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

I'm Thankful For:

These two sweet girls :)

Drum Roll Please...

And the answer is....

AMELIA is on the left and EMMA is on the right.

Congratulations to all who picked the right answer. For those 13 of you who didn't it's okay, I mix them up too. There has been plenty of times when I needed to reach for the finger to see who's who. Don't worry, we won't tell the girls :)

Fashion Statement by Dad

I arrived home after class around 9:30 pm on Thursday night. I was greeted by Jen and Karen. Jen told me that insurance finally approved a $1000 RSV shot for girls and they had arrived at our house that day... I didn’t even notice the giant foam coolers in our kitchen that contained them.

Jen set up the appointments for 9:20 the next morning and asked if I could go into work late and take them. I told her no problem and she asked “Are you sure you can handle it? Karen can do it if you don’t think you can.” I responded, “I can handle it, no problem.” And without giving away the whole story, I did “handle it.” But in a way only a father could handicap himself.

On Friday morning I fed the girls while Jen got ready for work. She decided to leave early since I was taking care of the girls. When Jen's Mom got to our house she asked “Okay, what is going on?” Usually, Jen is there when she arrives, and I am already at work. I told her, “Today we are going on a field trip!” As 9:00 AM got closer and closer, I got closer and closer to having everything all set. It was time to put the girls in their car seats and Jen’s Mom asked me, “Does anything need to be put in the diaper bag?” I reply, “Everything should be in there.” In all of her efforts to save me, she double checks, “Is there anything I should check to make sure is in the bag? I told her, “Just make sure that the suction and the saline is in the side pocket – as long as they are breathing we are good! It should be a quick visit, get two shots and bring them back.” She checked and we loaded up and went on our way.

Well inside the examination room, we were asked to strip down each of the girls so the TSA agent could determine they were not terrorists and they did not have any liquids hidden on their person. Just kidding. The assistant needed them to be naked so they could be weighed. Jen’s Mom had Amelia and by pure chance I got Emma. Right away I got a whiff of Scent-o-Emma. All I could think of was, please don’t leak, please diaper – please have it all contained. If you don’t have the idea yet – just realize I can change dirty diapers, but I don’t necessarily take great joy in the really messy ones. Well I looked at the diaper on Emma’s right, and it was just fine. Whew! So I removed her sleeper, and ahem, let’s just say that the left side was just slightly less reliable and had basically held up as well as the offensive line for the Detroit Lions. The sleeper in my analysis was completely ruined. Although my wife claims that these outfits can actually be washed, and worn again – it is not how I would do it. Sorry girls, one of you probably will have to wear that sleeper again at some point!

So whoop-di-doo right? So Dad had to change a dirty diaper at a doctors office? Well the real fun was when she was all cleaned up and I asked for the “spare clean” outfit from Grandma. And Grandma responded, “There are no outfits packed.” And that was how I learned that the diaper bag never packs itself. Mom always packs it! And trust me, she never leaves without a clean outfit, as this has happened before – and Mom just pulls out a clean outfit from the magical diaper bag!

The girls got their shots, then it was time to put the girls back in the car seats to go home. Emma couldn’t go home naked, so we took the three previously used burp cloths and laid one in the car seat and wrapped her up in the other two. All because her Dad thought we had a “magic diaper bag” and in all truth, the magic was at work and the diaper bag was empty!

Before and Now

I switched all of the clothes in the girls room from newborn sizes to 3 months. When I was sorting through the clothes I found an outfit that they used to wear but it was a preemie size. I really made me realize that the girls are getting so big!

3 month outfit / preemie outfit

how much they ate at 1 day old (8ml) / how much they eat at almost 4 months old (80 ml)

In their car seats 9/12/2010

In their car seats 11/20/2010

Guess Who?

There are some days when the girls look so alike, I need to look for the E.T. finger to tell them apart. Most of you have been following us for a while and have gotten to know the girls. You tell me - in the photo 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 Wednesday!

Happy Little Lady

Happy Little Emma!

Happy Little Lady

Happy Little Amelia

I tried to get a picture of the Ladies but Emma barfed all over herself right before I took the picture. Once I get these outfits washed we'll take a redo!

rock-a-bye-happy-birthday

Derek favorite song he sings to the girls:

1st verse:

Rock-a-bye baby, in the treetop
When the wind blows, the cradle will rock
When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall
And down will come baby, cradle and all

2nd verse:

same as the first except it's hummed which is then morphed into:

Happy Birthday to You

Happy Birthday to You
Happy Birthday Dear (Amelia or Emma)
Happy Birthday to You.

