7 months old

All 3 girls about to go the pool (twins aren't swimmers yet)

Allison blowing bubbles (or veggies if it is dinner time) and Brooke ready to get down and crawl!

I love you sistee! (i love Brooke's arn in this one, she looks so big)

Thing ONE and Thing TWO! Funny huh?

The twins are now 7 months old as of August 20th! I can NOT believe 7 months have already passed! This time last year, I was a mess, thinking of EVERYTHING we had to do before Allison and Brooke got here. I was about to start my 12th year of teaching school, Claire was going to her first day of Primrose, and Junior was starting his first year as principal of Christie Elementary. Man what a year does!!! I am NOT starting school this year, Claire is going to Mother's Day Out at our church (thank GOD) and Junior will be starting his 2nd year of being the principal of a great school in Frisco ( his school got an exemplary rating this past year, FIRST time in the history of the school, I think it has EVERYTHING to do with the principal, I'm just saying....)

Here are some new stats on the girls.....

WE HAVE A CRAWLER!!! Brooke is out of control already. Today while I was getting dinner ready, enters Brooke to the kitchen, first time her little knees ever touch the kitchen floor. She also has 2 teeth! She is pulling up in her bed (which we were supposed to lower this weekend, but didn't get around to ) She says dadadada all the time. She LOVES to be in the mix of whatever everyone else is doing. She is still pretty little, about 15 pounds now, but moving ALL over the place. She is a hoot!

Allison is doing great too! She is a smiley girl! She LOVES her mother to no end....doesn't want me to leave the room or put her down. She isn't crawling, persay, but did army crawl this morning to get a bottle i laid on the floor!! I think we are about to have 2 crawlers on our hands.... Lord help me...Alli doesn't have any teeth yet, but is really working on one, or two! Alli HATES ALL veggies. She spits them ALL over the place at dinner every night. I have come to terms with it now, I just let her blow them all over me every night. Allison says hi now too!

Happy 7 months girls! I can't believe it! We love you very much!!!

Allison

Brooke

Allison wouldn't let go of the paci.!

junior, jill and the girls (yes, Brooke, I am still here)

This past weekend, August 9th, we had the girls baptized at our church, Grace Avenue United Methodist Church in Frisco, TExas. It was a great day for all of us. We had many family members with us to celebrate. I thought Billy's sermons was most fitting for the day, it was about gathering together! Let me tell ya, we GATHERED! Thank you to everyone who was with us in person, thought, prayer, and in heaven! We love you all from the bottom of our hearts and know our girls will feel your love forever!

6 months old

Best Friends and Sisters!

Allison Ann

Brooke Elizabeth

Yes, my friends, we made! Half a year that is! The twins are officially 6 months old as of Monday. Lots of people have told us if we could just get to the 6 months mark, things start to get easier. I have to say things are starting to ease up a bit. Brooke seems to have turned a corner and doesn't spit up as much or cry as often. Thank you Lord! Allison is still very sweet, but not quiet. She has discovered her voice and LOVES it! Brooke is getting up on all fours and rocking back and forth. I must say it is pretty cute. Allison hasn't done this yet, but I am sure it is right around the corner. Anothere cute thing we do is sing. Brooke LOVES the "jump up and down" song. It is a song Claire sang at school this year and now it is our house theme song. We go through everyone's name and then everyone laughs! So cute!

We now only have 4- 8oz bottles per day (less washing of bottles, AMEN) and baby food once a day as well. They eat a veggie and fruit each at dinner time. Now if we can just get to the point of not having to buy formula, that will be WONDERFUL (6 MORE months)!

We had our 6 month check up yesterday with Dr. Stokes and all went very well, although both girls had to get a shot in each leg. Both girls are healthy and strong. here are up to date stats on each girl so you can get a sense of how big they are now:

Allison: 15.4 lbs 25.5 inches
Brooke: 14.8 lbs. 25.25 inches

They are both very similar in size but Allison head is bigger which makes her look bigger!

Happy half birthday sweet girls! We made half a year! YEA!!!

Last week we decided, very last minute, to take the girls to visit Aunt Jenn, Aunt Gregg, Audrey and Marshall in Amarillo! (Claire has always called Gregg "Aunt Gregg" instead of Uncle Gregg, so we let her!) It is a 6 hour trip one way. Junior and I were hesitant about being in the car that long with all three girls, but they did GREAT! We only stopped one time on the way there and twice on the way home (one long stop at Mamaw and Pop's house, much needed and very nice!)

