3 months and counting

Updates on Ella and Nathan:

We are having so much fun with them. They are so interactive with us and we get smiles and cooing all the time. Nathan has always been our vocal one, but just lately Ella has found her voice and is starting to make sounds and imitate our voices. When we put them on their tummies, they can really hold their head up well and Nathan can roll from his tummy onto his back. It is fun to see them get more mobile, but I don't think were ready for crawlers yet. They are obsessed with sucking on their hands and also on any one's shirts. If I forget to put a burp cloth over my shirt, it I can literally ring it out with "Ella saliva." They have been doing good at night. Ella longest night was from 9:45pm-7:00am. Yeah! Nathan still seems to like a 3 or 4am snack, but hopefully he will grow out of it or we'll have to do tough love next month. We are excited for their 4 month appointments at the end of this month to see how much they weigh. We are sure that Ella has a pound on Nathan.

Another video

I got excited that the video worked so I tried another one. This one is from Feb, but it is still fun to see them active.

First video

"Daddy Daycare"

Dad was in charge this weekend. I worked a 12 hour shift on Saturday and Sunday and Tim was home with the babies. All went well. They are taking their bottles so much better and Tim said they were very content. 12 hours flies by pretty quickly especially when you are working hard to get out on time. I was pretty tired by Sunday night. Each morning, I would start the day out at 4am (since that is the time that Nathan would get up for his first feeding). I then maybe had 20 minutes before I would get up at 5am and then get Ella up for a feeding. It is tiring, but it works. I give people so much credit for getting up early everyday to get their kids to daycare. I am so glad I only have to feed them and then I can stick them right back in their beds. We have rainy dreary weather this week. I am waiting for some sunshine. The babies continue to grow. We think Ella is maybe a pound bigger than Nathan. You can definitely tell when you hold both of them. They are really getting interactive and their new thing is giggling.

Happy Easter

Our first Easter

Ella wore tights for the first time

Ella got tired from all the Easter excitement

Big smile

Nathan sleeps while dad reads the paper

Here we are showing off our cloth diapers and covers

Ella in her "fuzzi bunz" diaper

We like to nap on the couch

Nathan sleeps with his elephant blanket

We are like to look at our toys

Nathan is so tired

Ella is getting big

Happy Easter to everyone! What a wonderful day to celebrate that the tomb is empty and we are saved from our sins through Christ's death and resurrection! This past week, I went back to work and thus we had"daddy daycare." I of course was nervous about how things would go with Tim taking care of the babies by himself and also how I would do going back to work after being off for almost 5 months since pregnancy and then maternity leave. I left Tim in charge at 6am and no, I didn't cry, but I did have a weird feeling as I left the house without Nathan and Ella. Thankfully, everything came back to me at work. I easily fell back into the routine and it did feel good to be using my mind in a different way again. Tim did absolutely wonderful with the twins. Not to say, that they didn't give him a run for his money, but he is calm and patient and just did what he could with only two arms and no breastfeeding capabilities!!!!! I wish they would take the bottles a little better for him. It can be a challenge, especially if their both hungry at the same time. I asked him if it was too much for him, but he said it is fine. I truly think he loves spending time with them, even when they are screaming and not wanting to eat. I am so proud and happy that he has such an active role in our children's life this far. It is so nice to share in the day to day duties of raising twins. I love to watch the bonding between him and them and it definitely makes it easier for me to go back to work. Nathan and Ella continue to grow and become more active and content. Nathan is our more vocal baby. He loves to coo and will mimic your sounds. Ella loves to smile and is our more spirited baby. We like to call her "Jekle and Hyde" because she can cry relentlessly and then the next moment she is smiling at you. They are doing good at night. Usually one of them will sleep for more than 6-7 hours. We are just waiting for them both to sleep that long. It still is great because if one does wake up during the night, it is a quick feed and change and then they go right back down to sleep. We had some true signs of spring and we had taken the babies for walks, but now as I write this note, we have snow on the ground and the forecast shows it will snow more this week. Yuck, I cannot wait for good weather. Well, I think that is all the updates we have for now. I'll try blog a little more often, but it can be a challenge to find a moment to type without a baby in my arms.

