Picture Update

A couple of days ago we got the critters dressed up and managed to capture a few pictures. Since a blog post is way overdue we thought we would share.

Mason loves having his picture taken, and takes advantage of any opportunity to cause mischief.

Avery is still the curious one, she keeps us laughing.

Chance's 35th birthday.

Caught wrestling.

Avery and Mason's first trip to the pool.

They talk to each other more and more everyday.

6 month update

We've made it to the 6 month mark. Avery and Mason had their 6 month check up on Friday and they are both growing like weeds. Some are fatter weeds than others but weeds nonetheless.

Avery weighed in at 14lbs 11oz and is 26.5" long putting her in the 75th percentile for height and the 25th percentile for weight.

She would probably be a little bigger if she wouldn't fill up on toes ruining her appetite.

Mason weighed in at a hefty 21lbs 4oz and is 27" long putting him in the 75th percentile for height and over the 95th percentile for weight.

He loves his walker, running over toes has become one of his favorite past times.

Harley has been elevated to celebrity status, her presence in the room is enough to stop all activity and draw stares, touching her...although rare...is a much celebrated event.

Mason recently found the washing machine which is almost as exciting as the Harley. He is mesmerized by the wonders it holds as it spins around.

He is getting better with his car all the time, one of his favorite games is to have us litter the kitchen floor with empty milk jugs, detergent jugs, basically anything he can crash into and push around the room so that he can play his own version of crash-up derby.

Avery is still working on her driving (insert woman driver joke here) but she is getting better. Mostly she likes to chew on the steering wheel. Her favorite activity is bath time, she loves the water but seems baffled that she can't grab it.

Everyday is an adventure. We'll post pics and videos as often as we can.

Avery Laughs

Milestones

We've crossed a few milestones since our last update. First, Avery and Mason now enjoy a diet of carrots, sweet potatoes, and squash in addition to their formula. Mason has improved his spoon to mouth coordination since this picture was taken. This is his first experience trying to eat off of a spoon.

Avery's love of food isn't quite as strong as Mason's so eating off of a spoon for her is just more work that she doesn't need.  Although she has improved since this first attempt at spoon feeding, she still needs to have a pretty strong appetite before she will eat more than she spills.

Milestone number 2 is crossing the five month mark. We took them to Memorial Park on Mother's Day and took their 5 month pictures below.

Milestone number 3 is they are both able to roll over from their back to their stomach on a regular basis now. Avery led the way and Mason followed right behind her.  

Bluebonnets

Not wanting to miss the Bluebonnets during blooming season we took a road trip last week to get some pictures.  

Mason did well, it was extremely windy and he is no fan of the wind so his patience was definitely put to the test. If there weren't so many new things to look at we don't know that he would have had such a good time. 

Avery, curious as ever only sat still for a moment.  

Mason was more interested in the flowers than the camera. More pictures are on our flickr site. 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25112125@N03/

The Last Month

Monthly updates were not our original intent for this site and now that things are beginning to slow down, or we're getting better at it, one of the two, we hope to update this site more often. Plus Avery and Mason are really beginning to show their personalities.

We have also simplified our life by buying a new car that better suits our new lifestyle. Dina has finally fulfulled a long time dream of hers to own a minivan and is the proud owner of a new Honda Odyssey. All the "cool" we had left is now gone, but what we got in trade has been well worth it. Getting the family out is a whole new experience for all of us. I never thought we would be excited about a minivan. We were able to break it in the first day we had it by taking our first trip out of town to see Avery and Mason's great grandfather in Victoria, TX. Getting to see my grandfather hold them and interact with them was special for him and for us. 

So, to update, Avery & Mason had their 4 month check up on April 8th. Both are growing well. Avery is 24 inches long and continues to keep herself thin weighing in at 11lbs 5oz, which puts her in the 25th percentile for the most part. Mason is 25.5 inches long and tips the scale at 16lbs 2oz, which puts him in the 75th percentile. They are also beginning to notice each other a little more each day. We can set them down face to face and they will watch each other - most of the time if one smiles or laughs the other will mimic the expression so we are constantly trying to make them laugh.

Avery is showing a lot more personality. She will almost always smile back if you smile at her. She still loves just looking around, and the ceiling fan is still a facination that we can't fully understand. Their bouncy seats have mobiles that light up and play music that can be removed. We have always left them off because they had no interest in them, but figuring they were finally old enough to understand we reinstalled them and they have become an instant hit. Avery will sit wide-eyed as ever watcing the bubbles and colors and when it shuts off she will squeel and kick wanting you turn it back on. She is also fascinated by the TV and she will do her best to sneak a peak whenever she can. She doesn't talk too much, she will babble every once in a while, but most of the time she is content to listen and observe.

Mason is our talker...he will carry on and on about what we're not sure, but he has passion we'll give him that. Sometimes he is just talking and sometimes he really gets into it and starts getting excited. He likes to walk around outside, we water the yard together alot, but he is usually content to sit and talk, he listens well and always has something to add. He is also pretty excited about the mobiles for the bouncy seats. He is big enough to hit the parts designed to turn it back on when it shuts off and smiles big and laughs when he does. Like his sister, he is also fascinated by the TV, it is about one of the only things besides eating that he will stop talking to do.

They enjoyed their first Easter traveling from house to house visiting every relative in town. And they had their first run-in with the Easter bunny.

Three Months Old

It's been three months and the word of the day is sleep.  We are enjoying rare treats of up to seven hours at a time of sweet slumber.  Mason is sleeping very well and will regularly string together six to seven hours.

