Marmot and Jalia

Caroline is starting to come around to the fact that Julia and Margaret are here to stay and that they just might be more fun than she originally thought. Instead of ignoring them most of the time like she used to, she's now excited to see the girls, likes to give them hugs and kisses, and is a good helper during diaper changes, handing me wipes and shouting, "yuck! poop!" with great enthusiasm.
Caroline has also stopped referring to the girls as "babies" and now acknowledges that they each have a name! She has difficulty pronouncing the names correctly (and still can't always tell the girls apart), but we give her kuddos for trying. According to Caroline, her sisters' names are "Marmot" and "Jalia" :)

On Saturday, Caroline wanted to join the babies in a play time session on the floor. Here are my sweet girls, "cheesing" it as Caroline likes to say, for the camera!

Tummy time isn't just for babies.

Caroline, Julia, and Margaret

Close-ups!

Margaret

Julia

6 Week Pics and Video

The girls are a little past 6 weeks old and are growing by leaps and bounds! Here are a few pictures and a video to show how they're doing these days.

Julia and Margaret

Double Yawn!

Too Much Tummy Time 

Aunt Erin Comes to Town!

Just a few days after Uncle Michael came in town to meet the twins, Aunt Erin flew in from Nashville to pay the Hepper girls a visit. Erin was with us for a long weekend and we loved having her here! She was a great help with the babies, enjoyed lots of play time with Caroline, and was even brave enough to watch the girls on Saturday night so Mommy and Daddy could go out to a dinner party.
Here are some pictures from our visit...

Among other gifts, Aunt Erin brought lots of new clothes for the girls. Caroline wanted to try on everything at once!

Erin and Margaret

Erin and Julia

Caroline laughing at a dog during a visit to feed the ducks at the University of Richmond

Cooking with Aunt Erin

Julia and Margaret were exhausted after the fun visit!

Uncle Michael's Drive Through Visit

We were lucky enough to have Uncle Michael come and visit us on his way back home from Atlanta to New Jersey yesterday! He was only in town for one night, but we were excited that he had a chance to meet the twins and hang out with Caroline again. Other than eat and sleep, Uncle Michael didn't have much of a chance to do anything else but hold babies and get dragged into Caroline's countless play schemes. Lucky for us, he's always a good sport and was happy to oblige!

Caroline serves Uncle Michael a delicious meal at her picnic table.

Mmm...delicious!

Uncle Michael makes me laugh!

Margaret shows off her Moro reflex.

Julia stares in awe of Uncle Michael.

Not Feeling the Love

With all the focus on the twins lately, it's been easy to see that big sister Caroline hasn't really been "feeling the love" for her baby sisters. Maybe it was the "accidental" kick to Julia's head, the white knuckled "hug" that Caroline gave Margaret's arm or the huge bucket of building blocks that somehow got strewn all over our living room and under every piece of furniture in there, but something made me realize that Caroline needed a little extra attention this week.
So with that goal in mind, I made sure that in addition to going to summer camp with her friends three days this past week, Caroline had lots of play time with Miss Claire and also had a few play dates with friends. I went along to all the play dates so Caroline could see that yes, there is life with Mommy after twins.
She enjoyed every moment she had with her friends throughout the week, but I didn't really see her let loose until last evening when we met our friends big Caroline and Miss Annie at Romp n' Roll for open gym.
As soon as her shoes were off, Caroline ran into the gym and wasted no time getting busy on all the different equipment. She had a smile on her face like I haven't seen in weeks. Miss Annie and her friend, Miss Julia were kind enough to hold the babies so I could spend some time playing with Caroline as she ran from station to station. In fact, she was moving so fast that although I got several pictures of her, they are all kind of blurry. I was so thrilled to see her having such a great time.
The good mood continued this morning when she woke up and happily played with her babies (not the real ones...we'll get there...someday) for almost an hour and then got to go grocery shopping with me while the "babies stay here, Momma."
Hopefully, Caroline is feeling better about having to make room in her family for Julia and Margaret. I have a feeling it's going to be a bit of a long process though :)

Hanging from the monkey bars

Master of the stairs

Hoopin' it up


Caroline (in a self-selected outfit) dancing with her baby dolls this morning.

One Month Video

I meant to include this video in yesterday's post...

