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.