New experiences

In the last couple of weeks we have had a series of firsts and new experiences.  The weekend of January 30th our friend Rebecca traveled up from SLC to visit and to team up with Angie for our local winter triathlon, the Powderhound Winter Triathlon at Homestake Lodge.  It was too cold for the girls to hang out at the start/finish area but they did get to experience their first post race party.


Our friend Christal hanging out with Lucy and her son Tristan after the race.

Rebecca, one of Angie's dearest friends from SLC, was a great guest to have as she just jumped right in to the feeding, burping and snuggling.  All that and one heckuva of a snowbiker as she rode a mean bike leg in the race.

They have also now experienced their first ski days.  In the last 2 weeks we have been to Discovery, our local ski hill and Bridger Bowl outside of Bozeman.   Below is the front of Discovery, an absolutely awesome place for families and kids.  It's not so big that people worry about where their kids are.  On a weekend day you'll probably see more kids doing their own thing in the lodge than with their parents.  We met our friends John, Cameron and Julia for a day on the slopes.  We all took turns hanging out with the girls and on the slopes as well.

John and Sean holding down the fort in Daddy Day Care.  John is holding Ellie, Julia is sitting up in her big girl chair and Sean has Lucy.

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In the meantime, Ellie and Lucy have been doing well.  They are getting bigger every  day and getting new skills.  They are both doing much better at being able to hold their heads up when sitting and are starting to get some smiles in here and there.  It is unfortunately hard to catch a smile on camera though.

Grandma comes to town!

Hey all-

 Long time no post.  We hit a little bit of a lull in terms of posting here but since we just had a great visit from from Grandma Camilla and Aunt Stephanie we have a few new pics worthy of posting.  

First off here we have the little ladies hanging out contentedly in their play gym.

Grandma getting some snuggle time in with Lucy.

Grandma feeding Ellie.

Here's Steffie getting some quality time in with Lucy.

And now on to what may well be a life changing event for all of us.  The first outing in the double chariot.  All you gotta do is get them into their snow suits, strap them in, zipper it down and you're mobile.  So far we have taken them on a couple of hikes around the neighborhood and one run.  We are stoked to get the chariot into ski mode and take them for a tour but just hasn't quite happened yet.

Steff and Angie on the inaugural hike!

More to come later.....

love,
A,S, L and E

The Jacksonian's visit Butte

New Year's Eve we received a visit from the Smith-Wetzler fam.  It was great to see them again and sure did appreciate them stopping in on their way home to Jackson Hole from spending Xmas with their Missoula family.  Last time we saw them was this summer for the Butte 100 when Aila was just a munchkin compared to how big she is now.

For those of you who aren't familiar with this motley crew....from left to right...Aila, Hamilton, Meliza and Adriano

Here is Aila hanging with her new BFF's.

Adi also couldn't have been more excited to have some new friends.  He was really sweet with the little girls and actually was very good at being able to tell them apart.  Something we all still mess up once in awhile.

New Year's morning we were greeted by a couple of our neighbors traipsing around the 'hood.  They were probably just working on their New Years Resolutions to get more exercise and to be a little more social.

Both girls are doing a great job of eating and getting bigger daily.  The one comical change is that in the last couple weeks Lucy has been undergoing premature male pattern baldness.

Good thing Dad is around to mentor her in how to cope with this!

Meanwhile Ellie is hanging in our new swing.  Talk about a lifesaver!!

It's been great to hear from friends and family over the holidays.  The next adventure will be next week when Grandma Cam and Aunt Steffie will make it into town.  We can't wait!!

Happy New Year Y'all!

Hi everyone and Happy New Year from Southwest Montana!  We finally got some more fresh snow but it is cold up here (I have officially stopped checking the Snowbird website before I pack up our Subaru and move us back to the Wasatch).  Sean is out skate skiing this morning and it's minus 12 F!  For those of you who know the skate skiing story, Sean has gotten quite good thanks to some lessons and serious persistence!

We hope everyone is having a great holiday season and had a wonderful Xmas!  All is well here, lots of family and friend visits., which will be the focus of photos today.  We love seeing everyone and sharing these awesome girls with the special people in our life!

The kickoff started with the Dorgan family (mom's side)...

Great grandma Lucy, Lucy (hence the name!), and Wrangler.  Pretty special day to meet her!

 The 4 generations with great grandma Lucy and grandma RaeAnn.

Great aunt Mary and Ellie.

Jen Mac and Ellie- some cute girls!

Jen Mac, Emily and the O's- lots of cute girls and Sean O (what a lucky guy!).

Merry Xmas from Ellie (affectionately called "the belly")...

... and Lucy (aka "the LPO")!

