Christmas Crafts!

Check out our craftiness. I whipped up a batch of salt dough to make these salt dough ornaments, and though I had no idea really what I was doing, I think they turned out pretty good! Christmas craft hour was a success! I used this recipe, in case you want to try it one day too.

Santa:One Scary Fella

Last year when we took Abby and Jimmy to see Santa, my biggest worry was whether or not Abby and Jimmy would poop or spit up on Santa.  I am happy to report they did neither - see here.  Well, this year I was worried they would scream when they were visiting with the jolly ol fella.  And, well, they didn't disappoint. 
Abby basically cried loud and hard most of the time and Jimmy reacting to her crying, whined and then cried a little bit too.  But crying Santa pictures are classic at this age, right?

And let me say, this Santa kinda freaked me out too.  The outfit is horrendous and the rosy red cheeks, are just a tad bit too rosy.  Santa needs to lay off the blush!

Oh, The Funny Things!

Abby and Jimmy do the funniest things some times!  They crack us up, but we know that we really have to start trying to hide our amusement at some of the things as they might not be very socially acceptable.
Case in point:
Anytime Abby farts (passes gas, gasses, breaks wind....you get it), she purposefully looks over at her daddy and waits for his response/reaction.  As soon as he looks at her, she gets a huge grin on her face and giggles so lightly.  OMG it is the funniest thing!

Jimmy...well, anytime he farts or poops, he lifts his shirt up high in the air.  Initially, we had no idea that tied into his bathroom (or should I say, diaper) habits.  So now we know, we've figured him out.

And that, is your TMI post of the day!  Thank you, thank you!

An Update of Sorts....

So I failed you all again.  And when I say "you all,"  I mean the three or four people who keep track of this blog.  ;-)  I mostly try to keep up here so that I can look back at the year(s) and remember things that I would have normally forgotten.  The blog, for me, is like my memory book for our family.  So I have been horrible at keeping track of everything these days.  Time to try harder, otherwise, one day I will look back and have trouble remembering all the things I so want to remember about the days/weeks/months of our early family years.  So time to get one it!

So, what are we up to?

Well, both Abby and Jimmy are walking all.the.time now.  It is amazing how quickly they went from crawling to walking.   Jimmy started walking before his first birthday - I believe it was in July even.  So he was tentatively walking by himself around 11 months.  Abby, not to be forgotten, started walking after their first birthday.  She was walking in September for sure.  And when that girl started walking, there was no going back!  She started one day and then decided crawling just wasn't the "in" thing to do anymore.  So now that they are walking, they are climbing onto and into everything.   See below for the proof:

Yep - those are my babes - off to climb Mt. Everest one day. Or maybe just on the counter one day not too long from now.

What else is new... Well, they are sleeping through the night (!!!) now.  Unfortunately, it is the result of some sleep training that had to happen here in our house.  Jim and I really weren't comfortable with doing much cry-it-out, but knew that we had to do something because the middle of the night wake ups (mostly by Miss Abigail at this point) were starting to get out of hand.  Plus with Jim going back to work soon, I knew that I wouldn't be able to successfully rock them both to sleep over and over again for naps and bedtime.  It was just too draining for us all (and no one wants to go to sleep while the see their sister/brother playing in the corner). 

So one fateful day while Jim was at a work meeting, preparing to go back to work, I tried to rock Jimmy to sleep, but in doing so, I had to leave Abby in the game room (she was fenced in) for too long for my comfort level.  So I did it.  I held Jimmy until he was sleepy and then put him in his crib to fall asleep on his own.  Then I did the same for Abby.  And you know what, it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be.  Now, don't get me wrong, it was tough, that first nap, first bedtime and really, that first whole week, was tough and involved some crying on everyone's part, but it worked.  The most anyone ever cried was 45 minutes, but it wasn't straight crying, it was mostly cry/whine/quiet over and over for 45 minutes  And now (two weeks later) Abby usually goes right to sleep at bedtime and will only fuss for a few minutes at nap time.  Jimmy is consistent - he will sit and play in his crib for 10 minutes or so, then lay down and pass out. 

Looking back, I sometimes wish I would have let Abby and Jimmy learn how to soothe themselves to sleep without needing us much sooner, but then I also know that they weren't ready for it yet.  I think it worked out fine they way we did it - and I did (mostly) enjoy the snuggles and cuddles from my babes as they drifted off to sleep.  But now I am thoroughly enjoying having my nighttime sleep back!  Finally.

