Around the house during the twin's first month

Leanna on the left, Kelly on the right
Happy New Year...when everyone is crying?? But the glasses make me laugh.

Loving her sisters. Every morning she has to see them first, and give them a kiss. She is so sweet and has been pretty good...she has her moments though.

Holding Kelly
Kelly on the left this time, Leanna on the right

Their shirts say, "Good things come in small packages". Thanks Sally for the onesies.

Making their debut

Kelly Christina Whitlock

Born December 23, 2010 at 10:29 p.m.

Weighing in at 5 lbs. 11 oz. and 19 inches

Leanna Mary Whitlock

Born December 23, 2010 at 10:34 p.m. (breech)

Weighing in at 5 lbs. 10 oz. and 19 inches

Due to having twins, I had to deliver in the OR, just in case one baby became stuck and a c-section had to be performed. Thankfully, it was not necessary. Actually, labor was great. With a total of 6 pushes and a time of 10 minutes, I was a mother of three. There were 12 people in the room, giving great care to all involved. And we are all home now, loving the time together.

What a great Christmas gift!!

any day now...

Looking over the wall as you walk up the stairs when you enter the house.
A sweet kiss for the gals.

She pats my belly when I say, "Where's mommy's babies?" and says "didter" (sister). Josie isn't the baby anymore, we now always call her big girl.

We went to the doctor today. I am currently 2 centimeters dilated and 50% effaced. My doctor is hoping I go another week, but said that I will see you this weekend or at your next appointment. In other words, still any day now. I have had a few random contractions, and don't sleep a lick. But the positive...I have started maternity leave. I made it through all that I wanted to at school and wanted to spend some extra time with Josie. Christmas shopping is complete, wrapped, and all under the tree. The last load is in the wash, and the last thing to do is get the car seats installed.

Thanks for checking in on us. Hope to introduce the little gals soon.

Update on twins

Here's an update on the gals-
So my doctor appt was not very exciting the other day. I found out I measure 42 weeks big (if I was having only one baby) and have gained a total of 27 pounds. For most of the pregnancy the babies have been breech. The good news is one baby has turned, but I was reassured that she could turn again. We were told to wait a bit longer to see what to do next. My growth ultrasound is next Friday, the 3rd. Here we will find out how big they are, and their positions. From this ultrasound, I will have an appt. on the 8th, and I think there will be some final decisions on dates of either induction or c-section. It still looks as though I will make it to Christmas break at school, and would be scheduling (if I have to at all) a c-section the last week of December sometime. She said that we might schedule it, just to have the time allotted for us, because we can always cancel it. We are all really hoping, doc included, that I just go into labor naturally at 37 weeks...this is considered full term and the babies would be less likely to be in NICU and be able to go home with us.

Needless to say, the doctor ordered double desserts for me this holiday season.

Thanksgiving right into Christmas

With these two little ones coming, and who knows how quickly, our Christmas is starting pretty early. I went shopping on Black Friday. My aunts, my mom, and I were in line at Target at 3 am. What a blast every year! We all were able to get everything we wanted, and I was at home in bed by 9am. Awesome! I am basically done with my Christmas shopping now. And once I woke up, the tree and Christmas decorations were ready too. We took the minimalistic approach this year, but could not go without the snowmen and santas in the living room. No decorating the bathroom, and a lot of breakables did not come out due to little Josie, but we still have the Christmas spirit around here.

Josie putting up some ornaments. She is doing good so far. She has pulled a couple off, but since the tree has been up for a couple days, she does not seem to mind it anymore.

Here are just a couple pictures from Thanksgiving. Every other year we go with Dave's family to Columbia, Missouri. But, not this year. He had to work at night, so we enjoyed some time with my side in St. Charles.

Hanging with Josie

We had a little corner in the house where Josie was not allowed to go. It has the phone, a candle setup on a table, Roxie's food and water, and a small cabinet with my scrapbooking supplies. But, the time has come, Josie can invade what we termed "Roxie's corner". A Pier 1 chair of mine from college worked for 16 months, but it is over. Trouble is brewing. She can now get into all that mentioned above and create havoc. Oh-no, poor Roxie.

This is the chair that was the barrier, but now she can get onto and over pretty easily.

I feel so bad for Roxie lately. First, Josie can now get in her corner, and now she lost her spot with the papsan in the bedroom. The twins crib arrived last week, and Dave put it up in our room. The idea is to let them sleep together for the first couple months, then make a whole house switch-a-roo before I go back to school. Josie definitely wanted to help daddy. Ignore the messy room in the back, we are currently nesting. Clean is not in my vocab right now...only tidy is.

