Big Girl

Our big girl sat in a high chair at a restaurant for the first time today. 

Duke Gardens

(Warning:  This post includes an excessive amount of both pictures and cuteness.  We cannot be held liable for the effect of said cuteness on your facial muscles.  How can you not smile?)

We went to Duke Gardens today with both sets of grandparents - Lila and Keith (Jason's parents) from Indiana and Steve and Renee (Leslie's parents) from Georgia.  The babies love all the attention that they have gotten from their grandparents this weekend.

Needless to say, we took a TON of pictures today.  Here are just a few (well, at least I whittled it down from the 200 I took) of my favorites:

Vivienne wore her new sun hat.

Miles was stylin' in his first button-up shirt.

Viv has really taken to eating her toes.  Tasty!

What a handsome little man!

Miles and Vivienne are sitting up very well now.

The two men in my life.

Two peas in a pod.

Miles and Granddad

With Grandma and Grandpa from Indiana

With Grandma and Granddad from Georgia

3 Generations of Foxes

Playing with Daddy by the fountain.

Baby Dedication

Last night, our church had an amazing baby dedication.  It was wonderful to have both sets of grandparents and good friends there with us, and the program was just beautiful.

It was a special treat that the babies' Aunt Mary and cousin Elizabeth were able to join us from California.  Mary was visiting her family in Georgia, so she came up to North Carolina for a night to be at the dedication with us.  It was so great to see her and to see how big Elizabeth has gotten since the last time we saw her (in Georgia at Christmas).  Elizabeth is about 5 weeks ahead of our babies, so it's fun to get a sense of what our babies may be doing in only a couple months.  A huge thanks to Aunt Mary for trekking up here with her 8-month-old baby to be with us - it means so much to us!

As part of the preparation for the dedication, Jason and I had to decide on 5 values and 2 habits that we would like our new family of four to focus on.  After coming up with a long list, we finally whittled our values down to the following five (in no particular order):

• Honesty - We would like our family to be honest with one another.  We also want our children to be able to be their authentic selves with us and to know that we will always love the people that they are.
• Compassion - We would like to teach our children to be compassionate of other people, to remember that each person has a story and to reach out to other people to share God's love with  them.
• Thankfulness - Our family should remember that every good gift comes from God and be thankful to Him for all that He has given us.  We also want to remember to be thankful to other people for all that they do.
• Hard Work - We want to teach our children that hard work is important and pays off - whether it be in your education, work, relationships with other people or any aspect of life, really.
• Generosity - Our family should be generous with other people.  We should share the gifts that have been given to us generously with those around us.  

Our two habits are:

• Service - We would like to find ways to serve other people on a regular basis - whether it's serving dinner at the Durham Rescue Mission or volunteering at church or anywhere else.
• Healthy Living - Anyone who knows us knows that we value healthy living, including regular exercise and time outside.  We see healthy living as a way of being a good steward of the bodies that God has given us.  This also includes healthy eating (and Jason is way ahead of me on that!!).

22 babies were dedicated at this service.  The program included cute video clips, a slideshow of the baby pictures, some encouraging words and awesome music.  It was a wonderful evening to celebrate the gift of these babies and to link arms with our family and friends to raise Miles and Vivienne to love God.

Here are a few photos from the evening.

Granddad covers up our sweet little guy so that he doesn't spit up on his cute little outfit.

Oh, the cuteness!

The Four Foxes at our table.

Aunt Mary and Cousin Elizabeth

They made a photo collage of all the babies on the big screen.  22 babies were dedicated at this program.

The centerpieces were adorable.  They had a little container with gravel and soil and our little cherubs sprouting out of the dirt.

Aunt Mary & Miles

Grandma Lila and Vivienne

My good friends held sleeping babies after the service.

Some of our closest friends were there with us.

Facial Exploration

Miles and Vivienne have been fascinated by our faces for a few weeks now.  Vivienne is especially excited while she explores our faces with her hands, pinching our noses and grabbing our lips... often not very gently.  She delights in getting very close to our faces and exploring every feature and dimple.  Then she will often give me what I think may be a big wet kiss (which is more like her sucking on my face), or maybe she's just exploring our faces with her mouth.  =)

Cat Fascination

Miles and Vivienne are at the age where they are fascinated with our cats.  Whenever the cats walk by, the babies cannot take their eyes off of them.  They are simply enamored by our kitties.  When the cats get close enough (which is not often, now that they have realized that the babies are after them), the babies reach out and grab a handful of fur and squeal in delight.

