The Whitson Family - Life with Twin Girls

Cute random pics

2008-12-20T22:48:00.000-08:00

Since I'm a terrible blogger, here are some cute pics from the last month or so. Avery and Kara are talking up a storm now. Kara usually sticks to one or two word phrases, but Avery is saying several word sentences. They understand almost everything I say to them and follow directions well...when they're in a cooperative mood!

Did you know that just about anything can make a stylish hat?

They love their Minnie Mouse ears their cousins brought back from Disneyworld

Check out my boo boo. (They insist on a bandaid for every boo boo...real or imagined, and if one girl has a bandaid, suddenly the other has a boo boo requiring a bandaid too).

Napping on Daddy

Kara looks like such a big girl in the picture. They're growing so fast!

Fun at the park

We love slides!

Finally cold enough for coats

They insisted on wearing them in the house for an hour or so until they got too hot.

Sister kisses are the best!

We're TWO!!!

2008-12-05T21:51:00.000-08:00

Finally...I'm getting around to posting a few birthday pics. We had Avery and Kara's party at our house the weekend before their birthday. All the family came, and the girls had lots of fun eating cupcakes & ice cream and opening tons of presents. It was Winnie the Pooh themed, so I got them bear ears to wear:

Ready for cupcakes!

Kara woke up from her nap right before everyone came over, so she had to slowly warm up to all our guests. She wakes up a wee bit grumpy (like her mama)!

Cupcakes galore

Delicious! Kara and Avery both insisted on eating their cupcake with a fork.

Avery entertains KayKay and family

The girls loved opening the presents. They ooohhhed & aaahhhed about everything

A pretty cross from Grandpa and Nana

They're big gift from us was a toy kitchen. They have a great time playing with it...and strewing play food and pots and pans all over the floor.

After everyone left, the girls raced their new baby strollers around the living room. Fun times!

Fun at the Zoo

2008-11-20T21:17:00.000-08:00

We took Avery and Kara to the zoo for the first time last month. Gigi and Grandad came with us and were a big help corralling the girls. They had so much fun running all around and looking at the animals. On our way home, they fell asleep about the second we put them in the car...totally worn out from all the fun!

Checking out the penguins

Hello Mr. Gorilla

Looks real, doesn't it?

I think they liked this turtle statue better than the real animals!

Trick or Treat

2008-11-03T20:28:00.000-08:00

Halloween was a lot of fun! The girls got to go trick or treating for the first time. We only went to a few houses, but they were thrilled with the candy. The hard part was waiting until we got home to eat it! Then we let them stay up a little later than usual to watch us pass out candy to other kids. So Avery and Kara sampled a milky way and twix, and it must be true that candy makes kids hyper, because they stayed up laughing and jabbering in their room for well over an hour after we put them to bed. I guess they had a good time. :)

Excited little trick-or-treater

Collecting candy is serious business!

We visited a nice older couple on our street first. Avery tried to invite herself inside.

So many choices...

Kara took a liking to a Milky Way and wouldn't put it down until we opened it at home later.

Hanging out at the house waiting for trick-or-treaters

"How can I weasel more candy out of Mommy & Daddy?"
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The weekend before Halloween, we took the girls to our church's Fall Festival. They were very excited to wear their princess dresses. We had a good time exploring all the fun activities...games, petting zoo, fire truck & police car. They're favorite activity was playing with balloons of course. That never gets old! And sweetly harassing all the poor animals in the petting zoo.

Little princess #1

Avery attempts to play a game and is overwhelmed by choices. She finally picked up a duck and won some candy.

Little princess #2

Knocking the balloons around...ah, the best game of all

Avery always has to stop and pick up rocks whenever possible

The little princess meets a masked man and has a staring contest

She's got the bunnies cornered

Avery tried to hug all the animals in the petting zoo. It was very sweet, but probably very terrifying to the poor animals. She scared away several ducks, chickens, and bunnies before going after the goats.

They did not want to leave the petting zoo. They would have stayed there all night if we let them.

Relaxing before going home for the night

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Before the Fall Festival, we took a trip to the pumpkin patch. The girls had so much fun running around and investigating the pumpkins. We ate lunch, and then they tried their first snow cone. It was a big hit!

Wow, that's a lot of pumpkins!

Kara thinks pumpkins make a good chair

Avery went around hugging all the pumpkins. Guess she thought they needed a little love.

The one picture I got of them together

They loved opening and closing all the doors

Peek-a-boo

I see you!

Fun around the house

2008-10-30T09:31:00.000-07:00

Avery said her first sentence a couple weeks ago. The girls were pulling a bunch of stuff out of a cabinet, and I came up and asked what they were doing. Avery stands up and declares "What a mess!" like she didn't have anything to do with it.

Sitting in their chairs drawing. A rare moment of peace and quiet!