We visited the Amarillo zoo, which is the coolest FREE zoo I have ever been to. We love going there to see the monkeys, tigers, lions, and many other creatures. We also went to the Discovery Center. This museum is so cool too! It is very hands on for all ages of kids! Junior and Gregg got to squeeze in a round of golf too.

We had a great time! THANKS AUNT JENN AND AUNT GREGG!! We love you all very much!

Summer time!!!

Claire and her "blue" drink! NO MORE WHINING!!

Junior, Jill and the twins (Claire refused to be in the picture) at the DWA! So cool!

4 generations! Memaw, Mimi, Daddy and the girls!

Me with all my girls, notice all the pictures of Claire in the background. She was already at Mimi's when we took this picture. We started date day afterwards YIPPEE!!


Brooke with her faux hawk! Of course Daddy did baths and bed this night, and I am not complaing what so ever!!! I love to have a break!

The summer has officially begun in the Gonzales household! No real bedtimes, doesn't matter what time we get up, no real plans for the day! We love it! We have already done some really fun things. First and foremost, the twins spent their first night away from home! It went really well too! They stayed with Junior's mom, Mimi. AND, Claire stayed at Junior's grandmother's house on the same night, so we had NO kids for the first time in about 6 months. NICE!!! We also took all three girls to the Dallas World Aquarium on Friday. Claire loved it until she noticed all the kids that had colorful drinks, then she HAD to have one in order to stop whining. Thank you Mimi for getting Claire her blue drink. The twins did great at the aqaurium as well! They love to people watch! Now that Daddy is home all week and weekend, he is enjoying more time with his girls! We love the summer time!!

We are 5 months old

YEA! We are 5 months old!






Allison Ann





Brooke Elizabeth




Brooke doing the motor boat!





And, of course big sister had to be in a pic. too!




I can NOT believe the girls are already 5 months old! Sometimes it feels like just yesterday they were born, and other days I feel like I have been doing this for EVER!! THey have definitely devloped personalities(the first picture captures their personalities very well). Allison is VERY laid back and quiet. Even when she cries it is quiet. Brooke is LOUD all the time and loves attention (by that I mean she likes to be held)! They are both eating LOTS of cereal and soon we will start baby food. Brooke is "scooting" all over the place. She puts her face on the ground and gets her legs up under her. Then she is off! It won't be long until she is crawling! Allison isn't scooting just yet, but she is not far behind. They both love to make the motor boat sound, especially while I feed them cereal! It is so fun to watch them grow every day.

Happy Father's Day

Allison was too tired to join her sisters for a picture with Daddy!



Junior and 2 of his girls!

We had a great Father's Day this year! Claire and I made Junior breakfast in bed and then we were off to church. After church we headed over to Junior's parents house to swim and have lunch! Once we came home all the girls were pooped, see pics. I didn't get any pictures of all 3 girls with their dad, I waited to late in the day. Allison was too tired!
Happy Father's Day Junior!

4 months old

The girls are now 4 months old as of the 20th! Lots has been going on, hence no blog entries lately! We started the girls on rice cereal. We really started it a few days before they turned 4 mos. due to the fact that Brooke's reflux is killing me! My good friend Laura told me to try cereal. It worked for her daugther Sam. Not so much for poor little Brooke. She does like it though ,even if she throws half of it up an hour after she eats it. Allison on the other hand is not that much of a fan. She cries the whole time I feed her.

Both girls can now turn over as well. They roll from back to front and front to back, so watch your step!!! Brooke is even rolling over in bed and sleeping on her tummy. We had to seperate the girls at night so they wouldn't roll on top of each other. The first night they slept apart, Brooke woke up every hour. She obviously missed her sistee! They are doing fine now though.

Our 4 mo. check up went very well too, in and out in about an hour (thanks to Mimi). Both girls are 24 1/4 inches long. Allison weighed 12.12 and Brooke weighed 12.4. Brooke still looks a lot smaller because her head is smaller!!

All is well in the Gonzales household. We are ready for summer break so our Daddy can play with us ALL day! Just think, it's kind of like I am going to have a part time employee now! YIPPEE!!!

