Christmas outfits and SANTA pictures!

What would babies' 1st Christmas really be without Mommy and Daddy dressing us up in little outfits and hats and snapping the obligatory "I'm miserable" picture! Well we have more than our share! We though you all might enjoy seeing some of the pictures and hilarious faces that have been part of our holiday season this year! Merry Christmas everyone!







On Monday December 15th the girls took their very first picture with Santa also! We can't wait to do this every year!!

Family time!

These past few weeks we have just spent time together and really worked on getting the girls to sleep through the night. We have succeeded, the girls are sleeping for 7-8 hours at night now, but....only on the couch! So our next goal will be getting them to fall asleep in their cribs and stay there all night! One step at a time, right? Most nights they are on the couch watching hockey with us anyway!! Go CAPS! Here are a few pictures from "hockey night at the Hartigs!"

Smiles and Coos!

Well it is official, these girls have learned to smile! My sister Laura told me that soon all the hard parts would be rewarded with a smile and boy, was she right! At first the smiles were hit or miss, and I could never really make them smile on command, but now the smiles and cooing noises are plentiful and we love it!

1st Thanksgiving

WOW! What a full November it has been for the girls! They were so lucky to meet their great grandparents on Daddy's side, and their great grandmother on Mommy's side, they took their first road trip, learned to coo, have begun sleeping through the night for 6+ hours at a time, and are now beginning to smile purposefully! So far this adventure has been great and we could not ask for more. Parenting is stressful, but rewarding; it's hard at times, but in the end it is the greatest thing I have ever done!




In November we also celebrated our first major holiday! We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, we had an unforgettable time down in North Carolina with Grandma Bobbie, Aunt Sonnie, Aunt Mary Ruth, Aunt Tammi, Aunt Julie, Uncle Matt, Grandpa Jim, Aunt Kim, cousin Catie, Uncle Bob, Uncle Gene, the girls cousin Ava and more. It was a fantastic opportunity for the twins to meet a lot of family! I wanted to say thank you to everyone that helped us take care of the girls the week we were down there, and also thank you for all of the very generous gifts from family and friends. We are very fortunate and extremely loved, and we just wanted you all to know that it doesn't go unnoticed or unappreciated. We love you all.

Izzy


Izzy


Lexi


Lexi


Lexi and Mommy


Izzy and Daddy


Lexi (left)and Izzy (right)


Lexi (left)and Izzy (right)

Two months have passed already!

Well the girls went to the doctor yesterday for their two month appointment and both girls are doing well. Isabel is our little chubber, she weighed in at 8 lbs. 9 oz.; which means she has officially gained 3 lbs since birth! Alexa is not gaining weight quite as quickly, but she is gaining at a rate that the doctors say is just fine! (For those that haven't talked to me about this, I was quite worried that Alexa wasn't "thriving" and that we might have to start supplementing her feedings to try and catch her up!) It turns out, she is just not a big eater! Alexa weighed in at 7 lbs. and 12 oz. Isabel measured 21 1/4 inches in length and Alexa was measured at 21 inches (I don't think they measured correctly on Alexa!) This puts Izzy in the 10th percentile for height and Lexi in the 5th percentile, but...I am not holding a lot of stock in the percentile thing because my girls are preemies so it might take awhile for them to start measuring up to full term babies, and they don't have a separate system for preemies! The biggest message in all of this is that the girls are different, but they are both perfect and doing well!

Here are some pictures from the last week or so, we are loving this parenting thing!


Alexa
This picture cracks me up because both of the girls do this when they are either sleeping or just waking up. They are always watching, spooky!


Alexa
Isabel
The girls are still very different, not only in the way they look but also in the way they act. We are having so much fun having two really great girls!



Jeorgie just loves the girls, she always wants to kiss them and is very concerned when they cry. She has really gotten used to them and is getting used to how things are working around the house these days; except of course when it comes to me!

