Finger foods!

Today the boys tried their first finger foods! It was more of a learning experience than anything else. They really didn't know what to do with what was put in front of them. I did the Gerber puffs first-Nicholas spit it right out! I gave it to Anthony and he didn't seem to know what was going on. That was enough of those! Then I moved onto the toast/biscuit things. At first it was a toy-they moved them all around their trays. Nicholas was the first to pick it up-and put it towards his mouth. It took Anthony awhile-but he was able to do it too. They seemed to enjoy it. I did because I was able to feed them while they explored their new found treasure! Pictures are below!

On to other news! Today-FINALLY-Nicholas paid attention to Anthony. FINALLY! Now-don't get me wrong-he knew he was there. He would look at him at times. But if Anthony was looking at him-Nicholas was looking the other way. Until today. In the highchairs they seem to be interacting more. They hold hands, reach towards each other, etc. Today, while I was getting their lunch ready, I heard Nicholas squeal. I looked over and he had this big smile on his face and was looking at Anthony and Anthony was returning the favor. It was GREAT! Then-EI was here-and Anthony was on the couch in the Boppy, Nicholas on my lap. Nicholas was looking at Anthony with such a loving smile. It was so sweet. And yet again at dinner-the same thing. And-they even TALKED to each other. I was so glad I was able to see it! They are just the sweetest babies ever! 

EI came today for Anthony. He of course wowed them with his smile. He did very well overall. I wanted him to be evaluated just because. I figure it's free so why not. I also was worried about his head size slowing him down. He did great for gross motor skills and scored at 4 months for his fine motor skills-thus making him eligible for services. The physical therapist wasn't too concerned. She thinks it has to do with his head size and he will eventually catch up. So that's that in our world!

This twin thing is an amazing experience! I just can't say enough! 

Here are the pictures:

Aren't we just too cute?
      "Hmmm...what is this?"
    "What do we do with this?"
    "Tasty!"
"I think I am going to like this!"

A new "toy" to play with!

   Look at how big we are! Sitting up and playing! 

    "So many decisions! How do we choose a toy?"

Daddy's home! YAY!

A BIG smile for Daddy!

Six Month update!

The boys had their 6 month appt today. I was going into it hoping that we would be able to leave and not have to worry about another doctor's appt. No such luck. More about that in a bit...

Anthony was smiling like crazy at the nurse. He's such a flirt! Nicholas generally just stares at whoever looks back at him. He's a bit more cautious I think. I say Anthony is going to be the one rolling down the window at the gas station going, "I'm Anthony. What's your name?" What a happy little fellow!

So-Nicholas weighs in at 16lbs4oz. He is 27 1/4 inches long. Anthony weighs in at 15lbs12oz and is 26inches long. A little guy! Nicholas' head circumference was 45cm whereas Anthony's was 48. Yet another big jump. The pedi warned us at the 4 mth appt. that if it continued to grow-he was going to send us to the neurosurgeon. And he is. It grew a lot again. He just has a big head, and a little body! Poor guy! So-he said he thought we were going to go there and they are going to tell us he is fine. He said the CT scan was good and that was reassuring. He said that he has seen big heads, but not quite like Anthony's. He said that the way he looks at it is he treats his patients the way he would want his kids to be treated. Better safe than sorry. So-I get to make a phone call and make an appt. We'll see when we get one. I'm sure it won't be soon...

They had their shots. Nicholas cried but he didn't pretty well overall. Anthony on the other hand-SCREAMED bloody murder! OMG! It was HEARTBREAKING! I felt so bad for him. I never have heard him scream like that. Poor guy!!!! Then when I took his bandaids off he screamed again! And when I put him down for nap. He was a bit fussy. I'm going to blame that on the shots...So unlike him. 

The boys were giving the ok to start finger foods! Can you believe that?!? CRAZY! So of course I went out tonight and got some toast things for babies and Gerber puffs. I can't wait! Well-I can...but you know what I mean. The Dr. also said we could go to 3 meals a day. I can't even begin to imagine! He's more of a "go-with-the-flow" kinda Dr. It's more about the individual baby. Things are going to get busy around here! We didn't mention we were doing "cry it out" with the boys. He doesn't quite believe in that! Oops! 

