We are a Redskin Family

So just so you all know, we are BIG Redskin fans in our family. Well let's just clarify that. Jesse has been a Redskin fan for a long time. As the wife, I married into the madness and now I'm almost as crazy as Jesse is. I will never run around the house with a Redskin flag as a cape when the skins score a touch down, nor will I go outside and break lawn chairs when the Skins lose like Jesse does. I do however, support the team, love the team, and look forward to the season every year. My man is Chris Cooley.



Cooley quickly became my favorite early on and my his jersey fits me the best so Cooley is my man. I have a Portis jersey that doesn't fit as well but I still love our running back.

Jesse has several jerseys and supports the team whole-heartedly. So what does that mean for our little girls??? It means a life time of loyalty to the Redskins. At least we hope that they will be as loyal as their mommy and daddy. Kids grow up and have their own minds, but we hope to brain wash them as much as possible. My friend Keilly in Maryland was so kind to help us get some traditions stated. This is how the madness begins:

Riley:



Addison:



Both girls:



Riley cheering the Skins on during Friday night's game:

How did it get to be my birthday again?

My birthday is on Wednesday September 2nd. I just can't believe how fast this year has gone by. It was just after my birthday that we started our IUI journey and a month later we had our BFP (Big Fat Positive, pregnancy test) and our infertility journey was over. It is strange because I always had a plan in my head that I would be married by age 24, which I did, and have my first child by age 27, and I ended up having two children before age 28. I don't know how things worked out so perfect for us in my little plan but I am so grateful for the blessings I have in life.

So what am I doing for my birthday you may ask??? Jesse and I will be staying at the Scottsdale Resort. This is a tradition we have done for the last 3 years. We book the hotel, go out for dinner and then head over to the casino for some gambling fun. This year will be a little different because it isn't just Jesse and I. We can't just pick up and go without finding someone to watch the girls for us. Luckily Sara and Linda have offered to watch the girls so we can stay the whole weekend. Yay! I'm excited to get a little break from the girls but I am am sad to leave them. The nice thing about the situation is the resort is only 20 minutes from our home so if we need to run home for a little bit, we can.

Jesse and I have been falling into the mommy daddy roles and less of the husband and wife roles so this trip will give us a little time to reconnect. I will still have to pump while I am away so my sleep will still be interrupted but it will be nice to relax a little bit.

Jesse has no idea what to get me for my birthday and to be honest, I don't know if I need anything. Things change once you have kids and your priorities are different. I would much rather shop for my girls than get anything for myself.

So here's to another great year around the sun!

4 Months Old

The girls are 4 months old today. I just can't believe how fast time is flying by. My little girls are about triple their birth weight and growing more every day. It seems like yesterday that I was locked up in the hospital trying my best to stay pregnant but looking forward to meeting my precious miracle babies. Here we are 4 months later and we have 2 beautiful girls who are starting to develop different personalities and we love getting to know them more and more.

We took them for their 4 month well baby visits. Here are the stats

Addison:

Weight: 11 pounds 8 ounces

Length: 22.5

Head: 15.75


Temp: 98.3

Riley:

Weight: 11 pounds 2.5 ounces

Length: 22

Head: 16

Temp: 98.1

I had been doing some research on the vaccines and thought I would delay some of them but after talk with the doctor, she advised that with their prematurity, it would actually be better to get them vaccinated rather than wait on some of the shots. So we went ahead and did them all. The girls did much better this time around. Addison went first and she didn't even feel the first shot but by the second, she knew what was going on. She cried through the shots but when she was done, she was calming down and I gave her a bottle of EBM (expressed breast milk). Riley went second and she is a drama queen and she was none to happy to have her pokes. She was doing the sad sad cry and wailing long in between breaths. The poor baby girl was very hurt. It took me a while to calm her down. I had planned on breast feeding her while Jesse finished giving Addison her bottle and I put the breast in her mouth but she was too upset to latch. I had to pull her back up on my chest and calm her down a bit more. After a minute or two she was a little better and latched right on. I was glad I was able to comfort her by breast feeding this time around. Once she was done, we got the girls dressed and back in their car seats. By the time we left the office, the girls were already falling asleep.

