Holiday pics

12/17/09

Nothing new; they're just cute.

Christmas pics

The girls had their first Christmas pictures yesterday. I'm guessing we can all tell who's who.

new pics

Christmas pics

Mom took these this morning.

happy babies

Mom took this picture yesterday. The girls are much more expressive lately, babbling and laughing more and more every day. Pretty soon we will be chasing them all over the house.

First Halloween

We had a good time Saturday night. Prior to that, though, Luke was a good luck charm for us in football, as we barely beat Camas for the league title.

The babies barely fit into their pea-pod outfits, as they are growing fast. Both of them smiled and cooed a few times this weekend, and Harper even made what sounded like a laughing sound when I was playing with her. It was a big weekend.

Pumpkin patch

We took Luke, Lexie, and their cousin Mikey to a pumpkin patch last weekend. It was crowded for a rainy day, but it was fun. We were there for a few hours. We carved pumpkins the other night--well, kind of. We got one done.

The babies' sleep has been fitful lately. I think they are worried about the health care debate--I know Harper is also worried about the troops in Afghanistan. She told me the other day that she hates having them in an impossible situation. She worries.

We'll have pictures of the girls in their pea-pod outfits after this weekend.

Uncle Ogre came to town...

We had a visit from the Vogels today. Jeff and Meagan came to Portland for a law conference Meagan was attending, so they stopped by this morning on their way home. We had to prove that Jeff could hold a baby without breaking it, so now Meagan has baby fever a little more. We all hung out and watched the first half of the Vikings/Ravens game.

Not much new with the babies, other than they are very strong for 8-pound humans. They can hold their heads up for a little while, and they can almost stand on their legs, with our help.

Luke and Lexi are great. We have their desks set up in the homework room, and they are diligent in their studies. We're still working on Lex to play volleyball, but she's a little unsure. Soon it will be time to sign Luke up for basketball, which seems to be his favorite. That will change when he plays football full time next year, though.

Kelly is doing well at work, but being away from the girls is very difficult for her.

Cousin Mikey is coming to town in a couple of weeks, so he'll be here for Halloween.

That's it for now.

October

We had a scare the other night, but all is well. Harper choked on her bottle, then inhaled some formula and wouldn't breathe for a while. Her little face turned purple, but then she started breathing. It was pretty scary for everyone, but Lexi and Kelly were great in an emergency (I'm sure Luke would be too, but he wasn't there at the time).

Kelly is back to work, which she hates--not the job, but being away from the babies. We're finding child care to be an issue, shockingly. We're balancing it between her mom and my mom, but we're still finding our way. It's hard to be away from them.

Harper and Ava had their first trip to the beach last weekend; we went to Aunt Cathy's beach house. We walked them up and down the strip in Long Beach. Taking them out in public is always interesting, because every single person who walks by looks at them and comments. It's kind of like being in a freak show, but we can't complain.

OK...

So I guess me labeling the picture "cdg 2months" gave it away. Kelly and her mom were in the kitchen yesterday, and that picture is on the fridge. Her mom was certain it was Harper.

Mom got them pea-pod costumes for Halloween, which should be cute.

Today is the day they were supposed to be born, which is amazing. They were moving so much in Kelly's belly nine weeks ago, I can't imagine what it would have been like to go to term.

can you guess the baby?

I will give $10 to whomever can identify this Gourde baby.

baby pics

If you want to see some baby pictures, go to polkadotphotography.net, and enter site. When you get in, click "clients," and the password is "twins." The pictures are expensive to purchase, but definitely worth at least checking out.

It's been a while...

I was just trying to type with a screaming Harper on my lap. And that's the story of our lives for a while...

I think they're worth it, though.

Emmy chastised me for not updating this for a while, so here we go.

There is a common theme in the Gourde household--no sleep. Ava sleeps all day and cries all night. They are both steadily gaining weight, and Ava is over six pounds now.

Other than that, not much new to report. School started; Luke is at Illahee, and Alexis is at Shahala. They will both eventually become Titans. We haven't seen much as far as homework, but I am hoping that some academic rigor will be coming down the pike.

There is one thing that may be interesting. A photographer came by last week, and took MANY pictures of the girls. If you go to http://www.polkadotphotography.net/, and enter the "blog" part of the site, you will see a picture of the girls if you scroll down. She will most likely have many pictures on there available for purchase.