We had to wear these adorable sun dresses and our summer shoes one more time before it got cold.

Kara's favorite activity in the whole world is riding her horse.

Showing off our Halloween shirts.

Look at our cool hats!

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A few weeks ago we went up to Arkansas for our college homecoming. They had a choir reunion, so I got to see a bunch of my old friends. We stayed in a hotel room, and it was the first time the girls spent the night away from home. Kara had some trouble going to sleep in a new crib, but during the day they had a lot of fun. JBU provided childcare, so they got to play all day with other kids.

JBU Cathedral Choir sang a few pieces, then the alumni came up and joined them. It was a lot of fun!

Playing with balloons outside the childcare area. Avery's pant got dirty, so she was pantless when we picked her up.

Dallas Cowboy fans

2008-09-12T21:04:00.001-07:00

Steve is attempting to create two new sports fans in our house. Obviously my feigned attempts to seem interested in sports aren't believable. He's hoping the new generation of Whitsons will share his love of football and basketball. We got them each a "Biggest Little Cowboy Fan" shirt for the opening game of the season last Sunday. I don't think they watched much of the game, but atleast they looked cute. :)

Kara and her two penguins watching the game

Showing off her new shirt

Yes, that's right...I've resorted to taking a picture of them trapped in a grocery cart to get them both in the same picture looking at the camera.

Mother's Day Out

2008-09-05T20:55:00.000-07:00

We started twice a week Mother's Day Out on Tuesday at our church. I can't believe they're old enough to go. I was a little sad dropping them off. I've never left them anywhere before, but they did great. After crying for a minute, they were fine. My mom is the director and I really like their teacher Miss Jackie. I must say it's awfully nice to have a few hours to myself. I'd forgotten what the peace & quiet was like!

Checking out our lunchboxes before leaving for our first day of school

In the car on the way to the church

Two Silly Girls

2008-09-01T20:14:00.000-07:00

In the last couple months, Kara has become very concerned with cleanliness. Lately, Avery is too. It's so funny. They find tiny specks of dirt on the floor & say "uh oh" over and over while they hand it to me or take it to the trashcan. They've obviously noticed my less than stellar housekeeping abilities. Thanks girls! They also want their hands kept clean when they eat, and most of the time they let me know if they need a diaper change. Maybe we can potty train in a few months. No more diapers!!!

Hanging out after church

Playing with rocks

As usual, my attempts for a picture of the girls together never work

Sitting with Gigi & Grandad

I leave the room for a minute, then come back to find Kara has climbed onto the dining room chair. Atleast she isn't on top of the table...I'm sure that will come next.

Miss Smiley

Showing off her pretty bracelet from Gigi

Playing outside

Finally....new pictures

2008-08-06T19:49:00.000-07:00

Avery & Kara are 20 months old now. Their favorite things to say are "What's that?" and "Uh oh!" I hear them both about a million times a day! Kara is climbing on everything. She can climb into her crib and somehow stealthily climbed into her highchair when I wasn't looking. Avery's trying out lots of new words, and they both use quite a bit of sign language. We have a few sign language videos that they love. They're very into puzzles and shape sorters...and stealing things out of cabinets and off counters.

They're personalized chairs I couldn't resist buying. Ofcourse they each prefer the chair with the wrong name!

Attack of the stuffed animals

...and again

Attempting to use our spoons. Getting better with practice!

I'm not sure what they were doing when I took this pic, but it looks like they're dancing with Kara taking the lead

Avery looks like a little nurse. We were out to eat with Steve's parents.

Yes, Kara is nibbling two big pieces of chicken at the same time. She wouldn't let us take either away from her.

Poor little Edgar had surgery to have a growth removed...non cancerous thankfully. We've renamed him Frankenbeagle.

Keats took good care of his buddy while he felt bad

We went to the Dallas World Aquarium a few days ago. It was hot & crowded but fun.

Checking out a giant fish

Watching the flamingos

It's a bird...it's a plane....ahhhhh, it's a flying saw shark!

New Professional Pics

2008-06-26T20:23:00.000-07:00

I had some new professional pictures of the girls taken a few weeks ago. The photographer, Brad, is wonderful! He's the only photographer who's ever gotten them to smile (he took their one year pics). Brad came to our house and set up all his equipment while the girls watched. It put them at ease and everything went really well. Here's his website: www.rembrandtstudio.net
If you need a good photographer, call him!

Little miss giggles!

Some Recent Pics

2008-06-13T20:47:00.000-07:00

Wow, the girls are 19 months old today! We went to their 18 month check up a couple weeks ago. Avery finally weighs 20 pounds, and Kara's 21.5lb. Kara's an inch & a half taller than Avery. They're saying more new words all the time, especially Avery. She's become quite the little talker. They still love books and can identify lots of different animals and pictures. They've started playing little games with each other involving blankets, the curtains, crawling like animals. They crack me up.

