Doctor visit

Notice they're taking a real binkie? Wahoo! Kate's taking to the Nuks a lot better than Ethan, but he's starting to come around to the idea. I know some people (Brock) think these binkies are just as ugly as the soothies, but I think it's an improvement. They stay in and it's just one more pink thing I can stick on Kate to slow the masses from asking, "Are they both boys?" Don't worry, in her pink carseat, with pink blanket, pink doll and pink bib and binkie, we still got asked again today. What does it take????

We went see the doctor this morning. It was quite an adventure showing up by myself with two tired, hungry babies. When the doctor walked in, he said, "Flying solo?" and not in a "way to go" type way; more of a "are you a fool?" type of way. Anyway, it went quite well. They were little troopers and even took their shots in stride. The doctor was again impressed with their weight gain and even joked that it might be time for a diet. Here's the stats:

Ethan
13 lbs. 15 oz
23.25 in.
head circum. 39.5 in.

Kate
13 lbs. 6 oz.
22.5 in
40 in. head circ.

The exciting thing about these numbers is that every single number was in the 50th percentile. I didn't mention it last time (cause who would?), but at their last visit, when they were 7 weeks, they were still below the 5th percentile. Who knew our little 4 pound runts would grow into 'average' babies?

Big Week

This has been a big week. I don’t know if it’s because they’re happy, smiley babies now, or if it’s because they’re sleeping so well (Ethan going about 10 or 11 hours and Kate 9 or 10), but everything just seems so much easier and more fun. I started trying to take them out a couple weeks ago with each trip getting more successful than the last, so this week I stretched it a little bit further and headed to Cicero (for those who aren’t Hyde Parkers, Cicero is a street of suburban errand-type places like Costco, Babies R Us, Target, grocery stores, etc that’s about 25-30 minutes away) for a car wash, gas, and trip to Babies R Us. It went so well that we’re heading to Costco today! They are quite the little troopers and LOVE being out. We’ve also done a couple walks this week to the point. Monday was our big day, though, and to top if off, Greg called in the evening to see if we would be able to go out to dinner. I was out the door 10 minutes later! I didn’t think spontaneous would ever happen again. We went to Chinatown and had to take pictures of the momentous occasion. I also took a picture of them after their long day.

Living the life...

I'm not the best mom when it comes to tummy time (just take a look at Ethan's head), but I try. The other day, I put Ethan on the boppy (cause he seems to last a bit longer this way) and Kate on her tummy and left the room to get something. This is what I returned to:

Not a successful tummy time. We'll keep working. And here, I just thought it was cute. Our camera is TERRIBLE (hint, hint, Greg), so catching a shot of them doing something cute only speaks to the fact that they're cute all the time, but usually it's a blurry cuteness. This one was okay.

3 months

I finally figured out a time when Greg is not studying... 5:30am! I've quickly added some photos from the past week...


Why is it that after they've pooped and spit up all over 3 outfits and you decide to put them in pjs at 5 pm that they decide to give this cute face?


Ethan wanted to join in for the fun...

... but he quickly learned that it wasn't really all that fun.

Ethan has decided that if he's not ready to laugh, he can at least fake laugh. He has laughed for real once, but he does this pretty much all day every day, usually right before he eats or sleeps. This is also how he talks to Kate.



I cannot believe they are 3 months old. I think this means that I have to stop counting in weeks and start in months. I've told a couple people this week that I think that the true newborn stage is the right amount of time (as in, babies born on their due date). The twins are about 8 weeks past their due date now and that would have been the perfect amount of time to go through all of that. Now they are starting to get so much fun and I know it only gets better from here. I'm realizing now that those extra 6 weeks, although still wonderful, were just too much for them not doing anything. I'm ready for them to start doing things. So to all of you who think that newborns grow too fast, count your blessings.

