Bald Babies!

Just a few more cute pics of my bald babies today! They do have some fine brown hairs, but in reality, they are pretty bald.  And I love it!  They look so much like babies!!

I'm trying my hardest to get some pictures of the boys' huge gummy smiles, but whenever I put my phone up to take the picture, they disappear! =(  I guess the phone doesn't elicit the kinds of reactions that Mommy's goofy faces and voices do!  Oh well!  Soon!

My Aunt Sallie got the boys these cute outfits that they finally grew into!  So cute!  (Will on blue blanket)

Will

Jack

A little smile.  I had Will beginning to chuckle today!  It wasn't quite a full giggle, but it was getting close!   So much fun!!

Sorry Mom, no smile for you right now.  But Jack gives the best, sweetest, most wonderful smiles!  There are times when he is sleeping in my arms, that he'll wake up and smile and coo at me.  What a precious moment!! I never dreamed being a mommy could be so absolutely wonderful!

Yesterday the flash went off when I took these pictures of Will. His reaction to it was hilarious!! 

Poor guy...he had no clue what was going on!

They are so much fun and just getting so big!

Cuteness...

The boys have just been getting cuter and cuter these last few weeks!  They have been so much more responsive and are giving me so many wonderful smiles!  Here are a bunch of pictures from the last week or so...

Will & Jack in their cute sweatsuits

Jack

Will

Trying out their bumbo seats!  They sure aren't going to fit in them for very long with their chubby thighs, but it is good practice for them holding their heads up...or at least sideways! =)

At the dr...I had a great idea to get a picture of them looking into the mirror, but it didn't quite work.  Jack didn't like the idea and shed a few tears, and then the dr. came in after our one blurry try.  Note...the boys are not wearing dresses. I just had their pants undone to have them ready for their shots =(

At the dr, the boys were weighed, and they are getting so big!!  Will was 14 lbs 2 oz and Jack was 13 lbs 9 oz!  I knew my arms were getting stronger for a reason!!

Cute outfits!

Will--wiggling on the floor

Jack...he was full of smiles, but of course, he wouldn't smile for the camera!

We got another great deal on baby stuff! I don't think any deal will be as good as Justin's  $269 double jogging stroller for $57, but I thought mine deal was pretty good! I finally decided on which high chairs I wanted to get--they are both high chairs, and they also can come apart and be booster seats that hook onto a chair.  They were $129 each, but I found them on clearance for $90!  So almost a $40 savings for each!  Yeah for deals!

I decided to feed them their bottle in their chairs for the first time...Will seemed to think it was great fun, but Jack had to shed a few tears--note the red eyes! =(  But they both did a great job and ate their bottles!  What big boys!

I just had to post this...I was folding yesterday and thought it was the cutest comparison!  Daddy's sock and boys' sock!

 And today we had some cute smiles during tummy time/bumbo time...

Jack...still can't keep that head up too well!

Will

Will was doing better today at keeping his head up!

A slight glimpse of Jack's dimple...I just love their dimples when they smile!!

Enjoying their turtle rattle

They are just so much fun!  I had the cutest video of Justin talking to Will as he was smiling at the ceiling fan, but somehow, when I was uploading pictures, it disappeared!  I'm so bummed! If I find it, I'll for sure post it!  More cute pictures to come soon!

Oh, and I almost forgot...Jack rolled over!  I think it was more of a 'my head is so big and heavy that when I hold it up really high and tip over, the momentum makes me roll over' kind of roll, but still!!  Will has yet to do it, and each time I try to get Jack to perform it for someone or get it on video, he puts his head down and cries.  Too cute! 

The boys are still really healthy.  Praise the Lord!  They had their 4th synagis shot on Tuesday, which is supposed to lessen the effect of RSV if they were to get it.  But we're praying that they'll continue to stay healthy!  We're still in house arrest, not exposing them to any unnecessary germs, and it seems to be working so far!  Hopefully we'll make it through the whole season (April) without any sicknesses!

We are just loving our babies! More and more every day!

The Purge of 2011

Ever since I found out I was pregnant with twins last year, the term 'purge' has been on the forefront of my mind.  For the first few weeks, I almost had a panicky feeling that I had to purge my house of all the extra stuff that just seems to be everywhere. As I continued on with the pregnancy, taking it easy and making sure that they babies were safe and sound and staying put became more important than the urgent need I felt to purge my house of so much of the unnecessary extras.  But it did stay on the forefront of my mind all of these months, and now it is back.  The need, desire, and reality that our home needs to be purged of clutter.  If you've been here, you might not now what I'm talking about, because most of the time our house is neat and looks pretty organized and clutter free. But it is there, believe me!

