my 3 "kids" ...

Here are my 3 kids trying out one of their Christmas gifts. Our house is beginning to look like a daycare! Which, as Alan pointed out, it really is a daycare!! The girls got tons of new toys and clothes. We also started rice cereal today. We got it on video, of course! Hannah did great and got mad if I didn't feed it to her fast enough. Meredith wasn't too sure about eating off of a spoon.

Hannah in the jumperoo

Meredith in the jumperoo

Cooper in the jumperoo

big girls!

Grammy & Granddaddy Finley gave us highchairs for Christmas (we cheated and put them together early). Now we are all ready to start solid foods in a few weeks.

Meredith-just chillin'

I never imagined THIS ...
Miss Hannah practicing sitting in the big girl chair

Miss Meredith is all smiles!

We had our 5 month appointment and are doing well! They didn't like the shots as usual! They both weighed the same at 11 pounds and 4 ounces. They are back off the growth curve at less than 5% but the doc says it is just fine that they are growing well. It just means that they can't wear any of the cute 3-6 month holiday clothes that I got for them! As always, I can't resist taking pictures ... here are some from this week!

I try to get them to lie flat ... happily ... because Meredith is SO close to rolling back to belly ... they don't like it though ... they want to sit and stand (supported, of course) like big girls! They got fussy lying on their backs and needed pacifiers.

Tummy time is another thing we are working hard on!

Hi sister! They are starting to smile and coo at each other all the time. It is the cutest thing!

OK, OK ...

Here are two actually cute ones that I decided not to use for the card ...

Meredith looking quite demure

Hannah with her big grin on

Try to get a Christmas Card Photo ...

So,today I attempted to snap a few (hundred) photos in hopes of getting a good one for the Christmas Card ... hmmm ... maybe next time! I actually did get a few good ones ... but you will have to wait to see them!!

Someone ended up needing a paci ... Meredith wants to show off her new favorite passtime ... drooling ... though she was very, very sweet for the photo session and I am tempted to only put her on the card ... I didn't really mean that =)
I know this is gross ... but just tops off how my photo session went!! Thanks, Hannah, for the action shot!

Looking everywhere EXCEPT at Mommy with the camera ... this is one of about 10 that I have like this =)

Tummy Time!

I have decided to use the girls obsession with the TV to my advantage! They will do tummy time willingly as long as they can see the TV! They are getting better but I still have work to do! We were put to shame by a friend's twins the other day at Gymboree and they are 3 weeks younger!

Meredith watching TV on her tummy

Hannah watching TV on her tummy
I went in to the girls room because Hannah had woken and Meredith was in her crib sucking her thumb in her sleep. It is the first time she found it on her own and kept it in her mouth! So cute, I chanced taking a picture. It isn't a very good quality, because it was low morning light and I wasn't going to chance using the flash!

a fun comparison ...

On the left, almost 4 months ... on the right, 1 month ... it is amazing how much they change!

Finally fit!

Our 'going home from the hospital' outfits (0 month size) finally fit at almost 4 months old!

Hannah in white, Meredith in pink

Lovin my sis ...

Wearing our cute shirts!

Meredith in 'if you think I am cute' and Hannah in 'twice as nice.'

... and one more

...for some reason it wouldn't let me upload this one last night. Just wanted to have one of the girls together. We had a pretty fussy day, so I didn't get a great one of both girls ...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

We didn't do much for Halloween, but I can never resist a photo op!

Meredith

Hannah

Strolling ...

All bundled up for our first ride in the jog stroller ... sitting up like big girls!

Three months old!

The girls are three months old! I can hardly believe it! Here are some of the latest!

Meredith & Hannah

Hannah left & Meredith right

Meredith left & Hannah right

sleeping "through" the night!

The girls have started doing pretty well at night ... we have a routine of eat, bathtime, eat again, sleep ... and they have been going to sleep around 8-8:30 ... as opposed to midnight ... 1AM ... after hours of fussing ... we are so glad that the constant fussing has eased! They have been sleeping pretty consistantly 6 or 7 hours in a row ... two nights ago, Hannah went 9 hours and last night Meredith went 8 ... if only they would do that at the same time, we would be in business!

Meredith ... laid back!

Hannah rooting on Meredith's arm =)
squeaky clean! (Meredith ... look at those CHEEKS!)

first time in the Bumbo (Hannah)

I am "THAT" Mom ...

I am that Mom who takes WAY too many pictures of her daugthers! You know though how NO picture actually really captures them! I keep trying though! Here are some that were TOO cute not to share!

Meredith - all this tummy time is making me sleepy!

What? Go to sleep? But it is only 11PM, the party is just getting started!Hannah - tummy time on Alan's chest is about the only way to get her to do it! Look how strong she is! She is going to be crawling tomorrow =)

Hannah - blowing spit bubbles in her sleep
Meredith - waving her Halloween mits (we like to scratch at our faces when we nurse these days ?!?!?)

Like father like daughter (Meredith)

Snuggling

The girls are starting to be entertained by certain things! This makes life MUCH easier for me! Today I even had time to brush my teeth before Alan got home from work! Quite an accomplishment these days!

Hannah concentrating hard on the Baby Einstein movie

Meredith thinks that Baby Einstein is funny!
Mommy already letting the girls watch TV ... limited to 15 minutes while I ate lunch (Ok, 25) Now we want to stare at the fan ... we like to watch Mommy turn it on, watch it speed up, then turn it off and watch it sllllooooowwww down ... we are being sweet and holding hands.

I have to give props to my friend Cathy for introducing us to bouncing the baby on the exercise ball. Here is what I like to call the "double baby bounce method." 95% success rate for simultaneously crying babies. Crying to content in 0 to 10!