The Buckmaster Blog: July 2014

Our sweet girls continued to grow, grow, grow and get smarter and sweet every day! Month four was a fun month. They started developing little personalities. It was a tough month for me because I was back at work to finish out the school year. I really have so much respect and admiration for working moms. I don't know how they do it every day. I was an emotional wreck and struggled so much with not being able to give anything (the girls or my kindergarteners) my all. Thankfully I got lots of hugs every day and everyone at school was so kind to me. Laura was a godsend staying with the girls those five weeks, and I know she enjoyed it so much. When the girls turned four months old on May 28th, I had almost made it to the end of the school year and getting to spend every day, all day with them. Four months felt like the final leg of a race--I had almost made it! And for me, the final leg of the race is almost as sweet as crossing the finish line.

Annabelle Jane

Ashley Dianne

Month 4 Stats:

Annabelle weighed 14lbs, 1.5oz (36th percentile) and was 26.5 inches long (90th percentile) at 4 months.

Ashley weighed 13lbs, 5oz (20th percentile) and was 25.5 inches long (81st percentile) at 4 months.

Milestones/Development:

Their bubbly personalities continued to shine. They also started sleeping through the night from 8-8. We still gave them a dream feed at 11:30p.m. to help them stretch, but they did not wake up. Dr. Worsley was very impressed that they were sleeping 12 hours at this point. He said it was a huge accomplishment not only for a 4 month old, but huge for 4 month old preemies. Woohoo girls! This was the month working on rolling over for both girls. Annabelle was on her side a lot and trying so hard to push herself over. She just couldn't figure out how to get that pesky arm out of the way! Ashley would roll to her side and like to just hang out there and look around. That sums up their personalities perfectly -- Annabelle always likes to be on the move. She likes to be walked around and bounced and taken into new room/areas. She is on the go! Ashley is very detail oriented. She likes to take in her surroundings and focus on every little thing. She's quite content on her back because she finds so much to study. Then when she flips to her side, she has a whole new world to discover. The girls also enjoyed sitting in their bumpo chairs. We would face them towards each other and they would just babble away. I loved seeing them "communicate." It warms this mama's heart! These little girls are just as smart as they are sweet! We love watching them grow and develop!

Other Happenings:

The first week Mommy went back to work and Daddy left on Wednesday for a work trip. Talk about crazy! Thankfully we had Grandmother here and then Aunt Coco came in for the weekend to help. We had a great time and even went to the mall and through our first car wash with Aunt Coco.

Good little shoppers!

We love Aunt Coco!

The next weekend we had both sets of grandparents here and Aunt Rachel and Uncle Dom for Mother's Day. We took some great pictures with our namesakes and had a wonderful time. Every time my parents are with George's parents, I am just so thankful to have two families that have meshed together like one big family. The girls are so lucky to have both sets of grandparents together often. What great memories will be made (and pictures taken) later in life.

Happy Mother's Day!

Ashley Dianne and Annabelle Jane with their namesakes.

The next week, Daddy left to go out of town again and Nonnie rode up with a friend to stay with us for FIVE whole days! It was so much fun having her here. We walked over to a neighborhood Farmer's Market Saturday morning and then had a girly lunch at Bluebonnet Bakery. We celebrated the fact that the girls slept from 8:00p.m. - 7:00a.m. the night before. One super special moment was that on Monday, Nonnie and Grandmother kept the girls while I worked and George was still out of town. I know all four of them had such a fun time! We were sad to see Nonnie leave on Tuesday. The next week, we had Chad and Travis visit for Colonial and I wrapped up the school year. The last day of school was on May 30th -- just two days after the sweet girls turned 4 months. What a fun month we had!