christmas is fast approaching - 10.5 months

Our bubs are progressing along well and getting into more mischief each day. Yesterday they managed to pull all the stacks of Nappies off the shelves then Safiya used them to climb on top of to get to what was on the second shelf in the bathroom. They seem to be really enjoying their new found climbing ability and their new skill of getting on to their tippy toes to pull things off benches. They even managed to pull apart an envelope and DVD yesterday and were trailing a magnet of Henry I didn't even realise I had across the kitchen floor :).
They are fast approaching the walking milestone and Sol took his first tiny steps in the bath tub the other night. Our babysitter commented today that Sol was stomping his feet because he wanted her to help him walk to a bench even though she was occupied changing Safiya's nappy.
They are also starting to wave and Safiya managed a very funny Hello back to mine this morning.
We have had a couple of trying weeks when they both had a cold and Safiya developed some eczema on her back. The colds are gone now however and I have removed eggs and cow's milk from Safiya's diet and her eczema is disappearing. I will try cow's milk again when all the eczema has gone as I have a sneaking suspicion it is just eggs she is currently intolerant to.
We have been spending afternoons at the park when the weather permits and recently had a successful photo shoot with some of the last leaves of Autumn - some of these pics are already up on facebook.
Shammy and I enjoyed one of our few evenings out together last week, something we are trying do more often, it is that much loved quality time and we have signed up to do our annual 10km run together which of course we skipped out on last February. It will be interesting to see how I go in comparison to my previous runs. I'll have the added motivation of getting back in time for our babysitter :).

First snow of the season

Well being forever the Australian I completely down played the fact that it would snow this weekend, being that it is only October, thinking it was just media hype. But no, we probably have about 6 inches outside at the moment, its being snowing all day and it is still snowing!

So besides a brief outing this morning we have had a fun filled indoors day with some dancing to Hindi music and some oatmeal play time.

Sol and Safiya were initially fascinated by this fluffy white stuff that floated down outside but they soon lost interest and were happy to concentrate on what mischief they could get up to inside.

It is so cute watching them follow each other around and they are becoming very good at playing together and as long as they are fed and not tired, are pretty happy to roam around doing their own thing.

Sol can now stand up without holding onto something and will stay upright for a good amount of time, which of course we get excited about which eventually brings him plopping down. Their chatter to each other and in general has increased and of course there are heaps of "dada daddy's" coming out but only one mmmmMum to date from Sol.

They are now only drinking cow's milk and eating their regular meals each day. At our regular Dr's visit they kept asking about how much formula they were drinking so eventually I just said they were drinking milk and surprisingly they were okay with this, I feel the Dr I saw was on much the same wavelength as we are when it comes to the influence of the formula companies.

Shammy is beginning the process of applying for Electrophysiology fellowships and I am still keeping my usual work schedule although I seem to be picking up a few extra days lately.

Aleesha our babysitter is still fabulous and we now have weekend baby sitter options if needed with the ladies at the gym offering to do the occassional weekend sit if we need it.

Survived Minneapolis, 8.5 months

Flying with two 8 and a half month olds, with stopovers between 2, 1.5 hour flights. Not too difficult you would think. Lets just say draining and it took a couple of days of the following week to recover :). The flights themselves were okay, it was more the time change and lack of sleep at night with the change in sleeping environments for Sol and Safiya that wiped me out. I think the next time we travel for a conference I'll only go if Shammy doesn't "attend" the conference all day as it just makes things a little less full-on during the day.

I discovered Sol and Safiya only like my home cooking, anything bought was not up to their standards besides a spinach, mushroom curry I picked up from a take away :).

On the Sunday I managed to get out and have a look along the riverside, stone arch bridge and the local museums with the bubs. They were very well behaved and seemed to enjoy the german dancing on display. I also wandered across some farmer's markets so I got to try some local vegetable empanadas, yum!

I think Minneapolis would definitely be a summer city, not a place to be venturing to in the winter months, coming back to Allentown afterwards it felt so warm in comparison.

Sol and Safiya are both crawling well now and are now standing up on any piece of furniture, leg, object they can get their hands on. Safiya seems the more courageous of the two and because of this has had her fair share of mishaps. Sol is not happy just to stand still but wants to bop around or have you walk him everywhere. A lot of sounds are coming out their mouths but nothing really sensible yet. They are starting to understand basic commands though and certainly know when Mummy wants them to be nice and share rather than grab each others toys out of their hands. There is never a dull moment.

