My 3 girls had another good trip to the pediatrician today. All's well. This round of shots hasn't seemed to effect them much, although Rebekah said that they exercised their vocal cords well. And the numbers...Abigail is 19 lbs, 4oz.; 27 1/4", and Sydney is 18 lbs, 15 oz.; 26 7/8". There is a discrepancy in Sydney's weight from Friday to today because she ate a 10 oz. tenderloin on Sunday...or had her diaper on when they weighed her today; one or the other - you choose.

"we'll collect the moments one by one,
I guess that's how the future's done."
from "Mushaboom", Feist

Although the bitter cold and snow are a nice change for a while, the springlike temperatures today afforded us the opportunity to walk the neighborhood with our little people strapped to our chests. And they are not getting any lighter...

We had a doctor's appointment yesterday with a Vanderbilt cardiologist - a follow up to Sydney's suspected murmur. The echocardiogram/doppler went very well. Sydney stared at the technician and kept her body stiff as a board while she did her thing. It was so funny to see her stretch out like that and be so still. The doctor said that there was no obvious murmur and follow ups would not be necessary. Also, she weighed in at 18 lbs., 5 oz.! Whoa. We will have an appointment Monday with Dr. Mallard and will find out all the measurements and statistics.

Fun times with my angels...Rebekah you're my angel, too, but I didn't capture you smiling or sitting up in any of these pictures. Abigail (in the white shirt) is sitting up better at this point - a couple of seconds after the top picture, Sydney flopped on her back and was startled. Sydney has good balance as long as there are no distractions or things to reach for; if she moves off of center too much, she falls and rolls to her back. Both girls are very good at rolling from back to belly, and Sydney has figured out how to roll back on her back. Sydney still talks up a storm - mostly "dadadadada" as Abigail just watches. Rebekah took the girls to the Bellevue Mall yesterday with their play group. The mall has a central play area for the bigger kids; although the girls can't really play like that, the social aspect of the group is important for Rebekah. Life is good, and we are all enjoying being a big, happy family.

Rebekah's parents are in town with her Grandma Dee and Grandma Gin, which afforded us the opportunity to capture 4 generations of Runcie/Glisson in the above picture. We have hung out at the house and enjoyed the wintery weather all weekend (3 inches Friday night and sleet tonight--possibly icy roads tomorrow). Sydney and Abigail were all bundled up before a trip out of the house on Saturday...I know that 20 degrees F is not very cold, but the wind still takes their breath away.

Another portrayal of the twin phenomenon.

You know that I don't do requests, usually, but, Miranda, since you aren't able to be with us this weekend, it is the least that I could do...we just stuffed ourselves on your Grandma Dee's fried chicken and mashed potatoes, the Olympics are on (dumm dum da dum dum dum dum da da da da dum dum da da da dum dum da...you really have to have heard it to know what I'm trying to express), your mom is whistling a Zoe song (loudly), Grandma Gin just burped a good one (I think that was a burp), Sydney is saying "Dadadadadadadada" over and over and over and laughing at your Grandma Dee, your dad is washing the dishes and just told your Grandma Dee to get out of the kitchen (I believe he just said, "go read a book, go to the bathroom, or pray or something, Mom"--to encourage her to stay out), the fan in the guest bathroom runs constantly, and Rebekah is directing the show/circus/big happy family. And I...I am checking email and stuff, not to get away, but to stay out of the way...and, yes, to get away a bit, too. But the XX Winter Olympics are on and I just heard that some girl busted on the downhill skiing...until next time.

If we have to be away from our beautiful daughters, this weekend was the perfect opportunity and situation. Two nights in a king sized bed and royal treatment at the Adams Edgeworth Inn in the Monteagle Assembly, Monteagle, Tennessee was just what the doctor ordered. And six inches of snow made the time even more special. Rebekah and I were able to experience the Inn, Pearl's Cafe, the campus of the University of the South (Sewanee), wonderful cajun food at Trish's Treasures in Cowan, the South Cumberland natural bridge, and High Point restaurant...without changing a diaper, cleaning up spit-up, entertaining an upset baby, or (most importantly) waking up to a crying baby. We had a great time celebrating our relationship and 5 years of marriage, Valentine's Day, and the fact that we have such willing babysitters in my parents. Thanks, Mom and Dad. Abigail is talking up a storm in the other room, so I should go and hear about her weekend...

Pure joy! Sydney and Abigail are good and happy babies with personalities all their own. They are starting to smile on cue, and we were able to catch a few good pictures this week. Last Saturday we spent the morning with Teri Cobb in the girl's "6 month" photo shoot. The girls lasted for a couple hours and were beautiful. We should get the pictures next week. We have been preparing the girls all week for this weekend--Rebekah and I will be taking a couple days off and escape to a B&B on the mountain of Monteagle. Gigi and Granddaddy will be responsible for the girls for 36 hours and are looking forward to the challenge. I'm sure that they will hold them most of the weekend to saturate themselves in baby time--I just hope that the nighttime goes well. For the past couple of weeks, Sydney likes to wake up between midnight and 1 am with her little sister, Abigail, following or waiting until between 2 am and 4 am until waking up. The girls wake up, want to play, don't really want a bottle, and, if you don't tend to them within a few minutes, will get really irritated. Sleep is obviously precious to me since I need to be rested for work everyday, and sleep is important for Rebekah because she keeps up with the munchkins all day long. I'm sure that we'll figure it out soon enough and this will all be a distant archived blog.

Please ignore the advertisement--I just want to see if the Ads by Google really works...

Sweetness, happiness, and cuteness is a great combination! It is nice to catch the good times in pictures...

January 28th--Granddaddy's birthday party. We spent time with the Glisson/Speake family last Saturday night for dad's birthday; since I didn't feel very well at the time, all that I remember is restless babies, good lasagna, Lindsey's golden retriever-Bailey-in heat, and Don Williams...

Yes, the sick bug has visited our home for the past couple of weeks. Two weeks ago Rebekah was under the weather with it, and last Friday or so the girls started experiencing their first sickness that expressed itself through a runny nose, congestion to the point of not being able to keep their pacifiers in and irritability. Yes, irritability. This is not something that we are used to, even though both Abigail and Sydney can be less than cherub-like at times. There have been moments in the past week or so when the girls do not want to be held, but when laid down, the I'm-in-pain kind of scream ensues. When they woke up from their naps screaming a few times, we knew that we would be in for a challenge. They haven't been sleeping well at night, either, but that is another story entirely. I was sick Sunday through Wednesday but have been feeling better the past couple of days. Though we did not think twins would be a piece of cake, we felt like we had figured things out in their 7 short months here on earth. We love it, but we are worn out!