Vibrating teether and more.

My Mom and I went shopping for the girls January 1st at Babies R Us and picked up a few last minute things I needed before their arrival. Little did I know they would be born the next day or how sick I was! I picked up two of these star shaped teethers. I loved that they vibrated and the texture on the star was really cool too. I didn't realize at the time they would be too bulky and heavy for my babies when their first teeth came in at five months but now at nine months they are able to lift and manage it just fine.
Adia loves chewing on it and making it vibrate. Rasa, who's got dexterity like an adult, loves to flip it over and spin the rattle using her thumb. Every time she picks it up she spins it, bites it and sings! Every single time. The first time she started doing it Royce and I, at the exact same time, turned and looked at each other dumbfounded.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnayPhNf_Ss

What will I do with this one?

Rasa is normally the "thinker" she studies everything that she touches. She is a good girl! Adia forces me to keep every square inch of my floor spotless because she not only crawls over every inch of it but she tastes it too (I WILL get over my germaphobia). Over the past week Adia's been pushing herself up against the baby gate that keeps the dogs from getting into the living room when I can't supervise every moment of their interaction. Today she made a clean break for the kitchen and did it quietly enough for me to not even hear her. The only reason I knew she was in there is because I heard Lucy's kennel door clasp clanking! I was less than five feet away from her playing with Rasa. How will I keep this one contained?!

Something's ajar!

Oh my...


The motive!

Wind wind go away!!

Lucy fetch!

There she goes!


We walk the girls in those front carriers (the kind that strap the baby to the front of your body) every night of the week. We've been doing it since the temps were above 40 degrees this past spring and we've made a lot of friends in the neighborhood we didn't even know were there before. People stop us almost every night to comment on how much the girls have grown or to tell us how they like seeing us walking with them. We have a double stroller that I use when I walk with the girls during the day but I always felt that since they were twins they never get enough holding time so that's why we started walking with them in the carriers. We go about 2 miles a night and the girls LOVE being in them and to look around, sleep or just listen and it gives Royce and I a chance to talk and catch up. It's now becoming quite a sight to see since they're not little babies anymore. It's amazing my back isn't killing me! I don't know what we'll do when there too big for it anymore. I'll miss it terribly.

When it's too cold or wet to walk outside we bring the girls to Target or somewhere indoors to walk. Tonight we needed groceries anyway (having them strapped to you means no fussing in the cart!) so we ended up at Target instead of walking in the 30 mph winds. Before hand I was zoning out on the chair half awake while Royce entertained the girls. Both girls LOVE Lucy as I have said before and Lucy loves playing fetch so it worked out to everyone's benefit. It was happy and relaxing and reminded me a little of what our lives were like before the girls when Royce and I would sit and relax in the living room and just do whatever we felt like; chat or laugh and toss a ball for Lucy. It's neat that now we have these two extra little people in our living room that are a part of it, a part of us.

Welcome Fall

Our favorite time of the year! I love the cooler weather and the changing leaves. The smell of the rain mixed with the fallen leaves on the ground and that feeling of cool air flooding your lungs - I LOVE FALL! It's also exciting as I'm now more confident getting both the girls out and about by myself. Rasa has grown out of her colic and now likes the stroller (HUGE bonus!) and Adia continues to be easy and content in nearly every situation. I'm venturing out of my comfort zone of the two mile radius of our house! Royce and I also have plans to take a trip to the apple orchard in a couple weeks and Halloween is sure to be fun now that we have two little dolls to dress up!

We're already coming up on 9 months and it just seems impossible that it's already been that long. I still tear up thinking about my babies in the isolates in Children's Special Care Nursery. Holding their tiny bodies for the first time and the feeling of what it is to be a Mom coming so quickly and naturally. My heart on the outside of my body in two separate but whole pieces. Also thinking about the young Police Officer in Stillwater who died last month from HELLP while pregnant and giving birth to her son. It reminds me how lucky and blessed I was to make it through a severe case of HELLP all the while knowing I'm in the hands of someone much greater than myself and that there is a plan for me.

With the change in seasons I embrace the changes in me and my family and look forward to the days and months ahead for us.

