Day off

It's been a rough few weeks at work. We have had our two big sales meetings that I help plan. It's always stressful and busy with a couple of late nights. In the past it's not as big a deal because it's only Wes at home, but now with the girls it's harder. One of the nights, I didn't see the girls at all that day. That makes me sad.

Anyway, I decided to take a couple of days off, today and Monday. Today, we had a full day. We went to McDonald's for lunch and to play. Then we came home and napped (the girls anyway). After that we met some friends (the Coddington twins and their mom) at Bonkers to play. We decided it was time to leave because it was really crowded and someone pooped in the play area. That was our cue to exit. Next was lunch at Chipotle and then home for another nap.

When we got home, we saw that Gracie had a nasty diaper rash. So, she got to have a trip to the pedi. Wes took her and they were making her snorty face when the pedi walked in. She laughed. Gracie and Wes came home and finished her nap (I took one too).

The last part of the day was steaks grilled out. A swim in the pool, followed by a nap and then a trip to Wal-Mart. The lines were so long, I pulled out the camera and took pictures of the girls in line. We did come up with a good system this time. One girl in the umbrella stroller and then one in the cart.

It was a really fun day!

Faces

Gracie has a new facial expression that she likes to make. She likes to squish up her face and snort. She does it when she's happy, sad, or mad. Lizzie on the other hand likes to have a messy face at every meal time and even gets food in her hair.

Fun Weekend

Its been a crazy week around here. We've been busy. Grandma, Papa, Sydney and Sam came to visit this past weekend and left Tuesday morning. We had a great time while they were here. We swam in the pool and went to Boomerangs. The kids were all exhausted after playing all day. Below are some pictures of the kids.

Swimming in the pool (It was tight fit)

Sydney and Sam at Boomerangs

Gracie at Boomerangs

Lizzie at Boomerangs

New Toy

The girls have a new toy. Our friends have this really neat tunnel for their baby. The girls really liked playing in it when we went over for dinner. From that, I got this idea. We could take the box from the new big girl car seat and open the bottom. Then, it would be their tunnel. It has been the most fun for the girls. They love it. They crawl in and out and around. Below are some pictures and video of them.

Talking

Lately, the girls have really stepped up their babbling. They are both constantly talking to us and each other. They talk in the car, at home, and in the morning when they wake up. This morning they talked in their cribs while Wes and I got ready for church.

After they fussed and wanted out of the cribs, we took them out and let them play before breakfast. Gracie decided she wanted something in this box and wasn't going to stop until she got it. Wes heard her and yelled for me to come with the camera.

When he pulled her out, she had a pacifer in her mouth. That's what she was after......

After church, the girls were playing and talking so I took their picture. They keep playing with these dolls that my previous boss, Janice, made for them. They love them!

Another Anniversary

Yesterday was the one year anniversary of the day we brought the girls home from the hospital after 5 1/2 weeks in the NICU. We had spent the night before they came homing rooming in at the hospital and learning what it would be like to take care of the girls by ourselves (with the security of having nurses not too far away). We slept a total of 2 hours because we wanted to make sure the girls were ok.

We brought them home in the morning and my parents and Wes's mom were waiting for us. It was so weird. I remember saying to Wes, now what? It was one of those moments that you had waited for and when it finally came you were scared to death.

We had two tiny babies (barely 6 lbs) that just weeks earlier need assistance breathing and eating. We still had to watch them while we fed them to make sure they didn't choke and turn blue. We had to feed them laying on their side to make sure that not too much milk hit the back of their throat and make them choke. Feeding was the most difficult. We fed them every 3 hours around the clock and had to fortify their milk to 22 calories. I was pumping too during all this. Feeding took an hour. So that gave about 2 hours to rest between each one. We got very little sleep.

A couple of days later, we got the bad news from our pedi that she didn't think it was a good idea to take the girls out in public because of germs. So, our girls were in lock down until October.

How things have changed, now they are big girls crawling and eating everything in site!

Milky and Big Girls Seats

We hit another milestone. The girls are now drinking milk! Our pedi wanted us to wait until the girls were at their adjusted year birthday. However, Wes had to take Lizzie on Monday to the pedi and told him that the girls weren't finishing bottles. The pedi said that it was probably the sign that they were ready to switch to milk.

Gracie watched me carefully as I got out the sippy cup and milk. She watched me pour it and put on the lid. I handed it to her and she started to suck. It took her a minute to figure out it wasn't formula. She stopped and just held it in her mouth. I thought she was going to spit it out but she didn't. She drank it all!

Lizzie didn't watch me fill her cup. She was too busy playing. When she took her cup, she drank it down. She loved it. She now even tries to steal her sister's cup.