Put Me In the Zoo!

One of the girls' favorite books to hear is called Put Me In the Zoo. It's extra-special, because not only did I love it when I was little....

 ... but it's also a Grandma original! Before it belonged to me, it was my mom's.

From now on, the girls will appreciate this book even more. On Sunday, we took them on their first trip to the zoo! They were so sweet and really enjoyed it. Sometimes I thought perhaps we should be on exhibit, as many people as were admiring the girls - haha! At one point, a little girl ran up and touched Evie's feet (it's always Evie whose feet get touched when we go out), and her mom had to pull her away. As she was leaving, she said, "I love your babies!!" We also ran into a mom with her 2-year-old triplets! It's always fun to chat with another mom of multiples, although I know I have it waaaay easy compared to her! :) Because it was enough for my overworked old brain just to keep the girls out of direct sunlight, navigate the crowds, and acknowledge all the people who were commenting on them, I only managed to snap two pictures, both of which were taken when we were standing still in front of one of those big glass walls where you can watch a seal swimming around.

The girls' favorite part of the day was getting to see king-sized Sophies! The Louisville Zoo has a neat area where giraffes can come indoors to get fed, and they loved watching the giraffes come in and out through a really tall door. At first Evie looked a little scared, but then she started giggling.

In other news, the girls are taking their bottles better these days! In fact, according to my records, Tamsie has not cried during a feed since early yesterday morning, and Evie has gone a while now without a meltdown. I'm praying it keeps up! The only odd thing is that they're just not taking all that much. They're taking an average of about 4 ounces per feed and then acting really full and not interested in taking any more. The good news is that they're continuing to gain weight (BOTH are just half an ounce shy of 11 lbs as of this morning!! Yes, Evie has finally caught up, to the ounce!), so the doctor doesn't seem concerned. Maybe they're just meant to be petite little things! Well, here are some pictures that show what life has looked like for us lately.

Tamsie's getting stronger! She's starting to look like a natural at tummy time these days.

The funny thing about this picture is that both girls are wearing outfits that are part of sets that are supposed to coordinate with each other. However, they have a way of decimating their clothes on a regular basis (mainly through spitting up), and we have to change them so frequently that usually they are totally mismatched! I'll be glad when they grow out of this spitting-up phase.

Pretty little Tamsie on the way out to dinner on Friday night, wondering where we were taking her.

Out at Panera. Once again some random man had the audacity to ask if they are twin boys! With bows, no less!!

They're like their dad once we take them out. They want to keep moving! They don't want to get stuck in one place for too long.

Bathtime with Bumbos is so much fun! We just have to watch them closely since the Bumbos float in the water!

"You look rather familiar!"

"Have I seen you before somewhere?"

"I think we should be best friends!"

"Why does our crazy mother insist on putting us on our tummies like this?! This will NOT be among our treasured childhood memories!"

Playtime in the twin pack 'n' play. Tamsie is really intense, but Evie would rather sleep.

Tamsie loves grabbing that house! 

One outfit change later, and it's naptime.

This time Evie is under the house, and Tamsie doesn't know what to do. She grabbed Evie's arm at one point and started chewing on her elbow since she couldn't get to the house!

Just because I know it will be fun to look back on later, and because maybe this info will help another mom out there, here are a few of our favorite things at the moment:

BabyGanics hand sanitizer. This lives on the changing table, and it is the best, most moisturizing hand sanitizer we've found! (I know this isn't the first time hand sanitizer has made it to the blog... not sure what this says about me!)

I looove the way these smell! They're especially great if random strangers come up and touch the girls (like I said, that should be girl - it's always Evie) while we're out. Just wipe the old foot down with this stuff and it's nice and clean again! Also, they work great when cleaning up after a spit-up episode!

The blessed Wubbanub. Evie's favorite thing in the world. She loves holding the dog, and it helps her keep her pacifier in her mouth during naptimes. 

That's all for today, folks!

Flashback to showers

I've been organizing some old photos on my computer and found some great ones from my baby showers, and I thought they belonged on the blog! 

