5 Months

Morgan and Riley are 5 months old now and are changing so fast!
Everyday it seems like they are learning/doing something new.  As I right this post Riley is watching Yo Gabba Gabba and taking his socks off!  Riley has figured out how to take his socks off and grab his feet.  He also tries to sit up out of his bouncer seat.  Both boys scoot and bounce right out of any seat they are in, they are so wiggly! Right now, just after they turned 5 months, they are starting to try to sit on their own.  Both boys can sit for a few seconds at a time alone, but then they topple over to the side or backwards.  They are starting to really "see" each other and realize that they are there and also noticing their big brother more and more.

Riley still gets scared easily, cries a lot and doesn't like to be left alone but he make the cutest faces and chews on his tongue.  He has a BIG bright smile and looks around at things as if to say "what can I do with that later on"

Morgan is sweet natured but if he is upset you will know!  He arches his back and lets out loud screeches with big tears.  He is cuddly, smiley  and doesn't mind be left to his own devices for a little while as long as he can still see mom or dad.  He is sensitive and likes to just take in the world around him.

Evan loves his baby brothers.  He is starting to get annoyed by them at times.  One day Morgan was kicking him (of course not on purpose) and Evan grabbed his foot and made him kick his self and said "There Morgan, kick your own self!"  Of course he had to be reprimanded for that, but I do see lots of little battles like that in my future!

Time goes too fast, but I love every stage of their lives!

Christmas Day

Christmas day was spent at our house just the 6 of us and it was very nice and relaxed.

Santa brought Evan the Castle and Ogre that he REALLY wanted and under the tree he had a ton of dinosaurs which is also all that he really wanted.

Santa brought Brianna the perfume that she really wanted.  She didn't think Santa was coming for her this year because she is 16, but he had a surprise!

Santa brought the boys a play table that they will be able to use in a few months.  They just enjoyed watching everything that was going on.

Christmas day was filled with fun.
Christmas Day was filled with love.
Christmas day was peaceful.
Christmas day was everything we wanted it to be.

What Santa left....before the chaos :-)

The boys' first Christmas

Riley taking it all in

So excited to see what Santa brought

Happy boy

Too much fun for Morgan

One of our many attempts to get a group picture

Finally a decent one....not perfect, but decent

All of the kids

A great day with the best little people ever and the man who created them with me.  Couldn't be any better.

Elfies Last Days

So Christmas has come and gone it is now January 5th (by the time this posts shows) and I have some serious catching up to do to end 2012.

First Elfie's last 11 days with us were a blast but also bittersweet because 1) it meant that Christmas was coming to an end and 2) it meant that we would not see Elfie again until next year.

Here is what Elfie did in our house for his last 11 days:

Riding an elephant

He used a marker to write on all of the mirrors

He ate ice cream

He copied himself

TP'd the tree

Roasted marshmellows

Painted all the boys noses red to look like Rudolph! (Evan didn't want his picture taken of this)

Had T-Rex pull him on a sled with presents

Made a BIG mess with sugar cookie sprinkles (mom was not happy)

Got inside Evan's gingerbread house

On Christmas Eve morning he was gone and he left a nice note for Evan

We will miss you Elfie!  See you next year!

Elfie the Family Elf

This year we started the Elf On The Shelf tradition.  The belief is that the family elf (to be named by the family) watches the kids of the house throughout the day and at night when everyone is sleeping he/she goes to the North Pole to tell Santa if they have been good or bad.  When the kids wake up the next morning the elf is in a new spot and even has gotten into some mischief over night!

Evan has taken to this idea really well. We named our elf Elfie and each morning Evan finds Elfie in a new spot.  Here are the first 15 days:

Elfie was surfing the internet looking at the dinosaurs that Evan wants

Elfie climbed up on the cow bell

Making a phone call

Checking out Evans art work

Elfie was sitting on the countdown calendar with a Santa hat on!

Look who got into the candy jar!

