1+1 = 11 (Months!)

It's nearly Christmas time again and I think back to how we spent the holiday season last year. Me with my huge belly full of babies, family visiting our house, relaxing while playing Xbox with my husband and enjoying every kick and movement that our babies made. I have great memories from last Christmas that's for certain. I am sure that this holiday season will be just as magical. I look forward to spending it with more family and watching our babies in the midst of it all.

The past month was a fairly big one for us regarding milestones. Hayden took his first steps on November 23rd and hasn't stopped since. He's now almost running around the house! When he falls down, which he does quite frequently, he just gets back up and tries again like it's no big deal to him. He also loves to carry around an object in each hand while he walks, which is adorable. It's usually two small toys, books or blocks, but sometimes it's baking spoons or socks, anything he finds interesting. He also got a third tooth on the bottom, which I noticed on December 13th.

Claire stood on her own once so far, on November 30th, but hasn't attempted it yet again. We think she can do it, but just doesn't realize that she can. If I try to stand her up she just sits down right away. It seems she prefers to crawl, and she has gotten really fast! I look forward to her learning to walk and toddling around the house after her brother, but I also love that she's a crawler. It makes her seem like a baby still. She has been working on her top four, yes four teeth, for a couple of weeks and her two front teethe came through on December 5th & 7th. Now she has a bunny smile, which is just simply precious. Her other two top teeth seem to be close to poking through, so we'll see in the next couple of weeks if they do.

We celebrated St. Nicolas Day on December the 6th and the babies opened up small gifts of Weeble toys. They carried them around for days. I think they are a hit. Claire was pretty good at opening the presents once I got the paper started for her.

St. Nicolas Day!

On the Weekend of December 7-9th we celebrated a very early Christmas at my parents place at the lake. They had set up a beautiful tree and we opened all of the presents underneath, most of which were toys for the babies. Claire got a Disney Princess Little People castle, two adorable dolls which sleep with her in her crib, some clothes and bibs. Hayden got a Mega Blocks ride-on fire truck, a Mega Blocks tractor, a Little People firetruck, clothes and bibs. Also they received three Christmas board books, which we're taking along to Manitoba to read to them while we're gone over the holidays.

We are looking forward to our trip to Manitoba, to celebrate Christmas with Phil's family, stopping along the way to see a few friends. We plan to travel there in two days, depending on how the babies are doing in the truck. We also get to use our new Peg Perego convertible car seats. The next stage up from the infant buckets we are currently using. I guess from now on we'll be carrying the babies into stores or using the stroller/shopping carts more. We've always just carried the babies around in their buckets, but they're just about at the limit now and it's time to move up. Another milestone crossed.

Wishing everyone a very Happy Holiday Season!
Love The Smeltz Family

Merry Christmas from The Smeltz Family

Claire & Hayden 11 Months 

Christmas Cookies!

Claire 11 Months 

Hayden 11 Months 

Double Digits: Ten Months!

I think I say this every month, but I truly don't believe it's been ten months since we were in the hospital meeting our babies. This month we've been working on independent movement skills!

On October 13th, shortly after turning nine months old, Hayden walked behind his hippo push toy for the first time.

On October 15th, in the evening, Claire suddenly crawled for the first time. I don't think she knew she could crawl and neither did I! Then for the next couple of days, she went back to laying on her tummy and pulling herself across the carpet by grasping the fibers with her hands and pulling her whole body along the floor. My crawling "assistance" seemed to go unnoticed. She's been crawling up a storm ever since. She also crawls at a super baby speed and is much quicker than her brother.

I noticed the babies playing together for the first time, laughing and chasing each other around the living room floor on October 28th. This is adorable to watch. They will look back and check on their twin and then laugh and crawl off speedily in the other direction like they might be playing tag.

Then, (as if they weren't learning fast enough already) Hayden stood up without holding onto anything at all on November 2nd. He stood there for a few seconds (10 seconds perhaps as a guess) and then slowly sat himself down onto the floor. He's getting more adventurous now and will practice standing up all by himself every few days.