 

 

Due to her reflux, stuffy nose, and insistence, Avery has been spoiled sleeping in either a bouncy seat, a swing, or her favorite - with Mom or Dad in the recliner.  Her reflux is being treated very successfully and she is over her cold but still having occasional issues adjusting to sleeping in a crib.  

As much as we (especially Harley) are enjoying the much needed sleep, having both of them smile and laugh with us is always a good time.  They are both very curious about what's going on and will almost always flash a smile or laugh when we talk to them.  

As you can see from the pictures they are both growing very well with Mason weighing in at 13lbs 8oz, and Avery is a slim 9lbs 8oz.   

Happy Valentine's Day

Two Months Old

Two months old.

Well, we've survived another month.  

Milestones include:

They are getting more involved in tummy time kicking and interacting a little more with their toys.

They are each able to hold their head up pretty well, Mason a little better than Avery but she's doing better everyday.

And, all four of us went out for our first afternoon of shopping.

  

Bath time for the Animals

Since they always seem to like bath time and look cute afterward we thought we would post a couple of pics of the animals (Avery the chicken and Mason the Cow) at their cleanest.  Thanks Uncle Todd.  

Doctor Visit

Today everyone got to go to the doctor and a lucky two got to get shots. Yesterday they were seven weeks old which more than qualified them for their first round of vaccinations.  They both did very well, a little shocked at first (as you can imagine) but they handled it very well.  We are excited because until they get their first round of shots they are only able to be taken out on a limited basis, now we are free to take them anywhere we want.

  

 Mason is doing well as you can see from his report card above.  Each time they are in Salem, their nurse at the doctors office, likes to fix them report cards with an artsy flare.  According to the doctor he is growing well and hovering somewhere in the 25% on all his stats.  

After trying a few varieties he has finally found a drink he can tolerate. He now takes pleasure in a 2009 Enfamil Lipil premade concentrate, a more refined and full bodied blend than what he was drinking (Similac Soy powder) which he found extremely dissatisfying and would turn into Linda Blair on us in a moments notice. The new blend is a bit pricier, however the belly filling properties as well as exorcism power it seems to have are well worth the price.     

 

Avery is doing great as well, she is still little for her age but the doctor said she is growing each visit so not to worry, she'll catch up. She is doing her part to help us keep expenses down by being much more tolerant than her brother when it comes to her drink of choice and enjoying SAMS generic Enfamil Lipil powder.  We can only hope she is so considerate of our budget in her teenage years.        

One Month Old

Today Mason and Avery are one month old.  

Avery is still as curious as ever, she loves to just sit and look around after she eats.  Today she saw herself in the mirror for the first time and seemed fascinated and confused at the same time...maybe a little early to figure these things out.  

Mason is doing well, he still loves his sleep, it took both of us working with him to keep his eyes open long enough to get the picture taken.    

So far in the first month:

Diaper changes - almost 500 

Midnight feedings - 60

Average hours sleep per night - 3

Just sit and watch them sleep - all the time

Jump up at every noise they make - way too often

Pick them up just to hold them - daily

Fall asleep while updating blog - 

Just the four of us...

One of our goals once we settled back at home was to start a blog and fill it with pictures and stories about our daily adventures. So far we've survived four weeks as a family of four and it has gone by very fast. Obviously since this is our first post we haven't done a very good job of keeping everyone as updated as we had hoped. On the upside, the need to learn quickly has left us feeling a little less "green" in our parenting capabilities which we hope will afford us more opportunity to update this site on a regular basis. As an added word of warning, we are new at blogging so if this site is a little muddled at first we apologize.

To bring everyone up to speed on the past four weeks...

Mason is doing well, growing bigger everyday. He weighed an even six pounds at our last doctor visit (12/24) and is measuring 1/2 inch longer - bringing him to 19 1/2 inches long. He has developed the ability to fall asleep within nanoseconds of finishing a bottle and recently, to our joy, has begun waking up with very little patience for our obvious sluggish response to his apparently immediate need for nourishment. We are aware that babies response tim

es from mouth open, drooling, eye twitching deep sleep to wide awake and starving can catch one unprepared, however, we still found ourselves surprised and a little jealous of the sheer speed at which he can make this transformation. If we could do this being late for work would be a thing of the past. And...to our astonishment he seems to be even faster between about midnight and 4am. Whohoo! Otherwise, he is doing well. Preemie clothes are finally starting to fit a little tight which has opened up a new wardrobe for him to pee on and it seems to be one of his favorite things to do during diaper changes. He is growing more and more curious about his surroundings. Once he's finished his meal he wants to look around and check things out for about 10 minutes before he's out again.

Avery is doing well weighing in at 4lbs 13oz at our last visit (12/24). Unlike her brother, she is very patient when it comes to meal time. She will wake up, look around, read the paper, and have a cup of coffee without saying a word. She will usually spend the better part of the first 10 minutes that she's been awake stretching, groaning, and looking around like she's never seen this place before. Preemie clothes are still fitting her well but at the rate she's growing we don't suspect she will fit in them long.

Per doctor's orders the babies aren't allowed out in public until their first set of shots, however, we are allowed to visit family on a limited basis. We had our first family outing just after Christmas to Nana and Papaw's house in the Woodlands and all survived without any scarring memories. In fact, it went so well that we got out again to spend New Year's Eve in Katy at Uncle Tom and Aunt Molly's house with the entire Spears/Lowers gang together (a rare treat).

All in all everything is going well. We go back to the doctor Jan. 27th for their first round of shots so pray for us, we hear that visit will be loads of fun for everyone. Updates (shorter we promise) to come.