Once home, we had the girls sleep in their car seats for about 30 minutes and then it was bath time and their bed time routine. The girls got some Tylenol to help with the shots but they didn't seem to interested in going to bed. Both girls were fussy and crying when I went to bed and Jesse and Sara were helping to try and get them to sleep. Eventually they went to sleep and I hope they have a better day today.

On a side note, I have started my post-partum AF (aunt flow) and I am not too happy that she has returned. I was hoping to get another couple of months before I started cycling again, but that was not in the cards. Even though I am breast feeding and pumping around the clock, my body was ready to get back to normal. Bummer...

Trip Report (Long)

Oh where o' where do we begin. When someone said, traveling with infants isn't easy, boy were they not kidding. To give the girls some credit, they did awesome in the airport and on the planes. We had everything prepared, packed, and ready to go for any type of situation. We had extra clothes for a blow out or spit up, extra clothes for mommy and daddy in case we needed them. We packed extra paci's, toys, diapers, and blankets.

Here is Riley on the plane:

and Addison and Daddy having fun:

On the ride there it turns out we didn't need all of our extras and the one thing I didn't pack extra , we actually needed and that was my milk. I don't know what I was thinking only bringing three 6 ounce bottles of cold milk and 1 8 ounce bottle of fresh expressed breast milk. I could have brought more milk easily and I didn't. In order to keep the girls happy on the plane, we fed them extra milk and we went through most of my milk on the way to Spokane. So I spent the whole trip trying to stay ahead of the girls on my pumping to make sure we didn't have to give them formula. I did break down and buy some formula, just in case but boy was I stressed about not having enough milk. In the end, it all worked out but I was stressed and so were my breasts from the extra pumping to increase my supply over the trip.

We arrived in Spokane, got our rental car and got the girls strapped in and ready to go. We made it to a burger place (Zips) before the first melt down. Riley didn't want to be in her car seat any more and she made that real clear very fast. We got her calmed down and then checked into the hotel. I'm so glad we got a hotel with a refrigerator and a microwave to store and heat up the milk for the girls. We then went to Dave's house to have him meet the girls and spend some time with him talking about Laurie. Dave's grandpa skills were brought to action very quick since the girls required constant holding and attention the entire trip. At least it gave Dave something to do rather than sitting and thinking about Laurie. It was very hard to see Dave so sad and I know he was glad we made it up and spent time with him so he didn't have to be alone. After a couple of hours, we left Dave's house and made plans for breakfast the next morning.

We took the girls back to the hotel and then the screaming began. We tried to keep them on the same schedule as home and give them their bath around 6:30, dress them for bed, and put them down at 7:00. Well, that was not in the cards. The girls were not having anything to do with going to bed. I'm sure they missed their swings that rock them to bed each night so Jesse and I had to become human swings and rock the girls over and over to get them to sleep. So 3 hours later, we finally had them asleep. Despite the crying fest, they still slept 8 hours without waking and we were all able to get some shut eye.

The next morning we got up to meet Dave for breakfast. Jesse saw this old diner called Molly's that had a sign of a dog that looked like a rat or raccoon drawn by a little kid and Jesse just had to eat breakfast there. Here is a picture of the awful sign:

Breakfast was very good and very filling. The girls were great in the restaurant. We then drove around town for a while to show Jesse around the city and met up with my friends Kayla and Michelle. We made plans for Sunday night to have dinner with Kayla and Michelle's mom for Michelle's birthday.

Here is a picture of Riley ready to head out:

Later that day was Laurie's services. The memorial was the way Laurie would have wanted it to be. We were celebrating her life rather than having a sad service in her honor. There were a good 100 people there to celebrate and remember Laurie's life. They put together a slide show of pictures and a beautiful poem that was very touching. Dave's family was able to meet the girls and Jesse and we enjoyed some company and good food. Dave and I had a good cry when it was time to leave. The girls were over stimulated at that point and it was time for a bath and bed. This night was even worse than the second. I had Addison while Jesse dealt with Riley and we turns rocking, swinging, feeding and calming the girls down until they finally fell asleep.

At this point we also realized it had been several days since the girls had a bowel movement and we could tell that their tummy's were bothering them. I called Brea and she suggested we try 1 ounce of apple juice with 1 ounce of water to help move things along. We gave the girls their bottles before bed and Addison took to the remedy quickly and had a nice diaper waiting for us the next morning. Riley worked a little slower and her episode will be described later on.....

