Our Little Brownies

Things My Kids Say

2012-02-16T08:20:00.001-05:00

*Super Bowl Sunday we had friends over to hang out and eat recipes I made from Pinterest. Jean & Eric brought little Davis over and I was first in line to get my hands on him. As I was holding him Lucas said "Give him back to Jean." A little later Ethan said "That's Jean's baby, give him back. My mommy!" Guess we know where they stand on having a sibling.

*My MIL was helping feed the boys and was giving Lucas a bite of her chicken chili. She tried to give him a bite with beans and he said "No beans! I'm a picky eater!" I have never said to either of them that they are picky because they really aren't. I have no idea where he's picked that up from.

*James & I were folding clothes over the weekend and Ethan wanted to be held. I picked him up for a minute and Lucas came over whining wanting to be held by Mommy too. James said, "Can Daddy pick you up?" Lucas firmly said "NO" and when James asked him why, he said "because you got too many clothes in your hands!" Well ok then.

*Ethan wanted something he wasn't allowed to have and started crying. I mean really crying hysterically. Out of no where, Lucas goes, "Don't be cranky."

*As I'm sitting here typing this, Ethan is playing with my hair. He bent down in my face, grabbed my cheek to turn my head towards his and said, "Mommy, mommy talk to me!"

Super Excited

2012-02-13T16:23:00.002-05:00

Thirty years old. That's right my friends (if you're still out there). James turned 30 at Christmas and I turn 30 in July. In honor of this special milestone birthday we decided to do something fun. So come the end of September, you can find us here:

On the Freedom of the Seas sailing around the Caribbean. Who's excited?? That would be this girl!! We did a cruise for our honeymoon and enjoyed it very much. We did say, though, that if we ever cruised again we'd definitely go with another couple, and we shall. James's work wife (as I call him) Paul and his fiance Donna will be married this week. They decided to cruise also as a honeymoon/vacation. It's going to be so much fun. Waiting until September will be rather hard. To help keep track of the time, I installed a countdown on my phone so I know exactly how many days until I'm soaking up the sun on the crystal clear waters of the Caribbean!

There is a silver lining in waiting. There is plenty of time to shape up. I have lost weight since having the boys but my body isn't in a shape that I'm happy with. Since we booked the cruise last night, today has been a different kind of day. I am happy to make changes instead of putting it off for another day. I finally opened the Wii Zumba I got for Christmas. Man am I glad no one was here to watch me :) I've also been putting my Pinterest to use and started doing some target area exercises I pinned. We stocked up on fresh fruit and healthful snacks so that I can be better about the choices I make with food. It's about being healthy and the cruise just happens to give me a tangible goal to work towards but I want to make these life changes. So I may talk about exercising (gasp I know), food or preparing for the cruise in the midst of bragging about my bubbas. Please indulge me. I also do better with an accountability system so feel free to check in on me and ask how I'm doing. Might be a good motivator!! 230 days to go!

Story Time

2012-02-11T09:44:00.005-05:00

Our local library, as many do, has story time each week for little ones. We started going last winter and the boys seemed to enjoy it, though they weren't very interactive. It's a mix of songs and stories, bubble chasing and an activity. When it restarted after taking summer break off, we didn't start back. We did decide to return after Christmas break though. I am so glad we did.

Because they are older and not as shy, they seem to be enjoying it so much more. They sing along and even want to sing the library songs at home. When Miss Shannon asks questions or we play an interactive game, they participate. They ask questions and sometimes talk to the other kids, which they never did before. The best part is seeing Lucas in his element. Lucas LOVES books. Love isn't a big enough word for how he feels about books. If there is a chance to trade in a kids meal toy for a book, he doesn't even think twice about it. He takes books everywhere he goes, even to the library. He just can't be without a book. After story time, he will go and sit at a bookcase and look through books and pick a few out and read to himself. I decided to start checking a few out, despite their destructive nature with books. They take very good care of library books and think it's super cool to have a book from the library. The sweetest part was when we got home Wednesday, Ethan sat down in his chair, picked up a book and said "I'm Miss Shannon" and started reading. I love that they enjoy books and being at the library. I just love watching them grow into little people.

This is why I cried today

2012-02-08T15:08:00.001-05:00

This is only half of the mess, that was smooshed down into the carpet.

Things My Kids Say

2012-02-08T09:02:00.002-05:00

Let the old cliche' be true: Kids really do say the darnedest things! My little ones are no exception. They bring me to tears from laughing some times and I want to remember these moments. Each week I will share with you the silly little comments that come out of the mouths of my little babes. I hope you enjoy as much as I do.

Things My Kids Say...

* (Back story: The boys got to learn about pregnancy this summer as they watched Jean's belly grow with Davis inside. They hadn't seen her not pregnant anymore when Lucas made his statement) I was bringing Lucas down the stairs and he had his hand on my chest. He said, "mommy's belly big, mommy has a little baby in her belly!"

*(On days when the boys wake up early, we bring them in the room with us and lay on the bed together before going downstairs to truly begin the day.) Ethan was on the bed between Lucas & I and Lucas kept saying "Mommy I want a snack". Ethan leaned over in my face and said, "mommy my brother needs a snack." It was as if he was saying, mommy you are not listening to my brother so I must bring this to your attention.

(This one is kind of gross, but part of life) *We are getting better at going poo-poo on the potty. Each time they go, they like to turn around and inspect it. Must be a guy thing ;-) Ethan said, "it looks like a snake!" One a separate day, Lucas said "it looks like a snake mommy, but it isn't. it's my poopy!" I think what made it so funny was that he was so matter of fact about it.

Back From Hiatus

2012-02-06T13:39:00.003-05:00

I took some time off from blogging. There were a lot of things going on, projects I was getting in to and time was limited. Blogging was the first thing to go. As the boys become more and more animated, I feel it is necessary to once again take to the computer to capture the special moments. I hope, if you're still out there, you'll come along with me.

Let me fill you in on the last several months at our house.
*In August, James & I celebrated 5 years of marriage with a trip to one of our favorite destinations: Charleston.

*September, I revitalized an old desk & chair and got down to the bare bones to bring it back to life. It's not the focal point in my art room (which will hopefully one day be another nursery)

*October brought Halloween. The boys were Santa Claus and Frosty. Nope, I did not pick out those costumes. From then on, Lucas referred to himself (and still does on occasion) as Santa.

*November, I began working hard on all the homemade Christmas gifts. I helped throw Jean a baby shower (my partner on Designs by Muah). We had a few craft shows as Designs by Muah. A very busy month.

*December, we finished out our craft shows. I finished up work on Christmas gifts. James had probably the biggest case of his career. My FIL had double hernia surgery. We had a wonderful Christmas that ended with Lucas tumbling down the stairs, me screaming, everyone having a jumping reaction to that which in turn landed my FIL back at the hospital. James turned 30 so we followed the Cardinals down to Charlotte NC for the bowl game and swung by Charleston since we were down there. Jean had sweet baby Davis the night before we returned from our trip. Lastly, we celebrated my moms birthday on New Years Eve, which thankfully was a quiet evening for us.

*January we began potty training. It was my plan to do so, but Ethan decided he was ready and started taking his diaper off the moment it was wet. We haven't looked back. We are still in the midst of it. I'll fill you in on potty training with two soon. By the end of January, we were finally starting to break Lucas of wearing the Santa hat he had become extremely attached to.

So that's where we are. It's February. Valentine's is quickly approaching and Breaking Dawn is released on DVD this Friday. We've had a lot of hilarious moments over the last few months and I know as they continue to grow and learn, it will only get more entertaining around here! So stick around.

Here are just a few pictures of us over the last few months.

A Few New Pics

2011-07-17T22:51:00.001-04:00

A Mover's Birthday

2011-07-13T09:02:00.003-04:00

To celebrate the boys turning 2 I wanted to have a Sesame Street birthday. However, the only and I mean only thing the boys were interested in were the Imagination Movers on Disney. I'm not sure why but Disney doesn't make A.N.Y.T.H.I.N.G for Imagination Movers. My cousin even went to the Disney store to see if they carried any merchandise and nada. I didn't want to go overboard or stress myself to the max trying to do too much so I came up with a few ideas and ran with them. I made a few gears out of poster board and made a few tissue paper wreaths using the Blue, Red and Yellow color scheme from the show. My two favorites were their movers tshirts and their cake. I purchased iron ons for blue shirts I got and made them their own personalized tshirts and my friend, college roommate and my Designs By Muah partner Jean made their cake.

The weather was great for the day. We had a lot of fun spending time with everyone and the boys partied till they crashed. Ethan didn't want to get out of the bouncy house once he discovered how fun it was. Lucas didn't care for it one bit. Funny how different they are. Here are some of my favorite pics from the day. (of course I couldn't get a really good one of them together)

MIA

2011-07-12T19:30:00.002-04:00

Wow, it has been a long time since I've even visited my blog, much less written. There has been so much going on with birthdays and transitions that the first thing to be cut out for saving time was the blog. There are many things to update and I do intend to do that by the weekend. There was a 2nd birthday, my 29th, cribs are gone and big boy beds are here, climbing up bookcases has occurred, etc. With every thing going on I'm trying to figure out how to best discipline and teach them what they need to know. Oy, this parenting this is challenging!!!

Potty Training, I Think So

2011-06-06T17:35:00.002-04:00

We tried potty chairs and Ethan seemed partially interested, but lost it rather quickly. So we decided to buy an over the toilet potty seat. Well, apparently that did the trick for Lucas because he has been peeing on it for the last 5 days. Not every time he needs to pee pee but at least twice a day, sometimes more. He's doing it; we're not pushing it. It does appear, though, that Ethan isn't going to jump on the bandwagon just yet because he'll watch Bubby go, but he doesn't want to go. He'll want to eventually. Wasn't sure how potty training twins was going to go so we'll see what happens. For now, I'm just a super proud mommy!!

A Few Hawaii Pics

2011-06-05T12:10:00.004-04:00

There is A LOT going on around our house, especially preparing for their birthday party. Here are a few pics from our trip. I do intend to actually tell you about it, eventually!

So beautiful!!!

Home from Hawaii

2011-05-23T00:25:00.001-04:00

We got home this week from a wonderful Hawaiian vacation. We are just about readjusted to the time change. I have lots of beautiful pictures to share, soon.

Let Me Tell You About My Night With GUY!!!

2011-05-09T19:56:00.002-04:00

Guy Fieri from the Food Network, that is!!! Every Derby my husband works celebrity security and the past few years he's had Guy Fieri. The first year he was in town, I was invited to hang out with them. In all the years of him doing it, no one ever invited me. I could've peed myself I was so excited. HOWEVER, I was stuck in the hospital 7 months pregnant on bedrest and was not allowed to go. Total heartbreak!! Last year, I was invited out again. You've got to be kidding me. I was called an hour before I was supposed to show up somewhere, was in my lounge clothes with no babysitter. Didn't happen. Super super super disappointed. I learn from my mistakes! This year, I had a babysitter lined up before I got the invite because I was not missing this chance again!!!

(I had already met Guy once before when his traveling road show came through town. We got to go backstage and hang out with him during his pre-show downtime.)

Oaks came, Jean & I went. Had fun, even though my nasal and chest congestion had me feeling not so great. I looked great though :) Derby came, got a text message from James with details, got myself all gussied up, went to get Jean and we headed downtown. Guy was cooking dinner in a social club's kitchen while his wife, a few of his crew, and some Patriot football players hung out in the VIP room waiting for guests to arrive. I met Guy's wife, Lori. She was real down to earth and had kind of a bad ass style. Then again, being married to Guy Fieri, you kind of need to. We met Glenn, one of his crew, who invited us to come down to his house(which is really Guy's guest house) and stay so we could visit Guy & California. You don't have to ask me twice, dude!!! Then Glenn took us to the kitchen where Guy was cooking. Got a hug from Guy & Kleetus, his sous chef. Again, both I had met before. Then we went back to the VIP room to drink on Guy's bar tab and watch the celeb's trinkle in. Here's the kicker though, this was their time to get away from crazy fans and just relax. That meant no pictures. I will have these memories forever, though and they are awesome!!! Let me tell you who had me star struck.....Christopher Maloni from Law & Order:SVU, Joey Fatone, Wynonna, Travis Tritt, Eddie Montgomery, Peppa from Salt N Peppa, the Dos Equus "Stay Thirsty My Friends" guy from the commercials, Taylor Dane, one of the guys from Boyz 2 Men, Bode Miller, and some other actors whose faces I recognized but couldn't tell you their names. It was awesome!!! Thanks Guy for a great night!!! Guy also invited us out to visit and I do not intend to let that invitation go to waste!!

Mother's Day was yesterday and for the 2nd year in a row I was sick. I loved being able to have my boys, but the day was just yucky all the way around. Better luck next year!

