind, but should be caught up now!!

March 19, 2008

Whew!  Well, they just keep growing and getting smarter and smarter.  Both girls are old pros at pulling up now and will look for anything that they can find to pull up on.  It is fun to come in after nap time and find them standing up in their beds looking at each other and talking over the rails.  On Friday I put one of their little foam chairs down on the floor for them to play with and use to pull up on.  Emily immediately climbed up in it and stood up.  I got her down and looked back at Bethany who was already on her knees in the chair getting ready to stand.  I was shocked.  I had no idea that they could climb as well as stand up!!  Needless to say, the chair is now out of reach unless Mommy is in the room.  

Emily still does not crawl, but at least her wounded soldier has found the use of her right leg and turned into a full on commando crawl most of the time.  Bethany can crawl anywhere and get there very quickly.  I often put her down in the floor and look back to find her already across the room (usually under something that I didn't know they could get under).  They have been really cute lately because they now look for each other across the room and want to be right next to each other to play.  Bethany still wants whatever Emily has but Emily has learned to kick her legs and "fake" cry to try to keep her away.    

Both girls are "testing" their balance further by letting go of objects and standing with no handholds.  Bethany is getting very good at this and has even figured out how to stand up from something that is only a few inches off the floor.  She can also let go for awhile and then grab hold again if she feels like she might fall.  Emily is just beginning to let go and can only stand for a couple of seconds before she sits back on her rear end.  Oh boy, so I was hoping to keep them from walking until they are a year old.  Well, one can still hope right?    

The girls are also drinking out of a sippy cup.  They have been doing this for about a month or so now, but Bethany just figured out how to hold the cup on her own.  She wants to do it herself now which is too cute.  It is a little bit heavy for her and she can't really get it tipped up far enough to get much of a drink unless it is really full, but she is doing it none the less.  Emily will help hold her bottle and has been working on that for awhile now, but she hasn't figured out the handles on the sippy cup yet.  I leave it in the playroom on the floor so that they can get to it when they want, but for some reason they seem to ignore it most of the time.

March 1, 2008

Wow, lots has changed in a week!!  Bethany is crawling like a pro now.  She actually crawled for the first time at Aunt DeeDee's house last Saturday during Heather and Josh's baby shower.  All for a Frito that John put on the floor to entice her.  I think she should wear a sign "will crawl for food" since that was the only way that we could get her to crawl for the first few days.  Emily is not "crawling" per say, but she can definitely get around fairly quickly with her wounded soldier tummy scoot.  She uses her left leg to push off and her right arm/elbow to pull her forward.  It is hilarious to watch.  Now it is impossible to keep either of them in the play room.  Hopefully we will get a gate up soon and Boo Kitty will have a place to run for freedom!  They are getting faster and faster so that soon she will not be able to get away from them so easily, especially since they find her fascinating.

Both girls are pulling up now.  Emily pulled up all by herself in her crib today but Bethany has been doing it for a little bit longer and I have had to lower her bed down since she is trying to stand on the bumper pad to get out.  Nap times are a bit more of a challenge than they were before with them both so very mobile.  Bethany has every single Soothie pacifier that we own in her bed since she won't go to sleep without them and she keeps dropping/throwing them out of her mouth when she is standing and talking to Emily.  Emily has decided recently that she is no longer a "thumb-sucker" all the time and wants a pacifier for nap and bedtimes.  I thought that was an interesting change of preference, but it doesn't bother me since I figure it will be easier to get rid of a pacifier someday than to stop her from sucking her thumb!   

Here is a pic of the girls standing in the playroom:

Both girls are starting to talk much more now.  Emily is using sounds like "ba ba, da da and ma ma."  She talks all the time, but is pretty quiet and will hang out and talk to herself if nobody is there to listen to her.  I have been working with her on associating waving with "bye bye" since she had started holding her hand up and waving.  Now she will wave sometimes when you say "bye bye," but not every time.  Bethany just prefers to squeal and blow zerberts, although she will try to out-sing anyone who will give her a fair chance.  We keep having to turn up American Idol to be able to hear the actual singing over her "singing/squealing" with or against the contestants!!  She made John laugh really hard first thing in the morning a couple of days ago since we woke up to her blowing zerberts at Emily which we could hear through the monitor in our room.

Both girls are eating really well.  We have tried out just about every pureed vegetable and fruit that they have out and will be moving on to cheeses and meats (which John dreads for the smelly diapers) soon.  So far they have liked pretty much everything but green beans, although they will eat them anyway.  Emily cut another tooth on the bottom left yesterday which gives her three teeth now.  They are so cute when they smile with their teeth on bottom.  I think it will be even cuter when they get the top teeth to go with them.  Although, they should be cutting those two teeth on the top soon which their mama is not quite ready for as Bethany has already decided to take a bite out of me that brought blood.  For you moms out there, it is very hard not to cuss at that moment and your instinct wants to slap that baby or throw them across the room and take care of yourself.  But as I wasn't able to do those things, we just used the "no more, you are done!" approach a few times and it has actually seemed to work so far.  Hopefully I won't have to find out that it has not worked as I have a feeling that I will be weaning at least one baby if that happens again!!

