Fall Fun

We had a busy but really fun fall.  It's taken me so long to update because we've had so many fun things going on!  That's such a good problem to have, right??  The girls are growing like weeds and giggling and being awesome.  As always, I'm lazy and I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.  So here we go, October 17th right up until Thanksgiving...!

We spent a great day outside at Busch Gardens.  It was our anniversary, and my mom was going to watch the girls overnight (!!!), but she was awfully sick from watching them the previous weekend during Annabeth & Jarrett's wedding :(  So we made the best of it and had a fun day at BG

all loaded up, snuggled up, and on the road!

Abby enjoyed riding all of the fun rides

happy girls - snuggled up since it was a crisp day!

those girls love their daddy more than you could ever imagine

Sink, party of four 

Kelly and her littles

sad twin, happy twin

Guncle convinced Abby to ride the kiddie roller coast - she was terrified but came off with the biggest grin on her face

it's kind of hard to tell, but i had to sneak a photo of them on the roller coaster

no better way to celebrate six amazing years - with my husband and two beautiful twin daughters; never imagined we would be here six years later, but i wouldn't change it for the entire world <3

We had an awesome day at Busch Gardens.  We decided to grab a nice, quiet, romantic dinner at Chili's on the way home since the girls were asleep in their carseats.  And like all old married couples, we were fast asleep as soon as we got home :)

it was super chilly, so the girls are all bundled up and ready to head to daycare

i spy three sleepy-heads

Since our weekends in October were packed, we headed out of work a little bit early to spend some time at the pumpkin patch!  And really let's be honest, it was mainly to take a few pictures and say that the girls had their first trip to the pumpkin patch :)

snack time - Ella and Daddy

Ella - How Tall This Fall?

Sydney - How Tall This Fall?

I mean seriously - do they get any cuter?  Itsy Bitsy ladies

The girls have always slept better when they are close to each other.  I might have said this before, so sorry faithful readers if I repeat myself.  When we first brought the girls home and put them all swaddled up in their cribs, heads at opposite ends, they would scoot all the way down the cribs close to each other.  So we flipped them and laid them head-to-head, and they always slept better.  So I walk in one morning to wake up our twincesses for the day to discover they can't get much closer together <3 <3  melt.my.heart.

Sydney and her Daddy

For Father's Day, I found Daniel a shirt he's always wanted; recently, the owner of the website asked for pictures, and look who I found on there!  I'm sure thanks to Daniel, he'll sell lots of those shirts! ;)

We try to visit one of our most favorite places once a year for a football game.  We headed up the weekend before Halloween to attend the Duke game, hang out with Matthew, and introduce the little Hokie girls to Blacksburg.

beautiful sunset as we headed out west

Sydney is happy to wake up in SWVA!

We have really, really, really great friends that are just like family.  The MacInnis family graciously opened up their beautiful home to us, watched and loved the girls all day long on Saturday so we could tailgate and enjoy ourselves, and provided the best hospitality!  We are so lucky, the twins are so lucky, and we had a really awesome time.

the leaves were at peak and INCREDIBLE - this is the gorgeous view outside of Kim's home, and the picture doesn't even do it justice.

happy Kim, comfortable Ella :)

We had a great time tailgating in Lot 1, enjoying the game from the box, and cheering on the Hokies. Unfortunately, we are having a rough year (I feel like I say that every year), and lost the game in the 4th OT, but we had a great time nonetheless.

tailgating with my main squeeze

kim squared 

love seeing this guy so happy as a Hokie

there isn't anything better than Lane Stadium - and a gorgeous pop of color!

<3

The next day, we visited Matthew's dorm room, walked the girls around campus, and treated Matthew to lunch at Macados before we headed back east.

hanging out on the drill field 

Happy Ella and a sight to behold - Sydney with a big belly!  I'm sure it was perfect timing as I took the picture, but hey - a mom can dream

Hey Syd girl, Hey

I decided after scouring the internet, the girls were going to be Peanut Butter and Jelly for Halloween.  That's right - the cutest little condiments you've ever seen.  My fabulous mom made their tutus, my awesome embroidery lady did their shirts, and I made their hair bows.  How did I decide who was who?  Well - Ella is chunky, and chunky peanut butter is the best.... and Sydney is sweet like Jelly, and always wears purple :)

sneak peak of the hair bows!

we had to try on our costumes to make sure they fit!  Jelly didn't want to participate

pretty baby peanut butter

Peanut Butter & Jelly attended the Martin Fall Festival

Lorri and her girl Jelly

Ashley loving on Peanut Butter

"We go together like peanut butter and jelly"

we found our friend Brooklyn!  it'll be fun to see them really get to play next year

hold my hand, Ella!

working hard on sitting!

and down she goes

so adorable

haha, Ella loves it - such a fun daddy!

The girls literally started sitting all by themselves in a matter of a few days.  They went from sitting in front of someone to catch them when they wobbled over to sitting up for 15 minutes at a time.  We started to only put a boppy behind them to save them if they fell backwards to nothing at all.  They are doing great, really playing awesome with toys, and are so fun!

I was getting Ella dressed one morning and looked over and found Sydney under Ella's crib - oh gracious, slow down time!  I enjoy immobile babies :)

The day before Halloween, we turned the lucky seven.  We had a fun Halloween - we celebrated one of our new friends that we can't wait to meet - sweet Baby Evelyn!  Then came home for a quick nap before going outside for our annual fire-pit in the culdesac with our neighbors, complete with pizza and s'mores.  Always a good time.  I know our future Halloweens will be so fun - filled with squeals, cute costumes, and sugar highs :)

sweet sisters napping

 Of course we had to set the girls up outside for a cute little Halloween photoshoot.

quick nap before we pass out candy 

it doesn't get much better - snuggled up with my itsy bitsy sydney 

We kicked off November with our cute Thanksgiving PJs.  Ella was enamored by the turkey on Sydney's behind...

what is this thing?? 

smelling it??  resting my head on it??  weird baby.

