Der Familie Schneider

Painting

2011-10-23T22:12:00.000-07:00

Penny may have put the paint in her mouth before putting it on the paper...
... and those sponges never really were used...
....but they (along with some friends) turned out some great artwork!

Tea party

2011-10-23T22:00:00.003-07:00

I was either making or cleaning up breakfast when I noticed that my girls were having a little tea party. A first of many to come. So darn precious!

Rocking

2011-10-23T22:00:00.001-07:00

Ball pit at pumpkin festival

2011-10-23T21:59:00.002-07:00

Lily insisted on going in the ball pit with the big kids at the pumpkin festival. She REALLY enjoyed watching everyone jump around her - this photo only captures half the smile she had while in the pit.

Forrest Gump

2011-10-23T21:59:00.001-07:00

Strollers!

2011-10-23T21:58:00.002-07:00

Since Lily enjoyed playing with Hadley's stroller so much while we were in Oregon, Nana bought the girls their own for taking on walks here in LA. Since then, a day has not passed (literally) where we have not taken them out for a spin around the block.

Hadley's boots

2011-10-23T21:57:00.001-07:00

Lily brought Penny a little souvenir from PDX - cousin Hadley's hand-me-down coveted pink cowboy boots!

Some more pics from Portland

2011-10-23T21:45:00.000-07:00

Returning home from Oregon

2011-10-20T17:45:00.001-07:00

Lily and I went to Oregon to surprise Uncle Nate for his birthday. More photos from the visit to come, but here's little Miss pushing her suitcase through LAX on the way home to see Penny.

Soaking in the last bit of summer

2011-10-20T17:44:00.001-07:00

A randomly warm weekend in October brought us to the park via bike for a picnic dinner.

Big girl swings!

2011-10-20T14:17:00.001-07:00

Special treat

2011-10-20T14:11:00.001-07:00

Lily may have been too sick to go to the family Rosh Hashanah party, but not too sick to have a special treat with Grammie. Her first Pinkberry.

Activity Table

2011-10-20T14:09:00.001-07:00

I have been looking for some sort of activity table for the girls to draw at. Turns out that everything is either WAY too big or way too expensive. However, I'm also on an organization kick and we recently put in official shelving in our master closet which meant the random media stand came out. Viola! A perfect activity table when coupled with two little step stools.

The Musicers

2011-09-19T15:02:00.000-07:00

Back in May, we took the girls up to Northern California for just over a week. Our first stop was to visit Aaron's long time friend, Jason, and his family. We hiked in a massive park just blocks from their home, shared a few great meals, and watched the kids play. It was a great visit and we hope to go back again soon!

Penny's a jokester even at a young age

2011-09-19T14:43:00.000-07:00

{slap on hand}

2011-09-15T08:37:00.000-07:00

I've been a terrible blogger and I intend on making it up to you. Keep your eyes out for MANY new posts over the next several days!

Swingset in the backyard

2011-05-01T19:38:00.001-07:00

Grammie and Papa Ron bought the girls a swing set and it has gotten a LOT of use. They both love it, but Lily especially likes to swing. She gets so giggly when we grab her leg mid-swing and pull her to a stop but then crank her up even higher and let go again.

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T22:18:00.000-07:00

Happy Passover!

2011-04-24T22:15:00.000-07:00

Green breakfast

2011-04-24T21:58:00.000-07:00

Avocado and green scrambled eggs made with spinach soup. Yum!

Zimmer Museum

2011-04-24T21:28:00.000-07:00

To kick off Passover festivities we took Lily and Penny to the Zimmer Children's Museum. The absolute favorite stop was the magnet board at the 'school' - even over the toddler bounce room. The girls could have stayed there for hours. We also spent a fair amount of time in the 'market' buying produce.

Outside

2011-04-24T21:12:00.000-07:00

These two sweethearts love being outside. If someone is itching to go out they will find a sweater, carry it to you and repeatedly say 'out' while waving their hand as if saying 'goodbye.' It's adorable.

