Happy Boys!

I was finally able to get some really great videos of the boys, showing how happy and giggly they are!  Enjoy!

Will was giggling at me and cracking us both up!

When Justin's parents left the other day, Jack was really telling Mammaw a sweet goodbye!

Here are the boys playing with their play table together

Yesterday we were playing on the floor and they were just so cute!

Pappaw captured this sweet picture of Will

Mommy and her boys...Will on left

Mammaw and the boys

They were so cute with just their onesies on--aren't they getting so big?! (Will on left)

In person, their white shirts don't look this see through!  You can see their diapers!  They are just so much fun!

This has become typical...Jack is our mover, and turns himself sideways just about everywhere he is!  Will didn't seem to mind too much that he was getting kicked a bit! They are just all over each other--hands in each other's faces...I guess when you share a womb, you don't have to have much personal space!

When I was feeding the boys, Will was making such cute faces, so I had to keep shooting pictures! (Note from the picture above, both of their shirts say "I'm the cutest".  Too funny for identical twins!)

Loving his fingers lately!

Oh I love my boys!  They never cease to amaze me as I watch them begin to figure things out!  Jack is definitely becoming our mover, and Will is becoming our talker.  They're both blowing bubbles, and just in the last few days, Jack has been sticking his tongue out in the cutest ways.  We think there must be teeth starting to work on coming up!  I can hardly believe they are only 4 days shy of 6 months old!!!

Swaddle Free!

(This post was written 2 days ago, but I've been so busy, I haven't been able to post it! More pictures and posts coming up...stay tuned for many more cute pictures!)


Well... we did it!  The boys are officially swaddle free! Two nights ago, they actually slept all night long without their swaddles!  Yay!  Last night, not so much, but we have definitely made a lot of progress in the last week!  Now my only frustration is that their daytime naps have gone from 1 1/2 to 2 hour naps swaddled, to only 30-45 minutes un-swaddled! =(  I'm guessing this is just something that will take time to get back to a normal nap schedule, but it has made for some fussier, tired babies, and a mommy who can't get much done!  Oh well!  Only for a season, and I'd rather have them sleep all night long so I can sleep too!

Jack asleep yesterday...he usually sleeps with his arms straight  out...imagine an airplane.  But of course, he had a different pose for the picture!

Will sound asleep during a nap today.

Will enjoying the table that the Moores gave him...yummy!

A sleepy Jack and Mommy

Jack playing with the toys...they are starting to reach for things!

Pictures galore!

So sorry that it has been 8 whole days since I posted pictures of the boys! I had my pictures filed under February 2010, and it took me days to figure out why it wasn't letting me see my February 2011 to load them on blogger!  Silly me!  Now I have it all reorganized and I have a bunch of pictures for you to see!!  Plus, there are a few videos at the bottom of both boys rolling over!!

Last night the boys sat in their high chairs and watched me cook dinner.  They actually stayed entertained for about 20 minutes.  I'm not sure why they look kind of orange in this pictures. They definitely aren't in real life! =) (Will on left)

The boys are finally big enough to fit into some of the personalized clothing that friends and family got for them!  These little shirts with their names were from our friends the Calks.  Thanks Cristina!! The boys look so cute in them!

My parents got them these adorable little sleepers with their names on them too.  Will thought it was pretty nice, but Jack wasn't really in the mood for a photo shoot! =(

Today I met my friend Lauren at a park not too far from our houses, and we had so much fun walking our boys around the lake! Her son Jack is the same age as my boys' adjusted age, so they are all at about the same developmental place.  The weather has been gorgeous here the last few days, but it was pretty windy this morning, so I bundled them up for our walk.  They conked out in the first few minutes and had a pretty nice nap!

Lauren also gave me the idea to put them in their bumbos and let them look at the things on their play mat sitting up.  They seemed to like it, and sat for about 5-6 minutes.  They usually only last about a minute or two in their bumbos, so this was progress!  Both boys have just begun reaching for things in the last few days.  They aren't super coordinated, but it is sure fun watching them figure out that they can use their hands! (For something other than sucking on!)

Jack looking intently at his yellow doggy...

Will was looking at the baby in the mirror, but looked over at me for a cute picture!

