Two Little Ladies Had A Party

Caitlyn: blue shirt, blue chair and green jammies... if there's a tongue hanging out, it's Caitlyn!

Madelyn: pink shirt, white chair and purple jammies

2 Little Ladies are 1 Year Old!

It would be impossible for me to try and recreate the many missed posts over the last year so I'll leave you with this slide show of our amazing girls. Caity & Mady... WE LOVE YOU!

What was found on their party invitation:

Our little bugs are oh so sweet
Two little ladies that squeal and squeak

Soon they will be 1 year old
Perhaps if we are lucky they will be so bold
As to stand and take a step or two
But, we might just have to wait another month or a few

So for this special day we will settle as a team
To eat lots of cake and even ice cream

Come on over and take part in the fun
You won't want to be the very last one
Because, Two little Ladies are turning 1
Two little bugs mean twice the fun!

Did you know that Caitlyn and Madelyn were born on Martin Luther King Day last year? I remembered it as I was going through songs to put on their special play list and found that Stevie Wonder "Happy Birthday" song.

(accompanying songs: Jason Mraz "I'm Yours"; Jack Johnson "Upside Down; Stevie Wonder "Happy Birthday"; Altered Images "Happy Birthday"; The Black Eyed Peas "I Gotta Feeling")

A Pancake

Abygail: Look Mom, I found a baby pancake.
Me: Oh, how does it taste?
Abygail: It doesn't taste.
Me: Are you going to eat it?
Abygail: No.

A few seconds pass and she's playing with Caitlyn

Abygail: No, don't eat my pancake (pretending)

a few more seconds

Abygail: OK, well, you ate my pancake so now I'm gonna eat you!

sticks Caitlyn's fingers in her mouth.

Seriously, Abygail is such a good big sister and loves to have pretend conversations with her sisters and entertain them. She loves singing songs to them and playing with them in general.

2 Months and a Memory

Caitlyn & Madelyn 9weeks old

Well, the girls are 2 months old. I can hardly believe it! Wednesday they had their check ups and shots :( Madelyn took it well but Caitlyn was very weepy, she was a momma's girl after that. Caitlyn weighed 8 lbs 9 oz and Madelyn topped her at 9 lbs and 10 oz.

Can you tell which one is which? Who's the chunky monkey?

I've been thinking about their delivery a little bit in that it was a truly horrible experience for me, before, during and after. Before: it just went so fast and I was so hungry because I had not had anything real to eat or drink since the night before (almost 24 hrs!). During: I was sick, and NO ONE was paying any attention to me or listening when I told them I was getting sick. I threw up, but it was horrible. because my diaphram had nothing to press against I couldn't even throw up! It was worse than dry heaving, yuk! Then Afterwards: they gave me pain pills...on an empty stomach so OF COURSE I threw up again. Then when I was begging for something to eat (popcicle to get at least some sugar in my system - I remember them saying the the girls' sugar was low too) they wouldn't give me anything because they thought I would throw up again!!!! I was like HELLO, I threw up because I my stomach is empty and you just gave me pain pills on an empty stomach!

OK, ENOUGH of my complaining. Who can complain when you have these two cute faces to look at?

Look at those cute chins!

The girls really have grown so much and gotten so big! I was looking at Caitlyn today and thinking, "where is the time going? You can't be this big yet, I need you to stay little for just a little longer." Then while I was holding Madelyn today, I SWEAR she smiled at me several times, responding to my cooing and smiles. I could be wrong but, SHE REALLY DID IT! (and I'm the mother - I should know!)

I just want this time to stand still...I feel like I'm missing their infancy because there is so much going on. They have already out grown newborn sizes, at least they are still in 0-3 months.

They still sleep most of the time. They have gone as long as 6 hours at night - what a blessing!

All our monkeys...dirty faces and all :)

4 Little Milestones

Abygail and Jackson playing on the Thomas toy that James gave to them (you can see Abygail's bangs and Jackson's crew cut)

Another shot of the hair cuts. Abygail and Jackson playing together. I think he's giving her belly kisses.

Abygail's crazy outfit she put together while I was at my 'baby shower'. It consists of a 0-3 month shirt, a 0-3 month skirt, 2T leggings, snow boots and Diana's sun glasses. I think she's been picking up fashion tips from Sam!

Abygail: The Friday before the girls were born (1/16) she got a hold of the scissors and cut her hair. Her bangs are now SUPER SHORT! That evening she received her second hair cut

Jackson: Got his first hair cut on 1/16 as well. He hated it and cried the whole time. We did get a nice little pony tail from his mullet in the back.

Caitlyn: Moved out of her isolete Monday. She's been doing great and starting to take more of her bottles and needing to be gavaged less.

Madelyn: Also doing great and taking more of her bottles and gavaging less.

Last night Jason and I went up to the hospital for the 9pm feeding (sorry book club - I found a better use of my time last night :) Madelyn breast feed really well and then took a full bottle, and then kept sucking on her pacifier! Caitlyn got her first bath (that we know of) before feeding time so by the time I tried breast feeding her she had expended all her energy on crying and wasn't interested - but she wasn't interested in the bottle either! She was gavaged but that's ok, she saved her energy for the next time.

Jason spent most of the day up there yesterday. He needed a quite place to study so instead of doing it at school he did it in the NICU. I'm glad that he was able to spend some time with the girls.

Today while visiting the girls at their 12pm feeding the nurse said that if they can sustain taking their full bottles for 24 hours they will start to get them ready for release. They started getting PT (physical therapy) and OT (occupational therapy) today to help work on their sucking/breathing and also 'play' time or body movements. They will get their hearing tests today too!!! It's exciting but overwhelming to think they could be home this weekend. I'm not going to get my hopes too far up though because I know it's just the beginning signs of coming home - nothing has been set in stone or decided yet.