Meera & Emma's Fantastic Blog: 2008

Happy Holidays to you all!
We decided to bail on holiday cards this year (yes, no obnoxious rhymes about Sadie). So this post will serve as our holiday greeting. We just returned from our 3 week trip to the midwest. Erick interviewed at the U of MN, Mayo Clinic in Rochester MN, U of Chicago and U of Iowa. He had good experiences at each place, though we are still grappling with which to rank first! Nat stayed in Mpls the whole time so the girls would be in a consistent place. We decided not to drive to Chicago as a family as the babies still hate to be in their car seats. We also got hit with a ton of snow and cold weather. I can't believe we are considering moving to the tundra! But of course the main lure is our wonderful support network of family and friends.
A LOT has changed with the girls since our last post. They are now rolling from front to back, grasping rings and toys, talking a ton, laughing and giggling. Also we made a major transition when we were in Mpls of putting them in a crib to sleep at night. The first night was very difficult, but since we have been using pacifiers to make it an easier experience for them. Of course we are now stuck plugging pacies in when they wake up, but we will tackle that issue later. It has been unbelievably liberating to not have to go to bed with them and to be able to hang out on our own. We feel giddy every night when we put them down and are free to hang with each other, or our family and friends. We are still not getting much sleep, but this is a big step in the right direction.
Since being back in Portland they have been napping in a crib as well. Prior to this we were carrying them in a Moby wrap to sleep at nap time. (any time we tried to put them down they would only sleep 1/2 hr at most). This is obviously not sustainable, especially since I have the girls on my own this week and carrying two babies is not as easy as it once was! Having a consistent place to sleep seems to be helping them a ton. Meera slept for 2 hrs 15 min yesterday!
Below are a TON of photos from our trip. As you can see the girls are well loved. I will try to indicate who is who, but the photos always seem to get moved around once they are uploaded.
We love you all and wish you the warmest holiday season. And may 2009 be full of laughter, love, peace, and pure joy. With deep love and gratitude, Nat, Erick, Meera, Emma & Sadie.