The Best Two Minutes in Sports

2011-05-03T09:23:00.003-04:00

This week really is the best time of the year to be from Louisville, KY. That's right, y'all, it's Derby Week!!! The city shuts down Friday and Saturday (they even close school Friday!) for Oaks and Derby. There's no stronger feeling of community here than during Derby Festival. Born and raised here allows me to view the Derby differently than those outside of the area, but my dad working at Churchill Downs and us getting a backside of the track front row seat for so many years adds to my excitement. Football stays on the tv during football season and James tries to sneak more basketball in than I'd care to see, but for me, it truly is the best two minutes in sports!!!

It also holds a special meaning for me because James proposed at Churchill Downs and we also were married there.

Boo-Boo's and Easter

2011-04-27T20:27:00.003-04:00

No, they're not related but I want to talk about both. Over the last week or two, whenever a boo-boo occurs, the boys have been coming up to me so I can kiss the boo-boo. It seems to stop the tears which is great, but it's so stinkin cute! Just one of those moments that melt your heart!!

Easter was nice. We had both sides of the family over for lunch. The boys really love when the whole family comes over. They get tons of attention and they tend to show off for everyone. They didn't take a nap, but were still cute and full of energy!

Lucas had to take a seat after the excitement of hunting for eggs.

Ethan wanting to share his egg!

Our attempt at a family pic.

A boy without a nap!

Such a sweet boy!

***Let me just tell you, I'm incredibly intrigued by all the royal wedding business! I love watching just about anything wedding related, but add the interesting factor of it being a royal wedding and it's just super cool to me. I think Kate is absolutely a.d.o.r.a.b.l.e and can't wait to see what she looks like. As I'm watching stuff filmed in the palace, I really think I should've been invited just because I want to see inside :)

******Let me also note that I'm ready for all the tornadic storms to get up outta here! We slept right through a tornado warning last night! Opps!

ABC's

2011-04-18T08:54:00.001-04:00

I'm not sure if it was a fluke or what, but Lucas kept hitting the ABC song on the ABC fridge magnet and he sang along EFG then he restarted it and before it started he said ABCD all on his own. Holy cow!!!

Another Blog

2011-04-17T12:18:00.003-04:00

I know I know, I'm not good at keeping up this blog like I want to, but I've started another one :)
It's about home decor and DIY projects that I intend to do for my own home. I am filled with millions of ideas and I wanted a way to document them and keep track of progress. Stop by and see me often!!

http://thriftydreamer.blogspot.com/

"ME!!!"

2011-04-12T18:57:00.002-04:00

While playing in their room after their bath, I was bouncing Lucas on my legs. He was giggling up a storm. Ethan runs over, sits on my legs between Lucas and I, then says "ME! ME! ME!" Uh, when did he learn this?? I am astonished on a daily basis with what they say. Lucas say am-burger and bagetti. It's so adorable. I love spending my days watching them grow and learn.

After their bath tonight, Lucas pee pee'd in the potty for the first time. YAY!!

I Love You!

2011-04-10T13:11:00.002-04:00

My sweet little Lucas has been saying this all week! Neither of the boys have even attempted to repeat that back to me despite my efforts. However, for whatever reason, this week Lucas did repeat it and it made my heart just melt. He now gives hugs and says "I love you" and I couldn't be happier. Ethan will tell you no if you ask him to say it. That's ok b/c I know he does :)

Blog Crush

2011-04-05T10:51:00.002-04:00

I've started the initial planning stages for Birthday Blowout 2.0! In the process of looking for great homemade decoration ideas on both etsy and in blogland, I've come across some great things. I found the inspiration for the party and I'm super psyched about it. I wish you all lived nearby to come b/c if it turns out half as cool as it is in my head, it will be sa-weet!! While looking for awesome DIY ideas, I asked my fab friend Angie to direct me to some of the cool blogs she follows. She's always up for a cool DIY project so I knew she'd have some good blogs to check out.
This is where my blog crush comes in. She sent me the link to the very fabulous blog of Kristin at http://www.mysweetheartmoments.com/. She is has an eye for decorating, re-purposing, and just general craftiness. I have been super inspired by her blog and instead of just talking about all the things I'd like to do to my house, I've actually started pursuing things to make those ideas come to life. I love my house. However, my house is boring. Boring in the sense that there just isn't a lot of color or that "homey" feel to it. The main culprit is the lack of window treatments. When we bought the house we had blinds installed with a piece of decorative trim and b/c of that, James felt no curtains were needed. Um, no. I'm slowly working on getting curtains and valances up in all of the rooms. I spend the majority of my time in our living room so I want it to have a more comfy feel to it. I don't think that's a lot to ask nor will it take a lot of money to achieve. I need to add a few splashes of fun color here and there in a way that will be stylish and toddler friendly!! I've done some analyzing and come to the conclusion that I have a shabby chic style interest that I'd really like to implement. I checked out our local peddler's mall yesterday and got a few cute treasures for my mantle and tomorrow will be perusing yet another peddlers mall to see what I can find. I'm going to take it slow because I really do try to take on too much at once and then get burnt out. That's how my house has never been completely decorated, even after living here 2.5 years.

I also came across this blog today, http://betterafter.blogspot.com/ which has made me giddy too. I love to see what other people come up with and try to build my own visions from that. I'm getting uber excited that yard sale season is getting ready to start up. I just know there are some awesome things out there in other people's homes that would be great for me!!

We Are Paci FREE!!!!

2011-04-04T08:06:00.003-04:00

Yeah Baby!!! I've been wanting to do it for a while, but with hesitation from my husband I kept putting off taking away their paci's. I decided last Thursday that I was going to cut off the tips Friday night and we were going to spend the weekend trying to get used to no paci's. After about 20 minutes of crying at bedtime Friday, they quieted down and went to sleep. Not bad at all. I expected much worse. Saturday at naptime was a different story. My dad and stepmom came over to play with the boys while James and I worked on some spring cleaning. After their arrival and about an hour of the boys fussing, we just got them up. They played hard with Papaw & Mamaw and went right to sleep later that afternoon. Bedtime came, laid them down and they went right to sleep. Yesterday they napped in the car on the way home from the zoo so naptime wasn't an issue. Last night when we laid them down, again, no fussing at all!!! This makes me very happy!! The only downfall right now is that Lucas isn't able to really soothe himself when he wakes up early so he cries out. Ethan has a doggy that he takes with him everywhere so he cuddles with that when needed. All in all, it went a million times better than I expected :)

Manners

2011-03-27T20:39:00.003-04:00

I try very hard to make sure I prompt the boys to say Please and Thank you. I also try to make sure they hear me say both. Please caught on pretty quickly because they were signing it before they could say it so they got used to combining please with whatever they were asking for. They say please with most things without being reminded. Thank you has taken some hard work, especially with Lucas. Last night, Ethan asked for something and when I gave it to him, he said his version of Thank You without me saying a word. I was such a proud mommy at that moment! Very proud of him and reassured that what I'm doing is working.

Loving the Outside lately

2011-03-25T21:41:00.004-04:00

Just so stinkin cute!!

What's in a name?

2011-03-10T14:25:00.002-05:00

Ethan and Lucas were picked out long before their arrival. I wanted Lucas and Nathan but because of a stupid tv show (I really don't mean stupid b/c I love One Tree Hill(even with Lucas and Peyton gone) and it had nothing to do with picking out those names) James refused to let me use them. I've always loved the name Nathan and Lucas has been on my name list a long time too. James liked Lucas better than Nathan so he suggested Ethan to compromise. Looking at them now, of course they are a Lucas and Ethan.

It was a given that James would be Daddy & I would be Mommy. Bailey is sometimes doggy and sometimes Bay-eeeee. The grandparents kind of picked out their names. My dad didn't care so I went with Papaw b/c that's what we grew up calling our grandpa's. My stepmom then became Mamaw b/c it goes with Papaw. My mom wanted Granny. My MIL wanted Grandma Mrs. Brown (don't ask me why because I have no idea) so they took on Grandma & Grandpa. Now that the boys are talking, somewhat, they call people what they want. Papaw is sometimes Pa-aw and sometimes just Pa. Mamaw is usually ma-aw. Granny is Ganny. Grandma is Ganma and Grandpa is just Pa. Aunt Kelly is Ke-ey, Aunt Jennifer is Je and Uncle Griffin is Uh-cle.

They are picking up so many words and phrases it's pretty ridiculous and fun! Lucas can sing right along with the Imagination Movers "Jump Up" song and he usually does the motions too. Lucas is a big repeater and of course Monkey See Monkey Do is a given in this house. It's such an interesting age!

P.S. Easter is such a blessed holiday but geez, I hate seeing all the Easter candy out there. Makes it hard for a girl to eat what's good for her!!

Something New

2011-02-24T11:58:00.003-05:00

Here's something new I've been doing!

20 Months Old!

2011-02-22T08:12:00.004-05:00

The only thing that comes to mind when I say 20 months is that in four short months they will be 2. TWO!!! It blows my mind that we are that close. In fact, I should probably start thinking about their birthday party right about now knowing how long it takes anything to get completed in this house.

They are doing so many things. I'm such a proud momma these days.

Ethan:
*He loves to put on his clothes. He'll take them off to put them back on or will try to put other clothes on top of what he's wearing. Granted, he usually puts his shirts on his legs, but he can definitely do his own pants and socks.

*He doesn't go ANYWHERE without his dog. He is attached to that thing. It's mostly cute. He gets so excited when he's been looking for it and finds it again.

*He has pee-pee'd on the potty once.

Lucas:
*He loves to play with the real vacuum and run his fake vacuum. LOVES IT!!

*He loves to climb on top of the half wall we have that separates our living room from our kitchen. Drives me crazy b/c I'm afraid he's going to fall. He says "sit down" the whole time he's trying to climb up though. (I have a pic I'll post later)

*He can count 1, 2.

*He has a little guitar that he likes to dance around and sing with. He gets really into it which of course makes us laugh so hard b/c it's so cute!

Both:
*They respond "OK" to questions. It's so darn cute!

*They love Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

*Their manners get better everyday. They're starting to say Please without me needing to prompt them.

*They tell me when they've gone poo-poo and sometimes pee-pee.

*They can both tell me what's the color blue, but they don't say other colors.

*They have become picky eaters, which I hate. It seems like over the last two weeks their eating has dropped off. Makes meal times difficult.

*They've also dropped to three meals a day with a light snack instead of four. They were eating breakfast, big snack that was considered a meal with as much as they ate, lunch and dinner. Now they barely eat breakfast, have a light snack, usually do pretty good with lunch and dinner.

*They tell me when they're hungry. I no longer follow a timed schedule with food. I ask them if they're ready for snack or ready for lunch. They eat when they're ready.

*They tell me when they're ready for night night (nap). I know this will change, but I'll ask are you ready for night night and sometimes they say no, but if I ask again they'll shake their heads yes and head up stairs with me.

*Their vocabulary just grows every day. I sit in amazement listening to some of the stuff they say.

*We go to storytime at the library on Wednesdays and they seems to really enjoy themselves.

*They share with each other!

They get in to everything but I'm having so much fun watching them at this age!

Twin Love

2011-02-20T19:16:00.001-05:00

As a daughter of a twin, I've seen first hand the bond between twins. I always expected that kind of relationship between E&L from the beginning because of watching my dad & uncle. Unfortunately, the boys didn't really seem interested in each other at all and that made me sad. I was worried that they would be too different to really behave how you would expect twins to behave towards each other. Recently, though, that has changed. They call each other bubby-they started this, James and I never used the word bubby. Ethan doesn't want to do anything if bubby doesn't join him. He will yell for bubby until Lucas is in site. It's so cute. They give each other hugs and kisses out of nowhere and it just melts my heart. They interact with each other and share with each other now. It's the sweet thing to watch them share with each other. They still fight some, but most of the time they don't want the other to be left out. I hope they only get closer as they get older, but I'm loving watching them at this age!

Hands in their Hair???

2011-02-13T08:54:00.002-05:00

Do your kids do this? Is there a way to make them stop?? The moment E&L's hands get all nastied up with food they immediately stick them in their hair. It's always Monkey See Monkey Do in my house so if one does it the other does it too. Even if I'm on the defense and cleaning them up during meals, they still manage to get food in their hair. James suggested shower caps. Great idea aside from the fact they'd pull them right off. Shower cap with chin straps? Now we're talking. Might be time to take a trip to the dollar store to get a few and see what I can create to keep them on. I will win this battle. Oh yes I will. One way or another!!!

Let's Talk This Out!

