OUR PUNKINS AT THE PUMPKIN PATCH

The boys have a lot of "Firsts" coming up!  We took them to the pumpkin patch for the first time yesterday with our best friends, Cindy & Andrew and their kiddos.  We all had a great time and enjoyed a beautiful fall day.  The boys love watching the trees rustle around in the wind and while they napped in the stroller we boarded a 2.5 mile train ride through the (empty) fields at the Kirtlan's Silverbend Pumpkin Patch in Clarksburg, CA.  As far as pumpkin patches go, I was pretty disappointed in this one as far as kids' activities but it was gorgeous outside, they had country music playing, live blacksmiths (working on iron crafts) and employees dressed in western wear.  The best part of this pumpkin patch was their real, full sized, functioning train that circled one of the farm's fields which was included with the $7/person admission fee.  With that said, everything else still cost money: pumpkins, balloon clown creations and drinks.  I think everyone had a nice time overall though and afterwards we all went to a delicious chinese restaurant for an early dinner.  YUM.

Here are the boys' first pumpkin patch pictures ...

    What are all of these orange things?!

    The Fields Four

Our cute 1st Halloween onsies from Granny Margie

Me and Nick, waiting for the train

Here is the Silverbend train .. Choo Choo

The train as it passed by us (before our ride)

Bella with the balloon clown ... she got a ladybug bracelet

Jake with his "tiger on a leash" balloon

Bella and Auntie Jen on the train ... Chugga Chugga Choo Choo

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

WHO'S WHO??

We didn't know whether the boys were identical or fraternal throughout my pregnancy ~ we had been told either was possible (they were in seperate sacs but the doctors weren't sure if I had one placenta or two that had grown together).  After they were born, the doctors still didn't have any answers and no one offered a DNA test.  We had debates back and forth about whether they were identical or not.  I saw differences and could tell them apart, most of the time.  Chris was better at it than I was.  Many times I'd have to ask him who was who in pictures!! LOL  As they grew a little more I could tell them apart almost immediately and thought they must be fraternal since they had very suble differences ... everyone else thought they were identical :)  I was hoping that, as the MOM, I was right.  In August '09, the results of an at-home DNA cheek swab test kit proved me wrong!  They're identical.  At least the test said there was greater than a 99% chance they're identical.  That's a high enough percentage for me to believe it.

Well, yesterday I had one of those "who's who" moments:
Both boys were on the floor playing, Jack in the boppy & Nick on the floor.  It was time for Nick to eat so Chris took him in to the nursery to change his diaper.  When he was done, both boys were on the floor again and when I was ready to feed Nick I picked him up from the floor, took him to the table and put a bib on.  Chris asked from the other room "aren't you feeding Nick?"  I looked at him like "Uh, YAH, what do you think I'm doing?" and then he said "Then why do you have Jack?"  OOPS!!  Well, whether Chris was trying to play a joke or not, he put Jack on the floor where Nick was and placed Nick in the boppy where Jack had been playing and I got them confused!!  What a goof.  It was just one of those moments.  And right then and there I knew that they were going to be able to trick their teachers (and maybe their friends, grandparents, and God forbid, their parents!!) when they're older!  Yikes.

BEDTIME FROWNS & MORNING SMILES

For the past few weeks, bedtime has not been nice to us.  The boys are having a very difficult time w/ settling down for bed. They are generally in their cribs by 6pm or 6:30pm, go to sleep within 10 min or so but then they are stirring, crying, screaming, etc. on and off until about 8:30pm or 9pm - and then they sleep until anywhere from 5am to 7am. We have tried letting them cry, but usually we go in and give them their pacifiers and leave the room ... sometimes we have to pick them up to burp them because of their reflux issues (but then we put them back down in their cribs) and we've also started giving them the teething tablets just in case it's those pesky, painful toofers.  It's also hard to let them "cry it out" because it wakes the other baby and they're very persistant if they want/need something.  By the time they are asleep for good we're both exhausted by the 2-3 hour bedtime drama.  I am somewhat at a loss for the cause because they do great at naptime ~ they go down easy & sleep for an hour or two.  I'm praying that this is a temporary problem ~ momma needs some down time!!

The best thing after bedtime is morning time and the big, glowing smiles I get when they wake up!  I wish I had a video camera built into my eyes because I don't think a picture can capture that love ♥

SIX MONTH APPT.

Jack & Nick had their 6m appt with the pediatrician yesterday!  The exciting stuff first - Jack weighs 15lbs. 13oz and Nick is 16lbs. 8oz. (but in all fairness, he had a 5oz bottle just before he was weighed, so maybe more like 16lbs. 3oz.)  They are both following their growth charts and the doctor was happy with their progress.  The not-so-exciting stuff in one word S-H-O-T-S.  I hate having to hold them and I can only imagine how much worse it gets as they get older :(  Today they are running low fevers, they're fussy & sleeping a lot.  This is really the first time they have had any "reaction" to their immunizations.  They acted as if nothing happened after the 2m and 4m appointments!  Well, I'm taking advantage of the long naps today but I hope their fevers go away soon. (OK, seriously, as I was typing the last sentence, Jack woke up!  The good news is that his fever went down!)

