Busy week for all

Tags

Bella, bye-bye, climbing, hugs, kisses, Norah, sign language, swimming, teeth, video, wave

Oh

The past couple of weeks have been very busy for myself and Aaron.  School is back in session beginning this week.  I worked a lot of days over the past couple of weeks, but the next two weeks are going to be relatively slow for me.  The girls got to spend a lot of time at daycare, but will get more quality time with mommy this week.  It is always nice to get to spend time with them.

Bella up close and personal

The girls are changing every single day.  It seems like they are learning so much each and every day.  Wendy, the daycare lady, has been teaching the girls sign language and they are starting to sign to us.  They will sign “more”, “all done”, and “eat” that I have seen so far.  They are also working on talking and today I heard one of the girls say “yummy” while Norah is really into “uh-oh” right now (see video below).   They are really listening to things as well and understanding a lot of commands like, “go get daddy a beer.” (obviously I am teasing people–but damn I dream of the day)

Stacy telling Norah Santa Claus isn't real

I think that the girls have finally cut all their molars, so thankfully things have been more calm.  Bella has thankfully lightened up on the pacifier usage, but she still likes it right around bedtime.  I think it helped that I didn’t let her take it with her to daycare.  She has it in her mouth every morning and also has bunny in her arms, but when I get her out of bed I tell her that they stay in bed and have her wave bye-bye to them.  She doesn’t throw a fit if we do that.

Pool time fun

Norah is starting to give kisses.  It is so cute because she tilts her head back and even makes the “Mmmwah” sound.  She now loves, loves, loves to give kisses.  Bella is still just a hugger, but she gives the best hugs.  Another one of Norah’s accomplishments this week is that she has learned to climb up on the couch…to our dismay (why couldn’t she learn to make daddy a jäger bomb instead?!).  The girls are also starting to try to run and they have been chasing each other around the table on a pretty regular basis.

Bella trying on shoes

We went out this past Saturday night without the kids.  We left them with Samantha, who watched them when Aaron drywalled the garage.  They really seem to like her and she does a great job with them.  It is great to find her because we have previously had Holly watch them and she is starting college.  Samantha is just starting her junior year and she lives only two houses down, so there is no taking the babysitter home!  We had a great time on our date night. We went out to a nice steak dinner with some friends and then to some bars.  We also got to meet some new people, so it was a good time.

t

And the Easter Bunny too?

Below I have added a short video of the girls–nothing fancy–just an idea of some of things that have been going on.  I have been taking a lot of video with my phone lately and sending them to Mimi and Granddaddy so this will just have to be a rerun for them.  Also we know that we have been slacking on the pictures, so there are plenty here and right around 200 total on Flickr.  Hope you enjoy and as always we love to hear from you–especially new people who have never commented–you know who you are!

t

t

►

Bella trying on shoes

Shhh! I’m trying to have a conversation!

Bella in da pool

Wipes on the head, wipes on the head

Night Night Time

Norah and some lady holding her

Does this look like a guilty face?

Weeeeeeeeeeee!

Sharing (for now)

Pool time fun

But I’m not tired

Sweet Norah

Splash

Norah being Norah

What do you mean we are out of milk?

Attack of the twins

Norah’s new sippy

Bella watching Norah doing more things she shouldn’t

Bella happy as can be

Innocent face

What can I even say?

Norah intently listening to Sadie

Sadie intently listening to Norah

And the Easter Bunny too?

Oh My Gosh!

The illusion of sharing

Bella up close and personal

Got that “Dracula” hair-do going on

Hugs for Sadie

Girls in da crib

Big Girl Sippy

Oh

You see nothing…I see trouble waiting

I’m taking my $*!% and going home!

