The best toffee ever...

To those out there that have someone on their Christmas list that you just don't know what to get them.

To those that need a yummy treat for company that is coming for Christmas.

To those that just love a really good toffee go check out:

BellaToffee

I can tell you from personal experience - it is yummy, chocolately, and the best toffee I have ever had!!

For the man himself...

This extremely late, and I feel like a terrible wife for waiting this long, but I still wanted to write a post in honor of Jeff and his recent birthday (Dec 1).




Jeff is an amazing husband. He puts up with my picky-ness and craziness and always knows how to make me laugh. When I was put on bedrest he never complained once about having to everything for me and around the house. In fact he would get mad at me when I would try to do stuff!! He has taught me how to be strong and stand up for myself better. He is honestly and truly my better half.



Jeff is a fantastic father, I couldn't ask for a better one to help me raise our beautiful girls. He's always been so willing to get up in the night with me to help feed them and care for them. He takes great care of them, especially while I've had to back at work for a few weeks. They love their daddy so much and they light up whenever they see him.

Thank you Jeff for being the wonderful man that you are. I couldn't ask for a better husband nor a better father to our children. I looking forward to spending all of eternity with you and seeing what adventures come our way.

I LOVE YOU HONEYBABE!!!

Snow babies

I know this is a bit belated, but the girls went in for their 4-month check up last week and both checked out wonderfully. Their stats were
Emmalyn - 11 lbs 6 oz, 22 1/2 in
Brooklyn - 11 lbs 3 oz, 22 3/4 in
This is the first time that Emmalyn has weighed more than Brooklyn, so we were pretty surprise. Their doctor is very pleased with them and how they're growing. Measuring up against full-term 4-month-olds they're in the 5th percentile, but measured up with 2 1/2 month old (what they would be if they had gone full term) they're in the 50th percentile. So they are doing great. They did get another set of shots which made for a bit of a cranky night that night and the next day, but other than that they bounced back pretty quick.

Emmalyn smiling for Daddy

Brooklyn and her "praying hands"...they learn so fast :)

A couple of nights ago Jeff and I both wanted to get out of the house so we decided to go do some Christmas shopping...no I wasn't even close to being finished!! We pulled out these little snow suits that I had found on clearance back in April for $15 a piece!! They're still REALLY big on the girls, but we figure they have plenty of room to grow into them and they'll last them all winter :) Anyway here are some cute pictures. Also, the hats they have on were made by a co-worker of mine.

Emmalyn ready to go.


Brooklyn is ready too!!

This was after we got back home. I didn't think we'd get one of them smiling, seems as they were both extremely hungry and tired, but they love their daddy!!

St. George!!

Last weekend (December 5,6) we had the wonderful opportunity to go down to St. George and be a part of the sealing and blessing and Jeff's brother's little girl. It was a wonderful sealing and beautiful blessing. It was our first time witnessing a live sealing of a child to their parents and it was so special.

This trip also marked the girls' first trip out of the Salt Lake valley. They did remarkably well, sleeping pretty much the whole way up AND back!! We had a great time visiting with family and sharing this momentous occasion with John, Heather, and Zaycia. I can't wait for our girls and Zaycia to get older...Zaycia is only 2 months older than our girls and they'll all be such great friends!!

Anyway, here are some pictures that were taken over that weekend.

Jeff and Emmalyn watching some tv

Twins holding twins :)

We stopped in Cedar on our way down to visit my sister Marie and her family. Brenna and Braelyn (the other set of twins in my family) LOVED holding, playing with, and helping feed the girls!!

Because our tub has the sliding doors I have yet to bathe the girls in the big tub, we still give them baths in an infant tub in the sink. Anyway, down in St. George we stayed with Jeff's Aunt Mary and she had a regular tub with just a curtain so the girls were able to experience their first bath in a big tub. Consensus?...They LOVED it. Emmalyn loved it kick and splash, Brooklyn enjoyed it but was extremely tired so wasn't as enthusiastic. Anyway...here are some pics to document this '1st' of theirs.

(PS - Yes both girls were purposefully covered with the rags!!)

Emmalyn


Brooklyn

Just before leaving St. George we let the girls just lay on the floor and kick for a bit...get the wiggles out before they were put in their carseats for the long drive home.

Emmalyn is in the pink top, Brooklyn in the purple top.

