June Babies... 11 months

I can't believe it, Linley Grace and Caden are going to be 1 in 10 days.  In the last week I have had 2 people tell me "the days are long but the years go by fast."  It is so true, there are definitely some long days but it goes by so fast and now all of the sudden they are turning 1.  I feel like they were just in NICU and that was almost a year ago.

I don't have their year update just yet but we did go to the developmental doctor last week and found out that developmentally they are getting closer to their real age.  They are doing everything they should be doing for 10 months and somethings they should be doing at 11 months.  The doctor thought that their 18 month check up may be the last we have to go to because they will probably be completely caught up at that point.  They are crawling, pulling up on furniture, furniture crawling (holding on to the furniture and side stepping around it), they pick up cheerios with their fingers, and are eating finger foods in addition to their baby food and formula.

Linley Grace is a rockstar when it comes to eating "real" food, yesterday she had whole wheat pasta, peas, corn and cheddar cheese for lunch... then she didn't take much of her bottle because she was already full.  Caden' on the other hand, not so much.  He doesn't even want to try it, he only wants baby food... go figure.  I do believe we are going to have a problem with him.  I ended up putting a couple puffs on his tray hoping it would get him started and then he would move on to some of the other options, nope, he picked through all of the food looking for the puffs and left everything else.  On occasion he will eat a couple pieces of banana, peaches, avocado and chicken nuggets but nothing near enough to fill him up.  He just starts shaking his head no and refuses to eat anything else until I give him baby food or his bottle.  I can see it now, Linley is going to be eating all grown up food and Caden will still be taking a bottle.

Stay tuned for our adventures in "big people" food...

Caden had a rough day and only wanted daddy...
he must have known it was father's day.

Already intrigued by the phone and iPad, I am
sure he will know more than us soon.

Oh, my little Linley Grace

Dad's 60th birthday

Wow, I am way behind.  Here are a couple of pictures from our weekend in Austin for my dad's 60th surprise party.  He was definitely surprised, the shock on his face was priceless... wish I got a shot of it. 

A quick update...

Sorry it has been so long since I have posted, I have been slammed this past month with work... way too many work hours and not enough me hours.  I can't believe that 1 year ago today I was put on bed rest...

The dreaded sonogram...

My first night it the hospital before my 4
weeks of bed rest.

The babies are 11 months old now! Not sure how much they weigh, but they are big!  They are crawling (Linley on all fours) and they are both pulling up on furniture.  Last night, Linley pulled herself up in the crib so she could see the aquarium and then bang on the crib sides.  Going to need to reconsider the bumpers.

They each have 4 teeth, 2 top, 2 bottom and are starting to eat finger foods.  Nothing too big, just bananas, mum mums, avocados and yogurt melts.  And, we are brushing our teeth now, which they seem to like but Linley tends to bite, ouch!

We also made our first trip to the pool last weekend. Day 1, Caden was good in the water but very clingy, Linley Grace had a blast splashing around in the water.  Day 2, Caden LOVED the water, he splashed and kicked and jumped... it was so cute.

Spring Patio Plant...

Every spring, minus the one where I was massive prego with twins... Trip and I head out to find the Spring/Summer additions to our courtyard patio.  This year we managed to do it all at one nursery... don't think that has ever happened.  Oh wait, I lied, we bought our Lacy Leaf Jap maple at the plant market around the corner from our house.  See, never happens, always requires more than one nursery to complete it all.

This year we even transplanted several bushes to and from the patio and backyard, which came as a surprise to both Trip and I since we hadn't planned on doing it.  None-the-less the patio turned out great... with a new hydrangea, 2 mandevillas, 1 hibiscus, 2 bougainvilleas, 3 splash and caladiums.  I am oh, so happy with how it all turned out.

My new lacy leaf Jap maple and transplanted plum
delight.

Can't wait for my hydrangea to bloom... I love hydrangeas

Spring is here...