On November 3rd, Hayden climbed the stairs for the first time! He had been crawling over to the bottom of the stairs for a few days and patting the second step with his hands. Then he figured out he could put his knee up on the first step and away he went. We've noticed that he will climb the entire flight, but mostly just prefers to go up a couple of steps and then sit down.

A few days later, on November 7th, Claire decided that she was also ready to climb the stairs for the first time! She didn't just do a couple of steps but went all the way from the basement onto the main floor for supper time. She is very adventurous and will climb stairs anytime she's given half the chance, and as with the crawling speed, she also attacks the stairs with the same level of energy. Needless to say the baby gates are now up throughout our house.

This month we celebrated Daddy's birthday by staying at home as a family and having yummy indian food for supper. The babies liked the butter chicken and most of the other dishes. They didn't really sign along to happy birthday but I'm sure they would have if they could. We then ate cake that I made, and the babies loved that too. (Thanks to Grandpa the babies are accustomed to eating cake!)

We also celebrated the babies' first Halloween this month! My favorite holiday for certain. We went to the TTMAC Halloween party the weekend before and the babies had the chance to play with some of their friends in the "Pumpkin Patch". Then on Halloween night, we stopped in at a friend's place to visit and later handed out candy at our own house. Claire was the most precious unicorn ever, while Hayden was the cutest dragon in the world. The babies played with glow bracelets we were giving away(along with the candy treats) in their costumes while kids came to the door. We had a great time and are already looking forward to next year!

Discovery of our Jack-O-Lantern
(Claire ripped off one of it's eyes)

Halloween Medieval Themed Costumes

Trying to get two ten month olds to sit still...

The best photo I managed to get

Nine Month Twins

This month our babies learned quite a few new feats, but first a very interesting fact. On October 2nd our babies were exactly 38 weeks old. The day that they were in the world just as long as they were in my tummy. I think that's really neat.

On September 8th, both babies got up on their hands and knees and started rocking back and forth. Hayden started getting up into a "Bear Crawl" pose on September 20th and attempted to crawl this way. It didn't really work so well with feet on his sleepers.On September 22nd Hayden started doing a yoga pose in which he posed with one hand in the air and twisted around to see people or objects. By September 26th Claire was crawling backwards and Hayden was doing a one legged crawl, to get a water bottle, using only his left side. By October 1st Hayden could do a "Frog Hop' type of movement and was getting around the house fairly well. Once we got to Canmore for Thanksgiving on October 5th Hayden was crawling like a pro. On October 11th, the babies' nine month birthday, Hayden was standing and transferring from his toys to the furniture. October 13th he was pushing his hippo toy across the floor. It won't be long now until he can walk all on his own! Things are moving along very fast in just a couple of weeks time!

The babies began to pull up on furniture on their own at only 7 months old. By 8 months they could pull themselves up on nearly anything within reach. Hayden typically does this many times a day and Claire only does it when she really wants something. I often find Hayden standing in his crib in the mornings, since he figured out how to stand last month. The babies typically use mommy as a pull up bar, but will also use their crib, small furniture and best of all, their toys. We bought them a bouncing zebra toy (Fisher-Price Go Baby Go! Bounce & Spin Zebra), for use once they can walk, however they seem to find it very interesting and will use the reins on the zebra to stand up and then bat at the spinning ball part which makes the music turn on. I think I have a couple of geniuses on my hands!

Both are good eaters and love Grandpa's homemade chicken soup. They also eat various veggies and fruits and we are always trying new things. They like nearly everything we offer them but still make silly faces sometimes.