So all in all-the boys are doing very well! Yay! I have now started reading to them after they eat in the high chair. Reading is something I feel very strongly about. I was just having a hard time fitting it in, in the sense of when they would be willing to listen to it. In the high chair seems to work-or even when they are in the swings, etc. Also-now that they can sit up for a bit-it's FUN! We put them in the playroom with the boppy's holding them up. I put toys in the middle of them and they go to town! It's so much fun! They are getting so BIG! 

Well-that's all for now I believe. The boys 6 month professional photos are up! Now the fun task of picking out a "few." 

Busy bees!

Well-we survived the night. I did. They did. And we lived to talk about it. We did CIO last night. Tony turned on a fan to drown out the crying. You could faintly hear them over the fan if you listened closely. We also set the alarm at 3am to go check on them and 7am when I got them up. When I went in at 7am-Anthony was screaming and Nicholas was happy as a clam playing with his feet. Let me tell you-that NEVER happens! Usually Anthony is sound asleep and Nicholas is the one up screaming/fussing. Naptime wasn't the greatest today. Nicholas seemed to fight it more than anything. Oh well. They went down for bed-without a PEEP! So-progress already!

Today we went to the park because I wanted to get THE twin swing picture. We didn't get it, the boys weren't big enough, but I did get this one instead:

Now how freaking cute is that?!?! I just LOVE that photo! He was due for a nap...so the fresh air was what he liked and asleep he went! 

Over the past few days-and I mean FEW-the boys have starting to situp on their own unassisted. Now-we can't walk away and leave them sitting there. I guarantee they will not be in that same sitting position when we come back. But-they can go for a good five minutes-or pretty close to it. I can't believe how big they are getting!!!!! Here's two photos from our backyard with them practicing their new skill:

EI came out on Friday for Nicholas. It mainly was for him to get acquainted with the therapist. They are coming out on Tuesday to evaluate Anthony. I figure it's free, so why not. Let's make sure he is on the right path. And if not-he's getting services now-and not when it's too late.

Tony was rocking Nicholas this evening after his bottle. I was feeding Anthony. As I was watching Tony I was looking at Nicholas and noticed how big he was getting. He's getting too big! I do not want them to grow up! It's so sad! I want my boys to stay little and innocent forever! So many people are in a rush for them to crawl, walk, talk, play this game/that game. Sometimes I feel like I am the only one who wants to stop time. I guess a mother always wants to stop time....If only I could....I would. In a heartbeat.

It's that time...

Someone give me strength. I'm going to need it. Can you hear that, can you? Listen really close because it's TWO babies upstairs in their cribs...CRYING. And Tony and I are sitting on the couch pretending nothing is happening. It is NOT easy sitting here, turning a deaf ear. I just want to go up there and hold them and rock them to sleep. But that's a no no. We are setting them, and us, for bad sleeping habits. They are 6 months old-it's time to break those habits. So-we picked tonight. Friday April 25 is CIO night. Yikes. 

We generally speaking feed them, then rock them to sleep, and put them in their crib. Lately they have gone down pretty easy with little waking after they are first put in their crib. What needs to happen is they need to learn how to put themselves to sleep-mommy and daddy can't. Tony is going to Vegas next week and I will be flying solo(at night at least)-so I want them STTN by then! It's only good for them. I am happy to say it's been about 20 minutes-and they are just about done crying. Not too bad. We put them in their crib awake-told them we loved them and it was bedtime, and walked out. Ouch. 20 minutes. Silence.

The TRUE test will be...in the middle of the night. I am NOT looking forward to it. Tony actually said maybe I should go sleep somewhere else tonight. Might not be a bad idea....

HAPPY SIX MONTH BIRTHDAY BOYS!

I can't believe that 6 months ago today I was in the hospital bonding with my two amazing boys. Six months! Where did that time go?!?!?!? If I were to stop and think about how quickly they are growing up before me, I would probably start to cry. I want them to be babies forever. I really do. They are so sweet and innocent. And beautiful. Simply beautiful. 

Today they had their photos taken with a local photographer. She does beautiful work. It's her side job. Tony's cousin lives next door to her and she takes her kids there. And you can't beat the prices! They should be online within a week or so...I will be stalking her website until then! Both boys behaved very well..Until they realized they were famished and needed to eat. Nicholas was of course serious, while Anthony was smiling away. 

