Sunday, November 29, 2009

First Thanksgiving

We celebrated our first Thanksgiving as a family of four this year. Although we were dealing with some family stuff, we still had a nice day. I know they definitely didn't understand what was going on, but it was a special day for us. Last Thanksgiving we had a bit of a scare with some bleeding so we did not hesitate to stop and thank God for the two beautiful blessings we call Ethan and Lucas. I/we couldn't be more thankful for them. We have plenty to be thankful for :)

Ethan and Lucas had a cousin born on their due date, July 16. They got to hang out with Annie (Anniston) before we ate. Of course we had to take full advantage and attempt some pictures. However, put 3 babies together for a photo and you'll get eyes going in 3 different directions. Here's the best of what we got.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

5 Months

Are they 5 months already?? Yup. They turned 5 months Friday the 20th. It's just amazing how much they have grown in 5 months. They are developing into little people and it's such a blessing to watch. Every day is something new.

Ethan...He is making this new noise. It's almost like a gasp for air but it's followed by a laugh or another funny noise. He can also fake cough. At first I thought he was really coughing but then he laughed. He's done is several times now and I just crack up. I just think to myself, "How does he know to do this??" He is great at holding his head up and is so much better at sitting up. He still needs someone to hold onto him or needs something behind him to fall back on when he's done, but it's great seeing him sit up. He does not like being held in any way that doesn't let him see out. If you attempt to hold him like a baby and he's not falling asleep, he cries because he wants to be upright. He's even to the point where he tries to pull up out of the carseat when he's in it and the Bumbo too. It's like he thinks he's a big boy and is able to get up out of it himself. He's always always always kicking his legs. I mean if he was mobile, he'd been to China and back by now. He's now playing with his tongue. He's been sticking his tongue out and moving it around and pushing things out of his mouth with it. So cute. He pulls his pacy out and puts it back in his mouth. It doesn't always end up perfectly in his mouth, but he tries very hard. He grabs for things with both hands now instead of just one. He loves his jumperoo. He'd bounce away if the thing wasn't stationary. Always active. He still loves his feet. They've made it to his mouth a few times. He is always reaching for them. Unfortunately, he's still only rolled over the one time. I know he'll be doing it constantly in no time, though. He loves the rice cereal. He also loves playing in the cereal. Once the spoon comes out of his mouth, his hand goes right in. He's definitely going to be the messy one :) Tomorrow we have to take him to the ped urologist for his testosterone shot in preparation for his surgery next month (to correct his chorde (curve in his penis) and get his circumcision). Not looking forward to that but the curve has to be corrected, otherwise we'd just leave it.

Lucas....He has learned how to screech. He loves it and has become his favorite thing to do. Let me tell you, it gets loud. But it's cute because he laughs and smiles after he does it. Almost as if he's saying, "Look what I can do!" Lucas is getting much better at holding his head up. We joked around that his cheeks were so heavy he couldn't hold his head up, but he's proving us wrong. He's also getting good at sitting up. He likes the jumperoo too. He's also starting to put his hands in his mouth, but he likes holding the pacy more it seems. Hedoes like to suck his thumb periodically. It's not a frequent thing so I'm not worried about a bad habit. It's cute too. He loves eating the cereal and usually doesn't make much of a mess at all when he's eating. He'd rather eat it than waste it :)

He is great at standing up. We barely have to hold on. He just stiffens up and is so strong. He and James play Airplane and he does the same thing, stiffens up. He likes being on his belly and pushing up. He almost looks like a fish out of water sometimes the way he rocks around. I love to watch him! He is full of personality but has a very serious face that he makes a lot. It's funny because he has so much hair and when he makes that face he looks like an old man :)

They are doing so well and I'm just so proud. I try very hard to not compare the two with what they accomplish. Just because they are twins doesn't mean they will acheive things at the same time. I don't want to overreact or worry when one does something but the other hasn't yet. They'll get the hang of things when they're ready. Happy 5 Months babies!!

