Week: 5/8-5/14

5/8 & 5/9 - McKenna and Malia got some good cuddle time with Mardell and I on these two days... nothing else really happened.

5/10 - Stef & Allie came over to meet the little ladies. McKenna and Malia enjoyed soaking up the attention and got to check out Stef's new set of wheels.

5/11 - SHOPPING!!!!! Mardell and I needed to make a few stops around town and decided for their first shopping trip we needed to introduce the girls to each of our favorite shopping spots! While at Target I made sure to show McKenna and Malia my favorite sections: shoes, purses, and of course the baby clothes. Mardell shared his love of technology with his daughters at Best Buy. He made sure to show them all of the flats screens and mac computers (yes, we're raising the next generation of mac lovers!).

5/12 - We spent the morning hanging out on the mat that the girls got from Aunt Dava, Chelsea and Mandy. Both girls actually stayed awake - on most days at least one of the girls is asleep on the mat!

5/13 - I had to go into the school so Nana came by for a little bit to spend time with Malia and McKenna. The girls got in a lot of tummy time and cuddle time while I was gone.

5/14 - Papa Dave came to town to pick up some things for work and luckily the parts weren't in so he was able to get in some quick snuggle time. Gran-D came over a little later in the morning and then went with Mardell to check out the food trucks for Food Networks the Great Food Truck Race. Mardell and I were really looking forward to trying their food but it turns out the girls and I were too tired to leave the house... which turned out to be a good thing since we would have ended up being in line for a couple of hours!

Week: 5/1-5/7

5/1 - Nothing too special happened this day. I have about 15 random pictures of the girls throughout the house but most of this day the girls spent eating and sleeping... and of course they got in some good cuddle time!

5/2 - Off to the Doctor's we go! McKenna and Malia had their first Doctors appointment. This was the first time we took the girls out of the house since we had been home from the hospital. I strongly considered taking Lysol Disinfectant Spray with us as well as Clorox Wipes and Germ-X but my wise husband convinced me that they would survive their short encounter with the outside world. Both girls were doing great: Malia was right at 5 lb (came home from the hospital 4 lb 6 oz) and McKenna was 5 lb 10 oz (came home from the hospital 4 lb 13 oz).

After leaving the doctors office we dropped off the girls vitamin prescription, stopped for a quick lunch and ran by my doctors. Both girls were great on their first outing and we had NO meltdown. We even were able to make it home before it was time to eat again - yes, we did all of that within 2 1/2 hours!

5/3 - While Mardell was at work I spent the morning on the floor with Malia, McKenna, Mya & Ellie. It turns out that all four girls LOVE tummy time! Mya & Ellie love to try to lick the girls and supervise nicely!

Later in the evening Malia and McKenna had visitors stop by. Joe & Michelle came to town to meet the little ladies. Both girls seemed very happy to meet more family while I simply enjoyed having several adults in the house to converse with!

5/4 & 5/5 - Nothing really happened on these days. The girls were looking very adorable though so I have about 25 pictures of them just being cute!

5/6 - Reesa came to visit! After school was out Reesa came by to meet McKenna and Malia and brought some YUMMY homemade mac & cheese. Yay for meeting more of the Westwood family!

After she left we decided to bust out the stroller and take our first family walk. It was great getting fresh air and the dogs loved finally being outside for more than just a few minutes. Malia and McKenna enjoyed it so much that they slept the entire time! :)

5/7 - Aunt Dava and Uncle Dusty came down for the morning. Aunt Dava had not seen the girls since she visited them in the hospital and this was the first time Uncle Dusty got to meet them. Children under 12 were not allowed to visit in the hospital so when they came down he stayed outside with cousins Charlie and Emma.

After Aunt Dava and Uncle Dusty left Laura came by to take some newborn pictures of Malia and McKenna. We were very excited that she was able to fit us in her busy schedule and she took some GREAT photos!

While getting ready to take pictures Malia decided to be SUPER BABY and rolled onto her tummy and then BACK onto her back. Was this a complete accident? Probably. But still cool? Yes! McKenna decided to stay awake throughout the entire photoshoot (even though she had just eaten and was suppose to be sleeping) and made very adorable faces for Laura to capture.

Week: 4/24-4/30

4/24 - Our first Easter (see post below)

4/25 - Great Grandma Lydia was sweet enough to come spend the morning with the girls. Mardell went back to work part time so I gladly welcomed an extra pair of arms. She arrived just in time for the first feeding of the day and then spoiled Malia and McKenna with three hours of being held, I'm not sure who was happier.

4/26 - BATH NIGHT! Both girls enjoyed their bath and there was very little fussing. This was the one event I was putting off after returning from the hospital but it turns out that dogs are great practice and we pulled it off smoothly. Here are the girls all snuggled up after getting on their pj's and off in dreamland!

4/27 - Uncle Nick came by to visit. Malia and McKenna enjoyed the extra loving that they got while Mardell and Nick caught up! Later that afternoon Charli stopped by to visit. I had a great time hearing stories about my students.

4/28 - LAZY DAY. We didn't have any visitors and just hung out around the house all day. Mardell did get in some good bonding time with the girls and introduced them to their first NFL draft!

