Late July Musings...

So, life in the Lytle household is loud, crazy, but loads and loads of fun! :). We've been busy, busy, busy. We continue to settle into a semblance of a routine - but, the girls continually remind me that they are NOT joined at the hip - and are their own persons. Hence...they don't always want to sleep, eat, play at the same time. Good reminders for mom for later years. Twins, identical or fraternal, are not the same person - just the same age :).

They are so much fun now - they are cooing and smiling, giggling and mimicing our sounds - it's adorable. Here's a few shots of our cuties...

Karissa - hamming it up for the camera

Kathleen - taking it all in and looking lovely

Both of them - taking a little rest on Mommy and Daddy's bed. Karissa's on the left, and Kathleen's on the right.

And still just as scene stealing as ever is their older brother. Check out some of his moves. He is perpetual motion - and spends most of the day not sitting, not standing, not walking, but running. Here's a few shots I caught of him in rare moments of stillness (well...semi-stillness).

Hayah! Take that bad guys - I'm here - nobody's going to take my basket away from me!

Here we have him with his new favorite outfit - one of Daddy's shirts from the laundry. He will put this on, and promptly parade around with his drill or his hammer making the sounds for them. It's SO adorable!

"Oh, Daddy, really - I can touch the real thing! Really, Really, Really!!!! That's SO exciting! (Only under very close supervision of course) but I want to be JUST like my Daddy." Matt saves most of his drill projects for when Josh is awake, because Josh absolutely loves it. I didn't get a good shot of him grabbing his little drill puzzle piece and trying to drill like Daddy was - SO CUTE!

Well...that's the Lytle family this week!

Happy Fourth of July!!

As we celebrate the 232nd birthday of our nation, I couldn't think of anything better to do than to show some pics of our wonderful children. There's nothing really patriotic about these, but believe me, they love their country!!

So anyway, here are some wonderful pictures of our son and daughters for you to enjoy.

Kathleen (left) and Karissa (right) wondering what that big black think is that daddy has in front of his face. Is it a new nose?


Karissa decides that she doesn't care as Kathleen looks on.


Josh after bath time with a homemade mohawk. He pities the fool.


Josh is now ready to front a punk band called Big Head Toddler and the Monsters.

*** Note from Karen...for those of you who don't recognize my husband's dry wit...this post was from him:). And yes, I realize Josh desperately needs a haircut - but all I have to say is THREE under TWO people :).

Fun with a Lampshade

Moving is a blast for a toddler!

We are gradually getting everything put away - but Josh loves his box he gets to play with, and since I haven't figured out where I want the lamps yet - here's what he was doing this morning. He decided the lampshade should be a hat so he went all over wearing it for about 15 minutes until he decided to try and stand on it so I took it away...







And not to be left out...here's what Kathleen and Karissa were doing... The first pic is Kathleen, and the second is Karissa. Aren't they getting prettier and prettier?

Surprise for Karen

9/Hey everyone, Matt here. I'm up before Karen this morning and thought I'd share some pictures of our wonderful children this morning. Karen doesn't know I'm doing this, so hopefully, she'll be surprised.

Here's a picture of Karen with the kids. Karen is such a beautiful lady, I couldn't help but put a picture of her on the blog. Since she's with all the children, the picture's even better.

Here's a picture I took of a thunderstorm during golden hour. It doesn't have any of the kids in it, but I couldn't get over the color of the sky. This was taken from our front porch.

Here's a picture I took of Josh riding his tractor in his PJs and hat. He doesn't wear his hat that often, which is why this was such a cute moment.

There are a lot of other cute pictures of the girls that Karen took, and I don't want to take away from her the pleasure of posting those herself.

Fun New Pics...

Here's a photo montage of the last few weeks...


Here's how excited Josh gets over any new truck. You'd think that he'd been handed the moon! Thanks Nanny!

My sister with her two favorite nieces...

Josh loving on Karissa

Aunt Nay Nay 's tool truck still a huge hit months later...


What happens when you give a toddler input on what he wants to wear and what he'd rather pass on...shirt, no pants, no socks, and shoes please...diaper only because Mommy insists...

The girls looking beautiful as always...
Montage of Josh and Georgia at the fountain...

A Wonderful First Month

Life is fabulous - Matt and I highly recommend twins for anyone - however, we'd recommend having them the SECOND time around :). We're much less stressed this time :). Same goals, etc. for the girls, but we're a lot less paranoid about when they reach them :).

We just also want to say thank you to everyone who has been so helpful to us over the past month. The body of Christ and our family has just been AMAZING. We are in the house with three beautiful (well - one of them is handsome) children. Here's the last month in pictures:

Our two beautiful girls - big eyes and all :)


Josh loves it when his sisters sit in the "bassy seat."
I'd like you to meet Josh. Here's Josh in a box. Who needs toys when you have a big box to crawl in and out of? This box has been the hit of the week - it has been the favorite of both Josh and Georgia Finn. In the box, out of the box, around the box, on top of the box, peekaboo with the box - the fun never stops...


And one of the most common comments in the Lytle household "EYE!" Mom...she's got an EYE! It's so exciting! "EYE" "EYE" "EYE"...much to my chagrin ...my daughters may be blind before they reach 3 months old...if you see them with scratches, bruises, etc. just know that these are love marks from their overly excited brother...I've never had to discipline for excitement before. Is there such a thing as loving people TOO much?

Now it's far too late and my husband and I have sat up to bring you guys all these pictures - but alas - we've probably given up our 4 hour stretch for this - so, if anyone happens to be up between 3 and 4:30 in the morning over the next few weeks - just think of us - we're probably juggling two adorable girls and trying to stay awake at the same time. So...good night!

Life the First Week with Twins

Well...what's life been like this first week? BUSY :). God's been so good - we've had lots of help with packing, taking care of Josh, the girls, etc. Matt and I are SO glad we're moving. We knew the living area in our house was small, but it's taken on a whole new meaning with little girls and all their paraphernalia out with Josh. Poor thing, he can't hardly walk especially now with boxes taking up almost every square inch of our house as well.

I've been so proud of my little man. With all the hoopla, visitors, new sisters, packing, etc. he's been doing GREAT. Now he definitely has his moments where he just looks at Matt and me like, please, make it all stop - I want my old life back, but in general - he loves his sisters. He wakes up asking for them, and has even called them by name (which is better than I do half the time when I get handed a baby and have to check and see what color they're wearing to be sure I address them correctly).

And...we have the coolest OB doctor - he got curious to know whether the girls were identical or fraternal, so he decided to check and give us the results for free :). Kathleen and Karissa are not identical...they are fraternal, but I swear, the one time I dressed them alike, I sat there looking at them going - wait - no, that's Kathleen, no, it's Karissa. So, it will be interesting to see how their features change as they get older. They are definitely sisters though.

We've been to the doctor constantly for weight checks, etc., but we are now off of supplementing with formula - yippee!!! Just one kind of milk for my babies - don't make me do two :). Neither one of them did well with formula, and Kathleen has a hard time with the bottle because she's just so little - so, it's a good thing that I'm nursing them, or I don't think Kathleen would be doing well at all.

Okay - let's see - what other random updates from this stream of consciousness post - I love my kids...they are all three precious, and I wouldn't trade them for the world. I wish I had some pictures of Josh with the girls, but they all came out blurry - and as much as we would love to have taken tons and tons of pictures this week...let's face it - life is a little hectic right now...so, you'll have to be satisfied with a cute pic of the girls sleeping together in a bouncy seat last night :).