Happy Six Months Girls xx

Emmeline and Vivian are 6 months old today.  I am not sure how this happened so fast but here we are!

They are still very happy and contented babies.  Ben and I still look at each other and wonder how we ever got so lucky - I think we will continue to do this forever.

I started introducing solids in the last week and so far both girls are big fans of avocado.  We will give sweet potato a try tonight.  They will eat a bit of rice cereal but much prefer it as a bit of a filler with avocado so I will continue to do this with other foods I introduce.

They still sleep very well at night and are slowly having longer naps during the day. They are both very active now with lots of movement and rolling over. 

Seeing them first thing in the morning is still our favourite time of day.  They are so excited to see us with huge smile and lots of arm waving and leg kicking - it really is just the best way to start the day! Mind you, when they have gone to sleep at night is pretty bloody good too ;)

We have been getting out lots each weekend with lots of great walks.  We enjoyed a beautiful winters day in Perth last Saturday as it was 25 degrees so we had a fantastic walk along the beach.  I ordered the girls some baby sunglasses and we sure get plenty of comments when they wear them.  I also ordered some swimming nappies as Ben is itching to get them in the pool when the weather heats up in a couple of months.

The girls love their Fisher Price jumping seat and Baby Einstein music seat as they really enjoy sitting upright now.  The jumping seat is their favourite and they can bounce and play in for ages.

We have a couple of baby slings that are great when we just go out for a short time.  The fact they are hands free make it so easy to get around and the girls seem to enjoy being in them especially since they now face forward.

We have been going out once a week to dinner for the last few weeks which had been brilliant.  It's so nice to get dressed up and get out the house to catch up with friends and not have to worry about anything more that what to drink with dinner!!  Our babysitter is really lovely and we use her each time we go out.  Much better having the same person as she gets to know our girls and more importantly they get to know her.

Well that's the 6 month mark - before we know it we will be celebrating a couple of 1st birthdays (time please slow down as I cry every time I have to give away their now too small clothes!!)

Hope you enjoy the pics - till next time xxxx

Dad and his girls

Thank you Auntie Bec for our outfits - we love them xx (Taken back in June)

We love our avocado

Double the bumbo fun

Emmeline - a wannabe snow bunny

Nice shot Mum - Vivian looking very Dr Seuss

Two very cool cats!!

Couch potatoes

Yet another great winter day 

The fog that rolled in a few weeks ago while we were doing the 7am feed

Having fun out the back yard with Kenny

Did you say something Mum?

Vivian rocking the hat!

Taken a couple of months ago for their cousins Christening

17 Weeks today

We have had an eventful couple of weeks with a wonderful visit from Nannie .  The girls adored all the extra cuddles and love and I know they will be missing their Nannie already (as will Mummy as the help and company was fantastic) as she flew home Sunday night :(

We had a beautiful time over the long weekend at Kings Park.  We caught up with a few wonderful friends and relaxed and enjoyed the amazing winter weather and magnificent view of Perth city.
The girls had their 4 month immunisation while Jutta was here and as before had no problems.  They continue to grow and delight us every day.  They have really started to notice each other now and do a fair amount of talking and looking at each other.  They have found their hands and thumbs and Emmeline love to give hers a good suck at night!

The girls are consistently sleeping from 7ish at night till 6.30/7ish in the morning with the dream feed at 10pm.  This is wonderful for Ben and I as it means we are getting about 7 hours straight sleep each night - hooraaaay!!!  They continue to catnap during the day but my sleep expert book says this is normal and we should see them with more structured naps in a few weeks time.

We are looking forward to a visit from our Kalgoorlie clan this Friday and we are all of to a christening on Sunday.  It will be the girls first big outing with so many people and I am sure they will be very popular.

I will keep the pics coming.

Love to you all xxx

Ben Vivian and Nannie at Kings Park

Emmeline and Mummy

Vivian wearing her first hat

A little bit of help at tucker time is always great!!

Sisters xxxx

Emmeline chillin

Daddy keeping an eye on his girls!

Hello camera...

Little angel No 1 xxx

That flash is bright Mummy!!

Little angel No 2 xxx

14 weeks already.