The naps are still a little bit of a struggle, not necessarily with crying, but because it seems that we are approaching the time to transition from two naps down to one.  For the last week, one or both of them would take a too short nap or refuse to nap altogether.  So I guess it is time to start thinking about going to one lone (hopefully) nap in the middle of the day.  We will see how this works out.

Playtime is more and more fun these days too.  They play independently, they play together.  They play in their little house and they play on the couch.  Abby will grab a little figurine and bounce it around on the ground saying, "hi" over and over again.  Jimmy will "throw" a ball and watch it bounce over and over again all through the house.  They both love to try to get the TV remote, and when they do snatch it without us knowing, we usually will find out that someone had the remote at some point because our DVR will have recorded random shows from earlier in the day.  The hide from each other and chase each other and give kisses and hugs in the midst of their play.  It is so cute. 

Check this out - in the midst of their play, they stopped for a hug:

and then a kiss:

and what's not to love about a little tackle me playtime on the couch:

Abby and Jimmy are awesome; twins are awesome!  It is tremendously fun these days.  Truthfully though, it is still really challenging at times.  Two whining, crying, fighting, toy-stealing, demanding, non-verbal toddlers, dragging on our pant legs randomly throughout the day, is quite challenging, to say the least!  But that is why we always have wine and ice cream in this house!

Zoo Boo and Halloween

We went to the Houston zoo for the first time with the babies during the Zoo Boo activities.  Actually, I think this was the first time we went to any zoo with them.  It was, quite surprisingly, a cool day for Texas in October.  Which, in my mind, worked out perfectly because I was able to let Abby and Jimmy wear the adorable candy corn hats that Shannon made for them.  And boy were they a hit (the babies and the hats!)  Everyone seemed to want to know if I made them (I almost took credit a couple times) or where we bought them. I was thisclose to offering to make them for people and then calling up Shannon to tell her to get on it!  Anyway, the zoo was a lot of fun.  We were able to see most the animals and walk around for a good part of the afternoon.  Both Abby and Jimmy really seemed to like looking at the animals and were exhausted by the end of the trip. 

And now on to a quick update about their second Halloween!  I didn't think that they would last well if we went out trick-or-treating, so I didn't really buy any costumes.  But to somewhat get into the spirit of things, we dressed the babies up in their Halloween pjs (shhh, don't tell anyone they were pajamas, they didn't know!) and went out to chat with the neighbors.  As it got closer to their bedtime (which is 7pm) and since no one was starting to trick-or-treat yet, we decided to put the babies to bed and then come back out to pass out candy.  Yeah, that didn't work.cause all the kids started trick or treating when we were trying to put the babies to bed and would ring the bell and yell outside.  So we packed up the babies and decided they could pass out some candy with us.  And they loved it!  They really enjoyed seeing all the kids all dressed up!  I really think they will love Halloween next year! 

So about next year... I may have accidentally promised Jim I would consider putting Abby and Jimmy in some kind of Star Wars costume...oops.  Maybe he will forget about that promise! 

Baby Signing...Time

Jim and I have let Abby and Jimmy watch Baby Signing Time as part of the wind-down, bedtime routine since they were 4 or 5 months old.  They love watching it.  It instantly relaxes them and they love (I think) the mix of cartoon charactors and real kids doing the signs.  To go along with watching the show, Jim and I will also sign some of the words to Abby and Jimmy as we say them.  Neither Jim nor I thought they babies were understanding any of the signs at all, and then one day probably around 11 months, BAM, they were signing a ton of things.  And not only were they signing the words that we practice often, but they randomly have been signing other words that we don't practice much at all.

So far, Abby and Jimmy both can sign:

• More,
• Doggie,
• Eat,
• Please,
• Milk,
• Sleep (Jimmy started doing this on his own - Jim and I had no idea what it was until we saw it on the show!),
• Hat,
• Horse,
• Bug,
• Cracker,
• Thank you,
• Banana, and
• All Done.

Here's the proof of the amazing signing language Abby and Jimmy have learned over the last couple monhts. The first video was filmed in July when they were just 11 months.  Mostly it is to show their awesome dance moves and a sign or two.  The second video was filmed in September, so Abby and Jimmy were 12-13 months. 

