Christmas 2013

We celebrated Christmas with Chad's family a few days before we went to Utah, and unfortunately I didn't take any pictures. BUT, we got some awesome stuff! Including a new SA-WEET Nikon camera! I love it. It has so many awesome features including two sick lenses, the capability to create a hot spot so I can upload pictures no matter where I am, which blows my mind, and more awesome things, I just need to research more about it. It's incredibly nice and I feel a little overwhelmed, but I'm so excited to use it! 

We had such a fun time in Utah for Christmas! Chad started a new job (yay!) on the 16th, so we felt bad asking for a bunch of time off the week after he started, but they were super cool with him taking off early on Christmas Eve (most people did, obviously) so we headed down to Utah around noon and Chad stayed till Sunday. He then hitched a ride with a co-worker and I stayed longer to be there for my nephew, Gunner's, baptism and to see baby Cambrie be born! It was such a fun trip. The girls thoroughly enjoyed having older cousins to play with. And the feeling seemed to be reciprocated! Everyone loved playing with the girls which was sooo nice because it gave me a nice little break ;)

On Christmas Eve, my dad read the story of Christ's birth and the grand kids acted it out. It was so cute to see them all dressed up! We then did our yearly tradition of opening up one present: pajamas! Then we took some pictures by the tree and called it a night. I love my cute family. 

Harper loved every. single. second of Christmas day. I don't know if it was all the commotion, the paper everywhere, or just the general feel of happiness in the house, but she was full of pure joy all day. Avery gets a little anxious with a lot of people around, so she wasn't as enthusiastic as Harper, but she did enjoy her new toys :) 

As you can tell, it was a pretty awesome Christmas for everyone! 

One Year!

So much has happened in the last month, I don't even know where to start! I'll try to do a separate post for Christmas and their birthday. 

The girls are THRIVING. They are little sponges and really seem to be enjoying this stage of life. They are so much fun! I know I say that a lot, but what can I say? They're pretty awesome.

Also, I know these posts aren't that exciting for anyone, I'm just doing them for myself. To remember their little quirks and milestones reached.  

One Year

(9 months adjusted)

Avery

• Two words: Sassy. Pants. She definitely likes attention, and she definitely knows what to do to get it. If anyone, even a total stranger, is paying more attention to Harper, Avery will yell out to get their attention as if she's saying, "umm I'm here too, you know?!". Then she'll smile real big so they can't turn away. It's adorable, but I'm a little worried for the future ;)
• Loves to clap! If you clap or yell "yay!" or "patty cake!" she'll start clapping 
• Still sleeping well, as usual, but the last few nights, she's woken up a few times. She's learned how to pull down her bumper pads and throw her binky out on the ground. Then she'll yell till we look in the monitor and realize she doesn't have her binky so we have to go in there. She really knows how to get what she wants...
• Genuinely happy - she is always smiling and laughing this huge, belly laugh. She also laughs when we laugh at her. If we think something she's doing is funny, she'll laugh really loud and then continue to do what ever she's doing so we'll keep laughing
• As I'm writing these things, it's pretty clear that she has her mama's personality...
• Drama queen. She knows how to bring on the water works and it's TOTALLY fake. She knows to look to me if Harper is doing something she doesn't like. Although Harper rarely gets in trouble. Avery needs to get a taste of her own medicine!
• Loves bath time! She's always making a mess by splashing and falls over continually by trying to reach toys. She's never once freaked out by falling face-first into the water, surprisingly. She'll kind of cough and then keep laughing and playing. I think she's fine to bathe by herself now. KIDDING!
• We've been introducing more and more "adult" foods to them, and she loves it! Her favorites are cheese, mandarin oranges, toast, greek yogurt and bananas. She also loves whole milk and, as always, cold water
• Is learning she loves to stand. She'll pull herself up on me and the furniture. She hasn't tried to take any steps yet, thankfully! I'm not ready for that...
• Gets jealous when I hold Harper. She'll have nothing to do with me, but the second she sees me holding Harper, she'll crawl to me and whine for me to pick her up. It's becoming quite the challenge
• Loves all toys - especially toys that make music
• Finally got a tooth! Woohoo!
• As of a couple weeks ago, she weighs 18 lb 2 oz (25%) and is 28" long (15%)

