Merry Christmas

Here are the highlights of Christmas this year. For our kids, we decided to go with the, "Something they want, something they need, something they wear, something they read," motto. This cut out a lot of unnecessary gifts, and we put in more thought once we picked things out for the kids!

Anyways, here are some pictures from all of our Christmases this year!

8 Months: Kamryn & Laityn

Our girls are 8 months old! They have seemed to develop a lot since last time I updated, so here is a rundown of what has been going on:

Kamryn:
• She still doesn’t sit up…at all, or make any attempt at crawling. She just rolls and rolls!
• Can hold her own bottle!
• A great self-feeder. I gave her a cheerio the other day and she was able to pick it up and chew it down
• A good eater – she opens her mouth soooo wide!
• Mostly sleeps through the night (knock on wood). Thank you Halo Sleepsacks!
•  Her head is still flat and will be mapped for an orthotic helmet on New Year’s Eve
• She likes to experiment with her voice and will often make up some pretty strange sounds
• No teeth…at all! (and no signs either!)
• Professional present bow-ripper-offer

Laityn: 16lbs
• Had the stomach flu this past month which resulted in vomiting 5x, a trip to urgent care, and a trip to the doctor
• Still has a runny nose and the doctor pretty much said she is just catching everything
• She can sit up for a short amount of time
• When laid on her tummy, she will get up on all fours and rock back and forth. She has also figured out how to inch herself forward, similar to an army crawl
• She refuses to hold her bottle or eat anything unless you physically put it in her mouth
• Her gums have some big bumps and I think she may pop a tooth out one of these days
• She sometimes sleeps through the night, but I think this more due to being sick than anything. Once again – Thank you Halo Sleepsacks!
• Loves her baby food, formula, and some apple juice

As of right now they are a little behind developmentally (not sitting), but in reality Macyn didn’t sit up until 7 months and they are about 6.5 months adjusted. They both like to show their personalities and often get upset if you take a toy or something they really wanted away (like ripping open Christmas presents). I can’t believe they are on the downhill slope of being one already. They are growing so fast! Other than being behind, they continue to have little known health issues. Its always in the back of my mind that they will just do things slower than other kids their same age. I see other babies 1-2 months younger and they are already sitting up, where Kamryn can’t at all. I feel it will be a relief once they can finally hit all their milestones and have the reassurance that they are developing properly. Whether they are behind or not, I wouldn’t trade them for anything in the world and I cannot imagine life without both of them!

Macyn's Preschool Program

I took an extended lunch break to attend Macyn's preschool program. They sang songs, acted out poems and stories, and played instruments to songs. It was pretty cute to see all the kids participate. One of my favorite parts was when they were handing out the bells, the kids all said, "Whatever one we get, we don't throw a fit!"

Finger play

Sleepy reindder

After the program

Christmas Photoshoot

In traditional fashion, I did a photo shoot of the twins under the Christmas tree this year, just like I did with Macyn back in 2009. I wrapped up a box, added a bow, and took some pictures of the girls!

Macyn's First Christmas Program

Macyn participated in her first Christmas program. This involved practicing at church during Sunday School, Wednesday nights, and one Saturday. The morning of the program, it took some convincing on my part, when I had to drop her off in the choir room, that we would be watching for her. She was on the verge of a meltdown, but fortunately she didn't....until the end of church, at least. The kids sang 6-7 different songs for a total of about 15-20 minutes. This included bell ringing and many actions. She did really well in her first program and we were so proud of her!

Ready for the program

Sister Picture :)

Nursery 1- 1st grade

Rocking baby Jesus

....."laid down his sweet head"

This is pretty much how all our pictures went after church

Twins with Grandpa & Grandma (Macyn refused to participate)

The best picture we could get!

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

DH celebrated his last birthday being in his 20's - can you say big party next year for the big 3-0?! Anyways, I made him a donut cake for his birthday this year. It was really simple - I used an angel food cake pan, melted a can of frosting just a little bit and poured it over. Add some sprinkles - and you got one big donut cake! We didn't have the right amount of candles so we had to improvise - 14+15 candles = 29!Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Christmas Helpers

We have had our Christmas tree up for quite some time, and we were debating whether or not to block off our tree from the twins. We decided not to, and well...this is what happens:

 Kamryn and Laityn have managed to pull almost all the bows off the presents and the bottom of the tree is missing quite a bit of flocking. However....

Macyn never complains about getting a "sneak peak" at her presents after one of the twins (mostly Kamryn) ripped it open. Needless to say, lots of our presents are going for the tear, tape, repeat look this year.

Bathing Beauties

Macyn was adamant about taking a bath with the twins, even though there wasn't enough room in the tub. Either way, all the kids loved being in there with Macyn and I snapped some cute pictures!

