Happy Birthday, Girls!

One year ago today, our lives changed forever. I have never felt so complete and so purposeful until I became a mommy. This indescribable love is the best thing in the whole wide world.

Rob and I were so nervous the morning we were to finally meet our little girls. We had no idea just how possible it was to immediately fall so deeply in love with these two tiny miracles the moment we laid eyes on them.

Happy Birthday, our dear sweet girls.

Mommy and Daddy love you so much!

Caroline Grace,

born at 11:13am 10-15-08

Olivia Reese, born at 11:14am 10-15-08

I was a bit emotional looking back at their NICU pictures this morning - tiny, fragile 4-pounders hooked up to all those machines. It is truly amazing to see how far they've come!

Tiny Livi holding Daddy's hand

Mommy bonding with her day-old babies

Caroline under the phototherapy lights

Poor baby hated being tube fed.

...And the Birthday Princesses this morning when they woke up. Rob and I sang Happy Birthday to them while I put them in their birthday attire for the day. (Thank you, Grandma & Grandpa Smith!)

Princess Liv

Princess Liner

We'll have celebratory cupcakes when Rob and I get home from work today. And then, let the weekend festivities begin!

The Baby Proofing continues...

What is the girls' favorite "toy" these days? The coffee table/death trap. I mean, what could be more fun for one year olds than glass, metal, and sharp edges. No matter what I do to distract them with other stuff, they flock to the coffee table all day long. They like to gnaw on the table bars too, weird children. So we decided it was time to store that one away and get a safer option for the living room - a leather ottomon which Rob picks up tonight. In the meantime, I've resorted to just keeping a watchful eye on them and letting them play.

Liv

Liners

The girls watching their daddy doing some repairs on the balcony.

And a video of some Coffee Table Peek a Boo.

Enjoying our sippy's yesterday morning.

Now BOTH are standing!

... for more than 2 seconds at a time!!! I saw Olivia standing for the first time last night, caught a short video of it.

Weekend Fun

Just a few pictures and captions to capture the cuteness...

My sweet Caroline trying on mommy's new scarf

I just love Baby Boots! They wore these for

some family pictures we took on Saturday. LOVE it!

And yes, these are my children inside of the dog crate.

No, we didn't put them in there.

Caroline's baby blues

Of course they're in matching outfits!

Being silly

smooshy face

Cheeeeeese!

My little Morning Sunshines before I left for work today. Baby Thermal Underwear is so cute!

Caroline's stinky face

Liv didn't want me to leave!

A few videos:

BABY RACES!!!

Take 1

Take 2

And here's one of Caroline STANDING all by herself!

Let the Birthday Month Begin

Grandma Karen & Grandpa Dave sent some preliminary birthday gifts for the girls to open. They got a kick out of tearing apart the tissue paper and opening all their new stuff. Good practice for their birthday party coming up.

For ME??!?

And here are a few short videos of the girls "walking" with the walker toys. We don't have much runway space in our little apartment, so they're constantly running into things - it's like baby bumper cars.

In this one, you can see how they like to share one walker by both pushing it at the same time. It's pretty entertaining.

On a different note, we had to turn on our heater for the first time this year. Winter is on it's way here in Chicago!

Mission: Sippy Cup

Oh the trials and tribulations of finding a sippy cup from which your toddlers will actually drink. (Yes, they are just about toddlers now). They do really well with them when it's filled with juice or water during snacktime. But if I try to fill it with their milk, replacing their beloved "bah-bahs" - all hell breaks loose. Go figure! I so thought I could have them off the bottles by their first birthday. hmmpff. Looks like we'll be joining the masses in the infamous "breaking the bottle" battle.

And just so it's clear, the sippy cup industry must be booming. I have tried (and am not alone on this - most of my mommy friends have confirmed this as their experience too) ... I have tried SEVEN different types of sippies - some with hard spouts, some with soft spouts, some with straws, some that help to reduce gas, etc. - to determine if there is just one particular type that the girls will really take to. NOPE. The struggle continues....

Here are the 7 different types I've tried thus far. (And mind you, we have at least 4 of every kind - and are running out of cabinet space!)

How Much Wood Can a Woodchuck Chuck?

So every morning when I come into the girls room to get them up for the day, I'm usually greeted by two little squirts standing in their cribs, laughing and talking to each other. But the last couple weeks I've noticed Olivia GNAWING on her crib rail, as if she's trying to eat her way out! Ugh! These are beautiful, brand new cribs (thank you Mama Diane & Papa Bede)! This little woodchuck has scraped off a good portion of the wood finishing with just the few toofers she has. Time for some damage control, guess I need to look into a protective crib rail covering.

I remembered this morning to survey the damage and collect evidence:

Oh, and I had to work late last night, not getting home

until right before the girls' bed time.

And this is what goes on when Daddy's in charge for the evening: