We love tummy time!!!

Some of you may remember a few posts ago when Olivia was starting to lift her head during tummy time and Alex was just miserable and could not figure out what to do.....Well, we were right, he wants to be just like Ben and do things on his own time!!! Yep, that's right this past week Alex started really lifting up his head during tummy time! I am so proud of him because I know how much he has struggled over the last couple of months.
I am obsessed with taking pictures of them while they lift up there head, so here is another one of Olivia.
And, then of course I wanted one of both, but unfortunately my timing was off with Alex and as you can see Olivia was not cooperating!!

Alex & Olivia are 4 months old!!

So this post is a few days late, but on Monday Alex and Olivia turned 4 months old. It is hard to believe that it has already been 4 months as it has all gone so quickly!!! We took them to the doctor today for their 4 month check up and they are both doing well. Olivia weighed in at 13 lbs 10 oz (50th percentile) and was 24 3/4 inches long (75th percentile), while Alex weighed in slightly heavier at 14 lbs 0.5 oz (28th percentile) and was 24 1/2 inches long (48th percentile). They each got four shots, cried for a bit but recovered well.

And even after all those shots, Olivia had enough energy this afternoon to roll over from her back to her belly for the first time!!! Unfortunately, nobody saw it though. I was at work, and Ben was putting Alex to sleep and had left the living room with Olivia on her back only to return to see her on her belly!!! But here are a few pictures of both of them from the last couple of weeks where they have been rolling over to their side in anticipating of rolling over.

On Sunday, in honor of them turning 4 months old we took them to get some pictures done. The kids were a little skeptical of the photographer at first but finally warmed up to him and started smiling. There were no major melt downs until afterwards when we were picking out the pictures. Alex did spit up on his second outfit, so he is wearing the same shirt in all the pictures. Here are a few pictures from the day.....

Did you ever wonder what Ben would look like as a girl?

Personally, I never wondered this myself, but have found out the answer - - he would look like Olivia!!! He probably would also spread his legs and hike up his skirt like Olivia has in this picture!
I could never figure out who Olivia resembled. Ben's parents said it was him, and their friends said the same thing. I never saw it until Ben's parents came to visit a couple of weeks ago. They brought along with them pictures of Ben as a baby/toddler. It is quite scary to see the resemblances between Ben and Olivia!! Their shapes of their heads are different, but their eyes, their mouth, their expressions, their hair styles, their ears, and especially their cheeks.....all the same!!!!

I see Olivia the most in the first picture of Ben in the bathtub! She has this same smile!! Now only if I could capture her smile in a photo so you could do the true comparison!

I swear I have seen Olivia make the same face that Ben has in the picture below!

Daddy Day-Care

I just got the message the other day that Jackie had transferred the blogging duties to me. Something about her going back to work and me being home with the kids all day. In any case we are long overdue for a blog post. I thought the best subject would to share a typical day in the life of Ben Jarboe, father!
In essence my day revolves around three things, 1) Feeding the kids; 2) Putting the kids down for a nap; 3) Somehow filling the time between feedings and naps. #3 is by far the most difficult of all three. It usually involves me washing bottles, entertaining the kids, entertaining the kids, and oh, did I mention, entertaining the kids! As we have more than 1 child this feat it exceedingly difficult. Not to offend my friends with only one child but how freakin' easy is entertaining one kid?!?! Here are some of the ways that we spend our summer days.

Our favorite activity is time on the play mat. The kids love it and it's easy for me!


Now that Olivia has learned how to move this activity usually results in Olivia positioning herself in some manner that Alex finds less than desirable.

They also like spending time in their Bumbo seats. This has resulted in some of the better pictures we have of Alex and Olivia (notice the drool from Alex's mouth).



Finally we like to engage in tummy time. Well, Olivia likes tummy time. Alex hates tummy time with a passion so we have no pictures of Alex doing tummy time!



Until next time...

Happy 4th of July!!!!

We hope everyone had an enjoyable 4th of July and long weekend!!! I have enjoyed the long weekend. We had our friends Patrick and Karen over for dinner on the 4th so they could meet Alex and Olivia. They have graciously watched Dudley for us several times (including when we were in the hospital in March), so we wanted to have them over to thank them. Dudley had a blast seeing them again, and Alex and Olivia loved hanging out on the deck while we ate dinner.

I dressed them in some festive outfits for the day, however, Alex's only lasted about a half an hour as he decided to spit up all over it. I have gotten smart, as I now know to take the pictures before they eat!! Now he will have to wait until August 4th to wear it again (that is if it still fits)!!
On another note, Olivia is starting to get really good with "tummy time." She is really starting to lift up her head a lot! Unfortunately, she is still not a fan of tummy time! I was able to snap this picture before she got too angry!
Alex, on the other hand, is still pretty content with just laying his head on the ground when he does tummy time! He is a work in progress - - hopefully the next post will have some pictures of him lifting his head!

Back to work....

This past Tuesday was my first day back to work. It was a pretty tiring week, but at least it was short since Friday was a holiday. My plan was to practice getting up at 5 a couple days before returning to work to get back into the habit of getting up early and staying up. I ended up only doing this on Monday (one day before) and by 1:30 I was napping on the couch! Unfortunately, naps are not allowed at work!

Anyway, the first week went well, besides being tired. Ben had things under control - - so under control, that when I called Tuesday afternoon from work he was sleeping!!! I never slept when the kids slept - - what was I doing wrong?

Ben took this picture on the first day to send to me in an effort to document that everything was under control with the kids and Dudley!