15 months old, so much to be thankful for!

Wow, what a month November was! We moved! So I  finally decided to take a break from cleaning and unpacking, and of course taking care of 2 little ones, to finally update the blog.  We officially moved three weeks ago, and just now I am starting to feel kind of settled, just kind of! We have a lot more room now and the girls seem to be settling in too.

Sweet girls on Thanksgiving

Happy Claire

On Dec. 6 we celebrated Claire coming home from the hospital a year ago.  It's so hard to believe she spent 96 days in the NICU, thinking about how long ago we celebrated their birthday really puts it into perspective.  Claire loves her baby dolls and giving them hugs and kisses. She loves bananas and grapes and pretty much anything she can feed herself.  Her top two teeth are coming in!  She loves giving hugs and enjoys being sung to.  She is starting to stand on her own, and has taken a few steps, with lots of prompting.  She would much rather climb or crawl every place she wants to go.

Silly Caroline

Caroline has taken off, she's now a professional walker!  She loves stuffed animals and looking through books. Caroline's top two teeth are also coming in.  She loves feeding Porter, talking/yelling, and loves to give mean faces, most of the time she will give you a smile or laugh afterwards though. She is quite silly!

Just to make you smile- the girls were asked by our old neighbor to model her hats that she makes... I can't caption these, I just can't...

Caroline

Caroline

Claire

Claire

And there are about 140 more... ;-)

Halloween and 14 months old!

We have been busy packing or trying to pack the house, our two little helpers aren't making it easy!  Both girls are very curious and don't like to leave boxes alone.  My last day of work was October 24, so I have been a stay at home mom for a week now.  John started his job last Monday and has been continuing to look for houses for us in the evenings.  Claire and Caroline were so happy to see Dad on Friday night when he came back.  He made it home in time to go trick or treating with us for a little bit.  The girls dressed up as owls for Halloween, yes, store bought owl costumes.  Maybe next year I'll be more creative!

Caroline and Claire on Halloween 

Claire and Caroline a few days before Halloween

Ready to Trick or Treat with Elsa and Anna

2 little owls

Bags are ready to go!

Claire has really been getting around the furniture well and climbing up on everything that she can, including the baby gate!  She still needs to work on her balance to stand on her own.  She loves to wave and has been eating really well lately.  She is producing more sounds and she loves laughing at her silly sister.  She doesn't nap as long as Caroline each day, but Claire entertains herself so well when she is awake.

Caroline has been taking more steps on her own, but hasn't taken off quite yet. She has been pointing and making more sounds. She loves to throw anything she can get her hands on.  She has been putting anything and everything in her mouth lately. She will happily shake her head no when you tell her no!

Changes for our family

I wrote this in early October and never posted, things have been a bit busy around here!

Wow, what a busy and fast September! We don't have any onesie stickers after 12 months, so the girls will be in generic outfits from now on.

Our little Buckeyes!

The girls went to the doctor this week for their one year check up.  Caroline is now 19 lbs 9 ozs, and 29 inches long.  Claire is 16 lbs 7 ozs and 28 3/4 inches long.  Claire is eating well overall, but she just isn't gaining weight, so the pediatrician recommended that we visit a gastroenterologist. Caroline is standing on her own and has taken a few steps before falling.  Her favorite word is "DADADADA" Both girls have discovered the stairs and LOVE to try to sneak up them. They are fast!  Both girls are climbers, they want to be as high up as they can.  Claire loves cruising around the furniture and hanging upside down.  There might be gymnastics in her future!
   We have some changes coming soon.  John has accepted a job in Spartanburg, SC working as an engineer for DISH, which means we will be moving in early November.  I resigned from my teaching position effective October 24.We are very excited to move closer to family, and I am so happy to be able to stay at home with the girls.  Needless to say we have a lot to do, including finding a place to live!

ONE YEAR!

We celebrated the girls' first birthday last weekend.  We had a little Thing 1 & Thing 2 party with family and friends on Sunday.  The girls loved the attention they got from their guests, they were exhausted afterward.  We took a big risk and gave the girls a smash cake, thankfully we didn't have any crazy allergic reactions! Claire REALLY liked her cake.  Caroline wasn't a huge fan, she just wanted to play with it.  Both girls loved the balloons and even got to wake up to balloons in their room on their birthday.

Trying to figure out this cake thing

Claire finally decided to dig in!

Caroline wasn't so sure about her cake

Here is a link to more party and birthday pictures- First Birthday Pictures!

12 months!

Caroline has recently been standing on her own for a few seconds at a time and even walking a little bit with her walker! Caroline loves tearing up paper and loves looking at greeting cards and books.  She continues to eat well and seems to be growing.  She hasn't gotten anymore teeth, although we keep thinking they are coming!

Caroline

Claire has been pulling up to stand, but still army crawls her way around.  She is really fast when there is a cell phone, computer, or dog bowl nearby! She loves playing with Porter. She has been doing well eating and has been doing a great job feeding herself puffs.  She loves her baby dolls and bouncing up and down.  She has her bottom two teeth now. 

Claire

11 months old!

On the first the girls turned 11 months old!  Both girls continue to grow bigger and stronger each day each day.

It's getting harder to get a picture with both girls looking at the camera

Lots of pictures looking at each other

And lots touching each other!

Claire

Claire continues to army crawl, but she is really picking up the pace the past few weeks.  She definitely gets to where she wants to be pretty quickly!  She is pulling up to stand a lot more now too.  She now has her first tooth!  She has been saying both dada and mama recently.

