A little bit of an older picture obviously, but we have to meet the cuteness quota for this post:



Things have been going pretty good lately. Babies had a little bit of a cold last week, but nothing too serious. Last Friday a couple of friends from Jenn's office came and babysat for us in the evening, while we went to eat at Sumo with James and Tricia. After we came back to the house, James and I went downstairs to drink a couple of beers and watch Survivorman, and the girls had a little fun playing dress-up with the girls.



The pigtails maybe weren't that impressive from an overall standpoint, but the girls bald spots are starting to fill in finally, something that is of great relief to their mommy.

I think on the last post I forgot to mention the girls weights; 15 lbs 15 oz for Kayla and 15 lbs 3 oz for Megan. They're definitely getting to be big girls, getting more active and able to explore things around them. We bought an expandable playpen for the floor to "corral" them, and they're quite happy to lay in there and roll around playing with toys for an hour or two easy, as they're doing now. We haven't seen any real crawling yet, but have seen little legs start to get underneath them when they want to go somewhere. No teeth yet either but some unusually fussy girls once in a while, along with a constant need to have something to chew on, so only a matter of time. Kayla in particular has taken to sucking her thumb when she's tired. Megan will sometimes too, but not as much. Grandma Vogts of course loves it, as it reminds her of Linda. We try to discourage it somewhat, but figure that if she's only picking up the habit now, how bad can it really be, and when the girls are crying to keep themselves awake (they take after their mommy this way), seeing that thumb in the mouth is actually somewhat of a welcome sign.

6 Months

Girls hit the big 0.5 this month. Had our 6 month appointment at the doctor as well, and everything is looking great. They've also been learning some new skills as well:

Playing the Piano


Cosplayer




And champion MMA fighter


You can definitely see development happening. We can play peek-a-boo with both of them now with some success, and they're happy to play on the floor by themselves for pretty long stretches. They've also been on "real food" for a while now; from cereals through most veggies, all the way up to chicken this week. Haven't seen any crawling yet, but they do try to get their legs underneath them to push off every once a while, so it shouldn't be too much longer for that as well.

Behind The Camera

I know I’m biased, but I think we have some cute pictures of the girls. Anyone with kids will tell you that it’s not always easy to get that perfect shot the first time. Try doing it with two little ones, and it becomes more difficult. I’m amazed that anyone actually gets good family pictures!

So those cute pictures that we have? Yeah, we worked for them. At the hospital, the photographers there took pictures of the girls. They turned out okay, but before they started, we took some of our own. The girls were less than cooperative – but hey! They were only 3 days old!


The purple outfit picture is one of my favorite early pictures, even though we had Megan on the left instead of the traditional right. But in this not-so-perfect shot, Kayla is practicing her evil-twin look – and Megan is about to smack her if she doesn't stop it. Well, it least that’s what it looks like to me….


Our birth announcement photo turned out really nicely. But this earlier shot shows the struggle we had that day keeping the girls from hiding their pretty little faces. But they look so cute, almost as if they're giggling about it!


At Christmas, cousin Nathan was very patient as we tried to get a Christmas photo of him with the girls. Megan—not so much.


It’s always a challenge trying to prop the girls up so they don’t look funny. It doesn’t help when the squirm and slide around – which happens nearly every time.


And sometimes, they just tip, and look at you like, “Mommy? Where am I going?”


The girls have a tradition of spitting up as soon as we put them in an outfit for a picture. I think it took three different nights before we got a good shot for the Valentine’s card. It’s one thing to have to wash the front of her dress, but it’s a whole different ball game when Kayla gloats about it…


Sunglasses on the girls are always a challenge. You have to be quick, because they move, and you end up with a look like this that just doesn’t have the same cool-girl effect.


And sometimes, you get multiple issues. Here we have the aforementioned sliding issue, accompanied by the mid-blink look.



Sometimes, the out-takes are as fun to look at as the successful ones! Just a little reminder of how life isn't always perfect, but that's okay.

Next time, on House

So the girls are sick with colds again. Kayla first earlier this week, now Megan is definitely getting hit. The pattern seems to be Jenn - Me - Kayla - Megan; hopefully we'll find a way to break the cycle of disease sometime in the next 18 years.

Really though this is just a flimsy excuse to post a couple of pictures of "Babies Fist Rook Game" taken at the end of January at Lucille's, that I forgot on my laptop for a couple of months:





The Great Blizzard of '09 has descended upon us, which got me out of work early today. In all seriousness it is kind of nasty out right now, sleet falling with apparently a bunch of snow to follow. If the girls cooperate and keep napping like they are now, there should be some new videos up on the Youtube site later today.

March Madness

So yeah, girls ended up being a tad bit sicker than we originally thought. Sick babies were sick.





But once we got them over their first sickness, things got back to normal, including gratuitous pictures of girls in KU gear.



