I think he might have a crick in his neck...

Daddy has taken to long evening strolls with the babies. They really work out great for the whole family. Daddy gets exercise, Mommy gets to clean and straighten, and the babies get to enjoy the nice warm humid weather! Most nights the babies are awake the whole time, but this evening Riggs fell asleep. How he could be comfortable is beyond me!!!

Riggs is ready to head to Tahoe!

Movie Night

Tim has been working very hard this week to get some documents done. On top of the work stress he is still dealing with his shoulder/neck issues. After working most of his Saturday I thought it would be nice to go to the movies. (You can ask Tim - this was a very SINCERE gesture on my part) Now, as most of you know, with children you can't spontaneously decide to go to the movies because you have to line up babysitters for a Saturday night well in advance.

Well this is where Dearie comes in...how do you people live without Dearie's? I called Dearie to see if she minded tending to her darlings for a couple of hours. Of course she said YES! Thanks Dearie so much for being so generous with your time and helping out with the babies on a regular basis. We really couldn't do it without you.

We went to see Julie and Julia (I obviously got to choose the movie!). I would highly recommend this to anyone. I just told Tim to add to my Christmas Wish List a vintage copy of her cookbook.

Hopefully we won't be seeing the babies until 7am tomorrow!

Fire Department

Avery took her night-time bottle, then gave it right back - first all over Anne, then all over Tim, then all over 1, 2 and 3 sets of PJ's. Like adults who haven't done laundry in too long and have to reach for that "last" pair of underwear, we had to reach for Avery's last set of clean PJ's. Needless to say, they are way too small. If she grows any overnight, we'll have to call the fire department in the morning to get them off.

Who knew peas could mean so much

Once a week (most of the time) I have help. Since June Meaghan, home for the summer from college, has been our life saver. She comes on mondays to relieve me. On my day off I typically run errands, go to the gym, clean the house, cook dinner and do laundry. Today I had one additional plan - I had a scheduled massage (I had received a gift card for Christmas and couldn't ever justify paying someone to watch my kids while I went and got a massage.) I ran my errands, went to the gym (thanks B for meeting me!), and then had an amazing massage at Coccolare. I was relaxed for all of 30 seconds after the massage until I got to my phone and saw multiple missed calls and text messages from Tim. Immediately I thought the babies were so bad that I would have to rush home. Well it wasn't the babies, Tim got his results from the MRI he had on Friday. Unfortunately they were not what we were hoping for, he has a problem with a disc in his neck. As you can imagine I was very upset and came home. Tim is taking it all well and we will know more later this week once we can meet with some doctors.

After having lunch with Tim he insisted that I hit the roads and finish my errands. Well I did just that and came home to two very happy babies. Riggs was having so much fun in the johnny jumper that Tim asked us to leave the living room and go to the nursery because he needed to make some work calls. I thought to myself this is going to be a great evening - two fun loving, playful, happy babies! I obviously thought too soon. Moments later I had two needy babies. This was due to the fact that Riggs hadn't taken a long afternoon nap and Avery kept rolling over and getting stuck. I tried putting them both down for an early evening nap...no such luck. I then had them both in my room on the bed. Well both of them were screaming so loud that Tim came to check on us. While he held Avery I swaddled Riggs and left him on our bed. Within seconds he was asleep. Avery on the other hand had no desire to sleep. I put her in the swing and that lasted for about 5 minutes. It was close to dinner time so I decided to take advantage of feeding one baby at a time.

As I was preparing Avery's dinner Aunt B called to let me know that Charlotte wanted to see the babies, but she had to eat her peas. I then of course told Charlotte that if she ate her peas she was more than welcome to come over to see the babies. I even went so far as telling Charlotte that Avery would be eating peas very soon. I fixed (aka: opened) a jar of peas and pears with cereal for dinner. I even broke out the vintage bowls!!

By the time the May Flowers were at the house Avery had finished her peas! I did give her a bite of brothers so Charlotte could see her eat her peas!

I can't tell you what a treat it is to have evening visitors...especially the kind that bathe a baby while you feed another baby! The May Flowers swooped Avery out of her high chair and took her outside to play with Abi. I was able to feed Riggs all by himself, and suprisingly he ate REALLY well. I wonder if that means he would prefer to be an only child ;) Avery enjoyed her Aunt B bath while I fed Riggs. And Riggs enjoyed his alone down time after dinner (he must be related to Tim!)

"All Done"

These bowls were used my most of my siblings growing up! Pretty sure the Humpty Dumpty one was Trey's and the teddy bear one was mine.

The face of a little boy with a full belly.

Avery had a great bath with the May Flowers!

