July shenanigans

We've had an awesome summer so far!  Lots of time spent with family, hanging out with our babies pool-side, and getting adjusted to working full time.  I take them to daycare each morning and it's just crazy - change two babies, feed two babies, buckle two babies in car seats, and carry them into the building (like a boss!).  The other day a teacher told me "Now you're a real professional - carrying two carseats and wearing wedges!".  Ha, I have to admit, that made me feel good :)  I have bruises on my thighs from carrying them in their carseats.  Battle wounds?  Each evening, we wash & prep bottles for the next day.  We have a system down-pat; assembly line at The Sink's!

two cute yawns - all decked out in red, white, & blue for daycare!

the most adorable crab-behinds!  Ella was trying to escape :)

Daniel & his main lady-Sydney.  Does she look comfy or what?

look at this absolutely adorable full lap of mine

Sydney, let me eat yo' toes!

relaxing pool-side.  Sydney is passed out, and Ella is working hard to eat her shirt

sweet sleeping sisters holding hands

Happy 4th of July!  We are so excited that we have two tiny firecrackers to celebrate this year!  We normally head down to the Bay to celebrate the 4th, but with two littles + a brand new nephew, we decided to stay in town and relax with my family :)

Here Ella, I'll make it easy for you to chew on my arm.

look at those American twins!

<3

Nana & Papa doting on their grand babies

love everything about this picture!

back-porch sitting

All-American cousins

Aunt Tim + Abby playing with sparklers - she loved them!

It's nearly impossible to get both girls smiling - at the same time - on camera.  So we have a lot of "Ella is smiling in this picture" and now "Sydney is smiling in this picture"-

Ella is smiling in this picture!

And Sydney is smiling in this picture!

 ....and this once in a blue moon, you capture perfection:

two babies smiling!

And after so much smiling and happiness, we get worn out.  I love looking down at this view in my lap!  And it's kind of my lap - I think I've mentioned before, one baby sits in between my legs, and the other is on a blanket shoved between me and the armrest.  You gotta do what you gotta do ;)

Sydney loves to grab onto things - your fingers while she's eating a bottle, her ears when she's tired, the duck on her paci.  On this particular Sunday morning, she decided to play with Ella's head!

...and of course, Ella slept through the whole thing.

 

And again, on of my most favorite moments right now is looking down at these beautiful girls in my lap!

 

Happy girls!  Ella smiling....

...Sydney smiling

We went for a visit to The Hermitage to see our Great Granma!  We were such good girls and smiled the whole time!  It made her day, and she walked around proudly showing them off.

Things that old folks said to us today:
-"There's one! And hot dog, there's another one!"
-"Boy and girl or just boys?"
-"They are so sweet I could eat them with a spoon!"
-"Just one?"...
-"Whose are they?"
-"Would you like to trade my dog Tijuana for one of those?"
-"What's on their head?"

You can't make this stuff up!

I considered them "baby therapy" - all of the old folks smiled and loved all over them.  Love seeing the twins make other people smile!

Sydney smiling at Great Granma

And Ella smiling, too!

look at the sweetness in my arms

It was time for my annual eye exam, and Daniel brought the girls to show off.  We are fortunate that Daniel's Uncle Gary is the best eye doctor in town, and gave the girls eye exams.  He said they are a little far-sighted, which is totally normal for 3-month-old.

Uncle Gary peeking into Sydney's peeps

and prying open Ella's eyes to take a look

 After my eye appointment, we went to visit Grandma Stella for dinner.

We hung out at the pool one evening.  The girls are so content just hanging out in the water.

Ratio: 1 baby per 1 adult.

Daniel & Sydney

me & Ella

One of my friends and awesome embroiderer, Sharon, sends the cutest gifts for the girls to "model" for her business!  We happily model for her - look at these adorable monogrammed bloomers

The very best part of each day is after our evening bottle, before bed time.  We put the girls in one crib, change them into PJs, and smile until our cheeks hurt-watching them smile and giggle!  It's the very best.

Ella Bear

Happy Syd!

both were thrilled about being 15 weeks old

Ella grinning up a storm at her daddy

while Sydney snoozed on her momma

Ella sitting up like a big girl!  My how things have changed in just a few short months

 ....here are some more evening funsies.

they're always so happy!  Sydney is cracking up - probably because we just said "Cookie Monster!"  When we say that, she is guaranteed to give us a huge grin

hahahah

 Now you know Ella is our big sleeper.  I caught her sleeping like a champ in her boppy...

