6 months old!

Yes, you read that right. Logan and Paige turned 6 months old yesterday! Can you believe it?! Where has the time gone? They are so cute at this age. I love watching them interact with each other and seeing all the new things they learn. Their little personalities continue to shine through and it's so interesting to see how unique each of them are. They are just so much fun and I'm excited to see what the next 6 months hold for our little family. :-) Logan~ You weigh 15 lbs (10%) and you are 26 inches long (36%). You are such a chunky monkey and we love it! Your feet and hands are so plumpy. Mommy and daddy kiss on them all the time! You are still wearing size 2 diapers during the day and size 3 diapers for bedtime. You wear 3-6 month and 6 month clothes. You eat 6-8 oz. every four hours during the day and rice cereal once a day (when mommy remembers to give it to you). :-) You take two longer naps during the day and one shorter nap late afternoon/early evening. You go to bed between 7:00-7:30 pm and usually sleep until 6:45-7:30 am. You LOVE to be on your tummy!! Whenever we lay you down on a blanket or the playmat you immediately roll onto your tummy. You also like to sleep on your tummy now and will usually end up on your tummy within a few minutes of us putting you in your bed. Bless your little heart, you are trying SO hard to crawl! You "swim" on your tummy and have started getting up on your toes and doing the inchworm pose. There is going to be no stopping you once you get going! You are still such a sweet, smiley little boy...until early evening. :-) Around 5:00 in the evening you become "Mr. Grumpy" as we like to call you! The faces you make are quite funny. You love for mommy to sing to you and you really like to reach out and grab the books when we're reading. You love for us to pretend that we're eating your tummy. This almost always makes you giggle. You really like to grab onto mommy's hair and pull it. Mommy is not a fan of this. :-) Your favorite toys are Freddy the Firefly, Mr. Caterpillar and your ocean wonders playmat (also known as your fishies). Your smile is contagious and mommy and daddy love you SO much!!

Paige~ You weigh 13 lbs 15 oz. (13%) and you are 25 1/2 inches long (42%). You are such a sweet, little petite girl! You are wearing size 2 diapers during the day and size 3 for bedtime. You wear 3-6 and 6 month clothes. You eat 6-8 oz. every four hours during the day and rice cereal once a day (when mommy remembers to give it to you). :-) You take two longer naps during the day and one short nap in the afternoon/early evening. You go to bed between 7:00-7:30 pm and usually wake up between 6:45-7:30 am. You LOVE to be bounced on mommy and daddy's knees! You will immediately smile and start laughing. You love to have the back of your hand kissed and for us to tell you that we love you. :-) Kissing your neck usually gets some giggles out of you too! You do really well with tummy time and like to sit up now. You still need some assistance but you're able to sit unassisted for a little bit before falling over. Your favorite toys are Freddy the Firefly, Mr. Caterpillar and your ocean wonders mat (also known as your fishies). You really like to swing at the park. You are so close to crawling. You don't try everyday, but when you do you're able to get your knees under you and you do a really good inchworm! You love toys that make crinkly noises and you really like to study things. You're mommy and daddy's quiet thinker! You love for mommy to sing to you and you really like to be read to. You even try to turn the pages when we read. You are such a sweet baby girl and your dimply smiles melt our hearts! Mommy and daddy love you very much!!

Why???

This is a question that I have been asking a lot over the last few days. Why, God, does my sweet friend (who just got the shock of her life last week by finding out she's having twins) have to start bleeding on Sunday and endure the fear that she might be having a miscarriage...again? Why, God, does another sweet friend have to lose her father today in a tragic motorcycle accident (while she's pregnant expecting their first child)? I know that we're not supposed to understand why things happen, but it doesn't stop my mind from wanting answers. To say that my heart is heavy tonight is an understatement. My heart just breaks for both of them and I so wish that I could do or say something to take away their fears and pain.

I know that the best thing I can do for both of them is to just be there and to pray for them like crazy. So many of you have been such awesome prayer warriors for me in the past and once again I'm going to ask for your prayers for my sweet friends. Please pray for Melissa's babies and this pregnancy. Pray specifically that the bleeding will stop and that these precious miracles will continue to grow and stay strong. Pray that her body will cooperate and allow her to carry these babies to term. Please pray for peace for Elizabeth and her family. Pray for God to comfort them and remind them that He is right there with them in the midst of this horrible tragedy.

