Month 10

10 months and I am starting to realize that slowly but surely I am watching my "infants" turn into "toddlers"!!!!! If it is possible I HATE this just as much as I LOVE this! I am sure if I asked any mother, they would confirm that my feelings are normal. I remember quite vividly not that long ago when I welcomed the thought of them being "older and more independent". Now that it is here, I sometimes long for those quite moments when they were sleepy newborns and both fit comfortably in my arms at the same time (they both still fit in my arms at the same time, it's just not so comfortable). But, the reality of it is they are growing up and there is nothing I can do to stop it! And, to be truthful, isn't that the reason that we have children to watch them grow and become their own unique self?!?!?

Month 10 saw Liza learn to walk and her walk has quickly turned into a run!

As you can tell by the look on her face she is very proud of herself!!!

Graham is "cruising" around furniture and taking a few steps on his own but still prefers crawling as his main mode of "transportation"!

We have started introducing the "sippy cup" but they haven't quite caught on! They chew on them, throw them on the floor, everything but drink out of them!



Some of my "flight of ideas" from month ten!!!!

We have teeth!!! Liza has her two bottom front and is working one on the top! Graham has his two bottom front!

Lately I have come to the realization and am not to proud to admit that I grossly UNDERESTIMATED the amount of WORK it is being a parent! I have heard people say that a "mother's work is never done" well I can now attest to the truthfulness of that statement!

Sleep continues to be a battle. We have good weeks and we have not so good weeks! I swear I am going to figure this sleep thing out if it KILLS me! Once I figure it out, I am writing a book about it ;-) And my friend Melissa is going to be my co-author!

Prior to having babies I tried to be as "green" (environmentally friendly) as possible! Recycle, conserve energy, reusable shopping bags, just a few little things to do my part to protect our environment! I actually had a fleeting thought of using cloth diapers, which really cracks me up to think about now! I mention this, because our house is a lot of things these days, but it is definitely not "green"! In the last 10 months are trash output I guarantee has increased 100%!

My brothers got G & L "Your Baby Can Read" for Christmas. We started playing the videos once a day this past month and as far as baby videos go they are actually tolerable. Now, I am not going to lie and tell you that after one month of watching these videos that G & L can read at the ripe old age of 10 months or that they can visually recognize words. What they are doing is hearing certain words (both on the video or if we say them) then doing the corresponding gesture. As of now, if you say WAVE, CLAP, or ARMS UP, they will wave their hands, clap their hands, or put their arms above their heads! So if you are thinking or have thought about getting these videos I think they are worth it as long as you have realistic expectations.

If I had a quarter for every time we have heard someone say "I always wanted twins" we would definitely have a piggy bank full! My friend Jen recently had her second baby, a beautiful baby boy named Corbin. Her older daughter, Kaelyn, is 3 and she is definitely smitten with her new baby brother, but is also intrigued with the concept that I have not ONE but TWO babies. Jen tells me that Kaelyn often pretends to be me and recently sent me the following pic via text.

Sorry it's so small, but this is Kaelyn with her two babies pretending to be me! I am flattered that I have inspired her and I call her my twin momma in training!

Next month the countdown to one year continues! I have multiple blog posts that I want to do to mark their first birthday and to celebrate our survival of the first year of twins! Stay tuned!

9 Months

Month number 9!!!!!! WOW is all I can say!



The stats are in from their 9 month appointment.....Graham is 20lbs 9oz and 27.5 inches and Liza is 19lbs 11oz and 27 inches long! They are getting so big! No wonder my back hurts from carrying them both around, and yes I do carry them both at the same time because sometimes I have no other choice! I have never been into lifting weights, but I might just end up with some well defined biceps from lifting these two! The best part about the 9 month check-up NO SHOTS!!!! The worst part about the 9 month check-up....as we were leaving Dr. Leonard says see you in 3 months for their 1 year check up!!!! I felt like some one punched me in the stomach....ONE YEAR???? He couldn't be talking about my babies, in my mind they are still newborns not on the verge of being a year old!!!! But, he was talking about my babies and they are well on their way to being a year old! Some days it seems as if I was just pregnant yesterday and others I can't remember life before them!

When they were newborns all everyone would say is just wait until they are mobile! I would think to myself when someone said that...it can't be worse than feeding every 3 hours or this sleep deprivation...well I don't know if it is worse, but it is equally exhausting! As I posted on facebook once....I would love to be able to go back and have a conversation with my pre-baby self and just laugh at how tired and busy I thought I was back then!!! I had no idea what tired and busy was in those days, but I have a pretty good understanding now!