Cousin Gavin gets baptised

2011-04-24T21:05:00.000-07:00

Wearing the Drews family gown as seen here.

The Park with Nana

2011-04-24T20:45:00.000-07:00

Nana came to visit at the beginning of April and we spent some of our easy downtime at the park.

Santa Monica Aquarium

2011-04-24T20:19:00.000-07:00

Towards the end of March, we took the girls to the Santa Monica Aquarium. It's just the right size for a couple of 13 month old toddlers (relatively small) and easy to get to from our place (10 minutes door to door). Aaron and I deemed it a very successful family outing.

Do you think that over the next couple of years we will have gone often enough to adopt this guy as our own?

Made with love

2011-04-22T09:53:00.000-07:00

Lily and Penny have a lot of talented Aunties. Their Great-Aunt Mary made these beautiful sweaters.

(photos taken mid-March)

Swim Lessons

2011-02-27T19:49:00.000-08:00

Aaron and I discovered two things when we took the girls to the pool in Hawaii: 1) Penny and Lily like the water and 2) Aaron and I have no idea what to do with them in the pool. So as a special treat for the month of February we signed the girls up for their first swim lessons.

Lily floating on her back with her ears dipping in the water.
Penny underwater.Pushing off the wall (and smiling at each other?).Riding the jet stream in a duck/noodle boat - Lily is a little more subtle about it, but she also liked the ride.

Some random cuteness

2011-02-17T21:40:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthdays!

2011-02-13T19:56:00.001-08:00

February 6th is now officially the most exciting day of the year for our household. This year to celebrate the girls' first birthday (and Aaron's 35th), we had a small backyard-cupcake-and-balloon party with family. It was great that so many people were able to join us to celebrate, and we lucked out with fantastic weather which meant we spent most of the afternoon outside in our new backyard.
Cousin Mike fed the girls their lunch off of the red plate. Enjoying some playtime before cake.Lily wasn't super impressed by her cupcake and Penny got spooked by the loud crowd singing Happy Birthday.But they eventually got the hang of it.So many presents!

Aloha!

2011-01-26T21:53:00.001-08:00

Schneider family vacation in Hawaii!

Not a single picture of both girls smiling at the camera, but we sure tried!

Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T21:24:00.001-08:00

Even with a little bit of snot dripping out of their noses, these little ones are so darn cute! The girls also spent some time on New Years Day out on the lawn with Papa Dave and Nana.

Christmas 2010

2010-12-30T14:08:00.001-08:00

We somehow didn't manage to capture much by photo, but here is at least one picture of the girls in their Christmas dresses from Grammie.

Christmas traditions

2010-12-19T21:06:00.000-08:00

A childhood tradition that I have carried into my adulthood is how after driving out to the Christmas tree farm and cutting down our tree, we would stop at a Greek deli for take out. Even though Aaron and I simply pulled out our super cheesy fake tree from the garage this year, we took the girls to celebrate with gyros and hummus at a local Greek restaurant.

First Hanukkah

2010-12-05T21:11:00.001-08:00

Four generations of Siegels

Four generations of Schneiders.

Daddy love.

Hanukkah pony.

Lily is moving and shaking

2010-11-28T22:03:00.000-08:00

It seems like things are different every day.

Penny has learned how to crawl pretty well, but Lily has been struggling a bit with getting herself moving. Today was a big step for them - we spent 45 minutes after dinner tonight playing keep away with a lego block. Penny would smack the block away, and they would both crawl toward it. Penny would pretty much always get to it first, but Lily started to get the hang of it. It was terrifically fun, and not at all a moment that I thought I would be cherishing (yes, I know it happened a few hours ago, but yeah, I'm being sentimental). (We captured some of this on video, so there will eventually be an update for the grandma channel.)

And while we lowered Penny's crib (what seems like) ages ago, Lily just lies down and rolls over to fall asleep. She never gets up or rolls over; she's always on her back. But tonight, I was on the phone, and Julie walks over with Lily and says, "We have a situation." Apparently, she poked her head over the rail to say hi. So we had to lower her crib too. :) She's finally learning some of the tricks from her sister. (Uh oh!)