Thank you for the prayers and thoughts in advance. I promise that my next post will be much more upbeat. :-)

Bittersweet

Before you have kids, no one really warns you about the need to really enjoy and soak in EVERY LITTLE THING because you never know when the last time you do something with them will truly be the last time. I experienced another "last time" this week. This time I knew it was coming and I prepared myself as best as I could. I have been feeding Paige and Logan both formula and breastmilk since they were about 6 or 7 days old. I had to start formula sooner than I had hoped to because of Logan's week long hospital stay back in October. Unfortunately, my supply has just continued to decrease as each month has gone by. With Logan and Paige now eating 6-8 ounces every bottle I knew that it was time for me to say goodbye to pumping. I feel like I gave them all that I could...literally. The girls just flat out do not work anymore. :-( So, I decided to nurse Logan just one last time Wednesday night (Paige won't have anything to do with nursing anymore) and I just sat there and soaked in the moment with him. A moment that I will probably never experience again. It was very emotional for me. I still remember the first time I nursed each of them the night they were born. It was such a special bonding time with them and I will always treasure those quiet moments that we had together just the two of us.

I know that I did the best I could and I'm very happy that I was able to give them at least some breastmilk for the first 5 1/2 months of their lives. Soon they will be eating solids and before I know it they'll be holding their own bottles and not needing me quite as much as they do now.

To all my mommy-to-be friends: Enjoy the rest of your pregnancy. Soak in every little punch, kick, hiccup and jab to the ribs! You will miss those things once your baby is here in your arms. Take the time to really be in the moment with your child. Even if it's 3:00 in the morning and you are SO exhausted try to just enjoy that time with your little one. Those sweet, quiet moments will be gone before you know it.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Ready for night night

Aren't these precious onesies just perfect!? They say "mommy's answered prayers" and "daddy's answered prayers".

5 months

Five months already??? These babies seriously need to slow down! They just keep getting cuter and more fun as the months go by! Their little personalities just keep blossoming and they are so much fun.

Logan~ You are such a silly, little man! You love to giggle and it melts mommy's heart! You giggle now whenever we pull your shirts or onesies over your head. It is so cute! You adore your sister and just smile so big whenever you see her. You're still wearing size two diapers and justthis week started wearing size three diapers for extra protection overnight. You wear 3-6 clothes and some 6 month clothes, depending on the brand. You are such a chunky monkey! You are SO close to rolling over from your back to your tummy. You are so ready to move. You just wiggle all the time. I have a feeling you're going to be crawling before we know it! You are just so sweet and we love you SO much!

Paige~ You are such a happy, smiley little girl! Your smile is so sweet and it just warms mommy's heart! You love to just talk and talk. You have a lot to say! You immediately start smiling whenever mommy sings "The Wheels on the Bus" or "This Little Light of Mine". It's so sweet! You absolutely adore your brother and you smile so big whenever you see him. You're still wearing size two diapers and just this week started wearing size three diapers for extra protection overnight. You're wearing 3-6 month clothes and some 6 month clothes, depending on the brand. You are so petite compared to your brother. You're such a precious, sweet girl and we love you SO much!

(Please excuse Paige's Rambo look. Her headband slipped down right before I took the picture)

What we've been up to...

I can't believe how much Logan and Paige change every day! They are doing so many cute and funny things, so I thought I would take a moment to write them down so I won't forget later. I swear pregnancy and being a mommy have totally killed my short-term memory!

