November

 

World Prematurity Day

Yesterday was World Prematurity Day, which holds a special place in our family's heart. I always had interest in prematurely born babies being a premie myself, but having our own sweet babies being born early and going through everything we did with Asher, it now has a whole new meaning to us. Here are our premies then (born at 35 weeks) and now at 11 months old! In a nutshell, they stayed inside mommy much longer than expected after going into preterm labor at 27 weeks and being put on bedrest. Once they were born Avery was the littler one and healthy while Asher was very sick and had a month long stay in the NICU plus an additional month being on oxygen and monitored at home. But today they are both healthy, happy and thriving! We are so grateful for the miracle of modern medicine, prayer and these sweet blessings in our lives! ❤️

Bathroom fun!

Why is the bathroom the most intriguing room in the house for babies?! I found Avery standing next to the toilet reaching her hand inside two days in a row! (despite my efforts telling the big kids to KEEP THE BATHROOM DOOR CLOSED!) Luckily bathrooms had just been cleaned by wonderful grandma Lori. So today I followed them into the bathroom and let them explore for a minute, and just look how happy it made them! Silly babies! 

Twin fun

These two are just too much fun. They bring me so much joy everyday! I can't believe they are almost 11 months. I really wish time would just freeze! We are having so much fun with them and I want to slow it down! 

Avery is such a sweetheart and is always smiling with her cute chubby little checks and beautiful, sparkling blue eyes. She really is such a pretty little baby. She LOVES Milly our dog and says "gog!" or "gog, gog, gog, gog" all day long. It's so funny and cute. Lately a lot of the time she says it she says it with a growly little voice. I think she knows she should growl when saying it since it's the dog's name. She's very smart. She is also very vocal and likes to holler at all of us. It's really funny. We'll all be in a loud conversation or something and all the sudden we'll hear Avery going "Daaaaa!" Or "maaaaa!" Really loudly, like she's trying to give her input on what's going on. She's also very coordinatedin a lot of ways. She is standing and can stand for 10 seconds or so really steadily without holding onto anything. She kneels. And she has the cutest little wave where she rotates her hand perfectly at her wrist. We call it he parade wave. Avery is such a sweetheart and also has a bit of spunk to her. We all adore her! 

October

She can clap!

Avery is such a smart, tricky girl! She has been clapping for a couple of weeks, but it used to be that when we started clapping she would catch on and clap along. Now, all I have to do is say "Avery, can you clap for me?" and she will start clapping without me or anyone else even clapping for her so she can see what she is supposed to do. So obviously she is recognizing the word "clap" and knows what she's supposed to do when she hears it! And, she's so proud of herself! It's so darling. She's such a dainty, delicate little girl and even her claps are very delicate. She's just so darn cute and such a joy! Love this sweet girl of mine! 

First shopping cart ride

Today was a big day! The twins had their first shopping cart ride at Costco! This opens a whole new world for Mama,

not having to haul the double stroller in there each time and put a limited amount of groceries in the stoller's basket, or get Luke or Halle to help me push a cart. They sat up great and I realized I could have probably could have tried this sooner. They loved riding in the cart and were laughing like it was a ride when I first put them in. Then Avery would start fussing everytime we stopped. She wanted the ride to keep going! Haha. 

And we only got stopped about ten times today ;). "Are they twins?" "They are so cute!" "What are their names?" "Are they identical?" "How old are they?" "My cousin's wife's sister has twins!" Haha. Twins do attract a lot of attention in public places! I don't usually mind the questions, it's just hard when I'm in a hurry, and when I'm trying to hurry before the babies get fussy! It's pretty funny. 

They are such good babies! Love them! 

After I put them in the cart here in the parking lot Halle said, "Aww, they look so cute! Take a picture of them, mom!" :)