They went and had their one month photos taken with her too. We will go back at one year, then probably Christmas, and then every year thereafter. We'll see...It all adds up!

After their photoshoot we went next door to dh's cousin and had lunch. It was nice for them to see the boys. Nicholas did manage to take a short nap while we were there. And-we practiced sitting up-and they can BOTH sit unassisted for AT LEAST one minute-but honestly-upwards of 5 minutes! Can you believe that?!!? So we will keep working on that! And holding our bottles, etc....It's simply amazing. I can't say enough!

Here are photos from when they were born:

And here they are now:

Milestones!

These boys keep doing new things EVERYDAY. It's absolutely amazing! You know, a lot of people might see me with the two boys, or any person raising twins, and think, "That poor mother!" And honestly-don't feel bad for me. Actually-I feel bad for you. You don't get to enjoy raising two babies at the same time. You don't get to get double the hugs, kisses, cuddles. I do. I also get to watch two completely different children blossom before my eyes. At the same time. I get to watch them develop and hit their milestones. Twice. I get to hear, "Mommy-I love you." Not once, but TWICE. Granted-they obviously don't talk...but when they do....when someone says to me, "You poor thing. You must be exhausted!" I will say no. Love never grows tired. It grows stronger. And everyday I get to witness it. And I am loving every moment of it. 

OK. A little diversion there...So-things we are doing...

Nicholas:

-loves his feet!

-can roll to his side

-can now make a "monster" noise. Hard to explain-but it comes from the back of his throat.

-is a jumping FOOL!

-is slowly learning to sit up

-loves to talk to you when you talk with him.

-grabs your face and puts his hand in his mouth.

-talks himself to sleep

-is starting to push up onto his knees

-napping in the crib

-sleeps on his tummy-at least better

-has distinct sounds when he babbles. 

-will grab a toy in front if him while laying on his stomach

Anthony:

-smiles at anyone and everyone.

-FOUND his feet! And loves to grab both at the same time. 

-can roll to his side now

-sleeps on his tummy

-sleeps better with his lovey by his side

-he now talks himself to sleep

-napping in the crib

-is slowly starting to push onto his knees too

-talks! 

-opens his mouth when the spoon comes near

-is sitting up unassisted for 2 nano seconds!

I'm sure there is plenty more-but until it happens, I can't remember. Here are the foods we've had thus far:

-rice cereal

-oatmeal

-bananas

-applesauce

-prunes

-peaches

-pears

-green beans

-carrots

-squash

-mixed veggies

-garden veggies

-mangos

-vanilla custard with bananas

-sweet potatoes

-peas

I can't honestly say what their favorite is. It all depends on their mood to tell you the truth. Nicholas will eat an entire container of Stage 2 foods-and then the next day-turn his nose up at it. Who knows! It's an "art" as the pediatrician said. Did I ever mention I didn't like art????

Now I need to figure out how to add in a 2nd meal.....Yikes! 

How Fast They Grow

How fast they grow...it's so sad! I want my boys to stay little forever! Saturday was an amazing day! They are absolutely the best babies ever! We ventured off to the mall with Auntie Meredith, where Anthony proceeded to smile at anyone who even looked at him! Nicholas was content, until someone talked to him on the elevator-and he cried his scared, sad cry! Oh it was pitiful! We were there for an hour and a half and there were no major meltdowns. Success! When we came home, Nicholas jumped in the jumper and had a blast! He is so darn cute in it! We put his sunglasses and hat on-it was a hoot! And-he started talking even MORE! Sounds we haven't heard-and even ,"blah, blah, blah." No lie! Grandma Lang said he said "mommy" today. Not deliberate of course....We shall see about that! He was sooo animate yesterday.

We also started Stage 2 foods the other night. They were on sale at Target so I bought them. I was getting sick of the same old foods, so I figured why not. They CHOWED down! The tubs are bigger-and the boys split one! And had half a container of fruit! Piggies! And I might add....Nicholas slept all night long! Anthony kinda...he woke at 11:30 to feed-and then slept through. Why Nicholas was eating he was talking up a storm, and spitting-which I think he is fond of and now realizes he can do. We caught it on camera-that and Anthony's sour puss face when he was given the apples/blueberry fruit mix!