Miss Paige has FINALLY gotten over her tummy problems!! Thank you, God! Bless her heart, she had horrible gas up until about 2-3 weeks ago. She has been SO much happier and just smiles all the time now. She just loves to talk and talk. She also LOVES her brother! Any time she sees Logan she gets a huge grin on her face. She loves to just jibber jabber to him too. They have already started communicating with each other. It's so cute to watch them! Paige is currently on her second round of a bad diaper rash. Poor girl. :-( She loves it when we blow dry her tushy with the hairdryer, though. Paige and Logan both love when I sing "The Wheels on the Bus" and "This Little Light of Mine". They will smile and giggle instantly when I sing these two songs to them. I love it! They also love to be read to and that makes mommy really happy. :-)

Logan will now giggle when you pull shirts over his head to dress him. It is so stinkin' cute! He is just all smiles and giggles most of the time. He is such a silly, little man. He loves his sister too. He smiles whenever he sees her and he likes to try to eat her arm or suck on her hand. Sometimes she lets him and sometimes she doesn't. :-) He HATES the flash on the camera. He will squint and make these really funny, awkward faces everytime. Logan has the cutest bed hair every morning. It cracks me up! They have both been tolerating the rice cereal pretty well. They don't love it but they don't seem to dislike it either.

I can't believe my babies will be 5 months old tomorrow! Here are some pictures from them eating rice cereal for the first time and a few other miscellaneous photos.

Logan trying cereal for the first time!

Paige trying cereal for the first time!

Holding hands!

Our little family!

Tummy time

Love those cheeks!

The phone call that changed our lives!

This time last year we received the phone call that would change our lives! Our IVF nurse called to tell us that my beta test from that morning was positive and I was PREGNANT!!! I can still remember the immediate and overwhelming sense of joy that came over me when she said those words. I remember yelling to Chris across the house "Chris, we're pregnant!" It was such an awesome day and we had SO much fun calling our family and friends to tell them the good news.

I'm still in awe at the amazing blessings that God has given us over the last year. I can't believe our little miracle babies are now 4 1/2 months old! We had no idea that day that God had blessed us with not one, but TWO miracles! We had hoped and prayed for two, but we wouldn't find out for another two weeks that we were pregnant with twins. I can absolutely say that this past year since we got that phone call has been the BEST year (even through the hard times that we had with Logan and his heart).

Thank you, God, for these precious babies and thank you for blessing us more than we deserve!

4 month check-up

Logan and Paige had their 4 month check-up yesterday. They definitely had a growth spurt since their 2 month appointment. At 2 months, Logan was in the 3rd percentile for weight and height. He is now in the 16th percentile for weight and the 41st percentile for height! He weighs 13 lbs. 10 oz. and is measured 25 inches. At 2 months Paige was in the 15th percentile for weight and the 17th percentile for height. She is now in the 16th percentile for weight (not much change) and the 67th percentile in height! She weighs 12 lbs. 7 oz. and measured 25 inches. Logan had a head circumference of 16.25 (18 %) and Paige's was 16 (31%).

Dr. E was very pleased with their growth and with the milestones that they have each reached at this point! Unfortunately, they had to get another round of shots. :-( They did pretty well but have been super sleepy since last night. Paige went right to sleep last night when we put them down for the night. Logan, on the other hand, came unglued. I mean UNGLUED!! Bless his heart, he was so worked up and it took me a good 30 minutes to settle him down and for him to get off to sleep. I've tried to be consistent with putting them down in their cribs sleepy but still awake and then letting them put themselves to sleep, even if it means listening to them fuss for a little bit. Last night, however, I just felt so bad for our poor little man. So mommy cuddled him and rocked him to sleep.

Dr. E thinks that we may be on the verge of teething. They've both been drooling a lot and chewing on things. Logan really likes to suck on Paige's arm. She is not a fan of this. :-) This may also explain the sudden onset of Logan's fussy behavior recently. We'll see! She told us that we can now start them on a little bit of rice cereal each day, but that we'll hold off on solids until their 6 months. I bought the cereal today so we're going to try it for the first time tonight! I can't wait to see their reactions...and the mess we'll have to clean up! Thank goodness I already bought their splat mats to go under their highchairs!

Have I mentioned that we LOVE our pediatrician!!! If you're a mommy to be in the Houston area, especially Cypress, and looking for a pediatrician PLEASE let me know! She was such a God send when we were going through everything with Logan last fall. I seriously couldn't have made it through those horrible weeks without her.

I'll try to post pictures of their first experience with the cereal. Have a great weekend!