5 Months

There is another new post below :) We did have good naps today!

So this was Riley and Quinn at 1 month old. I can't believe that was just 4 months ago. Time seems to be flying by and they are growing and changing so quickly! I love them more and more every day and I am still so amazed by the blessing they are. Here they are at 5 months old. They have gotten so tall lately! Quinn is wearing 3-6 month clothing and Riley is in 0-3 month clothing. It's so funny to me that Riley is still small for her age, but to me she just seems so big these days :)

Quinn has really gotten into playing with toys lately. He loves sticking them in his mouth and drooling all over them. Of course I didn't realize at the time but he was teething so I'm sure they feel good on his gums!

Riley has started carrying on these long conversations lately. She's been cooing for awhile, but not doing it very much or very long. Well, that's all changed. She suddenly has tons to say and is so cute saying it. She has these sweet soft little voice that is just precious. She also loves her hands! She is not quite as into the toys as Quinn is but as long as she has a hand she's happy!

They may be getting big, but they are still small enough to get into their toy bin together!

Haley has been so good with them. I'm sure she'll have to adjust again when they start crawling around after her. I thought this was so cute because it looks like she's licking Quinn's hand and he's not too sure what he thinks about that. He had better get used to it!

Babies with their Haley!

In the big chair!

Sweet 5 months old. They still are just being nursed. I love that I am nursing my twins and especially seeing people's reactions when I tell them that. In a crazy way it's much easier, no bottles to prepare and clean, and much easier for travel, we can just go! I haven't started them on cereal yet, but we may start sometime this month. Since they were born 6 weeks early I wanted to wait til their adjusted age was about 4 months.

Another thing that I have seen them do this month is really become much more aware of each other. They will lay beside each other and reach out to each other as well as spend time really looking at each other. It has been so cute to see them lock hands and arms lately. They are going to be best friends!

Quinn is so cute when he sleeps! He is still my little cuddler and I just love spending my days with my sweet babies! We are back to getting up once at night. It's been since we got home from New Jersey so I'm not sure if they are just still adjusting or what. I'm a little tired these days so you can pray for a little more sleep for us all (perhaps I'll sleep again when they are grown)!

New Jersey Trip

We had a great trip to New Jersey and Geoff's grandmother loved meeting her great grandchildren. Quinn and Riley really did great considering all that we did and they had fun getting loved on by their great Grannie! Here's Riley Elaine with her great grandmother Elaine!Giving lots of smiles!

Quinn was making funny faces.

Sweet kisses!

Here's Grannie with two of her grandson's and two of her great grandchildren.

Quinn had fun with his Uncle Pete. He hadn't seen them since the NICU.

Riley getting her time in with her Uncle!

We got him to hold them at the same time but we couldn't get him to change any diapers :) Maybe next time!

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 :)