So many smiles :-)

Leah


Paige


Goofy Girls

So we had a three month appt yesterday - both girls are hovering a healthy 12 pounds! All is good - I can say with a lot of confidence and assurance now that our girls are SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT! Now, if only I could start doing the same....

Will write more when time permits - the girls are being baptised on Sunday - I'll have lots of pics to post next week.

Happy Canada Day, everyone!

Our Living Dolls.

Aren't they sweet? (Leah's in Pink, Paige in the Flowers.)

These were taken on Sunday - what a great - albeit busy - weekend we had.

My vaccuum cleaner broke down last weekend, so a quick call to Electrolux, and a *cough* little bit of cash later, and I've got Central Vac!! Oh my gosh, I vaccuumed for almost 4 hours on Saturday! I love it! (Yeah, I know that love affair wont last long!!)

Saturday night we went to Dianne T's house - she was holding a little going-away party for Eric and Ann H - who are relocating to Edmonton this summer :(

Sunday, my I went SHOPPING! Like, to a mall! Like, for the first time in over three months!! My mom & I took the twins while Paul stayed home with missy P and I so thoroughly enjoyed it. As did the girls - well, Paige slept the entire time, while Leah was just a little curious monkey. Of course, everything I bought was for either the twins or Peyton - oh, I did get myself the Feist CD (which I LOVE, btw.) But it was all about the outing. Then I took the twins out to Chantal & Colin's place - for a birthday celebration - Chantal's (ahem) 29th. Paul chose to keep the busy two year old home, especially seeing as Chantal informed us earlier in the day that the other invitees w/toddlers had all cancelled that afternoon. Yeah, C&C have a nice home with lots of nice things...not the most 2 yr. old friendly joint, at this point. Well, they don't care, but being mom & dad of a bulldozer in a china ware store is a bit nerve wracking. So the twins and I were met by many capable and willing (and wanting) hands, and my arms were baby free for the SECOND evening in a row.
I returned home just in time to tuck the monster in bed. And oh-my-gosh, did she have me in tears! So we read to her. A lot. Like we're supposed to, I know - but we do indeed get a lot of joy out of it, and Peyton LOVES her books. And we know she listens and follows the story and all, and she's even read along with us, and while sitting on the can, she's even read simpler stories to herself, cover to cover. Like Brown Bear, what do you see? Or Polar Bear, what do you hear? Very simple, repetitive books. But on Sunday, when I was tucking her in, she asked me to read "Kiss Good night, Sam" to her. So I did. And then she asked if she could read it to me. Well, this book is a lot more wordy than the others she's read in the past, so I thought I'd let her give it a shot. And in her sweet little 2 year old toddler voice, she read page-by-page the entire book to me. With lots of expression and sound effects (wind blowing, rain splattering, kissing...etc.) And I did my best to stiffle my giggles and the result was tears, just streaming down my face. Peyton knew I was tearing up and she just smuggly grinned at me and continued on with the story. Ah, this is what parenting is ALL about, I tell ya. So proud of my girl. Now if I could only get her to do this to her daddy. Or sing "You are my sunshine" or any of her other 15 million songs to Paul's parents - she just "shies" up when you ask her to!

They really are sponges, literally absorbing and retaining every little thing that happens. Paul's dad has been taking her to playgroup for a couple of weeks, and home she comes singing a song that I didn't teach her - it's hilarious. But even MORE funny is when I catch her using *my* expressions, or mannerisms. I guess I tend to put people (or maybe just her) off quite a bit, because it seems that whenever I ask her to do something, she responds "OK, give me two seconds!" I hardly think she's grasped the concept of time yet (or maybe she has??) Or her everyday good-bye now includes "see you soon!" Yup, me again. Love it. I could eat her up some days. Which is great, because there are a lot of "trying" and challenging times with a two year old, so the good things make the not-so-good times a little easier to get through (this too shall pass.)

