Finger Foods and more crawling!

Whew. I am tired. I have underestimated 2 more things this week. Finger foods and crawling. I feel like all week I have been either picking up Puffs or chasing a baby around the bonus room! It is all fun of course, but it makes me long for the days of just feeding 6 bottles a day or just watching the babies lay on their backs and chew on Linkadoos all day!! Those days are SO over.

Ella is the master of finger foods. It took no time at all for her to learn then "pincher grip" so she could eat her puffs. On Saturday we decided to try scrambled eggs (yolks only due to allergies to whites) and pancakes. Eggs went over like a lead balloon (see to the right) but the pancakes were a hit! Another new food we tried was Yobaby (baby yogurt). I believe they would both eat that all day and night if I let them. Shhh.....I tried it and it ain't half bad! Ella isn't crawling yet, but she is definitely more mobile. She is rolling around quite a bit. She will get up on her arms, but poor thing, she pushes herself backwards! I guess she will do it when she is gosh darn ready! Although she hasn't been very mobile, I swear she is the most active girl ever. She loves to kick her legs and clap her hands. She can jump in the jumperoo for 30 minutes solid smiling and laughing the whole time. I have tried to get her on video doing it, but she gets shy everytime the camera comes out. It is my mission though to get her precious giggle on video this week though! I feel bad because all my videos are mostly of the ham - Ethan!

Speaking of Ethan.....he is particularly wearing me out. He isn't 100% crawling yet, but he can sure get around. He does a combination rock, roll, lunge, crawl. It is very effective! He loves to crawl to anything that is forbidin. The coffee table, Major's room, Major's chew toy, the mini-fridge, the rocking chair, remote control, you name it. If it is off limits, he is there in a second. We got a big play yard a couple of months back. I think that we may just spend the next few months in it. Ethan is thoroughly enjoying trying out new foods too. He is struggling a little bit more with the finger foods, but he is getting it. I guess I didn't think it would be too hard. I mean they put everything in their mouth, so why would food be so hard??? He is still using his whole fist to feed himself. Sometimes he used both and just shovels it in. Hey - whatever works! He has got the chewing down...keeping the food in his mouth while he chews.....not so much. Everyday we get a little better. Last night we tried Mac N Cheese and it was a HIT!!! I think he would have eaten the whole box! The video below was taken of him after the Mac N Cheese was all gone. He just randomly started shaking his fists and yelling then laughing. He did this for 5 minutes before I got off the floor from laughing and got the camera. Ella was just staring at him like "You are one weird dude." I agree Ella. I agree.

I am doing pretty good despite my running around. In fact, last week I decided it was time to get in shape. I decided that I couldn't quite use the excuse that I just had twins since I am already thinking about their first birthday. And bedrest can't be an excuse because I have been off bedrest for three times the amount I was on it. Tired? The babies sleep 11 hours at night and nap about 4 during the day so scratch that. So now it is time to Get in Shape Girl. (You were a little girl in the 80s if the song for "Get in Shape Girl" ran through your head:) I laced up my tennis shoes, synced my iPOD and dusted off the old treadmill. I am not going to run a marathon or anything. I already have enough t shirts and I am not particularly fond of sweating. But I would be happy if I can just run a mile without dropping. So we will see how that goes. I had a great weekend. My best friend, Jodi, came down from NY for our friend Kerri's engagement party. We had a great time catching up and celebrating. Afterwards we went to a couple of Honkytonks downtown. It was fun to kick loose for a little while. The picture to the right is Jodi, Christy, and me.

Eric has been busy too. He was at the festivities this weekend too, but wouldn't pose for a picture. He left early Sunday morning to go to Chicago for an accounting conference. Too fun, huh? He made the most of it though. He stayed with a good friend, Ty, that is in law school there. They went to see the Cubbies on Sunday and had a great time. He had seats 3 rows up from the field. He has eaten at some pretty neat restaurants while he was there. He ate at Twin Anchors, some famous steak restaurant my dad recommended, and he is enjoying deep dish pizza as I type. So I imagine he has made the best of an accounting conference! He comes home late tonight and we can't wait. Eric is the top of the babies list. Then comes Majors. Then Mama. No Respect. : )

Happy 9 month Birthday Buddy and Sissy!!!!!

Wow - I cannot believe that they are NINE months already!! Where has the time gone? In just 3 short months we will be celebrating their first birthday! Before we know it, we will be packing up the car to take them to college....

