Favorites 6 mo.

Right now
Favorite Christmas songs: Jingle bells, Once there was a snowman, Santa Clause is coming to town
Favorite books: The pop-up wheels on the bus book that Daddy bought you in Chicago, Pat the bunny (best book ever), Tails
Favorite things that make you smile: Mommy, Daddy, peek-a-boo, Mickey Mouse toy, being sung to, Mommy putting the handle down in your carseat and saying boo after getting in the car, seeing Mom or Dad for the first time after you've been sleeping.
Favorite time of day: morning
Favorite nursery rhyme: Hickory Dickory Dock
Favorite temperature: cool ( you despise being hot)
Favorite bottle amount: 6 ounces
Favorite bottle temperature: in between luke-warm and cold
Favorite clothes: anything not put over your heads

First haircut: A

A had been needing a haircut I guess. Aunt M kept saying so.  There was somewhat of a comb-over in the back, and I thought that the other hair would just catch up.  But, I was told it was time.  So, we inturrupted a wonderful meal of prunes and rice cereal for A's first haircut.  (O-yours grew just right)

Aunt K getting in on the action

 Ok, so maybe it is a little long....

I let Aunt M do the honors : ) She did a great job!

December 21

Today is December 21-and exactly 6 months ago-A and O entered our lives and made it so full! 6 of the best months of my entire life.  I love you so so so so much! You are completely perfect to me in every way.

 Our little A and B

6 months later

First Christmas Presents

We had a wonderful family party at M and G house tonight.  We had a good dinner, a short Christmas message from President Monson M had recorded (it was beautiful) and a cousin gift exchange. You loved to pull on the bright colored wrapping paper & eat the Bows.   

 Daddy with A

 Mommy with O (I was in the middle of getting you into your jammies : ) )

 You both got really special cards from Great-Grandma P.  She can't see or write very well, but she made sure that she signed each of your cards.  I have kept those cards for you as a keepsake.

You ended up with some darling books (thanks Mindi-LOVE!!), a CPK (reminds me of my childhood-love!) and $25 each from Grandma P! Thats a lot of money for 6 month olds-you're very lucky to have such an amazing Great-Grandma : )

I spend a lot of time during the day getting you to do this.  There is no sound in the world I would rather hear.

When I have to leave the room for a minute, I love to come back in to see what you are doing, how far you have scooted around the room and how you are interacting with each other.

double fun

 Time to eat!

 A plays with anything close by-I love how good you have become with your hands, and how curious you are about everything around you!

Yay for being big enough for these!

Holiday feet

These came in the mail just in time- thanks GBJ!

A bathtime

 Loves to kick kick kick.  Won't smile if the tap is running.  tries to eat my hand when I wash her hair (so does L)

Tries to lick the soap off her hands after I wash them.  Such great babies in the bath! LOVE IT!

O bathtime

 O loves the bath! She loves to kick and splash!

 Likes to get her hair washed-phew! I'm so glad our babies don't mind this-I have it on good authority that a lot of babies hate this.  Thank you A and O!

 Down swoops Pennie the pelican to deliver it's belly full of warm water to a cute little bath baby

 nice and warmy.  O loves to be wrapped up in a towel-she gets so excited.  She coos and talks until she is dressed.  O is always talking-and I answer her.  We just carry on in conversation in our two laguages.  She has so much to say!

Not again

Once again, the indicative marks of sickness have come upon us.  Returning are: those runny little noses, the sneezing & sad eyes.  And something new-I hate hate hate it-throwing up. 
Only all through the night last night THANK GOODNESS.  O, my heart broke a million times as I held you and paced last night for a few hours.  I knew you were in pain and wished I could take it away from you.  I'm sorry you have to experience this discomfort in your tiny little body.  A, thank you for not waking up until O finally went to sleep.  It would be really hard to have you both awake and sad at the same time.  You didn't have it as bad as O, and thank goodness. 

People of the Winder 6th Ward:  DO NOT come to church if you are sick! You are spreading your infectious microorganisms to innocent little babies that deserve to be healthy and feel good. 

This is part of Motherhood that I despise. 

Go away germs and never come back.

Get well soon my little angels.

