The Sink Family!: Dog days

Our "dog days of summer" consist of hanging out with our ladies at the pool, on the back deck when we have a cool morning, going on walks, grilling out and eating dinner with a baby in our arms, and enjoying all of the amazing smiles we get so often now! We try to enjoy our quiet snuggles with the girls, because next summer it'll be totally different in the very best of ways. Our house & yard will be filled with squeals, sprinklers, and toothy ice-cream grins. We can't wait, but try to enjoy what's happening now :)

We decided on Saturday morning - one that wasn't too hot - that we were going to go check out a local farmer's market. We REALLY enjoyed it. We found some awesome vendors, picked up fresh produce, pasta, and herbs. The girls enjoyed looking at something other than their parents, and we got out of the house. Here are the local celebrities (because yes, we are celebrities when we leave the house) in one of my new favorite additions, our jogging stroller.

Ella & Sydney are starting to be awake so much, and are changing and growing. They love to lay in their play mat and grab the toys above them (!!). It's hilarious how excited Daniel and I get over something so small :)

holding onto toys, and holding onto each other <3

Sydney grabbing onto one of her favorites

And occasionally (use that term loosely), we have a baby crying. And sometimes, we even have two crying at the same time. They love to gang up on us, so we outsmart them and just cry right with them. Or laugh at them. Whatever we have to do to survive each day :)

Hey, no baby has ever died from crying. If your baby is crying, your baby is alive. We repeat this mantra often ;)

life is terrible for the Sink twins. We never feed them or allow them to sleep :)

We also try really hard to make time for ourselves as individuals and as a married couple. It's really tough, because if we ever get time sans babies, we would almost rather be catching up on sleep, our Netflix queue, or the latest on social media. I've heard many times that parents of multiples have a higher divorce rate than parents of singletons. Not that I think Daniel and I will ever, ever get divorced - but, it has made me more aware that we have extra stress on us thanks to having twins. We have to make a very conscious effort to step outside of our role as parents and remember, above all else, we are married. And that will benefit our girls in so many ways. So right now, the girls gang up on us at dinner time, and we have to eat our dinner holding or soothing a fussy baby. Daniel planned a fun date for us - dinner & a movie at Cinebistro (the fanciest movie theatre in RVA). So good to hang out next to my best friend, holding hands, and forgetting we were parents for a little while :)

Me sneaking a sip of Daniel's super fancy coffee

We enjoy Sunday-morning snuggles with our girls

Sweet Ella

Sydney is hiding in that blanket. And I'm pretty confident, she's only wearing a diaper.

And we LOVE the pool!

E & S holding hands

happy Ella! look at those adorable suits

hanging out with Jacob!

snoozing, pool-side. they still love to sleep in the same position. I just can't get enough!

Sydney is PASSED OUT on KK

And, ya'll, something BIG happened. The girls giggled AT EACH OTHER for the very first time! Daniel had Sydney in his lap facing Ella in my lap - and they both laughed. It was the most amazing sound, and I know that our house will soon be filled with their giggles. They are starting to really look at each other, figure each other out, and interact. Ah! :)

I can't get over Ella's precious dimple

two sweet sink baby smiles

18 weeks old!

I had both girls in my lap one day after work. And I kid you not - this is what happened. They were both asleep, Sydney reached over, wedged her hand under Ella's paci, and she popped it out. She then proceeded to put her hand behind her head like she hadn't done anything, and Ella cried. Sydney is sneaky deep down in her core, especially if she can do something so devious in her sleep. Let the games begin!

I looked down to see this precious baby belly, and had to snap a picture

always touching each other. moments like these make my heart nearly explode. my lap is the happiest place on the planet

Daniel arranged another fun date for us - to Innsbrook After Hours for the American Authors & Andy Grammer concert. I know you've read about how much we love American Authors - they are the current soundtrack to the Sink family. We listened to their album to/from Baby Sink appointments. Their song "Love" gave us hope after we lost Baby Sink. The day we found out we were pregnant, I played Love for Daniel. We would listen to their album before and after twins' appointments, and even on the way to the hospital for our C-section. Daniel put them on as we drove our precious girls home, and we just love their music. So Daniel planned a night for us to enjoy a band that has meant a lot to us.

It was an awesome night. There's something that's even better - on the day we went to the concert, it was one year to the day we found out we were pregnant for the second time. Once I saw two lines, I came downstairs crying, playing Love. We laughed and cried and our cheeks hurt so bad from smiling. We wanted a healthy baby so bad, not yet knowing TWO healthy ladies were in our future. Now here we are, sans babies, enjoying American Authors in person. It's been the best year of our lives.

"And we laughed, and we cried, and though, Oh what a life!"

After American Authors played, Andy Grammer headlined. He was incredible! He even had someone come on stage and do sign-language to one of his songs. We had such a great night - dancing, singing, and being adults.

Oh - and breaking babies news - the girls are now sleeping all night! You read that right - we put them down at 8 and they normally sleep until around 7am. The math? ELEVEN HOURS. Incredible. The Couringtons told us there is a "magical weight" of 10 lbs, where they believe babies can really go a long stretch at night. Our night feeds have been mainly because Sydney is waking up, Ella is our good sleeper (also heavier). Now that Sydney has (hopefully) reached the 10 lb mark, we've cut out night feeds. We have to go pop in a paci a few times a night, sometimes not at all, but that's 10x better compared to a full-on night feeding production. I know that I'll be less sleepy, but I can't help but think that Daniel & I will look back on these days and miss waking up together, putting on Netflix, and spending time with all 4 of us-even at 3am. It's so much better to have someone to do it with! We're a good team. A really, really good team.

we attribute their good sleeping habits to swaddling. here are our two babies, snug as a bug in a rug

"Goodnight shirt. Goodnight pants." - Grandma Stella. We are teaching her tradition to her great-grands.

So very peaceful. Oh-and this is for a picture, only. They sleep in separate cribs, head-to-head.

Here's a little story about them sleeping separate (sorry if I've told it before). The girls initially started out in their cribs with their heads opposite each other. They would scoot all the way down their cribs towards each other. We started sleeping them head-to-head, and they don't move a muscle. The twin bond is an incredible thing - even for tiny, sleeping babies.

The time finally came for one of us to fly solo with the girls overnight. I was the lucky lady to spend one day + one night + half of a day as a trio of ladies. Daniel went to Chesapeake to celebrate John's 30th birthday. We survived! My mom came over to help with feeding and my sanity. The girls slept AMAZING (I was feeling much better about our time alone once they started sleeping all night long), and we were so, so, so happy to have Daniel back home!

two big, beautiful smiles!

Ella Bear - so happy, so wiggly

Nana gave the girls a manicure (I really, really suck at doing their nails)

We enjoyed lots of super sweet snuggles. I love how Ella is holding onto Sydney

always touching <3

We survived a fussy period of time with a super-full lap & Scandal :)

they're checking each other out!

When Daniel finally came home, we spent lots of time out on the back deck because it was gorgeous.

Happy Ella & Serious Sydney, Sydney cracks us up - even by just looking at you

See how happy Ella is? Well, buckle up for this cuteness:

we fed the girls in a new spot - on the deck!

Ella wanted a pre-bedtime snack on Daniel's arm

Seriously - Sydney is the funniest little thing. This is how she enjoyed her bath. Just staring up at me, relaxed and enjoying the warm water. I was waiting for her to say "I'd love a drink with an umbrella now".