And because no post is complete without at least one photo, here's an amazingly adorable photo of Lily chewing on a hangar on Thanksgiving Day before we headed over to the Turkey Trot in Long Beach.

Happy 60th birthday, Grandma Nan!

2010-11-08T08:40:00.000-08:00

Eating with fingers

2010-11-02T09:10:00.000-07:00

A few days short of 9 months Penny declared herself a big girl. She no longer wants to be fed by an adult with a spoon (she shakes her head and wont open her mouth) but would rather do it herself. The only solution was an all-finger-foods-dinner last night. Here are the adorable results.

Lily on the other hand is happy to try to eat with her fingers, but still lets us know (by these pretty annoying grunts) that we can speed up the shovel.

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T20:02:00.000-07:00

Lily & Penny spent their first Halloween as super darn cute fairies.

(Lily - yes, those are two bottom teeth you see)

(Penny - totally on the move)

And here's some more Halloween cheer for you:

Penny on "The Event"

2010-10-18T22:38:00.000-07:00

I took some videos of Penny's appearance on "The Event". Episode 5.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OKhFqgA7B8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kL646B15nM

Brief, but very powerful. OK, just brief. :)

Yay! Penny gets her turn on network TV! :)

FYI, there was another scene with Lily, but it wasn't shown this week. We think it *might* be on next week.

Aaron

All of a sudden they are 8 months old

2010-10-09T22:23:00.000-07:00

Going back to work has certainly sped up life. I know kids grow up quickly, but this is ridiculous. I blinked and they went from 6 months to 8 months old. Lily has figured out how to hold her own bottle, which any mother (or caretaker) of multiples will confirm that this is a big deal..

Sleep Deprivation Redux

2010-10-07T09:19:00.000-07:00

(By Aaron)

You may remember how sleep deprived we were about 2 weeks after the girls were born. Well, I guess we're not totally out of the woods yet.

Penny has been sick, and not sleeping well. Her nose is runny and it takes her a long time to finally relax enough to breathe and doze off. Last night, after crying for about 30 minutes, Julie took her into the bed to nurse her to help her fall asleep. (We know - nursing to help a child fall asleep is a bad precedent. We want them to be able to put themselves to sleep.)

In this particular case, nursing helped both Penny AND Julie fall asleep. I came in to go to bed around 11:30.

Me: It's time to go to bed.
Julie: What time is it?
Me: 11:30
Julie: What time is it?
Me: 11:30
...
Julie: What time is it?
Me: It's 11:30.
...
Julie: No. What time is it in our time?
Me: 11:30.
Julie: Huh? Oh.

:)

SLO - Alanna and Neil's wedding

2010-10-03T22:09:00.001-07:00

We packed up the girls for a road trip up to San Luis Obispo to celebrate as two of our friends exchanged vows. A couple of my favorite pics from the weekend (none captured at the actual wedding so we'll have to wait for the official pics to come back):

Brunch with to the Governor

2010-09-25T21:34:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we had brunch at our new favorite spot just walking distance to our home - Tiato. We didn't know that the Governator was also dining just a few tables away until he left. However, in looking at the photos this evening I found that we caught him in the background of a pic. Can you spot him?

Swings!

2010-09-25T20:45:00.000-07:00

We braved the late summer heat and went to the park this afternoon. The girls seemed to love their first time in the swing! The baby next to us was pretty jealous that she didn't have a sister to lean on.

Baptism and Brit Bat

2010-09-06T20:50:00.000-07:00

When Aaron and I first talked about getting married, one topic that immediately followed was if we wanted children (which the answer was a resounding yes from both of us!). Along with that conversation came discussion about how we would raise our then-yet-to-be-conceived children. While Aaron doesn't consider himself particularly religious, I see that he greatly identifies with his Jewish heritage and culture. And though I don't attend a church regularly, Aaron sees that the foundation of my Lutheran beliefs are an important part of who I am. So we agreed that we would attempt to teach our children about both Christianity and Judaism, about how the two religions are connected, and about what it means to our family to observe traditions from both.

