Cousin time...we were blessed to have some awesome hang-out time with Josiah this summer! He and Isaac really enjoyed playing together...and would just run in circles! Josiah also LOVED his new girl cousins and adored being around the "babies". He would light up each time he saw them. :) We loved hanging out with you Josiah!
Of course we want to post cute pictures and tell of great things but there are some days that are just like this...a mess! This picture makes me laugh because it was right before we moved from our shoebox sized apartment in Norfolk. Our place was a disaster that day! Isaac wanted Cheerios and they spilled everywhere! That's my computer buried in there and yes....that is pumped breast milk off to the side...guess I had just finished up! :) Wow, can I tell you how much I DO NOT miss that dark green carpet that showed everything. People, don't EVER get forest green carpet! :)
Well, we can't have picutres of Isabella one day and not share a few pictures of Ava too or as Marc calls her Ava-K (Isabella is iGirl and Isaac is iMan). These are some random pictures that we have taken of our pretty girl. :) I also have to share that little miss Ava has been a rockstar and has been sleeping through the night for over a week now...go girl! :) Isabella needs to learn from her older sister...ha ha!
Ava has the best rolls on her (this picture is when she was 2 months...there are more now)! She is shorter than Isabella and that 1/2" seems to make a difference! :)
So sweet...
Once again...she's leaning. She loves sweet Isabella. They are soooo cute!
As I said before these pictures are in NO particular order! :) Isabella came home from the hospital almost a week before Ava so we had some time alone with her. Here are a few pictures from that week.
This is one of my favorite newborn outfits. I should take another picture of her with this boppy pillow because she has doubled in size since then!
One of her 1st outings was to the beach. As most of you know we lived about a block from the beach when we were in Virginia and we had a great time hanging out there this summer...Isaac especially enjoyed it! As you can see I still have on the hospital bands...we had to wear them the whole time the girls were in the NICU. Marc's were covered with duct tape by the end because they were falling off. :)
It was actually very hot that day but she was comfy and sleeping in the carrier. :)
So here is my attempt to catch up! We have had so many fun memories this summer (and yes...it is almost Nov.) that I am going to post 1-2 (maybe more) pictures a day for a while. They will be in no particular order! :)
This is at Jay & Sally's house in September. Jay was nice enough to pull out the tractor so that Marc & Isaac could have a ride...as you can tell they were having fun!
So this is a few days late! I don't really know where the time goes! I do know that we have cuddle bugs on our hands so lots of time is dedicated to that. :) The girls are going awesome! We took them in for their 4 month check-up and Ava is 12 lbs. and 23.25" long and Isabella is 11 lb 12oz and 23.5" long. The Dr. was super happy wtih their growth and said sometimes you have adjust the growth chart for preemies but the girls are measuring in the 25th percentile of other 4 month olds so they are doing great!!! They have become so interactive and have changed so much in the last few weeks. They both love to smile and chat up a storm. They tend to flip-flop in their temperment. One day you think you have one figured out and then the other one does it! Isabella tends to be more easy-going but she has her moments too! :) Isabella LOVES to be held ALL THE TIME! Her perfect day is to be held ALL of it and she doesn't care how you hold her. Ava likes to be held but she likes to be held a certian way especially if you want her to fall asleep. They are both sooo cute. Both have rolled over once but so far not again. They drink anywhere between 5-8 oz. at a feeding and I do nurse them a little but I pump A LOT and we do mostly bottles (it's nice to be able to have help with the feedings especially since they are slow eaters). They have both slept 12 hours STRAIGHT. They don't usually do this on the same night but it has been soooo nice to have one of them making it all night! They are sleeping great and are starting to be awake a lot more during the day...we are starting to get into a nap routine. An update on Isaac is that he is still learning to adjust to life with twin girls! :)
So Kelly is the main blogger in the family & she has a couple of things for the kids, but I wanted to share a little of the adventures of RECON OPS...that is when Marc does something without the physical presence of Kelly...I go on a reconnoiter or RECON. I hope that this sparks your interest & you begin turning the mental wheels on planning a European Vacation with a stop at Casa di Shafer!
FYI...Right now we are running split ops with Kelly in Seattle & me here. She joins me with kids and her parents assisting the travel ops in just a few weeks.
So we are not sure about the letters on the side, but they look kinda cool, right?
Here are a couple shots of the backyard...iMan has just enough room to run around.
And just to keep it real, you need to know that our new home is in the beautiful countryside with lots of country...iMan will love playing with the sheep & collecting eggs from the chickens! (they belong to our landlords)
The landlords live next door and since they own the livestock 8-) all is well with iMan running around behind our place where the chickens and sheep stay.
Isaac is loving his sisters. He is always wanting to give them kisses and hugs and we are always working on being "gentle". :) He is also helpful and knows they like their pacifers so he is the 1st one to run over to them if they are crying and try to cram it back into their mouths. :) We can't wait till they can start playing more together. Isaac is an awesome big brother!!!
He adores them and we think he still is in awe that there are 2 of them!
We have been traveling the last few weeks and have been having a wonderful time visiting family. I have LOTS of pictures and fun memories to share but for some reason I can't get on the internet on my computer at my parents house so I haven't been able to post any pictures lately! Here are a couple of pictures my Mom took of the girls. They are getting bigger and enjoying their new playmat. :) Isaac is doing awesome too and I have some great pics to share soon!
Another thing going on with us is that Marc has made it to Europe so we are hoping he finds us a great house soon! :) I would write more but Isabella is needing some love! :) Oh, Isabella is on the left and Ava is on the right in these pics.
