The Girls' First Halloween

Hi, everybody! Hope you all had a happy and safe Halloween. Ours was fairly mellow, but still fun. I wanted to share the girls' Halloween pictures with you all.

Katie went as a zebra.

And Emily was a tiger. Here they are together.And playing with the hay.Aren't they so cute?? (I know I'm biased and all, but seriously... Those are some cute babies!)

While we never went out trick or treating, we did go to a Pumpkin festival at one of the local botanical gardens. It was a fun day, and we met up with two other friends that each have twins as well. Getting all six babies to pose for a picture was a little bit of a challenge, but we managed to get this shot:
You should have seen the crowd that gathered around us when all six babies were there! People we didn't even know were taking their picture, like the paparazzi. We all agreed that Lucy won the prize for most ridiculous costume in her chicken suit. It was the cutest thing you ever did saw. I just thought it was funny that we all dressed our girls up as animals. Not a princess among us, that's for sure!

So, that was our Halloween. Now we just have to gear up for Thanksgiving and Christmas! I'm so excited. We bought our first camcorder yesterday, so I'll hopefully figure out how to post videos for you all here soon.

Take care!!

6 month pictures

Wanted to share a few of the girls 6 month portraits with you all!

Emily Katie

Emily

Kate

A little collage to mix it up. (on top is Kate, Em, Kate and Em)

The 3 of us

Sorry it's been a while!

Hey, guys! I didn't think that anyone was still checking in on the blog (no notes!), so I stopped updating it. :) Aimee asked for pictures though, so I will happily oblige!

Katie

Emily

I had to interupt "floor time" to get this shot. I have no idea how

they ended up this way, but it's too adorable!

Having a twin means never having to suck your own thumb!

The four of us at Easter

So there you go! The girls are 6 months old now and weigh in at 15.4 and 16.4 pounds respectively. They're laughing and babbling up a storm, which is sooo funny (and so loud), especially when they make eacb other laugh! They're working on sitting up - I'm pretty sure that they'll have that mastered any day now. We've been trying out solid food, which Kate devours but Emily still refuses. (As you can see, its not doing her any harm, she's perfectly plump!) As a family we're all getting plenty of sleep, which is such a blessing; I am NOT any fun to be around when I'm tired! :) Overall, we have been blessed with happy, easy-going babies who are fun to be around (most of the time, anyway!). I'm not saying that it's easy or that it's not challenging at times, because it totally is - but we're doing well and thriving, and that's all that matters!

OK, that's it for now - glad to know someone still checks in on this blog. Please leave notes so that I know you're out there, and I'll absolutely be better about posting pictures and updates. Hope you are all well and we get a chance to see you soon!

Say Cheese!

We can smile now, see?

Emily


And Kate.


Pretty girls!!

Baby Pictures

OK!! Portrait time!!!

In this one, Emily is on the top and Kate is on the bottom, fast asleep!



Here is a close up of Emily...


And one of Kate...

The Sleeping Beauties... (as if this ever really happens!! )

And one of the three of us. Don't worry, family portraits are coming as soon as they are sitting up and smiling!

February Update

Hello everyone! It looks like I'll be lucky to update this blog once a month - the girls are really good at keeping me busy! It seems impossible to believe that they'll be 8 weeks on Tuesday, the time has just flown by.We're all doing really well. Both Steve and I are coping with the sleep deprivation. Honestly, I thought it would be worse that it has been. They are still on a three hour schedule, which means that we get about 2 1/2 hours of sleep at a time. Every once in a while they will go four hours between night feedings - and once I think they even went five. I never knew that four hours of uninterrupted sleep could feel like such a miracle!! Everyone keeps telling us that they'll start sleeping longer when they get to be about 3 months old, but I refuse to believe it. Don't want to count our chickens, you konw? Still, 2 1/2 hours isn't so bad... between the two of us, Steve and I can get them changed, fed and back to sleep in about a half an hour, and neither of us has ANY problem falling right back to sleep afterwards. Of course, if they won't go down, or if they wake up before it's time to be fed again, then it falls on me to get them back to sleep since Steve has to get up and go to work.

The days themselves have also found a rhythm. Our mornings are usually the best part of the day, afternoons and evenings are more challenging. Although it seems like we've avoided the dreaded colic, both girls are susceptible to what I've heard called "the witching hour" - that period near the end of the day where babies are especially fussy and challenging. And how! I make it a point to get out of the house at least once a day, whether it's going for a walk, running errands or meeting friends for lunch. They seem to like the change of scenery, cry less, and usually fall asleep. As a result, they've been dragged all over the city! Can you blame me? :)

OK, well... it's time to go and make my day's worth of bottles before the you-know-whos wake up and destroy any illusion of peace around here. Love to you all, hope you are well!

They're Here!!!

And they're pretty damn cute, if I do say so my own self! Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to introduce you to Kate and Emily Shivley: (FYI, that's Emily on the left, and Katie on the right...)

Aww...














I told you they were cute, didn't I? :) Here's their stats:


Kate Elizabeth Shivley
6 lbs, 1 oz
18 inches
born at 1:03 pm


Emily Kay Shivley
6 lbs, 7 oz
19 inches
born at 1: 04 pm

So far, they are both really good babies, crying rarely and sleeping a ton. I'm realistic enough to know that this will probably change in the near future, but for right now it takes some of the fear away from the idea of taking care of two infants at the same time. I'm recovering well from the surgery, getting around easier and easier every day, and am looking forward to feeling back to my old self again.

I know this post is short, but it's all of a sudden feeding time again so I'll have to cut it short. Hopefully, we'll get a chance to update you more fully in the very near future!

Love to you all!

-Alyson, Steve, Emily and Kate