nine months

three months have flown right on by and the babies went in for their nine month check up friday. here's the latest...

zach is 25 lbs and 30 1/4 inches long...95th percentile for both weight and length.

zoe is 19 lbs 14 oz and 29 inches long...75th percentile for weight and 90th for length.

as you can tell, my babies are not deprived when it comes to food! what's crazy is zoe actually eats more than zachary...must be from all that crawling she's doing.

they are really starting to interact with one another which is so much fun to see. and they seem to "talk" to one another now...it's too cute! the doc warned us of what she called "twinspeak," but i guess we didn't really believe it until we saw it for ourselves.

on another note...i've officially begun the weaning process. it's pretty bittersweet...on the one hand, i am so ready to be done with nursing and pumping, but on the other hand, it's so hard to let go! i don't know what i'll do with all the free time that i'll get back from not having to pump! jason and i are going on holiday in about three weeks (to australia for dawn and simon's wedding!), so that's the whole reason i've started to wean. to be honest, i think the babies are more ready than i am. zoe has refused to nurse in the evenings for about a month now and zach just gets restless a lot quicker these days. that...and the fact that they both have six teeth a piece doesn't make nursing such a fun experience these days! :(

regardless, we are where we are, and although i'm rather sad about it now, i think it's time....at the end of the day, they will have nursed for about ten months. it was amazing while it lasted and i've got two healthy babies...so for that, i am extremely grateful.

random thoughts

i know i keep saying it over and over again, but it just really amazes me how quickly time goes by these days. it's just mind-boggling! i find myself thinking about zach and zoe's 1st birthday already...how does that work? i remember vividly the morning i was to be induced and jason and i locking up and leaving the house and coming home two days later with two babies in tow having no idea what was in store! then came two months or so of serious sleep deprivation, but after that's it's been somewhat "business as usual" around the lawless household as far as schedule/routine goes, but changes galore as far as development and growth goes. it amazes me to watch them change and grow each and every day, but saddens me so much at the same time. i can't just bottle up some of the things they say and do and keep them forever...you know??

so what have the babies been up to you may ask?

well, zachary is now able to sit unassisted, but still can't say he's mastered it yet...still a little wobbly at times, but almost he's learned how to clap and is just the cutest when he does something and proudly claps to acknowledge whatever it is he's just done. he's my little cuddle buddy and has such a sweet nature. as far as food goes, he seems to be pretty open to anything and everything. (that probably explains why he's almost 25 lbs. yes, you read that correctly...25 lbs! i'll get the official word when we go in for their 9 mth checkup, but i don't think it's going to be far off). his hands down fave is carrots...he seems to experience a "carrot high" after having them...it's really strange, but he sure is in a good mood as a result!

zoe on the other hand is a little pickier when it comes to food. she's not the biggest fan of banana and definitely does not like chicken at this point. she LOVES those little puffs. it is actually great bribery material to keep her occupied, happy and confined to one spot! and the reason for needing to keep her in one spot is because she is all over the place! she's crawling and now that she's gotten a taste of "freedom," she's all about experiencing it to the fullest. she's able to pull herself up and can actually stand on her own, if only for a few seconds. jason and i have a bet going to see how long it is before she walks. i'm not looking forward to that day...just having her crawling now is so much more exhausting!

the funniest thing zoe does now is if you ask her what a tiger says, she'll growl at you. at first i thought it was just a coincidence when my nanny told me, but she really does. the funniest though is if she's doing something she's not supposed to be, and i say no...she'll look at me and growl. i have to give her props for trying! :)

they both talk incessantly and seem to have grown an awareness of one another. they'll watch each other, smile and claw at one another with zoe being quite the bully. it never fails that she always wants whatever zach has and since she's mobile now, she always seems to get it! she might as well enjoy it now...i'm not sure how long that will last!

other than that, jason and i are doing well. we're looking forward to our big trip to australia in just a little over a month and my friend ingrid and her fiance darren just came from hong kong for a visit last week, so that was a lot of fun having them meet the babies and catching up!

seven months

zach and zoe have started on solids and seem to love it...some things noticeably more than others. we're introducing one new food a week, so thus far, they've had rice cereal, avocado, sweet potato and oatmeal. their hands down fave is sweet potato! i've got some carrots actually steaming as i write this, so that'll be the food of the week.

zach has sprouted two teeth and thankfully, doesn't seem to be terribly bothered by them. he's not quite sitting up yet as he has a lot of weight to support, but in due time! :) he is just the sweetest thing...always smiling and so patient! might i add he's our thumbsucker...the boy loves his thumb!

