We Don't Want to Nap

We'd rather PLAYYYYYYY! Okay, so Jasmine can be exempt from that comment, but Addison did not want to sleep today. She jibber jabbered in her crib, screamed in her crib, rolled in her crib, lodged herself at various angles in her crib...note only thing missing from this list is SLEEP in her crib. But! They are asleep now and have been sleeping since 7 pm! Sweet sausages - gotta love them!

Your Weekly Fix

It has been a few days since I've posted pictures of the girls - so here are a couple we've take this week!


Addison is now a stomach sleeper since she can rollover. The only downside is that as she attempts to get herself into just the right position, she often wedgies herself into the corner of the crib or with her face between the rail and mattress. She has discovered her voice over the last two weeks, so she provides lots of amusing commentary as she performs her crib gymnastics. Last night, she was talking LOUDLY to herself in her crib as 4:30 am!!! (I'm guessing my mom will say she has similar problems with me...hum...just dues...?)


The girls love to lay side by side, stare and smile at each other, grab each others hands and faces, suck on whatever body part of the other they can get into their mouthes, etc!


This is Jasmine's new thing - when she is bored - waiting to be feed, put down for a nap, tired of playing with her current distraction - she sucks on her bottom lip and stares off into the distance. When she does this it reminds me of someone who has no teeth...oh wait...she doesn't have any teeth! : )

Won't You Be Our Neighbor

The house two houses down from our house is for sale, and we've decided we would like one of you - our friends and family to purchase it and live close-by! We've decided to nominate candidates - just in case you needed some encouragement - and provide some rational why this would be a good move for you! : )

Calvin & Sarah Shanks:
• You'll be moving back to Springfield in no time and all - and what better than to live by your favorite people the Greens. With the convenient proximity to James River Expwy. and the Cox campus - it couldn't be better located for a nurse who has just completed his degree!

Andrew & Sarah Baker
• Although there is the slight problem of that new job Andrew just got... This house is the one for you. It has grandparents within a 10 minute drive for free babysitting, meals, etc. The Springfield metro area is a budding urban environment waiting for visionaries such as yourself to take it into the 22nd century! Plus, two wonderful girl cousins would be just one backyard away!

Aaron & Sara Wyssmann
• You'll be moving in March of 2008 anyways...why not just move that up a bit. This house would put you close to James River and 65 for easy trips to either grandparents house. You'd have instant friends for your children, a great neighborhood pool and playground, refrigerator rights at our house, and the list goes on! We know it is a life-long dream to be our neighbors...this would just fulfill that dream!

Josh & Janel Metsker
• Okay, so you don't really want to move and we aren't located out in the country like you like...but how can you bet the selling point of having us less than 50 ft. away. We know you'll need lots of alone time to get reacquainted with one another after Josh returns from Iraq. We'd be willing to throw in 10 nights of free babysitting once the sale is final! : )

Grandma & Grandpa Baker
• This would be a bit of a down grade from your current home, farther from work, etc. ...but closer to those two cute smiling faces you love so much. Just think of all the family bonding time we could have...and we could get all enmeshed and watch each others activities over our back fences and peek in windows...sounds like fun doesn't it!?

If you feel you've been over looked in this nomination process feel free to leave a comment and we will take your request for nomination into consideration!

Safety Measure

Now that Addison can roll with wild abandon - she requires some additional creative thinking! We usually change diapers and outfits assembly line style on our extra large changing table (large dog kennel with crib mattress on top). Addison has now rolled herself off the changing table twice while her sister is getting the attention. The new rule is - one child laying flat and one child sitting in a Bumbo chair so that there will be no unsupervised rolling from high surfaces! As you can see from the picture, they are quite content with this new arrangement as it enables them to drool on all kinds of new parts of their outfits.

We had a great weekend! On Friday we did our normal movie night after the girls were in bed and watched Dear Frankie. Saturday morning and afternoon we got ready for our small group BBQ. Everyone arrived around 4 and we went swimming for a few hours. The pool was pretty cold because of the rain on Friday and Saturday - it would figure after being scorching hot - it would cool down just in time for our pool party! After swimming everyone came back to our house and we grilled out. The girls went to bed at 7 pm without a fuss - which was wonderful - because then Alex and I got to just hang out, chat, and enjoy our guests! Sunday we took it easy and after church spent the rest of the day at home. We watched another movie, On A Clear Day. It was pretty funny - we would both recommend it!

Playtime

Here are a few fun pictures from playtime with the girls yesterday. I swear I did not pose this picture of Jasmine. She kept pulling all the toys over her face and grinning at me through the rings! I couldn't get a picture with her smiling, but at least I captured the ring around her eye! Addison is chewing on their favorite toy - also the one they fight over! : ) I think they love it because it is easy to grab and perfect for chewing.