For those of you who don't know, Jeorgie has always been a really good dog. She never chewed on things that didn't belong to her, and she was pretty much house broken when we got her, a genuinely perfect dog. Well, not so much when it comes to letting me know she is mad at me!

The first week we were home with Isabel, Jeorgie decided to go into my room and chew up my book! Shocked me! Then this past weekend while we were visiting Grandma Q and Papa Bill in PA she decided to look me directly in the eye, crawl onto her pillow and blanket and PEE!! I was so surprised, it took a minute to register what she was doing. I know she meant it directly towards me because she followed me up to bed, we were the only ones there! It was deliberate! Of course, I wanted to believe it wasn't deliberate and these were just two happy (read with sarcastic tone) coincidences. Then last night she made it very clear for me. While my friend Rebecca and her 3 week old son were visiting me and the girls apparently Jeorgie began to feel ignored once again because she decided to walk over to her toy basket (think of a woven hamper with a lid) she knocked the whole thing over, well my sunglasses, some keys, the phone and a few other things were on top. She grabbed my glasses and proceeded to find a corner in the room and destroy them! Man this dog is mad at me! But you can see by the picture she loves the girls and wants to be a part of everything!

Lexi(left) Izzy(right)
Our little angels!

Time flys and we're having fun!

I wanted to again say thank you to Bobbie for coming up and staying so long with us. I know the girls were glad to have their grandma here and Doug and I are really grateful for all the help and support. Thank you also to Jim, for being a great sport during all the time his wife has been away. Our girls are truly loved.




We were also very lucky to have had Doug's Grandparents, Meme and Alex, drive all the way from Melbourne Florida to come see the girls! We were lucky to have them here over Halloween weekend and were able to capture 4 generations together. The visit was nice, but of course was over too soon. We are just so happy they came all this way to spend time with Isabel and Alexa.




This week the girls, Doug and I went on our first outing to Costco. I am sure it is the first of many and it was a site to see. Lets just say Costco isn't a trip I can make with the girls by myself! Come to think of it, there aren't many trips I can take with the girls that require me to bring anything else back with me! I am learning quickly my limits and not to test them! We took a few pictures of the girls in their winter gear that Grandma Q and Grandpa Bill bought them. The girls are still a little small for the outerwear, but there is a lot of cold weather yet to come!





As of Sunday November 2, 2008 Doug and I are officially on our own with the girls for the first time, EVER! It was a little scary at first, thinking of all the help I had and that when Doug left for work on Tuesday I would be alone with my girls all day with no help! I prayed the girls would have a good day, and what do you know we made it through! We actually had a great day, the girls were sleepy all day so there were no simultaneous unhappy moments which made things much easier on me! After almost 8 weeks of help I wondered what the first few days solo would bring. Would the girls notice we were the only ones here now? Would I be able to handle it? Would I curse Doug all day for being away!? I was afraid to find out, so instead decided to introduce the girls to some other changes to try to ease the transition. This week, we have started sleeping in our own room, in the beautiful cribs Grandma Bobbie and Grandpa Jim gave us! The girls are not sleeping through the night in their own beds yet, but they will make it 4 hours or so, and then I usually feed them and they sleep in the boppy's on the couch next to me the rest of the night. If I am lucky, I'll feed them and then get them back to sleep within 1.5 hours and hopefully get another 2.5-3 hours of sleep on the couch. This is a good night. We have also started bathtime to help tucker the little ones out at night, which in turn helps us get 4 hours straight of sleep! So I guess what I am saying is that Doug and I have so far been able to manage the girls sleep and eating schedules together. We are just hoping our great experience as new parents of twins continues.

So much changes in 7 months!