Mother's day for a mother of 3!

This was my first Mother's day with all my girls! How special! I had a great day starting out with 1. no getting a baby out of a crib and changing her diaper or giving her a bottle and 2. Breakfast in BED with Claire! It was so sweet! We went to a yummy lunch, visited with Mimi and went to the park. I only fed 1 bottle all day long and only changed 2 diapers! NICE! I also got really pretty red roses and a funny card from that Claire picked out. I hope all my mommy friends out there had a great day as well!

3 months old

Brooke


Allison





Today the twins are 3 months old! I can't believe how time flies! They are sleeping in their own room, talking lots and smiling ALL the time! They are really good babies! We are truly blessed !

Easter

We celebrated Easter this year at home, church and at Mimi and Papa's house. Claire was super excited about the Easter bunny coming to visit. We made cupcakes for him to snack on. Easter morning was really cute. Claire's basket was full of things she loves, including a princess watch (she spotted in Walmart). She showed both her sisters their baskets as well. So cute! Then we were off to church. The weather was not great, but it did stop raining long enough for us to get into and out of church. After the service we had a butterfly release. Claire had never done this before and I don't think she was too much of a fan. Note the pictures! After church we went to Mimi and Papa's house for an excellent lunch of beef tenderloin. YUMMY!
All in all, the twins first Easter was really fun! We hope everyone had a blessed Easter!

First trip to Henrietta

I ventured to Henrietta for the first time with all three girls, by myself mind you, this weekend! It was a huge success. It literally took me three days to pack, and I think I only forget a few minor things! (I now have a running "what to pack list" on my computer. Genius huh?) The girls visited HHS, Davis Funeral Home, FUMC (twice: Jr. Delphian tea and church on Sunday), As Good As it Gets, Rolling Meadows, and good ole'Sikes Center Mall! We had lots of vistiors while we were home! It was so good to see all our friends so they could meet Allison and Brooke. (Sandy, I know you are reading this, it was so nice to see you and get even more tips from a grandmother of twins!)

It was also palm Sunday at church. It is custom for the youngest baby in the church to lead the palm parade, so Brooke and Allison did that duty! (Technically Brooke led because she was born one minute later than Alli). Mawmaw and Pop carried the girls and Claire walked in between. I must say I was a proud mother and I am pretty sure my parents were even more proud than me!

I love going home! Claire loves going to Henrietta! Now, Allison and Brooke love going too! I can't wait to go back to Clay County.


Brooke leading the palm parade




Mawmaw, Brooke, Pop, Allison, and Claire making their way through the palm procession!



Proud Grandparents!

2 months old already!

The girls had their 2 month well check last Friday as well as their first round of shots (boo)! They are both right on track and growing ever so quickly! Both are starting to smile and make the cutest noises ever! I love hearing them try to talk. Here are the new stats!

Allison: 9.15 pounds 21.5 inches
Brooke: 9.7 pounds 21.25 inches


Their doctor has put both of them on reflux medicine. Brooke seems to have a harder time with reflux than Allison, but both are now taking Zantac to help. They both also have to have a VCUG and renal ultrasound done within the next two months. These are two tests to see if they have unrinary reflux. THis is a herditary condition that runs in our family (Claire has it, as well as Audrey (my niece), and my cousins two girls, Maddie and Meredith, both have it too!) It is not a fun thing to have done, but very necessary. If they do have urinary reflux they will have to take antibiotics until the condition goes away.

Anyway, we are all doing great and sleeping quiet a bit! Today was my first day to go to a mom's group at church. All three girls went with me and went to the nursery. This was a first for Brooke and Allison! They did great, slept the whole time! What a blessing for the girls and ME to get out and meet some more moms! There were 4 sets of twins in Allison and Brooke's room! Isn't that crazy! Twins everywhere I look!

Happy 2 months Alli and Brooke!

Claire's 3rd birthday

Claire's 3rd birthday was Sunday March 15th. We had 38 people at our house (did I mention we have a really small house). We were supposed to have the party in our backyard but mother nature had a different plan for us. Instead we busted out the bubbles, Ring Pops, and sidewalk chalk. My parents brought their bounce house, yes they own one, and it was dry enough in one stop of our front yard to set it up. The kids had a blast! Happy Birthday Claire Bear!