9 Months Old!!

Uh, really? When you guys were born I remember thinking, "How cool - their birthday is the 24th just like their Daddy!!" and then it got me thinking about how you'd turn 9 months old on his birthday. Yes, I actually thought about that as you were only a few hours old. And look at where we are now!

9 months ago we were here, fresh out of the belly:

 And look at us now!!

This picture cracks me up. Jozlynn, you look like you're laughing hard at something Jeffy just said.

What did we do on your 9 month birthday (and also Daddy's 32nd birthday)?? We went to the cookie store and bought Daddy a fancy cookie in the shape of a birthday cake, just like Mama did 7 years ago when we'd first started dating. 7 years ago Mama wanted to attach the cookie to Daddy's car at work, but it was pouring rain! A nice man pulled up next to Mama's car and I could tell he worked at Daddy's office. I rolled down my window and asked him if he knew who Daddy was and if he could deliver the cookie I'd gotten him. To this day Daddy can't believe I asked a stranger to deliver his cookie since I'm pretty shy! So today, we went to the same cookie store and I lugged you guys inside in your carseats. You are getting too heavy!! Jeffy, as you sat there on the floor in your seat, the cashier smiled at you and you smiled and giggled back at her. She thought you were so cute! Jozlynn, I had set you down in a way that the cashier couldn't see you - but I'm sure she would've said the same thing. :)

Daddy's still at work right now as I type this, and I hope he found his cookie. He was going to a meeting and driving some of his coworkers with him so I hope he wasn't too embarrassed by his little surprise (it was nice and sunny today so we were able to attach the cookie to Daddy's car this time!)

You guys are currently taking your afternoon nap and I'm waiting for you to wake up so I can feed you. Daddy and I want to go out for dinner tonight and I think we're going to attempt taking you to Mongolian BBQ. You can sit really well in highchairs now and you love to look around when we take you to restaurants.

Well I better get going!

Tuesday Evenings with Daddy

I am taking a Zumba class every Tuesday night. Jeff gets home around 5:30 which gives me plenty of time to make it to the class at 6pm. Daddy loves to have a little one on one time playing with the babies! Here he is this past Tuesday (3/8/11)

He is always finding ways to make Jeffy laugh!

Babbling

So much for my once a week post, huh? Here are some videos of the babies that I took about 2 weeks ago. Jozlynn saying "Mama", Jeffrey saying "Dada" and Jozlynn 'talking' to Jeffy.

I think my favorite part of the 3rd video is the fact that they both stopped jabbering as soon as Jeff pulled out the camera. Then once I said, "Act like you're not being video-taped and do what you were doing." they started it back up again. Guess they understood me!

I thought for sure Jozlynn was teething because she hasn't been acting like her normal bubbly self, but so far I haven't seen any more teeth. Jeffrey's up to 4 teeth now and I can feel the 5th one just under his gumline. I'm willing to bet it'll be in within the next few days.

Not much else is going on around here. Jeff leaves to do the 'car swap' this Friday. I'm worried about him driving by himself, but excited about the new (to us) car. I've been feeling kind of anxious and nervous the past couple weeks just anticipating this, and will definitely breathe a sigh of relief once he is back home on Monday.

8 Months Old!!

Seriously? How has it been 8 months since the babies were born? It feels like yesterday that Jeff and I spent our first night home alone with Jozlynn and got the call at noon the following day saying Jeffy was officially discharged. And what did I do on their 8 month 'birthday'? I adjusted their car seat straps to the *final* position. I'm getting choked up just thinking about it. When they were born they barely fit in their car seats. We had to put rolled up washcloths under their butts to make them fit, and even then the straps were about an inch above their shoulders!! They are still in their infant seats currently, which can be used until they are 32 inches tall or 32lbs. Once they outgrow these they will be in convertible car seats, potentially forward-facing (I am still debating whether or not to turn them forward-facing at a year old, I may wait until they are 2). Time is flying so fast, and it is strange to think that they will be a year old in only 4 months! I've already reserved the place where we're hosting their party, which seems completely insane to me!!

Here are some pics I took this morning:

I always love when they hold hands!

For some reason, neither baby wanted to smile for me today. This was the only smile I got and it absolutely cracks me up. Jeffy is such a ham!!