Monday, November 16, 2009

My Little Monkey Man

For the last two weeks, Ethan has been FASCINATED by his feet. They are the coolest things to him. He doesn't need any toys as long as he can reach his toes. Now let me tell you about his toes. They are the longest toes I've ever seen on a baby. EVER. Their nursery is decorated in monkeys and I found it fitting because of his feet to call him my little monkey man. Well, two nights ago he decided to prove to me that this was in fact the perfect nickname for him.

That's right! My son is holding his bottle with his feet. He is holding his bottle with two hands and two feet. His feet were wrapped around the bottle. Definitely my little monkey man!!

Thursday, November 12, 2009

A Big Day

Today was a day of firsts at our house. It's my dad's birthday so it's his first birthday as a Papaw. (we made him two photo collages-one for each boy-and he loved them. also going to make them for our house) The boys tried rice cereal for the first time. It was so funny. I got their first attempt on camera. Haven't had a chance to upload it yet but as soon as I do, I will post it. Ethan took to it immediately. He was even opening his mouth as the spoon got closer. It was adorable. He had a few spits, but overall he did so well with it. Lucas on the other hand, didn't really care for it. He even pierced his lips together to prevent me from attempting to get it in. We tried again later and he was more receptive to it. I think a few more tries and he'll get it, he just needs time to figure out what's going on.

Ethan rolled over tonight. I'm not sure if I've blogged about Lucas rolling over but he has, twice, from belly to back. The first time I missed it but I was front & center for the second roll. I had the boys on a blanket laying on their backs taking a break from tummy time and I walked away to check on the cornbread that was in the oven. I walked back and Ethan was laying on his belly off the blanket sucking on his fingers and having a good ol time. I just couldn't believe it. He's been rolling onto his side a lot but hasn't been able to get all the way over. I'm not sure what his motivation was to make it all the way over, but I was happy he did it, even if I missed it. So now the boys have both rolled over, we just need to work on it becoming a frequent event. Speaking of rolling over, Ethan slept on his side for the first time today. I'm not going to lie, it made me kind of nervous. We still swaddle at night. We're working on breaking them of it. Right now we're doing one arm out at night, both arms out but legs in when we put them down after their first am bottle and during the day no swaddle. We've been doing no swaddle for naps for a couple of weeks now and so far they've both slept on their backs. That is until today. He didn't roll over onto his face so it wasn't a big deal, but I am a worrier so I worried a little.

It was a very productive day here. The boys had their firsts and I had mine. I love being crafty. I like doing things on my own and like being taught things others can do. Every year I love doing Christmas crafts. It has become a tradition over the last few years to do Christmas crafts with my bff Angie. This year was no different. We got some very inexpensive wreaths and decided to decorate them ourselves. Something new for both of us. I wanted mine very simple because my intention is to put a big candle in the hole and make it into a center piece for our kitchen table. I liked how it turned out and until I start decorating and am ready to put it on the table, it's hanging up on the front of our basement door. I also got baby's first Christmas stockings for the boys yesterday. Since this will be their only first Christmas, I want to make sure we do it up nicely. I don't want to look back and say, "man I wish I would've done that". I want to make them a baby's first Christmas ornament that is personalized for each of them. One of the many projects I have in mind over the next month and a half. Stay tuned for pictures :)

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Wordless Wednesday




Veteran's Day


To all of those who have, who are and who will serve to protect our country, THANK YOU!!

Monday, November 9, 2009

Maybe Not

Again today, the boys took a nice long nap. I was so happy. It gave me enough time to coordinate with the ladies I'll be attending New Moon with. It also gave me enough time to purchase my tickets!! That's right, we're going to see New Moon at midnight. I'm super excited. I know for many, it was not a great book or the least favorite of the series. I liked it a lot and loved the Italy section.

