Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.
Serve the Lord with gladness; come before his presence with singing.
Know ye that the Lord he is God; it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise; be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations. Psalm 100:1-5

Anthologie Images

Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours!

So here are the numbers you’ve been “weighting” for! That was dorky- I know!

Reese is 8 pounds 13 ounces!!!!!!!!!   and

Riley is 5 pounds 7 ounces!!!!!!!!!!  

Both are doing well!  The dr would like to see Riley gaining a little bit more than the 1 ounce a day that she’s been gaining… so PRAY for meat on those bones!  She’s no longer anemic- now her iron is too high!  So– we are adjusting her supplements.  Also, she has had an umbilical hernia (for several weeks now- it’s a preemie thing) which has caused her belly button to protrude.  It’s something that typically just goes away on it’s own once the baby is able to use those ab muscles– it closes up the hole and the belly button “goes back it.”  It’s not causing her any pain or anything, but it’s pretty darn big.  I noticed over the past few days that it was bigger, but a bit more narrow at the “base.”  The dr said it looks as if it’s trying to close, however, it should be getting smaller as that happens and it’s not- just more narrow at the base.  I don’t know if this is making any sense  BUT… we’ve been referred to a pediatric surgeon so she can take a look at it.  We don’t want it to close incorrectly because it could get her intestines in it…. which is bad.  IF she were to have surgery– it would just be minor and be like 2 stitches or something, BUT she’s soooo tiny, I’m not sure when/if they’d do it.  So- pray protection over our little girl, for God’s healing, and for the doctors- surgeon and pedi to know exactly what to do that’s best for Riley as we keep a close eye on things.  Our appointment is December 8.  Thank you!

WOAH!  2 Posts in 2 days!  Pretty good- huh?  Wanted to make sure you don’t stop reading due to my lack of blogging! ha!

R and R have been doing lots of snuggling lately.  Even Cali’s been joining in on it!  It’s getting cold here in Dallas- the leaves are changing to beautiful shades of yellow and orange (well, Texas style…) and my Sweet Pumpkin Spice Wallflower (from Bath and Body Works) is filling my home- love those fall scents!  We’re counting down the days to Thanksgiving in the Owen household because what that means is… yummy food AND time to decorate for Christmas!!!  My favorite!  We have SO MUCH to be thankful for this year- what a miracle Riley Grace is and what a miracle Reese Abigail is.  After praying for a child for so long, this is the year, He blessed us with TWO!  God performs miracles, He answers prayers, He heals, and He is MIGHTY– I pray that He reveals that to you as He has to us!  

Look at the girls’ size difference in their pink chairs…

Reese

Riley… not loving the flash! ha!

Sweet paci sisters!

Our 3 girls

I went to a Holiday House/Craft Fair a couple weeks ago and HAD to get the girls a couple bows– ha ha!

Reese thinks it’s funny too!

Hee hee!  Riley will grow into it before we know it!

Have a BLESSED week- what a wonderful week to remember and be THANKFUL for the sacrifice our Father made for us (John 3:16).  He grace is sufficient, his love everlasting. 

Reese and Riley are doing GREAT and we are too… just exhausted!  Funny when I say that to people- most moms tell me that we’ll pretty much feel that way until they’re 18! ha!  It’s worth it!

The girls sure love each other and make us laugh all the time.  When they sleep together, they wake each other up, but when one’s not in the crib, the other one cries because she misses her!  They do things at the same time- all the time.  For example:

They often times cry at the same time:

Click here and you will see…

Sleep at the same time:

That’s not really where they sleep!

That’s more like it… well… maybe they shouldn’t be laying so close to each other!

Are hungry at the same time:

Like that?  Just call me “super mom!” ha ha!

Talk at the same time:

Click here  to see Reese “talking” in her sleep

Click here to see Riley waking up… a little grumpy!

Click here to see/ hear their conversation before bed

(sorry you can hear the tv in the background!

Even need new diapers at the same time!

(Silly Daddy is responsible for this! hee hee)

They also make US smile at the same time, all the time…

This week Courtney from Anthologie Images came to take the girls’ pictures and they turned out so super cute!!!  A sneak peek is posted on her blog– go look!!  If you live in the DFW area, you need to check out her website- I highly recommend her!!

My mom and dad (aka Nan and Pop) came for a week and we loved every second of it!  The girls loved soaking up some Houston grandparent loving and we loved some extra sleep!  Here are some pics of our week.  Also, the girls had their 2 month check up on Monday- they’re doing great!  Reese is 7 pounds 9.5 ounces (can you believe it?!) and Riley is 4 pounds 9 ounces.  Growing girls!

This was my unbelievable evening alone with the girls: I kept looking for the “candid camera!”