We're in the process of trying to sell our home. We've had it listed since the end of September. From the middle of January until now we've had 3 realtors do walk-throughs with their clients. Last Friday, the 3rd client actually made an offer, which we countered but eventually accepted his final offer. He (the client) was hesitant to sign the purchase agreement right away since his realtor was going on vacation the very next day. Knowing his *slight* hesitation, (and despite the fact that the realtor said the purchase agreement would be presented once he returned/we had a verbal agreement, etc) I just saw red flags all over. 3 days later the realtor - supposedly on vacation - called to tell us his client was backing out. Although he had been pre-approved for a mortgage, he wanted to keep his monthly payment below $x and couldn't do it with the price we had settled on. Seriously? You didn't know how much your monthly payment would be with that offer? You've got to be kidding me. In the 4 days Jeff and I had been looking into new homes, we had been pre-approved for a mortgage and knew - down to the very last penny - exactly how much a monthly payment would be at any given amount. And the realtor claimed his client had been looking "for a long time", not that that matters all that much but you'd think he would know what he was getting himself into?? Wow, just...wow. Obviously we've been through a variety of emotions in the past week, excited, nervous, apprehensive, slightly worried to downright upset. Why do people do this? We had even started contacting realtors about viewing their listings but had to turn right back around and say, well we were interested in the property but our buyer has backed out. I'm still upset. Whatever... if it's meant to be, it's meant to be. I'm sure someone will eventually come along with a legit offer, and maybe there will be more options available for us when we are finally able to start seriously looking.

In other semi-exciting news, Jeff's sister has 'hooked us up' with a deal on one of the vehicles at the dealership she works for in New Mexico. We're about 3 weeks away from trading in his 2010 GMC Terrain for a 2008 Saturn Outlook. Her dealership is willing to give us $3k more on a trade-in than what Jeff currently owes on the Terrain and he'll be saving approximately $120/month by buying the Outlook. A bigger vehicle for less $? How can we say no? It's still practically brand new too, with only 34,000 miles. I am excited about it, but also worried about the fact that they have to meet halfway and will essentially be 'road-tripping' approximately 800 miles to do the switch all by themselves. What can I say, I'm a natural worry-wart.

Well I best be going. The babies are up from their naps!

Pink Eye

I woke up Sunday, February 6 to the strangest sensation. My eyes felt like they were glued shut! This was around 3am, so I jumped out of bed to see what on earth was in/on my eyes. Aside from them being crusty and (very) goobery, once I finally got them pried open to see out of them I realized they were bright red!! I sauntered back to bed, and tried going back to sleep without waking Jeff. I slept very fitfully and woke again about 2 hours later, same story. This time I woke him, telling him something was wrong with my eyes, and asked him to take a look too. He turned the light on and confirmed: "Yeah, they look pretty red." Then turned the light off and went back to bed. The babies woke around 8:30 and I had Jeff feed them because I wasn't sure what was happening with me. My eyes were beginning to itch and burn pretty badly so I told him I thought I'd go to Urgent Care. I'd never had pink eye before, but was almost certain that was what I had. The nurse that took my stats asked, "Have you ever had pink eye?" before the doctor even came in to diagnose me. Yeah, it was that bad. I looked like... a zombie. I was going to post a picture but it's scary. LOL. Anyway, the doctor tells me I have the highly contagious bacterial kind. Well isn't THAT just wonderful. As I'm driving home I'm praying that nobody else in the family gets it, because whatever I'd been exposed to...you can bet the babies have been exposed to as well. I had taken them to the pediatrician the Monday before for their follow-up flu shot. Honestly, that was probably the only place we'd even gone that week so it only made sense that that was where I contracted it...

Jeff's sister was in town visiting and we were supposed to go over to his grandparents' house that afternoon for lunch and to visit some more. We decided it would be best for me to stay home, and I'd try and rest while he took the babies. He called me on his way home, "Jeffy has some goobery drainage in his right eye.." Oh boy. The babies went down for naps shortly after they got home and when Jeffy woke up crying hysterically I was almost afraid of going in there for fear of what I'd find. Sure enough, his eye was all crusted shut and he was pulling at it. 12 hours later, Jeff took him to the same Urgent Care center I'd gone to and Jeffy was diagnosed as well. His eyes never got to the stage mine were at (they never got pink!) so I think we caught it in time.

