Funny things.............

Ella Grace is still not quite ready for the 0 - 3 month clothes -- these are supposed to be capri pants -- HA!!!

" I hate these capris" -- yells Ella

Edie is just bored with it all

now she seems confused -- this focusing thing is not as easy as it looks ya'll !!!

Oh so sweet -- Ella

After we posted how much Ella loves her mommy she insisted that we let you know she also loves her daddy -- she did not want him to get jealous.

Could Edie be any more relaxed????????????

A different angle of Edie kicked back on the boppy -- this was our first 90 degree day here in Sonoma County -- no air conditioning stinks!!!

Yes you are seeing this correctly -- that is Rubi with a stolen pacifier. I have not officially caught her in the act but I do suspect on more than 1 occasion she has stolen these directly from the mouths of babes. I suspect this because I have given one or the other baby a pacifier, held it in place for several minutes (a big huge pain but oh so worth it) and when I return to the room the pacifier has gone from the babies mouth to Rubis -- just like that !!!!

Ella begs ----- "please no more pictures"

Mystery solved !!!!!!!!!!!!

So a few weeks back I posted a picture of that adorable cookie bouquet and asked the mystery sender to let us know -- well I finally got to the bottom of it. As romantic as it was to think that Edie and Ella already had their very own secret admirer -- it was my friend Cynthia. We have been friends since age 5. I am the kid at the top of the slide parade with the homemade tomboy haircut -- hey I grew up a little on the white trash side ok -- but look at that awesome tan. She is the striking blonde just below me. That is her sister Cheryl directly under her -- and I can't remember the other cute kid. If I were a bit more scanner savy and could get the picture larger you could quite possibly see the "grandma beads" in the bends of my arms and around my neck. For those who did not grow up in south Louisiana -- when you play outside all day (especially in a dusty old trailer park) you get these lines of moist dust (i guess that's the best way to describe it) -- it's damn humid down there. The moist dust strands can often be mistaken for black pearl necklaces/bracelets -- ok ok that's not true but for some strange reason I (quite possibly we) always referred to them as "grandma beads" -- stupid I know -- maybe it was all the dust!!!!
Thank you Cynthia !!!!!!!!! It's hard to believe we have been friends for this long -- just shy of 30 years -- we are getting old!!!!!!!!!

WARNING !!! Cute babies -- enter at your own risk !!

The black sheep of the family -- Edie sleeping through American Idol

Ella Grace -- loves her Daddy

Edie Claire loves him too

Daddy loves his sweet girls !!!! It's just a big ole love fest here -- angel babies.

Aunti Keleakai mastering the "twin hold" !!!!!!!!

Ella Grace

Edie Claire -- says come back here mr. toy !!!!

"hey that thing is singing to me" says Edie

"this activity mat is not as boring as it was yesterday"

Ella loves to pose for the camera -- has anyone else noticed that?

Too cute !!!!!!!!!!

What the.............?????????

WHAT DO YOU MEAN CARLY GOT VOTED OFF IDOL TONIGHT !!!!!!!!!!!

Sweet Ella -- is proud of the fact that she LOVES HER MOMMY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Edie -- helping daddy check the status of his golfer in his suicide golf league.......... he got booted out this week!!!!!

Edie -- getting bored with the whole activity mat thing -- she prefers to eat.

Ella -- lounging on the boppy!!!!!!!!!!!!

Edie -- also lounging on the boppy !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Edie -- just a swingin

and then she's had enough !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ella -- just too darn cute.

We have learned alot over these past 5 weeks. Having two babies is a challenge but not nearly as difficult as some may think. We are enjoying the girls -- they seem to be awake a bit more during the day and NIGHT !!! Some nights are longer than others. Jon will be going back to work in a few weeks and I am NOT looking forward to that. Since he works night shift I will have the babies alone 24 / 4 -- it may be more difficult then -- but hopefully we will have a nice routine established and they will have mercy on their mommy.

We have a few new best friends that have really helped us through these past weeks -- I will leave you with pictures of them -- for now...................

Best friend #1 -- thank god for the "night night" drive. It works like a charm. Every time. When one or both babies are crying and we have gone through our list of possible culprets without soothing them -- strap them in their seats and as soon as the seat clicks into the base in the car we have complete silence. This is no joke -- before we even get the doors closed and the car started they are out - EVERY TIME !!!!!!!!!!! We love you Saturn Outlook!!!!

AAAAHHHHH baby wearing -- Mr. or Mrs. Bjorn is a genius. This works better for Ella than Edie but I love it just the same. We have a Moby wrap but I have not perfected the art of tying it just yet -- I need more practice.

This stuff is magic -- it gets EVERYTHING out -- from formula spit-up to daddy nosebleed drips to poo poo blowouts -- I mean EVERYTHING. Someone did tell me it does not work on organic babyfood but we have a while before we worry about this one -- thank you Mr. / Mrs. Spray n Wash !!!!!!!!!!

Photo Shoot !!!!!!!!!!