Things have actually been semi-busy lately. I had both girls up to Mom and Dad's last weekend while Jenn went to a baby shower, and we were back up this past Wednesday to see Barb, Paula, Linda and the boys. Then Granny Vogts came down Thursday night, and watched the girls Friday, getting this picture as well:



Girls are also at the point where they can use bouncy seats, which we have been taking great advantage of.





As you can see, playing in the bouncy seat can be hard work.

Girls are also well into eating cereals, and this week we started them on carrots as well, to mixed reviews.





Both of them took to rice, oatmeal, and barley cereal right away, but so far the carrots have been a tough sell. Megan did a little better with them tonight, and Kayla will do OK if it's mixed in with cereal of some kind.

Other than that, things are pretty much business as usual. Girls passed 5 months this month, and are definitely getting stronger (they can pull themselves up a little) and more coordinated playing with toys and such. Both girls can now roll over from stomach or back as well, and can make a little forward momentum doing a little pseudo-crawl every once in a while.

KU Girls!

Wow, are we slacking on the updates!

So – a friend of mine mentioned that he hadn’t seen the girls in much KU gear. I forget the exact wording, but it made me laugh. You see, we have a lot of it – and they wear it frequently! But we don’t seem to have a lot of pictures of them in it! So we’re trying to change that.

So let’s try for some KU pictures here!

Kayla in her swing, and Megan, bundled up from a trip one evening out to see Grandma. It was cold that evening. Her little suit is bigger than she is, but she was warm!





It’s a shame we can’t capture a roll-over in a picture, since Kayla is quite good at it now and can go both ways! Megan goes from back to tummy, but hasn’t gotten back over yet. Yes – both girls went “the hard way” first, from back to tummy.



They’re both eating cereal like champs! We’re getting ready to start the vegetables now. Messy babies! But they get so excited about it, they can’t always stop their little hands from grabbing the spoon to help! Then of course trying to fit their hands in their mouths WITH the cereal – and spreading it across their faces. I guess that’s just what babies do! Cereal mask facials at 5 months old.

We still have the sick baby pictures to do. In Mike’s last post, it’s ironic he wrote “if all goes well…” because shortly thereafter, we ended up at the ER with Megan. Her breathing was too labored and she had no voice to cry with at all. Turns out they had RSV. They suctioned out the gunk from poor little Megan. Kayla wasn’t so bad off and didn’t need it. They’re both doing great now!

Now me, I'm over the RSV/cold/flu/whatever -- but allergies are getting the better of me, and I'm off to bed!

Catching up on pictures

Lots happening in February, but first, some new pictures:



Kayla smiling.



Megan smiling.



Kayla playing. They're not quite as steady as they could be in these seats, but they're at the point where they can hold themselves up and try to play with the toy. Both girls have recently been getting better at holding toys (keys, rattles, etc) for a length of time, and trying to get it in their mouth. Somewhat surprisingly, Megan seems to have the leg up on Kayla in this department, but it could just be our imagination.



But Kayla has beaten her sister in another key milestone, rolling over. She's good enough at it now that she'll roll over almost instantly if you put her on her back on a play mat. She hasn't quite figured out how to roll back yet, but does a pretty good job of keeping her head up and getting her arms under herself, and will usually be content for ~5-10 minutes before getting frustrated. Megan hasn't rolled over yet, but then we haven't had her on her play mat very much lately (more on this later), so possible she just hasn't had the opportunity. Megan, however, does win this months "I Can't Believe They Dressed Me Like This" award:



"My names Megan, and I sell propane and propane accessories."

So, February. Lots of first's this month.

First evening out. Granny and Grandpa Vogts came down the Saturday night before Valentines to give Jenn and I a chance to go out for dinner and a movie. Unfortunately we decided to go to Red Lobster an hour before the movie was scheduled to start, so needless to say we didn't make that. We did do a little shopping though, walked around Barnes and Noble for a while, it was a nice evening.

First night away from the girls. Aunt Karen was kind enough to offer us a night of babysitting, which we took advantage of on Valentines Day. Jenn and I went up to KC that Saturday while Karen, Carl, and Nathan took care of the girls. All went well, mommy and daddy had a good time and didn't call to checkup every hour, and the girls by all accounts were little angels.

First Daddy's birthday. Mom, Dad, and Great Grandma Ruth came down on my birthday to take us out to eat, and watch a little of the KU game. We also got the opportunity to get this picture:



First sickness. Jenn got a sore throat last week that eventually ballooned into a full blown cold, which of course everyone in the house (including Ruth) caught as well. As I type both girls are in their swings, looking to be on the mend though still coughing/sneezing up gunk and running minor bouts of fever every once in a while. Considering what a cold must be like when you're 4.5 months and don't know how to blow your own nose or clear your own throat, girls have handled it pretty well. They get pretty fussy once in a while of course, especially when they're running a fever, but still we can get smiles out of them most of the time. We did get some pretty good "sick baby" pictures that I still need to get uploaded from the camera, probably post them next time.

