Easter

So I'm a little delayed in posting about Easter.  It was a lovely Sunday with a beautiful Easter service at church.  Touching musical numbers and meaningful talks centered our thoughts right where they should be, on our Savior Jesus Christ.  

Afterwards we hosted my parents and my brother, Brook, his wife Jamie and their baby girl Reese for Easter dinner.  We had a good time relaxing and enjoying the day together.  I look forward to when Ian and Suzie are a bit older and we can help them understand the meaning behind the religious holidays we celebrate.  My mind also started brewing some fun family traditions we can create together.

Family photo with Suzette in her purple Easter dress

 Suzie had fun meeting cousin Reese for the first time in person on Easter.  Reese is very fond of her bouncy chair and enjoys looking at the birdies.  Apparently Suzie does too!

Oh what a difference 5 months can make!

Saying hello!

 Happy (belated) Easter from our family to yours!

General Conference Spring 2012

The twins went from hearing the prophet's voice for the first time the weekend they came home from the hospital while laying in a bouncer swaddled next to each other to...

sitting up in their new high chairs six months later and actually looking at the prophet while he spoke!

Our whole family lounged around in our pajamas most of the weekend just absorbing all the talks from general conference.  It's funny how every time I'm caught off guard at how spiritually rejuvenated I feel after listening to the speakers.  It's always like I think my spiritual battery isn't that low, but then I come away feeling 100% recharged.  I loved so many of the messages shared and there seemed to be a lot I can apply to my life right now.  When Dave said goodbye before leaving for the Priesthood session he kissed us all then said to Ian, "One day you and I will be going to this together, buddy."  Oh it just about melted my heart.  I couldn't have chosen a better man to teach our son about the duty of being a righteous priesthood holder.  I look forward to seeing that come to fruition in the future.  

I think it's so fun that the twins birthdays (and 1/2 birthdays) will be right around conference each year!  I already can't believe how much they've changed in six short months.     

Six Months Old

Official Stats - 

Ian -  17 lbs. 12 oz. (56 %tile) & 27 3/4 inches (91 %tile)

Suzette -  20 lbs. 4 oz. (97 %tile) & 27 1/4 inches (94 %tile)

My cute giggly chunky monkey

Suzette loves being sung to and will even try to "sing along" sometimes.  She does pretty well sitting up and can lay on her tummy for 15+ minutes at a time now.  Her physical therapy is going very well and she has made a lot of improvement already.  Suzie is more aware of Ian and tries to interact with him when they're near each other.  Ian seems oblivious...for now.

My handsome little man

Ian is quite the character.  He loves games of peek-a-boo!  Never fails when I take my hands away from my face and say peek-a-boo he jumps then giggles so hard, it's adorable.  He is also sitting up very well.  We have this game that I do during a diaper change.  Before I take off his diaper I ask him what kind it is.  Then when I open it up I'll act surprised and say, "It's just a pee-pee diaper!" or "You did the poopies!"  And I swear every time he goes #2 he gets this sly grin on his face before I open his diaper then when I do and say "poopies" he just laughs and laughs.  I told Dave about this one day and he asked if I did it with Suzie.  I said yes I tried once, but she didn't seem to care or give any reaction.  After growing up with 3 older brothers, living with my husband for 5 years and now having a boy of my own I firmly believe boys are BORN WITH a sense of humor about bodily functions that girls just don't have.  

This month we said goodbye to the wash pod, the twins are now too long to fit in it anymore.  It was PERFECT to use for the past couple months and such a great and thoughtful gift from my Aunt Karen and mom.  Suzie loved being in it and Ian, as usual, was a bit more cautious of the pod.  It made bath time such a breeze, I knew they were warm the whole time and it was great using a smaller amount of water.  But alas, all good things must come to an end, right?  We've now moved on to using our Primo infant tub.

In other developments this past month Suzie was pretty excited to welcome her newest cousin baby Reese and Ian discovered just how yummy his toes really are!

 Wow, has 1/2 a year already gone by?!  These babies are growing up fast!  It has been such a thrill to see each of their personalities develop.  Month six brings new exciting things like FOOD.  Yup, we got the all clear from our pediatrician to start feeding them table food (minus a few foods that are choking hazards) and using baby food as needed as well as drinking water from a sippy cup.  I think there are some exciting adventures ahead!  

Cherry Blossoms

Dave had the day off today so we headed out to see the cherry blossoms before the rain forecasted for this weekend washes them away.  We scored a parking spot right by the MLK memorial then headed over to lay our blanket down under the cherry blossoms along the tidal basin.  The weather, the company and the scenery made for one of the BEST days I've had in a while.  I love spring time in DC!  

 The detail on the MLK memorial is remarkable and going during the daytime really allows you to enjoy all it has to offer.  While making our way to the tidal basis we had blossoms shower us.  The wind was blowing just enough that the blossoms would glide through the air in groups like a school of fish.  Ian and Suzie didn't quite know what to make of it, but we thought it was pretty cool :-)

 This year, 2012, is 100 years since Japan gave the United States the gift of trees.  I sure am glad to be able to enjoy such beauty on a yearly basis, thank you Japan!

This was Ian and Suzie's view while laying on the blanket, magical!

Lucky

Happy St. Patty's Day!  

Instead of forking out nearly $40 for 2 of these...

I decided to run with the cute idea and make our own.  

I sure do feel lucky to have these cute faces to look at everyday.  

Ian just warming up...