Caroline

Caroline continues to crawl all around and yell and scream most of the time.  She loves to pull up to stand and is trying to cruise around the furniture.  Her new favorite thing to do is pull anything down that is on the steps.  She especially loves pulling down magazines.  And we haven't found a food that she doesn't like yet!

10 months and summer fun!

The girls turned 10 months old while we were in Ohio visiting friends and family.  They got to meet their great grandparents and lots of aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends.  They enjoyed time at the pool, Buckeye Lake, and Old Man's Cave.  They did well on the long car ride to and from Ohio.  Both girls have really grown these past few weeks.

Happy 10 month olds!

Caroline 

Caroline now has mastered crawling and she is pulling up to stand whenever and wherever she can.  A few weeks ago she said "dada" for the first time and now it's her favorite thing to say (over and over!).  Caroline has been clapping her hands and has been enjoying pears, sweet potatoes, and carrots lately. She loves talking and playing with Porter and taking his toys.  She also got her first two teeth this month!

Claire

Claire is still commando crawling to get around.  She has recently been caught saying "dada" too, but she doesn't put on a show like her sister.  Claire is a picky eater, only liking fruits, no carrots or sweet potatoes for her.  One of her tricks is finding and "reading" tags on her toys, silly girl!  She now has her first tooth coming in too!

Caroline swinging

Claire enjoying the swing

Today the girls had a check up.  The doctor was very happy with their progress.  Claire now weighs 15 lbs. 2 oz. and is 26.5 inches long. Caroline weighs 17 lbs. 10 oz. and is 27 inches long.

First beach trip

Last week we went to Wilmington to visit Nana and spend some time at the beach.  The girls went swimming in the pool and went to the beach for the first time.  They even saw fireworks on the beach.  Both girls liked the pool and fireworks.  Caroline enjoyed putting her feet in the ocean, but Claire wasn't a big fan of the loud waves and sand.

Both girls needed a nap as soon as we got set up

Caroline relaxing on the beach

Daddy and Claire

Claire still musters up a smile

Caroline and Mommy

The beach is exhausting!

Claire is now "army crawling" around on the floor.  Caroline now gets up on all fours, but is still working on getting her legs moving.  Both girls had apples and bananas for the first time this week and they did well eating both new foods.  Caroline has two teeth coming in, which means Claire will probably have one or two soon too!

9 months old (23 days later!)

On the first of June the girls turned 9 months old.  These photo shoots are getting shorter and shorter as the girls grow older!

Happy 9 month old girls

Caroline is sitting up unassisted very well for longer periods of time.  She is trying to pull up and also trying to crawl.  She still rolls around a good deal and pushes on her back and has found her way all around the living room and dining room.  She is "talking" and producing more sounds now too.  She weighs 16 pounds and is 26 1/4 inches long.  For the first time she is now on the growth curve for her actual age!  She has been eating rice cereal and holding her own bottle. We are ready to start baby foods and sippy cups now.  She doesn't like to be left, even if her sister is nearby.  She is definitely the dominant, louder twin, but she really is a good girl!

Caroline

Caroline

Caroline is doing a great job sitting up

Claire is more laid back and quieter of the two.  She is now on the growth curve also! She weighed in at 14.5 pounds and 26 1/2 inches at the doctor's office a few weeks back.  Claire isn't a fan of sitting up.  In general she likes Caroline to do things before her, so I hope she decides sitting up isn't so bad soon.  Claire likes her rice cereal and loves to laugh and smile.  She can easily entertain herself. She rolls and pushes on her back also.  She isn't as much of an explorer as Caroline and she is content in one area as long as her toys are nearby.  She is talking and making lots of sounds too and has been shaking her head (as in no) lately.  Her smile and dimples can really light up a room!  Her favorite things are phones and computers. She really shows some determination to move quickly when an electronic device is nearby.

Claire

Claire

Both girls LOVE paper! 

Two weeks ago we went to the eye doctor and also the pulmonologist.  Both girls had good visits with both doctors.  They won't need to go back to the eye doctor for a year, and the pulumonologist was impressed with their progress and growth.  They both handled the two colds they have had well so they probably won't have to get another round of Synergist shots during RSV season.  We are trying to get on a nap schedule which some days are better than others.  The hardest part is trying to keep them up until naptime.  Once they lay down they are good to go for at least a couple of hours!

Dad with the girls at the eye doctor

First Mother's Day

I was able to celebrate my first Mother's Day with a quiet day at home with the girls.  I got a very special gift from the girls and a hour massage gift certificate from John!  It was a great day.  Here are a few pictures.

Sweet, sweet Mother's Day gift from the girls

The best gifts I've ever been given

Claire

Caroline

Both girls have had colds for almost a week now.  Over the weekend Caroline developed a high fever along with her already runny nose and coughing.  She went to the doctor today and has a double ear infection.  Poor baby.  The good news is today was my last official day of work for the school year so I'll be home until the end of July with the girls (and John too)!  We are looking forward to traveling to Ohio and to the beach to visit grandparents and other family!

8 months old

The girls turned 8 months old this past Thursday.  We are still working on incorporating rice cereal into their diets, and now both girls are getting a little more in their bellies than on them!  Caroline has been practicing holding her own bottle, and Claire has been eating much better the past few days! They are both moving and rolling ALL around when they are on the floor.  They are also practicing sitting up unassisted. We finally got the new stroller out and have been able to enjoy the beautiful weather!

Claire

Caroline & Claire

Caroline

Enjoying the new stroller

Caroline practicing holding her bottle