About 10 minutes after Mom and Dad left (they’ve been here a week-it was GREAT! and Richey was in class last night), BOTH girls started crying in unison wanting to eat.  We call that our chorus line.  So… I gave Riley her paci and started feeding Reese… then switched.  There was quite a bit of crying, but we made it thru and even managed to “fight off” nosy Cali dog who LOVES milk and LOVES the girls.  Literally an hour later the same thing happened– hungry again- both crying (they had their 2 month shots earlier and didn’t each much after- they were worn out!).  I finally fed, changed, and calmed both down (AGAIN) and warmed up some left over pizza for dinner.  I was sitting on the couch with the girls by me on their Boppy pillows when I bit into my crust and something HARD was in my mouth!  I thought my molar had fallen out!  This is SO RANDOM, but it was a BOLT (as in nut and bolt) that was IN my pizza crust!!  YUCK!   So that thru me for a loop!  The girls were still sleeping (a solid 20 minutes- whoo hoo!), so I decided I needed to pump. I brought the pump out into the living room since the girls were sleeping there in their bassinet.  As I was putting it on the end table, I knocked over my entire glass of water- all over my phone, remote, pump, the floor… you name it.  So after cleaning it up, just as I was “hooked up”  Riley was screaming… and all the way across the room in her bed.  I figured she was hungry again- growing girl!- so I “unscrewed” one of the bottles to give her.  Not to go into too many details… (probably TMI!)… I wasn’t paying attention, but dripped milk ALL over the pillow in my lap as well as ALL over my jeans!  I didn’t notice until Cali started licking it uncontrollably.  So- fed Riley, changed her, put her down, and changed all while Reese was screaming.  I picked Reese up and put her on the changing “table” which really is just a bassinet- she was surrounded by sides– couldn’t fall out of anything and she fell right asleep, so I sat by her, but hooked back up to finish pumping.  In the meantime, Cali noticed this blanket bundle (AKA Reese) moving and she’s scared of it.  She begins barking over and over and will not stop… which is now waking up the girls. Cali then needed to go outside, but it was storming- raining like crazy, which made her hesitant to go out, so I just cracked the back door for her.  When I went back to close it a few minutes later- it had rained IN my house a TON- duh!  Oh what a night- the girls then had been down for about 20 minutes and then Richey came home.  I told him of my evening and he told me I must post it for all to see… rather than get overwhelmed, God is teaching me to laugh!

On that note… here are a couple more laughs: a few things we’ve done is our lack of sleep delirium.

*I was trying to wake Richey up the other night to feed Reese since I was feeding Riley, and he was all confused looking around everywhere on the bed and under the blankets… for some (sleepy) reason, he thought I placed her on the bed by him- ha!  She was actually in HER bed.

*The other night, the girls were fussing in unison (again- chorus line), so I started to get up to check on them when Richey grabbed me quickly and scared me to death.  I said, “What are you doing?!”  and he said… quite slurred, “I thought you were falling!”  My hero…

* I got out the coffee creamer from the fridge this morning and was shaking it vigorously- because that’s what you do… however, the lid was not on… oops.  must have been left off when Richey sleepily made coffee this morning…

 Next post will have LOTS of pictures from our week with Nan and Pop!  Check back… and… pray for our delirium! ha!

The girls are doing GREAT and have been spoiled this week with Nan and Pop being in town!  Tonight they’ll be double spoiled as BOTH sets of grandparents are coming over for dinner- could it get any better than that?!  I’ll post some pictures tomorrow!

Both girls are growing like crazy and have their 2 month check up at the pediatrician on Monday– so more updates to come!  Reese and Riley love being by each other and “fuss” and grunt if they notice the other is not next to them- soooo funny!  They are still having very serious, very long conversations with each other… especially at night… so needless to say, we’re not sleeping much!  Nan and Pop have been amazing and taken some night duty this week- what a blessing!  We’ve been playing with the girls, organizing, running errands (while I have someone to stay with the girls!), cooking, and having so much fun.  I’m a bit behind on my updates!  But– wanted to give a quick one.  I got Richey’s baby pics from his mom and will scan them asap so you can vote on who looks like him.  In my opinion… it’s an easy call!!  Be looking for the “polls to be open” very soon…

Riley Grace Owen

September 4, 2008 

2 pounds 3 ounces, 14 inches

Reese Abigail Owen

September 4, 2008

3 pounds, 15 inches

My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song!

Psalm 28:7

Here I have some pictures of ME (Amy/Mommy) as a baby and also the girls… who do you see more in me:  Reese or Riley (or neither!) ??  You can “cast your vote” in the comment section.  I mean, it IS Election Day!

Post coming soon with Richey baby pictures… stay tuned!