It's now 2.5 weeks later (Can you believe I started writing this post last week? So much for my once-a-week challenge!!!) and both Jeffy and I are completely healed. Thank goodness! I'm going to post this now and start on my next topic: the babies are 8 months old today!

7 Months Old!! (& Once a Week Challenge)

I am a terrible blogger. When was the last time I updated this? Over a month ago! So many things have happened in the past month but for one reason or another I just never find the time to jump on here and post something. I guess I spend too much time dinking around on Facebook, etc. Oh well...

Happy 7 months Jozlynn and Jeffrey! I honestly cannot believe how big they're getting! Here is their "7 Month" photo:

Updates! Both babies have 2 teeth now. Yep. They're turning into little children right before our eyes! Jeffrey started teething something fierce right after New Years, and on January 6 his first tooth popped through! A mere 2 days later and his second one was already in as well. Man, that was FAST! He was terribly crabby and fussy in the few days leading up to his tooth cutting: Waking in the middle of the night screaming, grabbing at his mouth, etc. Baby Orajel was constantly on hand and a couple nights we gave him Motrin just so he'd sleep OK. It was so sad to see him in that much pain!! I told my mom about it and she said when I was a baby she never even knew I was teething, she just looked in my mouth one day and there were some teeth! So, a week later (January 15) I peeked in Jozlynn's mouth and wouldn't you know - one tooth was already in and the second one was just popping through as well! She didn't act any differently (although, like most babies she has been drooly since she was 2 months old). Like mother like daughter I guess!

Jeffy, who had been fussing a little bit prior to this photo, 

is seen here modeling his new "chompers", and so is Daddy!



In "milestone news", both babies have been sitting up unassisted fairly regularly. They love to be on their bellies and will wiggle to get something but haven't mastered full crawling yet. If they want to wait until their first birthday before becoming completely 'mobile', that is perfectly fine with me!

Such a big boy!

In sleep news, we are completely done with overnight bottles. Part of this was probably related to the fact that they were sharing a room and when Jozlynn would wake up at say...4am, Jeffrey would wake up too and then I'd just give in and feed them knowing they'd inevitably go right back to sleep. (Going back and forth between cribs and replacing pacis for over an hour was just NOT cutting it...) Anyway, we have them in separate rooms now. Jeffy slept all the way through the night the first night, 9pm to 9am - just as I envisioned he would. Jozlynn woke at 4:30am and I let her cry for 3 minutes, gave her a paci, that worked for a few minutes, then I waited 5 minutes, gave her a paci, which worked for another few minutes then waited 10 minutes, gave her a paci and she FELL BACK ASLEEP until 9am! ::Hallelujah:: Believe it or not (I definitely couldn't), that was ALL it took to get her to sleep through the night. Just one night, crying a little bit - without her brother joining her in an echoing chorus to prevent her from falling back asleep. She has been sleeping through the night ever since. At first I was hesitant to split them up because all I could think was how convenient it was to go back and forth between cribs when settling them down for naps, replacing pacis, etc. but the truth is, they woke each other up all the time!! Looking back, I'm kicking myself for not agreeing to do it sooner (like, when they were 3 months old!)

Solid feedings are in full swing, and we have been giving the babies little tastes of what we're eating as well. It's always fun to see their reactions to something new. Jeff and I recently purchased highchairs for the babies, here they are modeling their new 'gear':

I love this picture, doesn't Jeffrey look so proud? "I'm a big kid!"

Well, I think I'm fresh out of things to 'blog' about so I'll end here. In the title of my post I said, "Once a Week Challenge!" I am challenging myself to do a little update every week. I'm afraid I might not have a whole lot to post about weekly so if anyone has any questions or suggestions for post topics, I'm all ears!

Christmas has come & gone!

It's hard to believe Christmas has already come and gone! I am 3 days late in documenting the babies' first Christmas (as well as 6 month update!) but truth be told, I've been too busy! Well, I can't say I've been doing anything all that thrilling or productive (HAHA), but Jeff has been home since December 22 so aside from my normal daily "Mama Duties" I've been really enjoying his company, and putting off my blogging! Without further ado, I will now update with plenty of pictures!

