Sunday, March 25, 2012

Spring!

Finger painting
He is a wild one...
Riding in boxes-so much fun!
They thought the doll would like to go for a ride too

Jack and his best friend, Chloe.

On a walk, sporting their new sunglasses.

In the slide at the park

In the sandbox

A proud parenting moment...they played together with no fighting for 15 minutes while Brad and I relaxed on the edge...unheard of!!!



Sunday, February 26, 2012

Life is good!

Jack and Maddy are full of enthusiasm and giggles these days.  We went to Costco today (a common weekend activity for us) because Costco is one of the only stores with carts built for two!  Target also has a double cart and Albertsons, QFC and Whole Foods have double carts with "cars" built in that Jack and Maddy enjoy driving.  Anyhow, Jack and Maddy were squealing at the top of their lungs serenading everyone in Costco today--just so happy being themselves.  How can you not smile and chuckle when you have two carefree, curious little toddlers with you everywhere you go?

Later on we spent some time outside (in between the bursts of rain) driving their cars up and down the street and then going for a walk with Chloe.  Jack and Maddy love when they get a little bit of freedom so Jack was naturally in the lead and being very independent.   Maddy preferred to walk up and down the side walk but never strayed too far from me.

They have also become quite the little helpers around the house.  They take their dirty clothes and put them into the bin, help me put the wet clothes into the dryer and even help unload the dishwasher.  They are so proud of themselves when they can help clean up or do something that they see Brad and I doing.

After our long day they are exhausted and have fallen asleep before seven o clock.  Now for some pictures....




I love this picture because she looks so small...


She's getting hair!  My little redhead!

So handsome.


Hmmm...mud.

Yes, the grass is sopping wet.  She didn't seem to mind.

I just love this little boy.

He found the basting brush for the bbq and carried it around for the next three hours.

 

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Helping daddy


Looks like a little kid--long legs!


Fascination with the faucet

Sunday, February 5, 2012

15 months

We went to Jack and Maddy's 15 month checkup last week.  Besides the fact that we are all still sick, Maddy is recovering more slowly than the Dr. would like and the Dr. took one look at me and said "you look really tired," the babies are growing well!  Jack is now 24 pounds 8 ounces and 33 1/4 inches tall.  He is at the 50 percentile for his weight and greater then the 95 percentile for his height.  Maddy is 23 pounds 2 ounces and 32 1/2 inches tall.  She is also at the 50 percentile for weight and greater then the 95 percentile for length.  I think we have some athletes in our future.  Jack is such a good patient, he watches everything the Dr. does and sits quietly while he listens to his lungs and looks in his ears/mouths.  Maddy, on the other hand is not so cooperative.  She continuously removed the stethoscope from her chest and back and pushed the Dr. away.  Can't really blame her after everything she went through in the ER last week.  We're hoping everyone will be getting healthy soon and things will get back to normal.  Here are some photos of us playing outside today, it was a beautiful day in Portland and we are ready for more spring weather!
















Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Teamwork

Here is a picture of Jack and Maddy's latest efforts.  They watch each other intently and you can almost see the light bulbs go off as one gets an idea and the other one decides to follow suit.  Together, they pushed the toilet paper down the hallway and up against the kitchen cupboard to reach things on the counter.  This week they have started to climb onto the dining room chairs, attempt to climb onto the window sill and stand on all of their toys.  This is rather frightening to watch and I struggle with knowing when to let them explore and when to say no.  When they hear the word no, they look at me with a twinkle in their eye and a huge grin on their face and then they proceed to continue doing whatever it is I had asked them not to do. 



Things have been pretty miserable at our house this week.  It all started last Tuesday night when the babies went to bed, seeming to be fine.  Maddy woke up two hours later with a horrible cough and seemed to be struggling to breathe. As new parents Brad and I often struggle with knowing when we are just paranoid new parents and when something is actually wrong.  We followed our gut and drove to the ER, and we are so glad we did!  By the time we got there Maddy was really struggling to breathe, had a high fever and was pretty lethargic.  After several hours (and shots, nebulizer treatments, a crazy nasal suction test that looked horrific, and a chest xray), we learned that she has bronchiolitis.  And so, one of the most challenging weeks of our lives began...we watched and waited for Jack to show symptoms and sure enough Saturday morning he started with the cough.  No one in our house has slept more than 1-2 hours at a time for the past week.  I forgot how hard it was to function with so little sleep.  The babies are slowly getting better but they have had barely any appetite, awful coughing fits and constant runny noses.  Now, I'm starting to get sick and trying with all my might to stay healthy.  It is hard when both babies are in pain, crying and just want to be held.  These are the moments that are so hard as a mother because I want to be able to comfort my babies but can only really help them one at a time.  We're hoping things get back to normal in our household pretty soon and hoping everyone stays healthy..is it springtime yet?! 

Monday, January 23, 2012

Twin love

It is hard to get a video without someone falling over and crying...its just the reality these days.  Don't worry, Jack got up as soon as the camera turned off.  Maddy continued to try to tackle him for kisses...

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Winter 2012 pictures

An inter-tube build for two!



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Portland Children's Museum-construction area, Maddy is trying to put on her hard hat

The leggo table--definitely the favorite exhibit.






Toddler clay area.  Five seconds later we decided we will re-visit clay in another several months.  It is really hard to clean off of teeth.



"Baby Garden"





Maddy insisted on climbing on top of these flowers and posing there...




Jack is busy building