The Best Part of My Day

So I "write" all the time, or maybe the better word is compose because it usually gets "written" in my head (often in the shower) and never actually makes it to written form. This morning I was writing in the shower, it was actually in the form of a blog, and it had this title. So I thought I would actually write this one, Oh and I have some cute pictures to share too...

The Best Part of My Day

Every morning we get up, no more sleeping in when there are little ones to get changed and fed. I usually go check to see if the kids are awake (on the video monitor) and most days they are, quietly playing in their beds until daddy comes to get them. Every morning Geoff goes upstairs and gets Quinn and Riley, an armful that is becoming bigger by the day, and brings them down. I get a drink of water, a piece of cheese (because I wake up hungry) and their diapers and am waiting for them on my bed. This morning they slept a little late so we just waited for them to wake up. As soon as I see them stir I send Geoff to get them and get ready to greet them. I hear his footsteps coming back down the stairs and I look towards the door. Geoff enters our room with this armful of baby, Riley in her monkey pajamas and Quinn in his blue star pajamas. Riley immediately gets a huge grin that spreads across her whole face as she greets me and Quinn, he just about jumps out of Geoff's arms to get to me making a happy little noise as he wiggles in my direction. And we are together. As a family. And it is the BEST part of my day.

And then our day gets started. Babies get nursed, daddy goes to get ready for work, doggie must be let outside, diapers must be changed, and it is full steam ahead. But for those few moments when we are all greeting each other and the day, I find myself just soaking it all in and basking in the love and joy that I have being a part of this family. I find many other wonderful moments throughout the day, and some not so wonderful moments, but this, this is the BEST part of my day.

What's the best part of your day?

Here's the cute pictures I promised...If you are a Tiger fan or just love the color Orange, you will especially love these!

We've been cheering on the Tigers and Riley was calling the touchdown during last week's win against Wake Forest.

Quinn was very concerned when there was a man down on the field...he's ready to go in the game if the Tigers need him.

During half-time we played and laughed at daddy being funny.

After the game we went to get our pumpkin, just a local stand with produce. Tomorrow we are going to carve the pumpkin!

Twins are Twice the Fun!

This week we met up with some friends for a very fun trip to the zoo!

Beautiful little blue-eyed girl! Her eyes haven't changed yet, I guess they still could, we'll just have to wait and see. Oh and see that hair she's starting to get on top!

It was a beautiful day and we really had a great time seeing all the animals and enjoying the sunshine with good friends.

We cheered the Tigers on to another win today against Miami! Go Tigers! (We are raising these kiddos right!)

Quinn has been eating apple in this little feeder. It is so cute and he LOVES it and best of all it's very safe!

That's what we've been up to, how about you?

We've Been Busy...

We went to the pool one last time over Labor Day weekend. The water was a little chilly and Riley was not happy about that so she loved sitting back and enjoying the nice weather.

Quinn let me take him in the water, he said "I can handle it."

Riley does this funny thing where she looks at her hand but goes cross eyed while she's looking. Too cute!

Lots of baths!

Me too!

Lots of yummy food!

Me too!

Cheering for the Tigers with Aunt Jana.


And Daddy.

Riley went with me to a good friends baby shower! The three of us all graduated from high school together and it is so fun to be having our babies together! It was a fun girls day and Quinn stayed home with Daddy.

Riley got to see her twin friends Madison and Luke!

Quinn loves to jump!

And of course some good times playing with cousins! You think Riley can handle this group of boys?!?

So what have you been busy doing?

I Just Love Them!

It's been awhile since I've had time to post. That's just life right now but I love it. Yesterday I took Riley and Quinn to Walmart for the first time. We had a grand time, Quinn took a little nap in the baby bjourn carrier and Riley road along in her carrier in the buggy. I don't go out much by myself with them, not if I don't have to. But we did enjoy getting out of the house and seeing the sites.

On Monday we had our first ALMOST mishap. Riley ALMOST fell off the bed. I was getting ready to feed them and I set Riley next to me (I was on my bed) and was getting Quinn and the next thing I knew Riley was falling off the bed. I dove after her and with some amazing reflexes managed to kinda trap her against the side of the mattress with my one hand and then get her with my other hand. When we went to sit back, I ALMOST sat on Quinn. He had fallen down under me as I jumped after Riley. No one was actually hurt but we were all a little startled (my adrenaline was running) and it was a day of ALMOST. (Until Riley actually got hurt later that day when my ring scratched her.)

We haven't gone anywhere lately but we have been busy. I actually had 3 babies today when I kept a little boy that is just 10 days older than Quinn and Riley! We had a really good day and everyone got fed and taken care of (except I didn't get a shower until 7:30 tonight).

