New Year's Eve!!

Ahhh, New Year's Eve...a night to stay in and relax! Well at least this year. This is only the second New Year's that I have known Eric (ha ha ha!!) and twin 6 month olds make us a little too tired to go out and do anything. Last year I was about 12 weeks pregnant and quite sick. Boy, do I remember that...yuck!

The girls went down tonight about 8 pm. We are having issues with poor, sweet, little Lexi. She seems to struggle a little more every night with sleeping in her own crib. She is just such a snuggle bunny and usually rolls over in the night to cuddle up close to Lilly. Lilly sleeps well since all she needs is to suck her thumb and she is out!

When Lexi stirs in the night, instead of having a sister to snuggle up with, she rolls into the side of her crib, wakes up, and starts crying this sad little cry. Last night was kind of rough. She woke up twice. All I had to do was pick her up and hold her. She grabbed me tight and fell right to sleep, but I can't do that every night. I just hate that sad little cry....it's pretty pathetic.

We will have to see how she does tonight...hopefully she will be okay. She has also started to stick that bottom lip out really far when she is sad. I think it is the cutest thing on the planet, but it breaks my heart to see! Funny how that happens...

So here is a picture of me with my darling love taken about 45 minutes ago, while we were being silly...Happy New Year's!!!

Squash

The girls have been doing so well with their new foods. We started off slow with the rice cereal once a day and moved up to oatmeal cereal. When their tummies were used to that, we introduced vegetables....that was today, my friends! Today at lunch, we got out the squash...and it wasn't all that bad. They did make some funny faces, but the mouths still came open for the second and third spoonfuls and so on. We were impressed. They ate a decent amount and we kept encouraging them by saying, "Yummmmm!! Squash and vegetables are yummy!" That got a few smiles!

Here is Lilly flirting with a messy face...

Now for Lexi's little adventure...

New Photos We Love...

I just had a handful of photos to share from the past couple of days that Eric and I really liked. The girls love their new toys...even the top of their shape sorter amazes them. They were both trying to put it in their mouths in this picture.

Daddy always makes his Lilly bug laugh!! He was making noises for her in this one, so she would smile for the camera. I love the little droplet of drool on her chin! :)

I was trying to capture Lilly's eyes through some of the toys on her jumperoo and just happened to get this shot...I love it!!

Here we have the first pictures of Lexi sitting up without support. She can do it for about 3-15 seconds, depending on her mood, but she gets better at it every single day.

Lilly and her favorite appendage...she only sucks this thumb and can't go to sleep without it!

Lexi smiling from the new pony! I told her that many kids ask for a pony for Christmas and she should be super excited that she got one for her first!!

We were trying to smooch but it is the silliest picture of us in a while...I just had to share! Now if you ask the girls to give you a kiss and give them your cheek, they will try to nurse it! We like to think they are really trying to kiss mommy and daddy!

Miss Lexi hanging out the other evening. I had a bowl of soup for dinner and the second she saw the spoon, she lunged for it, almost falling out of her bouncer!!

The girls were given the most adorable hooded towels when they were born and were completely swallowed by them until lately. Debbie's friend made them and they are super precious and cute!! There is a pink one and a green one...here is Lexi modeling the green one! I think they like the bows on top.

Update

They have been asleep for three hours, and all is well. Mommy's just being silly.

Separate Cribs

Well tonight we put the girls down in separate cribs. It made me so sad to lay them down apart. They do so love to cuddle up close at night. So tonight we got them all cozy in their jammies and laid them down. They cried for a while like normal, but then went right to sleep. I think I am the only one that is upset about this...

You see, they were in separate cribs in the NICU for their first 5 days of life. They always slept on their sides turned towards one another from across the room. They wanted to be together then and it was soooooo sweet. When they were 3 days old, our sweet NICU nurse, brought Lexi over to her sister's crib for a few moments. Their little legs touched and they grabbed each others hands. Then they fell asleep about 5 seconds later...they were so relaxed and calm when they were together again and I just feel bad about separating them. I know it will be okay, but I am having a sappy mom moment and thought I would write about it!

I'll let ya'll know how the rest of the night goes...

Merry Christmas!!

Christmas this year was wonderful!! I have always loved this time of year, but unfortunately, it does lose some of its magic as you get older. I try so hard every year to hang onto that magic and joy and not get stressed...this year I did it!! I think it's having children in the house again. It was their first one, so I got to introduce them to everything. We got to sing them Christmas carols, show them their tree all decorated and twinklie, give them some new toys to play with, bake cookies, and MOST IMPORTANTLY, teach them the real reason we celebrate Christmas!!

