Happy Halloween

I bet you thought I gave up on my Blog updates.... I thought I'd take 2 minutes and write a quick update. I am on my third week back to work now, and I am surviving but its very tough. I have a new level of respect for working moms with infants. WOW!!! It's much harder than I anticipated! And to make it even harder, I am not a fan of daycare! After only 3 days the girls come down with their first cold (and I got sick as well)!! And after their cold, they caught a nasty stomach virus, that's on its 5th day now. And they passed that on to mom as well. Ugh! So after all this and three weeks of packing up the kids to go out in the cold, I'm on a frantic search for a nanny. I already have a few interviews lined up for this weekend, so wish me luck that we find one that will be a good fit. We can't find one soon enough!

The girls will be 5 months old tomorrow! Wow, I don't know where the time has gone! Besides being sick, the girls are doing great. They are rolling around everywhere, its just a matter of time before they start crawling. They are also starting to notice each other and will just stare and smile at one another. And today I got Kate to laugh for the first time! :)

I've attached pic's below of the girls in thier Halloween costumes...they are going to be pink bunnies! I just love the costumes!

Here's some other random photos that I thought I would post...Enjoy!

It’s Fall already!?!?

Where did Spring go? Oh yeah, I spent it being very pregnant and laying on the couch! How about Summer? Oh yeah, I spent it learning how to be a mommy of twins! I will never forget the past two seasons…even with the scary bedrest and unpleasant heartburn, I loved being pregnant with my girls. And this has been the best Summer ever – I have been so happy getting to spend everyday (and most nights) with Kate and Natalie.

So what’s new around our house? Well both girls are rolling over now, and Kate is talking (babbling) non-stop now. She especially loves to chit-chat with her daddy!! Both girls love to play on their activity mat and swat at their toys….it’s just a matter of time before they start putting everything in their mouth. It’s so amazing to watch them change from week to week!

We had a little photo shoot with the girls this weekend……I have to thank my friend JZ for these adorable hats!! I absolutely LOVE them!!!

Rolling Around

We had a very exciting Saturday here in the Barron household - not only did Michigan State win yet another game, but Natalie rolled over for the first time!! It was very unexpected as the girls HATE tummy time, but out of no where Natalie rolled right over! We pulled out the video camera and captured her rolling over for the second time. She proceeded to do it like 10 more times in a row...mom and dad are very proud.

Go State!

The girls enjoyed their first Spartan football game last weekend (we couldn’t get the Cal game so they had to wait a week). Kate and Natalie are doing great!! Kate smiles non-stop and loves to be talked to and is starting to talk back. Natalie is my little thinker and likes to look at things so intensely and wrinkles up her forehead when she is checking stuff. Daddy can always get a smile out her when he smacks his lips at her. Kate is my sleepy head and on a good night can sleep 12 hours with only one quick diaper change and snack in the night. Natalie is my early bird – she doesn’t like to sleep in and ALWAYS wants to hang out at 3 or 4 am. I’m loving every minute that I get to be home with them!! I just have time for a quick update and to be honest their isn’t much else new around here.

Happy Anniversary!

I can't believe its been 4 years already since that wonderful day in East Lansing!! Well we sure have done quite a bit over the last couple years from honeymooning in Hawaii, living in Puerto Rico, getting our puppy, finishing our MBAs, moving to Minnesota, and having two beautiful baby girls!

Wedding Day

Maui

Christmas Day in Puerto Rico

Surviving Bela's love of shredding paper as a puppy

Road Trip

It was such a beautiful weekend here so we decided to take a road trip on Sunday. We drove to Stillwater, MN – no particular reason for going there other than it was within a 2 hour radius of the house. It’s a little town on the St. Croix river, which makes up the Minnesota and Wisconsin border. We laid out a blanket in the shade along the river so we could feed the girls and watch the boats. It was a great way to spend the afternoon.

The girls are doing great. Last week they had a doctor appointment and were both over 10 lbs! They also had their first round of vaccinations and actually did very well – hardly any tears! Natalie’s hematocrit (iron levels) also checked out okay at this appointment . So I have two healthy little girls! I will say Kate was a little stinker this past weekend though… Lets just say I hit the trifecta of surprises (I was pee’d on, pooped on, and puked on).

Other than that, I’m just trying to get Bela (our golden retriever) back into shape. I took her to the vet a couple weeks ago and was embarrassed to find out that she was up to 95lbs!!! She gained 10 lbs just since April….an obvious sign of her neglect during my bedrest and the arrival of the twins. So I decided to take her running with me the other day and it was the most pathetic thing I have ever seen. After about 1 mile she was walking BEHIND me as I ran… I practically had to drag her the rest of the way home. I can’t believe how out of shape we’ve let her get!! It will be good for her once the girls are big enough to chase her around the house.