We recently had a little photo shoot of our own. Riley loves doing these leg lifts, and will even do them in her sleep. It's so cute!
Quinn's just chillin'

Two heads are better than one!

Sometimes we like to hold hands, so cute!

Other times, not so much hand holding as knocking each other around. In Riley's defense Quinn has tried to put her hand in his mouth before so maybe she's just letting him know not to mess with her.

And sometimes they are done with the photo shoot before mommy is. Isn't this just the cutest crying little boy you've ever seen?!?

Since you got to see him crying, here's a happy face!

Sister's and their boys.

Nana came to visit last week and I got to go to my first twins club meeting! It was great and so much fun to meet so many other mothers of twins.

Quinn's two bottom teeth! I hope they don't all hurt that much!

Riley has started enjoying toys more lately. As long as she can get it in her mouth.

Look at those long eyelashes!

We got our new side-by-side stroller and tried it out going to the pool! A lady at the pool thought we had triplets! LOL!

Family fun at the pool!
Riley can most often be found with her fingers in her mouth. Anytime, anywhere, even in her sleep!

Quinn loves this little froggy and is so cute with it. Don't worry I go in and move it so it's not in his face.

This toy has neat textures and he just loves getting his tongue on it.

Happy girl. Sitting up much better too. Physical therapy is going great! Riley even rolled from her tummy to her back for the first time today! (That's just how much she hates tummy time, she'll do anything, even roll over, to get out of it :)

Such sweet siblings. Notice Riley has a toy but it's her fingers she loves!

It's almost time for school to start back and it's a little strange for me to not be heading back, getting my classroom ready, anticipating new students and a new year. In fact, it was really odd to be at Walmart with all the school supplies out and not shopping for what I need for my classroom. However, I am so in love with these two and I absolutely could not imagine leaving them every day! I feel so very blessed to get to be their mommy and am in awe of the fact the the Lord has entrusted them to me. They light up my days (nights too) and bring me so much joy. I am so thankful that they are the reason I am not heading back to school this year. I'm sure we'll find some things to learn together this year (isn't that the best, watching a baby/child learn something new)! I see lots of "field trips" in our future this year... can't wait!

A Tooth

Quinn has his first tooth coming in! He stuck Geoff's finger in his mouth on Friday and Geoff said "something is sharp in there" we looked and sure enough his bottom right tooth is poking through! He has been drooling a ton lately but since they just turned 5 months on Sunday I thought it was too early for teeth. So his first tooth is in, many more to come! I wonder when Riley will get her first tooth...watch it be a long time...I think they like being different.

I have some super cute pictures from our trip (which went great) as well as from their 5 months that hopefully I will get posted tomorrow (pray for good naps)!

Leaving on a jet plane...

This evening we board a plane with Quinn and Riley to take them to NJ to see Geoff's grandparents. Riley's middle name is Elaine, after Geoff's grandmother and we are so excited to take them to meet their great grandparents. Geoff's grandmother has had cancer for some time now and we would appreciate your prayers for her strength and health as well as us as we travel. We are taking ear plugs to pass out on the plane for the other passengers, aren't we thoughtful! Geoff's parents are coming to Columbia to fly with us so it will be easier with their help. Prayerfully it will be a great trip for everyone.

In other news, I talked with my lactation consultant this week and she, like I, did not think that Riley's issues were a milk protein allergy at all. So I am no longer dairy free, and actually Riley has had a great week. She really thinks that Riley responds very, shall we say dramatically, to situational type things. When talking to her I was able to pin point that her hardest times have been either after or while we are traveling. So, knowing that please pray especially for Riley while we travel.

The good news is that they both have been sleeping through the night, like until 7am for the past few days! Yesterday I had to wake them up at 7:30 and I was so amazed that they were still sleeping. I feel like a new person! (Except for the night my nephews spent the night and one of them kept me up literally all night. I learned not to bring a child to your bed, they beat you up and you can't sleep :) I'm worried about them not sleeping so well as we travel but we will just do the best we can.

I had to share a few fun pictures from our trip to Greenville. There are so many cute ones it was hard to just pick a few but I don't have a lot of time (must finish packing).

The kids got to meet lots of extended family on Geoff's mom's side!

We went swimming at my mom's pool and got to hang out with Emily and her boys! This is Cohen in her arms and of course my arm full!

We had a fun visit with our twin friends! It was so fun to see how much Luke and Madison have grown!

Kelley brought her girls over and Riley is very happy she will have lots of girls to play with since her cousins are all boys! Kiran is striking a pose for us here!