Hopefully, eventually these four (Miles, Vivienne, Noah and Chloe) will become fast friends, but I foresee a rough couple of years for our poor kitty cats.

Reaching for Us

Jason and I have noticed over the past couple days that Vivienne has started to reach for us.  When someone else is holding her and she wants us to hold her or when we go over to pick her up off the ground or the exersaucer, she will reach her chubby little arms up to us.  It melts my heart to see those big, sweet blue eyes looking up at me with her arms open.

We'll always be here to hold you, baby girl.

Good Weekend

This past weekend was fun.  Friday night, we just stayed in and relaxed together.  Earlier that day, the babies and I had gone on a 5-mile walk with a good friend, so, needless to say, I was tired.

On Saturday, we started our day slowly, and I checked out a consignment sale at the First United Methodist Church.  I only bought a couple sun hats for the babies there.  Check out how cute our little guy is:

I'm glad I have this pocket on the side to store all my important baby things.

I know this hat won't cover his neck well, but it sure is cute.  =)

 
Later that day, the four of us went to walk around Lake Johnson.  It was a good hike on the east loop, about 3 miles.  I started off wearing Miles in the Ergo carrier.  It was the first time we've done a back carry (versus carrying him in the front).

Miles in the Ergo

Vivienne was excited when the hike was done.

Yesterday, we went to church and then I went to the Kids Everywear consignment sale.  I only bought a few feeding items that we needed for the babies.  The toy area at that sale is totally overwhelming.  There are a million toys, and I swear every one of them seems to be making some sort of noise/sound/song/squeak all at the same time.  I had a headache within a couple minutes of being in there.  But it was fun to get some things we needed at really good prices.

Last night, Jason's parents came from Indiana.  They got here after the babies fell asleep, but Miles and Vivienne were so excited to see them this morning when they woke up.

A Bad Back & Grandma Visits

The Saturday before last, I threw my back out while I was pulling Vivienne up to a seated position.  Luckily, my mom was already planning to fly up from Atlanta that day to help me with the babies through the week.  Perfect timing!

Having my mom here, I was able to get so many things done - things that I am not usually able to do while I'm watching both babies.  I dropped some things off at a consignment sale (my first time trying to sell - will let you know how that goes!).  I shopped for groceries, went to the chiropractor (obviously MUCH needed), met some friends for coffee, and went running on my own (without the stroller) almost every day she was here.  It was wonderful!

Thanks, Grandma, for being such an enormous help!  The babies love having you visit, and I do, too!

Bathtime Fun

Over the past month or so, we have changed our bath routine.  We used to bathe them in the baby bathtub on the counter in our bathroom.  We liked using it on the counter better than in the big bathtub, because our backs would get tired from bending over into the bathtub to wash two babies.

For the past few weeks, I've gotten into the big tub in our bathroom, and Jason will hand me each baby.  I bathe them and then let them "swim" around a little bit in the bath while I hold their heads up.  They love to kick the water and hit it with their little hands.

Last week, I bought a mat for the tub to add more traction and make it easier for them to sit up without sliding all over the place.  Miles is getting close to being able to just sit in the bathtub without any assistance.  Vivienne can sit fairly well, but I think it will be a few weeks before we can have her sitting in the bath by herself (still worried that she'll slip and bonk her little head).

Adieu, Notebook!

Since the babies were born, we have kept a notebook of every single feeding that they have had.  Initially, it was important to keep up with how much each of them were eating and how often... and for tracking wet and poopy diapers.  And, of course, because we're anal engineering types, we decided to keep the notebook going far longer than we really needed to. 

Today, with our babies at 7 months old, we decided to stop tracking them in the notebook.  In a way, it's sad.  And in a way, it's freeing.  I must admit that I think it is very cool to have such a detailed record.  I think they'll enjoy looking at it someday when they are much older.

Goodbye, sweet speckled notebook.  You have been good to us.  It is time to pack you away.

Happy 7 Months!!

Happy 7 months, my sweet Miles and Vivienne!!