On Monday we went to see Dr Betz for their 9 month appointment. They both got an A + and "good looking babies!" Ummm of course!!!!! The only concern is Ella's iron level was low so he put her on a prescription Iron supplement. Here are their stats:

Ethan - our pipsqueak
Height - 26.75" 7th percentile
Weight - 16 lb. 12 oz 4th percentile
Head circum - 43.3 cm 7th percentile

Ella - our sweet girl with the big head : )
Height - 26.5" 16th percentile
Weight - 17 lb 5 oz 23rd percentile
Head Circum - 44.2 58th percentile (Wowza! No wonder none of her hats fit anymore!)

They did really well while their blood was drawn. Just smiled at the nurses and looked at them like "Why do you keep pulling at my toe??" That was a relief becuase it was like torture when they did it at their first appointment. Of course they were skin and bone then. While Ethan was being examined, he just smiled at the doctor and giggled. Ella was trying to get the doctor's attention the whole time by grinning, laughing, and slapping her bare boodah belly : ) It was really cute. I have noticed this is a growing trend with Ella......she isn't the center of attention, so she does what she can to turn it to her. Exhibit 1 and 2 can be found in the videos below! All in all it was a good visit. I wish all appointments could have no shots!

Today we can just going to play and have a good time. Nana (Eric's mom) and Amy's kids are going to come by this morning. That should be fun. Ethan and Ella LOVE to see their crazy cousins!

Ethan Crawls and Ella Sings

We have had a very exciting week here! After a month of rocking and rolling.....drumroll please.....Ethan Crawled!!!! He is only going about a foot or two before he decides to plop over. If he is really motivated, then he may go further. If he sees the camera, a remote, or any phone he is determined to get to it. Ella is still perfectly content laying on her back, playing with her feet and singing in her gurgly voice. I am sure she could crawl, but she is just waiting until she is good and ready! Here is a video of them from the other day






Eric tells me I talk too much in the videos. But then he probably thinks I talk too much period. My mom says it is good for the babies development that I talk to them so much, so I will go with that! You can also hear Majors in the background barking at someone walking down the street (how dare they!)

At any rate, my cousin Deidra taught me how to add pictures and videos to my blog so I am going to try to jazz it up. I took another video this morning while we were feeding the babies. Ethan has the wierd habit of randomly starting to shake his head. It is really funny. He started doing it this morning, so I grabbed my camera. Here it is!

First and Last Mommy & Daddy Only Beach Trip!

Last weekend Eric and I went on our first (and last for 18 years or so : ) no kid trip to the beach. We cashed in the last few of our Marriott points and headed to Florida. We have been to a lot of the beaches in Florida, so we decided to go somewhere different this time. We went to Hollywood Beach - home of the only "Broadwalk." No misspelling. It actually is BROAdwalk. Lots of walking and lots of broads. Oh and it also happens to be pretty wide.

We had a great time. We were slightly delayed getting down there because of rain, but we made the most of it. We enjoyed sitting in the airport restaurant and having a beer as we waited for the rainstorm to pass. Friday night we went to a Greek restaurant called Taverna Opa. It was a sight for sure. Belly dancers, patrons and waiters dancing on tables, loud music, and people throwing napkins everywhere. It was a lot of fun. We only smelled like Greek food for the next 24 hours too! The next couple of days we were just beach bums trying to soak up as many rays that got through the many, many clouds. We managed to do pretty good to. I got a nice tan and Eric..........well he got a very funky burn. We tried the new spray sunscreen and I am not sure much actually ended up on him. But he is nice and tan now. Saturday night we went to the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino (RIP Anna Nicole). Since that was 7/7/07, they had a huge wedding for 77 couples at 7:07. Ummm interesting folks. The whole trip was great. Very relaxing and just the right amount of time away. By Monday morning I was ready to get back to my babies.

I had a few minor breakdowns before we left, but while we were there NONE! Both sets of grandparents and Aunt Amy from Texas helped watch the kids. I am sure they thought I was crazy from the amount of notes I left for them. I made a spreadsheet of their entire daily routine. (Old habit hard to break courtesy of GE!) In addition to the spreadsheet, I had 2 typed sheets of other notes and several notes left around the house. You would think I thought they had never raised any kids ; ) They did so well. We have been back for 2 days and it is like they never skipped a beat.

I am glad we went. We really need a little time to just relax. The last couple of years have been pretty stressful on us. It was nice to get away and just enjoy some time just the 2 of us. Now we are looking forward to planning our first trip to the beach with the babies next year!