God has blessed us so much, and we have and are able to get anything that we need. But...confession time...I don't have it all together in the area of organizing and keeping my home truly clutter free.  Oh yes, I'm definitely a type A personality and have many things that I'm highly organized in, but I'm finally admitting that this purge and reorganization has to happen now! For me, a lot of the stuff that is hiding everywhere is stuff that we need or will need. Usually I have 'inventory' of things that we will need which I think is important, as long as it is organized and you know what you have. (Thanks Dad for the example! ;-)  On my wing during my freshman year in college, I won the "you need it, I got it" award, and I'm kind of sad that that still applies today!  I have so many 'projects' and crafty type things that I love to do, and that leads to a lot of stuff.  I'm definitely not a hoarder...just someone who forgets she already has something and buys it again. =)  Or continues to buy yarn for my crocheting projects without using up the stuff I already have. Or can't see to the back of the cabinet under my bathroom sink.

Today I finally got around to cleaning out my pantry--something I've been telling Justin I was going to do every day for weeks--and it feels so much better!  The final straw was when I bought a package of instant mashed potatoes for dinner last week, only to have my mom find another whole box of mashed potatoes in my pantry on Monday!  And today during the clean out I found another whole box!  That is pathetic! And a waste of money too!!

Why am I posting about my household purge?  I guess for a couple of reasons.  I'm not one to make New Year's resolutions, because I never end up following through on them and I feel stupid. But this is really important to me, and to the future of our family.  With two boys, I know we are going to have to have a lot more stuff for them, and the things that have been sitting in my closets without being touched for years, or the suitcase of pictures that I packed up 2 houses ago and never unpacked don't need to be filling up space anymore!  Now I'm very realistic, and with 2 babies, I know I only have short little periods of time throughout the day to work on this, in addition to all of the other needed chores around the house.  So I'm just saying it publicly on here...I'm going to get my house under control! I want to set a good example for my boys. I have no excuse now not to do this--I'm always at home!  But it will be baby steps...I know they'll be times that I'll wish it could be done already, but I'm going to do it!

I want to be organized and finally feel clutter free.  I want to really have a handle on what we have. I want to donate the things that we don't use to someone who can really use them! I want to be a mom that really does have it all together--at least in the organization of our home!  I'm really excited about this project, and from time to time, I might just share some of my before and after pictures as well!

Will & Jack's First Snow!!

We had the most beautiful snowfall yesterday here in McKinney!  I don't know what our actual total was, but from the looks of the build up on our patio table, I think we had about 4-5 inches!  I was dying to take the boys out for pictures, since it is their first snow, but today was one of those mornings...started at 3:15 am and I have had one or the other in my arms fussing or feeding since then!  Don't get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE every minute, even when it's hard and I'm exhausted and they're fussy. But it just didn't lend well to Mommy having any extra energy to get them bundled up and out by myself to take pictures.

Thankfully, Gigi came to the rescue!!  She arrived, helped me feed the boys, and then we all went out and enjoyed the snow! Usually, here in Texas, the snow is melted and long gone by this time the day after a snow, but thanks to our arctic blast of cold air (high temp of 36, low tonight 19!), the snow is  still here and gorgeous!

We bundled the boys up, and got some adorable pics!  (Please ignore the exhausted Mommy without any make-up...it just wasn't happening today!)

 The boys weren't quite sure what to make of it...they kept their eyes closed at first because it was so bright!

 We tried to do some quick snow angels, but they didn't quite appreciate the experience!

 Jack as just about done with the snow...

 But Will seemed to think it was pretty neat!

And Gigi, who always brings extra spunk to revive us all, had the great idea of making a snowman! Seriously, my mom is a bundle of energy and so much fun!  I'm so glad she lives so close and can come and have fun and make memories with the boys!

  Jack finally conked out...right next to the snowman!

 Will had to have his picture by him also!

 With their Gigi...in the adorable outfits their Auntie Kristen and Uncle Aaron got them for Christmas!

 Will

 Jack

 Tired mommy with my adorable boys...

And a side note...
The boys have such HUGE heads (56th percentile!) that none of their cute baby hats fit them anymore!  I'm in the process of crocheting them some bigger hats that will hopefully fit for awhile!  But, I found these  toddler hats at Walmart and they fit them!  My 4 month olds!!  Yikes!  I just like to think that they are really smart with lots of brains, and that is why their heads are so bit!  I'm sure it doesn't help that Mommy and Daddy both are big headed people, so I guess that they were just bound to have big noggins!

_____

Just a couple more pics from Friday...

The boys and I went on a lunch date with my dad, and they were all dressed up in their vests and jeans! Too cute!  They look like such big boys!

Hanging with Grandpa...

A great weekend!

We had such a wonderful weekend!  It was relaxing, fun, and we got a TON of things done around the house!  Major projects checked off the list! =)

The boys (and Betsy) also had some nice rest time...

