Here are some random pictures from this past Sunday hanging out at my parents house after church.

Matt and Elsa got the girls these outfits for Christmas from Bolivia. They are so cute!

The hats that I made ended up being perfect for these outfits


Addison is sleeping in the cradle that my dad made for me when I was a baby.

Caroline just lounging on Grandpa

Christmas Day

Christmas Day began at my Grandparents house since we all sleep over there. It was not the easiest night with the girls because I think they knew they were in a different place and did not sleep very well. We had our traditional Swedish pancake breakfast and then we came back home. Scott's dad and wife, Mary, came over for a couple hours and then we were off to Scott's Aunt and Uncle's house to spend time with his mom's side of the family. The girls were very well behaved and slept most of the time so we were really able to enjoy ourselves.

The day after Christmas we went to my Aunt and Uncle's house to have brunch with family on my mom's side. I am so happy that this brunch has been started because this allowed us to be able to see everyone for Christmas this year! There was a lot that we packed in 3 days but it was worth it.

Here are their outfits for the day after Christmas

My Aunt Marcia meeting them for the first time

Me, my Grandpa, Addison and Caroline

Yet another Wallgren tradition is to go to high tea at the Drake Hotel downtown. I love this tradition and despite drinking a ton of caffeine I always leave so tired. It is just so relaxing and I would highly recommend going to anyone, including men. We see guys there all the time.

Katie and Beth

Elsa and I

My Grandma, Aunt Julie, Aunt Nancy, Mom, Linnea & Jenny

Katie, Beth, me & Elsa

Yummy!

Elsa modeling our Grandma's fur coat

Christmas Eve

The Wallgren tradition for Christmas Eve is to go to my Grandparents house for dinner and presents. Then we all sleep over and have breakfast together in the morning. This is my favorite family tradition and it is so much fun every year!

Beth and Katie with the girls

Gwen of course holding Caroline

How cute are Sonja's boots!

I couldn't help myself. This is a cradle that can always be found under the tree. It is a perfect fit!

Elsa and Matt are Home!!!!!

Scott went to work last week on Tuesday and Wednesday. I probably could have handled the girls on my own but if I don't have to even better!! So Fortunately for me, Elsa and Matt came home Monday night and had no plans during the day. So they both came over on Tuesday to meet their new nieces and then Elsa came back over on Wednesday to help me out so I was not alone both days. It was so great to see them and to be able to spend so much time with them right when they got home. I really missed them but at the same time it feels like no time had passed since the last time I saw them. The really weird thing is that they missed seeing me pregnant (other than on Skype) and now I look the same, if not better, than the last time they saw me since I have lost so much weight already. Of course we are plus 2 babies now!

Here is Matt looking at them for the first time.

Elsa meeting and holding them

They are so tan! It was summer in Bolivia when they left after all. Helping with one of the feedings.

I think they were maybe in a fight since they are looking away. Normally they are facing each other or the same direction.

Girls Update

We went to the Pediatrician yesterday and both girls did better than expected! Addison gained 15 ounces and now weighs 5 pounds, 7 ounces. Caroline gained 16 ounces (a whole pound!) and now weighs 6 pounds, 4 ounces. What is so great about this is not only are they gaining great weight but we can now put them on a sleep schedule!! No more feedings every 3 hours during the night :) We started it last night and I definitely feel more energized this morning. We also don't have to chart how much they are eating and their diaper changes which definitely makes things easier. We were also told by the doctor that the red mark on Caroline's nose, which Addison does not have, should be apparent enough as the girls get older that we can use that to tell them a part. Yeah!

So both girls are doing very well and they are starting to get a bit too big for some of their preemie clothes. They are also 3 weeks old today which I cannot believe. Time is flying!

The Girls go to Church

Last week we skipped church since the girls had not put that much weight on. I could not skip a second week and felt better about taking them since they had surpassed their birth weight. Plus, I knew a lot of people were waiting to meet them! I don't have any pictures but they did really well staying happy and asleep in their car seats until the very end when Addison woke up. One out of two isn't bad.

After church we went over to see Linnea and Cam's new house in Wilmette!!! Once they get the Internet I am sure Linnea will be posting something about it. Anyways, it was so great to finally see the inside of the house and just hang out there for a while.

That night was the Christmas program at church. It was the classic "Angels Aware." It definitely brought back memories and it is amazing how much I remembered since I had not heard the music since I was in it myself in grade school.

Here is Sonja. All smiles all the time. I hope my girls are half as happy as Sonja.

Oh Gwen, she was right next to Sonja when I put my camera up to take a picture and as soon as she realized I was about to take a picture she started to walk away.

After the program

Gwen holding the girls. She was really good at supporting their heads and afterwards she was crying because she could not hold them longer. She is seriously in love with her cousins.

I think our first day out with the girls went well. I did feel a sense of pressure to keep both babies happy even though I know everyone expects newborns to cry. Part of the reason I wanted to get started with taking the girls out was so that Scott and I can get more comfortable with them around other people and especially me since in a couple weeks I will be on my own with them. On a different note, they are 2 weeks today!! Can you believe it! Time really does fly.

I had my 2 week follow-up yesterday and everything is going great with me. I am healing really well and feeling great overall. My Doctor told me that they sent the placenta to pathology to see for sure if the girls were in one amniotic sac or not and they were in one sac! So not only did we have twins but we had the rarest form of twins. I am just to happy that there were no complications and kind of happy that I did not know about it until afterwards. I feel like I would have been worrying the whole time and the stress would not have been good for them. It is nice that we conclusively know that they are identical. Overall, I feel like I had a great pregnancy and delivery. Things could not have gone better even though there was the potential for some really bad complications. We were truly looked after in this whole process and we thank God that both girls are healthy.

Randoms

Weight update: We went to the Dr today (Saturday) and Addison weighed in at 4 lbs 8 oz and Caroline is 5 lbs 4 oz. So they are both officially above their birth weight and doing great!

My cousin Kristin came to visit on Monday

Comparing the two


We finally took the bands off of the girls ankles. For the most part we can tell them apart when we look at the two of them because of their weight difference. However, as they gain weight we are just not sure how much they will look alike so we have painted Caroline's toe nail :) We have had to look at it in the middle of the night before just to be sure.

Just an idea of how small their feet are. This time last year we were just weeks away from our wedding!!

Scott's mom came over again on Wednesday. This time she didn't have a cold so helped us out by feeding Caroline.

Watching tv

Tummy time!! That is for Linnea because she is not a fan of the phrase "tummy time." I realize that this is not the best angle for the picture but how else could I show you the bear on Caroline's butt! Too cute :)

Sunday's Visitors

Here are the visitors we had on Sunday. This was the last day that we had multiple visitors in one day.

My cousin Jenny

Jenny and her husband Kevin

Scott's Aunt Janet and cousin Rebecca. His Uncle Dan and cousin Adam were there too but for some reason we don't have a picture.

Here were the roses that were on the pulpit that morning at church. So beautiful!

Scott trying his hand at feeding both of them. We have tried many different ways and I think we have finally come up with a good solution which is to put both of them on a pillow on the couch. The trick is to not have a thick pillow and to have them in a good swaddle so their heads don't move around as much. Slowly but surely we are getting a handle on this twin thing. It will also get easier the older and stronger they get.

If you look closely they are kind of holding hands. Too cute!

My Aunt Lois. My Aunt Evie was there too but we didn't get a picture. Sorry!! Apparently we were a little bad with the pictures this day.

My Grandpa

Our second family picture.