a house divided ...

The real reason God gave us twins ...

Hannah ... you're not really honoring the onesie very well here ... (by the way, this is her new favorite thing to do ... gross)
... but Mommy, I wanted to wear the Clemson one!
Go Tigers!
Obviously, Alan does not share the views on this post! However, he had a win yesterday and I did not ... so I must get it out somehow ... am I right?

having fun at the "Pa"

There is this great park in my neighborhood about a mile from our house and the girls and I have been frequent visitors lately. They are getting better in the mobility department and they have been better about being in the stroller so will even let me jog them there and back. The weather has been so nice and if I say "do you want to go to the park" they go to the front door and bang on it and say "pa, pa, pa" ... Lately, Hannah has been my daredevil and Meredith has been a little bit timid with things. She has started to cry in the swing, especially if I swing them a bit high.

Here they both were enjoying it (as long as I didn't swing them too high) even though they look freaked out!

... also, she had to hold my keys ... "keese, keese" ... she pronounces it like geese but with a k .. silly girl!
Here is Hannah the daredevil ... not only did she want to crawl up the slide ... she wanted to walk up the slide ... I guess your kids trying to walk up the slide is just another rite of passage into parenthood.
Poor Meredith ... she would get halfway up the stairs to the slide then get stuck and not know what to do ... I think she was a bit afraid to go any higher which I am glad of because Hannah was going right up then sliding down on her own on her belly ... at least I didn't have to worry about both of them taking a flying leap off of something ...
... because they sure have the walking in different directions thing down pat!

busy bees

My sister-in-law had a company 'family fun day' at Six Flags and they kindly invited us to join them today. The girls did great and we all had a lot of fun! Here we are riding the carousel. I wondered how the girls would do but they really enjoyed it! Good thing they couldn't see that freaky horse right behind Alan!

Here, we are riding the Thomas the Tank Engine Train. The girls were really pooped by then but still seemed to enjoy it. They tuckered out in the stroller shortly after this photo was taken! It has been ages since they fell asleep in a stroller!
Meredith
Hannah
During the week, several CT Anesthesia Fellowship wives and our kids got together at the zoo. I thought since I actually had on makeup and real clothes (as opposed to work out clothes or PJs) I would try to get a good photo with the girls.
Here are all the kiddos (minus one other family that couldn't make it). We are so lucky to have met such a great group of families! It is rare that there are four couples whose spouses and kids all get along so well! I guess we can just all understand each other and the challenges that medical families face!
Meredith, post-bath. If I say that it is time for the bath ... they both say "ba, ba, ba" and go crawling up the stairs to the bathroom. It is so fun to watch them learn what is going on in the world around them!
Hannah had just taken a spill so she was a little upset here but I still thought it was a sweet picture. Post-bath snuggle with Daddy.
Time-out for Meredith! Just kidding, don't report me to the social service! I don't really do time-outs yet and much less in a dog cage! They climb in there themselves all the time. Since we don't use it for the dog anymore since I am not working, I figure ... hey, cheap toy ... may as well let them have fun with it!

around the house ...

Hannah in the tunnel ...

... being silly

Their hair has really started to grow lately! Here is Hannah with her new curls! I don't know where my kids got their Irish-looking genes! The green eyes are from me but the red-ish hair? Maybe Granddaddy Finley?
... and here is a close up of Meredith ... I don't remember what she was wanting ... but there is definately a look of longing in her eyes here!
Hannah is really into her stacking boxes right now ... here she is getting super mad that they will not stay on top of each other ... she started throwing them around the room and screaming at them ... it was funny ... reminded me a lot of myself in a fit of frustration ...
... ahhhhh, sweet success ...

Where's Meredith???

Peek-a-boo!!!

... soooooo sleepy! I changed my mind about the one nap thing! They just can't make it yet! Here, Meredith was standing up and laying her head on the glider where I was sitting ... she wanted to go night-night!

and a few minutes later ... seriously, Mommy, I am tired ...

being cute as a stall tactic for bedtime!

I am beginning to wonder if it is time for one nap a day for the girls. They are fighting bedtime so much these days! For 5 days in a row, I have gone in to check on them after a lot of giggling/squealing/fussing and have found Meredith to be poopy ... I have to wonder if she is holding it in until an hour after bedtime as a stall tactic!? Anyone who knew me as a child would say that she is just like her Mommy (doesn't like to go to bed and will find any way possible to stall)! Yesterday they only took one nap and went to bed without a whimper ... though they were bears all evening long! Reminded me of the infant days! Tonight we were having a good time all hanging out and I took some photos.

