Home Sweet Home

As of Wednesday the 16th we are officially back home. The fire happened almost 5 months ago. Things look pretty good overall. Best of all, we are borrowing Connor's Jumparoo and Gwen loves it. I was too lazy to move it to the rental, then turn around a month later and move it home. I will get a video up as soon as my husband sends it to me. So far every day has been met with a challenge. Day 1 I went to take my first long hot shower only to discover our drain was clogged. The water in the toilet started to rise. Luckily I ran downstairs and the plumber was there. Took Roto Rooter a couple of hours to fix. Day 2, I ask Neal to hook up the washer and dryer downstairs until the guys come to move it up to the second floor. After doing a load, I realize the agitator is not working. I decided it is not the best idea to put a 10 year old piece of equipment on the second floor and we go drop a load of dough to get a new set. Day 3, cable tv goes out in our bedroom. Cable guy spends 3 hours on a Sunday only to tell us the thing is really screwed up and someone has to come out again. It is really hard to keep 2 Beagles quiet outside in the cold. Ok, have I complained enough. I am happy to be home, but not sure I should go to bed, what will happen tomorrow?????

White Elephant Gift

Neal remembered on Sunday night at 8pm that he needed a white elephant gift for work. I told him I would take care of it. My first thought...



I heard they were on clearance on the radio and I am a bargain shopper. I doubted I would be able to find one so my next thought.....a photo ornament with Neal's picture. Not just any picture, the new crazy smiling Neal. It is impossible to put it into words, so I will simply show you.












Trust me, you cannot see his face, but he has his new found silly dad grin on.

My Little Fashionista

Aunt Stacy brought Gwen some leg warmers from Chicago. She is so adorable in them. As soon as I put them on her she jumped up (for the first time ever) started dancing and said her first words...."She's a maniac, maniac on the floor". I guess Gwen just needed some inspiration to start walking and talking.

The Dogs

The dogs continue to do good with the babies. They are not overly interested. Tippy just started to play with their toys a little more, but he stops when you tell him no. Tippy enjoys baby cereal way more than the babies, although that is not saying much, he also likes dog poop. The babies on the other hand love the dogs. They watch them all of the time. The dogs actually distract the babies when they are eating. The babies like to pet the dogs too, but the dogs do not quite appreciate it yet. Luke loves to give the babies kisses. This week he wanted to hang out with the babies, Santa and the snowman.

Breakfast with Santa

This past weekend the local twins club hosted breakfast with Santa. We may be a little premature for this, but I liked the idea of being able to take my own picture and not get ripped off at the mall. Not to mention I would not have to wait in line forever and I would get to eat. Pretty much two of my favorite things. So Neal took the pictures and claimed we had a great one. There was only one picture where both of the babies were kinda looking at the camera. So without further ado here is my kids first picture with Santa and some other ladies behind.



I was also hoping to meet another couple that Neal and I both got along with and had twins about 5 months old. Well, let's just say we will try again next year.

MINE

That is what the babies would be saying if they could talk. They started having their first tug of war over toys last week. It has not gotten that ugly yet, they are still smiling.


And yes, my little fashionista is rocking her Halloween bib in December. She cannot always be on.

5 months old!

I cannot believe the babies are already 5 months old. Time goes by so fast.

Sleep
Both babies are now sleeping through the night. Gwen started around 3.5 months and Grady around 4.5 months. They were sleeping 7-7 then started waking up at 6 so we are trying to keep them up until 7:30 or 8 and that seems to be working. 6 is a little too early for us on the weekends! The babies started napping in their cribs this month. I wish I would have started that sooner. There is still some crying involved, but it has gotten way better. We have resorted back to swaddling during naps and it seems to be helping. At the first sign of them being tired we immediately put them to bed. If we wait to long it is a struggle.

Food
The babies eat about 5-7 ounces per bottle. They are still eating every 3 hours. We were letting them snack too much before, so we stopped that. They both adapted rather quickly. We have been doing cereal for about a week now. The babies still make funny faces, but they seem to be swallowing a little more.

The twins favorite toy this month was a balloon Grandma brought over. They cannot get enough of it. They are eating everything. They have even tried to eat the balloon. Basically their main goal for each day is to get as many things into their mouthes as possible. They are both laughing more and more all of the time. Grady smiles all the time. He is the happiest baby. Gwen is starting to smile more every day. Gwen is going to be sitting up real soon. She holds herself well and has good posture. She is also showing a lot of interest in holding the bottle by herself. Grady has a hard time holding up his noggin, but is getting stronger every day. No one has rolled over yet, but we are working on it.

We headed to Cleveland for Thanksgiving Day. Luckily the babies sleep in the car. I think the trip went pretty well. It is easy now, they are not mobile yet! Next year will be more challenging.





It is amazing to think one year ago we had just found out we were going to be having twins. We are so very lucky to have these babies. I cannot imagine life without them.