Sunday we decided to take Jesse over to Coeur d' Alene Idaho to check out the lake and the city. It is only a 40 minute drive over the Washington border into Coeur d' Alene so we packed up the girls and headed out. Dave's sister Shari and her husband Ron were on their way back to Spokane after camping out in Idaho so we decided to meet up for lunch and visit so they could meet the girls. It was nice to catch up with Shari and Ronny and see how their kids were doing. Soon it became clear that the girls were ready to get going so we got back in the car and I had to pump before we could head back home. The girls were not too fond of sitting in their car seats while I pumped so Jesse got them out into the stroller and drove them around in the nice cool air. We finally got them settled down enough to head back to town.

Sunday night Jesse decided to hang out with Dave and borrow an xBox 360 so he could play in his league and I drove over to Kayla and Michelle's mom's house for Michelle's birthday dinner. We had a good time catching up and visiting with Michelle's girls who are 6 and 4. We passed my girls around so we could all have a free moment to eat.

Here is a picture of Kayla holding Addison:

And Michelle is holding Riley in this picture:

Once dinner was over, we had to head back to Dave's house and wait for Daddy to finish his games. I decided to give the girls a bath at Dave's house since it was already 1 hour past their bed time. The girls had a blast playing in the bath tub while grandpa Dave and I washed them up. Dave took pictures so I will have to wait for him to send those to me. After Daddy was done, we took the girls back to the hotel. Dave and I had a tearful goodbye with hugs and kisses and then we left. Once we got to the hotel we had another melt down night where the girls were over tired and over stimulated. They were not happy and Addison was so upset she couldn't eat and I just had to rock her to sleep. It broke my heart to have them so upset but we finally got them sleeping so and Jesse and I went to bed so we could get up early and pack and head out.

The next morning went pretty smooth as Jesse and I packed up. The girls were in a pretty good mood and we got the hotel and bags packed and headed out. Jesse saw a restaurant he wanted to eat at called Dicks.

I think he just wanted to eat there because of the name but the restaurant is a good hamburger place. By the time we got there, the lines were too long and we needed to try another place so we could get the rental car returned on time so we ate at Zips again.

At the airport we were given the option to upgrade to first class and we jumped at the chance to do it for so cheap. Our seats wouldn't be together but we would have lots of help from the flight attendants and the extra room would serve us well. Jesse lucked out and sat next to an older woman who was delighted to help Jesse hold and take care of Riley. I sat a row back with Addison who was happy to sleep in mommy's arms. The first class flight attendant was a God send and warmed up the girls bottles for us and held the girls when we needed to use the rest room. She even took Addison down the isle to show all the elderly women how cute our daughter was.

About 30 minutes before we landed I started to think that it would be a good idea if Jesse changed Riley's diaper because we didn't do that before we took off. Oops....too late, Riley decided the apple juice was ready to work and proceeded to fill her pants in the worst blow out we have seen to date. It took Jesse, the flight attendant and the nice lady next to Jesse along with 15 wipes to get Riley clean. Some how the extra outfits I packed for the flight got put in one of our suitcases instead of in the diaper bag so Riley had to finish the flight in her diaper and a blanket. Woosh....was that an ordeal.

All in all the trip was exciting and challenging and it was hard to make the girls feel comfortable at times. We learned what works and what doesn't so when we take our trip back to Wisconsin in December, we know what we want to change and the girls will be older so that will hopefully allow us to have more fun. We didn't take as many pictures as we would have liked because we were so busy but at least we caught a few. Thanks for listening if you made it this far.

Problems

So if getting ready to take two infants on their first trip out of state on an airplane is not stressful enough, lets add some more problems to the mix. The last few days I have been having trouble pumping on my left breast. I am getting out half the output on that side and the pump doesn't seem to be emptying the breast as good as it normally does. So I do a little research and I think I have a clogged duct. I have pain on that side and have that engorged feeling most of the time. If it isn't hard enough to pump enough milk for two babies, I have to have something like this happen that affects my output. The girls are now taking 4 ounces per feedings, sometimes more and I am not keeping up with that. My supply is draining in the refrigerator and I am having to dip into my stash in the freezer.

