Thanksgiving Update

To be honest... I didn't think I would ever get this post written! Thank goodness for a Boppy and tummy time. The boys are currently content so let's see how fast I can type!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. We sure had a lot to be thankful for this year. The two rascals were at the top of our list. For the holiday we traveled to Texas to be with my family. It was a great trip. The boys were excellent. The slept the entire car trip there and back. We stopped every three hours to change and feed them. We also broke the trip up into two days. We drove to Dallas the first night and then went on to Mamaw's house the next day. This made it a lot easier. The hardest part of the trip was packing! The car was stuffed to the max. I don't think I need to list all that we took... just imagine two of EVERYTHING!

Our visit with the family was just what I needed. I believe that there were 34 Cooks at Mamaw's house for Thanksgiving! I don't think the boys were put down for more than five minutes. My cousin Marcy made a surprise visit from Florida. It was awesome to see her and her three BEAUTIFUL kiddos. We were all sitting down for dinner when she got to the house. She walked in the door and I thought Mamaw was going to choke on her food!

Me and Cheyenne. Beautiful little girl!

Cheyenne feeding Anderson

Tucker was so proud. He fed, burped, and put Fletch to sleep!

It has been really tough on Mamaw since Papaw has been put in the nursing home. This time together was just what she needed. It was so great to see her smile so much. Just kills me to have her unhappy. I guess that is just how it feels when you love someone so much. When they hurt you hurt. This was a hard Thanksgiving for me too. Papaw is, and always has been such a big part of my life. It was heartbreaking to not have him with us. It was also very hard to see him in the nursing home. He didn't remember me... which I expected, but he did smile when Mamaw said my name. I think he knows "Stephanie" just not the big grown "Stephanie". He still thinks of me as a tiny tot with crazy blonde curly hair. He didn't know who the boys belonged to but he loved playing with them and holding them. The entire family was there and he payed more attention to the babies than anyone else! He would let them hold his fingers and kept talking to them. That was so good to see. I took as many pictures as I could!

Mamaw and her great-great-gran.

Papaw and his great-great-gran!

Six generations!

I did realize for the first time how hard the holidays can be for people. It isn't always fun and cheery attitudes. The holidays can also me a time of sadness. I'm glad that I am more aware of that. Hopefully it will help me to be more aware and caring to those who have trouble during this time of year. All I have to say is we better all count our blessings and be mighty thankful for the people in our lives. Things happen fast.

I loved watching my Mamaw hold the babies. She would just sit and look at them. It was so heartwarming. Hard to believe that they are her great-great-grans! My grandpa got to meet the boys too. It is even harder to believe that he is a great grandfather! I hope that even though we are far away, they will have a good relationship with him. Great grandpas are something special.

After our visit in Crockett with loaded up and drove down to Houston. We stayed the night with Dad on Friday and then got up early Saturday to swing by and see my Grandma Fay and Grandpa Joe . My Uncle Billy and his family were there along with my Aunt Colleen and her kiddos. Uncle Brandon and his wife were down from Dallas as well. We had a nice brunch and visit. After our visit we loaded back up and traveled to Dallas for the night. Anyone that knows us knows we can't go to Dallas without a stop by IKEA! Unfortunately, we couldn't really get much since the car was already loaded to the max. We did manage to get enough to fill up the floorboards though!

Cousin Lilly :)

Grandma Fay and Fletchman!

Grandpa Joe had to have them both at the same time. Balance is everything!

Well, we survived our first mini vacation :) All in all, I'd say it was a success! Now to get back on our regular schedule...

-Stephanie

ONE Month!

Yesterday was the boys one month birthday! I can't believe how fast these past four weeks have flown by. To celebrate we went and had their pictures taken. You know that they just loved that! It is my goal to have their pictures made every month for the first year. We will see how that goes :) Kale and I made these cute onesies with 1's on them... for 1 month. The pictures turned out cute, but I will admit that the newborn pictures were much easier to take. At five days old they didn't move as much or have as much of an opinion of how they wanted to be positioned! Let's just say I'm glad our photographer, Meagan, is so patient!

Here is a rundown of what the boys have been like in their first month.

Let's start with Fletcher... after all he is the big brother (by two minutes).

Fletcher is a S..L..O..W eater. He is our gassy one. The little guy has huge hands! He is a great sleeper during the day and anytime after 2 am. However, between the hours of 10 and 2 he enjoys wide eye time! The bad news is that is when Mommy enjoys SLEEPING! Fletch is a strong little guy. He can already lift his head and look around. He has done his fair share of faceplants into my shoulder. Fletcher is very vocal. He grunts and enjoys making noises that sound like goats! I must say they are the cutest goat noises I've ever heard though :)

Anderson loves to eat. He gobbles up his bottles. Anderson enjoys his awake time. He will just sit and look around. He likes to swing in his swing and will entertain himself by chewing on his fingers. Anderson is a great sleeper at all of the appropriate sleeping times! He is not nearly as vocal as Fletch, but has started to make a few more noises. He too is very strong and loves tummy time.