The boys' cousin Ryley is a girl scout, so of course, we had to order some Girl Scout cookies!!  They arrived today, and as you can see, they boys were so excited about them!  Mommy and Daddy are going to enjoy them a whole lot!

Jack

Will

Betsy thought she needed to help the boys sit in their bumbos, and pose for a picture!

I bought the boys these little animals at Target. They are flat and have crinkly material instead of stuffing in the stomach, a rattle in the head, and teethers on the feet.  Up until now, they haven't grabbed anything so I thought these would be good to start on for holding practice!

Will and his elephant

Jack hiding behind his doggy

The boys got some very nice Valentine's cards, and also a Baby Einstein video from their cousin Ryley! They had fun watching it!

A few pics from tummy time on the boppys the other day...

Will was having a good time!

Then Will had to take a rest and Jack had his turn to hold his head up!  They are getting so strong!

This picture was actually from the day the boys went to the doctor (my post 8 days ago), and I thought it was so cute of my dad with the boys!  

We're breaking the boys of their swaddles during sleeping time cold turkey, and they are doing okay. The whole family is a little exhausted! We've been at it since 3:45am yesterday morning, and they are definitely doing better today!  They just have such flailing arms, that it is hard for them to stay asleep during the day for more than about 45 minutes at a stretch. Normally they have at least 2 two-hour naps a day! They did well last night and slept from 9:30pm-3am, then from 3:30-7am!  We're determined for them to be able to sleep without the swaddles that they have had since the NICU, so send a few extra prayers up for us while we get them through the next few days!

And now for the grand finale...both boys are now able to roll over from their front to back!!  Jack has done it off and on for almost a month, but until today, Will hadn't been able to do it yet.  My dad was over today, and Will finally showed his stuff!  He rolled over both directions!!  And Jack was on fire too!  He rolled over 6 times in a row (because mommy wanted to get it all on camera)!!

(Please ignore the Mommy's silly voices =)

Jackson rolling over

William rolling over

Hope you enjoyed all the pics!  I promise it won't be 8 days without pictures again!

We're breaking the boys of their swaddles during sleeping time cold turkey, and they are doing okay.  We've been at it since 3:45am yesterday morning, and they are definitely doing better today!  They just have such flailing arms, that it is hard for them to stay asleep more than about 45 minutes at a stretch.  They did well last night and slept from 9:30pm-3am, then from 3:30-7am!  We're determined for them to be able to sleep without the swaddles that they have had since the NICU, so send a few extra prayers up for us while we get them through the next few days!

Big boys!!

(For some reason, my computer isn't let me upload my pictures right now, so this will have to be just a plain old word update on the boys. =(  I promise, as soon as I can fix it, more pics will be up!)

Today we had to make a little stop at the pediatrician's office for Mr. Jack. He had been having yellowish/greenish goop coming out of his right eye since last night, so I called and they had us bring him in.  We all three went, and my dad was so nice to take his lunch break and come be an extra set of cuddling arms.  Jack got a clean bill of health--no ear infection. Most likely a clogged tear duct, but chance that there is some infection, so we now get to do the fun job of eye drops twice a day, and tear duct massage!  Fun!

A fun positive of this appointment was that the boys got another weigh in...we have BIG boys!!  William is now 15 pounds 11 oz and Jack is 15 pounds 7 oz!!!  I knew I was getting some great muscles!  They are just growing and growing and growing!

I broke out the exersaucer today for something else to entertain babies with!  Since Jack was asleep, Will got to be the first to try it for a few minutes, and was a fan for just about that long.  They still aren't sitting up independently, so an extra blanket behind him helped him to sit up a little more. I can see fun times playing in this new toy!  (I don't know why I didn't take a picture of him during his first experience--bummer! Next time!)

All night!!!

The boys slept ALL NIGHT LONG last night!!!  They went down at 10, and didn't wake up until 7am...8 WHOLE HOURS!!!  We are so amazed and proud of our little guys!!!

We woke up this morning and realized it and were so happy!  And then 10 minutes later, our power went out!  Not good on a day that the high is only going to be 20.  Thankfully Justin was still home and we packed up all our stuff and he drove me over to my parent's house for the day.  I'm not too fond of icy roads, which they are right now.

