"GRADUATION" DAY

(cue music).....Duh, du-da-duh dahhhh dahhhh...duh, dun da dah duhhhhh.....

TARYN---GRACE---TUTTLE (huge applause)

10 minutes later.....

EVAN--REECE---TUTTLE (huge applause)


Mommy, WOW....we're in size 2's now!
The setting was perfect for today's graduation ceremony...a massive wetter from Sweet Pea and a monster pooper from E-Man to send the last two size one diapers into the Diaper Geenie never to be seen again. After some 600 size 1's along the way, the twangels have officially graduated into size 2's....and couldn't be happier about the expanded room for confort and containment. Gone is baby elmo and his clan...now it's Winnie the Pooh in the new size 2's. Yet just another symbol of how Evan and Taryn are growing up! Especially with twins, we've done our part keeping the Pamper's company in business :-) We celebrate every day with our two little miracles...and today's little milestone was yet another in their journies to grow up big as faithful followers of God. Here's to size 2's...and the countdown until threes!

We Have a Sitter and a Rolly Polly

....and no I am not calling my babies fat LOL.

E-man has been working on his sitting for a while now and at 5 months and 3 days old on his daddy's birthday he managed to sit unassisted for several minuets. Unfortunately the timing wasn't right and we were unable to capture his new feat on film but lucky for us he repeated his new trick today. He is still too young to get himself in a sitting position on his own and he does still have balance issues but he is getting much better and is able to string more and more minuets of independent sitting together at a time. Evan would like to ask you to excuse the pink blanket but he spit up on his so it was in the wash and Mom and Dad put out sissy's blanket for him to use...he really doesn't like pink but he gets used to it considering the fact that he has a twin sister...there tends to be a lot of pink around the house.

Taryn isn't far behind...I would give it a few more weeks though before I would expect to see her sitting solo for several minuets at a time but while we are the subject of our little Sweet Pea...she has become a rolling maniac. They both have been rolling for a while Evan started at 3 months and Taryn followed a few weeks later rolling belly to back and then right around 4 months Evan was rolling back to belly but he really doesn't like to be on his belly so you wont catch him doing it much. Taryn just yesterday (must be something special about daddy's birthday) just started rolling all over the place back to belly, belly to back, then back to belly again. She is doing it in her crib as well and much to my dismay has chosen to sleep on her belly....scares me to death. We go in and roll her back over but no sooner do we leave the room and she is back on her belly. So what will be, will be, I will just be saying lots of extra prayers for her.

It is so fun to see them grow and change literally right before our eyes. Chad was just beaming yesterday saying how much Taryn was blossoming....and he is right. It is fun to see her go from this little baby who would just sit back and take in the world around her to this little baby who is physically exploring her little world rolling from one place to the next and really being interested in the objects around her.

At our last dr. appointment our dr. was telling us how rough boys are and how they will just bang everything and it is so funny to us because that is exactly what happens. Evan is all boy banging the heck out of everything and Taryn is such a girl and docile with everything...she definitely has a more gentle approach/touch. Just don't make her mad or as her daddy lovingly says..."she will go hot hornet on you" LOL. She is a true red head...such a sweet heart and we love her so much.

and Evan is our sweet little boy who is so fun to watch grow...he loves to be held and to be w/ his mom and dad. Sometimes I still feel like I am in a dream....I cant believe that we have been blessed w/ two beautiful children, that they are actually ours...what a blessed gift they are.

I don't have a picture of all Taryn's rolling around but I couldn't leave her out so here she is sitting in her big girl chair getting ready to eat some lunch. We added plums to their list of foods today and it got rave reviews from both Evan and Taryn. So we are doing good so far only 1 food in the dislike column but I will be trying avocados again....they haven't seen the last of them LOL.