Claire learned to Pat-a-cake and clap her hands while grannie was singing to her on October 9th and we're now practicing everyday. I find it adorable! The babies also love the open and close toys, which they can slam shut the little windows. Then I pop them back open and they slam them shut again. They like blocks and rings as well right now, but their favorite toy seems to be the standing table toy (Fisher Price Busy Friends Musical Table). They use it right now without the legs and play sitting on the floor or standing like bear cubs. They also both love going in their Jolly Jumper and will bounce for a really long time, all the while laughing their heads off. I think it's helping to strengthen their little legs. We also still use their swings quite a bit, mostly for morning and afternoon nap times. (I am not sure what I am going to do once they hit 25lbs and can no longer use the swings! I guess I'll need to find a new routine and am hoping that transition will not be too difficult.)

Claire playing Pat-a-cake!

We rarely use their bouncy chairs anymore. I think those were very handy from newborn - 6 months or so, but once they figured out they could lean forward and try to escape, the chairs weren't as handy. I'm glad we had them, but now they just take up space more than anything. I also liked having exersaucers (We have three. Two which are stable and one with springs.), but I think we are almost finished with those too. The babies would rather move around than be stuck in one toy. One of the exersaucers converts into a standing play table so they'll at least get to play with it for awhile yet.

Playing while standing up

Claire isn't yet crawling but is rather pulling herself along on her tummy using her hands. She still gets "stuck" on her tummy and then screams for one of us to come and save her and sit her back up. She doesn't really like to roll much yet if she doesn't have to. I suspect she may not crawl at all, but rather just start walking one of these days.

This past month we spent some time at Grandma & Grandpa's house visiting, we went to Leduc to visit Phil's brother and to the farmers market, and we started Little Dippers swimming classes. Swimming as a family in this class is wonderful. We have the babies do back floats with their ears in the water, front floats (where they love to splash the surface of the water!), bobs (where they go underwater) and a bunch of other cute actions set to really adorable songs. We are enrolled from September to December and will likely join again in the springtime as the babies really seem to enjoy it.

On September 26th, after taking the babies to swim class, my Mom and I took the babies to the health clinic to use their weigh scales and measuring tools. I am not certain that I measured or weighed the babies properly, but I at least have a general idea of where they are at. Claire weighed 17lbs 4oz and was 26" long. Hayden weighed 18lbs 14 oz and was 26.25" long. I also measured their heads at home mid September, Claire's was 18" and Hayden's was 18.5". We don't get them professionally weighed and measured again until they are one year old, so I plan to take them myself again at ten months too.

We spent the babies first Thanksgiving in Canmore with family. Both sets of Grandparents were there, as well as two uncles, one aunt & one cousin. The babies got spoiled with so much attention from everyone! We had a wonderful time and cooked up a nice big turkey dinner while staying at the condos. We also got good use out of the hot tub and I even used the gym two out of three mornings. I wish I had a home gym! Seems I'd actually use it. Perhaps an idea for the new house.

I'm not sure where these past nine months have gone. It seems to me that only yesterday I was in the hospital meeting my two beautiful little babies. They are getting so big and soon will be motoring around on their own. I truly can't believe it. I still can't believe they are here. I am so blessed and stop to gaze at these two tiny, wondrous people every single day.

Nine Months Old!

Eight Month Updates

Before I begin, I've gone back and added photos to the six and seven month posts.


Eight months have flown by in the blink of an eye. Summer is now coming to a close and the hectic travel schedule is settling down somewhat. Our twins are getting so very big.

Hayden's teeth popped through shortly after my last post, on Aug 11-12, just in time for Grandma's 60th birthday party. He fussed for a couple of days but over all did quite well. I realized today that I haven't taken any teeth pictures of his teeth! Bad, bad mommy. So I'll have to get on that.

Also at the end of August both babies learned to pull themselves up using mommy as a climbing apparatus, so they can both pull themselves from a sitting to a standing position now. They are also getting up onto their hands and knees and rocking back and forth like they are trying to learn to crawl. I'm guessing that will happen any day now! Hayden is already pretty skilled at rolling around the room and moving on his tummy in a random fashion, so he sometimes moves quite good distances in a short amount of time, even if he can't really control where he goes yet.

