Progress, progress, progress!

The last two weeks have been full of great things.  First, we went to Duke Gardens to take pictures for our Christmas card and finish our calendar.  I know, it is cheesy to all be matching, but it is our first one and I couldn't help myself.  I was so pleased with the way things came out.  My dad took these and did a great job, who knew?  My neighbor came over and took some too, and that also went on our card.  My dad was bragging because not only did we get a great photo of all of us, including Heidi (can you believe how great it looks?!), but he picked out the dresses in the other photos.  

They wore these for Thanksgiving.

The girls winter hats are just adorable and I had to put them on, even though it was 75 degrees today and there seems to be no reason for the girls to wear them any time soon.  Doesn't Catherine look like she's posing?  She liked it for a little, and then she pulled it off.  Samantha liked it, but not for long. To give her credit, she was sleepy.  Doesn't that hat make her face look round and pudgy and adorable!  I love it!

  Samantha has been doing such a great job catching up to Catherine.  It took her a very short time in comparison to go from rocking on her knees, to army-man crawling on her elbows, to actual crawling on her hands and knees.  Catherine is faster, but Samantha is gaining on her.  I think she's letting Catherine figure it out first, watching how she does it, and then copying her.  Such smart babies we have!  Catherine is now so thrilled that she can escape into the kitchen.  She has also learned how to give raspberries, and when she does she laughs hysterically.  It was so funny to watch her try to do it, and then look at me and smile, and try again.  When she finally got it she was cracking herself up and I was in tears laughing at her.  Samantha is also holding her bottle by herself and she still tries to feed herself with a spoon (such a mess!!!).  We're so proud, but not surprised, eating is her life mission.  The girls are both getting good with puff cereal and cheerios.  It was a little tricky at first, they would get stuck to their fingers because they were wet with drool, but they got it.

Samantha with her favorite nap-person, Great Grandma.

Catherine on her way to honking Grandpa's nose.

Our first Thanksgiving was a little crazy.  Catherine was so excited to be some place new and look at everything that she didn't nap.  Not a good thing.  We also got to hang out with another set of family twins, Theo and Finn, but we didn't get a picture.  We were too distracted and the boys were not up for photos.  They were too afraid of Heidi and all the new, loud adults to really be up for much at all except the iPad.  Samantha seemed to find a perfect nap-person in Great Grandma and it was that way for the rest of the weekend.  I'm so glad she got to spend time with the girls.  Samantha also got her first tooth!  She wouldn't let Nana see it, though, she kept sticking her tongue out instead.  Catherine was distracted by Grandpa the entire time.  Every time she saw him she wanted to crawl to him or raised her arms to be picked up (first time she did that and it wasn't for Mommy!).  Then she would bounce up and down until he threw her in the air or swung her around like she was flying.  Grandpa was also excited that Samantha didn't cry at him.  For some reason she seems to be scared of him when she first sees him, but after a day she is fine and smiles.  Nana, Grandpa, and Great Grandma all have decided that Samantha is just a little angel, especially when she smiles, and Catherine has the devil in her eyes.  Now I know what they'll be next Halloween.  All in all it was a wonderful time.  Now, to bed.

8 months and another trip to Duke Gardens

The girls are going to be 8 months old this week and they are doing so much now.  Real food, real crawling, and they're both walking well holding onto your hands.  These last two weeks I've finally taken the pictures of Catherine's silly smile that I was trying to get last time.

Samantha is doing quite well holding up all that mass (4 lbs between them now!) on her hands and knees and she's starting to get the hang of forward motion.  She also really likes the fish on the play mat, so much so that she pulls it off the ring to suck on it.  Catherine, by the way, has been pulling off her bib, which is not helpful, because she sucks on it and so not only needs a new bib, but a new top.

Fall in NC is not usually pretty, and it never is as good as it was back home in the Hudson Valley.  However, this year it tried really hard and I got something that proved to be quite wonderful.  Dave and I took the girls to Duke Gardens again and took more pictures, which was much easier and had more options now that the girls can sit on their own.  This was also our first day wearing shoes, which was much cause for exploration because they were quite different than socks and also were shiny silver, but at least their curiosity seemed satisfied by the time we left church and got to the gardens.  There was one tree that had shed almost all of its beautiful yellow leaves in one spread around its trunk and once we started taking pictures everyone else seemed to think it was the place to be.  I still can't wait to go in the spring when the girls turn 1.  Here are our best shots.

Catherine was very interested in the yellow leaves and Samantha kept picking up the pine straw.

Eventually we got everyone looking in the right direction, but it was tricky.  Too many things to look at and explore.

smiles and halloween

Just a quick update.  Don't the girls look cute in their matching Thing 1 Thing 2 jammies?  Samantha has been helping me clip coupons.  She slobbers all over the ones she thinks I should clip.  She really loves rolling all over the room to get where she wants, but today she did get up on her hands and knees for a little.  Catherine, in the meantime, has been 'army crawling' on her elbows towards anything electronic, and trying to play with the dog. 

