Jillian & Lyla: 6 Months

I had no idea what to expect 6 months ago. Twins. Two babies. I was scared and I knew that my life was going to change and it was going to be really hard.

What I didn't expect was that it was going to be so....wonderful. Now I am not trying to say that it isn't difficult at times but having twins has been amazing. Two babies is quite literally double the joy. These two have absolutely and completely stolen my heart. They are so different. They are so alike. They have this incredible bond with each other but still love their mama.

I have been blessed with angel babies. They are a force of nature that I feel lucky to be a part of. Below, I have written a letter to each of them for memory's sake.

Dear Jillian Kate,

Also known as Jilli, Jilli Bean, Beaners, Beanie, Beanie Baby, and Chunky Monkey. You are my sweet girl. It is hard to believe you came into our world only 6 months ago because now I can’t imagine my world without you in it. Daddy and I cried tears of joy when we saw you for the first time and you have continued to be an absolute joy ever since. You are the happiest baby. You fill our house with happiness and I can’t help but smile when I see your sweet face. Smiling for you is a whole body experience. You are charming and social and people instantly fall in love with you. You remind me a lot of your big sister Grace when she was a baby. I feel like I get to relive some of her babyhood with you. Speaking of that big sister, you love her so much. You love when she talks to you and to watch her play. You are very sensitive in in-tune to Lyla too. When she cries it startles you and makes you upset. You love to be close to her and to hold her hand. You will forever be baby A, #1 of the matched set and you play that role very well. While you are extremely good natured, you are a bit impatient and don’t like to be kept waiting. When you are tired you just can’t cope. So far you have hit your milestones a little earlier than your little sister by 7 minutes, always just a few steps ahead.  You like your paci at night when you are falling asleep. It took us a while to figure it out but you like to sleep on your belly and you love to have your head rubbed, it soothes you and makes you happy. You laughed for the first time this past week and it was one of the best sounds I have ever heard. You had daddy and I in tears laughing at you and your guttural belly laugh. You also like to blow raspberries and talk to people. You have always loved to be talked to and to look at faces. You reach your little hand out to touch faces like you are studying every feature. You love music and to be sung too. Even when you were just a newborn you would react to singing and dancing on TV. Maybe you will have a future in Broadway and be the only one in our family with musical ability? You are such a blessing Jilli Bean. You make my heart full and make our lives feel complete. I love you and Happy ½ Birthday.

Love,

Mama

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 Dear Lyla Claire,

Also know as Lyla Bean, Ya-Ya, Ya-Ya Bean, Peanut, Scooter, and Slobber Monkey. You are my amazing little peanut. You came quite literally shooting into our lives 6 months ago and have been full of surprises ever since. It is hard to believe you have only been here for 6 months because now I can’t imagine life with you. You march to the beat of your own drummer and I love that about you. Your first 7-8 weeks you must have had some awful gas pain because you cried a lot and just seemed uncomfortable. And compared to your twin, Miss Happy Pants Jilli, it would have made anyone look bad! But you are like the little engine that could. We have learned not to underestimate you little one. Now you are the most content baby I have ever encountered. We may have to work a little bit harder for a reaction out of you but when we get one it makes it that much more special because you are so animated. You are kinda goofy. You make us laugh with your antics already. You have this look in your eye like you are up to something and you never stop moving! I have a feeling you are going to be our stinker, giving us all a run for our money. But all you have to do is flash that crooked smile and mama melts. That is the same crooked smile your daddy has and I love that he passed it down to you for me to fall in love with all over again. You love to watch your sisters but they spend most of their time trying to get your attention not the other way around.  You will forever be baby B, #2 in the matched set. You are so good about waiting your turn and being patient. You don’t get worked up about much and I love that about you. You are just my laid back, happy little love. You have slept through the night on your belly since about 8 weeks despite Jilli crying right next to you. I think you are probably going to be our comedian, entertaining us at the dinner table and making us laugh. You are also perpetual motion: you are always moving and exploring. You have 2 speeds: full tilt or out cold. You are such a good sleeper, we just lay you down and you put your 2 fingers in your mouth and your little butt up in the air and are good to go. You are such a blessing Lyla Bean. You make my heart full and make our lives feel complete. I love you and Happy ½ Birthday.

