The McPherson Chronicles

We hosted Easter brunch at our house again this year. The day started early with Mass at 7am and then Easter baskets and prepping for brunch. The girls were very excited for everyone to come over and our annual egg hunt. They had helped us stuff some eggs earlier in the week so of course that was fresh in their minds. Even Norah got in on hunting eggs this year! Next year Andrew will be right there in the mix too. The kids all loved looking for eggs and the boys did such a good job hiding them that we even found a few later that night and the next day. We took our usual family pictures and then dyed a few eggs before Lizzy, Olivia & Lucy decided it was just too hot and we let them run through the sprinklers to cool off for awhile.   We finished off the day with a belated birthday dinner for my dad. So yummy and adults only! It was a wonderful family day and one of my favorite holidays because it's so simple and laid back without ...

Kevin's family was spending a weekend in Desert Hot Springs a few weeks ago and we went out to spend the day with everyone. The weather was sunny, breezy and just warm enough without being too hot. The girls had so much fun swimming, mini golfing, watching movies and riding bikes with Liam and Lizzy. Andrew took his first dip in the pool and then slept most of the afternoon. It was a wonderful preview for summer!

    Can roll from back to stomach and stomach to back. Really wants to sit up or stand up and see everything around him. Drools like crazy! Is a total Mama's boy.

Though I do enjoy watching the infomercials, don't worry, we haven't thrown any money toward the My Baby Can Read system. We're sure the girls will learn to read at their own time and speed. In the meantime, they do enjoy looking at (and chewing on) their board books.

We've learned a lot about babies, ourselves and each other since the girls were born. Here are a few important things we've come to realize. 1) Pulling an all-nighter has an entirely different meaning with 2 newborns 2) We can function on much less sleep than we previously thought 3) The babies cannot be trusted to go diaper-less from the changing table to the bathtub no matter how full their diaper was 4) Diapers must be checked for leakage after even the most minor toot. Oftentimes that was more than just gas. 5) Things like showering and brushing your teeth are luxuries 6) When both babies are sleeping, EAT and eat well. You never know when you'll get a chance for your next meal (lunch at 10am is not uncommon in our household, neither is 8 or 9pm dinner for that matter). 7) Do not put the babies in their "good clothes" until right before you leave or upon arrival, or else it is sure to get pooped or spit up on (or both). 8) Do not put on your o...

How do we entertain 2 almost-6-month-old babies you ask? Answer: constant rotation Exersaucer- we can get anywhere from 15 mins to 45 mins out of this. The girls mostly want to bend all the toys until they can get them close enough to lick or gum. Play Mat- early in the morning they love this thing and could play for an hour rolling all over the place. The giraffe and monkey are their favorite hanging toys. Bouncer- a new found convenience as they were not fond of it when they were younger. Lucy's more of a bouncer girl and loves holding onto the zebra and giraffe toys. Swing- we have 2 swings but we mostly use this little portable one. They love batting at the swinging toys and watching the lights on top. Olivia loves to fall asleep in this. Free play on the blanket- usually a good thing when they're getting tired but want to play a bit longer. We can easily give them their blankets and paci's when they tire out and asleep they go! Of course, there ...

We have successfully mastered getting the girls to sleep without swaddles! They finally completely outgrew them last month so Sarah spent a weekend working on training them to sleep unswaddled. We first had them sleep in "sleeping bags" that still controlled their legs but allowed them to have their arms free. Finally we just completely switched to jammies and blankets. It really only took one weekend and a good week with Aunt Sarah's help to get them on board. Now that we're not getting up to swaddle them or insert pacifiers multiple times a night, we're all much happier. The girls sleep 7-11, eat, then sleep until 6-7am. They nap better and most of the time even put themselves to sleep when laid down. No more walking, rocking and singing over and over until they drift to sleep. It's heavenly. Our favorite time is early in the morning when they are both awake laying in their cribs cooing and laughing at the ceiling fan and each other. They're ...

We decided it was time to venture a little farther out of town for a day trip. We drove down to Newport Beach hoping it wouldn't be too cold and overcast and it was perfect! We walked up and down the boardwalk and then as close to the water as the asphalt would carry our stroller. The girls loved looking at all the people who passed us on the boardwalk (almost as much as all the people loved checking us out- are we ever not going to be such a spectacle to people???) They were so happy in their stroller, especially in their big girl seats. Normally we snap on their car seats instead of the regular seats just for convenience sake, but we decided to give them a bit more freedom in the normal stroller seats. Check them out! It was a nice day trip to get out of the house and away for a couple of hours plus it satisfied Sarah's beach withdrawals. Next year they'll be walking (gasp!) so we'll be chasing them all over the sand. We can't wait!

Recently, the girls have become acutely aware of "strangers". Unfortunately, nearly everyone falls into the "stranger" category- grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles, etc. They are pretty much only ok at our house with us. We hate that they freak out when being held by other people and want to help them get over this as quickly as possible. If you are one of the "strangers" in our life, please don't take it personally, be offended or think our girls hate you. They react like this for virtually everyone and we are doing our best to help them overcome it. It might just take some patience and being a little more hands-off at least at first when you're around the girls. They will eventually warm up to everyone and grow to love you all as much as we do!