Thanksgiving Photos

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving that was indeed full of thanks-giving. We had our big meal at Jim’s relative’s house, who happens to live very close to UConn hospital, my home-away-from-home this summer. As Jim and I drove by and saw the hospital on the hill, he pointed out the window to my room. It was an almost surreal experience to be on the outside looking in, with my beautiful, healthy babies sleeping in the backseat. The Lord has always been so good to us, but we are especially thankful to Him this holiday season. He gave us His Son, and now He has given us our daughters.

Here are a few more pictures from our time with family this past week. Our time together was packed with lots of fun, family, friends and (although I don’t think it’s pictured anywhere here) FOOD!


Alli was a huge help with the girls. They already have a special cousin bond!


Jim’s Nana with all her grandchildren.


Rebecca was excited to have so many new people to talk to!


Susanna was thrilled to have so many people to smile at! Maria is the willing recipient of this mile-wide grin.


Rebecca was more interested in little Landon than she was in her storybook.


The whole family, from left to right: Jan (Jim’s mom), little Jonathan (our nephew), Jim (Jim’s dad), Allison (our niece), Julie (Jim’s sister), little Katelyn (our niece), Jon (Julie’s husband), and, of course – Jim, Susanna, Rebecca, and me. What a great family!

Cute Cousins

Jim’s sister Julie and her family are here for Thanksgiving, so Jim and I are getting a sneak peek into the future. I have concluded that it’s much easier having twins that are four months old than twins that are fifteen months old! At least I know where my children are when I put them down! Here are a few pictures of the cousins getting to know each other:


Susanna is enthralled by Jonathan


Rebecca is amazed by her big cousin!


Allison is holding Susanna and I got to cuddle with Katelyn


Jonthan and Katelyn decided they would like to join Susanna in her swing

We were treated to a kazoo performance that the girls thoroughly enjoyed. In fact, Rebecca was lulled to sleep by her dad’s skillfull serenade!

Time Flies

I’m starting to understand why many of you advised us to cherish these first few months and years, as they disappear all too quickly. It’s hard to believe that only a little over a month ago, when my mom and sister were visiting, the girls were first starting to smile and coo and have extended periods of eye contact. Now, they would sometimes prefer to smile and coo and bat their eyes rather than eat! Rebecca has started to grab at items she’s interested in, and often appears to intensely study objects and people around her. She also talks a blue streak when she’s in the mood. You can tell she’s getting ready to gab when she locks onto your eyes with laser beam focus, and then half closes her eyes as if she’s assessing your willingness to engage in conversation. Then she starts jibbering and cooing in a sing-songy voice, often waiting for you to respond before she continues her narration. Susanna isn’t as interested in grabbing and gabbing. I think she figures that there’s no need, as long as she gets everything she wants when she flashes her million-dollar smile! Her smile is an adorable combination of: 1) a bashful “Aw, shucks, you shouldn’t have” expression, complete with a crinkled nose; 2) surprised delight as if you just told her you’re taking her to Disneyland, and 3) an excited twinkle of the eyes that tell you she has a scathingly brilliant idea. She’s quite the charmer!

The girls are now nearly four months old, and they are engaging more and more with the world around them – including each other. A few nights ago, Jim and I held up the girls so they were facing each other, and their eyes locked as they stared in disbelief and amusement at the beautiful creature across from them. Susanna smiled at her sister, Rebecca cooed a few times, and (Lord willing) a lifelong friendship has begun!

Head to Head

Pretty in Pink and Purple

I continued the trend from yesterday and dressed Susanna in purple and Rebecca in pink again today. They had a pediatrician appointment, so I figured they may as well get dressed up to go out! The girls are finally out of their newborn clothes and into their 0-3 month outfits, and with good reason: Susanna now weighs 9 lbs 4 oz and Rebecca is 10 lbs 2 oz (so I guess it makes sense why Rebecca feels so much heavier than her sister now – she’s nearly a pound bigger!).

Here’s a little photo shoot for your enjoyment. You’ll notice that I didn’t get many pictures of Susanna in the Bumbo chair, as she was less than thrilled with being photographed. Rebecca was more than happy to have the limelight all to herself!

Go Steelers!

It looks like we’ve got another Pittsburgh Steelers fan on our hands. Jim was holding Rebecca while watching the Steelers vs. Chargers game tonight, when all of a sudden the referees made a call in favor of the Chargers and Jim hollered out his protest. He looked down at Rebecca and said to her, “That was a bad call, wasn’t it?” and she instantly furrowed her brow, pouted her lip and wimpered plaintively. We both started laughing at her reaction, and she stopped crying. Jim looked down at her again and repeated, “What a terrible call!” and Rebecca’s face once again crumpled into tearful agreement. Of course, we cracked up at her intuitive responses, and she settled down. Jim couldn’t resist, and he tried yet again: “What were those refs thinking?!” and she cried on cue yet again! She did this two more times! By the time she finally stopped responding to our attempts to mock her heartfelt pouts, Jim himself was crying he was laughing so hard. So not only is Rebecca able to sympathize with her father’s emotions, she also shares his taste in football (Although I didn’t tell Jim that she smiled her way through the Steelers’ next fumble!).

I couldn’t resist sharing a few pictures of the girls’ outfits for church today. I thought they looked so cute! Rebecca is in pink, and Susanna is in purple:

Couch Potatoes

I think we have a little couch potato on our hands…or at least, a couch tater-tot. When Jim was holding Susanna tonight, she kept turning her head to look at the television. Eventually, Jim plunked her down facing the set, and she was quite content to watch “Law & Order” with us. Don’t worry – we shielded her eyes from any scary scenes!

Strange Bedfellows

As you can see by the time stamp on this entry, I’m up a little earlier than expected tonight. I was surprised at the early time when the girls’ crying woke me up at two o’clock. When I got to their cribside, though, I realized what had happened: Susanna had turned herself so she was pummeling Rebecca’s head with her feet. Oh well. I guess it’s about time for the girls to sleep in separate cribs. If I remember correctly, Susanna takes after her aunt’s tendency to flail her in sleep. Angie, I think I may have to rescind the sleepover invitation that I posted in my previous entry – or at least, insist we sleep in separate beds!

Sleep Schedules

I thought it was babies, not their moms, who get their days and nights mixed up. Rebecca and Susanna have actually been sleeping very well, usually only waking up once during the night. So you’d think I would sleep blissfully and awake full of vim and vigor. Well, much to my surprise, I am full of vim at three o’clock in the morning (I had to look up “vim” to see if it really was a word: indeed, it means “ebullient vitality and energy”). Once the girls are fed and put back to bed, I practically have to listen to the their lullaby CD’s to get myself to sleep. Some of you may have noticed that I tend to return e-mails at that time, since it seems a shame to waste the time awake laying in bed! Unfortunately, my supply of vim wanes as morning draws near. By the time the girls are ready for their next feeding at seven or eight o’clock, I can barely drag myself into the nursery. And of course, once fed, the girls are bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, and I am bleary-eyed and far from bushy. I think I need to take some lessons from the girls as to how to reset my internal clock. Maybe I ought to follow their pattern: At eight o’clock in the evening, I’ll bathe, then eat until I can’t see straight, give a good belch, eat some more, have a good cry, then nestle down to sleep next to my sister. How about it, Angie – you want to fly out for a sisterly slumber party? All in the name of a good night’s sleep!

Play Group

Today I had the privilege of getting together with some friends who also have young children. It was a wonderful opportunity to socialize, play with the kids, and to be thankful for my girls’ relative immobility. Once kids can walk, they don’t seem to stop moving, especially not for pictures!