Both babies have pretty much mastered the art of sitting up and it's now rare that they'll fall backwards and bonk their little heads. I'm thankful for this as it was a bit scary to see them sitting and not know when they might take a tumble and cry. I know they will fall and hurt themselves as they get older but for now I'm going to protect them as best I can.

This month we bought an area rug for them to play on. They both love to sit on our floor and play with their toys. I actually saw them fighting over a toy for the first time today, and decided to let them figure it out on their own. Hayden was pretty vocal when Claire would take the toy from his hands, and Claire did her waving of the hands motion (the one she does when she wants something) each time Hayden would take the toy from her hands. they eventually started playing with separate toys and everything returned to normal, however I suspect they may argue over toys a lot in the future..

Claire now often can be found saying "ba-ba-ba" sounds, while Hayden says "da-da-da" sounds, and both are working on the "thhh" and fffhh"sounds. I'm excited to hear them actually being speaking words and am saying "ma-ma-ma" to them but they haven't picked that one up yet at all..

We did a lot of camping in August after getting our new trailer early in the month and every weekend was jam packed with something going on. We camped at Starland August long, then went out for 4 days to Johnston Canyon with our friends Mandy & Ryan from Regina, and we camped the September long weekend at Aspen Crossing just south of the city. We went out to the Millarville Farmers Market. I highly recommend this market if you're in the Calgary area and am looking forward to the Christmas Market in November this year. We drove to Leduc to see Phil's brother this past weekend and are planning on attempting one last camping trip this weekend coming up as a big family outing to celebrate, my brother, Ryan's birthday with him.

Our last little bit of news from this past month, is that we are building a new house! My dad kept telling us to check out this small town nearby Calgary and we kept thinking it was un-affordable. On the return trip from one camping weekend, while towing our old camping trailer, we decided to drive through and give it a look. A couple of days later we drove back out, sans trailer, and looked at the showhomes in one area. We were surprised to learn that the lots were much larger than our current lot, and the houses were decently sized (okay, big for a family of four). while the prices were less expensive than the city. On our way out of town we spotted an "estate" area and, half jokingly, decided to stop at the showhomes there to browse as well. We left with a bit to consider and long story short decided to build a new house with a custom home builder in the estate area, along a golf course.

I'm looking forward to having much more space for Claire & Hayden as they grow up, both in and outside of the house. They will be able to have their own rooms and enough space for a play structure in the back yard. There are two elementary schools within a 5 minute drive, plus pre-schools in the area. We give up the amenities like grocery stores (and traffic lights!), but it hopefully will just force us to plan our meals and buy what we need less often, since we will have to drive 10-15 minutes to the nearest big store. I suspect a second vehicle may be in order but we will be holding that off for as long as possible. Today, we finalized the exterior colours to be sent for architectural approval. The building is scheduled to begin in October. I'll update on the house as it is constructed.

Also the iphone 5 finally came out (I've only been waiting since early 2009 for this release!). I'm set to replace my dinosaur iphone 3G with a shiney new white iphone 5 at the end of this month. Perhaps the app for this blog will once again work on my mobile device.

I'm already excited for Hallowe'en this year and have ordered costumes for the whole family, but am not telling what they are. We plan to attend the twins group hallowe'en party and the TTMAC (Calgary wide twins) party, as well as going to a few friends' doors just for fun. Grandma may come out to stay with us to hand out candy and see the babies. Hallowe'en is the best holiday of the year for sure!

Since it's started to get colder, I've been considering buying the babies snowsuits for the winter months. I have some picked out from North Face but am currently stumped on which size to buy, 6-12mo or 12-18mo? They'll be 12 months right smack in the middle of the winter and I certainly do not want to have them outgrow their snowsuits. I'll ponder it some more and then start looking for toques and mittens and boots.. I've noticed that these things are difficult to find in such tiny sizes. I also ordered them some waterproof fleece bunting bags from JJ Crew called Bundle Me which zip onto their stroller seats to keep them warm without having to use blankets. So, I'm almost ready for winter!

