An update on the babes

Babe #1: Kaylin
She is truly the joy of our lives right now and changing so much everyday. As I mentioned in the last post, She had a major big weekend. If I were an organized mother, I'd have put it all down in her baby book, but because I am not (and because I haven't updated since month 7) I'll just document it here. She took her first hands-free steps on Sep 19. She walked 3 wobbly steps from my arms to the arms of her Dada. I thought that once she started, she'd be taking off like a mammajamma, but not so much. She didn't really do much more walking until this last week. Now she's walking across the room, standing up from the ground without needing to hold anything, walking-stopping-bending down to pick up a toy-walking again. She's an animal. Seeing her make these steps (pun intended) into toddlerhood is bittersweet for us. Kaylin is such an enthusiastic baby. It's like she truly enjoys being a baby. We have had so many moments of hilarity watching her crawl around corners to play hide and seek, racing us down the hallway, crawling under the Mama Tunnel (though space is tight with the massive and steadily growing belly). We'll miss watching her acrobatic crawling around the house.
In addition to walking she's started clapping like it's her job, becoming increasingly picky at meal times, crying out in fear of the blender (no longer just the vacuum cleaner Auntie Laura), showing her frustrations about not being able to tell me what she wants, and she finally has a tooth. Well, she has the top of a tooth. I'm assuming there's more hiding under the surface. Again, bittersweet. We love that gummy smile of hers.

Babes #2 and 3: Yet to be named brothers
At about 28 weeks (last Tuesday) our perinatologist guessed the twins are weighing in at about 2.5lbs. As far as my doctors can tell based on the measurements of whatever it is that they measure, there's no reason to fear premature delivery. Early delivery is still likely, which puts the expected remainder of my pregnancy to about 7 weeks. Yikes! We have a list of names but have made no decisions. It's tough naming boys! So much more pressure. It has to be masculine, good for a little guy and a grown man, I like modern names, Josh likes more traditional. Phew. And as you'd expect for twin boys, they seem to be wrestling around in there. I wasn't sure what the movement would feel like with two babies kicking, and lemme tell ya. It's crazy. It's like there's a dance party going on.
We are thanking the Lord that they are growing on target, don't seem to be giving any cause for worry, and are seemingly healthy. And they already have an adoring older sister who is giving them kisses through my belly button already.

Babe #4: The Mama
I never thought I'd hear myself say it, but I feel ready to not be pregnant. This pregnancy has been much harder on me than the first. I didn't expect my body to be so darn sore. That being said...I am not ready to not be pregnany because that means I will have two more babies in the house to worry about and I'm for sure not ready to go there. When the time is right I'll be ready, but not before. For right now I am just soaking up and treasuring every moment with my little family. I love being Kaylin's mom. I love that she cuddles with me and lets me hug her. She's generous with kisses and smiles. I try to love that she cries when I leave the room because she like having me around that much! I love watching her learn and make new associations. She's very fiesty and sometimes too aggressive, but she's also tender and loving. She's curious but she's not a daredevil. All of these things make me swell up with pride that she's mine. Lately I've been feeling like I've made the transition to feeling like a mother. I can't read anything or see anything on TV about children without seeing Kaylin in the story. I have an actual emotional response to stories like the one in the news about the missing 10month old baby girl. I could always acknowledge a tragic situation, but now I can put myself in the shoes of the mother and it's a very different feeling.
Anyway, despite the fact that it takes me 15 minutes to get off the couch or the floor, and that I can't help but groan every time I go from my right to left side in bed, and that I can't keep track of my schedule to save my life, I am doing well. I'm a very contended woman.



Holding all my children close to me

For several months, I've been working with Kaylin on communication. I've shown her several signs, but every time I reach for her hands in order to manipulate them into the sign, she pulls away. Unfortunately she prefers to squeal/screech/whine, so we're not quite there yet. Despite this, something must have stuck because she just let us know that she can clap! She had never clapped before Saturday and she just randomly started doing it in her highchair, so I quickly grabbed the camera and shot this little video. Like we are with everything she does, we were thrilled and fell in love with her sweetness all over again! Since then she's been clapping all day long. She's super excited about her new skill.
This was a big weekend for Kaylin. She became much more confident in her walking, her first tooth finally poked through, and she learned to clap. Watch out Ivy Leagues!

Frankenstein's Monster walks

It's been a while...

...since I've posted anything worthwhile. To make it up to you, here is a bunch of my favorite pictures of Kaylin as of late.

Not me!

Lately I've been thinking about the mother I want to become to Kaylin and the twinsies. Of course it includes such qualities that are consistent in any excellent woman: trustworthy, hard-working, selfless, creative, caring, and so on. But while I'm in still in mommy-training, I can definately define the kind of mother that I'm NOT.

1. I am NOT the kind of mother who lays down and takes a 15 minute nap on the floor of my child's room while she plays around me.

2. I am definately NOT the kind of mother who removes a hard piece of poop from an otherwise dry diaper and puts said diaper back on the baby.

3. I am NOT the kind of mother that puts my child in her highchair to fill up on puffs, yogurt melts, and teething biscuits in order that I have time to wash a few (or several) dirty dishes.

4. I am NOT the kind of mother that giggles behind the vacuum cleaner while my child cowers in fear.

5. I am NOT the kind of mother who stays in bed while my baby cries because I just don't like being awake before 7am.

I know I'm not a perfect mother, but I'm definately not as bad as all that. But when I do fail, Kaylie gets back at me with her "kisses".

Attack of the Killer Vacuum

The yard, Grandparents, and a Yankee Doodle Sweetheart

For over a year, we've been planning to landscape the front yard and we were finally able to take care of it over the last couple of months. It is such a breath of fresh air to have the grass down. I am so looking forward to letting Kaylin run around in the sprinklers, pulling out a blanket to have a picnic together, and all the other fun things you can do on grass that you can't do on dirt and weeds. It will be a lot to maintain, but we're very pleased with the new yard.

Before

During

After


Last month my parents came down for a week and we had a great time. Minus Joey, were able to get together with the whole family, they had lots of time with both grandkids, and they were around to see the yard transformation.
My parents with their #1 girl

We tried to get a cute cousins picture but were basically unsuccessful. This is a candid shot of Grandpa trying to get them to pay attention to the camera and smile. I think they thought he was wierd. I think it's funny.


Our best attempt at a family photo at dinner.

Having fun with GiGi

Kisses for cousin Garrett

Kaylin had a sweet 4th of July dress all picked out before she was born, but unfortunately it's way too big. It might fit her this time next year! But she was still as sweet as can be in her red, white, and blue.