Catching Up with the Twins

     Well, 8 months came and went... and, so did 9 months! You haven't heard about Jovi and Jezreel since before Christmas! They've been traveling all across the South Land. (Well, GA and the Carolinas, but that's quite a lot of riding around for these two!) They both got the two most iconic presents for Christmas (two front teeth and snow on the ground) and though they won't remember it, it's preserved right here on their blog so they can at least see what it looked like years from now. Gotta love Blogger!

     WOW! Hundreds of photos here in iPhoto... We've got a lot of catching up to do, don't we? Let's dive in...

     Christmas came twice this year at our home. Presleigh, Jovi, and Jezreel all got a chance to open presents here from Granma, Uncle Sal, Uncle Rudy, and Nana & RC (their great-grandparents) before we'd head off on our Christmas road trip. Side note - maybe we'll just do Christmas in Atlanta next year... Anyway, the twins went through half a present each before we decided that presents should not be opened with their cute, slobbering, two-front-teeth mouths. We passed that responsibility on to Presleigh, who was more than happy to play the Grand Pooh-Bah of gift giving.

Jez in the Jumpah vs. Inevitable Sleep

Timing is always an issue with the babies - you've got to plan events around their nap schedule. If you wait too long to do something (like open gifts, no matter how exciting it may be), they could either fall asleep on you or get really cranky before the next nap time. Blessing it was that they decided on the former this Christmas. In the video footage, you can see Jezreel falling asleep in the jumper (or the Jumpah-jumpah-jumpah! as we call it.) He's so steadfast, trying to hold out and keep jumping, but his little body was more tired than the will would allow. Classic Jez footage here.

     Jovi chose her nappy spot to be the swing. Oh, this wouldn't slow down progress, though. Not as far as Presleigh the Presentmeister was concerned. She gladly opened Jovi's' presents for her and was thoughtful enough to stack them on her little, sleeping sister so Jovi could wake up to Christmas dreams come true. (I was just having the most wonderful dream about a laughing dollie and an alphabet-singing train... and now they're here!!!)
     Toddlers can be so thoughtful, can't they? Jovi had a lovely nap and now can attest that dreams really do come true.

     A delightful Christmas-before-Christmas was had at the Pina household before the road-trip. I'm pleased to say the packing of the van went remarkably well and was surprisingly free from the typical angst one would expect pre-roadtrip. Perhaps it's because we were all so excited and filled with anticipation for the twins' first trip to North Carolina!

 ***INSERT "On The Road Again", by Willie Nelson, but NOT "Gone to Carolina in my Mind", because Mommy hates James Taylor!***

Jezreel, meet Jeremy. Uncle Jeremy, meet Jez!

     Grammy and Uncle Jeremy didn't get to meet the twins until they were already 8 months old. That's what happens when there's 1,000 miles between them and 8 months from their birthday to Christmas, right? Well, Pina Party of 6 loaded up the man-van and headed up to Aunt Shanua's in Charlotte to celebrate Christmas. Rumor had it, it would be the first white Christmas in Atlanta history since the late 1800's. I didn't want to miss it! Thankfully, the same snow that fell on Atlanta made its way up to Charlotte and gave us more than a wee dusting. Merry White Christmas, no?

     Well, Grammy and Uncle Jay were delighted to see the real live version of what they'd only witnessed in photo and on the phone. They were clearly enamored by the now 20 lb versions of Jovi and Jezreel. Lucky for them, we'd all decided it would be a "kids only" Christmas, so all of the kids got spoiled for the day. The fashion show was amazing - new feety pajamas for Jez, cuter than cute outfits for Jovi,

    Perhaps one of Mommy and Papa's favorite gifts were the two big boxes of diapers that Uncle Jeremy was so wise to procure on behalf of the wee babes. Here's a photo of Jovi, a bit confused about why everyone was so excited by the boxes, rather than the festive paper in which they were wrapped... She's either saying "I could poop through these in a New York minute." or "I don't get it... I've already got one of these at home..." We'll explain it to Jovi later. (P.S. We're over the 3,500 diaper mark at this stage. No, that doesn't include Presleigh. Wow. Twindom. Amazing. Praise God!

     More photos to come next week from our trip to South Carolina for New Year's weekend!

Crib Cam...

Presleigh was an early walker - we'll be happy with whenever these two start walking, but here's a couple of photos of the nearly 8 month old twins holding themselves up in their cribs. They've yet to pull themselves to a standing position on their own, but hey - one step at a time, right?

Observe and enjoy the cheesy smiles from these two.

Oh, and of course a cute shot of Jovi just being Jovi. Love the teeth. In case you didn't know, she's had those pearly whites there on the bottom for about a month or so now. Jezreel decided to take a more conservative approach to tooth bearing and popped his first two through the gums last week. Fortunately for us, that's all he's decided to pop them through.

Mommy decided to have some fun with the camera while Daddy and Presleigh were out this afternoon. Jovi and Jezreel were playing in their cribs, just being their cute little selves and we got some candid video of them while Presleigh and Papa arrive from the food run. Jovi is ridiculously cute with her "I'll laugh at the drop of a hat" philosophy. So, on top of some cute photos, here's a little video for the archives, too.

Papa

One of Those "Day We've Been Waiting For" Days

No, they're not walking yet. But, stay tuned - we could be looking at a pair of early walkers in another couple of months. Two more days, and they'll be 7 months! WOW.

