Eight Months Old!

I'm a little behind in blogging since moving & settling in has occupied our last couple of weeks. Hopefully, I can catch up this week. The twins turned 8 months old last week! Here are their growth pics:

Jake is quite the grabber, & is deceptively quick. Last weekend, he was sitting sweetly in J's lap while we ate breakfast, & then like lightning he had grabbed a pancake from J's plate. Here, he is checking out the Polo logo on Mal's dress.

Don't worry, she can defend herself.

Cute grins!

According to our at-home estimate, Jake weighs a whopping 17 pounds! I guess the solid foods are doing his body good!

Mal is also growing well & is now 16 lb 3 oz.

Both babies are rolling & scooting like crazy to get wherever they want to go, but we're not crawling yet. It seems like they're both really close, so I'm sure I'll turn around one of these days & wonder where they went because they've scurried off. Mal has always been our little jabberbox, but lately Jake is joining in on the conversation just as much. After her initial "Ma-ma," Mal won't say it anymore but babbles "Da-da" & other crazy sounding "words" all day long. Jake can also say "Da-da" but hasn't gone for my name yet.

In addition to their pureed veggies, fruits & cereals, we've started some finger foods. They both love toast & cheese & are a little confused by the small bits of fruit, but they'll eat them. Refried beans were also a hit the other day as is yogurt & of course, Puffs!

Movin' on up....to the east side

Technically, we already lived on the east side, but now we're slightly farther east. We decided on Tuesday of last week that we were going to move on Saturday. I know, we're insane, but it actually went pretty well. Anyway, that's the reason for my lack of posting over the last week. I was frantically packing, cleaning, etc. I don't think I have a single picture of the moving process, but I'll try to get some pics of the new house up soon. That, of course, would require me to know where the camera is, so we'll see. Happy Tuesday!

I can count that, right?

Okay, so I just went into the nursery to get Mal because she obviously wasn't going to take a nap. Jake was asleep, & she was talking loudly, so I thought I'd get her out of there in hopes of him getting some much needed sleep. When I reached her crib, she looked right at me, smiled & said, "Ma-ma!" Now, I'm not delusional enough to think that this was necessarily on purpose or that she has any clue what it means, but I'm SO counting it! Looks like me only practicing my own name with the kids may actually be paying off. J, of course practices "Da-da" with them all of the time, so maybe that will come soon. Here are some random pics of late.

This was before Ladies' bible class last week. Aren't Mal's shoes great? Thanks Nana!We've started practicing using sippy cups some. I just have water in them, & Jake usually blows into his, but they've each taken a sip or two.
Mal sharing while Jake tries to escape
Silly girl with her paci upside down. She had it like this when I went to get her up from her nap the other day & kept it like that for a while. It was really funny to see her grin & laugh while still keeping it in like this.
Could this kid be any better looking?
Sweet ones all bundled up for our chilly day of refrigerator shopping Saturday
Wrestling matches are very common in our house.
Just a sweet face
Funny, pretty girl
This series is of some of Jake's crazy faces. He was wound up the other night & J was able to capture some good ones.


Discussing life's mysteries, I'm sure

Oh no...I'm THAT Mom!

So far, I've been pretty tough as a parent. Letting the babies cry it out doesn't make me tear up. If anything, J & I usually end up laughing at them because their meltdown is totally fake. I really don't have too many emotional breakdowns. It's not difficult at all for me to leave my children with a babysitter for a few hours. I even handle shots pretty well. So imagine my surprise when, after dropping my kids off for their first ever nursery class at church this morning, I couldn't control the flow of tears. Even as I write this, the tears threaten to return. It wasn't that I thought I would miss them too terribly during the hour they'd be away from me, but nonetheless I felt the sting of tears in my eyes as I was walking away from the nursery. My babies are growing up! I was mad at myself for being so ridiculous & tried to pull it together, but as soon as someone asked if I was okay, the floodgates opened again. So yeah, that silly mom silently weeping in the corner on the first day of school? I guess that will be me.

Speaking of growing up, our little munchkins are becoming quite mobile. Between rolling & scooting, they can get into all kinds of things. Here's how I found them after leaving the room to put something away & coming back the other day. Mal made it underneath the coffee table, which she gleefully considers a major accomplishment.Jake had wrapped himself into a burrito with the play blanket. He uncovered his face before I could take a picture.
Just a little bit cute, aren't they?

Fresh Air

We've been enjoying some warm weather lately in Dallas, & the kids are having fun getting to be outside more. The last couple of days have been rainy & cooler, but last week was beautiful. J came home on Friday in time to enjoy the weather with the twins.
My smiley boy
This is her "I'm so excited I can't take it!" face.
Her legs were in the air 90% of the time that she was playing outside.
We tried on Saturday to get a few posed shots in the back yard, but apparently grass is just way too exciting. I love that they both have the same expression here as they concentrate on pulling the grass.
Pure joy!