"I love my sister!"
They give each other kisses sometimes. So sweet.

Fun with blankets

Wearing Dada's belt and Mama's sandal. Kara loves walking around in our shoes.

Hooray for Avery!

How cute are they with pigtails?

Avery's enjoying Kara's hairdo

Working hard on a puzzle

My beautiful orchid I got on Mother's Day. Miraculously, despite my black thumb, it's still alive!

I couldn't resist posting this...

2008-05-20T08:30:00.000-07:00

My sister-in-law, Jennifer, went to New York last Friday to see the New Kids on the Block reunion concert on the Today show. Yes, that's right, the New Kids are still alive and hanging tough. Apparently, they even have a new album. From what I could see on tv, it appeared that the crowd was all women in their mid-thirties. Who would have thought they'd have still fans two decades later? Steve & I got a good laugh watching the cheesy singing and dancing. They've still got the right stuff! hahaha. Love ya, Jen! ;)

Jennifer & her friend Krista got in line at 10pm the night before. There was already a huge line.

The "New Kids" are looking a bit older these days

The Today show crew: Matt, Meredith, & Al

Daddy's little girl

2008-05-18T19:15:00.000-07:00

Kara loves to try on our shoes and attempt to walk in them.

Oh my, what big feet you have, Kara!

Mother's Day

2008-05-16T18:44:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful Mother's Day last Sunday. It was a full day...My family came over for lunch, and Steve's family came over for dinner. The girls had fun playing with all their relatives. I forgot to take pics of my family, but here's some of Steve's family!

Happy Mother's Day to me!

Playing with their cousins

Avery looks a little suspicious...

Stop taking my picture, I'm playing!

Aunt Jen Jen and cousins Jake & Josh. Josh was enjoying the girls' Jack in the Box.

Playing catch with her ball

Kara having fun with Papa Tom

The Whitson boys (Uncle David, Jake, and Steve) playing video games

18 months old today!!!

2008-05-13T21:07:00.000-07:00

Wow, the girls are one & a half years old today. I can't believe it. Happy half birthday Avery & Kara!

New look!

2008-05-09T16:07:00.000-07:00

I thought it was time for a new look for the girls' blog. My new template is called "Pink Princess." I thought that was appropriate! I may change it again. It's fun looking through all the templates people have made.

Elmo gave Avery a black eye!

2008-05-07T21:24:00.000-07:00

A few days ago, poor little Avery was toddling around with her favorite plastic Elmo toy. She tripped and fell and hit her eye on the toy. After a little crying, she was fine. It's so sad to look at, but it's fading fast.

You can see her colorful right eyelid.

Avery's not too sure about her new hairdo.

Trying out their new table...actually it's my table from when I was little.

We went to the park on Saturday to play and watch the ducks.

Having fun swinging

I can taste the wind!

Examining a tree

Kara had a great time running around with Grandpa

Afterwards, Grandpa & Nana treated everyone to ice cream. Avery likes ice cream, but Kara LOVES ice cream. She'd take turns walking over to each of us for bites of ice cream. Then she tried to mooch some from the woman at the table next to us.

Happy ice cream face!

April pics

2008-04-24T19:35:00.000-07:00

Here's some pics I took last Saturday. I'm very excited to say that Avery is finally walking really well. It's so cute to watch the two of them toddle all around together. There's still a lot of tripping and falling, but it's getting better. We went to our family reunion on Sunday, and it was quite a challenge keeping an eye on both of them at the same time! Our biggest obstacle right now is learning to share. They are best buddies one minute and pulling each other's hair and crying the next. It's a work in progress...

I came in the living room and saw Kara feeding her puppy with the baby bottle. Then she fed the baby too. So cute to see her pretend playing.

This is what I see atleast a hundred times a day...Avery or Kara coming up to me with a book and saying "book, book, book" until I read it. We read a heck of alot of books every day.

Ah! Reading by themselves

I love this picture of Steve reading to them

It's basketball time! Kara loves to run around and play catch with the basketball. As you can imagine, Steve is thrilled. :)

Crazy hair

I like Avery's silly expression. While Steve was rolling the basketball to Kara, Avery was twirling around the living room in circles playing her music. Could they be any different?

A happy moment for both of them with no hair pulling.

Fun at the park

2008-04-18T19:17:00.000-07:00

We went to the park last weekend to have some professional pictures taken of the girls. As usual, not a smile was to be seen during the photo session. I'll post a couple pics when I get them. Afterwards, we played in the grass for a while. Kara had a great time running around and falling all over the place. Avery is finally confident enough to walk on her own, but the uneven ground was too much for her to handle.

Running around the park

Getting a little support from Dada

Still going...

Time to leave!

"I drink your milkshake. I drink it up!"

Easter pics

2008-03-31T20:13:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Easter at Gigi & Grandad's house and had a "sort of" Easter egg hunt. It was lots of fun.

