The Latest with Reid & Louisa

Reid & Louisa got to go visit Dr. Drake this week for their check up. At 14 1/2 weeks, Reid weighed 10 lbs 4 oz and Louisa weighed 6 lbs 11 oz. Reid is almost on the growth curve for a normal term baby while Louisa is still a good bit away from reaching the curve. Soooo...we're still adding polycose to Louisa's bottles which gives her extra calories so hopefully she can catch up to her big brother. Louisa is finally outgrowing her preemie clothes and at 15 weeks old, she has graduated to newborn size! Reid has been in newborn for a while and is almost in 0-3 month size. I'm glad they are both in the same size at least for a little while so they can wear their matching outfits!

What else are Reid & Louisa up to?? Both of them give us smiles constantly! There is nothing like their sweet little smiles to brighten your day! I think Louisa is already learning how to use her smile to wrap Mommy & Daddy around her little finger! If we aren't looking at her, Louisa will coo to get our attention then as soon as we look at her she cuts her eyes and flashes a huge smile. She really is just too cute! Reid's smiles are just so sweet and gentle...he just melts my heart every time he smiles at me.

Reid and Louisa are both enjoying "playing" more. They have a play mat with lights and toys that hang over it...Reid is starting to find his "play" voice (lots of inflection and squeals) so he lets us know when he is having fun on the mat. Louisa doesn't always enjoy the play mat, but she does seem to enjoy their "Bobbin' Kickin' Bear." They lay under the toy and when they kick the ball, it makes the bear's face move/light up and music plays. Both Reid and Louisa are starting to bat at toys hanging above them and even grabbing at them.

Louisa loves to stand up tall on our legs...she looks around with her eyes open wide and starts to pant when she gets excited. Reid also likes to stand up on our legs. When Reid stands up, he likes to tap one foot...Daddy says he is keeping the beat and maybe he'll be a drummer one day!

Here are some pics...hope they brighten your day!

What's In a Name??

So much thought goes into naming babies. One of the books that we looked at when thinking of names for our babies had 100,000 names in it. Seriously, do you think all 100,000 of those names are actually a real person’s name? Anyway, I thought I would explain the background behind Reid and Louisa’s names and tell you a few of the nicknames they have acquired.

Kenneth “Reid” Harrison – Kenneth is Craig’s grandfather’s name, so Craig has always wanted to name his little boy after Papa. Reid just happened to be a name that we came across in the huge name book that we liked.

Louisa Claire Harrison – My grandmother’s name and my Mom’s middle name is Louise. I was extremely close to my grandmother (we shared the same birthday), so I have always wanted to name my little girl after her. I had a friend named Claire growing up and I have always loved the name.

Reid and Louisa have acquired many, many nicknames in their 3 short months of life. I thought I would list a few…

Reid
"Reid-Muffin" or "Reider Muffin" or sometimes just "Muffin"– He’s just so darn cute and huggable…you just want to eat him!
"Cuddly Bear" – Again, he’s so huggable and cuddly!
"Stinky" – Wow, is he a boy!
"Billy Goat" – Reid does a great billy goat impression with some of the noises he makes
"Brother" / "Bubby"

Louisa
"Little Bo Peep" – She likes to “peep” at you with her eyes just barely open, it seems that at night she sometimes loses her sheep and has nothing to count!
"Angel" – Because when she’s sleeping she looks like an absolute angel in complete peace
"Weesie"
"Sister" / "Sissy"
"Precious"
"Doodle" or "Doodlebug" - Because Jane calls me "Doodle" and we think it also fits Louisa!

I'm sure there will be many more nicknames to come over the years!

Now, because I think posts are always better with pictures...

Our Littlest Valentine!

One of Louisa's new silly faces...I think she was trying out a closed mouth smile
Reid deep in thought
Reid always has "Lots of Love" to share with us!

Happy 3 Month Birthday, Babies!

3 months old!! The time seems to have gone so quickly, yet I can hardly remember what life was like before we had Reid and Louisa. The last 3 months have been filled with so many different experiences and emotions. I think I can speak for Craig too when I say that our hearts and our lives are truly full. For me, being Reid and Louisa's Mom is such a privilege and honor. Our days are busy and there is always a lot to do, but I absolutely love being Mommy!

More Pics

Sleeping Angel...

Serious Reid
Smiling Reid
Sleepy Reid

Smiles Captured

New pictures of Louisa smiling...they were all so cute that I had a hard time deciding which ones to post...

