Twins' 3 Month Pictures and Update

First: thank you all for all the love on my last post.  The internet CAN be a friendly place, and I so appreciate all of your messages, comments, and prayers.  Thank you, thank you, thank you <3

Now, on to some adorable pictures of babies, and some catch up on what the last couple months have held for us :-)

This was our second session with Robert at No. 9 Images Photography, and really solidified with us that as long as he's willing, he's our family photographer :-)  The session was so easy on all four of the humans in our family (Charley wasn't thrilled at being leashed a few yards from the action, haha).  We dressed the kids, and Robert did the rest.  Ethan and I pretty much sat back, held babies as needed, and smiled for a picture here and there. Robert captured the little details - hands, feet, profiles, Abbie's tendency to tuck her knees up under her chin, Sam's tight fists ;-) - that make a momma melt, and caught lots of sweet expressions and moments that will always remind me of that time in our family life.  We did this session as their three month pictures, and they just turned five months a few days ago, so I've been hanging on to these photos for a while ;-)  Good news is, hopefully we'll have some more to share in just about a month! Haha!

At five months, both babies are very interactive, smiling and laughing.  Sam has a very ready smile, and laughs fairly often.  Abbie is a little more serious, and while Momma, Daddy, and Charley get lots of smiles, other people have to work for them :-)

Why, yes, this face DOES get him anything he wants.  How did you know?

On our pediatrician's recommendation, we introduced rice cereal at about four and a half months.  They did fairly well eating it, but some extra fussiness and... interesting... diapers made us decide to back off and try again in a few weeks when their little systems had had a little more time to mature.

Sam rolls from belly to back and back to belly.  He has been sleeping on his belly for a month or so now... we lay him down on his back, and within a few seconds, he's on his belly.  Abbie has successfully rolled from back to belly a couple of times, but never from belly to back.  She HATES tummy time with a passion. We brought down the pack-n-play and put one of our floor mat gym things (what are those really called?) in it for Sam.  He rolls and scoots so effectively, he can be halfway across the room before we know what's happening.

They have been sharing a crib in their nursery since about 13 weeks, and we don't have any immediate plans to separate them.  For now, they seem to soothe each other back to sleep when one wakes up, resulting in 8-12 hour nights, and a much better rested Momma. ;-)  As soon as they do more aggravating than soothing each other, we'll separate them, but for now... sleep is nice!

Momma and Abbie have been having fun on Instagram as brand reps for an etsy shop that sells really cool hair bows and headbands.  So cool that I actually had to get a couple for myself so Abbie and I could match ;-)  Visit Lovelies by Lesa if you'd like to see what I mean.  :-)

We have committed to a church home.  Our movement doesn't have membership rosters, so I can't say we've "joined" or "become members," but we are at home there and intend to worship with that family for a long while.   We've scheduled the twins' baby dedications there for a Sunday in December, and look forward to raising them in the most loving congregation I've seen in my adult life.  :-)

There we go... I think you're all caught up on what the twins are up to these days :-) I think each stage so far has been my favorite... what is the best thing I have to look forward to in the next few months?

#BlogtemberChallenge: Obsessed!

"Just for fun, your latest obsession. What can you not get enough of these days?"

Is it just me, or is it hard to notice what you're obsessed with?  I had to ask my husband!  Besides babies, he pointed out that I've been really into Instagram lately :-)

He's right.  I have found myself preferring it to blogging and even Facebook lately.  Part of it is that I love pictures.  Even when I do post to Facebook, I usually include a picture.  Another part, I think, is that I appreciate the shorter captions, almost micro-blogging.  I am connected to a few great communities on Instagram... the infertile/ttc girls, a bunch of "twinfant" moms, friends from real life, blog friends... I feel like I can keep up with all these friends more easily than if I tried to read all the posts on all blogs in all the different categories I follow.  :-)

I share a lot of pictures of the kids, along with my musings on motherhood (especially parenting after infertility), as well as some food, some fashion, and some decor/household type stuff :-)  If you want to follow along, my account is always_katie !

This App is a Life Changer!

