Christmas Morning

As you can expect, Ed and I were far more excited about Faye and Lenny opening their presents than they were, but the put on a good show for us. We didn't get them much, since we knew so many others had been so generous with them, but we let them each open a single present (which seemed to take an eternity).

Here's Faye opening her present, and then as a present.


















Ditto for Lenny.



















Here they are showing off their gifts.

Christmas Eve

Oh holy night, your stars were brightly shining! That's right folks, I have pictures of the babies from Christmas Eve and this post is just a thinly veiled attempted to show my babies off! Every year we spend Christmas Eve with my mother and her family. This year was no exception and it was a wonderful evening. Lenny and Faye were spoiled rotten with love and attention (not to mention presents) and they got to spend some time with their cousin Annika whom they just adore.

We were the first to arrive so Faye quickly settled in with Great-grandma Gottmann and got her picture taken in her very pretty Christmas dress.







Lenny couldn't wait for the presents and hit the floor to start checking things out.





Annika and her parents showed up next, so the three kids played on the floor for awhile, but when Auntie Cory showed up everyone wanted to spend time with her. Here's Annika, showing off her adorable Santa dress and snuggling up with her Aunt Cory.





Next it was time to open presents. Great-grandpa Gottmann got a sweet University of San Diego baseball cap from Cory, and Lenny couldn't wait to try it on. It didn't quite fit him, but Great-grandpa's head is much larger.



Faye spent the present opening spree with Grandpa Boyle, her dollie and a bottle. Not a bad way to spend the evening.




Lenny spent most of his present opening time on his daddy's lap, smiling and giggling up a storm.








After a while, all the excitement wore little Faye out, so she settled in for a nap with Nana Boyle.

Everyone's waiting on Santa

How do kids know when it's the last few weeks before Christmas? Well, however it is, Faye and Lenny are clued in and on their best behavior. I just can't express what a joy to be around they've been the past couple of weeks.

Here they are, last Monday, at my friend Paula's house. Sweet as could be all day long, and when we were getting ready to leave, they had a little giggle fest with each other. I think they got a real kick out of each other's hats. Here's hopping they stay this happy all year long!

On the move...

I know, I know, it's been a long time since I blogged. But A LOT has been going on. First of all, the kids have been sick since before Thanksgiving. It evolved last week into some pretty high temperatures - that was fun. The best part (and I'm being sarcastic, which I'm not sure translates well on the internet) was that my doctor's nurses line told me to bring the babies into the office since their temperatures lasted four days, but when I got there, the doctor I saw said, "Yeah, well, kids this age get about 1 cold a month. You'll just have to tough it out." I could have told him that!!! I paid for this?

Anyway, on a lighter note, Lenny and Faye are getting bigger and stronger everyday. Faye sits up quite nicely (with some help) and spends quite a lot of time on her tummy (voluntarily I might add).


Lenny, in turn, has been scooching up a storm. Here's a picture of him on the floor. He started off on his back on the mat behind him and wound up here within a matter of 2 - 3 minutes. He's a determined little thing. Still no crawling, but it won't be long now.

Other than that, we're just preparing for Christmas and enjoying the mild weather while it lasts. And, yes, for you astute viewers, Lenny and Faye are dressed the same today. I just couldn't resist!

Santa, baby . . .

On Saturday, Lenny and Faye joined thier cousin Annika in meeting Santa for the very first time. We were lucky enough to be invited by my mother to meet Santa when he stopped by her hospital for awhile over the weekend. We were all kind of wondering what the consensus amoung the tots would be and I have to say the only one who seemed genuinely interested in Santa was Faye. Lenny and Annika seemed non-plussed about the whole experience, but Faye turned on the charm as if to say, "Santa, baby, I just want one little thing . . . a ring . . . four carats if you please!" Well, needless to say, there won't be any diamonds under the tree for Faye this year!

Our First Snow Day

You might be expecting to see the children bundled up and somehow playing in the snow. However, they're far to young for that and it would be just too much work for me. Please believe me when I tell you that I showed them the snow (from our window) and they were thoroughly unimpressed. Kind of a let down, I know, but just wait until next year; I'm sure the pictures will be priceless.

Speaking of pictures, it occurred to me the other day that there are no pictures of me or Ed with the kids on the blog (at least none where you can see our faces), so for you die-hard Ed and Heather fans, I submit the following. Enjoy!

Ed and Lenny take a nap on the couch before Lenny goes up to bed.









Heather and Lenny dance around the living room. Lenny really is a fantastic slow dancer, and he's still so young!






Faye's surprised to see her mom on the other side of that flashing thing.

Happy Turkey Day!

Once again this year we have quite a lot to be thankful for. For starters, Thanksgiving in Chicago was glorious: a warm, sunny Fall day! Secondly, the kids were fantastic. They were made for the holiday travel gauntlet as they packed up and went from the Nichin's (hosted by Aunt Terry; thanks Aunt Terry!!) to the Gottmann-Boyle's (hosted by Mom and Brian, thanks guys!!) with no fuss. All this while having a fantastically phlemmy cold! These really are great kids. I lucked out big time!

So we started out at the Nichin's. Lenny and Faye enjoyed visiting until Faye's cold got the better of her and she needed to spend some time walking around with Grandpa Nichin (thanks, Dad!). Here's a shot of Lenny with Aunt Terry. Lenny LOVES being snuggled by his aunts!





Next we headed over to Mom and Brian's for Thanksgiving dinner. We got to see Cory and Brian Jr. (both home for the holiday) and Evan. Mom and Brian did a magnificent job on dinner which was scrumptious (with the help of Grandma Gottmann's yummy meat stuffing)! We all ate and ate! Then we settled in for some wine, dessert, talking and more wine. All and all a great time!

