During the first month of our babes' lives I took over 200 pictures...my picture taking has been on a steady decline ever since. This month I snapped only 29 pics. Poor kids. At this rate there will be no documentation of their lives after the age of four months! I'm hoping the new camera I'm asking for for Christmas will inspire the photog in me...Until then these are the only cute pictures from the month of November worth sharing.

They don't quite get the 'jump' part of the Johnny Jump Up...Parker just likes to eat it. Shocking I know...

I put them in opposite ends of Grandma's crib for a nap ...an hour later they were sleeping head to head

Story time with Dad...

Because we were leaving for St. Louis for a week and a half we turned the thermostat down to 50 degrees. When we arrived home on Monday our house was an ice box- way to cold for our little ones! Brian assured me they would be fine but being the paranoid mom I am I bundled them in their hats and snow suits (which are about three sizes too big) until the temp was 72- you can never be too warm, right?!

Parker has always been the twin that needed a little extra attention...he seemed to need to be held more, soothed more, fed more, etc. Not to say little Fin has ever been looked over, she has just always been the more laid back, easy going twin. This all changed about a week and a half ago. We were in STL for the holiday (this explains why there haven't been any new posts) when Parker discovered his thumb. While browsing through the racks at Marshalls I looked down to find my once fussing baby boy sucking away on his little thumb- completely happy. At first I was in shock- what do I do? Rip it out of his mouth as not to start a bad habit I would only have to break later in life? Or let him pacify himself (and indirectly his very tired mama)? I chose the latter and haven't looked back. Parker now sleeps 12 hours straight each and every single night- not bad for three months! Now his big sister is another story...

Ah Target. One of my favorite places in the world. Brimming with aisles of crap I just have to have and on this particular day also jam packed with people. It was Saturday afternoon and freezing cold outside. I strapped Parker to the front of me in the Baby Bjorn and kept Finley asleep in the car seat in the cart. All was going well- I had made it through knick-knacks and housewares without a hitch and was about a third of the way through with the groceries when I felt something rather warm on my belly. I stuck my hand between myself and the baby carrier to affirm what I already knew- Parker's diaper had leaked and we were both growing wetter by the second. I stood there for a second staring into my full cart and took mental note of how far away the bathrooms were. I was in the back right corner of the mega store. The bathrooms were in the front left. Hmm. How would I carry Parker away from my body while pushing this cart? Game day decision- I wouldn't.

As not to gross out too many people I kicked our cart out of dairy and into the paper towel/toilet paper isle and began stripping my 15 pound boy- holding him with one hand while grabbing wipes and a diaper with the other. Then I begin to sweat. No, literally sweat. Droplets were forming on my forehead and rolling down my nose. Here I am in the middle of a packed aisle with a huge wet spot on my sweater, dripping sweat, and holding a now screaming naked baby. People must have thought I was out of my mind. I know for a fact the man that reached around us to get to his TP was thinking that. 'Why the hell is this woman changing her kid in the middle of Target? They have bathrooms for this sort of thing...' At this point I was starting to doubt my decision. Somehow I successfully managed to get a diaper on my writhing baby without setting him down on anything. Now about what to dress him in. Did I mention it's about 35 degrees outside?! So I start digging through the diaper bag (Mommy 101- always pack an extra set of clothing)...I guess the last time I had updated the bag was when Parker was 10 pounds and it was summertime. The only thing I have is a newborn onesie. Great. My kid looks like a little sausage with ice cold blue appendages. After taking off my sweater, wiping my now damp hairline, and managing to shove Parker back into the carrier we continued our grocery shopping.

Do you know that no one (and there were A TON of people around) ever once stopped to ask if they could help me?! I guess I really can't blame them. If I saw a poopy kid in the middle of the cream cheese section I might be slightly grossed out as well...

As many of you know Brian is in the midst of interviews for his residency- so far we've heard from Northwestern, IU, Washington University, Duke, University of Virginia, and University of Iowa. We start the Midwestern leg of the tour on Wednesday (hitting St. Louis, Chicago, and Iowa City). To alleviate multiple car rides (and multiple nightmares) I'll be staying in St. Louis until after Thanksgiving...can't wait to see you all!