Ahh...so relaxed.

Charlotte - Avery and Riggs will eat peas anytime if it means we get to see the May Flowers!

Riggs taking the bottle on his "own"

Can't leave them for one minute anymore

During rest time I let the babies lay on their boppy's on a blanket and watch Baby Einstein (the ONLY one they watch is the Baby Monet Seasons). Well today I left them to do some cleaning in the kitchen. I came back to find them like this:

NOTE: Avery's boppy is the pink one on the left!

Mommy caught us!

Pretty sure Avery's foot made it inside of Riggs' mouth at some point!

I wonder if Avery steamrolled Riggs??

Avery goes Vintage!!

Today I looked in the back of Avery's closet to see if there was anything in the 12 month+ section that might fit her now. I came across one of my outfits (from the late 70's) which is labeled 12 months - but you know how girl sizing goes! Needless to say - good thing I got her in it this week because I am not sure it will fit her next week!

She even made her lips look like the swan's lips!

Baby Stats

Just a little update on our Crying Ryans!

7-27-09

Avery Kathryn

Weight: 17 lbs 6 oz (70th percentile)

Height: 25 3/4 inches (30th percentile)

Head: 17 1/2 inches (89th percentile)

8-03-09

Riggs Trey

Weight: 17 lbs 7 oz (30th percentile)

Height: 26 inches (15th percentile)

Head: 17 1/4 inches (30th percentile)

While the boys were still sleeping...

I took advantage of only having one baby to tend to! Usually during the babies morning naps I rush to get a couple of chores done, ie. unload dishes, clean kitchen, laundry, etc. Today I decided Avery could handle feeding herself while I got a few things done. I put her in her highchair, reclined her and then handed her the bottle (with handles I took from her sippy cup). She was able to finish the bottle almost all by herself. It took her longer, but that just gave me more time. So before Tim and Riggs woke up Avery had her bottle, her fruits and cereal, and we cleaned the kitchen!

One little, two little, three little....cousins

Riggs, Luke and Avery

Is Luke crawling?!?

I think that baby is coming after me!

I just love these pictures of Avery, Riggs and Luke playing together! Can you believe these cousins are only two days apart! Too bad Adelaide couldn't be in town too!!

Luke like flexibility

Over Mother's Day, we were amazed to see our nephew Luke (the same age as Avery and Riggs - literally, he's 2 days older - only 50% longer, and 50% leaner) display some remarkable flexibility by pulling his foot to his mouth and sucking on his toes. Tim tried this recently and nearly tore a hamstring. Clearly Luke is related to his Uncle Chris, who has also displayed some unusual flexibility over the years. Anyway, Avery - much shorter and "stouter" than Luke - has recently found her feet and has slowly been stretching her hammies, slowly but surely dragging the feet closer to her mouth. This morning, on the changing table, unencumbered by diaper, swaddle, sleepsack and pajamas (i.e., full monty), she finally made it and inserted foot into mouth. She was clearly amazed by the dual sensation of warm tickled toes and having the equivalent of five, simultaneous, wiggling pacifiers in her mouth, as even her pudgy foot couldn't hide her smile. Way to go Avery. The tall skinny kid (Luke) has nothing on you.

Six Month Mini Photo Shoot

The babies were not too excited about having to get all dressed up just to take some pictures!

hmm....what is Mommy doing??

Push ups with a big collar!

I'd rather eat my hand then be on my tummy!

Somethings missing...

ahh...we love our nunu's!

Happy Half Birthday

Dear Kids,
Tomorrow (July 6, 2009), you will be exactly 6 months old. So, happy birthday. Or, happy half birthday, perhaps. Over the past 6 months, you have brought more love and happiness to our lives than we had known in the combined 63 years that preceded your arrival, and we know even that pales in comparison to the happiness that you will bring us in the years ahead.

From your tiny beginning on January 6th to now, we have watched you in amazement each step of the way - during the sleepy nights in the NICU, during your first baths, watching you learn to smile and roll over, and watching you learn to play with one another in your cribs. Tomorrow, we start to feed you your vegetables. As with each "landmark" moment that came before it, this will bring us a mixture of happiness and sadness; happiness because it means you are moving up and moving on; sadness for the same reason (after all, with each blessed day that passes, it is another day in our past that has already been lived, rather than a day that we can look forward to spending with you in the future). We predict that you, Avery, will eat your full helping and ask for seconds, whereas you, Riggs, will wonder what all the fuss is about and express a preference for the bottle. Why fix something that isn't broken, right? And shouldn't the veggies wait until you actually have teeth??