Showing off my Easter dress

Examining an Easter egg

What is this thing?

Kara loves her Gigi

Opening her Easter present

When I tell the girls they're a "sweetiepie" or "cutiepie,"
they both lean their head over to the side and
smile at me like they're saying "I know."

Easter eggs are fun!

Looking for more eggs

March pics

2008-03-30T20:26:00.000-07:00

I know I've been a terrible blogger, but I'm catching up now! Here's some recent pictures. Everyday the girls amaze me at how different they are. Avery loves musical toys and Kara loves stuffed animals and things she can take apart (and through all over the room). Avery is very sensitive and cries alot if she falls down. Kara usually just shakes it off and keeps going. We think she'll be the little athlete and Avery will be the musical one. :) And finally...Kara gives lots of kisses and Avery gives lots of big hugs...both equally sweet!

Cruising around the living room

Running around the living room up to no good...

Avery's favorite toy is a little music player. It plays some different classical pieces. She carries it around with her most of the time. Kara will carry around a stuffed animal and give it kisses, but not Avery. She'll all about the musical toys.

Falling asleep on the legos

Kara thinks she's in the cast of Flashdance. She insists on pulling her arm out of her pajamas every night (and sometimes out of her shirts during the day).

Having fun at bedtime

Dance Kara!

The girls like to talk & entertain each other at bedtime/naptime for a little while before settling down.

February pics

2008-02-29T19:48:00.000-08:00

Kara has started walking really well. Avery is right behind her but not quite as confident. She still prefers to cruise along furniture or crawl. It's so fun to watch them play together (when one's not stealing a toy or pulling hair)! They play peekaboo and chase each other around the furniture laughing hysterically.

My little clown

Always up to some mischief

Reading with Grandad

Having fun with our Winnie the Pooh car

Kara pushing Avery

Looks a little crazy, doesn't she?!

Visiting with Grandpa and Nana

Kara is always eager to explore anywhere she can wiggle into

Oh mom, no more pictures please!

The girls love swinging! It's nice we live in walking distance to a park.

Both girls love reading books

Showing off my Valentines Day dress

Me too!

Happy Valentines Day!

2008-02-14T20:29:00.000-08:00

Fourteen months old!

2008-01-13T21:02:00.000-08:00

Every time we reach another month, it's hard to believe how old the girls have gotten! They are doing new things every day. They are both getting really good at manipulating all their toys. They like to take things in & out - like dump out the blocks, then put them back in their container. This seems like a first step in learning to clean up after themselves. I am very excited about this!

Avery finally started crawling on her knees a little bit a couple weeks ago but still prefers army crawling if she has to reach something. But in the last week she's decided she'd prefer to walk everywhere. I think she's going to skip crawling altogether. She's pretty good at it as long as she can hang on to someone's hand. Soon she'll be walking all by herself!

Kara really isn't interested in walking. I guess it's because she's so fast at crawling, she doesn't see the point. She's reached all the milestones before Avery, so it'd be funny if Avery walked first. Kara loves being chased & tickled. She's so speedy, it's hard to catch her sometimes. Her new favorite word is book & she goes around all day pointing at books saying "book, book, book." She also speaks long sentences of total gibberish which is so cute.

Here's some random pics I've taken. It's become almost impossible to get a shot of both of them sitting together!

Look what a big girl I am!

We love trying to grab the camera away from Mama

Kara is almost two inches taller than Avery. I guess Kara got Dada's tall genes.

Finally deciding to crawl a bit

Playing the in & out game

Now they're both at it. They've started to play together more often.

Watch out, Kara's got a bat!

Tasty elephant

Can you say drool???

Captives of the living room

Maybe I can eat my way through...

Mama's interrupting playtime again with that stupid camera

Kara loves bathtime. When she hears me turn on the tub,
she comes flying into the bathroom jabbering all excited.

We like to peer over the house at each other & laugh

Christmas pics

2007-12-30T20:11:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful Christmas and the girls got way too many presents from everyone! They are so spoiled. :) Here are some Christmas Eve pics.

Avery's drowning in wrapping paper! This is my very favorite Christmas pic. So funny!

Getting untangled

More presents please!

Playing with Dada

Of all Kara's presents, she preferred this box top the best

Avery's checking to see if the ribbon's edible

Very cool toy - each block plays a musical phrase using different
instruments depending on which side of the block you choose

Unwrapping presents with Mama

Getting up close & personal with the Curious George jack in the box

First baby doll

Now Kara's tasting the ribbon for edibility. Is that a word? Spellcheck says so

Oh my gosh, are there more presents?

What a mess Uncle Ben made!

The girls both got a baby doll from Gigi & Grandad. They each came
with a miniature bottle. The girls couldn't care less about the dolls,
but they LOVED the bottles. They kept sucking on them all night.

