Happy Birthday to Us!

Yes, we all have the same birthday - Alex, Alex's mom Ang, and I were all born on the 28th of June! Also, Happy Birthday as well to Alex's good friend Graeme in Orlando, FL who shares the same day as well!

As requested, here are some more smiles for Grandma Green - Addison and Jasmine's birthday gift to you! We love you - hope you are having a good birthday!




We all take turn here at the Green house - Belle on duty! : )


Addison's glamour shot from play time on the blanket!

Male Caller

The girls had their first male caller today. Jonathan and Janel Metsker came for a visit. They lounged, they dined, and they made eyes at each other. As you can see, Belle was feeling sorely left out and kept watch from outside!

Feeling Much Better

Addison would like those of you who were concerned to know that she is feeling much better!

New Job Requirements

Thank goodness for www.google.com at 4 am when you are a new parent! We had a pretty good idea that Addison was constipated because she'd scream while she looked like she was trying to go to the bathroom. The problem was...we'd never dealt with infant constipation before and had no tricks up our sleeves. She fell asleep just as I found some suggestions on what to try, so we awaited the next time Addison woke up with a bit of anxiety. I never knew how bad it would feel to see your child in pain, and unable to relieve it instanteously.

Round 2 occurred at 7 am - and we were ready! I had read on the Dr. Sears website to put your child in a warm bath and massage their stomach in a clockwise motion. So as Addison screamed and made her attempts, I massage and we made some progress (I'll save you the exact details!) Then we gave her a fresh batch of water and she sat back and enjoyed being wet.

Round 3 came about an hour later - more screaming - more massaging - and finally I believe she is no longer constipated.

For those of you who are reading this and are new parents as well - here are some tips:
1.) Breastfed babies don't get constipated (until they get some solid food).
2.) Formula fed babies (ours are now as of last week) can quite easily get constipated. Our doctor's office and friends with children recommend giving them diluted apple or apple/prune juice 1-2 times a day to prevent it. (1 part juice - 3 parts water for a total of 1-2 oz.)

So as the title says, "new job requirements", I didn't know motherhood included the role of "poop assistant", but I'm beginning to realize that I'll do just about anything for my girls...I'm just a little frightened to know the remaining job requirements that I have yet to be aware of! One I can guess may arise once they gain control of their hands - "extractor of items from noses and ears!"

Love to all - thanks to those of you who let us know you're reading - good to hear from you!

Roll Call

Please help us satsify our curiousity! If you read this entry - please leave a comment so we can get an idea of just how many are reading our blog. We hear from time to time that some of you are reading, but it would be fun for us to see just how many are reading at once. You don't have to have a blogger membership - just leave a comment with the anonymous option and type your name in with your text! Thanks!

The Champion

Addison is the new recorder holder. Jasmine has been training for months - putting in time and dedication. There wasn't a day that Jasmine didn't put her time in training and practicing this skill, but today in under an hour, Addison showed her why she was the big sister! The girls normally take 3-4 ounces per feeding. Jasmine rountinely tries to squeeze in more, but it usually dribbles down her chin or comes back in the way of spit up.

Addison guzzled 7 ounces this morning in under an hour with no dribbling or spit up. The picture is what she did immediately after draining her final ounce. We call this a "milk coma"! Needless to say, she didn't have much to eat the next few feedings - guess she just wanted to show us what she was capable of!

Canada Here We Come

Today we got the girls their first passports - and it was bloody expensive!!! $280 later. Apparently the new travel requirements for anyone flying to Mexico, Canada, etc. have astronomically increased the number of people applying for passports. There is currently a 14 week wait to receive your passport. Because of this delay, they changed the rules a bit and if you are only going to Canada, Mexico, etc. you can just show your receipt that you've applied for the meantime...unfortunately the passport employees told us...not everyone gets a recepit. If there are any problems with your application/processing, they will not send you an official recepit, but instead you will get your application back with instructions on what corrections need to be made! So the only way to ensure you have a passport in a timely matter is to pay the "rush fee" of an additional $60 per passport. Although we were tempted to just keep our fingers crossed, we decided we'd be pretty sad to miss Alex's brother's wedding simply because we wanted to save $120.

