BIG Weekend!

We had a HUGE weekend.  Friday I met a friend for a little much needed time out at the grounds of our church.  It was such a beautiful day and Tate and Ellie slept most of the time.  I had planned to head over to the Victoria and Albert museum after we had a chat and glance around as long as the babies would let me.  My friend told me she was meeting a friend for lunch in a courtyard there and I went along.  It was a wonderful discovery and a place I will probably visit often.  There is a fountain and areas of both shade and sunshine.  The fountain area has a shallow pool of water where kids can play and, honestly, I am already dreaming about when it is warm enough to put my feet in.  I am furious because I didn't bring my camera!  Anyway, that day Tate and Elle were dressed in clothes from both of Grandmothers and I did get pictures before we left the house.  Tate's outfit is from Gigi and Ellie is wearing a sweater from Grandma and lying on a quilt she made for them.

(Pardon Ellie's "You got a problem with that?" face.)

We call this look "Little T."

Saturday Trey and I headed to Nando’s for lunch and then back to the V&A because I hadn’t gotten to look around much and he hadn't been either. We made it through some of the medieval religious art, Asia and the Enlightenment sculptures before heading out to the courtyard to feed the babies. Going to the museum with them worked out pretty well although admittedly I held one or the other most of the time while I pushed the stroller one handed. (It isn’t that Trey wouldn’t push the stroller, I just have this thing about doing whatever I can on my own when we're out together trying something new to get a realistic picture of if I would actually want to try it on my own.)  We then put on quite the show by going out to the fountain area to feed the babies and have a snack.  After that we walked to Harrods stopping at a couple of bookstores looking for a book we never found then we took the bus back home.  We were out for 6 hours.

Sunday we attended services then headed to a barbeque which meant we were out for 8 hours. It was really nice to see friends and meet some new people but we had a nightmarish time on London Public Transport. We had figured out a bus route home because the pram is getting heavier and heavier. Due to the London marathon, our bus stopped unexpectedly at a stop that wasn’t on our route. From that point we had to take one more bus and two lines on the tube to get home. Ultimately, by the time we got home we could have taken a cab for less. Days like this I really, really, really miss my car. To my Houston people, I would trade everyday in traffic to never have to deal with the complications of public transportation and that is speaking from experience.

Here are Tate and Ellie with their friends at the barbeque. 

Weigh Day

We haven't weighed the babies since March 15th.  We thought it would be done at their 8 week checkup but it wasn't.  Our health visitor has a baby clinic on Mondays from 1:30 to 3:30 PM where you can take the babies in, weigh them and ask a nurse questions.  The Monday after their 8 week appointment was Easter Monday so it was closed.  Tate and Ellie were born at 5 and 6 pounds respectively.

In her first month of life Ellie went from the 9th to the 25th percentile and now she has gone to the 50th percentile in her third month currently weighing 12 pounds 3 ounces.  This means she has doubled her weight in a little less than three months.  This is about a month faster than normal but it is normal for twins.

In his first month, Tate went fromt eh 3rd to the 9th and is now in the 20th percentile at 10 pounds 14 ounces.  He has just now gotten too small for newborn clothes even though I started putting him in 0 to 3 almost a month ago because I was really tired of neutral sleepers.

A LOT of Formula

Well, as of today Tate has officially caught up with Ellie and is taking 6 ounces.  (They don't always eat a whole 6 oz but about once a day, however, you have to make that much to get what they're eating.)  This means that we are officially going through a box of formula every 3 days!  That's right;  we have to buy three boxes of formula to make it through a complete week. 

Here are Tate and Ellie today on their 10th week of life!  For those who look closely, Tate scratched his own face.  I can't keep his nails short enough, when he is upset he likes to ball his fists up and rub them all over his face.  He is determined to always have a cut.

These are of them sleeping a couple of days ago.  Sorry all the pictures are of them in their bouncy seats, it is just about the only time I have my hands free for pictures.

Ellie

Tate

...because what is sweeter than sleeping babies?

What's In A Name: Elijah Tate

Trey and I had a harder time choosing a boy’s name. I knew I wanted to use my maiden name, Tate, but it sounded weird to both of us because we were so used to it being my family name. Especially after I lost my Dad I felt particularly strong about using it and eventually it felt right. Originally we had thought Tate Austin would be our son’s name because we liked the sound of it. Austin carried some family and geographical significance and we were pretty satisfied. I was about 9 weeks pregnant when we moved from Birmingham to Texas to spend a month with family before moving to London. We had been in Birmingham three years and while we were there attended Shades Mountain Baptist Church. We absolutely adored this church and it really became home to us. Our last Sunday there, the pastor preached a sermon on Elijah. The message was “Following God’s Will When It Doesn’t Make Sense.” It really resonated with us because we were giving up jobs, selling our cars and furniture all in pursuit of what we believe to be the path God has laid out for us.

