Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Happy Birthday, Baby

I can't let today pass without mentioning my sweet husband's 30th birthday! He is away on a business trip (the story of my life lately), but we were able to celebrate with dinner at Brio last night. We walked around for awhile, enjoying the fantastic weather, and he insisted that Tink "see" the fountain (before you freak out, he's holding her VERY tightly).
I love this man more than I thought I ever could. I love him more than when I married him five years ago, and more than I did a year ago when two became three. He is a responsible and trustworthy provider, a fun-loving and caring Dad, and a selfless and true friend. I am so blessed to have him as my husband! Happy birthday babe - can't wait for you to come home.

Little Pig

So, apparently, our child is going through a growth spurt. She is sleeping and eating a TON, neither of which I'm complaining about, but it's crazy to see this girl eat. She can easily put away almost the same portion I eat and chase it with a full glass of milk and some fruit. We don't eat enough "green" veggies around here, so I decided to try a new recipe for Pasta Primavera tonight - I'll let you be the judge of it's successfulness:

I should also mention that this is her second helping :)

Monday, April 20, 2009

Friday, April 17, 2009

The twins!

The twins are six months old today! I thought I would share an update so that you can join me in praise for their growth and health:

Unbelievable how time has passed. It has been LESS THAN ONE YEAR that we have even known that we would be adding to our family, much less with twins. And now it is so normal on one hand, but still so farfetched on the other. I still say to R at least every other day “Do we really have twins?” Today, though, I could clearly see through the exhaustion and crying, and I could see myself saying soon enough “This is the best thing that has ever happened to our family, having our babies this close together.” We were at the playground and I could just see L, T, and S squealing and chasing each other around in the not-too-distant future. But on their half-birthday, I will let you know more about our twins.
T has such a gentle spirit. He gets very sad sometimes just when his big brother is upset. T's cries are rarely of a “mad” kind. His crying is usually “You have just hurt my feelings” for putting me down. It will just break your heart. He has the same bright blue eyes of the uncles he is named after, coupled with long eyelashes from his Daddy. He has a sideways grin like his Daddy too, and is so cute when he dips his head shyly into his mommy’s neck if you catch him a little by surprise. T is the snuggler that I didn’t have in L (either by conditioning or personality, who knows). He will put his head down on your shoulder or chest whether he has recently had a nap or not. T is soft in all places like a baby. He surprised me by being the first to roll over, since he seemed more content to sit in his bouncer chair than S. He is also a very smart, observant kiddo. He used to be the easier twin, not crying, but more just yelling out to make sure you knew he was still there. But after observing how much attention S got when he cried, T has now become more needy. Go figure.
S is a study in extremes. When he is happy, he is the cutest, smiliest, squealiest, little buddy you ever knew. He loves to be held high in the air over your head and he’ll give you a dimpled grin to thrill your heart. He wakes up in the morning with sweet baby coos and babbles, usually sucking on two fingers. He kicks and kicks in delight, which might be the reason he isn’t as big as T - he is burning all his calories with happiness! He has spent up to an hour in the jumperoo, pushing off with his feet and even using his arms to get better lift. He has been the first to really reach for toys (while T is content to just talk loudly to them). S also likes to suck his thumb, which is great when he soothes himself to sleep, but judging on how irritated I have become with L’s paci and wondering how to get rid of it, I really don’t want to try to “get rid of” the thumb later on. Now on to the other extreme. When S is upset, he doesn’t have his feelings hurt or a little whine. He is mad. He cries loud, mouth wide-open cries with eyes tight shut, flailing his arms. He cries mostly because he is hungry, since T is on the schedule as first to be fed most days (T is the first to wake up at 5 am, so for the rest of the day, he gets fed 20 min before S). He also cries because he is in pain, but I don’t know for sure why. I think he is very sensitive to gas pain, and I feel so sorry for him. But I have learned the tricks of the trade, like how to hold him just so and walk around very “purposefully” as I like to say. Or at night, he responds very well to the gas drops, but so suddenly that it can’t be the ingredients…I think he just needs to be nudged out of his crying fit! But my sweet S is so much better than he was from 2 to 4 months when he would cry for no reason for hours at bedtime. I feel like now I know his little personality, and he knows and trusts his mommy, so he is easier to calm down.
My precious T and my sweet S, we are so blessed that God gave you to us. I can’t wait to see how my three boys become inseparable friends, how you pretend and play together, how you share the best moments of your young lives together. I am so glad that I feel like I can protect you now, that I have some control over you feeling safe and loved. It was hard for me that you were in the NICU and I couldn’t hold you and make it all better. But we have years ahead of us for mommy to hold you and kiss you and always make everything right in your world. I love you, my babies.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Happy Easter

We had a wonderful Easter weekend! We left early Friday to attend a Good Friday service with R's family, Tink had her very first Easter egg hunt on Saturday with her cousins, and we dressed in our "Easter Best" for church on Sunday (even though it was cold and rainy). When we got home, the Easter Bunny had left a surprise! Even though the basket was filled with Little People, a "Bunnytown" DVD, two books, and an Easter Chuck E., the favorite was her new socks. . .
Hope everyone enjoyed their Easter weekend and took the time to remember the amazing gift of salvation that Easter represents!

Friday, April 3, 2009

Tinkerbell

So, I've been thinking a lot lately about using our little girl's name on our blog. Although it is private and I want to continue to update our friends and family with pictures and news of what's going on in our lives, I feel the need to protect her by using a nickname. When I was pregnant, we joked about calling her Tinkerbell, so that's the first thing that came to mind. Though it will take me the majority of the afternoon to edit back posts, I feel like it's worth it. Please bear with me as I make decisions about the most important little person in our lives. By the way, this whole "mom" thing is MUCH harder than I ever imagined :)

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

12 months

Tink had her 12 month checkup yesterday, and is doing great! I was really nervous that she wouldn't be quite ready to move up to the forward facing car seat or transition to whole milk, but we got the thumbs-up from our doctor! We celebrated with a trip to Chick-Fil-A for her first chicken nugget (yes, just one) and Babies R Us for a big girl car seat! She weighs 18lbs, 3oz and is 27.5 inches long, still in the 10th percentile :) She is starting to say Mama and Dada, and is working on "dog". She is also waving goodbye and shaking her head yes and no. The doctor said that she should be walking any day now, and we need to start moving to sippy cups from bottles soon - so many transitions! Here are the few pictures that I didn't include in her birthday post:

Look at those teeth!

The last elephant picture

checking out the backpack

playing with lids

big girl car seat