That's all folks!

That concludes our July adventures. Next up, a trip to Milwaukee to introduce the boys to Randy's Grandma and some Aunts, Uncles and cousins. Randy's Gramma has 4 new great-grandbabies. They were all born this past Spring within a couple months. It will be fun to see all the babies together.

We get rice cereal now!!

Today was our first day of the boys eating rice cereal. They HATED the first bite. Both screamed like we ripped their arms off but once we got them settled and they tried it again, they did awesome! Both ate all that was offered. It was so fun to see them explore the texture and flavor. Griffin is in this photo.

Gavin did so great. At the end he just kept smiling. (this was the best I could post. During his best smiles I was busy feeding Griffin) Who ever thought you would say to your child "stop smiling and eat mister!"?

**Forgot to mention in an earlier post but, the boys did great at their 4mo appt a couple weeks ago. They got shots and were little troopers again. My friend Teea accompanied us to the cranial cap measurement appts as well as the 4mo well baby appts that were all in the same day. Griffin weighed in at 16+ lbs (82nd percentile on the full-term growth charts!!) Gavin weighed in at just under 16 (59th percentile on the same chart)Both are 24 inches now too. Yes, we are fully aware that they are big boys. I promise, we feed them what we are supposed to. Babies cannot overeat. They have grown leaps and bounds from the lil preemie boys we first met.

Sitting up like a big boy

This is at the MNZoo. My dad, who drove back to MSP with us and took the train back to ND, and I met up with my SIL Annette and my niece and nephews. I decided it was a great time to test out one of the boys in the stroller without the carseat. (they both get so warm in their carseats) Gavin loved it and took the first turn. We switched half way through and Griffin had just as much fun. Things look so different when you see them coming instead of going.

Griffin's big boy bed

Isn't this guy so adorable? Love their smiles! (which they show a lot more often nowadays) Star Wars outfits compliments of Auntie Carol and Uncle Sergio.

Here is the cute and super smiley Gavin!

The night before the boys and I left for ND, I picked up this crib for Griffin from one of my MVMOM friends. Daddy put it together the morning after we left so it would be ready for him when we got home. The boys like to lay together and play in it. Gavin's bed will be coming shortly.

Look Ma no hands! We were testing out the Baby Bjorn. Gavin seemed to enjoy the ride. :) Meanwhile, Griffin looks on and wishes mom had a carrier too.

Garrison and Lake Sakakawea

Do you see the boys? :)

The sign says "Garrison Walleye Capitol of the World".

This was all the closer we got to the water due to they boys sleeping or crying and needing to eat right when we got there. This is taken inside of a new marina on the lake where we stopped to feed the boys and have lunch. (My dad and Griffin)

Around town

I took the kids to my high school and had great intentions of carrying them further up the hill to have their pic with the big M located behind the school.....I didn't get very far....our boys are getting heavy!

This was taken at Oak Park. The bench is in memory of my dad's parents who died when I was young. (Gramma while I was in 3rd grade, Grandpa while I was in 8th grade) It is perfectly located in the middle of the play area where I met up with 2 of my girlfriends and their kids.

Rachel and Olivia meet the boys

This is my oldest friend and one of my dearest. Rachel and I met way back in Kindergarten....30yrs ago. Olivia was born while I was on bedrest after my embryo transfer last August. Rachel had a difficult and scary delivery that made me really nervous as we started our pregnancy journey. Thankfully she and Olivia are safe and sound and she is the most beautiful little girl next to my two nieces! Pretty sure I wouldn't mind being her mother-in-law one day. No pressure here though.... ;)

Griffin, Olivia and Gavin

Randoms

Onsies from Auntie Carol and Uncle Sergio. (iPood...similiar to iPod, get it?) Griffin top, Gavin bottom

So, while I was changing Griffin out of his jammies, I put everything up to his forehead and voila, the lion king was born. Not sure why but I thought he looked like a little lion, regardless I thought it was super cute.

