Merry Christmas!

Snow Day!

The snow started falling yesterday about 5:00 pm, and this morning the ground was covered with snow. In fact, the local school district cancelled school today. Yippee! A snow day! One of our neighbors gave several neighborhood children 'rides' in the snow, and Katie and Meg had a ball watching them out our back window.

20 degree weather doesn't stop us!

It has been so cold here, but we still got out for a walk today. Katie (left) and Meg (right) seemed to enjoy the fresh air and change of scenery. They stayed nice and warm ... I, on the other hand, froze! I think I will ask Santa for a warm hat and a face mask for Christmas.

Big Girls!

Meg and Katie can both hold their own bottles!

Walking in the Snow

Our new stroller cozies arrived yesterday, and today was the perfect day to try them out. For those of you that don't know what a stroller cozy is, it is basically like a 'sleeping bag' made for strollers. It is lined with very soft fleece and it has zippers down the sides.

It was cold and snowing lightly, but the girls stayed toasty warm. I'm glad we found a way to keep the girls warm in their stroller. I plan to continue our walks throughout the winter. The fresh air is good for all three of us!

Sharing Toys

Meg and Katie have started grabbing toys from each other's hands. One day it seems that every toy that Meg is holding is the toy that Katie wants, and another day Meg will want every toy that Katie has. Both girls usually let out screams of protest when her sister yanks the toy from her hands. Here are some pictures of Katie and Meg "sharing" toys:

Football Fans

Meg and Daddy had fun watching football this weekend.

First Santa trip

We took the girls to see Santa for the first time. It was great because all of the grandparents were still here.

The girls loved looking around at all of the decorations and the people.

I think we got to meet the real Santa, he was very good...

Messy Katie

Katie loves organic teething biscuits!

Finalization Day!

Today was our big day! We appeared in court to finalize the adoption of Margaret Lynn and Katherine Beatrice. I cried tears of joy as we walked into the courthouse building, and I saw our state motto, "With God, All Things Are Possible" etched into the wall. Amen!

We were so fortunate to have so many family members present: Grandma H, Grandpa H, Grandma S, Grandpa S, Aunt Robin, Toby, Aunt Julie, Ellie, and Ashlyn.

It was a beautiful day, and we are truly blessed.

Hanging Out With Toby

Katie (left) and Meg (right) share a book with cousin Toby

Local Metro Parks

One of our favorite activities is to go for walks at the local Metro Park. It's amazing how quickly you can feel like you aren't in the city anymore. Here are some pictures of our hikes during the girls' first 6 months.

First trip to the park, don't they look little?

One of the flatter trails, this one follows the river.

One of my favorite trees. They have actually grown together at the "hug."

Its Fall and the leaves are all on the ground for the year. There were times that the trail was difficult to find because of all the leaves. We had a nice warm (60 degree) day this weekend so we went for one last "warm" walk.

Book Exchange

Meg (right) and Katie (left) participated in a book exchange this month. We exchanged books with another set of twins, Emma and Gracie, who are a week younger than the girls. They live in northern Ohio, and sent these books to Meg and Katie. The girls were excited to add them to our collection!

Happy Halloween!

Meg and Katie wait by the front door for trick-or-treaters


Katie is on the left, Meg is on the right



Aren't they the cutest little pair of dice you've ever seen? We didn't plan to dress the girls in costumes this year for Halloween. We figured that 1) they weren't going trick-or-treating, 2) they are babies, and 3) they already had a Halloween t-shirt to wear... so we decided not to buy costumes. This week I was regretting our decision a little bit, so I decided to make the girls something to 'wear'.

The girls still couldn't have cared less whether or not they were wearing a costume for Halloween, but they did get a kick out of sitting in the boxes. They thought it was so fun!

Giggling Girls

Today I was snapping pictures of Meg and Katie while they were playing on their tummies. The girls were 'talking' back and forth, and I was not included in the conversation. Suddenly, Katie started laughing, and Meg quickly joined in. I snapped the picture below while the girls were in the middle of laughing. What was so funny? I may never know... but it was so fun to watch the girls giggling with each other. It was the first time I have witnessed them laughing at/with each other without an initial prompt from me or Erin.



**Remember, to view any picture larger, just click on the picture.

Teething Times Two!

I am convinced that Meg and Katie are teething. For several weeks they have been drooling, putting chewy toys into their mouths, and gnawing on their hands. I think that I can see Meg's first tooth pushing through, and I am sure we will see Katie's tooth soon too.

Meg and Katie chew on their favorite teething toy, Sophie the giraffe.

Meg

Katie

Miss Independence

Meg has been holding her bottle on her own. She doesn’t have full control over it and she doesn't hold it for the entire feeding. Sometimes if it pops out of her mouth she can get it back in, but most of the time she can’t. The down side is that it has been taking her a long time to eat. Yesterday Katie finished her bottle in 15 minutes, and Meg took 40 minutes!



So far, Katie has not show any interest in holding her own bottle. It certainly will make things much easier when they both can hold their own bottles, but I think it will be bittersweet... another sign that our babies are growing up!

5 months old!

Katie is 5 months old today!


Meg is 5 months old today!

Sweet Sisters

Meg and Katie still hold hands frequently. Today I left them in their Pack 'n Play to wash my hands. I came back and found them like this, so I quickly grabbed the camera.

Pumpkin Patch Fun

Today we took the girls to the pumpkin farm. They loved being outside, watching all of the kids, and looking at the pumpkins.

We sat them down among the pumpkins to take their picture, but they rarely looked up. They were fascinated with the grass/straw/dirt that they were sitting on!

Fall Weather

Our cool fall weather has arrived. This morning when I took the girls out for a walk we had to bundle up. They didn't seem to mind it too much...

Tummy Time

The girls enjoy being on their tummies more and more each day!


Katie


Meg

Battle in the Bassinet

Whenever Meg and Katie are lying close to each other, they always end up holding hands and/or putting each other's hands in their mouths. Yesterday they were lying on their playmat, and Katie reached over and stroked the top of Meg's head several times. It was so sweet!

Sometimes the girls are not quite so loving toward each other. The following pictures were taken in a sequence earlier this week:

Katie(R) has Meg's(L) hand, and Meg is upset because she wants Katie's arm...


Meg successfully got Katie's arm and is about to enjoy sucking on it...


Katie pulls Meg's arm toward her, and Meg can't reach Katie's arm to suck on it...


A compromise?


Meg regains control, and begins sucking on Katie's arm again, while Katie studies the situation...


Katie decides she doesn't want Meg to soak her shirt sleeve with slobber, and Meg pleads for Katie to reconsider...