Spring Fun!

With six days left of spring here in Memphis and heat advisories already issued, the girls have taken to the outdoors of late. Here are some pictures from the last couple weeks.

Playing with bubbles at Nana & Popa's house

Peyton gettin' at it!

Grandma & Grandpa got a sandbox for the girls this summer.



We aren't quite convinced they realize once they pour the sand out, it's not going back in.
Big thanks to Grandpa who keeps filling it up!



They also got a new pool this summer for the girls (and Grandma).
And apparently Daddy as well!



We have been to the water spray park a couple times already and the girls have had a blast. They are much more willing to get wet than in previous years.

Watch out Peyton!
(or is it Watch out Grace!? I don't know.)


Nope, it didn't turn on while they were hovering over it...
...yes, that would have been awesome.


I asked them to pose for a nice picture on the bench and this is what I get...





I have NO idea what they are doing here but this is another one of those pictures we plan to show any suitors who come knocking (in 31 1/2 years)...

And yes, they are wearing the exact same thing which rarely happens. Since I took them by myself I needed every advantage I could get in watching them. Having them in the same suit makes this exercise of herding wet cats slightly easier.


We FINALLY made it to My Big Backyard. It seems like this is a must for any and all stay-at-home moms in the Memphis area and since my time as a stay-at-home mom was ending I figured we had to go. Luckily my mom was there to help corral, document, and dry off the girls as we tried to keep them in line. As you can tell, we were only somewhat successful.




We were unprepared and left the Crocs at home not realizing you can walk in the stream. Of course we told them they couldn't go in at first. Then Grace decided to step into the water with her tennis shoes anyway. I love the independence of a three year old! (insert sarcasm here)

So I did what any cool (i.e. stupid) mom would have done and said "Go for it!", we did bring towels after all.
That was about 30 seconds before Peyton fell and tripped while standing/floating in the stream. Doh!
You know Grace followed... GraceFul(ler)


To infinity... and beyond!


Some friendly sack races. This lasted about 45 seconds...



Rowan wasn't having it.

She actually did great and was a trooper while her big sisters were complete hoodlums.


And last but not least, while they BOTH look cute, I think Grace looks like a supermodel in this picture.
I think it's the pose, and of course, her inherited good looks.

...I also think it's time we set up our appointment with the nuns at the convent.

Our Kids Say The Darndest Things: Part 1

The girls having speaking in sentences it seems like forever. Between the constant "mama's" and heart-melting "I love you's", Stephen and I have noticed a couple funny variations on some common words. Below is the start of a list I'm sure we will add to as time goes on.

Sidenote: We'll be sharing these gems with any and all boys they bring over once they hit our set dating age of 35.

The classic: Bsketti

Last Day
(Peyton)
(I gotta hand it to her, it's a pretty smart try at conveying the word 'yesterday')

YESTERDAY

Lemolade
(Peyton)

Donimoes (pronounced Don-ne-moes)

Mores
(Grace)

Emmelopes

Craylons
(Peyton)

Lellow

Inbitations

Echo
(Peyton)

She's Found Her Voice!

A couple days ago Rowan found her voice. And we think what she found is ADORABLE!

How am I supposed to go back to work next week when she is doing this?!

The Fuller household is about to get much louder...

Cheeks!

Daddy sure is a funny guy! Look at those cheeks!!!

Hoarders

I've yet to see the TV show Hoarders but I'm pretty sure the girls
would be prime candidates for an episode.

Tummy Time

Apparently you can text an image and words direcly to your blog... I
wonder if it works?

Here is Rowan enjoying tummy time.

Rowan's 2 Month Checkup

Technically, she's already 9 weeks old but we went in for her two month check up today to hear some things we already knew (she's perfect) and some we didn't (she's not so small anymore).

Here are the stats, with the one everyone is dying to hear first:

~ Head circumference: 39 1/2 cm --> 75th% percentile

~ Weight: 14 pounds --> >97th% percentile

~ Height: 23 3/4 inches --> 95th% percentile

Our little girl is a big girl! A big girl that is sleeping very well at night, even as she fights her first cold. She's had the cold for almost a week now and before that was sleeping in 6-8 hour stretches so we are hoping that continues once she starts feeling better. She's still sleeping in 4-5 hour stretches now though so we can't complain. God bless "healthy" (i.e. plump) babies! I had heard that once they hit a magical number in pounds they tend to sleep the night and with Rowan I would say that is more than true. With the girls... not so much. I think their magical number must be in the 30's somewhere... Also on the sleeping note, she can't stay up more than an hour or so during the day before she has to take a nap. Kinda nice but if she sleeps too long during the day then we have a very unhappy baby before she finally goes to sleep (after a nice nap on the dryer in her carseat or a car ride with Dad!) I've been waking her up during the mornings after about an hour and half and after 4pm I'll only let her sleep about 30 minutes. It seems to have worked. Our pediatrician said he thought she might have been colicky for those couple weeks (i.e. dryer and car rides and 12am bedtimes) but that she should be leveling off now, which she is.