2011-02-11T18:08:00.001-05:00

disclaimer: if you know me in real life, i mean really know me, am related to me or call yourself one of my bff's/closest friends, please in no way try to talk to me about this. i will not have that conversation with you. thanks!

let's talk this out. i need to get this out of my head. it's moments like this i wish my family & friends didn't read this blog. heck, does anyone? i'm going to tell you how it is. exactly how it is. i'm not going to hold back so beware.

babies. pregnancy. biological clock.

it seems as if everyone around me is pregnant or trying. this is both in real life and blog world. i think it's awesome. i love seeing pregnant bellies and i love babies. so much so that both of those things are on my mind a lot lately. i mean like all.the.time lately. over the last few months it's been a daily conversation i have with myself. right now my heart and my head are in battle. a very wise friend told me she believes we become mothers in our hearts first. she is so right. my heart wants another one. like right now!! my head tries to talk my heart out of it. my head has very valid arguments, but my heart is stubborn and doesn't want to listen. that old saying, the heart wants what the heart wants. that seriously applies here. no, i'm not just getting caught up in everything. i'm not wanting babies because other people are having babies. i'm not wanting to be pregnant because other people are pregnant. i'm feeling how i felt when james & I were ttc originally. i love my boys. i wouldn't trade them for anything ever. don't get me wrong. i have more love for them than they'll ever understand. however, i feel something inside telling me it's time for another one. it's screaming at me. i don't feel the jealousy I felt when i see pregnant woman like i did when we were first ttc because I do have my sweet boys. i do however ache to have it again. people joke around (i hope) with me about being done since we have twins, but i've always been offended by the assumption. just because i got two for one doesn't mean i should automatically be done. i've always wanted two kids. i was one of two. james is one of two. but that meant two pregnancies. even while pregnant with twins, i knew i'd want to be pregnant again and have another one. i at least want to try to for a little girl. yes i know there are no guarantees. i have always wanted a little girl and i need to try for that little girl. i won't love another little boy any less, but i really want my sweet little girl. i want to see what another child that james and i make would look like. do you watch the duggars? i think it's a bit crazy that they have so many kids. but on the flip side, i think it's awesome to see how different that many kids look coming from the same two parents. i love being able to look at e&I and see james in them or see myself. i want to do that with another. i want the whole experience again.

i think another thing that keeps popping in my head is that if we had just one the first time, we'd definitely be ttc again. there are two girls that i was pregnant with that are both pregnant now, one on purpose, the other not, but they are. i keep thinking about how i should be pregnant with them. it's not a feeling like i'm missing out on what other people have. maybe it's my biological clock. my clock doesn't understand i have 2 almost 20 month old boys at home. it just understands i'm at a child bearing age and that there's been enough time since my last one to have another one. i get it. believe me, i hear you. my head however just doesn't agree. or maybe it's my husband's voice in my head trying to convince me that i don't agree.

here's what my head says.... nope. you are not ready for another one. your body isn't ready for another one. you still have issues from your gallbladder. issues that require ibuprofin from time to time due to pain. you're too chicken to have it removed so you don't need to add a baby to the mix and have some real issues result from it. you had high blood pressure that lasted for 9 months after the boys were born. what if you have that again and it causes pre-eclampsia? just because you think it was a lasting effect of trebutaline(shot to stop preterm labor) doesn't mean that's the case. the trebutaline caused some random heart beat skips. what if you go into preterm labor again and aren't able to take the meds because of the previous side effects? here's a biggie. what if it isn't just a single baby? what if you get pregnant with twins again?? really think about that. just because you want one doesn't mean you would get just one. but don't be a pessimist either. don't just assume there will be two just because you only want one more. you just don't know. james might let you get away with having one more because you want one more so badly but what if you have two more. will he resent you? will you be able to afford more kids regardless of how many you have? you'd definitely have to get a minivan or third row SUV. could you afford that? think about all the expenses. think about time. the boys are getting to the age where the grandparents are keeping them more. add a third to the mix and that will change. your time alone with your husband would be even more limited. people will watch two, but not three kids. let's think about the most obvious. how are you going to handle two toddlers and a baby??? you're not superwoman. you have some seriously stressful days now. think about the kind of days you'd have with 3 kids. what about the boys. don't you think it's a bit selfish to have another one? they already don't get as much one on one time as they need because there are two. adding another to that will limit their time even more. limit your time with them even more. you already have two healthy babies. why try for another? you have two and many people can't have one. isn't that selfish? you already expect so much out of the grandparents. maybe you should ask them if they're willing to help care for another. this doesn't just affect you.

you see. i'm not naive. i talk these things out with myself at least once a day. but despite all of these very valid questions, it doesn't make me want one any less. it doesn't change how i feel. that leaves me in such a limbo. if feel like if you wait for the "right" time, you'll wait forever. i don't feel like i'm trying to be in control of the situation because there is no real situation. it's just feelings. so there's no letting go of the situation. are you asking if i've talked to james about this yet? a tiny bit, but not really. it makes me cry when i try to talk about it. when/if he reads this, who knows what he'll actually think. this is one of those things i try to deal with on my own so i don't add any more to his plate. i know he deals with a lot already. not fair i know. not how i should handle it, but it is what it is. i know what he'll say. we can't afford it right now and he's not sure if he wants another one. those answers just break my heart a little more. i'd rather just deal with these feelings on my own. at least then i don't have to feel sad towards him.

so there you have it. if you've made it to the end, God bless you. this was a lot to take in. i just needed to get it off my chest. sometimes being in my head is too much so i'm getting it out of my head. ah, makes me think of my favorite dance from this past season's so you think you can dance. twitch & alex's get outta my mind. fantastic!! thanks for listening to my ramblings.

First Craft Show

2011-02-06T12:44:00.002-05:00

So yesterday Jean & I had our first craft show, sort of. My sister had a Thirty-One party at her house so we set up an area with all of our stuff. We had pillowcase dresses, tons of hairbows and headbands, crocheted hats and jewelry. We had no idea what to expect but we did pretty well. We have 3 real craft fairs booked for March & April so we're hoping it will be really successful.

I have to ask for input though. If you were going to a craft fair in March or April, what kinds of things would you be looking for as a woman and a mom?? We want to make sure we cover all of our bases but don't spend too much time on things that aren't going to be the most appealing. Here's another quandary. I have two toddler BOYS. I hate that aside from hats that they won't wear once it's warm, that I can't think of anything crafty to do for them. Any suggestions??

NO!

2011-01-31T17:53:00.003-05:00

Let's talk about that word. With two toddlers, you can imagine our use of No is frequent. No No! is said way too often in our house. At first we were trying to teach the boys, then we were trying to keep them safe, now they're using it to tell us when they don't want/want to do something. It's a progression I'm not thrilled with. First of all, it means my little babies are grown up enough to know what they want and to be able to express it to me by using their words. Secondly, they're telling me no. Nuff said. My little boys have attitudes that I'm sure they inherited from their daddy :) Their temper tantrums have progressed to a whole new level. And now they are, well, I don't even know what to call it really. They will go up and turn the tv off. This is a known No No! Well, they (Lucas especially) will go up to the tv, look at us and smile, turn off the tv and then smack their own hand and say "No No, Bad"! They obviously know not to do it, yet they do it any way. AH!!! That's so frustrating. And to top it off, Lucas will hold up his arms b/c he knows he's going to time out. I don't really know how to handle this. No is not a word that I'm fond of right now!

Words

2011-01-25T14:12:00.003-05:00

It astonishes me the words that come out of their little mouths. They love to repeat anything they hear and it seems like they just love learning new words. They got a book of animals for Christmas but to see the animal and the word you have to hold up the flap. They LOVE this book. It has been a great learning tool as well because they are saying words of animals I sure didn't expect. Last night we were getting ready for bed and out of no where, Lucas says Penguin. It was clear as day too. Of course today when I ask him to say it he says "No". Unfortunately this is a common word around our house now and it's more frequently use by E&L than James & I. Another word is Ok. If I ask Ethan to do something or tell him something I'm going to do his usual response is "ok" which sounds more like Ah-K. It's so cute though. It makes being at home with them during the day that much more entertaining!!

Snow 2011

2011-01-24T14:33:00.004-05:00

We got probably about 5.5 inches of snow last week so we were able to pull out the boys' snow suits they got for Christmas and go play outside. Here's a few pictures of that fun. And yes, you see Lucas being pulled on a pool float because we do not have a sled :) They did have fun eating the snow though!

**Oh and check out the link on the side to the Designs by Muah page on fb that shows our handmade goodies!!

Toddler Time

2011-01-19T20:06:00.002-05:00

Today my MIL & I took the boys to Toddler Time at our local library. I didn't realize they had this until just before Christmas, but Christmastime was too hectic to go. It went so well. It was a lot of fun and I am so glad we went. I was super happy it went well. Ethan is a little bit more shy socially than Lucas (gets that from me). If he's being shy or nervous, he'll usually cling to me or another relative. He seemed shy when we first got there and sat in Grandma's lap quietly. That was fine because we were seated in a circle for the half hour that it lasted. Lucas sat quietly/still for about 5 minutes then he was ready to get up and do his own thing. Luckily, we switched activities fairly quickly so his attention would be recaptured with each change. By the end of it, they were both smiling and enjoying themselves.

We got a song sheet when we got there and we got there right at starting time. It seems we just can't get anywhere early, although I should be really glad we were able to make it on time :)
We would sing a song, Ms. Shannon would then read a book, we'd sing a song, she'd read a book. Then we sang a song while looking at a pop up book. The real fun started when she busted out the parachute! It was like being in elementary gym again. The kids loved running underneath of it. And when I say kids, I mean everyone else's kids who ran under it. Mine seemed to just like watching the other kids. Lucas was pointing out the Elmo shirt when the parachute would fly up. The boys were most excited and intrigued by the bubbles. Ms. Shannon had a big bubble wand and walked around singing along with a song playing in the background blowing bubbles. The expressions on their faces and the pure excitement shining from their faces was priceless. Made my day! We finished off toddler time singing a song about a nap. Overall, it was a great time. In the children's section of the library there is a train set that was super cool. After storytime we, along with other kids from the class, spent some time mingling while playing with the train. I got to talk with a mom of a 15 month old girl. It was nice meeting another mom my age in my area. I'm hoping to gain a few mommy resources/acquaintances/friends from this. The one mommy I was talking to said they go every Wednesday so it would be nice to go regularly to get to know some of the other moms. I am really glad we went!

Let's Get Crafty!!!

2011-01-10T21:43:00.004-05:00

Ever since rooming with an art major in college, I've been interested in all things crafty. She showed me how to crochet. She tried to teach me how to sew. She got me interested in painting. I just love being creative and LOVE the feeling of accomplishment in finishing a project. Not everything turns out well, but I love to try. A few years ago I start making my own jewelry. I mostly give it away as gifts or make it for someone who asks me, but I did have a party once where I did really well. I never bothered with Etsy because I didn't really know how to promote it and didn't want to be tied down to it if I didn't have the time to make anything to go on it. Fast forward to now. I spent from before Halloween until the night before Christmas crocheting different items to give as Christmas presents and also made some jewelry as gifts too. I really feel like me when I'm making them. It's something I do for me. Jeannie. The person. Not the wife. Not the mother. I can call it my own. I appreciate that so much.

That being said, my college roommate and I opened an Etsy store. Right now, everything on it is hers but I'm slowly taking pictures of my stuff to add to it. We're even having a show the first weekend in February. We'll have jewelry, my hats, hairbows and other accessories for little girls, and hopefully we'll have a few pillowcase dresses too. If you're local, contact me for the address. It would be great to have some support. Plus it's an ice cream social so come get some free ice cream. Here are a few pics of two of my hats. I pulled the initial patterns from crochet-mania-hats.blogspot.com and tweaked them to make them my own. I'm proud of them. I love this feeling. I'll get the Etsy link on the blog soon so you can check out the rest of the stuff.

Catching Up

2011-01-09T18:38:00.002-05:00

The boys had their 18th month check up the week after Christmas. Everything went well. Ethan weighed in at 24.2 lbs and Lucas was 26lbs. I can't believe there is almost 2 lbs difference. Ethan is still a 1/4 of an inch taller. They are so spunky and interested in EVERYTHING!!! Definitely keeping me on my toes.

Favorite/Most used words.....
Ethan:
* Mommy is his most used and favorite word. He says Daddy, just not often enough because everything is Mommy. Sometimes is so cute. Sometimes it isn't ;)
*Bubby. I don't know where this word came from, but out of no where he started calling Lucas Bubby.
*Cold. Anything that he touches that isn't warm, he tells us it's cold.
*Night Night. When it's time to go to bed, he says it's night night time.
*Doggy. Still one of his favorites. If he sees anything that could resemble a dog in any way he shouts out doggy.

Lucas:
*Elmo. He has a new love for Elmo and I'm not sure where it came from.
*Please. He says please now more often than signing it. Makes me proud :)
*Bite/More. This kid loves to eat. He makes sure to let us know he wants more.
*Choo-choo. Every time he hears a train near by, he shouts out choo choo.
*Dad. He gets so excited when James is coming in from work.
*Call. The phone "call" has not gotten old yet, to him at least.
*Down. When he's ready to go downstairs, wants down out of his highchair, or down from being held he says down.
*Book. This kid loves books. Loves to go through them, eat them, tear them, carry them around. Anything he can do with a book, he does.
*Bay. That's what he calls Bailey. Ethan calls her doggy and Lucas calls her Bay.

They do say other things and are big into repeating right now, but those are the words I hear most often (that I can think of right now).

They still don't interact with each other as much as I think twins should/would, but they seem to be a little more interactive than they used to. We have a small child's tent in the basement that they play in together, sort of. They play in it at the same time which is more than anything else. Usually it's Lucas playing with something and Ethan taking it away.

