Gosh! It has been such a long time...typing this it feels like I am writing long lost friends. :) We finally got our computer back from HP yesterday. Thankfully they were able to repair the computer while leaving everything intact, our pictures, videos, documents...everything! I guess the only thing that was wrong with the computer was the power source. It was damaged in the storm but easy to replace. I have to say...HP did make the situation really easy. They sent us an empty box, a big piece of shipping tape, and a FedEx label so that we could send our computer to them. We didn't have to pay for anything since it was all under warranty.
Not having to pay for the computer is a big blessing. As we quickly found out in the few days following the lightening storm our heater/AC had been affected as well as our washing machine...not to mention all the things I had listed in the last post. The heater and washer though were by far the most expensive; and while the heater was repaired we had to replace the washer. Anyhoo, enough about that...only positive thoughts from here on out.
Let's see....what have the Winters been up to the last few weeks? My goodness there is so much that has happened I don't even know where to begin! Let's just do it the old fashioned way and list them beginning with:
1. Jillian is finally crawling on all fours. She no longer flops or inches her way to things, no siree. She is a bonafied crawler just like Jenna. Both girls have started to climb on things (namely me). They can both get up on their knees but no one has ventured getting up in a standing position yet. But...Jenna can now get into a sitting position on her own. She can go from tummy to sit and crawling to sit. She is really good at it, too.
2. Both girls have cut their first tooth! Jillian's tooth came in on Sunday. Jenna's came in yesterday. It was funny because before I went to work yesterday I put my finger in Jenna's mouth to check for any teeth and she still hadn't gotten any yet. Then when I got home later in the afternoon her first tooth had broken through! You can't really see the teeth yet since they are just now popping up but you can definitley feel them. Now that Jillian and Jenna's teeth are through the skin the girls seem to be feeling and sleeping a bit better. We had a few rough days and nights though. Poor babies.
4. Our most exciting news by far....Jillian has graduated from Cranial Technologies and no longer has to wear her band!! Yeah!! Actually she just graduated yesterday, I took her down and they did an "Exit Interview" where they repeat all of the photos. It is so neat to see the changes and we are so happy with the results.
5. We took the girls on our first family adventure...to the Ft Worth Zoo! Every year for my little brother and sister's birthdays (Cody & Katie) Jared and I do something special for them instead of only giving a gift. For example, when Katie turned 5 we took her to the Build-A-Bear Workshop and let her build a stuffed animal, she picked a kitty, and then we bought the kitty two outfits. A few years ago we took Cody to Dave & Busters and played games all day and then with all of the tickets he won he got to pick neat prizes. :)
Now that they are getting older, and also since we have a family ourselves and are therefore on a tighter budget...we have a harder time coming up with ideas. This year we decided to take them to the Zoo. We did the lunch thing and the gift shop thing (the tickets had been acquired for free). They had a lot of fun, too! I was afraid they would be too old for the Zoo but I don't think anyone needs to worry about that....the Zoo is fun at any age.
Anyhoo, we took the babies along with the kiddos and the girls just had so much fun. We took their big stroller and they just had a blast looking at so many new things. In fact, the only semi fussy moments were when they got hungry for their 2:00 feeding and again right before we left...we were waiting for Cody and Katie to the pick their gift shop prizes. It was a huge success though.
In fact, I think Jared and I need to go back to the Zoo as much as possible. It is actually somewhat affordable when you compare the adult priced tickets compared to tickets at Six Flags or something along those lines. And...kids under 2 are free!
I guess that means we need to get going now though...the girls are almost one! Can you believe it? Next week they will be 11 months and then in December we have our Big One Year Old Birthday! I can't believe how fast time goes. It seems like yesterday we were bringing Jillian home from the hospital and counting down the days until we could come and get Miss Jenna. Now, they are crawling and eating finger foods and talking up a storm. Before I know it they will be saying their first words, eating the same meals we do and walking all over the place.
It makes me kind of sad in a way. Jared and I aren't completely sure what our plans for family are. We always said 1 kiddo for sure, and probably 2. We didn't expect the 2 for 1 deal we got. But if we don't have more Jillian and Jenna will be my only babies...looking back I am blessed to have had them be "babies" for so long due to their prematurity. Sigh... time flies.
There are some things I won't miss though...like the poo disasters. Yes, we still have those. Had one this morining in fact. I always check the girls for messy diapers before we get in the car to head over to Grammy's House. This morning both girls were clean, which is unusual. So we load up and drive over. Twenty five minutes later I pull up to Grammy's House and unload the girls. Once insde we are catching up on family stuff and what's new with the babies and I start to smell something. Jillian, whom I am holding, must have "done her business" in the car. But...somehow the poo has managed to escape the back of the diaper so she has poo up her back, on her shirt, on MY shirt (ick!) and of course it is nasty. You know the routine...I get her cleaned up, me cleaned up. My mother-in-law lends me a non-poo shirt to wear for the day, etc. "Here's the thing though." :) Shouldn't these stories be like....wwaaayy in the past? How long do babies have poo explosions? I mean...they eat solids now. Shouldn't their diapers be less....mushy?
TMI...right? (TMI= Too Much Information for those of you who just went... eh?)
More to Come!
Jessica
PS: There are soooo many new pictures that I am posting a link to Snapfish so that you can see them all, instead of just sharing a few. Remember...you have to register for Snapfish but it is totally free with no purchasing requirements, so feel free to get registered if you haven't and enjoy! The girls are super-de-dooper cute lately and I would hate for you to miss out. :)
Girl, the poo disasters only get better when they are potty trained. We still have those with Kyle (although his tend to be at night occasionally). Well he does eat a lot of fruit which doesn't help. Also I wanted to mention as far as cheap things to do go, when the girls get a little older you should take them to the science place in Dallas at Fair Park. I'll email you their website. kyle LOVES it and kids are free until age 3 I think.
ReplyDeleteGood to see you're back online. We've missed your pictures.
ReplyDeleteJilly looks pretty happy to be rid of the band. She looks great!