The McPherson Chronicles

It's our birthday month, well the girls', so we're very excited. Lots of updates and pictures to come!

We spent most of last week and this weekend sick. First it was Olivia who had a cough and then congestion. She was downright miserable Tuesday-Thursday. Lucy was a few days behind in this round but quickly followed with the exact same symptoms. They both have a lingering cough and every once in awhile a bit of congestion, but overall they were troopers through this whole thing. Thank goodness I had a 4 day weekend and could be here spoiling the girls with cuddles and kisses. Of course all this led to me getting sick too. Dayquil saves the day (and night since I'm still nursing). Looks like Lucy has developed pink eye though now, so I'm wondering how this is going to pan out. So far, of the 4 little eyes I have to watch over, only one of them looks infected. I'm hoping and praying we can get them under control before I have 4 goopy, watery red eyes to tend to. We must get better before the big party day next week! I can hardly believe the ducks are going to be 1!

My poor babies. True terror in their eyes, trembling, crying, scooting the other way as fast as possible. Is there anything sadder than looking at this? Breaks your heart really. I run out of the kitchen to investigate what could have all of a sudden created such a ruckus, thinking of all the possibilities. Could someone be stuck under something, is someone hurt, am I going to find blood??? The possibilities are endless even though technically they were never out of eyesight. No, the source of such hysteria is none other than... The vacuum. Pretty scary, huh? Kevin forgot to put it back in the closet after vacuuming and the babies freaked out when they noticed it hiding behind the couch. Guess we will continue to vacuum while they sleep.

I know I've been slacking on posting lately. We've been really caught up in the Olympics, first birthday party planning and our Wii. So here's the brief update. The girls have become even more mobile lately and can now stand on their own (Olivia better than Lucy) and have found all kinds of new things to get into. We're still adjusting things to accommodate their curious ways. We currently have pillows covering half the room, the shredder and other misc. items on the dining room table and have already given the girls the bottom 2 shelves of the bookcases. Trying to stay ahead of them is getting more challenging every day! See what's been going on around here? Olivia's favorite thing is to pull all the books off the shelves Helping Mom make Valentine's dinner Olivia figuring out she can stand on her own. I'll get better pics up soon of this new milestone.

I'm terrible about editing and uploading videos, I'll admit it. So, to entertain you on this rainy weekend, here are 3 short videos from the past few weeks. Enjoy! 1- Chasing each other around the house. Notice how they work together to ensure no one is sneaking up on them. 2- Practicing soccer skills with Daddy and Aunt Sarah 3- Walkers! I need to get a video of them being crazy in their high chairs. They love to entertain and mimic each other.

Want to check out a few more of the girls' 9 month photo shoot? Go here to check out my friend Catherine's blog about the girls. She rocks!

Where did these days go? When did naptime turn into playtime? The girls have begun regularly sitting and standing in their cribs. Now, when we lay them down for naps, rather than quietly playing on their own for a few minutes before falling asleep, they sit or stand up, laugh and play with each other and eventually, cry . This requires at least 3-4 trips in there to lay them back down with blankies and pacis . The cycle repeats itself for a good 30-45 mins before one eventually give in and goes to sleep. Then finally, after one last freak out, the other usually follows shortly thereafter. By that time we're exhausted as well. I'm in the midst of one of these cycles currently. They're both exhausted and I'm convinced they would sleep if the other one weren't in there. I need to figure out some way to split them up for naps here like they are at my mom's. In completely unrelated news, we're making an attempt at supplementing with formula. Lucy is allergic...