Wet weather

So the last couple of weeks have been pretty wet with some Hurricanes off the east coast having the area on constant flood warnings. Hurricane Irene caused a lot of power cuts, luckily not for us, and a lot of local flooding. Some people are just getting power in our area now and that is 2 weeks later. There has been more rain this week with Hurricane Katia and another tropical depression in the area, which is making driving conditions to Hershey interesting for Shammy. We also have the relay marathon this weekend so it could be an interesting and very muddy one, hoping it stops raining on the day so at least the bubs can come out and enjoy also.

With the wet weather we have been having some fun indoor days, hence the spaghetti fun and I think its time to buy a few indoor play mats before the carpets here are annihilated :).

Sol and Safiya are really getting more mobile now which is making things very interesting, hence the cots have been lowered and the gates are up high as they are grabbing onto everything and using things to stand up. Safiya in particular is enjoying sitting up in her cot and I find it most amusing walking into the bedroom to see if she has gone to sleep to find her sitting up smiling at me.

Its time to install safety measures as I'm quickly realising already I am finding them in some interesting places and once they start crawling there will be no controlling them. They also seem to like tugging on our pants now to let us know they want to be picked up.

I think the term "silence is deadly" is most appropriate as you can be sure they are up to something they shouldn't be!

In a couple of weeks we are all off for our first plane flight together to Minneapolis for a conference Shammy has. I'm as excited as always to see a new place and hopefully this will the start of some more exploring for us.

Just when you think you have it figured out it all changes :)

Hmmm how do think this works Sol

Nothing could be truer when it comes to babies. These two definitely keep me on my toes. I guess when you think about it their growth is so rapid its not surprising that change is happening so quickly.

It seems another tooth is on the way for each of them and combine that with a little too much stimulation at the picnic this afternoon and not enough nap time and it equals a good hour to get them both to bed when normally they both go straight down. Of course one would just about drop off and then the other would wake them up again, it certainly made for an interesting skype conversation with Lee-Anne.

Safiya is sitting by herself now, but I put a bean bag behind to stop the occasional fall, Sol hasn't quite got there yet, very close, but maybe its that little bum holding him back :). He is however constantly in crawl position but hasn't quite worked out how to go forward yet. Safiya also seems to like her hand and knees at the moment.

I seem to be getting into a nice routine, only thrown out by lack of sleep or should I say more than the usual lack of sleep. They are both still loving their swim time and today Shammy and I took them for our first family run together.

They both were quite happy in the stroller and seemed to like Shammy's pace, even though they had to stop and start a few times while they waited for Mummy. We are doing the relay marathon again this year and it has been a good motivation for me to get back into running again.

a new water and food proof mat, lets check it out

Its also been nice to have Shammy around more on the weekends as last year it was practically every 2nd weekend plus at least one week night he was working. Having said that he is on call tonight :).

They are both so much fun though, and smile so much we love just spending time with them and every day brings another laugh.

We love you Nanny!

Well it was with a few tears from everyone, Sol and Safiya included, that we said goodbye to Nanny this morning. We have loved having her here so much and Sol and Safiya always had big smiles for Nanny and I know have already gained so much from being with her for the last 6 months.

Shameer and I feel very lucky to have had sooo much help and another friend to share our life with.

We are staying positive though and it will be good for Shammy and I to make our own way through the ups and downs of parenthood, with lots of laughter and I'm sure a few tears along the way. I'm crossing my fingers that they give us a good respite at night time so that we are fresh and ready for the new day :).

They are both pretty happy bubs and are developing little personalities and love their food. Safiya has decided that crying is pointless to get what you want, why not let out a big screech instead :). Sol meanwhile will give her a look like what is that all about and continue playing happily by himself.

They are getting better at sitting but still need support around them and seem to be developing some crawl like motion even if on Sol's part it ends up in a head plant on the ground.

We have Miss Aleesha lined up to cover the 2 mornings I work a week and then a couple of hours on another morning to give me some time out. I'm also planning in enrolling them at the creche at the gym so that they can have some fun playing somewhere different and I can get my exercise in.

We have been making the most of summer with lots of walks at the Lehigh valley parkway and we are now taking the bubs to the pool to have a splash along with us. I'm happy to report that they seem to enjoy this.