Here’s some updated photos of the girls. The first set of pics start with Natalie and Kate is the one with the ‘strawberry’ on her chest in the bath photos.

All Smiles

Kate

Natalie

Well quite a bit has happened since I last wrote! As you can see from the pictures – the girls are all smiles! About two weeks ago I got my first real smile from Kate while reading “Because a little bug went Ka-choo.” I had her on my lap and as soon as I said “ka-choo” her whole face lit up – too cute!! About two days later Natalie smiled for me while I was smothering her cheeks with kisses. Natalie even laughed for her daddy later that night!! What a great week that was! Another big milestone we hit last week was that Kate slept 7 hours in one night!! I was amazed and was afraid it was just a fluke – but the past two nights both girls have slept over 6 hours straight!!! Whew!! Its nice to see the 1am and 4am feedings going away!! The girls have also started to suck on their fists – which is a nice supplement to the pacifier!

The hubby and I have also had a few parenting milestones….. I went on my first trip to the grocery store alone with the girls. I knew I was taking a big risk – but needed to get out of the house. So I threw Nat in the Baby Bjorn and kept Kate in the car seat and set her in the cart and piled stuff up around her! Both girls slept the whole time. And last Saturday we were either very crazy or very brave - we invited a group of our friends over to grill out and didn’t realize until about 15 minutes before everybody showed up (while both girls were having a meltdown) that it might have been a bad idea. It ended up being a great day – but we realized that having two small babies added a new level of difficulty to having people over. Again the Baby Bjorn was put to good use – I was able to make spinach artichoke dip, drink a beer, and hold a baby at the same time!

While we had lots of great things happen theses past couple weeks, we were sad to see our good friends Chris & Suzanne leave for Austin, Texas last week. But we do look forward to having a warm place to getaway from the Minnesota winters though.

I've included a few recent pics below – I hope to post some video soon. I need the hubby to work his magic and get the files from the camcorder to the computer.

Catching up

I must say, I am not very good at keeping this updated! SORRY! Well the girls will be 7 weeks old tomorrow! Almost 2 MONTHS!!! I can’t believe it! I’ll update this soon with some new pics of the girls and hopefully some video in the next day or so but for now, here are a few little entries on what’s been happening around here…



Mom & Kate Snoozing
I sleep when they sleep!!!




Looking out the window
There is a window in our living room that the girls are fascinated by – I’m not sure what it is that catches their eye, but they love to look at it as you can see by the pic of Nat below.

Our first baby
Well I must say, I think the addition of our new little ones to the house has put our dog into a state of depression….. I think the picture below says it all. She has been great with the babies, but I can tell she misses being an only child.

Grandpa A’s visit
Grandpa A was here a couple weeks ago and did a fabulous job with the girls! I think he had one in his arms at all times……and sometimes he even had two!!!

Thunderstorm
This summer we’ve had some pretty bad storms come through our area and since our lot is jam packed full of trees, I get pretty nervous every time one goes through. Just last week I noticed that the weather was getting bad, so I took the girls downstairs just to be safe. After I finished a movie and the sun came back out, I went back upstairs to get something to drink and as I walked by our front window I saw that half of our tree was gone and was blocking the road!!! I was so glad I took the girls downstairs!! Although this sounds terrible to say, it would have been kinda nice if it would have fallen the other way and landed on the garage while we were in the basement. That would have given us justification to buy the Toyota Sequoia that we desperately need and would have expedited our plans to add a new master suite above the garage. Maybe the next storm that rolls through....

Well thats all for today, I'll try to get some updated pics posted over the weekend.

Folding Laundry

So it’s funny how something I absolutely hate doing could be so insightful. The mindless task of folding three baskets of laundry this morning gave me time to reflect on how absolutely perfect my life is. I’m married to my best friend and the love of my life. We have a comfortable home in a new city that we love. We’ve been doubly blessed with our beautiful twin daughters. Our families are healthy and happy and we’re surrounded with new and old friends that are always there for us no matter how many miles might separate us. I couldn’t ask for anything more. (Who would of thought I could get all of that while folding towels?)

Well the hubby is really enjoying his father’s day gift and is getting into his new photography hobby. I love that he is so into it, because I am so not a picture taker. If it were left to me, we’d probably only end up with a handful of out-of-focus pictures of the girls over the course of their lives. I’ve attached a few bath time pictures that he took during this past weekend.