They got potty chairs for Christmas so I am trying to get them used to just sitting on them. They can tell us when they've gone potty/poopy and will tug at their diapers so it's at least time to get them comfortable with their potty chairs. They'd rather just sit their stuffed animals on them though.

So that's about all that's new, I think. They're in to everything all of the time. Keeping me on my toes.

Hello 2011

2011-01-05T09:56:00.002-05:00

Here we are in 2011. I have nothing but great hopes for this year, despite the threat of the terrible two's times two!! I have one goal this year. It's something I struggle with on a daily basis. Time management. There are so many things going on right now it seems and I can easily stress myself out because I am awful about getting everything finished I need to. Why? Because I suck at time management. Rest isn't an option right now. I think I have my feet in too much and I am floundering. However, I get aggravated by people who only focus on the negative and neglect to see the good/beauty in life so I will not stop there. Despite the fact I do feel overwhelmed by things, I'm blessed to be able to stay home with my boys, to be invovled in an etsy shop with my college roommate doing crafty things that I love to do, and still doing Thirty-One parties to bring in some extra moolah. My hopes for 2011 also include trying to help "finish" my house. I love my house but it doesn't feel as cozy as I wish it did. I intend to change that this year. I want to streamline and simplify things. We have so much in our house we do not need so I am going to go through things and donate anything I can. So 2011, we welcome you with hope of a great year!

Excitement

2010-12-03T07:20:00.003-05:00

There seem to be two things that make Lucas get excited. I'm talking about the squeal as loud as possible oh my gosh I'm going to jump outta my diaper right now kind of excitement. Seeing this excitement come from him is one of the best parts of my day. When James is on his way home from work we hang out around the front door. When I see him driving down the street I'll open the door and say here comes daddy. When Lucas sees his car, his reaction is priceless. Da he screams and starts jumping up and down, knocking on the door. When James walks in the door is when the second source of his excitement. "CALL!!!" What's a call you ask? It's James' work cell phone. Lucas loves to play with phones. I suppose he refers to them as calls b/c I always ask "who are you calling?" or "who you gonna call?". He likes a few different phones but it seems as if James' work phone is the ultimate prize. The moment James gets in the door Lucas is shouting out, "call, call, call, call" all the while pointing to James' waist where he knows this phone of gold resides. It's so comical. On the flip side, it's not something he should play with and when he's told no, it's a total meltdown. But for those few moments, his excitement makes everything good in the world!

Pictures are Here!!!

2010-12-01T16:16:00.006-05:00

One of the best parts of my day is when James gets home from work. Yes, I'm glad he's home, but that's not why. When I open the front door and say "Daddy's home", the pure excitement that comes out of those two little boys is priceless. They love when daddy comes home. It is absolutey precious.
I have been like a child this week, running to the mailbox every day anxiously hoping that our pictures would be there. Today was the day. It was freezing cold but when I opened the door, there it was. I was happy with what I saw.

Sickness

2010-11-29T09:08:00.002-05:00

We've all been sick over the last week or two. It's finally starting to go away, thankfully. Time has been filled with sick boys, sick Mommy & Daddy, making homemade Christmas presents and of course the Thanksgiving holiday & putting up the Christmas tree. In that time, we also managed to have some pictures taken. The cd is due to arrive today, hopefully, so I'll be uploading those ASAP!!! I can't wait to see them :)

Hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving!!

Follow the Yellow Brick Road

2010-11-04T10:04:00.004-04:00

Anyone who knows me knows I have a love of all things Wizard of Oz. When I found toddler Wiz of Oz costumes I jumped on them. Here's how they turned out....
We carved pumpkins, put on the costumes, walked to a few neighbor's houses to show them off them came back and the boys watched with fascination the other trick or treaters.

14 more to go!!

2010-10-28T16:04:00.002-04:00

So let's talk poundage. Even before the boys were born, I was not at a weight that I was completely happy with. It seemed that over the year of TTC, weight seemed to sneak up on me and I didn't realize it was there until there was a lot there. I gained 50lbs with the boys and lost those 50lbs. I seemed to stablize at the same weight I was before I got pregnant. I wasn't happy with it but didn't do anything about it. Well, I guess about 2 months or so ago I went to my dad's house and went through my closet. I couldn't fit into any of the clothes in the closet or my wedding dress sitting in the bottom of my closet. I got extremely upset and set a goal...to get back in my wedding dress. Well I am happy to say I am 12 lbs closer to that happening. This is a public blog so I'm not going to say a specific number, but I have a goal in mind and 14 more lbs will get me there. I am fitting back in clothes that I haven't worn in over 2 years. I feel soooo much better about myself. I'm making healthier choices with food and cut my portions down to a healthy size. Overall, I'm just excited. My goal is very achievable and I am so excited to make it!! A friend on facebook had a status a while back that stuck with me...food doesn't taste as good as I feel when I see the number on the scale. It's true. It's not about the number for me. It's to feel better and healthier. Plus I want my husband to find me even sexier than he does :)

16 Months and Pumpkins

2010-10-25T09:03:00.003-04:00

Time management is not my strong suit. I'm behind!! Last Wednesday the boys hit 16 months. I try not to sit and think where did the last 16 months go and how did my tiny babies to get be such big boys that walk and talk. Instead I try to just sit amazed at all the things they know and do.
I love that we play repeater. Hearing the boys repeat after me is fun b/c I love to hear how they say things. I'm just waiting for the day, though, when someone repeats CRAP!

Last Sunday we went to a local farm that does wagon rides to their pumpkin patch for you to pick your own pumpkin. I had to dress them in their new overalls and plaid shirts :) I took a ton of pictures and loved how they turned out. Posing them is virtually impossible so I try to get the best action shots I can. I love playing with James' work SLR camera.Yesterday we took the boys to the zoo and it was great to see them so interested in the animals. Each time we go back it seems like they seem a little more intrigued than the last time. We even took them in the petting zoo area but they didn't really seem to care. It was fun for James though!

I need to get a few pics of them in their Halloween costumes. Anyone who is close with me knows that The Wizard of Oz is my all time most favoritist movie ever!!!! So when I found Scarecrow & TinMan costumes, you better believe I snatched them right up!! We tried them on once and the boys were adorable!! But they were disinterested and wanted to keep taking their hats off. I'm hoping on Halloween they'll be better about it b/c they hats make such a difference!!!

Fall Fun Outside

2010-10-14T16:22:00.002-04:00

Gargoyle???

2010-10-13T08:16:00.002-04:00

Yes, my son Lucas said gargoyle yesterday. We were at grandma & grandpas and have they have a small gargoyle sitting on top of their piano. Lucas was sitting on grandma's lap pointing at it so she told him it was a gargoyle. He must have repeated it like 10 times. I couldn't believe he could say that!!!

I haven't blogged b/c everyone in this house has been sick. We all got hit with some seriously nasty sinus stuff that came with a fever so we were each down about a day. Well, over the weekend Lucas came down with a fever. Monday he was covered in a rash. Took him to the dr and he tested positive for strep throat. Poor little guy. Aside from wanting me to hold him a lot yesterday (which I really didn't mind) he acted like he felt just fine yesterday. I'm assuming today will be the same. During this time, we did manage to get their 15 month checkup in. I can't remember their stats so that will have to wait but they are doing great!

Ethan loves the word dog. EVERYTHING is a dog. Well, I'm happy to announce he has another word!!! Doggy. It's so cute to hear him say doggy! I just love watching them grow and learn. We're working on body parts and so far I can only get them to point at nose, ears, and hair, but we're working on it. If you tell them to go get something, they do it and with a smile on their face.

Naps are going through a transition. They're not sure if they want one or two. Sometimes they'll only take one and sometimes two but they're a different length every day. Makes for some cranky babies come evening though.

Playing with the Camera

2010-09-27T20:35:00.003-04:00

For Dutchie :)

2010-09-27T12:06:00.002-04:00

Grandma & Grandpa took a trip a few weeks ago to some state parks up north. They took a trip over the border into Canada and brought back these cute shirts for the boys. Since our friends Shannon and Benjamin are from there, the boys wore their new shirts proudly!! Can't wait to see you Shannon & meet Benjamin in just over a month!

My son, the cleaner

2010-09-18T21:15:00.002-04:00

So over the last (almost) 15 months, we've cleaned up a lot of baby spit up. Does it get on the carpet sometimes, yes. The boys have seen us clean up these spots more often than I'd like to think. Well, apparently Lucas picked up our habit because Thursday he did the cutest thing. He spit up while I was focusing on Ethan. After a moment, I realized what had happened and as I got up to grab a wipe to do the initial clean up, I see Lucas crawling from across the room with a dried out wipe in his hand. He crawled right back to the spot where he spit up and proceeded to pat the spot with the wipe. Seriously, my son crawled across the room to grab a wipe he saw then crawled back to clean up the mess he made. How incredibly precious is that?!?! They really are little sponges absorbing things that I don't even realize they're paying attention to!

We Must Eat....

2010-09-16T15:22:00.002-04:00

books!! My kids love to chew on their books. Any other chewy teething type toy isn't good enough. Their mission: destroy all board books! They have ruined most of our board books & I'm not sure why or how to stop them. We sit down to read & they're fine just reading/looking at pictures. When we're not reading them, they chow down. I'm assuming it's just an exploration thing, at least that's what I'm hoping. If we ever add anymore brownies to this clan, they'll be without books.

A Few Pics

2010-09-15T08:21:00.003-04:00

We love our cozy coupes!!
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GO CARDS!!!

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"I'm gonna get you"
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I look so cute when I pull my hair!

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"What, am I not suppose to climb up in here and sit down?"

A lot to come

2010-09-14T12:37:00.001-04:00

Things have been super busy around our house. We have two walkers, my Thirty-One business has been going well, my in laws were out of town so my usual Wednesday & Friday help were gone. I miss my blog and have a lot of things to update. It is fall in my house (in my head) so I need to make some changes to my blog to reflect that. Stay tuned (if anyone is still reading this)

Jealousy

2010-08-31T13:41:00.003-04:00

We are dealing with this a lot in our house, mostly from Ethan. Ethan likes to snuggle and cuddle with me and Lucas likes to play independently. When Lucas decides he wants some one on one attention from Mommy, though, Ethan doesn't like it one bit. He'll come and push his way between us. He will pull on Lucas to move him away from me. He will push him out of his way so that Ethan can be on my lap instead. It has been for a long time that if Ethan wants a toy that Lucas has he will take it away from him, which still continues. But now he's pushing and pulling Lucas which is far worse than just taking his toy away.

Stairs

2010-08-18T08:20:00.002-04:00

When the boys started showing interest in the stairs a few months ago, we didn't want them any where near them. Well, we then figured maybe it would be good for them to know how to get up and down the stairs. Plus they really have lots of fun. Both boys are proficient going up and Ethan is proficient going down, Lucas is still learning. They always do this supervised with an adult one or two steps behind them. Here's a video of Ethan.

SO GROSS!!!

2010-08-16T19:44:00.002-04:00

When I woke up this morning, I thought this was going to be a regular morning. Uh, so wrong. We do not use an alarm clock to wake us up in the morning. We use babies. I normally go down and get their milk ready so once they're changed, we can give it to them immediately without any meltdowns while waiting. This morning James decided to pour the milk. I went in and gave good morning kisses. I picked Ethan up first because he usually has a poopy diaper first thing in the morning. I leaned him down to Lucas so they could touch a minute then laid him on the changing table. I went to take his diaper off and realized he wasn't wearing one!!!!! Oh NO! I peek in his crib and what do I see, a poppy diaper laying in his bed. I yell for James and look back at Ethan. He has it on his hands. Yuck! He has it on the right side of his cheek leading to his MOUTH! How disgusting. What was in his diaper still looked intact, not a mushy mess so I can't say for sure if he did eat any, but we are assuming. Now I know crazy things are going to happen and things will get messy with two boys, but ewwww. He hasn't gotten sick so I'm glad for that. I do think he will have a black eye tomorrow though. We have a wagon that the giant size legos came in that Ethan likes to crawl in and out of. It's the perfect size for them. We'll put them in it and drag them around the house. They love it. Well, Ethan was climbing out of it, his foot got caught and he fell hitting his head on the corner of a cardboard box right where his eyebrow ends. That spot was already bruising within a few minutes and it looked like under his eye might be turning a purplish color. What a day! I know spills come with the territory, but I still felt bad about it.

Time Out

2010-08-10T14:04:00.002-04:00

We've been trying out "Time Out" the last two days. Do I think it's working? I have no idea. I'm going to continue to do it though. Lucas still wants to turn the tv on and off and Ethan has started pulling my hair. So I kind of smack at their hand, say no we don't ____ and then put them in the pack n play in the other room for a minute or two. Then when I get them out, I again say what it is that they're not supposed to do and when I bring them back to the living room, give them a toy that they can play with and tell them that. Hopefully they'll catch on soon. We'll see.

Thankfully Lucas hasn't bitten anyone lately. He does have two new teeth that just broke through overnight. Now he has 8 teeth. Such a growin boy!

Biting...Advice Please!!

