Merry Christmas AND Happy 8 Month Birthday!!

It's been a BUSY, yet mostly wonderful, couple weeks. I cannot believe the girls are 8 months old. It makes me sooo sad how fast time is going but I am loving each & every new thing they do each day. (Especially the big smiles & giggles!)

1st off, let me tell about the worst part of our holiday. The night before X-Mas Eve, we had fed the girls & were changing them to put them to bed. I was changing Sara & she started gasping for air & couldn't breathe. She also choked a little & gagged in between gasps. My instant reaction was to start patting her on the back in case she was choking (which is what you're not suppose to do according to the Infant CPR training we took that I apparently forgot!). After what seemed like forever, Jeff told me to call 911. Despite her gasping, she was acting pretty normal. As I went outside to look for the firemen & direct them to our place, I could hear the fire engine sirens coming from the station. It was then that I panicked- they were coming to MY house for MY daughter! I was terrified. 6 firemen/paramedics came in & assessed her. Fortunately, she had begun breathing normally again so they just watched her for a while. We think she may have gotten an air bubble caught in her windpipe. The men were all Dads & thought the girls were so cute & were amazed at how mellow they both were. They both were just staring at all of them & I laughed & said "They must already like boys." Thank God she's been fine ever since & I pray we never have to make that phone call again. Ever!!

On Christmas Eve, Jeff's sister Cherie & her hubby Keith came down & we had a great time as always. The girls love them & it was so nice to stay home for the 1st time in 7 years. Here's some pics:

Poor Jeff's outnumbered!! hee hee

Their favorite part of their presents

Miss Sara showin off two of her SEVEN teeth!!

Siena loving playing with the box

Me & My Girls

Uncle Keith & Siena

Auntie Cherie & Sara

Christmas Day was wonderful. The girls (and us!) were spoiled rotten by their Aunt, Uncle & Grandpa. (I'm sure one day they'll love all the toys & books they got & not just the bows & boxes they came in.) After opening presents at home, we went to my parents & had our traditional breakfast. My Mom makes THE best egg casserole. Who am I kidding- it's mainly cheese!! :-) She also made a new one this year & everyone loved it! Jake & Josh helped me pass out the presents & although we "cut back" this year, there still seemed like a ton since there were 2 more kids in the family! My Grandma & Aunt came for the 1st time in about 4 years & it was wonderful having them there. My Grandma will be 90 this March & she was beyond thrilled to spend X-Mas with her children, grandchildren & great-grandchildren. It was such a special day for everyone & I count my blessing every day to be a part of such an incredible family. More pics:

My cuties

The 2 other most important men in my life

The 2 youngest most important men in my life

My sweet Grandma. She's always laughing!

Jake LOVES the girls. He's always wanting to hold them, kiss them & talk to them.

Sara with her stocking

Siena not to happy during stocking time. (Maybe cuz she knew about the crap Grandpa picks out! lol)

Siena lovin her Grandma

My Aunt sures knows a lot about kids- she had SEVEN!!

And I forgot!!! The biggest news is that Sara is now crawling! Boy, are we in for it. ;-) I'll post a video soon, but I'm exhausted & need some sleep. Wishing you all a Happy New Year & thanks for readin. Xoxo

Early Christmas Presents!

S&S can hold their own bottles!!! This is our 2nd favorite milestone next to sleeping thru the night. (You were so right Kyrstyn!) They still need a bit of assistance cuz they don't get that they have to tilt it up to get more but they're getting better all the time. It helps us so much- especially when we're feeding them alone. Today I gave them their bottles in their highchairs & went to the kitchen & washed a couple dishes! It's sooo nice!! Pic from today:

It's been really busy lately. During my free time, I've been baking a ton, X-Mas shopping, wrapping, decorating, cooking dinner, making baby food & not to mention taking care of 2 very busy babies. They are getting so big so fast. Siena has 2 teeth now, Sara has 4 & #5 is about to pop through. Sara is now able to get up to a sitting position very easily. When I lay her down on the ground or in her crib, she pops right up! Now that she has a different view of the world, she's lovin it. Here's how I found her last week 2 minutes after I put her to bed.

"Weeeeee!!!"

She's also not quite "crawling" but she can get sure get where she wants to go. It's so cute, but boy does she wanna cause trouble now! lol Here she is trying to get to a toy & not really caring what (or WHO!) is in her way!