Wow I got a lot of presents!

Checking out our presents from Santa on Christmas morning

The world's most annoying car toy unwittingly purchased by me

Our Christmas stockings

Checking out what's in our stockings

You are a genius

2007-12-30T13:20:00.001-08:00

Christmas pics coming soon...

In the meantime, I was reading a friend's blog yesterday and discovered a website that rates a blog's readability. It scans the blog and tells the education level a reader needs to understand it. According to the site, my blog rates at the GENIUS level...

So...congratulations everyone. If you are reading this blog, you are officially a genius! ;)

The obligatory Santa shot

2007-12-18T17:10:00.001-08:00

As you can see below, the girls thoroughly enjoyed their visit with Santa. The screaming started as soon as we handed them over. Good times!

Professional One Year/Christmas pictures

2007-12-17T16:58:00.000-08:00

The nice thing about having their birthday close to Christmas is rolling two photo sessions into one! The photographer was very talented...he actually got them to smile for him. That's a first!

Our Christmas card pic

Close up of the above picture

A picture of Avery doing her signature "pterodactyl shriek"

Looks like a little angel doesn't she...
but we know better!

Avery decided she wasn't going to pose for a picture
like this, but Kara's turned out really cute!

My little pianists

2007-12-06T15:08:00.000-08:00

We have two blossoming composers in our house...they seem particularly influenced by the atonal style of Schoenberg...

November pictures

2007-11-26T20:50:00.001-08:00

I know I've been bad about posting...but I've just added lots of cute pictures to make up for it! :)

Avery is finally starting to make an effort to crawl! Yah! She is such a little mama's girl. She'd prefer me to just hand everything to her. Kara, on the other hand, is usually very independent...and she is in to everything. I have to watch her like a hawk. If I'm on the computer, she'll crawl around me, stick her little finger out & turn it off. Thanks Kara! Her favorite words to say right now are "duck" and "lalala" - that one's from a Sandra Boynton book. She also likes "hatak"...I don't know where she got that...it sounds Japanese. Avery prefers to just stick with "mama." I guess she knows that'll get her whatever she wants!

See...pretty cute huh?

I wanted a good picture of them together in their birthday
dresses, but this was the best I could get...

...before Kara crawled away as usual

Kara likes to reach up & play the piano

Happy 1st Birthday!!!

2007-11-13T20:24:00.000-08:00

Avery & Kara are 1 year old! I can't believe it. We had their party a couple days before their birthday. Everyone came over to celebrate, and it was so much fun.

Attempting to eat some cake. The girls liked it, but Avery
decided to throw a tantrum anyway just for fun.

This picture makes me laugh!

So many presents!

What are those things?

After everyone left, we had some dinner. I guess Avery
wasn't too excited about the broccoli...little surly girl

Trying on our party hats

They had fun playing with their cake after dinner

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The next day the girls had lots of fun playing with all their new toys...
and the giftwrap & packaging

Avery drowning in a mass of tissue paper

Look at all our cool new stuff!

Gigi got the girls a little book with a finger puppet of a duck that sticks through the middle of each page. Kara is in love with the duck from the moment she saw him.

Moving in closer...

Going in for the kiss! Everytime I read it to her, she
insists on kissing the duck over & over. It's so cute.

Uh oh, here we go with the hair grabbing again!

Playing with the Little People farm

Random pics

2007-11-09T20:34:00.000-08:00

A couple pics back from Halloween & a few random other ones...

A sad flower

A hungry butterfly

Trying on our Christmas dresses & not happy about it!

Just woke up

My lil' gangstas

Smiley girl

Avery is obviously excited about having her picture taken...again

Halloween Costumes

2007-11-06T09:13:00.001-08:00

The girls are too little to go trick-or-treating this year...but I couldn't resist dressing them up for their first Halloween! We took them to our church's Fall Festival. It was a little past their bedtime, but they had a lot of fun. Kara was a flower & Avery was a butterfly.

Visiting the animals in the petting zoo

Time to go home!
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Eating dinner at Gigi & Grandad's house the next day celebrating Aunt Amanda's birthday.

Creme brulee...Yum!

Grandad making Avery laugh with a little pop-up lion.

Kara liked it too!

Pumpkin Patch

2007-10-27T20:14:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we took the girls to a pumpkin patch. It was really fun and we got some cute pics!

Checking out the pumpkins

Feed me!

Making new friends

Hanging out in the stroller while mom & dad have a hotdog

I'd like a hotdog please

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Little jean dresses we wore to church the next day. I think they look like cute little dolls!

Learning to share

2007-10-22T22:06:00.000-07:00

Sharing is a difficult concept in our house! Here are a few examples of "sharing":

Snacktime - everyone's enjoying their cheerios...

Uh oh, now Kara is "sharing" Avery's cheerios

Here we have Kara "sharing" the toy that Avery was playing with.

