Busy Day, Busy Girl

  Last Friday was a picture perfect day here in Richmond. It was sunny and warm - a high of 80! Caroline and I enjoyed every last bit of the fantastic weather. Thank goodness Aunt Donna just supplied us with tons of sunscreen - we needed it! We started our day by meeting our friends Aly and Wingrove for a walk, playground visit, and lunch.
  After Caroline took an abbreviated nap (the only not-so-great part of our day), we spent the afternoon sunbathing in the front yard, playing with sidewalk chalk, collecting sticks, and chatting with our neighbors. Daddy even came home around 5:30 and enjoyed some outdoor play time too!
  Frances and Isabel were quite distressed that they could not join in the outdoor fun. In a moment of pity for them, I let them out onto the front porch. Big mistake! Within 5 minutes, a  big cat came wandering across the street and in the blink of an eye, Isabel and Frances were gone. Luckily, Isabel couldn't resist saying "hello" to our neighbors, and so she was quickly caught and sent back inside. Frances was determined to enjoy her adventure though and spent about 25 minutes frolicking around before she decided to come home. Caroline, ever the helper, was determined to rein Frances in. She wasn't successful, but I got some video of her scolding Frances while trying to lure her in with the treat jar.

After our morning out with friends - this was the reason for the abbreviated nap. Apparently, a five minute snooze in the car counts for at least an hour in nap time!

Collecting sticks: a favorite hobby these days.

Mish Mash of Pictures

We've not done anything super exciting this week, but I do have some cute pictures to share anyways.

The first few are from last weekend when we enjoyed a fantastic night with our best Richmond friends, the Benjamins and the Kinards. There's always good food, and lots of laughter and fun when we get together (there used to be lots of adult drinks too, but that's left to the men these days).

Anyways, Caroline had a blast because she got to see big Caroline and Hailey.

Dinner with the girls.

Playing so nicely with Hailey.

Giving one of her best friends a squeeze.

The next picture is of Caroline after a visit to the library. Both Caroline and Mommy are big readers, so we go to the library about once a week. As you can see, Caroline couldn't wait until she got home to start reading.

What a cutie!

This last picture is of Caroline being a couch potato: slurping up a yogurt tube and catching the latest episode of Dora the Explorer!

I Stand Corrected

Not for the first time in my career as a mother, I stand corrected by our darling daughter. After another rough night, I decided to take her to the doctor this morning and discovered that she has a nasty ear infection. That would account for the unusually fussy behavior over the last several days. Poor thing. She is now on antibiotics and ear numbing medication and hopefully we'll have her back on her feet (and out of Mommy's arms!) in no time.

In other news, I forgot to post more pics of the twins the other day. The trouble is, for all the bajillion pictures we have of them, there are very few that are actually any good. They all seem blurry and a little alien-ish. Regardless, I found a couple that are (somewhat) post-worthy. Enjoy!

Twin A face and hand "wave"

Twin B face

Twin B - hand to mouth.

Calgon, Take Me Away!

Oh boy! We've had a rough couple of days around the Hepper household! Caroline must sense that her time as an only child is coming to a close because she cannot get enough of her Mommy lately and has been Little Miss Whiny Pants. I feel like we've reverted back to the 3-6 months time period when she had to be carried everywhere. You would think she has forgotten how to walk. And with two little babies growing in my tummy, carrying a 26+ pound toddler around while I'm trying to do laundry, cook, clean, etc. is less than desirable. Put her down, you say? Sure and listen to her shriek and wail at the top of her lungs while clinging to my legs. Because that's so much better.

Add that to finding out that Frances is epileptic (as if she could get any crazier or more high-maintenance) and an anxiety producing broken CFL light bulb in my bedroom - most annoying clean up ever since there is mercury in the bulbs and your house basically turns into an instant Hazmat scene after one breaks - and I'm going a little over the edge this week. By the way, if you live in the Richmond area, good luck finding any old school light bulbs at Target; I think I bought every one they have in stock yesterday. Good riddance CFL bulbs - you may be good for the environment, but you are very bad for my sanity!!! Not to mention that Paul probably has mercury poisoning since he had to do the actual cleaning.

Thank goodness it's 7:30 pm, Paul is home, it's bedtime for Caroline, and solitary confinement time for Mommy! Sorry for the rant...tomorrow is a new day :)

After looking at these pictures, you'd think Caroline was this happy ALL day. Not so! She only put on this happy face for Daddy!

Getting Practice...

Caroline has two beloved babies, Baby Nina and Baby Gigi, with whom she spends a lot of time playing each day. They have a shared love of hanging out sans clothes (sorry Grampy!), drinking juice and eating snacks. I encourage Caroline to play with her babies as much as possible because hey, practice makes perfect, right?? Let's just hope she loves her real babies as much as these dolls!
                                              
          Lovin' on her babies. And no Caroline is not completely without clothes - she does have a diaper on!

Sharing juice and crackers with Baby Gigi.

SPOILER ALERT - Twin Gender Reveal!

I had to put that disclaimer as the title of this exciting post because we know of at least one of our faithful followers who doesn't want to know the sex of the twins until they arrive. If you're like me and are dying to know, read on!!!

We went to our doctor today for a very detailed ultrasound, a check-up, and of course, to find out the sex of the twins! Without further delay....we are so excited to announce that we will be having two girls!!!!

We are so excited, and yes, a little overwhelmed at the prospect of all that girl power in our house. Poor Daddy is way outnumbered now, but Caroline has shown us that girls are spunky and fun while being adorable and cuddly at the same time: the best of both worlds.

Other than finding out the sex of the twins, we were also thrilled to see that both girls are growing perfectly well. They are both 13 ounces, which is right on track for my 21 weeks, and according to the technician and doctor, are both very photogenic! Mommy looks good, the babies look good, and we have about a million ultrasound pictures to prove it! Nothing to do now except keep on growing and go back for another ultrasound and check up in one month.

Here is a profile pic for each girl.  I will try to upload more (and better) pics tomorrow once Paul has a chance to scan them at the office.

                                                                    

Baby Girl A

Baby Girl B

                                                        

Squirt Bottle Fun

Around our house, we keep a squirt bottle filled with water to ward off Frances and Isabel when someone comes to our door. It doesn't matter if you're someone they see every day or someone who shows up once in a blue moon, once you step through our doorway, you will be greeting by little paws (lovingly) scratching your legs. One squirt of water does the trick to keep the dogs from mauling our guests though and we view it as a generally humane way to keep them in check.

Once Caroline gets hold of the water bottle though, all bets are off. She will hose down everything in sight, so you better believe Isabel and Frances hit the high road when they see her coming!