Siena is such a little cutie. She loves to talk. After we feed them at 6am (after them sleeping since 7pm! :-) Don't hate me people!), we put them back to bed. Siena just lays in her crib & talks away. Most of the time she falls back to sleep for a little bit (thank God for me), but she's so good about letting Mommy sleep a little more. Like I said- most of the time. Her little high pitch squeels are a little hard to ignore when she's right down the hall. lol It's adorable. Here's a cute one of her & those gorgeous eyes!!

I also have to include our 1st X-Mas card & my favorite outtakes.

The Final Product

Poor Siena toppled over.

They were "done" with their photo session.

More soon..... Have a good rest of your week!

The Girls Havin Fun!

Here's a couple videos of the girls playin.

Sara- she loves to bang things around, hence her new nickname "Brutus" from her Aunt Cherie. (You can hear Siena in the background with her high-pitched squeeling. This is part of her "talking" when she's in a good mood.)

Siena- she loves to jump!

Our Thanksgiving Weekend......

was so nice. We were so worried how the girls would be on their 1st roadtrip & they were perfect! Not one peep out of them the whole way there. I did climb in back once to hang out with them a bit, but other than that, I got to relax & read magazines, which I haven't done in hmmm.... 7 months??? ;-) We brought the girls to meet their Great Grandma Evelyn & they definitely brought a smile to her face. We also went over to visit an old family friend, Doris. She's 92 yrs. old & used to take care of Jeff's Mom & her twin brother. She was thrilled to meet the "new twins". She's a sweet, feisty woman & I just loved her! Here's a couple pics:

Jeff's Grandma

Sweet Doris

We had a nice day on Thanksgiving. Jeff got to play his annual football game with his buddies. (It's kinda funny when he always comes home whining about how sore he is. hee hee) We sat around the rest of the day eating, drinking, & plain 'ol relaxing. And a special thanks to Marie for dinner. Marie Callender's, that is. lol (You didn't think I was gonna cook dinner with 2- 7 month olds, did you?!)

Auntie Cherie playing w/her nieces. (And no, Cherie, you cannot have me arrested for posting this picture. ;-) )

Grandpa helpin out feeding the girls

About to begin the feast....

What I was hoping would be our new family pic. Eh- don't love.

Then, on Saturday, we celebrated again with my family. It was a beautiful day so we relaxed outside while we snacked & Dad & I had his famous margies. Scott was a bit late cuz he was buying his new car! I had to stop & think how blessed we are- the economy is terrible & within a couple months, my Mom, brother AND I all got new cars. :-) Dinner was great, as always, and we played a few games before going home. I hope all of you reading had a wonderful weekend as well.

The Incredible Patriarchs

My Baby & Me

Uncle Scott with Siena

Jeff & Sleepy Sara before bed (I love the way she curls he finger around her nose when she sucks her thumb.)

I Got a New Car!!!!!

Whoo Hoo! I'm soooo excited. We were deciding between the Acura TSX (their smallest sedan) & the Toyota Camry (which I've already had for 9 yrs!). I wasn't sure Acura would accept our lowball offer & I'd end up getting the Camry but they did. Of course, a little bit more than we offered. ;-) It's soooo worth it. It has so many fun things in it! The coolest things? When I put the car in reverse, a tv screen turns on a camera so you can watch what you're backing into. It also has a memory of whoever is driving & how far back their seat is & where they keep their mirrors. (It always drives me nuts when Jeff moves my seat fwd & changes my mirrors! lol) It's also got a navigation system & satellite radio & works on voice command. Technology is AMAZING!!! Thanks to my sweet hubby for working hard & buying it for me! Here we are:

Last Fri. I was swinging Sara upside down & when she was laughing, I saw something in her mouth. It was a new tooth! It's funny cuz it's her 2nd one over on the top. She doesn't even have her front ones yet, so Jeff & I are teasing that she's gonna look like a Jack O'Lantern. :-) I'm assuming the teething is why she's been a bit cranky & just wanting to be held. She's also getting up on all fours & rocking a bit & I swear I think she could be crawling in a few weeks.

Siena is doing great @ sitting up & doesn't scream anymore @ tummy time. She actually likes playing down there for a while with her toys. (Something I never thought I'd see.) She smiles a ton & laughs at the funniest things. I can't get over how gorgeous her eyes are getting. They're kinda hazel & she's got dark LONG lashes. So pretty.

We're leaving in the am to go visit Jeff's family for Thanksgiving. It's going to be our 2nd year without Sallie during the holidays & this year will be especially hard cuz of the girls. But we know she's there in spirit drinking lots of wine & yelling @ me for taking her picture. ;-) We'll be celebrating on Saturday with my family & I'm very much looking forward to it. Here's a couple pics from the week.