This was a chunk of ice Justin got off the driveway!!  

The schools have even been cancelled for the past two days, and wouldn't surprise me if they were out again tomorrow.  But that is okay because the boys and I are safely at my parent's warm house and it will be a fun day!

We'll see if they continue the sleeping trend tonight!

(Don't miss the boys' 5 month blog that I posted late last night....keep scrolling down!)

5 Months Old!!

The boys are 5 months old today!!!  I just can't believe it!  They are getting so big and very alert, and so much stinking fun!  Sorry I haven't posted in a few days...I've actually had a blog sitting waiting to be posted, but I didn't get it up!  So I just added in those pictures into today's post!  Enjoy!

I was greeted by this sweet smile from my Will when he woke up this morning.  I could just live on their big, gummy grins!!

The boys weren't too smiley for their 5 month picture shoot this afternoon, but I think we still got some really cute pictures of them! (Will with blue sticker)

A slight grin from Will, but most of the time they were staring at me making a fool of myself trying to get them to smile!! =)

They love 'standing'!

Jack

Will

They are getting better at sitting up than they were last month!

These are the things the boys are doing this month:

--Smiling a lot and figuring out how to giggle!  The boys have huge smiles that light up their entire face! They are super smiley first thing in the morning and after a good nap. Since I'm with them all day, they really respond to my voice and smile at me all the time.  It is just the best thing ever!

--Sleeping better at night!  The boys have really established a good schedule!  We feed them their last bottle around 8pm, and they usually sleep from about 9pm to 3ish.  After a quick bottle, they are back to sleep until 7:30 or so.  They are sleeping really well in their cribs, and we are getting nice long stretches of sleep. Heaven!  We know eventually they'll sleep all night long, but right now we are sure enjoying getting more sleep!

--Holding their heads up pretty well! Both of the boys are doing well getting their heads up during tummy time.  They don't much like tummy time, but are getting stronger with each session! 

Will was really working hard and Jack was taking a break

Had to show the backside of these outfits...too cute!  Ducky booties! And rolly-poly thighs!  Thanks Amy for these adorable outfits!

--Enjoying the ceiling fan!  The boys, especially Will, love watching the ceiling fan, even if it is not on! It cracks us up when they stare at it and just smile and coo!  We are realizing this month how much better the boys' sight is.  They are focusing on things that are farther away and just look all around the room to take it all in! 

Dark picture, but he wouldn't stop looking at the fan at my parent's house!

--Staring at Betsy!  It is so funny to watch them get a glimpse of Betsy.  Sometimes she stays still long enough for them to focus on her, and many times they just stare and smile!  Betsy still won't stay near them too long, but she sure has to know where they are at all times!  She sniffs where they were laying when we've picked them up, and often she'll walk into their room and sniff around to find them.  I guess she just has to know where her babies are!

There you are Jack!

I love the boys, Mom, but I really don't want to sit here for a picture!!

 --They are both still in size 2 diapers, but have grown a lot!  They are both about 15 pounds now, and are definitely a good workout for mommy's arms!

--They still haven't 'discovered' each other yet.  I put them down with their heads right next to each other so they could look at each other.  But they had no clue the other was even there, 2 inches from their face, because they wouldn't stop staring at me! =) I'm not sure when the recognition will happen, but it will be so adorable to see them playing with each other!

--They have continued to be 100% healthy!!  Praise the Lord!  They've had a few more issues with their reflux this month, but they haven't gotten any colds, ear infections, and especially no RSV!!  We have until April until we're out of the RSV season (and house arrest), but January and February are the peak of the season.  So we're doing well!



We just love these little miracles, and enjoy watching every step of their lives.  Part of me feels sad that they are getting so big already, starting to want a little bit of independence, and not my little itty-bitty babies anymore. But, I guess like all parents, I am absolutely loving seing them develop, change, and figure out new things!

Looking up at Daddy...

Sweet Will...he is so super expressive with his eyes and eyebrows!  As he studies things, his eyebrows go way up and he looks so intently!  My parents say that it looks just like the expressions I used to make when I was a baby!  Too funny!

We love life with our boys!!

Cutest video of Justin talking with Will!