Such a pretty little...boy?

OK, let's face it, I have beautiful children. They are precious and perfect in every way. Now, if you were to ask me about this at around 3:00 AM, I might have a different answer, but they're sleeping now, so I will go with the moment. However, every time we're out, some innocent bystander asks me if I have one boy and one girl. They think that Aurora is a boy. I've always said that she looks like my father {see photo below}, but she's still a pretty GIRL! Short of putting her in a tutu with a flower on her head, I don't think I can dress her any 'girly-er' than this...

My dad as a baby

Oh but wait....who's this????

Hanging out on the Top bunk

Big brother has bunk beds in his room. The top bunk is the place to be. Both girls love it up there. Here's a few shot of BK enjoying some time with brother.

BK and Tristan

Kisses from brother

Sitting up like a big girl

Tristan can reach the ceiling

Mommy, mommy, look everywhere....

...but don't look under the exersaucer! I guess Aurora was playing hide-and-seek. I took BK into the kitchen to get her in her high chair for breakfast and turned around to get Aurora and this is what I found...

Escaping

under the exersaucer

Busted!

Reflecting

I feel inspired today to reflect back upon the time the girls spent in the NICU. For those of you who don't know, Bettye Katheryne was there for 3 weeks and Aurora came home after 5 weeks and 2 days. It was the most tumultuous time of my life. It was much much worse than being on hospital bed rest for 8 weeks. Funny enough, however hard it was to endure at the time, it feels like an eternity ago now. I don't know that we've ever shared these videos before. Both of these were taken by my husband to show to me before I was able to go visit the girls in the NICU {it was 20 hours before I had the strength to walk down the hall}.

Aurora

Bettye Katheryne {truly, I tried to find a more exciting video of her,

but she's just a laid back kind of girl!}

Happy Birthday to ME!

July 14th was my birthday. I had two cakes. Yes, TWO cakes. They were both made by the amazing Betty Weber. If you've never had her cakes, I'm so sorry for you. If you attended my wedding and ate cake, you had her cakes and you're welcome. Here's my cakes...

My Birthday Cake from my actual birthday

My Birthday Cake from my party on Sunday

All I asked for for my birthday was money to get the girls their next car seats. After much debate, we went with the Evenflo Triumph Advanced Convertible car seats. We brought them home and let the girls try them out...

Too cute!

Aurora's Video Time

No words, just cuteness...

Who are you?

We have a live traffic feed on our blog so that we can see where people live while viewing our blog. Some of these locations {Pensacola, FL....Birmingham, AL....Ridgeland, MS} are obvious. However, we have some regular viewers from places unknown. Let us know who you are!

So, who are you Houma, LA.....Satsuma, AL.....Mooody, AL....Washington, DC....Opelika, AL?

Bettye Katheryne is ready to go

Bettye Katheryne is extremely mobile {actually, both girls are}. It's not 'crawling' but it is definitely intentional and they have a goal in mind. BK always heads towards our room and on this day, she made a stop at the car seats. I guess she had somewhere to go. I think she would have crawled into it if she could have. Or maybe she just wanted her ball, haha!

Baby Wrestling

This post is dedicated to my sister who hates to read. No more words, just photos. Enjoy...

Aurora and her Oatmeal

Every morning, the girls have oatmeal for breakfast. I've gotten some priceless shots of Aurora's post-breakfast face. Here's the messy girl...

And one morning I made a deal with her that if she finished the oatmeal, she could hold the bowl. She NEVER finishes her oatmeal and ALWAYS wants to hold her own bowl. Well, I'm a woman of my word.

Headband Baby

When I was very young, my mother liked to put me in head bands. When she was young, she wore them. So, the head band is a tradition with our family. I found these in the girls' drawers the other day and they are just too cute. The look adorable. I think we'll be purchasing more and wearing them more often. Then, maybe the other Wal-Mart shoppers would quit asking me if I had one girl and one boy!

Please forgive the angle, it was a self-portrait

Our little Reader

For those of you keeping score, so far we've had "Our little Criss Cross" and "Our little Zebra." Now, it's time to introduce our little reader. The girls have a soft fabric book and Aurora has definitely called "dibs" on it. I'd like to think it's because she's so studious, but truly, I think she just likes to gnaw on it. However, it makes for cute photos, so here we go!

Hey, I think I know her...

Mom, is this you?

How are you in the book and sitting here at the same time?

Do I know anyone else in this book?

Oh well, it tastes good!

Sitting up like a big girl

This photo is about a week old, but I just had to share. It's the first time Bettye Katheryne really truly sat up like big girl. Her adjusted age in this shot is about 5 months old, but her actual age is 6.5 months. Oh, and she loves the singing octopus!

Momma's big girl!

