Especially for Grandma

My mom sent the kids a singing duck for Easter. Since she couldn't see their reaction for herself, I wanted to be sure and post a video.

Riley immediately fell in love with the duck. Colter, not so much. Actually, he really enjoys it now.

If you look closely you can see Governor jumping up and down like a rabbit outside the window.

3 months later...

They'll be 14 months old next week. Hard to believe. Things are crazy around here, but we're having a blast.

In case you're wondering: they're both cruising and pulling up on everything, Colter says "Gu" (sometimes this means Governor) and "Daddy." Riley doesn't say any words we understand yet, but I'm thinking she may bust out with a whole paragraph at the rate she is babbling - so expressive! Governor is much more interested in them (and in eating the occasional bath toy). Jeff loves wrestling with them, pulling them around the kitchen in the wagon that's actually designed for legos, and generally any rough housing they can get away with. They get so excited to play with their dad. They're finally eating a lot of what Jeff and I are having at meals, so that's been helpful as far as planning and getting dinner on the table. They love looking out the window, swinging at the park, going for walks in the stroller, and generally any outside activity except playing with their toys in the pack-n-play while I try and help Jeff get the yard under control. They would have none of that. Outside will be more fun when they can walk. And more exhausting. :) We changed our gym membership to the YMCA. I'm only averaging taking them once or twice a week so far, but we're getting into more of a groove. Colter still cries when I leave, but he stops before I even get to the stairs. They love being around other kids and I love a break here and there.

Our pediatrician basically told us last week that Colter has asthma. We've been doing breathing treatments since December. We do them twice a day (more if he gets a cold). I'm taking him to a specialist later this month to see what else we can be doing. The doctor told us that the better we control it now, the more likely (although no guarantee - when do they ever give you a guarantee in medicine!) he'll outgrow it. That's what we're hoping for.

Jeff and I are both stressed at work. He stresses while at work; I stress about going to work. I think it always stinks to be the new girl, no matter how old you get. My old job really felt like home and I miss that a lot. Believe me, I've tried to make working a couple days a week at PHOC make sense financially. No luck yet. Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of things I like about my job. I'm honored to take care of these kids. I just hate leaving my family in the evenings and they hate that I'm leaving. But, you gotta do what you gotta do and I'm very grateful to have a job!

Don't worry, we did celebrate Riley and Colter's birthdays. I'll post more later.

Movie update

Riley started pulling up last week!

So I started this post exactly one week ago. I didn't anticipate it taking me a week to finish, but that's how things go around here sometimes. Since last week both babies got sick again with fevers, coughs, and icky noses. Yuck. Come on, Spring!!! Good news is that I found out yesterday I'll be working every Sunday and Monday night starting at the end of February. This is exactly the schedule I wanted, so I am very thankful. God really took care of us. It is such a relief to look forward to some consistency. I've already gotten to know a lot of the Sunday night nurses and am thankful to have a great group of coworkers again.

Santa gave us a Flip Video camera for Christmas. It's super easy to use and almost as small as my camera, so we've taken a fair number of videos. Here are some of my favorites. For some reason the video won't load on blogger, so I'm making do with a youtube link for now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMJ96cZQ8C8

Other than that, here's a random run-down of what's going on with the twins...