The babies turned 6 months old on Christmas Eve. 6 MONTHS OLD!! How on earth has it already been half a year?! Time is flying by at warp speed now, and as I say in every post - I feel like I just wrote last months' update! Here is a pic I took of them on their '6 month birthday':

Christmas Eve we went to Mass at 4:30pm. Well, actually we arrived at 4:15pm thinking the service started at 4:30 but it didn't start until 5:30. Woops. Somehow 10 of our family members all trusted that we knew what time the service started and we in turn counted on them to save us seats since we figured we'd inevitably be late. My mom called me as we were rushing out the door, "We're the only ones in the Sanctuary and the pastor just came in and told us it doesn't start until 5:30." Oh for cripe's sake. I was so mad. I had even told myself to check the church's website earlier in the afternoon just to be sure of the time. Obviously I forgot to do that. I was completely flustered by the fact that we were running very late (LOL, or so I thought. I'd hoped to leave our house at 3:40, Jeff was just getting in the shower then...) I had already loaded up the car by myself with all the gifts, the diaper bag, the bottles and the babies, when the bomb was dropped. I started half-panicking and telling Jeff, "We can't stay for the 5:30 service! The babies are going to need a nap!! They need to be fed at 6pm!! My mom needs to get back home to put dinner in the oven, we have to open gifts at their house and be back at our house in time for baths and bedtime! Christmas Eve is RUINED!!!" Deep breaths. We decided to try our luck with the babies in the 5:30 service and even took some nice family photos before hand. Believe it or not, both Jozlynn and Jeffrey were absolute angels during the entire service!! Jozlynn entertained herself by pulling her pacifier out of her mouth and putting it back in. When that game got old we grabbed a toy from the diaper bag to keep her occupied for the remainder of the service. Jeffrey was perfectly content sitting on Grandma Lynn's lap, and when he started to fuss ever so slightly, she handed him to me and he settled down instantly (just as I was prepared to leave the Sanctuary!) Thanks babies, for the best Christmas Eve ever!

We headed to my parents' house and enjoyed dinner with them (and my brother and future sister-in-law!) and then exchanged gifts. Usually we exchange gifts Christmas Day but not until late so we decided we'd do it on Christmas Eve instead. Here's a pic from the evening!

Somehow Dad always forgets to open his eyes. Oh well!

The babies got lots of awesome gifts on Christmas Eve and even more on Christmas Day! Santa was so good to them! Christmas Morning, Jeff's parents came over around 11 and we exchanged gifts then headed over to his grandparents' house. Here's a few pics:

Jozlynn and her first Minnie Mouse!

I think this was the only nap he took all day :(

As I mentioned above, neither Jozlynn nor Jeffrey took a decent nap all day long. I think they got a cat nap on the car ride over, then both fell asleep briefly while we were there. They also got a little (longer) nap on the way to my aunt and uncle's house. Needless to say, by the time the day was over they were extremely overtired and overstimulated. While Jozlynn crashed as soon as we got her home and into bed at 9pm, Jeffrey could not settle and would wake up and have a screaming fit every 40 minutes or so until 1am. At that point I gave up attempting to soothe him and got him a bottle in hopes he'd fall asleep. He did (finally!) and crashed until 9am, when Jozlynn woke as well. She didn't make a single peep all.night.long!

I'd give an update on the babies' 6 month stats, but they haven't had their appointment with the pediatrician yet. Due to Jeff's wonky insurance plan, we had to wait to schedule it until after January 1. Can you believe his insurance only covered the equivalent of 4 months' worth of well-baby visits in a given calendar year? Are you kidding me? Do they know how often babies go to the doctor when they're less than a year old? Thank goodness they weren't born in January, or else we'd be paying out of pocket after they turned 4 months old! Completely ridiculous! And don't even get me started on their immunizations (which are covered...but ditto the well-baby visit stuff). Sigh, I guess it could be worse..

Ok that went off on a little tangent. I'll leave you with pics of the babies and their Christmas loot!!

Hope everyone had a great Christmas!