So to help combat this problem, I have gone back to the motherhood store and rented the hospital grade Symphony pump. This pump is recommended for mom's with multiples because it is more efficient at getting the milk out. So I am going to use that pump for a while and see if I can help correct the problem soon.

Okay, so on to our next disaster. We get a knock on our door from our neighbor last night. Apparently we have a broken pipe in our front yard that is flooding water all over our front yard and into the street. We think the pipe is from our sprinkler system that we haven't used in a while because some of the heads were broken. We have no idea how long the pipe was gushing water and how much our water bill is going to be. So the only solution for this problem at 9pm at night is to shut off our water. So we fill up a few jugs of water to get us through the night.

Now here it is morning, and I don't know who I am supposed to call. Is this something that our home owners insurance covers or would this fall under our home warranty? Who knows. I have to get this mess figured out and I have called out of work today in hopes of getting this fixed before we leave for our trip in 24 hours. So as you can see, we are a little stressed out in this family today. And to top it all off, Riley isn't feeling so well. I had her sleeping in her swing yesterday afternoon and she woke up and proceeded to throw up all over herself. The poor little baby. I was pumping and thought I was hearing her filling her diaper, I didn't even realize she had thrown up until I was done. I had to get my baby out of her disgusting clothes and bathe her. Since then, she doesn't seem to be feeling as well and didn't want to go to sleep last night until late.

Who knows if we can get all of these problems fixed before we fly out tomorrow morning and I don't know how I am going to do the laundry we need in order pack. I can't take a shower or brush my teeth at the moment. Oh, the joys of parenthood and home ownership.

So much to do...so little time

I just can't believe how fast time is flying right now. The girls are growing up so fast and I am trying to slow time down a little bit so I can enjoy each moment with them. I'm trying to get us all ready to take our trip to Spokane and my list continues to grow each day. I'm trying to decide what to pack and what we won't need so we don't end up lugging around unnecessary items with us. Jesse wants me to take it easy on packing clothes so we don't have to bring much to the airports but I have to remind him that we will be checking our baggage at the curb with the sky cabs so we won't be stuck carrying the luggage through the airport.

I'm also trying to get ahead on my homework so I don't have to complete anything while we are on the trip. I know I won't want to be stuck on the computer while we are visiting the family and friends. I have to get my reading and discussion questions finished before we leave and maybe get a jump start of next weeks' project so I don't feel stressed about finishing the course. I have 2 more weeks in this class and then I won't have to take another finance course again, woohoo!!!

The girls are getting to the stage where they need to be entertained at all times. They don't just want to sit in their swing or lay on their play mat, you have to actually be playing with them or talking to them, otherwise they get upset. So this is a new thing for us considering they used to sleep so much during the day and now they are awake and need attention. They are starting to grab for their toys a little more and Riley loves her snuggly bear and she holds it in her arm and tries to chew on the ears of the bear. It is so cute. I will have to get a picture of that. She also goes to bed with the snuggly right next to her.

That is about all I have to report right now. I'm trying to get things crossed off of the packing list and pray I can get it all done in the next 3 days.

Visit to the Pediatrician

So lately I have been more concerned about Riley. She was exhibiting some of the same reflux symptoms as Addison however, they were not as intense so I wasn't ready to rush down to the pediatrician just yet. Riley has gone through patterns of fussy times that start with a loud choking sound followed by a bunch of coughs and then her eyes would water and I could tell acid was coming up. After a few nights in a row, we decided to take her to the pediatrician on Friday afternoon. It looks as though she does have reflux, just not as a bad as her sister does. We are going to start her off on Zantac and go from there. Hopefully she will start to feel better soon and we won't have to use Prevacid in addition to the Zantac.

Riley got weighed and she is 10 pounds 8.5 ounces. We are so thrilled with her weight gain and she is now about 3 times her birth weight. She is a growing girl and catching up with her sister. Addison was also weighed to see if we needed to increase her Zantac dose and she weighed in at 10 pounds 14 ounces. Both girls were put on 1.5ml of Zantac. We were hoping Riley would be a good medicine taker like her sister but Riley is none to thrilled with the taste of the Zantac. We hope over time she will get used to it and be a pro like her sister.

