Twin Pics!

You're welcome.

Since Christy, Danny, and my mom are up to their eyeballs in the first week of the lives of TWO newborns (therefore sleepless nights and constant feeding/burping/diaper changing) and have no time to take pictures with a real camera, let alone upload pictures, I asked if I could put up the iPhone pictures that I have received since their birth.  There are fewer pictures of Joyce because she was in the NICU for a while after birth, so Lydia was more available for pictures.

Right after getting the pitocin, I think. After hours of waiting.

Finally at a 10! 

Lydia Jane

Twin moms get a special meal!

Daddy and Lydia

Umm....I think Lydia?

Mom and Joyce Aline

Meeting Lucy

Lydia

Going home!

Finally at home

Lydia's arm around Joyce

Lucy and Joyce

Lydia and Joyce

I am pining for them!

Uh Oh

Today I walked into Ruby's room to get her up from her nap and found this:

Dang it. Now I have to take the cool breathable bumper off. I love that thing, but she uses it to climb up I think.

(Notice her two little teeth.)

Is it any wonder I think this girl is perfect?

I have two new nieces. With nothing to show for it.

These days are crazy! Last night my sister Christy gave birth to twin girls, Lydia and Joyce.  From the fuzzy phone pictures I've seen, they are beautiful.  Hopefully my parents or Danny will distribute some real pictures sometime soon, because we are all dying!  They were big girls too--Joyce is bigger than Ruby was, and Lydia is just one ounce less.  I can't imagine having two Rubies in me.  Crazy.

My other sister, Katy, is having an adventure in Colorado for the next 5 weeks, at the American Academy of Bookbinding. (Or something fancy like that.)  She gallivants around the Rockies in the snow, or rambles around the little cute town of Telluride.

What am I doing?  Nothing exciting or adventurous or noteworthy.  Can you tell I miss my sisters?  I am so used to having Katy around to hang out with.  And it's killing me that Christy just had babies and I'm not there to hold them and be with her! I love Utah, but come on.  I need to have Joyce and Lydia in my arms RIGHT. NOW.

I DID get to hang out with this little angel though:

His name is Jimmer or James, depending on whether you ask his dad or his mom.

Ruby isn't used to being the BIG baby around.

Baby Beck is darling.  Playing with him made me realize how much I miss having a newborn (for the cuteness factor...not the sleeplessness and constant feeding/poop).  He makes the CUTEST sounds when he's sleeping.  I loved having him purr in my arms.

Easter was really great this year.  We had some candy because Celia and I went to 5 different places on Saturday night, looking for Cadbury Mini Eggs.  Macey's finally pulled through for us!  Ruby and Kyle and I went over to Nieman's house and spent Easter with her and Alan.  We made dinner, had a picnic, played croquet (we won't say who won), and had a egg hiding contest (we won't say who won that either).  (Ok, yes we will.  The VAUGHNS DID!)  It was freakishly fun for some reason.  Next year, we'll actually have an easter egg hunt for our child, not ourselves.  I guess.

Here is a picture of Nieman looking really pretty and Alan looking funny because he noticed the camera:

And here's a bunch of pictures of Dad looking cute with Ruby.

Dad was here for a couple days and we had the best time driving around the valley, doing anything that struck our fancy.  Ruby really took to him.

If you need me, I'll be sitting over here, pining for my nieces.

(Also, it's funny that I have 5 nieces and 0 nephews.  Ruby only has girl cousins.)

7 Months

Ruby is delightful.  I am so lucky.  She handles everything with equanimity.  She sleeps like a champ. She is a great eater.  She plays and smiles with just about everyone.

She crawls almost expertly now, along with sitting up by herself and standing up hanging on to something.

 She has a couple of tricks that she does to make us laugh.  She gives us a squinty grin and she cocks her head to the side.  She'll do it as long as we laugh.

Sleeping is what she does best.  We put her down at 7 or 8pm, and she doesn't wake up until at least 9 am.  Sometimes at 10.  She takes at least 2 naps a day, sometimes 3.  I am so so so grateful for this.

She loves eating solids.  She'll tolerate the vegetables and proteins and eat the whole jar.  When it comes to fruit, she downs it in a flash.  She would probably kill someone for applesauce.  She doesn't like chewing pieces of real food yet, but we'll keep trying.

