Follow My Blog!

One of the frustrating things about blogging is the lack of feedback. There is a place for comments, but I notice that most of you don't leave any comments. One friend said that it was because she felt that the comments needed to be witty. Well here is a brand new feature that will let me know who is reading my blog without you having to leave any witty comments. Push on the "follow this blog" link on the right hand side of the page to become an official blog follower. You can follow anonymously or publicly.
Thanks!

Swim Lessons

The girls had their first swim lesson yesterday. I know, it seems a little early for swim lessons, right? However, it was so much fun. They had us dunk their heads under and everything, and the girls loved it. The trick is to blow in their face so that they hold thier breath before you dunk them. We have 5 more lessons and then they should be ready for MEXICO!!!

If these babies could talk....

They'd say..."Don't elect Sarah Palin as VP! "

If you still aren't sure why she's so bad, read this article written by a leading feminist...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eve-ensler/drill-drill-drill_b_124829.html

Babywise is my Bible

I can't believe I haven't posted anything about this yet since this literally is our go-to guide for anything schedule/sleep/food related. I was pretty much a schedule nazi for the first 4 months and have only recently relaxed a bit and moved from a 3 hour feeding schedule to a 4 hour schedule. The Babywise book warned not to do this until the babies were sleeping through the night. However, with returning to work, the 4 hour schedule seemed so much more convienient, so I decided to try it. For the past 3 weeks I've been trying to figure out why in the *&*&(*^ Fiona is waking up 2-4 times a night. It just dawned on me that she is not getting enough calories during the day. Duh! Needless to say we are back to the 3 hour schedule and she is sleeping better. They claim that most Babywise babies are sleeping through the night by 3 months. I think Isla would have been but Fiona just needs lots of food.

Anyway, On Becoming Babywise is certainly controversial. Just do a Google search and you will find lots of anti-Babywise moms. However, I love it! It hasn't been perfect. I think with one baby it would be close, but "Letting them cry" is so much harder when they wake each other up. The book's basic principal is following an eat, wake time, sleep schedule that teached the baby to fall asleep on their own. I figuered there was no way I could rock two babies to sleep so the earlier they could get themselves to sleep the better. The book does leave a lot of questions unanswered, so thank God there is a fantastic blog out there that answers every possible question. http://www.chroniclesofababywisemom.blogspot.com/ is awesome!

Having the babies on a schedule makes it possible for us to plan our day. We know when they will be napping, eating and going to bed each night. Of course, it doesn't always work perfectly but we have two happy babies and I'm convinced that this is a major reason.

New Slideshow

I updated the slideshow above. Click on a picture to see it enlarged. It will take you to Picasa and then choose "slideshow" to watch.

Hey Look, I have a sister!

They are starting to notice one another. Check it out.

Wedding Pictures

If you want to see some pictures from Douglas's wedding, click on the link and then select Karen and Dougie's wedding. There are a lot, but they are really pretty.
http://sheilascottphotography.com/

24 weeks old today!

The girls are 24 weeks. However, that doesn't translate to 6 months, it's actually 5 and 1/2. They are so big. At our last appointment, Isla weighed 15 pounds and Fiona weighed 12! They are starting to really notice each other. They smile at each other and when they are nursing they play with each others hands and faces. Yes, it is making it difficult to nurse! Fiona is starting to take the bottle better thanks to the Adiri nurser (aka the boob bottle). Nighttime is still pretty much a mess- Fiona wakes up way too much. She is rolling onto her stomach and then freaking out! We also finally broke down and bought another crib. Thank God for Craigslist! The guy even delivered and put it together for me! We got a babysitter for tonight (our 75 year old neighbor). They will hopefully just sleep the whole time. I'm just hoping Fiona doesn't wake up before 10. I guess we have to stay close enough to rush back home if she does. We are going to go to dinner at a great high end Mexican restaurant, Centro. Here are some recent pictures and a video.