Fast forward a few years...

On Sunday, we invited our family to join us to take our first formal steps with us on our journey to educate our girls. We asked my Uncle Mike to perform a baptism ceremony and as part of the service we incorporated a Brit Bat led by Aaron. A Brit Bat is a naming ceremony where we explained the meaning of the girls names and gave them each a Hebrew name.

We reserved a space at a park in Marina Del Rey and about 35 family members joined us for the occasion. The service turned out even better than I had originally envisioned and we all enjoyed a picnic afterward.

Has anyone figured out how to squeeze more time in each day?

2010-09-01T07:10:00.000-07:00

24 hours simply isn't enough. The blog has been getting the back burner to a few pressing projects around here:

- Construction is nearly done! We've had our first overnight guests even though there are some final items to be completed (touch up paint, hooking up utility sink, etc). We're super happy with the results and will post pics soon.

- I am starting to settle into a work 'routine.' I've been back at work (just part time at first) and trying to figure out how to balance work and life again. It's not easy, and I still need to tweak my plan, but I'm getting there.

- Planning for visitors. Both of my parents, my grandparents, and a few aunt and uncles are coming to town this weekend for a dedication of the girls. Think baptism with a Jewish twist.

And then of course just generally trying to maintain sanity!

Summer vacation in Oregon

2010-08-03T18:55:00.000-07:00

A special long weekend at the end of July brought Aaron, the girls, and I to Seaside, Oregon to spend time with my mom, Papa Dave, both of my brothers and each of their families. It was a wonderful coastal getaway where we simply spent time enjoying each others company.

Sitting pretty

2010-07-30T10:42:00.001-07:00

Aaron teaches Penny how to drive

2010-07-18T10:14:00.000-07:00

We took a road trip on Saturday to the middle of nowhere. Even though Penny can't reach the pedals, we thought it's really never too early to teach her how to drive*.

*By drive, we mean distract her with the dashboard lights in the El Pollo Loco parking lot while Lily is nursing. But isn't it cute to see her behind the wheel?!

A visit with the Musicers

2010-07-11T22:44:00.001-07:00

Jason and Andrea are in town and were able to fit in a picnic with us at a park in Manhattan Beach. Talia was especially interested in Lily and Penny. Eric *may* have been more interested in the slide.

Bottles in highchairs

2010-07-09T11:03:00.000-07:00

To get ready for my return to work, Lily and Penny are having a practice day eating with out me and instead with nanny/cousin Rebecca getting bottles in highchairs for the first time. Such big girls!

Drews family reunion in Wisconsin

2010-07-03T09:50:00.001-07:00

The Drews family reunion was held in Trego, Wisconsin this year over the 4th of July weekend. It was a short but sweet visit with family. All of the aunts were clamoring to get their baby fix (luckily we have two!) and Aaron and I enjoyed some time to relax a little. Lily and Penny did great on the flights, though they did need some adjustment for their sleeping schedule and routine to fall into place. Aunt Gwen pulled together an "Adult and Children's Program" where everyone participated by showing off the talent they drew out of a hat. Aunt Chris threw a "Welcome to the Drews family" shower for all of the babies born (or to be born) this year. With these gatherings happening only every 3 years, it's fun to imagine that the next time the girls will be running all over the place!

Fathers Day and Mark & Jule get married!

2010-06-20T21:26:00.001-07:00

In addition to celebrating Aaron's first Fathers Day, we spent the day with family celebrating Cousin Mark & Jule's wedding! We were down by the water in Long Beach with beautiful views of the Queen Mary and the rest of the harbor.

First Day

2010-06-16T09:00:00.001-07:00

Aaron looking sharp for his first day at the new job.

Santa Barbara getaway

2010-06-10T20:23:00.000-07:00

Aaron recently accepted a new job and with a week off between the old and the new, we went for a family road trip to Santa Barbara for two nights. The first day was absolutely beautiful and we spent most of the day just wandering around downtown shopping, eating, and napping in parks. The second day was a little gray, but we still went to the pier for lunch and a stroll before hitting the road.

