George & Abigail's Baptism and First Thanksgiving

What an amazing weekend we had! We celebrated Thanksgiving by hosting Jerry, Judie, Sherry, Doug, Kevin, Laura, Cliff, Evie, Kirby, Bill, Debbie, and Brad at our house. Even Jack and Tori came to play with Boomer....needless to say, we had a house full!! Thanks to everyone pitching in to help with cooking and cleaning, it was relaxed and seemingly effortless.

We had a feast of a meal on Thursday and watched the football upsets. On Friday, several from the group went to Pauls Valley and toured our cousin's pig farm--the kids loved holding the new piglets! Despite the cold temps and snow flurries all weekend, the kids had great fun playing with the dogs, building fires, and beginning to build a potato gun with Pop. Saturday morning, we had family portraits taken by Trina Gibbins and they went great--can't wait to see the finished products. On Sunday, George and Abigail were baptized at our church, McFarlin Memorial United Methodist. It was great to see them wear the baptismal gowns that Laura, Brad, myself, Cliff, Evie and Kirby wore-- a family heirloom passed down again. We held a lunch afterwards at our house to commemorate the occasion and many friends came by to join us.

It was a fabulous time and the babies were great all weekend. They loved being passed around and showing off their personalities to the family. They had a growth spurt this weekend...we think Abigail is close to 10 lbs. and George looks so much longer. They will be 12 weeks old tomorrow!

Hope you enjoy the two sets of pics!

Ten Weeks Old

Here are some fun sights from George and Abigail's tenth week of life...

Two more milestones...

Forgot to mention two more big things this week...

1. Matt and I left the babies in the church nursery for the first time this Sunday! The nursery workers were able to get them to fall asleep!

2. George is continuing to grow stronger and started holding his head up more! He is still pretty wobbly since he has such a big noggin', but he can hold it up! Yea!

Nine weeks and growing wiggly...

The babies are smiling and cooing and being adorable....making all those nights of 2 hours sleep and continuous crying worthwhile! Yesterday Abigail and George put themselves to sleep for 2 naps (and are doing it right now as I type) which is a big milestone. They have been a bit fussy while awake but when we can see their little tired red eyes, we can understand why they are crying. Slowly but surely, we are starting to figure them out and recognizing their cries. We are learning how to be effective parents!

My work is still going well...two days a week seems to be the perfect amount of time away. Matt is still working hard~~in fact, he watched the babies at his office on Friday while I went to a work meeting (and even got lots of work done!). He mastered putting them to sleep in a new environment and the babies' reward was being passed around amongst the baby lovers after they awakened. They were enthralled with the ceiling fan in Matt's office and he "built" a tent with blankets to "remove" the distraction. Too sweet!

We accomplished many projects around the house this weekend, which was tricky with two babies. However, understanding their need for sleep and the invention of baby monitors gave us the freedom to work in the garage or continue the multiple loads of laundry. We are preparing for the whole Martin Mob and Bill and Debbie to come up for Thanksgiving~ the twins will be baptized that weekend too! What a celebration to come!

We finally figured out who Ab looks like, at least for this week. After looking at Matt's baby pics, she has begun to favor him and the tinge of red in her hair is the exact color of his baby hair in his baby book. I do believe that the chipmunk cheeks are from both of us! Of course, George is still mini Matt...

Enjoy this week's pics! (excuse the fuzziness of some, they are becoming very wiggly, and I haven't mastered our camera with movement)

George and Abigail are 2 months old!

Yesterday was their 2 month birthday...hard to believe it has been that long. And things have continued to change for the better as they grow and develop. We went Dr. Fox today for their first round of shots and they screamed from the minute we walked in the door...I think they knew what they were in for! They are growing very well: George weighed in at 10 lbs. 9 oz. and 23 " long and Abigail is a big girl of 8 lbs. 8 oz. and 21"long. Abigail is nearly out of all of her preemie clothes (she is long and skinny) and George is teetering between newborn sizes and 0-3 mo. clothes. We expect large educational achievements out of both; Geo is 95% of head circumference and Ab is 75%.

George is still very laid back and loves to look around at people, lights, and fans. He has developed quite a little temper though and goes from smiling to screaming in .03 seconds. He smiles at Mommy frequently when nursing. He loves to follow the fish as they circle over his head in the cradle swing. Abigail is still our high need baby, but she is beginning to mellow and goes down for sleeping times much easier. She loves to lay on her back and kick and coo and has a smile to melt your heart. She loves to smile at her daddy when he gives her a bottle in the middle of the night. Both are sweet and cuddly and follow in their mommy's footsteps of loving to sleep in in the morning--woo hoo! They still love to ride in the car and prefer Daddy's Texas Rockabilly music.

Our nanny is working out well and my work life is gearing up quickly. It is nice to have adult conversation and to keep my clinical skills up through working part-time. My two facilities (one nursing home and one adult day center) are less than 2 miles from the house, which allows me to come home at lunch and nurse the babies. Exclusive breastfeeding is going well and I am very proud to be able to continue--there is something very fulfilling as a mom to know that my body is providing all that they need besides the beautiful bonding time. My goal is to continue until they are a year old if possible! Thank you to those who have encouraged me on breastfeeding over the past eight weeks..it has really helped!

Last Friday Matt's law firm, Mahaffey and Gore, hosted a shower for the twins. It was a wonderful time to spend with his fabulous co-workers and reminds us how glad we are for Matt to be a part of a great working environment. He (and our family) is very blessed. Click here to see the pics.

Fall is settling in here in Norman. The trees are all turning red and golden with a nip in the morning and evening air. This is my favorite season of the year and a big reason to love Oklahoma. Hope everyone's autumn is beautifully colorful! Enjoy the pics!