Weekend

My dad and step-mom left this morning to head back to St. Louis. We always thoroughly enjoy them visiting mostly because they refuse to let Rob and I do pretty much anything - they fed and changed and held the babies the whole time, woke up with them for the overnight feedings, and even cooked and washed bottles for us! Wow. Talk about a nice little break for us. I went out with some girlfriends on Friday night - dinner and drinks. Rob and I went to a movie on Saturday night, and even though he fell asleep in the theater, it was still nice to be on a little date with my hubby. Here are some pictures from the weekend.

Me & My Girls

This is how I feed them all day long
Daddy & Caroline

Caroline being sweet

Grandma Linda

Grandpa Richard

Liv content in her rocker chair

Before going out with the girls

Smiles for Grandpa

Caroline Grace

Olivia Reese

Thank goodness for Grandparents!

Grandma & Grandpa Krupa watched the girls all day yesterday while I got to go to the gym and run a couple errands and then they stayed through the evening so Rob and I could go out to dinner to celebrate our anniversary. We went to this trendy little restaurant in our neighborhood and had a delicious four course meal with champagne and wine! Very nice. And this weekend Grandma & Grandpa Smith are coming in town from St. Louis again to see the girls so Rob and I are already planning a couple fun things we can go do while they're here. AND Grandma Karen is coming in town next weekend from Texas because she misses them so much! It sure is nice to have such wonderful grandparents in our lives that love these little girls so much.

Before leaving for dinner last night
Caroline waited up for us!

Happy 2nd Anniversary!

On this date two years ago Robert and I were married, and so was the beginning of our little family. Happy Anniversary my love! Two years, Two babies! Wheewwww! It certainly has been a whirlwind! Here are a few pictures of that blessed day.

And a few pics of the girlies over the past few days...

Tired Livi

Caroline! (Sorry, can't figure out how to turn the pic)

Daddy teaching Livi how to rock out on Guiter Hero

High Risk Infant Follow Up Program

This program is a service provided by the city to follow up on the progress of infants that were admitted to the NICU after birth. Our hospital referred us to the public health agency for a nurse to make house visits in order to follow the girls' progress and make sure they are reaching optimal growth and development. Because they were 6 weeks early, we want to make sure they "catch up" to their age group by the first year of life. Our first visit from the RN was on Tuesday. She evaluated both the girls and took measurements and asked a lot of questions about how they were doing and progressing. She played some games with them to check their responsiveness and said they were doing all the things that a 2 month old should be doing (the girls are hitting the 2 month milestones right now even though they are technically 3 months due to prematurity). We'll have more visits from other therapists to do more physical and developmental assessments over the next several months.



Here we are working on our daily tummy time to strengthen those neck and back muscles.

Brrrrrrrr! It's COLD!

It has been miserably cold here in Chicago. Tomorrow's high temp is NEGATIVE 2 degrees! Yuck! With all the snow and blustery temps, it makes it impossible for the girls and I to get out. I literally haven't stepped foot outside my condo since Saturday! Definitely looking forward to Spring already.

Charlie doesn't mind the snow at all

Rob's Jeep

Our Stanger - doesn't get used much in this weather

And we have a smile!

The girls just started to give us some smiles in the last few days. It's really too cute. Hard to catch a good one on camera, but here are a few attempts.

Olivia

Caroline

Sisters!

Mommy & Livi

SLEEP, oh heavenly sleep!!!!

No - the girls are NOT sleeping through the night. However, my parents insisted on sleeping in the girls' room last night and getting up with them for the night feedings so that Rob and I could have our first night of sleep. I went to bed and the next thing I knew I turned over to look at the clock and it read 7:00AM!!!! I couldn't believe my eyes. 7.5 hours of straight sleep with no interruptions! It was pure heaven. This is a first since we brought the girls home from the NICU. When I got up I peeked in the girls' room to check on them. I smiled to see all four - dad, Linda, Caroline and Olivia - all together asleep on the air mattress. With bottles and blankets strewn about the room, it didn't look like it was such a peaceful night for them. =) They said that the girls slept in their cribs for most of the night but they were just too fussy in the wee hours of the morning so they put them in bed with them. This made me laugh because that is exactly what happens every night for us - the girls almost always end up in our bed after hours of crying, and my parents always gave me such a hard time for it! This morning they conceded that it's not so easy and that they "just don't know how I function after night's like that". It's hard work! Nonetheless, Rob and I greatly appreciate their bravery and them sacrificing a night of sleep for us.

Last night Rob and I got to get out on our own while dad and Linda watched the girls. We hit up a few stores and then went to dinner where we had margaritas, appetizers and a delicious meal. It was so nice to be out with my husband alone, but we were laughing at ourselves that all we did was talk about the girls the whole time. It was fun to have a chance to actually do my hair and makeup and wear big girl clothes (by this I mean something other than sweatpants and a t-shirt covered in baby spit-up). Nice little date night!