And thank you for still smiling at me even though you are under the weather.

work

I'm tired of leaving you at 7:30 every night to go to work.  I miss you SOOOOOOOO much.  I'm late every night because I can't stop kissing you and making sure you have everything that you need.   I can't stand to go when your little eyes follow my every move.  I don't want you to see me go out of sight and not come back.  Yes, I know Daddy does a good job, but I'm just so attached.  I want to be there too when you go down to sleep for the night.  I want to pull your soft blankets up snug around you.  I can't bare to be away from you at all!  People said I would need and want to have breaks from you, but boy they couldn't have been more wrong! I pull away from the garage begrudgingly and head over to the college to teach a 2 hour class-without you.  I think the students know that i'd rather be with you, but I still do my very best for them.  I have a picture of you on my teaching binder, and I smile when I see your sweet faces.  Since you are asleep by the time i'm done, I hope you don't mind that I hit the gym.  That's hard too, but I go late so that I don't miss out on you during the time that you are awake.  Trust me, I need to go to the gym. 
When I get home, I go strait to your cribs to check on you.  Your Father has tucked you snug in your bed with your soft blankets around you.  I smile and shake my head in amazement (sometimes I get a little teary).  You are incredible.  My heart is so touched as I return home to my little family, and I am reminded how much I am blessed.  I am reminded that I get to be your Mother and that our home is heavenly with you in it.  I check on you a few more times while I am making sure everything is just right for a new day tomorrow.  I then drift to sleep, so content that this really is my life. I love you love you love you.

favor

A and O,

Will you please-pretty please-learn how to roll back onto your back? Then you won't be so sad when your little necks get fatigued from looking around the room from your belly.  Mommy is so torn: 'do I let you struggle for the good of developing those neck & back muscles?' or 'should i rescue you from your distress and help you roll back?'.  Needless to say-I always rescue you.  Your Mothers heart is too tender towards you to let you be sad.  So if you could just learn how to roll back over, we would all be content. 

Love you more than words can say,

Mother

p.s. That is A's hand that O is sucking on.  This went on for a few minutes- I could watch these two discover each other for hours! Which I do-and love immensly.

p.s.s. New toys are on their way! We have played our current toys to the very max.  Your growing little minds are in need of some new shapes, sizes and sounds.  Just 21 more days until Christmas, and you will be delighted to see our new things!

realization

She has the toy that I want.  First dispute over a toy.  Darn the video cut short-Mother needs a new media card.  Santa baby...oh please bring me a new memory card for the camera.

All in a days work

Yesterday, you helped me put up all our Christmas decorations! We found a place for every last ornament, dish, figurine and wreath.  You absolutely LOVE the christmas tree! You will sit and look at the sparkly lights-and I like how they make your eyes twinkle.  I love love LOVE Christmas time as a Mother.  It makes everything so different, but in the most wonderful way! I'm so happy that I get to do Christmas things with you two.  Today, we went to the Festival of Trees at the Southtowne Expo Center.  It was so fun! We went with your two favorite aunts and cousins.  You were so good-and spent the entire time busily looking at all of the surroundings.  So many colors, lights and people (and Ava coming in to kiss you every 2 minutes : ) )
Like always, people of every age and gender were admiring you and complimenting how amazing and adorable you are.  I agreed, of course.  I just beamed from head to toe that i'm your Mother.  A Father even told me he loved the bows in your hair.  We also met a 6 month old also named A.  When I took you out of your stroller to get a better look at the scene-you were ultra excited! You kicked and kicked and made your happy sounds that I so love to hear.  I adore you through and through.

 Your first Christmas tree.  It has the 12 days of christmas ornaments-my favorite! Also, Mom and Dad's first christmas ornament from last year.  Last year, I remember putting up this tree thinking 'I can't believe next year at this time I will have a baby!' (I did not know at that time I was having twins!) It's better than I ever imagined it to be!

 Our entry table.  I decorate it with holiday decor, and always pictures of you. 

 Sugar and spice

 When Dad came home, he played with you while I finished the final touches on the tree.  He had you really giggling! Your laughs are the sweetest sounds I have ever heard.  I love your happiness. 