Look at this little face

Sleeping and tummy time

I told my dad that we need to do X amount of minutes per day of tummy time, he helped the boys get it however he could. By the end of the week, Gavin (in the picture) was holding his head better than he ever has!

Griffin just falls asleep wherever he is. Gramma JoAnn was really good to him and cuddled him lots! (this was the best of what I took...sorry your head isn't on the picture!)

My dad and Gavin

Griffin...seriously...he just sleeps wherever and however except during naptimes in his crib. Once I get him asleep he does ok but, I wish he slept as quickly in his crib as he does on comfy grandparents!

some of my extended family

Me and Gavin, my cousin Rhonda and Griffin, my Aunt Marilyn-Rhonda's mom- and baby Adam, Rhonda's newest baby.

Each time I go home we try to see everyone, usually it works best to have a picnic and gather all who are willing. The boys slept through most of the fun, but everyone had fun looking at them and ooing and ahhing, and guessing who each boy looks like. It is fun to hear it all!

Meet a few of the Undlin's

One of my dearest friends that I met from the airline is also from a smaller community near Minot and now lives there again. This is Bonus Auntie Holly with her mom Peggy and her Gramma Peg. Holly and I visited Gramma Peg down in AZ while we were flight attendants. It was fun to introduce the babies to Holly's family.

Gavin(l) Griffin(r)

I took the boys out to Holly's parents farm and unfortunately, I didn't get many photos. My battery died and I didn't have my charger....doh!

Anyway, while we were there I really wanted to go out and ride one of the machines. If you know me, you know that I don't know farming. Matt, Holly's brother-in-law, was making haybales and I got to ride along with him for a few rows. It was really fun! I can't wait until the boys are older and can go out there too! They stayed in the house and hung out with Holly and her sister and her children. I highly recommend that everyone go to enjoy rural ND and the beautiful fields this time of year!

Gramma C and Grandpa J (aka my mom and dad)

Here is a photo of my mom and dad in the West Acres Mall in Fargo. My mom is holding Griffin and My dad has Gavin.

For a few reasons I had to go to ND. My dad was going to be in Fargo so it worked out perfect. Once I got there he and his wife helped me get the rest of the way back to my hometown.
My mom lives south of Fargo so we all met up at the Mall to keep it simple.

We're 4 months old!

Griffin(l) Gavin (r)

We will take these kinds of pictures each month for awhile. On their 3mo day, I had the flu and Randy took the pictures. Those pictures are on our camera and I need to get them off of there....I am not very techy so I need to play around with that...
I have used my cell phone for all of our blog photo's since it is really easy for someone like me. :) Regardless, here is their 4 month pic!

Cranial Caps

Gavin and Griffin will be getting their cranial caps on August 4th. In order to get said caps, they had to get measured for them. The specialist put on these white sock like things and then a sensor on top of each of their heads. Then she scanned their heads and the information was relayed to the computer as you can see in the picture below on the blue screen.

Gavin was extremely tired during the measuring-- hence the sadness below.....in addition, they had someone in there with a toy thing to "distract" the boys from the lady. She didn't bother them, it was the toy that did. It was super loud and obnoxious! Who wouldn't cry if you were tired and someone was click-clacking something in your ear?


Gavin

Griffin

ECFE

We started taking a class at ECFE (Early Childhood Family Education). It is a baby class that teaches songs and allows for discussions between parents and an educator. It was an evening class allowing Randy to join us. The boys always fell asleep about 45mins in.

Finally an update.....

So, many of you can imagine how busy life is with two infants....well, it is true! Especially now that the boys are staying awake longer each day.

We have been keeping busy with things such as playing with all sorts of friends new and old, doctor appointments for our 4mo well baby check-up as well as cranial cap fittings and all that goes with that, and our biggest time spender of all......a trip to ND! I traveled by myself with the boys to my hometown to see some of my dear friends and introduce the boys to my home State and town! I have been taking lots of pictures, just no time to post....

