Santa Claus is Coming to Town...

While in Colorado we took the opportunity to take the girls to see Santa Claus for the first time! It was a lot of fun--the girls weren't so sure about this big man in the red suit, but we were able to snap a fairly good picture. So, Merry Christmas (a little early)! :)

Thanksgiving in Colorado

For Thanksgiving this year we flew to Colorado and spent over a week at Gammy and Papa's! It was the first flight with the girls and everything went fairly smoothly. We had a toooon of stuff to go through at security, but we made it and everyone was patient with us, thank goodness. The girls slept for most of both flights and didn't have any problems with lift off. The only bummer is that we can't sit on the same side of a row because there is only one extra oxygen mask per side. And on our flight back I had to move because they had too many babies in laps and not enough infant life vests. But, it worked out okay because I had an empty seat next to me and could nurse without feeling awkward.

Lyla with Gammy when we went out to eat for breakfast one morning

Great Grandma giving Lyla her bottle

Great Aunt Teresa and Kendal checking each other out

Great Grandma with the girls

Sydney, my cousin, so their second cousin? holding Lyla. I was 14 when Syd was born and I remember holding her and loving her just as much as she did with the girls while they visited. It was so cute to see her with the girls--she is going to be one good mommy when she is older!

While we had everyone there we wanted to make sure we got 4th generation pictures for both sides. On my dad's side Kendal and Lyla are the first great grandchildren (I'm the first grandchild) and on my mom's side the girls are number 4&5. And it was the first time great grandmas and great grandpa were meeting the girls.

Uncle Austin with the girls! Kendal and Lyla just looooved Austin--they would look at him and just smile away. This week was the first time Austin really got to see the girls because he came to Utah while the girls were still in the hospital--so he held Kendal there, but everything is SO different when they aren't hooked up to monitors, no nurses around, you can see them anytime you want for however long you want, you don't have to ask to hold them, and they are bigger.

Cousin Ryker with Kendal. Ryker was so good with the girls! He played with them, held them, and even held Kendal while trying to take a nap (which is no small feat, she is a difficult little bug to get to nap).

The girls looooved their great grandparents, great aunt and uncle, and cousins! It was SO much fun to see all the family and to introduce them to Kendal and Lyla. The girls loved all the attention and were soooo worn out each night. They don't want to miss anything during the day, which led to some meltdowns at night, but then they would sleep through a lot of the night. 

It was a fabulous trip and we were so sad to leave. It went by wayyy too quick. We miss everyone and thank you for making the trip to come see the girls!

6 months!

 Kendal and Lyla are 6 months old!...pretend I did this 2 weeks ago.... Can you believe half a year has gone by? I cannot. It seems like yesterday that I was going to the hospital thinking I was overreacting about my contractions and then hearing my baby girls cries 4 hours later. It has been a crazy 6 months, but I wouldn't change it for anything. We have truly been blessed with two healthy, smart, cute, wonderful daughters.

 

Lyla Jane

  11 lbs. 8 oz. (.57%)

23.5 inches (1.83%)

She is catching up!! Yay!

Lyla...

-is quick to smile

-is liking tummy time more and more

-loves having her feet played with (I play peek a boo with her feet and that can get her giggling)

-won't look at the person that is holding her, it is like she is purposefully avoiding you

-holds on to objects, hits objects above her, and reaches for things to grab

-is reallllly close to sitting

-looooves to talk and talk (the other day she was talking to herself in the mirror in the car and started laughing--so cute!)

Kendal Mae

12 lbs. 5 1/2 oz. (2.1%)

24.65 inches (16.32%)

 

Kendal...

-has taken her screaming to a whole new level, basically a shriek

-loves to play with her feet

-sticks out her tongue a lot

-slobbering a ton

-can sit by herself for a very short time, but like the picture above, is mostly hunched over to the ground

-looooves toys with buttons to push (like the remote despite my liking, and some new toys that make noise when a button is pushed)

-rolled over from back to stomach on the floor (11/27)

-loooves her jumperoo

How cute are these hats and shirts??

-both girls received their 6 month shots and it was the first time that they felt icky afterwards. Broke my heart to see them so sad. They both are also getting synagis, a shot that gives them RSV antibodies. Since they were early preemies they are very susceptible to illnesses and RSV is very popular here. The girls got approved since they were born before 32 weeks and were on ventilators. So we have to go to the doctor once a month for a shot. And the doctor has basically told us to not go anywhere (church, store, public places), which is almost impossible since I have to get errands done, but we shall see how the winter goes. 

- we have decided to start giving them solids starting in January (adjusted age 6 months)

-We are now basically doing 75% breastfeeding and 25% formula. The girls were starting to get frustrated while nursing during the day when no more milk was coming out and they were hungry. So I switched to feeding one on both sides and giving the other a bottle during the day. It has made for some happier babies, happier mommy, and longer space between feeding--instead of 1 1/2 hrs it is now about 2 1/2.

-everywhere we go people think they are identical--but we just think they look sooo different. And their personalities are definitely different. They even have different cries and screams.

-the girls still adore each other. Holding hands more often, looking and smiling at each other more.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

5 months!