She is cooing more and will smile if you do something she likes which is so much fun! She is holding her head up really well also. We're thinking she can get a job once she has full head control, she needs to earn her keep - cuteness only goes so far in this house! The girls are still very much in love with their new baby sister. They LOVE getting thisclose to her face as much as possible (see: second paragraph, third sentence, fourth word). Once thing I've been surprised about is that they don't seem to mind when she cries. This is especially helpful at night when Rowan tends to be most "active" and before Stephen gets home. I can't wait until she can start interacting with them a bit more - I think they'll really have fun with her (until the next Dora episode comes on and then Rowan can play by herself!).

We do have several nicknames for her. The girls like to call her Rowie or Little Girl Girl. We have no idea why they have instituted the double "girl" but I find myself calling her that when they are gone. She is also known as Ro, Buddha, Sweeters, Ro-ster or Roaster (whichever you prefer) and too many more to name.

After the shots today she is tuckered out. She's been sleeping pretty much ever since and if memory serves this is normal. Although I am kinda anticipating a LONG night...

Bandaids over her boo-boos... so sad. We had an AWESOME nurse that was quick as lightning and the worst was over before we knew it. I managed to hold it together and did not cry I'm happy to report!

All in all, one big happy baby and one big happy family!

Rowan Update - 7 weeks

Wow! We can't believe it's already been almost 7 weeks since Rowan joined the family!

She is doing great! We think she might be tipping the scales around 12 pounds right now... we'll get the real numbers come May 17 when we go see the doctor for her 2 month check-up. Nursing is going really well (as you can see below!) however this child REFUSES to take a bottle! I mean, she's a baby - the bottle should be no problem, right? I've given daycare a heads up and they've assured me that this is somewhat common and that she'll figure it out eventually. Luckily, we still have around 5 weeks left to get this ironed out. Fingers crossed!

We should have seen her lack of enthusiasm for the bottle coming - as she has not been interested in a pacifier either. I had heard of this breed of baby but thought, like unicorns, they didn't exist. I just couldn't believe moms who said they're kids didn't take pacifiers. They're babies after all! But now I know unicorns are real. I mean, now I know these mythical babies do exist, right in our own house!

She might be a basketball player...I think she got the tall gene!

Other than not taking a bottle or pacifier, Rowan is doing lots of fun things:

* She is starting to smile at us more (this stage came pretty late with the girls since they were 6 weeks early so we are really enjoying seeing it in her at this early stage)

* She is holding her head up like a champ! (Like every other new parent, we assume she is the ONLY one her age doing this so well!)

* She has started to pull up with her arms when I hold her hands! Impressive, no? (see above)

* She is very alert during the days and thankfully very sleepy during the night! We've had one night where she slept from 10pm - 6am! Of course this will never happen again but generally she'll go between 4, 5 or 6 hour stretches once a night and then go right back to sleep after her feeding. Rowan, have we told you how much we LOVE you?

* She LOVES her baths. We totally thought she would hate them (she would always cry when we changed her diaper in the beginning) but she just lays back and takes it all in! We use this as one of our weapons should she get into one of her "I'm so tired I'd rather cry than fall asleep for three hours" spells. It generally doesn't work but for some reason we always think it will! :) Silly parents we should know who's in charge by this point!

I know there's lots more to update with but I'll save them for our 2 month check-up post which will have the stat I know you all are looking forward to: head circumference!

The shirt says it all!

Child Labor Part 2

Here are some pictures from the girls recent attempt to earn their keep here at home.

(Some of you may remember another way we've put them to work.)

We did some yard work a couple weeks ago and by we, I mean, Stephen and my brother. They did an awesome job and the yard looks great. We did need to go back and put a weed barrier underneath the pavers we got for the side of the garden and I thought this was a great opportunity for us all to be outside since it was such a nice night.

The girls were more than happy to assist!

Here's Dad telling the girls the plan.

Almost as important as the plan is how to use the tools!

Looks like Peyton has it down!

Monkey see, monkey do has its advantages!

Also, all yard work should be level. Contractors take note. Love, Peyton

Again, we have nothing against child labor.

And now onto the flowers. Peyton looks on as Grace starting watering.

Time is money! Peyton gets to work!

And where was Rowan while this family outing was taken place? She was learning and absorbing all the techniques being used by her sisters. We weren't going to let this teaching experience pass us by!

She is LOVING the infant carrier! Can't you tell??