With Mum's departure, Shammy has also finished his first year of fellowship, YEY, so hopefully we will be seeing more of him at home. He has an away rotation coming up at Hershey and we will have to work out if this means some exploring at the end of the week for the rest of the family also.

The first 6 months with the twins has been a whirlwind and we look forward to beginning a new stage together and are already looking forward to seeing Nanny in Macungie next Autumn! Safe journey Nanny and give all our cousins in Australia big hugs and kisses and even those that are due soon :)

Finger lakes

Watkins Glen

Since we have had Sol and Safiya we haven't had the chance to go away together for any prolonged period so a week away together was enjoyed by all and Sol and Safiya loved all the attention.
We stayed in a 3 bedroom cottage looking over Lake Cayuga. An early morning fog would sit over the lake and 5am starts never felt so bad with the morning sun winking through.
They also provided us with a couple of mountain bikes and my arse still feels a bit tender. An ideal area to cycle around with rolling farmland and vineyards between each lake, but even one rolling hill was enough for me particularly with a bike half the size it needed to be, Shammy didn't seem to have the same problem.

Tuchannock falls

Looks like Papa and Mummy are having a good time, not sure about bubs

We Enjoyed some really nice walks with Watkins Glen being the most spectacular with 19 waterfalls. The nearby town of Ithaca had quite an alternative feel and Cornell University sits prestigiously on the hill overlooking the lake.

A good time was had by all and there were plenty of laughs along the way :)

1st Mother's day

Shammy asked me when mother's day was and I thought thats right we better keep that in mind for Mum and then it dawned on me, thats right I get to celebrate as well, yay, although my 4 months don't come anywhere near that of Mum. Every day I am so thankful that I have such an amazing, loving, supportive mother!
We headed to Hawk Mountain for Mother's day for some fresh air and some mountain views, the outing was so refreshing and the day could not have been better.

Yesterday I was reminded again of what a caring husband and amazing Mum I have. I think I got some food poisoning - thanks coleslaw - which completely put me out of action for 24 hours and thanks to these special people everything kept on ticking in the household, and zofran tablets arrived via Shammy's prescription and transport. Sol and Safiya were none the wiser it was Mummy who missed picking up her little munchkins for the day.
We are all heading off to the finger lakes district next week for a much deserved chill out in an area of lakes, waterfalls and wineries.
I am also happy to report that the book Baby whisperer is proving to be successful, they are sleeping through the night, generally only waking up once for reassurance. Daytime also seems to be getting into a nice pattern and Miss Aleesha seems like she will be a success.

Spring is here

4 months and still able to fit their duckie outfits

Spring is definitely upon us, and with its arrival our daily outings to the park have begun. It is the highlight of our day and gives everyone some fresh air. This routine seems to be getting Sol and Safiya used to the stroller but its a pity their Mummy hasn't quite mastered the art of missing the goose poo.

My big achievement last week was to find an energetic, friendly babysitter which will be essential once Mum leaves. She will be working one morning a week while Mum is here, then 2 once Mum leaves and is flexible to work another complete day for us if I start back at Discover. So hopefully Miss Aleesha will work out well for us. Our gym has a creche so I will also be making the most of this once my period of being spoiled is over.
The 4 hour work stint gives me a change of scene and some 'quiet time' without completely exhausting me and I look forward to heading home for the afternoon spent with Mum and the twins.
Shammy is still working hard in his first year fellowship and I know the highlight of his long days is seeing his little munchkins, even if it is just to gaze upon them while they are asleep or catch a quick good morning banter session.
They are definitely showing recognition of all of us now and starting to notice each other and this is just adorable to watch.

Our next big goal is to have them sleeping through the night and to this end we are trying out a book called the baby whisperer by Tracy Hogg, that Mum picked up from the library. Last night was our first trial of it and if it was anything to go by it might actually work :). After a dream feed at 10pm for Sol and Safiya with a bit of reassuring and patting around 3am they managed to sleep through til 6am, big smiles alround if this works. It even tweaks the routine we have through the day a bit and at the moment both babies are down for nap time even if Sol required a few pick-ups and put-downs a couple of minutes ago he seems to be happily sleeping again, aah the bliss of silence!

