And the Teeth Arrive

Such a beautiful smile
Abby showing off her cute outfit and snuggling with Mimi Cinda
Abby has such a tough life

Abby working on her crawling technique
Little sister finally has big sister pinned... fun times!!
Ready for church in their ladybug dresses and hats... too cute!!
Rory showing off her pretty summer outfit!!

Baby bottom snuggle... yes, they both sleep with their bottoms in the air!!
"Mom... we're awake now."
Don't they look like they are up to something?
Rory rolling off on another exploring adventure

Over the last few weeks, the girls have both been acting a bit grumpier than usual, chewing on everything, drooling, running low-grade fevers, etc. We knew that we had entered the teething portion of parenting. On Sunday, Rory, grabbed my finger and put it in her mouth... nothing too unusual. When she chomped down, however, she bit me with a razor sharp little tooth!! I couldn't believe it!! Our little Rory has her first tooth!!! Apparently, it erupted some time during the night. It is her bottom right front tooth. Both girls' poor little gums are swollen and hurt. I wish that I knew how to make it better for them. We are so excited about our first tooth, though!!! Another exciting update is that Abby is really working on trying to crawl. She can push up on her arms and pull her little knees up under her, but she can't quite get the two movements coordinated. Daddy and Braxton get on the floor and demonstrate for her and she studies their every move. It's so adorable!! Both girls can already do a sort of scoot on the floor to get places. Rory is too busy rolling everywhere to really worry about crawling yet. She can push herself up just fine, but she can just get everywhere quicker and explore more by rolling. She doesn't stop. We are trying to stay ahead of her on baby proofing things, but she gets into things so quickly that it is a challenge.

6 Months.. Can You Believe It?

Daddy holding his sleeping angels!!
Look how cute we are!! Can you tell us apart?
Abby and Rory... aren't they beautiful!!!
Rory rolled until she was stuck under her bouncer
Abby in her Dr. Seuss pajamas. Abby-Lee-Who
Abby grinning at her Mimi Cinda. She finds her grandmother's attempts at a smile mildly amusing.
Rory finds Mimi trying to get smiles out of Abby very funny

Yesterday, August 5, the girls turned 6 months old. Can you believe that they are already that old? We sure can't. They had their 6 month well-check visit today with their doctor. Rory is now 16 lbs. and is 26 1/2 inches long. Abby is 13 lbs. 9.6 oz. and is 26 inches long. We were so surprised that the girls are only 1/2 inch apart in length. The doctor told us that they must have hit a major growth spurt some time in the last couple of months. They are going to be tall like their daddy!! Abby is having some more trouble with her asthma. She has been coughing again ever since the doctor took her off of her twice-daily breathing treatments. The doctor has put her back on the treatments through the winter time and will check on her asthma again after she is a year old to see if she still needs them. The doctor also told us that they can explore new foods and drink. They are able to try juice now. They can also start trying the stage 2 foods once they finish trying all of the fruits and veggies on the stage 1 foods. How exciting!! Overall, she was very pleased with their progress and said that both are growing and developing perfectly!! I guess we're doing something right!!

Both girls are sitting up on their own now. It's funny to watch them. They will sit for a little while and then decide that they want to lay on the floor again. Instead of carefully getting to the floor, they will just do a nose dive forward. They don't seem to mind going nose first into the carpet. Good thing we have soft carpet!! Both girls can roll both ways, which makes it very interesting to keep up with both of them at the same time. At times, they head in different directions and I have discovered that I can only go after one baby at a time... no matter how hard I try. Rory has discovered that she can roll over and over without stopping. She can go from one end of our living room to the other in no time flat. She loves to explore and get into everything!! Both girls are very opinionated and don't mind sharing their opinions with everyone within hearing distance. They babble and "talk" to each other and everyone around them all the time. It's so fun to try to figure out what they are saying. Rory calls everything "da" all the time. I guess we know what her first word is probably going to be. Abby loves to buzz her lips (thanks to her daddy). She enjoys doing it most during food time. We have ended up with various foods all over us and the floor several times. They have had a tough time with daddy going back to work this week. We all got a little spoiled this summer spending time at home together. The girls get so excited when he gets home in the afternoon. They are both daddy's girls!! It's so exciting to watch them grow and develop into separate little people. We are having the time of our lives!!

Journey to Oklahoma

Abby looks so beautiful in her little red dress!!
Granny, Rory, Abby and Braxton
Mom, Granny, Rory and Abby
Aunt Rhonda with Rory... She looks up to something!!

Michael and Taira
Uncle Bill with Abby and Rory
Michael, Abby (sleepy baby), Mimi Cinda, Rory, Rachel, Justin & Ryan Aunt Rhonda with Abby & Rory

Granny with her oldest set of twin great-grandgirls!! What a special time!!
Rory meeting new friends
Aunt Rhonda and Rory are talking about something important
Granny with Braxton

On July 26, our family made a quick trip to Oklahoma to see Granny, Aunt Pauline, Aunt Rhonda and Uncle Bill. We also got a chance to see a few other people that we know. It was a very quick day trip, but it was a lot of fun!! It was so good to get a chance to see everyone. The girls got a chance to meet Aunt Pauline and some new cousins for the first time. They also got a chance to see Granny, Aunt Rhonda and Uncle Bill again. They met a couple of babies about their own age. Rory loved meeting all the new people. Abby, of course, was a little more cautious of everyone that she didn't know. It was their first real road trip and they did a very good job. We were very proud of them!! We all had a great time and hope that we get a chance to see more family before too long!!