Colter now has 6 teeth - hard to believe! Riley's still making do with 2, but it doesn't slow her down in the eating department. We've pretty much moved to 1 nap a day, as long as they don't get up too early. They usually go down between 12:30 and 1pm and sleep anywhere from 1 1/2 to 3 hours. (Riley is my 3 hour girl!) 7:30am is there average wake-up time these days. I can deal with that. We've started moving Riley into the pack-n-play in the other room when we go to bed so they don't wake each other up in the morning. They used to babble to each other first thing in the morning, but that stopped working a few weeks ago. Now they babble to themselves. Whatever works. They are taking a sippy cup at least once every day. I actually timed them yesterday because it seeemed like they had finished their milk especially quickly - try 3 minutes! Most of the time, Colter will clap his hands when you ask. Both of them turn to find Governor when you ask them where he is. I keep thinking I hear Colter saying "Gu, gu," but there's no way of telling. Jeff thinks he may have said Dada. Jeff taught Riley which button makes the songs play on their mini piano. We've started the weaning process. They love drinking from their sippy cups, so I think they'll transition without a problem. As Mom has said, "I think they're ready, Leslie." Well, I'm finally ready too. I get plenty of snuggles during story times and when they wake up from their naps. One of my favorite times is reading them their bedtime stories. I zip them in their sleep sacks, sit them on our bed with their backs to the edge, kneel behind them, and hold the book in front with my arms circling them so they don't lean back and fall. All three of our heads are together and I give them a little kiss on the cheek when we get to "Goodnight to the old lady whispering, 'hush.'" What is it that's so calming about the book Goodnight Moon? Riley currently has the runny nose of the house. Today I went in the playroom and found Colter's hair standing on end. Turns out that snot (Riley's) has better hold than any of the hairsprays from the 80s. I know, very gross. Colter has started throwing little fits when he doesn't think lunch is coming fast enough or doesn't want to wait to get his diaper changed. It's all I can do not to laugh when he makes his whole body thrash around. Riley insists on having a toy in each hand at all times (even while changing clothes). Colter is constantly stealing toys from Riley, who steals them right back. Governor doesn't know what to do with himself now that the babies are on the move. Not true - he knows to get up and move when they're making a lunge for his tail or feet. Even he'd have to admit he's enjoying all the Cheerios he finds on the floor and in their booster seats.

We really are still out here!

OK, so the combo of sick babies, sick husband, and working nights is kicking my butt (sorry, Mom!). Thankfully, Jeff's tooth is better, Riley is completely well, and Colter's antibiotics are working. As for the night shifts...that will work out too.

I will do a bigger update (promises, promises), but at least wanted to post my latest favorite picture. I LOVE my pudgy babies!!!!

Where do the days go?

No time for pictures tonight, but I at least wanted to get something out there.
We are enjoying sharing the Christmas season with Riley and Colter. We took them to the Christmas program at church on Sunday and had a blast! They loved all the music. I couldn't believe they made it through the whole thing, but they did. Colter flirted with the people behind us and Riley made friends with one of the trumpet players (we were sitting in the first row). It was so much fun to see everything through their eyes.
They were quite the little troopers yesterday. I took them out to run errands yesterday after they woke up from their afternoon nap. I knew it would take a long time (traffic!!!) so I packed a picnic dinner and fed them in the car between going to the mall and the post office. We could have gone home in between, but it's such a production to get them both upstairs into the house, unbundle them, feed them, rebundle them, carry them downstairs, etc. It turns out they would have been miserable if I'd tried to make it home to feed them because it took forever to get back from the mall. They were not happy with me. But, we got our packages mailed and I think they actually enjoyed visiting the post office. Go figure.
A few days ago we discovered Colter has his third tooth. Thank goodness there is a reason for all the fussing he's been doing. He's also learned to push himself up into a sitting position. He still prefers rolling as his mode of transportation, but he's giving us some signs that he's interested in this whole crawling thing. Riley is crawling more and more. She gets the funniest look of concentration on her face whenever she does it.
I worked today, so I haven't seen them since last night. It's time to go sneak into their room and take a peak at my little cuties.

Playdate with Caroline

Our little friend Caroline came over for a little while today.

They played,

jumped,

ate,

and performed their very own Cirqu du Soleil Baby.

For those who are curious, we are surviving the whole going back to work thing. I've always wondered how working moms did it, but I now have an even better understanding of how hard it is! Thank goodness I'm only working twice a week. We have two nannies, so even though my schedule won't be consistent, we should be able to line one of them up to care for the babies. They both are very sweet and affectionate. Jeff has now experienced caring for both of them for an entire day. He did great - especially when you consider they both weren't feeling well (yucky colds). Work is stressful but manageable. I think I'm really going to like it once I get through the "being new" phase. I've met some great people and my patients are amazing! I miss my old coworkers though. I don't start working night shift for a couple weeks, so we'll see how that goes. I'm looking forward to not missing an entire day of being with Riley and Colter. It stinks to leave before they're awake and get home after they're asleep. It sure does make me appreciate the days I have at home!

Ready for the cold

Don't we look cute in our hats?

"If you're not going to eat this string, then I'll take it!"