The grandma channel

2010-06-08T15:18:00.000-07:00

Since 2 of the 3 grandmas live in other states, I've set up a special YouTube grandma channel so they can see all those slightly mundane things the girls do as they grow and learn. Of course everyone can watch it, but really, I mostly envision their grandmas constantly tuning in for the latest drool-fest and Bumbo time. The channel is accessed to the right on the blog and I'll try to add short videos regularly. Enjoy!

(Note: I'm still working out the technical difficulties. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.)

Bike ride to brunch

2010-06-06T19:22:00.000-07:00

A very generous baby-sitting offer from a friend allowed Aaron and I a chance to head out on our bikes this morning to a local breakfast stop.

These babies are just too darn cute!

2010-06-05T20:17:00.000-07:00

Penny

Lily

Construction update

2010-06-03T21:03:00.000-07:00

After a long delay due to our own change of mind (resulting in needing new permits) we have our construction project back on track. In the last 10 days they've cut the old concrete patio, dug out the new area, put in some piping and electrical requirements, placed re-bar, passed an inspection, and poured concrete. Current completion guesstimate is Labor Day weekend, which really means Halloween, right? Either way, we are so excited about the progress!

Rollin'... rollin'.... rollin'....

2010-05-31T12:21:00.001-07:00

Not since her 2 month appointment when she showed off for the doctor has Lily rolled over. Until today! Video proof for your viewing pleasure:

Play date!

2010-05-20T15:02:00.001-07:00

I have been getting together with a number of moms who I met through the WLAPOM group Aaron and I joined when we found out we were pregnant with twins. Our little group becomes a bit of a circus act with so many babies and when in public we get at least one or two curious strangers who are brave enough to approach us and ask about all the twins. That aside, it's been a wonderful way to get to know new people who share similar interests - the really obvious one being babies!

The Sunshine State

2010-05-17T21:57:00.000-07:00

We bravely took our first flight with the girls at just 3 1/2 months old to Venice, Florida. We spent time at the beach, hanging out at the pool, taking golf cart rides around the neighborhood, and sampling the best orange ice-cream in Florida!

Also, the trip was timed with nephew Carson's birthday which we celebrated at the Sarasota Jungle Gardens holding baby alligators and feeding flamingos.

Cousin Calvin!

2010-05-17T12:59:00.001-07:00

We were super excited to learn that Nate and Amanda welcomed their first little guy into the world on May 12. At 21.5 inches and weighing in at 10 lb 3 oz, we are pretty sure it won't be long before Calvin Henry outpaces the girls. We are all looking forward to meeting him in July!

First Mothers Day as a mom

2010-05-10T08:31:00.000-07:00

As a very special treat, my mom came to town to help me celebrate my first Mother's Day.

Santa Monica Festival

2010-05-08T22:26:00.001-07:00

On a perfect Saturday afternoon, we took the girls out for a walk around the park just around the corner from us to check out the Santa Monica Festival where local organizations, vendors, and entertainers were set up.

AAFA Luncheon

2010-05-04T21:28:00.001-07:00

We're getting the girls in a philanthropic spirit quite young and took them to the AAFA Spring Luncheon. What a good looking family!

WLAPOM Spring Potluck Picnic

2010-05-02T11:54:00.001-07:00

Our multiples club hosted a potluck picnic at a local park. Over 200 people RSVP'd and we were surprised to see how many of them were tiny babies like ours! I was especially glad that Aaron got to meet the moms and babies from the Thursday playgroup who I have been getting together with for the past several weeks.

Saturday morning

2010-05-01T09:12:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning routines have changed dramatically for Aaron and I, but these two darling faces more than ease the pain of waking up so early.

Penny catching another quick snooze after a feeding.

Lily so happy to have a full tummy and clean diaper.

Mommy's girls

2010-04-28T14:26:00.001-07:00

Lily - Julie - Penny

A visit downtown

2010-04-27T17:31:00.000-07:00

I took Penny and Lily to see some of my Deloitte colleagues downtown for the first time. We set up 'base camp' in my friend's office (she might not have ever envisioned her desk as a changing station, but it worked!) and several people came by to say hello. I took the girls to my lonely cubical for good measure as well. It was so nice to see everyone!