I really do not know where the time has gone - our girls are 14 weeks old already!  Emmeline & Vivian continue to grow and delight us every day.  They really are such contented babies and are full of smiles.  We have settled into a very good routine and both Ben and myself are feeling pretty relaxed and happy.  The girls are still waking for one middle of the night feed but that seems to be getting closer to 5am now so I think in another few weeks they will get through till the 7am feed.

We had a doctors visit this morning and he was really pleased how well the girls are growing.  Emmeline is now 5.45KG and Vivian has for the first time taken the title of heaviest twin weighting in at 5.55KG.  The Doctor commented (like everyone else) just how happy the girls were and was dazzled by Emmeline's smile!

We have Nannie coming to visit on the 1st June and are all looking very forward to it.  I know that Jutta will be amazed at just how much the girls have grown and will fall in love all over again as soon as she sees them :)

My Auntie Valda hosted an absolutely amazing post baby shower for us while Jutta was last here!  I have to say the day was quite overwhelming - I still cannot believe how spoilt the girls were with lots of love and mountains of presents!!  Ben could not believe it when we got home and he looked in the boot of the car - it was absolutely jam packed with presents.  Thank you so very much to all of my wonderful family for a beautiful day!!

Last week we had a wonderful visit from my brother and his family.  Out two beautiful nieces could not get enough of the girls and my sister in law wanted to take one baby home as she reasoned I was being selfish as I had two babies LOL. We are planning our first big road trip to visit them all in July.  Six hours in the car with two five month olds should be interesting.......

I know I have been a shocking slacker regarding my posting but I have been keeping a close eye on you all.  Bernadette, I was so amazed to read about the early birth of your children and have been thinking about you and sending positive vibes everyday and will continue to do so.  So glad to see Scarlett discharged and I am sure in no time at all you will have Hayden with you too xxx

Congratulations to Doug and Bill on the birth of Cristina.  I am so happy for you and wish you all the very best!

Best wishes to everyone whatever stage of the journey you are at.  It's a roller coaster that just keeps rolling but it sure makes life intersting!

Here are some pics for you all. xxx

The bounty after our baby shower - Thank you Aunty Valda and Co xx

Girls big night out on the bottle!!

Mummy and Vivian

Mummy, Vivian, Olivia, Lucy, Emmeline and Aunty Carol

Vivian

Emmeline

Nannie & Emmeline

Lunch at the Pub

Feed me Nannie

Emmeline, happy happy happy!!

Vivian looking good!

The amazing nappy cake my cousin Amanda made - just incredible!!

Aunty Carol and Emmeline

The girls and Kenny the Cocker Spaniel

Bath and beer time - watch the baby you tow!!

Nannie and Vivien at bath time.

xxx

So good to be home!

Sorry for the long delay in posting an update!!  We pretty much hit the ground running when we got home and life has changed big time as you can imagine! 

We are so happy to be home with our girls and life is settling into a nice routine.  The girls are feeding, eating and sleeping well.  They don't cry much - only if they are hungry or have some wind.  Emmeline is our little efficient machine.  She just eats, burps has some awake time and then sleeps.  Vivian is still having some problems with tummy pain but mainly grunts and groans her way through.  They have both settled into their own cots in their nursery and everyone who has visited is amazed at how contented they are.

Ben and I are coping quite well (after the very long trip home and no sleep for about 35 hours straight and wondering what the hell we had gotten ourselves into).  We have our feeding schedule down pat now and do a feed together at 7pm, then Ben does a 10ish feed and I get up to do the 2ish feed then he is up at 6ish.  From there Ben is off to work and I stay home with our gorgeous girls.  Our first week was pretty rough as I found it very difficult to sleep but that is now sorted and I get up each morning with butterflies of excitement waiting to see the girls. It's amazing how everyone says that life is so different and it's so true.  I simply cannot imagine life without our girls now and I really am enjoying motherhood so much.  It really is different with your own children as even a big burp after a bottle makes me happy now!

We have been to the Doctor and seen the clinic Nurse and both are happy with the girls progress. They are both putting on weight and should by now be over 3.5kg. I have been advised to get some probiotics for the girls and will start them on that tomorrow which should especially help Vivian.

