big boys!

liam ~ finn

as much as i would love to post many more pictures with details of how these two FIVE MONTH-OLDS are growing, we are in the middle of a crazy day full of plumbing emergencies and boys who won't sleep (perhaps due to the muddy-shoed men who are traipsing in and out of our house)... so enjoy these adorable blue-eyed babes for the moment and there will be more soon, i promise! : )

so much fun!!

so as you'll see, liam and finn are getting so big and really coming into their personalities... liam is really all over the place- very talkative, loud just like his mama, and super super active- he has to be moving ALL THE TIME.  even when he eats, it's almost impossible to feed him unless he's super tired.  which happens a lot because he doesn't take very long naps- probably because he's missing what's going on and doesn't like it : )... again, just like his mama... finn, on the other hand is very introverted, it seems.  he can stare at something for the longest time and never break his gaze- he concentrates so hard, and in a family full of ADDams', this is a new thing!  he doesn't talk or smile as much as his brother, but when he does, it is THE most adorable thing ever. so so sweet- as of may 5, they are 12 pounds, 12 ounces (liam) and 12 pounds 1 ounce (finn). they're on the growth charts for four months, no adjusting needed here!! they're starting to stretch out their sleep at night, which is a godsend- many times, only waking up once at 3 or 4am... we've been waiting for this for a long time :) so enjoy the pictures- we're having so much fun with them!!!

hanging out before bed in their big boy pajamas

some casual convo

in their whale onesies from auntie jen- liam in the blue, finn in orange

wheeeeeeeee!!

gnawing some fist on the playmat

seriously, look at that smile!

look at what i can do!!!

four months!!

here are some recent pictures... enjoy! 

daddy got this cool new stroller that he can run with AND it attaches to the bike!!

finn doesn't usually like it until they get going...

he always works his way out of his swaddle...

getting better at tummy time! : )

whoa, that flash is bright!!

but i guess i'll smile for you...

SO big!!

babies first road trip

so bryan had a hellish march at work, meaning i had a hellish month at home, so we decided since he had 9 days off in the middle of april, to take a little road trip.  i was thinking big at first, itching to go to new york city... wow, am i glad we didn't do that!  a few people suggested branson/lake of the ozarks, but i wanted to go a little bigger... so we landed on chicago.  a short days' drive north, we would just go up for the weekend- it'd be fun!  well, the chicago part was really fun... the drive, however, was NOT. AT. ALL.  but as we've had to do several times since liam and finn were born, this was a lesson to be learned, and we all survived... it was touch and go there for awhile, though : )...

so because the weather was going to be nice on friday and saturday, but not sunday, we decided to go on thursday and come back sunday- this was after my first shift back at work after 4 months of maternity leave- i know, this was our first mistake.  and bryan might say differently, but i think i did pretty well given the situation... : ) the situation being that the boys don't really like to be in the car past about 2 hours... and by the end of the day, it was about 20 minutes after we'd put them back in that they'd lose it.  long story short, a normally 8 1/2 hour drive took 12 hours on the way there and 12 1/2 on the way back, despite leaving an hour and a half earlier. ????? we'd stop at gas stations, some a lot more questionable than others, hope for hot water to heat the bottles up, getting lucky at some, not so at others, which meant liam not eating his and finn taking an hour to get his down...  unfortunately, they didn't sleep for too long in their carseats, either... and in our element, there's no seat between the two carseats, so i couldn't sit back there with them to entertain...  this was when i was wishing i was one of those moms that was okay with drugging my kids just to get some peace and quiet.  

once we finally made it to chicago, we were so grateful that we had spent a little extra money on a nice hotel- valet service?!?! that was so great, except i'd probably gotten about an hour and a half of broken-up sleep, so i looked like hell, the car looked like hell, and finn was screaming bloody murder in the backseat- SOOO embarrassing- but hey, the dude got a great tip! : ) looked like we were moving in, but just staying for the weekend- our bell-boy said he'd seen much more stuff- i think he said that just to make me feel better : )... well, the little guys were so exhausted that they were fed at 10 and didn't wake up until 4!!!!! that was absolutely wonderful.  so we woke up rested (somewhat) and ready to have a fun day in chicago!! our plans for the weekend were to visit the shedd aquarium, the sears tower, the shops on michigan avenue, and the chicago museum of science and industry.  well, i blame the line at the shedd aquarium, which was our first visit- 1 1/2 hours wait! couldn't do that with the babies, so our grand plan was kinda shot... we ended up buying tickets online for the next day, but the combination of that happening and having to go back to the hotel to feed the babies/pump made us realize that we weren't going to accomplish what we'd hoped.  another lesson- plans made with babies rarely turn out as expected! this was okay, though, it was supposed to be somewhat relaxing, too!  we did do the aquarium the next day (saturday), which was a lot of fun- the babies did great in their carriers- looking all around at all the bright colors... we ended up walking up and down the magnificent mile and enjoying some yummy giardano's pizza...  we alternated the stroller and the carriers when we needed to take the subway- worked out well that we didn't ever need our car, for which i'm sure the babies were thankful.

the drive home is still a little raw for me to go into lots of detail, but again, it was never-ending, they shut down I-70!, so we had to take a detour, the babies hated being confined, it was raining at almost every stop we made, making it really hard to change the babies without getting soaked, etcera, etcera... we finally got home at around 9, fed the babies, and i was rocking liam to sleep after his whole bottle- which then ALL came right back up- ALL OVER ME.  i felt the need to document it, so i'm sorry to have that be the last picture of the post, but i'm sure all of you moms will appreciate it...

