Giddy Up!!

Well, here in Charleston, we're experiencing winter wonderland. Most afternoons, we place the boys in their Baby Bjorn's, strap the dogs on their leashes and off through the neighborhood we stroll. Today, the wind was high and temperature low, so we decided we better stay indoors. We decided the best way to spend the afternoon was to get out a new toy!

Thanks to my second mother growing up, Mrs. Van, the boys have this cool horse. Mrs. Van is my best friend since kindergarten's mom. I hate that Ashley, who now lives in Kansas, can't see the boys ride their new pony.

Congrats to Ben who put it together in record time and managed to do it right the first time!!! Thank you, honey. I am sure that's the last thing you wanted to tackle after work today. The boys are still a little small for it, but enjoyed their first pony ride. I had to place two pillows under their feet, so they could reach the ground. Oh, how that will change soon, I imagine!


Turner taking his first ride...even Mr. Serious cracked a few smiles, which I missed on the camera! He enjoyed sitting in the saddle, standing on his feet and staring at the frills on the pony's mane.

Taylor did not quite know what to make of it. He was more interested in looking at Ben hold Turner, then to ride the pony. No tears though. He was one brave boy!!

Taylor arrived home in his new winter hat from his last day at Mrs. Lizzie's House. What a sad day for all of us. The boys seemed very happy there, we were very pleased with the care that she gave them and know she loved them like her own. If anyone needs someone to care for their children, we would highly recommend her. If we had not gotten into Roper Learning Center at mommy's workplace, they'd still be there! We will all miss you, Mrs. Lizzie! But will keep in touch....we're family now!

Turner playing with his daddy before his pony ride! He loves playing with his daddy and finally, we got proof of his smiles! Now, doesn't that melt your heart!!!

Fun play times from the week... 17wks.

Here are Turner and Taylor sitting upright in the BUMBO seats in their boy cave. Look at that good head support! This cool tray lets them play together, share toys and look at each other. Taylor is much more interested in looking "up to" his big brother, while Turner (Mr. Independent) is still not too interested in Taylor.

TUMMY TIME!!! Turner is starting to scoot around and really enjoying rolling still, while Taylor is much more content just hanging out.

Turner likes to grab things and wants to do it himself....he gets bored easily and wants to be on the go. Man, Ben and I better get ready, when he strarts crawling, we are in trouble!!

All Smiles.... Taylor loves life and is most content smiling for the camera. He loves sitting in his BUMBO seat and looking around. Physical exertion isn't his thing yet...those durn cheeks are probably weighing him down!

Night-night...all swaddled and ready for bed. We have started the process of weaning from the beloved swaddling blankets. Now, they have 1 arm free to swat at each other. They are still in the same crib, but that weaning will start soon. They are still waking up one time a night each, but on a good night (like last night), one or both will sleep through the night. Funny thing how the piercing late night cries don't usually wake up the other one. Oh, and congratulations to Taylor who slept the past two nights from 8pm to 5 am!! Woo-hoo!!

4 months

It is funny how you seem to miss half of the good stuff when trying to take photos. I seem to always have the camera handy, but am never fast enough to catch the great ones. These are some typical 4 month photos of the boys.

As you can see, we had them dressed all cute for church (us included--no photos though). We had been working hard for the second time to make it to church this month. The moment before we were walking out the door, the piercing, " i'm dying" screams started and would not stop. We tried everything short of the vacuum and nothing would calm them. As we tried to put them in the car seats to go, the thrashing arm movements started up. Oh, we knew that was it....no church for us, again. We unfastened the car seats, put them in their favorite swings, turned on the vacuum, waited for 10 minutes to make sure they were calm and found them sound asleep. Glad Ben and I were dressed, looking decent, and had been working on getting out the door for an hour and a half. Do we get any credit for attempting to make it to church, Lord? (Too bad i forgot the camera during their "i'm dying" moment.)

Back to their "Good Moments":

Turner has figured out how much fun it can be to roll over from back to tummy. I went to grab the camera when he was laying on his back and this is how I found him. Sometimes it scares him and he screams bloody murder, while other times, he finds something interesting and goes with it. I even saw him trying to grab at a toy and rolled back on his hinny. Here is Turner showing off his serious pose. As you can see, he is catching up to Taylor with the cheeks but still has some ways to go before his cheeks will be bigger than Taylor's. Turner has started this hysterical laughter....no pictures unfortunately. We're going to try to catch it on video as it is too, too cute!

Taylor loves to have his picture taken. He seems me grab the camera and he smiles! The thing that I love the most in this photo is how it shows off Taylor's hair. He has a total buzz cut. We call him "Buzz "! It looks like he has put his finger in an electrical socket...whoa!!!

Another happy moment in Taylor's life...time for a picture! Tell me that the smile on Taylor's face does not melt your heart!