Claire & Hayden Eight Months! Taken September 11, 2012

A Whole Seven Months

The last month has flown by so quickly!

We started the babies on some solid foods this month, just as they'd turned six months old. They've tried sweet potatoes, apples, bananas, potatoes, lemon, pickles, carrots, cucumber and nectarines so far. Mashed potatoes seem to be their favorite, with nectarines being a close second for Hayden and lemons being second for Claire.

Toward the end of July, we drove to my parents place for the weekend, to celebrate my dad's birthday and had a great time in front of the fire, playing on the lawn and visiting. The babies learned to sit on their own this month! While they can't yet sit up on their own from a laying position, they can sit without help. So I'm counting it.

Then we were off to Banff to see even more family, take in the tourist sights and have a mini vacation, staying in Dead Man's Flats for a few days. We did some tourist shopping while there, took the gondola to the top of Sulphur Mountain, (babies' first gondola ride), went on a boat tour of Lake Minnewanka (babies' first boat ride), went to Lake Louise rode another gondola and saw the lake there.

We returned to Calgary and went to the zoo, which was another babies' first. I'm not sure they saw a lot of animals but they were intrigued by the fish tanks and the penguin exhibit. We also spent a day shopping at Cross Iron and swam in the hotel pool where our sister-in-law and nephew stayed. On July 27th we noticed a tooth appear in the bottom of Claire's mouth. On the 28th there was a second tooth surfacing and by July 29th both suddenly popped out the same day! She barely complained at all.

We also sold both of our quads in July. I was sad to see them go, but the practicality of owning quads with having babies just isn't there. Our quads got good homes. End of July we also traded in our toy hauler camping trailer for a more family friendly trailer.

The August long weekend we spent camping at Starland in the Alberta Bad Lands with friends and family. Our last trip with our toy hauler trailer before trading it in. I'll miss the trailer mostly because of the me memories, like telling Phil that we were expecting (though at that time we had no idea we were expecting more than we assumed!) I hope our trailer will also find a good home.

Our plans for the weekend this weekend, as our babies turn seven months old, are to celebrate my Mom's (aka Grandma's) 60th birthday! I made a good attempt at making her a tiered, fondant, chocolate/red velvet cake for the occasion. I think she likes it and we will get to taste it tomorrow.

Also we noticed yesterday, August 9th, that Hayden had two bottom teeth pushing through. He was extra fussy, and for good reason. Today the toofs are poking through and nearly there. Perhaps tomorrow he will find some relief, poor guy.

Next week, more camping. This time in Banff area, with friends from Regina, four days of camping and in our spiffy new trailer. Then a 5k run on the weekend. At night. In the dark. In Glenmore Park. Phil may be running it alone though, as I feel it's too late for the babies to be out, plus they don't allow strollers on this run.

Summers alway seem so very busy, and they fly by so quickly. We try to stop everyday and admire our babies. I just love that our cubs are such good babies. I know they'll be walking and talking before we know it. I read a really sweet sentiment this month. It said something like:

"The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow,
But children grow up, as I've learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep."

Claire & Hayden - Seven Months! Taken August 11th, 2012

Six Month Milestone

We have been travelling all over the country this summer and it's been busy. Hence this late post.

So here's what we've been up to. We had spent a good portion of May in Manitoba. Then a few weeks at home, in June, where we all picked up the flu someplace. (The babies' first colds.) They didn't complain much and were such troopers with all of the medicines, thermometers and nose wiping. Poor little guys were all stuffed up and feverish but we made it through just in time for our flight to Ottawa, along with some antibiotics and probiotics to counter the antibiotic effects.

The babies' first flight! They were clearly born to fly, as they slept most of the way. (Now if I could just convince that husband of mine to go on a family tropical beach vacation..)

