I'm not the cleanest eater in the world

It's either that or she's trying to tell us that July 4th is long gone and therefore, she shouldn't be wearing that onesie anymore.

She's obviously pretty gosh darn happy about the mess she made.

Graham cracker on the forehead, rice on the face.

Mandarin oranges on the onesie and more graham crackers on the fingers.

And now she's so embarrassed she can't stand to show her face.

Ribbit!

I was cleaning out the girls' closet just a couple nights ago. I can't believe how many clothes I had to pack away. They seem to be outgrowing things left and right. I will admit that I got a little teary-eyed. Where have my babies gone? They're now these little independent, sometimes naughty, usually entertaining, always loveable, fairly daring little girls. Just 10 months ago they couldn't do anything for themselves. Now they're shutting doors behind them, pulling toilet paper off the roll, opening cupboards, feeding themselves (bottles and table food), babbling up a storm, etc. I'm still looking for that pause button...

The art of stealing

Step 1: Eye the object you want.

Step 2: Try to grab said object.

Step 3: Act like you're completely innocent.
Step 4: Attack your victim for almost making you get caught.

Don't worry, Alivia got Adalyn back after this episode. They take their turns being the bully. And in case you're wondering, we don't condone such behavior. We remove the bully from the situation and try to entertain her with something else.

The abnormalities of my pregnancy

So I've been reflecting a lot about the pregnancy and just how abnormal it really was. It obviously wasn't your normal run-of-the-mill pregnancy, but I think it was a lot more abnormal than people know.

The order in which they occurred:
1) twins
2) SPD
3) bedrest
4) velamentous cord insertion
5) PUPPP

So a little explanation of each:
1) The odds of having spontaneously conceived twins is about 1 in 89. So a little greater than 1% of all pregnancies that occur without the aid of medical assistance results in twins.

2) SPD is short for Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction. It is a very painful condition of the pelvic bones which only occurs in 2-3% of the pregnant population! Keep in mind that I used to play basketball despite having stress fractures in my legs. So I have a fairly high tolerance for skeletal pain. But this condition sometimes dropped me to my knees and had me in tears.

3) Then there's the bedrest. Although not uncommon, it's not a routine thing. I wish I could find statistics on how often bedrest occurs but I can't.

4) Velamentous cord insertion. Bottom line = scary. I'm not going to post a link because all of the good resources out there also include pictures. And well, not everyone will be up to seeing such pictures!! So I will do the best I can to explain. This is an abnormal condition of the umbilical cord. It only occurs in 1% of all pregnancies (1 in 100). It's where the umbilical cord doesn't insert itself properly to the placenta. When the baby's water breaks, it can rupture the veins and arteries providing nutrients, oxygen, and blood to the baby. The baby will ultimately bleed to death before an emergency C-section can be performed. The mother also faces high risks due to the amount of blood loss. Adalyn was fine. It was Alivia who had the condition. We didn't know about the cord problem until after the placenta was delivered. The doctor actually proclaimed "Oh my God, this could have been disastrous!" Then he explained to us what he saw.

The condition can sometimes be identified via ultrasound. And had it been identified, they wouldn't have let me deliver naturally. Instead, I would've had a C-section because they wouldn't have wanted to risk Alivia's water breaking in the wrong spot that would've led to both of us hemorrhaging. Scary, huh? Here we fought so hard to get the girls to a healthy gestation and thought we were in the clear. But we could've lost Alivia just minutes before she was born when the doctor broke her water! Obviously, everything turned out just fine, and we thank God every day for letting the girls arrive safely. But YIKES!!!

5) Lastly, I ended up with PUPPP (Pruritic Urticarial Papules and Plaques of Pregnancy - don't ask me how to say it!) when the girls were 5 days old. This condition only happens in 0.5% of all pregnanies - on average, every 1 in 200 pregnancies is affected. Yes, you read that right...it happens in less than 1%. I can't even describe the itchiness I had! I remember telling Nate that I would rather endure another 9+ weeks of bedrest than deal with that rash for even one day! And we all know how much I despised bedrest! I could barely feed the girls, I couldn't sleep, all I wanted to do was crawl out of my skin. It was terrible!

I started in Urgent Care that morning. They gave me some meds that were about as effective as drinking water. Later that afternoon (it was the weekend), I put a call out to the OB on call. He said my only option was to go to the Emergency Room because I needed some IV steroids to get it under control. It took another couple weeks until it finally went away. Oh and to top it off, getting the rash AFTER the pregnancy has ended is an uncommon presentation. Only 15% of cases occur after the baby's been born.

Yeah, isn't pregnancy fun?!

Wordless Wednesday

Do you know what today is?

I'll answer that question for you. It was a year ago today that I was put on bedrest. I remember thinking that it wasn't a terribly big deal because when I left the hospital, I was told that we would re-evaluate the need for bedrest at my appointment the following week. You can do anything for a week, right? And I *knew* that at my appt I would be told that I could resume my normal activites. Little did I know that things would go further downhill in that week and that I would be on bedrest much, much, MUCH longer.