4 Months old!!

Wow! I cannot believe it has been 4 months since the girls were born!! They have grown so much and continue to grow more and more everyday. They've become really attentive to their surroundings and people that are around them. They love to give smiles and are really starting to "talk" more and more, of course it's mostly just cooing sounds, but extremely cute nonetheless. They continue to look more and more alike all the time. We haven't gone in for their 4-month appointment yet (it's this Wednesday) but we're guessing they're at least 11 lbs. Anyway here are some pictures I took in honor of their 4-month "birthday" ENJOY!!

Oh...Emmalyn is in the pink, Brooklyn is in the purple.

The girls with their buddy Ryker...can you believe he's about a

month and a half YOUNGER than the girls??

All smiles!!

Photo Shoot

Okay so this was quite awhile ago, but oh well. A couple of weeks after the girls came home from the hospital a good friend of ours came and we attempted a newborn photo shoot with the girls. Unfortunately the girls were extremely cranky, but our friend was able to still get some really cute shots!! Here are a few of our favorites.



By the way, if you like Jon's work and wanna see more here's is website:
Jon Woodbury Photography

This made me laugh...

Busy, busy times in the Thomas household!!

Once again, I know it's been awhile, but I think I have two or three very good excuses!! Anyway, there's been a lot that's been happening around here in the past month, and in the midst of it all I've had to go back to work to compensate for insurance reasons...that's NOT been fun. But thanks to Jeff's sister, Jen, her boyfriend, and Jeff's mom we've been making it through rather smoothly, with only a few meltdowns on my part :)

Okay on to the good stuff...the things you REALLY want - adorable pictures!!

SMILES!!
The girls have learned to smile and LOVE to do it, as long as they're not hungry and too tired anyway. One day the girls both happened to be tolerating their bouncy chairs, and doing so with smiles on their faces. So what do I do?...what any other proud mother would do - grab the camera and go CRAZY!! Here are some of the better shots I got...

Emmalyn is on the left in pink pants, Brooklyn on the right with purple pants

Emmalyn

Brooklyn

HALLOWEEN!!

Yes folk we dressed the girls for Halloween and even went trick-or-treating a couple of times. The first was Friday afternoon - my (Jeanette's) work does a HUGE Halloween fest throughout our building every year. Complete with costume contests, pumpkin carving contests, treats, and of course trick-or-treating. The girls slept right through it all (well after a minor meltdown from Brooklyn). But I had fun showing off the girls and I seem to be a novelty throughout the entire building...known as the "twin lady".

Our second round of trick-or-treating was just around to a few houses in the neighborhood where Jeff grew up. It was fun and the girls were, once again, a HUGE hit. What where there costumes, you might ask...MONKEYS (Jeff made the final decision). And what cute little monkeys they were. I was going to carry around a blanket and pillow and say we were "Two Little Money's Jumping on the Bed"...pretty clever I thought!! Anyway here are some pictures of our two little monkeys!!

I just love when they sleep like this...and the tails just made it even cuter!!

Great thing about twins - you can show the front AND back of the costumes at the same time :)

BLESSING!!

Another very exciting event that happened this month was the Naming and Blessing of the girls. All of Jeff's family and most of my family came the weekend of Oct 11th and shared the wonderful occasion with us. We had a great time visiting with everyone. It was the first time all year for the Thomas/Littlewood (Jeff's mom's side) family to be all together and it was great!! The girls were extremely worn out when all was said and done. They slept good and long Sunday night and ALL day Monday...I tried to keep them awake for at least a little bit for fear of no sleep that night, but they wouldn't have any of it AND they even slept good and long Monday night as well. They were pretty well recovered by Tuesday though. Here are some pictures from that weekend.

The girls with their Uncle Neal who leave for an LDS mission to Brazil in Feb.

Emmalyn making one of her classic faces!

Our beautiful angels
(Brooklyn left with orange, Emmalyn right with purple)

With their Grandma Smith
She made their blessing dresses

With their twin cousins...yes two sets of twins in our family
Brenna holding Brooklyn on the left and Braelynn holding Emmalyn on the right
(I'm pretty sure I got those right...Brenna and Braelynn I mean)

We had to get Bella in with them all too!!

