More May Memories

At the end of May we all went to Kansas City to visit Deb's brother Bill, sister-in-law Lesley, and Grandpa Schwalje.




In addition Aunt Carol, Uncle Greg, Deb's cousin's Corey and Jeff were all there, as well as her parents.

Corey and Izzy

To add more to this motley crew, Deb's Aunt Theresa, Uncle Mike, and cousin Mark from her biological mother's side were there too!

Aunt Theresa and Isabel


Mark, Me, Aunt Theresa, Uncle Mike


Mark, Me, Aunt Theresa, Uncle Mike, Bill


It was such a fun time had by all. The girls experienced their first visit with their great grandfather, great uncles and great Aunts, cousins and more. They also made it through their first airplane ride with flying colors (well maybe not that well if you ask Doug!), and also their very first boat ride at Uncle Bill's!! It was definitely a memorial day weekend we will never forget!

Momentous Memories in May

May has arrived and with it my first Mother's Day. It was a great day, Doug and the girls and I spent all day together and the girls were so well behaved and I loved every minute of it. Many times throughout the day I thought about how lucky I feel to have such a great husband, and wonderful kids. I have decided I love Mother's Day and all the days I get to be a mom! Thank you to all who sent kind and loving wishes, the day was truly enjoyed.



The girls are still working on sitting independently, they are doing pretty well but aren't quite ready for me to leave them while attempting sitting because the occasional toppling over does still occur! Right now their favorite things are eachother, the Jumparoo, and their own voices! We have tried several times to capture the girls "going crazy" in the Jumparoo and Exersaucer but we never seem to get it. Here is a tiny glimpse into playtime...




Just a few cutie pie pics...

Lexi
Izzy
Lexi
Izzy
Bedtime

Most Recent "Professional" Picture of the Girls

We went to the Picture People when Doug's mom Bobbie was here, and this is the picture we ended up with! More to come...

April

Wow this past month has flown by! I feel as though I may be saying that a lot in the coming years! The girls are doing great and changing so much every day. We got out the scale and measuring tape to take their measurement for the calendars I keep for them and I was blown away by how much they have grown! They are only 10 oz. apart now and both weigh 17 lbs. and then some! BUT...what REALLY blew me away is that they measured 28 inches, which is a HUGE change in just one month. They grew over 3 inches, that is just crazy.






They are doing amazing things everyday. Both can now roll over in both directions, and Isabel has begun to use rolling as her way of getting around! The days of laying them on the couch and walking away to do something are OVER! They are transitioning from sleeping in their swings at nap time to sleeping in their cribs all the time! We have officially stopped swaddling them too; man it goes by so fast. I've heard people say that so many times, and you never appreciate it fully until it's past. The girls have moved onto 2ND foods (slightly thicker with tiny chunks in it, and combined flavors), are beginning to learn to spit food now too! Yeah, I was waiting for this!! :)

The girls really enjoyed April, they had their first Easter, visited Papa Bill and Grandma Q in PA with Uncle Rob, Aunt Kim, and Julia!







They even got their first chocolate bunnies from Papa Bill and Grandma Q!



Immediately following our trip to PA, Grandma Bobbie and Grandpa Jim came up to Maryland to visit. The girls loved spending time with them both, and learned a lot of new things from Grandma Bobbie. They also got their first sets of bunny ears and a great dancing bunny too!





Rounding out a very happy and eventful month was a fun visit from cousin Julia and Uncle Rob, and the girls first NHL Stanley Cup playoff series against the NY Rangers!




Caps prevailed, and the girls were "rocking the hawk" to show what amazing fans they are already!!





We are currently working on sitting unassisted, Isabel is pretty much there, the topples are fewer and farther between every day! Lexi is a little less enthusiastic about sitting, but she is still tolerating me insisting she try!! They are both still ecstatic about the exersaucer, but thanks to Uncle Rob, Aunt Kim, and most of all Julia, the girls new favorite toy is the JUMPAROO!!! You have to see it to believe how crazy they are about it! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!

Thank you Easter Bunny, bawk bawk!!!

The girls met the Easter Bunny today! Enjoy the picture, more March updates to come.

A few of our favorite things...

Their Feet...

