laughing ladies

Santa brought us a video camera for Christmas!

All I want for Christmas is my two feet

Christmas Guess Who?

You tell me - in our Christmas card below, which baby is on the left side of the picture? Use the voting button to the right side of the blog. Answer will be revealed on Monday!

Merry Christmas!

Reindeer in headlights

Nice List

We are on Auntie's nice list! Hopefully we are on Santa's nice list too!!

Santa Claus is coming to town

They wanted to look their best for the big guy.

The girls on Santa's lap.

Group shot.

Santa saying hello to Amelia.

Amelia very interested in her present.

A gloworm!

Two gloworms!

Peppermint Candies

Charlie Brown Christmas Tree

Yeah, so our christmas tree isn't as huge as "Oh Christmas Tree" but it does the trick when the girls are sad and need something to put them in a trance. Think we could get away with it all year round? How does a Valentines Day tree or a 4th of July tree sound??

O' Christmas Tree

Lots of family to love!

Blessed

Amelia and Emma were baptized last weekend. These are the dresses the girls wore, both were handmade out of my wedding dress by the oh so talented Sharon Jean. At first I was a little sad at the idea that my wedding dress would be hacked to pieces, thinking that maybe they would want to wear it on their wedding day. But then my sister pointed out that this way they will both get to wear it. So Auntie Sharon spent hours and hours putting these dresses together. And I am so grateful that she created a family heirloom that will be used for generations to come. Thank you again!!!

Amelia being baptized.

Emma being baptized.

The girls with their godparents. Karen is the godmother for both girls,
my brother Mike is Amelia's godfather and my brother Joe is Emma's godfather.

My mom made these head bands out of the hairpins I wore on my wedding day.
They came out awesome, thanks mom! I think they look like Baby Gaga!!


And their fancy purple shoes, handmade by Auntie Karen! Love them!!

And thanks to my parents for hosting a nice lunch afterwards. We really have such a great group of family and friends and couldn't do it without you. We are truly blessed.

2nd shot

Remember last month when Derek brought the girls to the doctors for their first shot of Synagis? Fashion Statement by Dad Well, I had to bring the girls for their second shot Thursday. The nurse said to me "Hey isn't your husband the one who didn't have a change of clothes when one of your girls pooped all over herself?"

We are famous in certain circles.

"Germ Pit"

6:00PM: Grandma and grandpa had left, and the girls were asleep.

9:00 PM: Just when we were about to bring the girls to bed, Emma woke
up from a nap screaming her little head off. She was coughing,
wheezing and couldn't breathe. Freaking out a little, I called my mom
to see if she had been like that during the day. I guess she seemed a
little fussy right before her last bottle but that was it. So Derek
and I called a nurse to see what we should be doing. The nurse
listened to her over the phone and said that we should bring her to
the hospital. As we were packing up to go, I noticed that Emma's hands
and lips were turning blue.

9:30 PM: Auntie Karen jumped in the car with us and we headed to the
hospital. We were taken in right away and they checked her oxygen
levels, listened to her lungs, etc. Then we were placed in a room and
Emma on a big girl hospital bed.

Poor Emmy.

Big girl bed.

Relaxing with her daddy.

"Hey Amelia, wanna play a trick on Mom and Dad?

How about you give me your outfit to wear and you get hooked up to the machines?"

12:00 AM: If you thought going to a tattoo parlor was bad ass, wait
till you hear this... while we were waiting to get an x-ray of her
lungs a group of doctors, nurses and a police officer walked by. One
of the nurses was crying. Obviously Karen and I thought someone had
died. But then the group went over to a locker and the nurse who had
been crying was asked to empty her locker. Yeah we totally witnessed a
drug bust! Apparently one of the nurses who worked on the maternity
floor was taking pills and liquid pain meds from the patients. She was
giving the women water instead of pain medication! Emma saw the whole
thing!

2:30 AM: Luckily there wasn't anything in her lungs, but the doctors
wanted to keep a close eye on her so they admitted her into the
hospital in the respiratory care wing. Derek had been sick that week
and was not allowed on the floor. Thank god we had Karen with us
because Amelia wasn't allowed on the floor either. They take
respiratory problems very seriously and don't want any germs passed
to/from kids. Derek went home with Amelia and Karen helped me with
Emma at the hospital. We were asked to wear gowns, face masks and
latex gloves at all times while in the room. So for those 2 hours we
slept that night, it was wearing a gown, face mask and latex gloves.
It was horrible.