 And I caught a sleepy grin from Sydney!

two ladies snuggled up in my lap

aerial view of my lap from above

Daniel's cousin, Lee, and his family visited on their way down to NC for their beach trip.  Loved having them over-catching up and feeding babies!

Annabeth & Kristen feeding the girls on the deck

...can't get enough

Daniel & Derek cut my parent's grass while they were on vacation in Greece.  Kelly & I went to IHOP for brunch (and it was Kelly's first time "out" with both kids).  Then we just spent the day at the Overstreets.

the littlest of the cousins

two littles sleeping on my lap <3

We sat outside for a big while Abby played with her water table.  When we went on our trip to the Bay, we taught Abby how to pee in the Bay.  Some unfortunate side effects to this new trick is, Abby sometimes just pees wherever she is-like on the driveway.

Derek hosing her down post-pee-session

When the girls were smaller, we put them in a laundry basket and carried them around the yard from shady spot-to-shady spot.  I wanted to do some yardwork on morning, so we put them in there again since they love being outdoors.

The best kind of naps are on Sunday's with your best friend, in a laundry basket, on the back porch.

Ella

Sydney - Let's cuddle & watch the Hokies play

Holding hands <3  Sydney couldn't get enough of Ella

two little ducklings

Ella is not impressed with being 16 weeks old

 I came home from work one day to this incredibly sweet sight...





cousins... Seth is gaining on us

 And, of course, we had to end our week with dinner on the patio at Don Pepe

Table for 4 adults, 3 car seats, 2 diaper bags, and 1 child, please! This is our traveling circus :)

Sweet Saturday morning cuddles with Ella

hanging out on the back porch enjoying the low humidity :)

We celebrated Jacob turning ONE!  So hard to believe he's already one... so much has happened in the past year, and it's really flown by.

"Sydney, I need to eat you" - Jacob
"Get away from me" - Sydney
"Both of you get away" -Ella

We finally bought some pool floats for the girls.  We thought the floats would help us hold them easier, but to our happy surprise - they laid their heads back and floated!  It was amazing and they were so content and relaxed

S

E

I had two very happy babies in my lap one morning!  Ella's smile eluded the camera, but Sydney had a whole series of happy-happier-happiest pictures that make my heart melt.

"It's way too early for her perkiness!" - Ella
hahahah - the frown & grin crack me up

happy

happier

happiest
I.CAN'T.EVEN.  She looks like she's on the ride of her life! 

Sydney & Ella - your dad and I both hope you always have a zest for life, as pictured in the above photo.  May every day bring you happiness beyond measure.  We hope you throw your hands in the air and grin.  Put the windows down and let the fresh air hit you in the face.  We hope you have dance parties and forever hold hands.  And always, always, always know how much you're loved.

Ella Bella holding her head up so well!  I mean... she does have a cute subject to look at :)

Sydney smiling at Kim C.!

And Kim getting Ella to grin, too

oh you know, just holding hands like twinsies do

And you know - it's not always sweet snuggles, smiles, and snoozes.  We so often have very unhappy babies!  And we laugh at them.  A lot.  Our mantra is "a baby never died from crying".

Feed me! -E

Me too! -S

pre-work/daycare playtime on momma & daddy's bed

...and playtime is over

Ella is so lazy!  She didn't even wake up for me to change her clothes.  But seriously though - those rolls!

We went to the doctor for our four-month check-up!  We are growing and are completely healthy!  Ella is now 11 lbs 2 oz (7%) and Sydney is 9 lbs 12 oz (< 3 %).  We held hands during the entire appointment, and were such happy babies - until the shots, of course.

We've been asked how we do bath-time.  Well, Daniel & I work like a well-oiled machine.  We each have our own jobs, and we barely have to communicate (but we still try to!).
Kim - start bath water, get bath area prepped
Daniel - take off #1's clothes, bring #1 to me
Kim - take off diaper (while D holds her in the air ;), put #1 in tub & start washing
Daniel - take off #2's clothes, bring #2 to me
Kim - take off diaper, put #2 in tub
Daniel - gets towels laid out on the ground and refills diapers and wipes in their room
Kim - washes both babies.  Bellies, arms, neck rolls.  Two of everything.  Yells to Daniel that #1 is ready, put her on the towel
Daniel - gets #1 wrapped up snug, takes her into their room to dry off and put on PJs
Kim - finishes up #2, gets her wrapped up snug in a towel, and into the room to dry off & PJs.

It's quite the production, but we love it!

look at these two adorable monsters in my arms!