Fun pics and Twinker Bath Time

Here are some fun pics from the past week or so...

Daddy and his little frogs in their TCU gear...

We like to cuddle...(matt on right; caleb on left)

Mommy cooing over Caleb...


Twinkers in their first pairs of shorts...

Emily and I made our first major mistake in the raising of our children. I am sure there are many more big mistakes to come, but this one was really big. As many of you know, newborn babies should be bathed around 2-3 times a week. Well these little stinkers had gone a few days so we decided that we were going to have a wonderful bath experience. Everything went smooth during the baby process. In case you are wondering, Caleb pooping himself during the bath and Matthew peeing all over the mirror in bathroom fall into the "smooth" category for us during baths.

Well, we have these cute little frog towels that we have been using to dry off the boys after their baths. After we finished Matthew's bath we dried him off, wrapped him in the towel and laid him on the bed. We quickly finished Caleb's bath and put him on the bed in his frog wrap as well. The boys were so cute in these frog towels that we decided to have a cuddle session/picture shoot. We oohed and ahhed at how cute they looked in their towels. We put them next to each other, made them hold hands, pushed their lips together for a kiss...things were going so well we just lost track of time.

After coming down from this froggy-wrapped-baby high we were on, we decided to put the boys diapers on and put them to bed. As I unwrapped Matthew, I realized that Emily and I weren't the only ones having fun on the bed. Matthew thought it would be fun to completely soil the froggy blanket, the bed sheet below it and the mattress pad on our bed. While Emily and I were frantically trying to manage the situation with some damage control, Caleb decided he would join in on the festivities as he peed all over our bed.

Lesson learned by the Bates family: Diapers first, fun second!!

Matthew is sooo relaxed after tub time!

Caleb says, "Little does mom know, I'm up to no good!"

Our sweet photos before the incident..we couldn't help cuddling and playing. They were so cute in these little froggie towels!

Gross!!!

Caleb says "I'll show you guys, you rookie parents." I don't know how he can pee behind his head, but he has got good aim.

Words of wisdom...

I think the common theme from everyone we talked to before we had the twinkers and while the twinkers were in the NICU was "rest up as much as you can." Now we see why! These guys are so much fun and they sleep like angels during the day. But, they love to hang out with mom, dad, and/or grandma from about 12-6 AM every night! We are trying to help them transition from this phase as they seem to have their days and nights mixed up. It's a tag team effort during the middle of the night, but who knew I (who used to sleep at least 8 hours a night + a nap) would get so excited about a 3 hour stretch of sleep!
I am trying to rest as much as I can during the day while they are sleeping and that seems to help with surviving limited sleep at night. But we would all agree that one little smile from these guys (even though it's probably just gas) is worth a million sleepless nights. They are so much fun to have around.
The twinkers are waking up more and more and interacting with us by finding our voices. They love to cuddle and watch Rangers' games with daddy. We have tummy time with them every day (where we put them on their tummy on the floor to work on their neck strength) and it is so much fun to see them getting better and better at it. Tummy time is like a sporting event with lots of shouting and cheers when they hold their heads up in the air for seconds at a time! They went back to the doctor for a weight check this past Monday (for mom and dad's peace of mind) and Matthew weighed 7 pounds 1 ounce and Caleb weighed 6 pounds 15 ounces. They had both grown at a good, healthy rate within just a week which was comforting. The following pictures are some adventures from this past week.

Caleb's first time in his bouncer...
Matthew's first time in his bouncer...

Our favorite time with the boys in putting them in bed and hanging out in the afternoon when Dad gets home from work. They love it!
Happy 4th of July everyone...mom made me wear lots of festive outfits to celebrate!
Caleb was not too excited about being patriotic..I think he was hungry!
Even though it is recommended that we limit trips away from the house with the boys for a while, we snuck in a 10 minute stroll around the block...the boys slept the whole time. But, it was great to get some fresh air.
We are buddies!!!

Lots of lovin'....

We are loving being home with these little guys. They are so much fun! We have family in town which is very helpful because these twinkers require a lot of attention, especially at 3 AM in the morning! We have figured out somewhat of a system with them so that everyone around here can at least get 4 hours of sleep a night. The boys basically get their diapers changed, temps checked, butts pasted with diaper ointment, clothes changed (if needed), and tummies fed every 3 hours on the hour so by the time we go through the routine there is not much time before it's time to start again! It is the best, though...all the snuggling with them and loving is so wonderful. They are getting much better at breastfeeding together and we now breastfeed 4 x a day and then bottle feed at night 4 x. They had both gained weight on Monday at their pediatrician visit (Matt- 6 pounds, 6 ounces; Caleb- 6 pounds, 7 ounces) and received a healthy report. They go back when they are 6 weeks old, which we are basically 2 weeks away from. We were told to limit their exposure to the outside world until that point because they were born premature and need to get all their immunizations and get stronger to fight infections. But, we are excited for the day when they can go places with us. Here are some fun pics of their first week at home....

Caleb and Grandma during bath time...he loved it!
Matthew did NOT like bath time, but was pretty content afterwards in his froggy towel!
Matthew is staring his brother down...:)
Matt hangin' out with his momma getting some grub!
Daddy snuck the babies from their cribs into bed with him this morning...I saw lots of kissin' going on, too!

Uncle Casey with his future Texas Tech Red Raider nephews (i'm going to get in sooo much trouble for that comment..we'll see how long it takes Tim to read it and respond)!
Papa Lefty getting cozy with Caleb...
Grandmary with Matthew and Dad with Caleb all snuggled up...
Aunt Jennifer stops by for some lovin!
Grandpa BT with Caleb konked out!