I can't fill her up with milk.  She eats SO MUCH.  She cries when her bottle is empty--after having 10 ounces!  I cannot keep up with her!  The solids are helping, but I swear.  I spend a lot of time pumping, but it's still not enough.

Her absolute favorite thing in the world is the bath.  She is obsessed with it.  I plop her down and she sits up and splashes.  She loves holding her hand under the faucet in the stream of water.  She kicks like crazy when I put her in her mesh bath chair.  I can't wait to get her some bath toys, because I'm pretty sure she is going to freak out.

She is still obsessed with Kyle. She lights up when he comes into the room, and if he doesn't immediately start playing with her, she very loudly protests.

She loves when we sing.  I can get her to stop crying almost every time with a chorus of "Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam" or "I Know You and You Know Me."

I can't wait for her to learn new tricks and grow even cuter.

Picnic

How cute are they?!

The cheesy 1960s effect on Picnik is, obviously, cheesy...but I also love it.

Today we went to the park and had a picnic.  It was our first time playing in the grass with Ruby, and she loved it.  We had so much fun.

Super cute outfit from Aunt Diana

Awwww

She's got such a scowl!

Crazy eyes

Forest Sprite

The champion!

Of course she tried to eat the grass, but we managed to stop her.

(Also, I went ahead and got my eyebrows waxed. INCREDIBLE! I loved it it so much I convinced Katy to do it the next day.  Thanks for the encouragement!)

My other car is a....

This is a really great human.  I am proud to (presumably) live in the same town.

Not all Doctor Who lovers are friends of mine, but at least we have something in common.

Advice on Being a Girl

Eyebrow waxing.  What do I need to know?  I've never done it because I'm not a real girl apparently.  For some reason I'm nervous to.   Probably silly, right?

So this is what I'm wondering:

Have you done this?
Where should I go?
Do I need to know anything other than that I should grow out my eyebrows for a while first?
Does it hurt?
Will you go with me?

And then my fears will go away. Thank you.

Kyle is working late today so instead of half an hour until he gets home, it's more like 2 or 3.  Really, no big deal. I'm so lucky that he gets home so early most days.  For some reason he is willing to get up at 6 and go to work, making my day so much better because he gets home at like 3:30!

Ruby loves her dad so. so. much.  When he was sick, I had to make sure she never saw him because if she saw him and he wouldn't play, she got really upset. (And to protect her from germs, before I knew it was food poisoning.)  She gets so sad when he leaves the house or just the room.  I'm glad they have such a bond.  Few things make me happier than watching Kyle and Ruby play together.  That's when I really think about the fact that "Men are that they might have joy" because really, seeing my husband and baby loving each other is the most joyful thing to me.  That will always be there, even when crappy things happen or we're mad at each other or Ruby misbehaves.

It's even more fun when I'm involved.  Sometimes, the 3 of us will wake up from a nap at the same time and I'll go get Ruby and bring her to our bed to play with us.  She loves climbing on us and playing with our faces, and we love making her laugh.  If my life were a movie, scenes like that would make up the montage of everyone being happy and everything going well.  (And hopefully, the big dramatic conflict in our movie will never happen.)

One of my favorite times of day: after I get Ruby up from her crib.  She and I sit on the chair by her window.  She LOVES grabbing the curtain and opening it to look outside.  She lays her cheek against mine and looks at the horses and cars.  Then she closes it for a second, and then opens it again. This happens many, many times, as she enjoys her power of making the light and outside world appear and disappear.  I just love the feel of her smooth, warm little cheek on mine.  I love breathing her in and feeling her soft hair.

Motherhood is full of poop, spit-up, and mashed sweet potatoes on your clothes.  There's a lot of sleepless nights and ear-splitting crying.  Going to a movie isn't an option anymore, and there are bottles EVERYWHERE. But 100% honestly--having a baby is the best thing that ever happened to me.  It is the most amazing thing in the world. And it is the greatest joy you could possibly have.

And now some crappy but cute phone pictures of my happy girl.

(Ruby cried in her crib the whole time I was writing this. She just finally fell asleep! Now I can shower and get dressed--right before getting dinner started.  What a glamorous life I have.)  (I wouldn't change it for anything.)