A Treasured Visit from PA

Adding to our memorable moments was the awesome visit by Uncle Spark, Aunt Gina, and Cousin Sam. The three of them came to see us last weekend and we had a blast of a time. It had been over a year since we had last seen Spark and Gina, and was our first chance to see Sam in person since he was born. What a handsome little gem of a boy...and growing up so fast! We thanked him for testing out many of Evan and Taryn's toys to ensure proper function and structural reliability :-) And oh how fun it was to see Evan, Taryn and Sam together....from the exersaucers to the toys and the pool, they seemed to do so well together and acted as if they'd known each other from day 1. All three were cute as can be...and it gave us a little foreshadowing of what is to come in the months ahead. Sam was so grown up with his sippy cup and real-food meals...Evan and Taryn were definitely inspired. Our Friday-Monday time together still seamed to go by too fast, but we were able to mix in great times and a couple of small outings to make the absolute best of the shared minutes. Spark and Gina are amazing friends and it is a blessing to spend time with them....we only wish we lived closer. And well, we are already counting the days until we visit them next summer in PA.
During the visit, cameras were snapping as we bookmarked the great time we got to share together. Among the many, here are a few of the pics:

Cinco de TWINZ

My oh My how time can fly! Today marks the twangels' 5-month birthday...yet another monthly milestone in their little journeys. Reflecting back on the last 150 days, it's just amazing with all that has happened and all that they have experienced and how much they have grown. We can remember holding them both in our arms, just hours old...and oh so tiny...we could have fit Nash and Teebo in there as well. Today, the two of them fill up our arms quite completely, leaving only enough room to snuggle them close and hug them tight. So many memories formed already....and countless more to come. And what better way to capture some more moments than with photos! So, off we went to portrait innovations for another round of flashbulbs. Evan was a real trooper, and Taryn cooperated when she felt like it and revolted when she disapproved of the pose or lighting :-) Overall, they did great.

As their 4th month of life comes to a close I feel like we should recap some of their big first as they had an exciting month that kept us very busy including:

1st time on an Air Plane

1st trip to mema's and papa's

1st meetings of Uncle Troy and Aunt Nanci and many other aunts, uncles, cousins and friends

1st time playing in an exersaucer

1st laugh from both of them...Taryn's is more of a squeal but it is beautiful either way :-)

1st time trying to take a bath in the big kid bath tub (that didn't go over so well so we will try again in a month or two LOL)

1st outing w/ just mommy to the grocery store and Michael's (and they were perfect angels)

1st bite of solids which have turned into several bits and now they are old pros. So far they have had oatmeal, avocado, applesauce, and sweet potatoes...unfortunately they don't seem too fond of avocado's so we moved on to sweet potatoes today and they loved them we will have to revisit avocados at a later time hopefully we will get a better response :-). It is fun to see how quickly they change and grow. Our first day of solids did not go so well especially for Taryn she was kind like why are you sticking the sticky stuff (oatmeal) in my mouth and she would spit it right back out...but by day 4 she not only opened her mouth for more she finished her entire bowl and most of it ended up in her belly instead of on her bib :-).

I am beginning my new adventure in making baby food. Of course I haven't really been able to make much yet, pureeing sweet potatoes doesn't really count for much, but I am looking forward to it as they get to add more and more to their diets.

In other big news now that they are 5 months old...mom has them on a schedule and what is even better is Evan is napping consistently well now. You have no idea how excited that makes me. I can count on him for at least an hour but often he will nap 1.5-2 hours for me....YIPPEE!!!!

So our day looks something like this:

730-800 wake/feed

930 nap #1

11 wake/feed

12 solids (fruit or veggie)

100 nurse then nap #2

230 wake/feed

330 feed (yes they eat all time LOL)

400 nap #3

5 wake/solids (oatmeal)

630 bath/feed

700 bed

It is a long day some days but when the nap well and will play well independently it makes for a good day. The hard days are the days when they are clingy...when they both get like that at the same time...I will lay them on the floor in front of me and tell them over and over again "there are 2 babies and 1 mommy" and nuzzle them and I can usually get them to laugh or smile....I don't know why they think that is funny LOL :-) maybe because they know I am outnumbered.