We were in the capital for two and a half weeks to visit family and to attend a wedding. It was nice to spend more time with family. We saw some Canada Day fireworks from our hotel. Not the Parliament Hill fireworks, but they were nice enough. We will have to return someday when our kids are older to see those fireworks.

While we were away the babies became really good at rolling over, they learned to hold their own bottles as well.

We arrived back home just as our babies turned six months old.

Hayden & Claire Six Months! Taken July 11, 2012

Five Months and Growing Strong

It's June already and we're 5 months of age. I'm not sure where the time is going. I'm feeling like our twins are about 2 months, tops. We had a great trip last month to Manitoba and the babies met so many new people. This month we took the babies camping for the first time in our trailer (which we're hoping to sell soon, along with our ATVs). They seemed to really like camping. Grandma & Grandpa came along for one night and we had a really nice time. Also, end of the month we are flying to Ottawa for two weeks, to attend a wedding and to see more family. Grannie & Grandpa will be there too, so we get to see them again really soon!

The babies put everything in their mouths now and are drooling a lot more. Teeth may be coming soon, but no sign of them yet. Hayden has been working on learning to sit up and learning to walk when held. (Grannie had him walking all over her living room last month!) He's pretty good at both, but not quite there yet. We are hoping for a few more months of non-mobility. Claire has continued to do great at tummy time and is still a poor napper. She fights sleep, as if she doesn't want to miss a thing. Both babies love their exersaucers and jumper, so now we have more playtime in the mornings and afternoons between napping (or fighting off a nap in Claire's case). Good thing they both sleep through the night most of the time now, with only the occasional early morning waking, or we wouldn't get any rest! I also like to read books to the babies whenever I can. They have a fun little toy book that squeaks and makes rattling/crunching noises, a whole bunch of board books and even some cloth books that Grandma sewed for them, which I love taking in the car to prop up on the seat so they can look at the pictures. They're also beginning to grab objects with both hands now, which is completely amazing to watch. I love these little guys more than words can express.

At their 4 month check up (really 4 and a half months - May 30) Claire weighed 13lbs 2oz and was 59cm long. Hayden weighed 14lbs 6oz and was 59.5cm long. Both are healthy and doing well. Soon they will be too heavy for the top bassinets of their pack-n-plays and sleeping in their nursery, in the crib together. Perhaps once we return from Ottawa. Also as a side note, the batteries died in their Snuzas (breathing safety alarms the babies wear on their diapers at night time), on the exact same day, last week. So we'll be sleeping without monitors for a few weeks until the new ones arrive which we had to order from Australia! So far Mommy hasn't been overly worried, though I do check their tummies from time to time during the nights just to settle my mind enough to sleep soundly.

Looking forward to our upcoming trip and seeing how the babies will do with flying for the first time!

Four generations. Taken May 2012 in Thompson, MB

Proud Grandma & Great-Grandma!

We're 5 months old!

Claire at 5 months!

Hayden at 5 months!

Four Whole Months

Our twins will be four months old on Friday May 11th. It's hard to believe we've been sleep deprived for nearly four months now and even more so that we have had these tiny people living in our house for this long already! People always told me "They grow up too fast" and so far it is true. I hope they will slow down just a little bit. I love having babies in the house.

We have noticed that as they grow, they do nothing short of miraculous things. Small things, which we take for granted everyday, but incredible feats for a baby. They have discovered their hands and love to stare at them in amazement, they make cute cooing/talking noises which we just adore, and they like to stand up on our laps and look at everything around them. The grocery store is a great place to entertain babies. We've taken Claire in a carrier - they can see so many things, also they love to smile at people. We are so in love with these two little people - whom I still can not believe grew inside of my belly. Wow.

Tomorrow we leave for Manitoba for a vacation to visit family, so I took the babies' four month photos two days early.

We're (nearly) Four Months Old!