The girls' passport pictures aren't their most adorable looks. Addison's photo is mildly pleasant, but Jasmine has red eyes and a mad looking face since she had just stopped wailing! Lucky for them, we get to apply for new passports for them every 5 years until they are 16 years old - then they are stuck with their pictures for 10 years at a time. My lovely passport photo was taken 9 years ago and I had just finished swimming in a lake - hoping my next photo looks a bit more polished - want the customs agents to think the best of me! : )

The girls are sleeping well - and as a result so are we! We are attempting to inch up their bedtime to 8ish to get a bit more time to ourselves in the evening. So far so good - but whenever you think you've got something good going, they'll throw you for a loop - so we try not to sing our praises too soon or too loudly!

Next week, Alex turns 31 and I turn 28 (we have the same birthday for those of you who don't know)! Feels nice to still be a good two years away from the big 30 - not that it is that scary - but I do love teasing Alex that I'm still in my 20's! Our friend, Laura, has bravely agreed to watch our girls while we go on a date to celebrate, hopefully with some sushi!

90th Percentile

Our girls are already making A's and they are years from going to school! We got their new stats after our doctor's visit on Friday. Jasmine is 24 1/2 inches long and 12 lbs. 2 ounces. Addison is 23 1/2 inches long and 11 lbs. 5 ounces. This puts them both in the 90th percentiles for height and weight. They are already moving into their 3-6 mon and in some case 6 month clothing! All their dresses look like mini skirts due to their long torsos!

Super Dad

Isn't he amazing?! He feeds, he burps, he diapers, he rocks, he swaddles, he bounces, he sooshes, he bathes, he is an incredible father! We love him and are so glad that he is ours! Happy Father's Day Alex!

How Do You Do It

Often we have heard, "I don't know how you do it with twins!" Here a picture to help you visualize our day to day.


This is what 8-5 Monday thru Friday looks like for the Green girls. They take turns leaving their bouncy seats to be held, feed, and burped. When they are both in good moods and not hungry, we all lay on a blanket together have a chat and play a bit. Bouncy seats are must have for twins - when both hands are full with one baby - it is wonderful to still be able to provide comfort with your foot by bouncy the other twin!


As you can see from this picture, Addison is pretty contented with this set-up!

Smiles

Addison and Jasmine have learned how to smile! They love to watch us and "talk" back to us with oohhs and aaahs and flash an occasional gummy grin. We are loving that they are more interactive and are finding they can get attention whenever they want it if they make those cute little sounds we love to hear!


Jasmine especially loves to smile at us after her 4:30 am feeding. In fact, she has begun to protest returning to sleep after eating - making for early mornings for her parents!


Although Jasmine has mastered the art of eating - she can put away the ounces like nobody's business, Addison is leaps ahead socially.


Addison began smiling first, and even notices her sister and coos at her. Unfortunately, Jasmine has yet to acknowledge her existence!


Belle and Tinsley have been great with the girls. They love to help clean up spilled milk, but have a little trouble remembering that milk on the girls' faces does not count as spilled milk!

Whew!

Did you know that as newborns aren't so new anymore they also sleep less during the day? This has an upside, they sleep more at night (had an eight hour night last night). It is becoming virtually impossible to get anything done during the day - I have two little sets of eyes wanting my attention 24/7. I have to let them cry while I wash bottles, switch the laundry, eat lunch, etc.! They aren't any worse for wear for the crying - they get LOTS of mommy's attention most of the day!

They've begun smiling - and the best is when they wake up and are all smiles - best morning greeting! Jasmine was a live wire after her 5 am feeding this morning - cooing and batting her eyelashes at dad as he tried to put her back to bed. I'll try to get some pictures of their smiles ASAP!

Otherwise, not much new here! The girls have experienced their first daycare situation. I've begun working out at the YMCA with a girlfriend and we left our babies with for the first time together - nice to have someone who is in the same boat! Next week is the girls' 2 month check-up (they'll really be 2.5 months old). I'm excited to see how much they've grown!





Addie loves the dryer - she fell asleep in seconds when I put her on top of the clean laundry so I could unload the dryer!