2010-08-05T09:44:00.002-04:00

My intention was to blog today about all the words they've been saying. After this morning's incident, it's time to talk about biting. Both boys had a little bit of a biting issue when they first started teething. Ethan stopped as soon as his mouth filled up with teeth. His bites were usually your fingers on a little munch on your shoulder when you were holding him. Lucas, however, has not stopped and he's graduated from misdemeanor biting to felony biting.

He used to bit at your shoulder when you were holding him, your belly if he was sitting in front of you, my knees if I'm on the floor with my knees in the air, my ankles if my legs were straight out in front of me. Now he's biting Ethan. But he's not biting Ethan the same ways he's biting me or James, he's leaning over and chomping on Ethan's cheek. He's done it twice now. "No Bite!!" isn't working. I've asked a few friends and they've suggested that we bit Lucas back. Not hard enough to leave marks, but hard enough where he learns that it hurts. Those who've suggested it say it worked for their kids. These are people I trust and their kids are well behaved. We have to teach him not to bite. I'm confident this will end when he isn't teething anymore, but the boy has 4 front teeth and two molars that have started to come in. We have a LONG way to go before he's finished. What do I do? I want to teach him that it hurts and is wrong. Do I bite him back? Time out doesn't work. He gets distracted, but it isn't teaching him not to do it.

I'm also dealing with him learning not to turn off the tv. We have a flat screen in the living room and James said it's not good for him to keep turning it on and off. Plus it's annoying, whether I'm watching something or if it's off and he turns it on. He loves to cruise up to the tv, press the button, then turn around and smile. I said firmly NO, smack his hand and he laughs. Why is he laughing? Does he not see me as a disciplinarian? They've never really done anything up to this point that required more than a NO NO. I'm not really sure where to go fro here; what to do. Help me, please. What did/would you do???

First Steps

2010-07-31T21:40:00.002-04:00

Lucas took his first steps today. Several. Of course my camera battery is dead so I didn't get a chance to record it. I will try tomorrow. Apparently he just needs the right motivation. That boy loves any type of phone he can get his hands on. I was getting ready upstairs for a birthday party and James was playing with the boys. He called me to say that Lucas was wanting the iphone so James held it out and he walked over to grab the phone. It was only about 3 or 4 steps, but they were HIS FIRST STEPS. We are so proud. I was able to get him to do it a few more times. I know once they're both walking my world is going to be very different and I just might wish for the days when they weren't walking, but for now, I'm super excited!

Seriously?

2010-07-27T20:10:00.002-04:00

My two sons can climb up the stairs and Ethan can walk down backwards. HE CAN WALK DOWN THE STAIRS!!! Where did he learn this? He did it the other day and I thought it was a fluke. I was sitting on the couch and he was sitting with me then decided he wanted to get down so he turned around and scooted off the couch backwards. I mean seriously...where did he learn this?? I am happy they are learning and progressing, I'm just not prepared for some of this!!!

Another example....
This is going to sound unbelievable, however, I swear up and down this is exactly what I heard.
Ethan & I had a conversation the other day that went like this. Ethan was standing in front of the end table that had a foam ball and plastic cup sitting on top. Ethan said, "mama, ball" while pointing to the ball. I gave him the ball and he threw it down. Again, he said "mama, mama". I said, "no baby you can't have the cup". He said "ok" and turned around and sat down. He seriously made sounds that sounded exactly like it. I know they're not babies anymore, but this is way too grown up for me to handle!!

A New Career Path

2010-07-26T10:08:00.002-04:00

Before Ethan & Lucas, I worked full time at a rehab clinic that helps reintroduce brain injury patients back into their daily life routines and the community. I loved it. The women I worked with were wonderful people and the work they do is amazing. At the first of the year, I started back working on Fridays. It was a good way to bring in a little extra money and get some appreciated adult time. I will continue to work on Fridays, but I have now signed up as a Thirty One Gifts consultant. I've been to several parties and hosted a catalog party of my own. After much thought and prayer, I knew this was a good choice for me. I am very excited about working for a company that is geared towards woman in a positive way, plus their products are ADORABLE!

You should check out their products on the online catalog. The new Fall/Winter catalog debut's August 1 so now is the last few days to take advantage of the fun summer catalog. My website:
http://www.mythirtyone.com/28451/
If you see anything you'd like to order, just shoot me an email jeanniebrown31@gmail.com.
Most of my blog mommies are too far away to host a house party, but an alternative is to host a catalog party. I'd send you a few catalogs or you'd view the online catalog and you'd have a month to take orders. The best part about it all, if you have a party that sells $250+ you earn free products. Ok, that's my shameless plug. I'm excited about this new adventure and will let you know how my first party goes :)

13 Months

2010-07-20T15:28:00.007-04:00

I almost didn't realize the date today. First off, the boys are better. I guess it was just a nasty bug that passed through quickly. We did pass it off to Mamaw & Papaw though :( Sorry!
We had to wash their clothes after they got sick so Papaw was night enough to let them borrow some sleeveless shirts. Of course they were huge and had to be tied in knots to stay up but they were too funny/cute!!
Overall Changes:
No more bottles
All solid "big people" food
We finally got the convertible carseats out and installed
Eat 3 meals a day with snacks between allowing us to eat dinner as a family now

Ethan:

*Starting to walk more than crawl
*Will stand up and sit down without holding on to anything
*Is becoming more vocal
*Will say Mama to get my attention and will point to something along with saying Mama when he wants something
*Will say Dog or Bailey when he hears or see Bailey
*Loves food!
*Will dance to any kind of music he hears*Cries when I leave a room and/or throws a tantrum
*Gives Lucas hugs all the time!
*Refuses to sit in the bathtub
*Loves to wear sunglasses

Lucas:

*Says ball ALL-THE-TIME and points to balls anytime he sees them
*Crawls and cruises at the speed of light
*Does not want to be confined or immobile...he crawls all the time
*Talks about and points to everything
*Will now walk when holding on to just one hand instead of needing two to stabilize
*Refuses to sit in the bathtub
*Says dog when he hears or sees a dog on tv
*Likes to take sunglasses off his face

Lucas has a Molar!

2010-07-19T19:36:00.003-04:00

Poor guy has been super fussy today. I just assumed it was because he still didn't feel good but nope. He has a molar that has just busted through. So now he has his two front top and two front bottom teeth along with a top molar. How strange. He's been so vocal this week. He's always talkative, but this week it seems more. Before bed last night, I was holding him and James was standing in front of us with a soccer shirt on. Lucas decided to point to the soccer ball and say ball. He kept doing it over and over reaching for the ball as if he could grab it. SO SWEET!

Ethan decided he was going to walk more than crawl today. He was super excited about it too. Thankfully, both boys (well all 3) are feeling better and were playful today. I am so so glad it was just a 24hr thing. Lucas slept longer during his afternoon nap so Ethan & I were playing downstairs and he was just walking all around. As terrifying as it is that he's going to be walking full time any day now, it really is so cute and exciting watching him learn. I just love these little guys so much!

My Sweet Boys

2010-07-18T16:31:00.002-04:00

All 3 of them are sick. James got sick in the middle of the night. I was hoping and praying that the boys and I wouldn't end up with it. Today was a very belated birthday dinner with my dad and family. I told him James was sick and he said if we hadn't gotten sick by the time we were ready to leave, come on over. So we packed up and left daddy at home to rest. Once we arrived at my dad's, the boys had lunch and proceeded to play. Then it turned nasty. One threw up and as soon as we got it cleaned up, the other one threw up. I am so thankful that I was at my dad's with help because had I been at home alone, I don't know what I would've done. We got them in the bathtub and they played in there a while. Of course, as soon as we get them out, they throw up again. Back in the tub they went. After a while, they seemed to get some of their color and playfulness back so we got them out, wrapped them in a tank top since their clothes were being washed and let them play. It's been a few hours now and THANKFULLY, no more pukey yet. They're down for a nap and appear to be sleeping good. Poor sweet boys. Checked in with James and he seemed to be sore and restless, but no more sick. I hope this was just a Mommyfree 24 hour bug. Be gone!!!

Under Construction

2010-07-13T21:37:00.002-04:00

Ok, so maybe my husband is right, I'm never satisfied....with my blog template. I'm bored with it and want to play around some. If you come back and it's blank or crazy looking, it's just a stopping point until I find something I'm happy with :)

At What Point Are They Considered Walking?

2010-07-13T11:01:00.002-04:00

If it's when they're taking steps many times a day and can go a distance before falling, then Ethan is walking. If it's when they prefer walking over crawling, then we do not have a walker. It's so adorable to watch him because he gets so excited. Lucas doesn't really pay much attention to him. Since he's doing it more often and not just randomly, I need to pop the camera out. We finally got a new computer so that's going to make it easier on me when pictures and updates!!!

Sharing

2010-07-09T07:09:00.003-04:00

Lucas has been our sweet little one that likes to share. He'll share his food, his toys, and his diapers. He'll hold out your hand and drop whatever he has for you. Ethan, not so much. Well, yesterday afternoon when James came in from work and sat down to play with the boys Ethan did something that was unexpected and extremely funny. Not to my liking, if Ethan sees a paci, he'll grab it and put it in his mouth. We usually only use it when going to bed or on long car rides. I try to keep one near by during the day in case someone is nonstop crying. When James sat down next to him Ethan decided he would share his paci. He took it right out of his own mouth and shoved it into his daddy's. It was hilarious and I think because of our reactions, he thought so too and continued to do it. James would say "Share" and he'd take it right out and pop it into daddy's mouth. This is a kid who will take a paci right out of his brothers mouth and not give it back so to share it, it was just too cute!

Ethan has also started taking a few unassisted steps. I think yesterday he took about 3 or 4. He's starting to become a little more confident. He's going to be walking soon, then I'm really in trouble!

Where did they learn this?

2010-07-07T21:07:00.002-04:00

Or who?? Both boys, Ethan especially, have started throwing tantrums. Nice big temper tantrums! When I leave the room, when they want to be picked up, when I can't get their food to them fast enough, when they're tired. For any number of reasons they will just scream. I mean turn blood red in the face scream as loud as they possibly can with fists balled up. Where do my sweet babies go in these moments? I don't know but I want them back because it's just awful to watch.

They are loving all foods. It's so fun to watch them eat something new and like it. They're not walking unassisted yet, but we got them their first pair of shoes. At first they didn't like them but today Ethan changed his tune. He did this with his grandma first, then he did it with me. She put one shoe on and then took it off. He handed it to her and then lifted up his foot as if to say put it back on. Absolutely adorable!! This morning Lucas had a ball in his hand and handed to me while saying ball. That might count as his real first word ;)

I just love watching them grow!

New Developments in the Brown House

2010-07-01T22:03:00.002-04:00

We've had a lot going on since E&L's birthday party. The morning of their actual birthday Lucas started crawling a real crawl. He wasn't going any distance but he was up on all fours moving. The next day he started pulling himself up. He hasn't stopped. Now he's crawling distance. He doesn't do it super quickly, but I have two babies that will crawl and cruise in different directions. It's only the beginning, I know, because they'll be walking in different directions soon.

We've had A LOT of crying in the house lately. Why? Two teething children. Ethan's molars are coming in and Lucas has some to teeth trying to make their way through. We've all been a little bit crazy because of this.

WE ARE BOTTLE FREE!!! Last Saturday instead of taking a bottle of formula to start breakfast, the boys took a sippy cup of real milk. We did have to mix in a little bit of formula to get them to take the whole thing, but it worked. We won't have to wash any more Dr. Brown's bottle parts any more! We won't have to buy the giant size formula can anymore. Ah, the perks of toddlers :)

Cake Face

2010-06-27T20:02:00.003-04:00

12 Months

2010-06-24T21:01:00.002-04:00

We visited our favorite doctor today for their 12 month check up. It was a good visit, other than the fact they had no air circulation in the room! They are still growing but she did mention their weight has leveled off a little. She said that is normal at this age and will pick up again between 2-3 yrs old.
Lucas weighed in at 20lbs 2 oz and Ethan was 19lbs 12oz.

She said it was time to switch to whole milk and get rid of the bottles. YAY!! These were our intentions any way but we needed the boys to hear the dr say it so they couldn't argue! She also said to start phasing out any baby food they may still be eating and get to a diet of all table food. I have to admit that some times it's just easier to grab a jar but we've changed our routine some to accommodate a solid food dinner and it appears to be working. She also said since they're good eaters they really won't need a vitamin for now. Fine by me. We discussed Lucas' version of a crawl and she had no complaints since he's hitting his other milestones. She said it sounds like he's just going to skip crawling and walk. I'm still waiting for him to prove me right since I've been saying this all along. She said when they come back at 15 months they should be walking. As close as they seem to be, I don't foresee this being a problem.

Let's take a look at all the things they are doing these days....