Love,

Mama

***UPDATE*** 
At their 6 month check up on 1/3/11 here are the stats:
Jilli: 15lbs (22nd%) and 26.25" (58th%)
Lyla: 14lbs 3oz (12%) and 26" (48th%) 

 

The Most Wonderful Time....

....of the year. Christmas shopping. Yup, I am thinking about it already. I even have done some of it. I am trying to spread out the expense this year by starting early and doing a little at a time. I pretty much have a million things I want to get Grace and can't think of a single thing for the twins. Grace keeps insisting that Santa is bringing them each a teddy bear so I guess that will be one thing on their list. Katie and I joked about wrapping up some old stuff we have in our playrooms and giving it to the youngest members of our family, lol. Like they would know the difference? :)

I usually try to do this from Santa:

Something you WANT:
Something you NEED:
Something to PLAY with:
Something to READ:

In addition I get one present from mommy and daddy and Christmas PJs that they wear on Christmas morning.

So for Grace-
WANT: Little Mermaid and Sleeping Beauty DVDs
NEED: Clothes
PLAY: (I think) Dora Digital camera
READ: Leapfrog Tag Jr Reading System

Other ideas for Miss G: Tag Jr. Books, Aqua Doodle, Zhu Zhu Pets and Accessories, DVDs (Toy Story 1-2-3, Cars, Beauty and the Beast), Squinkies, In My Pocket Friends, Princess or Tinkerbell anything: small Disney Fairy collection, small Disney Princess Collection, Pixie Treasure Dolls. See? The list goes on and on. She is at such a fun age to buy for and I walk the aisles of the Target toy department and want to get her everything. Speaking of Target, I am doing all my shopping there or through Amazon. I am boycotting Toys R Us, I have had one too many bad customer service experiences there and I refuse to give them any more of my money.

Okay, I know that Jillian and Lyla are seperate people and I should treat them that way but I mean really, they are only 4.5 months old. I am sure if I get them the same thing for their first Christmas they won't mind :)

For the Twins-
WANT: ??
NEED: Clothes
PLAY: Teddy Bears (as requested by big Sis)
READ: ?? I will most likely pick up a few board books to add to their collection.

Any other ideas would be appreciated, hahahaha. Can they want diapers? They definitely need them. 

And I am thinking about getting this wagon for all 3 girls. Because we are not enough of a spectacle in public, we want our own little Dawson train :) 

Oops...I did it Again

Remember this picture?

Well, I did it again. I couldn't help it, the torture is tradition now :)

Trick or Treat

Couple of funny things trick or treating this year. One is the little pumpkin Noah falling down and not being able to get up and the other is Miss G just standing at the second house with her bag until the people were like, "Uh okay guess we will give her more". They did great trick or treating, were real troopers despite the fact that it was cold and a lot of walking. Or as Grace puts it, her legs were busy, lol.

Grace was a beautiful butterfly and the twins caterpillars. GG Wilson helped make their costumes and they were just the cutest.  

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Updates Coming

Hello dear blog followers.....thank you for being patient with me. The last 3 months have been a bit hectic to say the least :) While I have not been updating my blog in a timely fashion I have been using it as a place to journal and save as a draft. That is why the dates on some posts are old but it is showing up as new! I just haven't had the time to upload pictures but I have been taking them. So, I will catch up someday....and thanks for reading.

The birth in pictures

Miss G- 3 Year Check up

Going the doctor with Grace has always been an experience. She has always been terrified of Dr. Tim and pretty much cries through her whole appointment no matter how much I try to prepare her. This time she was a little timid but kept it together the whole appointment. Dr. Tim asked her if she has been to the zoo this summer and what her favorite animal was, she said the rhinoceros'. Plain as day...bahahahahaha. She was really good while he checked her over and passed all the tests :)

At the end of the appointment she got 2 shots and she DIDN'T SHED A TEAR!! The nurse and the NP said that one of them really stings and 90% of kids cry. My tough little munchkin!!!!

