Results of Photographer Session

So you've probably already noticed our new family photo posted on the blog. I'm really pleased that we at least got that one family shot. The photographer also captured a few good shots of each twin individually, but there's nothing good of both of them together.

There is a funny one of Connor grabbing Chloe and trying to bite her ear

The air conditioning had been left off the night before and the photographer arrived right on time, so she didn't have time to cool the studio down. It was a warm and Connor's cheeks started to get a little rosy, but he was a ham in most of his shots.

Chloe was mastering her crawling skills and there was no way to get her to sit still without holding her. Almost every picture of Chole is of her starting to crawl away.

There really wasn't anything great of them together, but this one was cute.

Playing With Daddy

You may have noticed from some of the pictures posted we've put a huge play pen in the middle of our family room. Since Connor and Chloe are crawling and pulling themselves up now we needed a bigger, but safe place for them to play. The play pen doesn't exactly go with our contemporary attempt as decor, but it works for the babies.

The play pen is big enough for an adult or two to join in, so we often all play in the pen. Below is a clip of fun with a burp cloth. We may not need all the fancy toys after all, but Carl likes to play with them too.

Swan Cousins Visit

Weekend before last we had a visit from the Swan Cousins, Kevin, Lauren and baby Andrew. We had a great visit and I think the babies really enjoyed playing together. Below is a small sample of our weekend adventures.

All the baby Swans hit it off immediately and showed off by pulling themselves up on the coffee table (pictured left to right: Andrew, Chloe, Connor - Maria in the background to catch anyone if they fell)

When it was time to eat we lined up all the high chairs in the kitchen. My favorite part of this picture is Max just hanging out under the chairs in case someone drops a puff. Smart puppy.

We made a trip to the Arboretum to see the Peter Rabbit display, but didn't stay long because it got pretty hot rather quickly. Below is a picture of Kevin, Lauren and Andrew in front of a grassy Peter Rabbit.

After the heat at the Arboretum, we cooled off with a swim. All babies have to wear a cute hat when swimming.

Andrew wasn't used to having other babies around all the time and I think Connor got a little rough for him.

But Connor better watch out, Andrew has six teeth in and can give Connor a chomp if he's not more careful.

We had a great visit with the Swans and look forward to spending time together again soon!

Crawling

With twins you compare every little thing they do and have to constantly remind yourself, everyone is different and each baby will learn some things in different ways at different times.

The most recent example for us is crawling.

Ever since she started sitting up on her own Chloe started trying to crawl. Now she uses her graceful leg flipping sit up trick to help her change directions when she crawls. We’ve had to block all the plugs, move cords out of the way, and follow her around if we let her crawl about freely.

 

Connor’s approach is a little different. I think he recognizes he could be more mobile since he sees Chloe moving all over the place, but he has his own form. He doesn’t crawl with both arms out and his little legs up under him. Instead he kind of drags himself with one arm. Sometimes he uses the other arm to drag a toy he happened upon along with him. It’s a little humorous to watch and even more amusing because of his little white helmet that makes him look like a little baby wounded soldier dragging himself along. This method seems to work for him and he’s content with it.

New Patio Cover

When we first moved into our house, over five years ago, we had a lot of rooms that still needed furniture. It was our first time to buy furniture together so we were struggling a bit to align our decorating tastes on what was, for us, high-ticket items. We didn’t buy any furniture for the house for right away, but we could agree on outdoor furniture and a little gazebo for shade.

The first gazebo we bought lasted for years before the material covering started to rip beyond usefulness. We liked it so much we bought another one to replace it, but the material on it ripped in a just a few months and when we had a bit of snow, it collapsed.

Ultimately we decided to have a patio cover added to the house. We had hoped to have it finished by the Fourth of July holiday, but there was so much rain we couldn’t get it completed. The cover part is done and we’re pleasantly surprised at how big it is and the detail on the wood. We were concerned it would block too much of our green view into the backyard, but the wood color blends in so naturally to the green and it provides such great shade, we’re really pleased with the result.

Today they're adding the ceiling fans. Just in time because cousins Lauren and Kevin Swan are coming to visit with baby Andrew this weekend and we plan to swim and get some use out of the new patio cover.

Below are some shots of the progression without the final touches yet.

Swimming at the Fourth of July Celebration

When my Mom hosted the family last weekend, she’d bought the twins inflatable inner tubes to use in the swimming pool. We knew there was a chance of rain and it was getting a bit cloudy out, but I had packed swimsuits and towels for everyone and Mom had specifically bought the swim floats so for some reason I thought we had to swim.

Connor was not thrilled.

I’m not sure if he was concerned about the weather or just freaked out to be in the pool with ten adults staring down at him but he held on to that little green football like a security blanket.

Chloe was a little better with the swim episode and did her usual kicking around that looks like she already knows how to swim.

This is another one of those crazy mom things I’ve done. We only stayed in the pool for about 5 minutes and it looked like it would rain down on us any second. I have no idea why I felt

like we needed to swim and I think it was a little overwhelming for Connor. Hopefully everyone will still enjoy swimming no matter how many crazy things I do.

Fourth of July Celebration

My Mom hosted a fourth of July celebration this weekend. We had a pretty big turnout. Jamie and Brian brought Jamie’s parents, Carla and Bob. Carol came with Grandma Gutzler and Karen and Martin brought my Grandmother Catherine.  We grilled and caught up and everyone  had a nice time being together.

Lately when we're headed out, it’s hard for me to tell what baby things I’ll need to bring. I think I over-packed a bit for this excursion. We’d recently built a playpen at home to give the twins more room to crawl around and play with toys without having to follow them around the house to keep them out of danger. We brought a few frames of the playpen and created a smaller version at Mom’s house and that seemed to work out pretty well.


Enclosed are a few shots from the celebration. We did take the twins swimming, but I'm saving that for a later post. (I know you're saying to yourself, "Yea, something to look forward to, even more pictures of Shelley's babies.")

Check Us Out

I ran by the  grocery earlier this week during lunch and when I went home to drop of the groceries, Maria was playing with the babies on the floor in the nursery. They always have on cute music and clap and sing and make happy baby noises, but Maria was clapping and saying "good job" so I peaked my head in and both babies were standing next to the crib.

Yea babies!