 

Cute matching-but-not-really Church clothes. Then Samantha has been giving us the greatest smiles so I set on a mission to get some from Catherine too. So, here they are, smiling and laughing. They are such wonderful babies and we couldn't be happier and more blessed.

Cousins!

We've had a lot going on the last two weeks.  Dave's cousin Ryan, his wife Bethany, and their daughter Naomi came to visit.  The boys went to a football game and the girls went to the butterfly house at the museum of life and science.  I'm really looking forward to when the girls are big enough to enjoy it there on the Wednesday afternoons that Durham residents can go for free.  

Then...Aunt Heather came!  So exciting.  She hasn't seen the girls since they were 1 week old and still in the hospital.  Hannah and Samuel were with her and the 4 cousins got to spend time with each other.  Hannah and Sammy kept getting the girls all their books and toys any time they made a fuss so that at one point, Samantha had 2 books, her lovey, her paci, and at least 2 other things with her in the swing.  They were trying so hard to be helpful.  We also went to get fro-yo, which was so yummy because they had chocolate macaroon.  Unfortunately I left with the taste of Hannah's coconut/rice crispy/gummy bear in my mouth.  Sammy took a liking to Catherine, which is not what I thought, though maybe he's jealous of someone else with a similar name.  Heather said the same thing everyone else says when they see the girls; Samantha is making up for lost time because who would have thought she was the baby who couldn't eat for almost 2 weeks.  Such a chubs!  We love it still.  Speaking of which, Samantha is getting good at eating and is now grabbing the spoon herself.  Not that she's feeding herself, but at least she gets the idea.  Today was carrots and there were no good faces to be had.  Oh well.  

Now Catherine is not really working on eating. Samantha got my love of food and hopefully cooking and baking.  Catherine got my desire to be in shape (not that I really seem to have the time to do that recently).  Here is Catherine doing push ups (or planking, if you're into that thing).  

She doesn't sit up on her own as well as Samantha does,  but she can do it.

 

She's also a serious tactile learner. 

We had fun in our chairs this week, especial now that they can sit up and they fit in them better.

 

Love that smile!

I'm ready to go upstairs!

Shhhh!

Our little care bear!

a dog's view

This week, Heidi is writing our blog.

A lot happened this week.  Samantha, who now weighs as much as I do, got to start eating regular baby formula.  Mommy and Daddy are mixing the regular stuff into her old fancy stuff and she seems to be doing well with it.  She's not any crankier or smellier than usual at least.  They also started eating what Daddy called 'real food' but I'm not so sure.  It is weird, kind of mushy, nothing like what I've had before. As I watched them I got so excited because they are so messy.  I thought, 'Some of that has got to drop on the floor and then I've got it made'.  Maybe if they ever start eating good stuff, but I don't like this stuff, and that's saying something.  I think Samantha agrees.  They're not good at swallowing, but it seems to be slowly improving.  Maybe if it taste better...

The girls love their exersaucer and they have learned to play together.  They have two, but Mommy and Daddy leave one upstairs with the bouncy thing that hangs from the door.  They haven't figured out how to bounce yet, so it's not that much fun, but Samantha's working on it. She bounces but I don't think she knows why.

Samantha has been so active!  She rolls across the floor so fast that you have to catch her before she hits something.  We need more pillows, I think. She gets under her swing and can kick her legs and make it move.  Apparently it is very exciting.  Catherine is doing so well eating more food, look at those cheeks!  They look especially big when she pushes out her lower lip and is all pouty.  Daddy is in for it, that's for sure.  She has also been very fascinated with her hands.

Our nanny took us outside a lot this week because the weather hasn't been hot or rainy.  FINALLY!  Don't know why they call it the 'dog days of summer'.  Dog's can't enjoy it.  Anyway, we went outside with blankets and toys and swings and I got to run around the yard.  Not too much though, I have to stay near the babies and protect them.  It is a serious job, you know.  I'm extra careful about people on the sideway across the street and I make sure everyone knows someone is out there.  When people come to the house they are not allowed inside unless it is Nanna and Grandpa, by boyfriend's mommy, our nanny (who is really nice) or if Mommy lets them in.  These babies are my responsibility and I am not going to let anyone down.

 

We even took naps outside.  Catherine still likes to eat fabric when she's sleepy.  She wraps it around her thumb and sticks it in her mouth.  Mommy says she's going to get hairballs.

Then we had some fun and tried on their Halloween outfits from Uncle Mike and Aunt Alyssa.  (Halloween is my least favorite holiday.  I HATE the doorbell and now, with the babies, I am extra cautious and on the lookout for danger.  Mommy is trying to figure out a way to hide.)  As you can see, Samantha's just fits now, so a month from now it is not going to work.  There may be a shopping trip in the near future.  But isn't she so cute as a skunk?  Little stinker!  Then they got to wear our Carolina Cutie dresses that Nana got them and they look cute.  Go Gamecocks!  Speaking of which, time to watch the game.