I have a sister? I have a brother?

Everyone always asks John and I if the babies notice one another. Up until recently the answer has always been no, but leave it to Nana to introduce them! John was very excited to learn that he has a big sister and kicked his legs like crazy upon this discovery:) Anna was equally excited and reached her hand out to touch her little brother. They even held hands for a minute or two. We hope they're always this excited about each other!!!

John's favorite toy

 

John's favorite toy wasn't his peek-a-boo teddy bear, or his discovery playhouse. His favorite gift was the discovery of his right fist and arm! He is now also realizing that he not only has one amazing fist, but two :) John spends many minutes making his hand into a fist and gazing at it everyday. He stares at it while he is on the changing table, in his bouncy seat, and on walks in the stroller. His dad is especially excited that this "toy" doesn't take up extra space or cost money!

2 Months

The babies turned 2 months on November 17th.  At their doctor's visit Anna weighed 11.1 pounds and was 22 1/4 inches long. John weighed in at 11 pounds and he was a little longer, at 22 3/4 inches long. John and I were shocked that they weighed just about the same. They are built so different. John is a long stringbean, and Anna... we'll just say she's a little stockier right now :)  At 2 months, they've both started smiling and giggling. They've also started enjoying their toys on their bouncy seats and on their play gyms. They're already able to do so much more than the first month!  Our favorite is that they've dropped one of their night time feedings!! They're able to sleep now for up to 6 hour stretches between feedings!  That really helps mom and dad out big time!

Thanks for my hat Melissa!

John was not happy when I tried to accessorize his onesie!

This was taken before the monkey hat!

No smiles from Anna today :(

As for our little John, we visited the urologist and he had some more tests done. For now, we are just going to watch things for the first year. He will go back for another ultrasound in 3 months. If his condition stays the same he will need to have surgery when he is 1, but hopefully he will grow out of this condition. The doctor says that happens with boys as they develop. Fingers crossed everyone!!!                                                            

John LOVES the play gym!

So we finally opened up the play gym, washed it, and assembled it. John was so excited!!! He especially loves the music and the lights. His little legs were kicking and kicking and his arms were moving all around. We heard little shouts of pure joy. His attention is held for quite a while, which his mom and dad like:)

Anna is not as sold on the whole idea. When we put her on the mat, she just laid there frozen with an expression on her face that said she wasn't quite sure about this play gym thing. After a little while she enjoyed looking at the monkey and making cooing sounds. They're both so adorable when they discover new things!

Counting our blessings this year

This Thanksgiving is extra special for John and I. Last year at this time, we had no idea what the future had in store for us. We didn't foresee a move, let alone twin babies! We are so thankful this year and count Anna and John among our most special blessings. Although we miss Chicago everyday, we are grateful to have found this amazing neighborhood and place to call home, if only for a year.

My little turkey

Thankful for daddy

Mommy's little turkey is finally zonked out!

We love our turkey bibs from Nan and Pop :)

We continued the tradition of staying put for Thanksgiving, adding two more little bodies to our dinner table, and we actually had a table to eat at this year :) The day started out a little crazy with very unhappy babies. I joked that the babies were going to be vegetarians and were not happy about us cooking a turkey. Anna and John finally settled down by late afternoon and we were able to enjoy our dinner.  Next year we hope to spend the holiday surrounded by family and friends.

Smiles!

Another first for both Anna and John have been their smiles and coos. This month we've seen lots of heart melting smiles and heard many interesting noises coming from the two of them. The giggles, coos and sqeals turn us into mush everytime :)  They're also trying really hard to find their thumbs. That may be next!

John sees his toys for the first time!

Both John and Anna love spending time in their bouncy seats. The vibrations calm them and most of the time put them right to sleep.  The bouncy seats came with a removable bar that has three toys that hang down. We decided to try it out for the first time with John. He was so excited, kicking his legs and moving his arms all around. He smiled and squealed in delight when his arm made the the dragonfly move. John was so proud of himself and it was so fun to watch him discover something new :)  Next up will be the play gym... stay tuned.

Our cuddly bears

Since we weren't going to see Nana and Pop at Thanksgiving, they bought Anna and John these adorable Sherpa suits as a little treat.  The babies are so cute and cuddly :) They will be perfect to wear when daddy and I take them for walks in the baby bjorns!

Road trip to Pittsburgh

John went away on his first business trip to California, so I decided I wasn't quite ready to be alone with the babies for 5 whole days and nights, so I packed up the twins and headed to Pittsburgh. Thanks to Melody, I didn't have to drive alone!! Anna and John were perfect angels on the way there and back, waking up only to eat, then falling right back to sleep.

We surprised Jenny so we could meet her new baby, Abby. It was so much fun to see all of the cousins together, although it was a little crazy with 5 children under the age of 5!!!  To add to the madness, we decided to go to Picture People and have all of their pictures taken.  The photographer there certainly had her work cut out for her. The babies also got to meet the Pittsburgh girls for the first time. They were spoiled by much love and affection, not to mention adorable gifts:)

John loves sleeping on his tummy

My new niece Abby Rose, Jenny and I



Mel, Julie and I with the babies

Big cousin Amelia with John, Abby and Anna

Amelia's a natural feeding John.

