And Then There Were Teeth...

My baby girl is feeling much better today!! Lexi has spent the past two days in screaming pain as 3 teeth were starting to come in at the same time. By this morning, 2 of them were all the way through so she felt much better. She now officially has 5 teeth!! After naptime, I took pictures of them being all sweet and giggly...I was trying to get pictures of the teeth too. :)

Lilly covering her eyes up to avoid the flash...such a cute smile!

Now, she is hamming it up, no matter the flash! Look at that smile!!

Like I said...Lexi loves her Daddy's hats!

And playing "peekaboo"... They do not laugh or care if we say "Peekaboo!", but if we say "Boo!!", it is hilarious.
And I couldn't resist adding this one in...Miss Lexi asleep the other morning!

Happy Birthday, America!!

We hope you all had a great 4th of July! Last year the girls were only 3 weeks old, so we just went for a walk around the block. The girls slept the whole time. So this year we hoped to start some new family traditions.

When I went to UMHB, I LOVED the Belton 4th of July Parade and am so glad to be back here again! It was also so much fun to not only take my husband and daughters, but to go with the girl I roomed with for 3 years and her family!! I am so glad we got to go with Scott, Jessica, and adorable little Annalise! All 3 little girls did so great. The loud bangs and noises scared them here and there and the heat finally got to all of us, but we had a blast. The girls loved the horses, oh so very much!! I may have animal lovers on my hands...YEA!!! I even heard Lexi making her horse noises a couple times as she saw the horses coming our way.

We may try the fireworks next year, but it was just too late at night for these 2 girls. So after the parade and a quick trip to McDonald's for lunch (that's just as American as BBQ, right? He he he), we went home to relax. We gave the girls a cool bath, fed them, and put them down for a nap. Later, we went outside to swing for a while and played some peekaboo on the couch...a fairly normal evening. I couldn't have asked for more and thank God every day for my awesome blessings...and for this amazing country that I live in!!

Happy Birthday, America!!

Lilly in Scott's hat...
Lexi chilling out waiting for the parade to start...

All of us except Jessica...but next year I will not forget my camera and will get one of ALL of us!! We will have to get some with all of us at the zoo this week...

Isn't Annalise's shirt super cute?

Miss Lilly wearing her Daddy's hat...

Back at home relaxing...

The girls now climb onto the couches ALL the time!!! It's a little scary and crazy, cause they are soooooo fast...up and down before we know it! Lexi climbed on the coffee table yesterday and when I made her get down, she got angry, yelled at the table, and then tried to bite it! It was hilarious!!

Lilly saying, "Peekaboo!!"

Out on the swing...Lilly-bug!

Lilly waving at me!Lexi being cute...

More of Miss Lexi...

Good Times For All...

My darling Lilly is getting her third tooth in today!! YEA!! They are growing and changing so much and it's really fun to watch.

Lilly showing off her growing locks and current 2 teeth...

Miss Lexi and her "huh" face...

The girls are now HUGE fans of teething biscuits...what messy, happy kiddos! I like them because I can get dinner ready while the girls munch away.

Lilly above, Lexi below...

Lexi wearing her new crocs...they were on sale at our new Children's Place for $3.74 a pair. That is the only way I can afford to buy both girls shoes these days...gotta love a good sale!!

Believe it or not, the twins go through phases of looking more and more alike, and then they change again and look super different (at least to Eric and I). They have been looking different the past month or so, but Eric noticed yesterday that they are transitioning again to looking exactly alike. Poor Daddy!!

They are almost walking...should be soon. They are finally caught up in clothing sizes and pretty much wear 12 month stuff now. I packed up the last of the 6-9 month and 6-12 month outfits today, but they are still in size 2 diapers. :)

They climb on everything...especially the couch. They can climb up and down without our help and even try to jump off occasionally. Talk about needing adult supervision!! :) They love to dance and clap to everything, and it seems like someone says a new word every day.

Lilly cheers me on for everything with clapping and yelling, "Yea!!", while Lexi just discovered that she loves to say "Weeeeeee!!" as we swing. They love to be outside and adore every moment spent in their red wagon.

Every day is a new adventure and I am so thankful for it!!

A Momma and Her Girls

Today Eric's class was cancelled, so the 4 of us got to hang out together all day. The girls were super cuddly for a while before their morning nap, so I used that time as an excuse to take pictures of the girlies. Lexi wasn't all that interested in posing for the camera, but my little Lilly would smile at the camera and say "cheese!" with me!

Here is Lexi trying not to act interested...

Silly girls... Lilly and Mommy hamming it up...

Lovely baby...

Daddy took a few with all three of his girls!! Lilly is wearing the green and Lexi is wearing the red...


I look a little nuts in this one, but this was what Eric got as both girls decided to squirm out of my arms and go play with their toys again...it was a funny moment and I thought I would share anyway!

Father's Day...1 Week Late

I do realize that last Sunday was Father's Day. But since we had 2 sick babies and were in the ER, I figure Eric will forgive me and let me blog about it today. :)

Last year, the girls were born on Monday, the 9th...

We stayed in the hospital until the girls were discharged from the NICU on Saturday, the 14th...

We got home with our precious little bundles around lunch on Saturday, AND...the next day was Eric's FIRST Father's Day!!! Pretty special if you ask me!!

We had not had much sleep that entire week, but we were beyond thrilled to go home with 34 week old twins after only 5 days of observation in the NICU!! My Dad and Debbie even came to visit on Father's Day and Debbie stayed with us to help out...thanks again!! :)

But I was still recovering and our world was a whole new place...there were no gifts or cards and I felt kind of bad for that later. This year was more normal and celebratory, although nothing will ever replace the special 1st Father's Day that Eric had, and he will be the first to tell you that!

