One (x2)

One year ago, I was the most exhausted I've ever been in my entire life.
My girls were itsy bitsy small, and the pediatricians had me panicked and desperate to put weight on them. I wish those doctors could see their chubby little thunder thighs now.
Evelyn top, Amelia bottom

I've said it a thousand times.... this has been the longest shortest year of my life. When I remember how tiny they were, it doesn't seem like very long ago. When I think of all that has happened in our lives in the past year, it seems like eons (and I don't even remember most of it).

It sure is hard to think of how life would be without these sunshiny morning smiles and hairdos. (Actually, I think this is lunch since they are eating peas and cheese, but I'll pretend like it was morning since they were still in pajamas and I probably hadn't showered yet.)

Evelyn left, Amelia right

I definitely have to go through iPhoto and clearly label who's who in all the pictures (if I can tell). They look so much alike it is tricky. It became clear just how alike they are at the pediatrician today when Amelia weighed in at 20 lbs 14 oz and Evelyn at 20 lbs 12 oz. (46 percentile)

Amelia measured 30 and 1/4 inches long and Evelyn 30 inches exactly (84 percentile).

Even their standard 12-month blood tests came back with precisely the same numbers.

Evelyn left, Amelia right

So our twincesses are one, and we lived through it. We love them unfathomably, and have decided to keep them. We had a little celebration with the grandparents and a few aunts and uncles in order to celebrate this momentous milestone.

Amelia enjoying her birthday cake

Evelyn making the obligatory first birthday cake mess

What the cakes looked like before the girls got their hands on them:
Amelia had been taking unassisted steps here and there, but began walking in earnest on her birthday. Evelyn still finds it much more convenient and quick to crawl. She has been starting to move around while pushing the walker though, so I'm sure it won't be long before we have two little wobble-legged toddlers underfoot.

They say a few words that we all love to hear:

Amelia: mama, dada, byebye, all-done, uh-oh, dis (this)

Evelyn: mama, dada, all-done, up, uh-oh

They certainly keep us hopping. I still wish I had a dollar for every time somebody told me I have my hands full. The girls spend their days emptying cabinets, drawers, toy boxes, purses, diaper bags, trash cans (ack!), and pretty much anything they can get their hands on. By the time I put them in bed at night, our house looks like a tornado hit a trailer park. We spend an hour or so cleaning every evening, just to have them tear it all up again the next day.

They remain fairly even-tempered, though very curious. In spite of the mess, they are the each individually the easiest babies I've had. The combined logistics of having two can be a little overwhelming, though. Thanks so much to everyone who has helped us do it!

8 Months

If you don't agree they are the cutest babies in the world, I'll fight you.

It's hard to get a decent picture of Evelyn, she keeps crawling away.

Amelia left, Evelyn right

Evelyn has really come out of her shell this month. She used to be the quiet twin, but now she makes just as much noise as her sister. She also crawls circles around Amelia. Amelia is still in the army-man phase of crawling. Evelyn is up on all fours, pulling ornaments off the Christmas tree, emptying the bottom drawers of their dresser, eating leftover crumbs off the floor, pulling books off the shelves.... and having a great time doing it! She is fascinated by Amelia's helmet, and enjoys experimenting with the different sounds things make when she smacks them against it.

Here is my darling Amelia enjoying some helmet-free moments. Her hair is getting so long, it is such a shame I can't put piggy tails in it more often. Her skin has been getting pretty irritated by the plastic though, so she gets a little more time off lately. The orthotist special ordered some liners that have helped a lot. The twins' skin has been a constant concern. Because of the eczema it is always dry and chappy....I put Aquaphor on it all day long. That seems to be the only thing that helps. The good news is her head has improved by 7 millimeters in the past two months! Only 4 mm more to go and we can call it quits.

Amelia perks right up when someone is singing or playing the piano. She bops her head from side to side and gets us all laughing with her funny dances.
A rare moment when Thomas isn't mauling them to death with his overzealous love. He would actually sit and read stories to them for hours. Bummer that they won't sit and listen to him read for hours. The books just look too delicious I suppose.
We went with the grandparents to view some Christmas lights and enjoy a sleigh ride.
And see Santa. I'm not sure they were too excited about that. ("I can't put my arms down!")
I know I say this every single month, but my heart is breaking at how big they are getting. I love seeing them grow and learn, but every day I see them moving away from babyhood. Wah.

Seven Months

This photo is from a trip to the lake in July, but I just rediscovered it . . . and it is one of my all-time favorites of the girls. Evelyn on the left, Amelia on the right.
And here they are at seven months. (please excuse the flea-bag looking sheet over their window. I have got to get some curtains in there for their naps!)

Millie left, Evy right

Evelyn creeps and crawls (but is not at all happy about the crawling. She grouches the entire time she is on her hands and knees. Needless to say, she isn't extremely skilled at the crawling yet.) I just noticed the beginnings of her first tooth poking through her gums yesterday.