However, of all the wonderful gifts you give us each day, perhaps the best ones are the smiles you greet us with at the start of every single day. While we are certain that will change when you are older, when waking up means more than a diaper change and a bottle (for example, waking up for school is never fun), the morning smiles and laughs you give us now will stay with us, and warm our hearts, forever.

Thank you for the best 6 months of our lives.

All of our love,
Mommy and Daddy

Sleep on Saturday

7:11 AM

2:17 PM

4:05 PM

This was a great day!

Good Morning

Driving

Anything you can do I can do better....

Last week (June 5th to be exact!), within minutes of each other, Avery and Riggs rolled over (stomach to back) for the first time. Generally speaking, Riggs (like most little white boys) has been a little behind his sister in terms of accomplishments like this. This time, however, he beat Avery to the punch. He didn't win by much, maybe 90 seconds, but he was definitely the first to roll over.

Today, however, she took the crown back. He hasn't rolled over since (but he's been close), whereas she put on this rolling circus display going from back to tummy. Kids, if you ever read this (years from now, obviously), we're proud of you both.

Almost 5 months...two days to go!

It amazes me how much our babies have grown in such a short period of time! Most people can't believe that they are preemie twins because they are so big! They are both wearing size 6 months pretty consistently. Today they are wearing outfits I bought them because I felt like they need some monogrammed clothes. I thought I bought them big enough for them to wear all summer. I'm not so sure Avery will be able to fit in this for the next two months! Of course Riggs' outfit is too big for him!

Our First Trip to the Zoo of Acadiana

Today we ventured to the Zoo of Acadiana, with friends of course! Meka, Margaret, Jamie, Amalie and Angelle all had plans to go to the zoo and the girls wanted the twins to come too! Knowing I would have helping hands if necessary I thought it would be nice to get out of the house and enjoy the nice weather. (It will be way too hot before we know it!)

Unfortunately the only picture we got was with Meka's cell phone...my camera battery was dead :(!



Avery and Riggs with the Giraffe

The twins enjoyed strolling through the grounds. I felt a little nervous near the alligator pit and I am pretty sure the tiger was eying both babies thinking they would be a great appetizer!

On our way home we stopped to visit Nanny and Tucker. He's such a good baby and we can't wait to spend more time with them this summer.

Do babies really need teeth?

I promised my babies I would get them an expensive set of dentures if they promised not to teethe. Unfortunately they decided to start teething! They are four and a half months old and can't roll over (mainly this is my fault because I don't spend a lot of time doing tummy time!) but they are starting to get their teeth.

Last week Riggs was diagnosed with tonselitis and we have been treating him and Avery with an antibiotic (twins typically get whatever the other one has). Riggs has, for the most part, been pretty good about the whole thing. He didn't even really fuss when he had the really bad sore throat - he just didn't eat very much. He continued to sleep through the night and be his very happy self. Mothers Day weekend he had a little rash around his face, and continued to have a low grade fever. I decided it was related to our time out by the pool and his reaction to the medicine. But then towards the end of the week when my in laws arrived for the Baptism he was just not himself. Extremely fussy, not eating and not sleeping well. And again a rash. I called the doctor but we agreed to give it some time because he was still getting enough nourishment. Well yesterday was just too out of the ordinary. He would scream uncontrollably, wasn't eating, and wouldn't nap. He was miserable.

Tim and I broke out the What to Expect the First Year...symptoms of teething. Wouldn't you know he had them ALL. I had already scheduled an appointment with the doctor. I decided this morning to go in to make sure he didn't have an ear infection, or anything else. Sure enough he is perfectly healthy! So I am the first time mother that brings their kids in to find out they are teething!

I am pretty confidant that Avery is right on track with Riggs. This morning she screamed uncontrollably from 5:30 to 6:00 am.

It's been too long...

Tonight I needed to get out of the house to begin the tedious task of dealing with the 2100 plus photos on our camera's. (If you are a regular follower of the blog you will want to set aside a couple of hours, sit down with a good bottle of wine, and dig in.)

In order for me to get into the zone I need a place with some background noise and minimal distraction. Normally I would choose a coffee house, but what fun is a coffee house on my night off from the kiddos. I decided I needed a little alone time to enjoy some wine and look through all of the photos of the most beautiful children in the world.

Do you know how hard it is to find a place that serves wine and also has free wi-fi?? I haven't found that place...but I did come to the wine loft and discover that there is plenty of unsecured wireless networks available! Exactly what I was looking for. So scroll through the posts below. I still have many more to add but that will have to happen next time. By the time they are one I hope to be fully up to date!

Moments with Dearie

First Kiss

I think they should get married!