 Your holiday attire was incredible.  Sorry the top was so hard to get over your head though...

curious~toy~toes

O wonders: could I grab A's foot and get it to my mouth?

A confirms: there's no chance you are going to pull that off-these things are attached!

 Favorite toy at 5 months old: multi-colored Mickey Mouse.  I picked up 2 in Disneyland last month.  Somehow I just knew that you would love all the bright colors.  Thank you to Ava who put a rattle (bracelet) around Mickey's neck about a month ago-you love Mickey extra now that he makes a jingle sound!
I always sing the Mickey Mouse clubhouse song to you while you watch Mickey dance in front of you. "It's the Mickey Mouse clubhouse-come inside, it's fun inside..." How does Mother know that song? Well, we watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse together of course. It's on for 2 hours at 11:00am.  I know you could really care less, but secretly your Mommy thoroughly enjoys it.  I know that you are going to love it too when you get bigger.  Plus, watching it makes it so she can sing the "hot dog" song with cousin Ava. 
p.s. favorite toy at 3-4 months: round giraffe rattle.

Just like your hands, your feet will grab everything in range! You have ultra strong toes-and sometimes they become weapons.  Especially if you can get situated to place them on your sister-which you always try to do!

Keeping busy

We had a lot of plans today-lunch at Nordstroms cafe, shopping with Grandma BJ, Babies R Us, picking up pictures for Grandma W...but the weather turned us away from it all.  That howling-and I mean howling wind, 18 degree air, the dark & threatening clouds, severe snow storm forecast...just not for us.  Nope-not for babies whose immune systems are learning how to fight a runny nose. 
Instead, we stayed in and played played played! A got less than O because of a legendary 5 HOUR NAP! Way to go A! O and I got to play with all the toys in the toy basket. 

(yes, we need a bigger toy basket.  Make that a toy box.  I will include that in our letter to Santa)

 We also read several books: 'Baby Bunny', 'First words in the Park', and 'Shoe Bop'.  Shoe Bop is my very favorite-pages of little poems about every kind of shoe in a shoe store.  Here is a sample:
"On our corner when there's rain
a pond appears and folks complain.
But with galoshes, high and blue
that pond's a place to splish-splash through.
These boots and I could have such fun-
except on days with lots of sun."

You girls absolutely LOVE books.  I guess that results from Mommy reading to you since the day you were born.  Some people thought it was weird-wondering why I would read to babies that were merely weeks old.  It's because Mommy know that your brains develop at a rapid pace from day one, and simply hearing my voice flucuate while reading is a tranquil sound.  Your early love of being read to is the beginning to years and years of stories.  I will read to you during play time if you ever ask.  I will certainly read to you before bedtime. And I will continue to build our children's book collection so we have plenty to learn!

Right now, I give you the soft books to play with.  How you love them! You squeal with delight when I put one in front of you.  You reach out your little hands and grab the soft pages.  If you are laying down, you bring it to your face and roll to one side with a smile.  You look intently at the bright colors and shapes.  Lately (mostly O), you will put the book over your face and then hold real still.  I worry that you can't get it off, but then I look under at your face and a little grin appears.  I realize you are simply enjoying your quest to discover the world around you.  How things feel, light and dark, soft and rough, ridgy and bumpy.  I love this age that I get to watch you PLAY.  What a fascinating thing to watch babies learn how to play.

2 colossal blessings

I am grateful for A and O.  That statement just seems so small compared to what it means in my heart.  Being a Mother has blessed my life IMMENSELY.  It is a joy, a blessing, and a wonderful gift that I get to enjoy every single day.   My cup runneth over and over and over.

5MO

A and O, you're now 5 months old,

It gets even better, least thats what i'm told.

How can I fathom more fun than it's been?

Each day is a blessing being the Mother of twins

 Soaking up time with Mom while O is napping

This is A's happiest of happy faces

 Seems she always wants to roll over to her belly...until she actually gets there!

 Just getting up from nap

 We turned 5 months old the day this picture was taken!

 O's surprised face

 We go a lot of places with Mommy.  Once we get the straps on and settled in, we are up for anything!

 Hey, if you can't find your own thumb...

Right after bath

I LOVE YOU!