So that's the most exciting stuff that has been going on around here. The girls are growing like crazy and are getting more and more alert. Just this morning I had a good "conversation" with Brooklyn...she cooed and grunted at me for a good 20 minutes, it was so fun. It's times like those that I wish I had a video camera, but oh well. The past few days the girls have been sleeping 8-9 hours at night, which is AMAZING!! I honestly didn't think I'd get that much sleep for a LONG time. I've been told it won't last, but I'm definitely going to enjoy it while I can!! Anyway here are some more random pictures, just to show off :)

Brooklyn, smiling and happy

Emmalyn sleeping on Daddy

Brooklyn (left) and Emmalyn (right) propped up on some pillows on our bed.

Playing catch up...

Yes it has been awhile since I've had time to sit down and update the blog, but Jeff is gone into the office and both girls are sleeping, so here I am!!

Two and a half weeks ago we had the girls' 2-month appointment...I know, I can't believe they're that old already either!! Here are their stats -

Emmalyn - 7 lbs 13 oz, 20 in long (as big as I was when I was born)
Brooklyn - 8 lbs 5 oz, 21 in long

Both girls are in the 50th percentile for height, weight, etc. and that's on a full term baby measuring!! Their doctor was very impressed. I'm assuming that by now they're closer to 8 1/2 - 9 lbs!! They're doing fabulous and eating great. Every day is an adventure and they just get cuter and cuter. They're getting really good at holding their heads up and becoming really strong in their legs and backs. It's so amazing to see them grow, develop, and progress over time.

Here are a few pictures from the past few weeks...Enjoy!!

Jeff had to go into the office one day and this is what he came home to!! (And yes I'm still in my pj's/sweats...it was only 1 pm!!)

The girls with their Grandma Thomas.

Brooklyn doing the "Heisman Pose" (so Jeff says)

Doing what us girls do best...NAP!!

The girls' blessing was this past weekend, but my camera wasn't doing so well, so I'm waiting for some family members (you know who you are!!) to send me the pictures so I can post them. Once I have them they'll be up!!

Free Giveaway!!

Yes you read that right!! The recipe blog that the wonderful ladies of my family do i shaving a fabulous giveaway. To check out the goods and enter yourself go to

Smithalicious

While you're there look at some recipes and go crazy!!

Randomness

Here are just some random photo's we have taken of the girls...enjoy :)

Copy Cats!! (Emmalyn left, Brooklyn right)
Stick 'em up!! (Emmalyn left, Brooklyn right)

One of my favorite faces that both girls do...I call them kissy faces. (Emmalyn)

Brooklyn sleeping on mommy!

Tummy Sleepers!!

Well it's official, ours girls LOVE to sleep on their tummies. I thought I would give them some tummy time one day since they both seemed to be wide awake after eating. So I put them both on their tummies and within 10 minutes they were both fast asleep!! At first I just figured they weren't as awake as I'd thought so I turned them over to wrap them up and put them in their crib, and they woke up, and stayed awake until I put them back on their tummies!! Too bad you're not suppose to let them sleep on their stomachs all night...Here are some pictures I took. (Brooklyn is in the purple, Emmalyn is in the pink)

I love when they pull their knees up and tuck them under themselves so their little bums are in the air!! They are such a blessing in our lives and it's so fun to watch them grow and develop.

Big Bed - Two Tiny girls

One morning I was getting some stuff done in the girls' room so we had left them on our bed to sleep after they ate. I thought they looked so tiny and cute I had to take some pictures!! Brooklyn is on the left Emmalyn is on the right :)

Silly Sleepers

The other day I had the girls downstairs in their bouncers (one of the very few times Brooklyn tolerated it) while I was cleaning up. As I was passing by I noticed how they were each sleeping. It's actually a normal position for them, no matter how many times we try to reposition them (especially their heads) they always go right back to this...

Emmalyn

Brooklyn

If you notice their outfits, mostly in Emmalyn's picture, those are newborn sized outfits...still rather big!! But now the few pre-mi outfits we have are getting too small. So it looks like we've hit our first "in-between sizes" stage!! They have moved up to newborn size diapers though!!

We did take them to the pediatrician again yesterday. Both girls are still doing great and growing like crazy!! Emmalyn is now 6 lbs 3 oz and Brooklyn is now 6lbs 9 oz.

And here is one last picture I took this morning. They were both in our bed waiting for their food to be ready. Emmalyn is in the blue (they didn't have any girl colors the day those were bought!). I had them both cuddled, but I'm not a very pretty sight first thing in the morning...so I slid out to take the picture :)