On the move...

Sunday, September 30th

What a great weekend!  We are officially on the move with the kids.  Summer is coming to an end and its been really tough to be chained to our house for an entire summer.  So, with great weather upon us, we packed up the troops and headed out.  On Saturday, we walked to the Farmer's Market.  We usually drive, but since its so nice and we are in dire need of exercise we walked the mile to pick up our weekly supply of fruits and vegetables.  We picked up what we needed with minimal interruption from strangers who stop us to ask questions about the girls, the most common question of the day was, "Are they twins?"  I'm constantly having to bite my tongue, its hard, there are so many great opportunities for sarcasm. But I've been good at resisting the urge, so far.  Anyways, I am so proud that Ryder can do the 1.5-2 mile roundtrip walk.  He's such a big guy!  It was great to get out and catch some exercise and sun while picking up some needed items for the week.  Before we headed back, we bought some lunch at the Farmer's Market, threw our blanket down in the closest stretch of grass we could find and made ourselves a little picnic.  It was a great way to spend the morning.

First thing Ryder grabs every trip to the FM- a carrot!  

nothing like farmer's market veggies...

A view of the market

Lovin' his kettle corn

mmmm quesadilla 

Proof- the girls came too!

Our little picnic at the market

Real Men push double strollers

Walking home...

Today, we had planned to do our first family of 5 bike ride.  We loaded up bikes and then tested the girls in the bike trailer.  Unfortunately, they are still too little for that.  So we unloaded my bike and loaded up the jogger.  We drove out to Coyote Creek Trail and unloaded the family.  Ryder and Daddy were on bikes and I pushed the girls in the stroller.  We walked 2 miles and stopped under a shady tree for another picnic.  We found a "fireman's hose" (as Ryder called it) and pretended we were fire fighters and then ate lunch.  After our picnic, we headed back the 2 miles back to our car.  It felt so great to get out of the house and enjoy the sun.  Ryder did such a great job on his bike that we rewarded him with a little jamba juice on the way home.  He really is pretty amazing on his bike.  I can't believe he can do 4 miles on it.  What a stud.  I cannot say enough how AMAZING it felt to get out and about.  Its been so hard to be home and not get out and do much.  It's definitely difficult to pack the whole family up  but its been so worth it and I'm so grateful that we are finally making it happen.  :)

Starting their ride, he was afraid to ride on the dirt, lol

pushing that bike right along...

Picnic break

World's Funnest Dad having a pretend firefighters hose battle

Father & Son- Thumbs up for bike rides

He will ALWAYS be my #1 guy!

Getting ready to mob down the hill

There he goes!

My boys!

On the way back to the car he overcame his fear of riding in the dirt, thumbs up from daddy!

Nova getting love from Daddy- she's a total Daddy's girl

Bria and Mommy!

Kisses from Mommy!

Our car filled to the brim to go for a walk and bike ride, lol

On another note, the girls recently turned 4 months old (Sept 23rd).  I really cannot believe that they have been here for 4 months.  The time really does fly.  At their 4 month appointment, we discovered Bria has an ear infection.  I hope she's not headed down the same path as her big brother in the ear department.  She's almost finished with her antibiotics and we go back next week to make sure it is cleared.  Other than that, the girls are great!  Bria weighed in at 12lbs 9oz (35%) and is 24 inches long.  Nova weighed 11lbs 14oz (10th %) and is 23.5 inches long.

The girls at 4 months (Nova (L), Bria (R) )

Nova Nicole 

Bria Belle

Happy 3 Months

We are 3 months old!!!

Here we are at 3 months of age!  Things are just starting to get really interesting!  The girls are smiling, coo-ing and finally on more of a regular schedule.  I'm so glad that we are heading into a more mobile phase of life.  Lot's of changes to celebrate.

Our first 3 months... Look at how much we've changed!

First of all, the girls have recently decided that they really like to breastfeed.  I've started nursing them together.  Bria has finally settled down and will allow her sister to nurse with her.  (Previously, she would kick Nova in the head and have a fit the entire time).  After 3 months, I can't believe they have FINALLY chosen their path.  I feel like we are in a routine with nursing and its working well for the whole family.  A couple days ago, as I was nursing them, the girls held hands.  It was the cutest thing ever.  I'm so glad that I stuck with it.  Even though it was challenging, exhausting, and beyond frustrating and all consuming... it was worth it.

After 3 months of many tears, we are finally here!

I'm also officially back to work and the busy season has begun.  I started my season by presenting to 1300 middle school students.  The days are long and hard but its been fun to be back to work.  I miss the girls but its also great to be back doing what I love and having adult conversations.  It makes it a lot easier that we have hired a nanny who we absolutely love and trust.  She has 5 kids of her own, including 14 year old twins.  She truly gets the "twin" thing and provides great care for our girls.  I'm so happy we found her.

Ryder continues to attend preschool and is learning so much.  He has learned to write his name and can identify all of his letters and numbers.  He's starting to read a little bit and loves to do "worksheets".  I'm so proud of the progress he's making.  He continues to be a great big brother and is really excited that he can make his sisters smile and laugh.  There is nothing sweeter than watching him talk to the girls and sing songs to them.  He loves his sisters and will tell anyone who will listen that he has 2 sisters and that they are twins.

Big Brother providing entertainment for the twins.

Joe is still here... as in, he hasn't run away and not looked back yet ;)  I must ask him at least once a week if he ever considers walking out the front door and never coming back, because its crossed mine! lol.  Our life is chaotic at best but I think its finally starting to settle.  I am really lucky to be married to such an incredible man.  He goes above and beyond the call of duty and really makes our lives much easier.  All kid duties are shared equally and watching him love on his girls is truly heart melting.  We've recently decided to take turns on night duty.  We trade off every other night.  This has been really nice for us.  Every other night we get to sleep through the night.  The girls are regularly waking between 1am-3am for a feed and again between 5am-7am.  So, some nights we only have to get up once.  They are becoming predictable and we definitely appreciate that and the extra sleep.

Daddy Loving on his girls

Having twins has been quite the adventure.  It's been tough and its been great.  And as hard as its been, I wouldn't trade it for the world.  When I reflect on the most difficult moments of my life, I find those moments to be the ones that have provided the biggest life lessons.  I'm sure this will be no different.  I still can't believe they are here and I am still in disbelief that we had twins.