I will update you on its success, if it works which I have a sneaking suspicion it might I will probably be very annoying and pushing it at anyone who is expecting a baby soon so watch out :)

Yes Mum we are ready for our afternoon at the park

almost 3 months

The landmark 3 months and I find myself looking forward to this milestone, not for the growth spurt, no way, but for the thought that they might just soon start sleeping through the night. Although this seems so unlikely to me at the moment as they are only just managing to extend the first part of the night sleep to 5 hours.

A bit of a routine is developing with them though and the changes happen so gradually that it is easy to forget how far they have come from those tiny little ones when they were first born and I was just worried that they would drink rather than sleep. No concern with that these days, particularly not with Safiya! Safiya even got her first taste of natural yoghurt yesterday, very tasty thankyou very much :)

They are just starting to recognise each other which is really sweet with Sol taking more interest in Safiya and Safiya looking everywhere but Sol and then eventually her eyes coming to rest on her. I took this cute piccy this morning on our bed, one of the rare oppurtunities where they were both happy to chill together and smile and coo for Mummy.

Nina's blog made me quite teary yesterday and not a day goes by that I don't appreciate having Mum here helping out. She will be sorely missed by us all when she leaves, but I don't want to talk about that right now, it just makes me sad :(

I have got into the routine of half a morning of work a week and may up this soon as we may have a baby sitter lined up who I am to meet this Thursday, one of the lovely ladies who comes to Medicap Pharmacy (first name Barbara ironically) found her for me. It will be nice to have someone else to help out when I'm working and give all of us some relief.

Spring is on the way with more outdoor opportunities, yey!

Survival of the fittest :)

Mummy and Nani play dress-ups

Coming up to 2 months now and team Ahmed/White seem to be hanging in there with Sol and Safiya growing gradually and starting to have little cooing conversations with us and beautiful smiles. There is no doubt that having twins can be pretty tough sometimes, you just get one sorted and then the other one starts but its the smiles and hysterical laughter that get you through. I honestly don't know how anyone could do it without an amazing support team or maybe do it sanely I should say :).
We are getting more comfortable getting out for outings now and the weather is warming gradually so our slings are getting lots of use, its the recipe for keeping them nice and peaceful. They certainly attract a lot of attention when we are out!
The next step is trying to organise regular babysitting which is going to require some serious research. This week I'm going to try the working scene again with one morning a week and see if its do-able. It will be good for me mentally and to keep up with whats happening in the land of pharmacy.

The men of the house ready for lunch at thai orchid

Shammy is on call this weekend so Mum and I are going to take the little munchkins on a trip to Amish country, it could be dangerous as there is going to be lots of yummy bakery food on offer :).

I just had to interrupt my blog to change Sol's nappy this morning. I was patting myself on the back as I'd managed to contain his pee with the nappy and keep his clothes dry and I thought he'd finished and then a few seconds later he let fly again, there goes all his clothes, his wrap and he gave himself a facial shower and mummy also who was bending over to put his nappy on. He has already pooped in it again so it will be off for another change now but for the moment he is sitting on my lap smiling and cooing at me. I guess I can handle a facial shower any day for that.

Safiya ready for walk in oversized suit and just chilling

Well the days keep on flying by and the feeling that I'm never quite catching up with everything but just managing to complete the must do tasks before they spiral out of control. Another week of adventure begins ........

Spending some Monkey time

Occasionally Sol and Safiya are waking from their sleep and drink cycles to take some peeks at the world around them and are really starting to focus on our faces. We have had lots of fun with Auntie Neens and Uncle Adam's monkey present and are loving the swing our friends gave us which is fantastic for keeping them settled which Nani has discovered.

I came back from my walk the other day to find Mum had packaged them up in a wrap together and they were quite happily chilling out together on the swing, even when feeding time approaches which beats crying babies any day!

They also had their first baths this week and it looks like we have two water babies, they both loved it and I think Papa enjoyed giving them one just as much, that was their birthday present for him :).

Shammy's was on call Friday, Saturday and Monday so it has been a busy and tiring weekend for all but our reward is that we are heading to Princeton for the rest of the week so Shammy can attend a conference and the rest of the entourage can get a change of scenery and maybe a bit of a look around. Hopefully we will get to have a look at Princeton University which is supposed to be quite impressive, even if its just to drive around it.

It will be an interesting to see how it all goes with our first trip away, I can't believe the amount of gear we need to carry, gone are the days of light packing. Watch out Princeton here we come :).

