Back to Work

Today is my last day of maternity leave.  I've been off of work since the end of March, and I'm very fortunate to have been able to take so much time off.  Tomorrow I have to get up, get ready for work, and say goodbye to my girls for the day.  I knew this day was coming, but it's really hard.  I'm going to miss them so much, but I get to look forward to these little cuties waiting for me when I get home.

Wei-Yand started his paternity leave three weeks ago so we could spend some time as a family before I went back to work.  We've had a wonderful time.  The girls snuggled with daddy.

We were silly after bath time.

We practiced tummy time (and Tannah started to roll over every once in while).

I got in as much snuggle time as possible.

Wei-Yand got used to taking care of the girls all day long, since he'll be on his own with them for nine weeks. 

I couldn't have asked for a better end to my maternity leave.  I'm glad Wei-Yand is going to be staying home with the girls for a while, so I don't have to deal with daycare on top of going back to work.  We can put that off for a while.  Tomorrow is going to be hard.

Firecrackers!

Independence day was pretty low key for us this year.  We went to the park in the evening, and we watched the fireworks on tv. 

We also took some cute pictures.

There were actually shorts that went with those tops, but they didn't last very long on either girl.

Summerfest

We decided to go to Summerfest while Wei-Yand's sister was visiting (this really shows how far behind I am in blogging!).  Since Summerfest tickets for adults are pretty pricey, and we knew we wouldn't be spending a whole lot of time there with five kids on a hot day, we decided to take advantage of one of the free ticket promotions.  The first 1500 people to bring three non-perishable food items got in free.  We had to wait in line for a while, but we were in the first 1500.

Joshua and Harper in line

Ashley with Tannah

The couple standing in line behind us had twins.  They told us that things get easier at around age 4 - not exactly the most promising news.

When we got inside, the boys played in the splash pad,





 Ashley got her hair spray painted hot pink,

Tannah chilled in the stroller,

Harper did too,

and Matthew, Joshua, and Ashley got balloon animals.



We decided that it would be a good idea to carry one of the girls so that we could have one seat of the double stroller open for Ashley in case she got tired.  It was really sunny that day, so this was our system for keeping sun of the baby who was being worn.

It was a really nice time, and we got to eat some tasty Summerfest food!

Cousins!

Wei-Yand's sister and her kids came to visit us over the 4th of July weekend.  We went to a really nice park by our house, went to Summerfest, and had a nice time just hanging out.  Can you handle the cuteness of these five kids?

Tannah, Matthew, Ashley, Harper, and Joshua

Ashley told me, "They will call me Jie-Jie, and I will call them Ashley".  I don't know that she's quite ready to give up her status as Mei-Mei (little sister). 

Ashley and her Mei-Meis



Aunt Hui-Pin with Ashley and Harper

Aunt Hui-Pin with Ashley and Tannah

Time Flies...

What a difference three months can make.

April

July

While I think these newest pictures are great, I don't think the quality is anywhere close to those of their newborn pictures which were taken by my wedding photographer.  It really reinforces the fact that I need to get really nice pictures of the girls taken at least once per year.  Luckily, I know two great photographers with very reasonable prices for their quality of work.

First Trip to the Zoo!

When our good friends (who have three-year old twins) called to let us know they were coming to town to go to the zoo, we readily agreed to join them.  They live in the town where Wei-Yand and I met, and although it's only an hour and a half away, we don't get to see them as often as I would like.  I miss our weekly Survivor dates, although those would be more difficult now that we all have kids:)

Raegan and Tannah



Wei-Yand and Tannah

Just look at those cheeks!  I could kiss them all day long.

Shawnee and Tannah

If you're noticing a lack of pictures of Harper, that would be because she was napping.

But she did wake up enough to see the penguins.



Tannah was awake for the penguins too.

I also didn't get any pictures of Raegan and Shawnee's kids because they were being shy that day.  Taking pictures of kids is hard work!

It was basically just a walk for the girls, although we did point out and talk about all of the animals that we saw.  We bought a membership that is good for one year, so we hope to go back on a regular basis.  I know the girls will enjoy it more and more as they get older.

I should also note that these pictures were taken using my point and shoot camera.  There is a definite quality difference between this and the DSLR that I normally use at home.  I'm going to have to start lugging the DSLR with me on our adventures.

Three Month Update

I read a few other blogs of some MoMs (Moms of Multiples) and some other April Moms.  I noticed in one of the blogs that the MoM did a post every month about what her daughters were doing at that time.  I thought that was a great idea and a good way to remember since time is flying, and I'm still a little sleep deprived.  So, here the girls are at three months:

At three months:

• The girls are generally happy babies.  They smile a lot and occasionally laugh, although there can be a thin line between laughter and crying.
• They eat every 2-3 hours during the day.
• Nights are still hit or miss.  On a good night, they sleep from about 8 pm to 2 am, wake up to eat, and go back to sleep until 6ish.  On a not-so-good night, they are up every 2-3 hours to eat, or they (mainly Harper) refuse to go back to sleep after waking up.
• They both like the activity mat.  They lay on their backs and kick, kick, kick at the hanging toys.
•  We use the swing on a frequent basis to encourage naps of longer than 20-30 minutes.
• They like sitting in their bumbo chairs and can both bear weight on their legs.
• The girls coo up a storm (to us and to each other!).  They say Ahh, Oooh, Gah, and Agoo.  They love it when we repeat the sounds that they make.
• Harper uses a pacifier only when she's sleepy.  Tannah won't take a pacifier, but sucks ferociously on her fingers.
• Tannah's eyes have turned dark brown, but Harper's are still blue.

These little ladies are absolute delights.  I love them more every single day!