As for my sweet Lucas, he has an ear infection in both ears :( He hasn't had a fever at all, just the congestion. I was kind of shocked when she told me just because other than looking kind of sad, he's not shown any signs of feeling bad. We just have to keep flushing his nose and give him an antibiotic. Poor little guy. I'm just glad to know he should be feeling better soon, although he has been as smiles and giggles today. My little trooper!

Sunday, November 8, 2009

A Fluke?

For the last 3 to 4 weeks, the boys didn't want to nap. They'd take a 20-30 minute nap here and there but overall, they just weren't sleeping during the day. They were also not sleeping at the same time. I'd get one down and by the time I got the other one down, his brother was waking up. They were sleeping through the night (have been for quite a while) so I wasn't able to complain too much. To be honest it has been a little rough (a lot rough some days) when they don't want to sleep but cry because they are so tired. Well, yesterday we went to a friend's wedding and they slept all the way there, through the whole wedding and all the way to the reception cite. This shocked me because lately as soon as the car stops they've been waking up. Lucas has had some nasal congestion so he hasn't been sleeping well or at all at night so I figured this is why he was so tired. However, today I was home alone during the afternoon and they started their I'm tired cry. I put them down for a nap within minutes of each other. Twenty minutes past and I was just waiting for them to wake up, but they didn't. An hour and a half later they woke up. I couldn't believe it. They actually had a real good nap. I brought them downstairs and they both went back to sleep about another 20-30 minutes. I am hoping it's not a fluke but I guess we'll see how tomorrow goes.

Poor Lucas. I feel so bad for the little guy. He started out stuffy a few days ago. The first night, I just propped him up on my arm to keep his head somewhat elevated and that worked. The next night we made sure we didn't forget to turn the humidifier on. Again, he woke up in the middle of the night stuffy and having a hard time breathing. Again, I propped him up on my arm. Well, after 3 nights of this we decided to try saline drops. They didn't seem to be doing the trick until we realized we weren't using enough of them to cause them to flush out the "gunk" through the opposite nostril. Once we started doing that he's been breathing much better. The sad thing is as of today he has a cough. No fever thankfully. Since James & I both have sinus issues so we knew they probably would too. He'll be going to visit the dr tomorrow. I just feel awful every time he coughs. Some of it is just the drainage, but I'm sure some of it is some congestion in his chest. I wish I could make it better for him.

I still need to post Halloween pictures and a few others that are cute, I just haven't taken the time to transfer them from my camera.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

One Year Ago

I must stop today and take a break from the busyness that is this week and remember November 5, 2008. I still remember that day as if it was just last week. It was a Wednesday. I just knew (with a lot of hope and peace inside) that this was going to be the day that our dreams came true. The day our prayers were answered. On lunch that day I bought a dollar tree test and as soon as I clocked out for the day, I rushed to the bathroom anxious and excited. I remember those were the longest 3 minutes of my life and I doubt I even waited 3 minutes to look at it. When I did look I saw those two wonderful pink lines. Two lines that would forever change my life/our lives in the best way possible.


I remember looking at them and just shaking. Tears. There were so many tears of incredible and complete joy. I remember wanting to tell James over the phone but holding it in because I wanted to surprise him. I bought a card on the way home, wrote daddy on the front and taped it to the front door. When I saw him pull in, I grabbed my camera and waited with the video on for him to open the door. I didn't think I'd be capturing the "f-bomb" but I guess in that moment, that was his true reaction. That was the happiest moment of our lives....

Fast forward 9 months, the happiest moment of our lives-June 20, 2009. Ethan Michael and Lucas Russell came in to this world, in to our lives. We became parents to the most precious little baby boys.
Every day is a new adventure. Every day I love them more and more. My life has a new purpose. I love being a mother more than I could've imagined. When I walk in their room in the mornings and see them smiling up at me, it's as if the whole world is a better place. Being a mother is truly the best job and privilege in the world. I thank God every day for the wonderful blessing He has given James & I. Those two beautiful pink lines led us to two beautiful baby boys. This is our life now and it is wonderful.