The boys enjoy our daily outings. When Kale gets home we always go somewhere to get out of the house for a little bit. I do believe their favorite place to go is Target. Who doesn't like Target?! Today we had mom and Abby with us. We got one of the super carts with the child seats attached to the front of it. Abby and all of her Pet Shop toys were in the front part then we had the boys taking up the entire cart part. I called it the "Kid Train!" Wish I had a picture... it was quite the sight.

This weekend the boys went to their second wedding. They were very well behaved. When we got home I laid them down in their big boy beds to stretch out for a little bit.

We leave on Tuesday for Texas. This will be the boys first road trip. Boy do I hope it goes smoothly!

-Stephanie

Due Date

Well, today was our 40 week due date! The boys were three weeks early.. not too bad for twins :) I can't even imagine how big I would have been if I had gone the full 40 weeks. Doc would have taken them at 38, but still to think about going full term just makes my feet start to swell!

At our doctor's appointment last week the boys both lost their umbilical cords. Yes folks, we have real belly buttons now! They are just too cute.

Yesterday evening we went out after Kale got home and did a little Christmas shopping. We went to Target and then to Wal Mart. The boys slept through it all! When we got home I let them stretch out on the couch for a bit. Here are some cute pics I took of them.

Happy to be out of their seats!

Fletcher Mac

Anderson Danger

Later that night both boys were wide awake for about 20 minutes. Kale and I sat and talked with them and they did such a good job following us with their eyes. Of course we had the camera near us so what else would we do besides grab some open eye pictures. Here are just a few.

The boys have their one month pictures scheduled for Saturday. Man, it is hard to believe it has almost been a month! It sure has been a great month. Not a lot of sleep, but totally worth every minute of it :)

-Stephanie

Extra Chins Anyone?!

My boys are growing SO fast. A week ago today they had a doctor's appointment to check their weight. At that time Fletch weighed 5# 5oz and Anderson weighed 6#s even. Today... Fletch is up to 6# 3oz and Anderson is a whopping 6# 13oz!! I have noticed that they each are sporting a fashionable extra chin. Animals put on their "winter coats," and my boys put on their "winter chins!" Anderson definitely is showing the Cook side of the family with his giant pinchable cheeks!

Tonight we went on a Target outing. The doctor said that the boys necks are strong enough that we can start tummy time. Kale and I bought them the cutest tummy mat. First night of TT was a success. Fletcher loved it, but it took Anderson a bit to get used to it.

Lucy is just checking things out.

One eyed Mac

We will be going to Texas to see my family for Thanksgiving. I can hardly wait. My Mamaw will get to see the boys for the first time. They are her Great great grandsons :) I can't wait to show them off.

Today I had to miss a wedding shower for one of my friends that I teach with. I was really pumped to get out to Gravette to see all of my friends and go to the shower but our dr apt ran long and I didn't get to go :( I think I will load the boys up and take them out Friday at the very end of the school day. I miss my class A LOT. I know that I got a new student and haven't even met her yet. Maybe Friday I'll take the boys by the class the last 5 minutes of school to get my hugs and let them see the babies. They can look but NO TOUCHING! I love being home with the gentlemen but I do get a little lonely with it being so quiet. The boys still sleep a lot, but I'm sure they will get more lively in the coming weeks.

I have been incredibly lucky with the help we have gotten from family. Kale's mom has come out many days the past two weeks and stayed with me, helped me feed, and done odds and ends jobs around the house. Thank you so much Dorothy! I'm lucky to have you. My mom has also come out and loved on the boys. She is great at keeping them awake while she is here so that they take a good nap after she leaves. She has a way with babies. One day I hope I will too! Kale's aunt Renee and Mamie have also been out a few times, always bearing food when they come :) Today they came out and fed and held the little guys for a couple hours. It was so nice to sit and visit with them. I know I dominated the conversation, but it was so nice to just visit. Thanks for listening ladies.

Well, we are all doing great. It is almost time for the boys "before bed snack." Hope everyone has a good night. Chao until next time!

This & That Update

The gentlemen are 10 days old today. Hard to believe! I had a doctor's appointment today and he thought everything looked great. I am going to go back in three weeks to have my incision checked once more and then we are done with seeing him. The boys also had an appointment today. They have been on the "beef up plan" since Wednesday of last week. So far Anderson has gained 5oz and Fletcher has gained 4oz. Now Danger weighs 6lbs and Fletch is at 5lbs 5oz. I'm happy they are going up, but we would like them to reach their birth weight by our appointment next week.

Tonight we had Kenny, Dorothy, and Jake over for dinner. It was a great visit and the boys got some great snuggle time. Glee was on so of course we watched it! It was a rerun, and one of the songs had Quinn dancing with a bunch of pregnant girls as her backups. It kind of made me miss by BIG prego belly! I have heard so many people say how they hated being pregnant and couldn't wait for it to be over... I loved it. It was a super special time.

The boys love their bath time. We tried the bathroom sinks at first but the boys don't really fit. Now we use the kitchen. It works much better! Here are the classic "first bath pictures."

Well, this has been a conglomeration of topics for one post. Overall, things are going great. I couldn't make it without Kale. He has been absolutely wonderful. When people see that we have twins they always look at me and ask how I'm doing it. All I have to say is I am not doing it... WE are. So far it hasn't been bad... let's pray that it stays that way!