A Merry and White Christmas

Merry Christmas! It was so wonderful being able to spend time with our families this year. We were even lucky enough to have big white snowflakes coming down in the morning!

We bought our first real Christmas tree this year... a noble fir.

Justin holding the girls... Lauren is on the left and Emily is on the right. They watched all of the festivities and by the end of the day, they were exhausted.

Grandma Rufener gave Emily (left) and Lauren (right) super fancy Christmas dresses! Lauren really enjoyed touching the fabric and pulling on Emily's dress.

Arctic Blast 2008

The winter here has been unusually severe with lots of snow and ice... so we have been enjoying spending time at home together as a family!

Lauren (left) and Emily (right) got new Bumbo chairs this past week and they just love them! Here they are watching Dad make the pink elephant toy dance.

Emily is a good bottle drinker, sometimes drinking over 7 ounces in one sitting!

Lauren is good at taking naps... she loves comfort and holding and always manages to get people to carry her.

Growing Like Sprouts

Lauren (left) and Emily (right) had their four month check up this week which included immunizations and measurements. Lauren weighs 11 pounds, 6 ounces and is 23.5 inches long. Emily weighs 12 pounds even and is 24 inches long. We can't believe how fast they are growing!

Busy Weekend

The girls had a wonderful weekend! Saturday was spent at home, playing with toys and intermittently napping. This is a picture of Emily enjoying some tummy time. Her neck muscles are getting stronger every day.

Lauren is developing better head control too. She has a very sweet smile.

The highlight of the weekend was driving down to Eugene on Sunday to meet a new friend, Zander Force. We originally met the Forces when we were living in Michigan, and Zander was born just a few weeks ago. Since no one is able to sit at this point, pictures were taken in the boppy pillow. From left to right: Lauren, Zander, and Emily.

Thank you to Jon and Karen for helping us take a family portrait! Emily is on the left and Lauren is on the right.

This is one of my favorite pictures of Lauren having fun with Dad.

Fighting Ducks!

The Civil War game is today... Lauren (left) and Emily (right) showed their spirit by wearing their U of O suits. (The booties did not stay on very well.)

Pre-game activities included laying in the crib for some stretching exercises and mobile watching. Emily is on the left, and Lauren is on the right.

This is one of the few pictures we have where both Emily (left) and Lauren (right) are smiling at the same time.

Happy Babies!

Emily smiling and drooling in her bouncy chair. She is a very good-natured baby.

Lauren enjoying some bouncy chair time! She likes to watch everything going on around her.

Lauren (left) and Emily (right) sitting together on the couch.

Emily (left) and Lauren (right) definitely look very similar, but they have subtle differences if you look closely. Lauren's face is slightly rounder and her eyes are slightly more wide set. Emily's forehead is slightly taller and her lips are slightly fuller.

Lauren (right) smiling away next to peaceful Emily (left).

Expressions!

The girls have been smiling a lot more lately! Here is a picture of Emily, happy to be laying in a Boppy pillow.

A slightly more serious Emily enjoying some time with Dad.

Emily tends to have wide open eyes in a lot of pictures... we call it her "stunned" look.

Lauren is very expressive too! Here she is looking very thoughtful...

But she is definitely a firecracker! She knows what she wants and will shake her fist until someone listens to her.

Lauren is most happy when she is being held or swaddled.

Happy Halloween!

The girls' first Halloween! How exciting. Lauren dressed up as a pumpkin.

Emily also dressed up as a pumpkin.

The two pumpkins, Emily (left) and Lauren (right) trying to pose on the couch.

The girls watched the Baby Einstein Mozart DVD while Mom carved the pumpkins. Lauren (left) is in her pumpkin suit. Emily (right) was getting her suit washed because she spit up all over it.

The finished product!

The glowing pumpkins on our doorstep...

Pre-Halloween Activities!

Happy Halloween! Emily (left) and Lauren (right) decided to start celebrating Halloween early with their spooky suits that they received as a present.

The best part about the suits is the tail on the back!

Emily (right) was happy to be playing with sister Lauren (left).

Lauren (left) seemed to be having a good time too.

But then the fun took a turn for the worse and everyone started crying. Two crying babies... now that's scary!

After playtime, the girls took a nap. This is a picture of Emily... she often likes to hold her hands this way when napping in the bouncy chair.

Fall Update

Here is a picture of Emily (left) and Lauren (right) patiently waiting in their carseats to be driven to Grandma and Grandpa's house around the corner. They are getting a little bit better at holding their Soothies in place.

The girls are having more awake periods during the day and enjoy the toy bar attachment to their bouncy chairs. Here Emily (right) bats at one of the toys. Lauren (left) was a bit upset when I took this picture but perked right up once she was repositioned with her blanket in place.

Emily (left) and Lauren (right) enjoying some play time with Dad.

Our good friends Alice and Chris flew out to the west coast from North Carolina and stopped in Portland to meet Emily (left) and Lauren (right). It was so great to see them!

Tummy Time!

We make sure the girls have some tummy time everyday... here we tried using the boppy pillows to add some variety to the routine. Lauren (left) became a bit frustrated whereas Emily (right) decided it was a great time to take a nap.

Lauren showing off her excellent head control skills!

Emily has great head control too...

Emily looking quite pleased with herself after rolling over.

Lauren is able to roll over too!

Both of the girls have been rolling over for a few weeks now... pretty amazing considering they are only three weeks old by their corrected gestational age!