The twins have been great - not too many changes to write about. Leah's going through something really weird right now that we're working to resolve - she drinks about 2oz of her bottle, then refuses the rest. I'm not sure what the problem is - I've tried to solve the issue by changing the nipples - we've tried about 5 now. We make sure she's well burped (that's definitely not the issue.) We hold her in a variety of positions. We don't overfeed - I never wake them to feed, we wait for them to fuss before we offer the bottles. I'm at a loss...? She's always been the worst spitter-upper (of the two) but that's been since birth, and I really don't think I'm dealing with a reflux issue. I wonder if her teeth are starting to come, and maybe her mouth hurts. Peyton didn't get her first until 11 months, so that would be odd for us, but every kid's different, right? And I don't think 3 months is too early to teethe. Anyway, we are managing to get her feed into her, it just takes upwards of an hour sometimes. And unfortunately, I'm finding it's getting harder instead of easier with each feed. But she IS eating, so I've got no reason to see the doc yet. We're scheduled for a 3 month exam at the end of the month, so hopefully we can make it until then. Frustrating, though. Particularly at 4:00 AM.

We've had them down to the lake a couple times recently - they're happy to be out for a walk if they're in the carriers (the bums!) Fresh air does wonders for everyone - me too :) Peyton got out and fed the ducks THREE TIMES yesterday. Jenna & I took her out at 7:30 last night, and the ducks were like "ugh, we're SOOO full." I swear, the bread we threw was untouched! The ducks in this lake are being VERY well taken care of, I tell ya.

Anyway, signing off now - but not before I post a link to TRISTAN'S passion http://media.putfile.com/Tristan-and-Shadow
She was in a competition on Saturday and WON FIVE RIBBONS!! Congrats, sweetie - we're proud of you and we'll make it out to one of your competitions one day soon!!

Kari
(xoxoxox)

Blissful times.

The Zombies have LEFT the building!!!

Things are going great – really great. Finally, I might add!

I will admit, this hasn’t been easy. In fact, Paul & I will both say that the first 8ish weeks of the girl’s life have been by far the most difficult of our entire lives. From the severe sleep deprivation, to the constant state of chaos (and never ending list of things to do, that HAVE to be done) to the absolutely BRUTAL "evening fussiness" it’s been a challenge – we’ve been tested, that’s for sure. Despite all the help we’ve been getting (and there’s been a lot) there’ve been some times where we thought we just couldn’t take anymore.

And then, it all turned. Almost overnight. They sleep much better overnight – just one feed, so we’re seeing 5 consecutive hours of sleep, then often another 2-3 hours. They nap better during the day, so we’re able to accomplish more of the other things that need to get done (including QT with the big sis) and best of all, the "evening fussiness" just. magically. stopped.

So our well-rested, better relaxed selves are coping with this new life of ours much better, and we’re even beginning to enjoy it again! That’s definitely not to say that things are easy, by any standard, but we’re managing much better and really, really enjoying our little girlies. All three of them.

You know, Peyton really didn’t prepare us for what REAL parenthood truly was all about. She was SUCH an easy baby, and integrated so seamlessly into our lives, we didn’t miss a beat. So now, when an invite gets thrown our way, it’s really odd to know that there’s so much more planning that needs to be done – we can’t simply pack up THREE little ones and just go anywhere. Strange, and humbling. But I’m REALLY not complaining at all – I like this life we’ve got now, I really do – it’s just very VERY different from the life we had pre-twins.

Well enough about us – about the twins…they had their TWO MONTH appointment last week, and here are the stats: Leah weighed in at 10lbs, 6oz; Paige continues to be about ½ pound smaller, at 9lbs, 15oz. Our girls are growing at an amazing pace! And they’re entering such a great stage. They’re both so interactive, with lots of cooing, smiling and eye contact – the two just melt your heart. Strange, but they don’t like outings. I know they hate their carseats, so trips to the grocery store or wherever are typically spent trying to soothe at least one of them. But I’ve recently also discovered that they’re not too fond of the stroller too. I can’t say that I’ve EVER heard of babies like this – I thought the general rule of thumb was that if you had a fussy baby, you take them for a car ride, or a walk and the change of scenery and pace will calm them. Well, not our babies. They’re happiest just hanging out at home – and THAT I find difficult, because of course in my attempt to regain something close to the body I had pre-twins, I would love to get out walking more. Unfortunately, a walk is a very stressful event, because at least one twin will inevitably be screaming at any given time. Not nice. They do, however, love the snugglies, so Paul & I try to get out on the nice evenings and wear them around. Tonight we went out to the lake and visited with all the new little ducklings. There’ve got to be a few dozen duck families out there – it’s crazy! And Peyton loves to visit them.

Well, that’s the update for now. It’s all good, and I’m told in another month, it’ll be even better.

As always, we love visitors and company – we can always use the extra hands in the household so call us up and drop on by anytime!

I’ll try to update again very soon.
Kari
(xoxoxo)