Once dinner was over Tony cleaned them up and we took them for a walk. Nicholas was long overdue for a nap-and he fell asleep on the walk. Once we left the street and started on a new street-Anthony started wailing. Not sure why. One theory is I wasn't walking in front of him-that's when he calmed down. Naturally as soon as Tony took him out and I held him-happy as a clam. God are they cute or what?!!? We came home and sat out on the deck. It was great. I loved every minute of it-and we just sat there and watched the boys. Amazing. Breathtaking. Wonderful. Surreal. I can't say enough about my boys-they are my world!!!!

Here are some pictures from the other day: 

Nicholas in his cool shades!

Nicholas showing his stuff in his cool shades.

Proud Mommy with Nicholas

Proud Mommy with Anthony

Anthony loves water bottles!

Anthony poses for Mommy.

Hmmm

Anthony shows his skill-and radiant smile!

Nicholas is looking for pointers from his little brother.

Nicholas is wondering what this thing is for!

Sometimes it's really not that easy to come up with a title. Especially when I am just writing on a whim! Afterall-I can't be creative ALL the time! ;) Well-The boys went down tonight BEFORE 8pm-and there was much success! I think bedtime should be between 7/7:30pm. Let's see what tomorrow may bring. 

So I want to dress up the blog, but I do not know how to. I'm illiterate in that department. I have seen some really cool blogs, and I would love to do that same, but haven't figured it out yet...Oh sometime on my spare time! HA! 

I have started to give the boys sippy cups for practice. I do not expect them to know what to do with them whatsoever. It's just to get them used to it. They still can't hold their own bottles, I don't expect them to be able to hold a cup! That said-Anthony totally gets what he is supposed to do with it. He tries to bring it to his mouth, but he can't figure out how to hold it properly. It's very cute to watch! Hmmm...what else? I can't believe they are going to be 6 months old next week! So sad how time is flying by. I wish I could stop time. If only...

Well...I'm off to search the internet for making my blog more interesting. I need to start getting into the scrapbooking mentality. Afterall-I will be scrapbooking once a week with a friend. Boy do I have a lot of photos! Anyone care to take a guess how many are on the computer?!?!?!  

One step forward, three steps back...

We were doing sooo well with sleeping. Granted-one of the boys would sleep through the night. Now-it seems like we are not doing so well. They fight going down. And then they keep waking up. It's 9:20pm and Nicholas-I think-is finally asleep. We put them down at 8pm. I think that's too late. We need to go a bit earlier and see what happens. Supposedly-they will sleep longer-fingers crossed! Anthony would not fall asleep last night so in a last ditch effort, I flipped him on his stomach-and off to dreamland he went! It was magical! I couldn't believe it. He's on his stomach again tonight too. Sure it's nervewracking. But-he can pick his head up MUCH better-and when needed. And trust me-if he gets mad-he will! Once they start rolling-there's not much you can do about it anyways...Nicholas does not like sleeping on his stomach. Tony tried. It didn't help. 

I forgot to mention what the boys can do. Anthony is SO close to holding his own bottle. It's very cute watching him try. When the bottle falls out of his mouth-he knows it needs to go back in, he's just not too sure on how to do it! ;) Nicholas started jumping on Wednesday, April 2. It's SO CUTE. Maybe not when you are trying to change him, etc...but it's still cute. He loves the jumperoo and the johnny jumper! Anthony likes them too-but to lounge in! 

Tonight Tony and I went out to dinner. My mom offered to watch the boys for us so we could. That was nice. It was nice going out to dinner. It's been awhile since we had. We went to La Cucina. I ordered Sirloin Marsala and Tony ordered Fruiti Di Mare-but it wasn't what he thought it would be. Mine was delicious! SO TENDER! Tony wished he had ordered it too! Maybe next time...

I am so tired all of a sudden. I think I am going to take advantage of the peace and quiet and head to bed. We are having friends over tomorrow night...I have lots of cleaning to do! I will post photos of the boys hopefully tomorrow. There are some cute ones! 