Silly Kara tries to crawl over Avery's lap to get to whatever toy she's playing with. This usually ends with everybody in tears.

Payback! Avery "sharing" Kara's hair.

Atleast Kara's being a good sport about it!

Trying out our new car from cousins Jake & Josh.

Pretty fun! If only we could figure out how to move forward...

Playtime

Showing off her cute new tracksuit

I see you!

What's going on?

Fun at the park...or not?

2007-09-29T21:07:00.000-07:00

Steve took off work Tuesday for the "very important" release of Halo 3. After going blind from playing xbox all day, he took a little break to go to the park with the girls and me. I thought it would be fun for everyone. It was pretty hot and the sun was really bright. Kara had a great time as you can see from her picture. Avery...not so much. When she gets stressed, she grabs her hair, which looks really funny. The whole time she was swinging, she held on to her head. Needless to say, we didn't stay long!

Kara had so much fun swinging

I know she likes to swing, so I'm guessing the heat and bright sun were bothering her...who knows. Crazy girl! Doesn't she look silly?

I really wanted a picture of them sharing a swing. This wasn't quite what I envisioned. Nobody would look at me, but it's still cute. Atleast Avery isn't holding her head.

September pics

2007-09-24T21:05:00.000-07:00

I've fallen a little behind with the blog, so I've got lots of pictures to post! First of all, we got new carpet recently, which we are so excited about. It looks great, & now I don't have to worry about the girls playing on dirty old carpet. You wouldn't believe what was underneath that 14 year old original builder carpet. Yuck!

It becomes apparent that twins require way too much
baby equipment when it's all piled in one room.

Hmmm...could it be that Steve & I own a few too many books?
This is all our stuff cleared out of the rooms & closets and piled in the garage.

Playing in their extremely small temporary play area

Here comes the new carpet...

What a mess!

Finishing up our bedroom

Mission accomplished! By some miracle, they got all the carpet installed in one day.
Now we just have bring all our stuff back in from the garage...

Having fun on the new carpet

My mom made this outfit for me when I was a baby. So cute!

Here's the other one she made with a bunny on it.

Kara discovered these are fun outfits to play with!

Avery's outfit is fun to play with also!

Attempting to crawl...Kara isn't "officially" crawling, but she can move forward doing this hilarious scooting using her toes. It's so funny looking I can't even describe it! She gets very proud of herself when she reaches wherever she's crawling to.

Sassy!

I cut Avery's hair for the first time last week. Almost made me cry. I didn't want to do it, but it was always in her eyes & she pulls her barrettes out all the time.

The girls just started being able to stand up and play at their activity table.

We're big girls!

We went to my uncle's wedding last weekend, and Kay Kay came to babysit with Steve's Aunt Jan & cousin Elsbeth. The girls had a great time playing with them!

August pics

2007-08-30T22:33:00.000-07:00

It seems like the girls are doing something new every day! They both have 3 teeth now. Kara has started "talking." She says "mamama & bababa, etc." It's so cute! Avery still prefers to talk by shrieking. Here's some pics I've taken recently.

Smiling for the camera

Uh oh! Stuck under the playpen again. Kara can scoot backwards & turn all around. She just can't figure how to go forward yet, so she gets stuck a lot.

I had to sneak this picture of Kara sleeping. Cracks me up! It looks so uncomfortable.

Fun at dinnertime

Me too!

Playing with Grandpa & Nana.

This picture makes me smile. Avery looks so little!

Visiting Aunt Laura

2007-08-24T22:15:00.000-07:00

We visited Aunt Laura (my mom's aunt) a couple weeks ago. Sadly, she past away a few days later. It was wonderful that we got to see her one last time, & she got to meet the babies.

9 months old today

2007-08-13T16:54:00.000-07:00

We're 9 months old today!!!

Trying to take a photo shoot in our pretty new dresses.

Nobody will look at the camera!

Finally a good picture where they're both smiling!!

Now we've got the giggles

Mommy's so funny!

Now we're distracted again...photo shoot is over

Really...I'm nine months old?!

We love jumping!!

Perfect little angel... yeah right!

We've got teeth!

2007-08-08T19:39:00.000-07:00

The girls finally got some teeth. Avery's got 2 bottom teeth coming in & Kara's got one. I can't get a picture of them yet though...

I love this toy! It plays beautiful classical music with amazing sound.

Playing together

2007-07-20T17:29:00.000-07:00

Avery & Kara are starting to interact with each other more. It's so fun to watch.

Telling secrets...

"Hahaha...that was a funny one, Avery!"

Playtime

Check out our new hats

2007-07-15T17:08:00.000-07:00

So the sun hats are a little too big...oh well. The girls seem to like wearing them!

Crazy Kara

Full of giggles

Finally putting our sun hats to use outside!