Snug in their winter wonderland

Its hard to believe its been almost 3 weeks already and Sol and Safiya are starting to stay awake a little longer, Safiya in particular is very interested in Nani Barbie's mobile design over the change table.

They are both incredibly in sync with their 4 hourly feed times which can make it interesting for feeding, its working out well with the twin pillow for me but Mum finds it interesting on her early morning feed balancing both babies and the bottles of milk :). We are getting into a nice routine and the days fly by and I am at least able to get out for some exercise and to grab a few things thanks to Mum and Shammy.

I'm holding Sol at the moment and thinking its time to change another poopy nappy, but it doesn't matter, I'm constantly wondering how we are lucky enough to score 2 beautiful little bubs!

Our 2 little rays of sunshine!

On Monday 10th of January at 4:56pm and 4:59pm Shammy and I fell instantly in love with our 2 little cutie pies. Sol Leslie Azziz Ahmed (5 pounds 7 ounces) arrived first followed shortly after by Safiya Tahera Louise Ahmed (4 pounds 12 ounces).

The induction went well and it seemed throughout the Day when Mum and Shammy decided to go for a coffee break all hell would break loose. Shammy went to grab coffee for Mum and when he left I was peacefully reading a book during the contractions but by the time he got back I was curled over in pain with the epidural team on their way, 5cm dilated and with the increased Pitocin intensity I had definitely had enough. Lucky Shammy was back to keep me nice and still for the epidural. After the epidural the rest of Labour was not bad at all.

Sol on the left and Safiya on the right getting in some touch time

In the afternoon Mum and Shammy again decided to go for a coffee break and I was thinking at the time I'm not sure that is a good idea as these coffee breaks are jinxed. Sure enough as soon as they left the doctor came in to exam me and realised that Sol was very ready to be delivered and he was warning me not to cough. Everyone was like where is your husband, as they called in the large delivery team and got me organised to go to theatre. It was to the stage where they were going to overhead page him in the hospital when he walked back through with coffee and was handed scrubs and told we would meet him in theatre :).

This week has been around the clock busy but incredibly rewarding, and with proud Daddy and Nanny to help out they are settling into a nice little 4 hourly routine and we have a bit of a shift work pattern happening for the nightly feeds.

We have had so many explosive poos, my computer coped the brunt of one which made for an interesting clean up and last night Shammy and I both got hit by Safiya's fountain poo which left us in hysterics. Sol also thought his pee would make a good hair conditioner for me and maybe a good facial toner as well.

So many rewarding moments and I treasure every day with them.

Surprise chrissy treat

The gang in our apt

Well I'm still waiting to meet James's friend Andrew who is supposed to be taller and more solid then James. As I pulled up to meet James I didn't really scrutinise "Andrew" that much just thought he was smaller than Mum had described him :). Then I realised "Andrew" was Nathan and there couldn't have been a better way to make my day. I was now spending christmas with Shammy and not one but 2 of my brothers, yey!!

Nathan and James managed to arrive into one of the more dubious bus stations in the area which consists of a hut and some very dodgey surrounding area. Not the best first impression. We did get a chance though to show them around the area including the infamous Allentown. Shammy had a week off from wednesday so after some sound advice from my doctor to check out where the local hospitals with good facilities were located we headed to Washington DC.

Such an impressive city, with interesting architecture, feel and layout, so Nathan and James loved the feel here and Shammy and I enjoyed chilling out and the facilities of the Sofitel hotel the boys had booked us into.

We managed to catch an NBA game and the boys hired bikes and took in all the monuments while Shammy and I went for a wander and bought the 5th latte for Nathan and James who had finally found a coffee they could enjoy in US.

Shammy outside Old Ebbitt Grill in Washington DC

It was a fun time spent with them and there is some good footage floating around of Nathan's split pants :).

We waved goodbye to them new years eve and then Shammy and I enjoyed some chill out time together over the next few days and some sleep-ins which we know are going to be non-existent very soon. The only drama being Shammy having to make an impromptu trip to New York to renew his passport after realising it was expiring on the 7th of January.

We have had light snow here overnight so the winter wonderland has returned for Mum's arrival.

Shammy and I are both eagerly awaiting the arrival of our twins, not long now as inducement will be discussed with 38 weeks arriving this Saturday.

And another journey begins with start of 2011 and a happy new year to everyone!!