Pictures galore!

I REALLY need to do this on a regular basis. I am always on the computer so I don't know why I don't. I think because once I start typing-it's hard to stop! So-what's been going on? Let's see...The boys are getting bigger by the day! They are so freaking cute I can't stand it. I am the luckiest person in the world to have these boys. Talk about being blessed. Now I realize why all of our IVF's never worked. My boys weren't ready to meet me! They were waiting-patiently! Can you imagine if the other IVF's did work? There would be no Anthony and Nicholas! :( Just goes to show you things are meant to be...

So-Nicholas and Anthony can officially laugh. HOWEVER-if you are lucky enough to hear it-bless your heart. It is the HARDEST thing to get out of them! Today Tony and I realized chasing Anthony down the hall while one of us was holding him, tickled his funny bone-and he laughed. But when we tried it throughout the day-not so much. Even Nicholas got in on the fun! So-we officially said Anthony started laughing on March 27th I believe-Thursday. Nicholas was the 29th. It's the greatest sound to hear! Tony and I usually end up doubled over in laughter! I don't know if I mentioned it before-but they both can blow raspberries. Usually when they have extra spit/food in their mouth. That is also cute-but what isn't?

They both slept swaddled for the last night on Sunday March 30. Anthony woke up CONSTANTLY and I was so done with him! He kept getting that little left arm up onto his chest-and he would be uncomfortable, etc...So he would wake up screaming and the only way to get him back to sleep was to feed him. It was a long night. The next night-we stopped the swaddle and he actually slept GREAT! It took a little while to get him to sleep-but once he was finally by 11pm-he didn't wake up until 7 the next morning! Yahoo! Nicholas on the other hand...5am. Same thing today too. WAY too early for mommy! Anthony has STTN both nights now! YAY! 

I feel like there is SO much I am missing! Last night we had our friends over for dinner with their daughter. She's such a cutie. She is 10 weeks older than the boys. It's funny when she comes over because we see what the boys will be doing in the future. Kinda sad though at the same time...Tonight we had my parents over for dinner. I figured give my dad a week off from cooking seeing how we go there every week for dinner. We made a chicken roaster, mashed potatoes, broccoli, biscuits, stuffing, and cranberry sauce. It was delicious! Yum! Then I fed Anthony some oatmeal, squash, and peaches. He ate like a champ! And once he got the peaches-his facial expressions were PRICELESS! HILARIOUS! We were all watching him and laughing. He would get this sour look on his face and cross his eyebrows. So cute. Nicholas isn't as pleased when he is eating. Doesn't seem to be a fan of solids I guess-but he sure does get messy! I think this is payback from when I was a baby!

I saw the OB/GYN today. While I was there I realized how much I miss being pregnant. I can't wait to be pregnant again. If the boys weren't so little-I would love to be pregnant now. However, I realize they are only babies once and I need to enjoy this time. It makes me so sad they are getting so big way too quick. I wish I could just freeze time. I think that's another reason why I want another one again-so quickly. I want to go through all those firsts again. I think I would have babies all the time! If only I didn't marry an accountant...  ;) We will see what the year has in store for us...We will do a frozen transfer at the end of the year-or at least start the process-and have the transfer around the same time we did with the boys. Their siblings are waiting for them-and actually their twins. If the frozen transfer works-the child would be the boys' twin. Crazy, huh? Seeing how they were all conceived at the same time...What do you think of that??

Oh-and no one really reads this. Maybe my sister...Or so I thought just her. I would like to say hi to Jeff! He mentioned at Easter that he reads the blog from time to time-so I said I would mention him. I should also mention that he is Anthony's godfather. I bet he'd like that! ;)

Here are some photos from the past week or so....Tomorrow I promise to be back with a post. Gotta keep up with this. No reason not to!

Why spend money on teethers?

Nicholas loves his bath time!

The boys had a play date with Aubrey. Here they are all set up watching a Baby Einstein movie so we could all eat dinner in peace!

                Here's the photoshoot with Aubrey. She had her hands all over those boys! ;)

I was feeding Nicholas this morning and he fell asleep on my lap-with his hands up in the air. Too cute!

The boys get ready for their walk!
Anthony all smiles in his swing. I LOVE it!