Fun with Grandad & Gigi

4th of July

2007-07-08T17:03:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of July AND Happy 61st Birthday to Grandad!

All dressed up for the holiday

We celebrated Grandad's birthday at Uncle Ben & Aunt Amanda's house.

Uncle Ben & his crazy Italian Greyhound puppy Bella. She's really cute but won't hold still for pictures!

Making a new friend.

Playing with Aunt Amanda

Uh-oh! There's that dog again!

Playing with a new toy...actually an old toy from my childhood.

Kara with Gigi

Now Avery's sitting up

2007-07-03T17:29:00.000-07:00

Avery's getting good at sitting up like her sister!

They love these little musical flowers

Hey, give it back!

Sharing!

Kara's beating her drum

Being silly

Figuring out their new toy. Thanks cousins Jake & Josh!

Happy Birthday Steve!

2007-06-23T17:01:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to Daddy from Avery, Kara, & Mommy!!! The big 3-0!!!

Sitting up!

2007-06-20T21:27:00.000-07:00

Kara can sit up by herself now. Yah Kara!! Avery's getting there...but not quite yet.

Little cutie pie

Trying out the jogging stoller. The girls love going for walks. This stroller's great for outdoors...nobody's view is blocked like in the back/front stroller. So we haven't actually used it for jogging yet...

Father's Day & Mommy's Birthday

2007-06-17T20:54:00.000-07:00

Happy 1st Father's Day Steve!

We had a full weekend with my birthday yesterday & Father's Day today. Last night we had a rare treat...we got to go out to dinner! We put the girls to bed & then a friend stayed with them while we went to Saltgrass with Steve's mom & Tom to celebrate our birthdays. (Steve's birthday is next Saturday). On Sunday we celebrated with my family.

Hanging out with the girls on my birthday

Father's Day

Hey Daddy!

Wearing our "I love Daddy" shirts

Celebrating with my parents (Gigi & Grandad), & Uncle Ben & Aunt Amanda

Where's Avery? ......

All worn out from a long day at her grandparents house!

6 month picture

2007-06-15T21:06:00.000-07:00

So here's the only picture we got at their 6 month photo session. Right after this picture, they had a crying meltdown. Oh well...

We miss Daddy in this photo. He couldn't leave work that day.

Cousins Jake & Josh

2007-06-14T21:42:00.000-07:00

I wanted to post some pictures of Kara & Avery's cute cousins Jake & Josh.

Jake with Jennifer & David (Steve's brother) at Disney World

This cracks me up!

Josh got to stay with his grandparents while Jake was away

Swimming with Grandpa Tom. Nice sunglasses!

They've grown so much!

2007-06-05T12:10:00.000-07:00

I thought it would be fun to take their picture next to an outfit they wore when they were first born. I can't believe how much they've grown in 6 months. They've almost quadrupled in weight...from 4 & 1/2 pounds to 16 pounds.

They've changed so much from when they were first born. Here's a NICU pic. You just can't tell how tiny they were from this picture. I'll get all their early pictures posted eventually...

Gigi brought over my old Jack-in-the-box from when I was little. They didn't laugh when Jack popped out, but atleast they didn't cry! Kara just jumped a little.

Playtime

Fun on the changing table!

Me too!

More May pics

2007-05-29T10:13:00.000-07:00

We just went for our first walk sitting in the stroller seats instead of the infant carriers. They're getting so big! It's so fun to watch the new things they do every day. Lately, the girls have both been trying out their "loud voice." Lots of shrieking when they're excited.

Trying out her first sippee cup. Kara did great. She got the hang of it right away.

Avery wasn't as excited about her sippee cup, but she sure loves her cereal!

I have to show off our dogs. This is Keats.

And this is Edgar. The dogs have been great with the girls. They just sniff them occasionally & the girls enjoy watching them.

Tummy time!

May pics

2007-05-25T21:50:00.000-07:00

A couple days ago I took the girls to have their 6 month pictures taken. As soon as the photographer took the first picture, they both had a crying meltdown, and we had to come home. I guess we'll try again soon! In the meantime I tried to take some pics of them at home in their cute dresses. It is impossible to get them both to smile & look at the camera at the same time! Here's the best ones I got...

Mother's Day

2007-05-13T21:32:00.000-07:00

I'm finally getting our girls' blog started! I have a lot of catching up to do. Today was an exciting day for us. It's my first Mother's Day and the girls' half-birthday. Avery & Kara are 6 months old today! At their doctor appointment last week, Kara weighed almost 16lb, and Avery was 15lb.

We also had their baby dedication at church this morning. The paster told everyone the meaning of their names & gave each one a special bible verse.
Kara Kay Whitson "Beloved"
"Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. " Proverbs 31:30
Avery Lynn Whitson "Wise Ruler"
"The purposes of a man's heart are deep waters, but a man of understanding draws them out." Proverbs 20:5
(When we originally looked up the meaning of Avery's name, we found it to be "Ruler of the Elves," which we think is hilarious. I'm glad they didn't say that version in church!)