all in all, we're glad we did it, because we needed to get out of the house for a bit- and like i said before, we just learned that we need a bigger car so one of us can be back there to entertain! here are a few pics from the journey- enjoy!!! : )

we're gonna need a bigger boat...

after working my first shift back after maternity leave... SO excited!!

and just a tad delirious

he thinks this is going to be fun...

he, however, knows it will not

i took their socks off because i thought they might be crying because they were too hot-

this worked for about 2 1/2 minutes...

our makeshift feeding stations...

finally, we arrive at our hotel!! the beverly hillbillies are here! : )

seriously, the nicest hotel we've ever stayed in

ready for a fun day in chicago

liam helping daddy figure out where to go

waiting for our train

exploring at the shedd aquarium

all i wanted to do was find the characters of finding nemo: crush

dory

and of course, marlin and nemo

the very model of a modern major general

we got these cheesy hats because liam had gotten a little sunburnt the previous day : (

they didn't quite fit

enjoying hot dogs and the view on the lawn in front of the aquarium

what a way to end the trip

and after all this, i discover that tiff and dan were in chicago AT THE SAME TIME!?!?!?!??! i still really don't want to talk about it... : )

three months

we can't believe they're already three months old, but it's definitely a welcome age... they're technically 7 weeks old (adjusted age), so they've started to respond in the last couple of weeks, instead of just being blobs that suck the life out of us... and i mean that in the most loving way :).  liam started being able to lift his head and look to both sides, but because finn's head is smaller, he started holding it up for longer periods of time first... they might be little leap froggers when it comes to developmental milestones- keeps it interesting, i guess :)... about a week ago, we both got smiles that were on purpose, which were wonderful- the first sign of non-blob-ness!! they keep getting bigger, but we haven't been for a weight check since the 12th, and liam was 9 pounds and finn was 7#9... so we're thinking by now, liam is well over 10 pounds, if not 11, and hopefully, finn has hit the double digits! they change every single day, but here are a few recent pictures... enjoy!! : )

so so strong- it's hard holding those cheeks up!

buddies, sleeping after tummy time

sweet little finney

one crib might be too small... : (

kind of a smile... : )

little drunk bird again... :)

two months already!

liam -- finn

so liam and finn had their two month appointment on tuesday.  it went very well- liam is 7 pounds 12 ounces!! and finn is a pound behind at 6 pounds 9 ounces... finn is still spitting up a lot, so that was one of our main concerns, that he was gaining weight appropriately- he's doing just fine, gaining a little over a half an ounce a day, which is what they want to see.  i think we wouldn't be so worried if his brother wasn't such a chunk, gaining an ounce a day!!  so we talked about reflux (mom's getting tired of doing laundry, but definitely not enough to make him loopy with reglan), talked about the shape of their little heads (they kind of got the "toaster head" look from being preemies)- apparently, they won't look like that forever, much to my relief :), and they got their first immunizations... not fun. mostly for me... i don't think i was prepared, plus i'm sleep deprived, so the tears were immediate and didn't stop quickly... but they only cried for seconds, and did well for the rest of the day- even slept a little longer that night... :) oh, if only it would have lasted.  so they are good little 2 month-olds! now we can start the time-table on when we can begin to stretch out their nighttime feedings and get them sleeping through the night!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! that CANNOT come soon enough!

our first adventure in the stroller/one of our favorite gifts

getting this stroller has been a long time coming.  we thought we had it all figured out- we bought our carseats, and since i'm so anti-"stuff", we bought the snap-n-go, which is just a frame that the carseats sit in.  i was so excited, because it got great reviews, it was so easy to use, blah, blah, blah...  i have a friend at work who is about to have twin girls, so we've been sharing tips and info about all the different aspects of having twins... she sends me an e-mail one day (i believe liam and finn were already here, but maybe still in the NICU) and asks me what stroller we got.  she already knew that we got our chicco carseats, and wanted to tell me that they weren't going to get the snap-n-go because it wasn't compatible with the chicco carseats. say what?!?!?! so yes, bryan looked at our stroller, only to find out that it's pretty 

much compatible with EVERY OTHER CARSEAT but ours... of course it is.  so now we're back to square one.  and still having a problem with too much crap in our house, we finally (after much going back and forth as to what we were going to get) settled on the peg-perego.  we love love love it! and i think the boys do too:

here they are, excited to go on their first adventure in the new stroller

enjoying the sweets at our grocery store

stopped in the park on the way home for a little sand volleyball

and finally, before heading home, a ride on the swing set

so i can't end this post without mentioning liam and finn's attire... i've honestly been looking forward to these gifts since mary asked me for my address way before the babies were born.  mary zschogner (or zuzhenheimer, whichever) is the most talented knitter i've ever met- we worked together in fresno, and before SAMC got crazy busy, we used to knit and crochet on the slower nights... ahh, those were the days. :) mary was always working on something, and we even caught her knitting IN HER SLEEP!!! she knit the triplets adorable hat/sweater sets when they were born, so i had a feeling we would get something along those lines... she also knitted them special blankets complete with their initials (she knows how much i love initialing things :)). i can't believe how beautiful they are- so of course, we had to wear them out! even though it was an unseasonably 65 degree day in february, the babies really wanted to show them off!! :)

i'm hoping the weather stays warm for good soon, i'm going crazy! being cooped up in this house!! :) oh, and in case you couldn't tell, liam is on the left and finn is on the right! :)