Part 4 July

The first weekend of July was 4th of July weekend and just like we do every year, we packed up and headed to beautiful Lake Martin! Except this year, we had two little love muffins in tow! Needless to say, it was quite a different 4th for the Gambles. We did not go to the fire works and I don't think we'll be going next year either b/c the boys will only be 15 months old then.

Originally, we were going to have to leave that afternoon, but Josh got his Monday shift moved to working in Sylacauga (close to lake house) so we could stay longer. He didn't have to work until 11am on Tuesday, so we were able to stay through Tuesday morning. We love getting as much time in at the lake as possible!

An exciting event of the weekend was the boys' first play date with Sawyer Scott, who is actually only 4 days older than they are! I went to school growing up with his daddy, Keith, and actually met his mommy in a breastfeeding support group when the babies were 2 weeks old. I saw Keith at our 10 year high school reunion and we are planning to all get together soon. Josh and I are really excited :) I'm hoping Keith and Josh will hit it off as buddies b/c I really like his wife Lindsey!

Gigi (Josh's mom) bought the boys their patriotic onesies when she was visiting the weekend before. Here are some pictures from the weekend...

To begin.... some of Harrison's many faces.... He is so expressive!

Aunt Podge, you are so funny!

Um..and then what?

NO WAY!

Love that H sugar!

A little smirk from JH

Napping on the swing bed on the dock

Soon-to-be Uncle Brent with Aunt Podge. They are festive!

PRECIOUS baby boy!

Another little smirk.

Hanging out with their daddy and watching a little TV

Love those chubby thighs :) At this point, JH had 2 lbs on H.... but he's pretty much caught up now~
H's hand

JH's hand

Someone once commented that the boys were sleeping in all of the pictures that I took of them.... insinuating that all they do is sleep. Ha ha. Well, clearly I've caught them awake in some pictures, too, by now.... but the reason there are so many sleeping pictures is that they are actually still! Ha ha.... It's also because they are so preciously peaceful when they sleep. I love to take pictures of it. Maybe I should make a picture book of all of their sleeping pictures for them. :)

July was a bittersweet month. My sister, Paige, moved to Texas on July 14th, 2 days before the babies turned 3 months old. She will be there a good 6 or so years (Boooooooooo) because she is getting her PhD in Psychology with an emphasis in forensics. She will be a wonderful Psychologist and we are so proud of her! At the same time.... we are so sorry to see her go and miss her so much! It was also bitter for me, b/c my whole family went out to TX to help her move in, but I couldn't go b/c the boys and I would not be much help and actually more of a distraction. Brent (fiance), his twin brother Robyn, my sister Grace (Paige's twin), and Paige all drove out to Texas and my parents flew out there a few days later. I know that was a long drive, but I also think that road trips can be so fun, especially with the right group!

Before they headed out, they stopped by our house to kiss us goodbye and take a picture that we'd been wanting to take for a while: the Womb Mate picture! Back story---- G and P had called each other womb mates for a long time, so when I saw womb mate onesies on my trip to see BFF Eden in CA last Fall, I just had to buy them! They were actually the very first things that I bought for the babies. (At that point, I knew that there were 2 babies, but not their genders yet. Wow, that seems like yesterday!) My family loved that I found the onesies and I decided to have shirts made for G and P for Christmas. Knowing that the boys were growing like weeds, we'd been trying all Summer to find a time when both G and P were in town to take the picture. So, we grabbed this opportunity! Here are a few of the shots.

My 4 favorite womb mates!
Podge and H

Love this shot of Grace and JH

3 sets of twins! Robyn, Grace, JH, H, Paige, and Brent!

3 months old today!

Turning 3 months old is exhausting!

On July 18th, we went to a NICU reunion up at Brookwood Hospital. We enjoyed getting to see Dr. Mena (the neonatologist) and some of the nurses. It was disappointing that some of our other favorite nurses couldn't make it, but we still had a good time and were glad that we went. Josh and I particularly liked checking out all of the other twin strollers Haha.

The boys went swimming for the first time on July 22nd at my Aunt Sharon's house. Then, we went again with Daddy on Saturday. The boys really seem to like it and even naturally kick their sweet little chubby legs. :)

JH's first dip :)

Sweet little snuggly water babies

Happy H swimming with Daddy

Just loungin' in our new boat that Uncle Ira got us!
Sweet happy baby :)
Proud Daddy :)

The BIGGEST news of all is how GREAT these precious babies are developing!

July 2nd: Jack Henry rolled over to his tummy to his back.

July 26th: Jack Henry rolled over from his back to his tummy.

Harrison also rolled over from his tummy to his back that same day!

July 26th: The boys started sleeping in separate cribs (sad for mommy) because of all of the rolling around in their cribs.

(In July) They have gradually been "chatting" and smiling more and more. Harrison is particularly vocal and is my little wild man :) Jack Henry is so sweet and laid back. He doesn't talk as much, but when he does, it is the sweetest, soft little voice. They just melt my heart!

Ok... I think that will wrap it up for now. There is a little bit of July left, but I'm a tired girl and heading to bed! I'm so ready to be caught up on the blog so I can tell y'all about what's been going on lately!