Bella Dancing

Bella

Bella and bath toy

Stacy telling Norah Santa Claus isn’t real

Bath time

Bella waiting to pounce

867-5309? No that’s Jenny

Bella with wipes

Bella again

Sadie and Norah

Bella and her pacifier

Just another week

Tags

Bella, Birthday, cabinet locks, Clapping, cutting teeth, Norah, pink eye, sick, standing, teeth, video, walking

I have a 'stache like Granddaddy

Nothing exciting went on this week (becoming a theme).  Both girls were sick (again).  Runny noses, coughs and pinkeye for Bella.  Actually she had it twice.  It started with her left eye and I put her on drops (both eyes), but the drops got left at daycare on Friday.  Normally it should have been ok because she had already been on them for 6 days, but of course by Sunday her right eye was watery and by the end of the day it was goopy.  Guess that’s my luck.  I had to run to Target to pick up some stuff, so I just stopped by and got some sample antibiotics to get things started.  She’s already looking much better.  Both still have a little bit of snot nose and Bella still has a bit of a cough.  I am hoping in a couple days they will be good as new.

Take us outside Dad!

Bella is finally cutting some more teeth on top.  She is also starting to try to walk.  She can currently take two to three steps unassisted.  Norah is just starting to try to stand on her own.  She finally figured out how to clap her hands the right way.  Before she would smack one hand down on the other kind of like she was doing the alligator mouth.  Norah is figuring out how to stack the rings on her ring tower.  She even managed to get them all in the correct order according to size this afternoon, but I think it was more chance than a conscious effort so far.

Please Dad! Take us outside!

We had to put locks on the cabinets to keep them out.  I tried leaving them one cabinet with only dish towels, but after the 500th time putting the towels up we decided to go ahead and put a lock on there too.  They will get into everything!  We also have to be really good about putting up the baby gate.  I have forgotten once and found Norah about 5 steps up the stairs when I figured out.  Aaron forgot the other day and Bella took a little tumble down a couple of steps, but she’s perfectly fine.  If it gets too quiet in here I now know that they are up to something that they shouldn’t be, so I have to drop whatever I am doing and figure out what they have gotten into now.  I don’t even know how much harder it’s going to get when they start walking!

Also be on the lookout for a BIG SPECIAL

announcement later this week!

So without further ado, here are the weekly pictures and of course a video.  The videos are in HD also if you have not noticed.  The default is to have it off, but you can turn it on in the top right corner.  As always we hope you enjoy.

►

Bella be messy

What? You never make a mess?

Trouble x2

I love making a mess!

Norah in the anger pre-stage

Unhappy camper

You can't see me

It's mine! No it's Mine! No, mine!

When beer and babies come together

Hey at least I have a bib on

I know I have food on my lip

What the heck is this stuff you are shoving in my mouth?

Also, especially for the grandparents–here is a desktop wallpaper that I made. Feel free to use it. All you have to do is click on the picture below (probably will have to do it twice) until you get the full screen picture. When you have done this right, it will just appear in the browser and NOT in the blog template anymore. Right-click and select “Set as background” and wha-la! New desktop wallpaper.

Bella & Norah Desktop Wallpaper

Teething and Snotty Noses

Tags

Bella, Lindsay, Norah, sick, teeth, teething

This past week the girls have been cutting teeth. Norah is working on her sixth tooth and Bella is just now cutting her fifth. They are getting teeth on top, the bottom still consists of two teeth (with no more in sight). They started getting sick a few days ago. I guess it all started on Friday when the daycare provider called me to let me know that Bella’s eye was swollen and gunky. I called her in an rx for an antibiotic and she just had to wait until I got off work at 6. Sure enough, she had a bacterial eye infection. I just started loading her up with the antibiotic drop and she was already looking better by the next morning, but the snot and the coughing was just getting started. Bella seems to be doing much better, just a little runny nose. Norah is still coughing (not as much) and her nose has been wiped so often that she has a little raw spot right under it. I hope they feel better soon.

Nothing interesting happened this past week/weekend. We’ve gone to work. The girls have gone to daycare. We stayed home all weekend. The highlight of the past weekend was that Aaron went to Hampton’s Market (a little local grocery for those unfamiliar) and he bought two thick fillets. I had to cut one in half, then I butterflied each half and it was plenty for both of us. Barely needed the knife to cut it….yummy! I put the other in the freezer and hopefully it will be nice enough to grill it this weekend.

Oh, and I just wanted to give a shout out to the girls’ cousin Lindsay. She turned one on the 21st! We were unable to make the trip out to St. Louis to attend her party, but hopefully it goes well.