Today, Miles and Vivienne are 7 months old.  They are such sweet, happy babies.  They are both starting to sit up a lot now.  Miles has gotten very steady at sitting up, but Vivienne is still working on her core strength.  They both roll over easily and enjoy sitting in the exersaucer and jumperoo.

They still razz all the time, which is really, really cute.  They love to grab their feet, especially when we're changing their diapers.  Both of them are starting to squeal, screech, scream and laugh louder every day - I love it!

So far, they have eaten homemade sweet peas, sweet potatoes and green beans.  We also tried oatmeal once, but Vivienne got a rash. (I still think it was the lotion I used on her and not the oatmeal, though.)  We'll probably try applesauce this weekend. 

Miles is starting to wear some 9-month clothing because his arms and legs are so long.  Vivienne is still fitting into the 6-month clothes with some room to grow.

Miles and Viv are both sleeping very well.  They go to bed at 6:30 without any fussing.  Miles always wants to eat some time between 3 and 5 am, and then they sleep until around 7 in the morning.  It's absolutely wonderful to get a full night's sleep.  I'm certainly not going to complain about having to wake up once a night to feed them.  A couple times, we have let Vivienne skip the early morning feeding (the one Miles wakes up for) and sleep through until the morning.  She can sleep 13-14 hours without eating.  Oh, if only her big brother could do that!

We get out every single day now - going on walks and runs, running errands, meeting up with other mommies and babies or going to La Leche League meetings.  It's fun to get them out of the house, and I think that they really enjoy a change of scenery.

The weather this past week has been perfect - highs in the 60s and 70s.  Today, it's supposed to be around 75 degrees.  I've been running every day for the past couple of weeks.  It feels so great to get my legs moving, and I think the babies like going for the ride in the BOB. 

Happy 7 months to my sweet, beautiful babies!  We love you so much!

Miles' First Time on a Swing

Today Mom, Miles, Vivienne and I went to the Kids Together Park with our great friends, Kristi, Kylie, Caleb and Darcy.  It was wonderful to spend time outside in our fabulous weather and enjoy playing with our friends.  Miles tried out a swing for the first time.

When he was in the swing, we noticed that he was moving his little legs back and forth.  I was quite certain that he was already starting to pump.  After a few minutes, he had the swing going almost as high as my head.  We're pretty sure this kid will be in the gifted class.  (I'm totally kidding.)

We followed up playtime with a visit to Chick-Fil-A for some yummy chicken sandwiches and Diet Dr. Pepper (my favorite).  It was a great day to spend with our friends.

Thanks to Kristi for the pictures of Miles and his swing!

Hair Bows & Homemade Green Beans

Today, I made homemade green beans for Miles and Vivienne.  I bought some bags of frozen green beans from Aldi.  I boiled them and pureed them in our food processor.  It was really easy, and I have enough green bean ice cubes to last us a month!  Vivienne really enjoyed them.  Miles was already cranky, so he only ate about half of his portion.

Check out the difference in color between these Gerber green beans (I keep them for backups and travel) and my homemade green beans.  Which would you rather eat?

Gerber versus Homemade

Vivienne finally has enough hair to put little hair bows in.  I bought some really cute little bows from the Sugar-n-Spice Boutique on Etsy.  They came in the mail today, and they are so adorable.  I put one in Vivienne's hair immediately.  Just when I thought she couldn't look any cuter...

I like my new bows and my green beans.

I'm cute even when I'm not trying to be.

Naked Eaters

After the Poop Incident a few days ago, I cleaned Vivienne up and just decided to leave her in her diaper because the babies were about to eat their lunch.  Then, Miles spat up all over his shirt, so I stripped him down to his diaper, too.  Gosh, these babies are so darn cute in their little cloth diaper covers!!

Seriously, could they be any cuter?

The pink bow bib goes well with the yellow diaper cover.

The blue diaper cover bring out his eyes, don't you think?  =)

My Sweet Little Man

Diaper FAIL

Something very... um... interesting... happened today.

I was changing Vivienne's diaper before putting her down for a nap.  It gets pretty warm upstairs in our house during the day, so I decided to let her nap in just her shirt and her diaper.  I remember thinking, "Hmmm... the velcro on this diaper cover doesn't seem to be gripping as well as it used to.  Oh, well."  (In retrospect, I should have paid more attention to the little voice in my head.  Always listen to the little voice, Leslie.)