Meredith is loving on her bunny ... she was saying "buh, buh, buh" ... they are trying to mock anything we say ... and usually come out with a fairly recognizeable sound ...

Hannah loves to play in her closet ... or in the dog cage ... or behind a large framed picture that is propped between the couch and the wall b/c we still haven't hung it ... she seems to like the coziness of a snug place to "hide"
Here she is putting a book in the glider b/c she wants to read ... she is saying "fish!" "fish!" ... though it sounds like "eesh" ... because there is a picture of a fish on the book ...

... and here is Meredith doing the same exact thing a few minutes later ... "eesh, eesh!"

random babble!

It has now been 6 days since the girls have nursed and I feel like I am beginning to come out of my funk. I haven't cried about it today and that is an improvement! We have been getting out and about and having fun! The girls are impressing me everyday with their abilities to follow commands and know what I am saying. If I say "go get blanket" or "bring Mommy a book" they will do what I say! When I say "love sissy" they will hug each other, so cute! I taught Meredith how to throw away her dirty diapers ... then one day, I found 3 clean cups and a few bowls from their "play" cabinet in the trash! I can't believe that I didn't see that coming! They are each saying about 15-20 words and making a few animal noises (they know what a sheep says, a doggie does-they pant like a dog, an owl says, and bee says). In the below photo we were trying to get all the girls looking at the camera so we were saying "YAY!" and when mine hear "YAY" ... they start clapping ;) These are our new friends that are also identical girls! They are only 2 weeks younger than M & H! Here is Meredith freakin' me out ... she is careful about all her ventures so I go between trying to teach her a bunch of n0-nos or just helping her learn how to climb safely.
Not too many good pools days left, I'm sure! Here is Hannah's skinny little self in her bikini!
We took a family trip to Starbucks where M grabbed a vanilla milk out of the cooler and stuck it in her mouth ... therefore we felt it was only right to purchase it instead of putting it back in there and hoping no one saw ... they loved their vanilla milk and running around Decatur Square holding their drinks while we sipped ours. A nice outing!
Hannah's hair blowing in the wind ...
I can't tell you how many books we read in a day! At least 30! They are constantly bringing me books! Which is GREAT and I know that is why they know so much ... but it gets tricky when you have 2 impatient toddlers that want 2 different books! I love that they love books, though! It is good snuggle time to sit and read. Maybe they know that I need that right now!
As much as I love to feel needed and wanted, I think I will be a lot less stressed when the Mommy phase subsides a little. Here, I just ran to get them some water before their nap and didn't want to lug them back down the stairs, try to keep them out of the fridge while I got the water out, lug them and the waters back up the stairs ... yada yada ... and here is what I get ... two screaming toddlers banging on the gate and it takes me forever to calm them down ... whew!
Here, M handed Cooper her chip (that she had gotten from Alan who was eating chips and heaven forbid you eat something and not give them one, right?!) and he ate it and she just looked so scandalized! It happens all the time ... they GIVE him their snack then get mad that he eats it! He is going to get fat, fat, fat!
Here is Hannah ... I give them milk with their regular snack time instead of water (per MD) and Hannah always wants both ... just to hold and walk around with ... not to drink ... I need you to DRINK the milk girl!

bye bye big pink pillow

So, I have decided to stop beating the dead horse of trying to nurse the girls. They have self-weaned to once per day (first thing in the AM). The past few days, my more interested nurser (Hannah) has boycotted and won't even latch on, just cries. My less interested nurser (Meredith) has been doing OK but has taken to chewing on me and Hannah pesters her the whole time she nurses so it has been a frustrating battle to say the least. I decided to put away the pillow and not try anymore. I have been a big sobbing crybaby all day and I know I just have to grieve the loss of our special time together and then I will be OK. Nursing sessions, to me, were our sweetest moments. When they were screaming colicy newborns, nursing provided the only peace in our day. I loved knowing that I took my 4 pound babies to 12 pounds each on nursing alone (besides the supplementing we had to do for the first few weeks) before we started solids. I found joy in knowing that nursing was something that only I could do for them. Some of my favorite moments of their lives this far were when they started noticing me and each other across the pillow and some of the best first smiles, giggles and coos were during our nursing sessions. I am glad that we made it this far and nursing them is one thing I am most proud of myself for.

Here we are finishing up a few weeks into it and getting things down pat. One of the G-rated photos!

Here they are on Saturday eating cookies (the thing that now provides us with peace) and hanging out with Daddy!