Using the learning tower

C and E got this learning tower from my parents for Christmas.  What an awesome consignment find!!  The idea behind the learning tower is that it creates a safe way for young children to access the counter and sink.  C and E are finally stable enough when standing that I decided to try it out at the sink.  They are still pretty little but are able to reach the water to wash their hands.  They like being able to do it themselves and I am excited to see what fun things we can do with this as they get bigger.

* I look at these pictures and just marvel at how big my girls are getting!  It is exciting to see them doing things for themselves, but also makes me miss their tiny baby selves. *

And we are finished

With nursing, that is.  I have such mixed feelings about this.  Goodbye mastitis, goodbye clogged ducts, goodbye biting, goodbye midnight feedings, goodbye being tied to a chair and boppy pillow.  Those things I will not miss.  I will miss the sweet individual time I had with my daughters.  I will miss the close feeling I had when I nursed them.  I feel like this is just one more step in a long line of things that will lead to their independence.  While that is really wonderful, and one of the goals of being a parent, it also makes me a little sad to see this phase end.  Sometimes all I want is my mother.  I hope that I can raise women that are able to be independent, but also want to continue to have a close relationship with their family, like my mother has raised me. 

Birthday Bonanza!

On March 8th my babies turned one!  I felt such a mix of emotions at this anniversary, but was very excited to celebrate the fact that we had all made it through the first year, and that my babies are healthy and happy and here with us.  On Thursday they had special waffles in the morning, opened presents all day (I spread it out so it wouldn't be so overwhelming), went to cracker barrel for dinner, tried ice cream for the first time (Charlotte liked it, Emma did not), and had bubbles in their bath.  It was a fun and low key way to spend the day.

Here are Charlotte and Emma on their birthday opening presents.  They had fun birthday outfits and really enjoyed ripping the paper and getting into the gift bags.  That was probably their favorite part.

Saturday we had a party for their birthday.  I had hemmed and hawed over wheither to have a party or not, but decided that I really wanted to celebrate this and have people over that supported us through the pregnancy and first year.  I chose to use rainbows as my theme.  It is fun and easy, and also represents that Emma and Charlotte are like rainbows that came to us after a very difficult "storm."  I found so many good ideas online through pintrest and other site.  Here are some photos from the party.  I am really thankful that so many family and friends came to help us celebrate this really important event.

This was the food table.  I made the birthday banner using scrapbook paper and printing the letters from my computer.  It was so easy I am wanting to make a banner for every holiday now.  On either side of the banner were pictures of the girls throughout the year.  It was amazing to see how much they had changed from when they were first born.

Smash cakes!

This was the spread.  It turned out festive and tasty.  We had chicken wings, spinach and artichoke dip, cupcakes, cream puffs, fruit, veggies and dip, and rainbow goldfish.

I loved these rainbow cupcakes.  They turned out great, but were very tedious to make.  It involved layering each color in each cupcake liner.

Who knew what a huge hit balloons would be?  They kept the kids busy for an hour.  I am remembering this for later.  Emma and Charlotte really enjoyed having some friends there.

A good shot of the decorations.  I made tissue paper puffs to go over the table and then sewed together little strips of paper to make the garlands that hung in the kitchen.  It was very festive.

A close up of the tissue paper puffs.  They were so easy!

Again, the balloons were probably the hit of the party.

Here we were singing happy birthday to them.  I debated about whether to sing one time or two.  This time we sang once, which was good because it really scared Charlotte, but I think all birthdays from now on we will sing to each child.

Emma's first nibbles of frosting.  She was a little unsure at first but it didn't take her long to figure out what to do.

Charlotte, on the other hand, was scared by the singing and didn't want anything to do with her cake or sitting in her seat.

Here is the result of Emma and her cake.  She smashed it to bits and had a good time doing it.  Cake was everywhere.



Charlotte tried the cake like a little bird, just putting her face down for little nibbles. 

A big thank you to my friend Susan Floyd who took all of these photos as I did not pick up my camera during the entire party.



Look Who's Crawling!

Thats right!  Emma started crawling over the weekend.  So far it is still very timid and slow, but she is moving.  Charlotte thinks it is funny until Emma crawls up, takes her toy, and then crawls away (yes, this has happened multiple times.)  I am excited for this milestone, sad because my babies are getting bigger, and nervous about how I am going to successfully manage two moving babies.  I will keep you posted.

Eight Months Old!

My sweet babies are eight months old today.

Here they are ready for bed tonight.  I love these jammies!

Both girls are very busy these days.  They are eating three meals a day that consist of a variety of veggies, fruit, meat, cereal and yogurt.  They eat finger food at least once a day and love cherrios, puffs, crackers, frozen peas, and banana.  They nurse four times a day still.  We are down to two naps a day but have an early bed time.  They are still up a couple of times a night to nurse.  Both girls are sitting up very well.  They enjoy playing with toys, especially banging, shaking, and chewing on things.  We try to get out of the house at least once a day and the girls enjoy being outside and with other people.

Charlotte is rolling all over the place.  Last week she found the fire place.  She is able to turn easily on her stomach as well and likes to roll to toys.  No pulling up or crawling yet.

Emma has been a bit more resistant to moving.  In the last month she has starting rolling over consistently and just in the last couple of days she has started scooting backwards.  Today she had scooted herself into this corner, and was not happy about it.

Emma Nicole Hoemann, eight months old.

Charlotte Beth Hoemann, eight months old.

14 Weeks

We have made it 14 weeks.  This is really the first milestone that I have been aiming for in this pregnancy.  We have lots more ahead of this, but thinking about it today, 14 weeks is a long time.  It is over three months.  It is the week I will have my surgery.  I went today and pre-checked in for Friday.  Only three more days and these babies will be stitched in there snug and sound.  That will be such a relief for me.  I leave you with a belly shot.  It has been a month since I shared my last one and you can tell that they are getting bigger in there.