Harper

• Has become quite the mama's girl. She wants me to hold her all the time. I'll be on the ground playing with them, and she'll crawl up onto my lap and whine till I pick her up. Like I said with Avery, it's difficult to decide who to hold, when to give in, etc. I don't want them to be spoiled, but I want them to totally love me at the same time haha! I'm trying to find a nice balance
• Follows me around the whole house. It's so cute to see her slowly getting to where she wants to go. I'll hear her crawling toward whatever room I might be in, and she'll push the door open and poke her head around to find me
• Super laid back. She is her fathers daughter! I think Avery tries to bug her, but she really doesn't seem to mind. Avery will roll around on top of her and she just keeps doing what she's doing. It's pretty funny to watch
• Loves books! She really likes me to make funny gestures and use different voices. She gets so excited when I break out the books
• Still loves food. Although, she's been a little more picky with grown up food than I thought she'd be. LOVES toast, green beans, bananas, eggs, and greek yogurt (but only if it doesn't have full sized berries in it. Just like me! I think the texture grosses her out, which I totally get. Yuck.) Won't eat grapes or deli meat. She doesn't love whole milk either. We're definitely working on that! 
• Cutest sleeper ever. She loves to snuggle blankets and especially loves burp cloths. I'll hand it to her in her crib, and she'll grab it and put it by her face. She'll curl up in a ball on her side and always has her burp cloth in her hand. She's sleeping wonderfully
• Also loves to stand. She likes to have me hold my hand on her back to keep her steady as she bangs on toys and anything on her level
• Also loves music. I hope my girls continue through life with a love for music! 
• I find her eating paper all day long. I don't know where she finds all of it! I'm constantly pulling out soggy paper from her mouth
• Loves bath time! Just like her sister, she'll splash and get so excited. She loves to play with her sister in the tub
• Her favorite thing is to be upside down. She will laugh and laugh! She loves to play with Avery while she's upside down. She thinks it's hilarious
• SO ticklish! Tickling her is one of my favorite things to do with her - her laugh is so funny
• Mimick's everything. If I throw my hands in the air, she will too. Same with clapping, turning my head from side to side, etc
• Weighs 20 lb 4 oz (53%) and is 28.5" long (26%)

As I said before, we've been introducing more adult foods lately, and it's been awesome to see how well they do. They love finger foods and actually do pretty well feeding themselves. I'll just cut up a bunch of different foods, put it on their trays and let them go crazy. They're still drinking some formula, but that's mostly because I love feeding them their bottles...I've grown quite an attachment to that one-on-one snuggle time as they eat. Seeing them drink from a sippy cup on their own makes me so sad they're growing up! But here pretty soon, we'll transition out of bottles all together. 

When we went to the pediatrician for their one year check up, she said to me, "You know, you no longer have babies. You have toddlers now!", I was so sad! It broke my heart to hear that my sweet little babies technically aren't babies anymore. It's true what everyone says, kids grow up too fast. I'm so grateful for my children's progress and the milestones they continue to reach. They truly are amazing little girls!

A Letter to My One Year Olds

My Sweet Daughters,

Today, you are one year old. Exactly a year ago, Heavenly Father was scooting you out the door to start your journey here on this earth with your dad and me. And my goodness, we were scared. You came 13 weeks too early. I wanted so badly to keep you in my belly, to grow, mature, and (selfishly) be as close to me as you'd ever be. When you came, you were perfect. Tiny, but perfect. You had 10 fingers and 10 toes. You had hair - lots of it! And I immediately fell in love with you.

Now here we are, one year later. And you two are growing like crazy! You're so aware of your surroundings. You're learning, absorbing, taking in every little bit of life. And you're happy! I think it's because you have each other. Do you realize you each have a best friend for life? No matter what, your sister will be there for you. You get to grow up with your best friend by your side. You get to experience the highs and lows with someone who is at that exact same stage of life. Your first day of school, you don't have to walk through those big doors alone. When life gets hard, you get to run to the arms of someone who gets it. Yes, your dad and I are always here, to hold you, to comfort you, to raise you up. But you also have a sister who understands your feelings better than anyone else. You two have a bond no one can break. Friends will come and go, but you'll always have each other. What a special gift.

I also want you to know that although you have each other to hold onto, you are each your own person. You can dress however you want. You can do whatever sports/extra-curricular activities you want. You are NOT defined as person by the fact that you're a twin. That's why your father and I have worked so hard, from the very beginning, to let you know that you're an individual. We've never dressed you alike. We've given you each your own toys, binky's, etc. We've given you each one-on-one time. Yes, you're twins, but the way we see it, you are sisters who were coincidentally born on the same day. In your life, you are going to be referred to as "The Pearman Twins", but please don't let that define you. You do not have to do something you don't want to, just because your sister does. And if you want to do everything together, that's great too! Just know you have the choice to be whatever person you want to be.

I hope you both know how incredibly loved you are. Your father and I worked so hard to get you here and we don't want to take any second for granted. I savor every single snuggle. Every open-mouthed kiss you so lovingly give. Every laugh. And every time you cry in the night because you just want to know we're here. Because soon, that will all go away and we'll miss it oh, so much.

I love you forever, baby girls,

Mom