Allie Takes the Pirate Eye to the Next Level

Adorable and heartbreaking at the same time!

Our sweet Allie has to wear an eye patch!    She had another special outing with mom to visit the pediatric ophthalmologist. After watching how she tracked toys he shook in her face, the doc said her eye with the droopy eyelid was tracking slightly behind.  Thus, for one hour a day until her next visit in 2 months, she has to be a pirate.  I can't really tell if it bothers her because she has been fussy while wearing it, but maybe not because of the eye patch.  At least she is stylin' with a variety of girlie designs.  Harper is absolutely mesmerized with Allie when she has on the eye patch.  I put the eye patch on my nose for a while the other day and I don't think either of them blinked for 10 minutes staring at me...hilarious! 

Check out the intensity of Harper's stare even while eating (that's why you only get the tops of their heads lest your parental controls block you from this site)

Empathizing.

Four Nights Sans Babies

Four nights without babies means:

• 8 plus hours of un-interrupted sleep almost every night!
• You have amazing in-laws and parents that you can trust to take care of your three month olds
• There was a very appealing vacation that could not be missed
• You have to pump for 2 months before you leave
• You return with a freezer full of milk

Last weekend, Michael and I went on our fifth annual ski trip with our dear Texas friends to Beaver Creek, CO.  Even three month old cutie-pies could not keep us away.  Michael's parents win in-laws of the year because they drove six hours to keep Allie and Harper for three nights.  My parents kept them the final night. I was anxious about leaving them for a month.  I made a 5 page document with instructions, hinted that I would love for them to keep a log of their eating and sleeping, and cried leaving them and returning to them (just a few tears, happy tears).  I'm very glad we went because we had a fabulous time with great friends, and I'm a better mom after having such a relaxing break.  It was sad to discover that I don't ski with the same aggression that I used to.  There is something about having two little ones counting on you that prevented me from taking on multiple black diamonds.  Or maybe it was because I'm in the worse shape of my life.  Michael did run into a tree skiing through a glade, so I don't think he was being Mr. Cautious Daddy.

They changed in four days!  Harper laughs, coos, and smiles more than ever, and she is actually reaching for toys.  When you put Allie on the ground, she kicks like she wants to take off on a bicycle and she is still such a smiley girl.  Both of them are stronger and could flop out of my arms in one motion.  I used to always tote them around together, but it makes me nervous to only have two arms for both of them now.  Hopefully, they will start hanging onto me soon to make the double tote feasible again.

Snowed In

The ATL got a serious snow and it is obvious that the city doesn't know how to handle it.  I think there are only 8 plows for the whole city and i don't think they even bothered to use those.  Therefore, Michael's office was closed for two and a half days!  We got out with the girls in their sleeping bags:

Lots of sledders in Piedmont Patk

 

It was chili weather!

Photo Shoot

When the girls were about 2 weeks old, we had a photo shoot with Atlanta photographer, Megan Davidson.  She came back for a second round in early December to get a few better shots of me with the girls.  See all of the photos in my album and a few more taken by Michael's sister with her new portrait lens.  Here are the highlights:

Squirmy Time

Shout it from the Rooftops!

My babies can sleep through the night! At least Harper can and Allie is so close!  Three nights ago Harper slept 7pm-7am with one feeding at 9pm that I woke her up for.  The next two nights she slept 10pm-5:45am.  And last night she was out from 8pm-7am!  Allie has still been eating about every three or four hours, but last night she went to sleep at 7:30pm and then only needed a feeding at 9:30pm and 2:30am, then I woke her up at 7am to eat with Harper. 

I must also add that to get these hours of sleep took some really sad sessions of crying it out.  But after I had tried everything three times and they keep waking up and crying, I just had to let them get it all out on their own.  I did read Baby Wise and know that people, including pediatricians, don't like this book's philosophy on sleep and crying it out, but for now it seems to be working. Am I a cruel mom?  Maybe, but I at least I am well-rested and therefore a better mom during the day.

Ring in the New Year

I got sick last week with a really bad, make you weak-in-knees cold. I felt like my head was going to explode and it made me so thankful once again that I did not a difficult delivery or c-section to recover from, because caring for babies while in pain is no fun.  I have a new admiration for anyone with a handicap who raises kids.  Every other time I've been sick, I just got to sleep and do anything I wanted til I got better.  This time I had to get up every three hours to feed them.  Thankfully, Michael worked from home and took care of them the rest of the time. We had to cancel on a weekend with friends in the mountains because Michael also got sick, so we holed up and celebrated the New Year by cooking more Alice Waters recipes for the first time since the babes arrived.  Roasted Wild Salmon and Pureed Rutabagas and parsnips.  I did not have high hopes for the vegetable purees, but the rutabagas were delicious- very creamy and rich on their own, with little butter or oil.  I may prefer them to mashed potatoes.  The parsnips were not my favorite, but I should give them another try with more seasonings.

 

Being holed up with cute babies results in lots of pictures and you can see more in our albums to the left:

Allie's neck is not quite ready for the Bumpo seat, though she's still happy. 

 

 Sunday football with dad

Babies' First Christmas

We traveled to Jackson for Christmas and upon arrival we were greeted by about 15 people waiting to meet Allie and Harper. Our four days in Jackson were a great break because there was always someone to hold them and so they hardly fussed the whole time.  Plus, Mark and Carolyn pulled a few night shifts too, so I got some good rest.

Michael's cousin Anna Katherine was a great help!  the babies love her.

Grandma Barbara visited from Florida

Daya and Harper

In their personalized crib at CiCi's