Part 3.... June part 2

Ok... where was I? You'd think that with all of those pictures and trips to the lake that I'd be far into June, but I was actually only halfway through it!

Day before turning 2 months old! Sacked out in Mommy and Daddy's bed... I could eat them up!

On June 16th, Jack Henry and Harrison turned 2 months old. My mom was kind enough to go to their appointment with me again. Jack Henry weighed in at 11 lbs 3 oz and was 21.75 inches long. Harrison weighed in at 9 lbs 2 oz and was 21.50 inches long. Praise the Lord for healthy babies! They did SURPRISINGLY well with their shots and you would've thought that the oral vaccination was candy because Harrison sucked it down fast! Both boys definitely let us know that it hurt, b/c it did---there were 4 shots!--but then quickly settled down once they were in our arms :) That night, Josh and I ended up accidentally sleeping most of the night with them on the couches. I kept waking up, thinking that the boys were going to wake us up at any minute to eat, but then I'd fall back asleep. It wasn't until about 2 or 3am (they were supposed to eat at 11pm) that they woke us up! That was the first time that they'd gone that long on their own! It was also a special/big night, because Jack Henry had his first social smile!~ I LOVED IT!!! (Harrison actually had his later that week, too!) So, thinking we were onto something good, Josh and I purposefully snuggled them up on the couches again the next night. They did it again! I was due to take the boys to the lake that weekend and were wondering if they were just doing that because the sleep sooo good on our chests/snuggled with us, or if they were actually learning to sleep longer. Well, at the lake, they kept it up and would do 5 and 6 hour stretches! YAY!

Josh and Harrison after a feeding on our 2nd "couch night" before getting comfortable and safe. we dont want anyone falling off of the couch!

!

JH before he and I got snuggled up for the night :)

That weekend, Josh came down Saturday night for Father's Day on Sunday. Here he is with his precious boys.

and here I am :)

Joshy had to get back to work, but the boys and I stayed through Wednesday because some of our VERY favorite people, Sherra (Nana), Kendal, and Paige Jones... plus 2 of Kendal's kids, Logan and Grace drove up from Orlando to spend some time with us at the lake house! They are very old friends (they're not old, the friendships are haha) from Camp Winnataska! My mom met Sherra while she was out there finding a way to be helpful around camp while her girls were campers. Sherra ended up going to nursing school and joining my mom at camp every summer for at least a week as the camp nurse. She is one of the absolutely most precious and Godly women I have ever known. Sherra's girls babysat all of us Brannon girls growing up. We all adore the Jones family!!! Unfortunately for all of us at the lake, the boys were going through their fussy phase.... they woul.d just cry and cry and cry. It lasted a few weeks. Aunt Podge and Aunt Grace were AMAZING and each took a night or two with me doing the "night shift" feeding the babies. I adored that special time together with them and the babies.

Because of this phase, this is the only way they were happy as I was helping to clean the lake house and pack us up to go:

Needless to say, this "fussy phase" made for a MISERABLE ride home from the lake! Thank goodness Aunt Podge generously rode home with us and was able to replace pacies and attempt to soothe the boys. Its hard not knowing why your babies are crying and how to help!.... There seems to have been no real answer during this phase other than it was a phase. That's my take on it at least. Fortunately, I've talked to other mommies who've experienced this as well.

Snuggling with Daddy the morning after we came home from the lake.

The next weekend, Gigi and Papa, Josh's parents came to visit! It was the first opportunity for Josh's dad to get to Bham since coming the weekend after the babies were born, so that meant it was his first time to get to hold JH...so that was pretty special. That Saturday, Josh's Aunt Brenda and grandmother "Memaw Grace" came to town and went to lunch with us and met the boys for the first time.

There are some days with babies/kids where you are just trying to survive. The next few pics are of one of those days...

Clearly this was still in the fussy phase.... (6/27/10)

Finally some peace....

The next day I had the tremendous honor of doing Hillside at Camp Winnataska, one of my all-time favorite places in the world! Hillside is a time immediately after dinner where the entire camp gets together for a brief devotional usually given by an outside guest. I'd done many things at camp: health hut baby/kid, camper, Leader in Training, Leader, Special Leader (worked in activity area while also staying with campers in hut), Senior Leader, and Staff for 2 years, but I'd never had the honor of giving a Hillside as an "adult." (I'd done one while on Staff, but this was different). I spoke about how incredible it was to me how God was using my baby boys to teach me more about Him and the relationship He wants from us, even at only 2 months old. They are completely dependent upon me, they trust me whole-heartedly, and love me unconditionally. My love for my babies gives me more insight in to how much God loves me, but is obviously not even comparable. It was a special experience and it was wonderful getting to see old camp friends and to introduce the boys to "the camp that we love the best of all!" Here they are in the Mainside Director's Hut getting a quick diaper change and a pic of Josh with H while I was changing JH's diaper.

My future Blackfeet:

This wraps up June for the Gamble family of four... I'll leave you with pictures from Tuesday, June 29th. Sweet babies!