One last fun picture of Josie. She loves, loves, loves her daddy's drums. She know how to step on the pedal to hit the bass drum. She knows how to hold the sticks, and she loves to put on a show. It is awefully cute, but really loud!

Quack-quack

This year, Josie didn't poop out on us right away. She was able to enjoy Halloween as a duck.

We started the day at Babies R Us after mass. They were offering free pictures of the kiddos in their costumes. Once home and after a long nap, Josie's grandma, grandpa, great aunt Diane, and our friends Mandy with her son Brendan came to the house. We cooked up a huge pot of mostacolli then got ready to go trick or treating.

We have some friends down the street and they had their third baby two days before Halloween, so we went to say hi. Wagon loaded and we hit every house on the way there and back. Once we returned to the house, Josie and Brendan played inside for a bit, but then came out to enjoy the craziness outside. Every year we get about 200 trick-or-treaters, and Josie was all about giving out candy. She gave every person something and with each piece a huge smile emerged. Cousins Ethan and Jacob also stopped by to say HI!

Passing out candy.

Roxie loves to give everyone kisses that come by. We situate her on the landing and she gets herself so worked up. She loves Halloween.

Enjoying some loot. Check out her hair.

Mandy's husband was out of town, so her and Brendan come to enjoy the festivities.

Riding around the neighborhood.

At Babies R Us.

Grandma and Josie in her really adorable Halloween outfit. Thanks Aunt Diane for another great find.

Josie's Favorite toy

Here's Josie's in her most favorite outside toy. She is practicing to be a good driver for later. It is so cute, she knows how to go backwards, but her little feet have not figured out going forward. So we are still in the pushing phase. We take her to the end of the driveway and let her rip. It is a very small hill, but much excitement for a 15 month old. The grin could not get any bigger.

Apple picking fun

What beautiful weather we have here in St. Louis. So nice, in fact, that we made a family day enjoying the weather. Dave and I have not been apple picking for a very long time, so we decided to take Josie to Eckert's. It was about a 30 minute drive and three hours worth of fun! Here are the pics to prove it.

We picked a ton of very , very yummy Fuji apples.
They had a kid friendly haunted house, a pumpkin cannon, corn maze, pig races, barn animals, kids rides and games, and plenty to eat. We experienced it all, and it was worth it. We even brought a picnic lunch that we enjoyed together.


At the corn maze

Josie did not mind any of the other animals, but was not a fan of this camel. He was making a ton of noise and she was not about to touch it.

Pumpkin Cannon in the background. Daddy loved this way more that either her or myself.

On the tractor to go apple picking.

update on the Whitlock's

Since school has started, extra time has been a rarity. It seems as though keeping a clean house is hard to do. The weekends are packed, and with being pregnant when I have an extra second, all I want to do is rest for a few. Life however, is great, no matter how busy.

Josie, in the past couple weeks, has gained three more teeth. Both top molars and the fourth tooth on the bottom. She finally looks more even, with only three on the bottom, her jaw was looking crooked. But not for long, it is coming in nicely.
She has been to the farm for the first time. Here she rode a four-wheeler. That was really fun for her! She is truly an outdoor kid. Anything outside makes her happy. Even playing the garage and driveway can keep her happy all day.
She has also been to two Cardinal games. She really has a great time. She dances at every song, and once she realized that the seats move up and down on their own, that kept her busy for a while.
Josie has her Halloween outfit ready to go trick-or-treating.

The twins are growing wonderfully and making me bigger everyday. They move around all the time. We receive an ultrasound now every month, and we have started going to the doctor appointments every two weeks. I am measuring (if I was having a single baby) at 35 weeks. However, I am only 25 weeks pregnant. I went to a baby shower this weekend, and the mother-to-be and I were measuring the same size, and she is due at the end of the month. I have a while to go, and only looking to get much bigger. Still hoping to get to Christmas Break at school. If I can get there, we are smooth sailing…timing wise.

Dave and I are going camping this weekend, and really looking forward to getting away. It is supposed to be beautiful outside! The last trip before more babies…


A current picture of my belly!
At the Cards game on Sunday, October 3rd. The last game of the season...too bad no post season for us this year. Maybe next year...

Her first drawing...on the wall!! AHHHHHH!

This is her absolute favorite toy. It is a dance center to stomp on, sing with, and press all the light up buttons.

Singing a song. She yells then gives the biggest grin. She thinks it is hilarious...and it is!

At the farm. We have 80 acres in Fulton, MO.

She loved pressing the buttons.

A rocker she recieved for Christmas. She finally mastered how to get on and off.