Easter 2013 and my blog

So, I've been inspired by all my friends on twitter who went to Blissdom and all the tidbits they have shared since coming back.  The biggest thing that I have gotten from all of it is that I simply want to get back to blogging.  I want my kids to have this blog as my memories of their lives.  So no time like the present to start...

Today was Easter Sunday.  We went to church this morning and also finally joined the church.  We have been going to this same church since the kids and I got here in July, but just haven't ever joined.  Church was SO good.  I missed not getting to stand with my choir family and sing, but no one would have wanted to have heard my voice...it was bad enough I didn't even sing in the congregation!!  The family that sat behind us has 7 week old boy/girl twins.  It made my heart ache for my babies again!!!  I can't believe that they are already almost 2.  Just seems like it has flown by. 

After church, we came home and I got some quick pictures of the kids since it was POURING rain when we left for church.  They were as cooperative as you can expect for two 23 month olds who just want to go play with their goodies from the Easter bunny. 

We had several of Billy's players over for lunch, and then we all took naps.  Once we got up from our naps, we took full advantage of the good weather and went for a ride in the Jeep with the windows out.  Hannah's hair was out of control when we got home.  I wish I would have gotten a picture of it.  Sister had some major fro action going on!  After dinner and putting on pajamas, it was back outside to take their cars for a cruise and to try out their bubble machine they got. 

It was a nice relaxing day and the kids went to bed exhausted.  Billy and I are ending the day watching the Rangers game. 

As seems to be the case with all important days in our lives, I missed my family dearly today.  They all were at my aunt and uncle's house, and I'm sad we weren't there to enjoy all the fun, but thankful for a great day here in Arkansas.

18 Month Pictures

WARNING:  Major Picture Overload!!!

I had the twins' 18 month pictures made a couple of weeks ago.  The weather was perfect the day that we went, and I loved that we were able to get some pictures of them in the fall weather.  The fall here in Arkansas has been gorgeous and these pictures truly don't do it justice.  Brady wasn't in the best of moods the day that we took them, but we managed to get some decent ones of him.  These are my favorites out of all the ones that she took.

Hannah:  I tell you on a daily basis that you are a Hot Mess!!!  You are so full of life, and my little chatterbox.  It takes you a little bit to warm up to people, but once you do, you are the life of the party.  You love to dance and make people laugh.  Your baby is attached to you these days.  We don't go anywhere without her it seems.  You have the most fun little laugh, and we love hearing it.  You have definitely become a daddy's girl.  You and I are great friends until daddy walks in the door, and then it's all over.  You did great @ your check up and only cried for a few seconds when you got your shots.  You will eat just about anything we put is front of you these days, but your favorites right now are apple sauce, animal crackers, and yogurt. 

Brady:  You are my little lover boy, and I am eating it up as long as it will last.  You love your momma, and if I'm around, everyone else can just forget it.  You are not as loud as your sister, but you are just as much fun.  You are always on a mission, and you are such a curious little guy.  You have really gotten into cheering during football games.  Whether we are at a game, or watching one at home, you love to cheer and clap your hands.  You are such a ticklish little guy, and you LOVE to play "This Little Piggy".  Your 18 mo check up went good as well.  You aren't talking as much as they would like, but I think it's just b/c your sister doesn't stop talking long enough for you to have a chance to talk.  We have come to the conclusion in the last month that you are allergic to milk.  Hopefully you are on the road to recovery from that adventure.  You are a great eater as well, and right now you are really into peanut butter sandwiches, fruit snacks, and apples. 

I can't believe these two have gotten so big so fast.  They were just my tiny little peanuts yesterday it seems like. 

Divine Intervention

*Disclaimer...this post is NOT in any way a reflection of anything I have done, but merely an example of how God places people in our hearts and minds when they need our prayers the most.