And a big shoutout goes to Lina, Saby, Eliese and Mandy for giving us the Baby Signing Time videos as a shower gift - they are used every day and well loved around here!  Thanks guys!

Happy FIRST Birthday!

Abby and Jimmy turned ONE on August 24, 2011.  It was a fun day spent enjoying the time together as a family and spending time with Grandma (from Michigan).  We decorated the house the night before so when they got up, they could enjoy some floating balloons and a party banner above their playroom.  Then we went out to the Houston Aquairum as a fun birthday surprise.  After checking out all the fish and marine life, and a random tiger, we had lunch and headed back home for a little party with cake and presents with Grandma (from Michigan) and Grandma and Grandpa (from Texas).
Saturday we had their official birthday party with Grandma (from Michigan), Grandma and Grandpa (from Texas), Uncle Jim, Aunt Michelle, and cousins Amber, Avery and Allie.  The babies seemed to enjoy the dinner and were a little more hesitant with the cake smashing, but eventually figured it out!  Then opening the presents were a big hit - why? ... because of all the cool paper and bows!  The presents were enjoyed too - once out of the box.

This first year has been amazing. It has been full of excitement, love and happiness.  It has been full of struggles and tears.  We have learned a lot; all of us.  We made it through the most difficult year as parents of twins (or so I am told).  And though it was hard at times, and we had no idea what we were doing most of the time, we are leaving the first year behind us feeling proud of the parents we have become.   Our hearts (and hands!) have never been so full and the love we have for Abby and Jimmy is overwhelming!
We are now turning the corner to begin year two, where we start learning about what is like being the parents of two mobile, active toddlers.  Here we go!

Happy 11 Month Birthday!

Wow - this is the last "month birthday" before they turn one.  I am so happy they are growing up so happy and healthy, but sad that they are growing up so quickly.  Awww....  it is so bittersweet.  But another great thing about their upcoming birthday, is that we get to plan a party!  This planner mom is pretty excited about that.  I already picked a theme and started getting some supplies.  Look for a sneak peek on that later.  For now, you will have to settle with these two cuties!  I love them!

PS - Abby wants YOU to come back and check for updates later!

Sleep - or lack thereof...

We are still trying to get Abby and Jimmy to sleep well (and through the night).  They are almost 11 months old now and are still struggling with getting a full nights sleep and naps longer than 40 minutes.  I am trying to be patient since the move probably threw them off a bit.  But as many of you know, I am not a very patient person, and this lack of sleep is really starting to get the best of me.  I am cranky and tired most of the day; I fall asleep while holding Abby or Jimmy when rocking them to get them down for their naps (I know this is a lot of the issue). 

We have tried some controlled CIO (cry it out) with Jimmy, back in Canton and here in Kingwood.  We had success with it in Canton, but here he is resisting it here (screams the whole time) and we give in a go pick him up and rock him to sleep.  I tried some CIO with Abby one nap time and she ended up getting so worked up that she threw up.  So needless to say, we can't handle it, and they can't handle it (at this time - we will see later on if we have to go back to this).

So after searching the internet and bothering my mom friends, Jim and I have decided to try to put them to bed drowsy, but awake, and to wait in their rooms until they fall asleep (with minimal interaction with them unless they start to freak out).  We have been doing it for the last 5 nights.  It has been going ok - depending on the night reference, baby, and parent. 

Long story short -we are still all very sleep deprieved over here. I thought it would be better by now - but it isn't.  I blame the move and my lack of strength when it comes to letting them cry for periods of time. I don't know how we will resolve this, but I heard by 3 or 4 years of age, most babies (kids at that point) will be sleeping through the night.  HA!  That is a ways off.

Sleep deprieved Mom signing off.  More later.

Were we've been...

I finally realized why I haven't updated the blog in over two months....First, I was just too busy (explanation below) and secondly, I have just gotten too far behind and it is overwhelming to think of updating on all the new things going on with us!  But I want to get back to blogging, so I am going to do a quick update to update post!  So sorry for the lack of details, but I need to get back at this and this is the easiest way to do so.

You must be wondering what we have been up to these last two months.  Well, here goes nothing...