Sweet sisters: Kiran and Sienna. Is she hugging her or choking her?!? You never know with sisters!

Quinn is a very happy boy in his Pop's arms! He also loves his hands and has them in his mouth constantly.

Riley is also a very happy girl in her Pop's arms! It seems Pop may have the magic touch, maybe he will get whoever is crying on the plane :)

Oh What a Day...

So before I write about today I must share the stats from Tuesdays 4 month Dr. appointment. Riley:
head 15 1/2 inches (10th percentile)
height 21 3/4 inches (almost 5th percentile)
weight 10lb. 5 oz (5th percentile)

So the good news for her is that she's on the percentile chart in weight! How exciting. On the not so good news side she is still having lots of tummy issues (pain, gas, irritability) so we are taking dairy out of my diet to see if this helps. It is hard because two of my favorite food groups are cheese and chocolate (those are food groups on their own you know). It is a very good thing I love my daughter more than those foods and I'll do anything to help her feel better. I have some ideas about what it is other than dairy but I'm still looking into those things so in the mean time we will try this out! She also saw the physical therapist on Wed. and has qualified for some PT because of her torticollis (stiff neck) and will see a therapist once a week as long as she needs it.

Quinn:
head 16 1/4 inches
height 24 inches
weight 13lbs. 14oz.

He was in the 25th percentile for everything. They are both still taking their reflux medicine and that seems to be under control for him. He's been rolling over some more this week. Usually he does it in his crib, goes from tummy to back, and is not very happy about it. It's so funny when he's so mad and all I have to do is put him back on his tummy and he's fine.

We've been having a pretty good week, we survived the shots on Tue. It was just me at the appointment and though we all cried we got through it. Geoff has been out of town most of the week, he was home Wed. night but gone the rest of the nights. Things were going along pretty good until...Today!

Riley's crying...hold on...I'm back but I may just have a minute so I had better hurry.

Riley got up last night about 2:30am to eat. She had been sleeping until about 5:30am so this was way early but I just figured it was one of those off nights. When I got back into bed I discovered that my dog (a lab) had peed on my bed! That's right Peed! I have no idea why, she's not that old (almost 6) but she did. So I change the sheets and everything and get back in bed. I wake at 5am to Riley crying! I get her settled and back to sleep and finally get back to sleep to wake again at 6am to Riley crying (not a hunger cry). I get her and hold her on my chest and finally get her calm down only to have Quinn wake about 15 min. later and this is a hunger cry. What to do now? So I wake Riley, who's just fallen asleep and go get Quinn. I feed them both (with twins if you feed one you feed the other). I get them back to sleep and go try to sleep a little more myself (pretty tired at this point). The phone rings and other things keep me from sleeping good so at 9:30 when Quinn is awake and crying again I guess I'm not destined to sleep today. I get him and discover the most explosive poopy diaper ever! It's all over the front of him from his chest to his toes! When I finally get him cleaned and fed, I get Riley and feed her. While she's eating she has an explosive poopy that goes all up her back! Really can this be happening. Everyone is peeing and pooping all over the place! I guess that's just part of life now... I'll laugh about it later I'm sure! Oh What a Day... I'll post some cute pictures soon, but not today :)

Father's Day and other Fun

Geoff had his very first Father's Day on Sunday. It was so much fun to celebrate what a wonderful father he is to our children. And he is the best! He loves to cuddle with them and is an amazing diaper changer! I love the fact that I can leave him with both babies to care for and he does such a great job! He's probably even more relaxed than I am if he ends up with two crying children:) We have both been very blessed with our own wonderful fathers as examples for how to unconditionally love and support your children. I know that Quinn and Riley are very blessed as well!

Happy First Father's Day, Geoff!

I had to get a picture with my cute babies!

Quinn learned how to suck his thumb last week! We've always offered him a paci but he never really wants it and just spits it out. So I'm happy for him to have a way to help sooth himself, especially to sleep. Yes, I am ok with him sucking his thumb (I did) and I am also ok with him sleeping on his stomach, as he sleeps so much better that way. Just our personal choices :)

Riley was playing under the activity gym and being so cute!

Some adorable cuddle time!

They are growing so quickly! They will be 4 months old on Friday and I just can't believe where the time has gone. We are out of town all next week so they won't have their appointment for another 2 weeks. Oh and Quinn has rolled over a few times from his stomach to his back! I'm pretty sure it's just kinda happened on accident but he'll be doing it on purpose soon I'm sure. Also we've had a few more nights of sleeping through the night. They have been going until sometime between 5 and 6am! There was one night when they were back up 4am but we are definitely getting closer to consistently sleeping through the night! Which is really good for mommy!