Best First Mother's Day gift EVER!

I'm not sure how many of you know it, but I have an extremely thoughtful husband. He always amazes me with his "first" gifts. I wear my first Christmas present almost everyday. Our first anniversary gift was the most sincere and genuine gift I have ever received in my life. It put me to tears instantly. Well he has done it again...

Mother's Day started off right. I slept on the sofa completely away from the babies. He handled all things baby through the night. I helped with the morning feeding then got to lounge on the sofa and relax. Then he handed me a card. No gift. Just a card. The front of the card had this picture on it:



I had no idea why he would get me a card with bench in the rain, until I read the inside. This is the bench that is outside of the doctor's office where we called our family to let them know that we would be having twins. He took the picture while on a business trip back to Baltimore and had Dearie make it into a card. I had tears and thought that was the best gift he could have gotten me. He left the room and returned with a small gift bag (the best gifts come in small packages!). The box was from Neiman's and inside I found:



I absolutely adore the ring. So Tim, thank you for the best Mother's Day Gift. I love you with all my heart and I am so lucky to have the most wonderful husband ever.

P.S. I forgot to mention there was one more gift! He took time Saturday night (while me and the babies were sleeping) and ironed our sheets...if you have ever had the luxury of sleeping on ironed sheets you can understand that this was such a treat! I'm pretty sure he'll never do it again ;)

Happy Mom's Day

Happy first mother's day, Mom. We got together and put some thoughts together, and have asked Dad to publish this post for us. A few comments on how you've done to-date, and what lies ahead for you (and us):

1. It's clear that you and Dad don't really know what you're doing. We've talked with a few other kids around town whose parents have been at this a little longer, and there seems to be a lot less stress in their lives. But, we can tell you're working at it - and you're definitely getting better. Most of all, we appreciate your effort and remarkable perseverence. We know we can test you sometimes, but you and Dad always seem to roll with the punches and bounce back. Especially you, Mom; when things really get tough, we can tell that Dad is looking to you for the answers. We won't forget this. And you're SO organized! Kudos!

2. We don't really like soy very much. Riggs is NOT happy with Avery, because her reflux made Mommy decide that it was easier to put us both on the soy formula. It's a constant source of discord among us, but hopefully one we'll forget about before we learn how to talk. Just an FYI in case you think you should keep rolling forward with the soy milk later in life; you should not.

3. Sometimes we cry in the middle of the night just to see Daddy, in his underwear with his hair up like a bird's nest, run into the room. It is hysetical. You HAVE to see it from our perspective.

4. We didn't like it either when we saw the triplets at the festival the other day. We had our thunder stolen and, frankly, that's no fun for anybody. Please survey any crowds before introducing us around to make sure that no higher-number multiples are present.

5. I, Riggs, am a gazelle in waiting. Very fast. It's hard for you to tell this now because I haven't figured out how to get off my back yet, but you'll see soon enough. Once I start crawling, walking, then running, you will see just how fast I am. I'm basically like a Ferrari on the assembly line, waiting for the final pieces to come together before I put my wheels in motion. I get this from Uncle Scott, Aunt Eryn, and Aunt Beth...not from either of you two turtles.

6. I, Avery, will be a lethal combination of beauty and brains once my hair comes in and the baby fat subsides. I've already got a date to senior prom (he'll be the quarterback...not very bright, but - hey - it's not like I'm going to marry the guy), and I have submitted my college pre-applications to three Ivy League schools. LSU and Kentucky are my safety schools, but that's basically just because I don't want to offend you and Dad.

7. ENOUGH with the Baby Einstein. Let's move on, shall we? Riggs likes action movies (nothing with Bruce Willis) and, like Daddy, is the occasional sucker for a romantic comedy when nobody is looking. Avery likes British comedies and The Office.

That's about it. We're tired, Riggs can't find his nu-nu, and Avery has a dirty diaper. Plus, it is WAY past our bedtime, and you'll be home any minute. We love you. Keep up the good work, don't be too hard on Daddy when he's an idiot, and we'll see you in the morning. Happy Mother's Day.

Love,
Riggs and Avery

Evening Activity Mat Fun

I am so lucky that these babies LOVE the activity mat. They are starting to figure out that they can make it light up and sing all on their own. You should see the joy on their face when the star lights up! It is so cute!!

The only exercise I get...

Happy (4 month) Birthday to my little angels....

You wouldn't know it by these pictures but the babies have been sick the last couple of days. They are such troopers and haven't been too fussy.



Riggs wasn't interested in taking the picture but I finally got a good one of him.




Avery on the other hand was ready for the picture as soon as she saw the camera!

Mooooove on over....