Four Months Old!

My, how time flies! Our angels are four months old already! This is such a fun age, & I laugh at them & with them every day. Here are some things I want to note about them at four months.

• Both babies have such huge grins that they let me see so often. They're usually really happy when they first wake up in the mornings, so that's a fun time for us to play while I kill time until they're supposed to eat breakfast.
• Jake continues to be our little socialite. He gives his best grins when he's trying to get someone's attention, & he's a very happy baby as long as he is the focus.
• Mal seems to be a little more reserved when we're in public than she is at home. Everyone always tells me she's so serious, but she's really not when we're home playing.
• Mal has become quite the talker. When this girl learns actual words, we're never going to be able to get her to hush. She sometimes pauses during a feeding to tell me a story & refuses to eat more until she's finished telling me all that she has to say.
• Jake's newest trick is a high-pitched shriek when he's really excited. He tried it out for the first time in church Sunday night. We may be spending many services in the foyer!
• Mal is our wiggle worm, & has learned how to scoot her little hiney forward when she's tired of sitting somewhere.
• We're in 3-6 month clothes for the most part now.
• They're really starting to notice one another lately. They still don't actually play with each other, but they're much more content to play when the other is around than when they're on a blanket by themselves.
  

Jake's stats:

• Weight: 13 lb 3 oz (20%)
• Height: 23 1/2 inches (5%)
• Head: 16 1/2 inches (40%)
  

Mallory's stats:

• Weight: 11 lb 15 oz (15%)
• Height: 23 1/2 inches (25%)
• Head: 16 inches (40%)
  

Here are some of my favorite pictures we've taken lately. J & I bought a new camera as our Christmas present to each other so we could get some better shots of the kids, so we've been playing with it a lot.
I'm innocent...I promise!
Love his rolls in this one!
Mal's new favorite thing - pulling up her dress. Such a lady!

They both look like they've been up to no good & are trying to play it off in this one.

Jake's not quite ready to wake up yet. Please go away.
Magician Mal is talented at getting one arm out of the swaddle while keeping the blanket tight around her.

Angel baby!
Jake loves his Daddy
Sweet grin, with his tongue out, as it is most of the time


Mal with Pops
Working out a good plan, I'm sure
Happy boy
Telling his lamb a good story



I love that he's freaking out about something & she's laughing at him.
These are "convert-a-foot" jammies that fold around their feet to cover them. I think they sort of look like they have flippers on. They seemed to like them.
Happy Tuesday everyone!

Ho Ho Ho

I just love Christmas! It's even more fun this year since we get to do so many fun things with the babies during the holidays. They decided to wear their Christmas t-shirts to small group this week. Jake's has a snowman on it & says "I'm an ice guy." Mal's has a gingerbread man & says "Smart Cookie."
It was really cold on Wednesday, so I bundled them up to leave, & then I just thought they looked hilarious. Jake thought his coat was funny, & he laughed the entire time I was trying to get it on him.
We headed to the mall yesterday to have pictures made with Santa. We bought one from the photographer that's really cute, but I haven't scanned it in yet. Here's one of the ones we took on our camera.
Chris & Michelle met us there to take Caroline to see Santa. She sat there for a minute, studied Santa intently & then burst into tears.
Aunt Debbie made this Christmas countdown calendar for the twins. They each get a gingerbread cookie each day in December until they get to the big cookies for Christmas day. Since they're still on an all-milk diet, Mommy & Daddy get to "help" them eat their cookies this year. This was a tradition for J & his siblings growing up, & I'm so glad Jake & Mal will get to continue it. Thanks Aunt Debbie!Nana gave them these onesies & socks. In case you can't see it, Jake's says "santa baby" on the front & "ho ho ho" on the back. Mal's says "silent night?" on the front & "up all night!" on the back.We'll have lots more Christmas fun to share in the next few weeks, but I wanted to go ahead & post these. Happy shopping to everyone still scrambling for gifts like I am!

Just Cute Kids

I don't really have a main topic for this post, but these are some random pictures from November that I wanted to get on the blog before I moved on.

I just love babies stretching when they wake up! Jake always needs several minutes to get his stretches out in the morning.These are some of my favorite outfits for them lately. We found them on the clearance rack at Janie & Jack when I was still pregnant. What's better than a cute outfit? A cute, cheap outfit!
I get this inquisitive look from Mal a lot.
Enjoying a good book together
My best friend from high school & maid of honor from our wedding, Miranda, came to meet the twins a couple of weeks ago. I'm so glad she finally got to see them. Mallory welcomed her by cuddling with her.
Jake was a big fan, too!
Justin didn't realize that these sleepers I used for their Halloween costumes came with matching hats. When I showed them to him, he thought they were hilarious & insisted we take pictures with the hats included. You really can't tell in this picture, but the hat is a "night cap" style with a little knot tied in the top. I think the twins liked them.
We put our Christmas decorations up the Saturday after Thanksgiving, & this is now the new favorite pastime at our house. Jake & Mal are completely mesmerized by the lights & will lay under there forever just laughing & kicking. J thought he would see what all the hype was about.

Jake wore these Robeez shoes for the first time last week, & I think Justin may have been more excited about them than Jake, but he does look cute in them. Those are little puppy dogs on them, if you can't tell.
Serious girl
Bundled up babies
Have a great Wednesday!

Gobble 'Til You Wobble

We spent Thanksgiving this year with my family in Paris, Texas. My Uncle Ron & Aunt Nancy came in from California to celebrate the holiday with us, & it was so great to see them again. It had been two years since I had seen them, & they were very excited to meet Jake & Mallory. Unfortunately, my nephew was sick on T-day, so my brother & his family didn't get to join us. We saw them on Friday before we left town. Here are some assorted pics from our week. I really didn't do a very good job documenting the twins' first Thanksgiving. I'll try to do better at Christmas.

Jake hanging out with Aunt Nancy when he woke up Wednesday, still swaddled up. Mallory loves her Nana.
Enthralled by the activity gym my mom had for them
Jake loving on Uncle Ron
Papa thought Jake might not want to nap alone, so he joined him.


Tuckered out Mal
She loves to be a cuddlebug!
Dressed up for Turkey Day!
The effects of too much turkey


My cousin's little girl, Madison, just loved the babies.
My mom's friend Jackie joined us for lunch. She & Mom have been friends since before I was born, & it was so nice to see her again.



Nana, Aunt Nancy, & Aunt Dianne
We didn't bother lugging our baby bathtub to their house, so this was our setup. They really do love bath time, so they were fine with the change.




Jake made the most of having lots of people around & managed to have someone holding him the majority of the time. He thought Uncle Ron was so funny, & had a great time hanging out with him.
One exciting thing about our week was that the twins started sleeping through the night. I'm not talking about just what the doctors call "through the night." In my book, five or six hours is not a night. They made it ALL the way through the night & have kept it up since then. That makes for a very happy Mommy!