 Our little girls are 5 months old! They are getting so big and doing new things daily--it is just amazing how much they have changed in 5 months. I am loving every minute. 

 

 Lyla Jane

This was the first month that we haven't had to go to the doctor! Yipee--the doctor is happy with their progress and weight gain so we are just going for the normal appointments that term babies go to during their first year! But, the Welcome Baby lady came and she does their weights. Lyla is 10 lbs on the dot! 

Lyla...

-has discovered her hands and loves to munch on them

-is starting to enjoy tummy time more and can hold her head up better

-kicks and kicks and kicks those little legs

-has started to laugh and it is SO cute

-loves to stiffen her body, which makes it harder to have her sit on our lap. We think it's due to her acid reflux which stresses her out. We are hoping some medicine will help. 

-communicates through grunts

-has started grabbing/hitting at things underneath the play gym thing

-favorite place is laying on daddy's chest still

-eyes are starting to change from the bright blue

 

 

 Kendal Mae

Kendal weighs 11 lbs on the dot! Kendal didn't gain as much weight as Lyla last month--so maybe Lyla will catch up one of these days!

Kendal...

-puts her hands together and sucks on them all the time

-is verrrry slobbery

-communicates through screaming

-started talking like Lyla with her lips and tongue like she is trying to say real words

-hasn't laughed since the first two times, but does do a sort of laugh that is different then the giggles we heard at first

-favorite place is sitting on someone's lap facing out so she can see the world

-loves to use her legs to push herself away from things

-loves kisses and will turn towards the kiss and open her mouth when in the mood

-is grabbing/hitting things above her

Lyla and Kendal:

-what makes them laugh: pushing their legs up to their belly, singing the wheels on the bus, and daddy doing weird things

-sleeping: the girls are fabulous nighttime sleepers, but daytime naps are beginning to be a struggle--which I think may be my fault. The girls go down at night after their first fortified bottle of the day which is anywhere between 8:30-10. They are sleeping in the same crib at the foot of our bed and fall asleep right away without crying and sometimes without even a binkie, but they are ALWAYS swaddled. They then sleep almost 12 hours, waking up once in the middle for their second fortified bottle of the day. Most of the time they sleep about 5 hours before eating again, but sometimes they sleep up to 8 hours (one time it was 9 1/2) before waking up! Like I said, they are fabulous nighttime sleepers. During the day is another story. They both don't just go down for a nap...they have to have their binkie and they have to be held until almost asleep. They are still young enough that I am not "spoiling" them, but I am planning to start on figuring out a better nap schedule. They usually wake up for the day, eat, and play for a couple hours. Then they sleep for 1/2 hour or so before eating again. Then our routine is eat, play, sleep for 1/2-1 hour, eat, repeat. I want to work towards 2-3 longer naps during the day in their cribs, which would allow me to get more done.

-eating: The girls are still breastfeeding and they get anywhere from 3-5 oz. of formula a day. They eat every 2 hours still, which is exhausting, but when I am just at home it is okay. I tandem feed them, so feedings are pretty fast.

-the girls have been noticing each other for awhile--they smile and try to talk to the other while they look at everything but them--but on 10/19 they noticed each other at the same time and just smiled at one another--melted my heart. :)

-both girls love books and songs. I like to read to them at least once a day and sing songs with them. Leigh is always singing to them these made up songs with strange rhymes--and they LOVE it.

-they are still wearing 0-3 month clothes and size 1 diapers. The girls didn't gain as much weight as I thought in the past month. I thought we would have moved on to 3-6 month clothes by November, but it doesn't look like it yet.

-the girls are laid in bed in a ying-yang position with their feet side by side. When they wake up in the middle of the night and in the morning they are usually turned around and in all sorts of strange positions. They sure are sneaky.

We just love and adore these girls. They are perfect and wonderful!

Vacation: Colorado

This past weekend we went on road trip #2 for the girls! We had tons of fun at my parent's house in Colorado. We spent the weekend relaxing, watching the Cardinals play, going to a super yummy BBQ place, and to the pumpkin patch! The girls loved all the attention and love! My Aunt Glenda came out the same day from Missouri--it was great to see her and to introduce her to the girls! 

Proud Papa with Kendal and Lyla

 Evening walk--Lyla with Great Aunt Glenda

All the girls

Gammy with Kendal

 Pumpkin Patch!!!

Lyla and Mommy

 Kendal with Papa

 Aunt Glenda with Lyla and Papa with Kendal

The girls with their pumpkins--as you can tell they were thrilled to be there! :) 

 Naptime!

Leigh...in my mom's apron (don't ask)...carving a pumpkin

 The finished products! Leigh's is the fancy one on the bottom...and mine is the one with the lopsided smile--not planned, just poor carving skills. 

Thanks Gammy and Papa for having us! We are so excited for Thanksgiving when we will be there for a while week!

4 month pictures!!

 We got professional pictures of the girls today...finally! I was super worried that we wouldn't get any good ones, but we got sooo many that it is going to be hard to choose which ones to put in frames. The girls did so well! I really wanted pictures of the girls in their blessing dresses and they just look so beautiful! Next month we are going back to get family pictures :) 

ENJOY!

Kendal

Lyla

Pink shoes!

Lyla Bean

Kendal Bendal