Garden Shopping

2010-04-25T07:46:00.000-07:00

With our new garage will come a new garden, so this weekend we went on part of the Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase tour for some ideas and inspiration. Perhaps we can emulate this one? It was one of our favorites.

Bathtime - everyone loves a naked baby!

2010-04-18T21:15:00.001-07:00

Lily

Penny

Playmates

2010-04-15T22:38:00.001-07:00

Lily (left) and Penny (right) meeting their friend Grant for the first time.

Holy crap!

2010-04-14T15:05:00.000-07:00

After a number of days without a bowel movement, I was about to call the pediatrician if my last ditch effort to get Penny to *go* didn't work. Well, it worked - and it flew out 5 feet!

I'm not exaggerating. We measured. It was epic.

Carousal with Grandpa

2010-04-10T22:05:00.000-07:00

While my grandparents were visiting my Aunt and Uncle in San Diego, they all made a quick day trip up to see us and meet the babies. After some oooo'ing and awe'ing over the girls we headed down to the Santa Monica Pier and rode the carousal. The excuse was so my 10 year old cousin Sophie could ride, but really it was so my 10 year old-at-heart Grandpa could take a spin.

Time spent in the bouncy chairs

2010-04-09T12:33:00.002-07:00

Lily just being super cute.

"Are those Teddy Bears I see over there?" - Penny

Do the two girls actually notice each other?!?

Great Grandma Drews

2010-04-05T18:03:00.000-07:00

This afternoon the girls visited their Great Grandma Drews. It will certainly be a highlight of her week!

Easter at the Hollywood Bowl

2010-04-04T14:23:00.001-07:00

This year we joined a few friends for Easter service at the Hollywood Bowl. They scored us seats with stroller access so it was really very easy. All we needed to do was get ourselves ready and out the door in time (which is not an easy task!). The baby girls did excellent! They may have heard me singing some of the traditional Easter songs, as I heard in my mind's ear their Nana singing along too.

Grandpa love

2010-04-03T22:48:00.000-07:00

He might talk a big talk about how he would probably agree with his own father's assessment that 'having a dog would have been easier,' but when it comes to walking the walk, Grandpa Denny doesn't follow through. Here he is totally smitten with Miss Penny.

Can you hear me now?

2010-04-01T12:52:00.001-07:00

The girls had an opportunity to be in a Verizon Wireless TV commercial that will air soon for their Father's Day promotion. We had a great time at the shoot today and are pretty hopeful that both girls will show up in the final!

Passover 2010

2010-03-30T11:53:00.000-07:00

This year the three baby cousins were the stars of the show at Passover.

7 weeks

2010-03-25T23:22:00.000-07:00

It's been nearly 7 weeks since these two lovely ladies entered our world. It seems to have gone by like a blink and yet also somehow feels like forever ago.

Lily in back, Penny in front.

The walls come tumbling down!

2010-03-24T09:03:00.000-07:00

We're finally getting our construction project started! Alex is a little confused about what we are doing to his house, but I'm sure he'll be much happier with his new digs once it's complete in an estimated 3 months.

Sister snuggles

2010-03-22T10:16:00.000-07:00

After the longest week ever, Penny is home and back to snuggling with her sister. Surprisingly, she grew (a lot) while in the hospital and now outweighs her older sister by quite a bit. Lily must have been just as worried as we were because she lost a fair amount of her newborn hair. Aaron and I would not have survived without the support of family and friends. THANK YOU!

Cousin Hadley comes for a visit

2010-03-13T08:19:00.000-08:00

My brother Jason and sister-in-law Amy came to Los Angeles to help us settle in as new parents and brought Miss Hadley down to meet her newest tea-party guests. Borrowing these pictures from Amy's blog... here are some snapshots of how Lily & Penny's cousin spent her weekend!

