Ready or not, beach, here we come!

This past week we took our first family vacation with Luke and Olivia. We went to North Myrtle Beach with Dan's folks, and Dan's brother's family was there as well. It was nice to have a MUCH shorter drive from Charlotte than Atlanta (4 hrs vs 7 hrs), and Luke and Olivia travel really well. We left mid-day on Father's Day, stopped half way to feed Luke and Olivia, and got to the condo around dinnertime. We spent the first evening just getting settled and unpacked, and Monday morning it was time to hit the sand!

Seeing Luke and Olivia in the sand for the first time was quite the sight. Olivia took immediately to eating handfulls of sand, while Luke wasn't too sure what to think about this new texture. We also dipped their feet into the ocean, which neither seemed to like very much! I think they'll stick to the pool for now. By the end of the trip, they both loved playing and napping on the beach, and we loved this new adventure with them.

We got home late Thursday evening, and even though we had a great time, we were all happy to be home sleeping in our own beds once again. We really enjoyed our first family trip, and we look forward to many, many more!

6 Month Pics

Check out Luke and Olivia's adorable 6 month pics at:

www.boldimpressionsphotography.com

bottom right: view photos
code: bartlett2

Candi is an amazing photographer, and we had such a fun time with the shoot. Thanks to Shannon for making the super cute diaper covers! Hope you enjoy the photos!!!

Here are a couple of our favorites:

Time to swim!

Since we will be taking our first family vacation soon to the beach, we wanted to see how Luke and Olivia would do in the water. They like taking baths, but have never been in a pool, until tonight!

We decided to go once it was "cooler" outside (if that's really possible) so we decided instead of our evening walk we would go to the pool instead. We got them suited up (so cute!) and off we went. Luckily the pool is a short little stroll from our house, and the pool wasn't very crowded when we got there. I took Olivia in the water first, and she took to it like a fish! She kicks and squirms so much already; she looked like she was practicing for the Olympics! Then Dan got in the water with Luke. He wasn't too sure if he liked the pool at first, but then he warmed up to the idea. We also put both babies under water, and after the initial "hey, what the heck just happened" they laughed and splashed some more. Then Dan and I switched babies so we could have some fun swim time with each of them. We stayed for about 45 minutes, then it was time for their evening bath, bottle, bed routine.

We are really looking forward to the beach, and lots more fun times in the pool with Luke and Olivia.

Half Year Birthday

Where has the time gone? Just 6 short months ago, we welcomed our little Luke and Olivia into the world. Now they are each thriving and growing so much each day. We couldn't be prouder of them.

They also had to get their 6 mth shots (2 shots and an oral medication) and check-up today. Here are their measurements:

Luke
17.4 pounds; 50%
26.5" long; 50%
Head circumference: 44 50-75%

Olivia
13.13 pounds; 10%
25.25" long; 25%
Head circumference: 40 3%

Even though Olivia is quite a bit tinier, they are both doing great. Dr. Colyer said she was impressed with how well they are sitting up, rolling over and trying to talk. We are going to pretty much stick to their same eating schedule, but take the rice cereal out of their bottle and give it to them in the morning with a spoon. Dr. Colyer said if the reflux returns, we can return to putting the cereal in their bottles. We really don't want to have to put them back on Prevacid. So for now, they will stick with 5 bottles a day and now 1/4 cup of solids total, once in the am and once in the pm. If they still seem hungry, we can certainly adjust as needed.

We have fallen into a great evening routine of feeding them a bottle around 5pm, solids around 6:30pm and then a quick walk around the neighborhood. Then it's the 3 B's: bath, bottle, and bed (hopefully by around 8:30pm).

Happy Half Year Birthday, Luke and Olivia. We love you so much!!!

Like Father, Like Son

A picture is worth a thousand words:

First trip to the pool

Our neighborhood had a Memorial Day Pool Party on Saturday, and we thought it would be a good time to get out and meet some neighbors, as well as introduce the babies to the pool. We discovered our neighborhood has A LOT of kids. Lots!

Luke and Olivia were so cute in their swim suits. The pool was really crowded, so we decided to save their first time in the water for a time when it wasn't so busy. We are looking forward to going to the beach in a couple of weeks so we can introduce them to the ocean as well. It's so much fun to experience all of their firsts with them!

Olivia in her brother's hat


Ready for the pool

Homemade baby food

Today I attempted (and basically succeeded) at making homemade baby food with fresh veggies from PawPaw's garden. Yum!

It really is a lot easier than I thought it would be, and Luke and Olivia seemed to love it! I started easy with squash and zucchini, and I'll progress into other foods and combos once I find a book/online resource to give me ideas.

Nothing is better than fresh veggies straight from the garden to their little mouths. Now if only I could get my strawberry plants to grow....

A busy weekend

What a whirlwind the past week has been! Dan had to go to Philadelphia for work last week, and it was his first time traveling since we moved to NC. We have actually been very lucky, as usually he has to travel a lot. He has been able to work on most of his projects remotely, though, and I'm so glad!!! He left about 5am on Tuesday and got home about 9pm on Thursday night. Oma, MauMau and PawPaw were kind enough to come over some and help out, and it's certainly nice to be near family! The toughest parts were the evenings (from about 5pm on) because I had to feed both babies solids, give baths, and get them ready for bed. Olivia is generally a good sleeper, but our little Luke makes up for her sleepiness! He is not a great sleeper and I had to get up a lot with him, but we all survived, and we were so glad to see Daddy on Thursday night!

Then Friday Dan had to unpack and repack as we headed off to Raleigh for my dear friend Lara's baby shower. No rest for the weary! This also meant 2 more days in a hotel room (2 pack and plays, 2 exersaucers, a bouncer, and bumbo...I felt sorry for housekeeping!) Friday night Luke and Olivia got to meet their Aunt Cathy and Uncle Tim for the first time, as well as see Aunt Lara and Uncle Tim since they were days old. We had a wonderful dinner together catching up with everyone.

The shower was on Saturday, which would also be my longest time away from the babies. Dan spent the day with Luke and Olivia at his brother and sister in laws house (Luke and Olivia got to meet their cousins, too!) in Angier while I helped host a wonderful shower for Lara. I kept looking for the babies during the day, but it was also nice for them to spend some time with daddy as well without mommy around. Saturday night it POURED down rain, so instead of getting out, we decided to order in and spend the evening playing. It ended up being one of my most favorite evenings so far. There were no distractions (laundry to be done, dishes to be washed), so we just played, played and played. Once we got the babies bathed and ready for bed, we fed them their last bottle and just held them while Dan and I watched our first movie in ages (My Sister's Keeper...disappointing after reading the book). It was a perfect night.

Sunday we took Luke and Olivia to NCSU's campus and took some pics at places that are special to me. We are also teaching them early to be Wolfpack fans! Then we met some old friends Heather and Craig, who have twin boys, for lunch. Their boys are 10 months old now and cute as can be! It was nice to swap stories of our first months of parenthood, both the good and the trying times, and see where Luke and Olivia will be very soon!

All is all, it was a very fun and memorable week and weekend. Congratulations to Lara, Tim, and Baby Girl C. We can't wait to meet you!!!

Lara, Tim Cathy, Tim, Jen, Olivia, Dan, Luke:


Playing with daddy:


Cathy, Lara, Jen


My home for 4 years:


The Brickyard:


Lunch with Mark and Jack:

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!