I quit my job and am now a stay at home mom!  It was quite a difficult decision to make and I hemmed and hawed about it for days/weeks/months. But finally, Jim and I decided (though he didn't really decide, just offered support with what I wanted to do) that it is in the best interest of our family for me to stay home with Abby and Jimmy.  Truthfully, I do feel over-my-head sometimes and I have no idea what I am doing, but I remember that I felt that way when I started my old job in 2004.  Everything is a learning experience and I am now learning and growing with this new adventure. It has been fun so far!  Watching Abby and Jimmy grow and learn new things over these last two months has been amazingly rewarding.  More on the latest with Abby and Jimmy below...

Secondly, I haven't been faithfully updating here because: WE MOVED!  Not only did we move houses, but we moved STATES!  We are no longer Michigan residents and are instead living in the great state of Texas.   It is quite the change, mostly noted in the slightly warmer (ha!) weather, but even having a bigger house has been crazy!  It is so nice to have more space for us all, but it is also up, down and all around, all the time!   I am now sporting some new calf muscles thanks to the up/down to get to/from Abby and Jimmy's rooms.  We are learning so much about home maintenance and care, and of course, how to keep the bugs away!  Jim and I both hate bugs, so we are all over making sure we don't have too many unwanted visitors (namely spiders and roaches) here.  So, here it is, our new house!

And now on to the fun part!  Abby and Jimmy are growing so fast.  They are constantly on the move now and are doing all sorts of new things.  Here are some of the fun new things they have learned over the last couple months:

• Waving
• High-fives (thanks to Grandpa!)
• Crawling everywhere (can't even get any pictures anymore!)
• Pulling up (and getting back down from standing)
• Climbing up the stairs
• Kisses (Abby has given kisses for a while, Jimmy has just started)
• Cuddling/hugging
• Saying "Mama, Dada" by both Abby and Jimmy
• Abby says "Hi," "Kitty," and "Daddy"
• Jimmy says "Book"
• Jimmy is almost walking. He stands for some time without support (and even waves his hands around like crazy without holding on)
• Imitating mom/dad at times
• Jimmy shakes head "no" - not sure if it's a dance move or he actually is saying "no"
• Jimmy has EIGHT (8) teeth (OMG!) - four on the top and four on the bottom - they all came through within a month!
• Abby has two teeth on the bottom (and has for a while now) and her top two teeth finally popped through within the last couple days! 
• Both are eating tons of regular food now, with favorites of: goldfish, yogurt, soft-serve yogurt (Grandma's treat!) and bread (ha!  plain old boring bread).  They still love their pear juice too!

And now to mention the not so fun new things that Abby and Jimmy do (that help me work on my patience every day!):

• Abby throws little temper tantrums.  When something is taken away that she wants, or she is put in her car seat or stroller when she doesn't want to be, she will arch her back and stiffen her legs so we won't be able to put her down until she stops.  I called it months ago... I predict(ed) that Abby will be our store tantrum thrower.  I hope I am wrong, but she is quite "spirited" as I like to call it!
• Still not sleeping through the night.  And I don't have anything else to say to about that. Easy to understand that we are all so tired here still!
• Both Abby and Jimmy will bat away the food when they are done with it.  Which causes a huge mess. 
• Into the cabinets in the kitchen all.the.time.  Jim just started installing the cabinet locks tonight - and boy are they a pain to screw in

So that's it - the latest news from the last two months.  I hope to update more regularly now, so that our friends and family back in Michigan (and everywhere) can still keep up to date on the latest news in Fryland.  I hope you won't hold this quick, non-detailed post against me and will continue to check back. I promise to update more.  Especially since next month (OMG) the babies will be turning ONE!  OMG again.

 

The picture above is the 10 month old picture taken on June 24th while at our family reunion!  (See below for what most of my pictures of Abby and Jimmy together look like these days....)

More later!

8 Months, Mama, TEETH and Go-Go-Go

Abby and Jimmy are well into their eighth month, and I am just now updating the blog.  Things have been crazy busy here and and since the babies are on the move more, I don't have the ability to post since they don't really stay where I put them anymore. 

They are ALL OVER THE PLACE these days.  Jimmy is so very close to crawling, and has been for a couple weeks now. He has got the army crawl down and has been able to get around really well.  He definitely enjoys seeing if he can make it to the cat food before we catch him.  So far, he hasn't succeeded, but it has been close!  Abby isn't doing any form of crawling yet, though she does get on her hands and knees and acts like she is going to take off at any moment.  She instead prefers to roll around and roll after her brother as he army crawls through the living room. 