Nope, not ready yet

Now that Greg studies with his computer till around 10pm every night, there is no chance of a blog post with pictures. Hopefully, a recap of my day will be enough for a little while... I decided it was time to invite some people over for dinner. No one has dared invite the family with twins over and it's probably for the best. Our turf is a little safer. Anyway, it wasn't anything special, a simple menu of shredded beef tacos, spanish rice, cantaloupe. Even still, I knew I would need to start preparations very early for even the slightest hope of a success. The twins were an absolute dream all day. So much fun, smiles, laughing, jibber-jabber. Ethan has learned that he has a sister and talks to her quite often. So cute. We took a walk to Hyde Park Produce for some last minute supplies and they were charming. Kate even kept her spit up to a shocking 17 times. I took naptimes to prepare as much as I could. I diced all the veggies for the rice, cut the cantaloupe, the beef was in the crock pot all day and shredded by 4, everything was measured, set aside a ready for action. I had everything all set out a ready to go by 5. All was wonderful. This should have been my first clue... Dinner was at 6. The twins eat at 5, our friends' baby goes down at 7, it was a nice compromise. Of course it couldn't have gone smoothly. Ethan sometimes does this thing where in the middle of his nap, he screams bloody murder, and it's the saddest most heartbreaking cry (it happens about once a week and I have no idea what it is about, but he usually calms right down when I pick him up), so I got him out of bed a he helped me finish things in the kitchen till 5 when it was time for him to eat. Nightmare. Took 2 ounces and then decided he was done (he normally takes 5-6). Screamed a little, gagged a little, kicked a little. Okay, fine. I moved on to Kate. She was doing okay and then Greg came home (I asked him to be home at 5:30) so I passed Kate on and went to start the rice. The second red flag should have gone up here when I realized that this recipe calls for minute rice and I only have regular (it's a moral decision, really). I think I can safely say I've made rice a thousand times; I figured I could improvise the difference. This went as follows: Brown the rice in butter- check add onions and green pepper- check sautee until tender- "Oh, No!!!" I hear from the other room. Kate has spit up all over Greg. Apparently, he is not quite as accustomed to the smell of Kate's stomach acid all over his clothes, so he passes her to me and jets to the bedroom to change. Now where was I? The rice. Kate and I get back to see half of the rice burnt black. I try to pretend that this is normal, add the final ingredients and set to simmer. Needless to say, this was not the right answer, because 20 minutes later, all I had was soft, burnt rice. Not a good combo, so I put the lid on that dish (literally, I was hoping to trap the smell). The final step in making dinner was to fry up some tortillas. The end product of this wasn't so bad, but I got the pan so hot that there was enough smoke in our apartment for a dance club. Our guests (we'll call them the Schmalvins for their protection) arrived with delicious apple soda, cupcakes and enough grace to ignore the smell, smoke, and lack of a side dish. Dinner went pretty well, all things considered. The tacos were pretty good and the cantaloupe was delicious. A perfect appetizer to the McDonald's that I'm sure the Schmalvins hit up after the festivities. Ethan and Kate fussed a little and wanted to join us at the table, but they can't be blamed. The Schmalvins are a pretty fun bunch. After they left, the twins slept a little, cried a little, took their bottles are were both down by 9. We survived. All in all, I wouldn't consider our first dinner a raging success, but it wasn't a failure, either. I think we'll do pizza next time...

Greg's Big Weekend

This was a big weekend for our family- Greg especially. Friday, he graduated from the University of Chicago Law School. I have to say, doctorate robes are pretty dang nerdy, but Greg sure found a way to make them look good. Greg’s parents came down for the big event and we all (including the kiddos) went out for a fabulous dinner at Gibson’s Steakhouse.

(Yes, that's Janet's dessert!)

Saturday was our 5 year anniversary. So far, every year on our anniversary, we have been with extended family and therefore have yet to have a real anniversary date. With bar review going on, Greg’s parents in town, and the twins, this year was no exception. We did find about a half hour’s time for a romantic trip to Walgreen’s and McDonald’s. I did venture off the 99 cent value menu for the big occasion and got a meal! I know. Big time.
We didn't get a picture of the romantic event, so I thought you all might enjoy a shot from our wedding:

If I see any comments on how ugly, fat, old, or pasty I look compared to this picture, consider our friendship terminated. I haven't yet mastered getting dressed and raising twins at the same time.

Sunday, Greg enjoyed his first Father’s Day. His kids were so excited to thank him for being such a great dad that they got him a box of lime popsicles- aren’t they the best?

Just a walk in the park...

We love going on walks. Today, we took a little walk along the lake shore.

Someone asked me today if they're both boys. No, actually the one with the pink skirt and the pink bow... that's a girl.

I like to think she's pondering the beauty of the earth.

After the walk, I thought for sure they would be exhausted, and Kate was. However, Ethan decided he wanted to hang out with me for a bit (and spit up on himself as you can see). He was quite content to just chill, so I let him. Of course, I couldn't catch his smiles on camera, but I thought this face was pretty darn cute.
It wasn't until tonight when I looked at the pictures and realized that he took his nap on our walk. My bad.

Ahhhhh.....

Church on Sunday was unbelievably hot and add that to the Chicago humidity, these guys were pretty miserable. We hadn't prepared our apartment for this so it was pretty hot when we got home. The quickest place to cool is our bedroom, so we laid them on our bed and they slept there until the rest of the apartment cooled. This stands as the only time Kate has ever slept unswaddled. Please note the fat rolls on her legs. Her mother is so proud.