his sister on the other hand, is getting to be quite the handful...she's nonstop! as lin likes to call her, she's our "supergirl!" zoe naps maybe an hour total each day and goes just like the energizer bunny! she's always looking for what she can get into next and is such a curious little thing! she's so much fun to watch and play with, but there's just zero down time with her!

we're just starting to see a tooth coming in for her, and she just developed some congestion, so i'm thinking it's a result of her tooth, but can't be certain. poor thing is all snotty and stopped up, but can't say that it's slowed her down any!

work for me has been ridiculously busy, so i'm still trying to get this whole work/life balance thing figured out. i tell you what...it's not easy! i have a lot more respect for working moms now as a result! it's tough to be and give everything to both sides, but you just gotta do what you gotta do i suppose!

six months!!

my goodness...where has the time gone? zach and zoe are already six months old!! we went for their check-up on friday and got a big thumbs up! :) zachary is now 27 1/4" and 21 lbs 4 oz and zoe is 26" and 17 lbs. yes...i have big babies! just that much more to love, right?!!

in all seriousness though...they are doing great! zoe can now sit unassisted (although still a bit wobbly) and zachary is not far behind. he just has a little extra weight to balance, so he gets a bit longer! they are talking non-stop and are starting to really enjoy playing with toys and examining things.

i've been holding off on feeding them cereal until six months, and what do you know...the time is here! i'm anxious to see how they react to cereal, but i think they're both more than ready. they are constantly watching jason and i as we eat and want to put everything in their mouths these days.

nursing is still going great and so a part of me just wants to keep them on milk...it's me in denial that my babies are growing up! :( jason thinks i'm nuts, but it makes me sad seeing them grow so fast! they're getting to be more and more fun though...that's for sure! their personalities are starting to shine through and are starting to acknowledge that each other exists...it's so much fun to watch!

we went on our first road trip to dallas to visit the andiel's and for jason to play in his annual volleyball tournament. we were nervous as to how the babies would do, but they did wonderfully! the drive there and back couldn't have been any smoother and they still slept great away from home. not only that, they had a great time with leah and katarina (the andiel girls) and even did well with the dogs!

a few pics from dallas and the 4th of july...

back to work :(

well...as of monday, june 1st, i am officially back at work. :( i had always said i'd take off six months, but given the current work environment and shortages of jobs, i had a good opportunity come my way, so i took it.
i'm easing my way back in, so was still home for the morning feeding this week, but will start going in earlier next week. i just love the morning with them....they're in the best moods and are so excited to see you!
i must say...i was very apprehensive about going back to work, but surprisingly, it's good to be back. the week was insanely busy so it flew by, but nice to be challenged again and learn something new. don't get me wrong...it was extrmely rough being away from my babies, but they are in very good hands and seem to be just fine without me (much to my dismay!) i don't know how many times i called lin (our nanny), but you can only ask so many times how things are going and the responses don't typically vary too much! they either ate, napped or played or they didn't!
i'm still attempting to nurse even though i've gone back to work and so far so good. we have a great mother's room at the office which has hospital grade pumps and they provide all the attachments, so they make it relatively easy to do. i've learned though time management is going to be critical between trying to learn a new job, pumping and getting home at a reasonable time!
welcome to motherhood!!

4 months!

well...we went for zach and zoe's four month check up yesterday and we got a big thumbs up! :)

zachary is now in the 95th (yes, that's right...95th!) percentile for both length and weight (27" and 17 lbs, 11 oz) and zoe is in the 90th for length (25.5") and 50th-75th for weight (13 lbs 15 oz). can you believe??

it just blows my mind that zach is almost 4 lbs heavier than zoe! they both eat four times a day, about 7 oz each meal. the only major difference between the two is that zoe is constantly moving (she's literally nonstop!) whereas zachary prefers lounging and laying! :) i guess exercise really does do the body good?!

our doctor has told us we can start them on rice cereal if we'd like, but i think we might wait just a little bit longer. while i am still not back to work, i'd like to take full advantage of my time with them nursing. i'm quite nervous about how things are going to change once i do go back, but am going to try and continue nursing. it's looking it may be sooner than i was originally anticipating, so i'm holding on to every moment i have with these babies!

what else?? both babies are smiling and laughing nonstop and love to talk and to be talked to! zoe is still our high maintenance princess as she loves to be held and isn't much of a napper, so requires constant attention. zachary loves his naps, swinging on his swing and is usually perfectly content. just as of late he seems to like a little more attention!