Posing for the camera. That's Avery on the left & Kara on the right.
Kara loves to make funny faces when we take her picture.

The whole family

Hanging out with Gigi & Granddad

Peekaboo!

Uncle Ben & Aunt Amanda came over for a visit

Tired out after a long day

First food

2007-05-12T14:00:00.000-07:00

Trying out the highchairs. Kara appears to be doing a magic trick of some kind.

Sweet potatoes...Yum!

I love making a mess!

April pics

2007-05-12T13:00:00.000-07:00

Some favorite pics from April.

Hanging out on the couch

Having fun swinging

Avery watching her mobile

Playing in the crib

Smelling the roses with Granddad

What's going on?

Hey Sister!

Peekaboo

All tuckered out

March pictures

2007-05-12T12:59:00.000-07:00

Here's some favorite pics from March.

Reading books in our bumbo chairs

We love our bumbo seats!

Trying on my Easter dress

Hey everybody!

Kara's little turtle friend

What's going on?

3 month professional pics 2-16-07

2007-05-12T12:58:00.000-07:00

Here's the girls professional pics taken at 3 months. They were a little sleepy that day...

February pics

2007-05-12T12:57:00.000-07:00

Favorite pics from February

Happy Valentine's Day!

Avery visiting with Grandmommy

Kara visiting with Grandmommy

Wearing our football outfits on Superbowl Sunday

Watching the Superbowl game with Dad (who's wearing the wrong team shirt!)

Posing for the camera

Look at our adorable hats!

Naked time!

Kara sleeping in her victory pose

January pics

2007-05-12T12:56:00.000-07:00

Favorite pics from January

This picture cracks us up. Where'd your hand go, Avery?
Steve says it's her Luke Skywalker impression.

The follow up picture...Kara is looking sad about Avery's missing hand.

Advertising for Daddy's work with our Container Store shirts!

Supporting Daddy's favorite team - the Mavericks

Visiting with their great grandmother

MaMa & PaPa Tom

Aunt Nancy & MaMa

Kara trying out her new swing

Avery trying out her swing

Big smiles from Kara

Yawns...

and more yawns

Tired out from playing

Babies 1st Christmas!

2007-05-12T12:55:00.000-07:00

My family came over to celebrate since we couldn't go anywhere...

Here's the extent of our Christmas decorating this year. Steve's mom brought us that cute little Christmas tree, because we didn't have time to drag our big one out of the attic & decorate. We'll do better next year!

The best Christmas present of all!

Opening presents

Adorable sheep blankets from Aunt Amanda & Uncle Benjamin.

Showing the babies their presents

December pics - Babies are finally home!

2007-05-12T12:54:00.000-07:00

After two & 1/2 weeks in the NICU, we got to bring the girls home. Avery came home first & Kara followed three days later.

Dozing next to each other in the boppy pillow. Avery's on the left & Kara's on the right.

They were so small they both fit in the pillow together!

The girls shared a crib together for the first couple months until they got too big. They looked so sweet sleeping next to each other.

Avery hanging out in the crib

Kara sleeping like an angel

Stretching out

They sleept almost 24/7 the first couple weeks.

Avery's first bath at home

Getting dried off. They loved their baths, but didn't like being pulled out of the warm water to be dried off.

November 13, 2006 - The twins are born!

2007-05-12T12:52:00.000-07:00

My water broke in the middle of the night...actually very early in the morning on November 13th. I was 34 weeks along. I was hoping to make it a few weeks longer, but apparently Avery was ready to come out. I think they ran out of room! It was pretty darn crowded with two of them in there. I woke Steve up & after a few moments of panic, we packed our bags and went to the hospital. I started having some light contractions on the way there. We arrived, checked in, and they got me hooked up to all the machines. The contractions started progressing quickly, so they gave me an epidural and prepped for the c-section. Both girls were breach, so I had to have a c-section. Avery was born at 7:31am & weighed 4lb 7oz. Kara was born at 7:32am & weighed 4lb 10oz. They went straight to the NICU, but they were breathing on their own from the beginning and did really well. The girls just had to grow and get stronger before coming home a couple weeks later.

Right before my c-section. You can see my sweet Steve is not smiling. He's worried about me and the babies.

Here come the babies...

Avery

Kara

Avery getting cleaned up & checked out

Little Kara getting checked out

Seeing my babies for the first time. So amazing...

Proud parents!

Avery after she was brought down to the NICU & hooked up to all the monitoring machines. It was hard seeing them with the IV, feeding tube, and other attachments on them. The NICU nurses were wonderful though at explaining everything and keeping us informed on their progress.

Kara in the NICU

Avery

Kara