The night that a new Daddy brought his girls home...

Eric's 1st Father's Day...He is such a great Daddy, from Day One!!

And a couple more...Eric with 1 month old fussy girls. Nothing phases him!!

A wonderful Daddy snuggling his girls! I forget where I was, but I had gone somewhere and this was what I saw when I came through the garage door!

Then here is MY wonderful Dad on his 1st Father's Day with these two little squirts!!

Shenanigans...

Everyone is feeling great again! The girls started acting like themselves again around Wednesday. We have stayed in a lot since it is 105 degrees outside according to our thermometers...yikes!! If I can get the girls out to their swing before 9:30 am, we can usually stand the heat long enough to swing for a while. :) Other than that, we read tons of books, watch a few minutes of Sesame Street (every once in while, of course), and play with all our cool toys.

We have a dress-up, ballet outfit on loan from our friend Jessica and the girls weren't sure what to think of it yesterday...Miss Lexi sure can point her toes like a dancer though! :)

Lilly thought it was funny...
until she realized her Daddy was in his office and had closed the door on her...what nerve!!

After looking under the door, she sat up and yelled for him. :)

We are now in the full swing of the weaning process. I am down to nursing twice a day and so far we are all doing fine. Here are the girls showing off their sippy cup skills. They LOVE whole milk and go nuts when they see me pouring it into their cups. Here is Lexi... What a cute little mess...

The girls also like nothing more than to drink out of a cup with a straw. They have been doing this for a couple months now and think it is so much fun. Here is Miss Lilly drinking her Pedialyte while she was sick.

Then the other day, I was putting away a new package of diapers. Lilly grabbed one and was examining it sooooo closely. So I put it together for her, and held it up showing her how it went on her little toosh. When she leaned down to look in, and I stuck it on her head. Her reaction was the funniest thing I have ever seen. She was off...with it on her head...cracking up!! Then I was laughing so hard...it was contagious!!

She crawled all over the room, just laughing and smiling at me!! I adore her little laugh!! So here is one of the pictures she will hate me over when she grows up...they were playing the drums. :)

Last but not least, today the girls were feeling especially good, so I put clips in their hair. Here is how the conversation went...

Mommy - Hey Lilly, will you smile for Mommy? Come on, say cheese!! Pose for Mommy!! :)

Mommy - Awww, Lilly! Did you find your clip? What!! You don't like it and don't want to wear it?

Mommy - You would rather wear your new tutu on your head? You are such a stinker!! :)

Mommy - Lexi, are you going to pose too? First, can Mommy have her phone back? Last time you slobbered in it, we had to dry out the battery for a whole day before it would work again...remember that, honey bear? :) Your eyes sure do look big and blue right now!

And now the girls are sleeping soundly...what a good week!!

Crazy Weekend

It has been such a crazy weekend...we went to the ER again today. The girls were having tummy problems and then suddenly broke out in a rash all over their bellies and backs. By the time we got them to the hospital, the rash was down their legs and on their feet.

We weren't sure if going to the ER was the right thing or not, but decided to err on the side of caution...just in case!! The last doctor told us to come back if there had been no improvements or the girls got worse after 48 hours..it had been 46, so off we went.

The doctor was wonderful!! The girls acted traumatized just by us being there. Obviously, not enough time had gone by for them to forget the shots from Friday night. Lexi lost it when the doc went to examine her. :( He believes that the girls probably caught a virus and it has just been working its way through their systems...first through the ears (which are all cleared up now!), then the tummies, and now in the skin. I was worried that they may have gotten a mild case of chicken pox since they just had their vaccine 9 days ago, but it was clearly not chicken pox. He also said that it was not a reaction to anything...they were just tiny, red, pinprick dots.

Now we are home and the girls are sound asleep! Hopefully they will sleep well tonight. Here are a few pictures of the sweet babies...

This was Friday night while we were waiting for the high fevers to go down...Lexi has never sat still this long and was sooooo miserable. Eric wanted her to feel better, but was enjoying his snuggle time! Lilly sat in her chair sucking her thumb like a bump on a log.

These next 2 pictures were from yesterday afternoon. They were feeling so much better at the time! The first sweetie is Lilly and then Lexi...

Now to completely switch topics...I have been trying to eat healthier lately. It can be kind of hard since Eric hates fruits and veggies....BUT, I have learned that he will humor me sometimes and so I have just started to make dishes and then make him try a bite or two. Last week, I bought a spinach salad mix and put some bacon and cheese on his so he would eat it...he told me today that he really liked it. I will have to do that again. At least he got some good greens.

So I have been looking for some good recipes that are quick and easy. I got a recipe called, "Juicecous" from my favorite blog, www.mycharmingkids.net, a few weeks ago. I made it yesterday and it was sooooooooooo good!! It is also such an easy thing to mix up and make differently each time. It is actually couscous, but cooked with half water and half juice. Then you add whatever you want to it. I used apple juice and then added chickpeas, cilantro, and craisins. It was amazing!! I munched on it all afternoon. The couscous I bought is whole wheat couscous with milled flax seed and soy, and contains 450 mg of Omega 3 oild per serving! I fed some to the girls today and they seemed to like it a lot too!

I think next time, I might cook it in some broth and add a little cheese. The girls will like that and it is such an easy way to get some yummy Omega 3's!! Isn't it a pretty dish? :)