Halloween Continues

The girls got lots of opportunities to put their costumes on. When CeeCee and PopPop came to visit in October, we gave them a little sneak peak at Halloween. 

Yep, I make a pretty cute monkey!

Is this one cute fuzzy duck or what?

The duck loves the monkey

Little Duck Emily is quite taken with Monkey...

...Wouldn't you be?

The Friday before Halloween, my mom's group got together and all the babies got to play in their costumes. 

Addison: "Emily! Don't look now, but there's a bear sitting right next to you!"

Too much partying wears a monkey baby out!

Chris and I took the girls to a family Halloween party with other twin families the weekend before Halloween.


The girls got to reverse trick-or-treat (hand out candy) at the hospital where they were born on Halloween morning. Here they are, ready to go in their stroller with their other Good Sam friends.

Lily the Bear, Nora the Ladybug, Sam in his Halloween duds, and Ellie the Peanut

We even got to go up to the third floor to labor and delivery and we saw one of our favorite nurses from our stay at the hospital.

Want some candy?

Ah! And then came Halloween night. DeeDee came over, and so did Uncle Dylan, Aunt Britney, and Cousin Callie. We spent some time at home, handing out candy, and then we took the party to the streets (well, really just our street, and only about 4 houses on it). The neighbors loved seeing Emily and Addison in their costumes.

I'm gonna get you! 

Callie the monster plays with her cousins

Trick or Treat!

Bathtime with Twins

12/2/11
Tonight I was giving the girls a bath, it was Chris’s turn last bath night, and I realized that this is one time during the day that having two babies really is probably quite a bit different than having one.
Getting them in the tub is really pretty easy. They’re both so excited when they hear that water running and they’re so eager to get in the tub, so they’re pretty cooperative with getting undressed so they can get in that water. Tonight Emily was fussy before bath time, but just sitting her on the bathroom floor so I could turn on the tap brought a smile to her face.

Of course, before the water starts running, it’s important to be all set in the bathroom. Diapers? Check. Jammies? Check. Clean washcloths and towels? Check. Let bathtime begin! While the water’s running, it’s easiest to undress Addison first because she’s pulling up on everything and when she stands in the bathroom it makes me nervous with the tile floor.

Once they’re both in the tub, we can take a deep breath and relax for a minute while they’re both content to splash the water and play with toys. It’s best to suds them up quick now because before you know it, Emily’s ready to swim. She wants to be on her tummy, scooting back and forth, the length of the tub. If Addie’s in the way, Emily just plows right by her, headbutting her way past arms and legs. Luckily, getting shoved out of the way just makes Addison laugh, but then she’s got the movin’ shakin’ bug, too, and all she wants to do is stand.

With one hand I’m trying to finish rinsing Emily’s hair and with the other I’m setting Addison back down on her bottom. While I’m washing Addison, I’m making sure Emily doesn’t suck up water as she swims back and forth across the tub. After setting Addie back down a dozen times, and sitting Emily up to cough out water for the second time, I’m ready for bathtime to be over, even if the girls aren’t.

So begins the drying, diapering, lotioning, pjing process. As soon as I pull Addison out, if Emily’s on her back, the splashing really begins in full force. Arms and legs flailing, water’s hitting the ceiling. Meanwhile, I’ve got Addison pinned between my legs as I wrestle a diaper onto her wriggling body. The minute that second diaper tab connects, I let Addison roll away and I pull Emily out of the bath.

Coming out of the tub is not fun for Emily, since it’s her favorite place to be these days. Now I’m watching nervously as Addison pulls herself up on the edge of the tub, or the toilet lid, or the cabinet door, as I wrestle another diaper onto another little wriggling body.

I’m sure you’re beginning to get the picture. It’s chaos, but it’s over in 5 minutes and we’re all sitting in the rocking chair, having that last wonderful snuggle before bed.

Halloween...It Began in September

One Saturday in mid-September, Chris and I decided to go out looking for the perfect Halloween costumes for Emily and Addison. We decided to hit up the local children's clothing consignment shop, and found a precious fuzzy duckling costume for our little chicken puff Emily. The size of the costume? 0-3 months, but it looked huge, and our Emily is just a little thing, so we snatched it up and journeyed on to find a costume for Addison. There were dragons and ladybugs, bears and elephants, but I held out for a monkey costume for our little monkey. We found one at another store, and bought it in 0-3 month size, too. There was no way our little babies were big enough to fit into the huge 3-6 or 6-9 month costumes!
When we got home, we tried on the costumes, and to our surprise, they were a big snug!