Amelia was such a big help with Anna and John.

Anna loves her tummy time



Thank you for our new outfits April!

Anna and John loved staying at Nana and Pop's house. They did a lot of growing there. No more newborn diapers or newborn clothes for them! They are now wearing 0-3 months clothing and size 1 diapers. I don't think they will be in that size very long though.  John and Anna also discovered that they love to nap on their tummies, under close supervision of course.  We are looking forward to our next visit at Christmas.

Halloween

Anna in her outfit from Nana.

Thanks Aunt Tracey!!  (Anna)

John wearing his pumpkin bib from Aunt Jenny.

John's spooky in his outfit from Aunt Tracey.

Anna letting mommy know that she doesn't want to play dress up anymore!!

John was a little calmer in his costume!

So many outfits, so little time...  John and Anna had so many cute Halloween outfits it was hard to find time to wear them all!!!  When my mom was visiting, we picked up two pumpkin costumes for the babies to wear. Little did I know that they would HATE wearing them and really only stayed in them for about 5 minutes. John and I were excited to have our first trick-or-treaters and went out and bought lots of candy. Unfortunately we didn't have anyone come to our door and the twins didn't want to wear their costumes. So much for their first Halloween!!!

Our First Family Outing

We've been so fortunate with beautiful weather this fall.  When John was home for a week, we decided to put the stroller together and venture out.  Our neighborhood in Cincinnati is great for walking, so we braved it and walked to lunch. John and I were shocked at how smooth our first outing went- stroller stayed together and babies slept the entire time. We even got to enjoy a nice glass of wine :) So, all in all, it was a succes!

Special Visitors

Keelin, McKenna, John and I

Mel, Anna, Erin, John and I

Mel, Ken and Anna

John, Christina, Anna and I

Along with family, friends from near and far have come to visit the twins. Christina, Keelin, Berto, and McKenna from Chicago, Erin from Knoxville, and Mel and Ken from Pittsburgh all traveled many hours to meet Anna and John.  They had their first playdate with baby McKenna. I think the twins slept the whole time!  We're excited for upcoming visits... come anytime, we're usually here :)  John and I are really hoping to introduce the babies to Chicago in the coming months... fingers crossed!! 

Surprise!!!

Amelia and baby John

Amelia, John, Jenny and Anna

I was SHOCKED when my sister and her family came for a surprise visit just a few days after we got home from the hospital!!! I was upstairs talking to my mom, when up the stairs comes my niece Amelia, followed by my sister Jenny. My mouth hit the floor and I just stood there speechless. Jenny was due to have a baby in just a few weeks so I had no idea that she would make the drive all the way from Pittsburgh to come meet Anna and John. We thought they wouldn't be able to meet until Christmas!  Needless to say, it made our homecoming that more special :)

We love our grandparents

John and Anna were extremely lucky to have both sets of their grandparents in Cincinnati the day they were born! John and I were extremely lucky that they agreed to stay and lend a helping hand. Nana and Pop came to visit and stayed for 2 weeks. Grandma Bev stayed for 10 days and Poppa John came for a few days too. Anna and John are so blessed to be surrounded by so much love. We look forward to many more visits in the future!

The first bath

Once we got the okay to give the twins an actual bath, John and I were very glad to have their Grandma Bev in town for an extra set of hands. We got all of our supplies ready, including our hooded animal towels we got as a gift from our baby shower ( thank you Christina, Danielle, Kathryn, and Mo)!!  Now it was time for Anna to try out her new tub. She screamed and screamed. So we finished with her and put her brother in next. He liked the bath a little bit better than Anna, but he did a lot of screaming too.It was all worth it though to have them all nice and clean and smelling so good. Not to mention, seeing how adorable they looked in their towels:)

John Rooney

John is the younger brother by 2 minutes. I was lucky enough to be able to hold him right away while the nurses were checking on Anna. Daddy got to hold both of them at the same time, but I was too nervous! When the nurses took John to get his bath, he screamed so hard that his whole face turned bright red! After spending the first night in the nursery, the next morning John guzzled down his first bottle. We thought he had more of a feisty personality, but we would soon find out that he was actually more laid back than his sister.

Anna Christine

Anna is the big sister, born at 1:50 in the afternoon. She weighed 6 pounds and was 19 3/4 inches long. Daddy got to hold her first, and I had to wait until the next day, which was really hard. Her grandparents got to watch her get her first bath in the nursery and watched over her to make sure she was in good hands.  At first, her personality was very serene and calm. Anna ate slowly and just seemed to quietly take in her surroundings.  My how things seemed to change...

Welcome to the world Anna and John

We welcomed Anna Christine and John Rooney to the world on September 17, 2011! After over 24 hours of labor, they were delivered via c-section. We were just so excited that they were both healthy and finally here, arriving at 37 weeks.  This blog will follow the twins as they grow and change. We hope you enjoy going on this journey with us as we begin our life with twins!!!