The news of Julee's husband's death quickly brought to mind my sweet friend A.  A actually baby-sat me when I was a kid, and then I kept her kids and her sister's kids.  They were all in my wedding, and are still special kids to me.  My senior year in high school, A's husband was tragically killed in a roping accident on Halloween, just 10 days after their sweet baby G was born.  This time of year, my heart is always heavy for her.  That being said, anytime the Lord brings her to my mind, I try to be faithful to pray for her.  I text her today to tell both of her kids Happy Birthday (their birthdays were yesterday and today) and to let her know I had been thinking of them and praying for them the last two weeks and when she text me back she told me that her new husband's father passed away last Sunday from a heart attack.  I am so sad for their family b/c her kids loved their granddad and A was very close to his dad.  At the same time, I am thankful that God has burdened my heart for them these last two weeks and that I have been unknowingly praying for a grieving family. 

Since the twins were born, I have struggled with my walk with the Lord.  I struggle to find time for a quiet time, let alone time to truly dive deep into His word.  The sermon this morning and now this incident have both been great reminders/comforts to me, to know that even though my walk isn't where I want it to be/know it should be, God still blesses the lives of those who are faithful to him. 

15 Months

Nobody die of shock, but I am actually going to update the blog today!!!  We had the kids 15 mo. well check this morning.  It was bittersweet.  It was with a new pediatrician here in Conway.  I like him, but I MISS our pediatrician from Texas.  She was fabulous and set the bar very high. 

The kids checked out just fine.  No issues for either one of them.  Brady didn't even cry when he got his shot...Hannah more than made up for his lack of tears.  (can we say drama queen!!)  The pediatrician just kept commenting on how calm they were when he was messing with them.  (mind you, they were in my lap the entire time he assessed them...)

Hannah-25 lb 3oz  31.5in tall
You wear as size 5 shoe and you are wearing 12-18 mo clothing. 
You say momma, daddy, bye bye, woof
You sign please, more, done, and are learning help
You know how to growl like a bear and you make a fish face on command these days.
You blow kisses and love to give hugs.
You started biting this month and have gotten your brother good several times.
You are definitely momma's social butterfly.  We went up to daddy's office today and you were talking to all the coaches and giving out high fives to the players and coaches left and right!!
We don't leave the house without Ella.
You LOVE water.  (both to drink and to play in)

Brady-24 lb 8oz  32.5in tall
You wear a size 5 1/2 or 6 shoe and you are wearing 12-18 mo clothing.
You say momma, daddy, and papa
You babble ALL the time. 
You love to play pat-a-cake and you know what to do with your arms when anybody says touchdown!
You sign please, more, done and are learning help
You are still my little snuggle bug. 
You are more reserved around other people, but once you get comfortable some where, you just make yourself to home!!
You have learned that your sister doesn't like to be locked in the closet, so you lock her in the closet at least once a day!
You still have your paci. 
You love to play in the water and you drink it okay, but you would much rather have milk to drink (or daddy's snowcone!!)

They are both so big and doing so much new stuff all the time these days.  I worry b/c they don't talk a lot and we don't know body parts yet, but then I have to remind myself that they are only 15 months old, and they catch on to stuff fast, so there's no reason to be in a tizzy about it just yet.  Our new nanny is great.  The kids love her and she is always doing all kinds of fun stuff with them.  They love the nursery @ our new church, and even did great the other night when I left them so that I could go to choir practice.  That's about all that's going on with us these days.  We've met our next door neighbors and they have a 9 month old and spent the evening out in their driveway playing tonight.  It was so nice to actually be able to enjoy being outside in the evening. 

MOMS: Bringing Them Home

Well, I'm a day late, but it's a little chaotic @ our house right now.  We are in the process of moving to Arkansas and I have been single mommying it up for awhile now. 

We were one of the fortunate couples who totally avoided NICU, so we got to bring our babies home with us when we left.  I had a c-section and so my OB kept me an extra day b/c my blood pressure decided to sky rocket AFTER the babies got here :).  I was huge swollen and my b/p when they discharged me was 160/93.  I was definitely nervous to be going home, but I had a b/p cuff @ home to check it and so they sent me on my merry way.  The twins were born on Monday and we went home Thursday morning.  It really was pretty uneventful coming home.  Billy's mom and stepdad were here and that was stressful for me, but they left on Friday and it was just my mom and I and the babies for the weekend.  We were able to get them well established on their schedules and that was our saving grace!!  It was a little rough @ first b/c it took awhile for my milk to come in, but once it did it was pretty smooth sailing.  I was tired those first couple of weeks, but I was also busy soaking up my babies b/c I knew that I was going to go back to work in 6 weeks.  Here's a few pictures of our last day in the hospital and the trip home.

