Sunday, February 24, 2008

Picture Crazy

Well Allyson and I finally got a Digital SLR, and boy do we have the bug. The first night we (Allyson mainly) went nuts with the camera. She took in the range of 200 images.

We got the Canon Rebel XTi, with a couple lenses -- a fixed 50mm and a 28-125mm IS. I already really want a flash..all the pictures having an yellow tint to them or being blown out by the very underpowered built in gets a little frustrating. First things first though, i just want to learn how to use what i have to its best ability. Learning all the manual settings to make the pictures great.

Either way we have the bug and I am sure you will see a lot more pictures of the girls.

Here are a few from our first night.

I am thinking about eating you!

The Eyes Own You

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Crushing Dandy

Note: Dandy is the name of my grandfather (on my dad's side), so we are working on it for my dad.

The other night my parents came over to give us a little Valentines Day present, Leah was swinging so dad got down on the floor and was just talking baby with her. As of late though Leah has a little bit of stranger anxiety from time to time, especially if you startle her. So when dad leaned down, she broke out into histarics...crying that went on and on, so much even her mom and I could not console her till about 15 minutes later.

I felt so sorry for Dad, he looked crushed, it was absolutely horrible...almost looked defeated and depressed :(.

Well there is a happy ending to the story, later that week, my parents came over and babysat for us, and sure 'nough Leah was back to smiling and giggling for Dandy.

I just thought it was a story worth telling, since the girls grandparents love them soo much.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Bathtime fun with Leah

Both of our girls love baths...it is part of their night time routine to get them calmed down and ready for their last bottle. Here are some fun moments we caught giving Leah a bath.


Leah Bath Time from matthewmccay on Vimeo.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Hannahs New Thing

Hannah has discovered how to Razz - or make a little sound while blowing spit bubbles. I think its hilarious!


Hannah likes to Razz from matthewmccay on Vimeo.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Its hard being a baby

When I went into the girls' room this morning after hearing them on the monitor for a while I was surprised to see both of them lying quietly in bed staring up at me. Both were wide awake and actually happy! Leah tends to freak out after I get her out of the crib and change her so I started with Hannah. She was just smiling at me while I changed her into her clean diaper and clothes for the day. What a wonderful thing to get up to. No matter how tired I am, or how early it is, those girls always bring a smile to my face when they greet me with that big grin. I put Hannah back in her crib and she decided to roll over on her belly from her back! First time I witnessed this event. Then I got Leah up. Leah is either hit or miss in the morning. She will either be laughing or screaming. But this morning I got her in a good mood and she was grinning ear to ear. She laughed at me as she got her new diaper. Then she must have realized she was hungry and I was taking too long. So I got a little lip curl. But, she still thought I was very funny, so I got a laugh. Then a cry again. It was a very confusing moment for Little Leah. Was she happy or sad? Should she smile or frown? Emotions are tough! Unfortunately in the end her hunger won out and I got full blown screaming until the bottle went to her mouth. But I think its so cute when they arent sure what they want.

Saturday, February 16, 2008

New Pictures!!!

Well my 8GB card finally filled up so I was forced to download all the pictures we have taken, including Christmas, Snow at Lauchlin Lane and a few other fun moments. Over the next couple months the pictures should get fun as the girls are becoming more and more interactive.

We also have some good video, but I have not gotten that up yet. Here are a few, for the rest you can go to our flickr account, and if you are a flickr member hit us up as a contact.

Enjoy.

Hannah Pushing Up Hannah fell to sleep in the bouncy seat.

Leah Laughing
Little Leah

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

What I have learned about the girls

People always ask me how the girls are doing, what they are able to do ect. So as I sit here at work waiting to start my case I thought I would give a little summary of each of them and their.. accomplishments?

Hannah is a mommy's girl. She is so sweet when we take a nap together, because she will wake up and look at me and get this big smile like "Hi Mommy!! I am so glad you are here!" She loves her jumperoo but sometimes falls asleep in it, which cracks me up. Ill put some pictures of it when I get them off my phone, but matt has to show me how to do that. I think her favorite thing in the world is bathtime. She could be in a rotton mood and the second I put her in the bath she is estatic, especially if I get in there with her so she can "swim". She will kick and splash and try to lean her head all the way back to catch a glimpse of the shiny faucet. That faucet is amazing. She has started to drool a lot and has discovered her ears are attached to her head (I mistakenly thought she was getting an ear infection but luckily I was wrong). She has to sleep on her side at night. If she rolls over she wakes up. She sleeps from about 9ish to about 7:30am and I hope that this stays the norm because it is wonderful. She has this shriek that she does now - well.. more like a squeal but it is not out of pleasure. It sounds like a little piglet and actually hurts your ears but it normally means she is tired. When she is tired she will let you know, and all she wants is to be cradled like a baby and given a pacifier. She may fight it a little but normally she falls right to sleep. She is also a hand sucker. I think she would fit her whole arm in her mouth if she could. Most of the time it just makes her gag. She loves it when I (or anyone) talks to her. She starts talking back and it really is as if you are having a complete conversation about her day. She is doing well with tummy time, but she wants to crawl so bad she can only handle it for about 5 minutes and I have to be down there with her. She gets those legs going but just cant quite coordinate the arms enough so she gets so frustrated and gives up. Another month and we will see. She also likes to stand (with assistance of course). Thats probably why she likes her jumperoo. She eats quite a lot and she and her sister both are on a 3 hour schedule during the day (you can set your watch to it). But thats fine since she is sleeping all night! I am going to be such a pushover when it comes to those big eyes. She looks up at you so inquisitively that you just melt. She is starting to smile and laugh a lot more now - she definitely makes you work for it sometimes but she will get going when you talk to her! She is no longer in 3 month clothes - sadly. She can fit into a lot of 6 month things already... but given her weight I can see why! Shes one of my angels!