My first Mother's Day was very nice.  I would like to say it started with sleeping in, but alas, we are still no where near sleeping in over here.  Actually sleep has gotten much worse for Jimmy these days - but that issue's for another time.  Jim's mom came over on Mother's Day to spend the day with us and we had a nice, lazy day.  The babies were in good moods, took nice naps, and played nicely together - which allowed me to have a nice short nap in the lazy-boy chair - it was nice.  Then I made pasta primavera for dinner and we had some chocolate cake for dessert!  And what did the babies' get me for Mother's Day?  Their first real time saying "Mama!"  I joked around with Jim that all I wanted for Mother's Day was for Abby and Jimmy to give me a night with no wake-ups and for them to say Mama to me (they have been saying Dada for weeks now!).  Well, no luck with the sleeping through the night, but both of them did bust out with Mama - and Jimmy even seems to know to say it to me, and not just randomly to each toy and cat that he encounters.  It is adorable and heartwarming! 

Well, now Jimmy says Mama all the time, even though it tends to be when he is whiny, it is still wonderful. Abby still babbles away with Mama, Dada, baaabaaa and all other random rambling!

Abby has learned how to make a fish face. HA!  I occassionally would make a fish face at the babies, but I had no idea either of them would figure out how to do it.  It is so cute and quite funny.  She even ends the face with a 'pop' sound when she un-fishes her face!  It's really hard to get a picture of her doing it - and she tends to do it while eating, so she is looking a little messy:

Both Abby and Jimmy are really starting to play together.  They, for the most part, play nicely, though there tends to be a lot of toy stealing going on already.  Luckily, at this time, they are both fairly easygoing and distracted by other toys when theirs gets stolen. 

While we were in Texas visiting my parents, Abby learned how to sign 'doggie.'  My parents dog, Bentley, loves Abby and Jimmy and tries to be around them all the time.  Every time Bentley was around, Jim and I would do the sign for 'doggie' and by the end of the trip, Abby was signing 'doggie' every time she would see him. I was impressed.

Oh, and check out what A&J can now do (if they aren't being lazy):



Both Abby and Jimmy have cut their bottom two teeth.  They pretty much got both teeth at the same time, within a couple days of each other.  Now, they are both working on cutting their upper teeth - and boy, this seems worse than bottom ones.  Both of them cry out a lot in their sleep, but thankfully Abby tends to be able to get back to sleep without intervention.  Jimmy does not and needs to be held to calm down enough to get back to sleep.  I am trying to figure out if he is just "playing" us and knows what to do to get us to pick him up or if he actually is in pain and wants to be comforted.  I do not know. 

Abby still loves to dance.  Anytime any kind of song comes on, whether it's music on the radio or the ABC song on her toy, she busts out with her stellar dance moves.  Here is proof that any song will inspire Miss Abigail. 



And to end this long post, I have to share this cute video of Abby and Jimmy playing with each other through the pack and play.  So cute!

Dada, Kisses and Teeth!

I was so surprised when Abby busted out with Dada (see my previous post *here* about my worry of her lack of babbling).  Well, just a couple days later, Abby started babbling just as much as Jimmy and then surprised me by saying "dada" on Sunday, April 10th. I was able to catch a video of her rambling on and on (like her mom), but it isn't the best quality as it was taken with my "old school" cell. 
Well, Jimmy didn't want to be left in the dust, so he busted out with a "dada" just a day later. I had no idea since I was at work, so when I got home and heard Jimmy babbling "dada" over and over again, I was floored.  Jim thought I knew he was saying it, but nope, that was the first time I heard it! 

Jimmy also loves to make a "hmmmmm, hmmmmmm, hmm" sound over and over.  It is quite cute - but hearing "dada" is so much fun.  Neither Abby nor Jimmy say "dada" when looking at Jim, but one day soon I am sure they will put that together too!  Aww... my babies are growing up!

What else is new.... let's see...

Jim and I realized that both Abby and Jimmy nap way better when swaddled.  Yes, my babies are almost 8 months old and we are back to swaddling them from the waist down. Hey - you gotta do what works.  I imagine we will break them of the swaddling habit by the time they start high school.

We've moved bath time to the big (regular) bath tub!  Jimmy was out of control splashing the last couple times we used their infant tub, so we decided it was time to move them to the big tub.  I am a nervous wreck (no surprise there) with them in the tub, so Jim's been sitting in there with them. I think they enjoy bath time even more now, especially since they've been using all the fun bath toys we received at the shower!

