And The Cousins Begin!

This week Lola, Tia's sister had her baby. She is so sweet, has a flawless little face and has tons of jet black hair. The name she is going by is Brooklyn (lucky for me, I can't say her other names.)

The girls didn't quite know what to think of her but I know they are going to be great friends.

She is the first of four Purcell babies arriving in the next few months. Abish is having a girl in April, Hannah is having a boy in May and Glo is expecting a few months after that and doesn't know what the gender is yet. We are so excited! This means Tia's parents will go from 0-6 grandkids in less than a year!

We are also getting two cousins from my side. Heather is having a girl in April and we just found out Sara is having a baby in August! There are two babies less than a year older than Avery and Adelyn so this means altogether they will have eight cousins less than a year apart. They are so extremely lucky! Tia and I were talking about what a fun stage of life our families are in. We both have siblings who are starting families or who have young families and some that are still in high school. It is such a perfect time; we are trying to soak up all the excitement.

P.S. On Sunday, a deacon in our ward started rubbing Avery's head and asked, "Why do you guys shave her head?"

Happy Valentine's Day!

Adelyn

Avery

First Swimming Trip

We put their swimsuits on:

Then we got them ready to go outside:

Then we sat in the hot tub (don't worry, it wasn't very hot):

They loved it!

Family Living

Tia and I just moved out of my mom's house after living there for about seven months. It was very bittersweet, especially since this is where the girls have lived their whole lives. We were lucky to have a lot of extra help, love and fun while we were there. I have lived with my mom, Jessie, and David before, but not Heather. It was so fun getting to know Heather better and I am so glad they are here for a few more months while they wait for their assignment. She is such a good mom and example to me and helped so much with the girls. Our kids slept in rooms right next to each other and I'm sure there were many nights that our girls woke her kids up and she was always so sweet with our girls. We had so much fun during the day (and continue to) while Tia, David, Jessie and my mom are all at work, studying or at school. Taylor and Kyla were always sweet and patient with the girls.

My mom was so nice to let us live there, eat her food, use everything and anything in the house, and tolerate the girl's crying in the middle of the night. There were also many times she would rock the girls to sleep when I was too tired or needed a break. It was so nice to ask her advice right then and there about anything! I keep thinking to myself how it is weird that we become moms and are just supposed to know what to do with no training. Thank goodness I have a wonderful mom who knows everything on how to be a good mom. The girls love falling asleep on her.

David was such a sweet uncle to the girls and did funny things with them. Of course he has always been cute with his kids, but it is really sweet how much he loves and spends time with our girls too. Of course he is the best at singing duets off tune with me (poor everyone else in the house.)

Jessie was not home very often as she is in school, dancing and has quite the social life. But when she was here, she was always helpful and happy. She is always fun to be around.

At one point there were fifteen people here. Becky was here for about a month as well as Chrissy and her kids. You would think that would be unpleasant. Not at all. We had a whole system down. We each had our own days we made dinner for everyone, we had a day to do our laundry, were able to leave our kids whenever, and had so much fun! What a wonderful way to spend our first few months with our little angels. Thank you family for all the help and love and service you gave while we were living there and continue to give us! I am so glad we are still so so close (less than a mile away)! Here are some pictures of the girls this last month.

Update with lots of pictures

These last few weeks have been so much fun! We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. Everyone in my family was here for Thanksgiving and most were here for Christmas so it was filled with lots of family and fun.
Adelyn and Avery continue to grow too fast. They are such good, happy babies and sleep amazingly. For a few weeks in a row, they were sleeping at least 12 hours a night. They are sick right now so it has gone back down to about 8, but we are so grateful for that. My mom told me the other day that we don't even know what it is like to have one normal baby because they are both such easy babies. I feel like it is a huge tender mercy since there are two of them. They have just started to grab things and always have something in their mouths. Adelyn especially loves sucking on her thumb and even finds it when I'm giving her a bath. When I lay her down in her bassinet, she immediately grabs her thumb and holds her ear with her other hand. She loves her bed. She is a very content baby and is very calm (unless she is hungry). Avery is very social and loves it when people play with her. She gives lots of smiles but when she is upset, she gets very upset. They both have amazingly loud cries. Luckily, they are happy for the most part. One of my favorite things at this time is getting them out of bed. When they see Tia or me, they smile so big and move like crazy. I love that they are recognizing us. I remember when they were first born and they were away from me, it was hard for me to think they had no idea I was their mother and they didn't miss me when I was gone. It is fun to be recognized now and to see they get excited when Tia or I hold them.
As far as the holidays, it was so fun having them here for their first of each holiday. They definitely got worn out each day but it was so fun. They were given so many nice things from their aunts and uncles and grandparents. Since there is too much to go over, here are some pictures of the fun times we had in the last month or so.

Pretty girls in pink.

Pictures Thanksgiving weekend.

I love them in their pajamas.

Something that I have seen more than once.

So much love from such sweet cousins!

Adelyn soothing herself to sleep.

With Mama and Papa Purcell

Best Friends

Christmas dresses

With Aunt Glo

With Santa

On Christmas Day.

With Grandma Cindy

With cousins

With Aunt Heather

Avery

Adelyn

New Year's Eve

Uncle David got Avery ready to go outside today.

Smiles!

Avery and Adelyn started smiling a few weeks ago and each smile just melts our hearts. We will do anything to get them to smile. I keep trying to catch a good smile on the camera and haven't done too well because their smile usually fades by the time I put the camera up and try to take it, or the picture is blurry, but here is a compilation of what we have gotten on camera so far.

Adelyn

Avery

Both