summer seems to be here already, so taking walks is a bit more of a challenge. unless we go early in the morning or right before bed time, it's tough! we've just had to be more creative around the house, but we occasionally get a little stir crazy cooped up inside!

latest pic of my little chunky monkeys...

our nanny lin is just loving these two and they really love her as well. as much as i am going to hate when i go back to work leaving these two, i know they're in good hands. we

happy mother's day!!

not only was today my very first mother's day, but zach and zoe also turned four months today! obviously mother's day has taken on a completely different meaning for me this year. i still find myself in disbelief that i am the mother of these two beautiful human beings! words just cannot express how much love and adoration i have for them...in good times and in bad! it also makes me realize how wonderful my mother is in all that she did and does for us and how much i love and appreciate her!

i had a wonderful mother's day...my sweet husband surprised me with breakfast in bed and then we lounged with the babies for a while until it was time to go to church. after church, we went over to jason's parents house for lunch. to top that off, the rockets won game 4 and to end the day, my mom called as she just arrived back in the states after a month of travel in asia!! so...i couldn't have asked for a better day! the only regret i have is that i didn't take a single picture today!

i hope all of you mommies had as wonderful a day as i had! happy mother's day everyone!!!

much needed update!

i've been very delinquent on posting anything new, so i thought i'd give a quick update. i've been doing the solo act for five weeks now which just blows my mind! to be honest, maybe because i expected the absolute worst, it's been much better than expected! what have we done or what do we do?

hmmm...well, we go on A LOT of walks, have been on numerous shopping expeditions, went to bp to visit, have a neighborhood playgroup that we visit every once in a while, have gone on many lunch dates and that's pretty much it! it's amazing how quickly the days go by when entertaining two little ones.

they're still sleeping through the night brilliantly! their naps, on the otherhand are still all over the place, but since it hasn't affected their sleep in the evening, i haven't been too stressed about it. i'm hoping that will come in time (fingers crossed!)

they're like little people now...it actually saddens me how quickly they're growing! zoe is definitely a morning person, whereas zach is all about the afternoon. they smile, they laugh, they react...it's crazy!

easter was a lot of fun last weekend at jason's parents house. the five cousins (jenn's 3 (lucas, knox and elaina) and our 2) finally all got to meet. zach and zoe attended church for the first time last weekend as well. jason and i just knew that buzzer was going to go off, but it didn't...in fact, the ladies in the nursery said they were just great! who knew?! :)

we don't go back to the doc until four months, but our best guess is that zach is about 16 lbs now and zoe 13 lbs!

and finally, i think we've found our nanny! she's going to be coming three days a week to start and then will be full-time once i go back to work. i'm nervous but excited at the same time. we're keeping our fingers crossed, but jason and i really like her so far. we'll keep you posted!

we have success!!

hopefully this doesn't jinx us, but after a week of sleep training, zoe has now slept two nights in a row from 7pm to 6am and zach's slept from 7pm to 4am!! it sure wasn't an easy road getting to this point, but it's amazing what a week can do! i so hope i am not setting myself up for trouble by celebrating prematurely!
we're still struggling a bit with getting our naps down pat during the day, but i think once we've got our nightime routine established, that will soon follow (with a little coercing of course!)
this has obviously made a world of difference for jason and i...it's nice to be able to enjoy a meal together once again without having to constantly tend to babies.
i'll keep you posted, but so far, so good!!

8 week checkup

yesterday was a big day for the lawless household. not only did my mom desert us after staying with us for two months, but we also had zach and zoe's two month checkup. (i was kidding about the deserting part...we sure do miss her already!!)

the doctor's appt went very well with the exception of having to watch my little angels endure three injections a piece and a yucky oral vaccine! luckily though, not even fifteen minutes post shots, they were both back in good spirits again. even mommy forgot about them until she saw the big ol bandaids on their thighs as a reminder!

so here's the latest...

zach is now 13 lbs 5 oz (50th percentile), 23 inches long (50th) and his head is measuring 15 1/2 inches (25 - 50th percentile).

zoe is 10 lbs 15 oz (50th), 23 inches as well (75th) and her head is 15 inches long (25 -50th).

so...as you can see...they're doing quite well! can't knock the breast milk!

other than that, we're just chugging along. like i said, it's only the first day since my mom has left, so we'll be faces some new challenges, but are also in the process of looking for a nanny. we're actually "trying out" a few first since i'm here and hopefully we'll find someone we really trust and the children really like. i don't go back to work for a few months yet, so at least we have some time.

