30 Years Young

Well- I made it to the dreaded 30th birthday. In reality I've actually been pretty okay with turning 30. I love birthdays and what's one more year even if it takes me into another decade. I couldn't be happier with where my life is so come on 30's! Not to mention my sweet husband and friends made it a weekend to remember FULL of celebrations.

My actual 30th fell on a Friday in which I didn't have to work and Kevin was lucky enough to work from home. I spent a lazy morning with the babes after Kev brought me breakfast in bed. I shooed him away as the babies were still sleeping and so was I! It's not often I can take advantage of that. Next up I spent a little time down at our neighborhood beach with the babies. We hadn't made it down there in weeks. The babies must have known it was my birthday because they were so good. They laid under their umbrella on a quilt and played while enjoying the afternoon with mama. It was a beautiful day with a nice breeze so I'm sure they were in heaven with the water and breeze. Kevin then sent me for a massage that turned out to be one of the best I've ever had. Ahhh what a good hubby. Once I returned it was time to get ready for the party. Little did I know Kevin rented a party bus for some friends and I to head down to downtown Baltimore for a few drinks and dancing. But...before we left there were a couple of surprises. First up my friend Anna couldn't make it from Charlotte so instead...she sent a dancing chicken man who sang some pretty funny songs and read a sweet note from her.I don't think I stopped laughing the whole time Mr. Chicken was at my house. The best part is Kevin had to help him get into his chicken suit when he arrived. If only I could have seen that! A few minutes after the chicken left (ha) I walk into my kitchen to find two of my very best friends from NC . Tiffany and Erin drove all the way from Raleigh to surprise me and our other bestie, Celeste for her birthday. Wow! I was shocked and SO excited. They made my night for sure! A few drinks later and we were off to Baltimore. It was the perfect night!

Saturday we relaxed a bit and spent quality time with the babies. We had a family scare (more on this later) so between Friday night's festivities and that I wasn't really up for much.

Sunday was another day of celebration. Kevin along with Celeste's husband David threw us a little surprise get together at their house to watch football, hang with friends and eat good food. SO many of our friends made it from all over. The best part is that this celebration included the babies. It's kind of surreal to see how quickly we all went from single to couples to a gazillion babies running around. It made me smile!

Boy was I tired come Monday but I enjoyed every moment of ringing in the BIG 3-0! If it's anything like my 20's it's sure to be amazing. After all, I met my future husband, graduated college, got a great job, got a dog, bought a house, got engaged, then married and welcomed two amazing little babies...Whew what a decade!

Thank you to all of my amazing friends and sweet hubby for making me feel so loved this past weekend! You sure made turning 30 fun. Love you all XOXO

The sweet card from my babies (husband)

Beautiful flowers from the hubby that have made my house smell AMAZING this week

A few of the ladies looking good!

My sweet babies ready to cheer on the Skins at our Sunday party

Amy and the beans!

Lil McKenna in her cute Skins jersey

Hmmmmm!

The Fry's. Go Skins!

Some of the gang at the surprise football party

New mamas and our sleeping boys

Love my lil Skins loving family!

My sweet sleeping boy

7 Months Old!

How did this happen??? How are my babies 7 months old already? They've almost been in the world as long as they were in my belly.

Weight

A: I’m guessing somewhere around 13-14 pounds. A few weeks ago at their 6 month check up she was 12 pounds 5 ounces

 G: I’m guessing somewhere around 14 -15 pounds. A few weeks ago at their 6 month check up he was 13 pounds 7 ounces

Height-

A: ? G: ?

Clothing size- at 7 months Avery is finally wearing 0-3 month clothes. Every now and then I squeeze her in some newborn jammies. Grayson is definitely out of the newborn clothes and solidly wearing his  0-3 month clothes.

Diapers-

Size 1’s for both babies

Feeding-

Still nursing when I'm home. My pumped milk supply is pretty much gone other than what I pump while I'm at work so the babies are getting about 2-3 bottles of formula a day. They are still drinking around 5-6 ounces. We've begun baby food! Their very first food was banana and they LOVED it. So far I have made all of their food in my Baby Breeza food maker. It makes making baby food so simple and fun. So far they have had apple, banana, pear, avocado, green beans, peas, and their absolute favorite sweet potato. They get to have baby food once in the morning and one at dinner time. Avery is pro at eating baby food. She opens her mouth as wide as can be as soon as the spoon starts coming her way. Grayon's on the other hand is a mess. He doesn't really open his mouth but wants the food oh so bad and tried shoveling it in with me unless I hold his hands while trying to feed him. Before we finish he usually has food all over his face, hair, clothes and high chair. It's quite the site to see. I'm just happy I have two very good little eaters on my hands.

