Happy New Year

We are excited for what is to come in 2010. Minus our house catching on fire, 2009 was a pretty terrific year. How many people get to welcome two beautiful babies into their lives at the same time? We really are very lucky. The trying times we have had in the last few years with our home and Neal's health have made us really appreciate the great things we do have. I know, cheesey, but it is the truth. Here is a recap of the year.


Babies in belly


Daddy on the way to the hospital.


Grady Ryan and Gwen Marie arrive.


Mom's beach vacation after delivering.


Mom begins the twins sweat.


Gwen meets her future boyfriend!


First babies in history visit the moon on a nightly basis.


Boys watching football!


First bath in the tub. It did not go so well.



Beautiful 6 month old babies.



I am excited to see what 2010 hands us.

6 month stats

Today was a busy day. First we had to take Daddy to the rental house to let the movers pick up the rental furniture. At noon we headed to the photo studio to get some pictures taken. I got suckered in to more than the $9.95 package, but did not do too bad. Of course the babies WOULD NOT CRACK A SMILE while we were there. I was making weird noises, I pretty much did everything short of jumping around on one foot. Wait, maybe I should have tried that, they do like when I hop around. Anyways after the shoot (with one outfit change of course) we headed to Ichiban for lunch with Grandma and Aunt Stacy. Gwen screamed when the guy did the fire show. I am guessing she thought the guy was making a joke about fire. Of course Gwen said (in her own blabbering words), "fire is no joke, my house burned down when I was 3 weeks old". Once we got that straightened out it was all SMILES. No napping, just smiles. Why do they not smile during the photo shoot? Oh well.

Next the doctors office. They caught a 20 minute nap in the car on the way over. We waited in the doctors office for over an hour before the doctor came in. Again, the babies were all smiles. It is like they are saying haha mom we know when you want us to smile and we will not do it. The doctor did not think it was a big deal to leave 6 month old twins waiting for over an hour. I told her they should at least have given us the courtesy to tell us they were running late. Regardless we will be changing doctor offices. Now down to the important business, the 6 month stats.

Gwendolyn
Weight 15 pounds 6 ounces 25-50%
Height 25.25" 25%
Head 16" 25%

Grady
Weight 16 pounds 6 ounces 25%
Height 26.5" 50%
Head 17" 25-50%

FOUR MONTH STATS
Gwendolyn
Weight 13 pounds 3 ounces 25-50%
Height 24.25" 25%
Head 15.25" 5%

Grady
Weight 14 pounds 14 ounces 25-50%
Height 25.25" 50%
Head 16.75" 50%

In summary, Gwen is no longer going to be a midget and brain growth has really kicked in to high gear. They are both on schedule to be average sized geniuses. Other than that everything looks good. We are starting more food, hopefully tomorrow if I can get to the store and figure out how to cook it. I also got a new piece of equipment I learned about from a fellow blogger to make my own apple sauce. I will get on that over the next few days as well. We are opting for the new approach. No purees, just soft foods. Apparently there will be a lot of gagging, but it seems to be the direction of teaching babies to eat. I told the doctor I thought Grady was leaning his head one way and slouched a lot. She sat him up and he held himself up with perfect posture and moved his head from the left to the right. Big surprise! Next time I will use reverse psychology when speaking in front of the babies.



Such a cute little boy!


Beautiful baby girl!

4 shots in total and this was just the beginning...

6 months!!!

It has gone by too fast. Every day the babies are more and more fun.

Sleep
Babies are sleeping a good 11 hours at night. They were going 7:30-7:00 and recently started waking up at 6 so we are trying to keep them up to 8:00. We will see how it goes. They take 3 naps a day. We find they can stay awake for about 2 hours at a time. Sometimes naps last 45 minutes, sometimes 3 hours. You just never know what you are going to get. Gwen is definitely the better sleeper. When Grady wakes up early he usually talks in his crib for about 15 minutes, then starts to whine. Gwen will sit quietly in her crib and play with her feet for a while.

Food
The babies are eating on average 6 ounces four times a day. They moved to a four hour schedule in the last month. It is really nice. It makes going out of the house so much easier. They have cereal for lunch. This is hit or miss. Gwen will hold her bottle for a little, but they tires out. Grady has no interest in holding his bottle. When Gwen sees the bottle coming she gets excited and opens her mouth and holds out her hands. Grady eats quicker that Gwen.

Activities
They both absolutely love the Jumparoo. I am pretty sure either of them would sit in it for the whole day if we let them. Grady is rolling over. Gwen is closer to sitting up than rolling over. Tummy time is still a challenge, but we work on it every day. They love sitting in their bumbos and playing with toys. The Johnny Jump is also a hit. Currently we are using it as more of an indoor swing. We still use the bouncy seats, but not really to bounce, just to eat cereal.

Names
We have a couple of nicknames for the kids. Gwen is pretty much Gwen, Drama (although she is not so much) or Baby Girl. Grady is G-man, G-Rady, or Bubbie. Grady absolutely loves his name. Just saying his name will usually make him smile.

Personalities
Grady is a very happy easy going baby. He may whine here and there, but rarely ever cries full force. Gwen has no whine, she pretty much just has full on scream. She usually only screams when she is hungry. She has started smiling more. When she smiles she sticks her little tongue out. Grady still smiles the most. They both wake up smiling, that is after the shock of the lights being turned on. Neither of them are attached to anyone yet.

They have moved up to size 3 diapers. We are leaning toward Grady being a lefty again. We will just have to wait and see. COSI is our next adventure. Doctors tomorrow, including more shots! Pics tomorrow too! Today was a funny night, only one baby awake at a time. It was nice to spend some one on one time with each of them.

We have a busy week coming up. Pictures, doc, New Years Eve dinner, visits with Dawn and Suzy and the Rose Bowl. The Rose Bowl gives us a chance to bust out our Buckeye gear one more time. Whether it fits or not is another story!

Dinner

We had our first dinner at the table together. It was nice, but short of course. I have loved being home with the babies the last few days. I actually think I could stay home with them full time. Unfortunately we are not rich. The older they get the more fun they get. We are a very lucky family. Grandpa got us our high chairs, so once they ship we should all be able to sit at the table. I can't wait! Tomorrow we are hoping to start some sweet potatoes. Yummy!

Merry Christmas

I promised I would take more pictures of the babies and the family and I sucked at it. I got a few, but not what I wanted. The babies made out this Christmas. Grady sat with Grandpa while we opened gifts and Gwen sat in C's Jumparoo and watched. The babies got clothes, ornaments, toys, bath toys, bath seats and swings. I am hoping to get the baths rolling asap.












Grady is ready to drive! You are probably wondering where his shirt was. Well he drooled so badly I took it off. We were about 15 minutes from pajamas time so he rocked his Christmas vest muscle man style.


Another Kothe on their laptop!


I am not sure who loves the new toys more the babies or us! It is nice to have some new things in the mix.

Roll Over Roll Over

Grady gave the family quite a surprise on Christmas. He rolled over for the first time, well the first time anyone witnessed it. Unfortunately, we did not record it. The entire room was clapping and cheering him on. Since then he cannot stop rolling over. Soon he will be rolling all over the room.

BABY #3 ON THE WAY

It is the only explanation for my belly. I am guessing the doctor left a baby in there!


Note: I am not to be held responsible if I just gave anyone a heart attack.