Will and Jack tried out their new jogging stroller (just for a quick ride around the living room)...

Peeking up at Mommy--too cute!

I enjoyed the wonderful flowers my hubby brought me, along with a gift card for a pedicure, just because I'd had a hard day with the boys!  Isn't he wonderful?!  And I got to get the pedicure with my mom on Sunday afternoon! So relaxing!  First pedicure I've had since the boys were born!

 And one more note about our jogging stroller...

 Justin found it at Dick's Sporting Goods.  We were not planning on buying one, but he found this one at the original price of:

For $57!!!!!!!!  Amazing Deal!  He definitely won the prize for good shopper this weekend!

We will have a lot of fun with the boys using this over the years!  Awesome find, Baby!!

Welcome Ethan & Samuel!

I just couldn't be happier!  Yesterday, one of my very best friends gave birth to identical twin boys!!  Jenny and I have been friends since 6th grade and have been through so much together. We both have had our struggles with infertility, miscarriages, and now God has blessed us both with identical twin boys within 4 months of each other!!! Isn't God amazing?!  And, on top of it all, today is Jenny's 30th birthday! Happy birthday Jenny!!  I know that this is your very best one yet! Welcome to the wonderful world of being a mommy to twin boys!  It's the BEST!!

Ethan William and Samuel John...aren't they beautiful?  And she did such a great job growing them... 6 lbs 12 oz and 6 lbs 13 oz...19.5 inches long!  Huge, beautiful, healthy babies!  Congrats Jenny and Jeff, and way to go, Jen!! You are amazing! I love you and I just can hardly wait for the day we can get all four of our little guys together!

4 months old!!

 Our babies are 4 months old today!!!

They still can't hold up their heads all the way, but are close! They were cracking us up as we took these pictures!

 Will (blue sticker) didn't want to turn his head towards Jack at all!  At least he didn't get Jack chomping on his arm like he did in last month's picture!

 Look at the chubby cheeks!  I kiss them about 100 times a day!

 Our friends Anne and Angela bought the boys these adorable socks with their initials on them when they were still in the hospital.  They are finally big enough to wear them!

I just love this one...they are both beginning to smile at things, and Justin caught Jack's smile perfectly! I just can hardly wait until they are both smiling consistently and we can catch more of them on camera!

 I could just eat these babies up!  They make my life complete and each day so wonderful!!

Jack

Will

The babies are growing up so much.  It feels like every day they are figuring out something new! This is what they are doing this month:

-They are cooing and making 'happy sounds' so much more this month.  At first we thought they were upset, but then realized that they are just liking to make noises!

-They love to look at the white spindles on our staircase.  It is the funniest thing!  They could be upset, crying, or just mellow, and when they catch a glance at them, they raise their eyebrows, calm down, and just stare and make funny faces!  I'm sure one of these days, they'll smile at them!  We are going to try to get a video soon of them watching the spindles--it's hilarious!

-They are starting to smile!!!!  As you saw in the picture of Jack above, it is absolutely the most adorable thing ever!  Their whole faces light up and their have the cutest, widest smile, with a dimple on the right side!  I can hardly wait until they smile regularly!  I can tell so many times throughout the day that they are right on the edge of a smile, but just can't quite figure it out!

-They are in size 2 diapers! We might have been able to keep them in 1s just a little bit longer, but it seemed like they were just too tight.  Plus, we had gotten a few blow-out diapers, so I moved them up!  Can't believe they are in such big diapers, especially when just 4 months ago they were in tiny ones that fit our niece's doll!!

-They love to lay on the ground and wiggle/dance!  It is so cute! They will go for quite awhile, and you can tell when they are getting tired by how they start going in slow motion!  They sleep SO well after these sessions!

-About a week and a half ago, they were 11 lbs 6 oz and 7 oz, so I'm guessing they are pretty close to 12 lbs!  We have their 4 month appointment on Tuesday, so I'll report in their new stats then. It is just wonderful that they are almost 10 pounds heavier than they were at birth!! Our chunky monkeys!

-Their hair is growing in. It is still pretty short, fine, and fuzzy, but it is adorable!  It looks like it is brown, but at times seems to have a bit of a red hue.  Their eyelashes are also getting darker, thicker, and a lot longer!

-They still aren't yet sleeping through the night, but usually go about 4-5 hours at a stretch, which is nice for us!  We are moving them to their cribs at night tonight for the very first time!  They do well sleeping in their cribs in the daytime, but haven't yet slept in their own room, away from us =(.  We are looking forward to seeing how they do!

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 And just for comparison...here they are this month:

 

And in the same place 2 months ago!  Look how much they have grown!  Especially their thighs! =)

                                     

 And here they are at 1 month...so little!

I still am so amazed that they are mine!!  Thank you Lord for my precious boys!!