Baby food.  Ugh.  Baby food.  I'm going to be completely honest - it sucks.  Teaching babies to use a spoon, swallow food and not push it out, and learning new textures isn't fun.  We would try at night, but the girls were so fussy and hated it.  Finally, I started sending it to daycare for them to try - and it was amazing, the girls did awesome.  They must've been way too tired by the time we tried at night, but hey - it works, less mess for me, and a total win-win.  Ironically, our tiny Sydney gobbles it right on up, and Ella could take it or leave it.  Seriously, when I think I have them figured out...

tiny Steeler's fan eating some avocado 

Happy Sydney

Daniel hung out with Sydney for a while watching football, and I brought Ella upstairs with me to hang out - catching up on some quality TV, folding laundry, and taking a snooze

contagious grin

and she's gone

Sydney's selfie game...

so strong.

While Daniel and I were enjoying dinner at the table (a rare sight at our house), we let the girls play around with their avocado, sliced up bell pepper, and spoons before we headed into the tub.

We had an unexpected but very welcomed visitor from Blacksburg!  Mildred was in town doing a few sessions, and popped over for a visit and some love from the twins.

Mildred takes a selfie with Ella

three pretty Hokies!

Sydney getting some MJ love

makes my heart so full :)

some of the sweetest snuggles you'll ever get

sometimes Sydney sleeps like this...?

And a second day of the #doublesinks snuggle sesh

Me holding Sydney's hand, Ella holding Sydney's arm <3 <3

There were a few mornings in a row that the girls decided to wake up before they should have (read: they woke up while I was still getting ready).  They got to hang out on my bed and watch the Today Show.

I laid Ella next to Sydney with a pacifier in her mouth... 3 seconds later I see this, and they were holding hands.

Ella is really caressing that apple with her tongue

two cute little Gobblers

Daniel spent a Saturday working, so we had a girl's shopping day with my momma.

After our shopping trip, Daniel had simmered some chili for us, and our favorite twin family came over for a visit - Ryan, Lisa, Hollis, and Mary-Grace!  We all had a really great time - it's crazy how similar Ryan and Daniel are.  And Lisa is just amazing - she's such an incredible source of support.  Hollis and Mary-Grace are 3 weeks younger than Ella & Sydney.  We all really enjoyed getting together and halfway eating dinner (because how do you have a proper dinner with 4 babies??!).  Our tiny family room floor was covered in babies and it was a beautiful sight.

The girls are all playing together, and Hollis is happily not involving himself haha

the girls took a little snooze, and I had to snap a picture because they were laid down next to each other the opposite way, and they simultaneously made a 90 degree turn and fell asleep like that

twin mamas, four beautiful babies <3

playing together nicely

and then it's over haha

And this happened....

look closely, that's Ella on all fours... time, stop, you can stop or slow down right now!  I'm not ready for movers.

lazy sunday morning - Ella hanging out with Daddy

playtime turned naptime

and look at my napping buddy

did a little bit of shopping at Target - look at those cute four little feet

We spent a Sunday afternoon watching football and hanging out with Ashley, Jake, Jamie, Dan, and our newest friend Brooklyn!

Ashley had a hard time wrangling two

happy girls before bed

this was right after Sydney spit in Ella's face

Sydney sleeps face down

look at this happy girl I get to wake up!

full lap, full hands, full heart.

Ella couldn't even stay awake long enough to burp

Sydney selfie

look at this fun bed full of babies!

I took the day off on Veteran's Day - Nana came over and kept the girls for a while so Daniel and I could shop for new carpet (such adults) and have lunch together.  This is how I left her :)

And off to visit Grandma Stella for dinner...

We really don't ever separate the girls.  I don't really know why - if it's habit, me wanting them to stay together, or just convenience.  One Saturday afternoon, Ella desperately needed a nap (she sucks at naps lately), and Sydney was wide awake, so she went on an adventure with me to the Dollar Store.  It was the first time she's sat in a shopping cart and she loved it!  And I loved it too, because I didn't get a single twin question asked.

Then we spent the evening baby-free thanks to Aunt Ashley and Aunt Annabeth and celebrated the marriage of Matt & Jenna

my most favorite person

after a fancy meal, they served coffee in itty-bitty cups

There's Ella again... all fours and ready to crawl

sweet sleeping Sydney

The Overstreets came over on Sunday afternoon for football, and Abby helped me fill the sensory bottles for the girls (with the ingredients Sydney and I picked out from the Dollar Store).

sensory bottles and bags are complete!

And somehow in a matter of days, the girls learned to sit up like champs!  They really have done awesome with it - and it's so easy to just sit them down and they seem to play with toys easier.  With out new-found trick of sitting unassisted + a cool new contraption called a buggy bench, we ventured to Walmart for some grocery shopping.  Although it isn't nearly as easy as when you shop solo, it wasn't too bad, and I see several more family trips in our future.

Some more before-work hang out sessions on Momma & Daddy's bed because two little ladies woke up early

look at this incredible view from my bathroom..

hahaha, one picture sums it all up!

two cutest little turkeys that you've ever seen!  sitting up so nice and pretty all by themselves!

my whole world

We watched Frank Beamer's very last home football game..

Sydney has her keys ready, and Ella is so sad that Frank is retiring!

playing in the leaves that daddy is working on getting up

sick Ella Bear... and some middle of the night snuggles.  Embracing it the best I can since they are such great sleepers and this isn't a normal sight.

and the next night was Sydney's turn to get rocked since she was sick.... I hear a rustling and see this head popping over the bumper, ohhhhh gracious.