We celebrated our first Christmas together as a family! It was very exciting and fun, but at the same time it was exhausting (do you see a theme here???). Our holidays have always included many stops, but add into all those stops loading and unloading 20lb babies into the mix and the result is pure exhaustion! This year I didn't have a whole lot of time to shop, so I did a little internet shopping and then I employed elves to go and shop for me and all I had to do was write the check when they came back with my treasures! It was kinda nice I'm not gonna lie!! Thanks Mom and Matt for being my elves!

Santa was good to G & L bringing them walker toys to help them practice their walking skills and also for them to have races down our hallway! We started some traditions this year with wearing Christmas PJs and doing stockings (Chad made fun of their Pjs but I thought they were cute)




I was a bad mom/photographer and did NOT get a pic of them in front of our tree but I did manage to get a pic of all 4 of us in front of my mom's tree!

A few things about this pic jump out at me...first the look of pure exhaustion in both my and Chad's face, second SHOES....for the first time my babies wore shoes!! Some have heard me say it before, I don't have time to keep track of shoes so we just don't wear them (nor does L wear hair bows for the same reason), but what better day to wear shoes than Christmas! HA!

9 month tid bits....

We finally are getting teeth (wow I just read the last few lines you would think my babies were from WV... no shoes or teeth) Liza has two and Graham one...no pics because they don't like to show off their pearly whites!

We still are NOT sleeping through the night! If you would have told me when they were newborns that we would be 9 months and not sleeping through the night I might have died! Noone eats through the night, one or both are up at least once usually 2-3 times through the night, hence the exhausted look in the above pic!

Still breastfeeding....unbelievable that is all I'm going to say about that!

The babies saw their first snow...no pics and they didn't go out in it but they saw it! (All the snow before Christmas reminds me of being pregnant because Lord knows we had enough snow last winter)

Unsolicited advice....I had a complete stranger approach me while I had both babies by myself and tell me that they were to big for me to carry in their infant carriers! That I just needed to ditch them and carry them! Thanks Lady....but how do you suggest I transport both of them by myself if I don't have them in the carriers! I'll be the first to admit they are heavy...I just smiled at her and thanked her for her advice! It is so funny the advice people feel the need to give!

Alas...I am starting to knit again! Yay!

Next month New Year's Resolutions (I have a bunch), if I were to bet WALKING, and hopefully a completed knitting project!

8 months

Month number eight is in the books! As you can tell it is becoming increasingly harder to get a decent pic of both of them at the same time!





Also as evidence by the above pics they are not only mobile, but they can pull themselves up and stand! Liza is daring enough to let go and stand for a few seconds by herself and then will plop down on her bottom! Graham on the other hand holds on for dear life!!! Now that we have hit mobility there is definitely not a dull moment! They are both on the move and usually in different directions, making it very interesting for Chad and I to try to contain them! I need to cancel my gym membership because I'm pretty sure that I run enough around my house to count as a workout (not really but it sure does feel like it), plus who has time to go to the gym! We did get a large gate that I lovingly call "baby jail" but of course they would prefer to have free reign of the whole house!

Now that they are mobile we are seeing more and more of each of their personalities! Liza is definitely what I call "alpha twin"!!! She is in charge and is most definitely the boss and Graham doesn't seem to mind! What woman isn't in charge and the boss???? Graham is happy to yield to her and sit back and follow her lead! Other than rolling over L has hit all other milestones first and G has quickly followed suit. If Liza drives like she crawls, our insurance premiums are sure to sky rocket when she is 16!!! When something catches her eye, she is full steam ahead until she reaches her goal. If something stands between her and what she wants she goes right over top of them or it (including Graham), not around, overtop! More than a couple time she has pulled G down or climbed over top of him and he just watches with a look on his face as if to say that's my sister! Graham on the other hand crawls like he is on a Sunday stroll, not in any hurry to get any place in particular! Chad often tells G as he is crawling around following L..."Hey Graham....I wouldn't hang out with her if I was you...she is just going to get you in trouble!"....and he is probably right...I can already envision G coming home from school after getting in trouble for fighting and him telling me that he was just finishing a fight that Liza started!!!!

The one time of day that they are usually headed in the same direction is when I come through the door from work. As soon as they hear my voice even if they can't see me and I can't see them I can hear the slap of their hand and knees on our hardwood floors racing to see who can get to me first! When they get to me on is climbing one leg while the other is climbing my other....it warms my heart to say the least!!! Definitely one of my fav times of the day!

For their first Halloween G & L were Ketchup and Mustard!


This month they also celebrated their first Thanksgiving and ate turkey and homemade noodles!!! But from the looks of these pics their fingers tasted just as good!



