Savannah

We just got back from our first family vacation! I was very nervous about the long drive to Savannah (9 hours) but the girls did GREAT! On the way down, they slept for the first 8 hours and then we stopped, fed them, put them back in their seats and they slept the rest of the way. On the way back, they needed a little help getting to sleep (they screamed for about 30 minutes while we tried to calm them down) but then they slept the entire way and didn't even need us to stop to feed them!

The actual trip itself was so much fun! We got to spend a lot of quality time with Dad and Vikki! Dad even held the girls (which he swore he wouldn't do until they were 2!) . I also got to see my high school friend Nicole and her ADORABLE sweet boy Patrick!

The weather down there was beautiful and the girls and I got to go on a few long walks and Cesar got to get some much needed fishing time in!

Overall, the trip was great! We can't wait until our next Vacation!!!

Videos for Grandparents-jumpy jumpy!

Here are Leah & Isabella's first tries at the jumper at Dad's. The both LOVE the frog. Once they got into it, they were even more excited than this! I will have to shoot some new ones once we can figure out how to get our jumper low enough for them to use it.

Videos for the Grandparents-feeding

The girls eating their first spoon-fed meal!

Weekend of Fun!

Hanging out with the Strands

Santi and the girls playing Wii

We had such a fun and busy weekend! Uncle Santi came to visit us last week for his spring break. The girls LOVED having him around. They laughed and laughed whenever he was around!

 Saturday morning, Aunt Deanna, Kai, and the girls and I went outlet shopping. This was the girls' first trip like this and they did great. As you can see below, they slept throughout most of the trip, which was nice. Look how handsome Kai is! He is going to be a heart-breaker!!

Sunday, we had a relaxing day at home...the weather has been SO nice, the girls were able to break out their ADORABLE summer clothes (thanks Lauren!)! As you can see they are very
happy about the warm weather!

And finally, a much needed nap after the long weekend!!

Returning to Normal

So, the girls are 5 months and I feel like life is finally returning to normal (well, as normal as can be with twins)! We decided to get a treadmill so that I can start running again, so this week I have tried to get back into it (although it is still hard to find hours in the day to do it!). I also FINALLY got my coupon book organized again and had a couple great trips to safeway this week. I had to take a picture of my trip today. I got all of this (25 boxes of cereal/granola bars/fruit snacks, two boxes of pasta and 6 cups of yogurt for $7.50!! Woo-Hoo! I love the fact that I can start saving money again...it was killing me to pay full price at the grocery store week after week :) So sad the things that get me excited!!

Play Date!

We FINALLY were able to get together with cousin Kai for a play-date this weekend. It has been SO long since we saw him and Aunt Deanna! One or the other of us have been sick for what seems like forever, so it was great to all be healthy and get a chance to play! Deanna took some great pictures. My favorite is the first one. Take a look at these links here and here to my posts from November and December...it is so fun to see how much all three have grown!!

Isabella is just enthralled with her cousin...I love that they are holding hands!

OK, so maybe not so enthralled when he tries to eat/kiss her

I would love to know what Leah is thinking here!

This is what they looked like MOST of the time that we were trying to take pics :)

And one of just Isabella...all ready to go for a walk outside!!

4 Month...a little late

OK, so, the girls are beyond 4 months...in fact, they are only a few days away from being 5 months...but, I was waiting to post their 4 month info. until I could figure out how to get these videos loaded. Finally, I think I figured it out. These are mostly for the grandparents to see the kids...nothing all that exciting, but we think they are pretty darn cute (you may want to mute your computer because mommy is talking in annoying baby talk througout all the videos)!! I am hoping the last one comes out clear enough to see...it was dark in the room when we took it, but Leah was being SO funny...she LOVES to play with her tongue (as you will see in the other videos) and she kept trying to lick EVERYTHING..including the air...so we tried to get it on film.

Some updates...

The girls had their first sicknesses...it was MISERABLE. We learned that they handle sick in a completely different manner. Leah just acts pitiful..she would sit and stare with her watery eyes, cough, and just seem out of it. Isabella on the other hand...well, she is our little drama queen. She would cry herself into a coughing fit...wouldn't let us put her down, and DID not like the breathing treatments AT ALL. As long as we didn't put the mask on, Leah actually seemed to like the breathing treatments...wierd little girl! After 5 doctor visits, we finally got the all clear and the girls were able to get their vaccines...well, isn't that a great reward for getting better! At their last visit, they were 12lbs. 11oz (leah) and 11lbs. 12oz (Isabella). Isabella is 24 inches tall and Leah is 24.5 . Isabella's head circumference is 40 and Leah's is 40.5.

They are "sleeping through the night." That means they don't have to eat from about 7:30-5:30...however, some nights they wake up every half our to cry for their pacifier and sometimes they make it the entire night without it. Not sure yet what we do on those wonderful nights that they sleep all the way, but we hope to learn soon!

