Time to baby proof!

If determination were enough for Luke and Olivia to crawl, they'd be half-way to Atlanta by now! They are both so focused on moving they can hardly stand it! Olivia will roll and roll and roll and eventually end up where she would like to be, and Luke presses up on his arms like the strong little guy he is. We have already put the outlet covers on the plugs, and soon we'll have to buy the rest of the baby proofing items.

Let's see if Piper can conquer how to jump over the baby gates. At 21 pounds, this could certainly end up on America's Funniest Home Videos!

Mother's Day and home at last!

My first Mother's Day, and what a wondeful one it was because I got to spend it with my babies and Dan! What else could I possibly need? Last year I was pregnant with the babies, but didn't yet know if we would be blessed with 2 boys, 2 girls, or one of each. Fast forward one year and we have 2 perfect little ones, and I couldn't love them more!

Another first this week was the babies first time staying in a hotel room, and in all places-Atlanta! Dan had a training class and since it was within driving distance, we decided to all join him. It was wonderful because he got to see the babies at night, and I got to catch up with lots of friends. We left Sunday (Mother's Day) and got back at 1am on Friday morning, so we were, needless to say, 2 tired parents! Luke and Olivia did great traveling, and went right back to sleep once we got home and got them out of their carseats. They are such adaptable little ones!

We had several play dates, and the babies friends are getting so big as well. It's wonderful to see everyone begin to interact now. Thanks to Charlotte, Ethan, Maddox, and Anderson for letting us play with your toys and for sharing your homes with us!




Mother's Day Picture

Playing with Charlotte

Someone finally rolled over!

Luke has finally decided that he is tired of his sister having all of the fun, and rolled over for the first time today! Olivia squirms all over the place, front to back and back to front. She almost always goes to sleep on her back and wakes up on her tummy, usually facing the opposite direction (good thing they are in their own cribs now!). She will definitely be on the move soon...

Luke has been SO close to rolling over for weeks now, and we have been cheering him on, almost willing him to just fall over. After he rolled over today, we were so excited, and he looked at us as if to say "why all the fuss"? He just grinned and grinned, like he always does. He is such a happy little guy!

I guess it's time to start baby-proofing the house before we wake up one morning and they come crawling into our room on their own asking for breakfast! Here's an updated pic of our babies growing up all too quickly:

5 months old

Where has the time gone? It seems like just yesterday I was lying in the hospital bed with our 2 beautiful babies, and now they are laughing, rolling over, sitting up (assisted, of course!), playing with their toys, and pretty much sleeping through the night.

It has certainly been a whirlwind, especially with moving the past month. But each new day has brought us a new smile, a new laugh, and even more love. We couldn't be happier with life right now, and we are looking forward to a fun summer filled with many more firsts!

Luke's first tooth

Our baby isn't even 5 months old and he already has his first tooth coming through! Luke has been drooling like Niagra Falls for weeks and has been a little fussy the past few days. Normally Luke is a chill baby (he lets Olivia have all of the drama!), but he has definitely been needing mom or dad's shoulder the past few days an extra amount of time. Yesterday I noticed a little bit of blood on his bib, took a look inside his mouth and thought he just hit his gum on the exersaucer. But tonight he was crying painfully, and upon further inspection, we noticed just the beginnings of a tooth coming through his lower gum. It is also very swollen and red.

This is all new to us, but we hope his pain subsides quickly, poor little bug. Now we just have to hope he doesn't tell Olivia how badly it will hurt once her teeth decide to pop through!

Date Night and my birthday

Last year on my birthday, we were celebrating the fact that we were expecting. This year, it was date night! Dan's folks were nice enough to come over and watch the babies for about an hour and a half while Dan and I went to dinner. We felt like such grown ups!

It was very weird to get out of the car and not have 2 carseats to get out of the car with us, and to sit in the restaurant without having to worry about feeding a baby. But it was also nice to have some time to chat about anything and everything, and recharge ourselves as well! We found ourselves talking about the babies a lot and wondering what they were doing, but we knew there were in excellent hands! It was a great birthday, and I can't wait to "open" in on my present...a few hours off while Dan takes Daddy duty!

Too cute not to post!

Dan's dad LOVES to garden, and he got these outfits for the babies. Are they ready to tear up all of his hard work or what?

One year ago today...