The girls continue to grow like weeds and we are constantly amazed at how big they've gotten so quickly! I'm looking forward to the Moms of Multiples sale that is coming up at the end of September. We are going to need to stock up on all kinds of things - winter clothes, high chairs, toys for older ages, possibly a jogging stroller, the next size up carseats, and the list goes on!

We have had some success with sleeping through the night. Addison (who has been the first to do everything so far) can now easily sleep from 7 pm to 5:30 am (with a dream feed at 10pm). Jasmine, however, was screaming last night from 2-4am without an breaks regards of pacifier popping & other assorted soothing efforts...so we caved and feed both the girls at 4:30. We were doing a 7 day trial of not feeding the girls until 6 am. It appears that although Addison is ready, Jasmine is not going to go so willingly since she has screamed every night for the last week from 3-6am! I guess we will have to come up with a compromise time like 5:00 am and continue to work on Jasmine since we don't want to wake up twice to feed the girls seperately!

Mrs. Green

Alex's younger brother, Justin, got married this past Saturday in Harare, Zimbabwe. It was originally scheduled for September in Canada, but the Canadian embassey would not play nice and give Justin a visa - so the wedding was moved to Zim. Here are some pictures we just received of their big day. We are reallly looking forward to meeting Dariel in person and celebrating with them both once we can all be in the same place at the same time! We love you both and hope you had a magical wedding day.


The new Mrs. Green & the original Mrs. Green


Mitch, Ang, Justin, & Dariel


Justin & Dariel & Wishbone the pastor


Mitch & Ang, Gilly & Lloyd, Chris & Grandpa Souchen, Justin & Dariel



Dariel - your dress is beautiful!!! I hope you wear it at the next reception!

Happy Birthday Grandma Baker!

Happy Birthday Mom! I hope you are having a great day! We love you!

And You Are Again...?

I have it upon Alex's report that the girls intentionally smiled at each other for the first time this morning! It has been fun to watch them notice each other. We have even had our first fight over a toy! They were both pulling and whining...a preview of things to come!




Sometimes I can't get them to go down for their naps, and sometimes I can't get them down for their naps quick enough. They both decided this afternoon that they would rather sleep on the activity mat then in their rooms!

We went for our four month check-up yesterday and got more shots - OUCH! They didn't seem too terribly affected after the initial pokes. Jasmine is over the 100th percentile for height and head circumference. She is now 15 lbs. 9 ounces. Addison isn't far behind with a height over the 100th percentile as well. She now weighs 14 lbs 9 ounces!

My Sweet Sausages

Here are the sweet faces that greeted us early Saturday morning! Jasmine and Addison are so full of wiggles and giggles first thing in the morning. We laid them on our pillows and just enjoyed their exuberance for life...that is until they reminded us that perhaps they were hungry too. : )



Addison got a rare treat during her morning nap on Saturday. She had had a short nap and then would not fall back asleep. Since Alex was napping at the same time, I scooped her up and put her in Daddy's arms. I snuck back in later and got some great pictures!

Three Years

The many sides of Addison. Alex warns me that Addison will not be thrilled that I am including this picture in her baby book! I am officially envoking my "mother's rights" and saying I don't care! I hear "mother's rights" work well for sharing of naked baby pictures.


Jasmine is a new woman this past month! I don't know that I can narrow down to any one thing, but I think that the combination of better naps, more sleep at night, less reflux, and more social skills have made her a happier baby. It is nice to get lots of smiles, chats, and laughs out of her. It almost makes me forget all the screaming of the first three months!


Here are some pictures of the girls hanging out together on the popazon in the kitchen - I usually put them there together when I'm doing laundry or getting something to eat in the kitchen! As you can see from the photos, it is still difficult to get simultaneous grins.


As of August 7th, Alex and I have been married for three years! Alex made the above meal to celebrate at home and then beat the pants off of me in a board game!

It has been an eventful three years:

The first year we had the whole newlywed adjustment thing, got our first dog, I finished graduate school, we both started new jobs, and we went to Africa to see his family.

The second year we bought our house, watched our house burn, moved out and back into our house after repairs were complete, and got our second dog.

And not to be out done in our third year we got pregnant and had twins! It is a little daunting to imagine what year four could bring...one thing is for sure...no more dogs! : )

A Place to Call Home

"Charming home in sought after neighborhood. Perfect for the young at heart, this unique home has been totally updated. Massive stone fireplace makes a grand statement and separate great room from formal dining. Front bedrooms have appealing window seats with storage below. Located on a quiet cul-de-sac with common area behind, this house truly welcomes you home!" (Paragraph used to sell our house).