You'll see in the video that Leah LOVES to play with her tongue and Isabella is just starting to do the same. They are getting so much better with their hands. They will reach out and grab toys, their play pad, and especially, MOMMY'S HAIR...ughhh... One great thing is that they LOVE to hold hands. If you put them on the floor next to each other, they will almost always grab each other's hands and hold on...it is so cute!!

I am sure there are a million other things I am leaving out, but I will add them at their 5 month post! Hope you enjoy the videos Grandpa (and anyone else patient enough to watch ).

Happy Valentines Day!

4 Months

4 Months have come and gone and the girlies are doing so well. Every day is so much fun with them. They are so calm (unless they are hungry) and they LOVE to laugh and smile. They are not easily bored...they can sit and stare at their hands and be entertained forever. They are starting to show their own personalities. Leah is much more laid back (like her namesake) and Isabella is more excitable. They have their own unique facial expressions too. Leah LOVES to stick out her tongue and Isabella likes to put her lips up like Elvis. They both are talking a lot. They are trying out all kinds of different noises and will have a conversation with you if you repeat what they say. They are both completely addicted to pacifiers (remember that i said I will NEVER let my kids suck their thumb or use pacifiers..ha...good luck with that). They are sleeping through the night pretty well. They go down at 8 and wake up around 4. From 4-5:30, we get up about every 15-30 minutes and shove the pacifiers back in their mouths so we (we meaning tricia) can get an extra hour of sleep. Then they get up at 5:30, eat, play for exactly an hour and a half and are back to sleep for 2.5 hours. It has been so nice to have them down at 8 so we can have a little free time (and right now, by free time I mean time to clean bottles and go to bed!). Both girls can roll over consistently from their front to their back, although Isabella has mastered it a bit faster than Leah. Leah is really trying to get from her back to her front. She has come close many times! With this ridiculous snow storm we have had, I have been able to learn so much more about my sweet girlies. It has been such a blessing to be home with them for eleven straight days!!! I will gladly make up the time this summer to have this time with them now! They are the best! I have included a lot of pictures below to demonstrate some of the things I have talked about. Leah & Dad taking a nap...look how big she is!

Bath time! Isabella about to fly away!


Leah and her friend...her hand! She LOVES to suck her fist.

Leah

Isabella after bath. Check out her belly button. Believe it or not, it has actually gotten smaller, but you really can't tell in this picture...it looks huge :)

Leah is in the background

Curiosity

This is what we see most of the time from both of them...big adorable smiles!

The addiction. The pacifier. The sleep aide. The soother. The addiction :(

Isabella, just hanging out and looking pretty!

I love this picture because it shows their personalities. Leah is just relaxed and playing with her tongue and Isabella is about to start talking and kicking!

Isabella's head-shot

And, Leah's head-shot

*We go to the doctor on the 22nd for their 4 month well-visit...we'll update their stats then!

Blizzard of 2010

Wow...we sure got a lot of snow! 30 inches!!! So great to have some extra time with my girlies! We have done nothing but play, eat and sleep! Well...Abuelita (Cesar's mom) gave Cesar and I some time off and we went out and played in the snow! It was a fun, much needed, mini date! Here are some pics of how deep it was!

New Pics

It's been a great couple weeks at our house. We put the girls on a new schedule and they are doing pretty well with it. They now eat every 4 hours and sleep 8 hours at night...woo-hoo! We have also had Cesar's mom here with us which has been great. The girls are really enjoying time with their Abuelita (as you will see in the pictures!). Here are a few of our favorite pictures from the last couple weeks!

3 month videos

Finally...I got the other two videos to upload! Here they are! Oh, and we went to the doctor yesterday...Leah is a porky 10lbs 14oz and Isabella is growing just as well at 9lbs 15oz. They are going to catch up to their cousin soon :)

I love this video because you can see how strong they are getting. I can't beleive I missed Leah rolling over (you'll see what I mean), but they are both rolling over now.

Oh..and this may be very boring for anyone other than a grandparent...it's just the girls playing :)

3 Months!

Wow, has it really been three months already? Time has gone by so fast (and so slow!). Some days felt like they were never going to end, but now I can't believe the girls are 3 months. They have changed so much since we brought them home from the hospital. They are now so much more alert, they are SO joyful, love to smile and laugh, and are just so fun to be around. Isabella's stomach is so much better, she almost never has issues anymore. They both still throw-up all the time (as you will see in the video below), but it doesn't seem to bother them, so we aren't too worried about it.

I went back to work last week. That was EXTREMELY difficult, but we have a great Nanny (Kelly). It is so great to know that if I have to be away from the girls, they are at least in good hands!

We took a few videos on their 3 month b-dayI will put the first one on here. For some reason I can't get the other two to upload..I'll work on it tomorrow! Hope you aren't afraid of a little baby barf :)