Ethan:
*You've started saying Uh-oh
*You climb up stairs and have started to get daring enough to go down (completely supervised)
*Drinking water from a sippy cup (I mean guzzling it down)
*You grab your spoon wanting to feed yourself
*You cruise every where. Nothing stops you!
*You've become much more vocal.
*You appear to be talking directly to your brother at times
*When Bailey barks, you stop, look in her direction, and yell for her
*You've started dancing, A LOT!!!! You love to shake your butt to any tune you hear!
*You wear a smile on your face ALL.THE.TIME!
*You love to be held but want to be down also so you can roam
*You wear mostly 12 month clothes but you do have some 18 month items that fit you

Lucas:
*You wave Bye Bye all the time but you've started waving Hi too
*You've taken an interest in the stairs but haven't quite figured out how to climb up
*You've started crawling, somewhat, on your knees but still revert back to your army crawl/worm
*You've started pulling yourself up and now you don't want to be on your belly at all!
*You're cruising everywhere using anything you can to balance on to move
*You LOVE the sippy cup
*You grab the spoon right out of my hands and feed yourself
*You are constantly talking, yelling for mama or dada, yelling at your brother
*You've taken a new interest in Bailey, reaching for her when she's near. Yelling for her when she's barking
*You don't show a whole lot of interest in your brother but I do catch you talking to him sometimes
*You cruise at a sprint and if you're holding someone's fingers, you basically run across the room
*You're mostly in 12 months but have some clothes that are 18 months

It has been so much fun watching you grow! This next year is going to be just as entertaining :)

Happy 1st Birthday Sweet Boys!!

2010-06-21T20:58:00.008-04:00

We have the sweetest boys ever and I just can't believe they turned 1 yesterday. This has been the most challenging but absolutely the best year of our lives. We really were doubly blessed with two boys and we couldn't have asked for better babies. It is such a joy and blessing being able to watch them grow and succeed.

We celebrated with a big party Saturday. We went with a monkey theme and had an adorable monkey cake to match. (My friend from high school, Brande Hayes, owns her own cake business. You can check her out on facebook...Have your cake) We even rented (at a very reduced rate) a bouncy house for the ~~adults~~ kids. We had a birthday banner hanging from our front porch. It was super hot but it was a great day. The boys were passed around while everyone ate. Then we took them outside to eat in their highchairs followed by cake. We sang "Happy Birthday" to each of them individually and then gave them each their own giant cupcake made by yours truly to tear in to. IT WAS ADORABLE!!! I have a video that I haven't uploaded yet but once I do, it will be on here asap! After cupcake destruction, we had to follow up with a bath and change into birthday outfit #2. We then sat down to open gifts. Getting two boys to pay attention long enough to open a lot of gifts is virtually impossible. Ethan was distracted by one of the first gifts but Lucas held on and helped open most of his. They loaded up for sure! We are so thankful to all of our family and friends who helped us celebrate such a special day!!

Sunday, their actual birthday, we had a lay low kind of day. We spent it as a four person family playing with their new toys, hanging out in their little pool, and spending time with daddy for Father's Day. There was a lot to do leading up to the party, a lot going on during the party, so yesterday we rested. It was a great weekend though!

Now....picture overload :)

In Preparation

2010-06-13T00:31:00.002-04:00

We are currently preparing for the boys 1st birthday party. I'm planning and trying to get the house in order (including finishing projects around the house I hadn't gotten around to), James is working to pay for everything, and the boys are hitting milestones and acting like toddlers more every day.

Let's start with the boys :)
Ethan:
*He's finally realized that he can stand up and balance without holding on to anything. He would unknowingly let go of things and stand up while focusing on something else. Today he held up his hands in what I'd call a "I don't know" or "I didn't do it" way. I thought he was playing around because of the smile on his face but then I realized he wasn't holding on to anything and he was so proud of himself. He did it a few times before he moved on to something else. Walking is right around the corner. Holy cow!!
*He seems to be done with the bottle, or at least the formula. We're basically on all people food along with the bottles but over the last few days, he will not finish his bottles. We were planning to stop them at 12 months anyway so he's right on schedule.
*He bites. This I'm kind of struggling with. Sometimes "No Bite" works, some times it doesn't. When it doesn't, I don't really know what to do aside move him and distract him. Is he learning not to bit though? I don't know.
*We've graduated to the big boy bath with brother. No more ducky tub. He loves it. He acts in the tub the way he acts in the pool. He splashes and tries to crawl around.

Lucas:
*He's crawling, sort of. He does what I call a combo of the worm and an army crawl. It's crazy funny but he gets to where he's going. As for the cruising, he's non stop. Once they're both walking, I'm in big trouble :)
*He bites too.
*He seems to like the big tub until Ethan tries to crawl over him to get a toy or play with the froggy faucet cover.
*He's sort of a picky eater. He still loves his bottle but likes drinking water from the sippy cup.
*He's developed a speed walk. He loves walking when holding your fingers but over the last few days he sprints across the room. He's so funny

Me:
For the party: I still need to buy food for the party. Touch base with the cake lady. Collect card tables and chairs from my sister. Make their cupcake cakes that each of them will get to tear in to.
For the house: I need to get rugs and paint a few nautical scenes for the new bathroom decor for the boys' bathroom. Once it's complete I will post pictures. I decided to paint our guest bedroom this week. (what was i thinking??) It was such a dark dark blue that the room felt small and cavelike. I figured I'd get it painted and decorated for the party. Uh, no. I'll have it painted but it won't be completed as far as my concept for the room. We're making the basement our playroom to get all of the toys and such out of our living room. Plus, the basement is just one big room with no furniture with sharp corners and no need for a baby gate. It's a much more toddler friendly environment. I need to move everything into the basement to get it set up so that other kids that come over have a place to play as well. Our dining room is a bold orange (sounds crazy but it is a pretty color) that is in need of some decor on the walls. Again, I never got around to it. Tonight I sketched out on canvas what I want to paint, now I just need to take the time to paint it. How in the world am I going to finish all of this? Guess I better take out the Super Mommy cape and get down to business!!

Congratulations

2010-06-11T19:57:00.002-04:00

I have so much to post about the boys, but I need to take time to send big Congratulations to Shannon (MrsDutchie) and her husband. They welcomed their sweet baby boy on June 10 at 12:14am...just 14 minutes over her due date. I couldn't be happier for them.

I "met" Shannon on the nest, when it was still the nest, back in 2007. Over time, we got to really know each other by computer and phone. I called her the morning after finding out we were expecting twins and after we found out they were boys. She called often while I was on bedrest in the hospital to check on me. We cried together on the phone when she told me she was pregnant. She is a wonderful person and I consider her a really great friend. Last October we actually got to meet when she and her husband came to KY for a convention. She had just recently found out she was pregnant so it was such a joyful meeting. I was so excited for her to meet the boys. I am so excited that they are coming back this October so I'll get to meet her sweet boy and our boys can all meet! It's amazing that out of pain and struggle, I developed such great friendships (I'm talking to all my momma's out there that I keep in touch with!!)

Congratulations Steen Family!!!

Oh My

2010-05-27T20:10:00.002-04:00

Something has lit a fire under the boys because it seems like they've decided to kick some milestone butt this week. For this reason, I think I'll join in on Shannon's Things I Don't Want To Forget Thursdays.

Lucas:
*Instead of sitting in my lap or daddy's lap, he's started picking up books on his own and turning the pages, pointing, and talking as if he's really reading on his own. It's precious.
*He's also started cruising. He doesn't pull up on furniture, but if you let him pull up using your fingers and walk him up to a piece of furniture he'll grab on and eventually start moving along. His biggest motivation is watching Ethan crawl over to me. He doesn't like being left standing there watching his brother get the attention so he gets a move on.
*He's really started walking well while using the musical walker to hold on to. He's done it a few times before, timidly, but he seems confident now.
*When you say pattycake, he immediately starts clapping his hands. Where did this come from? I have no idea.
*He is pointing at everything and telling me what it is. Can I make it out? No, but he seems to know what he's talking about.

Ethan:
*He's eating cardboard!?!?!? Seriously son, where is this coming from? His love for books is a different kind of love from Lucas. Ethan likes to chomp on his board books and he's slick and super fast about it. We started giving him bigger books that were hard for him to lift thinking he wouldn't chew on ones he wasn't able to pick up. Wrong. He just leans down to the floor to gnaw at the edges of the book. He's so not a picky eater :)
*He has learned to crawl up the stairs. He's tried on a few occassions, with supervision of course. Yesterday I was headed upstairs to clean bathrooms while my MIL watched them and he followed me right up. The way our stairs are set up is you walk up two to a platform, then turn to the right and go all the way to the second floor. He had no problem getting to the platform and even went up a few more just to prove he could do it. We have a gate at the top, now I guess we need one at the bottom. Oy!
*This isn't a good thing but it seems like yesterday and today Ethan has had a real paci attachment.

On an unrelated note....
I've been wanting to decorate the hallway bathroom for the boys. It's very simple now. A light aqua with aqua/gold shower curtain and two pictures I painted on the wall. Definitely not kid friendly. Behind the curtain it's all kid with toys, rubber ducky tub, Johnson's & Johnson's baby wash and shampoo. So after realizing that kid appropriate pirate shower curtains are rare, we went nautical. I found a curtain at Target that had bright underwater creatures on it that even had an octopus with an eye patch on it. I snatched it up with a few accessories and brightly colored towels. The next step is to pick out the new wall color, paint, and finish it off with some new bright rugs and Mommy paintings. I'm very excited about this project!!
Now, time for So You Think You Can Dance....my summer guilty pleasure :)

Pool Babies

2010-05-24T21:25:00.003-04:00

My sister came out to visit today and to give the boys haircuts. It was Lucas' third but Ethan's first. Man do they look grown up. After a trim we decided to bust out the kiddie pool I bought James for Father's Day last year. I wasn't sure how they'd do in a big cold pool vs the warm bath that they love. Even daddy got in the pool with them. Ethan had a blast, which kind of surprised me. Lucas was a big unsure and then did a face plant right into the water and after that it took a long while to calm him. He did finally chill out and played with a few toys while Ethan splashed and crawled around with a big smile on his face 99% of the time.

11 Months

2010-05-20T20:22:00.002-04:00

Today the boys are 11 months old (I'm picking up jaw up off the floor). They are looking and acting more like toddlers and less like babies and I don't know when that happened. My babies aren't babies anymore. Here's what they're doing these days...

Ethan:
*crawls at the speed of light
*pulls up on EVERYTHING
*loves to cruise around the house holding on to any furniture he can to stay on his feet
*getting brave and tries to stand up without holding on for a few seconds at a time
*puts paci's in his mouth if one is in sight/reach
*steals toys and paci's from his brother
*very talkative but other than mama and dada isn't making out any real words
*smiles all-the-time!
*eats everything you put in front of him (we're increasing table foods and decreasing baby food)
*his new thing is eating the cardboard of the cute board books we have
*absolutely will not stay still during any diaper change-must roll multiple times
*is kind of a bully to his brother

Lucas:
*refuses to crawl
*walks as long as he's holding on to someone's fingers
*loves to stand up holding on to furniture
*is starting to cruise a little bit
*rolls over during diaper changes and while in the crib
*not showing interest in pulling up on anything yet
*cries when his brother comes over towards him and touches him
*increasing table foods and decreasing baby food (but we had a bit of a set back after his stomach bug)
*loves holding and opening books
*is a chatterbug, but this two favorites are mama and dada
*can wave and say bye bye

Ethan's definitely on the move while Lucas is still stationary. Lucas gets frustrated watching Ethan crawling and cruise but it hasn't seemed to motivate him much. He does love being on his feet and walking as long as he can hold on to your fingers. I think he's really going to skip crawling all together and start walking, if he'd start pulling up on things to get to his feet.

So it seems right now that I have one bully child and one wimpy child. It doesn't matter what Ethan is doing, if Lucas picks up a toy Ethan will stop what he's doing and come take it from Lucas. Lucas sometimes lets him take it and finds something else, sometimes cries, and sometimes takes it back. I really have no idea how to deal with this. Ethan also will not let anything get in his way when he decides he's on his way to something. This includes Lucas. If Lucas is laying or sitting in the path of Ethan, Ethan will climb right over Lucas. This makes Lucas cry. Sometimes if Ethan just gets close to Lucas he'll start fussing. I don't know what to do. He just needs to buck up and push back or suck it up but how do you tell that to a baby?

I'm also stuck on how to adjust their feedings to where we move from 4 meals with bottles to 3 meals with snacks. We want to get the boys on a normal feeding schedule so we're eating at the same time, especially dinner. We're also wanting to lose the bottle at 1 year and I'm not sure that's going to go half as smoothly as I'd like. There's way too much going on!

Finally

2010-05-18T20:16:00.002-04:00

Lucas is doing better! He's taking 8oz bottles and keeping them down without needing the Zofran. I guess it's time to start slowly reintroducing solids. He's laughing and smiling which just melts my heart. To see his eyes filled with excitement after seeing the hurt, it's the best thing in the world. Thankfully, Ethan's still showing no signs of getting sick. It's so nice to get back to a resemblance of our schedule.