Story time on xmas day.  They are very interested, as long as they have a boppy and a binky.

Grandma spent a lot of time holding, feeding and changing the girls while here, and they loved it!

Another family hike, Happy Holidays from the O's!!!!  XOXO!

6 Pounds of Sausage...

It's official, we survived the first 2 weeks!  Everyone says that's the hardest part and it should be smooth sailing from here.  Right?  Ellie and Lucy are feeding great, we even tried the double breastfeed yesterday.  That's interesting!  We have another wt check Monday, but we think they definitely feel bigger.  They also lost their umbilical cords, which means tummy time has started!  We have now gotten in the car twice with the twins to go do something fun.   We went out to breakfast at our favorite Butte eating spot, "The Hummingbird Cafe."  (Yes there is a local, organic, hip spot to eat in this town!)  Then we went up to our favorite skate ski spot, "Homestake Lodge," to visit with some friends and Sean tore up the trails.  It has been very exciting and liberating!   I even went and got a massage today, very nice!   All is well on Foxtail Lane...

The liberation device... double carseat stroller with lots of storage space.

Lucy Pearl.  She has started waking up more and more during the day, leaving us to wonder what to do with an awake newborn?

Hanging with the Axelson's at Homestake Lodge.  Soon we hope the girls will be skiing with Lars.

Tummy time has begun.

Post-Ellie's-tummy-time-meltdown, phew.  We sleep when we can around here.

Are these enough ducks and elephants to evoke a seizure?

Daily Livin' with the O's

It's been a little while since we posted here, life with the O's has been very busy.  We have had some momentous days on Foxtail Lane!  Ellie and Lucy got their first sponge baths, Sean tried out feeding both at the same time, we've now gone for 2 "hikes," and Lucy has outgrown her Little Joey carseat insert.  All is well!  So this will be brief but here are some pix, since that's the best part anyway!

We love hearing from everybody!  As always thanks for all the well wishes and humor!  It's been especially fun hearing from some fantastic old friends and soon we will start meeting some important people.  We might take another bath before then, but not guaranteed.  Grandma RaeAnn will be here in 8 days as well as great grandma Lucy (hence the name).  Hopefully a Missoula trip from the Porters.  Then Jen Mac and Ham Smith + fam will be around over the holidays.  And in the works is Grandma Camilla, Aunt Steff, and Uncle Darrell in January.  We are looking forward to it!

Ellie raising her hands up to some Michael Franti & Spearhead.   We still like his music and messages, even though he's somewhat of a sell out now.

Who says sleep is overrated?  Really I didn't think it was possible to be more sleep deprived than in residency... but I think it's pretty darn close!

The twin feeding pillow, he's a natural.  Every extra 20 minutes helps!

Gearing up for the first hike ever!  Ellie is giving us the one eye of questioning.  What are they up to now?  It will be many years of that I'm certain.

Ready to brave some Butte weather-  this is Butte tough in the making.

Really it was pretty amazing out and they slept the whole time.

Happy Holidays and dance for more snow!!!!!

The Good Life at Home

The twins are a week old today.  Crazy!   They are doing well and we think we (mom and dad) are doing a little better everyday.  I'm pretty sure they think they are living the good life.  What could be better than someone feeding you, burping you, snuggling you, listening to some bluegrass, sleeping and starting over 2 hours later?  Except the small detail of having your diaper changed, which Ellie hates.  We are trying to think of a name for the primitive reflex of hip-flexion-unable-to-be-extended-when-getting-your-diaper-changed.  In addition someone has to wake you out of your deep slumber so you can eat, thus the photo of the baby crunches below (recommended for arousal by the nursery nurses).  Sean was happy to hear about this technique and has officially started the Ostrowski family boot camp.  The dogs seem to be adjusting too and both give the babies kisses and sniffs a fair amount.

Again, just wanted to thank everyone soooo much for their support!  Especially our Butte friends who bring us gourmet dinners regularly and give us a semblance of a social life!!!  Oh yeah, and how could I forget the ski reports from Ham and George!  Cheers...

Lucy Pearl doing baby crunches, looks like a promising athletic future!

Dad getting serious about sticking to the feeding schedule... Lucy seems concerned as well.

 Ellie O. tests out the boppy.  Seems to be working pretty well.

Visit to Dr. Graham (pediatrician and mom's partner), things are looking good!

Ellie and Mancha find something in common, the couch.

Thanks for the awesome blankets grandma Camilla!

The good life.  Mom and dad hope to do this again someday too!

Ellie and Lucy can't wait to play in the awesome Montana mountains.  We may go for our first hike this weekend, weather permitting.

Have a great day all!