We are 6 days away from being 10 months old... I can't believe how quickly the time has past.  Linley Grace has 2 bottom teeth and the most precious smile and giggle... she is finally growing out of her acid reflux and she has become such a happy baby.  We just recently started finger foods, she likes the turkey sticks from Gerber and she is such a little "chomper."  I mimic her sometimes when she is eating and she starts laughing hysterically at mommy copying her.  Caden has one little bottom tooth and a top tooth that is trying so hard to come in.  It has made him a little fussier than usual, but who came blame him... it looks painful.  He has a little bit harder of a time with the solid food... turkey sticks don't seem to cause too much of an issue but give him a Gerber puff and he gags every time.  They are both sitting up like champs and are so close to crawling.  Despite the fact that they don't crawl yet, they seem to have no trouble getting from one side of the living room to the other in no time flat.  Gone are the days where you can leave them on the floor in the living room and leave them, who knows where they will be or what they will be into when you get back.  Caden is getting on his hands and knees and rocking and Linley Grace has the military crawl down pretty well... crawling is coming any day now.

My Emme loves me!

What?

I love my Aunt KB 

WOW... mom got a pic.

Hmmm... this tastes interesting.

April babies...

Our sweet angels turned 9 months on April 6th, I can't believe it.  As Trip's says, they have been out of the womb longer than they were in the womb now.  Linley Grace weighs 15 lbs 6 oz, is in the 4th percentile and Caden weighs 17 lbs 7 oz, the 10th percentile.  If you can believe it, their head size is in the 50th percentile... our pediatrician says it is because their brains are so well developed.  I, of course, am inclined to believe her.  Actually, it does make sense because their verbal and fine motor skills are on track for their real age whereas their physical skills are more on track with their adjust age (rolling over, crawling etc...).  They are both sitting up on their own now and Caden is a rolling, scooting machine.  He can get anywhere he wants to go just by rolling or scooting across the carpet, we have to be really careful as he ends up on the hardwoods or fireplace in no time flat if you aren't paying attention.  Linley Grace does roll over when she wants something but I don't think she cares to be as mobile as Caden does.  She also loves sleeping on her tummy now, doesn't matter how many times I roll her over she just ends up right back on her back.

Oh!  And teeth, they both have teeth.  Linley got her first tooth on April 4th and Caden's came in a couple days later.  Now Linley Grace has 2 bottom teeth (so cute) and 2 top teeth getting ready to break through.  Caden has 1 bottom tooth with 1 bottom and 2 top working their way down.  Poor babies, they have been a little grouchier on occasion because of it.

Linley Grace has started to swing in her bouncer, she has figured out that if she bounces a certain way she can get going from back to forward.  It is pretty funny.

San Francisco I love you...

Trip and I celebrated our 4th anniversary in San Francisco 2 weekends ago, with a short day trip to Napa.  We left our sweet kiddos in good hands, 4 1/2 sets actually; my mom, Trip's mom, my 2 aunts and my sister B (for a portion) + the nanny.  They all stayed at the house and camped out for the weekend while we snuck a way for a little "us" time.  We had such a great time, and the kiddos both survived!  The weather was unbelievable, 70s and sunny, not a cloud in the sky; in fact, we had to strip down both days because it was so hot, it felt more like mid 80s.

Miner Vineyard

On Thursday we spent the day in Napa, we made it to 2 wineries (Miner & Duckhorn) and this amazing hotel bar at the Auberge du Soleil overlooking Napa.  Amazing wine and a great view at the bar, by the way, the rooms range from $1000 - $2000 a night if you are looking for an inexpensive B&B in Napa, ha.  www.aubergedusoleil.com.  But the view was spectacular!

Duckhorn

Patio at Duckhorn

The view from Auberge du Soleil

Friday we headed into San Francisco and spent the day at Union Square, the Fisherman's Wharf, Pier 39, Ghiradelly's Square and then a great little wine Bar in Union Square.  We ate dinner at Kuletos and enjoyed a fantastic bottle of wine from Joseph Phelps!

Saturday we did the Alcatraz tour, something I have never done in all my trips to San Fran... well worth it for anyone who hasn't done it.  The tour is via audio headphones and told from the prison guards and inmates... pretty amazing.  After that we went to the Golden Gate Bridge, had lunch in Sausalito and then went up to Muir Woods.  We ate dinner on our last night at this amazing little Peruvian restaurant near the Ferry Terminal called La Mar, it was amazing.  Probably my favorite restaurant on our trip!

On Sunday, we enjoyed brunch at Mama's, the 45 minute wait was well worth it.  I had a dungeness crab and Brie omelette... AWESOME and Trip had eggs benedict topped with dungeness crab.  We spent the rest of our time on Sunday walking around the bay near the Fisherman's Wharf and ended up enjoying an hour at the park in front of Ghiradelly's square watching the sail boats.

All in all it was a fantastic trip, we had a great time.  Next trip out there will include several days in Napa!