There are lots of pics to post since it’s been a little while since we’ve put any up, so here they are for your viewing enjoyment

beer would be better

Bella and Sadie in the crate

Arguing over who is going in first

Norah in “baby jail”

Norah! Come look at these toys I found!

A peaceful Bella

Look at me Mommy!

Norah kinda using a bib

Time for cabinet locks

Who says dog crates are for dogs?

Bella giving Daddy a hug

Grandma Duncan and THE twins

Yo bartender! Jobu needs a refill!!!

Being a baby is hard work

Norah studying her bib

I love doing dishes!

Bella passed out (from playing not drinking)

Who says 3 is company?!?

Helping to load dishwasher

Back to the Grind

Tags

cabinets, Grandma Duncan, No, talking, teeth

We’ve had a nice week.  The girls are getting back into the daycare routine after spring break and I am getting ready to go back  to working four days a week.  The downside is that I will have to drive to Zionsville two days a week which is up on the north side, so it means a longer commute  On the plus side of things, Aaron is almost completely finished with his coursework for the final two administrative classes he has to take before he gets his license (yay!).  The girls have been into everything.  They especially love to open the cabinets, pull stuff out and then try to climb inside.  We bought some cabinet latches, but the ones we got will not work with where we have placed the pulls on the cabinet doors.  I guess we will have to go back to the store and try to figure something out because I am so tired of telling them “NO” over and over and over!

The girls are definitely getting more vocal.  Norah is now saying go and dog pretty well.  Bella has perfected the SSSS sound, but she still only says mama, dada and no.  Norah has cut two more teeth on top and one freaked me out a bit.  She had a little blister on her gum where the tooth was coming in and when the tooth broke through her mouth bled a little bit.  I just saw her crawling around with blood on her lip and I thought maybe she had busted her lip, but she wasn’t crying.  I pick her up and look at her and she is bleeding, but happy.  It took me a little while to figure out that it was from that tooth.  Craziest thing…

My mom came up this past weekend to spend a little time with the girls and she gave me a little break.  It was nice not having to get up this morning when they woke up and she changed lots of diapers for me.  Plus, she got to try to round them up and keep track of them for a bit.  I think she had a really nice visit.

I can’t believe the girls are almost 11 months old.  I need to start planning the 1st birthday party soon.  It’s looking like it will be May 22nd.  It won’t be anything big or crazy because they are so young and they won’t really get what’s going on anyway.  That is the tentative plan for now at least.

It’s No Big Deal

Tags

Bath time, Bella, crying, Eating, No, Norah, sleeping, teeth

Bella's Front Teeth

The time change had the girls a little thrown off this week.  We tried putting them to be a

Norah's Front Teeth

little early a few days before the change, but on Sunday night Bella was having none of it.  She cried for a good half hour after we put them to bed before finally going to sleep and woke up almost an hour earlier than she usually would to eat.  The next few nights she cried some as well.  Finally she went down without a fight last night.  I am also happy to report that they are sleeping until we go in to wake them up in the mornings also.

Bella using her head

Over the weekend we took them back to eat at the mexican restaurant.  We ordered them a plate of refried beans to share and they ate almost the whole thing!!  Norah would make a funny face like she didn’t like them, but then want more…silly baby.  They are also starting to get to the point where they want to feed themselves.  Bella will grab at the spoon and Norah will turn away from it or once you get it in her mouth  she goes to put her hand in her mouth.  I am sure this will only get worse as they begin trying to exert their independence.

Norah is little miss independent.  Aaron caught her on top of the diaper box the other day.  She just crawled right up on top of it like it was no big thing.  Aaron thought it was funny and got a picture that I am sure he will post down below.  They are also starting to hear the word “NO” more because they are trying to get into everything.

Last night we gave them their first bath in the big bathtub.  Norah took it well and just sat there and played with her

Norah

toys. Bella was turning over and trying to crawl after different toys.  She especially likes whichever one Norah has at the time.  :)

So far, the girls have had a really good week.  It has not been too bad even with the time change.  Aaron has to stay late tomorrow (Thursday) for school so it will be just me and the girls having a “girl” night which is almost every night anyway because poor Aaron is the only male in the house.  Two dogs-both females.  One cat-female.