Ian looking at me, Suzie looking at Dave

We have a winner!  Both looking at me and seem somewhat happy/interested :)

"Hey sister, let's hold hands."

"Don't worry brother, I've got your back."

 This evening we took Ian and Suzette to a nearby neighborhood in Bethesda called Kenwood.  Breathtaking!  The pictures do not do it enough justice.  If you live locally you MUST make your way to this neighborhood in person during the next week or two to see the gorgeous cherry blossoms in person.  Strolling the tree lined streets under a canopy of blossoms, feeling the warm breeze, enjoying all the smiles and sweet comments of the passersby who loved seeing Ian and Suzie was the perfect way to end our first St. Patrick's day as a family of four.

Newest Niece

Two weeks ago on Tuesday, February 28th my brother and SIL welcomed Reese Alexandra Hellie into their family.  I had the pleasure of seeing her at 1 day old and she is precious!  I could not be more thrilled for my sweet sister-in-law, Jamie, to have this amazing experience of motherhood and it's been so fun to see my brother, Brook, who has always been so good with children to have a lovely baby girl of his own.

Born 2.28.12 @ 7:48pm / 7 lbs. 0.5 oz / 19.5 inches long

Already a super star requesting, "no more pictures please" and knowing from the moment she entered this world right where her thumb was and how to get it into her mouth Reese is a girl full of personality and knows exactly what she wants!  She also has the most beautiful skin tone of any of my parents grandchildren.  I'm jealous!  And how cute are those those lips?!  Reese is 5 months younger than Suzie & Ian and I can't wait to see what fun these cousins will have growing up so close in age to each other.

Want to know something else that melted my heart?  This sweet girl's middle name came from someone pretty special, her Uncle Nick (my brother who passed away in 1998) whose middle name was Alexander.  I love the she will forever have that connection with him.  Oh Reese, you are adored by all those around you and couldn't have been born to better parents!  We are all so glad you've arrived safe and sound and just as beautiful as can be.

Five Months Old

In case you were wondering, those are penguins on Suzie's diaper :)

Dave was standing to the side of me making faces at the babies.  As you can see Ian was not amused.

No visit with the pediatrician this month = no stat updates.  We are pretty sure these guys are growing just fine.  We've been told by more than one person that our best guess of what Suzie weighs right now is what their 9 or 12 month old is weighs.  Ahhh, gotta love those baby chubs!  

Suzie and Ian transitioned to the cribs very well.  Suzie will babble morning, noon and night before finally falling asleep and I can't help but smile when I hear her.  We decided during the 2 daytime naps to let Ian sleep in the play yard in our room so he can get some rest and let Suzie babble away.  He ended up not being as good as she is of tuning out the others sounds.

 Ian has been sucking his thumb for a while now and it's GREAT!  He doesn't even want the pacifier anymore and whenever he is tired and starts to fuss he'll just put his thumb in his mouth and all is right in the world again.  How awesome is that?!  I love our little self soother :)

The picture above Suzie's crib is one my grandmother gave me before she passed away.  It is of my mom when she was a baby.

During the night they both sleep in their cribs in the nursery (it's a little tight with 2 cribs, but they both fit, whew) and usually within 10 minutes of us leaving their room they are both asleep.  LOVE IT!!!

Tummy time has been going well.  We were told by Suzie's physical therapist to aim for at least 1 hour of tummy time each day.  Suzie could only handle 5 minutes at a time since she never put her head down to rest.  Now that she's started to take breaks we're getting 15 minute chunks of tummy time out of her!  I can't wait until they get better at sitting up on their own, they're so close!   Neither one is rolling over yet, but I fully expect that will happen sometime this month.  So I'll have a little more time before massive baby proofing needs to take place and I'm a okay with that.  Have you ever seen prettier blue eyes?!  I could stare at them all day.  They get them from their daddy :)

Suzie has seen a physical therapist twice now for her torticollis and head tilt (a private one we hired because the county services, which are free, take 2-3 MONTHS before treatment begins, ughh!) and things are going well.  I feel we're on the right track and I love the PT.  She is very through and explains things so well.  She'll evaluate Suzie first then teach me different stretches and holds to do with her throughout the day.  She helped me to have the proper expectations by reminding me it took many months for Suzie's head to become a-symmetrical and it'll take just a long to help it go back.  She also reassures me by saying often how Suzie's case is very minor.  I guess that's good, but to a mother it doesn't seem minor.  I just have to trust the professional.

In other news we've started the twins on brown rice cereal.  Upon the recommendation of pediatrician we feed it to them using a bowl and spoon in preparation of starting pureed veggies & fruits next month, woo hoo! 

Suzie is our really good eater (in case you couldn't tell) and actually did very well with the new method of eating.  

It was funny to watch her explore this new consistency of the cereal in her mouth.  I can't wait to see how she reacts to the fruits and veggies!

 Ian, as usual, was a bit more cautious of the whole experience.  

He wasn't quite sure what to make of it all and the camera is a bit of a distraction for him.

Every day has it's own challenges, but I know how blessed I am to have these two perfectly healthy and adorable babies as my own.  Seeing them each day reminds me just how known and loved I am by my Father in Heaven who trusts me (and Dave) to raise a precious son and daughter of His.  In the really trying moments, i.e. the high pitch crying, vomit filled, poop smeared, pee flying moments, I take a breath and try to remember the emptiness in my heart before these amazing spirits entered my life and it puts it all in perspective.  And you know what they keep teaching me every day?  They were worth every minute of my wait.