For more information on HELLP Syndrome visit:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HELLP_syndrome

The newborn days were easier

People ask me if now that the girls are getting older are things getting easier and sometimes I don't feel like having to explain so I smile and say yes but really the answer is um no actually. Things were easy when they were newborns. The twins were born six weeks early, spent one week exactly in the Special Care Nursery at Children's (aka Mommy and Daddy boot camp) and when we brought them home all they did was eat and sleep. Now I did have a freak out at 6 weeks that I wasn't going to maintain my milk supply and during a brief mutiny bought a gigantic can of formula (that still sits unopened in my kitchen cupboard) but that was the worst of it as I can recall. My house was clean, my baby books were up to date and I had five to seven hundred pictures of them doing the exact same thing in different outfits everyday. Granted Royce and I were alternating two hour sleeping shifts around the clock but it wasn't all that horrible. Of course when you've only been in sleep deprivation for two weeks or so how bad can it be (coming from a Mom who 8.5 months later still has yet to get more than 4 hours at a time).

Now the girls move, they demand, they have specific wants which are different from each other but at the same time. They fight already and pull toys out of each others hands - one is happy and the other screams. They kick each other in the faces and Adia is constantly trying to roll over Rasa (I do not understand this?!). Rasa grabs Adia's head and licks and bites her. Don't get me wrong it's a riot (and a zoo) over here but it can get exhausting and most days I feel like I'm running around in circles and should be wearing one of those black and white striped shirts with a whistle in my mouth. I do love that feeling you get when you sit down and it feels SO good because you've earned it.

The beauty of them now is watching their love grow for each other. When one is upset the other can calm her with one glance. They love to be close and sleep next to each other. They wake each other up to play and Royce and I will hear giggles on the monitor and know exactly what they're up to. When one is laughing the other delights in her joy. It's something I know only Mom's of twins get to experience so I know I'm blessed and it really is special to see and share in.

Two little babies, four tiny feet, four busy hands, two perfect noses and more hugs kisses than this Momma can count.


Adia shirtless, they were in cute matching dresses for all but 5 minutes before I needed to throw hers in the wash again.

Hide & Seek

Yesterday Royce called me into the living room and said "see Rasa?" Yes I saw her sitting quietly playing with toys on the floor like the good little girl she is. Then he said, "where is Adia?!". I looked - where is Adia?!

Here she was:


She was SO proud to be under there - how she crawled under it and over the lip at the bottom no one knows but it was her new little playhouse! She screamed at me when I had to pull her out!



So Rasa doesn't feel left out - she likes to hide too! Her hiding spots are a little more obvious but she does show her silly side.

Adia Potato

Adia in her jumparoo - she LOVES this thing.

I started calling Adia my potato when she was about three months old and starting to get really chubby and round (so cute!). She's got such personality and she would always look at me smiling with her chubby cheeks. My Mom told me there was a song about a little potato and we've been singing it to the girls ever since. We call Adia our little potato and Rasa our sweet potato.


My busy little potato!!



To view larger on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ellhT2kMG3o

8 months already!

Time flies - everyone says it does but until you have your own children you don't realize just how quickly it goes by. When I look at my tiny c-section scar I can't believe these two big girls were once tiny enough to slip right through.
To say we are having so much fun is a huge understatement. This is amazing. The girls love toys and to explore. Both of them are obsessed with our little dog Lucy. They love their Daddy and light up every evening the second he walks through the door. Gramma Carol comes in third in their list of favorites. Both girls know her well and Rasa especially loves being in her arms. I'm constantly saying how blessed we are, partly because I feel so incredibly blessed that I can hardly comprehend it!



Adia loves to creep and crawl and lick everything!!! She smiles constantly and loves people and dogs. She also demands what she wants and throws her arms up and down if she doesn't get what she wants right away! Colors and textures are her current fixation. She has no fear and amazes me. She doesn't like to sit still even for a hug but at the end of the day when I rock her to sleep she's all mine and all I can do is stare at her in admiration and kiss her cheeks.




Rasa loves to sit up and toss toys so she can reach for them and sit herself up again. She studies each one and notices every tiny detail of everything. She loves and needs to be held close and hugged. She'll sit on my lap for hours if I let her and just be. Whenever Adia is around she's happy and laughs and smiles when Adia does. I can already see Rasa's big heart and even though you have to work for her trust (she's painfully shy) she will make it worth your time. She is the sweetest baby I've ever encountered.

Some things will get easier and somethings will get harder but nothing I do is without reward.
Thank heaven for little girls.