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 :).

Meet the Girls - Part 2 (from Karen)

Hey guys!

Just wanted to add a couple of things - their stats:

Kathleen (Baby "A" according to the hospital) was born at 2:26 PM. She was 18 inches long and weighed in at 4 lbs 14 oz. Her head was 33 cm around.
Karissa Joy (Baby "B") was born at 2:29 PM. She was 18 1/2 inches weighing in at 5 lbs 12 oz. And her head was 32.5 cm around.

Things are great! Like Matt said, we have been immensely blessed. Now we just need to make it through the next several weeks of no sleep - please pray that we can get the girls on the same schedule as soon as possible. And pray for Josh as he adjusts to new sisters, sleep deprived parents, and a new house.

Love you all!

Karissa getting a bath...













Kathleen looking adorable in the nursery getting tests run...













Looking adorable sleeping together

Meet the Girls

Well, the moment you have all been waiting for has arrived. Yesterday Karen and I finally got to meet our twin girls, Kathleen and Karissa. God has been so good to us--the pregnancy was great; the delivery was great, and the postpartum has been great so far.

Karen is great. She's up and around like she never gave birth. All the hospital staff are shocked at how well she has done, especially with twins. What they don't know is that I am married to Wonder Woman. This will not come as a surprise to many of you, but Karen has the next few weeks mapped out in great detail. My next few weeks are pretty cut-and-dry--all I have to do is pack up all our stuff and move it. Oh, and there's something in there about graduation.

Kathleen and Karissa are doing very well for such small children. Both are fairly good at eating and are naturals at getting rid of waste products. They are, of course, beautiful, once you consider the source, this is no great surprise (the source being, Karen, not me. I don't think I'd make a particularly attractive woman). Well, enough of me prattling on, let me get to what you all really care about most anyway, some pictures.

Here we are before delivery



















Kathleen













Karissa













Karen with the girls













Matt with the girls













The girls sleeping in the same crib