catch up post.(M&M turn one!)

Twin babies/toddlers are a great excuse to take a year off blogging for a year, right?  Reading old posts from years past sent me down memory lane this afternoon, and it made me feel really guilty and sad that this year is the first that  haven't documented a thing.  Instagram is great too - but blogging has always had my heart.  

Instead of trying to remember what the twins were like at each individual month, I'm just going to post their one year photos here for memory keeping's sake.  I can't believe they turn 18 months this month!!

We had a small family party for them - just had ice cream and swam the day away.  

Even though I didn't blog 7-12 months, Meg remained the silly, social twin while Mila remained more reserved and serious.  Oh how we've enjoyed them!!  

six months with m&m.

Six months with the sweetest twins on the planet. How did I get so lucky??

-The twins take 3 solid naps a day.  They are up about 90 minutes in between naps now, except we torture them in the evenings and have them stay up a few hours before bed.  

-They tried SOLIDS for the first time on Christmas morning at Grammy's house.  She fed them avocado and they were...indifferent.  We've tried some banana, pear, and apple since then and they love it.  Just working on not being so messy while taking bites :)

-Mila got her first bottom tooth the other day!  She is so sweet and showed no signs of teething, but I figured out a tooth was there once she bit me HARD during a nursing session.  She did a couple more times, but hasn't in the past day.  Hoping that've over because OUCH that hurt.

The girls are getting a tiny bit more mobile - rolling over from tummy to back more often, kicking their little legs, but no scooting yet.  I'm happy to have them non-mobile for as long as they like!  Can't imagine two crawling babies.

The girls look more and more different as they get older but people still often ask if they are identical.  

Still nursing and bottle feeding every three hours.  Mila gets up once or twice a night and Meg gets up once around 4.  They sleep until about 7 in the morning.  My babies usually don't sleep through the night after four months until they turn one, so I'm not expecting them to anytime soon!  Someday I will sleep all night again!

Mila finally started to babble this month!  Meg had been for a couple months so we were waiting for her turn.  She loves to stick her pointer finger in her mouth and "talk" to us. 

They are almost all grown out of their 0-3 month clothes, they are just too tall for them.  

They are starting to fill out more!  Especially Mila.  I remember praying for them to hit 5 pounds.  Every single day I'm so thankful for how healthy they are growing.

They started getting to use their "jumper" activity toys and love them.  Grammy got them convertible car walker/jumpers and they love to cruise around the house with their big sisters pushing them.

I have yet to get really emotional about them growing up.  I'm usually a mess by this point each month!  I think this is a sign I'm definitely done having babies.  

five months with m&m.

Okay I've been in denial up until this point.  I think I can finally admit that these girls are NO LONGER newborns.  They might be wearing newborn size onesies in these pictures, but newborns they are no longer!  

This month the girls regressed a tiny bit with sleep.  (I blame Hawaii & Daylight Savings Time).  They are still pretty good, but wake up once a night around 3:30 to eat.  I'll take it!  They still nap great during the day and are on the same schedule. 

Still nursing and having bottles of formula to supplement.  We have tandem nursing down to an art these days and the girls hold hands while they eat. Slowly growing and fitting into 0-3 month clothes.  They've come so far from their little four pound days!  

I don't think they are teething quite yet, but they have started to chew on their hands a ton.

They finally both rolled over tummy to back!  They are getting better on their tummies and their heads aren't as wobbly anymore.

The girls' awkward hairlines are starting to fill in - no more Friar Tuck hair ;)

Packed away all the newborn size clothes and didn't shed one tear. Who am I?!

The girls are still not REALLY laughing.  They've given us a few pity giggles when we're trying super hard, but nothing that really counts yet I don't think.  I think month six will be the month!

Mila does this really sad lip quiver if you make a loud noise.  

Meg reminds us of a meerkat and always has her head up and alert when we hold her.

Meg "talks" a ton and is starting to blow raspberries.

The girls do tummy time facing each other and smile and chat...and sometimes scratch each other!

four months with m&m.