I just really enjoyed being grateful for them and Eric this year. And while thinking about them, I also realized again how blessed I am to have my parents and siblings, my wonderful mother and father-in-law, and the coolest sisters and brothers-in-laws too!! I am just really thankful for all my family, near and far!!

Here are the girls when we first arrived in Dallas. They were still a bit sleepy and we had just taken their winter hats off, so their hair was all over the place. :) I love how pink their cheeks are when they first wake up.

There is Lilly's sweet sleepy face...

My little brother lovin' on Lexi!

The girls checkin' out their new toy...such a cool toy!

Lilly wanted to take Dad's dog Tucker home for Christmas. Right after this picture was taken, Tucker kissed her on the nose and she smiled really big.

Lexi contemplating her new name puzzle!! The girls sat up in their bumbos while we helped them open presents. They tore at the paper fairly well on a lot of things, then Daddy and I unwrapped the rest for them.

Uncle Nate playing with Lilly while Eric and Lexi look on.

One of the cool things that the girls got in their stockings were these sippy cups. Now the girls are eating cereal 3 times a day, but they have never had anything to drink out of a cup yet. So I was super curious to see what they would do. I put a tiny bit of milk in them and offered them to the girls. Lilly chewed on hers like it was too weird and then let Eric take it away. She will get the hang of it...Lexi, however, immediately started drinking it up. Then she took ahold of the handles and continued to drink. Eric took these pictures. You can tell that Lexi is more into than Lilly.

Lilly finally held her own but never stopped making this funny face...

So Christmas may be over for this year, but the Sanfords are still all aglow with joy and happiness and are looking forward to a new year of exciting adventures!!! The girls have a lot more "firsts" to come!! They'll turn 1 before I know it!!

Christmas Week Thus Far...

Today is Christmas Eve and it's the girls first Christmas!! What a special time! Eric and I have just been drinking in the special and sweet moments with our little ones today. We opened presents with them tonight since we are going to Dallas to visit my family tomorrow. I can't wait to see you guys!

After the girls had their lunch this afternoon, Eric and I made some Christmas cookies while the girls sat in their highchairs and looked on, learning all about butter and stirring! :) Then we went on a walk around the neighborhood, opened presents, sang Christmas carols, learned about the true meaning of Christmas, and snuggled A LOT!! It wasn't too cold out today, but it was brisk and cool. The girls had been up for a few hours by the time we walked around the block, so they crashed!!

Here is Lexi sound asleep...
Here is Lilly...

Lexi is checking out her new toy...it is a cookie jar shape sorter that also teaches numbers.

On Monday, Eric and I had to do a little Christmas shopping...for us! We were both having a few computer problems and needed some slightly expensive help. It was FREEZING out so we bundled up the girls and headed out.

I think they thoroughly enjoyed wearing their bear bunting outfits. They smiled and laughed at each other just like they did the first time they wore their flower hats. Here are some pictures.

Lexi knew she was cute...

Eric took this one without the flash and I blurred it a little more. I think it just makes Lilly look like such an angel (which she is). The next one is Lexi sound asleep after an hour of shopping!

We also got them some new onesies at WalMart the other day. I love putting them in long sleeved onesies. They are comfortable and really cute. I thought these were extra adorable and only $3 each....so you don't stress out when spit up goes all down them! :) First is Lilly swinging and then Lexi showing off "Mom and Dad's best present ever!"

I wanted to finish this blog with a picture of the other 2 sweeties at our house. I hate leaving them home alone, but they are much more comfortable then if they went with us to Dallas. We have stockings for them and every year, they get little presents too! The other night, they were so cold from going potty, that I snuggled them into their covers. Here they are getting warm!

A Super Fun Saturday

Well the Sanford family had a great day yesterday and we wanted to tell everyone about it. Lexi was in the mood to hang out with her daddy for a while on the couch. Both girls enjoy sitting up. They can sit for about 3-6 seconds by themselves on the floor but they keep getting stronger everyday. If you set them on the couch where they can lean on a cushion or your arm, they can sit up for a good long time. I had been playing with Lexi and needed to run get something, so I set her next to her daddy who was playing his Xbox. Here they are....

I used to sew quite a bit and loved it. I miss doing it but just have not had the time since grad school. I need and want to get back into it. Well when I worked for Hancock Fabrics back in 2000, I got lots of cheap scraps. I have kept a long, skinny piece of fleece in my "hope chest" ever since then. I never knew what to do with it, but it just looked like a great baby item. It's white with rubber duckies and blue bubbles on it. So last night, I made little tiny baby scarves out of it. This, of course, isn't really sewing, but it was fun. With fleece, you don't have to hem it, which I love.

Here are the gorgeous little girls modeling their new scarves....I realize that they do not match anything they own, but who cares! They are just for fun!!