So what’s new with us this week……..

The girls had a doctor apt yesterday and are weighing in at 7lbs 6 ozs and 7lbs 4 ozs. They are averaging a gain of 1.6oz per day (far above the recommended gain of 0.75oz per day)!!!

This morning “N” woke up just as daddy was leaving for work, and as he kissed her goodbye she flashed a quick smile at him. I know she probably doesn’t realize she’s smiling – but I like to think that she does. (I attached a picture below of a previous smile- sorry about the rotation)

Grandpa “A” will be here today to meet his new granddaughters - they can't wait to meet him!

Well that's all for this post - "K" is yelling at me because she's hungry. (And when "K" yells - I jump because she's got the most ear piercing cry I have ever heard!)

First weeks at home

This update is long overdue, however I no longer have any control over my daily schedule…. The girls run the show now – but as they snooze I figured I’d get some new pictures posted from our first couple weeks at home.

"K"

"N"

The girls are doing great and look more and more alike everyday! They each gained nearly a pound during their first week at home! It is hard to believe that the reason the girls spent so much time in the hospital was because we couldn’t get them to eat, but now it seems like they can’t get enough. And when they are hungry they will latch on to just about anything, whether it be a finger, the sleeve of a shirt, or even a nose!!! (I just love this picture!)

Grandma and Aunt Elizabeth were here last week which was a great help!!! It was really nice to spend time with them since it seems like we never have enough time to catch up during our trips home to Michigan. (I miss you guys already !)

So this week has actually been my first week alone with the girls….which hasn’t been as overwhelming as I thought it might be. Don’t get me wrong – two screaming babies at one time happens quite often but can usually be solved with getting them a little something to eat. I thought I was pretty good at multi-tasking before having twins, now I’m becoming a master at it!! The ability to feed or comfort two babies at once has become a necessity. When the girls aren’t eating they love taking walks in the stroller and LOVE bath time!!!

Daddy got a new DSLR camera for Father’s Day – so I’ll be sure to include some pics from his new toy on my next post!

Nine days old

Hello! Well I know many of you have been anxiously waiting for an update on the girls. Kate and Natalie are nine days old today and are doing great. I was discharged from the hospital Monday, but the girls are still in the special care nursery. They are doing very good; the doctors are just waiting for them to start eating more consistently before they will send them home. We’re hoping that will happen in the next couple days. Fortunately the hospital has parent overnight rooms, so we’ve been able to stay overnight with the girls over the past week. It’s also been a good way to ease into the many sleepless nights to come, since at home we won’t have the option of skipping a 2am feeding to just let the nurses do it.

Although the girls are identical, they have already begun to show their individual personalities and funny little quirks…… Natalie likes to sleep looking to the right, while Kate likes to sleep looking to the left. Natalie LOVES to go to the bathroom right in the middle of a diaper change…..she’s caught me, daddy, and even the nurses off guard multiple times. Kate loves to stick out her tongue and sleep with her mouth wide open. (I think she gets that from her daddy)

I have to keep this short as I need to get to their 5pm feeding, but here’s a few more pics….

Daddy & Natalie

Daddy & Kate

Natalie

Kate

Happy Birthday Girls!!!

So Sara and I were expecting to meet our girls on June 4th, but of course they had different plans for us. On Thursday May 29th, the girls decided rather quickly that they were coming. Luckily we were already at the hospital for routine check-ups. After about three hours of observation and contractions going from every six minutes to every two minutes, our doctor decided that Sara would go into surgery that night.

At 9:47pm on May 29th, Natalie Elise introduced herself weighing in at 5 lbs. A mere minute later, Kate Elizabeth arrived weighing 5lb 3ozs. Here are just a few pictures….we’ll post more as we can.

Natalie Elise

Kate Elizabeth

Out in the Real World

I guess I don’t realize how enormous I am until I step out into the real world. Thursday was my weekly doctor’s appointment, which happens to be at the hospital that I will be delivering at. The hospital has a greeter that stands near the front door and helps direct patients to where they need to go. Well, I swear each week I walk through the front door I give the greeter a heart attack. About three weeks ago, he took one look at me and got all flustered like I was going to give birth right there in the lobby. Yesterday, he still kinda got that nervous look on his face and said “I remember you”, but I quickly told him that is still wasn’t quite time yet. It doesn’t just stop at the front door either…..all through out the hospital I get “good luck” wishes or just lots of stares.