Thought I would get a couple pictures of Ella and Nathan smiling. Their smiles are so adorable, but hard to get on camera. Yesterday, Tim took care of the babies by himself while I went to work to do some paperwork. They are taking their bottles "OK." They will wiggle it around in their mouths and it was challenging for Tim to feed them at the same time. We will continue to do more bottle feeding to help them get more used to it. I go back to work next Tuesday. Not much else going on here. We were excited because 2 nights ago, Ella slept from 12am to 7:30am. Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!! Last night they both woke up at 4:30am. When I went in their room to get them, I found them lying horizontal in the bed, head to head, shoved up against the side rail. I probably would wake up too.

New Outfits

We are having so much fun picking out new outfits to wear each day. We are blessed by all the people who gave us baby gifts. Ella and Nathan are the best dressed babies around the block.

Random moments with the twins

This is what is looks like when we have a busy day and don't get to the cloth diapers!

Hi Ella, "bright eyes!"

Becca one of our #1 babysitters

Annette our other #1 babysitter

Mom and Ella

Look how Nathan likes to lie on Ella

This is mom's attempt at getting Nathan's smile on camera

Look at those blue eyes!

Ella looks bigger than Nathan

Tim's small group guys came to visit

Aaron and Ella and Nathan and Mike

This is how we survive in the evenings when dad is gone!

Look how they find each other in their sleep-we had them
separated to begin with.

Nathan asleep

Nathan awake....Laura does this outfit look familiar!

Nathan relaxing in his car seat

Nathan froggy and Ella ducky

More bonding in bed...how sweet!

Megan and Ashley are great babysitters

Here is a recap on the happenings at the Stuive's. We are all recovering from our colds. Ella and Nathan are still congested in the mornings and occasionally at night. I think we have spent several early mornings (3 or 4 am) in the a hot shower trying to declog their noses. They still sneeze now and then, but they are not as snotty as before. We cannot wait till they are completely done with their colds because we think they will sleep longer at night. Right now they go anywhere from 3-5 hours at a time. We would love a consistent 4-5 hours out of both of them, especially since I will be going back to work (night shift) soon and daddy will have them by himself. They are getting bigger. At their 2 month appointment, Ella weighed 11lbs and 10 oz and Nathan weighed 11lbs and 2 oz. Ella has a little over Nathan and you can definitely see it in her cute chubby thighs and butt! They are really hamming it up with smiles and cooing. They know mamma's voice (to my absolute delight) and get all excited when I talk to them-----maybe it is because they know they can get the good stuff from me! This past Saturday night 2 friends from our couple's small group came and babysat for us. Tim and I walked around the mall a little and then went out to eat. It was great to get away, just the 2 of us. Tim's parents left for Florida this past week and so we will be missing them until April. Tim's mom is worried they're going to grow up too fast while she is gone. I said this is how my mom feels all the time! Good thing for blogs right!!!!! We are so anticipating good weather so we can get outside. I feel cooped up with this weather and cannot wait to try out our new jogger stroller. Which also means I will have to try get back in shape to run again. Otherwise life is pretty much the same. I start back to work on March 18. I am really not looking forward to leaving my babies, but I feel better knowing Tim will be taking care of them and not a stranger. Please pray that this transition goes well, not only for me, but also for Tim.

First Colds

Nathan and Ella are recovering from their first colds. I think they and myself might have picked something on trip to Minnesota. My parents also have colds. They are started out with some sneezing and congestion and then got some small coughs. It was so hard to see them congested and we had to use the bulb syringes to help clear their noses. Now everytime they sneeze, Tim goes running to see if they need anything sucked out. They are doing much better, but still are just a bit fussy (and were hoping that passes with them feeling better). I on the other hand have also been very sick. I had the aches and chills and sinus headache. Now it has moved to my nose being totally full and I think I blow it every 2 minutes. Last night I think I got 2 hours of total sleep between feeding the babies and being up with my cold. I cannot wait till we all feel better.