A City Life For Me

I can hardly believe that the twins are 1 month old today!  Then I remember how little sleep I’ve been getting, how much coffee I’ve been consuming, and how many diapers I have changed, and it seems like so much longer than just a month! In reality, things are going very well, all things considered.  Ben and I are still tired, and we do look forward to naptimes as the highlight of the weekend.  But my babies are both nursing well, they both take a bottle for Ben, they are growing, and they are sleeping pretty good already!  At night we are going about 4 hours, sometimes 5 at a stretch! They have had several good nights in the crib, and we will work harder on that now that all of our visitors are gone. Here are some pictures from today {click to enlarge} from Liberty’s baby book… This page will go in each baby’s book, but the pictures are changed slightly so there are no duplicates. from Nehemiah’s book.  This morning Nehemiah was wearing an “I Love Mommy” shirt an

Just pretend it’s still Wednesday, okay? Blue tongue from her bank lollipop So proud of those pink fingers…all dressed up for Havilah’s Birthday Par-Tea Grandma Godby came to visit!!! Nolan, Elaine, Liberty, & Nehemiah Storytime with Grandma Ice Cream from the ice cream truck Nolan ate his from the bottom of the cone.  He was a royal mess! Nehemiah just kept slipping until his face was nearly covered and his feet were hanging out! Love those little toes! Nolan wants to do everything the baby’s do.  Liberty sits in the Boppy a lot, so Nolan decided to give it a try! Trying to break him out of his princess stage.  Super Hero Nolan!

About three weeks ago I posted this picture… I was very pregnant and very ready to NOT be pregnant any more!  I had anticipated the twins coming by 36 weeks, and this was five days later.  Little did I know that it was a mere four days before the twins’ birth.  Now, just over three weeks later, I was able to get these pictures today… They are so much fun to hold, cuddle, and fall asleep with!  Besides…their feet are just too cute!

In the Bible, names were very significant.  Parents named their children after the circumstances of life at that time, what they hoped or desired for their child, a special attribute of God, and sometimes the name was even decided by God before the child’s birth to have special significance to Israel.  I think I have recently become more aware of the meaning and significance of names as I read my Bible. Elaine’s name probably has the least forethought to significance of our kids. (Maybe as a parent I shouldn’t admit to that!)  I guess we got better at this as we’ve gone along?!?  I just really liked the name Elaine .  I can’t remember where I got it.  It’s not after anyone in particular.  But I wanted an Elaine.  Her middle name is Cristin.  This was purposely named after my best friend, Danielle Cristin .  Danielle was a special gift from God and the direct answer to my prayer for a friend when I went to college.  I loved how she spelled her middle name.  I love that my firstborn,

I was able to do a little scrapbooking on my “shift” this morning.  I’ve already shared the pictures, but wanted to include the finished pages too! {click picture to enlarge}

It’s been a week, but I finally got these pictures into a page layout!  Although Nehemiah can out-eat his sister any day, she is ahead of him on several other points.  Her cord stump fell off a week sooner and she has already had her first bath!  (Nehemiah will get his first bath today…hopefully!) Elaine and Nolan were excited to be included in the process.  With all of us crowded around the kitchen sink it was hard for Ben to get pictures.  Maybe we’ll use the bathroom sink with Nehemiah! {click picture to enlarge}

Last night, Elaine’s Sunday School class had an outing to the Brooklyn Children’s Museum.  Nolan will be in the class soon, so he was invited along too!  We enjoyed a supper together, then Elaine’s teacher Alisa gave a short devotion.  After that we headed into the museum to play! There is a tot section for kids ages 5 and under.  They have a sandbox, giant water table, dress up area, music area, and more. The kids love this part! Selah and Elaine Elaine and Nolan Even though his smock covered his feet, somehow Nolan still managed to have dripping pants when we left! Nolan loves shoes, and he was excited to try on these boots!  Not quite as excited when he tripped trying to walk, though! There are several different ethnic sections, including an Italian pizza parlor and an International Grocer.  The kids can build their own felt pizzas, or go grocery shopping and pay the checker for their food!  The kids loved the pizza parlor this time! Nolan wan

Elaine loves to hold the babies.  She is constantly asking to hold one or the other.  I often have to say “no” because I can’t be right next to her to help.  Yesterday she held Liberty for close to an hour while I cleaned up the dishes and sent some emails.  She just talked and talked to “Baby Liverty”, held her hand, and enjoyed being a big sister.  At first, Elaine told us that she wasn’t going to hold Nehemiah.  But she is just as attentive to him, and loves to hold him too!  Nolan was not to be left out, so he got to have a baby too.Elaine even let him have Liberty!  It’s nice having two so that there is nothing to fight about! Nolan is learning to give kisses.  He loves to make a smacking noise with his lips! Elaine’s friend, Havilah, came over the other day.  Elaine was super excited to show off her “Baby Liverty” and “Baby Neemiah” to her friend!  And they both enjoyed holding the babies, trading them back and forth, and attempting to give a bottle to them.

I am very blessed to have two godly ladies in my life that go by “Mom.”  I love both of them very much!  I feel especially blessed to have such a good relationship with my Mother-in-Law, as I know that is not always the case! This year for Mother’s Day, we have just added two new babies to the family. Everything around our house seems a bit new or out of place.  We are still working on the new routine.  Nolan is still adjusting to losing “baby” status.  Mommy & Daddy are running on half sleep.  But both of my moms have helped to make this time easier!  Sissy was a huge help in taking care of Elaine & Nolan while I was in the hospital.  She also gave up her sleep those first couple of nights we were home.  And to top it all off, Elaine & Nolan were sick.  They decided to share {for once!} and sent Grandma home with a cold as well.  We couldn’t have done it without you, Mom! My Mom hasn’t been able to come yet – we look forward to her visit next week.  But she and Dad h

Today Grampa Hamilton drove down to meet Liberty & Nehemiah.  Elaine and Nolan have filled their bean jar , so we decided to make today celebration day.  They chose to ride the “horsey’s” (aka Jane’s Carousel ).  Grampa went with us and we let the kids have several rides. Liberty & Nehemiah enjoyed the experience! On the way back we stopped by Grimaldi’s to see if there was a long line.  There wasn’t!  We think that people didn’t want to risk standing in line in the rain, since it was raining off & on all day.  We opted to go ahead and dine in.  That was some delicious pizza!  Grampa got in a few more cuddles with the kiddos before driving home. Ben with Grampa, Liberty, & Nehemiah I tried to get a picture of all four kiddos with Grampa, but Elaine & Nolan didn’t like that idea, and they kept squirming.  Oh well!