Both girls have been getting better at breast feeding. I'm a little sore from our trials and tribulations but we are sticking to it in hopes of getting more time at the breast and less time with the pump. I hope to spend majority of our trip to Spokane with the girls feeding at the breast rather than the bottle and we will have all night and day to try.

On another happy note, the girls have become perfect little sleepers. Last night was another testimate to their ability to sleep though the night together. I put them down to bed at 7pm and Addison woke up for to feed at 4:30 and Riley was right after her at 5am and then they both went back to sleep until 8am. This kind of schedule is perfect for mommy and I feel so rested on the weekends. I'm so proud of my girls and they wake up so happy and smiley after a good long night of sleep. We had fun playing and cooing and talking this morning while we let daddy sleep in.

Addison went with me and we did some shopping at Kohl's and got some picture frames for their new pictures and a suitcase for the girls to travel with. I picked up some cute outfits with pants so the girls have something different to wear in the cooler weather up in Spokane. I plan on spending the rest of the weekend planning and packing for our trip.

More Pictures

Below are the pictures I promised. There are a few where the girls really look alike too.

I decided not to go the entire night without pumping just to not shock my body too much, so I slept for 6 hours instead. That was pretty nice and I plan to only go about 3.5 hours in between pumpings today to make up for the long stretch at night. Eventually I might move it out to 8 hours at night, but for now I think slow and steady is the right idea.

And another woohoo, both girls slept 9.5 hours straight last night. Lately we have had either one girl or the other sleeping really well while the other one was getting up once or twice. Last night was perfect bliss. They went down to bed really well and didn't make a peep all night. Addison was up first and Riley was still sleeping when I left the house. Way to go baby girls. Mommy is so proud!!!!

Both girls wearing the dresses that Aunt Sarah and Gram sent

Addison on the play mat

Wow, look at how much we look alike!

Addison taking a nap on the couch

Addison giving us a pose

Smiley Addison

Hanging out in their pajamas

Addison

Playing on the play mat together

Addison in a towel after her bath

Pretty girls

Riley napping

Addison in the swing

Pumping Dilemma

So here is my dilemma, I am really struggling to get by on the broken sleep that I have had since the girls were born. I suffered through the pumping every 3 hours for the first 2 months and my body adjusted to sleeping in short stretches. Then when I went back to work I stretched the schedule out to every 4 hours. Lately I have been so tired because I am only getting a total of 7 hours of sleep broken up in two 3.5 hour stretches at night. I pump at 7:30pm, go to bed around 8:00 or 8:30 and sleep until 12am where I get up to pump. The pumping and cleaning up takes 30 minutes and then I try and go back to sleep until 4am when I have to get up to pump and get ready for work.

So I'm thinking about eliminating the pumping at 12am and sleeping straight through for 8 hours. As I type this I am actually drooling at the thought of sleeping 8 hours straight through now that the girls are sleeping through the night pretty consistently. Now, I am concerned that my supply may drop if I try to eliminate the middle of the night pump. I think that any woman that only has one baby would do just fine with going through the night, but when I have two mouths to feed I am hesitant to make a big change that would affect my output. I do have a pretty nice stash in the freezer that I could use if I needed a little extra milk to get though each day, but I hate to start using that until I decide to wean off the pumping so the girls could still have my milk for a little while after I quit.

So what do you all think? Should I go for it, try it out, and see what happens? Or should I not mess with a good thing since I have a great supply?

Oh and I had promised some pictures last night but Jesse decided to procrastinate on his homework to the point of almost not finishing his last assignment in his class. He had the laptop the entire night and I was unable to upload the photos. I was very upset at him for playing video games all weekend and waiting until the last minute to do his homework which left me all alone to take care of the girls. Jesse was warned with bodily harm if he ever pulls a stunt like that again.

So tonight I plan to get some of the photos from the last few days up on the blog for you all to see.