Leah is completely different. She is still a pretty content baby most of the time. When she isnt, she will let you know with the biggest lip curl imaginable. She gets these big crocodile tears and will cry endlessly unless you cradle her (or give her the bottle). She is also a good sleeper and sleeps from 8:30ish until 7:30. But she likes to turn in her crib and I have had to go in there many nights to move her back to the middle where her head/legs/butt is no longer up next to the crib slats. She doesnt like that. But she normally goes right back to sleep. She has this pitiful little cry and the sweetest little coos. She is very... soft spoken if that can be true for a baby. But when it gets serious, it is VERY serious. She enjoys the bath but she definitely doesnt like water in her face at all. We discovered this one night when I accidentally poured water on her face and she screamed for 20 minutes until she was dressed and had the bottle in her mouth. She loves her playmat and the swing. She has turned over a few times from her belly to back but it scared her when she did it. She is kind of a scaredy cat. Loud noises, something getting caught in the vacuum, daddy sneezing, etc. can set her whimpering. Her eyes get real big and its just sad. She is a little less inclined to try to crawl. She likes to hold her head up a bit but I think she just doesnt like change and is happy with us holding her. She is a daddys girl and loves to snuggle up to him. She will look at you with those big blue eyes and give you the biggest grin imaginable. Sometimes she doesnt know whether she is happy or sad and will be smiling and crying at the same time. She loves the tv too. She is kind of addicted. If we turn it to the baby channel she will sit there and laugh and laugh. Unfortunately if you are feeding her with the tv on (even if its behind her) she will strain her neck to try to look backwards at it. She has gotten to be a curious little girl. When she takes her bottle she cannot keep her head still. She is just so excited about the walls, ceiling, or anything else. She likes to hold the bottle and push it away too, but then gets really mad that it is no longer in her mouth. She is ticklish on her feet, especially the top. She wants nothing to do with being spoon fed. She loves naptime with mommy, and would sleep on me for 10 hours if she could I think. She is not that interested in her pacifier- She just likes her hands way better. She is such a sweet little girl.

I am sure I could go on forever, but thats the update on the girls in a stream of consciousness kind of way. In short I really have two very good babies and feel so lucky and so blessed every time I look at their beautiful faces. And they are different as night and day not just in the way they look but in their personalities.

4 month checkup

Well I have to say that the girls are doing great... definitely not missing any meals! (direct quote from the pediatrician). We got to the doctor on time (so i thought - apparently our appointment was 30 minutes before we got there, but I could have sworn it was 2:30... next time I guess i should listen to that reminder message.) Anyway, it was just a regular checkup and everything looked good. They got 4 shots each - the inhumanity!!! Sadly, they had just settled down for a little snooze in Laura and my arms as we awaited the nurse with the awful shots when she finally came in. That was really sad...

Hannah weighs 15lbs, 1oz and is 25 inches long. That makes her in the 75th percentile for weight and length. Of course if you base it on what her due date should have been, she is actually in the 95th percentile. My little "chunky monkey". Leah is 13lbs, 14oz and measures 23 3/4 inches long, making her in the 50th percentile for weight and 25th for length. That little inch and a quarter makes a big difference apparently! So she would be in the 75th and 50th percentile based on her due date. Little Leah... :)

We got the go ahead to start feeding stage 2 foods... rice cereal and then graduate to some of the yellow veggies and do on. Laura and I were curious how the spoon thing would work out so we tried it. Haha. We mixed a little rice cereal and formula together. Hannah did not do too bad actually. Leah wants nothing to do with it. She got very frazzled and wanted her bottle. I am not sure she actually swallowed any of it. When I gave her the bottle she got this little smile like - Thanks woman! Thats all I wanted! We will keep trying with the cereal 1-2 times a day just to get them accustomed to the spoon, and they are taking 5 bottles of formula with 6-7 oz each every day so I think they are ready! I am not going to attempt the other foods for another month or so. One step (mess) at a time.

Leah was again "done with the day" last night. I dont think she felt well after her shots - but who would? I dont do well with one! They slept really well though!

4 months old. I cant believe how fast time flies. They are just getting so big!