I put my sweet baby in her crib and went downstairs to feed Miles.  While I was feeding him, I could hear Vivienne cooing up in the nursery.  After about 30 minutes, I decided to go check on her.

I peaked through the crack in the doorway.  To my horror, I saw the "business end" of my baby girl covered in poo.  Her feet were in the air and she was showing me her full glory - absolutely covered in poop.  While I was feeding her brother, she somehow managed to take off her diaper and poop all over herself and her crib.

At this point, it's important to remember that we are finally doing solid foods, so this was not your ordinary, run-of-the-mill, innocuous, odorless breast milk poop... this was real poop, and lots of it.  Needless to say, the odor in the nursery was less than pleasant.


I immediately tried to assess the situation.  Is there some optimal way to solve this problem?  Ok.  Vivienne is sitting in a pile of poop.  It's going all the way up her back.  Clearly, I must get this shirt off of her and get her cleaned up.  I don't want to get poop all over the place, so I should probably clean her up in the crib.


As I took Vivienne's shirt off, I realized that the poop was all over her legs and feet and halfway up her body.  It almost looked as if someone had literally just dipped my beautiful girl's bottom half in poo.  Nice.  So I got the box of wipes and started giving her a "wipe bath" with them (all the time wishing I could just use a pressure washer instead).  As I was doing this, of course, she decided to pee.  I thought,"Well, why not?  Go ahead, sweetie.  You might as well just add some urine to the poop party here."


I finally got her cleaned up enough to move her over to the changing table.  Then I took the crib sheet into our bathroom to spray most of the poop into the toilet instead of putting it in our washer.  (Thank God that we installed that sprayer last week!! Seriously!!)


After I cleaned her up, I just let her hang out in her diaper to eat her sweet potatoes.  I figured I might as well wait to put clothes on her so that we only go through three outfits today instead of four. 


This is the most poop I've had to deal with so far.  But something tells me that I will have other larger poop "episodes" in my future...

Running with the Birds

It was barely warm enough to get outside with the babes.  I bundled them up and put the weather shield on the BOB.

I had another good run today.  I went 4 miles at a 10:13 pace - really surprised myself!  That is an enormous improvement over my previous times with the BOB.  I feel like my performance is going to plateau, though.  I just don't feel like I can go much faster.  I would love to go under a 10 minute mile (sustained for at least 3 or 4 miles).  That's my goal, though I haven't really set a date at which I would like to reach that goal.

We saw some really neat birds today.  We saw a red-tailed hawk.  It flew very low across the trail and landed on a branch not too far above the ground.  I did stop for a moment to watch it.  I always wish the babies could understand me when I see things like this.  I want to point things out to them, but they're too busy staring at their thumbs or making razzing noises or trying to pull off their socks... just being darn cute.

We also saw a great blue heron.  He (or she?) frequents the pond in the subdivision next to ours.  I have seen this bird, along with many Canada geese and maybe a king fisher, many times at that pond, because it is always on my way home while I'm running.

Selling the Suit

This is a bad picture taken of my nice suit with my cell phone.  I took this picture so that I could list it on eBay.  Yesterday, the auction ended, and my suit now belongs to one "dtbt5440". 

This is a very elegant wool, lined J Crew black skirt suit.  I bought this while I was working at Northrop Grumman.  It has seen me through many business dinners, interviews and business meetings.  It has gone with me to Los Angeles, San Diego, Sacramento, New York City, Long Island, Houston, San Antonio, St. Augustine, Ft. Lauderdale, Miami, Detroit and many other cities.  It has been good to me.  I know that I bought it during a very good sale (because I only buy things on sale), but I certainly spent more on it than I would ever consider spending on an outfit now.

Will I miss this suit?  I don't have to think twice before answering with a definite, "NO."  I enjoyed my time in the suit, but I'm much happier now in my old terrycloth robe with spit up on my shoulder.  I like my fuzzy socks so much better than my stuffy heels.  And my two little "clients" here are so much cuter and sweeter than any of my previous clients ever were.  So, "dtbt5440", I hope this suit brings you much success.  Treat her well and dry clean her often.

As for me, I know I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be.  God has given me my dream job, and it is everything that I had hoped for.  That's not to say that I don't have my bad days, but the good days far outnumber the bad ones.  Even on the bad days, I love this job far more than my previous ones.  Quite simply, I was created for this.

