Christmas

We celebrated Christmas again this year with my parents but things were a little different with the girls around!  Here is our skinny tree with my parent's' cat Casper snoozing under it (he is a big cat, but our tree was a little smaller this year...)

 

On Christmas Eve the girls "opened" their first gifts.  Mostly they just played with the ribbon and tried to put it in their mouths!  Elsie is on the right.

 

Christmas morning, Elsie is opening her star ornament gift from Anthony and Michael.

 

Matthew reading a new Sandra Boyton book from Uncle Nathan to Leonie.

 

They liked the colorful wrapping paper!  And thanks Aunt Emily for the cute outfits.

 

The cute little high chairs from Emily and Miran made perfect seats for gift opening.  The girls are almost strong enough to hold themselves up but still need a little support.

 

Playing with their gifts.

 

A Bertch family tradition was to take a photo of all our gifts each year.  It is fun to look back and see when some of the beloved toys entered our family.  Here are the girls with most of their gifts!  (We missed a few that got opened later)

 

Grandma Sue got them their first Breyer horses as stocking stuffers.

 

Taking a break to cheer up Leonie with Super Baby before trying another family photo op.

 

We didn't really get a good photo of all of us looking at the camera, but I like this one instead!

 

Grumps with Leonie and Grandma Sue with Elsie.

 

Another Bertch tradition - cutout cookies!  These are my Grandma's recipe (my mom's mom).  The girls didn't get to participate much this year but they enjoyed watching the production and testing out the cookie cutters.

 

Another tradition of ours is making ornaments each year.  My mom and I decided to make cross stitch ornaments similar to my first ornament in 1986.

 

 

Finally, a photo of mom and I riding.  We didn't end up going on Christmas or Christmas Eve like usual, but we did make it out during their visit.

Four Months Old

Our girls are four months old already!  They are growing fast and seem to do something new almost every day.  Pretty soon we won't be able to fit them both on the monthly blanket!

 

 

Leonie

 

 

Elsie

 

As seen in the previous post, my mom (Grandma Sue) came to visit for Thanksgiving.  As you can see on Elsie's face here, the girls (and I!) were very excited for her visit.

 

 

Grandma Sue reading Leonie a book.

 

Max (Matthew's father) and Janet came to visit right before Thanksgiving too.  One of the days we went to Wormsloe Historic site for a little hike and exploration.  The girls love to be carried.

 

Janet, Max, and Leonie

 

Max (Grandpa Gunzburger) with Leonie (left) and Elsie (right).

 

 

Daddy reading to his girls, Leonie is on the left. 

 

 

We stuck with our tradition and participated in the bridge run again this year.  This time we just walked though!  I'm holding Elsie.

 

 

 

After the finish, with the bridge in the background. Now I'm holding Leonie.

 

 

Over the past four months we have noticed that the girls tend to sleep in the same position.  We're not sure who decides the position before they go to sleep but it must be a twin thing!

 

In the cosleeper, Leonie on the left.

 

 

On our bed, Elsie on the left.

 

 

In their rockers, Leonie on the left.

 

 

And in their cribs, Elsie on the left.  It's almost like they are identical or something...

 

 

A couple of exciting achievements this month include laughing and rolling over.  Elsie started laughing when I was washing her chin in the tub but now they both giggle with you tickle their chins or tummies.  Elsie started trying to roll over at about 3.5 months but hasn't quite managed it yet.  Leonie spent the entire day last Saturday trying to roll and finally managed it!  She wasn't too happy once on her stomach but continues to perfect her rolling technique.  Now that they are capable of rolling we had to trade in their swaddle blankets for sleep sacks and separate them for naps and bedtime so that they don't knock into each other.  They are both great night time sleepers and often go from 8pm to 7am waking only once for a 3am snack.  Here's Leonie after her first successful roll.

 

 

Finally, a couple of cute videos from the last month.  Here the girls are talking and smiling at each other.  They have really started noticing each other!

 

 

 

Elsie attempting to roll over with Leonie cheering her on.

 

 

 

And Leonie's adorable giggles.

 

Thanksgiving

This year we spent Thanksgiving in Florida with my mom's family.  Mom (Grandma Sue) flew down to Savannah the Friday before and left the Tuesday after.  It was so nice to have extra help again!  We drove to Ruskin, FL on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving to try and avoid some of the traffic.  It was still a long travel day and the girls were very cranky by the end of the trip.  Matthew and I rented an Airbnb near the family so that we wouldn't bother anyone with the babies.  It was the perfect place to stay and we told the couple that own the place that we'd like to stay with them every time we visit!

 

The girls got to meet so many new family members and they were quite well behaved for the whole visit.  They sat quietly in their dresses with my Grandpa for a long photo shoot one afternoon.  Here he is with his first great grandbabies.

 

And a four generation photo with myself and my mom.

 

We also got a photo of my Grandpa with all of his daughters, granddaughters, and great granddaughters!

 

My step-grandma Sharon (Gigi) is already spoiling these girls rotten!

 

My Aunt Cindy giving Elsie a bottle.

 

Uncle Bill (Aunt Cindy's husband) with Elsie.

 

My cousin Andrew (Aunty Cindy & Uncle Bill's son) also holding Elsie.

 

 

My Aunt Chris with Leonie.

 

 

My Aunt Sandy with a sleeping Elsie.

 

 

One afternoon we went for a walk around the retirement park and down the nature trail.  I enjoyed using our new carrier from Gigi.

 

The girls loved having so many people to hold and entertain them.  Here my mom reads to Elsie while Aunt Chris holds Leonie.

 

 

Matthew barely got to hold the girls with all of the family around but he did get to go off and golf with the guys one of the days.

 

On Thanksgiving we went down to the Hall for the retirement community.  Along with about 200 other people we had a lovely Thanksgiving dinner.  Gigi loved taking Elsie around and showing her off to all the neighbors.

 

And Leonie slept in Grandma Sue's arms for the whole dinner - she missed her first Thanksgiving!

 

Elsie fell asleep too at the end after a little snack for herself.

 

 

Another day Matthew and I enjoyed talking with my Grandpa about engineering topics and we were able to look through Grandpa's scrapbook of projects and family photos while he narrated.

 

On our last day in Florida we went to a local orange farm to pick oranges with the girls.  They enjoyed this trip - Elsie fell asleep with Grandma Sue and Leonie nursed most of the time with me!

 

 

Walking in the groves.

 

 

I love this photo that my Aunt Cindy took of us taking a selfie!

 

 

There weren't a lot of ripe oranges left after the holiday week but we managed to find a few.

 

 

On Saturday we headed home and stopped at our friend Louise's house for a break and a delicious brunch.  The girls did better on the way home because we made a point to get them out of the car seats more often and lay them down to stretch out.  They slept for a lot of the trip, although there was still more than enough crying!