LUVs diaper shoot

2010-03-09T17:57:00.001-08:00

About once a month since joining, I have received an email forwarded by a fellow West LA Parents of Multiples group member from an agent looking for twins for different photo shoots, movies, and commercials. At the girl's 3 week doctor appointment we asked their pediatrician if she thought it was okay to get them involved and she enthusiastically said yes! She also mentioned that another one of her patients was Peggy's baby on Mad Men and her own niece was in a BMW commercial.

Eager to get their college funds started, I contacted one of the agents I had seen come across in the WLAPOM emails. One thing quickly led to another and soon Lily was booked to be shot for the new packaging of the LUV's diapers! They photographed 4 newborns, so she's got a 25% chance of being the baby new mom's across the US place in their shopping carts.

Over the river and through the woods

2010-03-04T10:08:00.000-08:00

Or rather, over the freeway and through the intersection to grandmother's house we go... this evening we took Lily and Penny for their first visit to Aaron's parent's house for dinner. We had steak (of course!) and the girls had their regular feeding of breast milk. Bubbe (Grandma Nan) snuggled each girl and Grandpa Denny almost had who is who sorted out by the time we left.Lily on the left, Penny on the right.

Sunday morning walk

2010-02-28T18:16:00.000-08:00

This morning Aaron, my mom, and I took the girls for their first walk in their baby carriers. I had Lily in the Moby and Aaron had Penny in the Baby Bjorn. It felt *really* good to get out of the house for some fresh air and sunshine.

A little pampering

2010-02-27T11:04:00.000-08:00

After 3 weeks of hard work, my mom and I took one of the windows of time between feedings this morning for a mani/pedi. Aaron stayed with the girls - we arrived home to napping twins, a made bed, a showered dad, and a dishwasher loaded and running. Success!!

We're not gonna wake them!

2010-02-26T11:32:00.000-08:00

At our 3 week doctor appointment this morning our pediatrician said the magic words. The words we've been waiting to hear since day one. We no longer have to wake them up at night to feed them on schedule! We get to let them sleep and tell us when they are hungry! We are still on a no-more-than-3-hours-between-feedings-schedule during the day, but at night we get to sleep as long as the babies will let us. No news has ever been sweeter.

Babies' first boat race

2010-02-20T09:48:00.000-08:00

Lily and Penny are very competitive little girls. Lily was born first. Penny latches on better. Today, they opened a new chapter in their series of outdoing one another. They had their first boat race!

Penny celebrated by turning the bottle up over her head after she finished. :)

Handmade with love

2010-02-18T21:56:00.000-08:00

Some photos of our girls wearing the sleep saks made by Nana (my mom) on a blanket made by Bubbe (Aaron's mom). Enjoy!

Sleep deprivation

2010-02-17T11:25:00.000-08:00

The adrenaline is starting to wear off and I'm officially succumbing to the sleep deprivation that comes with being a new mom. Before the babies arrived, I was worried that I would become snippy and unpleasant. And while I have my moments, I think I'm still generally holding up okay. We even get a few laughs out of it.

For the night feedings my mom and Aaron trade off being my second set of hands. The last several nights they have had to work pretty hard to wake me up to feed the girls. Before I'm officially awake, I've been saying some pretty random things. Like asking Aaron to please go get Aaron, asking if he thinks Penny and Lily could swing by sometime, insisting that my mom bring me a washcloth but when it arrives (and I am more awake) having no idea why I asked for it.

And yesterday I had my first daytime complete brain fart. I put two nursing pads on the right side, but none on the left. The lactation specialist, Aaron, and I got a good laugh out of it at my appointment.

Time to put more focus on getting some additional zzzzzz's.

Image by Graeme Weatherston / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Happy Valentine's Day

2010-02-14T11:22:00.000-08:00

More than double the love in our house this year!

1 week doctor visit

2010-02-12T11:54:00.000-08:00

Aaron, the girls, and I got out of the house for the first time today for a doctor visit. We planned poorly and were rushed to get out in time, but we reminded ourselves not to panic as we were certain we are not the only new parents to be late to their first appointment. Luckily the doctor's office is literally only a 5 min drive away.