Once again, thanks for reading. Your comments are appreciated. :)

Busy Weekend

This weekend was busy from start to finish. I really didn't get a chance to update the blog or upload any pictures. I hope to get a few good pictures off of the camera to add after I get my homework finished tonight. I know I promised myself that I would get all of my homework done by Sunday night but the girls had other plans for me. I really think the girls are going through another growth spurt. They are eating so much more during the day and they are cluster feeding from about 3pm until they go to sleep. They are extremely cranky during the evening an nothing comforts them except a bottle in their mouth or going to sleep at night. I was able to get a good portion of my paper done in the mornings but the girls were far too cranky to allow me to finish up in the evening. I should be able to finish up my paper with a good solid hour block if I can get that some time today.

So because of the growth spurt, Addison is not sleeping as long as usual. She is going to sleep at 6:30pm, waking at 12:30am and 4:30am for bottles. I just think she needs to take extra food in to support her growth. I don't think the growth spurt is affecting Riley quite as much. She has turned into a fantastic sleeper. She is sleeping a solid 8-10 hours now without waking. Last night she went to bed around 7 pm and had not woken up by the time I went to work at 5 am. I'm really proud of my sleeper girl and I'm sure Addison will go back to her long sleep schedule once the growth spurt is over.

Jesse and I have been struggling with the evening cranky schedule that the girls have. I think we both hate it that we can't make the girls comfortable and they continue to cry no matter what we try. I'm sure part of it is the growth spurt and the other part has to do with them being over tired. I've taken the girls on errands with me and it is too darn hot to be outside in the Phoenix weather. I also think the weather is playing a role in the girls' comfort levels. Even though things have cooled down to a nice 105 degree, down from 115, it is still really hot to be in the car and the girls don't tolerate the heat very well. I plan to reduce the time I take them with me until weather starts to change. This probably won't happened until late in September so Jesse may be stuck with them at home while I run the errands for a while.

Good Job Baby Riley

By George, I think she's got it! Riley had another fantastic sleep night. She went down at about 6:30 for the night. Got up around 12:30 for a bottle and went right back to sleep and then she slept until 4:30 and got up for another bottle, but she went right back to sleep again. That is a 6 hour stretch and then another 4 hour stretch and she was still wanting to go back to sleep. I really think all the play time and staying up during the day is making both girls tired and they aer sleeping really well.

Addison is still the big sleeper and she slept all the way until 4:30 this morning without waking up, so she needs to whisper to Riley how to stay asleep the whole time, but we will take the schedule we have now and be very happy.

We made our plan, hotel, and car reservations for the Spokane trip yesterday so the trip is completely in motion. I will be doing lots of preparation, packing, and stressing over the next two weeks, but I am looking forward to seeing the family and helping my dad with the preparations for Laurie's services. I'm sure the family will be happy to meet the girls and we will have some extra arms and baby holders when we are there. We will visit a few friends while we are there and I can take Jesse on a tour of my old hometown. If we make it through the airports and the change in environment alive, we should enjoy our trip.

I think that is all for now.

Lots of Help

We got some help from my best friend in the world Brea yesterday. She came over to keep the girls entertained during the day and to help them stay awake for longer so they will be more tired at night. Riley has been doing much better the last few days. She is still going to sleep around 6:30pm and sleeping until 12 -1 am and up for a bottle and then goes right back to sleep until around 4am for another bottle. We are glad that she can get herself right back to sleep after waking up. Sara is a doing a great job of putting her right back to bed. She does cry for a little while and thankfully doesn't wake her sister up. After a little bit, she is back to sleep which is a big improvement over staying awake from 12am to 4am crying her little head off. I want to say thanks to Brea and Sara for working hard on keeping the girls awake and entertained yesterday.

You can view the pictures from yesterday on Brea's blog at http://brealin-n-chris.blogspot.com/2009/08/twin-fun.html

I want to say thank you for all the advice people have left and sent me about traveling with infants. I have to buy a few items to travel with but I think we can make it work. I'm not as stressed out about the whole trip. We booked a hotel with a refrigerator so I can pump and store my milk while we are gone. The only items I think we will miss is the girls' swings. They like to fall asleep and take naps in the swings and we can't travel with those. I don't really know anyone we could borrow swings from in Spokane so we will probably have to do without them for the 4 days.

School is going fairly well. I still tend to procrastinate on my weekly assignments but I vowed to get my Monday assignment done by Sunday night so I don't feel so stressed out come Monday evening.