Exactly one year ago today we found out we were pregnant! I can still remember sitting at the kitchen counter in disbelief like it was yesterday. Dan and I couldn't call our families fast enough to share our wonderful news with them. Our dream to start a family had finally come true. Now, we have two perfect children whom we wouldn't trade for anything in the world and whom we love with all of our heart. They are the most amazing little people, and such a blessing in our lives. We love you, Luke and Olivia!

First night in separate beds

We knew the day would inevitably come when our babies would have to separate. There are many opinions as to when the right time is to separate twins, but we thought the time was now. If our babies were the same gender, we probably would have kept them in the same room but different cribs for a lot longer. But we thought it was time they start getting used to their own space and get used to looking at their own ceiling since they were going to have their own rooms anyway.

They have been sharing a pack and play and then a crib since they were first born, and they have never been apart from one another for longer than a few minutes. Olivia already seems pretty dependant on Luke, and looks for him all of the time. We weren't sure how the transition would go, but we decided to jump in with both feet and put them in their own cribs in their own rooms. Olivia's room is just outside of our room, and Luke's room is down the hall. I think it was harder on me to separate them, and maybe I shed a tear or two...but no time like the present, right?

They actually did ok, and didn't seem to wake up more than normal. If one baby wakes up hungry, we are still waking the other baby to keep them on the same schedule. We don't know how much longer this will last; perhaps only another couple of months once they are eating more solid food. Unfortunately, they have been reverting and not sleeping though the night, and we are having to do a 3/4am feeding once again. We have tried to feed them more during the day, but little Miss Olivia just can't seem to handle much more than 4 oz at a time (sometimes she doesn't even manage that much). So for now, we are creating a new routine of putting the babies to bed in their own rooms, feeding them in the middle of the night in our room, and back to their own beds. So far neither Dan nor I have managed to put one of the babies in the wrong room, but it's still early!

Easter

Easter is an extra special holiday for us, as we found out last Easter (April 12th) we were pregnant. Since this was Luke and Olivia's first Easter, we wanted to make it extra special. I cooked a big Easter dinner (and broke in our new kitchen) and had our folks over to celebrate. The babies also touched grass for the first time! Luke didn't seem to mind, but you can tell from the pics that Olivia wasn't loving it. I think it tickled her back. Hopefully she'll learn to love it as she gets older.

Time for solids

At our 4 month check up, the pediatrician said the babies could try solids when they were ready. Well, Luke already eyes us when we eat, so we thought that meant he was ready. Boy, was he ever!!! They have already had rice cereal mixed with their bottles for awhile because of their reflux, so we decided to start with Stage 1 carrots. We figured the bright orange color would also make for good pics! Olivia did pretty well for her first time, although I think more ended up on her than in her tummy, and Luke started opening his mouth by the second bite. He takes after his daddy! =)

4 Month Check-up with our new Pediatrician

How did our babies get to be 4 months old already? After doing lots of research and getting some recommendations, we met with Dr. Colver today for Luke and Olivia's checkup and shots. We were very impressed with the practice, although we really miss Dr. Mona in Atlanta; we doubt we'll find another doctor we liked as much as her.

Wow, what a difference 2 months makes. Here are their stats:

Luke
14.9 pounds; 50%
25.5" long; 75%
Head circumference: 42 50%

Olivia
11.12 pounds; 10-25%
23.25" long; 10-25%
Head circumference: 39 10%

Olivia is such a little runt! =) Dr. Colver said both babies looked great and we can start solid foods when we are ready, which will probably be Saturday night when we have time to video tape it. Luke is drooling like Niagra falls and has been a little fussier than usual (he is such a chill baby usually), which means he is probably in the very early stages of teething. Olivia is VERY gassy, so we are trying a new formula yet again to see if it helps her little tummy. She has also been spitting up more than normal, so we may have to adjust her dose of prevacid as well.

Olivia is rolling over sometimes while Luke is content to just lay on his arms. Olivia also loves to sit up and will be crawling before we know it. Luke is so vocal and coos all of the time, and his open mouth smile lights up his entire face. We got them an exersaucer, and they both seem to love it, at least for a few minutes right now!

Last night they both slept from about 10:45pm until 6am (YAY!), but we'll see if the trend continues. Usually Olivia wakes during the night from her tummy pains, so we have been getting very little sleep. Let's hope this new formula does the trick!