Daddy and Reid enjoying the new recliner :)

Mommy and her precious babies
Cutie Reid

Rough day at the doctor

It was a rough day at the doctor's office today! Reid and Louisa each got 5 shots today. Watching Reid get shots was hard enough, then we had to do it all over again with Louisa. It was not pretty, but we made it through.

Now for the weigh-in information...Reid weighed 9 lbs 3 oz and is 20 1/2" Louisa weighed 5 lbs 15 oz and is 18 3/4" The doctor thought they looked great and are doing really well. Only about another month in quarantine until RSV season is over and we can get out a little bit with them!

Both Reid and Louisa are consistently giving us smiles and making cooing noises at us...it is too sweet and makes my day all over again every single time they do it! I managed to capture Reid's smile in the picture I'm posting today. I'll have to try again to capture Louisa's pretty smile...stay tuned!

Our Sweet, Growing Babies!

I think these pictures of Reid and Louisa would melt any mother's heart! When I look at these I pray that they will always remain this close to each other sharing their special twin bond.

Reid & Louisa enjoying their swing

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Louisa Claire

Snug as a bug in a rug! Both of our babies love to be swadled

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Reid

Sweet Boy

I think Reid was tired of the photo shoot at this point!

Overdue post

Wow, things seem to have gotten really busy at our house! Craig has mostly been out of the house the last few weeks working so I've been at home alone with the babies during the day, treasuring every minute with them! I have even ventured out to the doctor twice with Reid and Louisa (on my own...no help!) It is quite a lot to handle, but in a way, kind of a fun experience and I guess a sense of accomplishment that I can do it! It really made me wish that I could take them out for fun and to show them off to everyone, but both times we went straight to the doctor and straight home...no stopping to talk to anyone : ( We still have at least a month and a half before RSV season is over and we can even think about going anywhere besides the doctors office. The threat of RSV became a little more real to me yesterday when my friend told me her little girl has RSV!

As for the doctor's visits...on 1/9 Reid weighed 7 lb 14 oz and Louisa hit the 5 lb mark! We went back on 1/18 and Reid was up to 8 lb 10 oz and Louisa was 5 lb 7 oz. Both are getting so big and their appearance is really changing...especially Louisa. Her face is really filling in. It's amazing to look back at the pictures when she was born...she was so tiny and fragile. We are so blessed that both babies are growing and healthy!

I've been thinking for a few days that both babies were on the verge of smiling at me (non-gas induced smiling!) and yesterday I definitely got several smiles from Louisa. It made my day! She was so cute...each time she kind of wrinkled up her nose then had a big smile. Reid gave me a smile last night too...he is much more relaxed about it while Louisa was a little dramatic, making sure that I saw her. I pretty much think that's going to be the way it is with everything with these two! Hopefully in the next few days I can capture the smiling on video.

Last Wednesday (January 16th) was a special day for two reasons. First, it was the babies 2 month birthday! Hard to believe it's been 2 months already! It really doesn't seem like that long...I guess because the first 3 1/2 weeks are hard to count since they weren't at home with us. Anyway the 2nd reason the 16th was special is that after much anticipation of whether cousin #9 would be a girl or a boy, Miss Ava Caroline Brown was born!! Unfortunately I've only seen a picture of her since we can't go visit, but she is absolutely beautiful with a head full of dark hair. Ava weighed 7 lb 11 oz (bigger than both of our babies at 9 weeks!). I think Emma Catherine (6)is probably one of the most excited that she has a little sister. Matthew (4) told Malissa, "I wanted a boy, you Silly!" but of course he continues to be the sweet, caring older brother telling Ava, "It's okay, Matthew is here!" So sweet! I think Andrew (2) is warming up to the idea of his little sister, but I'm not sure it has hit him that he's not the baby anymore. I can't wait for Reid and Louisa to meet ALL of their cousins - Malissa's crew and Christina's crew ( (Alex (5), Abigail and Benjamin (17 months)) and get a picture of them all together! I think when they get bigger it will be neat to see Reid and Louisa with their older twin cousins.

Speaking of pictures, I have taken quite a few pictures lately and will get some posted in the next few days.

The House Divided

From the time that we found out we were having twins one of our big discussions was "How do we raise our kids...as Tigers or Gamecocks?"  Well, so far we have decided that Louisa will follow Mommy and cheer for the Tigers and Reid will support Daddy and pull for the Gamecocks.  Who knows how long this will really last...they will probably end up either switching or deciding to cheer for a completely different team!  

I'd like to pretend that Reid is just being sweet to his sister, but in reality he was just getting hungry and Louisa's head was the closest thing to his mouth!

Our sweet sleeping angels!