Busy October and Daddy Moments

We've had a very fun and busy October. The weekend following our Arkansas trip, the girls and I rode the bus to Waco with AJ's cross country team to the state meet. We had a great time with the team, and sweet Julie Brown helped me take care of the girls since AJ was busy with the team.





The next weekend AJ went to Ft. Davis to a planetarium with his astronomy class. They had a good time together, and my parents came to visit and kept us girls company. As always, they helped us a ton and played hard with the girls. The girls love their grandpa and grandma and can even say their names now! My parents were so busy taking pictures that I didn't take time to get any of this trip. Maybe next time.

I'm now 32 weeks pregnant and doing well. I'm less comfortable especially in the constant getting up and sitting down of taking care of toddlers, but I'm thankful Baby Boy and I are staying healthy. This week I contemplated starting potty training the girls, but I feel much relief at the decision to wait until the girls are 2. Thanks for the great advice, Aunt Connie (she's owned a day care for so many years that I consider her the expert). The girls are moving to a big girl bed in the next few days, though, so I'll have to post an update on the experiment of them sharing a full sized bed.

I wanted to highlight a couple sweet Daddy moments from this month. Recently AJ was home alone with the girls and gave them a bath (that's getting a little harder for me these days)! He wasn't sure what clothes to put on, but he wanted to be sure they were warm. So...he dressed them in these coats I had sitting out in their room but left the tags on, not knowing if I was planning to return them. They looked so cute, and I couldn't help but laugh.


This is Lydia's current response when we say "smile!"


Jenna kept her hood on to be sure and stay warm

Then last night I got to go for dinner with some friends. Our friend Jenny is stuck at home for 6 months with her newborn who needs to be kept away from anyone who could get him sick, and she was making her first outing with friends while her husband took care of Baby Blane. AJ decided to take the girls on a date while I was gone. They had a great time going to Quizno's and running errands and met me at the door with big smiles on their face and a new word in their vocabulary. They can now say "date! date!" I'm guessing Daddy's trying to make them think the only person they'll ever go on dates with is him. I'm so glad my girls are growing up with such a thoughtful, loving dad who loves to spend time with them!

Arkansas Trip

We spent the last few days in Arkansas visiting family and friends and attending JBU homecoming. AJ had the opportunity to sing in the Cathedral Choir again, and he loved it so much he can't stop talking about it. Our trip was fast moving (like most of ours) but really great.

The first night we stayed with the Wolters (camp friends). Then, we went on to Arkansas to see AJ's family. We spent Thursday evening with AJ's sister's family and parents. We ate pizza and watched Kevin coach a football game. Friday we hung out with Grandma and Poppy (which the girls are great at saying) then went to Fayetteville for an evening with Uncle Ben and Aunt Maggie. Saturday we got to meet Baby Sullivan (Josh and Rosa's one week old little cutie) and see lots of old friends at our 5 Year Reunion. We stayed with Angie and went to church with her then met all of AJ's family in Fort Smith for Alissa's birthday lunch and playing at the park. We stopped on our way back and stayed with Brock (my brother).

The girls did great most of the time, and we left thankful for so many sweet friendships. As you can see from the clothes, I really only did a good job of taking pictures one day of our trip, but here's what I've got!



Jenna (before we left) who loves to wear her bicycle helmet while walking around the house



Perea Family meets Baby Sullivan--the girls loved him!



AJ, his dad, and his brother with Lydia, Jenna, and Brett



Brett is such a sweet cousin and wanted to love on the girls non-stop!



Eating Alissa's birthday cake



Lydia likes to eat cake with Poppy


Aunt Maggie and Uncle Ben share their cake with Jenna


Walking in the park with Grandma


Cheesy smiles with Uncle Brock

Bubbles

A few updates from the week:

PREGNANCY: I passed my diabetes test this week but not without a hiccup. The first time I took it I went to pre-register at the hospital while I waited the hour for the gross, sugary drink to get into my blood sugar. The meeting went a little long, which I didn't anticipate to be a problem. Well, it was. You have to check your blood sugar within five minutes of an hour, and I was late. So I got to go back with the girls on Wednesday morning and do it again.

FEVERS: The girls have each had a day this week when they've been running a fever. Really they've had no other symptoms besides being whiny, and thankfully the fevers only lasted a day for each of them. This was the first time Jenna's had a fever since her seizure, so it made us a little nervous trying to keep it down and then putting her to bed hoping her fever wouldn't spike and cause a seizure.

BUBBLES: This morning we blew bubbles outside, and although we're starting to get the hang of blowing, we still have a ways to go. That's pretty clear in these pictures which show the girls "blowing"!


