ONE YEAR

We made it!!!!  We made it through the first year with our twins! 

 They Can't Believe It Either!

Looks Like Such a Big Girl

Always Up To Something

 In the months leading up to their arrival, I was extremely anxious. Anxious I wouldn't be able to handle two newborns well.  Anxious about sleepless nights. Anxious about having two girls because I was a Boy Mom. Anxious about finding enough room in my heart to love another baby as much as I love Barrett ... And I was expecting TWO!   

But then these two little baby girls entered our lives, and IMMEDIATELY I knew that this was our family.  And I couldn't imagine what life was like before my precious daughters were born. 

I'm not saying it wasn't difficult. There were many tears. In fact, one night, shortly after the girls and I came home from the hospital, everyone who lives in this house was awake, crying, and in Mommy and Daddy's bed at 3 o'clock in the morning.  

I counted on friends and family to help so that I could shower, rest for a minute, and catch my breath.  Sometimes I would just disappear in my room and cry.  

Even Barrett had to take a little break from all the crazy each week ... He had Wednesday play dates with his "big kid" friends.  

Poor Parker cried most of the time because her little neck hurt, and she could only lay down with her head in a certain position. Payton HATED tummy time. Both girls started getting flat heads.   

Parker screamed whenever I put a headband on her head, and Payton screamed each time I got her dressed. 

Parker had colic. Both babies had acid reflux.  Which means both babies were on medicine twice a day for about 8 months. 

We fed Parker with an eye dropper and neither of the girls could nurse correctly, which resulted in them burning more calories in the attempt than they were gaining. So we "practiced" in between those eye dropper formula feedings and pumping.  But still, they wouldn't gain weight. 

Most of these difficulties were fixed the day I threw away the eye droppers, pulled out the bottles, bought a Baby Brezza Formula Pro, and found the girls a good chiropractor. 

Sweet girls, how far we have come!  Getting to know you and your personalities has been so much fun!  I have charts of the medications you needed, the new foods you tried, and even which foods you each liked. But beyond that, I love watching you play and interact with us. And I think about what you will be like as you grow up. 

We started this last month as babies sick sick sick!  Poor girls had too much Christmas fun, and they both came down with a stomach bug.  The silver lining was that we were still at Gamma and Poppy's house, so there were lots of extra snuggles.

Snuggles with Mommy

Holding Out Hope She Wasn't Sick ...

... But Then It Hit Her!  

After a few days of being quarantined in the house with 3 sick kids: stomach bugs, upper respiratory infections, tear duct problems, and teething babies .... we made a run for it! We braved the cold for a couple of field trips to an indoor playground the aquarium. 

All Snuggled Up

And Ready to Play!

Picking up Barrett From School

All Bundled Up for the Cold and the Wind!  

Gamma and Parks at the Aquarium 

Mommy and Payton

Parks Looking at Jellyfish

Pay Looking at Jelleyfish

Too Much Fun 

Definitely Time to Rest!

We had a little break from the cold, overcast, windy, rainy weather. And we took full advantage of it with a trip to the playground.  Even though they can't walk and run around outside, both girl LOVED it! 

They Love The Swings!

Even When There Is Only One Swing to Share :)

Everyone Swinging!

Happy Girls, Happy to be Outside

Checking Herself Out 

Watching Big Brother Play 

Watching the girls play together is probably the cutest thing I've ever seen.  They look at each other and babble and giggle, and it just melts my heart. Their favorite game is chasing each other around the house. They crawl around, one behind the other, and each time they turn and see each other they laugh, squeal, and then speed up. 

Antother game they have learned to play this month is peek-a-boo.  When I say "Whhhheeerrrrreee's Parker/Payton?" both girls put their hands on their heads.  Now, most of the time it's behind their heads, or by their ears, but they lift up their little hands so that I can "see" them again when I say "There she is!"   And they both do it at the same time. It's hard for me to keep up!   Parker loves this game so much that she put her hands behind her head to "hide" from me anytime I ask her a question. "What does a monkey say?" Hands behind head. "Can you say 'mama'?" Hands behind head. "Do you want more?" Hands behind head. 

We are still working on signing "more" when they are eating.  Just the past few days that have started signing something that looks like "more."  So we're making progress. 

 This is usually the face I get when I'm trying to explain this to them:

Also Probably the Faces I'm Going to Get in Their Teenage Years

More Pics from This Month:

First Big Girl Bow... It Fell a Little

Playing in their Room

She Got Stuck ... Looking for Food

Showing Off Her New Teeth

Barrett Insisted on Riding in the Wagon Too

Cuties

Love Everything About This .. Big Brother Skills, Duck Face, and Sucking that Thumb

Nap Time ~ And We Still Aren't Home Yet!

Trying to Take Off Her Hat :)

Little Blurry ... But I Love This Blurry Face!

First Spaghetti Dinner

They Loved It!

Causing Trouble

Enjoying Pretty Days Outside

Us?

 Discovering Playground Fun

Things We Don't Want to Forget

• the speed at which Parker can crawl
• Payton learning to put her hands over here eyes when she plays peek-a-boo
• Parker going after every electrical outlet, plug, and wire in the house
• Payton jumping out up and down when I walk in her room to get her out of her crib.  Nobody is has happy to see me as that girl
• Parker crawling under every piece of furniture we own; the coffee table, the high chairs, the coffee table, our bed.  I never know where she it
• how Payton starts dancing instantly anytime she hears music: the radio, songs from her toys, commercial jingles
• how Parker loves to hold stuff in her mouth when she crawls ... just like her big brother.  She especially loves socks.  No sock in the house is safe from her.  Not sure why they make her so happy.
• finally mastering the double twin snuggle when reading stories in the rocking chair and rocking you before you go to sleep
• the turbo speed crawls towards the front door when Mommy or Daddy gets home ... and the squeals and giggles that accompany the excitement

12 Month Picture Out-Takes

 Who?  Me?!?!?

See That 12? We Made it a Whole Year Sister!

 

Oh Heeey!  You Have One Too!

 Cutie Pie

 Everybody Scrunch Their Noses!

And the Best Friend Moments:

Baby Pictures: It's a Wrap!

Baby Girls, 

What. A. Year.  From anxiety and sleepless nights, to so much love it absolutely paralyzes us.  Sometimes, in the middle of all our crazy, we just stop and watch you two play.  We love the way you giggle together and "talk" to each other.  But most of all, we love that you have each other.  And in these moments, watching you play with your sister, all we can think is how lucky we are that God gave us both of you.  

We hope we can teach you how to be a Godly girl.  We  hope we can teach you how to tune out all the noise concerning how others think you should act, look, dress, etc.  And instead fill you with the confidence that you are just perfect the way God made you. We hope we can teach you how to date responsibly and what to look for in a potential husband.  We hope you come to me when somebody hurts your feelings, or that boy breaks your heart, so we can hug you and tell you that it will all be ok.  

We can't believe a whole year has gone by, and we can't even imagine how quickly time is going to start moving as I watch you grow up.  We are excited to watch you learn new things, watch your personalities develop, and the friendships that we get to have with each of you as you get older.  But we're sad that you won't be babies anymore.  Eventually, you will stop being excited to see us just because one of us walks in the room.  Eventually, you won't stop crying just because Mommy or Daddy picked you up.  Eventually, you won't crawl towards us with super-human speed.  Eventually, you probably won't be happy to see us in your bedroom in the mornings waking you up.  Eventually, we will lose the double snuggles while you sit on our laps during story time.  But oh my goodness girls:  What. A. Year.

We Love You So Much, 

Mommy and Daddy