HELP!!!

Okay fellow moms, I need some help.  I need suggestions on teething.  Hannah is in the process (for the last month or so) of cutting her molars.  About every 3rd or 4th night, she wakes up about 10:30 or 11:00 (hence the reason for a post @ 11:40 tonight...she's in my lap watching Doc McStuffins...) and she cries and cries and cries.  I've tried just letting her cry it out, but she sometimes cries for 2 hours, and when it goes on that long, she eventually wakes Brady up.  About the only solution I've found is to give her Tylenol with Codeine.  I HATE giving my kids medicine.  It is my absolute LAST resort.  I'm the mom that doesn't even give them Tylenol until their temp is greater than 101.5.  So I'm needing some suggestions as to what else to try to keep her from waking up...or to get her back to sleep faster.  I haven't tried teething tablets, but Oragel doesn't touch her normally.  Any favorite teething tablets, or home remedies???  I want my sleeps 12-13 hours straight every night little girl back!!!

For MOMs by MOMs: Baby Gear

There were a lot of things that we wondered if we needed when we found out we were pregnant, and then we found out we were having twins, our list of needs shrunk very quickly simply b/c of lack of space to put stuff!!!

Things that we used all the time...bouncy seats, swing, jumperoo, exersaucer, and our space saver high chairs.  The only thing that we are still using @ this point is the high chairs and our exersaucer b/c it converted to a toddler toy.  I would say that those were definitely our can't live without things. 

The logistics of transportation were huge for me b/c most of the time I am getting the kids out by myself if we get out.  The hubby has a very demanding job and so I knew early on I had to find things that enabled me to get out of the house on my own.  As far as strollers, we lucked into a double snap n go from another twin mom and it worked great when they were tiny and enjoyed their car seats, however, that stage didn't last long and I needed something that I could take to football games, ie, something that I could push up a hill and not die!!!  We ended up trading in the snap n go @ Babies R Us trade in days and got a Combi side by side umbrella stroller which I love for shopping and dr. appointments.  And I searched high and low on Craigslist until I was finally able to get my hands on a BOB jogging stroller.  It is by far my favorite stroller of all that we have had, however, it's not practical for very many inside spaces so that was why we got the Combi also. 

As far as car seats, we had the Chicco Key Fit for infant carriers and I loved them.  They were easy to get in and out of the car and the kids really didn't seem to mind them all that much.  When we started shopping for convertible car seats, there was a lot for us to consider...the biggest thing being that we wanted something that we could fit in the back seat of our Jeep so that we wouldn't necessarily be limited to one vehicle for transportation.  We ended up getting the Diono Radian RXT convertible car seats.  They are on the pricey side, but they convert all the way up to a booster seat, so ideally, we won't have to buy the twins another car seat.  The one other negative about them is that they are HEAVY!!  They are made of a metal frame and so they weight about 30 lbs before adding a kid in.  For this reason, we got the Cosco convertible car seats to put in my mom's car b/c I didn't want her having to drag my heavy ones in and out of her car and end up hurting herself.  We love the Diono b/c they are narrow and they fit great in our suburban with plenty of room to put an infant car seat in the same row with them, however, I will say, if you don't have a car with a big backseat, this might not be the car seat for you.  Because they convert up to a booster seat, these car seats are TALL and so when they were rear facing, Hannah's seat was right behind the passenger seat and the passenger seat had to be pushed forward almost as far as it would go.  This made for not fun road trips when we were all 4 in the car, but since it's mostly just me and the kids it really wasn't that big of a deal.

And since the only reason anyone ever really reads blogs is to see the pictures of kids, here's a couple of pictures of my cuties enjoying all their fun gear!!

 We love this little piano b/c the seat comes out and they can then walk all over it and still play with it, and the songs it plays don't get on our nerves!!