4/29 - Thank goodness we got a little off of our schedule and were able to watch the Royal Wedding! This was the first time I was excited to get up at 4 a.m.!

The girls FINALLY were able to meet Aunt Sissy. She was in Manhattan and decided to stop by. McKenna and Malia were sleeping but we needed to document the moment on camera so I made her hold them (yep, they slept through it)!

Graham and Stuck came after school to drop off a delicious meal and were able to feed the girls! I was very surprised that Jenn was able to wait as long as she did before coming to see the little ladies. Malia and McKenna were able to spend some quality time with some of their favorite teachers at Westwood!

4/30 - We spent a peaceful day at home just the 6 of us (if you're confused by the extra two than you forgot our dogs!).

More to follow...

I am not sure where I thought I would find the time to update this thing regularly but between diaper changes, feeding the girls, washing bottles, doing laundry, taking out the dogs... it looks like I let the blog slip off of the map again! It's hard enough finding time to eat 3 meals a day (I actually don't remember the last time this happened). However, I have decided that from this point on I will put up a post AT LEAST once a week!

In order to get caught up on the first month of past posts I have decided to just put up one post for each past week with a summary of the people we met, places we went and things we did (yes, being a few weeks old IS that exciting). My intentions are to have this done by the end of the night but don't get your hopes up... fingers crossed I have this checked off of the to do list by Friday!

Stay posted :)

Our First Easter

Even though we weren't going to travel we were blessed by getting to spend time with family. To help us celebrate our first easter all of the grandparents came to town. They brought a delicious dinner (thank goodness for left overs) and spent time with Malia and McKenna. After loving on the babies for several hours I did what every new mother would do - made everyone dye eggs so that I could capture the moment with pictures!!

Our Hospital Stay

The babies had quite the adventure the first five days of their lives. Since the babies were small the doctors wanted them to stay a few extra days.

April 18 - the beginning - they were able to meet Nana and Papa Dave first thing in the morning. Since Papa was going out of town for a few days they came early to come meet their newest grandchildren. Grandpa Marvin came up a few hours later to visit the babies in the nursery. Later in the evening Nana came back with Aunt Dava and Great Grandma Lydia. We were able to get a lot of loving from the family.

Day Two - April 19 - the girls were given their hearing tests. Monitors were tracking the babies brain to see if they were able to pick up the sounds. Both babies passed and Mardell got the clever idea to frame their certificates for the future in case I happened to pass along my selective hearing. When the ignoring phase begins we have proof that they can hear us! Later in the afternoon Nana Jana and Grandma Daphne came by to visit us.

<~ Malia's hearing screen

McKenna's hearing screen~>

On April 20 - our third day - the babies had to take a car seat test. Since they are so tiny they had to be strapped into their seats for an hour with monitors checking to make sure they could breath. Both babies passed and looked adorable in their seats! Grandma Daphne and Grandpa Marvin came in the evening for another quick visit.

<~McKenna Malia ~>

April 21 - Day Four - The girls were still so small that the doctors wanted them to stay one more night to be monitored. We got to spend all day loving on the girls in our room. In the evening the little ladies got bath number two. I'm not sure they loved the water, but they LOVED laying under the heater after! If only we had one of those at home...

Day Five - April 22 - We woke up thinking that this might be the day we would get to go home but when the doctor checked Malia and McKenna out he noticed McKenna looked a little jaundice. After taking her blood we found out she would get to spend the day under the lights. She is just like her daddy and loves heat... every time we went to see her she was stretched out happy as could be. Malia spent the day hanging out with mommy and daddy. The girls didn't seem to notice that they weren't together but loved getting to snuggle up to each other after every feeding (every 3 hours).

Our sixth day - April 23 - Malia and McKenna got their check-up with the doctor and everything looked good. Malia was slowly gaining weight and McKenna had remained about the same. Even though both babies were under 5 lbs they were both doing well and we were told we could finally go home! Around 11:00 we signed all of the release papers and loaded up the car.

A big thanks to the staff at Mercy - they helped take great care of our little girls

Arrival: Two Precious Girls

Malia Ranae and McKenna Marie have arrived

Sunday, around 11:00, Mardell and I left the house to head to the hospital to get a quick check-up. Luckily we stopped for an early lunch on the way in because we ended up staying. We were shocked to find out that the babies had decided to come a little early but luckily we had everything in the car -- the first time I think I've ever planned ahead and it paid off!

When they came in to give me my epidural I made the joke that the girls needed to hurry up or they would end up having their own birthdays... little did we know. At 11:30 p.m. it was finally time to head to the OR for delivery. It took them about 15 minutes to get set up and ready and by 11:55 p.m. SUNDAY Malia was born. A short 14 minutes later McKenna arrived - at 12:09 a.m. on MONDAY. Two babies - Two birthdays!

Both babies are doing great and are absolutely PERFECT. Malia was 4 lb 13 oz and McKenna was 5 lb 6 oz. We still haven't been able to leave yet but hopefully we will be able to bring the girls home soon. I know Mya & Ellie will be ready to love on these girls!

A quick Thank You to everyone for the kind words, thoughts and prayers - they are much appreciated!