As badly as bedrest stunk, I would do it all over again in a heartbeat if it would lead to the same outcome. Our end result was fantastic - two very healthy babies who came home with us just two days after delivery...something I never thought would be possible. So yup, it was all worth it.

Just a quick update on the girls: Alivia started saying "ma-ma" today. I love it!! And for the first time, they actually giggled with each other. Their normal interactions usually entail stealing toys from one another. But today they were sitting in the hallway when I heard giggling. Naturally, I went to check it out. Addi would touch Livi's face, then they would both laugh. And then Livi would pet Addi's head, and they would both crack up again. This went back and forth for a few minutes. It was so stinking cute!

The face only a mother could love

We're not sure what this is all about. She kinda looks mean and she kinda looks like she smelled something stinky. She makes a funny little noise while she does it too. It's cute, but at the same time, it's scary!! When we mock her and make the same noise and face right back at her, she giggles at us.

She makes this face all the time now. But we've only managed to catch it on film (is that even the correct term now that most cameras are digital and we no longer use film??). Ok, got side tracked. We've only caught the expression with the camera a couple of times because each time the camera comes out, she stops. Go figure.

9 month appt update

So the girls had their 9 month appointment on Tuesday. The only issue we had to address was the girls' sleeping habits...or lack thereof!! Dr K had a few suggestions for us to get the girls to sleep longer and not wake so often. The past couple of weeks have been absolutely terrible, but they were both getting a new tooth so I don't think that helped at all! And speaking of teeth, Alivia is now up to 5 teeth and Adalyn is up to 4.

They once again did a little weight swap on us. At their 6 month appt, Adalyn was exactly one inch taller and one pound heavier. At this month's appt, Alivia surpassed her in weight by just a couple ounces. And as always, they continue to be long skinny babies. Dr K said that it's nothing to be concerned about because they're just like mommy and daddy!

Adalyn:

17lbs 8oz (20th percentile)

29 inches (90th percentile)

Alivia:

17lbs 10oz (25th percentile)

28 inches (65th percentile)

They also had their 9 month pictures taken on Tuesday. Adalyn's rash cleared up so we were good to go. We're really, really happy with the way they turned out. Now we just have to decide which poses we want! That's always the hard part.

Hi daddy!

Let us out!!

Mmmm...tasty.

What. Do I have something on my face?

This was right after she gave me her naughty face (will post pics soon).

Crazy hair post-bath.

These are the dresses they wore for their pictures.

Kids will throw you a curveball

I guess I better get used to having plans and then having to cancel them at the last minute. The girls were supposed to have their 9 month pictures taken today. Well wouldn't ya know it, I got a call from the babysitter yesterday while I was at work asking if we had been dealing with a rash all over Adalyn's body or if that was something new. Nope, haven't dealt with it...it's new. Go figure.

We were slow in the ER, so I took my lunch break to come home to take a look at it. Sure enough, her belly, back, and neck were speckled with little red dots. They didn't appear to be bothering her, but I took a few pictures to take back to work with me to show the ER doctors. Hey, you would make use of free medical advice too!!

After hearing that she had been dealing with a low grade fever for the prior two days, they figured that it was a viral rash. Nothing too concerning, just her body's way of fighting whatever virus she caught and building up her immunities.

So here I was, trying my hardest to make sure we didn't gain any new bumps or bruises in the past week to prepare ourselves for picture day. And we end up with a body full of red dots. Brilliant. Yup, kids will throw you a curveball. So pictures are postponed until...well, who knows.

Just some random pictures

Adalyn absolutely loves pushing this chair around the kitchen!

She thinks she's so smart.
I swear mom, I didn't do it!
Alivia finally enjoying the pool.

Swimming's not so bad when you have this floaty thing wrapped around your waist!

Even with a shiner on my head, I can still smile!

The girls are 9 months old today. Can you believe it? Where has the time gone? I guess I better start planning a birthday! It's going to be here before I know it. They're at such a fun age right now. They have their own little personalities. They interact with each other. They know that by making silly faces/noises, they can get mommy and daddy to laugh at them and then they laugh at themselves. They think the cat is the coolest thing on the planet. Unfortunately, Desi doesn't think the same about them!

Nate took them outside to play in their froggy pool over the weekend while I was working. I guess it was darn near impossible to get any good pictures of Adalyn because she wouldn't sit still. Alivia had a blast this time too...and actually cooperated to have a few pictures taken.

They see the pediatrician next week for their 9 month appointment. There aren't any shots at this appt, so we can actually look forward to going to the doctor! They'll just get weighed and measured and we'll discuss their progress.