Tomorrow we have a busy day! A friend from work is home on bedrest for the last couple of weeks of her pregnancy so we're going to visit. She's having a girl and we were hoping she'd be birthday buddies with the boys because she's due on their birthday. However, she's had some fluctuation with her blood pressure so they won't let her go a full 40wks. After that we're celebrating Nana's 95th birthday. Last Saturday we celebrated my grandma's 80th and tomorrow we celebrate James' grandma's 90th. These ladies have been super blessed and I'm so happy the boys are getting to spend time with them.

Poor Sick Baby

2010-05-14T22:46:00.003-04:00

Lucas has been dealing with a stomach bug this week. Seeing your child sick, looking up at you after he just threw up wanting you to make it better, is so heartbreaking. Trying to take care of a baby who is sick and wanting mommy to hold him most of the time is extremely difficult when you have a double ear infection and feel like poo!! I found out Monday that I felt so crappy Mother's Day because I had a double ear infection, which I'm still dealing with. This has obviously left me at feeling less than 100%. When you have a sick baby in one arm and a healthy baby that is crying for attention tugging on the other, you need to be 100%. I am so thankful that my MIL was able to come help me out this week. I'm not sure what kind of condition any of us would be in if I'd not had the help!

Tuesday morning James let me stay in bed while he made bottles and got the boys up only to find Lucas covered in dry formula that he thew up in the middle of the night. Unexpected bath time! James ended up taking him to the dr after he threw up again. It was determined to be a stomach bug and we'd have to just wait it out, unless he developed a fever or got worse. Guess what? It got worse. I spoke to the dr's office Thursday and was told as long as he had 1 good wet diaper in 8 hours, that was good. The nurse said to cut his feedings by half the amount and feed him twice as often so we weren't putting too much on his stomach at once. She also told me to avoid Pedialyte and stick to formula only. I don't know about you, but when I'm sick I stay far away from milk. I listened however. Bad call. Vomiting continued and he didn't have a single wet diaper within their 8 hour time frame. Made an appointment and went back to the doc today. She said he wasn't a "send to the hospital right now" case but if we didn't get some fluids in him soon, he would be. She said to give only water and/or Pedialyte for 24 hours and see if that helps. We also got a Rx for Zofran in case he vomited again. Thankfully, from 11:30am until now, 10:58pm Lucas has not thrown up. We've given him sips of water to keep him hydrated and he did have a good wet diaper. He wasn't very interested in the Pedialyte, though. I'm praying that he's getting some relief from that awful nauseous feeling and also that Ethan won't come down sick too. People keep telling me it's inevitable but I'm hoping to prove them wrong :)

Mother's Day

2010-05-10T14:00:00.003-04:00

My vision for the day: French toast breakfast, play with the boys, a picnic lunch in the park, and then open house for the grandparents to visit.
Reality: Woke up with sore throat, had french toast, started to feel achy, took a 30 minute nap, felt worse, took hot bath thanks to James, felt worse, took temp and had fever so took tylenol, fever broke, felt good enough to have pizza and cookie cake, had grandparents visit, went to bed early.
Wasn't the ideal way to spend Mother's Day, but when I think back to last years Mother's day sitting in the hospital with preterm labor, being monitored for contractions, I'll take feeling sick while watching my two healthy babies play!!!

We finally got our computer back! I'm so happy. I hate feeling behind on my blog and reading others. It's become part of my regular routine and without it, my days have felt weird. Glad to be back.

I was able to order the boys birthday shirts and some of the birthday supplies. The monkey theme is in full swing. I can't wait to get my packages!!

PLEASE

2010-05-04T21:08:00.002-04:00

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, if you have any change at all, please consider donating to the March of Dimes. Our walk is this weekend. Every cent helps. The donation size doesn't matter, it's the support. This means a lot to our family! The walk is this Saturday so I won't be asking again, but I want to give as much as possible. Thank you so much!!!

We should be getting our computer back soon so I can actually blog for real. I miss this as my outlet!!! I also miss keeping up with my other bloggin mommas!!

Crib Recall

2010-05-01T22:23:00.002-04:00

Thankfully, up until now, we haven't had any baby equipment on any of the recall lists. However, the crib recall that just came out does affect us. I got on the website and ordered the hardware replacement that they are sending out, but what do I do for the next 2-3 weeks that it says it will take to arrive? There has been WAY TOO MUCH going on...I don't need anything else to stress about (and this is a big stress).

Computer upset

2010-04-27T22:27:00.002-04:00

Our computer is in the process of dying. I think it's already gone, we just need to get our pictures, videos, and itunes restored so we can transfer them to the new computer we'll be getting. Because of this, I haven't been able to do their 10 month update. Will get to that asap!
Love to all my blogging mommas!!

It Rocked!!

2010-04-22T22:24:00.002-04:00

If you don't already watch it, you MUST watch tonight's (4/22) episode online!!!!

Best quote..........
Pam just came back from maternity leave and they asked her how she liked it. Her response was
"It rocked. It rocked my ass off!!!"

Had to control the tears from laughing so hysterically!

That, along with many other things, makes this my favorite episode ever!!!

A Dose of Reality

2010-04-21T21:43:00.002-04:00

I'm sitting here working on plans for the first birthday party that is sneaking up on us with the tv on in the background. American Idol, Idol gives back is on. Why am I watching this? I'm sitting with my laptop in my lap, using my high speed internet, watching a flat screen tv, planning a birthday party while watching these kids that have no homes, little to no food, living in disease affected areas, losing their parents. The tears are just streaming. Oh how I take so many things for granted, not even realizing that I do. I complain about what seems so stupid right now when I have it better than I ever realized. I'm ashamed. I don't watch the news and proudly sit in my little bubble to avoid seeing things like this. It breaks my heart to see the sweet faces of little kids that have little to nothing. It's time for some real reflection.

First Beach Vacation!

2010-04-20T20:06:00.006-04:00

Ethan & Lucas took their first beach vacation to Folly Beach, South Carolina. It's just minutes outside of Charleston. I LOVE CHARLESTON!!!! I've never been a huge history buff but I love learning everything I can about that city. If I was rich and could afford to, I'd move there in a heartbeat! But I digress.We left Sunday around 4ish in the afternoon 4/11. We wanted the majority of our drive to be during their sleeping hours. It didn't seem to matter much on the way down. They slept probably about 50% of the 10 hour drive. Thankfully the drive home was a success. We arrived at the hotel at about 3am. (we used a hotel for sleep because we weren't able to check into the beach house until 4pm Monday). Once everyone was up (we went with James' parents and brother) we headed to Folly to check in. We were about 45 minutes early so we immediately headed to the beach. This is their first experience with sand.They were more or less indifferent. I was just happy there were no meltdowns. They were interested in reaching for shells in an attempt to eat them. It was cute. I think we avoided them getting much sand in their mouths. Score! It was super windy so we didn't take the boys to the beach very much. It was more of a relaxing week than anything. Relaxing because I got some time off :) We went on a family picnic, walked the city, took a tour, went to an art fair. Laid back. Took plenty of pics of the beach and some architectural pictures of churches and iron gates. I'll be creating a tab at the top with lots of pictures, if you're interested. My MIL rented a wagon for the boys and they loved it! I guess we have one birthday gift on the list. They would get in, hold on, and just smile. They also liked all of the individual attention they were getting more frequently than they regularly do. Granted that bit me in the butt when we got home because they were used to being held A LOT and Mommy can't do that alone. I do have to say, though, getting back into our regular routine has been a bit easier than I expected. Much much easier than our 3 day trip to Gatlinburg. THANKFULLY!!

Today the boys are 10 months. I need to take a shot of them together (better than the ones I got today) and plan to post their 10 month info tomorrow!

Headed Home

2010-04-18T15:14:00.001-04:00

We're leaving to head home from vacation. I can't wait to tell about the boys first trip to the beach!

Please Help us Raise Money!!

2010-04-10T09:15:00.005-04:00

The Louisville chapter of the March of Dimes has it's annual March for Babies on May 8. I find it to be appropriately on Mother's Day weekend. I have done this walk before, however, this year it has a new meaning. I spent 4 weeks in the hospital with preterm labor and after the boys were born, they spent 7 days in the NICU. The March of Dimes was there for our family and the other families who were in the same situation. The MoD (because it's just easier to type this each time) held activities and visited the mommies on bedrest in the hospital. They brought us pictures from the MoD walk and decorations for our rooms on Mother's Day. They let us know they we were not alone while we laid in bed doing what was best for our children. After the boys were born, they supplied us with books on taking care of premies, meal tickets to a local restaurant, sweet blankets for the babies to use in the NICU. They offered support to new parents who were not only overwhelmed by being new parents, but watching their babies spend their first days of life hooked up to tubes and IV's. Thankfully, Ethan and Lucas were healthy to come home within 7 days but there were plenty of other babies who had a much longer stay with much more difficult issues. I want to do everything I can to help support this organization that supports these babies, these families, and is researching how to prevent these early births. If you are at all possible, please donate to this cause. No matter the amount, every dollar counts!! If you're not able to donate monetarily, please consider donating some time. Visiting mothers in the hospital on bedrest is one option. Thank you so much for anything you can do!!!!!

(You can click on the March of Dimes picture on the side of my blog or go to www.marchforbabies.com/ourlittlebrownies)

Doggy Wanna Play??

2010-04-08T17:29:00.002-04:00

Ethan LOVES Bailey! He loves to chase her, pet her, try to give her kisses. It's so sweet to watch!! Bailey seems to enjoy it too. This is them playing their game they have. So cute!!

It's HERE It's HERE

2010-04-06T22:33:00.002-04:00

I am very happy to announce the arrival of Lucas' first tooth!!! Since Ethan has 6, I was starting to wonder if Lucas was ever going to get any. Neither of our parents knew if we were early/late teething so we were definitely curious. I can now put a stop on the baby dentures I was going to order. His bottom right front tooth broke through today and I know it will be any day before the bottom left joins in the party because you can feel it.

It must be his day because Lucas also decided today he was ready to start rolling, and rolling he did. This morning Lucas was watching Ethan crawl around and you could see the frustration and disappointment all over his face because he wasn't able to move like that. I felt so bad for him. So when he was fussing instead of sleeping during nap time, I found him on his belly. This occurred 3 times. During all of his diaper changes today he wanted to roll as well. This is what Ethan did before he started rocking, then crawling. I guess Ethan was the motivation Lucas needed to get a move on. He had a very eventful day!

Let Them Eat Peeps!!

2010-04-05T20:55:00.005-04:00

Somehow my dad convinced me to let the boys have PEEPS on Easter. It was funny for about a minute. Once Lucas tried to put the whole bunny in his mouth, we shut that down! They were cute though :)

"What's this?"

"I'm allowed to eat this?"

"This doesn't taste like food Mommy usually lets me eat!"

"You told me I could, so I'm gonna!"

"But I wasn't finished, please don't take it away!"

"There's a tiny piece left they didn't take away"

We started our morning off celebrating Christ overcoming the grave at church. Then we headed home to get ready for our families who were coming over to have on lunch on the boys' first Easter. Auntie Ang got them cute bunny ears that we had to take pictures of. After everyone was entertained by the boys trying peeps, we changed them and headed outside to enjoy the beautiful weather!! It was a wonderfully sunny, very warm, cloudless day. The boys like being outside...they definitely seemed to enjoy playing on the blanket watching the adults attempt to play a few games of corn hole. It was a wonderful day!

Suck It, Bunny!!

2010-03-31T21:13:00.002-04:00

So let me tell you about the Easter bunny at one of our local malls.
I had no intentions of taking the boys to see the bunny but James suggested it, so I did for Daddy. We got to the mall and got in the 2 person line. Apparently the lady telling people where to sit their children didn't notice the two boys we were walking towards the bunny who happened to be dressed alike because when I told her two, she was surprised. She told me immediately that they couldn't do two babies at once. The bunny is only able to hold one at a time. She said the costume is just too big to hold two infants. EXCUSE ME? The bunny who is just sitting there can't uncross her legs to let two sweet babies sink into the chair and lean back into her elbows? She then offered to take pictures of them separately for 2 packages worth of pictures. Uh, you want me to pay $25 x 2 because you don't want to hold both of them together. WTF? Come on now. I'm not stupid.

I really do consider myself a very nice person. I'm always concerned about others, wanting to make sure everyone is taken care of, never saying anything that I feel would be hurtful to others. However, I was cussing that lady up and down in my head. A friend of mine told me she too her twins to the other mall to see that bunny and aside from them being afraid of the bunny, they had no problem holding twins. Guess I picked the wrong bunny.

Oh What a Day!

2010-03-30T09:52:00.002-04:00

Yesterday we had a very exciting moment and terrifying moment with Ethan. Accomplishment overshadowed by fear. My biggest FAIL moment as a parent.

During play time both boys were on the floor playing with a musical table (the only way I can describe it). I was picking up breakfast dishes and when I looked in the living room and was so proud of what I saw. ETHAN WAS CRAWLING!!! He's been close, scooting, and army crawling backwards. This time he was up on all fours moving forward. A real crawl. I was so proud of him. It's amazing how they just keep doing all these independent things. I need to be on my game even more now because he's on the move. Time to seriously baby proof. You hear that James?? Must be done like NOW.