I spoke to a very lovely lady who also went through SCI and has two girls aged 7 weeks who lives in Perth so we are setting up a date to meet in the next couple of weeks.  I am really looking forward to that as it will be so nice to meet another mother who wont ask me a million questions of how the surrogacy process works.  To be honest I am getting a bit sick of talking about it and just want to move forward and just be a Mum.

Ben, myself, Nannie. Poppie, Emmeline and Vivian walked up to our local golf course for an early dinner last night and had a wonderful time with some friends.  The girls slept the whole time and as usual drew plenty of looks in their twin pram.  I had two women come up for a look and ask how old they were and when I said nearly five weeks they could looked at me and said "wow and you look so good" so I just smiled and thanked them LOL!!

Our time in India went pretty fast once we had the girls back at the hotel with us.  We had a night nanny each night and did our own thing during the day.  We didn't get out much - only to do the dreaded paperwork.  Our DNA results took a week to get back.  They got sent on a Wednesday and the High Commission only received the results the following Wednesday and we had our flight booked for Friday so we did not think we would get everything done in time.  Thanks to a speedy Citizenship process and our wonderful helpful man at the Passport office who got the girls passports done in about 19 hours we picked them up Thursday morning and went straight down to the FRRO.  What a truly undelightful place that was.  In any event we managed to get the exit visas and made our flight on Friday at lunchtime.

The Svelte was great (apart from the shopping centre renovations at night) and the staff were really lovely and helpful and thought the girls were adorable.  I would highly recommend Svelte as it really does have everything you need and having the shopping centre attached is a huge bonus.

I hope all of you in blog land are well and now that I have my new laptop (purchased Saturday) I am again connected to the world and am looking forward finding our how all of you are getting on.

Thank you to everyone for all of the beautiful presents the girls have received.  Their wardrobe is now full of lovely outfits, toys, books and teddy's that are very much appreciated!!

Now for what you have all been waiting for - here are some updated photos for you.

Little Vivian

Emmeline and Vivian in Emmeline's cot.

Emmeline at morning tea.

Emmeline and Vivian all dressed up!

Poppie, Nannie and Dad.

A very proud Dad with his girls.

Morning tea with the girls.

A little update

Firstly I would like to thank all of you for your beautiful, moving and funny sentiments on the birth of Emmeline and Vivian.  It's so lovely to hear such wonderful thoughts and makes us feel a lot closer to you all considering we are halfway around the world from home.

The girls are doing really well.  Emmeline is eating like a trooper and both are sleeping well.  Vivian had some tummy pain yesterday and last night but the Colicaid drops seems to have helped that a great deal today and she seems much better.  Ben is very impressed with the girls "monster poos" as he calls them and is very adept at changing them now after realising that the nappy is much better positioned over the bum cheek to catch the before mentioned "monster poos"!!

We took the girls to the paediatrician on Tuesday to get Emmeline's legs checked as she seemed to have some pain when straightening them.  Dr said it was normal for her age and to massage them each day at nappy change and sure enough he was they are getting better each day. Thanks Tammy for asking Gwen for the advice and Gwen was spot on :)  The doctor weighed them both and was happy with their progress so we will take them back next Tuesday for another weigh in.
The nurses organised through the clinic have been a Godsend and has made the experience much less stressful. We are especially grateful today as Ben and I are both sick with Delhi belly but Dr Shivani had got us on some medication and we hope we will be feeling better tomorrow.  We have spent most of the day in bed (when not in the bathroom).

We were discussing the pros and cons of being here and one of the cons was having to hand wash the girls clothes and blankets and then try to dry them with the small room heater.  We very quickly decided that having a nurse each night so we can sleep far outweighs the hour of so spent on organising laundry!! 

We continue to fall more in love with the girls each day and are finding it hard to stop starting at their perfect little faces.  The little sounds they make and their funny little faces they pull are so sweet.

Here are some new pics xx

PS - thanks Doug and Bill for the hot Mama and Daddy comment and yes I am now swaddling like a pro!!

Emmeline drunk on milk.

With Dr Shivani and our angels

Burp time

Snug bugs!

Emmeline sleeping beauty No1

Vivian sleeping beauty No 2