Thankful

I have so much to be thankful for this year, but reasons number one and two are right here.

They have brought so much joy to so many people's lives.  It's pretty much impossible not to fall in love with them.  Since we're starting with this picture, I'm also thankful that I've found a wonderful group of moms to go through this incredible journey with me.  I've met some in Milwaukee and some online, and they provide great support.  In fact, we received the outfits that the girls wore in the picture above as part of a gift exchange.  We also got some adorable Christmas onesies, so stay tuned for those.

I'm thankful for my husband, who is an amazing father and who keeps our household running.  Without him, the dishes would be piled up in the sink and no one would have clean clothes.  He stays up washing bottles after I've gone to bed at night.  I know, I have a keeper.

I'm thankful that I have a loving, supportive family who makes an effort to make our lives easier all the time.  They all came to spend Thanksgiving with us so we wouldn't have to travel.  And they let me sleep in this morning.

Four Generations

We were able to get a picture of me, the girls, my dad, and my grandma while we were in Michigan.  I love this picture.

Wedding Showers

The girls and I traveled to Michigan for my sister's wedding shower last weekend.  We left right from daycare on Thursday and met my sister and her fiance in Chicago.  We stopped to feed the girls and got them ready for bed, then we drove the rest of the way to Michigan.  The girls were little angels in the car.  They basically slept the entire way to Michigan.  They were also so well behaved at the shower.  Several guests commented that they wouldn't have even known that the girls were there because they were so well behaved.  Those of us who know the girls know that they were a little overwhelmed by all of the people, and they were quieter than normal because of that.  They were back to their happy selves after some of the guests left.

The girls got passed around from person to person without complaint all afternoon.

Things That Make Me Happy

Finding clothes that the girls wore when they were teeny in bigger sizes!  It's always a little sad for me when it's time to pack up clothes that are too small for the girls.  They are growing so quickly, and they will never fit into those clothes again.  I've cried while packing up clothes on more than one occasion. 

I've managed to find a few outfits that the girls wore as bitty babies in 9 and 12 month sizes.  It makes me very happy, but also serves as a good reminder to enjoy every day with them.  They grow so fast!

Baby Camo- Then

Baby Camo - Now

 

Ladybugs Then

Ladybugs Now

Monkeys Then

Monkeys Now*

*I really thought that this was the same outfit that we had in a newborn size, but apparently I was wrong.  Oh well, still cute!

Seven Months!

The girls are seven months old today!  And obviously not getting any easier to photograph:(  But still adorable.  So, so adorable!

Harper wasn't happy right from the get-go, and Tannah decided it was more fun to crumple/eat her sticker as soon and I put it on her.

This is pretty much par for the course with seven-month twins:)

As I say every month, the girls are so much fun right now!  They are becoming more vocal and more active every day.  Here's a little of what's going on at seven months:

• Tannah can creep across the floor to get what she wants.  Harper can get up on her hands and knees and will probably be following Tannah across the floor any day.
• These girls have the most beautiful laughs ever, and they love when we rub our faces against their bellies, necks, and toes.  They laugh and laugh.
• They generally eat two meals of solids every day.  It's not unusual for Tannah to refuse her midday meal at daycare.  She's very independent, and she likes to feed herself.  They both love peas, bananas, and pears.
• They wear size 3 diapers and size 6 month, 9 month, or 6-12 month clothes.
• They go to sleep between 7-7:30 pm, and they wake up between 6-6:30.  Tannah often wakes up around 5, but will go back to sleep.  They both generally get up once a night to eat, although sometimes it's twice, and Harper sometimes sleeps through the night.
• They love to play peek-a-boo, to chew on Sophie the Giraffe, to play with their Say Please Tea Pot, their piano, and the exersaucer and jumperoo.
• They're starting to mix some consonant sounds in with their babble, but still no words.
• They love getting and "giving" kisses.

It's crazy how quickly they're changing these days.  It's so much fun to see, but part of me wants them to just stay my little babies forever.  They are such sweethearts!

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Lots of Firsts

The girls are at an exciting age where we have lots of "firsts" happening.  I feel like I need to be very good about documenting everything because I'm still pretty tired all the time, so the chance of me remembering exact (or even approximate)dates in a month or a year is pretty unlikely.

The girls have both really been enjoying swimming lessons.  Unfortunately, we don't have any pictures because we're both in the water with the girls, but we sing songs, and the girls splash around in the pool.  I was very pleased that Tannah hasn't had any problems whatsoever.  This might be because we get to go in the small pool, which is very well heated:)

Tannah's first tooth (bottom front left) arrived on October 28.  Tooth number two arrived the next day.  She actually handled the teething process very well.  We didn't even notice that anything new was going on until I spotted the tooth in her mouth.  Let's hope that trend continues for future teething times.  I think I might see two teeth getting ready to pop through Harper's gums, but I can't be certain quite yet.

Please excuse the dirty face and bib.  She was in the middle of eating her carrots.

On Friday night, I was in the kitchen and Wei-Yand was playing with the girls, when he called out, "is she crawling"?  I ran into the living room, and while I don't know if we can quite consider it crawling yet, Tannah was scooting herself across the floor by pulling her legs up underneath her body and lunging forward.  In just the past few days, she's getting faster and starting to get up on all fours.  Mobile babies are going to create all sorts of new (but fun!) challenges for us.  We're just waiting for the day that Harper starts crawling and they go in opposite directions.  we put our baby gate up by our stairs a few weeks ago, so we're prepared for the inevitable.

Harper has surpassed Tannah as our "good sleeper".  She has been sleeping through the night 2-3 nights each week, while Tannah is still getting up at least once every night.

Harper is also our "good eater".  She'll eat anything we give her, and it's so adorable to see her open her mouth when she's ready to eat.  Tannah is a little pickier, but loves to feed herself.  The trick is finding food that is soft enough for her to actually bite but that doesn't turn to mush when she grabs it.

Mommy's Little Pumpkins

We didn't do any pumpking carving this year (I don't know how people with infants find time to do anything like that, but  I know that many do).  I did buy the girls each an individual mini pumpkin though.  That counts for something right?  Sorry girls, we'll carve pumpkins next year:)

Harper wasn't sure about holding two pumpkins.  That's a lot of work for a little baby.

I love these girls so much!