Jillian & Lyla: 2 months

Jillian and Lyla are 2 months old. They have grown so much. We are getting smiles and coos and they are starting to sleep a little better. The smiles make it all worth it. Jillian smiled in response to me about 2 weeks before Lyla. Jilli is very social, she loves to look at faces and to be held. Lyla is still struggling with some gas and she likes to be held upright but she also likes to study people faces. They like to hold hands while nursing in tandem and it is pretty funny when they actually focus on each other. I still put them down in the pack n play for naps together. I start them apart but they slowly move towards each other so they are touching. Twins are a force of nature so fun to watch. 

 The stats on Jilli Bean at 2 month check up (9/7):
                                                          10.11 lbs (34th percentile)
                                                          22.3 inches long (34th percentile)

The stats on Lyla Bean at 2 months check up (9/7):
                                                              10.1 lbs (19th percentile)
                                                               22 inches long (23rd percentile)

The beans are getting big!! Especially considering that they have gained 4 lbs, 2 inches, and come from the 2nd/3rd percentile in 2 months.

Fisher(woman)

Looks like Grace is following in the steps of papa and is going to be an expert fisherwoman. Adam bought this Barbie fishing pole for her at Target and she caught her first fish. Daddy was sooooo proud and so was she. Who needs boys anyways?? :) Pink and purple fishing poles rock!!!

Its so good to see her smile and to get her out of the house and doing something fun. While she has been handling having 2 new babies in her house very well she has kind of been going bonkers being stuck in the house with us day in day out. Duck Lake is such a blessing to our family. It allows us to "get away" without going very far. We have been able to spend pretty much every weekend there since the babies were born because there is always family around to help.

The Fair

Going to the Jackson County Fair is a family tradition. So we are only getting 3 hours of sleep at night but life goes on, right? The newborn barn was a hit, G got to pet the baby goat that was just born that day. There were also some piglets that were brand new. It made me think it could be worse, I could have ten babies nursing at the same time instead of two. If only I could just lay on my side and let them go to town like this, lol.

We got an idea of what it is like to go out with twins. Everybody wants to take a look and ask questions. They did great, sleeping most of the time. We ate fair food and let Grace ride some of the rides. We ended up spending $10 on tickets and the only thing she would ride was the carousel horses. Oh well, another parenting lesson learn. Make sure your kid will actually get on the ride before spending money on it.

Fairy Princess Birthday v.3.0

I must admit, I go a little over the top with the theme for birthday parties. I cant help it, it is just so much fun planning. This year was a little different with 2 newborns at home to care for it didn't give me a whole lot of time. Thank God for my mom: she may think I am crazy but she slaved away with me on cakes, cupcakes, tissue paper flowers, and a million other things. Adam informed me no more crazy big theme birthday parties, 3 is the limit :)

The invitation:

The Details:

The fun:

G's Birthday in the Park

Grace's actual birthday fell on a Wednesday this year. That just happens to be daddy's softball game day too so we decided to combine the two. We met at Ella Sharp Park Pavilion for some pizza and cake. It was such a nice little getogether I wonder every year why I go to all the trouble of putting on a big fancy party too. Miss G had a ball, played in the park with her cousins and ate pizza.

Grace has been asking for a firetruck for about 2 months now. We told her we would get it for her for her birthday if she went to bed like a good girl with no crying. Since the babies were born this has become kind of an issue. We put a sticker chart up in her room and it worked like a charm. She was so excited to get her firetruck just like the one in the commercials! (damn Dora)

Speaking of those babies, there were lots of people to hold and love them in the oppressive August heat that they just seem to love.

After the party we watched Adam's CHAMPIONSHIP softball game. In case you didn't know, kind of a big deal, lol. The boys played a great game and ended up winning their division.

And to top off the perfect birthday for Miss G, grandma gave her her very own big girl bike. It is a pink Barbie one and even has a place for Barbie to ride too. Pretty awesome and she is thrilled. I can't believe my baby is 3. Happy birthday my sweet girl!!