Author Archive for gwen

Coralling the Chaos

My baby girls are nine months old now. I feel like every month that goes by I say, “This is definitely my favorite age”. I wonder if there will be a point in which I’ll wish they were still a previous age over the current one, but at this point they are learning and doing new things everyday. It’s so fun to learn more about them and watch as they become more active, more expressive, more opinionated and just so very different. The best thing has been watching them play together. Wherever Emmie goes, Ainsley is not far behind. Whatever Ainsley has Emmie is sure to be interested in it. Emmie is far more adventurous and active, seeking to destroy anything in her path. Ainsley is more focused and aware of those around her. She likes to focus on one object and examine how it works. Emmie is far to busy for such things.

During the first few weeks after the girls began crawling, it was relatively easy to build a barricade that kept them in and out of places. However, now they are much to strong and smart to be fooled by such things, they either go through it or over it, so we invested in the Ultimate Baby Jail. So far it has been great. It allows them freedom to roam around, make a mess, and I don’t have to worry if they are into something they shouldn’t be or if they’re attempting to climb into the fireplace. Now if only I could keep them from pulling each other’s hair and using the other as a stepping stool.

Looking on Unapprovingly Technicolor Fun Baby Jail Up and Over

Aunt Maddy

We love our Aunt Maddy! She came to spend Christmas with us. She brought us lots of fun gifts. New puzzles, blocks, books and clothes. We looked so cute in our first pair of trousers!

She is lots of fun and lets us do things Mom says no to. We get to fly in the air, pull the dogs tail and chase the Cat! We hope she comes to visit more often.

Pretty Tousers Mugging with Mad Dawg Cheese

We wish you a Merry Christmas

Family Christmas 2007

…… and a Happy New Year!!!

Girls on the Move

Crawling Girl Girls Ainsley

It’s been a long month recovering from colds, stuffy noses and ear infections, but I’m happy to report everyone is finally on the mend. The past few weeks have been full of some exciting times. Both girls are beginning to crawl. Emberlyn has her army crawl down pat and apparently has many places she needs to be ASAP. That girl is FAST. She is also mischievous and is only interested in the things that are a. Not baby proofed and b. Dangerous. But if you’ve ever spent ten minutes with Emmie, that should not surprise you. She finds just about everything hilarious and will always take a brief pause from her very busy life to pose for a picture.

Ainsley is also exploring the world from all fours. However she is content to inspect one location or object for more than .005 seconds, unlike her counterpart. She is a Mommas girl and does not appreciate it when I vanish into thin air (a.k.a. leave the room.) She enjoys being held and would rather I not have any other objectives in life. She is not as generous with her smiles or laughs, but when they make an appearance, they melt your heart.

Both girls are very chatty. Emberlyn is often heard squealing with excitement at the sight of the cat or dog and sings a little song to herself as she falls asleep. Ainsley loves to be part of the conversation and interjects with “EEaahh?? Eaaaahh!!” It’s quite cute.

Cheerios are a new obsession. I came home from a workout the other morning and was greeted by Mike asking if you could either overdose on cheerios or be sent into some kind of Cheerio comatose.

So all is well here. We look forward to the first Christmas. Although it is guaranteed that the boxes and wrapping paper will be a far bigger hit than whatever is hidden inside.

I look forward to the New Year and cannot even begin to imagine the fun and excitement that lies ahead. Each new day is truly a treasure.

A Girl’s First Love

For the first three months of her life Ainsley spent most of her days crying. She was a cranky little bugger. One day I was off on a (rare) shopping trip alone. I stopped into Nordstrom’s and stubble upon a fur Little Giraffe blankie. I picked it up, and could not put it down. It was the softest thing ever! I immediately thought of my poor suffering Ainsley at home and how much she’d love a snuggly blanket. So in a weak moment “the budget” went out the window and the blankie made it’s way into my shopping bag.When I arrived home Ainsley was in her swing, crying. Mike said she’d been upset the whole time I was gone. The poor girl. I told Mike that I made a little purchase but that I’d be returning it soon. When I told him the price, he said, “Um, yeah I think you’ll be returning that.”
As Ainsley continued to cry, I went over and handed her the new blanket. She immediately took it, rubbed it on her face and fell asleep.
Mike’s immediate response was “ I don’t care how much that blanket cost. This silence is priceless.”
The blanket has not left Ainsley’s side since. It comforts her any circumstance. It’s by far the best over indulgent purchase I’ve ever made.

Comfort Lovie peeking

Mondays

Mike works Sundays, so He gets Mondays off. We usually wake up late (well, as late as the girls let us.) Eat breakfast together and put the girls down for naps. Then I get to steal away to the gym for a nice break. We spend the rest of the day around the house. Completing some chores here and there but mostly just being a family.

Today, however, was not particularly enjoyable. Both girls woke up barley able to breathe. mucous pouring from their noses and spent most the day on the verge of miserable. As well as Mike and I both began the day complaining of sore throats which only worsened as the day progressed.