Playing on their blanket from Grandma Harriet

In their I Luv NY shirts that Mom & Grandma Harriet got them.

Notice Siena is all smiles?? Probably cuz she knows she's gonna eat! haha

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Love from our family to yours. Xoxo

Sicknesses & Sitters!!

Thank God they weren't very sick at all. Last week Sara had a fever of 103.4. We still have no idea why, as it was gone the next day but it was still scary for us. She even fell asleep in Jeff's arms as he was walking her around comforting her. Of course there I was with the camera! ;-)

Then, Jeff caught a cold & gave it to Siena. (You can imagine how bad he felt.) She got a mild version of it & only got a stuffy nose & was a little sneezy. Besides that, she was acting completely normal. In fact, she's finally able to lift her chubby little legs & suck on her toes. lol Again, not funwhen I'm trying to feed 2 babies & keep them as clean as possible.

Both of the girls have gotten pretty good at sitting up. They still fall over after a while but it's exciting nonetheless.

Sara

Siena- makin a cute funny face

Here's a couple pics just for fun:

Sara showin off her 2 teeth!

This is how I found Siena this morning. I forgot to strap her in & went upstairs to get Sara & finish getting ready. At least she wasn't mad!! haha

I'm a Proud Mommy!!

Siena had her 6 month developmental evaluation today. Most babies that spend time in the NICU have follow ups to make sure they're developing correctly. She did sooo good! In everything they checked her on, she was between 5 1/2 & 7 month levels. :-) They still want her to continue her Physical Therapy for her neck but she's doing great with that too. She can finally roll over from her back to her belly. The Dr. said this would be hard for her cuz it's more difficult to go from a flat surface to her big round belly! haha I've also been practicing her sitting up & she's getting stronger every day. Less than 2 weeks ago, she would face-plant right away & now she can stay up for a while before she topples over. (Which makes her laugh.) We also met with a nutritionist. The last notes they had said she was only 8 lbs. So, when I nuded her up to put her on the scale, the woman said "Well, I don't think we have to worry about this one!!" lol I also felt very good when I was asked about their diet & she was thrilled that I make their baby food myself. Although it does take some time (much of the little spare time I have), but I'm proud that I can be doing something really good for them. :-) Finally... the Dr's want to see her again in July to follow up again, but said she looked great!

As we've pretty much known since Week 1, Sara is gonna give us a run for our money. This girl is too smart for her own good & she "wants to go places", as her Grandma would say. She's already starting to "scoot"- I put her down in one spot & come back a minute later & she's about 3 feet away. Hence, why we're starting to baby-proof this weekend. ;-)

Not much else to report. Jeff's job is going well (Thank God!) and we've just been laying low & looking forward to the girls' 1st holidays. We'll be going to Jeff's family for T-Giving, but staying here this X-Mas. Can't wait!! Hope you all are doing well!! Much love & thanks for readin! Here's a couple pics

It was FINALLY chilly enough to wear their cute sweatshirts. (Thanks Auntie Kristin!)

I also finally got to put them in Aunt Kimmy's outfits & they were too small. But cute still!!

Growin Girls & Their 1st Halloween

S&S had their 6 month appt. last week & their Dr. couldn't believe how big they both were! She hadn't seen them since their 3 month appt. & was especially thrilled to see Siena, or as she called her, "The Chunky Monkey". :-) They sadly had 3 shots each & since my Mom was out of town, thank God my friend Erin helped me out. Here's some pics & their current stats. Mom & I had gotten their 6 month professional pics done, as well as in their Halloween costumes.

Siena- 17 1/2 lbs. , 25 inches long

Sara- 16 1/2 lbs., 26 inches long

Even tho the girls are far too young for trick or treating, I still had to dress them up! My little ladybugs were too cute for words. We took them to the Wood's annual block party & had a great time.

The girls also got to wear a 2nd costume for fun. I was so excited when I found it in the garage cuz it was their cousin Josh's! Since there was only one, I put them each in it, took pictures & then had them super-imposed together. My sweet little bumble bees.

On a TOTALLY separate topic..... I have to comment on the historical event that took place tonight. Whether you chose for Barack Obama to be our president or not, he is & we all need to unite & pray for our country to finally start to repair itself. (My girls are countin on it.) I'm proud to be an American, no matter what!!!!! :-)