Got your attention? :-)

I love almost everything about scrapbooks.  I love pictures, I love pretty paper, I love cutting and gluing and journaling, I love looking at finished scrapbooks, I love the idea of having stories and pictures preserved where Abbie and Sam can look at them someday. 

What I don't love is the time (and money) involved.  While I love to lose myself in my crafty room for hours on end, it still takes a long time and a lot of trips to Michael's to finish a book.  As a matter of fact... I've never finished a book.  Ever.  Our wedding album is the closest I've ever come, and it's probably only 1/3 of the way finished.  

BUT!  I was peer pressured influenced by a bunch of busy blogger types on Instagram to try the Project Life app.  I downloaded it not long after Abbie and Sam were born... it's one of the only apps I've EVER paid for ($2.99).  I've also bought a few "kits" of themed "cards" and some extra layouts.  Altogether, I've probably invested less than $15 in this app.  

In the first week or two I had the app, I built an entire 19-page scrapbook of my induction and delivery and our time in the hospital bonding and meeting family.  I didn't have to print photos, I didn't have to run to Michael's, and I don't have more extra paper and embellishments piling up that I may never use :-)  I can make a page in a few minutes using photos from my camera roll or Dropbox account... my favorite time to "scrapbook" was while feeding babies over night.  Then I saved the finished pages to Dropbox to print at a later date.  For the labor and delivery book, I'm planning to upload each page into a photo book and have the whole book printed when I get a great coupon code.  I can even make extra prints of the book - one for us, one for Abbie, one for Sam - without having to remake each page.  

Now that I'm caught up from their arrival, I have been able to scrapbook all major scrappy occasions the next day... birthdays, 1 and 2 month pictures, our anniversary... all scrapped and waiting to be printed.  The prints can be slipped into scrapbook page protectors (among "real" pages or on their own) or even displayed in square frames.  Pretty nifty!  For this stage in our family's life, where the photo opps are many and the extra time is sparse, being able to make scrapbook pages so simply and quickly is a huge giift!  I'm not being compensated in any way for this post, just hoping to spread the word and hope to other moms or busy people who are convinced they'll never catch up on their photo memory preservation :-)

Baby, Baby: Twin Maternity Photos

We had a great time having our maternity pictures taken by Robert at No. 9 Images Photography, and we are so happy with the results :-) 

Check out some of our favorites! <3

5th Anniversary Date - Atlantis Submarines Barbados

Ethan's and my 5th wedding anniversary was July 11, 4 days after my egg retrieval.  We went out for dinner that night, to a delicious restaurant called "Tapas" that was right at the end of the alley our cottage was on - just a stone's throw, since I wasn't up to much that day.  Dinner was great, and the ambience was stellar - sheltered, but kind of outdoors, right on the boardwalk, so we could watch the waves crash in and people strolling and jogging by.  It was exactly the change of pace we needed from the several days we spent more-or-less confined to the cottage.  :-)

But our big anniversary date was the night before we flew home, and it was EPIC!!

We went on a night-time submarine tour of some of the reefs off the coast of Barbados, with Atlantis Submarines.  Coolest. Date. EVER!!  

A shuttle picked us up from right in front of our hotel, and took us to the dock.  We gathered in the gift shop/reception area, then Ethan and I got to go to the transfer boat ahead of the crowd, since we had paid for a VIP upgrade.  I am NOT a big fan of water, typically, so the boat ride was a tiny bit nerve-wracking for me.  :-)  Because of our VIP status, we got to be the first to board the submarine, too.  So we walked across a little bridge between two rocking watercraft, and I was TERRIFIED!  Once across, we had to fight some pretty strong breezes to make it to the hatch with the ladder down into the sub... may I recommend, if you ever take an excursion like this, that you do NOT wear a breezy skirt?  Your modesty will thank you.  

The inside of the sub was smaller than I expected, and there was one long plastic bench down the middle, with molded seats on either side, facing porthole on each side of the sub.  Ethan and I had the front seats, so we could see out both sides, as well as the captain's viewport.  Best seats in the house!

