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!