So, we just got done giving the girls a bath in the “big” tub again tonight.  It was the second time that we did that.  We got lots of cute pictures of their fun and excitement.  It was all going very, very well until….well…as the title implies, “It’s no big deal.”  To give you a better idea you can check out the video below to get the point.

So to me–it was a “big deal” but super-mom Stacy took care of it.  Why does all the bad gross stuff start with the letter “P” may I ask?  Think about it.  Maybe I can strike a deal with Stacy–she takes care of all the stuff that begins with a letter P and I will take on the challenges and hard choices that come with say the letter X.  Hell, I will even through in the letter Z.  :)

Enjoy the pictures and don’t forget to see all the pictures (these plus many, many more) at Flickr.  It’s to your left where you see the pictures.  Click on more photos at the bottom.

It’s Mine! No it’s mine!

An intense Norah

“No Fear” Norah

Casualty of taking a bath

Norah’s Front Teeth

Bella’s Front Teeth

Norah

Bella using her head

Our Bella

Bath time fun

Bella loves water!

Bella’s backward “bye-bye”

Norah figuring out how it works

Stacy with Bella

What’s going on with the Hufnagel twins?

Tags

Barb, Bella, Jerry, Norah, sitting, snot, teeth, video

Daddy and the girls watching Colts

Honestly, it has been pretty much the same old stuff going on.  Norah is really getting the hang of sitting up by herself.  She can do it for sustained periods of time (check out the video to see her in action) while Bella is getting there.  She does it more in the “tripod” form with her hands out in front of her.  She doesn’t do it quite as long as Norah does, but she is getting there.

Both girls have been really snotty this past week–little “snot factories” as Aaron likes to call them.  Both of the girls are really slobbering alot lately and chewing on anything they get their hands on including their hands.  Norah has a tooth coming in, as you can feel the points of it on her bottom gum.  I keep checking to see if it is readily visible and so far I can’t see it yet.  So, she hasn’t been quite our little happy Norah that we all know and love, but Tylenol definitely helps.

We have taken the girls out with us a little more recently.  Sure, we’ve taken them out before, but we have definitely

Bella and Norah just chilling

become more comfortable and don’t have to pack around as much junk when we do go.  We go to the mall, to the grocery store and they’ve even gone out to eat with us a few times.  They have been absolute angels and way better than I thought they would do.  They do not seem to mind going out with us and we like that they are easy babies when we do decide to go out.  We also got to take them to see Wes’s parents (Barb and Jerry) on Saturday.  They have not seen the girls yet, so they really enjoyed the chance to be able to see them and hold them.  We were there from about 2:00-7:00 and they even laid down and took a nap without protest.  Jerry was too funny with the girls, but it was something you would have had to have been there to see.

The girls are just getting so big.  They are both starting to wear 6-9 months clothes.  Norah is so long and thin that the

Bella & Norah

waist band is always too big and she wiggles out of them as she rolls around the living room.  Bella seems to be able to wear them pretty comfortably.  They are also big fans of their solids.  They will both eat cereal at daycare and then will eat a whole container each in the evening.  Another downside to the girls getting so big is that they sometimes pee through their diapers at night.  I am going to have to try some of the overnight diapers, but have yet to find them in a size 3 in the store (I know they make them..it’s just a matter of finding them).

The next couple of weeks there will be a lot of stuff going on, so not sure how often we will post.  Aaron keeping the girls home with him over his break, so there will probably lots of pictures to post when we find time.

Here are two videos to hold you over for a while.  If you need something to make you laugh then watch the first one.  the second one is just a compilation of the past week.  After the vids are more pictures.  Remember that we upload all pictures to Flickr (link is on the right hand side) not just what you see here.  It stores the latest 200 pictures.  Also on the right side is our Twitter feed (you can follow us at http://twitter.com/hufnageltwins) where you can also see our latest 5 Tweets.  If you want you can create a free account and follow us where you can receive our tweets through text messaging on your phone.  We usually tweet about 3-5 times a day.  If you need help, let me know.

Ha Ha Ha Ha!

►

Our Past Week

►

Feed me Mommy! Feed ME!

....and these are my toes.

The sisters we all love