Look Who's Walking and Talking!

Emmerson and Quincy came to visit us yesterday and wow Emme is so cute! She walks and talks like crazy! She can basically repeat anything you say plus she strings words together all on her own. The doctor says she is talking like a 3 year old already and she is only 16 months(?)! Obviously we have a genius on our hands. See how cute she is for yourself.

Christmas in August

Yesterday I pulled the excersaucer and jumpy chair (hand-me-downs from Emmerson) out of the garage to see if the girls would fit into them yet. They love them! It is a whole new world of standing up and playing. I can't believe how much older they seem. They really focus on each of the toys and entertain themselves. They will be 24 weeks old on Friday. However, even though that seems like it means they are 6 months old, they are really only 5 months and two weeks. Wierd, I know. Anyway, check out the pics and the video.

PS we just got a fabulous new laptop, so I will definitely be updating my blog more often.

Sweet Potatoes with Abby

Abby, my neice, is visiting us this week and is a huge help with the babies! We all love having her!

Could tofu be bad for you?

Scary stuff folks. Just when I thought I was going to be really healthy and go vegan, I read this shocking information about soy. I don't know if I'm convinced to give it up for good, but I won't be giving any to the girls. The question now is, "what am I going to feed them?" If you want to read for yourself follow these links.

http://www.sfgate.%20com/cgi-bin/%20article.cgi?

http://www.mothering.com/articles/growing_child/food/soy_story.html

A Practical Vegan

After reading Skinny Bitch I'm finding it difficult to justify eating any animal products. Therefore, starting tomorrow, I am going to give veganism a shot. I bought my rice milk and soy cheese, so I think I'm as ready as I'm going to get. However, I've decided I'm not going to be hard core. I'm going to do it as much as possible at home, and avoid dairy whenever possible at restaurants but if I'm at a friends house, I'm not going to miss a meal because it has cheese in it. You should read the book. Even my mom is going to give it a try!

I have been hearing some bad press about soy lately though. Does anyone have any more info on this?

Meet Little Quincy (and Auntie Sarah)

My buddy Sarah visited us this week from Rhode Island. It was her first time meeting the girls, and it was great having her here. She and I took the girls to the doctor on Friday and Isla is now 3 pounds heavier than her sister! She weighs 15 lb 9 oz and Fiona weighs 12 lb 10 oz. They also got their shots. It was probably more painful for Sarah and me. The worst though was Saturday morning when both girls had temperatures of 102! We drove to Piedmont today to see her brother and sister-in-law (Liz Arney for any Aspire people) and their new baby girl, Quincy. She is so cute and has a full head of hair. I think Isla was jealous because she promptly grabbed a handful of it and pulled! That made me glad that the twins don't have any hair. Anyway, thank you for visiting us Sarah! We miss you already!

Home Sweet Home

We're back! We had a great time in Scotland. The wedding was beautiful, and it was fantastic to see everyone. It was pretty relaxing for me as Euan's mom, Aileen, basically took care of all of us while we were there (meals, laundry, babies etc.) My parents did make it and I think they had fun exploring. I was pretty impressed with my dad's driving on the "wrong" side of the road. However, we barely survived the return journey. We didn't get the four seats in a row that we were expecting and had to hold the babies much of the time. They were very good but 10 hours is just a long time! Anyway, we have been busy trying to get back on schedule and we pretty much are. I started school on Tuesday with Euan watching the babies at home. Tuesday and Wednesday I got calls telling me to come home after 2 hours because the babies weren't taking the bottles. Luckily my friend Sarah came to visit and was here Thursday and Friday so was able to help Euan out with feeding time. Leaving to go to work that first day was rough and all I could think of was what I was going to miss (I didn't realize I would only be gone for 2 hours!). Next week will really be 5 hours a day which will be hard. I love my job so far though. It is perfect, and I'm so happy that it will all work out with Euan's schedule.