Amelia is happy she gets to go home!

In my gear at 3:30 in the morning cutting a nipple with a scalpel.

Although, Karen and I sleeping in the hospital room chairs wearing all

of the gear was pretty bad... seeing Miss Emma sleeping in this bed
that looked like a cage was the worst. She was discharged
early the next morning. She ended up having an upper respiratory
virus, she is doing so much better now!!

Dear Amelia and Emma,

I can't believe it's been four whole months! If time keeps going at this pace you will be going to the prom and getting your driver's licenses. Such sweet little ladies... just stay little for a bit longer, okay?

Amelia,
You are 22 inches tall and weigh 10lbs 2oz. And in the 1st percentile - yup, you made it on the charts! Now we'll call you the big sister that is almost as big as her little sister. I swear we woke up one morning and you were bigger and heavier than you were the night before. You are such a happy little baby who loves to make noises and tell stories. You are really vocal, saying oooh's and aaah's, exploring how quietly or loudly you can make them. You watch your dad and I tell stories and try to make the same faces we do. You have a new favorite, your thumb/fingers. Figuring out how to get them into your mouth is a new challenge and so rewarding once you've got a good suck going. Amelia, I love you more than words can express. I love your big smile and your almost laugh. You have such a sweet, funny personality and your dad and I can't wait to see what new sounds and faces you come up with next.

Emma,
You are 22 3/4 inches tall and weigh 10lbs 5oz. And you are also in the 1st percentile! The little sister that is almost as little as her big sister. You are such a happy little girl who is so interested in the world around you. You have a new found interest in your feet, you are so amazed that they are yours... and that you have two of them! You lift your head and explore. You've decided that you don't really like to be held like a baby anymore, you want to sit up and see what's going on in the room around you. I have to admit, when you are tired and let me hold and rock you like a baby, I think about how I want to hold you like that forever and I don't want to let go. Emma, I love you more than words can express. Your love for the world around you is so inspiring and watching you learn new things each day is just as exciting for your dad and I as it is for you.

We cherish you both, more than you can ever know. You girls have brought so much happiness into our lives and we can't imagine how life would be without both of you. Any day now you are going to notice each other, and when that happens I know there is going to be an immediate bond between the two of you. I can't wait to see you grow up together, laugh together and even plot against us together. These four months have been amazing, I can't wait to see what excitement the next month brings.

Love,
Mom

UGH!

Sorry for not posting this week, we've all been recovering from a bad cold.

Tell us how you really feel Amelia :)

Say it ain't so.

Hmm... I wonder what Amelia just told Emma....

Life is good.

Bad Ass

As many of you know, Karen had to send Leroy to heaven earlier this year. As a memorial to him she decided to get a tattoo of his paw print on her foot. When we went initially to check out the place we brought the girls with us. The tattoo artists loved them and wanted to give them a nice "back piece." They are pretty bad ass in their baby bjorn's :)

FYI, no worries - the girls didn't come on the actual day she got a tattoo.

i ♥ my thumb

i ♥ my dragonfly

Birthday Triplets!

The girls share a birthday with someone very special, their Great Grandma Evelyn. They finally got to meet their Birthday Triplet!

4 Generations

I don't know...

who's more afraid in this picture.

Jingle Mice

For Thanksgiving this year Courtney, Karen and I crafted up these sweet little jingle mice ornaments for everyone. We named each of them, our family of mice are Lucus, Lydia, Gus and Fiona.

Happy Birthday Leroy

We miss you so much Mr. Roy, Happy Birthday!

Happy Thanksgiving!

The girls celebrated their first Thanksgiving at Grandma and Grandpa Tirolettos' house. They were able to participate in the annual dinner table wave, a cheer for them "go twins" and so many other nutty traditions our family has. Notice how many different outfits they are wearing. I think we went through at least 4! We are very thankful for detergent and washing machines - dirty babies!!

Amelia is excited to meet so many new people.

Emma is foaming at the mouth, she's thinking "mmmm turkey!"

26 people around the dinner table!

Our first Thanksgiving together