We are travelling to Thompson on an impromptu trip to see my grandmother, who was recently in the hospital. Our original plan was to meet her in Winnipeg, but since she can not travel right now, we are going to go to her. She will get to meet her only great-grandbabies. She is thrilled and has been talking about meeting the babies since we visited her last September. I am looking forward to the experience as well. Also my mom is flying in, so we will have four generations in one place.

From Thompson we will be going to Winnipeg for a short stay to visit friends and tour our old city. We are planning on taking the babies to the forks (and of course to BDI and the Pancake House. It's all about the food..I'm not sure that's a good thing..) It'll be like a walk down memory lane. We haven't spent time in Winnipeg since 2004.

Then, we will be off to Brandon for a family 50th wedding anniversary party on May long weekend. I imagine we will be seeing a lot of family and the babies will either be social butterflies or make strange.. lately they've been learning to make strange when new people hold them. I'm hoping the babies will be in a good mood that day so everyone can see how adorable they really are.

After all of that touring around Manitoba,we will be spending a week out at the farm for some relaxing and visiting with Grannie & Grandpa Smeltz. I can't wait!

We've packed a small arsenal of baby gear in rubbermaids, diaper bags and suitcases. Plus we've got our camera and laptop bags. I hope we haven't forgotten anything we'll need, but like usual I'm sure I've over packed for us. Early morning we'll load the truck and head out (which, of course, I am sure will not be as simple as it sounds). Our goal on day one is to get to Prince Albert, SK and over night it, then day two - to Thompson!

Three Months Already!

As of April 11th, our babies were three months old! A quarter of a year already!

On April 13th we all went for our last APrON appointment (the nutrition, pregnancy and baby study). I had the normal blood draw, measurements and urine sampling. This time they also took a breast-milk sample. The babies each had heel pokes and cheek swabs fpr their 12 week tests, which they tolerated wonderfully. Claire barely fussed and Hayden, who we thought would scream, didn't even make a peep. Hayden weighed in at 13lbs 2oz and Claire weighed 11lbs 9oz.

Our little family of four is doing great. We're thankful to all of our friends and family for the plethora of baby gifts. Our children have everything they could need and a lot of beautiful, one of a kind, homemade items as well, which we just love. This past month the babies have been working more on their neck muscles and tummy time. They like to stand up on our laps now and are getting very strong. We have to hold onto the babies pretty tightly or they'll attempt to launch themselves with their legs. We think that they may be fairly close to rolling over on their own, as they seem to be trying their best. Head and neck control has been achieved and now they're learning to sit up by themselves in their brand new Bumbo chairs. My babies are growing up fast and getting so big!

Hanging out in our new Bumbo chairs April 19th

The babies still love their swing. They also like to go shopping, aka for truck rides, and out for walks. Although they still seem to despise their infant buckets when first put in, they calm down once we start moving. We've been to a few malls, some grocery stores, out for supper, our local Starbucks and the parks around our community. We're not sleeping through the night yet but getting closer. The average is now 5-6 hours overnights plus random naps during the day. Hayden is a great sleeper most of the time now, while Claire doesn't seem to want to miss anything and is often found fighting to stay awake. She is also infatuated with the colours on tv. Hayden is fascinated with smiles and faces.

The babies are still eating about 100mls every 3 hours or so on a basic schedule during the day and thankfully still on the same schedule. They are on formula plus breastfeeding, though after three months now I have stopped pumping, as it wasn't worth taking time away from the babies. The babies are both good eaters, though Hayden still has some issue with his sucking motions from his first week home. He is most definitely not a soother baby. Claire will take a soother but she doesn't really seem like too much of a soother baby either. Now if I could just find a way to keep their thumbs out of their mouths, which were discovered this month. I'm hoping we don't have issues in the future with our thumbs.

Here is their three month photo with their stuffed owl, taken on April 11th, 2012.

We are Three Months Old!

Two Months Old!