we were fortunate enough last week to have jason's aunt betty and aunt linda spend some time with the kiddos and with us last week. not only that, but they cooked up a storm and filled up our freezer with lots of meals that we can't wait to try! thank you aunt betty, aunt linda and mrs. lawless!

zoe is just smiling up a storm these days and is definitely a morning person. as long a night as we may have had, she wipes the slate clean for both her and her brother once we see her precious smile bright and early! zach is a little more reserved with his smiles, but he does like to spread his throughout the day!

the goal is to try and start sleep training them this weekend. i'm nervous...i think it's going to be torture, but hopefully it will make for happier children and parents at the end of the day! i quizzed the doc yesterday on the matter, and she was a big advocate of starting it now, so we've gotten the green light...wish us luck! thanks erin for sending me the book...that will be my bible for this sleep training!

otherwise...keep referring to the picasa website for picture updates. i'm trying to be good about it, but forgive me if i'm delinquent at times! but since this week's haven't been posted yet, here's a couple...zoe with my mom and zach this morning with two of his three bandaids still intact.

picasa website

i've been meaning to put this link out here for quite some time now. it's the tool i'm using to post updated pictures of zachary and zoe.

hopefully you have no problems accessing.

http://picasaweb.google.com/chiangkvc

one month old!

our one month appt was rescheduled from wednesday till this morning, so we've just gotten back. so...my goodness, here goes...

zach is now 10 lbs 2.5 oz...i never in a million years thought he would have gained 3 lbs in just two weeks, but that he did! that puts him in the 75th percentile for weight. he is now 22" long (50th - 75th percentile) and his head is 15" (50th percentile...which surprised us...we think his head is rather large!)

zoe hasn't done too bad herself...8 lbs 9 oz (25th percentile), is 21" long (50th percentile) and her head measures 14 1/4'' (25th percentile).

after birth, zoe has developed a strawberry birthmark on her neck which got me a little anxious at first, but per the doc, this will continue to grow for the first year and then will slowly fade and disappear.

otherwise, they are both very healthy and the doctor was very happy with their progress.

things are still as crazy as ever, and they've gotten fussier here as of late for no apparent reason...fun fun! supposedly this should level off by six or eight weeks, so i'm ready for these next few weeks to hurry on up and pass!

for fun, i've posted pics of both jason and i when we were babies and compared them to zachary and zoe. it's amazing how zoe really resembles me and zach jason. these pics may not do it much justice, so you'll just have to trust me!

newborn pics

as you are probably well aware, it's been a while now since i've published any posts, but time is a little hard to come by these days! zach and zoe are actually one month today and it just blows my mind! we have their one month check up tomorrow, so i was going to wait till after that to post, but our newborn pics were just posted to the photographer's website with only a limited timeframe, so i thought i would share that with you while i have a moment.
they were taken when they were just over a week, and it is amazing how much they've grown! i'm very anxious to see what we hear at our doctor's visit tomorrow. it feels as though zach has doubled his birth weight (obviously not a reality, but he's quite the chunk now!)
click on the attached link to access, then click recent sessions and then "lawless." it definitely wasn't the perfect shoot, but we did get some keepers!

http://www.studioainsley.com/?splash=1

she must be recognized...

i just realized that cindy actually nailed the date that the babies would be born on the actual day! go cind!! i'll be honest, when i saw your guess initially, my immediate thought was there is absolutely no way!
well...what do i know?!! i'm impressed! so what about you...do you have your expected date pegged???
sorry there isn't a huge prize or something for you, but i'll come up with something!! very impressive!

introducing zachary grant and zoe katherine!

BE FOREWARNED...may be TMI for some of you...and sorry so long.

jason and i welcomed zach and zoe into this world on saturday, january 10th at texas woman's hospital. as per the plan, we went in that morning at 7:15 for induction and within an hour and a half, the doc broke my water, started the pitocin and contractions were coming full on not soon after. i was a little disappointed in myself for not being able to bear the pain longer that i did, but after an hour and half of contractions coming every minute and a half to two, i was pretty eager to get that epidural!

when we arrived at the hospital, i was 3 cm dilated, and beared the contractions until i was 6 cm. the epidural was beautiful...i never thought those words would come out of my mouth, but they are! for those women who have done it all naturally, i have so much more respect for you...i have no idea how you did it!!