I know it has been quite a long time since my last post, and man has our world changed. Doug and I have two beautiful little girls that were born on September 9, 2008. Isabel Rita Hartig and Alexa Marley Hartig. We feel so blessed and are enjoying being parents more than we could have ever expected. After finding out we were expecting early in the year, and just a couple of weeks later finding out we were expecting twins the pregnancy progressed pretty normally. Then August arrived! On August 5th I went into preterm labor and was put in the hospital for a couple of days to quiet the contractions and make sure I wasn't dialating any further than I already had. I was able to go home 4 days later but was put on bedrest until delivery. The next week I dialated a little further and was contracting regularly again so I was again admitted to the hospital. 4 days later I was sent home with strict bedrest and remained at home for another 3 weeks until I was 35.5 weeks and was then scheduled for a c-section. The delivery was as easy as I could have ever wanted and the girls were just perfect. Alexa was having some difficulty breathing due to underdeveloped lungs and had to be take to the NICU about an hour or so after birth. We originally though she might have to just stay over night, but that visit turned into a 3 week stay in the NICU. She is home now and both girls are doing great and bring so much happiness to our lives we are still in awe. To add to this adventure, Doug accepted a new position with Amtrak in management and had to leave just 6 days after the girls were born to attend training in Wilmington DE. He attended training Monday thru Friday and would come home on the weekends for the first 4 weeks after the girls were born. It was harder on him to have to leave every Sunday and be gone all week than it was on me taking care of the girls. We figured out a way to get through the first month and actually enjoy it. I feel so lucky to be able to say that because many first time parents don't have that experience.

A BIG BIG BIG thank you to my mom. I could not have gotten through the first week without her. She was the glue that held me together while Doug had to be away, and I was at home with a new baby and running back and forth to the hospital to see my sick baby. She supported me so much emotionally and did every bit of physical work that needed to be done. I have no doubt that recovering from a c-section would have been much harder if it were not for her. She was more than amazing, I am falling so short in finding the words that even remotely describe what she did for me, Doug and our girls. I have always know she was an amazing lady, but it is a whole other story to be the recipient of her love and care when you need it most.

Another special thank you to my mother-in-law Bobbie who has been with us here in Maryland helping with the girls since my parents left. She left her home and job, and husband, in NC to be here with us until November! She has cooked, cleaned, washed clothes, and tended to the girls every chance she gets. Thank you, you have been more help than I can express and we will miss you when your gone. We have had so much support from Doug's parents as well as mine.

I would be remiss to not thank our friends and family who have all sent their love and congratulations from all around the world. We are so lucky to have the friends and loved ones we do and please don't think your love goes unnoticed. Thank you.

About the girls:

The girls are different not only in looks but also in personality. Isabel is darker complected and has dark wavy hair and a cone shaped head. Lexi has a lighter complexion and lighter colored hair, and lighter eyes too. Her head is much more round and her eyes are bigger. They are both very independent but there are definitely moments when I think they use their "twin powers" to communicate with eachother.









Well today the girls are 6 weeks old, and are starting focus on objects and people now. They can hear a voice and find who it is coming from, and they are starting to find their hands and connect them to their mouths! They are happy babies in general and we hardly hear crying, but our little Lexi is definitely a night owl! They like music and love to hear Daddy's voice.

The girls have different personalities, Alexa is our sweet little angel, and Isabel is our grunty demanding one! Alexa likes to be held when she goes to sleep at night and neither of them like to have a dirty diaper! They are both able to lift their heads and turn them from side to side now; but both don't really care for tummy time! Isabel is over 7 lbs now, and measures exactly the same as Alexa at 20.25 inches long. Alexa is not putting on weight as quickly and weighs in at 6.5 lbs now, but she is still steadily gaining. We are excited to see what the next month will bring; they change so much so fast!

Oregon Trip 2008

Hi Everyone,
Sorry it has been so long since I have updated this thing! We have been busy, and I have been lazy! I just wanted to post a few pictures from our Oregon trip, mostly of Ms. Riley! We had a GREAT time in Oregon, our only complaint was that it ended too soon! Mr. AJ is a cutie pie! I will update again soon with more to say!