Month 4 was wonderful and now we look forward to a wonderful month 5 w/ a whole new set of first for our little twins. I was reflecting earlier today on how little they once were and how big they are now. I cant believe the vast difference in their size and development....I know it is nothing cosmic and nothing millions of babies before them haven't done but it is still amazing when you see it happen right before your eyes. Every twin mom will tell you that it gets easier at the 6 month mark and I have held on to that especially in the early weeks and now I cant believe we are approaching the half way mark to their first year of life and although I look forward to all that is coming I do get a little sad when I realize they will never be that small again...I can only imagine how I am going to feel in a year or five years.

We Have a Thumb Sucker

So I went to check on Evan as he is napping longer than normal....just at 1.5 hrs right now but this beats his normal 45-1hr; anyway I found him sound asleep sucking his thumb. This is the first time I ever saw him actually do this...not sure if it is truly the first time. He is so precious. I guess George has been kicked to the curb as you can see he is laying behind Evan's head...poor George LOL

UPDATE: Evan napped for a total of 2 hrs and 15 min...way to go E-man :-)...now if I could just get you and Taryn to nap that long at the same time :-).....no matter how far we come it seems that we always have so much further to go :-)

Ridin' the AIR-O-PLANE back to GA

DING....you are now free to move about the country....Well, our trip to Helotes finished up well and we got back on the plane and headed back to GA. We were fortunate to have a nice lady sitting in Gena's row swap with me so that we ended up with a row of three seats with the middle one open...so we could use it for a nap-site when our arms needed a rest. Even with fighting their sleep, evan and taryn did great overall. Leave it to the Atlanta airport, however, to provide some sort of event that will delay your travels...and just as we pulled off the taxiway with visions of sleeping twins in the car in our head, the pilot came over the PA as he brought the plane to a stop..."Uh, ladies and gentlemen...we're going to have a slight delay getting into our gate...a truck carrying a bunch of aluminum cans has dropped them and they have blown all over the terminal area." Evan and Taryn were not at all excited about the delay and let everyone in rows 10-18 (including first class) know about it. 30 minutes later, we made our way to the terminal and were able to get off the jet. About 25 minutes into our 90 minute drive home, we had two sleeping angels....hallelujah!
We've definitely seen that Evan and Taryn are happy to be sleeping in their cribs...even with the teething, their nighttime and nap schedules are far more normalized again. While babies are able to adjust, it does show that they too appreciate the comforts of their own place. It was a great 12 days in Helotes...and awesome for Uncle Troy to see his niece and nephew for the first time! Overall, we were thankful for safe travels there and back and are glad we braved the apprehension of traveling with four-month old twins and made the trip.

Can you believe it has been 4 months

Yesterday August 2 was the twins 4 month birthday...I cannot believe that 4 months have gone by (note I did not say flown by LOL). Sometimes it feels like it has gone fast and then others it feels like everyday is a week long. But I would not trade a single second of it for anything in the world. To celebrate 4 months on this earth that babies took their first plane trip to San Antonio to see mema and papa and auntie kallie. We got here on Saturday Aug 1...and are enjoying our time here. The babies did awesome on the flight...no crying fits to speak of which was my greatest fear in regards to travelling w/ them. They did not sleep much as they were too interested in this world around them to find time to sleep so we had to deal w/ very over tired babies once we got to the house but that is OK...it took just a little bit to settle them down and get them to sleep for the night. Sleeping has been a bit rough for them as the adjust to their new environment but all in all they are doing great....they are such troopers. Mema and Papa of course are just eating up every second they get w/ the munchkins. Yesterday Chad and I enjoyed a evening among adults when we met up w/ a dear friend of mine, Heather and her husband Frank for dinner. We put the babies to bed and headed out for a quiet uninterrupted dinner. We had a wonderful time out w/ them...it is so great to be able to see them...I always love any opportunity I have to catch up w/ good friends. We have plans to take advantage of our eager babysitters at least one more time as we head to the Towers for dinner to celebrate anniversary #6 next Monday. So basically we are just as spoiled as the babies :-). Certainly lots of fun to be had by all. I will apologize that I don't have any pictures to share but I am sure I will have a ton upon our return from our trip :-)