anyways, so once they inserted the epi, i was good to go. it just became a waiting game at that point. it was probably another three to four hours before the action began. i was pretty much fully dilated at 10 cm by about 2:30, but there was a little "lip" of my cervix that was still in the way. at that point, the doc had me start pushing a little bit to see if we could she could maneuver it out of the way, but before i knew it, she was prepping me for the operating room.

i remember checking into the OR at 3:39 and making my exit at 5:40. but i tell you what...those two hours were the longest of my life! to begin with, there is definitely no time to be modest while there! there seemed to be twenty people of which i think i knew four in there and they had me propped up and exposed in under a minute flat it seemed. i was completely at their mercy totally unaware of what was going on down there! i'm not complaining by any means, since they are the experts and did a fabulous job, but not something that i'm quite used to!

this post is actually a lot longer than i had anticipated...sorry! i didn't realize it was going to turn into my birth story! so let me try to speeden things up a bit! hmmm...so i pushed for what seemed like forever and it got to a point where the doc said "two more pushes and then i'm sorry, but we're going to have to do a section." in between contractions the babies started getting distressed, so she didn't want to take any risks. you better believe i gave those last two pushes my all after i heard that, even though i felt like my head was about to explode! to be honest though, i was so close to just giving in...i didn't know how much more i could endure. whatever i did worked because by this point zach was so far down now in the birth canal that there was no turning back! sounds fine and dandy, but my goodness. the next thirty minutes were horrible! his positioning was off (sunny side up) and she kept trying to turn him, but nothing was working...all the while me still pushing for dear life! she pulled out the vacuum to no avail and then came the forceps. after a lot of thought and debate, dr. swaim just felt that something wasn't right for forceps use because of where the soft spots on his head were located, so we collectively decided against it. so of course that meant it was all in my court now!

zach was finally born at 5:03 pm and little zoe soon followed at 5:06 pm.

that wasn't even the worst of it. when zach came out, jason said he was purplish blue and looked lifeless. the look on the doctor's face didn't make things any better nor did the mass of people who rushed in to tend to him. of course, i didn't know any of this was going on at the time, since i was still working on getting zoe out. at the end of the day, zach was okay...thank goodness. he did need to be resuscitated and suffered two major hematomas on his head, but healthy overall. jason and i are just fine with him having a square head for a few weeks given the scare he gave us.

the babies were in the NICU for six hours following their arrival, so around 2am that morning i finally got to hold and admire these little angels. i just don't think it quite sunk in that these little guys were mine for quite some time. we spent two days in the hospital and came home late monday night. zach had to go back to the hospital the next morning to check his bilirubin levels and as it turned out, we had to put him under the lights for almost five days but thankfully we were able to do it at home. he is now officially in the clear as of yesterday!

what else? we did go to the doctor four days after they got home to get a baseline established and the good news was that zach maintained his birth weight and zoe lost only 0.06 oz. i guess i should provide their birth stats...zach was 6 lbs 4 oz, 19 3/4 inches long and zoe was 5 lbs 9.6 oz, 19 inches long.

i am nursing and so far so good. using some formula to supplement, but i'd say that's probably about 10-15%. they're really quite good during the day, but of course the nights are a bit more of a challenge. we've had a ton of much appreciated support especially from jason's parents and my mom. my aunt is here from jersey for two weeks to help out as well...thank you! it's amazing how much two little ones can take out of you! it's been worth it though!

it just amazes me to see their progress each and every day, even thought they only are ten days old! zach is much more laidback, quiet and quite the eater whereas zoe just loves to sleep and will let you know LOUD and clear when she needs something!

we had their newborn session done yesterday and it went suprisingly well. i've attached a pic that we got from it (below) as well as a pic of the two of them in the hospital (above).

thank you all for your emails, calls , presents and support...it has meant so much! i owe many of you a call or a note back, (and probably a thank you note) but please bear with me! i can't wait for you all to meet them!! :)

we have a date!!

well...we just got back from the doctor's office and we officially have a date for induction...this saturday, january 1oth. YIKES!! so unless they come before then, we have three and a half more days until our lives are changed forever!! :) it actually works out perfectly if they are delivered on saturday because i will officially be 38 weeks and our doctor just happens to be on call that day.
the other interesting tidbit is that apparently our baby girl is making a run at being the first one out. all of a sudden, she is now the closest to the cervix which is interesting since all along it's been our baby boy. so it's actually not him who's the stubborn one...it's her! somehow that doesn't really surprise me! :)
thanks to everyone who has been calling and writing and checking on us. sorry i've had to disappoint you with no news to report, but finally!!