Splashing with Kamryn

Kamryn

Macyn with Laity-Bug

Mohawks!

Turkey Day!

We had three Thanksgivings to go to this year, so we had our fair share of food! I made corn, carrots, potatoes, taco salad, snack mix, and a pie. I don't really know how I found time, but I somehow did and everything turned out great. The kids did well with all the festivities and were only a little fussy once we got home. Other than that it was a good holiday weekend!

Girls with Great Grandma

With Great Grandpa

Wiped out!

7 Months: Kamryn & Laityn

 Its so, so, so, hard to believe the twins are seven months old already! They continue to grow and are starting to develop their personalities! The past week has been pretty rough as they both came down with a cold and runny noses. No fun! We went a few days without any smiles, but they are slowly starting to come back.

We got the okay to start feeding them more, so they go through two jars of baby food, cereal and about 1 can of formula a day. The do well eating this amount and seem like such big girls eating all their fruits and vegetables in the high chairs!

The girls still cannot sit, but they get around. Laityn moves in circles up on her knees, while Kamryn rolls to where she needs to go. We have had a few Christmas presents get ripped open already. The doctor isn't too concerned yet that they can't sit. She saw how much they move around and she thought they might just skip sitting for a while and go right to crawling! The girls are pretty much content and love to play with their toys and bounce in their jumperoo. They have even started having conversations with each other. They will look at each other and take turns squealing, laughing, and spitting. They already have their own little language! They both love bath time and like to kick their legs and splash. The figured out how to blow bubbles and spit, so they will often be content doing that.

Kamryn: 15lbs 4oz (7th percentile), 26.75" (59th percentile)

• Kamryn's height skyrocketed the past month

• 0-3 month clothes no longer fit and she wears 3-6 month clothes

• Graduated to size 2 diapers!

• Kamryn's head is still mis-shaped so she will need to get her head mapped for an orthotic helmet. Since her head is bulging, this could be the reason her eyes seem smaller than Laityn's

• Next month we have her repeat EKG and Echo to make sure her heart is getting better

• She LOVES to roll around and get into things

• She also likes her jumperoo and looking outside

• She has liked all the baby food she has tried, except peaches

• Sleeping through the night doesn't seem like a priority to her!

Laityn: 15lbs 6oz (10th percentile), 26.5" (49th percentile)

• Laityn grew a whole bunch - but not as much as Kamryn

• 0-3 month clothes no longer fit and she wears 3-6 month clothes

• Graduated to size 2 diapers! 

• We still visit the pediatric Ear, Nose, and Throat for treatment of her hemangioma. She may need laser therapy in a couple of years, just depends on how everything turns out

• Looks like she can crawl, but refuses to sit or do anything else

• She is also not a fan of peaches

• Laity-Bug sleeps through the night more than Kamryn

It seems like they have grown up a lot this past month. Even their grandparents are surprised how big and less baby-like they are getting! I miss my little cuddle bugs. Its so hard to fathom that they were so little when they were born and now they seem like toddlers compared to that!

Girl's Night with Macyn

Since Macyn has been having trouble getting herself ready for bed, we have given her some incentive. Everytime she goes to the bathroom and brushes her teeth without complaining, she gets a sticker. Once she gets 5, then she can have a sleepover (Mom or Dad sleeping in her room). Well, she chose me, and we had quite the girl's night. We did hair and makeup before bed. She even dressed herself up with her "flower blankie dress." The only direction she gave me for her hair was, "I want big hair, Mom." She was referencing a girl she just saw on TV with an afro. Well, she didn't end up with an afro, but I made it as big as I could without teasing it! She had a fun night with Mommy!

Rocking her blankie dress

Hair and Makeup

Gingerbread House 2013

Every year my employer sponsors a gingerbread house contest, and employees can make a house for "examples." This year since I am much more busy than usual, I was going to make an igloo out of Marshmallows. Well, that idea kinda flopped, so I went and bought a kit. To much of my surprise when I got it home it was already pre assembled! Woo hoo! All I had to do was decorate. I used marshmallows since we had them, and the candy we sell. I did add the front porch/awning to make it look like I put some effort towards it.

My big helper!

A Trip to the Dentist

Lucky Macyn got to go the dentist for the first time on Halloween! She wasn't so sure about it at first (you will see what I mean), but she ended up doing really well! They flossed, cleaned, and put floride on her teeth. The dentist and assistants liked her costume. Macyn asked the dentist, "What are you for Halloween?" His response, "A dentist." Macyn just looked at him funny :)

And, after this we went trick or treating. Someone asked her if she's going to eat all her candy. Her response? "No, I just got my teeth cleaned."