Then around 6:30 last night, we were playing with the girls and trying to keep them awake until bedtime. The girls new favorite thing is The Wiggles. They will shake around and try to dance to their songs. Eric and I played the song, "Shake your Sillies Out" which is the current favorite, and helped them dance. Then a few minutes later, Lilly, while sitting in her jumperoo, started jumping around like crazy. This went on for at least 45 minutes before we put her to bed. She just kept going and going. Even when Eric was giving her a bottle before bed, she kept wiggling her legs and bouncing around. It was too funny!! This is a short clip of her jumping around. I have some longer ones, but this gives you an idea of what she did that whole time.

The video is a little jumpy but I was sitting still...it is all Lilly!! Some of the lines to the song are, "Jump, jump, jump your jiggles out", "Shake, shake, shake your sillies out", "Nod, nod, nod your naughties out", "Clap, clap, clap your crazies out", and "Wiggle all your wobbles away!". It's just a fun kid song!!

We also got some great video footage of Lexi hanging out under the Christmas tree and then suddenly ripping open a present. I don't think she originally meant to do this but once she got started, it was too fun to stop. We will try to post that one on YouTube soon.

Update

I also forgot to mention that for the girls height, Lilly was in the 50% percentile and Lexi was in the 60% percentile. Go tall girls!!

For weight, they are still in the 35% percentile. In my opinion, I think most of that is in those adorable cheeks!!

6 Month Check-Up

Yesterday was the twins 6 month check-up and they are doing great...just as we suspected!! Here are the current stats:

Lilly Anne

14 lbs, 13 ozs

25.75 in. long

head measured 43 cm

Alexis Kathryn

15 lbs, 6 ozs

26.25 in. long

head measured 42.5 cm

Now if you remember, at birth Lilly weighed less, was a half inch longer, and had a smaller head. They are growing so well. We were given the gift of 1-2 size diapers when the girls were born. We had this giant box of them. About 10 days ago the girls finally fit into them. Well, today we bought size 2 diapers, since we may fit into that size before using up the smaller size. It seems like it took forever to grow out of preemie diapers and then grow out of the newborn size. Now we are just catching up sooooo fast! When they were still in the hospital, we told them all they needed to do was eat, grow, and let us love them. I think they listened!! :)

The seem to be completely caught up on development too. I realize that they were only a few weeks early, but it is good to see them sitting up fairly well, rolling over time and time again, and trying to crawl.

Lexi wants to move and crawl and fights sleep during the day. Lilly loves to suck her thumb, which puts her to sleep (anytime) and while she likes to move and keep up with her sister, she seems to prefer to be calmer and just look pretty. She flirts with her daddy a LOT!! Lexi is louder and more vocal most days. I am just so excited to keep watching them grow and change!

So cool...

I wanted to post a couple of cute photos of Eric. This picture was the normal scene in our home for the past 4 months...

NOW...this was the scene yesterday at the house. He wasn't asleep, but he and Sneezy were cuddling while the girls took a nap and I wrapped some presents. He soooooo needed this break to relax...looks like he is doing just that!!

When the twins take baths, I put the girls on our bed and Eric hangs out with them while I bathe one at a time. The other night, I had already bathed Lexi and she was snuggling with her daddy. So I bathed Lilly, laid her on her changing pad, dried her off, and put a clean diaper on her. Then I asked Eric to watch her because I forgot her pajamas. All I did was walk into the living room and come right back...Eric was laughing and this was what I saw. They can ABSOLUTELY not be left alone anymore. It takes them about 2 seconds to roll over several times.

She was so cute though because she got tangled in her towel and just kept rolling over in it. Here she is...

This is my favorite picture of the week...I put tights on them for the first time. I got this picture of Lexi before putting her little dress on. I just love those ruffles...

The girls got a sweet gift card from their Nana Parr for baby walkers. Eric and I picked out our favorites and purchased one of each. His favorite is being shipped a few days before Christmas and this one below is my favorite. I love the fact that it is so bright and colorful, plus has all the little animals on it...I guess it's the biologist in me. We purchased this one at WalMart and set it up. The girls LOVE it!!! Here they are playing in it yesterday....

These 2 pictures are Lilly!

Here is Lexi playing...their feet don't touch the ground yet, but they are starting to learn how to bounce and touch their toes to the ground.

And last but not least, I get the UMHB Alumni magazine and have been SOOOOOOOOO excited to send in the baby announcement. I got the latest edition a few weeks ago. Here are the girls being announced to the UMHB community. YEA!!!

It took me hours to choose a photo and when I sent in the picture, they were still sleeping a LOT during the day. Most of the other baby photos showed the babies faces, but I still think this is such a sweet little picture of them. They were only 1 month old in this picture.