And the truth is... I really sold this suit the first day that I saw Miles and Vivienne's little heartbeats on that ultrasound machine.

Sub-11-Minute Miles *Sigh...*

With my mom here this past weekend, I was able to run a little bit more without the stroller.  I love running with my babies, but it is also nice to see what I can do without pushing over 65 pounds of stroller and baby.  (The BOB Duallie weighs 34 pounds.  Miles is over 17 pounds and Vivienne is over 15.  So that totals at least 66 pounds.  However, the BOB is very well designed and makes this load a lot easier than it sounds.)

On January 30th, I ran 3 miles in our neighborhood (without babies) at a 9:13 pace.  This past Sunday, while my mom babysat the twins, I ran 4 miles at 9:05 pace.  At least I feel like I still have a little power in these legs (though my time is nothing compared to real runners like my husband).  I'm glad that I don't have to pull out the walker just yet!

This past Wednesday, I ran with the babies and stroller - 3.5 miles at 10:54 pace.  This was my first run with the stroller where I was under 11 minute miles.  Go, Mommy!  Then, yesterday, I ran 4 miles with them at 10:46 pace.

I am certainly no marathon runner, but it feels so good to be able to enjoy the fresh air and get my legs pumping.  Every time I run, I feel like I'm getting a little bit stronger and faster.  I think doing these types of activities - things I did before I had the babies like walking, running, getting outdoors - are so important for keeping up my confidence and recharging myself.  My babies will have a healthy mommy, and I hope that someday I will run alongside my babies when they're on their bikes with their little helmets. 

Yesterday, I was thinking how nice it would be if they could give me a "Go, Mommy!!" when I'm huffing and puffing my way up that last steep hill before I return home.  Right now, they just say "Ga!" or "Mmmmm!" or they spit up while I'm dragging the three of us up that hill.  Someday, I'll hear a "Go, Mommy!  Go!"

Super Porridge and Oatmeal Allergies (?)

The babies have had sweet potatoes and peas so far, and they loved them both.  On Sunday, we tried to make our first baby oatmeal, using the Super Porridge recipe from the Super Baby Food book. 

I usually eat steel cut oats from Whole Foods for breakfast every morning, so I started with those.  I put them in our food processor and ran it for a couple minutes until I was left with a fine powder.  Then I boiled a cup of water on the stove, and added the oatmeal powder and whisked like a crazy woman.  Well, I must have done something wrong, because it came out very lumpy.  We tried feeding it to the babies, but they were going to start a hunger strike.  So I quickly defrosted some sweet potatoes and we fed them those.  I put the oatmeal into the fridge with hopes of somehow feeding it to the babies over the next couple days.  (I hate to throw away food.)

Yesterday, I microwaved some of the leftover oatmeal from Sunday to soften it up.  Then I put the heated, soft oatmeal back into the food processor with a little extra breast milk and pulverized it.  The result was a nice, creamy porridge (much like the consistency of cream of wheat).  The babies ate it up.  Success!

Well, this morning, I noticed that Vivienne has a rash all over her abdomen.  It doesn't seem to bother her, but it was all over her little belly and chest, so I called the pediatrician.  They said to try holding off on oatmeal for another month or so to see if she is having a reaction to it.  (Unfortunately, I put a new lotion on her last night after her bath, so it's impossible to determine whether it was the lotion or the oatmeal without further experimentation.)

So, I successfully fed the babies oatmeal, but Vivienne might be allergic to it.  I guess we'll just have to see how she does with it in another month or so.

Diaper Sprayers and Blackout Curtains

While my mom was here visiting, I was able to do so many things that I usually can't get around to doing (or that I just don't prioritize highly enough to get done on my normal days) - things like taking long showers, getting my hair cut and going to a consignment sale.  We also took the opportunity to get a few important things done around the house - cleaning, installing a diaper sprayer and putting up blackout curtains in Miles' and Vivienne's nursery. 

The babies' nursery is very bright in the mornings and during the day.  We have thin wood blinds, and they work ok, but they certainly don't block out most of the sunlight.  About a month ago, I went to Walmart and bought some cheap blackout curtains.  We finally got around to putting them up this past weekend.  The curtains aren't 100% blackout, but they definitely block out most of the light.  Now, the babies' nursery is nice and dark in the mornings and in the afternoons for their naps.  Hopefully, this will help them to sleep soundly.