We've decided to stay! We were originally selling our house to better make the transition from two incomes to one and our current morgage payment made it difficult to cover the rest of our expenses. Then, as the housing market was looking extra gloomy, Alex got a raise - a really good raise! We are feeling so incredibly blessed. We never really wanted to move. We love our neighbors, neighborhood, the local pool, the adjacent upscale neighborhood (nice for walks), the location (near shopping and interstate), a fabulous corner grocery store, a great pizza place, and the list goes on!

When we first bought our house, we thought we'd live in it for 2-3 years, update it, and sell it for a profit. Now that we are planning on settling in...we are rethinking some of our decisions. Would we have still painted the dining room a bright purple and the kitchen a lime green? Would we have allowed the dogs to dig 50+ holes in the backyard?

For those of you who haven't seen the inside of our house, here are some of the highlights:


When we thought we were moving, we contemplate taking the front door with us we like it so much!


This is one of the rooms that sold us on the house in the first place. It soon is going to make its transition from dining room to playroom! All we need is the Elongate I bought on Ebay to keep the girls from roaming when I take bathroom breaks.


When we first walked through our house, Alex called the fireplace a monstrocity - now I think it is one of his favorite features. It has a cracked flue, so we have yet to "fire it up," but we hope to change it over to gas and get it going at some stage.


Our lovely lime kitchen...when we first had it painted, we walked in after the painters had left and felt like it glowed like a highlighter...especially when the setting sun shone through the windows in the evening. Now I think the color has grown on us and we barely notice its luminescence!

Our minds have now moved onto the long term considerations - things like making the house more energy efficent with a new furnace, new windows, and perhaps some solar panels. There are other dreams like real landscaping, a new deck, a new fence, matching carpet, extra lighting, making the fireplace a gas log fireplace, and the list goes on. For now, all of the above are just dreams, but it is fun to talk about and imagine as we hold bottles, change diapers, and imagine our future with our girls in this house!

Score!

I take back all the nasty things I said about Ebay - at least for the moment! I have been watching this Kidco Elongate for an entire week and hoping I did not get outbid at the last moment. I figured when the finally seconds of the auction would be up and was determined to be at the computer ready to battle to the last second...but alas I was SLEEPING! So much for my entire week of planning to be hypervigilant! Lucky for me, no one had bid on the item in the last three days, and there were no last minute challengers. I awoke to the pleasant surprise of an e-mail in my inbox saying I had won. Here is the best part: Retail value of the gate plus the three extension included = $233.55. I paid - $91.00!!!! (that includes the shipping). Now the girls can crawl and crawl (once they can) around the dining room which we are converting to our playroom and I don't have to chase them both like a banshee all day long.

The girls have given us sweet dreams the past two nights. On Wednesday night they slept from 7:30 to 5:30. Last night they slept from 7:30 to 4:30. I think the thing that is making a difference is the introduction of rice cereal to their evening diet! We hope this continues...but with everything babies - it is subject to change at any moment!

Hanging in There

(Pictures are from a few months ago - a friend just sent them to me).

Not much new news - just wanted to let you know we are surviving! : ) We've had a few rough days and nights...the girls are finding it difficult to adhere to a plan regardless the amount of coaching from mom and dad! It seems the weekends tend to throw them off schedule. We've really minimized outings - but it seems even attending church (which occurs during their naptime) sends them into a tailspin. Gone are the easy days of "we'll sleep anywhere in our carseats" and now we have "we might sleep for you, but only at home, in our own beds." We have stuck to our sleep plan (previous blog) and hope our consistency champions their inconsistency over time!

The girls have also adopted a new trick of screaming at the sight of strangers...I guess we are beginning our stranger anxiety phase a little early. My developmental book says they can start to show signs of it at 4 months, but it doesn't really get going until 8 to 12 months...well...they are starting right at that 4 month mark!

Addision continues to practice her rolling - it is really all she does with her time - tries to roll while eating, tries to roll during diaper changes, rolls in her crib, rolls on the floor, you get the idea! Jasmine, however, is more interested in her hand to mouth coordination. Yesterday she got a fistful of stuffed giraffe in her mouth, and it was quite humorous to see her twist up her face as she mouthed the little guy! : ) Jasmine also pinched me yesterday - and I was impressed that she could see me, grab me, and pinch - I'm sure I'll be less impressed with that little trick with time...

Alex and I have been working on losing weight for the last several weeks, and we are experiencing some success. It is sickening how guys can lose so much quicker than girls - quite unfair really! My top weight was 230 lbs. at the end of my pregnancy. I'm now officially in the 170's and working for the high 150's. My darling husband currently weighs less than me, and I've threatened to lace his food with butter and buy his favorite fatty snacks and leave them scattered around the house...how is that for supportive! : )

Speaking of weight-loss, time for another walk with the girls!