And speaking of getting weighed...the girls like to explore the bathroom now. They enjoy standing up and looking in the tub and slapping the linoleum with their hands, etc. Anyway, the other day they crawled from the living room to the bathroom. Shortly thereafter I heard Adalyn start whining. I thought she probably got stuck or bumped her head, so I went in there. Somehow, she managed to sit herself completely upright and centered on the bathroom scale facing toward the digital window. It was in the process of calculating her weight. All I could think of was "oh baby, I know. Mommy hates the scale too!"

A little reflection

So Nate and I were talking about the girls' names the other day. All of a sudden, we found ourselves reflecting back on the day they were born. We had been set on Adalyn's name since before we were ever married. We simply liked the name and it was a bit unique. However, God threw us a curveball and decided that twins would be a lovely little addition to our family. Considering we weren't finding out the sexes of the babies, we had to come up with another girl name. We probably threw around 3-4 of them. The same ones kept coming up, but we weren't 100% set on any particular name.

Fast forward to delivery day. "Baby A" made her entrance. Nate announced that we were the proud parents of a little baby girl and he followed her over to the warmers to watch her get her first bath and her vitals. I remember hearing the nurse ask him "so what is her name?" Without hesitation, Nate proclaimed that her name was Adalyn Jean.

Twenty-eight minutes later, "Baby B" made her entrance. Once again, Nate announced that we were the proud parents of another little girl and followed her over to the warmers so the nurses could clean her up. And once again, I remember hearing the nurse ask him "so what is this little one's name?" Without skipping a beat, Nate said her name was Alivia Mae.

From across the room I said "ok, so I guess that's going to be her name!" Nate was a little concerned that I wasn't exactly in agreement and that he should've consulted me first before blurting anything out, but the name just fit. Neither one of us can imagine her as anything else. She's definitely an Alivia Mae.

Happy Belated 4th of July

The girls enjoyed their first 4th of July. They were dressed in their patriotic clothes and we spent some time outside enjoying the wonderful weather. They liked watching the neighbors play volleyball and all of the kids zoom up and down the street on their bikes/scooters/rollerblades.

We decided not to go to the city fireworks display because we didn't know how the girls would like it and we were afraid that if we needed to leave, there would be a big traffic jam. So we stayed home. But for the 3rd year since we've lived in this house, the neighbors put on a wonderful display for us! Unfortunately, Alivia zonked out before the show began. But Adalyn was awake through most of it. She smiled and "talked" and overall just had a great time.

Here we are in our "Baby's 1st Fourth" shirts!

Playing outside.

Clothes hangers are all the rage!

Look at this smug little patriotic girl.

Summer is here

We've taken the girls outside several times over the past couple of weeks now that it's finally nice here. Of course we had to avoid those days when the humidity was off the charts. Yuck! But we've played in the yard and we've gone swimming in the girls' new frog pool. Alivia really wasn't having any of the pool fun. I think the water may have been a touch too cool for her. But Adalyn couldn't get enough! I think we've identified our swimmer (daddy's baby) and our basketball player (mommy's baby)!

Our tooth count is up to 6 1/2. You're probably wondering how we can get half a tooth. Well, Alivia now has both bottom teeth and as of today, officially has her top two teeth. Adalyn has her bottom two and her upper gums on the left side are bulging. So I have a feeling she'll be popping one of her top teeth in within 24 hours.

Here are some pictures of our adventures outside. The girls weren't exactly sure what to think of sitting in the prickly green stuff.

Little Miss Priss.

Um, what?!
Seriously mom? Pick us up...now.

Oooh, a truck!

Where's that truck going?

Bathtime fun

Bathtime is a whole lot of fun as long as you have this blue hippo!!

The girls are doing fantastic. Each of them have their two bottom teeth. They both babble up a storm. And they are very interested in what WE are eating and not so interested in their baby food. Both girls have started with a little bit of stranger anxiety. I first noticed it with Alivia when I took the girls to work meetings with me. And I thought for sure Adalyn would never have a problem - because after all, as long as someone is paying attention to the girl and/or holding her, she's perfectly content, right? Wrong. She started up about a week ago. So I'm just hoping it will be a short phase.

As far as individual developments...

Adalyn - She is now pulling up on everything in sight...us, the couch, the toy box, etc. When she wants out of her crib, you can almost guarantee that she will be standing in the corner closest to the door waiting for it to open. She finds the cat extremely amusing and tries to chase her. She weighs 17lbs 3oz as of yesterday. Unfortunately, she has a pretty bad diaper rash that I had her seen for, so that's how we got the updated weight. She is on the verge of crawling, but she still prefers the army crawl.

Alivia - She is officially crawling. Not quickly by any means, but she puts one hand and one knee in front of the other. However, when she wants to get somewhere NOW, she reverts to the army crawl just like her sister. I believe she is working on her top two teeth. She loves playing with a toothbrush. She probably weighs just under 17 pounds, but we don't have an official weight. She thinks daddy is the funniest person on the planet.

That's it for now!

I like your hat!

I really do like your hat!

Yup, looks good from this angle...

...and the back looks great, too!

Hey, why didn't you tell me I was wearing the same hat?