The message was from I Kings 17. In it, the Lord had provided for Elijah during a famine directing him first to a brook where he could drink and was fed by ravens then to a widow who seemingly only had enough to enjoy one last meal with her son before dying. The Lord, in His faithfulness, multiplied their supply and they were all able to eat. We felt we were going into the unknown but following God’s promise that He would provide where He led us. I felt impressed during that sermon that we should name our son Elijah so that he would serve as a reminder that we are to follow the Lord’s calling on our lives and the Lord will be faithful to provide. Surprisingly, it was difficult for me to do this because Elijah is not a name I naturally was drawn to but the Lord has already been faithful to use it as a comfort in my life. I pray it will be a source of comfort and encouragement for Tate.

13 Elijah said to her, "Don't be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small cake of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. 14 For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the LORD gives rain on the land.' "
15 She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. 16 For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the LORD spoken by Elijah.
I Kings 17: 13-16

What’s In A Name: Eliana Grace

The story of Ellie’s name dates back to mine and Trey’s first year of marriage. We were playing Scattergories at the home of our dear friends Jason and Kellie. The letter was “E” and one of the categories was “girl’s names.” (For those of you unfamiliar with the game, players attempt to match categories with a letter of the alphabet unique from those their opponents come up with.) When we were calling out our answers Trey said the most beautiful name I have ever heard, Eliana (pronounced el-ee-AH-nah.) I pronounced then and there that this would be our daughter’s name. I went home and looked up the meaning of Eliana and was thrilled to find it was Hebrew in origin and means “God has answered.” We began talking about a middle name and Grace seemed so natural because it is through His grace the Lord answers when we call on Him.

"Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (Hebrews 4:16).

Easter

So I have to say, other than having the sweetest babies (and thanks to their fashionable grandparents some of the best dressed) on the planet, we had a bit of a disappointing Easter. We got up early, got everyone ready and out the door with even time for pictures and made it in time to catch the bus. The bus, however, was being diverted around our stop and after paying full fare to go less than a stop we were informed we would have to walk the mile to church. Not usually such a big deal but because we weren’t going to walk very far I had decided to start breaking my feet back into my spring shoes. They were not prepared to walk a mile and I ended up with 5 bleeding blisters. The service was very well done, however, we didn’t realize that the service we were attending was one of the family services and we were both really looking forward to a good Easter sermon. There was a skit instead and I would have loved it if the babies were old enough to enjoy it. We did get to talk to most of Trey’s family at the same time on Skype which is always a pleasure and lifts our spirits. Ultimately, I think we are just getting homesick. Neither of us had ever gone 8 months without going home, frankly I don’t think I had gone more than 4 or 5 without being in Houston and we would see family that visited us in the meantime. We know we have at least another 4 months to go but I think on daily basis we say our top things we want to do when we get home.

Mine are:
1. Have all our family in the same room (minus Bill, Beth and Alex who we would have to settle for Skype with.)
2. Go to one of our Southern Baptist Churches with Sunday School and everything.
3. Be reunited with my dog, Anna.
4. Drive a car.
5. Eat some queso and kolatches.
6. Swim in my Mom’s back yard.
7. Live only with people I am related to.
8. Use my very own kitchen appliances and china… oh how I miss my kitchen aid.
9. Live in a house with a toilet I don’t have to pump and sinks that mixes the hot and cold water for me.
10. Pay for everything in dollars.

Tate's First Boo Boo

So Trey and I had an extremely traumatic experience tonight. I don't think it was quite as bad for Tate but it wasn't fun for him either. He has caught my cold and has quite a stuffy nose. Because of this he gets really frustrated when he lies down because it gets harder to breathe so right now he is spending most of his time in our arms and he is sleeping in a bouncy seat so he stays upright. We have been using saline and suctioning but tonight thought we would take him into the shower room with it all steamed up and see if that would open him up some.

I went in and turned the hot water on. I let it run for about 15 minutes then Trey (because he has a cold also) went in with Tate and stood with him. He said he was really enjoying it and getting cleared up. He had been in the middle of an alert period where he was playing with Grandma and Granddad and giving them lots of big smiles.

Well, right before Trey and Tate were about to leave the room the plastic diffuser that covers the light fixture fell off of the ceiling into Trey's lap and a shard from it flew up and cut him right above his eye! The Medleys and I were sitting in the living room and when we heard the bang and Trey yell followed by Tate screaming Nancy and I ran in there. Tate just screamed and screamed and he had a cut about a inch long above his eye. Trey got some peroxide on a q-tip and we cleaned it up. He will be fine but the poor thing was fussy the rest of his alert period. So sad!