So I know I’m big, by my size didn’t really hit me until we went out to dinner that night….yes OUT to dinner!! My doctor gave me a free pass to get out of the house for the night. So for my big night out we met up with some of our friends at one of our favorite places to go in the summer “Maynards” which is a restaurant/bar right on Lake Minnetonka. So getting back to my hugeness, it really hit me when I was in the bathroom standing next to this girl in a cute little tank top and jeans…… I took one look in the mirror at her and then at me and just had to laugh. Now I know what everyone is staring at. HA!

Well, the doctor appointment went well and it looks like the girls will be here soon…….. We’ve set a date for their delivery, but plan to keep that to ourselves for now. We need to leave it as somewhat of a surprise for all of you!! Who knows, maybe the girls will surprise all of us and arrive earlier than even we expect.

I am 34 weeks and 6 days today!! I actually snuck out of the house this morning for a quick hair cut. I chopped it since its been about 6 months since it was last cut due to the bedrest, and I’m sure once the girls get here it will be another 6 months before I cut it again. Well looks like its going to be a nice weekend here in Minnesota. No big plans, just a nice relaxing weekend for the hubby and I. We have to enjoy them while we can.

Still pregnant...

I am 33 weeks and 4 days today! Its crazy to think that the babies could be here any day now! If you can see past my big belly, you'll see that the hubby has been busy putting together swings, bouncers, and a new nightstand over the past week. My bedrest and my need to "nest" are not a good combination for him....every day I think of something new for the 'honey-do' list. :) Not too much else is new here......just anxiously waiting.

Beautiful Flowers!

Happy Cinco De Mayo!! I had to post a picture of these beautiful flowers. Since going on bedrest, Mike has brought me fresh flowers every week to keep my spirits up and brighten my living area. These flowers are gorgeous and smell amazing!!! What a wonderful husband I have! :)

And on top of that, after growing up less than two blocks away from a 7-11, Coke slurpees have always been a favorite of mine. Well in this crazy state of Minnesota, there are no 7-11's and the gas station slushees just can't compete. But this weekend, Mike made a new discovery.... Burger King Icees are about as close to a slurpee as you can get. So right now, I am enjoying a my new favorite beverage....a Coke Icee! YUM!

32 weeks tomorrow!

Good afternoon! It's a sunny, but chilly day here in Minnesota! I wanted to add a quick pic of my belly... I'll be 32 weeks tomorrow, which is a BIG milestone! I can't believe I've been on bedrest for almost 2 months now.

Mike and I will be watching the Kentucky Derby on TV today, wishing that we could be in the infield drinking mint julips!!! When we lived in Indiana, we were able to go to the Derby twice with our Indy friends- and loved it!!! There is nothing better than getting up early on a Saturday morning with the purpose of partying all day!! :) I tried to find some pics to post from our Derby trips but can't seem to find them......so instead I figure I'd post a few random pics of us with our Indy friends. We miss you guys!

31 weeks and 1 day!!

Hello!! Wow - I cant believe its almost the end of April!! I am 31 weeks and 1 day today!!! We had a growth ultrasound today and the girls are doing GREAT!! As you can see from the pic of my belly, these girls are growing!!! Baby A is measuring 3lbs 6ozs and Baby B is at 3lbs 11ozs! My belly is measuring a wopping 42cms around already - I can't imagine what I'm going to look like in another couple weeks, assuming the girls dont make a surprise entry into the world.



This weekend Mike got a new toy.......a new video camera. Even though I hate being video taped, I'm so glad that we have it to watch our babies grow up. I've attached his first video from this weekend.....he was kind enough to surprise me with it after I just woke up. :) Other than that it was a pretty lazy weekend around here.......as you can see.

Oh- we've discovered the funniest thing with Bela this weekend. So she knows that when she hears the doorbell, it means that someone is at the door. However, she can't tell the difference between our doorbell and a doorbell on the TV. We realized it when we were watching a movie this weekend..... I have to admit, we had a good laugh at her expense after we played that part of the movie over like 3 times, just to watch her get excited and run upstairs. It was too funny, and she needs the exercise....she's up to 85lbs!!! I can't wait for summer to get here so she can lose some weight! Although after waking up to snow on Saturday morning.....I'm wondering if this winter will ever end!?!?

I'm a Blogger Now

Well it seems like everyone I know has a Blog now, so I decided to join the club. Most of my friends use this to document what's new with their families, so with the impending arrival of our twin girls I thought I would get this set up while I still have time. I'm 30 weeks today....so not too much longer before they arrive. Can't wait! I've attached a picture from last week! I'm growing bigger everyday!