As of Sunday our babies were two whole months old! It went by so very quickly.

They're doing great and learning to focus on objects and lift up their heads. Tummy time is enjoyed by Claire, who is a champ at it, but not so much by Hayden. He seems to prefer to put his arms back in a superman pose, which is not so good when trying to hold up ones head. He will get it I'm sure. The babies also like to admire their playgym and love their swing. It soothes them to sleep most every afternoon. I only wish we had space for two of them. The other places the babies hang out, beside when being cuddled of course, are their bouncy chairs. They seem to find them comfortable enough for napping as well. Their favorite thing seems to be car rides. They hate getting into their buckets for walks or car rides but once we get moving they fall right to sleep. We've been going for a lot of walks and car rides just to get out of the house every couple of days.

This past month we did have one night where both babies slept through a night a whole 6 hours! But it was only the one time and we continue to hope for more just like it!

The babies still are eating about 100mls every 3 hours or so on a basic schedule and thankfully they're on a similar schedule! They are getting formula plus breastfeeding whenever we can, though after two months I have pretty much given up on pumping as it was a huge time sink and really worth the amount I was getting. We'll see if my milk sticks around or not. I'm just happy to not be chained to that machine eight times a day and to have more time to spend caring for our babies.

This next month coming up we'll likely have Grandma back to help for a bit, we're going to Edmonton for a weekend getaway and to Grandma & Grandpa's place for Easter weekend in April. It's shaping up to be a busy month!

Here is their two month photo with their stuffed owl, taken on March 11th, 2012.

Happy Two Months Babies!

First Month Home

It has been quite a month since our babies came home. We've been doing wonderfully as a family of four and have had help from Grandma Carola and then from Grannie & Grandpa as well. We love having these two new ones in our home. It really changes everything in your life and for the better. I've no idea what I did with my time or my life before we had these two little miracles.

We took the babies to their very first photo shoot on January 21st, a Melinda Gombert's studio. Melinda was really good working with us all. The babies were great and very photogenic. That same day while at the photo shoot Claire lost her cord stump, day 10. Hayden lost his cord stump two days later on day 12. I was glad to see them go and happy that they now have cute little belly buttons!

The babies' first visitor came over on Jan 22. My friend, Robyn, who was leaving for four months. We had a nice little visit with Robyn and her mom. Robyn's mom gave us a sleep sack for Claire. We've been receiving many gift parcels in the mail with clothes, homemade blankets, toys and lots of lovely things. Claire and Hayden say thank you to everyone for all of the love. We have ordered thank you cards and baby announcements and will be mailing them out end of February to everyone.

On Friday Feb 3rd we took the babies out for their first walk around our neighbourhood. We put them into their cute little snow suits and strapped them into their infant seats on their stroller. We walked around the pond and green space near to our place with Grandma Carola and Grandpa Chris, River & Spirit. It was really nice to get out of the house and get some fresh air. I'm sure the babies enjoyed it too. I hope to go on many more walks as the babies get bigger and the weather gets warmer.

This week Grannie Laurie and Grandpa Elwin came for a visit from Manitoba. We loved seeing them and the babies got a lot of cuddles. Mommy managed to get in a bunch of naps! Daddy got one or two naps as well. The added help with feedings, watching the babies, bottles, and cleaning is more than appreciated. We'll be sad to see them go back home and plan to visit the farm in April for a couple of weeks ourselves.

The babies' first month has gone by in the blink of an eye, lightning speed. I still don't fully believe they're here! I mean I feel like the hospital and the babies' birth was all just a dream. It was a good experience and I'll treasure the memories forever. A whole month has passed. I often wonder where I've been, and then I realize I've been here, feeding, burping, changing bums and cuddling the two little people my body created. I'm still in awe of it all.

Here are the babies this weekend with their stuffed owl to mark one month. Every month we plan to take a picture with the same stuffed animal to watch the babies' growth over their first year.

Happy One Month Hayden & Claire!