The main thing the doctor looks for at the 1 week visit is weight gain. We were pretty certain that both babies have been gaining since with Lily we can see it in her chubbier-by-the-day cheeks and Penny is a champion guzzler at feedings (frat boys could take lessons from her).

Turns out we were right - compared with their weight on Tuesday, Lily is up 2 1/4 oz (weighing in today at 5lb 4.25oz) and Penny is up a full 5 oz (today's weight: 6lb 1oz)! The doctor wants to see them back at their birth weight by the time they are 3 weeks old. They only have 5 more ounces to go and 2 whole weeks to pack that on. They are doing awesome!

Heading Home!

2010-02-10T06:23:00.000-08:00

Just 4 days after their birth, our little '36 weekers' are good to go home! We figured that would be the case since they didn't need any NICU care at all, but our pediatrician wrote their discharge papers last night. I could have gone home yesterday, but wanted to take advantage of one final night of nursing help and a lactation consult this morning (they have been coming daily) so we asked my OB to write my discharge papers for today rather than yesterday. Apart from the whole 'surgery recovery' bit, our hospital stay was amazing! Every single nurse we had offered a ton of help, advice, and information. Several nurses confessed that they had fallen for our sweet girls which resulted in some extra attention and lots of hospital free-bees. Score! Enjoy the photos from our hospital stay.

Happy Birthday, baby girls!

2010-02-06T12:06:00.001-08:00

Final dinner as DINKs

2010-02-05T20:46:00.001-08:00

This evening our special occasion red plate took a field trip to the hospital so Aaron and I could celebrate our last dinner together as DINKs - Dual Income No Kids. We ordered in Thai food from a place just up the street and learned that ironically the owners of the restaurant had a baby here earlier today!

Just a few more hours until our lives officially change forever. We are so excited to meet the baby girls and spent most of dinner speculating what features each baby will have when born. Will they have hair? Will they have long fingers and toes? Will their cheeks be chubby? How soon before we see their personalities distinguish themselves from each other?

Hospital Bed Rest - Day #6

2010-02-03T08:25:00.000-08:00

If you don't count Thursday evening when I checked into the hospital, this morning is the beginning of day #6 of hospital bed rest. It has been a very easy stay so far. I'm comforted by the monitoring (of the babies and of me), I have enjoyed visitors each day, and the nurses are pretty much awesome.

The main thing that is keeping me here is my low platelet count. Everything else is still right where it should be - the babies heartbeats, my blood pressure, contractions, etc. This has the twins specialist using the word "boring" in reference to my situation - he sees all kinds of crazy cases including the woman next door who has been here for 1 month already and is anticipating being here for 2 more (Aaron has made friends with her husband).

My OB is still talking about this Saturday for a delivery date, though nothing is officially on the books. Possibly just a few more days!!

UCLA "Hilton"

2010-01-29T17:08:00.000-08:00

As I write this, I'm approaching the 24 hour mark of being in the hospital. The short story is that while almost all indicators point to 'great,' a couple (most importantly, platelet count) had our OB slightly worried so she called with instructions to go to the hospital for overnight monitoring. Overnight has officially turned into "you'll leave whenever the babies arrive" which again is mostly out of caution. It's better to have me here and monitored, than home and not sure if something is going on. I'm good with that decision.

It's nice to have Aaron by my side (he didn't go into work today for obvious reasons), nurses checking in to make sure I have everything I need, and a room service menu that honestly rivals that of many hotels I've stayed in. I did order the jello with lunch today - because really, what hospital stay is complete without jello?!? Our room is really quite large, is furnished with a flat screen TV, and the internet has been working like a charm. You will hear no complaining from this mom-to-be!

Here's a pic of the heartbeat/contractions monitoring, which the babies have been passing with flying colors! The main thing we're waiting on at the moment is a visit from the twins specialist to give his opinion on if I should deliver tomorrow or wait until I officially hit 36 weeks which is Thursday of next week. Holy crap - we'll be parents soon!!!