They're Getting too Big

Aurora likes to try and feed herself. This is the result. Green beans everywhere!!
Abigail playing with her toys. She loves to make them swing and play!!
Aurora playing in the exersaucer. She's figured out how to make all the toys work!! What a brilliant little girl!!
The first night in their own room. They are sleeping so good!!

Abigail in her pretty dress for church. Doesn't she look adorable!! Yes, Mommy made her wear the hat. :)
Concentrating on getting that shoe off.
Aurora dressed for Sunday morning.
She wants those shoes off as bad as sister does.

As we approach the six month mark, Michael and I decided that it was time for the girls to try out sleeping in their own room. After my wonderful husband spent a couple of hours making sure that all was ready, the girls officially moved to their own room last night. They did wonderful!! They both slept for 8 hours with no crying at all. Mom, on the other hand, didn't do as well. I sat up until about 5:30 am. I also went back and forth from our bedroom to the nursery about every 10 minutes. I only cried for about 30 minutes, though. Yeah for me. My husband is so wonderful and patient with me!! I can't believe that the girls are old enough to be sleeping in their own bedroom. It just shocks me that almost six months have already come and gone so quickly.

Fun times and Fun Pics

Mommy and Abby headed out for our evening walk. The girls love to discover the outside world!!
Rory playing with the little floor gym. She can finally reach all the toys!!

Daddy with his sleeping angels
Abby fell asleep against Daddy's face. How sweet is that!?!?
Rory riding her pony. Poppy would be proud!!
Daddy and Rory headed for our evening walk. Fun family time!!

Abigail playing in the exersaucer!! She loves the lights and sounds!!
Aurora found her a rattle to play with. Of course, it goes straight to her mouth.
Twin Tummy Time
Rory loves her Daddy!!

Abby snuggling with Mr. Bear
Hey sis, let's hold hands!!
Abby loves to suck on her thumb

Abby with Great-Aunt Janet
Rory sitting with Great-Grandma Hanna
Great-Grandma Hanna and Rory

Abigail, Emma and Aurora
Grandma Hanna with her three newest great-grandgirls
Abby is not a happy girl in this picture

These are some more recent pictures of Aurora and Abigail. They are both doing great!! They have gotten an chance to meet some new people here lately from Michael's side of the family. Emma, the girls' second cousin, is almost exactly one month older than they are. She first visited them when she was 6 weeks old and the girls were only about 2 weeks old. They were all way too young to even realize that there were other babies around. This last week, however, they all three got to get together and play. What a fun time!! Aurora and Emma kept touching each other and trying to kiss on each other. They were too cute!! Abigail wasn't sure what to think about yet another baby being around and was a little shy. It was so much fun to see Emma, though!! I think the girls will all three have so much fun growing up together and playing!! Today, the girls also got to meet their Great-Aunt Janet, Emma's grandmother. It was so good to see her and get a chance to introduce her to Abby and Rory. Both took very well to her and enjoyed rocking in her lap. She definitely has the "grandma touch." The girls always love to see their Great-Grandma Hanna. Abby especially likes to cuddle in her arms and sleep (which she won't do for just anyone). Rory likes to laugh with Grandma Hanna. They have such a good time with her!!

The girls are getting so big. I just can't believe how much they seem to grow every day. Rory is doing so good on her sitting up by herself. She can now sit and pick up toys with one hand!! Abby is still working on getting the sitting up thing down really good. Her little bottom seems to be a little round right now. She can sit for a few seconds and then she topples over. She can, though, sit up with just a little bit of help just fine. She's almost there. The girls are both trying to get teeth in. We thought about a month ago that we knew what teething was all about, but we were wrong. I have never seen so much drool in one place in my entire life. Abby and Rory have got to have set some kind of world record for drooling or something. It's impressive!! They chew on everything... which is even more interesting now that both of them have found some mobility. Their poor little gums are so swollen. I just wish their teeth would come in so that they wouldn't have to be in pain anymore. Both girls are eating very well. They have now tried squash, peas and carrots. Little Abby would keep eating and eating if we didn't stop her. They get excited when Mommy and Daddy put their bibs on them because they know that it's time for solid food. They will even grab their bibs and hold them up so that we are sure to see them better just to remind us that it is time for solid food. Rory likes to roll everywhere. I'm not even sure why we bother with a blanket anymore because she is off of it in about 2 seconds. Abby likes to scoot across the floor. She digs her toes into the blanket or carpet and pushes with her legs. She gets some pretty impressive distance that way. I see crawling on the horizon and it scares me to death!! Michael and I have already started scoping out the house to start baby proofing. It may seem like it's a little early for that, but we want to be prepared. That's on the top of Michael's list of things to get done before he goes back to work. Thank goodness!! I think that is a pretty good run-down of most of the big things that are going on right now. There's no way that I could list everything. Each day is such a new and exciting time filled with new and exciting discoveries!!