Mom, do you truly think I'll fit into this in a month and a half?!

Good thing the tag's still on!

The girls were fascinated with each other in their costumes. A life-size, moving stuffed animal...what fun!

Emily is mesmerized by her new monkey friend.

8 Months

At 8 months old, the girls were moving around more and more. Addison had started pulling up on things to stand, and walking around the house while holding onto Mom and Dad's hands. Emily learned to army crawl long distances, and no longer feared her sister's wrestling matches because she was now able to escape! Addison got her first tooth on October 16th, and Emily became a real chatterbox with lots of bababas and dadadas.
We started our 8 month photo shoot outside with the pumpkins and snow, but then brought the pumpkins inside for more photo fun.

Watching an eight month old explore her world
everything NEW
so many firsts
I'm truly blessed to get to witness this!

SNOW!

October 26th brought a big snowstorm to Colorado, and I couldn't resist bringing the girls out to experience it. All day, they stared out the windows, amazed at how everything was so bright white. When they actually got to see it up close and touch it, their excitement was contagious. I took a little stroll around the yard with each of them, stopping to look at the snow covered tree branches and touch the snowflakes as they fell. What an amazing day!

Let's get bundled up and go see the snow!

Wow!

Wonderful!

Happy Fall and Happy Thanksgiving!

Towards the end of October, the colors were so vibrant and the days were so beautiful, I just had to take Emily and Addison out to get some fall pictures. Luckily I did, because the day after I took these, we got a huge snowstorm and said goodbye to all the pretty colors. 

A month later, I am posting these pictures and counting my blessings on this very special Thanksgiving day. We have so much to be thankful for this year, and these girls certainly are at the top of our list!

Cousin Callie

Sometimes I watch Callie while Britney is at work. We play with playdough, read books, go on walks, and have fun. Addison adores "big kids" and especially loves her cousin Callie.

Callie has a knack for making Addie laugh!

A Colorful October Day

October was a beautiful month in Colorado. The days were warm, and the leaves on the trees changed nicely without any frosts to make them turn brown, so we had a lot of color.
The girls and I took a walk one lovely afternoon, and Addison discovered that when I unbuckled her, she could stand up in the stroller. Now that is something we call exciting around here!

What Happens When Dad Takes a Walk?

Last month, Chris took the girls on a walk while I had an hour and a half all to myself at home. While I relaxed, the girls had quite an adventure to say the least!

Picture pit-stop!

Hangin' out and havin' fun!

The trail Chris took them on goes around a lake...how pretty!

Walking around a lake, getting out of the stroller for close up encounters with beautiful scenery, even a snake sighting...what great fun with Dad! Then came the cattails!

Nothing like a cattail fuzz snack in the afternoon!

Two Babies, One Shopping Cart

Last month I finally did it, I put both babies in one shopping cart. I'd heard it was possible from other twin moms and I'd been thinking about doing it for quite a while. A month earlier, I took both girls to the grocery store on my own, but I wore Addison while Emily sat in the cart. 


I knew that Sam's club had room for two to sit in the top of the cart, so we started there. The only problem was, even though there were four leg holes, there was only one seat-belt, so Addison had to hold on tight!

Yep, we just had a grand adventure in a huge warehouse full of loud music, bright big-screen tvs, and gigantic jars of pickles!

Since the girls were still smiling, we had an hour before nap time, and I had more errands to run, we decided to keep the shopping trip rolling with a stop at King Soopers.

There's only room for one in this cart, but give us some MumMums and we'll make it work!

These girls are like their mama, shopping wears them out. 

We didn't even make it up to our cribs before we crashed

Emily's wiped out

and so is Addison!

Tuesdays with Grandpa Hicks

One Tuesday a month, we have dinner with Grandpa Hicks and BG. Last month, we visited their new condo downtown. The girls got to see some pretty amazing city views.

We're heading up to the rooftop to eat dinner and see some views of the city

Addie has some post-dinner standing fun with BG

Thanks for making me feel better Aunt Britney!

Downtown Denver at Dusk

Dad says, "Hey! I can see the Fillmore from here!"

Hangin' out 

...and yes, that's an announcement on Callie's shirt!...

Daddy Has an Addie