So when it was time for afternoon nap, I took Ethan up first so he wouldn't get in to anything. When I got upstairs with Lucas, Ethan had started to pull himself up in his crib. This is where I go wrong. I picked him up, laid him back down on his back (I should've taken him out). I sat down in front of his crib to figure out how to lower the mattress. I guess Ethan wanted to know what I was doing because when I looked up, I saw a baby falling at me. Oh yes, I let my baby fall out of his crib. Worst moment of my life. I immediately scooped him up and started crying. How could I do this?? And of course all the worst possibilities go through my head. He has a brain injury. He's never going to be the same. I've broken my baby. Ethan cried all of about a minute. I cried longer than he did. I called my aunt who is a nurse and a friend from work (oh by the way I started working on fridays to bring in a little extra money). Work is a neurorehab program....we do therapy with brain injured patients. Makes sense why the first thing I thought was brain injury. She told me what to watch for but to her it sounded like he was just more scared than anything, otherwise he would've cried longer. Thank the good Lord he didn't get any bumps or indentions on his head. I watched him closely all day yesterday and he seemed absolutely fine. Today he seems absolutely normal so I guess he really is just fine. I still feel completely awful. I know stuff happens, but it doesn't make me feel any better. Needless to say I'm going to watch him like a hawk...more so than before. After I calmed down, you better believe I lowered that bed.

9 Month Check-up

2010-03-23T21:07:00.003-04:00

The boys hit 9 months on Saturday the 20th. Instead of taking them for 9 month pictures, I wanted to bust out James' work Nikon DSL and take them myself. LOVE that camera! We put them in their Easter outfits, took a few pictures, and then went shopping. We ended our outing with pizza. Pizza makes a me so happy! A nice day to celebrate 9 months of these two wonderful babies blessing our lives.Today we went to visit our favorite pedi for their well visit. Couldn't be happier with our dr choice. It was a good checkup. She was happy with their growth because it's been steady. Ethan is our long and lean boy. He's 29 inches long but only weighs 17lbs 14oz. Lucas is our short and chubby baby. He's 27 1/2 inches long but weighs 19lbs 2oz. One takes after daddy and the other takes after mommy. They're doing well with their milestones. Keeping me on my toes for sure.Both Ethan and Lucas pulled up completely on their own today. The pride and excitement on Ethan's face is enough to melt the coldest of hearts. It's amazing to see them do new things but I think this was one of the best moments because you could see, with both of them, that they realized they had done something big. This is just going to be the first of many moments like these. Moments that I'm excited for them to have and yet each of those moments mean my babies have grown up a little bit more.

Picture Overload

2010-03-18T20:30:00.004-04:00

Roly Poly

2010-03-15T21:26:00.003-04:00

I knew this would happen eventually....
We were wanting the boys to start rolling over knowing they'd be able to move around. Moving around seems like an understatement. Lucas still only rolls when it suits him but Ethan doesn't sit still anymore. Tonight, changing his dirty diaper became a two man job. Getting him dressed takes about 10 minutes. You lay him down, he's on his belly in seconds. You roll him over, unsnap the onesie, he's onhis belly. You get him on his back again, start to take the onesie off and he's on his belly again. 9 times out of 10 it's funny. There's always that 1 time that is such a struggle that makes you want to scream.

Ethan's sleeping on his belly. It took me a while to get used to it and be comfortable with it because of all the crazy warnings you get about babies on their bellies. Guess what doc, he likes sleeping on his belly. He's comfortable there and even if I move him, he rolls right back so what are you gonna do? He wins. As soon as you put him down in the crib on his back, he rolls right over. The past week or so he's been getting up on all fours and rocking back and forth. He really wants to crawl! He must find being on all fours easier in the crib that on the floor because he's found on all fours more so in his crib. He's all smiles about it though. When we walk in to get him up from sleeping, he always greets you with an ear to ear smile.

Lucas is funny. He laughs A LOT. He has such a sweet smile (still completely toothless). He's smart but lazy. He only does what he needs to do to get what he wants. Prime example...finger foods. He's perfectly capable of getting food to his mouth via his own hands. However, he prefers to make you do it. I'll put a puff or yogurt melt in my hand for him to grab but he doesn't grab it. He can. He has. But instead he takes his mouth to my hand and picks it up with his mouth. Smart. Gets what he wants but doesn't want to put it in his mouth on his own. Lazy :)

We're having issues with sharing. Thankfully, Lucas doesn't mind sharing. Ethan thinks all toys are his and if he sees a toy being held out for Lucas or sees Lucas playing with something he reaches out and steals it. He takes things right out of Lucas' hands. Sometimes Lucas takes it back but most of the time he just finds a different toy. I'm glad Lucas deals with it this way instead of crying....which I know is going to come soon enough. Lucas does however, cry when Ethan is being held by Mommy and he's left sitting. They are definitely showing signs of jealousy. I find that hard to deal with some times because I do not want to show favor to one over the other or unknowingly neglect one. This is my biggest struggle with twins. I'm always wondering if I'm not spending enough time or giving enough attention to one. I know I'm doing the best I can and it will work itself out, but it doesn't stop me from worrying.

Aside from being down sick for 5 days with sinus crap, that's what's been going on around our house. Oh and minivan shopping. Oh yes, it is happening. Eventually we will be proud owners of a Honda Odyssey. I'm excited for space!

Blogger...Oh how I've missed you!

2010-03-05T20:29:00.002-05:00

Thanks to a few moments with the hubby and an earlier bedtime, I have neglected my computer time. The babies are asleep and the hubby's working late, time for some wine and chit chat.
There have been A LOT of new things happening with my brownie babies. Changes I am not ready for. Nope. NOT AT ALL!!

The boys are going from a sitting position to their bellies. They are moving around and scooting way too much! Not crawling but they definitely know how to get to where they want to go. Ethan seems a bit more interested in doing this than Lucas though. They are pulling up when you let them hold your fingers. Haven't really tried to pull up on anything else but it's a great start. Let me just tell you, Ethan gets so excited and proud every single time he pulls up. It's so adorable. Lucas has figured out how to get us to help him stand up...such a smarty. He will straighten out his body and go stiff so that you basically have no option but to stand him up b/c if you lay him down, he cries still you stand him up. He really likes standing up. He'll bounce/jump in place while he's standing...while someone holds his waist. Lucas has gotten really good and stable while sitting. For a long while his round belly made it hard for him to stabilize but no longer. Tonight, Ethan got up on all fours and started rocking back and forth for about a minute before he went down to his tummy. This boy is going to be zooming around the house in no time. I am not ready for this!!!! Where are my babies? Oh wait, they're 8.5 months old.

Ethan is getting two top teeth. Ethan is going to have 4 teeth before Lucas even gets one!! Although, we do think Lucas is starting to teethe. He's been moody, wants everything in his mouth and has started to head bang. He'll bang his head on the carpet when he's on his tummy, he'll bang his head against me when I'm holding him, he bangs his head. I read that this is common during teething. Really? Have you heard of head banging babies that didn't belong to rocker parents? James has a co-worker that has twins 2.5 yrs old and one of their twins did the same thing. I hope it stops asap. We've come close to having a broken nose more than once.

Ethan has been able to take his diaper off by pulling open the tabs for quite a while now. He just likes grabbing at things. You see where this is going?? He now likes pulling on his well, little Ethan I guess you can call it. Any time his diaper is off, and believe me diaper changes have gotten a lot faster around here, he goes straight for it. I tell him NO and kind of tap at his hand but he laughs or smiles real big. We're going to be in big trouble with this one!

We've started finger foods. It is so entertaining to watch them eat the Puffs. Sometimes they can get them to their mouths alone, sometimes the need some help. They also love eating pieces of banana. I cut one up in pieces and they had no problems scarfing them up! I was so proud. They are just sweet happy babies and I LOVE IT!!!

Big Belly - For Leigh

2010-02-27T10:06:00.004-05:00

Jennifer, over at http://jennsblondeambition.blogspot.com/ posted a very cute belly picture the other day. Her adorable boys were born just a few days after mine. I commented at how cute the belly was because I was so large and felt so uncute at the end. So, for fun, here's me and all my largeness for a comparison.

Two weeks before they were born

8 Months Oh My

2010-02-24T20:35:00.003-05:00

We are 2/3's way through their first year. Wowzers! I am just so proud of them and all that they've accomplished in 8 short months. I love seeing their sweet smiles first thing in the morning and watching them learn new things each day.

What Ethan's up to these days...

-Rolling all over the place
-Scooting backwards to get where he wants to go
-Standing up holding on to things
-When you hold him under his arms, he takes a few steps
-Sort of drinking with a sippy cup
-Holding the bottle for every feeding
-Wants to grab the spoon & food when eating solids
-Sleeping on belly 50% of the time (as much as I wish he wouldn't)
-Saying dada dada dada but not really towards James just in babbling

What Lucas is up to....

-Scooting around backwards
-Standing up holding onto the couch
-Loves drinking from a sippy cup
-Holding the bottles for some feedings
-Wants to hold the spoon when you're feeding him
-Says dada frequently but not towards James
-Waves bye bye and says what sounds like "hey"

We gave them a few banana flavored Puffs the other day. They did pretty well with them although they did seem a bit confused by the texture. It was fun for me to watch.

My New Favorite Song

2010-02-22T13:07:00.002-05:00

My very favorite band, through all music genres, is Barlow Girl. If you don't know them, get to know them!! They are a sister group and they are fabulous! Their harmonies magnify the beauty of their messages. I was listening to their latest album in the car yesterday and when I listened to their song Beautiful Ending, you can't not feel hope when you hear the song. Seriously. James and I have been given this beautiful gift to raise these precious boys. And really, as parents, all we can hope is that they will have a beautiful ending. That's what I want for us ALL. "At the end of it all I want to be in YOUR arms".

8 Months & Baby Dedication

2010-02-20T10:04:00.003-05:00

Today the boys are 8 months. Yes the time has flown by. There's no better way to spend this day than the boys being dedicated at church. Afterwards, the family and friends attending will be coming back to have dinner & cake. That means I need to clean. Will have to update what they're up to later.

My 1st Award :)

2010-02-18T10:10:00.004-05:00

Thanks so much to CLML at And Baby Finally Makes Three, I have been given my first blogging award. Her sweet Gabriella is just a doll!! You should go check out how adorable she is. http://babycouldmake3.blogspot.com/

Rules:

Mention who gave you the award and include a link back to their blog.
List 7 interesting things about yourself.
Pass on the award to 7 other people's blogs and include the links.

Listing 7 interesting things about myself is not easy because I don't think I'm very interesting but here goes...

1. Even though my dad is a twin, I never thought once we'd have twins. People say I should've expected it and to say I didn't consider it is naive. Nope, not me. Didn't expect it at all. Still not sure if I'm a believer that twins run in the family (my dad is identical and the boys are not).

2. I am three years older than my sister but when her hair is dark (she's a hairdresser and changes her hair color more often than the average joe) we get asked frequently if we are twins. Even at her bridal shower people were coming up to me and congratulating me. Uh, thanks but I'm not the bride. Here's a couple pics for you to decide.

3. I have a very blue vein that runs vertical under my left eye. For whatever reason, some days it's more visible than others. People tell me all the time that I have pen on my face when in actuality it's just the vein playing tricks.

4. I LOVE making jewelry!! I came across it a few years ago and find it to be the best creative outlet for me. It started off as a hobby but after requests I actually made enough to have a party that did really well. Of course I don't have time for that much right now, but I love picking out and designing pieces for my family and friends for birthdays and holidays. I never give away a piece I wouldn't proudly wear myself.

5. Overall, I'm a shy person. I grew up dancing, was in show choir and marching band and I don't have a problem performing for audiences. However, when it comes to talking to new people I am totally uncomfortable. Once I get to know you a bit I break out of my shell and we'll have a fun time. Thankfully my husband is the opposite so he makes it so much easier for me in those situations.

6. I can NOT fall asleep without the tv on. I guess I accidentally trained myself while in college, having the tv on when I was lying in bed to drown out the noise. Then once I graduated and moved back home, I slept in a windowless room in the basement so I would leave the tv on so there would be some kind of light in the room. Now when I attempt to fall asleep without the tv I will lay there for hours, literally, my mind on overload.

7. I purchased my wedding dress and started planning our wedding before we were "officially" engaged. That sounds crazy doesn't it? James & I agreed on when we were getting married before he ordered my ring and I found my dress and got it while it was on sale. We started planning in January but he didn't officially ask until March 2 (my grandmother's birthday) when the ring came in. He actually proposed the same place we got married. Churchill Downs.

So that's that. Interesting? Not really. But it is 7 things you probably didn't know.

To you 7 fabulous ladies, I bestow the Beautiful Blogging Award...
1. Shannon http://mrsdutchie.blogspot.com/
2. Shannon http://shannonlea-baby.blogspot.com/
3. Bliss http://bliss04.blogspot.com/
4. Katie http://welcomebabythompson.blogspot.com/
5. Amy http://miraclestakealiltime.blogspot.com/
6. Lindsey http://holcombs.blogspot.com/
7. Laney http://cassiesmommy.blogspot.com/