One of the problems we discussed with the pediatrician yesterday was the boys having trouble, um, pooping.  I said I thought it was because of the rice cereal & oatmeal and told her they hadn't had any yesterday - and still haven't had any more today.  She suggested giving them pears.  So today the boys had pears for the first time!  YUM.  They both gobbled it up and I'm happy to report that things are moving along.  Chris and I were joking the other day about how much we talk about poop.  We never thought we'd talk about it as much as we do ... or smell diapers as much as we do ... or save the diaper to show the other what came out!!  Ew, right?  OK ... moving on; I think that's enough talk about it.

Another thing I've noticed the boys doing is kind of hard to explain, but I'll try.  They have both been trying to figure out how to get their legs under them ... they are laying on their tummies, pull their knees up toward their chests on each side and push with their toes.  It's like they are trying to get into a crawling position but they end up pushing themselves up into a V - on their elbows and toes - and toppling over.  So, we'll keep watching to see how long it takes them to get into the position they are trying to get in :)  I thought babies sat up by themselves before crawling but my boys might be trying to do things backwards!  Or, maybe they are developing the muscles they need to sit up by doing this weird little move.

Tomorrow we are hoping to go to the pumpkin patch with Cindy & her family!  Hopefully we're able to get some good pictures of the boys' first autumn adventure.  My goal this afternoon is to flip through my cookbooks and magazines for some dinner inspirations.  I'm stuck in a cooking rut at the moment ... I think mainly because we've been having a hard time getting the boys to bed at night (they are so so tired at 6pm but don't really go to sleep for good until about 8pm or 9pm ... the whole time we are taking turns going in to fetch a binky or burp a baby) so I've been looking for really quick and easy meals.  I'm hoping to start using my slow cooker a lot more in the months to come for warm, hearty, comforting meals.

Hoping for beautiful fall weather tomorrow!  Have a great weekend.

It's Been a LONG While Away

Hello again everyone!  I'm back to blogging.  Some of you may remember that I started in September 2007 when Chris and I traveled to Scandinavia so that I could share our photos with friends and family while we were away for three weeks.  It was a lot of fun but once we got home I really didn't have anything to blog about!  Well, in the two years since then A LOT has changed and I've recently been inspired by some friends that are blogging to start my own back up.

In short, the past two (exciting) years have been busy & life changing.  Most notibly, as most everyone reading this probably already knows, Chris and I became parents of identical twin boys, Jackson & Nicholas, on April 14, 2009.  They are the loves of our lives - and the main inspiration for this blog!  They are changing everyday, learning new (and cute) things all the time and I'm finding that I need a journaling outlet just to remember who did what, when ... who smiled first? ... who rolled over first? ... who laughed first? ... who blew raspberries first? ... and so on!  I'm already struggling to remember these precious moments and, before it's completely jumbled in my memory, I want to write it down and keep track of their milestones.  I'm also hoping to use blogging as an opportunity for this momma to use her noggin once in a while when the babies are sleeping!  I might just throw something in that is not baby related ... I know, I know ... "like what?" you ask!?  hehehehe  We'll have to see what comes up!

Anyway, in the meantime, we also traveled to New England for two weeks in October 2008 and drove through Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachussetts, New York and Conneticut to see the colorful fall landscapes (It's my absolute favorite season).  As luck would have it, two days after we booked our road trip (with non-refundable airfare) I found out I was pregnant ... and low and behold a week or so before we actually left, we found out I was carrying TWINS!  I ended up sleeping most of the time in between destinations to keep from getting sick in the car, but overall it was wonderful and we actually want to go back someday to see more of the beautiful scenery!  Here is one of my favorite pictures of the trip, chosen from the thousands (literally) of pictures we took along the way:

After our trip, the holidays quickly came and went, my belly kept growing (rapidly) & after the New Year we patiently waited for the boys!

34 weeks (One week before they arrived!)

And then the best - and scariest - day of our lives came on April 14, 2009 when my doctor confirmed I was developing toxemia & decided the boys would be delivered via c-section that evening at 35w1d gestational age.  Both Jack & Nick weighed 4lbs. 9oz. and measured 17" at birth.

Both boys had to spend time in the NICU.  Nick came home after 2 weeks and Jack came home just shy of 3 weeks:

As of this post, our boys are six month old.  They are both healthy, happy babies that have stolen our hearts!  We have their 6m appointment with the pediatrician this Thursday and I will be sure to post their progress and current measurements ~ our "guess" is that they are both around 16 or 17 lbs. now :)  We aren't looking forward to their shots but we've promised to get them ice cream treats on their 3rd birthdays so hopefully that will help!  Here are the boys at six months:

Both boys have rolling over down pat - Nick mastered that first and Jack followed about a week after; they are smiling, laughing, cooing, blowing raspberries, playing w/ toys and they just started eating solid foods a few weeks ago.  So far they have had rice cereal, oatmeal, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, green beans, avocado and prunes.  Tomorrow we will be trying either bananas or peaches!  Yum.  We haven't found anything they don't like yet.  We are currently working on sitting up and I just realized today, while I watched them playing on the floor, that they may figure out how to get up on their hands and knees before they even seem interested in sitting up!  They both seem eager to learn how to get where they want to be but could care less about sitting up to play.  When I prop them up on a pillow they just arch their backs and scoot down to lay flat!  Silly kids.