Because the babies have started eating some solid foods, their poop has gotten a lot more "interesting."  It's definitely more solid and it has a pungent odor that it did not have before.  (When they were only eating breast milk, their poop was mustard colored and had virtually no odor at all.)  Needless to say, it was time to install a toilet diaper sprayer.  It is basically a sprayer much like you have on your kitchen sink, but it's connected to the water supply going into the toilet.  It also has a little hanger that allows us to hang it on the side of the tank when we're not using it.  I got our sprayer free from someone who didn't need it anymore.  After soaking it in a bucket of bleach for an afternoon, we installed it in our bathroom upstairs.  Now, we can spray off the poops before putting the diapers into the diaper pail.  So far, so good.

A HUGE thanks to Mom for all the help over this last weekend.  We miss you already!

Razzing, Face Exploration and Starting to Sit Up

The babies are starting to do more new things each day.  As I mentioned previously, Vivienne has now proven that she can roll over (hoorah!!).  Miles has been making razzing sounds for the past couple weeks, and Vivienne has really picked up on it this week.  It's really cute to watch them do that. 

One of Vivienne's new favorite things is to explore our faces with her hands when we hold her.  She'll look right into your face (from about 2 inches away) and start feeling all over it with her hands, pulling on our lips and noses, pulling our hair.  She just smiles ear to ear and explores our facial features.  It's really sweet, though sometimes she can get overly excited and actually hurt us a little bit.

Miles and Vivienne are just starting to sit up.  Miles was sitting up very well on our bed last night just before his bath.  His core muscles are clearly getting stronger, because he can sit up from the beginner "tripod" position for a few seconds before falling over.  Vivienne still really only does the "tripod" position, but she's getting stronger every day, too.  Both babies will "stand" and support all of their weight on their legs if we hold their wastes to balance them.  They can only do this for a short time before their little legs get tired, though.

Grandma Visits and More Fun with Peas

Grandma (Leslie's mom) is here to visit for the weekend.  The babies have really enjoyed all the extra attention and cuddles from Grandma.

Jason got up at 5 am to run a half marathon this morning.  He got third place overall with a time of 1:23:31.  He was back home in time to feed the babies their lunch.  This was his first opportunity to see Miles really chow down (remember that last weekend, Miles was still fairly averse to this "solid food" business).  Daddy fed Vivienne and Grandma fed Miles.  They were jokingly racing to see which baby would finish their peas first.



Tonight, Jason and I went out on a much needed date night while Grandma babysat for us.  It's so nice that the babies go to bed around 6:30 with very little effort.  Months ago, I would never have believed that their bedtime would become so easy.  I nursed the babies around 6:30, we put them to bed, and then we went out.

Date Night!

We went to Chef's Pallette in Cary.  It was fabulous!  The ambiance was excellent.  We had no wait at all.  The food and the service were outstanding.  I would highly recommend it for a nice dinner.  (Oh, and I had a really hot date, which always helps.)  =)

Jason and I had a wonderful conversation about the values and habits that we would like to uphold for our family.  This conversation was inspired by some podcasts that our church released for parents to listen to before the baby dedication (we're dedicating Miles and Vivienne in late February).  It was just a wonderful evening together. 

Thanks, Grandma, for babysitting and allowing us to escape together for an evening!

Baths with Grandma and Vivienne Rolls!!

Grandma (Leslie's mom) came into town today to visit the grandbabies.  They are really enjoying playing with her and showing her all their new tricks.  Mommy is really enjoying an extra set of hands around the house.  =)

Grandma gave them each a nice, relaxing bath tonight before bedtime.  We have squeaky clean and very happy babies.

On a side note, Vivienne rolled from her stomach to her back for the FIRST TIME tonight!!  Miles did this 3 months ago.  It was so fun to finally see her learn to flip herself over.  Go, Vivienne!

We love Grandma!

Enjoying the spa treatment.  (And apparently thinking "Oh... my... gosh...")

Vivienne looks cute in her pink diaper cover.  Congratulations on your first roll, big girl!

Definitely my favorite picture of the night.  I'm in love with this baby.  =)