So both girls have now found their feet and as of today they favor them over any other toy in the house! They will lay there on the couch next to each other grabbing and letting go of their feet, Alexa has managed to master the double grab, but Isabel hasn't gotten there yet!

Each other...

Second to their feet, is their new fascination with each other! They notice each other a lot more now, and even react to the others actions. It is so funny to see Isabel stare at Alexa and then smile and giggle. Then she finds something to distract her and we'll see Alexa look over at Izzy and smile, followed by an excited scream or giggle! I might be biased but this is the probably the cutest thing in the entire world!! :o)

Rounding out the top 3...

And let us not forget Miss Jeorgie. The girls are very very very taken by Jeorgie these days. They love to watch her, and even reach out for her sometimes now. We are so lucky to have such a goofy little (chubby) dog, we don't worry about the girls poking her in the eyes or grabbing her ears; she adores the pint sized people so much already it is hard to imagine how much more she will like them when they are eating real food!!

Activities we are currently working on...

Sitting.

Isabel is pretty good at the tripod (thank you Aunt Paula), and she sits on her own for a few seconds at a time but eventually falls over if we aren't holding her. She is so close! Alexa on the other hand, is still pretty much a wet noodle! She goes limp every time we try to practice the tripod, but give her another 10 days or so and she'll be sitting like Izzy is now.

Rolling Over!

The girls are both really really close to rolling over from their backs to their bellies (I wouldn't know about belly to back because they hate tummy time and so we are hardly ever on our bellies!). I have been putting toys above their heads while they are laying on their backs to encourage them to reach up for them, in the process this prompts them to use their legs to push and magically lines them up to just roll on over! It is coming, we are so close, maybe in a couple more weeks!

Nap time...

The girls have been really good sleepers from the beginning, and for the most part bedtime is routine and going well still. Nap time is a completely different story, so far, the girls pretty much only nap in their swings for long periods of time. So we are working on regular nap times, to try and develop a pattern for daytime sleeping. So far, I am not succeeding but will try, try again! and again...

Grandma Bobbie and Grandpa Jim's visit

The other week Grandma Bobbie and Grandpa Jim came to Maryland to see the girls! The girls are truly starting to recognize, or should I say determine they don't recognize someone. Sorry Grandpa Jim. Isabel has decided she LOVES to watch Grandpa, and she does so very intently, but he is not allowed to pick her up! What a little stinker! We really love your visits, please don't stop coming to see us! Grandma Bobbie was sick during this visit, but when she wasn't feeling so bad, she could make both girls laugh and laugh and laugh! Isabel and Alexa just love all the singing, and noises Grandma does with them; It really warms your heart to see it.

March (introducing solids) Madness!!!

We are only halfway through March and boy has it been an exciting month already! The 1st of the month was welcomed with the girls being introduced to solid foods for the first time! For those of you who have gone before us on this adventure can probably guess what is coming next! WHAT A MESS! It has been the messiest new experience yet, but it has been so much fun for Doug and I, and definitely the source of LOTS of laughter! The first day we started with just a tablespoon of rice cereal mixed with lots of milk, a soupy concoction, if you will. The girls were definitely not sure about it at first, but then something changed... little miss Alexa decided she LOVED solids. The hidden, hungry, hungry, hippo emerged to attack the cereal with gusto never seen before in our fragile little angel!! She is the messiest, and strangest little eater we have ever seen. She likes to shove her fingers into her mouth following every spoonful. It takes a real method to the madness to feed our little one now! Isabel, started off much slower, took her sweet little time to decide if she really wanted to be apart of this whole eating from a spoon thing. Eventually she decided she liked it, and has been pacing herself nicely ever since. Five days after starting solids, we introduced a new food, Oatmeal! The roles were not exactly reversed, but it was clear that Isabel was a bigger fan of Oatmeal than she was of rice cereal, while Alexa still liked Oatmeal she was a little more reserved at first about the new taste. Next came peas, oh man, you need to see the faces!! Isabel hated them, at first! She would make this horrible face and then start gagging like she was going to throw up!! But soon Isabel, came around and was downing the peas like they were candy! Lexi, had the same initial reaction, and we have the video to prove it!! She was not a fan!!! Just a few days of persuasion and maybe a little mixing of the peas with the rice cereal and both girls are now loving the green peas!





Yay Prunes!!