We saw several kinds of coral and sponges, some cool fish (including one that wears snot pajamas!), a couple of sea turtles (I spotted the first one!), and even a (purposely) sunken ship!  :-)  Our lowest depth was 152 feet... it was surreal and incredible!  On our way back to the surface, the captain turned off all of the lights, and we experienced how dark the ocean is, even at that relatively shallow depth... then we saw the bioluminescent plankton glowing all around us... they looked like a billion tiny stars, but almost close enough to touch, streaking past our porthole.  Kind of like jumping to hyperspace in Star Wars. ;-)  On the ride back to the dock on the transfer boat, we were both awed and peaceful... very romantic!  The sub followed us back in, so we got some neat pictures of it.  

We both would highly recommend taking the night cruise with Atlantis Submarines.  Someday, when we're back on the island, we'd love to take the day cruise and see more of the critters that weren't out at night.  It was an amazing date - despite the few terrifying moments - that I am so glad we had the opportunity to take!  

Home Sweet Home: Mantle Decor

I shared some of my living room inspiration several months ago, before we had even closed on our house, and I finished one of the projects for it I'd been planning and working on for a while, this week :-)  Now, all that's really left is to finish organizing and decorating the entertainment center (and clutter-busting) and this room is pretty much up to my standard of "done."  

Our mantle is one of my favorite features in this room - maybe in the whole house :-)  Aren't the wood and the details delicious? 

For several weeks, I've been collecting milk glass and clear glass vases and such from Facebook local buy/sell/trade sites, yardsales, and thrift stores. 

For greenery and flowers, we checked out an Old Time Pottery, and found everything I wanted :-)

I didn't keep a running total of my costs, but Ethan and I were figuring it out in our heads, and we're pretty sure this whole project cost about $40.  Not too shabby, really!  Especially considering there are a dozen vases up there, most with stuff in them :-)

I'm not sure what's gotten into me lately, but I've been knocking projects off my list left and right!!  I think part of it is that I want to have a mostly-finished house when we get back from BarBABYdos, so I can relax and snuggle in.  Maybe partially the relief of being DONE with school (and passing my licensure exam yesterday, wooHoo!!!).  Whatever... I'm just glad to have the motivation and energy to tackle these projects, and I'm excited to show you more of them soon! 

Home Sweet Home: Craft Room/Jewelry Studio Progress

Now that grad school is over, I have been able to dive head-first back into decorating and cozying up our house!  Over the weekend, Ethan finished painting my craft room/jewelry studio, and I spent most of today moving stuff in and organizing it.  I still have a LONG way to go, but I already feel happy and inspired every time I step foot in this room :-)

Wanna see some pictures?  Good!  Because I can't stop taking and sharing them :-) My facebook friends are going to be so tired of this project pretty soon!

This is how it looked when the previous owners were here...

Many hours and two shockingly blistered thumbs later, the PAINTED on Ts were finally scraped from the windows. Ugh.

After a nice, neutral paint job :-) 

My packing and shipping station is coming together... I made that basket at VBS when I was, like, 10, by the way :-) It has all my jewelry baggies in it.

The bookshelves are holding mostly my novels, small business books, craft idea books, and inspirational magazines.  The table is split into general crafts (left hand side) and jewelry (right hand side).  The wall art is a series of 16x20 prints from Shutterfly of some of my favorite pieces I've made.  I got the Vera Bradley memo board for $10 from a yardsale page on Facebook!  All of my fabric is stashed in that tub under the table... I may try to get a cheap table cloth or piece of fabric to hide that... or not.  The corner by the windows is where I'm going to try and make a little jewelry photography set-up, I think the natural light will help get some really good pictures.  

I still need to get a big storage unit for one of the other walls (for allllll my craft supply miscellany), I want a smaller table for the other wall for my sewing machine and Camille the Cameo, and I am planning to put my jewelry inventory on the wall in the closet, where I have my packing and shipping station.  LOTS more work to do, but other than painting, everything else came together TODAY, so I'm feeling pretty excited about the progress! :-) 

I am hoping to have my Etsy shop open again in about 2 weeks... I have been doing some planning and sketching for a more streamlined product line, and can't wait to share it all with you soon!