Jenna (L) / Lydia (R)

I love my sister!

Jenna and Lydia seem to have a unique desire to take care of each other and be together. They do fight over toys but not as often as I expected. Whenever one gets a toy or drink, usually they ask for one for their sister. They also love to feed each other, tickle each other, hug and kiss each other, and sit next to each other. In fact, Jenna wears us out with the number of times she asks about her sister when they're apart. A new development this week: Lydia sits down then pats the spot next to her and says, "Sissy!" Also this week we were walking through a parking lot, and AJ and I each had the hand of one of the girls. We asked if they wanted to hold their sister's hand, and sure enough our family was a long chain walking hand-in-hand through the parking lot. Too bad I don't have a picture of that one! It's so fun to watch them loving on each other!


Hug!


Kiss!



Sitting on the step together



New songs, words, and animal sounds

Thankful again

Good news! Jenna's MRI came back normal! Now we will move on since there's no findable cause for her seizure. We were told this was the best news we could get, so we're very thankful. Thanks for your prayers and concern.

Here's a picture from today of the girls doing one of their new-found favorite things: crawling up on the couch and looking at books or a picture album of babies (themselves). Jenna's on the left and Lydia's on the right.

Girly girls and the end of a tradition

Over the last few months, AJ and I have been amazed at the love Jenna and Lydia have for girl things. Their current favorite words are baby and flower, and you can usually find them playing with babies along with headbands used as bracelets, a shopping cart, swing, or purse. We really don't think it was intentional on our part; they just seem to have been made with a desire to mother and look pretty.

Well, today I was painting my toenails while they played, and the girls came to observe. Many of you know that Jenna's toenails have been painted ever since we came home from the hospital. It's my primary method to prove that I've never switched them! Many people (especially kids) use Jenna's toenail polish to identify her. I'm sorry to say that will no longer work.

You see, Lydia just kept watching me then eventually took off her shoes and saying "toes, toes" while pointing at her's. I got the message. She wanted her toenails painted. It was a hard decision, but I gave in and told her to sit still and I'd paint her toes. Wow did she sit still! Her toenails look better than Jenna's ever have because she was so enthralled by the process. So it's official. Both of my identical twin girls have painted toenails. I don't think it will help, but Jenna's are pink and Lydia's are red. Oh my, what have I begun?!


Swinging babies--usually two at once


Jenna with her purse and shopping cart after I asked her to smile

Happy brithday, Will! We loved your birthday party!

Jenna, Leila, Taylor, and Lydia eating ice at Will's party


Thanks for coming for Labor Day Weekend, Grandpa and Grandma! We love you!

Jenna has her MRI (which she has to be sedated for) on Monday morning. Please be praying for a good report and a smooth process. If everything is clear, we are done with tests as a result of her seizure in May. Yea!

Midwest Vacation

We had a wonderful time on our midwest vacation earlier this month. We saw lots of dear friends, enjoyed the cool weather, and squeezed in lots of fun outings. The girls were such troopers, and it was fun to watch them observe and explore new things. We flew in and out of Chicago and went to Wisconsin and Minnesota in between. We saw the Friscos, Reimers, Deweys, Fielders, and Scharfs and enjoyed our time to catch up. We got to experience an arboretum, planetarium, aquarium, a field museum, the Hancock building, cute Door County villages, a bike ride, picnics with beautiful views, a cheese factory, a Twins game, a children's museum, and a zoo. Our time was full and fun!

Here's a couple funny stories about traveling with two little girls and lots of stuff. On our flight from Dallas to Chicago we ended up on different flights (long story, mostly about us being cheapskates and taking a headache for a good deal). So...my flight (with Jenna) landed about three hours after AJ and Lydia arrived in Chicago. Everything went fine until I had to add a carseat and a large suitcase to my already large load of Jenna, a small suitcase, a diaper bag, and my purse. I broke the rule about leaving bags unattended and eventually got us and our things to a set of chairs where we would spend the next 2 1/2 hours. It was especially interesting when I convinced myself a man was eying us so he could take my stuff when I turned my back to grab Jenna. Later he offered to watch our stuff if I needed to use the restroom or anything and assured me he was a minister and very trustworthy. He was. Jenna needed changed, and all my bags were there when I returned.

Then, in Chicago we used public transportation to travel downtown and had a hilarious moment. Somehow our stop snuck up on us, and we were rushing to get both girls, the stroller, diaper bag, and backpack off the train in time. Well, I got off holding both girls, and the doors closed behind me leaving AJ on the train with all our stuff. I felt panicked at first, but mostly it was just funny, especially since he got back to us in 15 minutes. Thank goodness.

There are too many great pictures to post them all, so click here: Picasa to see more.