Not sure how it happens, but it does every time. And it usually ends with me saying

ummm...are you humming happy birthday?

Happy Birthday Bella!!

Funny Faces

Who needs dog toys...

when you have perfectly good baby toys?

New 'Do

Emma rocking the Auntie Sharon wig!

Are you ready for some football?

We took the girls to their first sporting event, the CCSU football game. We packed up and went with Auntie Karen and Auntie Green. I can't tell you who they played but I know they won. Derek went to watch the game. The girls and I went to cheer on Kylee in the dance team!

Our first sporting event.

All bundled up and ready to "watch" the game...

or the inside of the baby bjorn.

Dear Amelia and Emma,

Dear Amelia and Emma,
It has been three months since we welcomed you both into our lives. I can’t believe how far we’ve come and how fast we’ve gotten here. Your dad and I have really settled into our new roles as your parents and actually feel like naturals now. You know our voices and follow us around the room with your eyes. When we pick you up it calms you. I love that you both know who your dad and I are. You have us both wrapped around your little fingers, we would do anything for you girls.

This month I had to deal a milestone that I didn’t want to face; going back to work. It’s been a tough transition back but knowing you are home with Grandma and Uncle Mike makes it 100 times easier. The time that I’m away from you both I’m thinking about your little faces, wondering what you are doing, if you are happy or sad and count the minutes until I get to see you again.

Amelia,
You are such a happy little baby. You have figured out how to smile and really mean it!! You look at me and crack a wide mouthed smile and it melts my heart. Every once in a while you even start to laugh and my heart melts even more. Knowing that I can make you happy means the world to me and I only hope that I can always make you smile.

You have become such a big and strong little lady. These days you are weighing in at 8lbs 3oz and have almost outgrown your newborn clothes. You love to flex your leg muscles and even try to stand. As your dad says "She is pretty much walking already". You'll quickly learn that he's a good story teller :) Every day I look at you and you've gotten bigger or learned something new Miss Amelia.

Emma,
You are a girl who knows what she wants. And if you have what you want, you are all smiles. You have a smile that lights up your face and lights up a room too! You are so aware of your surroundings and need to know whats going on, you have made great friends with the snail, dragonfly and bee that hang above your bouncer chair. You talk and play with them all day long.

You have also become such a big and strong little girl. You currently weigh 8lbs 12oz and have almost grown out of newborn sizes too. You're holding your head up very well, but every once and a while you like to head bang, so we're still very careful. We do lots of tummy time and it's your favorite. You can get where you want to be even though you can't lift your body. Every day I am amazed by you Miss Emma.

Girls, you are getting so big and things are changing everyday. You are the loves of my life and I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings. I’m incredibly grateful for the time that we spend together, getting to know each other. Watching you both grow from little chicken legs to sweet chubby thighs. You are truly a blessing, and I’m so lucky to have been able to spend these last few months home with you.

I plan to cherish every sweet smile, enjoy every laugh, and hold you just a tiny bit closer… soaking it all in. I don’t even want to blink, because I know I'll miss something. I love you, sweet girls.

Love, Mom

Amelia Jane, 8lbs 3oz

Emma Jane, 8lbs 12oz

Ghost Feet

Considering the family that these little ladies were born into, you knew they had it in them to be crafty. Halloween marked our first crafting project - Ghost Feet!!

I hope we're getting pedicures after this!

Little Ghost Foot!

The sweetest ghosts I've ever seen!

Can you believe it's already been 3 months?

Happy Birthday Auntie

Thank you for all that you do. We love you very much Auntie. Hope you have a great day!!

Amelia giving the stink eye

Halloween Visitors

Thank you to everyone who came to visit the girls for Halloween!!!

Grandma and Grandpa

The girls love Auntie Fran and Angela, they went right to sleep.

Proud Auntie and Uncle

(Uncle Joe was proud too.. just from across the room)

Just like old times!

Twins x 2

Very Impressive UJ!!

And they are snoozing.

Sorry, I don't have pictures of everyone who visited. If you have any good pics that you'd like me to share, email me.