Look how big we're getting

These are just some random pictures of them looking cute together. They are now 11 weeks and still continue to get bigger and cuter each day. Greg has started bar review and is gone about 10 hours a day and it will most likely get worse. I was really nervous to handle this all on my own, but I am LOVING it. They are such good babies and I can think of no better way to spend 10 hours a day.

Okay, so Kate doesn't look so cute here, but it was the best one. Also, it appears Ethan has no neck. Actually, this is true. Anyway, I wanted to see just how much they've grown since last time.


If I still have your attention, I just wanted to tell you some of my favorite things about these guys. Ethan- he is the most chill baby in the world, he loves his crib (he actually smiles when you put him down for a nap), his chubby, kissable cheeks, he is actually losing hair, his expressive eyes, and last, but not least... he's a momma's boy. Kate- how alert and aware of the world she is, she has Secor ears, her long skinny feet, her hands (they are so cute and hard to explain except to say that sometimes she seems to be telling the world, "Everyone, STOP what you are doing!"), how hard she tries to fight her hiccups, she is growing hair, and she'll wear a bow (this is especially important since she has no hair and no matter how much pink I put her in, people still think I have two boys). These are just the things I could think of in the five minutes it's taken to write this post. Also, I'm afraid to go on, or Jimmy will tell me that no one wants to hear it.

Breakfast

Some of you have asked how feeding happens. Well, Greg helps out at the 4/5am feed (yes, we've made it that far already) and the 8pm bedtime feed. That leaves 4 other feeds I do on my own throughout the day. Of those 4, I can usually get them to eat staggered for about 2 or 3 of them, so 1 or 2 feeds a day go like this...
I would ask that you please ignore a few things. First, my foot. Second, Kate has a blue burp cloth. She would be so humiliated if she found out that I posted a picture like this. Third, the terribly awful looking "boppies." Some company donates them to the NICU, so we were the lucky receivers of this gift and not only could I not turn them down, I couldn't throw them away once I found use for them. I realize they might not look awful in the picture, but in real life they are lumpy and completely coming apart at the seams. Fourth, the fact that I propped their bottles. The propping is really only there in case I need to burp or console one of them. I promise I hold the bottles while I'm sitting in that space between the two and talk to them and try to pretend like I'm feeding them for real. I would like to point out one thing: Ethan's face. He always has this sweet face when you feed him. I love it. Kate's is often sweet, too, but here she opted for sleeping.

Playing with new friends

Nothing too exciting here, just playtime. They love this new toy of theirs... for about 10 minutes at a time. Kate usually spends her time looking at herself in the mirror and Ethan likes to hit the animals. We're working on these things...
Please don't watch this video unless you're pretty bored. Greg has informed me that it's really boring, but I just think it's really cute cause he's talking to the elephant. We don't have editing capabilities, so it's pretty long and you can hear Ellen in the background, but here you go:

Tagged

So I know this is now 3 consecutive posts without photos of the you-know-whos, but I'm sitting at home all day with a computer without iPhoto. If Greg ever comes home, there's some good pictures coming. Not to ruin any surprises, but someone has made friends with a stuffed elephant... Anyway, some tidbits into our lives... How long have you been together? 5 years married this June

How long did you date? a year and 4 months

How old are you? 26

Who eats more? I do

Who said I love you first? Greg

Who is taller? Greg, by a solid 2 inches. However, he slouches and I walk like a ballerina, he wears flip flops and I wear normal shoes... doesn't quite seem fair, does it?

Who is smarter? Greg. However, he has been known to put the orange juice "away" in the cupboard, so I'm a little nervous for our kids.

Who does the laundry? Team effort. I sort, he takes it down, switches the loads and brings it back. I fold and we put away together.

Who does more dishes? Now that I'm home all day and Greg studies all day... me, but it used to be him all the way.

Who pays the bills? Greg, I wouldn't know the first thing.

Who mows the lawn? We haven't thought that far into the future... (just kidding. That will either be Greg or a gardener; or Ethan, depending on when we will finally be able to afford a lawn... NOT me).

Who cooks? I do, although Greg made a guest appearance in the kitchen for the 14 weeks I was on bedrest. He's never been there before and I don't think he'll ever enter again (okay, so he makes a mean tuna melt and fabulous pancakes).

Who drives when you are together? Greg. Not that he's a better driver, cause he's not, but he's an even worse back seat driver.

Who is more stubborn? Greg (not that he's really even stubborn. He's just "more stubborn" than I am)

Who has more siblings? Finally, I win one. I've got 4, Greg's got 3.

Who wears the pants in the family? Both, I guess. I don't think either of us care enough to take the full pair. I now tag Nicole, Lindsey, Whitney, and Amy (you don't really have to do this- I was just that bored).