I’m still thankful today was Monday. Being outnumbered by two sick 7 months old doesn’t sound fun at all. At least Daddy was here to lend an extra hand or two. Here’s hoping they wake-up in a better mood tomorrow.

Are you ready for some Football?

I’ve known Mike for just over 7 years now. In all that time he has never been a “sports guy”. With the exception of an occasional Pro Volleyball match, I’d never even seen him watch a game on TV. I’ve seen this as a blessing as I’ve never had to share the remote control.

This was all true until recently… Mike and some guys at worked started a fantasy football league. This has changed the way we do Sunday’s around here drastically. We now watch all the games and track the players using “Stat Tracker”. At first I was not so sure of this new hobby. But it has actually turned out to be quite fun. We have the families over and everyone gets into the games. My mom and Mike spend hours shouting at the TV and I try to comfort the babies who are a bit nervous about all the excitement.

Mike has held onto first place since early on. My hope is he continues to stay there. He suffered his second loss this past Sunday. Let’s just say this fun little hobby is not so fun if you spend Sunday evening with a guy who Fantasy team did not live up to the Fantasy that day.

Daylight Savings

In years past I’ve always looked forward to “falling back” It means an extra hour of sleep before Church, well that is what it meant last year anyway. This year we have babies. Babies are not enlightened about the extra hour of sleep given to us this one night a year. And of course on this longest day of the year, Emberlyn is sick. She has spent a majority of the day whining or screaming and has not slept longer than an hour at a time. This means that extra hour, will now make what promises to be a very looong night, the quite possibly the longest sleepless night of my life.

* Update- Very Little Sleep from 9:00pm to 2:30am. She then slept from 2:30 till 6:30am (7:30 am without accounting for the time change.) That’s a new record of 5 hours!! Way to go Emmie!!

Goofy Girl

A day late…

Seeing as how we are terrible at updating our blog I’ve decided to participate in NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month)

I’m going to post an entry everyday of November! (better late than never: )

Today I took the girls to the park to meet up with some of our friends in our twin group. We were the youngest of the four sets ( the others were around 9 months) I could see the girls being inspired to crawl as they watched the other kids roam from blanket to blanket. This is a milestone I’m not quite sure how I feel about yet. With each one they’ve reached so far it’s only enhanced our relationship, the first smile, first laugh, rolling over. But CRAWLING!! YIKES!!! I’m excited for them to be able to explore the world in a new way, to be able to get to things they want to see. However, this will mean that when I put them down and walk away, they will not necessarily be there when I return! It means baby proofing and worrying if there are choking hazards. I suppose it also means one step closer to Toddler-hood, which I can not wait for! Do you have any idea how fun it will be to watch these two little beings grow into little people with thoughts and dreams and questions.. oh no so many questions to come.. the “whys” times two!

Sidenote: Emmie’s first tooth popped up yesterday!

6 months old!

Woah! It’s already 6 months since our little girls arrived?!? It does not seem possible! My word how they’ve grown. We have enjoyed each day and have learned much in a short time. There is quite a learning curve being first time parents and having twins, luckily we adjust easily and learn quickly. I apologize I have not done a better job at documenting their growth so far. So here’s the latest in bullet points:
Muppet Ainsley Francine - Ainsy Fran - Ainse - Ainse-a-belly - Miss Ainsley:
Torticolis doing well. Tilt and rotation much improved- still going to weekly PT appts
Serious and skeptical
Great sleeper
Entertains herself
Can often be found playing by herself in her crib
Very strong, can scoot across the floor on arms and knees
Two bottom teeth right before 6 months
Loves her blankie
Loves to suck her two middle fingers which makes a hang loose hand-sign
Has the cutest little chuckle
Laughs when kissed on her neck
Easily distracted
Rarely Fussy
Not a cuddler
Will put anything you give her directly into her mouth
A sweet girl with lots of smiles
Has the longest eyelashes
Loves solid food especially bananas and squash
Finally growing some peach-fuzz back on that bald little head
Loves bath time and splashing her timid sister
Babbles constantly
Happy Girl Emberlyn Florence- Emmie Flo- Em- Ember- Goofy- Drama Queen:
Is either deliriously happy or hopping mad
Extremist Personality
Has the biggest open mouth grin
Loves to laugh especially when playing with daddy
Horrible sleeper at night who constantly has us fetching her Binky
Cannot keep her arms or legs still, is in constant motion, loosey goosey
Has fun putting her feet in her mouth
Has pretty bright blue eyes and lots of hair
Not into the solid foods, will tolerate sweet potato
Is completely goofy and has fun doing just about anything
Hates getting dressed
Needs input from those around her to be entertained
Enjoys her jumperoo
Often sings songs throughout the day
Finally learned to roll over a few days shy of three months
Will not nap unless in her crib
Loves to be out and about and see all the people
Always hams it up for the camera
Ah...Mom caught us!! The girls
Love to play with their shoes
Are often holding hands
Like to examine each others faces
Want to play with whatever the other one has
Get upset and tense if the other one is crying
The girls are different from each other and both are so special to us. They have filled this past half year with joy, stress, happiness and love. I look forward to a future of getting to know each of them and learning their personalities.