We had a professional photographer come to our house last week and she did a fabulous job. We got the link to our proofs this morning so as promised I wanted to share. THEY ARE AWESOME !!! There are alot of them !!!
If you wish to browse through them follow the link and instructions below.

www.valeriebenvenuti.com

click ENTER under the photo of the cute baby to get into her site
click VIEW PROOFS on bottom right
click edie claire and ella grace link

you will have to enter our email address and password

jmrbt@sbcglobal.net and marbut is the password

It is better to view as slideshow -- you will see that option at the top !!! I warn you there are some ADORABLE photos in there !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Let me know what you think

First time for everything -- even poop !!!

Edie had her very first BLOW OUT yesterday !!! All over her daddy's shirt, her leg and diaper, her onesie and the changing table pad. Jon wouldn't wait long enough for me to get the camera but I assure you it was priceless and photo worthy. As much as the girl eats I am actually suprised it hasn't happened sooner. She can sometimes eat up to 4 ounces which is the same amount as her BFF Ava Jane -- the difference is that Miss Ava is 5 months old and Miss Edie is 1 month.
Can you imagine -- 1 month old. My babies are growing up on me. They are starting to stay awake a tiny bit more during the day (and night sometimes). Some things we have learned about them so far:

Edie

still a foodie!!! Girl loves her some breastmilk -- and formula too because she eats so much I can't keep up with her. She has a mature cry -- sooooooooooooo loud and downright pitiful. The neighbors would think she was being neglected if they didn't know better. She loves to fart. Well I don't know for sure if she loves to fart but she does it very often and I can't imagine that she would do it so much if she hated it right. She loves to walk around -- especially at night. She is much larger than she was 1 month ago -- we are not sure what she weighs but it must be well over 7 pounds. She is lovely!!!!!!!

Ella

is catching up on her eating -- she no longer has to be coaxed into it. She eats 2-3 ounces each feeding -- mostly breastmilk but a little formula too because sometimes her sister eats all the breastmilk. She has more of a baby cry but like her sister -- soooooooooooooo loud and downright pitiful. She can make herself turn purple if you aren't quick enough. She LOVES to be held -- and expects it most of the time (holding her right now). She loves to stretch -- it is so darn cute -- her little arms fly up, she grunts and strains. We must get it on video before she outgrows it. She likes to be swaddled -- Edie likes her arms free. She prefers to lie on her right side. We put her down on her back but she always ends up lying on her right side with her arm out to the side. She is also lovely !!!

We are having a great time -- these babies are awesome !!! I have been taking them out quite a bit now - we had lunch with a friend this week, went to target and the grocery store. They are very cooperative!!! We are like a traveling freak show wherever we are -- it is amazing the number of people who are interested in seeing twins. It's time consuming so I have taken to avoiding eye contact much of the time because if I stopped to let everyone ooohhh and aaahhh then I may as well just stand there and let people pass us by and never get anything done. One girl said to me yesterday -- "don't tell me you have twins" then has the nerve to say "oh you poor thing" -- what the hell is so poor about it???? I mean have you seen how cute these babies are?????? I wanted to say something smarty pants but I need to be a good influence now.
I went to Starbucks alone this morning -- feeling the urge to get out by myself real quick. I took the fun BMW instead of the mommy mobile and zipped on over for our coffee. I noticed that noone even looked twice at me -- I have gotten so used to the stares when I am out with Edie and Ella that I felt a little neglected this morning. Oh well -- it's no longer about me I guess!!!!

Angel Girls !!!

Edie -- pretending to be asleep and pretty in pink and ladybugs !!!

Ella -- being swallowed up by her boppy pillow. Don't worry I saved her after the photo op!!!

Our au pair -- Rubi !!! She was babysitting as a way of buttering my up after I found her on the counter stealing cat food -- (see photo below).

Rubi and Gumbo -- dog and cat partners in crime. We keep the cat food on the counter to protect it and the kitties from the dog -- as you can see it's quite effective !!!

Ella says -- could someone get this girl some milk!!!!!!!!!!

Cozy sleepers !!!

Edie and Ella at their first party. We went to our friend Langstons 8th birthday party on Saturday. Good times had by all.

What a beauty -- Edie sleeps so peacefully.

The girls are doing great. They both LOVE to eat !!! They both LOVE to sleep !!!! They both Love to poop !!!!! We hold them alot and they have gotten quite used to that arrangement so we are perfecting the art of baby wearing.

We had a photographer come to the house this morning for a "real" photo shoot (as opposed to a mommy photo shoot). We will have the proofs for viewing within a week so I will post that info here for anyone interested in viewing their shots. She is quite creative and Jon and I were very happy with our choice to have her do the photos. Edie and Ella took turns being cooperative -- Edie especially loved the nude part of the session. I think she actually loved lying on her tummy more than anything and she happened to be nude.

You can see their hilarious hospital photos at www.suttersantarosa.org click on services then web nursery and pick their birthdate March 13 -- funny stuff !!!

3 weeks old !!!

Of course no photo shoot would be complete without our trademark snuggly photo !!!

Edie -- says "mommy seriously -- why such a bright flash?"

Edie -- just chillin !!!

Ella -- kicked back in her favorite arms -- DADDY !!!!!!!!!!!

Ella says -- " phew all these photos are making me dizzy"

Ella -- precious girl

We got this adorable cookie bouquet today from a secret admirer. There was no card with it so if you sent it to us THANK YOU and please let us know who you are. We LOVE IT !!!

Ella -- loves those daddy hugs

This is how a daddy feeds 2 hungry babies when mommy runs to the store !!!