Stuffed animals

I remember when I was little that I would arrange my pillow in my bed so I could fit all of my favorite stuffed animals in with me.  Kind of a fuzzy, cozy, slumber party.  Now I think Catherine may be on her way.  We have two stuffed Bimbo bears (pronounced Beembo for the Hispanic food company, not bimbo.  Despite what I say Dave will keep yelling at me to pronounce it correctly, though I think I am.) that the sales rep gave Dave.  Catherine loves it!  I think she gives it more kisses than she does to either of us.  Recently, she has become ambitious and is attempting to carry the big Wish Bear around.  She doesn't get more than a few steps before they fall down, but she loves it.

Samantha is becoming more independent while Catherine is becoming less so.  When Heidi barks loudly to alert us that someone is outside, or when we get around new people or places, Catherine wants to be picked up and she clings to me with all 4 limbs like a little monkey.  When I can finally set her down she must be near me for a little longer before she branches out to explore and be her merry, flirty self.  Samantha, on the other hand, has been asking others to pick her up, waving at Walmart employees, and hanging out by herself at home reading books or playing music.  Only when she's hungry or sleepy because she didn't nap will she get clingy.   Samantha is also very free with her kisses recently, which we mostly love, but her mouth is so wide open that we get quite slobbery.

Isn't this face ridiculous!

Well, we've been trying to future out what to do with the girls' hair.  Should we, and really I mean I, grow out their bangs or keep cutting them.  Unfortunately, I think both of them have Dave's horrible hair where it all grows from the back forward.  So I tried out a bunch of styles with bows to see if I liked it or hated it, if the girls' liked it or pulled them out, and if I just felt like those people I don't like who put bows in their girl's hair just so everyone knows that she's a girl.  You can let me know what you think, but I think the last feeling says it all.  I do, however like the headbands.

These above are a definite NO

Holy cow!  They're both smiling!  Take a good look folks, it doesn't get captured on film often.

Baseball and stuff

We've had a lot of fun the last two weeks.  The girls got to go to their first baseball game, watching the Immaculata Eagles at a game in the old Durham Ball Park.  They had a lot of fun with the pompoms, and Samantha thought the game was intense!  

Catherine has been doing such a great job walking.  Even though she started several weeks after Samantha did, she got better much faster and now is just as mobile.  Well, almost.  She still has her moments where she totters like a drunk and falls to the side, but she pops back up and keeps going.

Catherine has been doing this weird thing recently where she tenses up her muscles and her face gets all red and she squeaks.  Then she laughs.  She laughs a lot!  She thinks she is the funniest girl in the world and you can't help but laugh at her, so I guess she's right.

A kind person gave the girls a Dora ride on car.  Samantha loves pushing the buttons and making it play music.

Samantha may look like a boy in that blue shirt, but I love that she can wear it.  It used to be mine, and it has the "Little Monsters" on the front and says "My Daddy loves me just the way I am".  Besides, I hope that soon enough her hair will be long enough to sustain her curls.  Aren't they gorgeous?!  Unfortunately, she sleeps on them and they straighten out.  

Another friend at school gave us a bunch of board books and the girls were so excited.  They went straight for the bag and began pulling them out.  Catherine is especially into books recently.  She likes to point at things and then look at me and say "OO?" and I tell her what it is.  They still don't really like to sit still and read, but it does happen and I love to read to them, especially all the classics I remember as a kid.  I feel the connection between me and my mom and Gram who used to read them to me, and I feel that I am passing it on.  It is a wonderful thing to share.

A long overdue update

Goodness, it has been a long time since we last posted on here!  It seems like we had the girls' birthday, and then it was a mad rush to Easter break.  Then, once we got to break, I didn't want to do anything but relax and the blog was pushed to the bottom of the list.  So, we're back again to show you what we've been up to.



Samantha is walking everywhere.  Really, everywhere!  She doesn't want to crawl unless she has to, which isn't very often now because she can stand up on her own without pulling herself up.  Catherine, interestingly, learned to do that first, and now she's really starting to try to walk.  We thinks she got so jealous of all the attention Samantha got from family at Easter that decided that she needed to walk too.  Unfortunately, she wants to get to her destination so quickly that she tries to run, gets about 5 steps, and then falls forward.  She's getting better about being slow, taking her time, and pausing to regain her balance, and today she walked all the way down the hall.  We are so proud of both of them! (p.s. notice Catherine's duck slippers.  We love them because she leaves them on longer than her socks.)



One of the things that has been fun to watch is the girls figuring out their new shoes.  They've worn shoes before, but these are designed to help them walk, not fancy patent leather Mary Janes, and they are so cute.  The girls at first have to play with them and try to eat them or pull them off, and then they forget about them.  It makes Samantha go slower, but I think that is what will help Catherine steady herself.  Samantha's are gray with rainbow stitching, and Catherine's are brown and pink with a pink flower.

Chillin' with Daddy

I couldn't believe that when we went out to dinner with Aunt Marlene, Uncle Bob, Paige, and Conner that both girls were so well behaved.  Samantha didn't' fuss or get upset, and she ate pizza.  Catherine didn't try to get out of her high hair once, which she always tries to do, and there wasn't a lot of screeching either.  They spent a lot of time with their books, and Dave and I had to buy another Eric Carl book because they would fight over the Brown Bear book.  Now we have 2 very colorful Eric Carl books in the diaper bag for entertainment purposes, though I have a feeling they will still want what the other one has.  We're trying to figure out how to make sure they don't take from each other, any advice would be welcome ;-)

We love playing peek-a-boo!  Catherine holds the cloth there
forever until she giggles. Samantha does it really quickly.