Amelia is less mobile than Evelyn, but is a much better sitter. She hardly ever falls over, and I still have to go sit Evy back up every few minutes when they are on the floor. Amelia is the chatty one of the two, and emits a cacophony of squealing when she is excited.

Michael and I like to pretend that they are calling us when they say "Da da da" and "Ma ma ma." However, they say those things to everyone . . .

One of the highlights of my day is when I come to pick them up from their cribs and they act like they couldn't possibly be any more delighted to see me. Their slobbery grins light up their chubby faces like sunshine. Their little arms and legs start pumping so hard that I think if I don't pick them up right then, they might pass out from joyous exertion. They are just both so happy.

When I think of our lives a year ago, when we had just barely learned that we were going to have twins, I think that I could never have realized how incomplete our family would have been without both of them. I remember how scared we were, and how overwhelmed I thought we would be (not that we don't have moments). But it all feels manageable. Life feels exactly as it should be.

I know I'd be lonely without those two sets of fat little cheeks to kiss all day long.

Boo!

Okay, not very scary . . .

Happy Halloween from Evelyn the Banana and Amelia the Monkey!

6 Months

17 pounds each.

Ev left, Millie right
New tricks . . . (Millie)
New flavors . . . . (Ev)
And pretty dang cute.

No teeth, but they try to eat plenty of new things anyway.

Its like a roller derby around here with these two steamrolling all over the place. I need to start baby proofing this joint.

Millie likes to squeal and Evy likes to listen.

Evy likes to pull hair, Millie likes to blow raspberries with her mouth full of baby food.

Both like to give their mama lots of big slobbery kisses.

Mama doesn't mind at all.

Tidbits

Proof my kids are city folk:

When we drove to the lake in July, a giant moose held up traffic by meandering across the road directly in front of us. It was a memorable sight. Michael offered a prize to any child who saw a moose again in the canyon as we made the trek back to the lake for Labor Day.

We saw quite a bit of roadkill, a porcupine and a turkey vulture, but no moose. By the end of the drive Seth was getting desperate to win a prize.

Around the last bend he shouted, "I see three cows, does that count?"

To which Alice replied, "Cool! Are they wild?"

Complicated:

The other day I was standing in line behind someone at the grocery store who couldn't afford all their food. I wish I could keep hundred dollar bills in my purse and just hand them to the checker every time that something like that happens. Only I wouldn't buy their beer and cigarettes. Sometimes generosity can get complicated . . . how does one say, "I'll pay for your oatmeal but you have to put the Budweiser back in the case?" I guess I'm not a true philanthropist.

Silly:

I was asking Thomas about pre-school the other day, and he commented that sometimes it is hard to pretend he can't read . . . because no one else in pre-school can read, so he thinks he shouldn't either.

Mysteries:

Instead of "Show and Tell" Alice's class has a "Mystery Bag." Each child gets a turn to take it home and put something inside that they want to share. They then write five clues about what is inside and see if the class can guess what it is. She wanted to put the twins in the mystery bag . . . but they wouldn't fit. I called her teacher and explained the situation and arranged for the twins to visit during mystery bag time. My favorite question from one of her classmates was the incredulous, "Both of those came out of you?!?"

Orphans:

I took Alice to see a community production of Annie last week. She has become very concerned about orphans, and would like to invite every orphan she meets to live with us. She also pointed out that Daddy Warbucks was kind of lame, because he really could have afforded to adopt all the kids in that orphanage, but didn't.

Headgear: Guess how much a custom baby-head-shaping-helmet is. Just guess.

HGTV . . . Twins Room

Before: (These are the pictures Michael took before we bought the house)
I call it the hot purple room.
After:
Pink has always been my favorite color.
There are a few more things to add . . . it still looks a little naked, but you can see progress.
Lanie made these . . . aren't they the sweetest little dolls?
And one of the cutest things in the room: Amelia!

Listen To Your Mother

Hey you. And you . . .
Yes, I'm talking to you, Evelyn Kate.
Stop growing up so quickly. I know it seems fun to grow up and be like your big sister who thinks she's already a teenager (and likes to put her flowers in your wispy baby hair), but it is not fun, Amelia Jane. Don't grow up yet. Be the babies.
Stay little for a while.
Please?

Four Months

The past four months have been such a whirlwind . . . I can't believe they are so big already! Evy's caught up with Millie in the weight department. At their checkup today Ev weighed 14 lbs 5 oz to Millie's 14 lbs 4 oz. They are both exactly 25 inches long and both heads exactly 41 cm. They are taking this identical twin thing quite seriously. I was thrilled that the doctor took them off the preemie growth chart and they are in the 65th percentile for their age anyway! (At two months they were in the 60th for preemies and 16th for average babies. Not too shabby, right?)