Check out how Turner's hair has no real part but comes forward. Maybe once it comes in more, we'll know which way the real part will go. The boys better be glad they have something because if they get the Dove hair gene, this will be considered a lot. Sorry, dad, but you know it's true!!!

End of mom's 1st work week

First of all, thanks to everyone for their sweet cards, phone calls, emails and prayers! My first week back as a working mom was great! I am really shocked how easy the week was and how everything worked out so well. I know some people are probably thinking, " What? Is this girl for real?" I think it was so easy because of several people...

#1: My sweet hubby, Ben, (aka: Ralphie)- Ben has been nothing but supportive of my decision to return to work and helpful in the transition. He got up and did the early morning feeds solo some mornings, as I stayed up late to get ready for the next day. He took the boys to and from Mrs. Lizzie's place and brought them back to me safely. Well, we did have a mishap one day when he ran over the bag that had their bottles. No worries...those Born Free bottles are durable! We should be in a commercial! He wakes me so we can together get them dressed, fed and ready to start the day. Both Ben and I agree, that we are enjoying the family am and pm routine...we bathe them together, have storytime together and just hang as a family. How lucky are we to have each other and such sweet, handsome boys!!Thanks honey!!!
#2: My incredible co-workers and Roper co-workers/working moms...Barbara, Nancy, Karen!!
Ok, i admit. I did feel a tad guilty after talking to friends who stay at home with their kids, but had a reality check after going back to work. I love the people i work with and love my job. I felt so much love from everybody this week that Iknow now that my decision was 100% right for me.
#3 My friends and family : Thanks for calling and checking on us!!

Here are some favorite photos of the week: Happy 4 months, guys!!! Love you boys!!!

Taylor and Turner hanging in their BUMBO seats. They love them! As you can see, their favorite hats are getting too small, but i could not resist one more photo in their hats. They used to be so big on them that they would fall in their eyes, now they look like bank robbers!! Our boys are growing up!!

Turner snoozing through the first day drop off at Mrs. Lizzie's House! Wonder where he got the love of sleep from?

Taylor in his favorite new place, as I pack their stuff!

Taylor and Turner in their pose. Yes, I still swaddle them. Funny thing, they both got out of their swaddle. I walked in to hang up some clothes in their closet and saw the same arm got out and in the same pose. Naturally, I had to get a photo!!! Yep, those are our twins!!

Turner and Taylor getting ready for bed....BUMBO living one last time for the night! Turner is trying to stand up as I took this picture. He is going to be our little athlete. He loves to be standing, moving around, anything physical. Taylor is happier just hanging out.

* In conclusion, we found out the best thing about working... coming home to your family! Both B and I find that by noon, we are giddy because we know we are half way through til we're with our boys again. According to Ben, the boys have been happy upon his arrival to pick them up and got glowing reviews from Mrs. Lizzie. She is so thorough with their care and good to them. You can tell that she treats them like her own grandkids!! She is looking for another baby or two, as the boys are starting at Roper in 2 weeks, so local moms, consider her!!

First Day Back to Work & Mrs. Lizzie's

I still can't believe it is this time...Time for Mommy to return to work! The boys will be 4 months old on Thursday and I feel blessed that i have been able to stay home with them for this long. But the time has come for all parties to resume some normal living!

How I felt? I had very mixed feelings about returning to work, although I knew all along that was "our plan". Part of me was sad to leave the boys behind, but the other part of me was ready to return to the challenges in my everyday life as a career woman. I do love my patients and my co-workers dearly. I feel confident that I am good at my job and I enjoy it, so why not continue!! Who says moms can't work and raise "good" kids?? Look how excellent I turned out thanks to having two working parents. I credit my daycare experiences to my social, independent, and go-get-em attitude!
Ben and I did everything to prepare for the first day and am proud that it was a great day for all of us. I cried the whole way to the hospital, but was glad to see everybody once I arrived. I was greeted with other working moms who remember " that dreaded day". I felt the love!! Thank you everybody!!!

How did the boys do? The boys are social creatures like their mommy. They did fabulous! Luckily, we have taken them so many places and around so many people, they are not shy. They woke up in good spirits, cooperated with the rush of getting dressed, playing and having an early bottle.
Oh, who is caring for the little ones, you are wondering? Mrs. Lizzie, the wife of the PE teacher at Ben's school is taking care of them in her home for the first two weeks. (They start at Roper Learning Center... owned, managed and on campus at my hospital in two weeks. Great, great place!! Voted #1 Day Care in Charleston last year. ) Mrs. Lizzie also has a one year old of another teacher, so I am sure is busy, busy! She is a "Boo" and came highly recommended. When we arrived, she had little stations set up in her den for the boys and was waiting patiently for our 6:30 am arrival. I wanted to drop them off extra early so we could get to know each other before I drove away. She was so kind to comfort me as I weeped and held tightly to Taylor...Turner slept through the visit and I am certain woke up, looked around, and dealt with the new surroundings with no problem. He is Mr. Indepedent! I was glad that Taylor could see us all together because he is quite the momma's boy!! I left in tears, but had Mrs. Lizzie and Taylor waving (thanks to a helping hand), watching my departure through the front glass door. I am proud to report that I did not call once, but was comforted by my pager going off all day and not once, was it Mrs. Lizzie!!