Hair/Eyes-

Avery's are smokey blue and the hair she has is dark like her daddy's. It will be awhile before she has enough hair for bows!

Grayson's eyes are a slightly brighter blue. His hair is much lighter. He's my little blondie. He has a lot more hair than his sister at this point.

Sleep-

The babies are still napping for a short time in the morning, a longer nap in the afternoon and occasionally a quick snooze around dinner time. Lately though, they have decided not to take very long afternoon naps (especially Avery). They go to sleep for the night between 7:30-8:00pm depending on their fussiness. They are still sleeping until around 5 am most mornings, they nurse, and then go back to sleep until approximately 8:00-9:00am now that their bellies are full of milk and baby food. I am SO hoping this continues...

Personality-

A: Avery is still quite the happy baby. She grins from ear to ear 24-7. Her personality is going to be so much fun to watch as she grows. She isn't talking quite as much as her brother but let's out coos of excitement every now and then. She's also not as ticklish as her brother but giggles for us when she feels like it. She is so into everything happening around her. She watches the dog, people, anything that catches her attention. I can tell she is taking it all in. I think this is part of the reason she has decided she doesn't want to nap as long in the afternoon. She is one busy little girl and doesn't really cuddle with me as much as her brother does...such a girl!

G: Grayson is my sweet, sensitive, loving little boy. He is very different from his sister and has been since the get go. He still enjoys cuddling with me and I love that! He will still fall asleep on me if we ever get the chance. I take full advantage when I can because soon enough he will be too busy for this I'm sure. His favorite thing right now is playing in the exersaucer that he can stand up in. He gets so incredibly excited and bounces all around screaming and cooing. I love the sounds in our house these days! Grayson is so ticklish behind his ears, under his arms, and at his thighs. If you get him in those spots get ready for the cutest little giggles on earth.

Fun Stuff-

The babies are almost pros at sitting up. If you sit anything around them they can hang for awhile otherwise they still tend to tip after a few seconds. Avery can roll and roll and roll from side to side. One day when I sat her on her playmat in her bedroom I came back to find her at her doorway almost out of her room! Grayson can roll both ways but tends to only roll one way and then back to the other. I am so not ready for these babies to be mobile just yet! I sure hope they aren't early walkers. They've always loved to be held in the standing position which is why I knew they would probably stand holding on to things at an early age. They can already kind of do this. I can't let go but their strong little legs stiffen and they grab on to whatever is in front of them to hold them selves up.  They have also become so much more interested in each other. They reach for each other and look at each other. They even smile at each other. I cannot wait for their bond to grow and to see more interaction between them.

The babies got to see their first redskins game recently and it was even a win! I love dressing them up in their East Carolina outfits on Saturday's and their Redskins outfits on Sunday's. This just may be the uniform in our house for the next few months.

For now we are doing our best to enjoy each and every moment with our babies. What more could we ask for?

First Baby Free Getaway

Wow, it sure has been busy in the Hatcher household lately. I have gone part time with my current company, which is something I've been hoping to do for weeks now. I have also taken on a part time, from home, night job at a home health agency. I wanted to figure out a way to have more time with my babies while they are still little and this is how it works. Life is crazy but we are so fortunate that everything just keeps working itself out.

Now to the real title of this post...our getaway. It was so hard to make the decision to leave the babies overnight for the first time. I kept going back and forth but in the end decided they would survive two nights away. Thankfully my parents were more than willing to make the drive to come stay with them at our house. I don't think I would have felt comfortable leaving under any other conditions. I just kept thinking things like, they've never gone a whole day without nursing and I've never not put them to bed". But after a little convincing from the hubby and knowing they would be in my parents care I decided to go.

So off we went for a weekend away at the Homestead in Hot Springs, Virginia to celebrate our good friend Jess Clickner's 30th birthday. Little did I know how amazing this place was. We arrived and our jaws dropped, it was gorgeous. There were so many activities to choose from. We didn't have time to fit them all in so we picked as many as we could. We wanted to take full advantage. We spent time at the pool and lazy river in between clouds, played volleyball, canoed down the river, relaxed in the hot springs, shot skeet, ate some fancy dinners, and even enjoyed a few drinks and dancing. All in all there wasn't much time for resting, I missed my babies like crazy, but we had the most amazing time with good friends. It was a perfect little getaway filled with memories.

The Beautiful Lobby

The back view out to the pool and golf course

Volleyball

Getting ready to leave for our canoe ride

Happy Birthday Girl!

Fancy Dinner #2

Are you ready for a little Skeet Shooting?!?!

 Kevin

Chase

Jess

Chris

Melissa

Bre

Needless to say we couldn't get home fast enough on Sunday and I squeezed my little beans like crazy when I walked in the door. It melted my heart how excited they were to see us!