The Big Reward

Daddy, with the help of Nana, took the girls to the Orpheum Theater to see Storytime Live! Nickelodeon has strategically been running commericals and "behind the scenes" bits (read: more commercials) so the girls have been asking to go for a while. We told them yesterday, as a surprise for being "big girls" at night, they had tickets to the show. They were ecstatic and off they went while Mommy stayed home with Baby Rowan and enjoyed some "quiet time".

Here they are leaning over the balcony checking out the action!

Here's the action! This was the Wonder Pets portion of the show.

Nana was a big help!

Also, Daddy breathed a big sigh of relief he didn't have to handle the bathroom duties!

I'm not certain what Grace is doing here but I'm pretty sure if someone wielding a flashlight saw her we wouldn't be allowed back...

Although I do think it's funny her father is the one taking this picture.

The girls had a great time at the show and the rewards seems to still be working! Now we have to think of a reward big enough to make sure they don't start dating until they are 30... If you have any ideas, let us know!

Dare we say it? Part 2

We're potty trained!!!

(Disclaimer: 2 out of 3 kids)

Now, for my (two) devout followers that read this blog daily (big shout out to Mom & Dad!), I've actually typed these words before so let me explain.

The girls have been potty trained for a while now, during the day. Ever since they were about 2 1/2 or so. I guess this could be "late" for some but I am so glad we waited. I was dreading this time and it was about as easy (with twins no less!) as I could have imagined. Yes, we bought diapers for longer but in the end waiting for them to be ready was worth it. All that being said, our daycare took the brunt of the training. I sent them to school with 10 pairs of shorts and within 3 days and 3 pairs of washed shorts they were trained. I do recognize that we are very lucky we got a "free pass" for this otherwise difficult milestone. However I think it might be due to the fact that we didn't sleep for 8 months in the beginning, or that formula cost $25 a can every 2 1/2 days, or I could on - but I'll stop, you get the point I'm sure.

We decided (against convention maybe?) to keep them in pull-ups at night. We knew I was pregnant and didn't want to rock the boat even more. We also had a not so great habit of letting them have their sippy cups before bedtime which we knew would have to stop when we made this transition. They were sick most of the winter leading up to Christmas so trying to do it then wouldn't have worked. After Christmas I was in my 3rd trimester, big as a house, and with Rowan on the way we didn't want to deal with regression after the baby got here so we just waited.

So 6 nights ago the girls asked to asked to be "big girls" at night. We were planning on this day once our last pull-ups were gone which would have been in a week or so but they beat us to the punch! We told them they could have a couple sips of water before bed but they had to give us their sippy cups after dinner. They obliged without whining, much to our surprise! They've been "big girls" for 6 mornings in a row now and we couldn't be happier!

I realize waiting this long is not normal but it worked for us and has not, at any point, given us a headache. A lot of it I think has to do with the fact that there are two of them so it will be interesting to see how we handle this milestone with Rowan. I say this of course as she is wearing size 1 diapers. We have a LONG way to go before we need to think about pull-ups again!

And the big reward for being "big girls" all day long?
(Because really, would you do this without expecting something in return? Not our kids!)

More on that in the next post!

Rowan is a Growin'

Wow!

That's the feeling we left the doctor's office with last Friday for Rowan's 2 week (and 2 days) check-up.

When Rowan was born she weighed 8lbs and 11.6oz (fine, 12 ounces).

When she left the hospital on Day 4 she weighed 8lbs even. Totally normal and within range of what newborns are expected to lose.

We took her for her first check-up when she was 7 days old and she weighed 8lbs 4oz. Our doctor told us he thought she would get back up to her birth weight (8lbs 12 oz) by her 2 week check-up. With us nursing, we were really hoping she would be back to her birth weight as it is a good sign of a successful start. Our fingers were crossed!

We took her in for her 2 week check-up (she was actually 16 days old) and laid our precious, fragile newborn on the scale...

... which tipped to 9lbs 10oz!!! (95th percentile)

That's 68 grams a day that she gained. Apparently, I need to stop eating Easter candy yesterday!

The poor nurse that weighed her asked if we wanted her re-weighed. We said no, we trusted her, we just couldn't believe what the scale said. It was like we were first time parents again, we kept asking our doctor if this was normal - had he seen this before?! I mean, she doesn't look that big but the scale doesn't lie, right? He said it was completely normal and that with her height at 21 3/4 inches being in the 95th percentile as well (up from 21 at birth) she was doing just fine. He said she could start to slow down in her weight gain but he wouldn't be surprised if she was 13lbs at her 2 month check-up!!! Oh my!

This is all new territory for us as the girls weighed 4lbs 9oz and 4lbs 11oz at birth and are only 30lbs now at 3 years old. The girls weights combined is only 8oz more than Rowan weighed AT BIRTH.

My plan for Rowan to be fully clothed in her sister's outfits until she can pay for her own clothes may have already come to an end! We will see!

Here's our "little" girl after her bath last night.