Pretty dresses and hair bands.

Both Catherine and Samantha are working on communication.  They both wave all the time now, especially at bed time.  They also both give high fives and you can definitely tell when they mean NO! Samantha always makes me laugh because she has such emphatic hand gestures to go with her 'words'. Who would have thought my blondie would be the Italian?  Oh, and her hair is starting to curl in the back, I love it!

We had a wonderful time at Easter at Ft. Bragg.  I wish we had a better picture of the four of us, well actually, just me.  Don't the girls look adorable in their dresses?  Thanks to Aunt Marla and her friend for getting these to us.

Great Grandma came down to visit too!

We ran into traffic on the way home and I wound up wedged in the back seat between the car seats playing with the girls.  We read books and played games and took pictures.








Catherine loves stuffed animals recently, especially her loveys (we named them Kitty Lou and Kitty Lou 2 for Catie Lou.  Samantha's loves are Froggy J and Teddy J for Sammy J).








 Samantha has been doing this weird thing when she gets excited, she puts her hands over hear ears or on her cheeks.  She used to do it just to be silly, but Dave thought it was so cute that now he has gotten her to imitate you when you do it.









When we got home we let the girls run amuck in the bathroom to help with their diaper rash.  Poor things were miserable until they felt better, but they loved to run around without diapers.  Naked babies!












I saved the best for last - the pool!  My cousins Christine and Eric got this for the girls and it is absolutely outrageous.  There is a shell cabana shade, a palm tree, a dolphin to ride, a slide, and a crab and a tower of stars that spurts water.  Catherine didn't like the water getting in her face at first, but she got used to it and had a blast once she realized that she could splash just like the bathtub.  Samantha liked it right away and walking around squealing and trying to catch the water spouts.  This is going to make the unbearable NC summers much easier.

a letter to our daughters

Dear Catherine and Samantha,

Today was your first birthday.  There were so many emotions that we felt coming into this day.  We were excited for you both to reach this milestone, and surprised that it came so quickly.  In the beginning it seemed that one day would last a year, and now a whole year has passed.  We are also so grateful to have you in our lives.  You are so different from each other and now we know why we have twins - because you give us such variety and joy.  If we didn’t have Samantha, we wouldn’t have a baby to give us such sweet smiles and remind us of your Grandma.  If we didn’t have Catherine, we wouldn’t have a baby to challenge us with a gleam in her eye and a ready laugh.  You are your own persons with your own quirks, likes, and personalities, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

We are also so proud of you.  You both had a rough start, Samantha more than Catherine, and had a lot of difficulties.  You were early, you were small, but you were tough little fighters who put up with a lot and now are such happy babies.  We go places and everyone who meets you is so impressed at how well you behave and how cute you are.  

Catherine - you were such a help when Samantha came home, though you probably didn’t know it.  You were able to sit by yourself in your monkey seat and be content to watch Mommy feed Samantha, who had difficulty adjusting to being home.  It was so hard for her to be awake without being held and you were so patient.  Now, you are still great at occupying yourself, and you are very independent, always trying new things, but you play with your sister more and more.  You actually share, without crying or fussing.  You take turns.  We are telling you this now so  you remember in the future that it is possible.  You make us smile and when you give us hugs and kisses, our hearts just melt.  You challenge us, and we can’t wait to see what you’ll do next.

Samantha - you are so tough.  You made it though a difficult and long hospital stay to come home and have a difficult first month there too.  Soon, though, you settled in and became our sweet baby whose smile lights up her face, and ours, too.  You are so intent and focused when you play, working with a toy until you have it all figured out.  And you’re walking!  You seem to try every chance you get to take a step, challenging yourself to do better.  You are amazing.

Our lives have changed so much in the last year.  We have lost some people dear to us, and we know that their prayers from Heaven helped us through the lows in our lives.  Our hope is that you continue to remind us of them, and make us hear their voices as we think of what they would say if they could see you in action.  

Girls, this first year has taught us a lot, what to do and especially what not to do.  Please be patient with us as we continue to learn as you grow and change and become young ladies.  We look forward to all the things you will learn and show us.  We will always love you, and always be proud of you.  You will always be our little girls.

Love, 

Mommy and Daddy

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday!

Can you believe it!  We’re one year old today!  We got so many presents and some are still on the way.  We also get to go shopping, which Aunt Alyssa would say is the best.  Mommy is also very excited about our upcoming shopping trip.  Daddy’s favorite gift was the singing bears from Nana and Grandpa and the old-school telephone from our nanny, Chelsea.  Catherine’s favorite was the fish pond from Nana and Grandpa and Samantha’s is the toy TV remote, which is much better than the real one because it sings.  We also got puzzles and clothes and shoes... we feel very loved.  

We got new hats, which don't fit Catherine and Samantha doesn't like
to wear.  But we both still look cute and that's what counts.

It's like playing in the tub without getting wet!

We got to go to Gymboree!  We are signed up for the next month and are very excited.  Samantha loved the balls, but Catherine just had fun moving around where she was allowed to climb safely.  (Mommy and Daddy don’t let me climb on the tables at home for some reason.)  

After a short nap, we had Carvel birthday cake, so yummy!  Then we went to Duke Gardens, one of Mommy’s favorite places.  She said that she had been thinking about this trip on our birthday since before we were born, so she was very excited to go.  It was very pretty now that it is nice and warm outside and all of the flowers are blooming.

Then we had a relaxing afternoon and evening, just us.  We didn’t get to spend our first day of life with Mommy because we couldn’t leave our room and Mommy couldn’t leave hers.  She really just wanted to have a quiet day with us, so that’s what we did.  We were a family today, all together, and it was great.