If all goes well today, I should also get some new videos up on the Youtube site sometime today.

4 months and another Valentine's Day Dress!

I’m obsessed with pink. Yeah, yeah, everyone who knows me knows that. But I just wanted to throw it out there, in case it slipped by anyone. That being said, I love dressing the girls in pink. LOVE it. And Valentine’s Day has offered even more opportunities for obtaining cute PINK clothing. So yes, the girls have more than one Valentine’s Day dress. And while this one doesn't have perfectly arranged dresses, Kayla (left) has the start of a smile, so I'm using it.


This afternoon was their four month appointment at the pediatrician, so I took the day off. I made it a busy day, and the girls and I were out all morning together. We even stopped by Daddy’s office.

The appointment went great, the girls are doing fine.
Kayla is 13 lbs 10 oz and 23.5 inches long.
Megan is 12 lbs 13oz and 24.0 inches long.
They did get vaccinations, and of course cried. So did I.

And this afternoon I held fussy babies. There’s nothing in this world that compares to the absolute adoration I feel that overwhelms me when one of my fussy little baby snuggles in against my neck and falls asleep.

3 Months and Counting

Pictures, pictures, pictures: Let's get some recent ones out of the way first off:


Girls at 3 months. I don't think it was exactly 3 months, but we're calling it close enough. And yes, I have them reversed in this picture, Kayla on the right, breaking with our standard.

A few Valentines-themed pictures:






Also, because I'm a sucker for "bad" pictures, Kayla and Megan: A Conversation.

Dude, they're trying to get me to roll over again.







You're kidding? Well, at least you're not on your third outfit of the day like I am.







Oh please, don't talk to me about outfits, you have no idea.







What? It's a little big around the arms maybe, but I really don't see what's so...
















........Touche.








Things have finally got back into the routine now that the holidays are over. Ruth is our daycare, Jenn and I are both back to the grind of work, and Kayla and Megan continue to grow. Ruth has an old baby scale she brought over, and weighed them both at around 12-13 lbs I believe, with Kayla still ahead of Megan. We have their 4 month appt sometime in the next few weeks, so will get the "official" results then.

Both girls are doing fine. We have seen both of them, Kayla in particular, attempting to roll over from their backs. They'll get about halfway and get stalled, just don't have the strength yet to make it all the way, but only a matter of time. Their legs are getting noticeably stronger as well, able to support more of their weight for a longer stretch if hold them up on your lap. Jenn has also been able to get them to blow raspberry's on a couple of occasions with prompting. They're sleeping through the night almost every night, usually 9-10 to around 5-6; on some occasions longer, both girls still asleep when Ruth shows up and after we both leave for work. We lucked out, big time.

Kayla and Megan's Christmas Adventure

The holidays have come and gone, and somehow we've all survived. Christmas with twin infant girls: interesting to say the least.

We lead things off up in Canton with Christmas for the McMannis side. The girls wore their pink Santa outfits that were entirely too big for them, but cute nonetheless.



We also had the opportunity to take a picture of all the McMannis kids (plus some adults to keep young ones in check), minus only Mary's little ones, but still producing enough cuteness to knock poor Bella over.



Quite a crew! Next up, three days later we were in Canton again, this time for Christmas with Granny, Grandpa, Linda, Shane, Jordan and Jalen. The four cousins were kind enough to stage a Cuteness Battle Royal, though at the end of the night there was no clear winner.



Christmas Eve and Day we had Grandma Bingham, Karen, Carl, and Nathan over to our house.



Daddy ended up sleeping most of Christmas Eve, having a little bit of a cold (as well as about 4 hours of sleep the night before). I am told, however, that both Kayla and Megan's cuteness continued unabated.

Finally, the day after Christmas we headed up to KC for the Vogts Christmas at Aunt Kathy's. Here we see Aunt Linda apparently telling Kayla shocking stories of what I was like as a big brother.



This trip also featured baby's first hotel stay, baby's first out of state trip, and perhaps most important of all....baby's first KC Masterpiece! Who knew they made Burnt End flavored formula?

Anyway, that was our late December. We also had a last minute, impromptu KU bowl game watch/New Years Eve party at the house with James, Tricia, Ron and Justin, as well as an "End of Day of Gaming" get together over at James' last night.

As far as day to day life, my time at home is now officially over, and Ruth is now our day care. Girls seem to be doing fairly well for her, she hasn't quit yet anyway. We're also coming up on 3 months, end of next week I believe. They're both doing great, starting to become more and more aware of their surroundings, talking to us some, sleeping through the night more often than not. The amazing continues everyday.