This month also saw Chad go out of town for the first time since the babies were born, leaving me to parent all by myself!!! Now I use the term "by myself" loosely because my parents were here most of the time, but man it was still exhausting! By the end of the week we all (my parents included) were ready for Chad to return! I now have a new found respect for all my single parent friends....I'm not sure how you do it, but you guys certainly rock in my book! Of course, the week Chad was gone was probably the worst sleeping week the babies had, but in the end we all survived and I am now quietly plotting my escape sometime in the near future....and then it is daddy's turn to man the house and the babies. I'm sure that is when they will decide to sleep through the night and I'll return home to Chad saying this is easy...I don't know why you think it's so hard with a grin on his face!!!

For the last 3 years, Chad and I have enjoyed season WVU basketball tickets. Many have asked if we were going to sit this year out with the babies being so young! The answer is NO, we may regret it, but we will be there all 4 of us! At this point we have been to a couple of games and it is a bit of work getting there and we definitely have more "stuff", so if you attend any WVU home games and you see a circus in section 8...it is probably just us!

I'll end with my fav pic of me and the babies...it was taken by Shelley at photos by design...Next month hopefully teeth (we have none so far), more mobility, Christmas!

7 Months

I am hurrying to get this month number 7 blog up before they turn 8 months!!! Time is flying by and it is amazing to think that we are now closer to their first birthday than the day they were born. I know I say this A LOT but it just does not seem possible!

This post may be heavy on pictures for two reasons...first I have lots of good pics from this month and second sleep has been hard to come by in this house and my brain dose not like to function especially at this time of night (for an ex-nightshifter that is pretty pathetic as it is only 9:20pm)

As for the not sleeping bit....well month 7 was a sleeping roller coaster! And let me tell you, it is a ride that I would like to exit!!!! We started out the month "sleep training" and the first few weeks were "ok"....L has historically been the better sleeper but G was holding his own and I was getting up a few times a night to pat his butt or put his bink back in! So I prematurely thought to myself...this sleep training is easy stuff! Well easy until the wheels fell off, I am not sure what happened but somewhere in the middle of the month the sleep training took a wrong turn and there were nights where there was no one sleeping in this house! We are slowly getting more sleep, but I have come to the realization that sleep is going to be an ongoing battle....one that I used to be determined to win but am now I am willing to settle for a draw. One more thing on sleeping....a quick shout out to my friend Melissa who has twins about 1 1/2 months younger than G & L, she and her husband have also been sleep training and she has gotten me through some days that otherwise I don't know how I would have made it through..either with a text, phone conversation, or facebook post! So...Melissa thanks....I think the reason we both have twins is so that we could become friends!!!!

Both G & L are mobile, which makes life even more crazy! Liza crawled first and she hasn't looked back since. Graham was a few days behind her, although he does this army crawl. He will get up on all fours and try to crawl but then drop down on his belly and just pull himself wherever he wants to go with his arms! Now that they are mobile they are attracted to everything that they are not supposed to touch!! They love electric cords and the furnace vents!

At 6 months they started solid foods...their first veggie was carrots and for the most part both are pretty good eaters, messy, but good! Prior to babies, Chad was meticulous about our hardwood floors, if something was spilled he was always giving me a hard time about it, now it is more of a surprise if there isn't something on the floor. I am told we need a dog to clean up all the food that the babies drop, but adding a dog into this household would probably be the deciding factor of securing my space in the loony bin, so for now we will have dirty floors!!!!

Like I said I have some great photos and would love to include them all but here are a few from the month, I still haven't figured out how to upload video from my flip camera to the blog but hope to soon...

Liza and Graham eating carrots! In the pic of G check them out holding hands..they do this alot when they eat!


We went to Mountaineer Madness...a family pic, one of Daddy and Graham, and Liza and Momma! We didn't stay for "madness" but we did get their "Huggy Bears" signed by Coach Huggs





Fun with leaves and a laundry basket...who needs toys??? Finally found something useful to do with the tons of leaves we get every fall...take pics of babies!!!!



Well that is it... next month standing, hopefully and update on sleeping through the night (HA!!! but a girl can wish), halloween!
Side note both the blue and gold hats and the pumpkin hats were knitted by my mother, I am trying to convince her to go into the baby hat business! I used to knit prior to babies, but no time these days!!!!

6 months

Six months how can that be??????? That is half a year...it seems impossible to me in every way that my babies are on the downhill slide to being a year old!!! On a side not...I can recall a conversation Chad and I had when G & L were around 6 weeks old... it went something like this..."things will be so much easier/better when they are 6 months old"....and to this I say "Ignorance is bliss"! At that point in time we just needed to feel that yes things would be easier! Now that we are at the 6 month mark the conversation should have went like this..."when they are 6 months we hopefully will be getting a touch more sleep and that will allow us to cope with raising two children better"! My friend Pam who is the Momma (and an awesome one too!)of college aged twin girls told me when I was pregnant..."the first 3 months are HELL, but the good news is you won't remember them"...Pammy truer words were never spoken!!!