Hanging out in Evans stocking

Playing video games

Elfie put Evans underwear all over the Christmas tree

Santas got him in a head lock

A dino parade

Elfie got into the chocolate chips

Playing a game with some friends

Hiding in the plant

taking a bath in marshmellows

Having Elfie in the house if great Christmas fun!

4 Months Old

Morgan and Riley are 4 months old now.  Sometimes I say Already???  and sometimes I say Wow that's it??  Depending on how our days are going time either goes by really fast or really slow.

Some days I would like them to be more independent and I can't wait for them to crawl or sit so they can entertain themselves.  Then I remember that they are only going to be my tiny little love bugs for a short while!

Right now the boys are:

Belly laughing
Really interested in their big brother
Eating rice cereal, sweet potatoes, apples, bananas and peas.  (sweet potatoes are their favorite)
rolling from tummy to back most of the time
HATE floor time
HATE tummy time
Beginning to get jealous of each other, for example when I pick one up to give him a bath or change his diaper the other will cry.
Starting to get shy around new people
Starting to experience separation anxiety
Always have their fingers in their mouths
Starting to grab toys

At their 4 month appointment

watching Dino Dan with big brother

Morgan fell asleep like this

Not All It's Cracked Up to Be

Ever since I can remember I have wanted twins.  I always had twin baby dolls and I always dressed my sister and kids I babysat as twins, however having twins of your own 24 hours a day 7 days a week is not all that it is cracked up to be!

I LOVE my baby boys and I LOVE that I have twins, but we are definitely in the throws of figuring out what works best for us as a new family of 5.  Finances are tough, stress is high, time spent with Evan has decreased which brings on a lot of mommy and daddy guilt along with the fact that we are just exhausted every single day!  Some days the boys sleep on opposite schedules so I can't get anything done, some days they cry all day, most days I feel like I am not giving any one of my children the attention they need and deserve.  Poor Evan is bored at home all day and is fighting for attention from us at a time when the babies are at their neediest.

Some days I just want to cry myself and go to bed, but then I look at all 3 of my little guys and I tell myself that this WILL pass and when it is gone it is gone.  I have to cherish this time with them but I can also remind myself that it will get better as well.  My boys are wonderful, beautiful, happy and healthy human beings......I must be doing SOMETHING right!  What more could I ask for.

The boys in their jammies at lunch time because this is how it happens a lot!   They don't care!

Let Me Lay This Out for You...

"Let me lay this out for you" is just one of Evan new and super cute sayings that came out of his mouth.

We were cooking dinner and Evan says "Let me lay this out for you....It goes dinner, bath, movie, book, bed- OK?"  I honestly don't know where he got this!

Another cute saying was when he was looking for one of his beloved dinosaurs he says "Mom, I have a hypothesis about where my T-Rex is"

"Let's talk about it" is mostly a stall tactic at bed time, but there are times where he really does just want to sit and talk about it.

"Are you so happy?"  He asks us this everyday.  He really just wants us to be happy especially with him.  I do have to tell him at times that I am not happy because he kicked the babies bottle, made a huge mess, didn't eat, etc.  I have a hard time doing that because he really gets sad when I say I am not happy, but hopefully I am teaching him something!

In the business of the day Tony and I were in the kitchen making bottles and breakfast and Evan comes running in and yells, "Hi Daddy the cripple!"  In our house this is funny not mean.  Yes Tony has MS and he can laugh about it and does call himself a cripple sometimes when joking around.  We had no idea that he actually picked that up!  He now knows that he can only say that to daddy....but it was hilarious!

Evan is attached to his binky.  I swear it is an addiction like smoking or coffee or something.  He is only allowed to have it when he is going to sleep.  He also has a little blankie that he loves and the binky and blanket go hand in hand.  While at Nana and Papas for Thanksgiving Evan was begging us for his binky using the argument, "I need my binky because it matches my blankie!"  Gotta love this kids reasoning!

I absolutely love the cute and fun things that Evan says.  I know they won't last because he is growing up way too fast so I am trying to make sure I take note of everything!

I LOVE my big boy!