February 22, 2008

Well, we are still not crawling yet.  Bethany is trying everything out but still somehow manages to go in reverse.  She is getting up on hands and feet now (like a bear crawl), but hasn't figured out how to move her hands forward to get going.  Emily can make forward progress, but it is more like an army crawl/roll.  She is getting on her hands and knees and pushing off, just not moving forward either.  Both girls are experimenting with pulling up on everything and have lots of confidence as long as someone is there to "help" them pull up.  

Bethany pulled up on one of the toys all by herself this morning!!  She was so excited that she only stood up for a few seconds before she let go.  I wish I had the camera because she had the biggest grin on her face when she did it.  They are both trying to pull up in their cribs so it is finally time to lower the matresses down.  They are learning so fast.  We have been helping them learn out how to crawl and pull up.  I was just surprised at how quickly they have figured out how to pull to stand.  Emily was even working on her "cruising" this morning by trying to get to the other side of one of her toys while standing and holding on to it. 

Knowing about PT makes it really neat to watch them transition through all the stages.  Both girls can side sit and transition to a crawling or belly position.  Bethany has even also figured out how to get back from a crawling position to sitting.  I can see Emily trying so she is not far behind.  All in a few short weeks.  It is fun to think that the girls are not even 8 months old and yet they are able to do so much, especially when they were 5 weeks "preemie" and that would put them at an adjusted age of about 6 1/2 months old now.    

Emily has started making a new face that is hilarious.  I tried to capture it with a photo, but it just does not do it justice.  She wrinkles up her nose, squints her eyes, curls her upper lip and breathes really fast through her nose.  It sort of makes her look like a little devil, but I think she is trying to give us a genuine smile.  Usually whatever Emily does with her face or voice, Bethany will mimic a few days later so I am sure that we will be seeing a face from her soon that looks very similar to this one!

February 13, 2008

We got to visit with Gramma and Papa Doss this weekend.  I think the girls had lots of fun.  Grandmother Allen and Nanny got to feed the girls which was very cute.  I think it has been awhile since Grandmother Allen has fed a baby so she had lots of fun.  Emily actually slept in the room with Gramma and Papa.  I think Emily slept fine, but I don't think that Gramma and Papa got much sleep!!  We also got to see Grandmother Doss, Uncle Daniel, and Aunt Jenny.  All in all it was a really good trip.  Hopefully the girls will be as easy-going and easy to take care of when we go on our trip in March.    

I got to keep baby Kate on Monday and Tuesday.  She is 4 months old and absolutely adorable.  It was really interesting to look back at what the girls were doing at that age and how much things have changed.  I couldn't believe that they are able to do so much more now than they were when they were that age.  She is a cutie though, she loves to talk and coo.  She really liked getting attention from John and I, but she even enjoyed watching the girls.  I was surprised that the girls didn't take more notice of her since they really interact with each other now.  They just ignored her most of the time and still talked to each other!!

Well, we have started breakfast now so the girls are actually eating three meals a day!!  I can't believe how quickly we went from cereal at night to three meals a day.  They have been fussy and acting hungry in the morning so I decided to add that last meal.  It must have been what they needed because they have been happier for the past couple of days.  Both girls are also able to drink out of a sippy cup so we are having fun with that.  I give them water throughout the day and with their meals.  They haven't figured out how to hold the cup, but I am sure that it won't be long.    

February 8, 2008

Well, it has been a weird week.  We have been to two funerals in the past two days.  The girls actually did fairly well.  Emily wanted to sing along and thought that she needed to do most of the talking.  Bethany wanted to know what Emily was doing and got really fussy when anyone else held her.  She has been pretty funny lately.  She is okay when there are only a few people around, but if there are lots of people around, she gets anxious and really wants me and only me to hold her.  Emily on the other hand loves the crowd and will smile and laugh as people go by.

Emily is making fish faces now and Bethany has finally started trying to "talk" instead of making the same sound for everything.  She likes the "b,b,b" sound the most.  We just started Bethany on Prevacid yesterday for her reflux so we will see what happens.  She had been on Axid since she was tiny but we weren't seeing any improvement anymore so we just left her off meds for a few weeks.  We were really hoping that she could go without.  I think she will spit up no matter what, but I feel so sorry for her, she doesn't really complain too much, but it is dark around her eyes and she keeps a hoarse voice most of the time now.  She just looks like she doesn't feel well.  If this doesn't work we will be taking her to a specialist to find out if she "really" has reflux and what needs to be done about it.

John did some PT with the girls at home for crawling and they have both taken what they learned and are testing things out a bit.  Neither is crawling, but both can get on hands and knees now.  It is fun to watch the difference in the way that they try things.  Bethany takes the "all-or-nothing" approach and just goes for it.  Emily tries things gradually, one knee at a time leaning to one side then the other.  I am not sure that I am so excited about him helping them to learn.  From what I hear, the longer I can keep them in one place... the better.  I know they will have to learn sometime but I think I want to prolong it for as long as possible.     

As an end to this post, their daddy wanted me to make sure that I put the laughing videos up for everyone to see since they are so cute so here they are. 

 Emily on the changing table:

and Bethany laughing at a squeaky bird: