We're on the move!!

This is where we start....

And this is where we end up!!

So yes, the girls are on the move. Yikes! We babyproofed our main concern quite a while ago...our open stairwell. Now I think it's time to finish up the odds and ends. Before we know it, these girls are going to be trashing the whole house!! Nate and I already do a pretty gosh darn good job at that, I'm not sure we need any help! Ha.

In completely non-related news, Nate and I were talking the other day, and we decided that we picked a terrible month to get married. This is the run-down of our next two months:

May 1 - my birthday (but I don't celebrate them anymore!!)
May 10 - Mother's Day
May 26 - our wedding anniversary
June 4 - Nate's birthday
June 21 - Father's Day

Yup, we could've picked a better month to get married. Didn't seem so bad when we were childless -- an anniversary and our birthdays. Not bad. In fact, quite manageable. But now we're going to go broke. Hmmm, should've planned that one a little better!!

Only in my dreams

I was thinking the other day about the "expectations" I had when the babies arrived. And I can't help but laugh at just how naive I was!! All I can say is that you live and you learn!

1) I thought the girls would sleep in a Pack 'N Play in our room until we transitioned them into their cribs. When they woke up to eat, I would feed them and put their sleepy little selves back down. What I learned: babies are surprisingly loud when they sleep, keeping everyone awake, and they don't always eat and go back to sleep. End result: after the first week, the Pack 'N Play was moved out to the living room where one adult slept on the couch and was "on duty" for a 4-5 hour stretch.

2) I thought that twins could quite possibly entertain each other when they got to a certain age. What I learned: nope. Mommy, daddy, grandma, grandpa - they are much more fun. So we go about our day trying our hardest to keep not one, but two babies entertained...spend 10 minutes here, 5 minutes there, 15 minutes doing this, 10 minutes doing that. End result: not much in the way of housework gets done with only one adult in the house.

3) I thought that by a few months of age, babies would sleep through the night - or at least a good chunk of it. What I learned: I am both right and wrong. Alivia is still doing a wonderful job sleeping about 10 hours at a time. Adalyn still thinks every 3 hours is a good time frame. End result: very tired parents/grandparents.

4) I thought that babies ate a bottle and then would be done for a few hours. What I learned: some babies are snackers, and therefore, eat an ounce or two (what seems to be) every half hour! In their worlds, there's no such thing as taking 6-8 ounces at a time and not being hungry for 3-4 hours. The only exception is during the night. End result: Ummmmm, not sure.

I'm sure there are many more, but I'm drawing a blank. And the girls are ready for another form of entertainment.....

But really quick. Their sleepover was quite a success. The only minor issue was when Alivia woke up at about 6:30am. Dr L and her husband took her into bed with them to play for a little while. Poor thing looked to the left and saw Dr L. So she looked to the right and saw Dr L's husband. Then the big old lip came out (click here for reference) and she started wailing!! Little baby girl is used to playing in bed with MOMMY and DADDY when she wakes up in the morning...not "strangers."

Overall, I guess it was a good experience for them. And Nate and I got to sleep in until 9:15. Woo-hoo!! We think next time we might try convincing Dr L to take them for the entire weekend...or the whole week?! No, just kidding. I would miss them too much.

Sleepovers!!

The girls are going to be having their first sleepover tomorrow night. Dr L is actually going to be taking the girls. I don't think she knows exactly what she's in for! Since the plans were put together a couple of weeks ago, Nate and I had been counting down the hours until we were able to hand them off for a while. Now that the time has finally arrived, we're not quite as excited as we were before! I have never spent a night away from the girls since the day they were born. So this is going to be interesting.

We'll be dropping the girls off at around 5:30pm. I think we're going to do dinner and a movie. We'll eat dinner at a nice restaurant and will probably come home to watch a movie here. Then I plan to attempt to get plenty of sleep, while I think Nate plans on playing some PlayStation!! After a good night's rest, we'll pick them up sometime around noon on Sunday.