Ironically on the day of G & L's six month "birthday" it was also the one year "anniversary of Chad and I finding out that there was going to be a G and a L not just a G or a L!!!!! It is amazing to think that one year ago Betsy showed us this on an old grainy ultrasound machine...
Even as a member of the medical profession, I look at the above two pictures in true amazement of the miracle life truly is!!!!

Last week we had our six month check up and the stats are in....Graham weighed in at 18lbs 8oz and 26 inches long....Liza was 17 lbs 14oz and 26.5 inches long! Both have more than tripled their birth weight! But, the most astounding number to come out of the whole visit was that combined 8 shots and two oral vaccinations...can you say OUCH!!!!! But they were not alone, Chad and I also rolled up our sleeves and got our flu shots too! So do you hear that flu???? You are not welcome in the Saas household!

Speaking of the flu, this past month we experienced our first sickness!!! In late September we traveled to Virginia to attend a conference for Chad's job! The first night Liza ends up with a fever! We are in a hotel, I hadn't packed any supplies to deal with this situation, I ended up making a midnight Wal-mart run to gather the things I need (to bad they don't sell Grandmas at the Wal-mart). There was very little sleep that night, the next day things seemed to be getting better to go south quickly! By the end of the night Liza, Graham, and Chad all had fevers! Fun times!!! I escaped the "sickness" until we returned home and then was saddled with it the whole next week! Being sick and being a mom, I've come to realize go together like oil and water...they just don't mix! We are all well again, and thus the reason we could not get our flu shots fast enough!!!! Heck, I'd get 20 if I was allowed!

This month saw the beginning of football season and the two newest Notre Dame fans were ready!!!


Not to worry G & L will be sporting their Mountaineer gear come basketball season!

As you can tell from the first pic in this post both G & L are sitting up on their own!!!! They are still trying to crawl, but cannot get the hang of it yet! There is nothing better and at times nothing funnier than watching them both figure out new things!!

This past month we celebrated my 32nd birthday, we did so by going out to eat and seriously eating the fastest meal in restaurant history to get out of there and back home before there were any major meltdown by either baby or by mom!!! My present was a flip video camera so as soon as I figure it out I can post some videos on here, more for myself but if you want to watch...go right ahead!

I'll end this post with a couple of my favorite pics and also a video clip just to see if I can figure out how to post!
First pic Graham trying to figure out this crawling business!!! Second, Liza with a napkin on her head....anything in her hands she put directly on her head!



Up next month...Hopefully crawling, eating their first food, Sleep training 101 and I'm sure some craziness!

Party of Four

This was taken by Shelley at Photos By Design here in Clarksburg....she is wonderful! I highly recommend her for any of your photo needs!

5 months

My babies are growing up right before my eyes...We are now 5 months old and changing and doing new stuff everyday! No official doctor's visit, but I did weigh them on a recent visit to the hospital (not a sick visit, just a friendly visit) and Graham was 17lbs 2oz and Liza was 16lbs 7oz...these weights were with clothes and diapers but still that is nearly triple their birth weights!!!

Since last post...Liza is rolling over, they both are eating cereal, they also are loving their exersaucers, and they are starting to develop their own personalities!!! I am going to make a prediction and say that Graham is going to a very kind and gentle soul always wanting to do what is right and be a "pleaser" so to speak, Liza is going to be a dare devil and test the limits and break the rules, she of course is going to be sweet but I also think she is going to be the "dominant" twin.

This post is going to be heavy on the pics because I have a lot of cute ones!!!


My very own Gerber babies ; )



Not sure what they liked more the cereal or the bibs...we have since ditched the bibs because all they did was play with the bibs and not eat!!! (G top photo, L bottom)


Our friends Jamie and Kane were in from NV to do the Med Express Triathlon, we went to cheer them on! Jamie and Kane are avid blog readers so a quick shout out...we love you guys and miss you!! You inspire me to be a triathlete, so I'm setting the goal of being able to do the sprint distance or mini next year!!!


Graham making one of his many Graham faces...the kid really does smile but not when the camera is out!!!

Liza snuggling her favorite pink hippo...who doesn't have a favorite hippo???

Well by next blog I predict some crawling by Graham, and also some improvements to the blog....I have asked (nicely) for a flip video camera so that I can upload video..I don't expect anyone to watch it is mainly for for us!

One last think before I wrap this up...I know that it is human nature to for parents (moms especially) to compare their kids to other kids, even though we know we shouldn't and we know that all kids develop and grow at different rates. Well, I don't have to look outside my own house to be able to compare my kids to anyone I just compare them to each other and I need to stop doing this. With every milestone I am constantly wondering if their is something wrong because one is doing it and the other is not! What I have learned is that I am just witnessing the wide spectrum of normal between the two of them!