Back in July, I had my first baby shower at Mrs. Donna Ferrell's house in Bartlett. Chris and I were planning to come to town that weekend for a surprise party for Roy's 30th birthday. About a week and a half before we were to leave, I mentioned to Mom that this trip to Memphis would probably be my last before having the girls, since traveling was becoming pretty difficult and I didn't want to be too far away from my doctor. She mentioned that to Mrs. Donna, who generously offered to host an amazing shower for me despite the last-minute-ness of it all! It would have been a perfect shower had she had lots of time to prepare, but it's even more impressive that she pulled all of this off with such short notice!

Mrs. DeeDee, me, Mom, and Grandma... with the spread and the diaper cake!

I love these ladies!!!

What's funny is that I felt HUGE at the time... little did I know how big I'd get! 

Mother-in-law and sister-in-law, who will soon be the guest of honor at her own (bridal) showers since she is now engaged!!

That lovely lady in the blue now has a daughter of her own! Wow, I have waited a while to post these! :)

The food was fabulous, something a pregnant lady especially appreciates!

Red eyes in this picture, so I made it black and white! :) Catching up with JJ, something I never get to do nearly enough.

Shower games

I was trying to play too, but I was pretty distracted just taking it all in.

Present time! The girls are loving putting that Bumbo tray to use these days!

These ladies are so much fun, and it meant so much to me that they were all able to make it!

Anna Grace was my helper.

She helped bring presents, throw away wrapping paper, open really big gifts... you name it, she helped with it! :)

That girl in the black has also had a little boy since this picture was taken! I pulled her aside during the shower to see her little bitty baby belly! :)

Gift time, I'm sure

I found out I was having girls just a couple of days before the shower, so I had run out and frantically started some registries. At the time, I had felt really weak and tired, so I wound up registering for some crazy stuff... including some boy stuff! I'm hoping at least someone got a laugh out of my preggo-brain-induced craziness!

Diaper wreath! We just finished off the last of these diapers! (And by "we," I mean T & E, of course! ha!)

Chatting with none other than Meli Mac!

In late September, I thought I had a work meeting at Huntington on a Friday night, but it turned out to be a surprise baby shower for me!

Everyone was so sweet, and I was so impressed they took time out to make it there on a Friday night!

Vickie did a terrific job planning everything! She's from England, so she taught us some English terms for baby stuff that I had never before heard. Who knew that cribs are cots and pacis are dummies? A lot of this info came in handy when I read The Baby Whisperer, which is written by a British lady.

I miss my old work buddies. Maybe sometime soon I can bring T & E up for a visit!

Some sweet Louisville friends had planned a shower for October 22 back when we knew the girls were due Christmas Eve but more likely to arrive around December 5. I remember my friend Tiffany was joking that she hoped the babies wouldn't be here by the time of the shower... so imagine our surprise when they actually were! At the time of the shower, the girls were 11 days old and obviously still in the NICU, but we were able to show off pictures of them that Tiffany had come and taken. Instead of guessing what color their hair would be or what their due date would be, one of the games we played had everyone guessing how big they were in relation to various objects around the house. It was certainly not the typical baby shower, but it was a blast, and it was really good for me to see some friends at that time!

The shower had an owl theme, which was so fitting for October and for the girls' room decor, which features owls!

Tiffany made these gorgeous tutus for them!

My friend Kelli

Rachael, who now lives in Collierville and is missed very much, with Chrissie, whose baby girl Sophia was about the age then that ours are now developmentally

Sweet friends Melissa and Kristen

Jessica and Tiffani... love them!

Lindsey and Kristy!

Monica, who was still in the 'Ville at the time and is now also missed very much!

Emily... ahhh, I'm missing so many of these people that I never get to see any more!

Mom and me and some crazy hair... I know I had just had babies 11 days earlier, but is that any excuse? haha!

Look how pretty everything was! Tiffany painted that gorgeous canvas for us, and it is now in the girls' room!

Lots of sweet gifts

I can't remember who gave me this bag, but whoever you are, you should know that I used it to tote stuff back and forth to the NICU on a regular basis.

It did my heart so much good to see these girls... as it always does!

A coat for a twin! They look like little snowmen when they wear these!

Guess which ball was about the size of the girls' heads at the time?

Guess which doll was about the size of the girls?

I feel so incredibly blessed to have such dear friends who threw and showed up at such fabulous showers for me! Tamsie, Evie, Chris, and I really appreciate your sweetness! :)