Miss Abigail is such a dancing queen!  The last month or so she has slowly been working on her dance moves - starting with just a little head bob earlier in the month, to an all-out body shake now!  Jim and I put on toddler tunes or party favorites (thank you Comcast) most of the day so Abby can work on her moves!  Jimmy isn't a big dancer yet, but he sure does love to watch his Mom make a fool of herself dancing around the room!

And one of my favorite new skills they've learned is giving kisses!  Abby goes all out and opens her slobbery mouth wide and pops her mouth on your cheek, lips, face - anywhere really!  Jimmy is more reserved and will occasionally give kisses... he's still learning!

On the food front, both babies are loving all the new foods they get to eat!  So far the really enjoy pears, apples, bananas, mixed vegetables, squash, green beans, vegetable risotto with cheese (they love the cheese -just like their dad!), pear yogurt and all the mixed fruit.  We just successfully started them on some small finger (baby) foods.  The are doing really well with their "pincher grasp" and now are enjoying cheerios, puffs and yogurt melts.  Many times both Abby and Jimmy are able to pick them up and put them right in their mouths!  In the next month or so we will probably start giving them little bits of some regular food!

Last but not least, both Abby and Jimmy have two bottom teeth on their way in right now!  We can see them popping through the gums now, which means they will probably come all the way through by the end of the month - hopefully sooner!  Finally!  It seems like they have been experiencing teething pain since Christmas time (around 4 months) - and they are now popping through almost four months later!  Yikes!  Let's hope the rest of the teeth come in without pain or discomfort (ha!). 

That's it for now....look for an eighth month picture post soon!

And This is Why....

we need to start baby-proofing the house....

Jim set up the video camera to catch the babies doing silly things while in their highchairs...little did he know, he would catch Miss Abigail making friends with the pole lamp.  Ha!  Needless to say, the pole lamp and the two speaker stands are now moved to storage.

Our Texas Trip - A Week of Many "Firsts"

Well, we did it.  We took the babies on their first airplane ride; a three hour trip to Texas.  Jim and I have been planning on going to Texas since November, but we were just too nervous to travel with infants and never booked the flight.  So we finally did and we traveled to the Lone Star State on March 24th - Abby and Jimmy's seven month birthday.

Things were chaotic getting ready to go.  Jim and I are notorious for bringing way too much stuff with us when we travel!  So now with two babies, we need to lighten the load as much as possible because baby stuff is now more important than that extra pair of shoes or the laptop computer.  We did pretty good.  We were able to make the trip with two large suitcases, a pack and play, one large diaper bag and one backpack and of course the trusty double stroller and car seats.  Now that I write it all out, it seems like a lot, but really it wasn't that bad.

You know what else wasn't too bad - the trip through security.  I was so nervous about going through security with the babies.  But it wasn't bad at all.  We did hold up the line a little bit, but it went fairly smooth.  We left Abby and Jimmy in the stroller as long as possible and once we were up to the belt, I put all our bags up there, emptied out all the liquid/formula/baby food into a separate bin, popped off my shoes and coat and then we got the babies out of the car seats.  They motioned me through while holding both babies (which I didn't think was allowed - but hey, it worked) and Jim put the car seats on the conveyor belt and pushed the stroller to one of the TSA officers.  Overall, things went really well and we were through security within just a few minutes!

Here we are - excited for our first trip out of state since Abby and Jimmy came along!

The plane ride was ok.  Unfortunately, no matter how much you plan, something always changes last minute. Our flight ended up being delayed almost two hours.  The babies were great in the airport; they looked all around and ate their bottles like champs.  And luckily, both Abby and Jimmy passed out for take-off - so we didn't have any issues with cranky ear-popping babies during takeoff.  Abby slept the entire flight - Jim had her and I was jealous!  Why?  Because I was holding Jimmy, and he woke up after 20 minutes or so and stayed up until the last 10 or so minutes of the flight.  He did okay for the first hour or two, but then he started to get restless (and overtired) and was whiny a lot.  I felt quite bad for the people around us.  I tried to distract him with his favorite toys, some baby signing time on the iPad and some juice in a bottle.  Nothing really worked and he eventually passed out at the end of the flight (from shear exhaustion I am sure!).  Looking back on it now, it really wasn't too bad.  But Jim and I decided that next time we fly, we will definitely be buying at least one extra seat so we have more room and can at least be in the same row.   