Faye tells Grandpa Boyle a nice story.










Lenny enjoys some Nana time!







Annika and Lenny enjoy some mat time.






Grandma and Grandpa Gottmann keep Lenny from eating the cookies. You have to wait until next year, Lenny!





Lenny and Annika hang out on the couch. Lenny sports his pj's.






Lenny hangs out with his Uncle Evan.

SHE ROLLED OVER!!!!!!!!!

Yes, it's true! Faye finally decided to get moving. Or maybe she was just getting tired of being put on her tummy and decided to take control of the situation. Whatever the reason, Faye is now able to turn from her tummy to her back. I'm so thrilled, because I was beginning to wonder if she would ever be able to move at all! Anyway, big accomplishment for Faye (even if she wasn't particularly pleased with herself)!



















Other news: we were at the Friend's Thanksgiving party last night. Thank you, Arnold, for hosting. It was an amazing time. But it struck me that I've seriously become a grown-up (when did this happen?). There were only two "single" people (both of which have girlfriends), six married couples and eleven kids!! I was telling my sister about the evening and while it was an terrific time and we all had a ton of fun, I just couldn't get over how many kids we all have. It seems like just yesterday we were all out and painting the town red. Regardless, it was wonderful to see everyone and spend sometime with all of our friends.

Faye and her godfather, Ken, having a discussion about Faye's binky-bunny. Funny little bunny!








Marie-Grace and Tommy, the oldest two kids, hold Lenny and Faye, the youngest.




Lenny, just like his dad, sit's back and enjoys a cold beverage.









Ben and Faye meet.










Speaking of good times out on the town, Ed and I had a much needed night out the other night. Nana and Grandpa Boyle had the babes over for a sleep over and Ed and I got to go out drinking with some friends. That was another fun evening. No pictures this time of all our fun at the bar, sorry. It's probably for the best though. However, we can't thank Mom and Brian enough for letting us have an evening to recharge ourselves. The kids came home happy and sweet and obviously a little smarter, as Faye did turn over today. Good work, grandparents!!!

UPDATE: Torticollis

The short answer is that Lenny does NOT have torticollis. Well, that's kind of the long answer, too. The Child and Family Connection folks (that's the state's early intervention office) came out today to evaluate Lenny based on the recommendation of the NICU follow up therapist. They said that he does slightly favor his right side but it wasn't significant enough to warrent therapy and they gave us an exercise to do with him to help him use his left side a little more. They also said that Lenny's doing great overall and that he appeared to be the healthy, happy baby that we know him to be. So, no therapy, which is nice.

On a lighter note, I attempted to take the Christmas card picture today. Let's just say that Faye wasn't in the mood to have her photo taken. Beyone that, I think the below photos speak for themselves! Faye really can't be made to do something she doesn't want to do. Oh, well, we'll just try again later.

























Lenny says, "I'll kiss it and make it better, Faye!"

9 1/2 hours!

That's right, Faye-fans!!! She has truly slept through the night. FINALLY! The doctor said she was big enough to give it a shot, so last night when she woke up for 2 minutes of crying at 3am, we let her cry it out and she fell back asleep and slept until 5:30 am! We're all so proud of her (you know Ed and I are dancing with joy!). Here she is, triumphant, in her bed this morning.

Six months snuck up on us pretty quick!

Six months has gone by SO QUICKLY!!!! I can hardly believe how much is changed. It's truly amazing that the skinny little chicken babies that I brought home from the NICU have turned into these hulking chubbacitos!!! And decked out in their home-boy and girl monkey outfits (a gift from their aunts Sarah and Elizabeth) they look ready to take off and start running.

The update: the kids went in for their 6 month physical today and were proclaimed practically perfect in everyway (as if there was any doubt).

The stats: Lenny (or Hoss, if you prefer) weighed in at 18 pounds and 7 ounces and measured 26.5 inches long. Faye was slightly more petite at 14 pounds and 12 ounces and measuring 24.5 inches. For those of you keeping score, this makes Lenny 60th percentile for height and 75th percential for weight if you don't adjust for being born 6 weeks early. If you do, he's 85th and 90th respectively! Faye came in at 20th percentile for height and 30th for weight unadjusted and 50th and 70th respectively when it was adjusted.

Needless to say I'm thrilled. They're in great health, no problems and the doctor's only advice was more tummy time to get them turning (Faye's going to LOVE that!). I did ask the pediatrician about Lenny's "torticollis" and I recieved the odd look of "what torticollis?". Her suggestion: switch the way we lay him down in his crib from top to bottom in his crib once a week, but not to worry. We'll hear what the state group has to say when they come on Friday, but I was happy to hear that my pediatrian (who's so cautious that she told me not to kiss the babies on the face until April so I don't make them sick this winter!) was not concerned.

Lenny and Faye have continued to get bigger and stronger. Faye's started to sleep almost all the way through the night (averaging 7 hours). We had a big moment a few weeks ago when we said good-bye to our eating/pooping tracking journal. We are now off the regimented schedule and on a more flexible "take the day as it comes" approach. The bigges win from that: the kids take longer naps!!! They ususally take about a 2 hour nap in the morning and a 1 hour nap in the afternoon, not counting when they just fall asleep for half an hour wherever they are as pictured below.










As the holidays approach, we're getting geared up for colder weather and lots more travelling. The kids have received carseat snugglies as hand-me-downs from their cousins (THANK YOU, Joey Bannon and Hannah Byrne!!!) which are fantastic. We're all looking forward to the Thanksgiving trot from one family to another, so hopefully we'll see you all soon!!!!