As far as baby talent, they are very good at talking about goo and eating their fists. I think their hands look delicious too . . .

Some of my favorite shots from the past month:

First time in the big kid bathtub:

(Evelyn left, Amelia right)

Evelyn charming her great-grandpa:
The girls in one of their new beds:

(E left, A right)
This is before I painted. I have a few things left to do before I can call it done, but we're close! Stay tuned for the big reveal . . .
Teaser: This vinyl was the first thing to go.
Here is a shot of the twins sunning themselves at Bear Lake with their cousin Kohen, who is exactly a month younger than them, but has an edge size-wise. Maybe we could pass them off as triplets?

Amelia, Evelyn and Kohen in birth order

Three Months

Three months old and I'm not giving them back. Why would I? They sleep through the night and are the easiest babies I've ever had. Though I think it is a testament of the craziness I live in right now that there is a fair amount of spit-up and snot in these pictures.

Evelyn left, Amelia right. Just woke up and happy as two chubby little clams.

Not sure what they weigh exactly, but I'd guess 11 1/2 pounds for Ev and 12 for Millie.
I know this is a flood of baby shots . . . but I can't pick just one.
Cause they're cute.
And I think they know it.

Want to see what is not cute? My house. Ca-Razy!

Father's Day Contest

Photo copyright Jennifer Buchanan, Sunshine Soul Photography

Hello. We had a photographer come take our pictures. We were very very naughty and wouldn't stop crying, so the nice photographer volunteered to come try again next week. (She did get some lovely pictures of Alice though, can't wait to show off those!) Meanwhile, the nice photographer is having a contest:

World's Coolest Dad 2011 Contest

What makes the dad in your life the best?

Tell us why your "dad" rocks. The winner with the most original entry will win one free family portrait sitting and an 11 x 14 canvas of their favorite shot from the shoot.

Entering is easy... Go to the Sunshine Soul Photography Facebook page, "like" us, reply to the comment thread and post what makes the dad in your life the best. Then, stay tuned! Don't forget to share with your friends and pass it along. The more entries, the more fun we'll have! And, don't be afraid to get creative.

Winner will be announced on Father's Day.
(Winner must be local to the Portland Metro area.)

You should enter!

Go to http://www.sunshinesoulphotography.com/ to check out Jennifer's galleries.

8 Weeks

We've made it this far. My house is a wreck. Hardly anything has been packed. I can't remember half of what I'm supposed to . . . however, everyone is clean, well fed and healthy, so things must be working out.

I won't know their weight until I take them to the doc next week, but if you compare this pic:

Millie left, Evy right, both pictures

with this pic taken at one week:

You'll see they are beginning to fill out their carseats quite nicely.

Sometimes I've had to resort to unorthodox methods to get by, but they always get a meal when they want it.
This normally low-maintainence boy has displayed every hallmark behavior you could expect from a child being displaced as the youngest in the family. He loves his baby sisters madly, but his parents and older siblings are bearing the heavy brunt of his regression. Sadly, I don't expect much of an improvement until after the move.

This shot is easy, can you tell who is who?

The girls have not been the best nappers during the day. Sometimes they'll both go down at once, but too often one will fall asleep and I'll spend the next two hours trying to get the other one down only to have the first wake up the minute her sister gives in to the sandman. Fortunately they make up for it by being decent night sleepers . . . only waking once or twice each.

Amelia

In a few years this picture might make me laugh. Right now I only see the leftover poundage I still need to shed. However, the shot is extremely true to life.

Evy in pink, Millie in brown

Alice has been a dream through the past two months. I honestly couldn't ask for a more helpful child.

Al and Evy

The twincesses are getting used to riding in their royal coach. I've finally been able to log a few miles here and there, which has been super healthy for my mentals. The stroller is also useful to quell uncontrollable crying at bedtime. This double MacLaren is one of the best purchases I've ever made. It was a huge splurge when we bought it in 2004 shortly after having Alice to carry the oldest two (Seth should have been old enough to walk alone at that time, but he had a nasty habit of running off and getting lost lest he was buckled into something . . . I just couldn't bring myself to buy a leash for him). It has been in almost constant use since. Finally the MacLaren Twin Traveller is being used for its designed purpose!

You guess, I'll tell you if you are right!

In short, things are going fine. If you call me on the phone, you'll need to make peace with the fact that someone will be crying in the background. If you tell me something important, you shouldn't expect me to remember it. If you have a spare fifteen minutes, you are welcome to come hold a baby or two. If you make plans with me, you should assume I'll be at least ten minutes late. If you see me out of the house, just know that spit up is part of my wardrobe and I've given up on keeping my shirt clean. If you've had Thomas over to play . . . I can't thank you or apologize enough (though I'm pretty sure he saves his best tantrums for us). And if you wonder if we are happy, the answer is a resounding yes.