UPDATE: Aurora's scars

Aurora's surgery was almost a month ago. I just wanted to update on how she's doing. She was up and scooting around bright and early the next morning and it never seemed to phase her. She took Motrin and Tylenol for about 4 days, and then she was set. Here's an updated photo of her scars. They're two tiny incisions in the crease under her tummy.

The great bath disaster

A few week ago, our lovely friend Kyrstyn sent the girls a bath seat to try out in the big bath tub {Thanks Kyrstyn!}. Kyrstyn has twin girls who will be 2 this fall, so she's been in our position. Well, we were finally brave enough to break out the bath seat and try it in the tub. It went a little something like this...

Aurora, hating the big bath tub

Bettye Katheryne trying to channel a demon to take me away so she can get out of the tub {yes, I know she has red eyes. I left them that way for effect.}

Now, my kids usually love their bath time. So, we'll put the seat up and try it again in a few weeks. For now, back to the pink tub in the sink. Here's some proof of how much they actually DO love this tub...

Bowl-lickin' Good!

Everyday, the girls have oatmeal for breakfast and love it. Yesterday, as I was taking Aurora from the table to the den to get cleaned up and changed, I turned around and Bettye Katheryne had grabbed the bowl with what was left of the oatmeal. It looked something like this...

7 Months Old!

I can hardly believe that my little girls are 7 months old today. This may seem like a strange milestone to some of you {why not 6 months or 1 year?} but 7 months is a check point I've been waiting to reach. See, when the girls had just come home and were a little shy of 2 months old, I had to run out to the store for something {for them I'm sure}. While I was out, I ran into a twin mom with 7 month old girls. I remember looking at her girls and thinking to myself, "my girls are so tiny, will they EVER get that big? And will I ever be able to bring them out in public?" I just knew there was no way I was going to make it through the current survival mode complete with sleep deprivation and deliriousness to a place where I could actually take my children out in public with me.

Well, I was wrong. Not only did my girls grow, they go out nearly every day. Here's a quick reminder of how far they've come.

ETA: Current weights...Aurora is 13lb 3oz and Bettye Katheryne is 17lb 5oz!

Aurora at birth

BK at birth

Our first family photo {man, did we look rough or what?}



Their first photo shoot together after coming home...thanks Rae!



The girls this month....BK already learning to point to Aurora when asked "Who did it?"

Aurora, plotting her world take-over

For a while now, we've been joking about how Aurora is plotting to rule the world. Some of you may remember her mobile command center {aka, the exersaucer}. Well, she's gone hi-tech now. She officially attempted to take over her Daddy's computer. She's promised her father and I that we will be her favorite servants once she reach world domination, but as for the rest of you...Be scared y'all!

Proof of Teeth

FINALLY! I was able to snap the shot I've been trying to get for what seems like months now (but truly only about one month). Here's BK, proudly showing her pearly whites. And let me be the first to tell you, those things hurt. She and Aurora have quite the bite. In fact, I'm currently sporting Aurora's teeth marks on my left index finger. Some might argue that it's my own fault for sticking my finger in her mouth, but I was feeling around to see if those top teeth had broken through yet. You win some, you lose some...

Bettye Katheryne smiling for the camera

Close up on those sparklers!

Garden update

We have watermelons! Yes, they are tiny, but they are there.

Daddy and Tristan checking out the garden

The tiniest watermelon I've ever seen

Blueberries = Purple Babies

No words are really needed for this one. Just enjoy the mess!

It's MY birthday!

Today is my birthday and I'm officially 'pushing 30.' I'm 29. Yes, I know there are a lot of you out there who claim to celebrate your 29th birthday year after year, but this is my first {and only} 29th birthday. I'm not sure what I'm doing today. I was told to leave the schedule open, so I'm free as a bird. I'll update on the festivities as I find out what they are, but for now, I leave you with a few flashback photos.

August 4, 2007 {photo by Rae Leytham}

Aurora Nicole at 2 months old

Bettye Katheryne @ 1 month old

Family visit to the zoo, Spring 2008

Date night with Tristan

For the last few weeks, Mimi and Big Daddy have been coming over to keep the girls on Friday night so that Kenneth and I can get out of the house for a date like 'real' people. It's so nice to get out and return home to two sleeping babies...thanks Mimi and Big Daddy! Well, last Friday night, we decided to take Tristan with us for a special night of "big boy" fun. We started off with a dinner at TGI Friday's....we highly recommend the friend green bean appetizer.

My boys

Then we painted pottery (pics of the finished work to follow next week) and went to the mall for Tristan to go on the "super stretchy jumping place." That's not the official name of it, but it worked for us. We thought he might be scared, but man, were we wrong!

Getting all harnessed up

Seriously NOT scared...having a blast

He gives it two thumbs up!

Lastly, we ended the night with hot Krispy Kreme donuts. Does it get any better????

Mmmmm....sprinkles!