I'll keep everyone posted on how well their first sleepover goes. I have a sneaking suspicion that Dr L may never want to take them overnight ever again!! They can be a handful at night...especially when they aren't in their own environment (i.e. their own cribs). So everyone keep your fingers crossed!!

I can't believe Nate and I are going to have our first official "date" since before I was put on bedrest!!!!!!! So sometime before July 29th...I think it's about time.

Look at this little ham.

What an innocent little honey.

The girls' appt - no surprises

The girls had their 6 month appointment on Friday. And there weren't any surprises -- they are still string beans. Long and skinny. Not shocking at all.

Adalyn
15lbs 12oz (49th percentile)
27 inches (94th percentile)

Alivia
14lbs 12oz (30th percentile)
26 inches (71st percentile)

Yes, Alivia is exactly 1 inch shorter and 1 pound lighter than Adalyn.

We got the OK to begin veggies and fruits with the girls. And it hasn't gone well so far!! The poor girls gag...just like when we first started cereal. So far they have only had peas. In the next couple of days, we're going to be trying beans. So we'll see how that goes.

Dr K said that they look great and that she doesn't have any concerns. They don't go back until they're 9 months old now. And there won't be any shots at that appt!! Yay!

In off topic news, I should mention that Adalyn rolled over from back to belly for the first time this morning. It's just a matter of time before these two little monkeys are rolling, scooting, and crawling all over this house!!

Water Babies!!

Over the Easter weekend, Nate and I took the girls swimming for the first time at the YMCA. I was a little nervous and skeptical about the girls getting in the water this early, but Nate has been itching to get them into the pool since the day they were born! So we decided to give it a try. And they both seemed to love it! They didn't cry at all...except for when Livi got a little tired (and hungry). But otherwise they both did very well.

Just got in the water. Alivia's not sure what to think.

So can I stick my face in it?

Just following daddy. I pretty much float on my own!

Adalyn getting acclimated to the water.

She just got done sticking her face in the water.

Keeping a close eye on dad.

Addi still wants to play. But Livi is tired. Time to leave!

Big appointment tomorrow! I will update when I can. Most likely it will be on Saturday. Unfortunately, the girls' appts are at 9:30am and 9:45am...and I have to be to work by 11. So Nate and I are taking two cars to the appt. Poor guy has to deal with the girls once they get home. I'm hoping they do their fair share of sleeping after they get their shots and aren't too fussy for daddy.

Happy 6 Months, Girls!

Can you believe it? The girls are 6 months today. Did I blink? How did this happen? As sad as it is that they're already 6 months old, it's also so exciting. They just keep showing us the new things they can do on a daily basis. Adalyn's current fascination is her feet - touching them, sucking on them, pulling on her toes, etc. Alivia has not found her feet yet, but she is a rolling machine. It takes her less than 1/2 a second to roll on to her belly now. And when she does it, she gives the BIGGEST grin I have ever seen. Even if she does it 45 times in a day, it doesn't get old...and she smiles each and every single time. She's just so stinking proud of herself.

They're both working on sitting unassisted. And both really enjoy standing with assistance. In fact, when they're sitting in our laps, they often arch their backs in such a way that it pops them up onto their feet. Who wants to sit when you now know how to stand?

They have their 6 month appointment on Friday. Now that the girls have become fairly good at standing, we've stood them side by side. It honestly looks like Adalyn is a full inch taller than Alivia. And she is definitely heftier too. So it will be interesting to see how that plays out. We've wagered guesses that Adalyn is probably around 16 pounds and Alivia will be about 14 3/4 pounds. We'll see how close we are.

The girls really enjoyed Easter. They behaved so well in church and then allowed mommy, daddy, Grandma and Grandpa L, and great-grandma to have a fairly peaceful Easter lunch. They looked so gosh darn cute in their Easter dresses courtesy of Grandma J and Aunt Teresa. So of course I have to share!!!

In other "6 month news," we're getting the girls' 6 month pictures taken tomorrow. I'm so excited for that! I'm a tad nervous just because the girls have been teething, and there's no telling what kind of mood they'll be in. I'm just crossing my fingers!!

Just some pretty faces