Ohh it's been the best month yet with these two.  Month four will forever be known as the month where WE SLEPT!  And the twins slept! All night!  And lots during the day!  Hallelujah!  The day they turned three month and ever since, something clicked with the twins and they become little dream babies.  They usually go down for the night after a bath around 7-7:30, and don't wake up to eat again until 4:40 and sometimes as late as 5:30.  Then after a quick feeding, they go down until they wake for the day around 7:30.  During the day they have been napping well and take about two 2 hour naps, a 1 hour nap, and then a cat nap before bed.  I know teething will be here soon and they don't sleep as well, but we sure are enjoying the rest we have missed so much!

The girls have become little social butterflies this month.  They are so smiley and starting to babble.  Meg is consistently the more social one, Mila is still a tad more serious, but much more smiley than last month.  They are so much fun.

Meg is a hair above nine pounds and Mila is getting close to eleven pounds.  Meg is still in newborn diapers and clothes but Mila finally graduated to size one diapers and we are busting out some 0-3 outfits finally.  I pretty much match them every day except when I'm needing to do laundry.

The girls are still little piggies and love to eat.  I'm nursing tons during the day but still can't keep up with their demands!  They scarf a little formula a couple times a day and love it, too.

We have heard teeny tiny giggles a couple times!

The girls had their very first of many trips to Disneyland and are pro travelers already.  Disney runs in their genes!  They were oohed and ahhed at in their princess onesies by passerbys and ate it right up.

Still not rolling over or scooting or doing any big girl things.  I'm totally fine with it.  Not ready for mobile babies yet!

three years with ella rose.

Our 8 lb 2 oz third baby girl turns 3 today!  What a huge year it's been for our baby girl! 

Ella is sassy, stubborn, and downright hilarious.  She's probably been our hardest kid so far, but her silliness & love for her family makes up for it!  She was the EASIEST baby, so of course she had to be a little hard as a toddler, right?

Ella loves princesses, babies, coloring and play doh.  She changes in and out of princess dresses all day long and can often be seen around town wearing them.  We choose our battles wisely with this year and that's just one we choose to "let her be little!"  

She became a big sister x2 at the end of June and is a great helper.  She often has to be reminded to be careful with the twins & not poke their eyes out, but she just loves them so much it's hard for her to not squeeze them. :)  She always tells them "Hi honey!" and "Good morning sunshine!".   She's just the best.

Ella loves her big sisters and wants to do just what they're doing when they get home from school.  She also loves to torment them, but that's just part of the little sister gig!

She's an awesome eater, and not too picky about whatever is for dinner.  If we ask her how her food is she'll stick two thumbs up and say "NUMMY" in the funniest voice.

Even though I'm busy taking care of the babies a lot, she still wants to be my sidekick 24/7.  Doesn't matter if I'm nursing two babies, she will squish RIGHT by us and make sure she's included in the fun.  She had a little jealousy with the twins at first, but has since learned that she can basically just squeeze herself right by me no matter what I'm doing.  I hope she's always my cuddle bug!

Ella is known for her mischievous ways.  It's been a year of cleaning up sharpie off walls, saving her from climbing up high counters, & catching her painting her finger nails (and the floors) with nail polish...and so many more shenanigans!  

She has a tender heart and if someone is sad, she will do whatever she can to make them laugh. She was very patient with me while I was exhausted during my pregnancy.  She would always say, "Your tummy hurts mom?  Your back?  Need to rest?" 

She started ballet this year and LIVES for Thursday mornings.  I cannot wait to watch her at her first recital!  I'm positive she will steal the show with her sass.

She still naps most every day for about 2-3.5 hours.  My other girls stopped by age 2.5 so this has been the best treat!  Her crib tent has worked wonders in getting her to stop climbing out.  

Basically, Ella is our ray of sunshine, our go with the flow kiddo, and our forever middle child!  We love her so much and so glad she is part of our family.  She makes our lives crazier, more hilarious, & SO much more fun!  Happy Birthday sweet girl.