Texas was beautiful this time of year.  The weather was nice; near 80 degrees everyday with some sun occasionally throughout the day.  I thought is was quite warm, but everyone else thought it was wonderful. 

The nice weather allowed us to do many new fun things with Abby and Jimmy;  their first time (well, second really) sitting upright in the stroller,  their first ride on the swing, and their first time riding bikes (well, being pulled while we rode the bikes).  It was so great to be outside, enjoying the fresh air!  We have pretty  much been cooped up inside since November, so it was wonderful to be outside!  And I do think the fresh air helped both Abby and Jimmy sleep better- then seemed to be exhausted at the end of the day.

Both Abby and Jimmy loved to sit upright in the stroller.  The both quietly look around and enjoy all the sights as we stroll on by.  Abby is so relaxed in the stroller she tends to pass out and take a quick nap.  She passed out on our way to the park, so unfortunately she missed the first swinging experience.  But no worries, she was able to swing later on. 

Look at how cute these too babes look in their summer hats (notice how their trusty pacis made the trip to Texas too!):

At the park (the first time), Jimmy enjoyed his first swing ride and loved spending time with his cousins (and Aunt and Uncle)!  He loved the swing and we even took him down the slide- which he was unsure of for sure!  Abby, well, she slept the entire time!

Later during the trip, we were able to go back to the park and Abby was able to experience the swings too.  She loved them as well!

Jim and Michelle (my brother and sis-in-law) were so nice to give us their pull-behind baby cart for our bikes.  We didn't have bikes with us (ha - could you imagine trying to bring bikes on the plane too!) so we borrowed theirs for a quick trip around the block - where we followed our trusty tour guide Amber (thanks Amber!).  Jim and I enjoyed the bike ride, as did Abby and Jimmy initially, but I think the too-close-quarters (and Jimmy's tendency to grab at anything Abby) made both babies a little cranky by the end of the block.  I think the bike rides will be nice with the cart as the babies get more used to sitting up, and sitting so close.

 

Hmmm....what else...

Jimmy enjoyed playing a game of soccer with Avery and Amber. 

Abby enjoyed chilling in the walker that Amanda generously let us use with we were visiting (thanks Amanda!). 

And of course, Jimmy enjoyed the jumper that my Mom's friend Cathy let us use.  He loves any and all jumpers it seems!

But all-in-all, we all enjoyed a nice time visiting with family.  Here are a couple more pictures from the trip!

After a fun and playful week, we were back at the airport and on the way home.  The nice part about the busy week was that the babies were exhausted and slept most of the trip home.  Check out my sleeping beauties:

7 Months Old!

So what's new at seven months?  One word can describe it:  A LOT!  Both Abby and Jimmy are rolling around like crazy, they are eating all kinds of "solids," are quite vocal and are starting to show signs of separation anxiety.  And the sleep, well, it is inconsistent still. 

Abby is playing peek-a-boo and "waves" to us on occasion.  I am not sure if she is really waving or if she just now realizes that her hand makes that motion, but nevertheless, it is adorable.  Abby still screams when she "talks" and I am a little concerned that she doesn't really babble.  It is hard not to compare babies, but since Jimmy makes more sounds, I am feeling slightly anxious about Abby's lack of babbling. 

Check out this cute video of Abby playing peek-a-boo with her Grandpa from Texas.  I love it!

Jimmy still loves the jumper!  He will jump non-stop for 20 minutes or so - and does so with a huge smile on his face!  He is still impatient while eating and whines when tired.  He is starting to pull his legs up under him while on his belly, though he still is lazy and will flop his chest back down on the ground.  Jimmy also has mastered sitting in the bouncer.  Not good - as this may mean the bouncers need to be retired.  Boooo!  My babies are getting so big!

Check out Jimmy sitting up in the bouncer...he's so big!

Both Abby and Jimmy are starting to scream when Jim or I leave the room, or even just disappear from their sight for a just a stop in the kitchen.  They are so upset, but as soon as they see us again, the crying stops and they continue on with whatever they were doing.  According to the baby books, this is a great sign of development.  Nice to know, but really, I wish it didn't involve so much crying!  And from what I hear, this separation anxiety will continue for quite some time.  Yikes!

Coming up next - a post about our trip to Texas - one that involved many firsts for the babies!  Look for it soon!