No, it's not your eyes, but my camera...sorry for the blurry picture. I could not figure out how to delete it. Here is Guinness and Jackson looking into the "Boy Cave" at the early am action! It has been up for over a week and they are still dying to get in....

Taylor is all smiles , waiting for his turn to be dressed!! That boy loves to be naked!!

Turner is hanging out in the boppy after his bottle. Yes, he is also waiting for mom to stop taking photos and get the boys dressed. As I told Ben at 6 am... " But i need photos for the BLOG".

Daddy and Taylor sharing the love with Guinness looking on...whew, he is dressed! One down, one to go!!

This was what happened after the first day....We napped!! Taylor and I napped on one couch and daddy and Turner napped on another. I think the early 4am feeding and am playtime was too early for all of us. Then we awoke to many bottles to wash and sterilize, lunches to pack, laundry to do, baths to give, stories to read, BLOGS to write in, and boys to love on!!

Cheers to a great rest of the week!! Keep those prayers coming...they must work!!

Happy New Year

In Honor of the New Year, mommy and her girlfriends took the boys to their first Sullivan's Island Polar Bear Swim. Daddy was going to go with us, but when he realized that Aunt Sabrina could help with the boys, he decided to watch football at home with the hounds. And watch football he did; he texted us the scores of the Georgia game (who beat Michigan State--woo-hoo...finally!!) for mommy and USC for sabrina (no win there--sorry Cock fans!!) all day.

And yes, it was cold for Charleston, so we were all bundled up! The boys had these adorable fleece outfits, which Boo gave them for Christmas. As you can see, mommy is sporting this great hat, thanks to Nanny Yoshino!! Mommy carried Taylor and Aunt Sabrina carried Turner and to the beach we went....
For those of you who are not familiar with the polar bear swim. It is a yearly tradition...mommy has been going for years. In our wilder days, it was just an excuse to party! They block off the streets of Sullivan's Island and have beer trucks, food vendors and mobs of people. At 2pm, everyone waits for the gun shot so you can run to the ocean and jump in the water!!! May I add, if you are a fool, you jump in....the sane people stare with their jaws to the ground!!!

Here we are, waiting for the "mini bus" to pick us up.....

"Hey there!!" says Taylor.

Kim, Mommy, Aunt Sabrina, Dylan, Rachel and Becca.... with Bloody Mary's, Duncan Donut's Coffee, Mimosa's and a sour apple lollipop!!! Thanks to Brad for taking the photo--sorry you missed the photo opportunity, Courtney!! Oh, and the boys are sleeping....as they did during this whole adventure. They slept at Becca's, slept at Off the Hook Restaurant and slept at the beach. But screamed the whole way home!!!

And the best news of all, mommy was able to wear her skinny Lucky jeans!!! : ) Boy was she proud! Thank goodness because she was growing tired of her "big girl" clothes. Normal life is returning... what a great way to start off 2009!

The Life of T and T

In order to make Mommy's life easier, different "stations" have been set up over the house. Different toys and activities are in each room , so we won't get bored and mommy doesn't have to drag things from room to room. For example, in the office, mommy has two bouncy seats with rattles and books and in the kitchen, mommy has swings and stuffed musical animals.

Thanks to Boo and Gan, we have a new "boy cave" in the front den. Aunt Caroline and Uncle John gave us an alphabet mat, which is a great building block of our cave. Needless to say, we love it and it's dog free! Here is a photo of us snoozing in our beloved bouncy seats in the cave. We are about to outgrow them, as the picture doesn't show that our bottoms will soon be touching the ground!


Playing and sleeping are not the only things we do in the "boy cave". Watching football with daddy is our number 1 hobby!! Funny thing, at one point, Turner had his arms up like daddy too. TOUCHDOWN!!!

Also in our "boy cave", we like to wave hello to by-passers (Taylor) and eat my fingers (Turner). And of course, laying naked is our favorite!!! Look closely, we have clean diapers and are driving mommy crazy by being in two different sizes. Taylor has graduated to size 2 and Turner is still in size 1.

When we're bored with our "boy cave", we like to play on one of our tummy time mats. Here we are in our nursery while mommy puts away our clothes. This musical device is our favorite and we have even figured out how to punch the buttons and toys to skip to the next song!! (Taylor-red and Turner-grey) In this photo Taylor is doing some laying down breakdancing while Turner does the "lawnmower" dance, both to Mozart!

And in mommy and daddy's room, we have Baby Einstein with more bouncy seats!!!!! As you can see, all of the action wore Guinness out!