MIA Blogger

Sorry I've been off the wagon with the blogging. The girls have been such a hand full lately! They are pulling up like pros and now beginning to let go and stand by themselves. They are talking up a storm and say mommy, daddy and brother {though it sounds like "muh-muh" "dah-dee" and "brud-dah"}. Bettye Katheryne has been ill with {we think} a food allergy. It's taken everything I have to keep up with her and still juggle Aurora too. Here's a few of the cute photos we've snapped over the past weeks...

Aurora @ 9 months ~ 14lb 8oz

Bettye Katheryne @ 9 months ~ 18lb 8oz

Our friendly backyard deer. She hangs out in our yard for days at a time.

Aurora on Daddy's head...think they look alike?

Bettye Katheryne fell asleep like this.

She was so tired. We were eating dinner and looked over to see her pooped out!

Precoscious Little Girls

Bettye Katheryne after bath time

Aurora during "NAP" time

Riding Around Town

The girls have begun trying to walk now that they are standing up. They usually land on their face or head when they fall, but we're hoping they'll learn to sit on their tushies soon. Since they are so mobile, we got down Tristan's Winnie the Pooh riding toy to see if they had any interest in pushing it. They did, but it was much cuter to see them ride....together.

Side view

Bettye Katheryne thought it was great fun

Aurora was in charge, as usual.

Name that Baby!

Who is this?

MDO

This week was the girls' first day at Mother's Day Out {yay, yay, yay!}. Mommy had such a great time and got soooo much done while they played with their friends at church. It's once a week for 4.5 hours and I'm already counting down the days until they go next week. Don't get me wrong, I love my girls, but it's so nice to be able to get things done around the house without interuptions and even be able to go to the bathroom by myself!

Bettye Katheryne was ready to go and play with her friends...

Aurora was, well....let's just say that Mommy was ready for Aurora to go and play with her friends. Aurora is still cutting the last of 6 teeth, so fussy is her usual morning attitude.

The girls did great and the MDO workers were ready for a nap by pick-up time! They were amazed at how mobile these girls are and had a time keeping up with them for 4.5 hours. Yeah, tell me about it!

"Sharing" Breakfast

This morning, as I do every morning, I gave the girls their "breakfast" of Cheeri-Os {they have refused to eat baby oatmeal any longer} in their exersaucers. Bettye Katheryne thought Aurora looked too full to eat all of her food and decided they should share. As you can see, the exersaucers are excellent for eating dry food....the bottom of it ends up catching any spills!

Hey Mom, do you think she's going to eat all of those?

I'm still pretty hungry and she doesn't seem to be eating everything.

Maybe if I lean out far enough....

OK, see, I'm really cute and still sooooo hungry!

Fine, I'll just turn my head and look this way and maybe nobody will see me!

Happy Labor Day

The girls had a great weekend playing with big brother. For the record, he's hilarious...just ask Aurora. They've been a bit fussy because they are teething {still} and Daddy has been sick for days now, so we're all exhausted, but hanging in there. The kids got in the pool in the back yard on Friday afternoon. It's probably the last time that will happen this year. Here's a few shots of the naked baby and big brother cuteness!

In other news, we {finally} got our kiddie corral to keep the girls contained. They have already learned to scale the sides of the fence. First, we have Aurora...

...and then Bettye Katheryne.

Another new addition around here are Biter Biscuit {cookies}. I haven't tasted them, but I imagine them to be like one big animal cracker that dissolves in your mouth. The girls loved them. Bettye Katheryne ate hers and Aurora slobbered on hers and played the "pick it up, Mommy" game. It was pretty messy, but most things for 8 month olds are.

I just thought this picture was pretty cool. Warning: Objects in mirror are closer than they appear!

As different as...

...night and day?...black and white?...men and women? Nope...IDENTICAL TWINS. Yes, the are genetically identical and some people even think they look alike {I am not one of those people, but I guess it's different for me since I am the mom}, but they are so different. This is just one small example. I changed the sheets on their beds yesterday and here is what I found.

In Bettye Katheryne's bed, there were 3 lovies, 1 rattle doll and her Elmo. She has to have something to comfort her and keep her snuggly.

These are the snuggly things that we have for Aurora's bed. They were all crammed down the side of the bed between the wall and the mattress.

Other things found in Aurora's bed were two socks {not matching} and half of a puff. I think she's collecting items to sell on eBay.

Countdown to football season

Like many of you out there, we are on the countdown to our favorite season of the year. Fall? NO...Winter? NO...What season? FOOTBALL! Last year, I spent football season in the hospital which had its perks. Comfy bed, control of the remote, nice fall air through the window, food delivered to me and the ability to nap in between games at will. This season will be a little different, but I'm so grateful. This year, I get to spend my Saturdays with these faces...

Now, one important aspect of football season is the food...more specifically, tail-gating. To prepare, the girls are practicing drinking out of big girl cups. It looks a little something like this...

Well, at least Bettye Katheryne has the right end...

So, sippy cups and football are all the rage. What else are the girls into? Well I'm glad you asked. Bettye Katheryne is quite studious and likes to read.

Aurora, on the other hand, is our little scavenger and likes to chew on things she finds on the floor {gross}.

The real excitement around here during the day comes in the form of the Baby 500...the 500 laps we {meaning me} do around the living room every day trying to keep these girls confined. They are extremely mobile and are standing. According to physics, what goes up must come down and that does not exclude babies. For now, they are landing mostly on their heads so I imagine that they have one killer headache by the end of the day, but what can you do? I'm hoping that all of this wild behavior as babies means that they will be excellent, mild-mannered, well behaved teenagers, just like their mommy was ;)

Blast from the past

So, I just found my camera battery charger in hubby's car...who knew? Anyhow, I don't have any new photos of the girls, so I thought I'd look back and post a few from the past. These were taken either the day Aurora came home, or the day after. The girls were 5 weeks old.

Cousin Bodden {10 weeks old}, Bettye Katheryne and Aurora

Before you can take a child home from the NICU, they must pass a 'car seat test.' This means they must be able to sit in their car seat for 30 minutes {no touching allowed} and not have any apneas {forgetting to breath, causing oxygen sats to go down} or bradycardias {dips in heart rate}. I took photos of each of the girls during their tests. These were taken the day before each girl came home. Bettye Katherye was 20 days old and weighs 4lb 15oz and Aurora was 36 days old and weighs 3lb 14oz. They were so tiny!

Bettye Katheryne

Aurora Nicole {please don't make fun of the bald patch...she's sensitive about it}

And in their car seats now...