That is our report for now.

Travel Plans to Spokane

We will be taking the girls to Spokane for Laurie's services. The services will be the weekend of the 22nd. Dave is trying to arrange so everyone can be there and since Laurie will be cremated, we have time to push out the services a few weeks.

We will probably be flying out on Friday the 21st and returning on Monday the 24th. US Airways has a non-stop flight from Phoenix to Spokane so at least we don't have to switch planes and have a layover. This will be an exciting/difficult trip and we have no idea how the girls will react to the change in environment.

We plan on borrowing Brea's pack and play to have the girls sleep in although I did see those little travel beds that you can buy and that way the girls will have separate sleeping quarters if you want to call it that. I'm not sure what we will want to use. I also need to buy slings/carriers for the girls so we can have free hands if needed.

We will probably bring the double stroller and check that at the gate so we can get through the airport with them easier.

I'm totally freaked out about all the things we need to pack and bring. I feel like we will forget something and have some meltdowns because of it. I guess I will be making lots of lists and checking them twice to make sure we have everything.

If you are reading this blog and you have some suggestions on how to travel and what works and doesn't work, feel free to leave me some comments. I need all the help we can get in this situation.

Now on to the girls sleeping habits. Riley has done much better as of late. Last night we put her to bed around 6:30-7:00 and she slept until 1:00am, got up for a bottle and diaper change and then went right back to bed. She then slept until around 4:30am, had another bottle and diaper change and was going back to sleep when I left the house at 4:45. Addison was asleep the whole night from 6:30pm and was just waking up at 4:45 when I was leaving. This is a much better pattern than we have seen out of Riley and Addison has been pretty consistent with her sleeping so we are so proud of both girls. Lets just hope this type of sleeping schedule continues with both girls.

3 month family pictures

Here are the family pictures and the girls 3 month pictures. We even got a shot with Sara holding the girls. We had a good time today. Addison was a little fussy as usual and she wanted to look any where but the camera but we did get a few good shots of everyone. The only shot we didn't get was one with me holding both girls or Jesse holding both girls. The girls were done and didn't want anymore pictures at that point. Maybe we will get some of those pictures on the next photo session. Enjoy:

The Prather Family

The Family with Sara

Both Girls

Another good shot

The Girls with their Aunt Sara

Sweet Riley

Curious Addison

The girls 2 month pictures

Here are the girls 2 month pictures that I finally got access to. We had them taken on July 5th, 2009. They are wearing the dresses Sara bought for them in California. Daddy especially loves the red one Riley got to wear.

Both Girls
Hanging out together

Riley being super sweet

Addison sucking on her fingers

Riley showing off her eyes

Addison's big eyes

Some Cute Pictures

Here are some cute pictures over the last couple of days. The girls are really getting big and growing up way to fast. Enjoy:

Riley sitting in her Bumbo

Pretty in Pink

Riley in her car seat

Smiling fun

Addison in her car seat

Daddy and Addison hanging out

Tribute to Laurie

My step-mom Laurie passed away last night at around 7:30. She died of complications of cancer. To help you all understand who Laurie is, she actually isn't my real step-mom. She was the long time girlfriend of my step-dad Dave. My mom and Dave divorced almost 10 years ago and Dave and Laurie got together after the divorce. Even though my mom wasn't married to Dave any longer didn't mean he wasn't a big part of my life. He helped raise me and even helped my real dad walk me down the isle on my wedding day. So in a sense, Laurie was another mom to me and a grandmother to my girls.

Laurie battled a long fight against ovarian cancer, had a full hysterectomy, and battled the cancer that continued to spread in her body. She was in remission several times, had rounds of chemo and radiation, and finally lost her battle last night. She is no longer in pain and she is with the Lord, smiling down on us.

Laurie was one of the sweetest people you could ever meet. She had the best outlook on life even though she was sick for many years. She loved me like a daughter and took such good care of my step-dad Dave. Laurie was a lover of dogs and cats, she liked spending time with her family, and occasionally for fun she would head off to the local casino to try her luck at slots. She lost her dog Chloe last year and now they are off playing ball together.

We will be headed out to Spokane in a few weeks to celebrate Laurie's life and remember the good times.

We will all miss you Laurie.