I finally have pictures lined up and ready to post, I just need to find the next handful of minutes to organize them on here. Continue to bear with me and by this weekend for sure, you will get to see lots of pictures from the last month of the boys adventures!

Father's Day photo complete

I made this photo collage for Randy's Father's Day gift. It was too white though so we added the boys footprints to the matte today and it is officially ready for Randy to hang at work. We used a paintbrush to put washable fingerpaints on the boys' feet. They both weren't sure what we were doing with them but, they just held on and went along with it. The green prints are Gavin's and the yellow prints are Griffin's.

Getting ready for the 4th of July parade

Happy Birthday America!!!
Gavin (l) Griffin (r)

Getting both boys to smile in the same picture is quite the challenge but, you can see how cute they are even when they aren't smiling!

Happy first 4th of July!!

The boys "watching" fireworks.

The fireworks and all that surrounded it was during the boys bedtime. We were able to stealth-like get them out of the house, set on the blankets, enjoy fireworks, wait in a 45min line of cars to get home and get them back in the house all without them even flinching. Next year probably won't be as seemless so we had to soak up this year!

Grandpa, Grandma and Daddy with the boys under the mosquito netting. We were waiting for fireworks to begin.

This was one of the many fun "floats" we saw.

Grandma Witt, Auntie Carol, Uncle Sergio, Grandpa Witt, Daddy holding Gavin and Griffin laying on the blanket waiting for the parade to start.

We went to the parade in Apple Valley. GG were great for the event. One of the many things I love about being in MVMOMS is if you have a question about something, someone somewhere has been there done that. I posted a question asking for pointers in attending the parade and fireworks. We took the pointers that were offered and we had no problem finding spots for both events. It was great!

Getting good snuggles with Auntie and Uncle

Auntie Carol and Uncle Sergio showered the boys with lots of love and affection. The boys were/are good practice for the Perez's while they wait for their own baby to grow. We can't wait for Little Cousin to join the fun sometime after the beginning of 2011. Griffin (l) Gavin (r) in both pictures.

Happy 40th Wedding Anniversary Grandma and Grandpa Witt

Grandma and Grandpa Witt's 40th anniversary was in June, but we wanted to celebrate with them also- so we took them to a Japanese steakhouse where they cook at your table. Randy and I knew they did the heads for birthday people but little did we know we didn't have to lie and say it was Grandpa's birthday. They also play the birthday song for anniversaries too. :)

A new way of napping

Recently, we have been establishing naps in the cribs (pack-n-plays). Gavin has started squawking at certain times of the day, I couldn't figure out what he needed so I put him in his crib. Well, after a couple seconds...he was fast asleep! It hasn't been as easy with Griffin but a few days ago after a long week of him crying EVERY afternoon and me saying to Randy "he sleeps like an angel in his carseat while we are out and about", he said let's put him in his carseat. We did and then stuck him in his crib and voila! Hindsight being 20/20, he has developed a mild cold and is not comfortable laying flat in his crib. He is fine though, he was just trying to tell us he wasn't feeling good. We will continue to go with this until he lets us know otherwise. It has been one of the many sanity saver tricks we have learned along the way.

The Grandma Bear

Griffin (l), Gavin (r); This bear was a gift from Grandma Witt several years ago when we first were attempting to start our family. Finally, we have some adorable little boys to prop up next to it!

Cute!

Love his smile! (Gavin)

Gavin top, Griffin bottom

Brothers wrestling. (Actually Gavin was doing some tummy time on Griffin, it would have been a bit of chaos for me to get the actual boppy pillow for him to use. When you have two little wigglers, you have to be creative)

Gavin finally likes his hat!

The wrap style here is the one I would do to my hair clients after I shampooed them. He loved this one!! :) Momma's little spa baby.

too cute not to post!