Anyway, today's news is that it's an official "Day We've Been Waiting For". About two years ago, we saw this... this... kitchen gadget... power tool... VitaMix thing demo'd at a local wholesale club. When we saw all it could do and how it could be used to prepare healthier, simpler foods, we were all in... except for the biggie price tag. Now, you know us - you know we're not buyers of big ticket items. No fancy TVs, no ostentatious furniture or decor, etc.

Would this be an exception? Well, considering it was about a $350 item, we'd be certain to have to save up and put that sucker on layaway. And we did. Presleigh was born and didn't see it yet. It wasn't until this year's tax return came in that we were able to slap down some cash to get one of these crazy things. Literally, about 200 smoothies, pounds of ice, heads of purple cabbage, red grapes, apples, bananas, mangos, salsa ingredients, batches of tortilla soup, carrots, mint lemonade, frappucinos, marinara sauces, and batches of fluffy pancakes later, we FINALLY got around to making a few batches of baby food!

Today's experiment? Can we turn a batch of apples into bona fide baby food?

If you're anything like me, watch and smile.

Jovi and Jez did!

They're having a great time right now, napping in the swings. Earlier today, Jezreel showed off his "rock and roll" moves by rocking on his hands and knees in a not-too-far-from-the-real-thing attempt to crawl. Then, on realizing he wasn't making forward progress, elected to roll halfway across both the living room and dining rooms to get to nowhere in particular. Whoaboy, he's going to be another rough and tumble kid like Presleigh!

Jovi, in her joviality, simply rolls around and laughs at everything. What a ball of overflowing joy - aptly named!

How COOL is THAT?!

 As you know, Mommy and Papa work for a non-profit ministry called Seasons of Life Ministries. Why does that matter? Many reasons. But, it's relevant to the twins because of these cool photos you're looking at right now.

Papa had to order a batch of Seasons of Life shirts and Miss Kim from Vintage Wearables did such a great job with the first run last year, we didn't hesitate to call her again. This time, all we ordered was a small batch of shirts. But, what she gave us were the shirts PLUS some uber-cool onesies and leggings for the babies! (Heck, Presleigh even got a super cute Seasons of Life t-shirt!!!)

So, I'm not just posting these as an update on the twins, I'm giving a SHAMELESS plug for Kim and Vintage Wearables - our t-shirt (and baby gear) vendor of choice!

Hey, if you've got a baby,  babies, or friends who have or are about to have a baby or babies, or you just love cute, little baby clothes, get on over to www.vintagewearables.com and check out some great baby gear, will ya?

Check it out!!!

Papa

Closing in on Six Months!!!

WHA?! Who messed with my calendar? Weren't they just FIVE months old?!

Uh, yeah, that's because time flies.

What's amazing to us is that only 8 weeks ago, we were looking at two babies who could barely lift their own heads and now, we've got twins who lay on their bellies for almost an hour with their head up, looking around at all the amazing things in their little worlds. Jovi has officially popped two teeth up past the gums to be seen with the naked eye... that's if you can get her to move her tongue out of the way while she's smiling like a gigglemonkey!

Teeth, scooting, what in the world?!

Jezreel has begun to do something really cool - while he's just a day or two away from a reliable, legitimate scoot, he's actually begun getting on hands and knees and getting his pelvis off the floor. He could go from a scoot to a crawl pretty quickly at that rate. He may have a little catching up to do in the cutting teeth department, though. Drool city, gumming toys to their demise, but no teeth yet.

Coming soon - the tooth fairy? Prom?

SLOW DOWN!!!

1 Week Away

Presleigh's surgery is officially scheduled for next week - Wednesday, about noon. We're eternally grateful for everyone's prayers for her and also grateful for Aunt Shanua making the trip down from Charlotte to help out with the twins while Mommy and Papa are in the hospital for Presleigh's recovery.

You'd never know there was anything going on with her from the outside - running, jumping, climbing, shouting, singing, counting, watching TV, playing with the twins, giving kisses to Mommy, Papa, and the babies... Wow. She's growing up so quickly.

As Mommy and I watched "old" videos from earlier this year, we were amazed at how much she's matured, from the walking to the talking to the facial gestures. Words, words, and more words "Thanks, Mommy!" "My try it!" "Jovi's crying"... Let's hear it for toddler language acquisition and development skills, right?

We threw Presleigh a last minute party and only invited a handful of folks - sorry if you were left out - we realized with all the kids we now know, the house would be overrun with toddlers very quickly. We were right! Cake everywhere, kids all over the place, but a great party nonetheless. And, now, we present to you, Presleigh Pina - 2 year old. We officially no longer have 3 under 2. It's 3 under 3, but thank God for the strength He has given us thus far!


AP

5 Months Ago, Today

We were delivering Jovi and Jezreel. Today, they coo, roll onto their bellies, and scoot from one end of a blanket to the other! Well, Jovi's a little ahead in that department because she's shaped a little differently. Jezreel mostly kicks his legs like he's swimming and tries to move ahead.

It's remarkable to see how much they've both grown. To think I was actually worried Jezreel wouldn't put on any weight on his bones. Now, he's got healthy, chubby, baby legs that he can stand on (assisted, of course) and bear weight.

Both of the twins love the "jumpa" - our term for the circular toy with springs that babies jump up and down in. Yeah, I know it's got an official name, but around these parts, we just call it the jumpa, 'cuz that's what they do in it!

Here are some shots of these two cuties on the floor, doing something that months ago seemed impossible: lifting their heads up and smiling about it!