One Month Well Visit

It's hard to believe it, but the twins turned one month old yesterday! Their one month well visit was this morning and I am pleased to report that both girls checked out just fine. Here are their stats:

Julia:
Weight: 6 pounds, 14 ounces (up 11.5 ounces in two weeks), 3rd percentile
Height: 20 inches, 10th percentile

Margaret:
Weight: 5 pounds, 12 ounces, <3rd percentile
Height: 19 3/8 inches, 5th percentile

At first I was alarmed that neither girl breached even the 5th percentile mark for weight, but the nurse practitioner said that the growth curve doesn't account for their premature birth date or that they are twins and assured me that both girls are growing just fine and will catch up eventually. Makes you wonder why they even use the chart in the first place!
After their exam and weight check, each girl got the second round of the Hep B vaccination and we were all done. Mommy was so proud of the girls that she treated herself to Chick-fil-A for lunch afterwards :)

Julia at one month.

Margaret at one month.

Side-by-side at one month.

Multi-tasking Daddy

Photo Shoot Pics

On the morning of our last day in the hospital, we were visited by a professional photographer who calls on every new mother's room and offers to shoot a newborn photo session. I was worried that a photo shoot would be too much for our little ladies to handle, but once I heard it would take about 10 minutes, was relatively cheap, and that we would be left with a CD full of pictures and the copyright to them, I was sold. I was thrilled to have the picture part of the girls' birth announcement taken care of by someone far more talented with a camera than I am.
The photographer got right down to business and in less than 15 minutes, the girls had completed their first ever photo shoot! We left the hospital about an hour later with a CD of pictures in hand and a great sense of relief to have one half of the birth announcement work completed.
Hopefully, many of you have received the girls' birth announcement by now. If you didn't get one and want it, let me know and I'll be happy to send one your way! Here are several pics that I love, but didn't make the announcement.

Margaret

It looks like Margaret is giving some sort of gangster sign.

Margaret

Teeny Tiny Margaret

Sisters

Julia

So peaceful!

Adoring parents

Tiny feet (and the baby "Lojack")

Sleeping beauties

Going (Mostly) Solo

Even before the twins entered our lives about a month ago, we were lucky to have grandparents on both sides of the family to help us out as we made the transition from a family of three to a family of five. First Marmee came to stay with us before I went into labor (for the 2nd time) and then after 2.5 weeks Grandma Hepper came to stay. Both Grandpas were able to come visit for a few days each as well, giving us over 4 weeks of live-in help.  It was so nice to have the extra hands to diaper, burp, and rock babies, go grocery shopping, cook wonderful dinners, and most of all to entertain Caroline.
  But as of yesterday afternoon, all that wonderful help is gone. We are now officially on our own....for the most part. Miss Linda will continue to come at night for the next three and a half weeks (or longer if I can convince Paul that you just can't put a price on the 6 hours of sleep I've been getting thanks to her) and of course we have our fabulous babysitter, Miss "Care", to take over some of the Caroline duties.
  Most of the time, however, I'll be here at the house with the girls. All alone. And let me tell you, it's not a job for the faint of heart. My household can go from zero to crazy in about 2 seconds and as one of Paul's work colleagues shared with him, a two year old can smell blood in the water when a new baby arrives in a home. Caroline knows just what buttons to push to get me to give in and give her another bag of fruit snacks (the only source of artificial colors and flavors in our house allowed by Paul), let her watch another episode of Dora, or concede to any other whim that strikes her fancy. Thankfully, I have a great deal of patience thanks to my background as an elementary school teacher and although Caroline may win a few battles, she's not going to win the war :)
Wish us luck as we venture (mostly solo) into the world of raising three kiddos under the age of two and a half years old!!

Here are several pictures of Caroline as she enjoyed many adventures and outings with her grandparents over the last few weeks.

Grilling with Grampy's outdoor kitchen.

Truck drivin' at the Children's Museum.

Looking tough on her tricycle.

Checking out a tortoise at the Richmond Zoo.

Working in the wood pile at the botanical garden.

And of course...some twin pics!!

                                   Proud grandmas....

Grandma Hepper

Marmee

                                     ...and grandpas.

Grampy with Margaret.

Grandpa Hepper with Julia.

Two cuties...

Margaret

Julia